By: Dana
Summary: Three nights in SR 1416, a Bounder, a Ranger, and a Bolger.
Characters: Elendir son of Elenbarad, Talenard North-took, and Peridot Bolger
Pairings: Elendir/Talenard, Talenard/Peridot, Elendir/Talenard/Peridot implied
Rating: R/NC-17
Warnings: Hobbit/hobbit het and interspecies slash, cheerful nonmonogamy, and some sexual content
Author's Notes: Posted for my month long Birthdaypalooza, August 2007.
Talen and Peridot first came to be because of something that wrote (that sort of thing happens rather a lot, don't you think?). (Elendir happened for quite the same reason, but you won't be seeing nearly as much of him as you will of Talen and Peridot, so.)
Anyhow, you will be seeing a lot of Talen and Peridot, over the next seven days, and Hally Bolger, whom I've written about, before. (But he isn't featured in this.) I just wanted to warn you – a lot of what I wrote for my birthday was fic that I wanted to read, which means I finally wrote some stuff about some certain pressing OCs.
:)
Series Index: Roads Go On and Years Go By.
Disclaimer: The author makes no claim to owning the rights of anything to do with J.R.R. Tolkien or New Line Cinema. Any and all characters and situations that have been borrowed are for the author's personal use only, and for the entertainment of others.

SR 1416

It is the third night, in as many weeks, that Elendir son of Elenbarad has come upon Talenard North-took, out wandering the Wild beyond the North Bound of the Shire. On their first meeting, they'd exchanged names; the second time, Elendir learned that Talenard is a Bounder, and it is expected of him to wander; and on the third, Talenard tells Elendir that the stars must consider it fate, and asks Elendir to sup and then camp with him that night.

They eat and talk and drop formality, and once they are settled, Talen plumps up his cloak to use as a pillow, and then lies out on the ground. He looks sideways at Elendir, as Elendir is sitting still, and smiles sweetly. 'Come, lie beside me,' he says, and gives the hard ground a fond pat. Comfort is not something that often can be taken into consideration, out in the Wild, but Elendir would rather Talen have a better pillow than that.

Still, Elendir stretches out beside him, and they lie beneath the stars, talking further: Talen mumbles nonsense back at him, then pushes up on one elbow, to better look down at him, Elendir guesses. He kisses him, which is not so surprising as it ought to be, and Elendir threads his long fingers in Talen's dark curls. He's known other Bounders, in the five years he's walked the Shire's borders, but he can't say he's ever become acquainted himself with one in just this fashion.

Talen's mouth is hot and sweet, and Elendir groans into it. Then Talen settles back, cheeks looking dark beneath the light of moon and star, rocking back onto his elbow. Still, he looks at Elendir, and Elendir down at him, and then smiles broadly, his lips plump and sweet. 'If I asked you to tup me,' Talen says, 'what would you say?'

'That I would not harm you,' says Elendir, and his voice husks. 'No, not for all the pleasures of the world.'

'Kiss me, then,' Talen counters. 'And I'll see if I might persuade you otherwise.'

That hardens Elendir's prick to steel, and he groans but contains himself. He pulls Talen to him, and thinks that he will make at least a somewhat better pillow for him than the ground had: and now, Talen will feel how hard he is, as Elendir explores his soft mouth. Explores his mouth, but let his hands wander, too, pressing at Talen's arm, and down his back, to his sides: Talen's build is firm, beneath his pleasant hobbit plumpness, and Talen seems to want to push against him, straining cloth and more straining cloth.

Elendir lets Talen's mouth go, and he gives a little gasp, falling still against Elendir's chest, and then breathing harder. When he sits back, Elendir knows that this has gone further than he had ever expected, and Talen is looking at him expectedly. There's more kissing, then, after that, and they somehow end up naked, bathing in moon and starlight, hands roaming and mouths roaming, too. Elendir settles back against the tall, slanted boulder at the north border of their camp, shelter from the brisk autumn wind, and he clutches at Talen's hips and pulls his hard prick into his mouth. He sucks, and Talen cries out, voice sweet as song. His legs are shaking, and Elendir doesn't give him much leverage to do more than stand and feel. One of Talen's hands knots in Elendir's hair, holding him, and he cries out once more, sounding sweetly startled, as a bird. His other hand must be pressed, hard, against stone, to give proper support.

