A Day By The Lake

A Day By The Lake

Posted: February 2005
Title: A Day by the Lake
Author: Talullah
Type: FCS
Characters: Erestor/Glorfindel
Rating: NC-17
Disclaimer: The characters are not mine. They belong to the estate of J.R.R. Tolkien and God knows who else. No disrespect intended. No profit made.
Warnings: PWP; fluff; inverted fanonish personalities; me having fun *g*.
Beta: Many thanks to Patricia Pleasant for being a sweetie and betaing this silly little thing (and being so patient and generous in all other occasions). Any remaining mistakes are solely mine.
Summary: The boys go out to do some canoeing.

*****

Imladris, 1710 Second Age

The sky was of a pristine blue, the grass was tender green except in the patches where the sun made it obfuscating silver and down the hill the lake shimmered in a darker hue of green and silver. It was a glorious early spring day. The cheeky birds and the simple meadow flowers sang of that but he did not see them anymore than he felt the nippy morning breeze. The canoe he was carrying had a light structure of cedar wood and an even lighter hull of skin, but it was starting to weigh on him after over a mile through fields and hills. He had already broken a sweat and kept lagging behind while Erestor whistled ahead, fresh as morning dew, carrying his canoe seemingly with no effort.

His feet were completely dampened by the ground humidity and he had started to slip in his shoes. His hair was doing its part by continually escaping from behind his ears and flying into his eyes.

At the sight of the lake Erestor called without glancing back, "Look, we are almost there."

Glorfindel sighed under the weight of the canoe, which was cutting a line into his shoulder. 'How on Arda did I let him talk me into this?' he mumbled to himself while, for the third time that day, he stopped to clumsily put the canoe on his other shoulder.

He could see Erestor shaking his head jauntily and even thought there was some faint chuckling at hearing him huffing and cursing softly when the paddle crushed his fingers for the fifth time that day. That made his spirits deflate even more.

The last stretch was the worst. The trail was very narrow and increasingly muddy so he had to go to great lengths not to slip and land on his behind with the wretched boat on his head. That would have made Erestor's day, he was sure.

When he finally got to the lake's shore Erestor had already put his boat in the water and was tying his pack to a tree.

"There, that should keep our lunch and my clothes dry," he said, beaming a smile of pure satisfaction. "Do you need any help with that?" he added, watching Glorfindel's struggle with the canoe.

"Oh, blast!" was his only answer. Glorfindel was standing with the water knee high, with splashes up to his mid thigh and a sticky veil of golden strands clouding his eyes.

"You know, the more we do this, the easier it will become for you," said Erestor, trying to encourage his friend while hiding the mirth in his voice. "The bow of the canoe should be facing the land, but for this first lesson we will just leave it as it is."

Glorfindel raised his eyes to Erestor as he moved back to the beach and rid himself of his backpack. His friend was trying hard not to smile, he could see it, and that irritated him almost as much as if he had. He was out of his element and had a feeling that before the end of the day he would make a fool of himself more than once.

"Right, let me help you with that," offered Erestor, reaching for his pack. Glorfindel abided by his request, not without some reluctance but he had to admit to himself that his bruised and now very cold fingers would have a hard time with the knots. Still, the idea of someone taking care of him as if he were less than capable irked him.

He looked around, taking a deep breath. Erestor had been right: the view was beautiful and this was an excellent day to be outside, even if he would prefer to be out riding instead of having his hands and feet freezing. Well, he would give this a try, even if to prove Erestor wrong.

"Come on," said Erestor, heading for the canoes. "I will show you how to climb in. You have to be careful and mind your balance."

"It should not be that hard," Glorfindel glowered. It was his first time in a canoe but Erestor was clearly abusing his advantage. He watched him quickly inserting one leg, then the other while balancing the boat with his hands.

He followed his example, but as soon as he tried to place the first leg in the boat it turned over and he found himself sitting with freezing cold water up to his waistline.

