I am so happy there are some out there that like this. Hugs to you all, really! I would respond individually, but I'm a little pressed for time, so perhaps in the next chapter I will.
Warnings: This fic starts to earn its rating.
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"Lindir, where are we going?" Erestor couldn't help but ask as the silver haired Elf led them further into the woods.
It had been two days since that performance in the Hall of Fire. Earlier that day, Lindir had asked for his company after mid day meal, and Erestor had granted it. When Lindir had come for him in his office, he had gone out with him, to first walk out in the gardens. They had chatted about mind numbing things, such as their separate work, the weather, Imladris in general, and few spots of gossip as well. But as Lindir had led them from the garden to the woods, the conversation had died, till Erestor broke the silence that had taken its place.
"Just wait, Councilor," Lindir answered, his voice revealing nothing as he strolled on, Erestor helplessly following, curious as to this new side in his friend.
They stopped in a dark clearing. Lindir sighed; tilting his head to look up into the trees while Erestor watched him. A few moments passed like this, until…
"Lindir?" Erestor tried again, but stopped, suddenly feeling something had changed in the being before him.
The lithe minstrel turned, looking back at him with bright clear eyes that glinted with both innocence and secrets. He gazed back, looking into those shining eyes, trying to read behind the thin veil of green color into the very soul of the one he desired, trying to understand this change. Yet, it was denied to him for the moment.
Pale lips rose in a faint, beckoning smile, as a hand reached out to him, a hand soft, and seemingly delicate in its slender nature. He reached for that hand, longing to feel that flesh, to touch the object of his dreams. Deep within, he could feel what was happening, what would happen, yet outwardly didn't acknowledge the hope yet.
Fingertips touched, then fingers, then palm. He grasped that hand, felt that wonderful warmth he had known the other to possess, and prayed it wasn't a dream. He had dreamed too much of this, too much of him. If he had to suffer awakening again, alone in his cold bed, he did not wish to think on how he would react.
Gently, Lindir pulled him towards him, and he allowed himself to be pulled, till their faces were nearly touching. Tenderly, those lips that he imagined for so long came close, and touched his, tasting just as sweet as he believed they would, as he would. He responded slowly, afraid he might scare away the one he had desired for so long.
Yet, that fear was swiftly driven out, along with the thought that this could be a dream, by a small nip on his lower lip, which elicited a little pain. He opened his mouth with a slight gasp, and that delicate tongue pressed in, devouring his mouth with a ferocity he didn't know the other possessed, though he liked it nonetheless.
His hands trailed down that slender body as he drew away from their slight fencing, to marking a heated path along Lindir's neck with his lips. The minstrel shuddered under his combined touch, his hands in turn unfastening Erestor's tunic, and slipping inside to stroke his chest, driving the passion further between them. Erestor made his way back up, capturing those tempting lips once more. Wrapping his arms around his waist, Erestor pressed them closer together, while Lindir wrapped his arms around his neck, deepening their kiss.
Suddenly, Lindir stiffened in his arms, and pulled away, a soft muffled cry coming from his throat as he looked away, his arms falling from around Erestor's neck, to hang loosely at his side.
"Lindir?" Erestor asked in concern, keeping him close.
Dulling green eyes looked to him, "Forgive me, Erestor…"
Erestor awoke, back in his own bed, cold and alone. Rising to his elbows, he looked around wondering how this could be. It had seemed so real… Everything he had felt… Near trembling fingers touched his lips, which felt bruised from nips and kisses. Surely it had been real…
The sound of running feet came to his ears. Knowing he should go see what the matter was, he rose from his bed, and grabbed his robe from a chair nearby. Throwing it on, he opened his door, and looked out as a young Elf started by.
Stepping out, he caught the Elf's attention, "What is wrong?"
"Master Lindir has collapsed in the Hall of Fire," the words sent a sudden chill through him, "I am going to get Lord Elrond."
"Then go," Erestor waved him off, and he hurried on.
In turn, Erestor headed for the Hall of Fire. Pure instinct drove him to go see, especially after that dream… The last bit, the memory of Lindir's sad face, and the way those word's echoed in his mind nearly drove him to run.
Surely Lindir had merely driven himself to exhaustion, as Lindir had a tendency to be too focused on his craft at times. Surely it was nothing. Erestor tried to reassure himself with those words, yet as he stopped at the massive doors, open in wait of Elrond, those thoughts were driven from him.
Lindir lay on his back, looking as if he had just collapsed there. Two other minstrels lingered nervously by his sides, unsure of what to do. Erestor drew closer, noting Lindir was unnaturally pale, like smoked glass, and his breathing was shallow.
"What happened?" Erestor nearly demanded, trying to maintain his calm as he knelt for a closer look.
The minstrels looked to him, "Master Erestor…" They looked to each other, before the one on the left spoke, "Lindir was practicing when he suddenly cried out and collapsed. It happened so fast… There doesn't seem to be anything wrong with him though…"
"Leave that for Lord Elrond to decide," he couldn't help but say.
His eyes racked over Lindir, trying to see for himself if he could spot anything wrong. Green eyes were open, which was a good thing, even if they were glazed over with unawareness. There was no bleeding, or twitching… His eyes rove down to Lindir's hands, where one gripped tightly to the gold frame, and the other rested on the strings. Here he could see the faintest trickle of blood on the normally pure white strings.
Daring himself, he touched the hand that lay on top of the harp, noting it wasn't warm, but cold, almost like ice. Fighting off the dread at that observation, he examined the minor cut along a finger.
"Do you know how this happened?" he asked.
The one on the right, by his side, responded, "I think one of his strings broke. It happened a little before he collapsed…"
Erestor said nothing to that, merely set the hand down in its place. Hurried footsteps came to his ears, and he turned to see Elrond approaching with the Elf he had talked to before.