Talen does not last long, and he spills hot – Elendir is half surprised, by that, but he drinks deep and swallows Talen whole. He lets Talen go, and Talen loosens his hold in Elendir's hair, and then slumps into his lap, breathing hard.

Elendir is still hard, but he tells his prick to wait its turn. Talen turns his face up, and Elendir kisses his mouth, rubbing his hands down Talen's shaking sides, as Talen strokes his hands down Elendir's belly, down further, and –

He takes Elendir's prick between his hands, and Elendir gasps and wants to clutch him tighter. He keeps rubbing him, instead, his arms and his back, and kisses his sweet mouth as his sweet hands work on Elendir's aching prick.

Elendir finds himself thinking he will become accustomed to this, and somehow, from this one unfinished night, he does not know how he will re-accustom himself to sleeping alone.

Talen strokes him til he peaks, and Elendir shudders and gasps against Talen's wet mouth. Then Talen is grinning at him, and licking Elendir's pleasure from his fingers. Then, once he has finished with what, Talen scrambles up and Elendir finds himself with an armful of hobbit. He lies back, and holds Talen flat against him, their pricks sated between their bodies: Elendir rubs his hands up and down Talen's back, at a slow pace, going so far to squeeze Talen's buttocks. Talen gives a delighted little groan, wriggling against him, pressing further, but his eyes are shut, one hand at Elendir's shoulder, the other dangling off his chest.

'You haven't yet tupped me,' Talen drowses. 'Not properly, yet.'

'And I won't,' Elendir answers, though he does not sound half so tired as Talen: but he is tired, for he has been long at his task, and he feels that like ache in his bones. Anyhow, Elendir does not quite trust the stillness of the night. Once he is able, Elendir will bundle Talen in his own cloak, and then put on his clothes, and set himself at watch.

'Not yet,' Talen says. 'Not yet. And anyhow...'

'What?'

Elendir gives Talen another squeeze – Talen chuckles, his breath damp. 'My Peridot would love to know you,' he says, sounding more than half-asleep. 'My Peridot is a sweet lass, and I hope to wed her. Would you like to know her, Master Elendir?'

'Gladly, I would.'

Three days after that, when Talen has made his way back to North Tunnels (and thinking fondly of Elendir, as he walks down one corridor to the next, of the night they had, and then their morning after), he goes looking for his Peridot. He is off his rounds, through the start of November at least, and he will make the best of this free time.

He finds Peridot sitting with her mother, and Talen's own mother: Talen, making his way into the room, greets them in each in turn, from Mistress Emerald, Peridot's mother, to his own mother, Cyclamen North-took, kissing their hands as if he were some great tall fool from the South. Then he does the same to his Peridot, smiling at her as he does. 'Sit,' his mother tells him, and he does, listening to their idle chatter, nibbling at teacakes as they sip at their tea. There has been some talk of wedding plans, but not much.

After that, he excuses himself, and Peridot as well, and takes her into the hall. The door shut behind them, Talen gathers Peridot to him and kisses her, sucks on the sweetness of her mouth: not just her own sweetness, but the tea and cake had had their own appeal. After, he lets loose his hold of her, and Peridot flusters, eyes shining as she regards his face.

Then, for she knows him better than any other hobbit, she takes his hands and says, 'You've something to tell me,' and Talen must be grinning like a fool.

He takes her further, to an out-of-the-way corner, and kisses her, pushing her back against the wall. He kisses her again, and then tells her his story. 'I met a Man,' he says. 'A Ranger. Elendir son of Elenbarad – I asked him if he might wish to meet you, and he said that he would. But what do you say?'

Now, he searches her face. The first thing she says is, 'That sounds dangerous,' and Talen chuckles.

'He said something similar,' he says, and kisses her briefly, stroking one hand back through her hair, pressing their brows together. 'He told me, it was reckless, for me to go wandering as I did: so I told him, well, it's a part of my job. I doubt I was the first Bounder to have made his acquaintance...'

