The Joining of Two Families by chrissystriped

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Chapter Six

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“You live here together?”, Faranwe asked after they’d made themselves comfortable in the living room.

Shai and Arasiel exchanged a quick look.

“Yes”, Arasiel said. “I invited Shai to stay with me. We are…”

“We love each other”, Shai finished her sentence. “We came to know each other through our common cause and we fell in love.”

Faranwe felt his throat constrict. “Then… then you don’t need me anymore? But I thought…”

“That’s not what we mean, you idiot!”, Arasiel said and hugged him. “We are so happy that you are back. We love you, but we also love each other. Is that so hard to believe?”

“I…” Faranwe looked back and forth between them, feeling dumbfounded and speechless. When he’d heard that they were getting along and were willing to work together to have him back, he’d been so happy — in his wildest dreams he couldn’t have imagined them to fall for each other. “But… is that allowed?”

“We make our own rules”, Shai answered with a cocky smirk. “Are you… alright?” She took his hand between her own and rubbed it gently.

“Yes. I’m just… that’s not what I expected.”

“Maybe we shouldn’t have sprung it on you like that." Shai bit her lip. “But Arasiel and I agreed that we wouldn’t want it to look like we were hiding something from you.”

“It’s alright.” The thought of what that would mean for their bedroom sneaked up on him, but he pushed it away. He was not ready for that. “What are you making in your shop downstairs? And tell me about our children. I missed so much of all your lives.”

 

It was getting dark outside. Faranwe had listened to them quietly, the stories about his children warming his heart. It felt so good to know that they were save and happy and he hoped that his dead children would be reborn soon, too.

“It’s getting late”, Arasiel said. “Should I make a bed for you in the guest room or…”

Faranwe gulped, glancing back and forth between the two of them. “You are sharing a bed?”, he asked.

“Yes.” Shai reached out and squeezed his hand. “But I can understand if this is all a bit much and you need some time — and I’m sure Arasiel understands, too.”

“No, I…” Faranwe licked his lips. “I want to be with you. This night and all nights until the End of Arda.”

Arasiel smiled at him and Shai kissed his cheek. They stood up and his wives each took one of his hands to lead him to their bedroom. Faranwe followed them, his heart thundering in his chest. He’d never had sex with more than one person at once. (And the memory that going to bed with two women who were attracted to each other on top of it would have been a fantasy come true for some of his old comrades didn’t really make it better.)

“Are you alright?”, Arasiel asked as she turned around to him. She was standing so close that he could feel her breath on his lips.

“Yes”, Faranwe answered with a nervous laugh. “Just… jittery.”

She smiled and gave him a soft, slow kiss that made butterflies flutter in Faranwe’s stomach. Shai had closed the door and stepped now behind him, sliding her hands down his back.

“Relax”, she whispered into his ear as she wrapped her arms around him to loosen his belt. “Let us take care of you, make you feel good. Let us enjoy your return.”

“She’s right”, Arasiel said, pressing kisses down his neck and opening the ties of his shirt. “Don’t think, don’t worry. Just enjoy, because we will, too.”

Faranwe let them undress him. His body was whole, nothing hurt. It felt good to be touched with love. But still… worry started to build in his chest as Shai and Arasiel pulled him to the bed. What if he did something wrong? How could he please them both? He did not want one of them to feel he gave the other more attention. Faranwe closed his eyes and tried to push the thoughts out of his mind, tried to concentrate only on the touches of his wives.

“Faranwe, what’s wrong?”, Shai said, her hand lying on his thigh, close to his still flaccid cock.

Two pairs of eyes — one amber, one green — looked at him with so much love and worry that Faranwe felt like crying.

“I don’t know”, he croaked. “You are lovely. I want to be with you. I’m sorry.”

He sat up, a part of him wanting to run from this awkward situation, but Arasiel laid his hand on his chest and held him back.

“No, I am sorry. Shai and I had years and years to get used to the situation and to fantasize together about how it would be when you come back. You have been here barely a day and did not know about us. We overwhelmed you.”

“We are so excited to have you back”, Shai added. “I did not think about how this would be for you, in my eagerness to share our intimacy with you. I’m sorry, too. I would never want to pressure you into anything. We can take it slow, go your pace. Maybe just cuddle tonight?”

“I can get you one of Faranwion’s nightshirts”, Arasiel offered.

Faranwe tried to hug them both at the same time, overcome with emotion.

“I love you”, he whispered. “I love you.”

“I love you, too”, they both said and Arasiel added: “I’ll fetch that shirt.”

 

Faranwe woke between his wives, their warm bodies framing him. After his breakdown they’d cuddled and kissed a little and slept wrapped around each other. He still felt a little awkward of making such a mess of things.

