Slot #1
Another. Professional. Tragedist's gift ficlet
Viper/Aragorn
Words: 7133
Aragorn, Heir to the Gondorian throne, was not particularly fond of cats. They made the back of his throat itch when they rubbed against his face, their fur got everywhere, and they were positively evil. Like an orc. Their faces were all squished-looking, and they had this spectacular ability to sneer at you without changing their expression at all.
His lip curled involuntarily as he pinned a narrow-eyed gaze on the vermin before him. It's eerie yellow eyes with the slitted-pupils stared up at him unblinkingly, and they gleamed with an inner malicious intent. Oh, the beasts looked fluffy and innocent on the outside, with tilted heads and a curious air about them, but it was false! Only a mask. In truth, they were out for your blood. They enjoyed watching it seep from your fleshy pierced flesh. One had to be very careful when dealing with a monster such as this one.
He slowly reached out a hand, mind half-made up on what he was going to do about it. All strategic thinking seemed to have fled his mind in the face of such a villainous adversary. The orange-tabby blinked it's wide eyes up at him, ears twitching periodically as it focused it's stare on his fingers. Sticking out it's neck, the small fiend made to sniff at his palm, and Aragorn jerked back as it's face morphed into the visage of malice.
It seemed to smirk up at him, as if to say, 'What? I didn't do anything…'
Sneering down at it, he wiped his hand off on his pant leg, before using the side of his boot to roughly nudge the undesired pest aside. It skidded across the polished corridor(how did it even find entrance into the hall?), it's tiny but deadly claws making near-silent scraping noises as they tried to find purchase on the smooth stone floors, before it finally crashed against the wall with a startled mewing yelp.
Aragorn had to stifle a grin, huffing a quiet laugh of triumph, before he was brought back down to earth with a non-too-gentle hand on his shoulder. "Strider!"
He turned to see Viper staring at him, horror eclipsing those silver eyes of his. Aragorn's lips tugged downward, and Viper's gloved hand tightened on his shoulder.
"Did you just kick that kitten?!"
It's hardly a kitten, Aragorn wanted to say, but he only spluttered for a second. Caught off guard at the barely-hidden contempt within his friend's voice, he finally managed to get out, "I didn't kick it, Viper! I... nudged it aside with my boot."
Viper released his shoulder, and he rotated it with a wince. He loved Viper- -they all did, but… the youth was never very gentle with, well, anything.
Instead, Viper clapped both hands over his still-open mouth, and continue to stare at him, before shifting his stare over to the disgusting feline that was now crouched in the corner. It mewed pitifully out to him, pointy ears flattening against it's skull.
Viper made a soft whine in the back of his throat, eyes wide, before racing over to snatch the deceitful devil up into his arms. The abomination switched to purring instantly as the teen cradled it against his chest and ran two gloved fingers along one of it's brows. It nuzzled into his palm, kneading it's claws into the black material covering the youth's forearm.
Viper walked back over to him and pinned him with a vaguely betrayed yet still icy look of immense disapproval. "You kicked it! I saw you, Strider, don't lie. It flew all the way across the hall and slammed into the wall!"
It didn't slam into the wall, Aragorn thought in protest, unable to say a single word as the savage brute gave a disappointed mewl when the teen stopped petting it. Viper immediately began to coo at it, and ran a palm over it's head, pinning the ears down. The teen scratched two fingers under it's chin, and the cat appeared to lose itself in bliss.
Aragorn's fingers, for some reason, twitched violently, and he narrowed a positively acidic glare at the despicable creature. It opened one eye, and seemed to give him a smug look. Aragorn nearly growled.
Instead, Viper growled at him. "I can't believe you would kick a poor, defenseless kitten. Across the hall, Strider! I mean, look at this face!"
Oh, Aragorn was looking, alright. The savage feline gave him a triumphant grin, sharp teeth white against it's ginger coat, and the Ranger's hands curled into fists, held tightly to his sides. The animal purred out it's smug victory into the face of the Gondorian Heir and flexed it's claws into the glove that covered the hand that held it aloft, as if to say 'this human belongs to me, now.' Aragorn swallowed down a snarl and narrowed his eyes at the creature, wanting to pull out his sword and lob it's small head off.
Then, Viper repositioned the small, furry demon next to his own face and nuzzled his nose against it's whiskers. The wretched pest lost the victorious look and rubbed it's forehead against the teen's cheek. Viper gave a wide, happy grin and laughed slightly, gazing reverently at it's closed eyes.
