Author's note: CW: gets fairly sexy for a bit in this chapter. On a completely different note, hope you fine bunch are well and drinking your water! Be sure to look at something happy or pleasant today! Surviving is more than enough and I'm confident that you can do the thing!
Edith: I've never been able to find someone who completely resembles how I'd pictured Rhodri. As far as features go, I always imagined her to have straight, cool brown hair, light grey eyes, and pale skin. lf I had to name someone who looked like her, it'd be the actress Jessica de Gouw with a slightly longer nose. Rhodri is much more expressive and animated, though, and her face is very dynamic. When I picture her getting excited, she basically looks like a librarian on speed.
Elizabeth: As far as I know, the origin of Orcs is a little bit debated, but I do believe that it happened shortly after the Awakening of the Elves. Melkor was the first of the Valar to find out about them and visited them before any other Valar could reach them. He fed them lies about how a rider (Oromë, in this case) was going to come and mislead them. Those Elves he managed to convince came with him, and he kidnapped and tortured them, their mutilation turning them into the Orcs.
Gail: Nah, sleepwalking isn't born of loneliness. :D It's usually because the part of your brain controlling emotions and movement is still firing on all cylinders when it should be asleep like most of the other non-vital bits. Usually because you're overtired or have a substance in your body that shouldn't be in there.
Glorfindel and Erestor had depressingly little to report. Their conversation partners had nothing of any interest regarding crime occurring in their lives, nor had they seen anything suspicious happening of late.
I told them about the stolen painting, which saw a return visit to the library in short order. After inspecting the wall, Erestor made a few notes and plastered poor Handir with questions about who was in the library at what time.
Beyond that, we had no idea how to proceed. The library had seen people coming and going all day, as usual, and since Handir had been closed up in the back room for a large block of time, anyone could have come in.
"I'm not sure what else we can really extract from the information we currently have, Erestor," said Glorfindel as he rubbed his eyes and stretched a little. I glanced out the window. The sun had started to bow out for the day, and we only had a short window of time to get to dinner and then training.
"Perhaps we should leave it for the day," I said as I gestured at the fading daylight outside. "It must almost be time to eat now."
As if on cue, the dinner bell rang. Nodding to each other, we bundled our notes up and I stuck them in with the patient files, locking the drawer with a click before we dashed out to stuff our faces.
Early the next morning, some few hours before breakfast, I sat at my desk with a strong cup of tea and a slice of bread, poring over the notes we'd made yesterday. Glorfindel was sprawled out on the couch, tea in one hand and a list of prospective horses on offer in the other (we had just struck up a new transport deal with Rohan). A knock came at the door which made us look up sharply.
"It's open!" I called out.
The door opened to reveal Erestor standing with his hands behind his back.
"Good morning," he said, giving us a shy but friendly smile.
"Hello, there," Glorfindel and I returned in chorus.
"How come you're awake so early, Erestor? I've never seen you up and about at this hour," I asked.
"I've had a thought," he said, turning a chair to face the both of us and sitting down.
"Oh?" Glorfindel sat up with interest, almost sloshing his tea everywhere as he did.
"What if the culprit is right under our noses?" Erestor continued, looking at the both of us with wide (and rather tired) eyes.
"I can guarantee it's not me," I said, holding up my hands and shaking my head quickly. "That painting was absolutely hideous. If I wanted to take artwork, I'd have purloined that watercolour of Mithlond that Elrond has hanging above his desk. And it can't be Glorfindel, because I'd know about it if he did," I jerked a thumb at Glorfindel, who was about to say his piece on why he was innocent.
"No, no, not you two," Erestor said, shaking his head in agitation. "Elrond."
Glorfindel and I stared at Erestor like he'd just slapped us.
"You must be joking," I said with a shocked laugh. "Elrond? Steal something? This is the same guy who gave me half of his scoop of ice cream once when I complained some of mine had dripped onto his plate."
"Not intentionally, Rhodri!" Erestor said, now quite exasperated. "What if he sleepwalks?"
