Pairing: Elladan/Glorfindel
Rating: NC-17
Disclaimer: Tolkien owns all. New line Cinema has the rights to them. No copyright infringement intended by the borrowing of them. No profit made.
Summary: Elladan and Elrohir share their first times. Notes: 1) This story is the sequel to 'Dawn Confessions'.
2) Awakening is puberty for Elves.
4)'Elen' means 'star' and 'Carnil' is the name of a red star in Middle-earth.
6) Elen is a bay (brown, in her case, mahogany coloured, with a black mane and tail). Carnil is liver chestnut, which is a very dark coppery colour.

The darkness wrapped around the room like a blanket, softening the sounds and casting faces into silhouette black on grey, bodies nothing more than shadowy forms beneath the pale covers on the bed, vague definition given in outline by the rays of the moon that wandered now and then in through the window.

"So, there you are," Elrohir said, his voice a self-satisfied whisper that banished the tranquillity of the scene. "My first time."

The twins were curled beneath their shared sheets in hushed confidence while the rest of the house was ensnared by the dream worlds. Identical in age, save but a few moments which denoted Elladan as the elder, so similar in looks that they could, and had, exchanged identity for entertainment purposes, the twins had shared every experience, every lesson and all that the world had shown them in the years that they had been alive. They shared tutors, horses, chamber and even bed.

Yet the coming of the time of Awakening had brought with it more than just another year to their ages. They were almost grown now, almost classed as mature Elves. And with this had come a change most disquieting to the twins - the discovery that they could not share everything anymore. The Awakening had led to experiences that could not be shared - the love for another and the pleasures of the flesh. Indeed to hope that they could share such things, which at one stage, Elrohir had, had led to a temporary chasm between them. Yet the twins were not so easily defeated. Just because it went against their nature to share physically in such an experience, equally it would have gone against their characters and past behaviour to leave each to their own and take no part in it. They lay together now, facing each other, though the night hid the detail of their countenances from the other, sharing in the experiences that each had had by telling of the tale.

"Starlight?" Elladan stared at his brother; well able to imagine what expression his twin was wearing. He was right, although it was too dark for him to confirm it, Elrohir looked like a cat that had eaten the Midsummer partridge. "By Elbereth!"

Elrohir grinned even wider.

"I imagine that you did not expect that."

"No, indeed!" Elladan was honestly surprised. He and Elrohir had long shared a secret admiration for the pretty young Elf maiden who had proved herself to be a breathtaking archer and what was more, granted the permission to join the border patrols at a younger age than most were permitted in concession to her skill.

"I hope she had nothing to complain about with your aim," Elladan added teasingly.

"With my bow? Or were you enquiring about my other shooting tackle?" Elrohir asked, raising an eyebrow haughtily. "I assure you that she had naught to complain about on either count."

Elladan chuckled.
"Are you so sure?"

"Just what are you insinuating?" Elrohir demanded, propping himself up on one elbow.

Elladan slipped his palm beneath his ear and smirked up at his brother.
"Only that my shooting is better than yours with a bow..."

"You think very highly of your own skill!" Elrohir was secretly pleased that his brother was content to jest about such things. Matters were still tense between Elladan and their father, made only more so by the tension between Elrond and Glorfindel, for which Elladan felt incredibly guilty, having compromised Glorfindel's positions within their father's house and also taxed his friendship with Elrond.

"Well, I have reason to," Elladan replied, feeling slightly smug in his turn. "Besides, I have only out done you in archery because I have a measure more of patience. I would think that the same would apply in this field also..."

"Glorfindel has been giving you far too many gold stars," Elrohir grumbled, harking back to the days when as praise for a task well completed their tutor had handed out small hand painted stars with which they replicated the solar system of Middle-earth.

The stars were pretty and it had been a challenge between them to see who would complete their system first. Of course, as they later realised, it had been a sneaky way of making sure that they learned the position and names of the stars in the sky which did not involve prolonged trips outside in the depths of winter while the young and enthusiastic twins had paid little attention to their studies and a great deal more to the beauty of the night. The only planet that they had been able to locate with any certainty at the time had been the moon.

"He has better things to give me than gold stars," Elladan couldn't keep the smile from his face.

"Yes, but he can't report that progress to father now can he?" Elrohir said mockingly.

