(setting: Lorien,
immediately following Boromir's speech)
His eyes were aflame with thoughts of restoring glory to
Gondor, but through them he noticed Aragorn's face aswirl with
various emotions, ranging from surprise to confusion to admiration.
God, the moonlight touched his face, emphasizing his weariness.
Boromir wanted nothing more than to reach out and comfort him.
It was Aragorn who broke the silence, "Lords?"
He wasn't sure he had heard Boromir correctly. He had been so firm in
stating that Aragorn had no business in Gondor, and had openly
refuted the ranger's claim to the throne This speech, both in its
words and its spirit, was not within the man's character.
Briefly, Aragorn considered the effect of the Ring on
Boromir.
"Well, yes. I suppose you
have some right to be in Gondor." The walls were coming back up
already. Aragorn considered this weakening very carefully. He was
getting some interesting mixed signals from his companion, made worse
as Boromir turned to face him again.
"I'm
sorry. That was awful of me." He stood and paced a semi-circle
around Aragorn. "So much is going through my mind lately."
Aragorn nodded, assuming he meant the quest, but Boromir continued
and the ranger realized just how vulnerable he was.
"I can't stop thinking about Caradhas, and yet I am
sorry for it. I should not have forced myself on you like that."
The emotions on the ranger's face resolved to an amused confusion.
Boromir paused, unsure of how to interpret Aragorn's reaction.
Aragorn stood to join him, clasping his shoulder,
"Boromir, you needn't worry." And he turned Boromir toward
him and kissed him. Happily surprised, Boromir returned the kiss.
The two walked into the
wood.
At one point during the night, it occured to
Aragorn that his dreams of recent nights were coming to
life.
The next morning, the air was filled with
awkwardness. And it wasn't so much the interaction between Aragorn
and Boromir, who seemed more at ease with each other than before. It
was the interaction between the couple and the Fellowship and the
populace of Lorian.
Aragorn seemed
unchanged, but Boromir walked with a renewed pride in his step, with
the vigor of a man a decade younger. Those who were used to dealing
with the moody, confrontational Boromir were finding themselves
caught off-guard. Even Merry and Pippin were avoiding the man for
fear he'd simply cracked.
Naturally,
the couple missed a number of the glances aimed at them. As the
morning wore on, Aragorn became more aware of the way he was regarded
by Legolas, Gimli, and the Lorien elves. Finally, he pulled Sam
aside, determined to find out what the looks were about. Fortunately,
Sam had little use for secrets.
"Well,
Strider sir, you were the last one to see Boromir last night. We all
figured that whatever illness gripped him may have gripped you,
too."
Aragorn chuckled at that.
Okay...that'll
do for now....I'll finish it later...
