Year of Madness

[Author note: It's been brought to my attention via the wonderful reviewers I have for this story that the plot bunny was supplied by Cheysuli, but assigned by Aprilmoon. I apologize for the confusion, for I myself was obviously confused. All I know is I adopted these bunnies! *Holds up a pair of bunny rabbits* Thanks for pointing out my mistake, Avari! I changed the title because the nightmares one of the characters has aren't going to play as big of a part as the madness the other has. Heh heh. Onto the story!]

Chapter Three

Glorfindel quickly scrubbed the dirt and dust from his ride back into Imladris from his body before filling the tub and settling himself in the pleasantly scented water he had warmed during his initial bath. He didn’t need to have warm water, but he liked to have warm water. It was one of the many simple things he allowed himself the luxury of after the whole nasty incident in Gondolin and the few thousand years that he was out of commission, so to speak.

One arm was draped over each side of the basin, and he tilted his head back to rest on a towel he had wadded up and strategically placed on the edge. He’d poured some of the blue-violet liquid from one of the bottles that lined the shelf into the bath, having no idea what scent it was, but not much caring as long as it didn’t smell like forest. What he truly would have liked to have done was deposited Erestor into the bath while it was warming and have the dark advisor’s scent wafting through the air instead.

In fact, there was a bit more to it than that. Random ideas flitted through his mind, and he smiled as he sunk lower into the water. Though his mind had been bold when his back had been turned, he seemed to get nervous when Erestor’s eyes were upon him. For some reason, he felt as if the other elf could read these forbidden thoughts in his mind.

“Mmm… forbidden thoughts…” he said to himself, sticking the toes of one foot out of the water and wiggling them before submerging his foot again. With his eyes closed and his senses dulled, he did not realize that there was someone else in the room with him until he felt ripples on the water. He didn’t know what was more surprising, to see Erestor out of bed and stepping into the other end of the bath, or to see Erestor beautifully naked with his hair held back in one long braided rope of ebony. “What are you doing?”

Erestor was frozen, his right foot barely touching the surface. “I assure you, I’m not dirty. I just thought I’d join you. The water looks very inviting, and smells so as well… with what you decided to put in it.”

“So… you just thought you’d invite yourself in?” wondered Glorfindel.

“You didn’t seem to mind me in your bed,” answered Erestor.

Nodding, Glorfindel said, “Yes, but that’s different.”

“Do you want me to go?” Erestor began to lift his foot back up.

“No, Erestor, you don’t have to go,” Glorfindel assured him.

A brief smirk followed. “Then you want me to stay.”

Glorfindel motioned his hand toward the emptier end of the tub and Erestor climbed into it. Realizing that he was gripping the sides of the basin quite firmly, Glorfindel loosened his grip and tried to relax a little. “Just when did you become so bold?” he finally asked.

“Me? I’ve always been this way,” defended Erestor. “I’d never get a thing done on the council if I wasn’t aggressive by nature.”

Making a note to attend more of the council meetings in the future, blonde elf had lost all nerve to try anything he had planned to when he later went back to the bedroom, and so began to make conversation. “How long have you been stuck in my chambers with nothing to read?”

“Two days,” replied Erestor. He looked innocently around the room, though he’d been in the bath more than once since his arrival. “I like them. I think I might stay for a while.”

“I can almost guarantee you’ll be here for at least another week,” said Glorfindel. “You’ll have to put up with me, though.”

“Off patrol for a week?”

“Two.”

A smile slowly spread across Erestor’s face and his eyelids droops a bit. “Good,” he purred, and he brushed his right foot against Glorfindel’s left, stopping only when the blonde yanked his leg away in surprise. Erestor’s smile quickly melted. “I’m sorry, Glorfindel, I obviously read you wrong,” he apologized slowly, hands braced on either side of the basin as he stood.

Glorfindel’s mouth was open, but he couldn’t seem to speak. No words came to him, and so he took hold of Erestor’s wrist that was closest and pulled the dark elf to him. The awkward movement caused water to splash over the side and landed Erestor in Glorfindel’s lap. “Well, this is a bit more forward than I had planned to be.”

“You might have made things easy and just crawled into the bed.”

“You told me I smelled bad!” countered Glorfindel.

Erestor shrugged. “You were taking too long.”

Taking note that his hands had come to rest dangerously on Erestor’s body, he quickly placed them back onto the rim of the basin, and sat quite still as Erestor made himself more comfortable. “So… uh…” Glorfindel tried to think of something to say, anything to say. How’s the weather? Have you been feeling better? What do you think about trolls? But not a single bloody thing could come to his mind.

He soon realized he needn’t think of anything, for Erestor’s head rolled back limply against his shoulder, and Glorfindel knew the elf was not just in reverie, but had fallen asleep. ‘Figures,’ he thought to himself, ‘Just when my foot gets an itch!’ He wiggled his toes in a vain attempt to fight off the irritation, but it merely moved to his calf. ‘Double dammit,’ he cursed in his mind, not wanting to thrash about and wake Erestor.

Leaning his head back to stare up at the ceiling, he stifled a yawn of his own and closed his eyes. Falling asleep in a bathtub was about as safe as inviting a Nazgul for tea, and so Glorfindel maneuvered himself carefully until he was able to exit the bath while still keeping Erestor supported with one hand. He then lifted Erestor out of the water and grabbed a thick towel from the pile on the countertop. He dried Erestor gently, wis wishing to wake him, and slowly, for it wasn’t the easiest task he’d ever undertaken.

Nearly dry himself, Glorfindel decided to worry about brushing his own hair later. He left Erestor’s braided, and cradled him close as he took him back to the bed. “You poor thing, you’re still rundown,” Glorfindel said softly, bending down while still holding his charge in his arms so that he could pull back the covers. The maid had come by while they were in the bathroom, no douand and the sheets were changed and the bed made. There was also a tray of light foods set on the table near the door. Glorfindel noted his hunger for the first time since he had eaten breakfast, but he would tend to such matters later.

Pulling the blankets up to Erestor’s neck, Glorfindel tucked them loosely around his guest before standing back to admire the dark beauty he saw. The long braid was only just now drying, teasing him to let it loose, while parted lips practically invited soft kisses. Glorfindel resisted the urges he felt, and noted that he had only two pillows on the bed, both of which were currently being used by Erestor.

The moment Glorfindel turned his back to look for another pillow, Erestor yawned and stretched and repositioned himself on the bed. Looking back, Glorfindel’s mouth opened in disbelief. “You’ve not been awake all this time, have you?”

Erestor closed his eyes and shrugged his shoulders, settling comfortably into the fresh linens. “I was testing you.”

“Testing me?” asked Glorfindel with an edge to his voice. Then he added curiously, “Did I pass?”

Grinning, Erestor rolled over. “It wasn’t that kind of a test,” he answered just before drifting off into a state of reverie.


To Be Continued...