Title: Faril Nin [My Huntress]
Author: Codi Lyn { iluvobiwan91
Genre: Romance, Angst, Hurt/Comfort
Rating: PG-13 – R (for descriptive battle scene/wounds)
Pairing: Orophin/OFC [Gwaeron]
Timeline: Begins before the Fellowship enters Lorien in Third Age 3018… concludes during Fourth Age 250
Chapter: 2/13
Chapter Summary: "I know for certain that he loves you, dearest. Should you not let him decide for himself whether or not he would choose a mortal woman to love?"
Author's Note: I don't know quite what season it is when the Fellowship are in Lorien, and so there are a few changes in time-flow versus how things played out in the movies. Follows movie-verse, but I make a few references to things that happened in the books. But little things like these I have the license to play with, as the author. J.R.R. Tolkien and Peter Jackson have rights to the important stuff, this story is written purely for pleasure.
Chapter TwoIt was determined that the elfling was newly born, perhaps only a few months old, judging by the physical development of her ears, hair, and focus of her eyes. Every elleth crowded the—now predominantly female—flet at every leave of patrol, always asking to hold and coddle the darling new baby. With their helping to tend her, Gwaeron was gratefully able to fight off the serious exhaustion her body had taken on in the last day and more. Véredhiel only fussed when hungry and finally allowed the eager ellith to take care of her without complaint so long as the woman ranger was nearby.
A bottle was fashioned for her out of an archer's glove with a small slit made into the tip and she was fed a watered down nectar of different fruits they had on hand in supply. Gwaeron objected half-heartedly, though she knew this was their only option until they came into Caras Galadhon where other supplies could be attained. "You will have her eating only sweets by the time she gets anything of substance! I won't be surprised if every tooth she cuts will come out already rotted." Chastising them with an amused smile, the lady ranger was easily ignored by her fawning caretakers, and so made little of it from then on.
A she-elf named Meldiriel provided a change of her own clothes until the ranger's sturdier garments dried fully along with the few extra pieces that had been soaked through in her pack. The rain ceased at length sometime during the next night and, upon asking her new friend who shared duties with Orophin, Gwaeron found out that the elf was also off-duty. Climbing down from the tree's high-placed flet with a mind to visit her beau, Gwaeron waited as a carefully wrapped parcel was lowered down to her and she removed Véredhiel from her secure transport.
As they walked between the strong columns of trees the woman was reminded that they were quite a ways inside Lórien's border, so she was not surprised to hear the gentle chatter of elf to elf between supply and healing flets above her. The true patrol posts were much nearer to the wooded country's boundaries and more camouflaged, if even existent, so as to keep hidden from unfriendly eyes. What knowledge Gwaeron could claim of stealth and invisibility was greatly attributed to living with the elves most of her life. This became the primary reason—aside from accompanying her for many years, himself—that her brother, Estel, had agreed to let her ride as a ranger at all. Her foster-father still disapproved enough to frown upon her more 'masculine' garb, but relented upon this decision once she had come of age in the years of men.
Finally spying a tall elf standing amidst a cluster of birch trees in the distance, Gwaeron smiled, seeing her hound standing at his side until her footfalls were heard and the overgrown puppy turned. The considerably large dog galloped toward his mistress and made ready to jump up when, at her signal, he skidded to a stop and stood obediently before her, tail wagging wildly.
Leaning down a little, she allowed him to sniff and nuzzle the blankets surrounding the babe in her arms, Véredhiel reaching her little hands up to grasp at his nose and whiskers which tickled her. "Careful, Tar… She is far too small, yet, for one of your kisses." Murmuring lightly, Gwaeron watched the careful display of affection before glancing up to see a grey-clad elf standing with a soft smile on his face.
His eyes looked over the child and then met hers. "You are both well, today?" Orophin asked after them with a rich tone in his voice and rubbed at the dog's ears to distract him.
His lover's smile brightened as she rose upright again. "Yes, thank you. Véredhiel has been soaking up all the attention your lady galadhrim bestow while I rest." Chuckling easily, Orophin stepped closer and ran a finger along the infant's cheek. The baby instantly reached out for him and let out a small cry when he withdrew, causing both adults to glance at one another in surprise, though Gwaeron was quick to grin at the reaction. "Would you like to hold her, Orophin?" Smiling nervously, he allowed her to help the little one into his strong arms comfortably, smiling genuinely when Véredhiel fisted a handful of his hair to tug playfully.
