Before the Darkness by chrissystriped

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Chapter Four

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“You, boy! Wait!”

Mablung was carrying a tray with dirty dishes to the kitchen, the plates clinked when he turned around a little too quickly.

“Herunya?” He bowed as well as he could at the moment.

“You are Mablung, aren’t you?”, Ecthelion asked and smiled at him.

“Yes, herunya.” Mablung wondered what he could have done that his name meant something to Ecthelion.

“Glorfindel’s... friend, yes?”

Mablung didn’t miss the little pause between the words and blushed. He knew that Ecthelion and Glorfindel were friends, but... What had he told him?

“We – he and me and a few friends – are having a party tomorrow evening. Nothing big, just a little drinking and talking. Do you want to come, too?” Ecthelion slid a card into his pocket. “Show that to the doorman and he’ll let you in. I’m looking forward to getting to know you. Glorfindel doesn’t talk a lot about you.”

Ecthelion winked at him and walked back in the direction he had come from. Mablung stared after him, his mouth hanging open. Ecthelion’s parties had a certain notoriety, but... Glorfindel had that, too, and up until now, he hadn’t lived up to it in Mablung’s eyes. Ecthelion was probably not half as bad as gossip made him. Mablung had been afraid of what Glorfindel’s friends would say when they found out that he had befriended a servant, but Ecthelion didn’t seem to mind.

Mablung suddenly wondered, why Glorfindel hadn’t introduced him to his friends, yet. Was he ashamed of him? ‘He doesn’t talk a lot about you.’ Wasn’t that what Ecthelion had said? Mablung shook his head and balanced the tray out. No, that couldn’t be it. Glorfindel didn’t talk to him a lot about his friends, either. Mablung shrugged and hurried to the kitchen. He would find out tomorrow. Of course he had to sneak past his parents, but that had never stopped him. Mablung grinned cheerfully.

 

Mablung opened the door and listened to the sounds of the house. He didn’t worry about his sister, she slept like a stone and she would also never betray him, but his parents... They would never allow him to go to Ecthelion’s party. He heard slow, deep breathing from his parents’ room and decided that he could risk it. They wouldn’t miss him today. He closed his door silently again and walked to the window – he wasn’t foolish enough to risk the front door, that would wake his father.

It took longer to climb down because he wore his best clothes – his mother would kill him if he ripped anything – but finally he stood on the cobbles of the lane and trotted up the hill to the estate of Ecthelion’s parents. The servant opening him eyed him doubtfully when he gave him the invitation, but he lead him through the house to a parlour.

“Here’s a guest, Ecthelion. Herunya, can I talk to you for a moment?”

“Good evening, Mablung.” Ecthelion thrust a full glass of wine into his hand when he walked past him. “Make yourself comfortable, boy, your sweetheart is already here, too.”

Mablung blushed and looked at the elves sitting and standing in groups with glasses in their hands and chatting, there were about twenty of them. Glorfindel stared at him, clearly surprised to see him here and got up.

“What are you doing here?”, he hissed at him and pulled him into a corner, away from his friends, as Ecthelion left the room with the servant.

“Ecthelion invited me.”

Glorfindel swore under his breath. “Okay, I’ll take you home.”

Mablung braced his feet against the floor, when his friend took his arm and tried to lead him to the door. “Forget it, I’ll stay!”

Glorfindel whirled around, his eyes flashing. “This is no place for you!”

“If you don’t want your friends seeing us together, you can say it!”, Mablung snapped and glared at him.

Glorfindel groaned. “That’s not it, you fool!” He laid his hands on Mablung’s shoulders and looked him sternly in the eyes. “But you are very young and... you have to know the rumours about these parties!”

“Of course I do.” Mablung saw the worry in Glorfindel’s face, but he wasn’t in the mood right now to listen to him. “But you aren’t as bad as your reputation, either.”

Glorfindel opened his mouth to answer to that, but then he shook his head. “Very well. You asked for it! But don’t be surprised if you burn yourself.”

Mablung squeaked and steadied himself with his hands against Glorfindel’s chest, when his friend suddenly pulled him close and gave him a fierce kiss, accompanied by his friends’ cheers of encouragement.

