Perfect Matches by Cirdan

Prologue

"Hey, why do you always put Ecthelion's name first?" Glorfindel asked.

"Because Tolkien does it that way. Ecthelion and Glorfindel. It's the hair colors. Silver first, then gold," Cirdan replied.

"Oh, that's fine then. I just didn't want people to think it was Ecthelion/Glorfindel slash, which would imply Ecthelion to be the top."

"You mean I'm not?" Ecthelion said with feigned surprise.

"Oh, Ecthelion, you know that topping from the bottom isn't quite the same," Glorfindel said sweetly.

"Oh, but it's such a great position!" Ecthelion objected. "I need my fountain positioned correctly so that it can burst upward in right fashion."

"Yea, and you could water the base of the golden flower instead of seeking to break its center."

"Oi, you two!" Cirdan interrupted. "The fic."

"Oh yes." Glorfindel straightened his shirt and patted his hair down.

"You look beautiful," Ecthelion said.

"Thank you, thank you." Glorfindel then addressed the readers. "Cirdan is a squeamish writer, believe it or not. She was going to pull another one of those 'it didn't really happen' tricks like she did in 'The Story of Love Between Glorfindel and Ecthelion.' Notice how she slipped into placing my name first. I'm always named before Ecthelion, no offense to you, dear Fountain-Lord."

"None taken."

"It can't be helped. I made a key appearance in the War of the Ring," Glorfindel said.

"Yes, well, back on subject, Cirdan was going to write about how we are not lovers, and the NC-17 part was going to be a dream," Ecthelion said.

"But we know that would disappoint the readers. Worse than that, it would disappoint the birthday girls," Glorfindel said. Ecthelion winked at Mouse and pointed with his thumb at Glorfindel for Artanis. Glorfindel laughed. "Ah, no, I don't think she wants me. She just wants me to have you." Glorfindel leaned up against Ecthelion.

Cirdan cleared her throat. "Yes, well, so I confess. I really can't believe that these two would get together. They may joke about it, but they're not so inclined. Still, they said that I'm supposed to write bday fics for people's birthdays, not for my own benefit."

"Fanservice," Ecthelion said with a knowing nod. "It should be a prerequisite."

"They thought that it'd be better appreciated if the story was about them being together, and they suggested that I simply slap an AU label to the fic if it'd make me feel better," Cirdan said.

"And we said to Cirdan, 'If you're so squeamish, why don't you just let us write the story?' And Cirdan agreed," Glorfindel recalled.

"So here it is," Ecthelion said. He puts a hand around Glorfindel's waist. "Our story. Feel free to read into everything."

Cirdan added sternly, "And it's AU."

Glorfindel nuzzled the base of Ecthelion's neck. "Of course it is. Of course."