Gwaeron laughed at it and he looked on her fondly while she attempted to loosen the child's grasp on him. Orophin had never seen the truly glow as she did in that moment. Her grey-green eyes sparkled and popped in contrast to her fair and lightly freckled face. The elven garments she had been given accentuated her athletic figure, a braided belt of leather hung at ease around her hips, which consequently showed off muscled thighs directly below. A quiet sigh was his only sign of disappointment as her hair was still tightly braided against her head, up and away from her face and neck so as not to hinder her. He loved when his huntress wore such thick locks as she possessed down past her shoulders and curled against her back.
She looked up once succeeding in freeing the strands of his own hair and held his gaze for a long, peaceful moment before feminine fingers pushed them back behind his shoulder, touching his neck gently on the way. Warmth filled him at such a caress and Orophin noted with delight that her cheeks flushed also, perhaps self-conscious that she had been too forward.
With her gaze lowered once more to the child he cradled, Gwaeron inquired guiltily, bringing their thoughts to another subject. "Did I incur Haldir's wroth upon you by my actions the other day?"
Her answer was simply a deep chuckle, one that brought a newborn's smile to Véredhiel's lips, which accompanied his easy response. "We have long been grown elves, Gwaeron. I take responsibility for the things I choose to do… and the people I choose to be with." As he spoke Orophin watched her face carefully, praying she could glean what he'd left for her in the field of his words.
A reluctant smile touched her features, lightening as her finger came into the baby's grasp. "For what it's worth, I am sorry to have caused any more grievance between you and your brother. I would have gone back for her father myself—"
Orophin freed a hand from under the child and arrested hers to gain her focus once more. "I would not have let you go alone. As it was, I did not welcome you being so close to a wounded stranger in such woods. His hand was warm on hers despite the damp chill in the autumn air and Gwaeron relished it, feeling his protection conveyed through such contact.
Glancing from him back down to the little one in his hold, a delighted smile reached even to her eyes and she whispered. "Look, Orophin. She's fallen asleep in your arms." Their eyes met happily before her gaze returned to the child. "Till now she only found rest in mine."
Smirking at the observation she'd made, the warden's affectionate look soon found the lady ranger again. "How long shall you and your foster-daughter stay with us in Lorien, faril nin?" The reaction she gave was what he had hoped to gain from his words; a little higher head, a clearer light in her eye, and a loving look upon her oath-child.
"I hope to take some counsel with the Lady, if I can." Gwaeron murmured, almost to herself, before raising her head to meet Orophin's gaze, assuring him with her expression. "I would wish to stay a while in the meantime."
Nodding, the warden spoke of the plan he had been formulating while she and Véredhiel had been still recovering. "In two days Rúmil and I shall be free to return to Caras Galadhon for a month's leave. If it is agreeable to you, you and the child may take my talan while I stay in the flet with Rúmil."
Her face lit up at the offer. "Neither you or Rúmil will mind?"
Shaking his head with a grin, Orophin assured her. "Rúmil already thinks it to be ideal. And I confess I do not mind at all, for our flets neighbor one another and we shall be close." Another sort of look deepened his stare and caused her to blush.
"It is generous of you both, Orophin. I cannot thank you enough." As she said so, the galadhrim transferred a gently sleeping baby back to her embrace and smirked as she snuggled naturally into the woman's hold.
"Know I would do anything for you, faril nin." Orophin brought his hand up to her face and brushed his fingers sweetly across a soft-colored cheek. Moving to stand at her side, his arm encircled Gwaeron's waist and began to lead them among the trees. "Come, will you walk with me? I have greatly longed for our conversations and have been restricted to only friendly silences with Tar." Laughing lightly, she accompanied him gladly and crooned to her sweet hound who followed alongside.
Much later when the lady ranger returned to the flet, she found only Meldiriel there to meet her and help bring Véredhiel up wrapped tightly within her basket. An easy understanding had passed between the she-elf and herself on several visits before, and Gwaeron knew the young elleth well enough to anticipate a bit of teasing.
An impish grin preceded the lady warden's first inquiry. "Has he kissed you, yet?"
Laughing a little, Gwaeron set Véredhiel down on the bed and laid her cloak over the quiet rise and fall of her little body. "What, and who, do you mean, Meldiriel?" Feigning ignorance, she moved to another part of the platform and began to fold her dry garments.
Moving with her, the elleth could not but roll her eyes as she tugged the woman's hand away from her task and pressed. "You know very well of whom I speak, mellon nin. Has the edhel yet to taste your lips?"
