horseboykarl

Éomer: Karl leaves and I am alone in his house, for the first time in many weeks, even by the slow movement of time in Middle Earth. Ire greets me happily and we go outside to find a stick for him to chase and return to me. He will play this game for hours. Smokey Joe is in the barn and I greet him as well. It touches a part of my heart that these animals in this world remember me with fondness and reminds me that the peace I fight for in my world is the peace of their world also.

Théo will be here soon and Karl tells me that Paris has healed. I enjoyed the peaceful day that we spent together though I know that Théo chafed at the inactivity.

The sun is brightly shining, but I lift my face into the wind streaming down from the mountains in the distance. I smell the rain that will be here by mid-afternoon. I decide that today will be a good day to teach Théo a game of my own. I smile at the thought and go to sit on the small floating dock in the pond. I pole it away from the shore, ignoring Ire's frustrated barking now that I have abandoned our game. It is almost winter in the Mark and I lay back on the warm boards, enjoying the summer day.

Théo: Leelu purrs into Karl’s yard and I park her up in front of the house and turn off the engine. I look around as I pull off my helmet and there is no sign of Mer but Ire’s barking gets my attention and I unfasten my jacket as I follow the sound. The tone of his barking changes as he notices me, and he greets me with a wagging tail as I see what he was barking at.

( You look so peaceful, lying on the floating platform, soaking up the sun that I almost hate to disturb you. )

NC-17

3rd October 3018, The Third Age, nearly four years later
Meduseld, Edoras

We are summoned back to Edoras again, for what should be a celebration. Théoden, my uncle, our king, commemorates the passing of another year since the day of his birth. But the happy purpose of our gathering is overshadowed by the decline of the man we honour. I do not know how my sister bears it, to stand by him each day and watch him fall further into ruin. But we mouth empty words wishing him health and long life, and all the while it is plain that he will have neither.

The ordeal is done at last and we stand while he makes his way to his rooms, clutching the arm of the reviled Gríma. My hand tightens on my sword hilt and I wish that removing the Worm's head from his shoulders would solve our problems. But my uncle would still be falling into early decrepitude with no way of reversing the tide and the Mark would lose one of her defenders to the swift hand of justice for unlawful killing.

I do not wish to seek my bed so early, for my mind is in turmoil and would not let me rest, of this I do not doubt. But a memory of a happy time a world away intrudes . . .

Remember the hiding place I showed you . . . I left something there for you.

Théo and the last time we were together in Wellington, in Karl's world. I look around for him, no . . . not for him, but instead for Théodred, the sad and weary prince who lives here, in this time. I know the evening pained him more than it has me, for I do not see him. I am certain that he withdrew from this farce of a celebration as soon as was polite.

I make my way into the private area of Meduseld, where the royal household lives, and begin counting the elaborately carved pillars.

( If I recall, it was the seventh one on the left, nearly at the end of the passage. )

NC-17

WARNING: Angst

Éomer: When we parted after the last time Théo and I were here together, he handed me the engraved steel ring and told me to hide it somewhere at Karl's house where Karl would not find it. I was afraid that Karl would start one of his periodic house cleaning impulses, so I put it in the tack room, thinking that it could be mistaken for part of a harness. I wrapped a leather strap around it and put it at the bottom of the chest. I had just enough time to exit the barn before Karl was pushing insistently against my mind. He has rarely been eager to come back of late and I wondered what had changed. My curiosity about Théo's plans for the ring and Karl's behavior kept me speculating through the long nights of patrol in the East Mark.

But now I am back in Wellington and I am attempting to obey Théo's further instructions. Karl . . . I stop him before he disappears. I can feel his question in my head. I am to use the telephone device again to tell Théo when I arrive. Now his amusement echoes in my mind and he tells me to clean my own mess up this time. His humour surprises me and once again, I wonder at it. But he helps me dial and then he fades away as the tones of an odd-sounding bell fill my ear.

( “Théo,” I say, your husky voice sending shivers down my back as you answer. )

Hard NC-17!!!

I shift in and wait for Théo to arrive. We are driving someplace into the hills to be alone together.

It was early today when you arrived, and with no plans made, we were free to fall into bed and spend a couple of hours making up for the time we have been apart. Happy, and for the moment sated, we curled up on the bed, tangling together, touching, kissing, dozing, until the angle of the sun streaming in through the window and the grumbling of your stomach remind me that it is almost midday.

I grin at the loud rumbling sound that disturbed my rest. Propping myself up on one elbow, I let my fingers roam through the fur on your chest, my eyes finding yours as you purr and stretch under my touch. Your hand reaches out to stroke my hair, and I lean into it, closing my eyes and rubbing my head against your palm as a cat would. When I open my eyes again, I catch sight of your … Karl’s old breeches, hanging by one leg over the back of the couch where they were thrown earlier in our haste to remove your clothing, and my mind starts to work.

I lower my mouth to your chest, kissing my way slowly up it as I think. Paris is quite happy to answer my questions about this world, and went into detail on how trade and commerce work here. How merchants no longer travel from town to town selling their wares, rather have fixed places of business, “shops”. I quizzed him on where he had his clothes made, and he laughed, and told me that clothes were very rarely made for a person unless they were incredibly rich, in which case they were made by expensive “designers” who I gather are not unlike seamstresses. In this world, clothes are usually bought in these shops, which I now realise we have passed many times on our travels.

I slide my lips over your collar bone. “I think we should take the money we won playing darts and find you some riding leathers, breeches and a jacket. You are too big for Karl’s clothes and as we are able to spend time here regularly now, I think it is only fitting that the Third Marshall be properly attired.” Biting down gently, I suck on your salty skin before teasing.

( “And I want to see you in leather.” )
NC-17 for light bondage and leather kink

I head off to the warehouse, excited, because Théo has something special planned today.