Chapter Nine-The Buck Stops Here
The supper bell rang while I was absorbed by my book, and I almost didn't hear it. I put my book down, got up and went to dinner. As I walked to the dining hall, I felt a hand slip into mine. Turning, I saw Arwen had joined me.
"Good evening Lady Karyn. How was your afternoon?" She had a twinkle in her eye.
"Very nice, thank you Lady Arwen. May I speak freely?" I needed to get this off my chest.
Arwen looked at me curiously, "Of course, please state your mind."
"Okay," I took a breath, "I like your brothers, there's no denying that. Especially with what has happened recently. But…" and here Arwen smiled, "I am not some toy that they can play with any time they like. I'm a whole woman, with goals and dreams and I want to help people in meaningful ways. I have passions that go beyond physical pleasure. I believe in the rights of others and diversity. I want to help make life better for the inhabitants of Earth. I believe in the potential of every living thing! Do you understand what I'm getting at?" I had grabbed Arwen's hands and was squeezing them tightly.
Arwen nodded, "I understand. I know you are not a plaything, to be tossed aside when you have worn out your usefulness. My brothers really do like you, but I can understand if your heart does not lie with them. I would advise you to enjoy their company, but be honest with them. They will understand and will respect you for it. When your heart finds its mate, you will know." She gave a knowing look and smiled gently, "Let us go to supper before we are missed." Arwen led me into the hall and over to the table where the twins sat. She sat down and gently tugged me to follow.
The twins looked over at me and smiled conspiratorially. I nodded benignly at them.
Arwen whispered in my ear, "They leave in the morning, are you not going to say goodbye?"
"Yes, but I have other things to say to them that I do not want an audience to hear," I whispered back.
Arwen nodded, "I will arrange a meeting." She returned her attention to her meal.
We ate in relative silence, with small spatterings of conversation happening around the table. I listened to the noise trying to pick out words that I had learned that morning with Erestor, but they were speaking too quickly for me to pick up anything useful. I ate my meal and when I was done got up from the table.
"I apologize for leaving you, but I am tired and I need to go to sleep early. I want to recharge myself." I shrugged my shoulders in apology.
Arwen clasped my hand in hers, "Have a good sleep Lady Karyn. We will see you in the morning."
I smiled at her and left the table. On the way out of the hall Elrond caught me.
"Lady Karyn, just the mortal I wanted to see. May I have a word with you?" He guided me out the door and down the hall.
"Okay, you have my undivided attention. What may I do for you Lord Elrond?" I was a bit worried I was going to get chewed out for shagging his sons.
"Please, come into my study. We will have more privacy there," he opened the door we had stopped in front of and guided me in. "Please have a seat." He gestured to a chair near his desk, but instead of moving behind his desk, he sat in the chair opposite mine.
"Thank you Lord Elrond. May I inquire what this is about?" I didn't know if I really wanted an answer to that.
"Lady Karyn, scouts have returned and confirmed your story about being in a glade of trees and walking to the banks of the Bruinen. However, there are no tracks showing where you came from. Only the tracks that lead away from the glade. I need answers. Where did you come from?" He looked concerned and serious.
I didn't know what to say. "Sir, I was telling the truth about being hit on the head by a tree branch. I haven't the foggiest idea how I got here. Really," I leaned forward in my chair, "I believe I am currently still in the real world in a hospital somewhere, maybe in a coma. This could be a really intricate hallucination for all I know. I'm sorry."
Elrond spoke firmly, "Lady Karyn, you are in the real world. This is Arda; it is as real as you or I. I do not know why you would think otherwise."
"Lord Elrond, please do not think me rude, but in my world you are a fictional character. None of this is real, it is found in books that were written decades before. It is 2005, and Canada is a sovereign nation living peacefully among the other nations of the world. Real nations like the United States of America, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, China, Japan, India and many other nations. There are literally more than 250 countries, territories and disputed areas on the planet Earth. The map is constantly changing with new nations forming after gaining independence from parent nations, and wars changing borders. That is the place I live in. Where I am from. Arda is a story told in books. It isn't real. Not on Earth." I felt an urgent need to have him understand.