This earned a fervent blush spread over Gwaeron's face as she shook her head and laughed at such a description, confessing. "We did not kiss, and I… do not wish us to."
Meldiriel sat down across from her in stared in disbelief. "How in all of Arda can you say such a thing? Surely you love him?"
"Of course I care greatly for him, and so thus does he care for me. Orophin respects me enough to esteem my purity above such… displays that we can never truly fulfill. What relationship we have has kept me blameless in deed for whomever I come to marry." Explaining it as best as she could, Gwaeron seemed to be trying to convince herself that she was not as emotionally attached to Orophin as, Valar knew, she truly was.
"Certainly you realize, Gwaeron, this strictness you hold to is why you are still unmarried even now, at the height of your bloom." The elleth accompanied this with a look filled half with pity, and half censure.
Drawing herself up again, and resuming the task before her, Gwaeron sought to counter. "Or it is because I have not met the right man, yet."
Shrugging, Meldiriel rose and checked on the sleeping elfling across the room, murmuring over her shoulder so that the ranger could hear. "Or you've already met him and one of you aren't letting nature take its course."
At last the day came to venture further into the Golden Wood and reach the city of its Lord and Lady, Caras Galadhon. With Orophin's aid, they invented a comfortable sling to hold Véredhiel during their daylong journey, finding success when the baby was comfortable enough at their easy pace to fall asleep nestled snugly against her ranger mother.
Gwaeron placed a settling hand over the child as she stepped over some uneven ground and let her thoughts drift to the nervous floating in her belly the closer they came to the city. She had been often to the great heart of the mallorn wood, but always accompanying lord Elrond, his children, or Estel in their travels and never yet on her own. The woman calmed, though, when she thought of the familiarities that always greeted her there on such visits. Her dear friend among the elves, Anauriel, had been her companion for as long as she'd known Orophin, and it seemed now as though they'd always known each other.
Smiling at times past, the ranger remembered meeting him at the age of sixteen when she had tagged along with Arwen, Elladan, and Elrohir as they traveled to see their grandparents. Orophin had been the one to remove the ranger's weapons she had just begun to carry, and at her proud refusal had promised to return them into her care if the young lass could best him on the sparring field. He had beaten her flat on her back with a friendly laugh and from then on they became inseparable, teaching one another new skills and perfecting talents they each possessed. Orophin showed her how to discipline her swordsmanship and archer's stance; while Gwaeron taught him to lead different dances he had never had a care to learn until now.
The day she was to leave with Elrond's children the warden led her to the field their horses grazed in and, against the great tree in its midst, bestowed upon this ranger girl his most tender and devoted kiss, the only kiss they had ever shared. The smile Gwaeron wore the rest of the day invoked many knowing glances her way, but not a word of disfavor from her adopted family.
"Gwaeron? What is it?" Coming back to the present, the ranger blushed and looked over to Orophin who now studied her through vibrant azure eyes.
Smiling, she shook her head in gentle answer. "I was just remembering when we met." The elf's sweet grin told her that his thoughts went to dwell immediately on their kiss as quickly as hers had. He caught her gaze and moved closer to capture her hand and press it to his heart, feeling his chest swell in reaction to the precious contact. Their steps slowed together without much care that they now fell behind the dwindling traveling group, not giving thought to those who were already turning for their talans on the outskirts of the city.
Orophin's thoughts could not be pulled from how truly beautiful he knew Gwaeron was as he watched her walking at his side. She could not physically be mistaken for any elven beauty, he had seen many of the scars that battles and wilderness had dealt upon the fair flesh her dresses would make known. Kind, bright eyes bore the slight wrinkles that smiling often produced, and freckles danced upon that white skin that contrasted so much when compared to her brother's tanned figure.
She was equal in height with her ellith friends, taller even, than some for the woman exerted authority enough upon herself so that she was not given to the relaxed posture that diminished a one's height among her kindred. Unlike most elves, Gwaeron's hair curled richly with the deep auburn brown of fall-time foliage, bouncing in wispy baby's curls along her hairline no matter how she wore it. Cheeks shaded from the sun would grow rosy and bloom in flush when Orophin met her vivid green eyes, vibrant as a wave pool along the southern sea of Rhún. Her figure curved like many women and ellith, but her galadhrim admirer found it the more pleasing to know what strengthened muscles dwelt within the softer feminine form, having received the force of said muscles during their many sparring matches.
