It was a tiny little house, an hour's walk from the nearest village. It stood in a meadow right in the heart of a deep old forest, a small river running some meters away. The trees were ancient but welcoming, whispering of ages past and those that had lived nearby. There were many small animals living there too, all curious to see what the new habitants of that cottage would be like.
Elrond stood in the middle of the small living room, looking around himself. There was a kitchen right before him, separated from the living room by a table of dark wood. To his left were the two bedrooms, each one with a tiny fireplace. The living room itself only contained a hearth, a rug piled with some cushions and a bookcase near the wall. The only available bathroom was situated outside by the back of the cottage.
It was truly a small place.
For Elrond it was perfect.
He helped Nindalf in setting down their luggage, making sure that the younger elf had one of the bedrooms for himself. The bigger room was for Elrond and Ereinion and fortunately it had a big bed. It also contained a heavy chest and a desk with one chair. When they were finally settled they went outside.
Ereinion was there, relieving the horses from their burden and looking curiously around.
"I will build a stable for the horses," Ereinion said, nodding to himself. "Well, not a real stable, just a shelter for them."
"Have you ever built anything with your own hands?" Elrond asked, smiling at the idea.
"Not really, but I am sure I can manage something. It can't be harder than ruling a kingdom." The former High King laughed, already planning where he would start.
He had not seen his lover so relaxed since their reunion and Elrond knew he had made the right decision.
Their first night they ate a simple meal of bread, soup and tea. Elrond had purchased some cookies in the village and that was their dessert. While Nindalf and Ereinion discussed how to go about the new stable, Elrond took stock of their financial situation.
They had travelled with a small fortune in golden coins but Elrond thought that they should try to economize their money. They had travelled for almost two weeks before finding this place and that meant that if they had any trouble help would take a lot of time to come.
He would also like to take the chance of living a simple life for a while. He was not sure when he would feel ready to go back to being Lord Elrond Eärendilion and, looking at his lover as he drew their new stable with a piece of coal in the wooden floor, he was fairly certain Ereinion had no haste to go back either.
When they finally retired, Elrond curled against his lover in their somewhat hard bed and smiled.
Yes, he was in no hurry to go back...
The provisions they had brought lasted for all of two days in their cottage. In the bright morning of the third day, Elrond saddled his mare and, accompanied by an overly enthusiastic Nindalf, went to the nearest village.
He walked slowly, committing to memory each tree and each bird that he saw, content to let the sun warm his skin. From time to time he had to stop and whistle to get the attention of his young mare, who would wander off to sniff at a different flower.
Fortunately it was market day. Elrond looked around, feeling laugher trying to escape his closed mouth. The whole village seemed to be walking along the streets, some selling, and some buying. Everyone was shouting. There was a small band playing lively spring music. Children were running around. It was lovely, happy chaos.
He left his mare in a public stable and started shopping. First, food: potatoes, carrots, onions, herbs, spices, eggs. He had a silly idea and bought two hens and a roaster, and started snickering when Nindalf decided that he loved them and begun to tell the poor animals about the cottage.
He was ready to go for some books when he heard a loud cry. Elrond turned around in time to see a small child holding his arm in a strange position before many elves rushed forward. His instincts as healer taking over, he moved forward as well, telling Nindalf to wait for him.
"He broke his arm," a she-elf said with a professional demeanour, as she probed the poor child's arm. "I will have to set it; bring him to my clinic."
"May I help you?" Elrond asked, stepping forward.
"Are you a healer?" the she-elf asked, looking him up and down. She smiled when he nodded. "I could use some help."
Together they moved to her small clinic, followed closely by the injured child and his parents. Elrond looked around, noticing the clean, well lit space, the labeled jars and knives.
"All right, little one, this will be rather painful but..."
"Wait," Elrond said, alarmed. "It doesn't have to hurt at all, madam; I can make something to take away the pain."