"How could you ever be mad at a face like this?"
Aragorn's body lost it's tautness, and he stared at the scene with a slightly loose jaw, his breath catching. Viper's eyes were brightened to a shade that Aragorn had never seen before, nearly sparkling with adoration. His lips were now only curved upwards in a soft smile that was just so different from the usual wide, toothy grins or the sarcastic smirks the teen so often had on his face, and a direct opposite to the dark expressions Viper sometimes wore when he thought no one was looking. The young warrior cuddled lovingly with the orange tabby, pressing his face against the fur, and the cat…
The cat was loving every second of it, it appeared, purring up a storm and pressing it's own face to Viper's cheek, his forehead, his shoulder, his neck. Every time it seemed that Viper was going to stop petting it, the vile beast would press it's face to Viper's and let out an insistent meow. And Viper would laugh in delight, sometimes pressing a kiss to one of it's ears, and continue twice fold his ministrations.
Something about the scene just enraged him, and the man had no idea what it was or why.
Aragorn, shaking slightly, turned on his heel and strode out of the room, hand fisted and expression thunderous.
Aragorn, Heir to the Gondorian throne, did not like cats. They were incredibly rude creatures, ones that didn't leave you alone and had absolutely no concept of personal space. They followed you around, meowing loudly and insistently for attention, sometimes clawing at your legs when you didn't immediately bend over to pick them up and cuddle them.
For clarification, Viper had kept the hellspawn. It followed him everywhere, like a duckling after it's mother, and Viper spoiled it rotten. Sometimes he carried it with him or let it ride on his shoulders. The creature would purr loudly that rough, gravelly sound and rub it's head against Viper's ear or something.
To show it's love, Viper said. Aragorn was sure it was only scenting him, marking him as it's own possession.
Still, Aragorn and Viper spent a lot of time around one another, being members of the fellowship. All of whom were currently staying in Gondor with him, and were always somewhere nearby. Legolas was another who tended to spent most of the day with him, along with Gimli and Boromir, and Pippin(who, to be honest, was most likely only there to follow Viper around like the cat did. Pippin of course was not evil, however).
The Fellowship did spend a vast amount of time in the presence of one another, one such instance being now, in the meal hall. They were all sitting along the head table, which was reserved for the royals and the most honored guests, which Viper and the others, of course, were. Viper sat at Aragorn's left, while Boromir took the left. Aragorn, unfortunately, was always forced to the the head of the table. His friends were with him, though, so it did lessen the annoyance. And the food was absolutely fine. However, as always, Viper had that infuriating little beast with him.
Merry and Pippin were standing on either side of the teen's chair, and Legolas, who sat next to him, was leaning in so far that his shoulder was pressed against Viper's. All four of them were huddled over the once-more purring ginger feline, who sat proudly upon Viper's knees. When the teen paused in petting it to carry on a discussion with the elf beside him, the cat stared up at the teen with irritation for a moment, before hopping up onto the table and wandering over to Viper's plate to study it's contents curiously.
Viper turned and looked at it, before giving it the very same soft upturn of his lips that had taken away Aragorn's breath just the week before, and gathered some gravy on his gloveless finger to offer to the vermin. Aragorn's eyes narrowed, and he huffed silently. Viper never looked at any of them with that happy smile- -and why not? They were his friends!
He startled when Boromir leaned over into his personal space and pinned him with a curious stare. Aragorn froze for some reason, and the other man studied him closely, before breaking into a wry smile. The Son of Denethor huffed a laugh under his breath.
"Brother," Boromir's low voice pacified, the man grinning over at him. "You are glaring at a cat."
The Ranger- -well, no, he couldn't be that ever again, could he?- -caught himself, realizing that his friend was correct. Giving his head a little shake to clear it, he opened his eyes and narrowed them at Boromir instead.
But the other only smiled good-naturedly(he had been friendly and more easy-going ever since he'd come back from the dead). He stretched his arms over his head and relaxed back into his chair, giving his empty plate a fond once-over. His gaze slid back over to meet Aragorn's.
"Why were you glaring at a cat?" He finally asked, a question the to-be king had in fact been waiting for. Which was unfortunate, because Aragorn still had yet to discover an actual answer to it.
He shook his head again, releasing a sigh. "I do not know, truthfully. I've never truly liked cats, and this one just won't seem to go away."
