Ill

DISCLAIMER: With the exception of my original characters, those appearing in this story are not mine, no harm intended, no profit made.


Ill

Legolas slowly blinked his way out of reverie and back into full awareness.

Well, moderately full awareness.

Closing his eyes, he snuggled into the warmth created by the two bodies on either side of him. The twins had yet to wake, and he didn’t have the heart--or the desire--to rouse them. He liked being the first one awake, to listen to the sound of their soft breathing, to feel the beating of their hearts, to cherish the heat of their skin against his. . .

A frown appeared on the Prince of Mirkwood’s face and his green eyes opened wide. Sitting up, he studied his bed partners, running his fingers lightly over their arms. On an average day, Elrohir and Elladan were considered to be hot-blooded, yet that morning they seemed particularly warm to his touch. Despite the heat their bodies were radiating, they were shivering as if they were lying in a bed of snow instead of on a grassy plain, and they were covered with a sheen of sweat, as if they’d been dipped in a lake.

Legolas reached up to press a palm to Elladan’s cheek and snatched it away. He stared at his hand, wondering if he’d struck it against a firebrand, but the skin was perfectly fine. Elladan, however, felt as if he was burning.

The golden Prince pressed his hand to the cheek of Elrohir, with the same result. The twins were on fire from the inside out, but how? Why? He couldn’t understand it. The brothers huddled under their blankets, skin pale and faces flushed--he’d never seen anything like it.

“Elladan! Elrohir!

He called their names while gently shaking their shoulders, trying to keep at bay the panic building inside of him. What if they didn’t wake up? The three Elves were hundreds of miles from anywhere. He couldn’t leave them, but they had traveled by foot, and he couldn’t carry them with him. He was no Healer, his skills relegated to injuries received in battle. What if they needed more help than what he could provide?

“Elrohir! Elladan!”

Elrohir moaned softly, weakly pushing at Legolas’s hand. “Go away.”

“Elorhir, what’s wrong?”

The twin curled himself into a ball, pulling the blanket over his shoulders, and didn’t answer.

“Elladan!”

“It’s all right.” The blue-violet eyes now rimmed in red blinked open, and Elladan attempted a smile at Legolas. “We’re just ill, my lovely one.”

The frown lines on the golden Prince’s face deepened. “Ill?”

“I think it was that blasted swamp. I knew we should have gone around it instead of through it.”

Legolas shook his head. “I don’t understand.”

Elrohir sighed, opening his eyes. “It’s because we’re not full Elves, love. It happens every other century or s. . .s . . . sah-choo!!!!”

A violent sneeze knocked the Elf onto his back and he groaned, throwing an arm over his eyes.

“Kill me now.”

“Only if you kill me first,” Elladan said as a coughing fit wracked his body, each harsh sound shaking the walls of their tent.

“Nobody’s killing anybody,” Legolas growled, his eyes flashing not in anger, but in fear. “And no one’s dying. What do you need me to do? How can I help?”

“There’s nothing you can do,” Elrohir sniffled, weakly digging through his bag for a scrap of cloth, using it to blow his nose.

“We can only wait it out. Three or four days, and we’ll be good as new.”

“That’s where our Elven blood becomes useful. Our Human blood allows us to catch the occasional illness.”

“And our Elven blood fights it.”

Elrohir sneezed again, this time loud enough to scare the birds from their nests, then swore under his breath. “Just not fast enough,” he muttered as he lay back down and closed his eyes.

“Though if you want to help, some tea would be nice,” Elladan said, sliding over next to his brother and using Elrohir’s shoulder as a pillow.

“With honey.”

“And if you could dampen a cloth with cold water from the stream for our foreheads. . .”

“Oh yes,” Elrohir sighed. “That would feel wonderful right now.”

“Of course,” Legolas said, jumping to his feet. “Whatever you need, just so long as you get better.”

The golden Prince rushed out of the tent and the twins relaxed into each other, one constantly snuffling his nose, the other trying to breathe past the rattle in his chest and the growing smile on his face.

“He’s afraid,” Elrohir said softly.

“I know.”

“He’s never seen an Elf get sick before, not without an obvious cause such as poison from an Orc’s arrow or a poorly treated battle wound.”

“I know.”

“So you should be ashamed of yourself.”

Elladan smirked. “I know.”

“We will not take advantage of his fear.”

“Of course we won’t.”

“We love him too well to ever treat him so poorly.”

“Just what I was thinking,” he agreed, though his voice was somewhat less than sincere.

Elrohir rolled over to sneeze away from his brother, then rolled back, wiping at his nose. “Well, maybe we can indulge a little. After all, we’re the ones who are suffering.”

“Yes, we are,” Elladan said, a triumphant gleam in his eyes.

“And we deserve a little comforting.”