Glorfindel raised an eyebrow. "During the day? To steal paintings from the library?"
Erestor's face froze. "Oh. Hm. I had forgotten about that part," he murmured quietly.
"Erestor, what time did you go to bed last night?" I asked, watching him closely.
He shrank into himself a little as he mumbled something about "two hours ago."
I pointed at my door. "Go back to bed. I don't want to see you awake for another two hours."
Erestor looked at me like I'd just asked him to murder his father.
"You heard me," I said, raising my eyebrows at him. "Friends don't let friends suffer from sleep deprivation. If you don't leave by the time I count to ten, Glorfindel and I will march you back to your room in front of everyone."
"I can't believe this is happening," he whispered. "I'm the sensible one!" He jabbed a finger into his chest.
"One…" I held up a finger.
Sighing loudly, Erestor relented and with a downcast wave, shuffled out of the office.
"'Sensible one' my arse," I muttered to myself as I returned to my notes.
A tiny snort came from Glorfindel's direction, and all fell silent again.
When the time for proper breakfast rolled around, we ambled out and after eating, along with Elrond and a more rested Erestor, went to Elrond's study to deliver our report, such as it was.
"So in short, the only thing we've uncovered is that there's been one more theft," I said to him. "It might be well to do a little more asking around to see if anyone else has seen anything unusual, but for now, we've reached something of a dead end."
Elrond chewed on his lip, not pleased at all. "No new information about Narsil at all?"
Glorfindel shook his head regretfully. "I'm afraid not."
Elrond sighed. "Most unfortunate. Well, thank you for the report, you three. I'd better let you get on with your day, I suppose."
We all made for the door, Erestor leaving first.
"Oh, and Rhodri, Glorfindel," came Elrond's voice from behind us. Glorfindel and I turned around.
"Mmm?"
"Don't forget that tonight is an early night, no training," he said, not looking up as he was busily writing.
"Goodness, Elrond, you'd think we were absent-minded, the way you carry on sometimes," I said with a grin.
"Oh, but incidentally, thank you for returning our rocks," Glorfindel piped up.
"Oh, yes, sorry, I forgot to thank you for that," I said, nodding. "Feel free to do the same thing with any other possessions we might accidentally leave in your office. Though perhaps next time, just leave them to the side of the doorway so I don't accidentally step on them in the dark."
Elrond turned around now, looking thoroughly bewildered.
"What in heaven's name are you two talking about?" he asked, face screwed up in confusion.
"The… the rest of our rocks?" Glorfindel said, now also quite puzzled. "When you reminded us to take them with us, we only grabbed some of them, so you put the rest in front of our door later."
"Helpful and petty," I praised him warmly.
Elrond blinked at us and then shook his head. "I have absolutely no idea what you're speaking of now, but you can be assured that once you took your rocks with you, I had nothing more to do with them."
I put my hand over my mouth as my mind flashed back to the day we took out those rocks to show them to Elrond and Bilbo. We gave half the rocks to Bilbo and half to Elrond to look at, and Bilbo started telling stories that distracted us…
"Good lord," I breathed. "I think it might be Bilbo."
"Bilbo?" Elrond repeated in surprise.
"He was the only other one in the room," Glorfindel said slowly. "Perhaps he pocketed the rocks and forgot about them."
"And what of Narsil? And the painting?" Elrond returned sceptically. "He had a reputation as the burglar before, when he was in with Thorin's band, but he is too well-off to desire the possessions of others for himself. He has nothing to gain from taking those things."
"He doesn't need to," I murmured to myself.
Elrond and Glorfindel looked at me in curiosity. "What do you mean?" Elrond asked.
"Theft isn't always born of a reasonable need or desire for the object," I replied, tapping my fingers against my face.
"It couldn't be Bilbo, surely-"
"Well, who else was in your study the day after we came home and showed you the rocks?" I asked, raising an eyebrow at him. "The next day was very short, if I recall, because that was the day everyone was in bed early."