Elrond was silent, mulling over the words I had said, "Lady Karyn," Elrond paused for a second, as though he was editing his choice of words, "Have you thought that it is your world that is the imaginary one?" I bit my lip trying not to interrupt, but really! "I want to impress upon you that everything you are experiencing is very real. Those things you mentioned do not exist, at least not here. I have walked the face of Arda for more than 6500 years and I can tell you that Arda is very real and very old. I have fought in the war of the Last Alliance; I have seen and participated in many acts that have changed the face of Arda. I know you are having a hard time accepting your reality, but know this, it is real."
I pondered what Elrond had said. Didn't Tolkien develop a complete history for his books? I couldn't remember, but if I was at home I could Google it and get the info. Blast! This wasn't making sense. It had to be a hallucination. Sure, Space/Time wasn't linear and it was possible to travel around in time, but we weren't technologically advanced enough to do it. We'd just barely stepped out into space. I knew that the wiggy and I had a special relationship, but this was beyond anything I had ever experienced. I needed to regain consciousness and get back to my real life. People were counting on me. Hell, I was on the verge of launching strike action within two weeks! I couldn't be stuck in limbo. I didn't want to say this, but I had to.
"Lord Elrond, I'm sorry. My world is the real world. I know that Space/Time is curved and it is theoretically possible to move around the Timescape, but this is not within recorded history. It is a world that an English author, Mr. Tolkien, made up. As far as I know, he was incredibly detailed. I'm not sure about the data, but I think you're the creation of his fertile imagination and somehow I've picked up on this creation and have inserted it into my coma or hallucination. No one really knows what happens to people in a coma, perhaps they create a universe to live in until they are able to wake up."
Elrond had listened to my words and appeared to be mulling them over, "I can see you will need a more convincing example to prove what is real."
"Sir, any empirical data you can supply me with for my perusal would be greatly appreciated," I said with complete sincerity.
Elrond nodded, "Yes. I have someone who may be able to convince you and may be able to determine exactly what is going on here. When they arrive, I will ask to see you again."
I nodded, thankful for not being thought of as a complete nutcase.
Elrond smiled and got up, "Thank you for speaking with me on this. You may go. Have a good evening."
"You as well Lord Elrond." I got up and left the study, making my way to my room.
Later on in the evening, I had just crawled into bed and turned down the lamps, when I heard light steps above me. Someone was making themselves known up on the roof, and I wondered why. Then I heard muffled voices outside my window, something about the window being closed, followed by a light rapping on the glass. I got out of bed and opened the shutters. Hanging outside my window was Elladan, and a pair of feet I assumed belonged to Elrohir. I motioned for Elladan to back up, and then I opened the window. When it was opened wide enough, Elladan rolled through, followed by Elrohir.
"Hello Lady Karyn!" The twins said in unison and hugged me.
"Uh, guys, what are you doing in my room?" I was a bit confused as I had let everyone know I was going to bed, and I really was. I was tired. I needed a quiet night. Damn, give a girl a break, okay?
Elladan rubbed my back, "We just wanted to say goodbye to you. We are leaving first thing in the morning for patrol."
"I was going to come out in the morning to say goodbye you know." I was getting the distinct impression that their version of 'goodbye' was more than just a hug and a wave.
"We did not want to leave without giving our goodbye gift," Elrohir started pulling down the shoulder of my nightgown.
"No,no,no. This is sooo not happening. Didn't Lady Arwen speak to you?" I yanked my sleeve up.
"Yes, our sister told us what you had said. We do not consider you a plaything. We enjoy your company," Elladan said while he stroked my hand.
"Yes," said Elrohir, "We thought you enjoyed being with us too."
"Oh, I do. I just don't want to be a fuck toy, that's all." I felt torn.
"What is a fuck toy?" Elladan asked.
"It's when a person is just used for sex. I don't want to be something you stick your dicks in just because you're horny." I wasn't in the mood for this at all.
"Oh no, Lady Karyn. We like making love to you, but we also like talking to you too." Elrohir looked concerned.
"Problem is, you don't talk to me except to get into my pants. You don't have real conversations with me. I'm a complex person, and you've never gone beyond 'wham-bam-thank you-ma'am'. While I admit, it's been fun and the sex has been really mind-blowing, I need to be taken seriously too." God, I sounded like a bimbette pleading for a serious dramatic role in Hollywood.
Elladan and Elrohir looked worried.