Elrond's look clearly said he was in his healer's frame of mind, and Erestor moved to back out of his way. Elrond, however, motioned him to stay, before kneeling on Lindir's left side.
A touch here, and glance there, and then Elrond looked to him, "Erestor, pick him up and get him to the healing house. I will go on ahead and get things ready."
Before he had time to protest, Elrond was gone, leaving him to stare after him. He then looked down to Lindir, and pushed his warring emotions aside for the moment. Lindir needed his help, not his indecisiveness.
Swiftly the scooping the surprisingly light body into his arms, he took a brief moment to adjust, making sure Lindir was settled comfortably enough, before moving off towards the healer wards.
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"So, how is the little one doing?"
Erestor looked tiredly up at the speaker, and conjured a vague sort of half smile for his friend, "Elrond says he should wake soon."
Glorfindel settled into a chair beside him, eyes roving over the youth before him before glancing at Erestor, "Did he say what happened?"
"Merely that it was exhaustion," Erestor shrugged, "He wouldn't say more then that."
"Indeed," that ended the discussion for a time as they sat there, Erestor watching Lindir, Glorfindel watching Erestor.
"You really should tell him," Glorfindel finally said, his usually teasing tone gone this time.
"Why? Would that help this situation?" Erestor asked, too tired to argue. Worrying over Lindir had been enough to exhaust him.
"It might. If he had someone to care for him, I doubt he would exhaust himself so much," the golden warrior said, shrugging a little.
"How do you know that?" Erestor tore his eyes from Lindir to look at Glorfindel.
"Because it worked for you," a bare, almost self-satisfied smirk wove on Glorfindel's lips.
A faint hint of a blush came to Erestor's cheeks, "So it did. Though you wouldn't leave me alone till I agreed."
It had been a long time since they had discussed that casual fling that they had once had. At the time, Erestor was even more overworked then he was now, and was constantly exhausting himself. Glorfindel had newly come to Imladris then, and seeing that his new friend and co-councilor would likely kill himself from over stress, had gone about seducing him. After nearly a year, Erestor had finally fallen to his charms, resulting in a brief affair that had died off as quickly as it had begun, though it left Erestor far less stressed, and a deep friendship between the two.
"So, if it could work on a overly restrictive Elf such as yourself, it should do more then just work on an open minded youth such as Lindir," Glorfindel reasoned.
Erestor put up a mock scowl, "Perhaps. But then why don't you go about doing it, if you think it would help him?"
"Because, as much as I love the little one, I don't hold that kind of affection for him. I at least had something to work off of with you," Glorfindel winked, then sobered, "Besides, that would require hurting you, and I could never do that. You are attracted to him, you may even love him, I don't know, and neither will you till you make the first move."
Erestor looked down at his hands, "I don't know if I can do it."
Glorfindel pressed a hand to his shoulder, "Just work with what the Valar gave you. Lindir can't expect more then that, and you might find he might be just as open to a relationship as you are."
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Glorfindel had left some time ago, excusing himself to attend to his duties, leaving Erestor to ponder over his words.
He knew he was right. He couldn't let things continue like this. His feelings were going to keep boiling under the surface of his skin till he released them, one way or the other. But how to go about confessing them still eluded him. He had never confessed love or lust to another, except in the throes of passion. Always it had been him who had been pursued, and it had always been his choice whether to give in, or evade.
But here, the choice lay in the hands of another, and he was the one pursuing. It gave him an uneasy feeling, one of being out of his element, and he didn't like it.
Yet, perhaps Glorfindel was right. Perhaps Lindir needed someone to love him, and to love, to take some of his focus away from his work. Perhaps he just needed another reason in his life, so he wouldn't exhaust himself so much… If Erestor could help in that, he could bring himself to confess.
A soft moan came to his ears, snapping him from his thoughts. Glancing to Lindir's face, he watched as green eyes blinked, and suddenly became aware. A faint sigh erupted from pale lips, and Lindir began to sit up, looking around.
The first sight he had caught was the ceiling of healing house, the second the far wall at the foot of his bed, and then… Surprised eyes locked to Erestor's.
"Councilor, what are you doing here?" Lindir asked softly, as if unsure how to handle this.
"I brought you here, and Elrond decided that someone should stay and watch over you, so I volunteered," it was as much of the truth as Erestor wanted to confess at the moment.
Lindir rested his back against the headboard, "That was very generous of you, Lord Councilor…"
"Please, Lindir, call me Erestor," Erestor slipped in, before Lindir could continue.
A faint smile came to Lindir's lips, and a slight rosy tint came to his cheeks, "Of course, Erestor. I am thankful that you were willing to stay. Though I know you have duties…"
"You do not need to thank me, I was worried for you," it was Erestor's turn to blush a little, "As were we all," he added quickly.
Daringly, he reached out, touching Lindir's arm softly, "You shouldn't exhaust yourself so much."
Lindir looked away, down to his hands, which rested in his lap, "I am the Head Minstrel, music is my life. There is little else in my life that I can devote myself to…"
Steeling himself, Erestor took a deep breath. This had been the moment he had been waiting for, "Then perhaps I can give you another focus in your life."
Lindir looked at him, blinked, then smiled, "Thank you, councilor, but as I told you before, I shouldn't split my duties like that. Being Head Minstrel is enough, without being your aid as well."
Erestor suppressed a sigh. He should have known Lindir would take it wrong, considering he had offered that to position to the other sometime before. Though, that had been about twenty years back too…
"No, Lindir," he tried to keep his tone light, "I am not offering you a job this time."
"Then what do you offer?" Lindir asked, curiosity glimmering in his eyes.
Erestor put it as simply as he could, because he couldn't express it else wise, "Myself."
