Title: The True Meaning of Lover
Author: Laur Melyanna
Summary: Glorfindel has a theory about the meaning of the
word "lover" and he hopes to convince someone of it's truthfulness.
Pairing: Glorfindel/Lindir
Rating: PG
Disclaimer: the idea of playing with the word `lover' that way is
mine, other than that, it all belongs to Tolkien and whoever holds
rights over the LOtR world.

The true meaning of Lover



The nearly deserted Halls of Fire were lit only by the light of the
crackling fire, the burning wood the only sound disrupting the
silent night until a sigh joined in.

Lindir leaned back against a high backed chair and took a long sip
of his wine, his eyes traveling from the swirling burgundy liquid in
his chalice to the eyes of his companion. "I am sorry, Lord
Glorfindel, would you care to begin again?" He asked softly,
somewhat amused by the Lord's interest in sharing his theory;
apparently not many had given it credit before. That was something
the minstrel found highly unlikely given how credible and admired
the warrior was among their community; perhaps the Elf just had
never cared to share those thoughts before, which gave an imminent
importance to the blond's following words, making Lindir straighten
up in his chair.

Glorfindel chuckled as he watched the white-haired Elf's posture go
from bored to interested, and he guessed the minstrel had just
reminded himself of who he was talking to. It was always amusing to
see others react that way to him, but he was still hoping the bard
would ease on his honorable behavior, for he wanted for once,
honesty, and not flattery regarding his little love theory; and who
better to understand it than someone who dealt with words in all its
meanings and forms at all times?

"Of course I will begin again, my friend. Care for more wine?" The
blond asked casually, raising the bottle of wine and moving to pour
the Lindir some more at the Elf's nod. He then sat back down and
smiled blithely.

"Do you know how words that indicate a characteristic and mostly
professions tend to end in `er'?" Glorfindel saw Lindir raise an
eyebrow and rushed to explain. "Like……singer" He grinned pointing at
the Elf.

"Who could also be a bard……minstrel, musician" The younger one
smirked.

The warrior rolled his eyes , but at least he was being challenged
and not numbly accepted. "Ruler" He offered another example.

"King" Lindir fought back.

Glorfindel snorted "Elrond is not a king, and he is the ruler of
Imladris."

"Very well……how about you" The singer's green eyes
sparkled. "Warrior, Seneschal, Captain" He grinned victoriously,
laughing along with Glorfindel, who seemed highly entertained.

The Captain eyed Lindir for a moment and shot back. "But I am also a
soldier, and of course……a Balrog SlayER."

Laughter filled the room once more when Lindir rolled his eyes at
the elf's proud words.

"You can't beat me at this game, young one. For an example, sorcerer"

"Wizard"

"Fine! But there are many words you could not immediately find a
substitute for." The Balrog Slayer pointed out in slight annoyance.

"Just as there are many you could not either! " And so they began
battling one another with words they could not immediately find
substitutes for, Glorfindel as usual, narrow his eyes and attacking
first.

"Healer."

"Cook!"

"Gardner!"

"Councilor!"

"Dancer!"

"Blacksmith!"

"Ranger!"

"Librarian!"

"Fine, fine!" Glorfindel growled, making the slighter elf back a bit
in his chair, but only in the momentary reaction of a friendly lion
roaring to loud close to a rabbit. It always scared. "I see your
point Lindir! But do you, or do you not admit we use words with that
termination to characterize people and their professions?" The Elf-
Lord's voice was much calmer, and he looked a bit guilty at having
startled the other elf, but he quite deserved it! He wanted to be
challenged, but such happened so rarely it was infuriating when it
did……and on a second note, it was pretty good. Glorfindel smiled and
drank more of his wine, waiting for his companion's reply.

"Aye, I understand you, my Lord. I apologize for giving you a hard
time, but I can rarely resist a challenge" He chuckled. "I am sorry
for having interrupted your explanation, please go on."

The Balrog Slayer smiled long and quietly at Lindir's words, and
only when silence was starting to become overbearing did the older
elf speak again. "That is the way I see the word `lover'." He said
quietly, gauging the minstrel's reaction, but the Elf remained
silent, giving Glorfindel leave to proceed.

"I do not think of a lover as someone, a person who is involved with
another out of wedlock or of a relationship by any means, as the
pivot of a betrayal. I also do not see fit to use the word `lovers'
to describe a pair or……whatever number of people who enjoy their time
together in sexual ways" The warrior had to hide a smile behind his
glass of wine at the look on Lindir's face. His eyes were hooded,
probably from the excessive intake of alcohol, but it was amusing to
imagine that it was because of his comment about sexual partners.
Yet his cheeks were flushed, also very likely from the heat provoked
by the wine and the fire they sat close to; but it was also nice to
imagine it was a sign of purity and innocence battling with the
languid desire in his eyes. "I suppose that in the lack of a better
word we all tend to name a couple in a relationship of `lovers', but
that is also not my true conception for that word."

Lindir smiled a little, seeing where the great Elf was getting at,
but wishing to hear Glorfidel's own words to explain what he already
began to understand. It was a rather interesting theory. "Please, my
Lord, go on."

