@jarttavia_

“You’re healing quickly..” your words snapped him out of his internal musings, and he blinked once, twice as if your face was only now coming into his vision, cleared away of fog and distance. His lips pull upward at the corners slightly, searching your eyes for something.

“And that is much relief, but also to be expected when I have you tending to all that wishes to ail me” His words were a warm timbre, as gentle as the hearth fire in dusky winter nights. “I have much to thank you for,” he added as he watched you tuck away the excess wrapping, securing it tightly before patting the palm of your hand around the side of his forearm, the motion gentle. 

“The healers have done their due as well, I am not a great healer, but I know how to dress a wound” you told him as you looked up at him after finishing your task, exhaling softly through your nose. Elven blood was enduring, persevering, yet not even that was able to make you feel any less tired, or look the part. For too long did Glorfindel linger outside of your eyes and out of your reach, fighting battles and doing deeds worthy of the praise he got, and more. For too long he left you without a word. All of which you understood, yet it did little to comfort you of his safety. Had you any skill with a sword as he did, perhaps you would have taken a place by his side in the battles. But your weapon was a quill, rather than a blade.

“The healers have gotten their due praise and my gratitude, but you ought not to discredit yourself simply because you do not bear the title of theirs” Glorfindel said, his tone laced with subtle interwoven notes of concern. His head absentmindedly titled to one side, hoping to catch your suddenly fallen gaze. 

Your eyes flickered to his own for a heartbeat before you busied yourself with sorting away the excess wound dressing, ointments and herbs and tools and all else you brought in your healer’s bag. For a healing wound of his, this was much unnecessary. “I am not discrediting myself” you replied, your voice dropping lower despite your efforts to keep sturdy. Secrets were a distant thing between you and Glorfindel, almost as if there was an external force stripping you both bare, feeling so natural yet, at times like these, embarrassing. 

“I only worry you’ll allow the reputation everyone pins on you to get the better of your wits one day”  It was a harmless bite, a proof of your worry you knew not how to express in any other way.

Glorfindel huffed out a laugh, breathing in a good mouthful as his lips quirked upwards as if greatly amused by your words. He sighed as he shook his head slowly, his gaze leaving you for a moment as he took in the sight of the great bedchamber around him. The gold lances of the sun shone through still, slowly transitioning from gold to pale purples and pinks. “Surely, you do not worry yourself to exhaustion because of this?” he looked back to you, “Must I remind you that I am not as reckless as you may think?” he offers gently.

Your eyes met his gaze, noticing the hint of mischief but also.. worry. He may not show it, but you could see it, feel it when his fingers brushed your hand in a silent quest of comfort for both of your hearts. 

“No.. I.. I am fully aware of your skill, Glorfindel” you made yourself chuckle, lips pulling upward in a smile to ease yourself into the sentence. “I just.. hate to see you hurt, surely you understand that I am not exactly myself when I see you like this?” you take his good hand in yours and give a squeeze which he gladly returned. “It pains me to see you off wherever you go to battle, any battle, and to be sure sometimes my heart makes a beast out of a fly, but I.. I just worry for you, melda”

“I know… as do I for you..” he smiles at you again, and his hand slips the clasp of yours to find its way up. His fingers touched the line of your jaw tenderly at first, feather light, before his palm slipped onto your cheek to hold it. Seeing you lean into it made Glorfindel sit up and draw closer to you. His lips found yours in a lingering kiss. He was warm, warm as always, warm as fire and he held yours like nothing else mattered in the world but this very moment. 

After he had pulled back he made slow, sweet motions that brushed the tip of his nose against yours and then pressed your foreheads together.  “Elin nin.. you can have my word that I would never cast aside all the wisdom I have just so another song may be sung about me, not when I know you’d eat yourself from within if I were to do something so stupid” His tone had dropped to a whisper, shared strictly within this small bubble the two of you created. 

“Recklessness does not suit me, as you always love to remind me, and I do not care to try it out again any time soon” he chuckled, sparking a small chain reaction that ended with you chuckling along with him. Your hand found its way over his, holding him glued to you. 