Mablung blinked up to him with surprise, his lips prickled.

“I’m just making clear that you are mine.” Glorfindel took the wine glass from his hand and drank deeply. “I won’t take the risk that they think they could have a chance with you.”

A hot shiver ran down Mablung’s spine. ‘You are mine.’ Did Glorfindel really say that?

“Okay, let’s introduce you to the others.” Glorfindel dragged him down on a free couch. “Mablung, this are Egalmoth and Elemmakil, my closest friends. Indo just abducted Ecthelion, but I suppose, he’ll be back. Guys, this is Mablung.”

“So you are Glorfindel’s mysterious lover.” Elemmakil winked at him. “We already wondered where he is hiding you.”

“Are you even old enough to be up so late?”, Egalmoth asked. Mablung glared at him.

“Shut up, Egalmoth”, Glorfindel said and poured Mablung a glass of water. “Go slow”, he whispered into his ear. “You likely won’t have a choice later on. Drink water when you can. And don’t let Egalmoth make you angry. He can be an asshole.”

“I thought, he’s your friend”, Mablung whispered back. “He is, but you don’t know how I can be, either.” Glorfindel smiled sheepishly at him. “When you are with me, I want to make myself worthy of you.” He kissed him again, gentle and long.

“When I invited him, I didn’t expect you only having eyes for him”, Ecthelion commented on coming back.

“That was your mistake, Ecthelion.” Glorfindel grinned at him and pulled Mablung closer.

“But we are so curious about him. And give the boy something decent to drink.”

Mablung giggled when Ecthelion swapped the water against wine.

“Can I actually drink something now?”

Ecthelion grinned at him. “Be my guest. Time to get acquainted.” Ecthelion put an empty bottle on the table. “Let’s play truth or dare.”

Glorfindel groaned. “Ecthelion, that’s a very bad idea. Aren’t you supposed to entertain your guests.”

“Oh, he is entertaining us”, said another elf from behind them who had wandered over with two others, they laughed.

Mablung smiled but he had a queasy feeling in his gut. He wasn’t sure anymore, if it had been a good idea to decline Glorfindel’s offer.

“Glorfindel?” Ecthelion smiled sweetly at him. “Did I invite your father by mistake? Don’t be a spoilsport. And you two lovebirds have to pull apart a little or we won’t know whose turn it is.”

 

 

Mablung lay on his bed, his face buried in the pillow, and shed silent tears. He was grounded, was only allowed to leave the house to work and that only in company of his father. His backside was still bruised from the spanking he had gotten as punishment for coming home drunk. It had already been morning, his parents beside themselves with worry. He remembered almost nothing of that horrible night.

They had drunk a lot, all of them, switching from wine to spirit as the evening went on. He had the nagging feeling that he had made a fool of himself. Surely Glorfindel didn’t want anything to do with him now, even if his parents would let them see each other. That was the worst of it. Glorfindel had brought him home because he wasn’t able to walk alone and their... relationship had been discovered.

It had made his father even more mad. The things he had said to Glorfindel and later him... It had made Mablung angry. What must Glorfindel think of him now! He sobbed. Someone rattled at the door, probably Liriel but he didn’t want to see her.

“Go away”, he said, his voice hoarse from crying, he pressed the pillow over his ears to not have to hear what she said. He wanted to be alone.

He didn’t know how long he had lain there when someone knocked on the windowpane. Mablung started, jumping almost out of bed. His stubborn little sister just couldn’t let him be. But when he peeked out from under the pillow, it wasn’t his sister who looked at him through the window.

“Glorfindel!”, Mablung gasped and hurried to let him in. A rush of joy making him grin. “What are you doing here?”, he whispered.

His parents mustn’t notice him, the Valar knew what his father would do if he saw him here.

“I wanted to apologise. I should have known that Ecthelion invited you to make you look bad.”

Mablung gulped and blinked away his tears. He must look dreadful, eyes puffy from crying and face sweaty from hiding under the pillow.