Elladan glared, a fruitless effort in the dark so cloaking that even elven eyesight struggled to penetrate it. They had drawn the drapes around the bed so that they were hidden from the outside world, whether they were actually hiding from that or from each other neither were willing to discuss. Elrohir chuckled, knowing that Elladan was pulling faces at him.

"That will teach you to question my talent with any weapon, be it arrow, cock or tongue," Elrohir told him.

"I was merely speculating," Elladan replied innocently.

Elrohir snorted.

"Well, did you not at least ask her?" Elladan asked.

"Ask her?" Elrohir sounded surprised. "I haven't seen her since."

"Why?" Elladan was startled in his turn.

Elrohir shrugged.
"I do not intend to chain myself into a relationship just yet."

Elladan said nothing, but his disapproval was implied in his silence.

"You are the only person I have told, her reputation is not at stake," Elrohir said defensively. "I don't plan to share a bed with her again. It was nice, but just once is enough. I want to see, want to feel, experience everything and I cannot do that if I am only lying with her can I?"

"You could have at least established that she was faring well and you had not caused her to be with child!" Elladan pointed out.

"She would find me if that were the case," Elrohir stared at his brother, feeling mildly affronted. "And if it were so I would assist her, but as it is I have no need to."

Elladan frowned.
"If you say so," he said quietly.

Elrohir considered challenging the statement, but he had a more pressing topic upon which Elladan might become less receptive if they engaged in a debate about the morals of couplings.

"Each to his own way," he said, shrugging the implied accusation away. "And speaking of such, tell me," he snuggled down amidst the blankets again. "Tell me of your first; I would dearly love to hear how you came to be with Glorfindel."

His tones were laced with such honest inquisitiveness and so lacking in the slightly disapproving looks that had been directed Elladan's way for the last few months that Elladan was not averse to explaining. He was secretly pleased that Elrohir was able to appreciate his unity with their tutor and eager to share in his feelings and experiences.

"Well," Elladan thought for a moment, trying to pin down the best place to begin.

The rain washed down in a steady stream, causing the rivers to rise and swirl in a turmoil of wild water that rushed uncontrolled along their channels and slapped at the banks. The trees bowed under the weight of the droplets, shuddering as the wind whisked through their branches and exposed their trunks to the air. Rivendell dripped like a drenched cat, standing unimpressed, but still gloriously elegant, despite the water sheeting down its roofs. Inside, observing the downpour from the sanctuary of the room that he and his twin were using for study, Elladan sucked the end of his quill pen and drummed his fingers in rhythm with the rainfall.

A hand clapped over his and Elladan jumped, startled, glancing around to locate the owner of the hand and found himself staring into the eyes of his tutor.

"The rain does not need accompaniment," Glorfindel assured him. "It is doing perfectly well at distracting you without any aid whatsoever."

Elladan felt his cheeks flush.
"Sorry," he murmured, dropping his gaze to his paperwith a muffled sigh.

Glorfindel did not remove his hand; instead he rose and shifted it to Elladan's shoulder, dropping onto one knee to study his pupil.

"Are you well?" he asked, softly so as not to distract Elrohir who was pouring over a rather gruesome account of the Last Alliance involving the unfortunate Elendil and Gil-galad.

"Yes," Elladan frowned, puzzled. "I am well."

"Are you certain?" Glorfindel asked gently. "You seem remarkably distracted today and it is not like you."

"I am sorry," Elladan sighed. "I just... I do not actually know what it is. I just cannot seem to concentrate." He gestured to his papers.

"Why ever not?" Elrohir raised his eyes at last. "You should see this, Elladan! The Fall of Gil-galad." He pushed the paper over, rereading it as he did so, reluctant to let it go.

Glorfindel's lips tightened.
"It would not seem so fascinating if you had been there," he said quietly.

He rarely spoke of the Last Alliance, indeed up until recently Erestor, who had not been present, had been the one to teach them of it. Indeed there were few among those in Imladris who did speak of it, except among the warriors and even they held their tongues around Glorfindel and Elrond.

"No, I suppose not," Elrohir looked slightly chagrined, but his tone suggested that he wasn't entirely convinced.

Glorfindel sighed.
"I am sorry, I do not mean to discourage you," he said, forcing a smile. "From a historical perspective it is fascinating and of vital import in these days especially for that past is not so far behind us as I would wish. But..." he sighed again. "For my part I cannot look upon it without recalling all those whom I cared for and have lost."

