One Fine Day

Subtitle: Purple Poison, Passion's Permission?

Author: Nuinzilien

Part: 7/7 for now (longer than normal)

Pairing: Erestor/Glorfindel, implied others

Rating: R probably higher in later chapters

Warning: erm...slash, a bit of angst, DEFINITE AU, multi-part fic,
coming up on the first major pit-stop.

Author's note on pronunciation: For the purposes of this fic, the
name "Maniel" is a three syllable name pronouned "Mah-nee-ehl" The
rough translation is "Blessed Daughter".

For the time being, this will be the last chapter until after the Fic
Swaps are due in December. If I finish them early, I'll work on
this...but don't hold your breath.

Chapter 7


Erestor and Elrond stared at the blonde warrior. "Your *daughter?*" A
perverse demon of mischief took over Elrond, and he turned to said
daughter. "Child, you have my deepest sympathies."

Glorfindel looked affronted. "Hey! I make a good father, don't I,
Mani?"

The little elfling giggled and buried her face in her father's hair.
Glorfindel mock-pouted. "Mani?" When she giggled again, he snorted
and tugged playfully on a lock of her hair. "Traitorous imp."

During the exchange, Erestor had remained silent, processing. //A
daughter. He has a daughter. His flesh and blood, by the looks of
it. Not adoption. Which means there was someone else. I wonder where
the one who stole his heart from me is?//

Glorfindel noted the pensive expression on his ex-lover's face. After
casting a pleading look towards Elrond and receiving a nod of
acknowledgement, he patted his daughter's arm and set her on the
ground. "Go say hello to Lord Elrond while I talk with Master Erestor,
yah?"

"Okay." She pressed a sweet kiss to his cheek. "Love you, Papi!"

Glorfindel's smile was warm. "Love you too, Mani."

Erestor and his former lover watched as Elrond walked back up the
trail, arm curved protectively around his child's waist, Glorfindel's
elfling chattering animatedly in his arms.

Erestor turned. "Walk with me, Glorfindel." Not waiting for the
blonde's acknowledgement, he began to stroll down the beach, deep in
thought.

They walked on in uncomfortable silence, both wondering how to broach
the difficult situation lying between them. Finally, Erestor took a
deep breath. "In the event Elrond forgets in his excitement at having
all of his children with him, I wish thank you for bringing his
sons home. His inability to bring even one to the Undying Lands has ever been a burden on his heart."

Glorfindel smiled faintly. "Would that I could take credit for their
decision, but I cannot. `Twas their grandfather's doing, actually."
His eyes sparkled in amusement at Erestor's inquiring glance. "Some
hundred and fifty years after your sailing, the gwanung had decided to
choose mortality. I was aware of their choice, and was unable to
convince them to choose otherwise. I sent a missive to Lord Celeborn
informing him of their choice, as I did not want him to be caught
wholely unaware when they announced their desire to be counted among
the Edain. Imagine my surprise when he arrived in Imladris not a week
later, demanding audience with his grandsons."

Erestor's eyes were wide. "Oh, my."

Glorfindel's smile broadened. "Indeed. I know not all that passed
between them during their Council, as much of it was muffled, but it
involved a barred door, and words I have never heard again from Lord
Celeborn, delivered at considerable volume and great length. They
announced their decision to belong to the Firstborn two weeks later."

Erestor could only imagine the extent of the stinging lecture and
bellowing the Lord of Lothlorien was capable of. "However they came
about their decision, we are grateful." They continued on, until,
finally, Erestor tired of the evasion. "She is beautiful."

Glorfindel did not need to ask to whom he referred. "Thank you," was
his quiet response.

The black-haired elf recalled how Glorfindel had doted upon a young
Arwen. "Spoiled, I assume?"

Glorfindel chucked. "Of course, need you ask?"

"By her resemblance, I assume she was begotten in the traditional way?"

The blonde hesitated. "Aye…"

"And her mother?" Erestor had not seen any other on Glorfindel's ship,
but it did not mean she was not there.

"She died in childbirth."

The Advisor cast his eyes down, hiding his shame at the relief that
passed through him. Though he felt for the other elf's pain, he was
secretly glad not to have to be confronted with the poacher. "I am
sorry for your loss, friend."

Glorfindel heard the hidden `something' in Erestor's voice, and hurried
to reassure him. "Nay, Erestor, it was nothing like that! I did not
love her."

"I see." Erestor looked at him in askance. "Three millennia is a long
time to go without." //I did it…//

The reborn elf's blue eyes were pleading. "Let me explain, please!"

The ebon-haired elf said nothing, merely inclining his head.

Glorfindel sighed. "Erestor, I loved you. I was entirely faithful to
you, up to Mani's conception."

//Loved? As in past tense?// Erestor felt a tight vise wrap around
his heart. "What happened to change that," he prompted at the ensuing
silence.

"Elladan, Elrohir and I were trackers. We specialized in cold cases,
kidnappings and disappearances so old that the trail was virtually
lost. We were the best. While we worked in the shadows, Lord
Celeborn took a more direct approach. He had gone into negotiations,
and all respected him for his fairness, villain and victim alike. He
often smoothed our paths, making it easier to get in and out of foreign
lands quietly when we needed discretion. He was the best. We were the
best, and we were Europe's best kept secret. Or so we thought."

He took a deep breath. "The gwanung and I often worked together, but
we took separate cases as well, depending on our individual strengths.
This particular case I was working alone, though Elladan and Elrohir
were in the same city, working another. I was in pursuit of a young 14
year old boy who had gotten himself mixed in with a notoriously nasty
group of people who were into sexual sadism. It was actually a very thriving underground community, and one I had dealt with on both sides of previous investigations."

For the moment, he decided to ignore Erestor's eyebrow, which was
raised in intrigue. "I was in a tavern that specialized in such
esoteric games, listening for rumors, gossip, anything that may have
given me a clue to the boy's whereabouts. All of my other leads had
turned to naught, so I was already frustrated at my lack of progress.
The ones responsible for the victim's disappearance somehow found out I
was there, and paid off the bartender, a man I had known and worked
with several times. He slipped poison into my drink."

Erestor frowned. "We are not entirely immune, but everyone knows elves
cannot die of ingested poison."

"I know that. You know that. They did not. They knew not of my
origins, and would not have believed it if they did. These days, elves
are the stuff of myth, sprite-sized mischief-makers who like to slip
into homes and repair shoes, spin straw into gold, and other such
nonsense. To them, I was just another barely-of-age Man, and just as
vulnerable as they. Had I actually *been* human, half the amount of
poison slipped into my drink would have killed me within the hour."

"What were the poison's symptoms?" Erestor asked.

"Delusions, primarily."

"Delusions? You mean like the purple striped oliphants that halfling
garbage made you see?"

Glorfindel's lips twitched at the memory. "Not quite. Small doses
leave the victim…susceptible to suggestion. If done by a skilled
controller, the delusions can be guided, making you think you are
seeing the one you want most, rather than the one who is actually
there. It also has the bonus effect of intense arousal. Thus, the
rapist gets what he wants, and the victim is left none the wiser. An
overdose, such as was given me, would have resulted in heart failure
and death."

Erestor's lip curled in disgust at such despicable means of seduction.

"Indeed," Glorfindel replied. "If done correctly, there is no way of
tracing the perpetrator, because the vic has no memory to identify the
responsible party. And it slips through the beaurocratic boltholes
because it is virtually undetectable in the bloodstream. Therefore, it
winds up being a case of one person's word against the other." His
voice turned bitter. "And if you seem to want it, it is not rape, is
it?"

Silence hung between them, forcing Erestor to prod his lover
gently. "What happened, Glorfindel?"

The blond took a deep breath. "As I said, the bartender slipped it
into my drink. I didn't respond to it at first. I left the tavern when
I began to feel dizzy and warm, fortunately of sound enough mind to
take my drink with me. Maniel's mother found me in an alley,
delirious. I thought she was you. Even when she denied it, I still
believed you had come to me."

The Advisor frowned. "How? Glorfindel, I could not have returned to
you, no matter how much I wished it."

"I know. But I had fixated on her. On you. I assume she used my
identification to get me to our base of operation, and tried to hand me
off to Elladan and Elrohir. I almost killed them for taking you away
from me. Carolina realized soon enough what the problem was, and
agreed to be you." His eyes were shadowed with guilt. "I remember
every moment, everything I did to you…and I was not gentle."

//A tender spot, I take it…// His question was cautious. "How not
gentle?"

Glorfindel refused to meet his lover's gaze.

Erestor's own eyes were gentle as he reached out to touch the warrior's
shoulder. "Glorfindel…"

Glorfindel shifted away and held up his hand. "Nay, Erestor. I cannot
finish if you touch me."

Erestor obligingly remained silent.