Erestor cleared his throat, clearly amused and hopped out of his boat. "I am sorry, meldir," he offered. "Perhaps I should have held the canoe for you. I thought that with all that riding and sparring your sense of balance would be better attuned."

He tried to help Glorfindel but his friend snatched the paddle he had recovered from the water from his hands and grumbled, "I can manage, thank you."

"You know, I fell in, too, my first time and many others after that." Erestor and his permanent good spirits could become a bit annoying to say the least so Glorfindel opted to ignore his helpful remark.

He flipped the canoe over and tried again. This time he was ready for that sudden oscillation and he managed to sit tight on the small platform, although the canoe threatened to flip again. "There. I am in. Now what?" he asked once settled.

Erestor hesitated. " Erm, well, you do have your paddle facing the wrong direction."

Glorfindel cast him a murderous look and grumbled, "It looks the same to me," but obeyed Erestor's suggestion and turned it around.

"Fine. Now what?"

Erestor smiled and once more climbed into his canoe. "Now you paddle, but gently. First you have to learn how to manoeuvre and then comes the rest." With a few elegant strokes, he steered his canoe away from the lake's shore. Glorfindel followed him.

"Wait a little bit and I will show you the basics," Erestor asked.

Glorfindel sighed and rolled his eyes. "Yes, nana."

Erestor chuckled. "All right, you already know how to paddle forward. If you want to change direction you can either paddle stronger or more than once on the opposite side to where you want to turn or use the paddle as a brake on the side you want to turn, like this." Erestor proceeded to show him what he meant.

"Be careful," he added. "If you paddle too hard on one side you can lose balance and flip over." He winked at his friend. "I know how you like that, but the water is a bit cold."

"Now it is your turn," he added. Glorfindel started padding wearily but he soon became more comfortable. Apparently, entering the boat was the hardest part. It was not easy keeping the exact course he wanted but he managed to make a somewhat irregular circle around Erestor.

"Good, very good. Now try on the other side."

Glorfindel smiled and started turning the canoe to the other side. He knew he was far from being as graceful as Erestor but he was managing well enough.

When he finished, Erestor awarded him with a big, bright smile. "That was much better. Do you want to do it again, both ways?"

Glorfindel nodded confidently, and started paddling. After a few minutes Erestor shouted, "You have to work harder with your left arm. Stretch it all the way." Glorfindel nodded and made a conscious effort to follow the given instructions. His mood was improving substantially and he, for some strange reason, wanted to bask in Erestor's approval.

When he finished, Erestor smiled at him. "Now a bit of paddling backwards. Try to hold the paddle with your hands a bit further apart." He gave him a small example and stilled his canoe, watching as his friend mimicked his actions.

"Good, now we are ready for a nice jaunt around the lake. The surface is so calm that I am sure you will do fine." He gave a deep stroke and set off. Glorfindel followed in his wake. The more he paddled, the more instinctive his movements became and he found himself at length completely unaware of them, just enjoying the morning. Erestor had been right again: it was wonderful and freeing... but he still preferred his horse.

The lake was very small and they took little more than an hour circling it. Every once in a while Erestor would smile back, reassuringly. Sometimes he paddled ahead and Glorfindel could see he had been holding back in his consideration. It made him feel proud that Erestor would trust his skill enough to leave him behind if only for a few instants.

They returned to their starting point and Erestor came to a halt. "Do you want to go on? Are your legs too cold?"

Glorfindel had been enjoying himself so much he had hardly noticed the passing of time. "Actually, I am very comfortable and I would take another turn, that is if you do not mind."

Erestor grinned. "I told you you would love this." He laughed and ducked when Glorfindel sprinkled him with his paddle.

They started paddling again, slowly, in comfortable silence. "I am sorry for being so grumpy before," Glorfindel said after a while.