Boromir grinned outright at this. "Viper seems quite taken with the animal," he pointed out, and Aragorn had to stop himself from growling at him,saying that that was the problem- -because, was it really? This was news to even him. Why would Viper's love for a small feline annoy Aragorn? It shouldn't.
But it did, actually, Aragorn realized, watching Viper allow the filthy beast to lick some cream off of the teen's cheek. He was grinning again, happily, that sparkle in his eyes. Aragorn took a deep breath and slowly released it, turning back to his brother. Only to realize Boromir was now examining him very closely, grey eyes serious and imploring.
Then they widened a fraction, and Boromir's lips thinned.
"Yes, I see." He announced with a single nod, and wouldn't elaborate no matter all the prodding and question Aragorn gave. The ex-Ranger gave another sigh and returned to morosely shuffling his food around his plate with his fork.
A few hours after supper, Aragorn found himself wandering the garden area that lead toward the balcony overlooking the tone city of Minas Tirith. The night air was crisp as always, it being within the first throes of the fall season. The leaves of the trees had began to turn auburn and the flowers were wilting as they were wont to do. The wind was quite chillier than it had been only days ago, and the man tugged his cloak around his shoulder more tightly as he walked.
Turning a corner on the marble path, he pulled up short, and stared. His ire began to rise once more, having calmed since the meal, and Aragorn let out a harsh breath as the monster smirked over at him.
Viper lay on a white marble garden bench, stomach and chest pressed against the cool stone and arms circled before him to provide his head a pillow- -the position starkly identical to a more recent memory Aragorn had of Viper in Rivendell, back before the war had been won. The only difference now, however, was that the teen was bereft of his hood, and the warm cloak that came along with it. And, of course, the detestable devil that sat on top his spine like some sort of throne.
Aragorn walked over, and stopped barely an inch from the bench, staring down at the cat with a frown. Viper was, reminiscent of the past, asleep, and the cat purred up at him with smug, gleaming yellow eyes. It gently pawed at Viper's shoulder blade, claws poking out to kneed the admittedly flimsy material of Viper's tunic. Both Aragorn and the creature stilled when the teen shifted with a quiet murmur.
Aragorn was probably giving the demon filth the look Tharbadir gave them when Viper was napping and they were all making too much noise, but Aragorn at the moment had no problem having parallels between him and a horse. Tharbadir was a smart horse, aliken to the Maeras. It was an honor to be compared to him.
Aragorn squeezed his eyes shut and pinched the bridge up his nose in aggravation, raising his head to face the heavens. An honor for a horse, maybe! But he, he was the future king of Gondor! A very human future king, at that. What were his thoughts doing?
He turned his face back down and nearly snarled to see the demon staring up at him curiously, having stretched out languidly across the slumbering Viper's back, limbs splayed out and small snout all but buried in Viper's inky black hair. It's curiosity turned to malevolent amusement when it noticed his irritation, and it purred against Viper's shoulder.
It was soon Aragorn's turn to be amused, however, when Viper rolled over onto his back, tossing the brute off of it's self-proclaimed throne. The hellspawn, being feline, unfortunately landed nimbly on it's paws, and stared up at Viper in study. Aragorn rolled his eyes as it hopped up once more to settle against the teen's abdomen. Curling into a furry ginger ball, the orc-slime gave him one last, one-eyed stare before relaxing into a nap of it's own.
Inwardly seething at the bare, unrestrained nerve of the savage beast, Aragorn looked for something else to focus on. To calm himself again, before he snapped at strangled the despicable animal. Viper would be very cross with him, should he give into these urges.
Instead, he found himself gazing at Viper's form. His face was always so relaxed in sleep, pleasantly void of any dark expression. Aragorn crouched before the bench, lowering himself to study Viper's features more closely.
The youth's eyes were closed, so he couldn't see the breathtaking silver that was uniquely Viper, but with the high cheekbones, the slim brows and the bow-shaped lips, Aragorn could certainly imagine them enough to do with. He tilted his head and traced the younger man's jawline with his eyes, letting his gaze roam to the bare, alabaster neck and collarbone that peaked out from the top of Viper's black, long-sleeved tunic. The gray vest over it was undone and definitely falling off, the shoulder sliding down his upper arms and the front laying completely open. Aragorn reached a hand out to the dangling ties, before catching himself and becoming still.
he nearly jumped out of his own skin when a dark form pounced down from the bench and landed before him, surveying the vest ties with narrow, hypnotic yellow eyes that were definitely demonic(regular cat's eyes didn't actually glow in the dark, did they?) narrowed, staring. Suddenly, a paw was flung out, moving back and forth before striking again at the leather strings. The cat bat at them one more time before Aragorn's mind caught up to him and he realized what the beast was doing. With a quick, silent swat, he shooed it away temporarily before reaching out on his own, deftly readjusting the vest and tying it closed.