Elladan gave him a sympathetic smile.
"Why then do you teach us it?"

"Because you need to know. I would have its import fully impressed upon you so that if we live to see another such time, you will be prepared for it and not be among those who are lost."

The twins fell silent, sobered at the thought. They both talked of going to war amongst themselves, speaking of the prospect with relish. Elrohir in particular, as he often spent time with the warrior elves, listening to their accounts of their past battles, longed for war, but Glorfindel's quiet regret silenced their ignorant delight at the thought of being able to fight.

Glorfindel rolled up the scroll once again.
"Elladan if you wish to leave, I will not keep you. Take a walk - if you want to get extremely wet and cold. Elrohir, if you want to stay you may, there are some more references to the same topic..."

Elladan rose, as, with unusual eagerness, Elrohir followed Glorfindel to the next table where a number of sheets of parchment from the records department were spread.

"Oh, Elladan?" Glorfindel called out, halting him. "If you want to learn a little more about this at another time, I would suggest that you come to me, rather than your father. The same applies to you, Elrohir."

Elladan nodded and departed. Elrond did not speak of the Last Alliance unless the topic was unavoidable; he had lost vast numbers of his people and his King. He also seemed to feel that he had failed, that in some way he should have prevented Isildur's taking of the Ring. Elladan respected that, though he doubted his father had been the one at fault. He limped up the steps and straight out into the rain. The cause of his distraction might just be assuaged by a cold shower.

At least he hoped so.

* * * * * *

Glorfindel had peeled off his sodden garments and drew a robe around his body. Elladan's mare, Elen, had been discovered free from her stall and had managed to get her teeth around the bolt of Carnil's door, escorting Elrohir's liver chestnut mare out of her stall also. The pair had led Glorfindel on a merry dance half way across the valley, having been shut in all day in preparation for a mounted knife fighting practice, cancelled due to the rain. The twins had accompanied him. Erestor had given him a horrified glance at the mere prospect of getting wet a second time - he had been travelling all day, on the final leg of his return from negotiations in Lorien - and beaten a hasty retreat.

It was not so much the thorough soaking that he had taken, which meant that Glorfindel did not settle instantly to rest, but sat up instead, holding, but not really reading, an unearthed text belonging to Elbereth-only-knew-who detailing some rather obscure notes on a particular cure for poison that Glorfindel and Elrond had been discussing only a week or so earlier. If he hadn't been distracted, Glorfindel would have been interested, given that poisoned wounds were becoming more frequent results of Orc attacks in the restless days of this age.

As it was, Glorfindel was feeling slightly worried about Elladan. The youngster had not only been utterly disinterested in his classes, which was out of kilter for Elladan - and a great deal more like Elrohir - but had been drifting around apparently in a dream, for it was he who had left open Elen's stall. Elrohir had been particularly smug about this, having done the same thing at least six times himself because he never put the latch down properly. Both the horses had an uncanny knack for releasing their bolts, mostly because, like the majority of elven breed beasts, they loathed being indoors unnecessarily. Elladan had been very long suffering about the excursions it had taken to recapture the mares previously and had therefore richly deserved his brother's taunting, but it was once again out of character for him.

Glorfindel sighed to himself. It shouldn't be a surprise to him that at least one of the twins was exhibiting slightly abnormal behaviour, after all, they were both nearing maturity, which meant that they would be going through awakening. It tended to have the effect of reversing people's characters and making them temporarily unbearable to live with. Glorfindel could remember well his mother saying much the same thing about him several thousand years ago. At the time he had laughed at her. More fool him.

Elrond had just put his head in his hands when he had heard that the horses had escaped again, in a muffled voice asking if it was Elrohir's fault. He too had seemed surprised at Elladan culpability, but with a philosophical lift of his shoulders remarked that it had to happen once and apologised to Elrohir for blaming him. Celebrķan had smiled a secretive smile and continued to embroider a new silk for herself.

Glorfindel blew out his candle and put aside the script, having finally admitted to himself that he was not taking any of it in, given that he had read one sentence at least five times in half an hour. A volley of thunderous knocks on his door jerked him out of his reverie and drew his hand instantly to his knife. Rising, knife in hand, although in his experience circumstances that required a knife didn't usually knock, he crossed to the door and opened it.