"When I regained consciousness," the blond elf continued, "the poison
had worked itself out of my system. I was fully aware of my
surroundings. I wandered out into the main room, where `Dan was still
tending to Carolina's injuries…which were many. Being covered in
bruises was the least of her worries." He bit his lip. "I am ashamed
to admit it, but my first thought upon seeing her was that I was glad
it had not been YOU I had done those things to."

Erestor interrupted. "There is one thing I do not understand. Even at
your most passionate, you were never capable of actual cruelty or
violence toward your lover."

Glorfindel nodded. "Yes, I was. I just had enough sense not to act
upon it. But the drug bypasses morality and subdues one's
inhibitions. In essence, there is nothing there to tell you what you
are doing is wrong or harmful."

Erestor thought back to some of his own ill-advised urges in the heat
of passion, and winced.

"Indeed. I wanted to fade when I finally realized what I had done to
an innocent, one who's only crime was wanting to help a stranger in
need. Damned near did, actually, until she told me that she had
conceived. After that, I realized I couldn't back away from my duty to
her, and a better punishment would be to live with my memories and my
betrayal. So, I fought my natural instinct. I even began to
anticipate Mani's arrival, for I already loved her."

Erestor smiled. Glorfindel always had been vulnerable to elfling
wiles. "And her mother? What were your feelings toward her?"

Glorfindel let out a heavy sighed. "A great deal of gratitude,
primarily. In my own way, I loved Carolina, if only as a friend and
the mother of my child. And she bore you a strong resemblance.
Height, coloring, same general features. I had hoped Mani would follow
suit. That way, I could pretend that she was born out of our love,
not Caro's mercy." He paused to collect his thoughts. "'Twas her
mercy that killed her. She carried Mani to full elven term. Humans
aren't meant to carry their children more than nine months, ten on the
rarest of occasions. My daughter was too big for her." His smile took
on a hint of bitter self-recrimination. "Once again, I had wronged
her."

He shook his head. "After Caro's death, I immediately contacted Lords
Círdan and Celeborn, and began making plans to sail. I sent out a
notice of one last Sailing on a world-wide messaging system, which is,
I assume, how Arwen found us. I waited for Mani to grow old enough to
handle the journey, and sailed immediately."

Erestor waited patiently.

Glorfindel stared forward resolutely.

"Glorfindel," Erestor prompted.

The reborn elf stiffened further and turned, wearing the guarded gaze
of one who desires absolution, yet knows he does not deserve it.

Erestor took mercy on him. His hands cupped the beloved face, stroking
sharp cheekbones with his thumbs. "My Glorfindel…"

Glorfindel turned his head to kiss one palm tenderly, tears tracing
silent trails down his cheek.

Any hint of anger Erestor might have still born evaporated, leaving
only grief. And deep love. Smiling softly, he embraced his lover,
pulling the shining head onto his shoulder. He fought his own tears as
his neck grew wet, Glorfindel's control finally shattering beneath the
weight of millennia of pain and loneliness. He stroked the trembling
back soothingly. "Silly warrior," he whispered tenderly. "You always
did have more sawdust than sense in that pretty golden head of yours.
Did you really think that, after three thousand years of patient
waiting, I would let something as ultimately minor as this come between
us?"

Glorfindel let out a choked laugh.

Erestor kissed the tip of one pointed ear, fingers reacquainting
themselves with the spun silk of golden hair. "Let your heart be
light, beloved. You are home."

*************************************************************

After a long while, the pair finally parted, Glorfindel self-
consciously swiping his cheek. "Forgive me for allowing my guilt to
ruin what should have been a happy reunion."

Erestor stood on tiptoe and kissed the creased brow. "There is
nothing to forgive. You obviously need it, and I would rather us have
this issue out in the open, than let it become a dark, ugly secret
between us."

Glorfindel suddenly grew serious. "Forgive me, please. I did not
mean to betray you."

Erestor sighed in exasperation. He grasped Glorfindel's chin and
forced the elf to meet his gaze. "You did not betray me, Glorfindel.
You came home to me. You brought me an adorable elfling to spoil
mercilessly." He let a teasing grin quirk his lips. "Though, I
promise, you will pay for making me wait so long before you did it.
Which you will explain later." His tone brooked no argument.

Glorfindel nodded, his smile faint. His eyes closed as his lover
dabbed at them with the hem of one sleeve. "Good. Now, let us gather
your things from the ship and go save our elfling from her Uncle
Elrond."


@>~~ TBC ~~<@