Standing up against, the king-t-be bent over to shift Viper's legs aside and, claiming his own spot on the bench, he sat the lethargic and slowly awakening teen up, leaning him against himself until Viper was once again aware.
Viper blinked at him sleepily, peaceful face morphing into a scowl. "Strider, what the hell? I'm tired, you can't just wake me up like tha- -"
Slightly regretful for causing the relaxed face of his friend to disappear, Aragorn nevertheless frowned back at him. "I just did. Viper, I'm not letting you sleep out here. It's the beginning of autumn, and it's cold! I know you don't take as good a care of yourself as you tell us you do; you haven't actually slept outside of your periodic naps during the day for nearly a week." With a stern, disapproving glare to the teen, Viper shut his mouth and rolled his eyes.
"I'm taking you to your rooms, and you're going to sleep. Understand?"
With an annoyed huff, Viper crossed his arms and sat up straight. The cat leaped up onto the bench between them and gave Aragorn an enraged cat-glare, as if to threaten, 'I'm telling him you were spying on him while he slept like some sort of creepy stalker.' The ex-Ranger ignored it for now. "Jeez, take me to dinner first, at least."
Aragorn, pretty certain that he was yet again completely missing the point of Viper's(most likely)figure of speech, gave the younger warrior a confused look. "We've just eaten supper…"
Viper slumped forward, despairingly, and looked over at him with tired silver eyes. "It's only an expression, Strider. And a joke, at that. Taking someone to dinner is what a guy would do before starting to date a girl. Or other guy."
Dating; Aragorn definitely knew what that meant. Viper had defined it aloud enough during his erratic chats with Eowyn and his sister Arwen. He felt his face heat up rather quickly, and turned his head away, thankful for the darkness of the evening. Still, he wasn't quite sure Viper hadn't seen it, being the magical enigma that he was.
"I didn't mean it like that," he informed the other calmly, desperate to keep his tone level, "and you know it."
"That's why I said it was a joke," Viper told him, exasperated. Aragorn, at that, felt some inexplicable feelings of disappointed- -but why? Viper joked about things like this all the time. The teen next to him stretched languidly, and Aragorn distinctly, firmly drove his wandering thoughts away from the warm body that accidentally bumped into his side.
They wandered anyway, and Aragorn was soon looking closely enough at Viper to notice that the teen's skin was developing goosebumps. With a slightly annoyed sigh, the heir shrugged off his warm cloak(he didn't really need it, he wasn't that cold) and tossed it over his friend's shoulders.
Viper turned a perplexed look onto him, and the cat murred in irritation, digging itself out of the material and hopping onto the ground. Aragorn mentally sent it a malicious smirk, and raised his eyebrows at the teen beside him. The vermin wandered away for a while, hopefully forever.
"It's cold, didn't I say that? And don't think I didn't notice the goosebumps all along your arms, Viper. You need that more than me."
"It's yours though," Viper mumbled quietly, shifting his gaze to the ground. Like he was embarrassed, or something. Aragorn entertained the fleeting thought that Viper was blushing, now, but... he couldn't really imagine it. Viper had never blushed.
"Well," he said, clearing his throat. "If you're so eager to return it to me, then why don't we head back inside, where it's warmer?"
The shy act- -was it an act though? Aragorn shoved the thought aside- -suddenly vanished, and Viper turned to waggle his slim brows at him, lips curving up into an amused smirk.
"You just want to get me to bed." The teen snickered, and Aragorn nearly growled at him.
Yes, I do, he wanted to shout, and the very thought absolutely floored him. His face fell blank, and his body completely stilled, shoulders tensing. He turned expressionless eyes down to the leaf-strewn, marble pathway and his breath caught in his throat. He swallowed thickly, throat completely dry, and he tried desperately to gather his erratic thought. This time, they all came willingly.
Was that it? Was this the reason that he felt such rage and irritation to that blasted animal? Was he jealous of the damned thing? It couldn't be, Aragorn pleaded with himself, he couldn't be so.. pathetic, to be envious of a cat. He couldn't be petty enough to…
Yes, but he was. The man let out a harsh sigh and shook his head in despair, pulling up too many blanks and even more realizations. He was jealous, of a cat- -the cat knew it, too, and… He was attracted, to Viper.