Such kindness and unconditional compassion found its way to every soul she was familiar with, giving her the one aspect that did concern Orophin for her travels alone; to have the innocence that might easily veil a threat someone could potentially prove upon her. Eighty-six years of age had brought as great a measure of wisdom as it had loveliness, however, and the edhel could not but find her as breath-taking, and more so, as he had in the first days of their meeting.
On impulse, Orophin leaned over and whispered soft endearments against her ear, gentle declarations of love in elven word. The blush deepened with her smile as he withdrew, and she shook her head while he beamed in his affection for her. Something filtered through the ranger's sweet expression after a moment and subtly told of something wrong as she turned her gaze away. "I am not deserving of such beautiful words, Orophin…" Gwaeron spoke so lowly he could hardly hear the murmured words as she released her hand from his grasp, frowning as if she'd remembered something grave.
The sound of crying caused him to glance at the tiny babe and then watch with fallen heart as the woman tended to her and stepped more quickly to catch the others up. Gwaeron was distancing herself, and he could not fathom why. But no matter how it tore at the pain in his chest he sought futilely to push the thoughts away, refusing to believe her feelings had changed in her regard of him. Orophin told himself she was being modest, that after seventy years she could not wish to return to acquaintances only. Yet as he watched her now, moving ahead of him without looking back, a conflicting cloud of doubt began to move prominently into his thoughts.
"There are feelings there, Orophin, though little she may understand them at this time. I urge you not to doubt her heart." The lady Galadriel's voice echoed quietly in his mind and he looked up to the horizon. They were nearing Caras Galadhon.
Anauriel met them as they came up to Orophin's talan, having heard of their arrival from those galadhrim already returned. A large basket was held at her hip, and the elleth looked eagerly at Véredhiel before clasping Gwaeron in an enthusiastic hug. "You have been sorely missed, Gwaeron! And not by myself only, dearest." She spoke the last in a whisper and glance of eyes toward Orophin as he climbed the steps to his home without a word.
Noticing his change in composure, Gwaeron's smile was reticent and she quickly sought a change of subject with her friend. "What have you got here, Ana?" Gesturing to the cargo the elf hefted proudly, the ranger found her free arm linked with Ana's and they followed up the stairs behind the galadhrim brothers.
"I heard of this elfling and so went hunting for things among the elven mothers whose babies are now as grown as I." She explained and laughed with her mortal friend over the threshold. "They send you blessings, with bottles and cloth diapers." As the elleth spoke cheerfully, a lock of her wavy hair found its way into the infant's tiny grasp and pulled with a little noise of amusement. "Oh! You like my hair, do you?" Happily surprised, Anauriel spoke sweetly to the little one and smiled as her friend worked to release little fingers from her hair.
"Véredhiel seems to like the hair of those she makes noises for. I'm sure that she likes you, because of it." As the woman explained with a grin her eyes caught Orophin watching the scene with a smirk, such a look not being missed by her she-elf friend.
"And has Véredhiel tugged on our dear warden's hair?" With suggestion in her tone, Ana winked as Gwaeron nodded that she had. "And what of your hair? Though you do wear it up so often."
"This is true, but it hasn't kept Verry from grabbing at my… well, other parts of me that a baby would have need of." With a blush and some shared laughter, the elleth put her hand on the ranger's arm and tried to suppress another giggle.
"Well, you can hardly blame the poor child for wanting her naneth's milk, Gwaeron. But I've brought something that will help that. Some of the mothers gave me a powdered formula to mix with warm water to use when they could not produce their own, or had no privacy. We will give the dear some of that, I'm sure it'll be just what she needs." More than thankful for Ana's thoughtfulness and understanding, Gwaeron quickly settled back into the familiarity of what might as well be her older sister in all but blood. Indeed, the elleth had taught her just as much—if not more—than Orophin had, as she grew up. Instead of weaponry and stealth, Anauriel taught the more feminine details of coming into womanhood, many things that even her mother had not time to fully explain. Next to Arwen and Orophin, she was her closest friend and confidant, and she could not feel more blessed to have someone such as her to help begin taking care of a newborn.
After a little while the two edhil in the talan had gathered what little they needed and rose to leave, approaching the women as they entertained the infant between them. "If you will excuse us ladies, I've collected my things and will leave you to settle in on your own." Orophin spoke with little inflection and no smile, surprising them with his formality and brief bow.
Gwaeron had let Anauriel hold the baby and so rose up to give the warden a firm and genuine hug, remaining until his initial stiffness faded and his arms held her more naturally. "Thank you, Orophin. You are my most generous friend." Friend. At the word Orophin's slight smile instantly fell away and he was forced to put on a false one as she pulled away and looked up at him. It was nothing for her to read that the elf was putting on to try and please her, that there was no true happiness in his features.
