Ways of healing
Although he was greatly embarrassed over what had happened at the pool, and the fact that he could not get the memory of the naked Celegorm out of his mind, Dior made a point of explaining to Nimloth what exactly had happened there. He hated to lie for her, especially when it came to any possible injury he could get, and she agreed that it was a situation hard to avoid.
"Besides, if he helps to ensure that Elrond arrive here, it lessens the risk of a letter form us landing in the wrong hands. No servant of Thingol is allowed to find us before you are ready."
Both of them hoped that Maedhros and Elrond would arrive soon, for the bottle with eye drop medicine was soon empty despite that Dior only needed to add two to three drops into his left eye everyday.
~X~X~X~X~X~X
In Formenos, Maedhros did not expect a letter from Celegorm outside the minor information of that he had promised to not get involved into anything that could be misread as him being behind the disappearance of Dior and his family.
However, at seeing what this letter was about, he did not hesitate.
"Elrond? Elrond, I have some good news and a one less pleasant one; Celegorm have written that Dior and his family have sought sanctuary in the Woods of Oromë. Nothing big have happen to them, but it seems that Dior is in need of a medicine for his eyes."
Elrond, who had came running from the library the moment Maedhros called, took a look himself over the letter.
"I know which medicine my grandfather needs. I was actually worried about that he would run out of it while being in hiding. Another case of that the healers originally from Doriath have very little knowledge about Men and why they are so different from the Eldar. Elros would get so frustrated over that if he was here right now," Elrond said with remembrance over how his twin had worried about his mortal healers which he had brought along to Númenor, if their skills was enough on their own or if he needed to call over some Elven healers to train them. The Elven healers at the end of the First Age had not been too bad when dealing with mortals, or those who lived though and survived the Second Age, but once the Third Age had gone on, less contract had been between the two Races outside Imladris and Mirkwood.
"Get ready for travel early tomorrow. Your grandfather may need that medicine soon."
"What about the orphanage? Can you just leave the staff and children like that without warning?" Elrond wondered, stopping in the middle of starting to mix together the ingredients for the eye drop medicine Dior would have.
"Do you really think that I am the only boss over there, because I was the one to starting that place? No, the whole family is involved into it, even Celegorm despite how rarely he is home on visits in Formenos, one way or another just to have something important to focus on in everyday life. The staff can just run around to get my parents or brothers if there is a problem when I am away," Maedhros responded before leaving. Elrond rolled his eyes for a moment, one day he would really tell the oldest Fëanorian exactly which habits Elros had picked up from him in childhood and kept for the rest of his mortal life. Perhaps it had been the best that Celegorm, Caranthir and Curufin had been killed in the Second Kinslaying, or Eru knew how Elros might have turned out as King with those three as foster uncles! Amrod and Amras had proven themselves a lesser worry about a such idea than the three middle brothers.
Elrond then recalled something else; even if Dior and their sons was counted among the Elven kin now, Nimloth had mentioned a small worry that his mortal blood would cause some trouble again, by a new pregnancy neither one had planned. In fact, they had not expected Elwing to be born only three years after her brothers, since they originally had planned to try for a third child once Eluréd and Elurín was past the age of five or six, the age when they had died. And knowing too well from the Third Kinslaying that his mother could be horribly obsessed over something as her main fatal flaw, Elrond doubted that Elwing would react well on her parents having a fourth child, especially if it was a little sister. One of Elwing's worst fears was to be replaced by the people in her life, something she already had been as a parent by Maglor in the eyes of her own sons and Elros had partly chosen the Gift of Men to spite the mother he had never truly forgiven for abandoning him and Elrond over a magical gemstone. Elrond, as well, refused to forget that horrible feeling that had dawned in him when it became clear that neither Elwing or Eärendil would come back for them.
"I better add in that herbal tea which act as a natural contraceptives for them both if they drink it daily, in what I need to bring to them. My grandparents would have enough to deal with grandfather's needed recovery from the abuse he got from Thingol, and a new pregnancy would only add more stress for them both when he needs a peaceful time."