The blond smiled and nodded and acquiesced to the request. "So you
see, my conception of that word is such as those we use to describe
someone's office. A characteristic that becomes intrinsic to them,
their one profession, their duty and pleasure. It comes with a lot
of hardship, and takes a lot of work, but gives amazing rewards."
Glorfindel smiled at Lindir. He could tell the minstrel appreciated
how poetic his words sounded; perhaps he had even stopped paying
attention to mentally compose a song, which in itself would be an
honor to him……all that mattered was that someone understood what he
meant.

"If someone says he or she is your `lover', it is because they love
you, you are the one, and their devotion is to you. If being a ruler
is to be someone who rules, and to be a teacher to be someone who
teaches, then to be a lover is to be someone who loves. Therefore to
be one's lover should mean to be the one who *loves* someone. And
that profession is the most demanding of them all, but also the most
rewarding. It is something to be taken very seriously……and I believe
that to be someone's lover in that way does not require ever having
been with that person, or ever having your feelings known. All it
takes is to love them, but it is much better when it's
reciprocated."

By the time the blond warrior ended his speech, Lindir was leaning
forward in his seat, elbows resting on his knees and his face on his
hands as he looked up n eager interest. A look lingered between them
as words died and gazes became once more the loudest means of
communication, and blood slowly crept into Lindir's cheeks, infusing
them to a pink hue.

"That is a rather beautiful way to think, my Lord; something worth
having faith in." He reached for his glass of wine, looking slightly
disappointed and embarrassed to find it empty, but he shook his head
in refusal to the Lord's offer to refill the chalice. "I could
certainly compose a song, or perhaps create a tale out of such an
idea……if you would let me."

Glorfindel laughed softly and nodded as he poured the remaining
contents of the bottle onto his glass. "It would be an honor,
Lindir. I am just glad someone listened to my theory and actually
gave it some credit. Most people do not expect such things out of a
Slay-ER" He teased.

"Oh, Lord Glorfindel! I certainly did not expect it, but it was
wonderful to be able to chat with you, and to learn of your
philosophy. I might even find myself devote of it, though with how
chaotic my life is, I doubt I will ever find myself with any
possible definition of a `lover' in it." They smiled at each other
for a moment before Lindir's gaze dropped and he looked away. "But
unfortunately, I must retire. Although I highly dislike it, save for
the time of feasts and festivities I live the life of an early ris-
ER" The minstrel teased back, rolling his eyes as if to show off.

"Right, right." Glorfindel chuckled and asked for the singer's help
to put out the fire and collect their glasses and bottle; he would
take them to the kitchen later. They walked together to the exit of
the Halls, closing the doors behind them. The great room had become
pitch black without the light of fire, but now the great arched
windows of Imladris' corridors let the moonlight shine upon them and
their gazes meet once more.

"I had a lovely time tonight, Lindir. Perhaps you could care to get
together again tomorrow for dinn-ER?" The warrior arched an eyebrow.

"That does not fit into that category." The minstrel pointed out.

The blond chuckled and waved a hand dismissively. "Nor did
your 'early-riser' but ……" He was cut off by Lindir's soft words and
gently smile:

"I'd love to."

The exchanged smiles and gazes for a few moments longer before
parting ways.

As the seasons passed, Lindir and Glorfindel became great friends,
sharing much of their free time with one another, but never acting
on the platonic emotions that were so clear in whatever unspoken
communication between them. So it came the day the time of feasts
arrived once more, and the bard had his chance of being a late-riser
and for the warrior to enjoy longer nights to the sound of his
friend's voice. Glorfindel offered a lingering smile to his minstrel
friend in the distance, briefly admiring his beauty in formal, dark
robes as Haldir, a visitor from Golden Wood and mutual friend made
his way from Lindir to the Balrog Slayer, a drunken smile on his
lips.

"Fin!" The Marchwarden called out, clasping the warrior's hand and
patting his back. "Dear friend, tis good to see you!"

The blond Elf chuckled, tearing his eyes from Lindir to focus on
Haldir. "It is great to see you too, Haldir! Are you enjoying the
party?"

The silver-haired warrior took a long sip of the spirits filling his
glass and grinned. "Oh yes, but I do wish I could find myself with
the same luck as you! Then I'd be sure to be enjoying myself much
more!"

Glorfindel frowned confusedly at the Elf's words, his gaze
inevitably traveling back to Imladris' head minstrel as he noticed
the singer's intent gaze on them; he then looked back at
Haldir. "What do you mean?"

The visitor smirked as if knowing of every dark secret hidden behind
the warrior's proper-looking face. "Oh, I do not wish for you to be
mad at him! I'd be bragging too if I were him you know……but perhaps
ol' Lin has been boasting a bit louder than he should have." Haldir
was obviously intoxicated, but not beyond reason, and he tensed a
bit, thinking he might have spoken too much, but soon the easy smile
returned to his face as the Elf remained passive.

Sapphire eyes met green ones in the distance, seeing expectation in
them, and it only confused the elf more. "Pardon me……what has he told
you?"

Grinning mischievously, Haldir motioned for Glorfindel to lean in as
he did so himself, until his hand formed a shell to cover his lips
and the warrior's pointy ear so no other could hear them.

"He told me he is your lover"

The whispered words rang over and over in Glorfindel's ears as his
heart picked up a pace, thumping in an odd rhythm and his legs felt
a bit softer than they should be, a nervous chuckle bursting from
his lips. His eyes met Lindir's, who simply smiled broadly and
winked before bring a wine chalice to his lips and sipping from it,
the smile still evident behind the crystalline glass.

END