Before she could regard him a moment longer she was pulled into a quick hold from Rúmil followed by a peck on the cheek as he grinned. "We'll see you this evening, then. I'll make a meal and you'll come to my flat." His invitation was good-humored and he nodded amiably to Anauriel before immediately pulling Orophin out the door.
Once they'd made it a safe distance from the talan Rúmil stopped sharply and turned his older brother around to face him. "Well, that couldn't have been more uncomfortable thanks to you." He pushed his elder brother accusingly. "What happened between you and Gwaeron that has made you so bloody aloof all of a sudden? Weren't the two of you your normal selves just this morning?" Rúmil's hands planted on harrow hips as he waited for an answer. Only now, however, as he had a breath to truly look at Orophin did he realize his brother's dejection; shoulders slumped with the weight of a burden, and eyes unfocused, simply glazed over in thought.
"Gwaeron, she's… isolating herself from me, Rúmil. She has leaned out of my embraces, denied my endearments, calling me only her 'friend.' I don't know what has changed."
Frowning as he took a step closer, Rúmil put a comforting hand to his brother's shoulder and pulled him into a strong embrace, uncaring about the crumpled clothes he held between them. "You mustn't accept this blindly, brother. You can't know all her thoughts." Pulling away, he looked at him in sympathy. "If you're to know what she means by these actions, then you must speak with her. I am certain whatever it is shall pass in time and you shall both be as you were, and happier." Orophin nodded and tried to wince a slight smile in appreciation for his younger sibling. With a nod, Rúmil simply led him to his talan and attempted to draw his thoughts away from the lady ranger for a time, though little it could help when she now dwelt in the next tree.
Anauriel looked at Gwaeron with an arched brow, bouncing Véredhiel gently and walking toward her friend. "Well, I can't say I've seen anyone so discomfited as you and Orophin since the time my mother first met a dwarf in Imladris. Why are the two of you giving such a cold shoulder of a sudden? Surely it hasn't been this way since your arrival?"
A shrug was all she could gain from the ranger before she sat on a cot and showed the tears welling in her eyes as she looked to her friend for guidance. "I've been thinking lately, of the affection Orophin and I share… We've been together for so long, but to what end if we can never truly bind?" Quiet sobs began to choke her, but she continued. "I will not ask him to bind to a mortal woman and risk his immortality. It is too great a sacrifice and I am only hindering him now from finding his life-mate, not to mention a husband of my own if I am ever to marry."
Anauriel instantly frowned and came to the young woman who now buried her face in her hands miserably. As the elleth sat at her side the child reached for her with a whine and Gwaeron took her into her arms as second nature, still nurturing even through the turmoil her emotions wreaked upon her. "Gwaeron, look at me." Ana gently commanded her and the woman obeyed with wavering gaze to meet the elleth's. "Do you love him?"
She stayed silent for a long moment and another tear fell from her emerald depths as she looked into Véredhiel's eyes that mirrored the bright blue of Orophin's. "Yes… I love him. And it tears me apart to hurt him like this." Her voice was a hoarse whisper, almost directed to the infant more than an answer to the question.
With an arm around her shoulders in compassion, Anauriel stroked a few of her friend's braids in a comforting gesture. "And I know for certain that he loves you, dearest. Should you not let him decide for himself whether or not he would choose a mortal woman to love?" Gwaeron nodded and calmed her cries, wiping the tears that had already made trails down her flushed cheeks. "Come, Gwaeron." Anauriel whispered when she saw the baby had fallen back asleep and tugged on the ranger's sleeve. "You put the little one to bed and I'll help you take a decent bath. Having a relaxing soak will do you some good."
They made a circle of blankets and a cushion for Véredhiel to sleep within and the elleth was as good as her word by filling an exquisite bath sprinkled with scented oils that calmed the senses. It was when she sat idle in a cloud of steam and just shy of scalding hot water that Gwaeron's mind at last eased, and she was sure it had been too long since she had lingered in anything so luxurious. Bringing in a few other womanly pleasures, Anauriel sat at the edge of the tub and pulled out a fruit-infused shampoo to begin lathering the woman's thick curls.