To his utter astonishment Elladan stood upon the other side of it. He was sopping wet, his dark hair tumbling into his grey eyes, which were as turbulent as the smoky clouds scudding across the night sky. He looked wild and draggled, but his shoulders were hunched and he seemed almost as though he were trying to fold in around some internal ache or make himself as small as possible.

"Elladan?" Glorfindel looked up and down the passage, seeking the cause of the elder twin's evident distress.

"I'm sorry to wake you," Elladan stepped inside as Glorfindel gestured him to do so, closing the door in his wake.

"I was not yet resting, you do no harm to me," Glorfindel assured him. "Thought what brings you here at such a late hour I cannot imagine."

"I cannot sleep in the same room as Elrohir." Elladan did not volunteer an explanation, but began to pace agitatedly around the room, shoving his dark hair back from his face impatiently.

Glorfindel moved to sit on the end of his bed, curling one leg beneath himself and watching, waiting.
"Why is that?" he prompted as Elladan pushed his hair back again in a futile gesture, as it simply flopped forwards once more. "Have you two had a disagreement about something?"

"What?" Elladan seemed unreasonably startled by the idea. "No! I...I just..." He broke off again, biting his lip and twisted his hands together until his knuckles cracked. "I shouldn't have come, forget it." He turned for the door.

"Stop. Turn. Explain." Glorfindel commanded, halting Elladan's progress.

"I cannot!" Elladan cried out, swinging around and thereby eliminating the first two as the actions that he could not carry out. "I do not know what is wrong with me, Glorfindel! How do I explain something I do not even understand?"

"Well, you could try," Glorfindel suggested.

Elladan glared at him.
"Fine. All I can think about is finding someone to lie with. All this cursed day I have been wanting to do so. I am hot. I am cold. I am soaking wet because I have been out in the rain trying to walk it off and I cannot. And I am not sharing a bed with my twin brother feeling like this."

Glorfindel stared at the agitated youngster, trying to repress a smile. Of all the uncharacteristic things that Elladan had been doing this was perhaps the greatest. Elladan was acting exactly like his brother. Elladan rarely flew off the handle quite so spectacularly. He was the quieter of the twins, the more analytical, and the more thoughtful. It was he who could stand for hours aligning the perfect shot with his bow until he could get it exactly right and then repeat the manoeuvre in a matter of seconds, unlike Elrohir whose method was to hit and miss until he got it right and then stick to that way of doing things - it was equally effective in the long run, but an entirely different way around the problem. For two so physically alike creatures they were unusually different. And yet sometimes, not so unalike at all.

"Elladan," he said quietly. "Think it through. You are nearly mature, you are changing, growing...awakening..."

Elladan stopped short.
"Oh," he said his voice shocked. "Oh." His cheeks flushed hotly and he pulled a face. "I confess that I did not expect it to be exactly like this," he admitted, looping back his hair more slowly, but equally fruitlessly.

"Changes are rarely as one expects," Glorfindel pointed out.

Elladan made a wry face.
"That is so, as now I have proof. More proof," he amended, considering the number of years that he had already seen.

"Look," Elladan said awkwardly, feeling foolish. "I shouldn't have troubled you, it is late. I just did not wish to try to explain this to Mama and Papa and I could not stay with Elrohir. I shall go."

Glorfindel rose to intercept him.
"And where will that leave you? Elladan, stay, you are not keeping me from rest, I was only thinking anyway. But perhaps you should go, why not go out and do as you have been wishing?"

Elladan stared at him, his brow crinkling.
"Perhaps I should," he said, sounding less than thrilled at the prospect.

"Then what is preventing you?" Glorfindel asked gently.

Elladan shifted his gaze to the toes of his boots, darkened from walking in the damp grass, the brush marks of the wet blades leaving dark lines like scars on the pale material.

"I do not know how to," he told the flagstones of Glorfindel's bedroom floor.

Glorfindel felt a twinge of real sympathy for his student.
"Well, has that ever stopped you before? Nothing can be learned without experimentation. And with your love of learning I would not see that it would be a problem to you."

"No..." Elladan said slowly, "But this is different Glorfindel. This is not something that I can theoretically first, nor learn by example."

"You will find that it is curiously instinctual," Glorfindel smiled.