~X~X~X~X~X~X
With their sons away to play with their friends in the village, Nimloth and Dior helped out to sew and mend some of his clothes, when he suddenly laid down the needle and tunic in his lap.
"Beloved...do you...have you...ever found me clingy at some point? Or that I seem too dependent on you for emotional support? Due to the huge age difference between us?"
Holding in a few curse words as she stabbed herself in a finger of shock over his words, Nimloth turned on her head to look at him.
"Dior, when did you start thinking like that?! I would have been more worried for you if you had married one of the silly court ladies in Doriath, since I can truly imagine you become unhappy in the long run with a bride who is used to comfort and not the hard life you grew up with! I doubt that even the wedding night would have gone well, with either her running out of the bedchamber in terror at the first proper look of a adult male without clothing or yourself ending up looking like a fool due to your bride running off!"
Dior blushed slightly in memory of their wedding night, even with having been given the Talk when entering adolescence and watching animals mate, he had been very unsure about what to do, though they had figured out how to consummate after some cuddling together close in bed. Nimloth did not notice that blush on his face, since she was still going on in a rant:
"...and not to mention that several of those silly maidens was greatly confused by how fast you grew from a child into a adult, ready to marry and father children before you even had seen thirty springs of life! I recall that at least one of them had the nerve to ask if it really was natural! And then teasing me about that I was about to marry a overgrown child!"
Dior said nothing, only listened as she babbled on, understanding that she did not aim anything on him. He had heard similar comments about their age difference after rebirth, many doubting that their marriage could count as a real one since he basically would not even be a adolescent in Elven growth.
"One of the times my mortal blood turned out to be useful, huh?" he finally smiled in a attempt to joke. And was rewarded with a kiss, as well the weight of his wife above him that landed them both on the bed he had been sitting on, her hands on each side of his head to not having their faces crash painfully. While Nimloth did not exactly saddle his hips, she still kept their most intimate parts very close together, the only hinder being his trousers and her dress.
"Dior, you proved yourself to be mature in both body and mind as you grew up back in the First Age. Yes, there was times you did not exactly act wise, and when you proved yourself to be a bit naive about how things would go, the Second Kinslaying being a brutal price for it, but I would marry you again even if I would know what happened! Because you are the kind of husband I always longed to have as I grew up, even if I at times doubted that I ever would marry because of my taste in a husband!"
Kissing him again, Nimloth kept going until that they had to break the kiss to breathe. Both of them heavy blushing, Dior dared to lift his head and use his teeth to loosen the string Nimloth had tied the front of her dress with, held up with the string around her neck. Perhaps as a teasing, it was actually one of his favorites to see her wearing, a lovely mint green created for practical use even if it was not a dress she wore outdoors often since its colour would catch attention.
"Be still, if you can, I want to slowly undress you and give you pleasure at the same time," Dior requested in a low voice, kissing first her mouth before moving over to her breasts. He was perhaps only able to see with one eye, but her body was familiar enough for him to know where to stimulate her best. For example, in that Nimloth loved to have his tongue lick and suck small circles around her nipples.
"Oh, you want to play around a bit today?" she grinned, a glimpse in her black eyes promising a nice reward for that he tried to be brave today. She could smell from the soap on his body that he must have shaved this morning, for he still had some stray body hairs growing even after rebirth and removed them by shaving with a sharp razor which had been a gift from Elrond when Dior had admitted some problems with his hair growth, rather than suffering the pain of using tweezers for the hair removal.
Standing up on her knees for a few moments, Nimloth shaked her body slightly so the dress slided down over her hips, revealing that she only had a pair of underpants on her. Then, she bent back down and started to kiss from his neck down to his shoulders. She knew better than placing a hand on the left side of his face, Dior still linked a such touch too much with how Thingol had treated him before and it would only ruin the mood if he was triggered to remember the pain of being hit with a fist there. But he accepted a gentle kiss on the closed eyelid after that she brushed his hair aside, somewhat uncomfortable with keeping both eyes open when they made love like this.