Erestor squinted at the sun. "Never mind," he said at length. "I suspect I know you better than you think, because I must say that I was expecting something like that. Well, in fact worse." Grinning, he turned to face Glorfindel while they paddled quietly, side by side.

Glorfindel raised an eyebrow, but Erestor continued, "We have only known each other for a few years, but I have noticed that you are... that you feel uneasy when you have to depend on others for anything and you go to great lengths to avoid that."

"I suppose that is true." Glorfindel was feeling embarrassed by the way the conversation was going. He had never been any good at apologising, especially for being moody and this chat was far more intimate than he had intended it to be.

"Do not pout!" Erestor sprinkled him, playfully. "Being independent is not a bad thing and you do make a visible effort to hold your tongue when you are frustrated for having to depend on others."

"Wow, that was a compliment and a half, Erestor dearest," Glorfindel retorted ironically, half surprised by Erestor's insight, half annoyed.

They paddled some more in silence. Glorfindel let a feeling of deep peacefulness creep inside as the sheer beauty of the morning elated him. Erestor's quiet and elegant moves by his side were a reflection of the very nature of his friend, phlegmatic and still so warm. Sometimes he wished he could be more like him, but he was happy enough being who he was and had come, in time, to accept his imperfections as his friends did. A wave of affection for Erestor filled him, bringing a smile to his lips.

Anor had slowly crept up to her zenith when they arrived at their departure point. Erestor lifted an eyebrow in a mute question, to which Glorfindel replied, "You said you had brought some lunch?"

Erestor grinned and assented.

"And are you willing to share?"

"Well, let me think about it," Erestor teased.

He left his canoe as elegantly as he had entered it and secured Glorfindel's as he left it, preventing a second fall to the water.

"Thank you, my friend." Glorfindel's smile beamed the affection he felt.

They pulled their canoes onto the bank and inverted them to dry before heading for the tree with their belongings. Erestor's leggings had but a few spots of water, as well as his tunic, but Glorfindel's were still soaked.

"Did you bring dry clothes as I recommended?" Erestor asked as he swiftly removed a change of clothes and a towel from his pack.

"Yes, nana," Glorfindel answered with mirth at his friend's exaggerated care.

Erestor proceeded to change with economic movements. He was neither hiding nor displaying his body, in fact he was acting as if Glorfindel was not even there. Glorfindel followed his actions but restraining himself at every moment. In the time they had been acquainted they had never denuded in front of each other and he was feeling an unwelcome curiosity about his friend. That Erestor would pay him no attention, that he would not even try to glance at him, only confirmed that the desire he had on occasion felt for his friend was not in the least returned.

"Well, are you going to change?" Erestor asked, looking at a semi-dressed, gaping Glorfindel.

"I forgot to bring a towel," Glorfindel muttered. Erestor's frank laughter made him indignant. "Well, you could have told me to bring one, could you not?"

"Well, I supposed you would figure that if you needed dry clothes, you would need something to dry your body with."

Glorfindel could tell that Erestor was trying to pull him into one of their little verbal battles that always ended up in laughter, but at that moment he was not up to it. He averted his eyes and heard his friend say, "You can borrow mine."

He looked back at Erestor, who was holding the towel and reached out his arm to take it, but Erestor pulled it back, casting him one of his mischievous grins.

"Are you lending me the towel or not?" Glorfindel asked impatiently.

Erestor chuckled. "You are the one who keeps saying we must fight for what we want, are you not?" He dangled the towel on the tip of his index, provocatively.

"You take my words too seriously."

"Well, do you want it?" Erestor wrapped the towel around his shoulders. "Or are you afraid of claiming it?"

That was the spark that ignited Glorfindel. He ran for Erestor, who took refuge behind the tree, laughing. After a bit of tentative circling around the tree, Erestor ran up the meadow that descended to the lake's shoreline, waving the towel behind him. Glorfindel ran behind trying to catch him until he grasped the edge of the towel. He pulled it violently, but Erestor would not let it go.