“It is only right, seeing as how we’re sick.”

“But we won’t overdo it,” Elrohir said, lifting his head to glare at his brother.

“Never,” Elladan said, and smiled.

“Legolas, my tea is too cold!”

“Legolas, my tea is too hot!”

“Legolas, can you rub my feet?”

“Legolas, can you rub my temples?”

“Legolas, I’m hungry!”

“Legolas, close the tent flaps! There’s a breeze coming in!”

“No, leave them open! I’m dying in here.”

“You’re dying?! What about me?”

“What about you? I’m here too!”

“So am I!”

“What do you want me to do about it?”

“Selfish bastard.”

“ME? You’re the one taking all the blankets!”

“You’re the one complaining it’s too hot in here, so why should you care?”

“A blanket is just the thing to keep me comfortable against the wind, but I can’t be comfortable because you’ve taken them all!”

“Are you blaming me for your discomfort?”

“You’re a pain in my ass. Does that count?”

“Legolas!”

“LEGOLAS!”

The golden Prince of Mirkwood clenched his fists together and took a deep breath. He gave the twins a strained smile and a sharp nod, then turned on his heel and went outside, letting the tent flaps fall behind him.

It had been a pleasure, at first, taking care of the two Princes of Rivendell, but that had been in the beginning, when they spent most of their time sleeping. Now that their illness was passing and their energy was returning, it was taking all of his patience not to slip a little something into their tea.

Were Humans this bad when they were ill? Or was it just these miserable little bastards?

Legolas ground his teeth and shook his head. He shouldn’t be thinking like this. It wasn’t their fault that they got sick. If nothing else, it made him appreciate being an Elf even more, and that his friends, his lovers only had a hint of Human blood in them. If he’d lost them to illness. . . to death. . .

No. He wasn’t going to lose them. He’d take care of them until they were fully recovered, and be thankful that they were his.

“Legolas, he sneezed on me!”

“Did not!

“Did too!”

“Did not!”

“Did too!”

“Liar!”

“Orc dung!”

“Troll breath!”

Legolas’s eyes narrowed. Oh, he’d take care of them, all right, right up until they were as good as new. And then he would kill them both.

Elladan and Elrohir watched as Legolas none-too-carefully set the two mugs of tea in front of them, half the liquid sloshing onto the ground.

“Anything else?” he asked, his voice strained, his entire body a little too stiff, as if one more request would cause him to snap. His eyes dared them to make that one request.

Elladan and Elrohir cringed.

“No,” Elrohir said in a tiny voice, his brother adding, “Thank you.”

“Good.”

Two identical pairs of blue-violet eyes followed the golden Prince out of the tent, then turned to each other.

“Is it just me, or is Legolas acting as if he has a burr stuck in his leggings?”

“I think we’ve reached the end of his good will.”

“Abusing our powers, were we?”

“Perhaps a little too much. And it isn’t really necessary anymore, is it? I mean, I feel fine, and you feel fine. Don’t you?”

“Mmm. . . yes,” he purred, moistening his lips as he looked up as his brother. “More than fine.”

Elladan paused, arching an eyebrow at his twin as he caught the implication in Elrohir’s voice. “What was that?”

“What was what?” Elrohir asked, his voice entirely too innocent.

“That’s what I thought,” he chuckled, slowly stretching his long limbs. He moved to run his fingers through the mane of black hair when he scrunched his face with disgust. “But before we do anything, I need a bath.”

“No arguments here,” his brother muttered, and Elladan glared at him.

“You think it’s been fun spending the past three days in a tent with you? I’ve been in contact with Goblins who’ve smelled better.”

“Yeah, well, half that smell is you, brother, so I wouldn’t complain too much if I were you.”

“Then I’d say we’re both in need of a swim in the stream.”

“To that, I would agree. Think we can get a certain peevish Elf to join us?”

Elladan just laughed. “The two of us, wet, naked, willing and ready after three days celibacy? We’d be impossible to resist.”

“And if we’ve been celibate, you know that means he’s been celibate as well.”

“We just have to make sure he’s still speaking to us.”

“Why?” Elrohir asked, voice filled with amusement. “I certainly hadn’t planned on spending too much time talking.”

“But if he’s not speaking to us, he probably won’t be too inclined to do anything else with us either.”

Elrohir looked at his brother as if Elladan had suddenly sprouted a third arm, and Elladan rolled his eyes.

“It was just a thought.”

“Are you certain you’ve recovered?” Elrohir asked, placing a hand on his brother’s forehead. “Maybe you should lie down and get some rest. I’ll be sure and keep Legolas busy so we don’t disturb you.”

“Dream on, little brother,” he grumbled, sliding an arm around Elrohir’s waist and affectionately nibbling at his neck. “I’m not about to miss out on a chance to play with the both of you.”