He'd always thought he'd be wed to Arwen, his adoptive sister. Ever since he'd been a small child, he'd dreamed of marrying her as his bride; the beautiful, composed, brilliant Arwen Evenstar. She was all he'd ever wanted... or so he'd always imagined.
So simplistically, too. Then came Viper, snatching up his attention and taking it on the most fantastical journey he'd even been on. From the moment he'd seen that hooded individual, peeking curiously under the inn table at a mostly-terrified Frodo, he'd been interested. At first, it was just to hear the story, know who this thief in the night was. Then, they'd become friends, and Aragorn was worried about him. That fever, back in Rivendell; his father, Elrond, had spoken to him about it, told him what had caused it, told him Viper had nearly starved himself to death. Because he simply forgot to eat. It was madness.
And when Viper had joined the Fellowship, Aragorn had had his doubts. What could this young(though, admittedly, talented) teenager bring to the group tasked with saving Arda? It wasn't until Viper had fell with Gandalf in the mine, not until they'd thought they'd lost him forever, that Aragorn and the rest of the party realized just how much he'd given them. Viper was the reason they'd escaped from a lot of tight spots- -Viper was the reason Boromir was alive.
It wasn't until he experienced the unbearably heavy, overwhelming grief in the face of Viper's sudden demise, that Aragorn had realized just how close he'd become with the younger man. And the shining, all-encompassing, giddy joy he'd felt when Viper had seemingly returned from the dead, having given up an eternity in the Undying Lands of Valinor to come back to them and help them finish the war…
He still hadn't sorted those feelings out, figured out what half of them actually meant. Not until not. And ever since then, they'd only grown. Aragorn's heart stuttered; he was very much out of his depth.
"Strider?" The quiet, nearly timid voice was back again, and the heir snapped back into focus. Viper was staring at him with wide eyes, something akin to panic swimming right below the surface. "I'm sorry. I didn't- -um, I didn't mean to- -"
Aragorn cleared his throat shakily, standing up. From his seat on the bench, Viper watched him, eyes filled with something like despair. Or apprehension. One could never quite read Viper correctly.
Reaching out, Aragorn tugged the teen up with him by the upper arm. Pulling his friend- -yes... his friend- -forward, he wrapped his arms around him and realized Viper was actually trembling from the cold.
With a shake of his head, he ground out, "No, I know you meant nothing by it. Let's," he cleared his throat. "Let's get you inside before you freeze, hm?"
Viper buried his face into Aragorn's collar and mumbled something, but his voice was so soft that the older man couldn't hear it. They stood like that for a moment, Viper most likely attempting to leech all of his warmth from him, and Aragorn not ready to let go just yet.
It ended too soon, of course, when the cat let out a very impatient yowl, and Viper jumped away from him with wide silver eyes. Aragorn stiffened, rage slowly growing tenfold what it had been before as the teen spun around and crouched to accept the small, breakable(and oh, didn't Aragorn wish), orc-kin into his arms, cuddling the wretched thing close to his chest.
"Sorry, Ginny, I... forgot you were there." Viper said the thing's name, abashedly. He seemed to ignore Aragorn's presence for now, but the man still counted it a small victory that he caused his… friend to forget about his pet for a few long minutes.
Viper cast a fleeting glance back at him, before slipping the cloak off and depositing it into Aragorn's arms. With a quick, 'thank you,' the teen vanished down the path back to the castle, hopefully off to his rooms to sleep through the night like Aragorn had suggested.
Over his shoulders, slowly disappearing along with him, Aragorn could see the monster staring back at him, yellow eyes wide and laughing.
Aragorn, Heir to the Gondorian throne, hated cats with a burning passion. They were smug, deceitful little bastards, looking innocent and sweet but secretly plotting to kill you and everyone you loved. They invaded your life and stole all the attention from the person you had feelings for, and they knew it. They did it on purpose, even.
Aragorn knew this, from experience.
It had been two months since that blasted demon had shown it's face, and two weeks since Aragorn had realized that he loved Viper on a different level than he'd once thought. Since then, he'd sometimes found himself staring at Viper at times, more than he had before. Watching the younger man spar with the guard, switching from his daggers to swords to whips and even books if they annoyed him during his off-hours. Watching him play with his food at the table when he thought Elrond, Glorfindel, or the dwarves, who had all come to visit, weren't looking. Searching for him and finding all the odd spots he napped him, then watching him curl up into the most flexible positions that most often had the effect of making Aragorn's mouth go dry.