As far as Nimloth could remember, Dior had almost always kept his blind eye either closed or covered by his hair. He hesitated extremely even at the mere thought of cutting his bangs short, since that would expose his milky white eyes for everyone to see and he hated to use a eye patch or anything similar that would draw attention to his face while covering his eyes.
"Nimloth….please!" Dior gasped at her kissing his ear tip. In terms of body shape, Dior had the board shoulders of a Man, though he had inherited the skim body of a Elf from Luthien's side of the family. Climbing up in bed so he had some more space, they faced each other while laying on a side. Then, Nimloth removed his trousers slowly. Already knowing how insecure he felt about openly showing the scar just above his groin left behind by the dagger Celegorm had killed him with, she used her smaller silk scarf to cover it so neither one would see it and Dior relaxed more than earlier, even drawing a small breath of relief.
"Let's see how well we can enjoy each other, huh?" she teased, kissing him further down, her long hair flowing over his skin and making him shudder. She was not too shocked over that he had some trouble getting hard properly even as she helped out with mouth and hands on his manhood, it was one of the things caused by his poor self confidence as Thingol kept belittle him. But it had slowly started to turn around, and the noises he made was so very pleasant for her ears.
Dior could both feel and hear how hard his heart was beating against his ribs. It was in moments like this that he treasured Nimloth more than anything else, how much she was willing to accept that he had some flaws and that she tried to help him whatever he needed it. He moaned loudly, shivering as she finished his nibbles, slowly down his groin without even touching where her scarf was, kissing the tip of his manhood before licking it. Then she took it all in her mouth, a movement that made him gasp of pleasure as she sucked and used her tongue inside her mouth to touch. Closing his eyes in a attempt to keep himself under control, Dior thrusted into her mouth, his hands gripping on the bed sheets. But before he could come, she removed her mouth.
"You want to worship me, are you not, my dear forest prince?" she asked in a tempering voice, removing her underwear with one hand so she was all naked like the way she had been born. Dior's eyes, already dark with desire, was focused on one point as Nimloth laid down on the bed, but not facing him. The moment she was in a good side position, Dior almost attacked her most sacred place with the desperation of someone finding cold water to think in the worst heat of summer, when it was so hot that people risked to faint if they did not stay in the shade and drink a lot. And there was few other things Dior enjoyed more than worshipping her by pleasuring her in this manner, he wanted to show just how of a treasure she was in his life.
In return, Nimloth rewarded him in the manner she knew that he enjoyed, he preferred this way over being the dominant partner in bed, for he feared to possibly harm her by mistake if his pleasure or any other massive feeling triggered his Maia powers to become active. It had happened once when he still was toddler on visit in Doriath, and one unlucky servant had been knocked unconscious after being slammed into a column by the force from his temper tantrum, leaving Dior very horrified over what he had done.
It did not take long before Dior's skilled tongue brought Nimloth to climax, and since he generally wanted her to enjoy that pleasure first, she waited a little before bringing him over the edge as well. As Dior gasped for breath, his face reddish from the heavy blushing and the way his seeing eye was still shining with desire for her, Nimloth could feel her heart melt at the erotic sight.
"And he is my husband…"
Since Nimloth was well aware of that Dior could be drawn to people of his own gender as well, she had only drawn a line about that he would not do it behind her back. If he so wanted, she was willing to keep him look for someone who might catch his attention. However, he had admitted one worrying problem about his taste in males a few days ago….
"Nimloth...should we...tell Celegorm about why we escaped from my grandfather's court? The actual reason for it, I mean…" Dior asked nervously as they cuddled up close to each other. Rather than being shocked or even surprised by the question, however, Nimloth knew that he must have tried to ask it earlier but not found enough courage to actually form the words.
"We can not exactly postpone it forever, I bet that Elrond is going to want to know how it all started because you sometimes worries about your hearing in your left ear from how often you were hit there or around your eye, right? As healer he should have dealt with something similar among mortals in Middle-Earth."