“Good morning”, he whispered when he saw Shai’s eyes watching him.

“Good morning.” She smiled and snuggled closer.

“I’m sorry that I... couldn’t yesterday”, he continued, blushing.

Shai’s smile widened, making the dimple in her cheek appear. Faranwe though his heart would break with love for her.

“Don’t worry. You have barely arrived and so much of this is new for you — for all of us. We’ll work it out together.”

“Yes, together”, mumbled Arasiel from his other side, having been woken by their voices. “We are all in this together.” She kissed his shoulder, where the nightshirt had slid aside to reveal his skin. “Take all the time you need, everything will come together eventually.”

Faranwe turned on his back so he could look at both of them. “I did not think I could ever be this happy”, he said. “What did I do to deserve you both?”

“Raise your children with love and into good people, as far as I can see”, Arasiel answered softly.

Faranwe blushed again — it was strange how little he had his face and skin under control — and mumbled: “That was all Shai.”

“But you let me”, Shai said. “You let me tell them things that would have gotten us executed, if anyone had found out. And you held onto who you are and always have been. You loved me and our children — and you never stopped loving Arasiel and your children.”

“You do deserve us both. All three of us deserve this happiness”, Arasiel continued. “Does it bother you, that you are stuck in Aman now, when you never wanted to come here?”, she suddenly asked.

“No! I have been in so many places I didn’t want to be since then, and also…” Faranwe caressed her cheek gently. “I knew you wanted to go. I wasn’t quite ready to decide, yet, when… it happened, but I would have never let you go alone. I would have chosen to come with you.”

“I thought for so long, that you maybe had left me. When you didn’t come back, I mean.” There were tears in Arasiel’s eyes. “It feels… healing to hear you say that was never a possibility.”

“Never. I don’t know, yet, what to think of this land, but I’m happy to be here with you — with both of you.”

He was a little worried that he wouldn’t fit in here. He was a hunter, he had some skill at making arrow-tips from bone and fabric from tinder fungus, but he was not sure that he could make a living with that in this town. And also there was the matter of him having been an orc. He couldn’t quite believe that no one would be bothered by that.

“Are there no prejudices?”, he asked, looking at Shai. “Are they really just taking our presence here in stride?”

“In Alqualonde? Sharû and his men have been living on the Island since the end of the War of Wrath. The people here are very used to the presence of orcs. They trade with them, there are friendships. I have never felt unwelcome in Alqualonde. It’s a little different in the places where a lot of former Exiles or other elves coming from Middle-earth live. They’ve fought many wars against orcs and there are bad feelings and prejudices. Tirion is mostly save because of Ecthelion and his people.”

“I still find it hard to believe that of all people it would be former slaves who could be friends — even lovers! — with our kind.”

“I know, right? But many of them are. And I’m sure you’ll be told the full story, when you meet Ecthelion. We can’t keep you to ourselves forever.”

Arasiel chuckled and threw an arm around him. “Are you sure? I’d love to stay here with him for a few days.”

Shai grinned and Faranwe felt heat shoot to his face at the look the two women threw at each other. “That sounds great, but I think our children would be very mad with us, if we don’t send them a message immediately.”

“Yes, you’re right.” Arasiel sighed exaggeratedly. “And really, I look forward to you meeting Aiwiel and Faranwion. You saw your other children grow up at least, but they were still so little, when you were taken from us.”

‘What if they don’t like me?’, Faranwe thought. ‘What if my other children don’t recognise me, the way I am now?’

He didn’t say it. He didn’t want to dampen their happiness with worries that were probably unfounded.

“I look forward to seeing them all. And I hope that our dead children will be reborn, too, someday”, he said to Shai, squeezing her hand.

“Yes, I hope so, too.”

He saw the same pain in her eyes that he felt himself — he didn’t hide his feelings as he would have done back in Angband. They had not been meant to love their children, but they had, Shai had given him the courage to love.

He wrapped one arm around each of his wives and pulled them close, squeezing his eyes shut to stop the tears. He had them back and this with the help of Morgoth, he still could barely believe it.

“How did you manage to get Him on our side?”, he asked.

“That wasn’t hard”, Shai said. “He thinks he has a debt to pay. He’s actually kind of sweet.”

Faranwe stared at her. “Sweet?”

Shai shrugged awkwardly. “Didn’t think I’d ever say that of him, but yes, sweet. He’s trying hard to do better and help people he wronged.”

Faranwe had a hard time of imagining Morgoth as anything close to ‘sweet’. “Well, if he helped us, I’m grateful for it.”

He kissed them, first Shai then Arasiel. He was so happy. He hadn’t thought he’d ever be that happy again.