"Lord Elrond?" Erestor asks after everybody else has filed out of the room. Elrond doesn't respond; he hears the words, but they sit idle in his mind as he tries to make sense of them. "Kitten?" the Councilor repeats, and that gets his attention because only Erestor calls him that, and usually only in bed.
He pulls his eyes from the table to meet Erestor's, and says nothing. The exhaustion evident in his features says more than he could at the moment.
Erestor smiles, not the polite Diplomat Smiles that he gives to the rest of the Council but an actual smile, genuine and comforting. "Meeting's over, kitten." His voice darkens to add, "Bedtime for us," and normally Elrond would love that but he's too tired to think about sex right now.
Elrond stands up and doesn't quite understand why his limbs feel so heavy, or why the room is swaying beneath him, until his knees buckle and he falls into Erestor's arms. "Thank you," he tries, but it comes out sounding slurred. It doesn't matter; Erestor knows what he means.
His eyes slip shut as Erestor gathers him up and walks back to Elrond's rooms.
Elrond's eyelids snap open when he feels himself being laid on something soft, fingertips moving whisper-light over his skin as the heavy robes fall away. "Love you," he murmurs, because his mind feels like it's stuffed with cotton but that much is clear.
"I love you," Erestor whispers as he settles at Elrond's side. "Get some sleep, kitten."
Consciousness slips away almost immediately, as if all his mind needed was the order.
Erestor cradles his lover in his arms, smiling into Elrond's hair.
He's missed this, just being together. A quiet, chaste affection that doesn't take or demand. It's not something he often has time for, and he savors it while he can.
Erestor falls asleep with Elrond in his arms.