"Only you two and Erestor," he admitted, musing for a moment before looking at us in shock. "Goodness, it couldn't be Erestor, could it-"
"I'm certain it isn't," Glorfindel said over the top of him. "He's too much like you in that regard."
Elrond sighed. "Oh, dear me. This is an unwelcome development." He shook his head in disappointment. "How do you intend to prove it was Bilbo, then?"
"Ah," I said. "That's a good question, actually. I don't really know what people do here to get the proof for that, but I know where I came from, authorities could give temporary permission to search the suspect's dwelling if they had reasonable suspicion something illegal was going on."
"That seems a little extreme, don't you think?" Glorfindel said, looking surprised.
"For this sort of thing, yes," I agreed. "I don't really know what else to do, though. Let me think on it for a day or two and I'll get back to you."
§
I don't know what I was expecting. Well, I do, as a matter of fact. I had rather hoped that if I sat in my office with the window open, the solution would blow in and fall neatly into my lap. I never said so out loud, lest I be laughed out of Rivendell and onto the next boat west. Even so, though, that didn't dim my hopes that I would miraculously be spoon fed an answer.
Two days passed, and no such thing had come to pass. I remained as unqualified as ever to approach our suspect and establish his innocence, or lack thereof as the more likely case was.
Word had started spreading around that Glorfindel, Erestor, and I were the ones to talk to if things went missing, though, and sure enough, even though ideas were lacking, crime was not. According to a horrified Nathron from the weaver's, an entire jar of high-quality indigo dye (blue was still a rare and luxurious colour for clothes) had disappeared. Gildor, who oversaw a lot of the internal affairs, had advised the day before that his bottle of wine that he'd left in the kitchen was gone. From what we'd seen, however, Bilbo was living quite a normal-looking life, working on his book, enthralling people with stories, and falling asleep in public places.
If it had been anyone else, I would have just confronted them directly about it, but I had a funny feeling that however I tried to approach Bilbo about it, he would deny it. He wouldn't even engage with me when I went to ask him if he'd noticed anything unusual, launching into a story about how he was swindled by his cousin. I wanted to avoid confronting him if possible, but at this rate, I didn't know how else I was going to get an answer out of him.
I decided while eating dinner that I would pluck up the courage to find Bilbo the next day and talk with him about it. It wasn't going to happen tonight, because it was one of the off-days where Elrond assumed we would be fast asleep at the stroke of seven.
"I'm honestly not sure how to go about bringing this up with Bilbo while being sure he will give an honest answer," I admitted to Glorfindel as seven o'clock fell and we entered our chambers.
"I don't suppose there is much to do about it, my love," he replied as he hung his robe up on the coat rack. "If he is confronted with the evidence we have and finds a way to explain it, it could well be true. You could, perhaps, try to look into his mind a little to see if he is lying." Seeing me grimace at that, he quickly added, "Or, perhaps, you could ask Elrond to do that part. I'm sure he wouldn't mind."
I sighed and rested my head against his chest. Glorfindel chuckled as he stroked my hair with one hand and slipped my robe off with the other.
"Ah, Rhodri. Your fear of abusing power is really very endearing." He stretched his arm out and hung my robe on the rack with his.
"Well, no sense in using that energy for nefarious purposes when there's plenty more delightful things to keep me busy," I murmured as I sought his lips. Glorfindel let out a tiny moan and kissed back so hard that I would have overbalanced if he didn't have a hand on the back of my head. I was surprised. I was usually the one to snap like this, whereas he liked to stir me up and tease me as long as he could get away with it.
"You broadcast to me that you're mentally taking me out of my clothes all day, and now you're taken aback that I respond when we're alone?" Glorfindel panted as he moved his head away, his brows a little knitted and eyes glittering lasciviously.
Ah, that explained it. I had indeed let my mind wander a few times over the course of the day, and I shamelessly had made it quite obvious to him where my thoughts had ended up.