"Please Lady Karyn, we want to talk to you. We really do take you seriously." Elrohir almost whined while he looked into my eyes.
I didn't know if I should keep going with the 'I don't buy the crap you're selling', or if I should just give in and go from there. I decided to lay some ground rules.
"All right, so you take me seriously. Fine. But if you want to ever get into my pants again, you're going to need to follow some rules. These are set in stone, so don't bother trying to bend them your way, got it?" I felt like a den mother scolding her troops.
The twins sat down on my bed and looked at me expectantly. I was a kinky den mother, that's for damn sure.
"Okay, first, do not expect that I will fall into bed with you just because you're naked and hard. You may be required to either jerk off in the privacy of your room or find a willing elleth to alleviate your condition." The twins looked like they wanted to laugh, but then I gave them a stern look and they shuffled serious expressions onto their faces. "Second, we need to talk like rational adults. So if I start up a conversation on say, the geological striations found on rock formations around Imladris, I expect an intelligent conversation to ensue. Not some crass joke about your own 'rock formations'." This was causing the twins to bite their lips hard and put their hands over their mouths. "Third, from time to time I may need stress relief, and will call on you to perform certain biological functions. The arrangement is reciprocal and if your need is great and I am in the mood, I will oblige you. However, if you are not in the mood when I need release, I will not hold you to any obligation whatsoever. Do you understand?"
Elrohir laughed out loud, "As if we are not going to be in the mood when you are!"
Elladan nodded in agreement, "Lady Karyn, you could just say 'I'm in the mood' and we would instantly be right there with you. It does not take much to get us ready for sex. If we could spend all our time when we are at home in bed making love to a lovely female, we would. You do not need to worry about us not being ready for you when you want to 'perform certain biological functions'." He grinned when he said the last part.
"Uh-huh. I didn't think you guys would have an issue, but I like to make things fair for everyone concerned. Now I have to get to bed. I have a long day tomorrow and you two have to get going early as well." I moved over to the edge of my bed and threw back the covers.
"Oh, are we going to bed now? Elladan started taking off his clothes.
"No, you can go to your own rooms and sleep. I will sleep by myself, thank you." I needed to enforce the rules.
"Oh Lady Karyn," Elrohir rubbed my shoulders, "We do not want to have sex with you, we just want to sleep with you one last time before we leave on this long patrol. We want to have a soft body in our arms while we sleep and wake up to a lovely sight."
Oh yeah right. Let's just slather it on a little thicker, shall we? The twins looked pleadingly at me.
"Please Lady Karyn? We promise we will not make sexual advances in any way." Elladan was using puppy dog eyes on me.
Oh Christ, this was ridiculous. "Elladan, my dog uses those eyes on me and it never works. Don't bother with that crap."
Elrohir ran his fingers through my hair, "Lady Karyn, our word is our bond. We really will not make advances on you. Promise."
Great, gentlemanly conduct. Lovely. I felt if I was going to get out of this in one piece, I needed to lay down some more ground rules. "Fine. You can stay, but on one condition," They looked at me eagerly, "You cannot try to weasel your way into my vagina. Period. Sleeping only. No copping feels or playing 'doctor'. Got it?"
"If you mean no sex, we understand." Elladan remarked.
"We understand completely. We are just glad to be close to you." Elrohir had made quick work of his clothes and slipped into bed. God, he was naked. And hard. I sooo needed a chastity belt.
Elladan picked me up and lay me in the middle of my bed and after removing his leggings, he walked over to the window and closed it, along with the shutters and hopped into bed with Elrohir and me. With a twin on either side of me, I felt lying on my back was the safest course of action, to avoid any type of temptation. It was hard, and I mean that literally. Elladan and Elrohir had raging woodys and their turgid members were poking into my sides. This was going to be a long night. The twins threw their arms over me and cuddled up closely to me.
"Good night Lady Karyn," they whispered in my ears, their warm breath tickling the fine hairs and giving me goosebumps.
"Good night. Keep your hands out of trouble and see you in the morning." I crossed my arms over my chest and closed my eyes. This was going to be a long night indeed. Slowly I drifted off to sleep, with the soft breath of each of the twins blowing near my ears, and the faint realization that I had indeed fallen into bed with them naked and hard. The irony.