How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love ROP's Gil-galad

"Your Majesty," Elrond adjusted his midnight blue cape around his shoulders after he handed Gil-galad the scroll. "The Sindarian Lords wish, too, to accompany you on your hunt today." 

"Hm," the Sound the King Made was short and absent as his eyes scanned its writings. 

Gil-galad eyes shot up and me his, as if he expected to hear something else as well.

"I have readied your bow and arrows. Three guards shall accompany you."

"...And I, too." Elrond said.

"I am gonna go change."

"Good. Ready the horses," he said before he placed the scroll back into his hands.

Teiya exhaled sharply, tucking her dagger away, before she peered over her shoulder, catching Ereinion's eyes escape hers in the right moment.

She'd watched him watching her out of the corner of his eye since they had departed for the hunt. Letting her own linger, she eyed his dark golden chest and arm plates, and the deep olive-brown garment he wore underneath them.

It was a change from the eyesore the golden robes he always wore were.

She'd accompanied Amnir, Lord of Menegroth as he had been invited. Ereinion had brought along three other guards and his Herald. Her Lord was occupied talking the Herald's ears off about the greenery in the parts of the woods they found themselves in, hypothesizing where they could find deer.

Elrond turned to look over his shoulder at the High King, but when he caught the same (what he interpreted) staring daggers at Lord Amnir's commander, he decided it was not the best idea to speak to him. He'd hoped today's activity would dissipate the tension he'd witnessed and felt between them, but it seemed now that the opposite was achieved. 

All of which she hated. 

Listening to men who thought they knew what they were doing when she'd seen the hoofprints under the leaves for both hours they had been out there.

It made her want to die.

She walked back to her horse , beginning to undo the fastenings that secured her bow and arrows on her back, when she saw him follow her with his dark brown eyes.

Teiya glanced back, visibly irritated and about ready to aim one of her arrows at him. She hated how his eyes dared her despite not expressing a single emotion.

Teiya straightened her cloak , then finally stepped away from her horse, decided to walk right up to where he stood, and staying there. 

"...Why is it that you can't stay away?" 

Even if it was half a dozen feet away from him. He felt her coming. And when she halted, his eyes were already on her. 

The greenery surrounding them brought out the caramel hue of her skin, especially in her blue armor. But that was not what came out of his mouth when he chose to address her.

She turned her head his way as soon as the first word left his mouth. "I'm not here for you." she intercepted coldly. 

"Don't flatter yourself." he countered. Her eye twitched.

"Ú thír o non sui istog i meathach." she said under her breath "Otherwise you wouldn't be standing here inspecting the foliage."

The Herald gathered all the enthusiasm he could find within him to turn around.

"How about here?" Lord Amnir suggested, pointing to a field close by. Elrond nodded even though he suspected the Lord knew not what he was talking about. It was time he asked for the opinion of his King.

"High King," he called out "Lord Amnir suggests to move to a field close by to find deer. What do you say?"

Teiya sighed and rolled her eyes in their sockets, no longer able to hide how unsatisfied she was with their 'hunt'. She turned away and walked off, leaving her Lord and Elrond stunned. A beat passed before both their eyes wandered to Gil-galad, who did not welcome the attention. He grumbled, snatching the bow off his shoulder, before he, too, walked the opposite way.

"Uh...well" Lord Amnir cleared his throat, reluctantly meeting Elrond's eyes, which were filled with despair.

"We better go ahead."

Low and behold, after the half of an hour, she thought to have seen something shift behind the bushes she was watching. She rose up, picking up her now and drawing an arrow, readying herself to shoot. But then she heard another noise....from right behind her.

The commander had followed the hoofprints up to a dell, where they vanished under the grass and flowers. Not far, behind vines tree trunks she heard rustling, so she knelt to sit behind a fallen trunk to wait for the animal to show itself.

"It is quite like you, straying from the rest of the group to do whatever you chose to do. Oblivious to rules."

"I'd thought you would have killed at least three by now." 

She shifted her jaw, then snapped her eyes his way.

She ignore him for several minutes, before she answered.

"Leave..." she demanded, calmer than she'd expected, "before you ruin my hunt, Ereinion."

Teiya turned her entire head this time, her eyes filled with murderous anger. He held her gaze, indifferent.

He stared at her for a moment, and silence befell them once more as she felt him watch her.