The sound of movement and a slight cry came from the other room and both elf and woman sat up to go get the baby when Ana rinsed her hands and pushed Gwaeron's shoulder so that she stayed put. "Now, now, just rest and enjoy. I'll tend to the little one while you finish up." With an obedient nod, Gwaeron sat back for a few minutes longer in silence before at length her pruned fingers and toes begged to be released and she rose out of the tub to dry off.
A large, warm towel was soon tucked around her and secured before the ranger began combing excess water through her waist-length hair, shaking and curling through the mass with her fingers afterward. Catching her reflection in a looking glass against the wall, Gwaeron turned sideways and smirked at what she saw. Strong bones from her father had blessed her with the muscles to utilize them, and the soft curves of a healthy woman from her mother graced her hips and belly, giving shape to her lengthened figure. In strength and height she surpassed many lesser women and had caught her brother up in the latter by the age of twenty, able with ease to look Estel straight in the eye when they stood together.
Gwaeron did not give herself chance to put much value on her looks compared to others, especially when the majority of her time was spent among elves and any comparisons there were fruitless. It was the confidence in her own abilities that counted to the ranger, and that was all that mattered to those who knew her, as well. "In any case, there aren't many eighty-something's who look and feel as I do." With a satisfied shrug, she put on a loose riding dress from among her things and walked into the adjoining room where Anauriel was feeding a warm bottle to a hungry baby. "Is she taking it well for you?" Gwaeron asked as she sat across from her friend, pushing her fingers through the still-wet curls at her shoulders.
"She was fickle at first to try it, and she wouldn't have it for quite a bit, but her empty belly gave in soon enough. I'm sure it's part for knowing me not to be her mother." Ana's pointed compliment caused a blush to accompany the humble smile on the woman's lips.
"Foster-mother, perhaps, do not honor me with such names so quickly. It's much more likely the difference of fruit juice and milk formula to make Véredhiel object at first, not the knowledge of who held the bottle."
The elleth kept silent as Gwaeron reasoned away what she believed, but delivered a knowing look that quieted any further dispute on the matter. "What will you wear to Rúmil's flat tonight?" Changing the subject skillfully after a lull, Ana glanced at the ranger's apparel and hoped there was something else to be had.
Frowning, Gwaeron looked down at the coarse wool of the frock that had been a gift of the young prince Theodred in Edoras some years ago. The deep green riding dress and leggings were the effect of seeing that an undoubtedly feminine guest of the Golden Hall had little but ranger's tunics and breeches to wear before the King. She looked upon it quite fondly with the memory to accompany it, but now fretted at its want of elegance for use of function. "What would you advise? I've no other garments but trousers and tunics…"
"It's just that it's so very heavy. But if you've nothing else to don tonight, it must be granted to have a sort of rustic charm about it." Ana's words worked a better revision than the odd look her face still expressed at the mortal-made garment.
"You are simply used to the light and airy dress of your kindred, Ana. Leave me to appreciate mine every now and again, won't you?" The young mortal beseeched her and at last Anauriel relented, handing a now full little girl to her 'mother' so that she could burp.
"I'll concede to it tonight, my dear. Tomorrow I'll bring a few things of mine you can try if you like." With a shared smile, the elleth made her way to the door and called over her shoulder. "I'm going to bathe and change, myself, now that I smell like baby's milk. I'll return in an hour or two to go with you."
With the elven maid out of the flat, Gwaeron rubbed the back of her little charge until Véredhiel's burp of air came up, accompanied by a yawn that scrunched her face and left a whisper of a smile as the baby's eyes drooped. "Does a nap sound good to you, Verry?" Nuzzling a small rounded cheek, the woman softly cooed and wrapped the infant a little more tightly in her blanket. "It sounds a fine plan, doesn't it? I think I'll join you in it." With a soothing voice she mused before lying down on the bed with a thoughtful arm around the child and felt unconsciousness pull them into its embrace.
As promised, Anauriel returned to the flet a couple of hours later and found her friend in front of the looking glass making a hurried attempt to smooth the sleep marks from her face and hair. An exasperated smile greeted her and the explanation followed. "I was only going to lay down with her for a moment. It's apparent I'm in need of more rest than I thought."
With a smirk the elleth stilled the woman's hands from forcing her lively hair into a messy up-do. "Stop your fussing and leave your hair down, Gwaeron. You look quite beautiful."
Giving up her efforts with a sigh, the ranger turned to her and beamed. "Thank you, Ana. Is Véredhiel still resting?" The women went to the cradle of pillows and smiled at the little one quietly drowsing. With care, Gwaeron picked her up and laid the babe against her chest to curl naturally while she remained sleeping.
In quiet and calm they made their way to Rúmil's talan and were pleasantly greeted upon arrival. "Good evening, my ladies." With an affectionate peck to women's cheek—though his welcome for Anauriel lingered noticeably longer— the cordial elf led them inside and turned his attention to the little one only just awakening. "And far be it that I forget our newest lovely one." Cooing, Rúmil fingered a tiny hand loose from its fist and laid a kiss sweetly upon it with a wink to the ranger.
As he guided them to be seated, his elder brother entered from the hallway and Rúmil addressed him lightly. "Orophin, you decided to join us. Would you care to entertain our guests while I put the meal together? I'll be just a moment."
He was answered with a nod and reasonably warm smile for the women now seated comfortably. "Can I bring something to drink? I trust Rúmil may have some spirits easy enough to enjoy before dinner." Anauriel nodded yes while Gwaeron politely declined, asking instead for something lighter.
When he moved off to fix the beverages, Ana wasted no time in teasing her friend with a well-placed elbow. "Orophin looks very handsome tonight, does he not?"
The ranger rolled her eyes and could not help a smile, though she tried. It was as if she were sixteen once again. "I could not help but see your appraisal of Rúmil, as well." She answered back with the sweetly spoken insinuation.
The elleth only smirked with an elegant brow raised at being caught. "Perhaps." Any further prods at one another were brought to cease when Orophin returned bearing two glasses of a blonde wine and a cup and saucer with tea for Gwaeron, a healthy dip of honey added as he knew she preferred. He held her gaze tenderly for a moment as he set it before her and she smiled gratefully before lowering her eyes to the steaming cup. With eyes still resting upon her, he removed to lean against the natural wall carved out of their tree and at length addressed their friend also present. "How has the city been in our absence, Anauriel?"
The affable inquiry was met with interest as the elleth explained various happenings that had occurred during their duties on the border and he tried to listen attentively. His gaze, however, continued to fall upon Gwaeron who sat quietly beside the primary contributor to their conversation. The woman had let her hair down to fall in the vicarious manner her curls favored, pooling mostly upon one shoulder as she had swept it there to rest out of the way from her other shoulder now occupied by a coddled infant. The riding dress she wore, when she briefly met his eye, drew out every shadow and highlight of those fair green eyes that radiated their calm as he felt himself staring without any pretense.
When he came to himself he managed to return his concentration to Anauriel, who had continued quite pleasantly on her own as though he had not been entirely distracted during her speech. "… So now that you and Rúmil have come back, I am sure things will return to more interest once again." Ending with a smile, Orophin returned it in kind and glanced to see the ranger tasting her tea for the first sip, a sweet expression softening her face at the taste. The beginnings of sleepy movement drew his eyes then to the sweet form of a child that still lay curled warmly into what he had come to consider her 'foster mother.' Gwaeron truly fit every description he held for the title and could not but find himself more deeply in love with her for so innately displaying the role.
"Well, certainly consider this to be but the first of many gatherings between the four of us at least, now that we're returned." Rúmil cheerfully affirmed Anauriel's statement as he brought in a tray of fruits and cheeses and sat among them, himself. A look about the room corrected him, however, and he remedied his count to 'five' after a nod the baby. Gwaeron laughed lightly at his care to include her new charge and kept the smile on her lips as the edhel situated himself a mite closer to the elf lady at her side.
Her attention was pulled away when Orophin came before her and offered kindly. "I can take her for a while, if you would like, Gwaeron. If only for you to take something to eat more easily." His expectant look lasted half a moment before she smiling nodded and allowed him nearer to ease the elfling into his careful embrace. With appreciation she noted how Orophin had grown quite adept in the action since last he held her on the border. Still drowsy and desirous to be held close, Véredhiel squirmed just enough to find her natural place in the crook of his arm and cozied herself against his chest while he caressed the beginning wisps of her hair.
"It's clear enough Gwaeron is to be her foster mother, but it certainly looks as though Véredhiel's found her foster father in Orophin." Chuckling, Rúmil made the comment with a genuine light heart but was shot a stern glance from his elder brother with silent warning.
Gwaeron shook her head with a nervous, half smile at the insinuation. The decision she'd made within herself came forefront in her mind and ruled her speech: she would not bind Orophin to waste his mortality on her, nor withhold him from finding a partner to share it with. "We know that is impossible, don't we?" Trying to copy Rúmil's light air, she shrugged the comment out as though it were common sense.