“You said I look like a fool when I am too hasty” he continued, fueling the moment for what it was, so it may melt away the tension.

“Foolish behaviour is not fit for a lord of the house of the Golden Flower” you told him, shuffling closer to him. 

Glorfindel nodded, “Precisely. And I’d be an even bigger fool not to listen to you, Meleth nîn. There’d be many songs sung about Glorfindel the Fool by now.. Hah, I can almost imagine the verses. ‘Glorfindel charged with a mighty shout, but tripped on a rock and his long cape right out’!” 

It was hard to resist laughter, and it all bubbled up to your mouth and shook your shoulders as Glorfindel came up with verses on the spot. 

“ ‘His sword slipped from his hand, stuck in a tree so high, he wondered whether he might just wish it goodbye’ “ 

He did not stop until you slapped him on the shoulder, cheeks dusted with pink from laughter. “Oh, stop! You got your point across, no need to make me suffer any more with these verses of yours” you complained as you doubled over, the top of your head pressing into his shoulder as to hide away the mirth in your face.

“Ecthellion knows how to write and sing better than I, but I am not so bad myself at weaving a rhyme or two” he replied, letting you lean into him while one arm went around you, his good arm pressing you further into him. His chest was shaking with humble chuckles. “Melin ceni hin lîn síla i ‘eladhach! Don’t hide from me” He told you after swallowing a breath and you took courage to face the golden haired lord with all your flushed-face might. 

“There you are” he added and cupped the back of your nape with his hand. “Has my recklessness frightened you?”

“No, but it might annoy me if you mention it any more” you straightened up and kissed his cheek, reveling in the way he glowed when he smiled. 

melda - beloved

Elin nin - my star

Meleth nîn - my love

Melin ceni hin lîn síla i ‘eladhach -I love to see your eyes shine when you laugh

“Good fortunes come to those that wait, is that not how the saying goes?” he had hummed out during your previous action round, where you were taking even longer to think about your next move before finally moving your knight across the board. It was reminiscent of something backhanded, if only he didn’t mean it in a teasing manner you would have taken some offense, since he was the one waiting, and you weren’t keen on the idea of letting him win. His fingers flex before he grabs for his piece, making it dash across the board in a diagonal line until he is effectively threatening two of your pieces.

“You know.. you really can be so infuriating sometimes. I mean- Strip Chess, really? For a General I’d expect a more refined taste in these kinds of…courting” you muse, half in thought and half present as your eyes move over your available pieces and possible sacrifices.

“My, my.. You forget that a General is human after all” Jing Yuan chuckles, that deep sound that makes your head feel as if it’s filled with cotton late at night, “And I am certainly not above the ways of human whims and flights of fancy, especially concerning such a lovely presence. Besides, when have I ever refused to play chess with you?” His focus has turned to you, observing you gently, his expression yielding little to his true feelings hiding inside those golden eyes.

“You’re the one who proposed this game this time around, not me.”

It proved a bit hard to focus on the board alone, and your eyes kept glancing from the board up to him and back to the board again. Then your eyes caught something you failed to notice beforehand - the perfect opening to pin his King. Your eyes must’ve given something away - perhaps the rising of your eyebrows in surprise or the glint that flickered across your eyes - since Jing Yuan’s sights were going down to the board again.

Before he could comprehend what got you to react in such a way, your hand snapped forth and rushed to move your queen piece in position, your heart hammering in excitement and triumph as the piece slammed down, the room echoing with the words “Check mate!”

The General stares in shock, the corners of his features and his eyes softening to let in genuine curiosity and surprise seep through. For the briefest of moments there was no sound of the fountain or the birds or the wind, only your bated breath.

Then Jing Yuan shattered the silence and set everything in motion once more with a hearty laugh that showed the subtle canines in his mouth, his eyes squinting and closing shut in mirth at the realization of what your victory meant. 

“What a surprise. And here I thought I surely had you cornered. How did you manage to escape so narrowly…” he tuts and clicks his tongue, a small shake of his head makes his lovely thick mane move side to side, a stray piece falling over his eye.  “Well, what will it be?” He looks your way again, as if he hadn’t been ogling you all throughout the game, giving you the choice in what he removes next.

