Look who's finally back, huh? Some hiccups have prevented me from continuing with any of my fics, so hopefully this will mark the beginning of a new period of plentiful chapters!

x elysian x

The sun was setting on the sixth day of their journey, and if Elysian's map was correct, they were not far away from where Thorin's would be waiting for us. She had no idea what he wished to achieve by attacking an Orcish stronghold so far from home, but she was required to follow his orders.

They seldom spoke about anything but where they would rest and who would take the watch. She found it slightly disappointing. Despite her grudges, she genuinely wanted to come to terms with Thorin and their past. But it seemed like he didn't want anything to do with her.

And she supposed that was fair. She blatantly ignored him when he pleaded for forgiveness. It was a shame she only came to realize that she should have bitten and swallowed her pride and forgiven him long after they parted ways.

But she couldn't let her feelings get in the way of her job.

"We won't stop and rest tonight," Thorin's voice pulled Elysian out of her thoughts, and she found herself nodding even though he was in the lead and couldn't see her.

"I'm alright with that." She answered. "We shouldn't be far from the camp now."

He simply nodded. She looked up at the darkening sky, a slightly sobering sensation of nostalgia coming over her. She remembered all of the moonlit nights the two of them spent sleeping out underneath the stars, their journey across Middle-earth seeming as peaceful as life could ever get in a world like the one they lived in. They had been almost everywhere together, and it was impossible to stop in at villages and cities without remembering each building and the various things that happened there.

Elysian gave a huff, her feelings suddenly taking a rapid turn for the worse. She rolled my eyes at herself and gripped the reins tighter, feeling more frustrated than ever. She couldn't stand how unprofessional she had let herself become.

Elysian found herself boring resentful holes into Thorin's back with her eyes. Her frustration was mounting, turning into something more. And she did not like it one bit.

Within the hour, the forest dwindled away and was replaced by endless plains. On the horizon, she could only just see a fortress as black as nighr which, just by looking at it, you could tell it housed Orcs and all kinds of horrid creatures. She grimaced as an unwelcome chill travelled down her spine. It was a long while away, maybe about an hour's travel.

She turned her gaze a little to the right and saw their camp. It was small, and concealed well. She would not have noticed it if she hadn't been looking specifically for it. Inwardly she admired how well the soldiers had chosen their spot.

Due to its small size, the camp was pretty packed. And even then, she assumed that there were other little camps dotted around the plains which housed more of our people. She brought her horse to a halt as they came to the edges of camp.

"Alright. Shall I go ask where we'll be staying?" Elysian asked. Thorin gave a small nod, stopping his horse beside her's. She dismounted smoothly and approached one of the soldiers.

"We've arrived," she announced. "Now, if you wouldn't mind, show me to where I'll be setting up for time being."

He gave a nod and pointed to a small, makeshift shelter a few hundred metres away. "You and the King are going to have to share."

The trip was just getting worse and wose. She offered a few choice words to the Valar before nodding placidly.

"Fine, that's fine." Her exterior differed wildly from her inner feelings. "Thank you. As you were." She turned and began walking back to Thorin.

"We have to share," she said stiffly, gripping her horse's reins tightly. "Follow me."

His displeasure was palpable, but he managed to hide it from his voice. "Alright." He said monotonously as they wordlessly made for the shelter.

It looked a bit like a tent, she realized as she got closer. It had two wooden pikes for tying up the horses beside it, and it was large enough to accomodate then both and their necessary items and whatnot.

Elysian bound her horse's reins to the wooden pole and peeked inside the shelter. Inside sat a small table and two bedrolls. She breathed a sigh of relief. After almost a week of sleeping up against trees or not sleeping at all, a bedroll looked like heaven.

She entered the shelter fully and shifted her bedroll a little bit further from Thorin's. She felt stupid and immature in doing so, but she had her emotions to consider. Like whether she would end up cuddling him, or cutting off his head during the night. There was a fine line between the two and it was beginning to be a major problem.

"Is it habitable?" Came the question from the dwarf outside the shelter who was still tying up his horse.

"It's better than sleeping outside in a forest, I'll tell you that." Sge answered, sitting on her bedroll and sifting through the contents of her pack. "I think we should go to sleep soon, actually. We have lots to do tomorrow."

"By lots to do, I take it you mean attacking an Orc stronghold." I could almost see the smirk on his face by the tone of his voice.

"I want to get back home." She answered, then realizing what she had said. "I mean, to Erebor. Not..."