Back in Middle-earth he would still have power enough to send this child into a deep sleep with only the barest touch of his aura. But Vilya had taken much too much of his spirit to allow for it, at least for some years to come. It was a good thing he had never been absolutely dependent on his powers. He had always believed that a good education should come first.
"How?" the she-elf asked surprised, then she shook her head. "I am sorry, my name is Gladhwen. As I said, I am a healer, but I never heard of a potion this strong."
"My name is Elrond." The Peredhel smiled, thinking that in a place of eternal peace such a potion wouldn't be so needed. "I have been a healer for more than five thousand years; I know well what I am proposing."
It wasn't hard to find all the ingredients for the potion, though he had to improvise with some. In the end he gave the boy the strongest sedative he could make and helped to set the broken bone. Though it was an unpleasant task he found that he enjoyed the experience of being useful once again.
The child departed with his extremely pleased and thankful parents an hour later. Elrond stayed behind to teach young Gladhwen how to properly prepare the sedative. When he finally left, he had issued an invitation for her to visit him in the small cottage and talk some more.
Outside the clinic, Nindalf was waiting for him and their purchases had greatly increased. He was alarmed for some seconds but them the younger elf explained that some of the things had been gifts from the village for his help with the injured child.
After that things progressed rather smoothly. Everyone in the village seemed to have heard of what happened and they were intrigued by him, but also pleased to have another healer around.
It was near lunch time when they returned to find Ereinion stripped down to his waist cutting wood. There was already a large pile of it near the right wall of the cottage.
"Ah, there you are Peredhel," Ereinion called, wiping sweat from his forehead. "Do you mean to starve me to death, hmm?"
"I am sorry, my love, there was an accident in the village with a small child and I... AAAHHH!!" Elrond cried out as Ereinion grabbed him, all sweat and amorous kisses, hands groping everywhere at once. " By the Lady, Ereinion!!"
"You smell good, Peredhel..." Ereinion replied, pressing close and indulging in one of his favourite past times: aggravating Elrond.
"And you stink!" Elrond squirmed, distantly hearing Nindalf snickering while he carried things inside. "Let go of me, you perverted old elf!"
"It is not perversion if there isn't anyone to look, " Ereinion grinned, glued to Elrond's side and nuzzling his neck.
"The horses are watching!" Elrond pointed a finger to the three horses observing them, trying to understand what the elves were doing. Soon they were joined by the newly purchased hens that looked on with quiet interest. "And you are getting me dirty!"
It took Elrond almost half an hour to squirm away from Ereinion, force him to take a bath, take one himself and sit down for a late lunch. They had bread and a meat pie, along with wine and fruits. It could have been a banquet by the way the wolfed the food; even Elrond found himself really hungry for the first time since he left Middle-earth.
Later, Elrond spread a wide kilt under one of the old trees, a recipe book in his hands. He hoped to learn how to cook something other than healing potions and salves, because Nindalf couldn't cook to save his life.
Ereinion soon settled beside him and urged him to lie down which he did, resting his head on his lover's lap. Elrond almost purred when Ereinion started massaging his scalp and he felt his eyes dropping.
"None of that, Peredhel. I will have you quite awake and alert so we can talk for some time," Ereinion said sternly, tugging at one of Elrond's ears.
"And after we talk how will you have me, love?" Elrond asked, giving Ereinion a small leer.
"Very amorous and with your thighs spread open, of course."
"By the Lady, Ereinion, you truly are a pervert you know." Elrond laughed loudly, holding his sides. "How can an elf so old be so obsessed with sex? You have no dignity!"
"Heh, there is absolutely nothing wrong with that," Ereinion said, knowing that despite all the scolding and talking Elrond had no problems with his seemingly lack of dignity. "Do you remember that time we made love in the council chamber and Círdan found us naked on top of the table?"
And, laughing, they remembered old times spend together and started the delicious task of relearning everything about each other.
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