At this, his Peridot grins. 'But has any other Bounder done so, in quite the same fashion? Stars, Talen, I hadn't thought you hadn't in you.'

'Well, I didn't, actually. I bid him tup me, but he wouldn't – not properly, anyhow. But he had a lovely mouth, and nice big hands, and...' He was heating, and Peridot was grinning, but she was heating too.

'Am I to guess,' she then says, 'that he was big all over, hmm?'

'Stars, but he was,' Talen says, grinning, his eyes gone wide. 'Peridot, sweet, you ought to have seen the size of his pri–'

'But you did more than that,' Peridot says, grinning. 'So then, he was big all over, hmm?' He and Peridot, hands clasped between them, muffle their groaning laughter as Talenard's mother crosses by, glancing sideways, giving them a look. She must not think them too out of the ordinary – well, no, she would not, for they are often making mischief, though never with malice in mind.

Once his mother is gone, and once Talenard has decided that their out-of-the-way corner is not really so out-of-the-way, he and Peridot relocate themselves to one of the back guestrooms: they had been in the process of that, anyhow, though neither of them had realised that, not until that door had opened before them. When the dusty drapes had been thrown, letting in slanting sunlight, they shut the door, and knocked up dust as they fell into bed.

'I miss you,' he tells her, forgetting his story in the process. It had been a long time, his rounds in the Wild, sleeping in the cold with only one night of warmth and, otherwise, only his fellow Bounders for company, and he'd never had much comfort in that. But Peridot presses close, hands rubbing up his arms, and breathes out hotly, 'Oh, but I miss you, too.'

The bed is dusty, but they don't mind that, as it's big, too, and gives them much room to roll around. They do so, making a tangle of flesh on the bed, clothing discarded in the process, laughing and kissing and moaning, stroking and teasing. Talen presses himself between her hot thighs, thrusts himself deep, and feels the tightness of her body, all around him. He shudders, one groan after another, feels her shuddering in returning, moaning sweet as song. She clutches at him, and him buried deep in her as possible.

He peaks, but she does first – arching and pressing hard with her fingers, tightening about her. But after, when they are both sated, somewhat slippery, given the heat of the room, they knot about each other, holding to the other, and kiss and touch some more, but then find their way back to their previous topic of conversation.

'He does want to meet you,' Talen says, and Peridot nods and shuts her eyes, rests her head against is shoulder, one of her soft legs up over his. 'What do you say?'

'Your Ranger,' she says, voice drowsing, and yawns, her eyes shut even more tightly, a glimmer of sunlight showing in her night black curls. 'I think I'd like to meet him, too.' She then gives an even drowsier laugh, small and light. 'Did you ever convince him to tup you proper? My, but what a sight that must have been...'

But she's sleeping even before she's finished, and so Talen keeps his answer for later, and begins slide towards slumber. They'll need wake soon enough, to clean up, and find their way to supper. For now, Talen is safe in his Peridot's arms and, so, follows her to sleep.

The night is brisk enough, but the cold doesn't bother Peridot, not with her fur-lined cloak on, and Talen's hand in hers. 'Elendir son of Elenbarad,' Talen says properly, standing to his full height. 'Meet Miss Peridot Bolger, my sweetheart.'

'Well met, Master Ranger,' Peridot says, smiling wide, still somewhat sore from their ride. 'And at your service, of course.'

Elendir smiles, eyes like stars, but nowhere near as cold. 'It is a please, Miss Bolger – well met, indeed.'

There is a small fire, that gives off more heat than it does light, shielded to the south and south by the rising land, the land falling into a deep ravine to the east. They sit about the fire, Talen still holding Peridot's hand, and Talen proceeds to tell them both how very difficult it was to set this meeting. 'I bid cousin Cedric carry our Elendir a message, and it got to him, though not as I had hoped. Elendir fished poor Cedric from a cold bog – he's too new to the land, he doesn't yet know its dangers – and somehow, after that, my message went from Cedric to Elendir, though he'd lost the actual note.'