"Don't bother," he muttered, all mirth gone from his voice. "You're going to be staying there for a long time, so it is your home now."

Elysian went silent, mulling over how she would answer. She quickly decided on not answering at all. She put her pack aside, not bothering to change out of her armor before crawling into my bedroll.

Thorin entered the shelter, glancing around the interior. He didn't say a word as he turned away from her, slipping off his shirt and replacing it with his fur coat.

Now that they were alone and not bothered with the burden of travel, she felt all of her thoughts and feelings from the long journey crash into her. And she thought they were difficult to bear whilst on the journey; what was she thinking?

"Thorin," she finally ground out, after a long silence and brief consideration. "I wish to speak with you."

He grunted. "Again? What is it this time?" He sat down on his bedroll and she propped herself up on her side to face him.

Now or never. Say it or never say it at all.

"... I'm sorry." Elysian mumbled.

His dark blue eyes went wide, staring at the floor before raising his gaze to look at her.

"I'm sorry I didn't forgive you, when... forget it, you know what I'm referring to. I don't need to explain." She continued, unable to meet his gaze. She kept her eyes glued to the ground below her. "I'm sorry I refused to even correspond with you, let alone explain yourself. I just want to mend things, if possible. After all, if I'm going to be staying with you for a long while then I guess we'll have to."

She finally lifted her gaze to meet his timidly, preparing herself for any reaction she thought he would have. He was a predictable man, in some ways. For instance, she could always predict that he'd be unpredictable. She expected to see anger, surprise, bitterness or no emotion at all in his eyes. But she did not expect to see what she did.

Immediately he reached towards her, the gap between them suddenly not as large as she wanted it to be. His arms closed around her and their lips met before she could protest. It was so different from their other intimate moments, but it was just as exhilarating and breathtaking.

Unlike how he usually kissed her, this one burned not with anger and frustration but with passion. She never thought he would ever show such an emotion towards her again. Evidently, she was wrong. Her hands found their way to his hair, tangling her fingers in his dark tresses. He was holding her tighter than ever, as if he didn't ever want to let her go.

They kissed like that until their throats burned for air. She pulled her lips away grudgingly, sucking in deep breaths of air.

"What was that supposed to mean?" She raised an eyebrow.

"I accept your apology. Simply, that is all." He hadn't loosened his grip at all. She lightly eased away from him and he realized she wanted to be released, so he unlocked his arms from around her. "I do not have feelings for you. And I assume you harbor none for me."

Her body acted on its own as she pushed him back and shifted her body, lightly lowered herself onto his torso. He gazed up at her with confusion and curiousity in his eyes. She, too, was wondering what impulse could've possibly implored her to do that and what it wished to achieve. It seemed as if her body wanted it, but her mind was unsure. She placed her hands on his chest that was bare save his fur cloak and leant down, placing her lips on his collarbone briefly.

She was finding it difficult to distinguish what she wanted from what she didn't. It was driving her insane, so my heart acted for me and decided to go with whatever came to her. "Then let's pretend," she whispered, her lips beside his ears. "Even if for one night, let's pretend we do."

Time seemed to stand still as he gently placed his hands on her hips. No force was behind his grip; it was as if he was just putting his hands on her just so he could touch her, feel her skin. His answer was clear, although he wasn't saying anything. Just gazing up at her.

She leant down again and rested her forehead on his, the tips of their noses touching. They always used to do that, back when things were simpler. She shifted her hands to his shoulders, easing the fur cloak off his body. Thorin got the idea and began to unbuckle her armor slowly, keeping out of the way of her hands.

The gauntlets were gone, and so was his coat. She gently brought her fingers to his hair, brushing a few locks out of his face as he began to work on her cuirass. Elysian placed her lips on his cheek, then his neck, and collarbone, and then his left pectoral.

The black leather cuirass fell away from her body, finding its way into a heap beside their other clothing. He carressed her upper breasts gently, running his thumbs over the soft flesh.

"I didn't expect you to be so capable of such gentleness," she remarked softly, a faint smirk on her face. She knew he could be, definitely. As a lover, Thorin Oakenshield was the best of both worlds.

He barely answered, only responding with a quietly mumbled 'mmm'. His hands deftly rid her body of the undergarment covering her breasts as she traced her fingers along his cheekbones gently. She couldn't, or didn't want to, identify the exact feeling in her gut. Her emotions were confusing her. And she wasn't liking it.

What drove her to shuffle down his body slightly to go another step further and remove his trousers was beyond her. It was as if another power was controlling her, as if her willpower meant nothing. Her mind was arguing with itself, and it was making her head spin.