“I didn’t think you would,” his twin laughed, raising Elladan’s chin to claim a kiss.

A small purr began in the back of his throat and Elladan slowly deepened the kiss until the two broke apart, gasping for air.

“Bath?”

“Bath.”

“I can already feel your hands all over me.”

“That’s because my hands are already all over you.”

“Oh. Right.”

Grinning, the twins quickly stripped off their clothes and headed for the stream, passing Legolas along the way. The golden Prince was sitting on a log near the fire, polishing his bow and muttering darkly under his breath.

“Feeling better?” he asked, green eyes staring resolutely down at the wood in his hands, refusing to look at the brothers as they passed.

“All thanks to you, lovely one,” Elrohir said, and the golden Prince just grunted in response and continued to polish his bow.

“He’s really not happy with us,” Elladan said as they stepped into the water.

“Would you be happy with us?”

“I’m always happy with us.”

“But he’s not happy with us.”

“No, he’s not.”

“So we need to remind him how happy he is with us.”

“And how do we do that?”

Elrohir eyed his brother from head to toe and arched an eyebrow at him. “How do you think? We start by getting wet.”

Grabbing his brother, Elrohir kissed him, sucking on his tongue as if it was the only sustenance he had ever needed--and had been too long without. Elladan moaned as their hands caressed taut muscles, trim stomachs, rising members. Just when they should have been adding a third set of hands, blue-violet eyes glanced over to see Legolas had turned his back to them and was determinedly ignoring the impassioned twins.

A little of their excitement died and matching frowns appeared on their faces.

“Should we be louder?” Elladan asked, and his brother shook his head.

“I don’t think volume is the problem.”

“He doesn’t realize he’s supposed to forgive us yet.”

“Bathe me. See if that helps.”

The two lowered themselves into the water and were able to sit comfortably on the sandy bed without fear of drowning or getting knocked over by the current. Elladan, sitting behind his brother, lowered the inky head back and began pouring water over it with his cupped hands. He massaged his brother’s head, Elrohir moaning wantonly at the feeling.

“I love the way your fingers feel when they touch me,” he said just loud enough for Legolas to hear. “You make my entire body burn.”

He opened one eye, arching an eyebrow as he snuck a peek at Legolas, but the golden Prince refused to acknowledge them.

“I bet I don’t feel as good as you taste,” Elladan said, joining in as he licked his brother’s neck.

“I need more of you, love. I need to feel your hands on me. I need to feel you inside of me.”

“I’m going to take you so hard, you won’t be able to walk,” Elladan growled as Elrohir twisted around in his arms. “You’ll be feeling me for weeks, and you will love every aching second of it.”

“Yes,” Elrohir hissed as his brother’s teeth grazed his right nipple, “make me feel you. I want every inch of you buried so deep inside, we’ll never be separated.”

Elrohir took a moment to check on the golden Prince.

Nothing, so far as he could tell with the stiff back turned towards them. Lowering his voice, he placed his mouth next to Elladan’s ear. “Think he’s affected by this at all?”

“He has to be. If he’s not, I’m going to wring his neck.”

“I’d rather wring another part of him. Let’s finish bathing and get out of this stream.”

“Good idea.”

They quickly washed the rest of the dirt from their bodies, then the two dripping Elves waded out of the stream, water tracing paths over each well defined muscle in their arms, their legs, their chests. They walked directly in Legolas’s eye line, but the golden Prince kept his sight on the blades he was sharpening.

“This is getting ridiculous,” Elladan said, rolling his eyes. He knelt down in front of Legolas, placing his hands on the Prince’s and forcing him to cease his work. “What can we do to make it up to you?”

“Make what up?” he said, his voice dark as he tried to wrench his hands free, but Elladan refused to let go.

“We’re sorry we took advantage of your kind heart. It was just such a pleasure having you serve us—” Legolas raised his head to scowl at him, and Elladan quickly rephrased his words. “—having you take care of us, that we didn’t want you to stop. Legolas, my love, please let us take care of you. Let us thank you for your sweet nature and generosity.”

“Rot in Mordor,” Legolas said, rising to his feet. “The both of you.”

“Legolas,” Elrohir said, placing a hand on his arm to stop him, but Legolas shook him off.

“Do you know how afraid I was?” he snarled. “I didn’t understand what was happening to you--I still don’t--and you used my fear as if it were nothing more than a joke! I thought you were going to die, and I would have done anything to keep you safe, to keep you alive! What if it had been worse? What if I hadn’t been able to help you?”

“Legolas!” Elrohir said, throwing his arms around the trembling Elf. “We’re not going to die, I promise!”

“We will never leave you,” Elladan said, embracing him from behind so that Legolas was trapped between them. “Nothing will separate us.”