They struggled for it, laughing madly, until Glorfindel pushed Erestor onto the grass and toppled him. Erestor kept fighting and they rolled and rolled down the meadow, until they stopped, lying by each other's side panting and laughing.

On an impulse Glorfindel kissed Erestor's shoulder. Erestor's laugher died on his lips as he snapped his head to face his friend. They stared at each other, awe and the shadow of a smile crossing Erestor's face, the tinge of fear mingled with a creeping blush in Glorfindel's.

Praying that Erestor's silence equated with acquiescence, Glorfindel let his fingers brush his face. Never letting go of that gaze, he lowered his lips and once more kissed his friend's shoulder. His skin was warm and fragrant of the pure and simple scents of the meadow. Keeping his eyes locked with Erestor's he moved to straddle him letting his lips roam lower to his nipples. Erestor placed a hand on his thigh, still covered with wet leggings and pulled him closer to his groin.

The movement flared every nerve in Glorfindel's body. He closed his eyes and buried his face in Erestor's chest, inhaling deeply. Feeling another hand caressing his hair, he turned to kiss its palm. He moved down on Erestor's body, kissing here and there, tasting, sucking, nipping the soft, smooth skin that covered the lean, well-defined muscles. Reaching Erestor's groin, he nuzzled the fabric covered bulge. Both his hands and Erestor's rushed for the ties, trying to free it.

Looking up with a smile in his eyes, he took his friend's erection in his mouth. He meant to taste it slowly, tantalizing Erestor as he had dreamed before, but in that moment eagerness and Erestor's encouraging small pushes won. He engulfed it completely with his mouth, sucking on it as if his very life depended on it. He felt deaf and blind to everything but Erestor's moans and sighs. All the air there was laden with Erestor's unique scent, the deep, dark aroma of desire.

Erestor tried to push his shoulder softly, to warn him of the coming orgasm, but he chose not to heed the silent warning. He drank him to the last drop and finally he had to let go, reluctantly. He crawled back up and lay by Erestor's side, staring into his eyes, waiting for him to say or do something.

Erestor lay for several moments with his eyes closed and an expression of the uttermost bliss spread across his face, but at length he turned to Glorfindel and said, "I think that next time you want to do that you had better kiss me first." A malicious wink accompanied an evil smile as he leaned forward to plunge into Glorfindel's mouth.

Glorfindel whimpered as Erestor broke the kiss. He felt so painfully hot that he could almost see the water evaporating from his leggings in clouds of steam. Erestor's hand was struggling its way inside his damp, clingy leggings.

"We need to get you out of those," he said, peeling them down, as he nipped and licked the cold skin of Glorfindel's thighs.

Warm skin and soft hair spread and rubbed and teased all over Glorfindel's lower body, touching everywhere but where he wanted it the most.

His heart raced in his chest, and his fingers buried in the soft grass. Anor dyed his closed eyelids orange as he begged, "Please..." so he did not see Erestor's triumphant grin as he proceeded to his weeping erection.

Erestor was clearly taking pleasure in having as much patience and restraint as Glorfindel had had haste and blind desire. Every one of his careful gestures was precisely measured, making his lover both curse him and praise him, beg him for more and beg him for the end of his torment.

At last Glorfindel was allowed to have his release, so intense it was painful. The world was reduced to the black hair washing over his face and the warm body beside his when a seductive voice whispered, "Did you enjoy your lesson?"

Glorfindel chuckled. "Why, do you think it is over yet?"

Erestor growled, moving closer. "I could stay here forever, you know?"

Glorfindel's heart stopped for a second; this was more than what he had expected. He turned to Erestor, and hugged him tightly.

"What about for the rest of the afternoon?" he asked, trying to stay clear of deep waters for the time being.

Erestor chuckled. "It could be. It is not such a bad idea, even coming from you."

Glorfindel silenced him with another kiss.

*****

THE END

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