"I know that! I do not doubt it," Elladan said grimly. "But this is not just about me. It is not only I who would feel the consequences of mistakes made and I do not want someone else to have to deal with my failings."

"You are far too hard on yourself, Elladan," Glorfindel chided. "You set impossible standards, so rarely in anything is perfection achieved first time around. It is only to be expected."

"Is it?" Elladan said bitterly. "Perhaps you are right. Then again..."

"What are you afraid of?" Glorfindel asked him quietly. "That someone share themselves with you and tell tales in the morning? That someone will think less of you for being inexperienced? Or that you simply will not be good enough for yourself?"

Elladan was silent.

"Elladan?" Glorfindel prodded.

"Maybe a little of all," the younger Elf said reluctantly. He glanced at Glorfindel, his eyes stormy with mixed up emotions. "I do not know..."

"What?"

"Everything!" Elladan shook his head in frustration. "Who I am, what I want, what to think, what to do... And I hate it." The last was said so quietly Glorfindel almost did not hear him. Almost.

If he had not, he would probably not have made the decision he did. But the few broken words of admission swayed him, in fact sent him staggering from his box, which marked his long ago established concepts of wrong and right.

"If you want me to help you," he said quietly, astonishing even himself. "I will, Elladan."

"The youngster's eyes widened in surprise.

"What? You...?"

Glorfindel swallowed hard.
"Yes. After all," he said, holding Elladan's gaze steadily. "I am your tutor, why should I not teach you in this also. Just once," he cautioned, lifting a forefinger for emphasis. "Just the first time, if you are so unsure."

Elladan stared at him for an interminably long moment, his thoughts swirling through his eyes, entangled with his emotions, unreadable except in that he was obviously even more confused now than before. Finally, he swallowed, tried to speak and failed. On the second attempt he managed to say.

"If you would Glorfindel, please." It was not only Glorfindel who was startled by his answer.

*****

For a moment neither of them moved, just stood in stunned silence, contemplating the significance of their words. It was Glorfindel who cleared his throat uncomfortably and stepped into the role of tutor. Keeping his eyes on Elladan's, he stepped forward until he was barely a foot from the youngster. Elladan's gaze dropped to somewhere in the region of Glorfindel's chest. Tentatively Glorfindel reached out and stroked Elladan's hair back from his face. The youngster lifted his eyes again, a brief, hesitant glance and lifted his hand, almost as if to echo the gesture. Instead, he checked his hand and brought it to the lapels of Glorfindel's robe, running his fingers over the elven silk. Glorfindel let his hand slide along Elladan's jaw line and tilted his chin upwards. Glorfindel met the younger Elf's gaze again and slowly, giving Elladan time to retract his decision, brought their lips together. Elladan stiffened, but he responded to Glorfindel's kiss, despite the tension in his body, his mouth soft and yielding.

Elladan's arms moved up cautiously to slide through Glorfindel's and up his back so that his fingers tightened into the older Elf's shoulders. He rose on tiptoe slightly, though the difference in their height was negligible, beginning to press the kiss a little.

Glorfindel let his own hands move down to brace against the small of Elladan's back, locking them into the embrace. He began to smooth Elladan's back, letting his hands slide both upwards and down. Elladan made a soft sound against his lips, arching his spine at the contact, some of his reservation beginning to disintegrate.

"Shh," Glorfindel murmured. His own inhibitions were growing fuzzy around the edges, dissolving like his morals or a picture blurred by tears in the eyes. Grimly he reminded himself that his purpose was to teach, to ensure that Elladan was comfortable with himself. And that they were able to live under the same roof together afterwards...

Elladan's fingers shifted to the front of Glorfindel's robe, pushing it slightly off one shoulder and Elladan let his lips trail down Glorfindel's neck. The caress of the soft lips on sensitive skin made Glorfindel catch his breath. Elladan was not entirely as new to such things as his earlier demeanour had implied. A little less cautiously now, he eased open the front of Elladan's tunic and began to remove the youngster's wet clothing.

Elladan let him without question, treading on the heels of his boots to remove them and stepping out of his breeches. Uncertainty flickered on his face as the last stitch of his clothing was removed and he stood naked, exposed in body and spirit. Glorfindel unfastened the belt of his robe and let it fall away, catching it on his left arm and slinging it over the end of the bed. He reached for Elladan's hand and guided him onto the blankets. The youngster shifted obediently to lie on the bed and Glorfindel aligned himself beside Elladan.