In all honesty, he wasn't even doing anything different than he had before, which makes Aragorn wonder how on earth he hadn't realized this all sooner. And when Boromir caught him staring almost longingly over at Viper, at the younger man's slender fingers, at his mouth, at his tongue when it ran along his bottom lips to lap up some leftover drink; the other man would lean over, look from Viper to him, and give a wide, leering smirk, as if he knew. Aragorn wondered when he'd found out, then realized it was probably that one meal Boromir had realized Aragorn held a… distinct dislike for cats.
Speaking of the demon spawn, Viper still took it along everywhere. In fact, they'd just gone out on a ride, and the younger man had actually allowed the pest to ride in his saddle with him! Tharbadir seemed to have no problem with the little orc creature; in fact, the noble horse seemed to have grown into a sort of kinship with it, which lead Aragorn to wonder if Tharbadir did in fact harbor the same possessiveness of Viper that the cat did. He'd have to watch himself around the stallion from now on, just in case.
Aragorn waved off the servant that had come over to dismantle his riding gear for him, wanting to do it himself. he needed something to do, to take his mind off of things. Unfortunately, cleaning up after a ride was mundane, mindless task, and Aragorn found himself thinking ever more on things. He shoved the saddle up onto the wall with more force than he thought might be necessary.
Spinning around on his heel, he held out an apple to his steed and cast an eye over to Tharbadir's stall, where Viper was brushing the stallion off. Once finished, the teen wandered over and held the horse's head in his arms, nuzzling his cheek against it's coat. Tharbadir ate something out of his palm, most likely a sugar cube- -Viper did enjoy spoiling his ride, even if the youth denied it.
Said ride noticed him staring at his rider, and Aragorn swallowed thickly when the stallion's eye caught his. The horse gave him a once-over, it seemed, then snorted loudly, and nosed Viper's pockets, searching for more treats and looking highly amused and almost smug when Viper laughed and gave him another, planting a kiss right under the stallion's eye.
Aragorn twitched, then turned, leaving the rest of the chore to the servant that had been waiting idly by as he stalked from the stables.
That damned horse was a cat on the inside!
Only an hour later at supper, Aragorn found himself frowning at the empty seat to his right. Boromir, in all sense, should be teasing him right about now, something to do with his 'crush' on Viper(that man was infuriating! He wouldn't leave Aragorn alone!), but instead, he was also staring at the empty chair, an identical frown upon his own face.
"Do you think he's started skipping meals again?" Boromir murmured to him, lips pursed.
Aragorn shook his head, letting out an aggravated sigh. "No, I already look for him in all his usual places. If he was skipping, he'd be in one of them. He wasn't."
Boromir stared over at him, surprised. Rightly so, Aragorn thought somewhat guiltily. He'd become the expert at locating Viper, and anyone looking for the youth who couldn't find him knew to come to the king-to-be to find out the enigma's whereabout, because Aragorn would most certainly know, somehow. he refused to say it was because he stalked Viper- -he didn't. He only… observed. Yes, he observed.
And his observation, right now, was that Viper was... mysteriously absent, and it wasn't because he had thrown out Elrond's warnings about meals and was hiding from the elven healer(though, Aragorn's father was sitting a few chairs down and had most certainly realized the youth's absence, by the elf's disapproving scowl). It wasn't because he wasn't hungry, or had lost track of the time and wasn't aware that it was dinner.
Or perhaps, Aragorn thought, sitting upright, that was it. Viper was talented, of course, and he could tell the time of day just by glancing up at the sun's position, but the youth was easily distracted, and something might have caught his interest for long enough that the man had disregarded the meal time.
Aragorn sighed, leveling a searching glance across the hall. Nearly everyone in the castle was present for supper, and the servants that weren't currently tending to the meal and guests were eating in the next hall over, a smaller hall reserved for the castle staff.
It would certainly be noticed by all, if he were to leave, and people would soon enough realize that neither the king-to-be nor Viper of the Poison Blood were present. Rumor would no doubt arise, but... Aragorn certainly didn't mind that at all. And Viper, well, that man had laughed in the face of Sauron himself, some rumors about his love-life(or otherwise, most definitely) wouldn't shake the youth an inch.