Thorin watched her with slight curiousity as she removed his trousers and undergarments with ease. She slowly and somewhat hesitantly removed her own remaining undergarments, beginning to regret putting this into action. But it was too late to go back. He obviously planned to go through with it, so who was she, his captain, to argue.

"Elysian." His coarse voice was enough to bring me out of my stupor. My gaze flickered to meet his and she found herself wondering, yet again, what her heart and mind truly desired.

His dark blue gaze bore into her eyes intensely. He placed his rough, calloused hands on her hips again, but made no effort to shift her. "I see that you are hesitant." His voice was quiet, harboring no kind of empathy at all. He was merely making a statement.

"I am, rather," Elysian confessed, placing her hands on top of his. "I don't know what I want. If you don't desire this then I-"

"Don't say anything else." He commanded. "I do not wish for it to end here. But if you are hesitant, then... Then I suppose our agreement could be cancelled." His voice was laced with stifled disappointment that was barely noticeable.

"Hey. When did I say that?" She rose an eyebrow, smirking a little. "I'm not averse to a roll between the sheets, you know that. I just..." She took a deep breath. "I don't know. Forget I said anything."

"Well, decide." He said, his voice dull. "I'm getting impatient."

"Mmm." She murmured, lifting her hips slightly. Her eyes met with his and she felt the gentle flame inside of her stomach grow into a blazing inferno of something between lust and adrenaline. He adjusted her hips to hover over his, and the tip of his manhood brushed her entrance, electrifying her body beyond what she imagined it would. He pulled me down onto his length, and her back went rigid as he filled her completely.

"Ahh..." She let out a soft murmur of approval as she took things into her own hands. She rolled my hips slowly, Thorin's breath hitching. She smirked gently, repeating the action. He mumbled something breathlessly, and she didn't bother trying to decipher what he said as she lifted her hips and lowered them down again with ease and practice.

One of his hands left her hip and traced her jaw gently, bringing their lips to brush against each others softly. The simple action was always something that sent gentle flames all through her body. Her eyes fluttered closed and she mumbled his name breathlessly.

As she established a steady pace, he closed the distance between their lips. They molded together perfectly, as they always had. He removed his hand from her jaw and replaced it on her hip. Then he did something unexpected. He bucked his hips, eliciting a cry of pleasure from her. Then he began to raise and lower her again, and he did it over and over. Slowly he sped up and she cried out again, her fingernails digging into his shoulders. She felt her body ignite deliciously as he connected with the spot inside her that made her almost turn to jelly in his arms. She moaned, rocking with his movements.

He sped up even more and held her hips tight, lifting her up a tiny bit. He began to thrust into her faster than she would have ever expected. Unimaginable pleasure lanced through her body, making her go weak. She cried out, the intense pressure in her abdomen getting more difficult to bear.

Her mind was blurring, and she couldn't see straight. She settled for squeezing her eyes shut as she cried out with ecstasy.

"Open your eyes." He commanded, his voice strained and hoarse with need and arousal. She forced her eyes open and they met with his. His blue orbs burned with desire and it made her body burn even more.

Her back arched as immense ecstasy spread to every inch of her body. He leant forward and captured her lips in his needily, the desire palpable in his burning kiss.

She was approaching her summit fast. His lips were suppressing her cries of pleasure, which was probably for the better, as the others would probably hear her otherwise. Her body on fire and it felt like heaven as she teetered on the edge.

Her insides tightened around his member, signalling what was certainly coming next. He grunted as if to tell her he was going with her, and with his final hard thrust, she came undone.

She had to try hard not to break free and cry out. It hardly did earth-shattering justice as she descended from her high, her body wracking with ecstasy. He groaned into the kiss as they rolled with the orgasm.

Their lips parted and she panted breathlessly, her throat hoarse.

"Thorin..." She mumbled, lifting herself off his length and lowering to lay on top of him. Her cheek rested on his chest and she listened to his rapid heartbeat. He rested his hand on her head and her eyes fluttered closed as exhaustion overtook her.

Elysian barely noticed as he pulled the thin covers up over them. Her mind was already halfway to slumber. She slowly drifted off into blissful darkness, the last sensation his hand toying with her dark locks.

And when she woke beside him the next morning, she realized it had been the best sleep she'd had in years.

Ugh, editing this fic makes me cringe so hard. How was I ever that terrible at writing?

Anyway, reviews are appreciated. Love every single one I get! Have a lovely day c: