I hope this holds up to everyone's expectations. If you have any suggestions, questions, or concerns, please reach out to me. I would love to hear what everyone has to say. I have spent the last 3 lunch breaks at school writing, editing, and now posting this. Enjoy and let me know your thoughts.
Thranduil and Elrond stopped in their tracks as Andreth walked up to Oropher.
"Nice to see you here, Oropher," Andreth said politely.
"Thranduil, we are leaving," Oropher demanded firmly.
"Oropher, if I may interject," Elrond said hoping Andreth would not question him any further. "Thranduil here was telling me about your thoughts and beliefs and I was interested in knowing more."
Andreth smiled knowing he was just buying himself time with Thranduil as Oropher grinned thinking Thranduil had convinced Elrond of their ways. The grin made Thranduil and Elrond both uncomfortable as Oropher walked up to them.
"Of course, but I would prefer to talk to you away from Andreth," he said knowing Andreth would voice his opinion.
"What if we allow Andreth to stay as long as he stays silent and does not voice his opinion?" Thranduil offered. "That way Elrond is a little more at ease with you."
"I will allow that as long as Andreth holds his tongue."
"Andreth, can you do that?" Elrond asked as Andreth simply nodded knowing this was a huge opportunity to learn about Oropher's agenda.
"Let us go somewhere a little bit nicer and quieter to eat," Oropher said.
"I would prefer to eat to eat here if you do not mind," Elrond said and Oropher nodded before walking towards a table in the corner.
The others followed Elrond as he motioned for Oropher and Thranduil to sit first out of respect. Oropher sat down with Thranduil sitting beside him as Elrond sat across in the middle of the table. Andreth stood behind Elrond knowing he had to act as a servant and not an equal. One of Thranduil's feet slid forward and rested against Elrond's which calmed him for the conversation that they were about to have. Elrond knew that it could get ugly, but wanted to protect Thranduil as much as possible.
"So what has Thranduil told you?" Oropher asked.
"That the elves are not all equal. That the Noldor elves are below the others." Elrond said keeping it simple.
"That is one way to put it," Oropher replied.
"Will you explain it more so that I can understand?"
"I can," he grinned. "I do not know how much you have been told growing up, but when the Quendi decided to come to Arda, they broke up into many different groups. The Eldar are those who traveled to Arda. From there, they break down even farther. There are the Vanyar, Ñoldor, Falmari, Sindar, Silvan or Nandor, and the Laiquendi. Each group had their own King as well. The Falmari and Laiquendi have not been seen or heard of in years and there is almost no Vanyar left. That leaves the Sindar, Silvan, and Ñoldor. The Ñoldor are the lesser of the three groups."
'Yeah right,' Andreth thought just letting Oropher speak.
"Why is that?" Elrond asked nudging Thranduil's foot gently under the table only to get a nudge back.
"The Ñoldor was originally led by Finwë, who was most known for his son Feanor. Feanor sent his sons on the task of retrieving the Silmarils. You do know of the SIlmarils?" Oropher asked as Elrond bit his lip and nodded not wanting to think of Feanor or Maglor. "With the kins slaying, the Ñoldor are now the lesser of the elves still alive."
"I did not know that," Elrond said softly as Thranduil ran his foot up to his knee and back down. "And you belong to which group?"
"Sindar as is Thranduil. The Silvan elves live east of the Misty Mountains. Our goal is to reach them and set up our home east of the Misty Mountains."
"Will you be trading west of the Misty Mountains?" Elrond asked very curious.
"We will and would welcome those who see eye to eye with us to trade while those who do not, will not be allowed to enter our realm," Oropher answered having already thought this out.
"I may be Ñoldor, but I would love the opportunity to trade with you once you are ready. I am sure I will be able to change Gil-Galad's mind on the matter. Even if I can not, I still see eye to eye with you."
"For a halver, you are smart. When we are set up, we will gladly do trades with you, even if Gil-Galad does not see our way. Andreth may come with you as well, if he stays quiet," Oropher said with a grin knowing he had won.
"I am sure Andreth can keep his mouth closed," Elrond smiled.
"It was really great talking with you, but I have a few more people to meet with. Thranduil, come with me."
"Adar, I would like to stay here and answer anymore questions Elrond may have, if you do not mind," Thranduil replied.
"You have twenty minutes before you need to head out and to your next meeting."
"Yes sir," Thranduil said watching Oropher walk off and out of the building.
"Is he always like that?" Elrond asked Thranduil as soon as he left.
"He is, but at least he was civil this time. I will admit that this is the best I have ever seen him around a Ñoldor elf."
"Are you bothered that I am a Ñoldor elf?" Elrond asked wanting to hear for himself.
"It does not bother me in the least bit. I do not care that you are half-elven either. I lo…. Like you for who you are, not who your family is."
"Well if you want to speak in technical numbers, Elrond is not exactly half-elven," Andreth spoke up.
"What do you mean, I am not exactly half-elven?" Elrond asked confused as Andreth sat down beside Thranduil.
Thranduil got up and moved to sit as close as he could to Elrond as his hand brushed his lover's under the table.
"Elrond is 56.25 percent elven, 37.5 percent man, and 6.25 percent Maiar."
"You are part Maiar?" Thranduil asked looking at Elrond in complete shock.
"Just a very small percentage. My great-great-grandmother is Melian," Elrond said embarrassed that this got brought up.
"I think that is really cool," Thranduil said with a smile, wanting to say more, but decided not to here.
"Thanks," Elrond smiled as food was placed on the table. "Where did this come from?"
"I placed an order while Oropher was talking. Wine for each of us as well as vegetables, fruit, and a small portion of roasted deer for Thranduil. I hope you enjoy," Andreth smiled.
"Thank you," Elrond grinned before turning to look at Thranduil.
"I do not have to have roasted deer, but thank you very much, Andreth."
"You are welcome, Thranduil. Now I am going to be right back. I forgot something in my room," he smiled standing up and leaving the table once more.
As soon as they were for certain that Andreth was gone, Thranduil stole a soft kiss.
"I hope my father did not upset you."
"No, but what Feanor and his sons did does not make the Ñoldor any less than the Silvan and Sindar elves."
"I know that," Thranduil admitted. "What surprised me is how civil my Adar acted with you. Are you seriously okay with doing trades with him? And he called you a…"
"A halver. I am okay as long as you do not say it. On the trades, yes I am okay with it."
"I also did not know you were related to Melian."
"Yeah… I was just finding that out myself when we met," Elrond explained as Thranduil nodded.
"Best keep that unknown."
"I agree," Elrond said eating some of his food, but keeping his grey eyes on Thranduil. "I am happy I healed that bruise on your neck."
"My Adar would have killed you if he saw that. He would not have asked questions first, either."
"That does not surprise me. Has he always been like this?" Elrond asked curious.
"Yes, but it seems that he is becoming less and less tolerant as the years pass."
Elrond nodded thinking about this, wondering what could have happened to make Oropher hate the Ñoldor and half elves as well as those who have same sex relationships. He wondered if it had something to do with men in general, but there was no way to know, except asking Oropher himself and he was not about to do that. He shook these thoughts before grabbing a piece of fruit and leaning towards Thranduil to put it in his mouth.
"You do not have to do this," Thranduil laughed as he ate the piece of fruit. "If you do, then I will start to feed you next."
"I would love to see you try," Elrond grinned as he picked up a grape and fed it to Thranduil.
Thranduil took it as he picked up a carrot and practically shoved it into Elrond's mouth causing him to jump. He laughed softly as he started to chew the carrot knowing there was no way to win this disagreement. Thranduil on the other hand had to resist the urge to lean into Elrond and kiss him right there in the middle of the inn, but Andreth's words kept coming back in his head reminding him how intolerant most of Middle Earth was of relationships like they had. Instead he slid his foot to Elrond's, just like he had done when his Adar was around. Elrond smiled and pushed back against his lover's foot.
"How long do you have before you have to leave?"
"I may have kinda told Adar that I have a few meetings with people just to get away from him. I have talked to some people, but not as many as my Adar thinks."
"So you do not have a meeting to get to tonight?"
"Just a meeting with a certain brown haired, 56 and a quarter ellon that I want to touch, but can not do that where I am," he explained with a slight blush on his face.
"I am pretty sure that has to be the luckiest ellon in Arda. I would hate to know how he won your heart."
"I may tell you one day," he winked causing Elrond's heart to pound in his chest. "One day I would love to know what it is that won you over."
"One day I will let you know. One day when you feel as if the whole world is against you."
Elrond smiled as he reached for a piece of broccoli and ate it while watching Thranduil. Besides his twin, everything in his world was sitting right in front of him. If given the chance, he would run away with Thranduil, but knew of the consequences that would come out of that. Oropher would never give up trying to find them.
"You two look distracted," Andreth said having come back down.
"Sorry," Thranduil responded before looking over at him. "We were just talking about what Adar said earlier."
"You do understand that what your father said is not true about the Ñoldor being lesser than the Silvan and Sindar elves," he asked receiving a nod. "Now yes, Finwë was the leader of the Ñoldor. He was Fëanor's father and he did do a lot, including the Teleri elves in the first kinslaying. Fëanor made the Silmarils, which caused a lot more issues and two more kinslaying. Each time, they got worse than the last. The most recent was the worse of all of them and we can only hope the last."
Andreth watched Elrond when he said this knowing it was a sore topic.
"That is one of the reasons you expect me to learn to fight, right?" Elrond asked.
"One of the reasons, yes. You need to learn to fight in general to defend yourself. If you go your whole life without having to fight, I will be floored. There is a lot of evil in this world and you both need to be ready to face it."
"Yes sir," they said in unison, knowing he was telling the truth.
"Thranduil, push your Adar to teach you how to fight. If he will not, let me know and I will find a teacher who is Silvan or Sindar that will teach you," Andreth said receiving a nod.
"Thank you," Thranduil replied eating another bite of food, his foot pressed firmly against Elrond's. "As soon as I finish, I will have to head out so my Adar does not suspect anything."
"I understand," Elrond said softly. "I do have something for you in my room if you can walk up with me before you leave."
"Sure," Thranduil said putting the last bite of roasted deer in his mouth, grabbing a strawberry and standing up. "I will follow you."
Elrond smiled and lead the way through the inn and back to his room down the hall. Opening the door, he let Thranduil enter before shutting it and grabbing a letter he had written to him while traveling. Walking back over, he held his hand out for Thranduil to take the letter. Thranduil on the other hand, grabbed Elrond's face with both hands and pressed his lips firmly against his lover's as Elrond's eyes widened in shock before closing. His arms wrapped around Thranduil as they stood there kissing for a good moment, enjoying the closeness of each other, knowing they will part and may not see each other for a while. Thranduil broke the kiss panting hard.
"I needed to kiss you one more time," he said softly before pulling back and taking the letter. "Be safe, please."
"I will. You too. Keep sending letters, please."
"I will," Thranduil said opening the door and leaving.
Elrond stood there for a moment fighting back tears, but knowing that Thranduil will be back in his arms someday soon.