Standing from his seat, he ignored the vaguely alarmed look Boromir tossed him, and the way that the entire hall had quieted to see if he was about to give an address. He wasn't, so he sent them all a nod, and Boromir's shoulder a firm pat as he passed, moving along toward the doors. "There is something that requires my attention," he told the hall apologetically. With a smile, he slipped out the doors and wandered down the corridors, eyes roaming the scene.
An hour later, he felt like he'd walked every foot of the damned castle and was about to expand his search to the gardens when the object of his hatred stepped out into his sight. With a quick glance around, he determined that Viper was nowhere to be seen, and gave the small, furry balrog an icy glare.
"What do you want?" He hissed. He usually didn't talk to animals, aside from horses, and much less in the Common Tongue(horses couldn't understand that… except Tharbadir, but he was Viper's horse), but Viper had rubbed off on all of them; 'go to hell,' was a fairly common insult even to the Gondorian public, despite the fact that none aside from Viper even knew what what the word 'hell' meant.
The cat stared up at him, then gave a meow that sounded insistent. Aragorn had been around the thing long enough to know that it wasn't just looking to be pet(besides the fact that it would never come to him to be pet, and much less that Aragorn would actually commit such an act), but rather the animal was actually quite spooked by something. So, rather than brushing past the beast, like he would normally do, Aragorn only stood there as it approached him, watching it with a perplexed expression.
"What do you want?" He repeated, with less rage and more inquisitive. The cat stopped, looked up to him, meowed once more, then took off racing down the corridor. It stopped, turned back to him, meowed again, and trotted back to him to stare. Then it repeated, growing more frisky and moews becoming more urgent the more turns it completely.
Aragorn stared at the thing, absolutely perplexed by it's strange actions, until he finally realized the creature of hell actually wanted him to follow it.
Hesitantly(because he did not put any ounce of trust into this orc pest at all), he stepped forward, and was soon flying down the halls behind it, being led out into the furthest garden that no one ever ventured into- -mostly because some servant had concocted a horror story of ghosts that resided within it.
It was one of the more wild gardens, not quite as kept as the others, because not very many servants were courageous enough to venture into it. Aragorn knew the stories were falsified by a bored servant; he knew, as well, that this garden was sure to be vacant by all living souls.
He also knew this was the place Viper would go to when he wanted to be alone.
He quickened his pace, worried. His mind pulled facts and assumptions together quickly; Viper wanted to be alone right now, for whatever reason. Then the demon feline that was always, always by his side and vying for his attentions had come out of it alone, seeking Aragorn to lead him back to where Viper most likely currently was.
Either something was wrong with Viper, or the cat was finally enacting it's plan to kill him and was leading Aragorn into an ambush from it's feline friends who were waiting in the trees for him to come.
It was quite ingenious, he thought as he ran down the pathway behind the small devil; this garden was all but abandoned, and was also the quietest place in Gondor- -no one would find his body here until the next brave servant came to attempt to tame the vegetation.
His mind continued to wander incessantly, his feet thudding against the marble pathway until he jerked to a sudden stop, eyes still locked on the cat who was now sitting and staring up at him with impatient, imploring yellow eyes.
He blinked, then glanced up, and his heart nearly stopped. Viper was on the ground slightly off the path, curled up beneath a willow tree. His legs were drawn up to his chest and the youth was hugging them tightly, trying to breath. Those breaths came in short pants and painful-sounding gasps, and Aragorn's chest tightened when he heard a sob or two sneak their way out.
Forgetting all about the cat(who looked proud that it had lead him to Viper), Aragorn raced over to the younger man and fell to his knees beside him, clasping on hand on his back and using the other to collect Viper into his arms, holding him tight against his chest.
"Viper," He called desperately, voice as firm and strong as he could get it. "Please breath. I don't know what's wrong, but please, calm yourself. Everything is fine, everything is alright. There's nothing here to fear. Sh, Viper, listen to me. Listen to my voice. Please calm down, breath."
Slowly, Aragorn coaxed Viper to breath along with him, moving into the position Boromir had told him he and Legolas had done for Viper back in Rivendell, when the youth had suffered a similar attack. Hugging the teen, his chest pressed against Viper's back, he breathed, waiting for Viper to follow his lead. It felt like hours until Viper went limp and collapsed back against him, head lolling until it was rested on Aragorn's shoulder. Viper panted, looking absolutely exhausted, eyes red and face paler than it should be. The younger man just sat with him and breathed for a few moments, before he bit his lip and buried his face into Aragorn's shoulder.