“I’m sorry, Mablung, I’m an idiot. I should have taken you away even against your wish. I knew that Ecthelion’s parties always end with us being very drunk.” Glorfindel sighed. “But I hoped, if they get to know you, they’ll stop to tease me. Can you forgive me, Mablung.”

“Ask that my butt”, Mablung grumbled ungraciously, but actually he was glad that Glorfindel had come – that he still wanted him.

To his surprise and embarrassment, Glorfindel knelt down beside him and kissed his buttock. “I’m sorry”, he said again. “I didn’t want you to get punished because of me. I suppose, your parents think me an irresponsible asshole, if the way your father talked to me is any indication.”

Mablung’s lips twitched. “I won’t repeat what father said about you when you were gone.”He helped Glorfindel to his feet. “But don’t you mind that your friends don’t like me.”

Glorfindel huffed. “I don’t care what they think! To get you drunk and make you look like a fool was mean and I don’t let anyone be mean to my Mablung. Not even my best friends.”

Mablung knew that he had a mad grin on his face. His Mablung? Oh Valar, how much he wished to be that. “You better leave before my parents notice that you are here.”

Glorfindel nodded. “I don’t want to get you into more trouble. When can we see each other again?”

Mablung shrugged. “At the palace. Father is pretty angry, I don’t know how long I’ll be grounded and at the moment it’s better if I don’t sneak out of the house.”

Glorfindel nodded and kissed him goodbye. Mablung leaned out of the window and watched him walking down the lane. He turned around before turning the corner and blew Mablung a kiss. Mablung flopped down on the bed again, but his mood couldn’t have been more different than a few minutes ago. Glorfindel wanted to see him again and his father couldn’t ground him forever.

 

 

Ecthelion caught the boy when he left the palace. It was evening, time for him to go home. He shook his head. Yes, the boy was cute, but he didn’t understand how Glorfindel could spend so much time with him. He was so young and a servant at that. What did he see in him? Ecthelion walked alongside him and the boy looked up. His face closed up when he recognised him.

“Herunya, what can I do for you?”, he asked politely but there was ice in his voice. He seemed to hold it against him that they had gotten him drunk.

Ecthelion cocked his head. “If you play with adults you have to expect to get burned, boy”, he said.

It was his own fault if he drank with them. Although, yes, he had hoped that he would make a fool of himself so Glorfindel would lose interest in him. He had misjudged there. His ears still rang from the angry words his friend had shouted at him. He was still steadfastly claiming that he wasn’t in love, but Ecthelion thought differently. Glorfindel had a bad crush on the boy – and he hadn’t time for him any longer.

“And if you get involved with an adult, you should know what you are doing.” Ecthelion had no idea how far Glorfindel had gone with him. He was so young that Glorfindel was surely his first. “Here.” He thrust a stack of pages into his hands. “You should have a look at that. After all, your body is the only thing you have to offer him.” Ecthelion didn’t wait for an answer before he walked away.

He would have liked to see the boy’s face when he looked at the paintings, which left little to the imagination, but he couldn’t possibly let him unpack this in public. Was it his innocence that attracted Glorfindel? Well, in that case the boy would soon be of no interest to him. Innocence vanished all too easily. Or even better, maybe the paintings freaked the boy out so he ran away. Ecthelion would find a way to make his friend see reason. It was bad enough for the oldest son of a noble to fall in love with a man, but when it was a commoner, a servant...

‘Believe me, Glorfindel’, Ecthelion thought, ‘I’m doing you a favour.’

 

Mablung leaved through the pages Ecthelion had given him. His eyes were wide. Pictures of men – naked men in very explicit poses that left little room for ambiguity. Was this what Glorfindel wanted from him? Mablung shuddered at the though. Wouldn’t that hurt? Glorfindel never had even hinted at this. Although last time he had done something with his mouth that... Mablung blushed at the memory. Valar, it had felt so good when Glorfindel’s lips had enveloped his cock. Nothing, Glorfindel did with him had ever felt bad.

Mablung lifted one of the paintings and looked at it more closely. If that was, what men with their preferences did with each other, wouldn’t it feel good, too? Or was this just another attempt by Ecthelion to drive a wedge between them. ‘Your body is the only thing you have to offer him’, he had said. Mablung gulped. Wasn’t he right? He was only a servant. He decided to show the paintings to Glorfindel and see what he said. It was all so new for him.