Dior whined slightly at the reminder, pulling up a hand to his left ear by instinct. He had been lucky to not ending up with a bad case of hearing impairment, but being blind on his left eye had not allowed him to see when to avoid the incoming pain as Thingol had hit him. The worst had been when Dior actually had been held fast by his jaw, unable to move his head.
"Yes...sometimes I have harder to hear on a longer distance…though I hope that it will heal naturally, I hate to burden Elrond with so much of our medicinal needs simply because he is the one healer here in Valinor who have the best experience when it comes to us with mixed blood…." Dior admitted, feeling ashamed at the thought. Moving closer, Nimloth kissed him again so he would have anything else to think of.
"Rather your own grandson than some untrained idiot, since Elrond is someone who actually can give you a helpful treatment."
That was something hard to disagree with.
~X~X~X~X~X~X
Celegorm had stayed away from the cottage for a few days after the meeting at the pool with Dior. Today, however, he planned to return there as there was no way he could eat that whole deer by himself, even if he shared its meat with Huan. Wasting anything of a prey animal was seen as a disrespect to Oromë when living here in the Woods.
"A family of four should have better need for this amount of meat, especially with two growing boys," he thought in memory of how much Amrod and Amras could eat together, often trying to match the appetite of their elder brothers. Well, it was not so strange actually, with their various chosen work professions that often involved heavy work and needing to use lots of energy, it was no big surprise that his family ended up with big meals enough to feed them all at the meal times.
After bringing the deer body to the butcher in the village with an request to give the meat to either Nimloth or Dior the next time when they were bound to arrive there for buying food and other necessary items for a family with children, Celegorm actually saw the wife in question a bit further away on the main street. To be precise, Nimloth was standing outside the tailor shop, thanking the village tailor for some service while holding a package wrapped into some older fabrice that was used to protect the contents inside.
"Ah!"
Neither one knew what to do first, Nimloth was still a bit wary of Celegorm due to the past, and he had heard from several Fëanorian soldiers in the Halls that she had managed to kill five of them despite their full steel armour in front of the nursery in Menegroth with only a a minor sword, using the furniture inside to shield herself from the attacks at first before she had been cut down. Clearly she had been trained from childhood to use some weapons to both attack and defend, unlike Luthien.
"Since you already is aware of that we ran away, Dior wishes to explain why we did it...but he is not always comfortable talking with people alone, his social skills was not exactly the best due to events with his grandfather before we ran away…" Nimloth finally spoke, somewhat awkwardly. Celegorm nodded, offering her to lead the way back to her home.
~X~X~X~X~X~X
Dior was somewhat caught off guard at seeing Celegorm arrive with Nimloth. Despite already dressed in his everyday clothes, he threw on a longer robe in a attempt to hide his body, being seen naked once by Celegorm had not been what he wanted to repeat again too soon. The board shoulders was impossible to do anything about, but at least the robe fell straight down to the ground and it was wided from below the arms so it was not forming around his body. One of the best gifts Nimloth had given him since their rebirth.
"Dior, I brought some mint leaves for the tea you likes to drink. Do you want some now?" Nimloth called just as he finished checking on his lace braid in a small mirror so it really did hide his blind eye from view. He really was not in the mood of hearing the voice of Thingol in his memories calling him indecent again.
"Yes, the kettle is already filled with water I added earlier. I am coming."
Though to be fair, Dior did spot a faint blush when he came out in the largest room that served as a joined dining area and living room. Without saying a word of greeting in fear of messing up, he sat down at the table to face Celegorm, while Nimloth quickly face two large cups of steaming hot mint-smelling tea in front of them as she took a smaller cup and sat down as well. Before the Fëanorian even opened his mouth, she responded with a answer he had not planned to wonder about:
"Neither one of us likes any alcohol stronger than cider. For me it is that awful bitter taste, while Dior actually get sick from it. We was actually called boring by others whatever there was something of a drinking party going on at the Sinda court, just because we did not want to take part of it."