Curling his arms around his friend, Aragorn let the teen cling back to him. Viper shook slightly, but the trembling was slowly beginning to cease now that Viper was breathing correctly, and Aragorn only sighed, resting his chin on top an inky black head.
Even after Viper was calm again, they remained in this position for what seemed like a lifetime, but in reality was probably only an hour or so. Viper was pressed against him, head on his shoulder and breath warming Aragorn's neck and collarbones. Aragorn pressed his face into Viper's hair, breathing in deeply the scent of hickory wood and lavender- -Viper always smelled like plants and flowers. Boromir told him he thought Viper smelled of chrysanthemums.
Soon enough, Aragorn's pleasant silence ended, and Viper shifted in his arms, wriggling slightly. With a forlorn sigh, for he'd known this time was coming, he reluctantly released his friend.
To his surprise, however, Viper only turned and shifted closer to him, wrapping his arms around Aragorn's neck and pressing his face to the skin below his neck.
"Thank you," the youth murmured, voice raw from the battle for breath he'd just experienced. Aragorn dipped his own head down and, in the spur of the moment, pressed a kiss to the younger man's forehead.
Viper jerked back, eyes wide- -but Aragorn was tired, and far past caring. "Did you expect me to just stand there and watch you die from suffocation?" He asked, a hint of sarcasm making it's way through. Aragorn rolled his eyes when Viper said nothing, only staring at him with impossibly wide silver eyes. He pressed their cheeks together for a moment, before turning his head and pressing his lips to the youth's cheek instead. "I could never do such a thing, Viper. I love you too much to watch you cry."
The breath that Viper had hard fought for escaped him, then, and the man watched him, jaw slack. He mouthed a word, and Aragorn found himself laughing helplessly in the face of it.
"Yes, I do," He said, bumping Viper's nose with his own. "I love you, I admit it. Is that alright?"
Viper couldn't seem to get a word out, and Aragorn wanted to make some comment about finally getting the chatty man to shut up, but he found himself speechless as well. So, instead of words, the king-to-be leaned in and gently pressed his lips to Viper's own.
Viper jerked to awareness, then, and relaxed into his arms completely, a breathless laugh fleeing from the mouth Aragorn had so boldly claimed. Aragorn was overjoyed to find Viper responding positively to his kiss, and clutched the younger man against him tightly- -perhaps afraid that, if he were to let go, Viper would disappear. He wasn't embarrassed, however; Viper seemed to be holding on to him even tighter.
There was an annoyed meow, And the two of them broke apart to look at the devil spawn that sat on top a knotted root of the willow tree, staring at them almost like it had been betrayed. Aragorn gave it a smug smile, before casting it an annoyed look of his own, for it daring to interrupt him.
Viper glanced between them, before breaking out into delighted laughter.
"Oh," he gasped, nearly crying again. "Y-You were jealous of a cat! Strider!"
Aragorn huffed dejectedly, pressing his lips to Viper's temple. "Of course I was, it was stealing all of your attention from me!"
That, of course, only made the youth laugh harder. The cat hopped down to trot over to Viper, but the teen calmed and, to Aragon's surprise and utter joy, pushed the feline creature away.
"Not right now, Ginny, okay?" He asked softly, with a small smirk. The cat stared up at him, then seemed to sigh. it gave a pitiful mew, cast Aragorn a deadly, chilling cat-glare, and trotted off into the bushes with it's tail held high.
Ha, Aragorn wanted to say. I won.
Apparently he had said it loud, because Viper was suddenly pressed all against him, trembling from another bout of laughter. "Just don't let it go to your head," the man whispered, and leaning in to catch Aragorn's mouth with his own.
Aragorn's heart fluttered, and he wrapped Viper in his arms and kissed him back.
Aragorn, Heir to the Gondorian throne, held a very prominent dislike for members of the feline species. That was alright, though. They now held a truce, sort of.
He left them alone, they left him alone. That way, neither of them would snap and try to kill the other. They only had one thing in common, and that was Viper.
The cat seemed content enough to share, knowing he made Viper happy was enough. Aragorn, however, knew Viper was all his.
Thank god, I finished. Here's Another. Proffesional. Tragedist's gift ficlet. Sorry if it's not quite what you were thinking, I'm kind of hopeless at romance *cringes* Also, this turned out to be longer than I expected. By a lot. Sorry about that too ^.^'
Anyway! I'll be posting all the other gift ficlets to this story, so make sure to follow it so that you get notified when the next comes out!
Love you~!
~Skye