Unable to let the scene continue in such a way, Orophin turned to her accusingly and challenged. "Why? Why would it be?"
She met his eye pointedly and spoke in a lowered voice, trying to keep the situation from exploding further, especially in the midst of others. "You know very well why, Orophin. I would rather we didn't discuss this here." With intention to quiet him, her words served only to raise his frustrations beyond containment.
"Perhaps not here… but now." Asserting himself, he gestured clearly that he would have a word with the ranger in private. Sensing the distress that excited the air about the elf and woman, Véredhiel began to fuss and stir unnervingly in his hold. Anauriel shifted uncomfortably and quietly asked Rúmil to do something as they watched the infant agitatedly pulling at Orophin's tunic and hair, as though his frustration had carried through to her. The younger warden rose and clumsily took the infant from his brother as Orophin handed her over, his glare never releasing the woman across from him though the child fitfully continued to reach for him.
A threatening glint in his eyes, Orophin summoned flatly that he would speak with her and turned stiffly to make his way down the hall. Wordlessly rising at the command, though in no way intimidated, Gwaeron followed him into another room at the other side of the talan, trying to keep confident in the choice she had made. They entered the bedroom that he was to sleep in as guest in his brother's flat and he turned to her in the dimming light to begin the conversation he seemed to know could not finish painlessly. "What do you mean it is impossible for me to be that child's father? What of your words to me, naming me a 'friend' as though we were barely at acquaintance? Gwaeron, what is happening to you… to us? Never have we been so distant with one another." A tone of pleading stained his commanding voice as he grasped her arms in an iron-strong hold, refusing to give way until she ceased a fruitless struggle against him and sagged in defeat.
A wavering gaze met his entreating eyes that only ate at her resolve, though her words went on stubbornly as her misery deepened. "Orophin, we can no longer continue as any more than friends… Do you understand?" He let her go as she sank to his bed and brought her hands up to hide her face, long curls draping to veil her from the world.
He stood with difficulty as the blow of her words stunned him but soon moved to kneel before her, pulling her wrists away gently until he could see her face. "I cannot understand, faril nin. All I see is that you change your will outside, but when I look within you… you do not truly wish it. I cannot understand why are you changing." It pained him to see her like this, eyes full of tears and brow wrinkled in a grief he could not determine. The caress of his hands around hers begged her to speak the whole truth, to say aloud what her reasons were so that he could disprove them.
"We have denied for so long, for too long, how we differ. You are blessed by Illúvatar as a Firstborn, to have immortality…" Though he opened his mouth to speak she raised a slender hand to his lips and he allowed her to continue, taking her hand with rapidly failing strength. "And thought I, too, have been blessed to be born of the Dúnedain with long life… I am still bound to this earth as a mortal."
The weight of his brother's words came unbidden to his mind though he fought to push them out. 'Tread lightly, brother… A mortal is just that. Mortal.' Orophin's eyes filled with burning tears as the realization solidified of what end she was bringing all of this.
"I cannot continue to withhold you from seeking a life mate." These words she spoke with even more difficulty. "And every day I wait, I waste time in finding a husband of my own. I care for you too much to let you sacrifice your eternity for me, Orophin." Gwaeron's hand lifted again to his face and stroked a familiar path from his jaw to beneath a pointed ear.
Face tensed in emotion, Orophin trembled from strain as he gripped her hands nearly to the point of crushing her fingers before of a sudden he reached out and pulled her within a breath of his face. Hesitating only a moment to look into her glossed emerald eyes and find no fear, he took her lips with his in a miserably flawless kiss. The breath she had quickly taken now released through her nose in a strangled sigh, his mouth caressing with the gentle urgency she had felt from him nearly seventy years ago in their first cherished embrace.
He parted from her slowly, tasting their mingled breath for a moment before his eyes opened to see the tears that had fallen from hers. "Do you love me?" Orophin could barely lend voice to the whisper, knowing full well that the answer she had kept so long closed in her heart could kill him from grief if he let it. The woman shook uncontrollably in his hold as she struggled against the tidal wave of emotion flowing against her, the force of it crumbling her fragile wall of protection as she looked into his painfully beautiful eyes. Eyes filled with love for her.
Gwaeron could not bring herself to shake her head as she should, nor nod as she longed to. It was as if his kiss had paralyzed her to do nothing but take in the sight of him as though it were her last chance. When movement was granted to her limbs once more she let her hands fall from him and swiftly stood to flee, flying through the door in a rush of tears and green skirts as he remained weighted to the floor at his knees.