For a moment all was quiet as Glorfindel stroked Elladan's hair and wondered what he was letting himself into. It was Elladan who gently pushed Glorfindel's hand away from his hair, running his fingers over the muscles in Glorfindel's shoulders, sliding his hands down the older Elf's arms and leaning in to kiss him again. Glorfindel complied, moving his hands to Elladan's waist and drawing the youngster closer. He traced the smooth curve of the youngster's hips, sliding his hands down Elladan's taut thighs.

Elladan moved his fingers to Glorfindel's chest, tracing the patterns made by the muscles with a fingernail. Leaning down he flicked his tongue over the dark flesh of a nipple, tracing the shiny skin of a scar that marred the pale flesh from chest to mid-way down his abdomen. Glorfindel hissed a little, his fingers tightening on Elladan's thighs, nails digging into the flesh. The sensation made Elladan shiver and he bit down, adding teeth marks to the older damage. He had thought that it would feel strange, to be lying on Glorfindel's bed, with Glorfindel, touching and kissing. He had expected an almost mechanical feel, a step by step - he found a low laugh spilling from his lips and put a hand to his mouth to stifle the sound.

A gentle, but distinctly firm tug on his hair made him raise his head.

"What?" Glorfindel asked, raising an eyebrow at him.

Elladan's jaw worked for a moment as he composed himself hurriedly.
"Sorry. Nothing."

"No, what is it? 'Nothing' is not a good enough answer," Glorfindel informed him, exactly as if he were indeed lecturing Elladan.

Elladan bit his fingers as mirth threatened to overwhelm him. He felt light-headed and bordering on hysterical, his shoulders shaking as he tried frantically to stifle his laughter.

Glorfindel drew back, lifting the other eyebrow and pursing his lips.
"Amused?" he enquired pointedly.

Elladan swallowed very hard, sucked in a calming lungful of air and managed to speak, despite the twitching of his lips.

"I...I'm sorry. I half expected you to..." He bit his lips and inhaled again. "I don't know - teach me or something - like you do with archery - verbal commands as well as guiding me with your hands."

Glorfindel stared at the youngster and then found himself smiling too.
"I can if you like," he teased. "Put your left hand on my shoulder and lift your left leg over mine...that is right...now, your body should be in line with mine..." He felt a mischievous streak rise within him as Elladan complied, stifling his smile. "Oh well done Elladan - good lad!"

Elladan nearly choked, he snorted with laughter and buried his head against Glorfindel's shoulder, closing his teeth lightly around the collarbone.

"Yes...master," he said, between muffled giggles.

He raised his head, his cheeks flushed, tears of amusement shimmering in his eyes.
"Do I get a gold star?"

Glorfindel chuckled.
"If you are very, very good," he said solemnly.

Elladan smiled, lifting his head to kiss Glorfindel softly.
"I shall try," he whispered.

Glorfindel moved against Elladan, his lips tracing a path up the younger Elf's jaw to caress the sensitive tips of his ears. Elladan made a soft sound in his throat, one of his hands moved to tangle in Glorfindel's hair. His fingers slid through the soft blonde mane with a sound like a hush. His hands slid downwards along the inexorable path along Glorfindel's spine to the valley at its base. Fingertips caressed his nipples and he bit his lip to stifle the moan he wanted to make. Glorfindel's soft words of encouragement were whispered into his ear and he followed the gentle directions, fingers exploring, venturing further than ever he had allowed himself with another before, touching soft skin, threading through the dense mat of blonde hair below Glorfindel's abdomen. He heard his own gasps, loud in the hush of the room as Glorfindel moved against him, the brush of their arousals sending bolts through his body that stole the breath from his lungs. He clutched at Glorfindel's shoulders, offering a whine of protest when Glorfindel checked them both, strength of will alone separating them once more.