“Please forgive us, love. We’re sorry.”

“So terribly sorry,” he said, his hands starting to drift along the Prince’s sides.

“We know we’re yours.”

“We know we belong to you and only you.”

“We are your servants in every way, shape, and form.”

“Ask any task of us, and we’ll perform it.”

“Tell us to do anything, and we’ll do it.”

“Let us prove it to you.”

“Let us love you.”

“Let us worship you.”

“Make us your slaves.”

By this time, Legolas was breathless with desire as the twins’ hands worked their magic touch on him.

“I hate you both,” he said with the last of his resistance, and the brothers looked at each other, exchanging mutual grins of triumph.

“We love you, too,” Elrohir said, then took hold of Legolas’s mouth in a demanding kiss.

No matter how much he might have wanted to, there was something about the twins Legolas couldn’t resist. It didn’t just have to do with their overwhelming and almost single-minded enthusiasm regarding their physical gifts. No, there was more to it than that. It was the way they included him in the boundless love that they shared, a love that was all encompassing, a love that made them not two, but one. When he was with them, he became part of that one. How could he deny himself both their bodies and their hearts when they had so much to offer, so much to give?

He couldn’t. Truth be told, he didn’t want to.

The twins had Legolas undressed in under ten seconds, with the golden Prince buried deep inside Elrohir, and Elladan buried deep inside the golden Prince in under thirty. Legolas moved in and out of Elrohir while thrusting backwards, trying to feel as much of Elladan as possible. Their bodies hummed with pleasure, lustful purrs rumbling in the twins’ throats as Legolas mewled from the doubled sensations.

Pale skin gleamed under the afternoon light as the three became a single writhing mass of sex. Their movements began to grow more frantic as the tension built inside of them. A ferocious grin on his face, the golden Prince plunged hard into Elrohir, forcing a cry of surprised delight from his lips.

“You’re not going to be able to walk tomorrow,” Elladan said, laughing at his brother as he returned the favor to Legolas.

“It’s worth it,” Elrohir said, throwing his brother a grin over his shoulder.

“Glad you think so,” Legolas smirked. “Because I’m going to make sure you spend the rest of your eternity walking funny.”

“I think we both can arrange that,” Elladan said, kissing Legolas’s shoulder.

“So you’re both going to work me into a state of constant discomfort?” Elrohir asked, then grinned. “It’s the most I could have ever asked for.”

Laughing, Legolas reamed him again, and could feel the resulting pleasure throughout his own body, telling him they were getting close.

It was as a result of their prolonged celibacy--prolonged, at least, for them--that they were quick to reach completion. Elrohir’s body shuddered and tightened around Legolas, the beautiful Elf coming at the same time as Legolas felt Elladan’s heat spilling inside of him. The golden Prince threw back his head as his orgasm tore through him and a silver-gold glow began to surround all three of them. The connection heightened their ecstasy until the three bodies gave one final pulse and they collapsed, inside and around each other, lingering on the edge of consciousness.

Gasping for breath, Elladan wrapped his arms around as much of Legolas and his brother as he could reach. “Maybe we should wait another three days before doing this again,” he murmured, his mind still a little dazed.

“NO!” came the simultaneous reply of both Elrohir and Legolas. Elladan took one look at them, then started to laugh, the other two soon joining in.

“I don’t think I can wait three more days,” Legolas said, kissing the nape of Elrohir’s neck.

He snorted. “You could have fooled me. I was beginning to think we were never going to be able to touch you again,” Elrohir said, raising one of Legolas’s hands to his lips as the golden Prince chuckled.

“I was almost ready to throw myself into the stream, but I didn’t think you’d suffered enough.”

“You made us suffer, all right,” Elladan said with a mock scowl. “Don’t do that again.”

“Don’t give me a reason to,” Legolas said, arching his head back for a kiss. “So, now that you’re no longer ill, are we ready to move on?”

“Mmm. . . I don’t know,” Elladan said, lightly biting a pointed ear. “I think we should stay here and recuperate for one more day. Just to be on the safe side. What do you think, brother mine? Another day in our makeshift bed?”

“I think that’s a lovely idea,” Elrohir agreed. “Not like I’d be able to walk anyway.”

“Always knew I was too much for you to handle,” Legolas teased, then kissed both the sons of Imladris. “I’m glad you’re well again.”

“As are we,” Elrohir said, returning the kiss, then reached up to claim the same from his brother. Their mouths lingered just long enough for the watching golden Prince to feel his Elfhood awakening once more. As the twins broke apart and turned their hungry eyes on him, Legolas smiled, reassured by the lust and adoration in their gazes that whatever illness had plagued them had truly passed, and he was ready to indulge in their love once again.

[Completed 3/10/04]