"My apologies, beloved," I whispered as I brushed my lips over his, moving my head away as he tried to catch them. "Had I known it distresses you, I never would have done it."
He looked horrified, but I cut across him before he could say anything.
"To be fair to me, though, it is terribly hard to resist indulging a little fantasy or two every once in a while." I bit my lip and moved my hand down his chest and over his stomach, stopping just where his pants started, prompting a hard exhale from Glorfindel as his hips jerked a little. "You really are thoroughly intoxicating."
I shrugged gently and walked away from Glorfindel to the bed, casually letting my pants drop to the ground as I went. "Not to worry, my love, I know better now. In future, I'll keep my daydreams to myself."
And, as if right on cue, I heard footsteps pick up behind me as he caught up and overtook me, his shirt already off as he stood between me and the bed, watching me with quite open lust now. I raised an eyebrow at him.
"Please, Glorfindel, have a little mercy," I purred, making my eyes as big as possible. "I just told you it's nearly impossible to resist you, and here you stand looking even more ravishing than usual? It's intolerable cruelty, really."
Before I could take another step, Glorfindel snatched me up and kissed me so hard he nearly broke my nose, his tongue in my mouth before I knew what was going on. A small, involuntary moan escaped me, which only seemed to encourage him, his grip around me tightening as he pressed me firmly against him.
"You can do whatever you want with me," he murmured as he came up for air, his eyes glowing.
"Anything?" I asked, my own body getting hotter as I traced a finger up his powerful thigh.
He shuddered. "Anything," he whispered.
"So if I wanted to kiss you again, I could?" I suggested, kissing everywhere near his mouth that wasn't his lips.
"Yes," he breathed.
"What if I wanted to lick you?" I enquired as I trailed my tongue along the smooth skin down to his belly button. A hissing sound came from Glorfindel as he slowly let out a puff of air.
"Please do."
"How about, say, suck on you?" I lightly ran my hand over the less-than-subtle bump at the front of his pants.
"Anything, I promise," he gasped, his ragged breathing now very audible.
I leaned into his face and sent my tongue up the side of his ear. "Well, to be frank with you, beloved, I want you," I said in a hushed voice, "in a rather carnal sense."
"Have me then," he moaned as he tried to press himself against me.
"Take off your pants and get on the bed first, please," I said with forced steadiness as my skin practically hummed with arousal. "I don't want to cause any injury should I… ah… lose control of myself for a moment."
He didn't need to be told twice. He was completely bare and on the bed in seconds, and I only needed a couple more myself before I joined him.
One need not be a psychologist to work out what happened in the few hours that followed that rather heated exchange. I thanked my lucky stars as we fell asleep that the rooms were so well soundproofed, because had they not been, Glorfindel's roars might have been heard as far off as the Grey Havens.
When I awoke at the usual 2:30am, Glorfindel was still out cold, which was unsurprising given the conditions of the earlier evening. That didn't lessen the fact that I had a hankering for a snack of some kind, though, and so, being the slave that I am to my digestive system, I got dressed and went downstairs to the kitchens.
As I reached the corridors, I took a moment to feel the balmy night air on my face. It was a beautiful evening, and I didn't even try resisting the urge to step outside a little and look up at the stars.
My eyes passed over the upper floors of the house on the way up, and as they did, I noticed a shadow flit along the corridor of the level above me, straight past my office.
Afraid an errant Orc had made its way into Elrond's house, I shot up there as fast and silently as I could and snuck along the corridor behind it. It paused by the area with the sculptures, and as I chanced a look at it, it cast a distinctly un-Orclike silhouette in the moonlight. It had a head of curly hair, for a start, and was rather rotund. It cast a furtive glance around before it before it slipped over to where the remains of Narsil were displayed. The curly-haired shadow produced a pointy-looking thing from under one arm (I nearly gasped at the thought of the safety risks that posed) and placed it on the marble slab with the other shards. I waited for it to step away again before I spoke.
"Hello, Bilbo."
