Title: Of Secrets
Author: surreysmum
Pairing: Legolas/Aragorn
Rating: soft R
A/N: Thank you to my flist for the prompts. I didn't manage to use all of them, but I did manage to work several into this silly little piece of nonsense.
Of Secrets
"Argh! You… " Aragorn staggered backwards in laughing shock as a solid clump of snow caught him full in the face. Stooping, he quickly made a snowball and exacted a swift, sure revenge upon Legolas. The snow was light and fresh-fallen, and the ground in these inhabited parts of Mirkwood was still unhardened by the deepest winter frosts, though the friends had just stumbled forth for air from a true mid-winter feast upon the first day of the new year. Thranduil could be counted upon to provide the very best at times of celebration, and both had partaken lavishly.
Quickly the snow-pelting became wrestling, and eventually Aragorn ended up on his back, not altogether unwillingly allowing himself to be pinned by the sprawling Elf above him. Both were panting, and Aragorn, when one of his wrists slipped free of Legolas' grip, reached up to smooth the Elf's flying locks away from his face.
"Now will you tell me?" demanded Legolas.
"Tell you what?" Aragorn's show of innocence was unconvincing.
Legolas made a small exasperated sound and dropped his head to his lover's shoulder, where it was instantly caressed by the Ranger's warm, hard hand.
"You want to know where I have been disappearing to these past few weeks, while you have been occupied in your father's Council." Legolas nodded assent against Aragorn's neck. "But what if that is a secret I do not wish to tell you yet?"
Legolas pulled himself slowly up to sitting and, taking both of Aragorn's hands, pulled the Man up likewise. They did not let go.
"Melethron, you must leave in three days."
Aragorn's smile died. "Aye," he replied soberly. These happy days in Thranduil's halls had been the longest time he had seen his lover in many years, and were likely to be the last for a long while. He came to a decision. "Come, I will show you the result of my labours," he said. "It is not ready yet, but I do not wish to keep any more secrets from you."
Seizing Legolas' hand, Aragorn led him into the snowy woods, well off the usual tracks. "Thranduil's halls are welcoming, but they are exceedingly busy and crowded at all hours," Aragorn explained as they went.
"Aye, that is why I am so frequently on patrol with my soldiers," replied Legolas, not without amusement. "Orc hunting and spider-chasing can be a kind of tranquility…"
Aragorn gripped his hand tighter. "I wish that you were not so very necessary to the defence of your father's kingdom. Your company would soothe my long solitudes in the wilderness."
Legolas held his gaze for a lengthy moment. "Someday," he said.
Aragorn replied, "Aye, someday." And it was like a vow, or perhaps a prayer. The Ranger pushed his way past some heavy brush. "Meanwhile, here is my secret, such as it is. It is a gift to you."
Legolas' eyes travelled up a very tall tree. A snug wooden enclosure, skilfully constructed and even more skilfully camouflaged, was nestled high in the branches.
"A flet!" exclaimed Legolas. "For us?"
"For us now, and for you in the days to come," Aragorn told him as they climbed to it. "Peace and quiet! But I have not had time to furnish it properly."
"It is marvellous," Legolas assured him, having pulled closed the small door that shut out the winter wind, and then spread himself upon the soft rug. It was very dim, and there was not room to stand upright, but that was not the posture Legolas had in mind in any case.
"How can I thank you?" the Elf whispered in his lover's ear, and strange to say Aragorn had no difficulty thinking of a way.
Much later, Aragorn lay with his head upon Legolas' shoulder, the slight creaking of the wind-blown tree the only sound in their snow-deadened world. The Elf's question came abruptly. "Can you tell me where you go next, or is that a secret also?"
Aragorn pushed up to one elbow, and ran the back of his hand affectionately across Legolas' cheek as he answered. "I trust you with my life, my Elf. But this is far more than just my life… " He paused, and a look of defiance tightened his jaw. "And yet - yes, I trust you without reservation. I will tell you, only you must promise that this must remain entirely between us."
Legolas nodded his solemn assent.
"I am sent to the far side of the Lake of Rhûn, to hide in the forests there and to observe what passes. There are scattered reports that armies of orcs may be gathering in that part of the country. If it is true, then the Dark Lord begins his evil campaign and, quarrelsome and fragmented though we are, the peoples of Middle Earth must hold Council and oppose him, or risk utter destruction."
Legolas' face had grown grim. "I understand," he said simply. "Would that I could be with you."
"Not yet," replied Aragorn. "Solitary stealth for now - but I fear your kingdom's strength, and that of all free peoples, will be needed ere long."
For a while they lay in silence with their troubled thoughts. But eventually Legolas stirred and, running a suggestive hand lightly across Aragorn's naked flank, asked, "To what other secret places will you allow me entrance while you are in this generous mood?"
Aragorn squirmed a little uncomfortably. "You shame me," he sighed. "That I should have grown so old without learning to please a lover in this way… It embarrasses me that I have denied you so long."
"Nonsense," retorted Legolas cheerfully. "You have not lived even one century - and besides, if it is not a pleasure to you as well as to me, I do not wish it." He dropped a peck on Aragorn's forehead, and Aragorn quickly seized his neck and turned it into a long, deep kiss.
"I am ready," he said eventually, in tones of such grim determination that Legolas could not forbear laughing once more.
"No you are not," said the Elf merrily, "but I will make you so!" Legolas was as good as his word, teasing and kissing and licking and even tickling until the Ranger was a gasping mass of desire beneath him; so needy that the insertion of a well-oiled digit into that secret place came only as a pleasurable surprise, not shocking at all.
"Now," said Aragorn hoarsely. "Please, now."
"Soon," soothed Legolas, and then he bit gently into Aragorn's shoulder as he eased another slender finger in, and then another.
Aragorn saw the hesitation in the Elf's face and cried out, almost angrily, "Please, Legolas! Do this for me!" And at that, Legolas at last gave in to his passion, sparing his lover nothing.
It was not pain but immensity of feeling that brought the unwilling tears to the Ranger's eyes. Desperately he tried to pull Legolas farther and farther into himself, to hold him there as if somehow he could ward off their inevitable separation. And then, when release came, there was no dignity, but only raw relief and the burning of a love so deep it was agonizing. The tears flowed. Legolas kissed his lips gently.
"You will not tell anyone that I wept?" Aragorn whispered.
Legolas shifted his kisses to the Ranger's damp eyes. "It will be our secret forever."
finis