Your reply comes swiftly, carrying on the still drumming heart which emboldened your mind. “Your shirt has gotta go, General”- you said in such a sing-song way, devoid of shame or doubt.

“While I have no objections to your decision -” he began, reaching for the hem, pulling it up in a way that was way too slow in your opinion, agonizing, and for a split moment you had half the mind to call him out on it, “-but would that not impede your…judgement in the next round, hm?”

“I don’t think that should be your concern. What’s more, it could very well be in your favor” you tell him as you began organizing the pieces, trying to district yourself, even momentarily, from the view of his delicious pecs as he slid his shirt off and set it aside. “And what do you take me for, anyway? I am not too easily swayed”... what a lie. You knew it, he knew it. 

Jing Yuan only smiled at you, motioning for you to open the round this time.

What would have gotten rather dull by the third round only became more enticing by the fourth to you and your General. The delayed satisfaction and the chase of getting the other to a state of undress first did wonders to have you both pent up, hurrying your movements, letting pieces succumb to defeat quicker and quicker than the last rounds. Jing Yuan was down to his undergarments and so were you.

A part of you did wonder whether the General was letting you win at times, only to sate your own desire, or perhaps to see the triumph sparkle in your eyes, or the triumphs you got so far were truly yours.

It mattered little as the round ended abruptly when Jing Yuan slid one of his knights forth, putting it in line with your King. Your Queen was on the other end of the board and your King had nowhere else to run. Your hand awkwardly hovered over the King piece, your mouth opening and closing like that of a fish out of water, your mind too far ahead with imagining what his reaction would have been to you moving your bishop half way, failing to catch up to the fact you just lost the round. A sudden flush came over you when it dawned upon you.

A feeling comparable to that of a balloon full to bursting filled your chest, tightening around your throat as you looked at your man across the table, ignoring the obvious signs of arousal that strained against his underwear. He looked too calm for his own good, you thought as your eyes swept over his features, thinking how good it would be to wipe that handsome smirk off his face.

“What is it now? Don’t tell me you’re chickening out now.. We’re so far in, my sweet.” 

“..I am not chickening out…” you said with a huff, a nervous smile stretching your lips to your cheeks, frustrating you in the ways your body didn’t want to listen to you. 

“You’ve become shy then?”

“Absolutely not. I have nothing to be shy or embarrassed about-”

“How about you accept my offer to help you out then? The General, in the end, is more than willing to lend a helping hand to those in need of aid.” A wink accompanies his words and you feel like you’re melting, your heart having become a furnace and your body a forge of desire. You watch as Jing Yuan leans back on his hand, his thighs spread in such a fine way it would make a blind person drool, and he pats his thigh, beckoning you over wordlessly.

And who are you to deny?

You pad over on bare feet, sinking down to your knees to straddle his thigh, the warmth of it beneath you sending hot thrill through your veins. Jing Yuan is on you in no time, leaning forward and nosing at your neck while his large hands, calloused from centuries of handling the hilt of a blade, find your waist and hips. One hand slides to the back and glides up your spine with a delicate touch that leaves goosebumps in its wake.

The hand on your hip goes downward, grabbing at the back of your thigh to swing it over him so you are straddling him completely and he relishes in the hitched breath and the flush, warm skin beneath his teeth. His fingers find the clip that holds your bra,struggling with it and pawing at it lazily until it gives out, going slack on your form - but he doesn’t remove the garment right away.

His lips find the pulse on your neck and he abuses the way it makes you squirm and gasp, your hands threading through his silvery hair. You feel the sliding of his fingers on your spine again, this time going downward, coming to the point of your underwear, his fingers slipping underneath and then his whole hand, cupping a healthy amount of your ass in his palm.

Suddenly, he is flipping you both over and you find your back pressed to the ground, his warm body above you, his hair tickling your cheeks while he gazes down at you with hunger and love in equal measures. The balloon was about to burst.

“Let’s get you out of these confinements now, then. It is well overdue..”

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