Rather than protest at the mention of those awful drinking parties he had disliked so much, Dior used the moment to take one big sip of his tea, just to try and keep himself together. There was just no way he could hide how nervous he was.
"It all started with a more controlled version of those drinking parties, just us two and some old friends of Nimloth with their own respective husbands. After some nice cider to drink and some of those finger sandwiches to eat, someone got the idea of trying out a small challenge with poetry, writing it down and then read it out aloud so the others could hear. The theme was to the glory of the Sun and Moon, or more precise Arien and Tilion, if we wanted to try out the two Maiar as inspiration. Since we all was amateurs in one way or another, we thought it to be nothing else than a innocent game to have some fun….."
Dior got quiet, swallowing hard as if he tried to push down a unpleasant memory, his hands tightening around the tea cup as he tried to not start trembling. Nimloth hurried to explain when it became clear that he could not bring himself to say more.
"Turned out that one of Thingol's senior advisers overheard just as it was Dior's turn. Whatever it was the unusual way Dior had formed the words, or the fact that he was brave enough to stand up and move his body around as he spoke like a actor on a stage, we do not know. But the following day, Dior was called up to Thingol's private office...alone."
She did not need to say more. Celegorm could guess what it must have looked like for someone who held strictly on that the only proper relationship that could be related to romance was between a male and female.
"So Thingol misread it as a hidden desire to love Tilion as a lover?" he asked in a neutral way, though he was not surprised. The Maia who guided the Moon had been a popular lover among the rest of Oromë's followers back in his youth before the Darkening, and Celegorm himself had enjoyed a few rough love-makings with Tilion.
If anything, Dior became red enough in his face that Nimloth almost worried that he would pass out from the blood pressure.
"The title of Silver Prince….was meant to symbolic you. It….was meant to honor the prince you once were, before the Oath ruined so much in your life and family..."
There it was said. The closest thing to a possible love confession Dior managed to get out. Thankfully, Celegorm had the better sense to not start laughing over the irony of Luthien rejecting him as a suitor, only for her own son to end up feel the opposite. Dior would most likely not take a such reaction well.
Instead, Celegorm raised his tea cup to empty it, using the position to carefully check up Dior on the other side of the table with his eyes. If one ignored the stunning looks he had gotten as part of his unique lineage, he was still good-looking that he would have no trouble to catch the attention of someone he might like. Besides, there was no way the half-Elven would be a total virgin, being married and the father of three children, him being married meant that he already would have some experience even if he did not sought it out too much and Celegorm was easy bored by bedding those who never had sex before and was kept naive by their parents before the wedding night, needing to teaching them things they should already know from a basic talk when entering adolescence and that kind of bedding always ended up in the same manner, with him not enjoying it at all.
Offering a hand, which he held up the palm as a sign of not meaning any harm, Celegorm asked:
"I am charmed to hear that, and I fully understand that it can not have been easy to hide feelings for your own gender in a rigid court that is awfully narrow minded. Depending on how ready you may feel to try it out, Dior... would you like a taste of how it is with a male lover? If your wife is in the bed as well, for emotional support if you are too afraid to be alone with me?"
~X~X~X~X~X~X
Author note: Given the difference in how pregnancy works different for Elves and Men in Tolkien's world, I think the half-Elves would be somewhere in the middle, possibly needing to be more careful when it comes to their fertility since I honestly think that Elwing may have been a unplanned pregnancy. By looking on when she and her brothers are born, Eluréd and Elurín in the year 500 and Elwing in year 503 in the First Age, they are born only three years apart and that seems to be very close in birth date by Elven standards in my view. And with with all three of Dior, Elwing and Elrond having twins as their first offspring, I think their mortal inheritage may play a part in that
I also headcanon that due to their mortal blood, half-Elves may need the use of contraceptives to prevent unplanned pregnancies, since the humanish part of them may act as a contrast to the Elven side of their inheritage, with humans being able to father and bear far more children than Elves. With three children already, Dior and Nimloth may not want a fourth child and most likely asked Elrond for some outside help to prevent anything to happen