From that, Elendir had sent a message back – but not, Elendir says, until he'd been certain harm had not come to Cedric. 'But then I sent him off, and with my blessing. I had not truly hoped to see you both, so soon.'

Peridot is smiling, but Talen is smiling, wider. 'We snuck out, actually – we haven't done that since we were both tweens, and then Talen here decided on sweet-talking the stablehobbit on night duty, and that led to our riding off on one of Master Faragrand's own riding mares!' She laughs, and smiles broadly. 'You say you hadn't hoped to see us both, so soon, but here you are, Master Ranger. Why is that so?'

'I had not truly hoped,' he answers her. 'Still, I'd taken some.'

She shakes her head, but smiles – and somehow, she finds herself liking this Man, this Ranger, Elendir of the North. 'We'll be in trouble, no doubt, but for meeting you,' and she elbows Talenard, who goes to protest. 'But, I think... no, I know, it is well worth it, Master Elendir, in having met you.'

He smiles – oh, no wonder he charmed her Talenard. Talen gives her hand a squeeze, and she turns and they kiss – as they do, Elendir watches him, and his eyes are darker, when she looks at him again. The wind blows cold, but the stars are dancing overhead.

It will be time for Talen's rounds again, soon, and he will go out wandering, and watching, and if he were to take comfort, and warmth, from this tall man, then Peridot does not see the harm. He is not a rough man, but instead has the manners of a King. Then, thinking herself bold, her cheeks heating as she grins. 'You kissed me lad,' she says. 'Would you kiss me?'

Elendir does, his mouth big, swallowing her own, his tongue a pleasure to stroke. Peridot groans, weak in her knees, and when Elendir lets her go, she's quickly hot all over. Talen supports her, and strokes her arms. 'You never told me,' she says, looking sideways at Talen, touching his cheek. 'Did he ever tup you as you'd liked?'

Talen shakes his head, blushing, and Peridot kisses him sweetly, threading one hand with his. 'We brought afters,' she says. 'There's goose grease, to go with the bread – and if you wanted to, I would not mind being given the chance to watch.'

Talen's all but burning, and he looks Elendir, all eyes and long limbs, the picture of a gangly youth. So they are close by as it happens, having kissed and touched beneath the starlight, against the firelight, Peridot with her arms draped over Talen's shaking body. She'd stroked Elendir wet herself, feeling him shake, hearing his groans. Now she holds Talen as Elendir presses in, slow-slow-slow, and Talen's head lolls back, still against her shoulder. He's breathing hard, and Elendir breathes even harder, and Peridot all but feels Elendir deep inside Talen: Talen is clutching at her arm, his fingers sure to leave marks: but her own hand is slipping against his skin.

'Tell me,' Elendir says, though he does not say tell me what, or tell me when. But Talen swallows, eyes shut, his breathing shallow – he gives a groan, a little wriggle, and then he's telling Elendir that he needs to move.

So Elendir does, pushing Talen back against Peridot. She might have joined in, in some other fashion, but she likes watching, feeling, seeing her Talen act and react. She has never seen him so pinned, and he gasps – Elendir does not take him with any speed, but slow still, and steady, filling him until he throws his head back again, until he gasps and cries out: sweetly, and not in pain.

Still, Talen pants, saying, 'Stop,' and Elendir does, shaking to contain him: but he does contain himself, stroking Talen's damp brown, as Peridot's fingers tangle in his damp, dark curls. Talen's eyes are shut again, and then he's breathing out, breathing in, begging Elendir to move.

He does, taking him now at a quicker pace, Talen bouncing back against Peridot, and Peridot fascinated by the sight. Her fingers twitch to touch herself, and she feels her body heating.

Talen spills, and Elendir follows, and then Talen is twisting away, coming to cover her, dropping kisses on her face. His belly is sticky, still warm, and he seems sated all over, shaking as he grins. She kisses him, and then she kisses Elendir, and Elendir pulls her full against his body, Talen spooning at her back. She is crying out, all but singing as she does, melted between the two of them, hands and mouths moving on her, in her, making her arch and gasp.

Watching is always something, but it's something better to feel.