Distantly he heard the scrape of wood on wood as a drawer was opened and the cool glass of a vial touched his palm. His fingers closed around it. The substance within it slick, oily and vaguely scented of forest blossom. He didn't know what it was exactly. He didn't care. His world had contracted into the canvas of pale skin, the curves of muscles and the fall of golden hair before him. Glorfindel's quiet reassurance soothed the sudden surge of uncertainty as he reached for the place he needed. Elladan knew, somewhere in the still functioning part of his brain, that he was too rough, clumsy in his urgency, inexperienced fumbling. He saw, as if from a great distance, Glorfindel bite his lip, hard enough to bring the bright splash of blood onto the soft lower lip. Bloodless hands clenched into the sheets as he pushed inside Glorfindel, crying out at the tightness that ensnared him, squeezing out all hope of rational thought. He heard Glorfindel's intake of breath and reached for the flexing hands, taking them with a gentleness that surprised even himself.

His own voice whispered an apology, hushed away by Glorfindel's mouth closing over his, claiming his trust, his respect. Hard at first, probably too hard given Glorfindel's muted gasp, he began to move, finding rhythm in the quickening of his heart beat, the thunder of his pulse in his veins, the arching of the back and sharp flick of the hips beneath him that turned a measure of control over to Glorfindel's will. He reached for Glorfindel's arousal, fingers curling, teasing, delighting in the shudders that wracked the older Elf's form, the silence as he found his own ways of bringing pleasure, overturning himself to intuition alone, and then the low moan as Glorfindel bit the pillow to quiet himself. His body slammed up against Elladan's, making the younger Elf jerk and move again, faster.

Rising and falling in sync, spinning, melding and becoming one the unity of their flesh shattering borders, barriers and denials of feelings that had been called by other names, disbelieved or unrecognised. The world fell further into sensation, forms blurring from focus, warmth engulfing them, skin sliding on skin, sweat, the scent a gaseous elixir that turned all thought to vapour and eased the way for more sensations. And beneath it all the building of something, fuelled by fiery bolts shot upwards from the groin, shaking limbs and voices crying in unison, all words lost to meaning in shapeless sound. The orgasm rushed through him, bowing his spine like the conifers shuddering in the wild wind outside and tossing him like a leaf caught in the spinning air to fly high and then sink, slowly, floating down into the soft sheets and tangled blankets that wrapped like bandages about their tangled limbs.

Glorfindel held him tightly until his body stopped shaking, hands smoothing through his hair, the brush of a kiss on his brow, chaste and innocent. He lifted his eyes to find Glorfindel's cloudy with desire and the mingling of surprise and respect held expressive within them. The sticky evidence of their mutual pleasure slicked their stomachs as they moved together for another kiss, less demanding, to seal and to settle.

Glorfindel traced the light crinkle of Elladan's brow as the youngster looked up at him, his lips half parted as though to speak, but he held his tongue. What could be said? Glorfindel stared into the eyes of the son of his lord and saw only Elladan. Not student, not the child of a friend, not one of a twin, but Elladan - a young man entirely in his own right, whether his age or his title proclaimed him to be neither was irrelevant. He knew, from the suddenly troubled expression in Elladan's eyes that he too was seen in a new light, not his tutor, not the friend of his father's or even his own friend. Elladan bit his lip and then, slowly, as though he were drawn by invisible forces that directed his unwilling limbs, he detangled himself from the bed and rose, pulling on his tunic and stepping into his breeches, putting up a material barrier, there were no others left.

"Thank you," Elladan said awkwardly. "I...um...I should probably go, shouldn't I...?"

Glorfindel nodded, a movement that felt scripted rather than chosen.
"Yes," he said mechanically. "I hope that I have been of some help to you - and I too owe you thanks, not least for the act itself, but for your maturity now."

Elladan nodded. He stood for a moment, staring at Glorfindel and then gave his head a little shake, stepping out into the passage way and letting the door close behind him. The soft click as it settled into its frame punctuated the silence.

"So," Glorfindel murmured to the empty room. "Here endeth the lesson."

The thick wood of the door did nothing to mute the almost inaudible whisper, which, in turn, did nothing to convince those who heard it - Elladan, stood outside the door and Glorfindel, on the other side.

"So, there you have it," Elladan found his cheeks as warm as they had been that very night when he had first realised what was happening to him.

There was a moment of silence and the straying beams of the moon made Elrohir's eyes glint as he glanced at his twin, a smile - partly of amusement, partly of slight envy tweaking his lips.

"I have just one question," he said impishly.

"What would that be?" Elladan resigned himself for the inevitable teasing and was not disappointed.

"Did you get a gold star?"

~ END ~