"You need not blame me for your coming failure. It will only be due to your faulty hold of the bow."

"What would you know of archery, sitting on your throne all day?" she snarled. "You never even touched a bow in the guard."

"... I don't recall you practicing with them either, Teiya."

Her heart fluttered when he said her name, and she hated it. 

"Your memory fails you then." she said rolling her shoulders before dismissing him with her eyes. A clenched jaw, he watched her dark waves of hair dance against her armour.

The King watched her, catching a whiff of her hair from her crown.

"You are holding it wrong." Ereinion repeated, stepping up to correct her.

"I require no instruction!" she bit through clenched teeth, trying to push him away with her shoulder. But he towered over her and did not move an inch.

He grabbed a hold of the bow just below her hand,

"Cease this theatre you're making!" he growled, trapping her between his arm and his plated chest. She struggled for a second more, before she relinquished.

"Properly place the web of your hand into the grip."

His voice was low, suddenly almost gentle. "And angle the bow."

Her arm was rigid first, but then it relaxed, and she allowed him to shift her. The commander inhaled sharply through her nostrils, sensing the tips of her ears warm when his chest bumped into the bow of her shoulders.

She curled her fingers around the bow's front.

"Do not squeeze your fingers," he whispered.

"Straighten your wrist." his hand wrapped around her wrist, nudging it into the proper position. Teiya felt heat sting in her cheeks when he touched her skin. She wondered in a quiet panic whether he could see a flush in the colour of her face. What she did not know was that he didn't, couldn't have l, as he himself was shaken by what felt like a key turning in its locket, like a turbulent waters suddenly stilling as his skin grazed hers.

"I am not," she answered after a beat, looking up at him.

"Look at your target, " he breathed, "not at me." He stiffened, concentrating his hearing on the rustling, close by.

Reluctantly, she complied. Only when her eyes diverted did he look at her again.

"Lock your back." he muttered, placing his hand onto her stomach, making her hold back her breath, all which automatically made her do as he'd instructed. 

"And draw the arrow. Like this." 

He wrapped his fingers around her hand with intention, the warmth of his palam radiating against the back of her hand, his index findings and holding her own in place. 

Teiya felt her eyes divert from the bush ahead of them to her and his hand. They immediately landed on the golden ring that encircled her finger.

There too, was one around his. The finger that bore it rested on top of her ring finger, making the metals kiss.

The sight made her heart began to tremble.

The commander swallowed, before she exhaled. Her eyes started up at Ereinion. He was already looking at her, as if he'd known where her eyes had been. 

At a distance, it was certain to remain as resistant and continuous. Only at the lack of space, only when even air no longer had enough room did it strangely dissipate.

They locked eyes.

And there it was the longing that forever lingered between them. Desire that refused to shift into words and only manifested in irritation and anger. 

Neither of them minded whatever hid in the bush anymore. They watched the rapid, minute movement of the other's eyes as they took in each others face from so close. She suddenly had the seductive scent of amber and spices in her nose. It's vigour made the muscles in her arms relax. As her arms came down, she felt him intertwine their fingers. Before the knew it his nose pressed against her cheek. 

She wanted him to say something, anything to make a sound in the silence they found themselves in so maybe she'd have the chance not to give into him. But he didn't.

She watched him close his eyes before her own fluttered shut. He pressed his nose against her cheek, taking in an entire breath of her. She was the only one he'd allow to disarm him in the way she did. Their breathes caught. She felt the tip of his nose brush along her cheek one, almost up to her ear. His warmth made her lean into him.

As she was about to align her face with his to kiss him, the abrupt and loud jump of the deer springing forth from behind the foliage overwhelmed them, making him instinctively pull her against him and draw her back. Teiya startled, gasping in shock as the animal sprinted away from them.

"There it goes!" the King and the commander simultaneously lmturned as the voice erupted from behind them. And it was Lord Amnir who appeared, smiling with bow and arrow in his grip.

"You let it get away!" he sighed. 

Teiya stepped away, putting a foot's distance between them as her Lord hurried past them to follow the deer. 

Then, at the snap of a twig, Elrond stepped forth, halting only for a moment to assess the both of them, his eyes timid, before he, too, walked on.

The two of them stayed behind, still and silent, only daring to glance at the other when the rest of the party was further ahead.