If they’d had their way, they would meet more often, but Mablung had to work and he also didn’t want his parents to become suspicious. They had forbidden him to see Glorfindel, supposedly he had a bad influence on him. Mablung huffed. He had shown Glorfindel his cave, they mostly met there now, because they could be sure to not be interrupted there. Glorfindel’s parents had appealed to their son’s conscience, too, it wasn’t save to meet at his home anymore.

Mablung was relieved that Glorfindel seemed to little mind what his parents or his friends said. Mablung shuddered. He had seen the look on Ecthelion’s face, he hadn’t given him these pictures out of kindness. Maybe he thought it would frighten him and that he wouldn’t want to see Glorfindel then. That wouldn’t happen. Never.

 

“What is it you brought here?”

They lay together in his cave, on a bed of moss and blankets. Before Mablung could answer anything, Glorfindel already fished for the leather folder Mablung had put Ecthelion’s paintings in. He hadn’t dared yet to show them to Glorfindel. In panic he reached for it and pressed it to his chest, the leather cool and smooth against his warm skin.

“That’s... nothing.”

Glorfindel lifted an eyebrow. “Doesn’t look like nothing to me. What’s wrong, Mablung? You are so quiet today.”

“I was just... thinking.”

Mablung bit his lower lip and Glorfindel traced it with his thumb, as he always did when he caught him at doing that.

“Thinking about what?”

“I like what we do together”, Mablung said and looked down at his hands that clutched the folder, he could hear the grin in Glorfindel’s voice when he said: “I’m pleased to hear that.”

“But... but it’s not all, is it? You hold back because of my age. I, um, here...” Mablung offered him the folder. He knew that his face was crimson.

Glorfindel murmured a few imaginative oaths as he skimmed through the leaves.

“Where did you get these?”, he asked with a dangerous growl in his voice.

Mablung winced, tears coming to his eyes. He sounded angry, Glorfindel had never talked to him like that. He hadn’t wanted that. Glorfindel caressed his cheek.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t want to snap at you. I’m not angry with you. Ecthelion?”

Mablung looked at him with surprise. “How...”

Glorfindel smiled grimly. “I know these paintings and I can’t imagine that you know how to get them. So it really was Ecthelion?”

Mablung nodded.

“That idiot!”, Glorfindel growled. He shook his head. “It’s not your fault, Mablung.” He lifted his hands to his lips and kissed them. “First of all: I, too, like very much what we do together. Yes, these paintings show very graphically how it looks when two men have sex, but I don’t want you to feel pressured to do anything. I told you that in the beginning, didn’t I? I don’t want you to do something you aren’t completely sure of wanting.”

“But... aren’t you bored?”

Glorfindel chuckled. “Why should I be? I like it when you touch me. I like to make you come with my mouth – I like it, when you do that to me.”

Mablung risked a quick glance and saw the satisfied smile on Glorfindel’s face. He relaxed a little. He believed him and that gave him the courage to ask: “Does... does it hurt?”

“No”, Glorfindel took his face between his hands and kissed his mouth. “It’s going to feel... unfamiliar, tight. But it should never hurt, and it won’t if we take our time. It should be a pleasurable experience.”

“And do you want me like this?” His heart was in his throat.

Glorfindel smiled wryly. “It would be a lie to say no. But I’ll tell you again: Don’t feel pressured into doing this. I’m content with what we have. Do you want it? That I take you – or you me?”

Mablung barely kept himself from biting his lip again. “I... don’t know.” He hadn’t even thought that Glorfindel would let him... do that.

Glorfindel nodded and embraced him. “That means, we’ll wait – until you are absolutely sure that you want this. Either of it, or both.”

Mablung relaxed with a sigh of relief when he didn’t see any disappointment in Glorfindel’s face. “Thank you, Glorfindel.”

Glorfindel kissed his forehead. “It’s nothing, Mablung. As I said: I like very much what we do here together.”

He kissed Mablung passionately and laid him back on their bed.