Over the next few days Justin stalked Dooku and Sören. When he was removed by the maître d' and Dooku called the police, Justin stopped going inside the restaurant, but would start waiting for closing time, harassing them outside. Then when Dooku had police arrive at the restaurant at closing time in anticipation of Justin, he simply drove around the neighborhood in his car, and when Dooku saw they were being followed he took a detour in an attempt to throw him off.
The day after they were followed, Dooku and Sören came out at closing time and found the tires of Dooku's Jaguar had been slashed, and WHORE was keyed into the vehicle.
The police finally took things seriously enough for an injunction to be filed, and Natalia and the maître d' gave statements to the police as witnesses. That seemed to be the end of that; Dooku took a rental as the tires were changed and the paint was touched up, and Justin went away. Sören had been trying to be brave through the days of stalking, but he'd stopped going out by himself, and on the way home in the rental he finally broke down, crying, even though Justin wasn't following them and had an order from the police to stay away.
Dooku pulled the car over and held Sören, letting him cry, stroking his curls and making soothing noises. He felt for the young man, who had just started to feel safe again and this had undone so much progress.
It had also made it very much not the right time to talk about the kiss, to determine if Sören had really been acting or not. Here and now, Dooku ached to kiss Sören again, to tell Sören "Daddy will protect you" and comfort him, but he didn't want to take advantage of him in his vulnerability, or make Sören feel pressured if he had been acting and the interest wasn't there, because the feeling of obligation to sleep with people putting a roof over his head was the last thing Sören needed right now.
And yet, Dooku's body continued to scream with hunger for the beautiful man who was crying on his shoulder right now. Not just for sexual release, but for intimacy, to give Sören the adoration he deserved. He remained a gentleman, petting Sören until he calmed down, offering his handkerchief when Sören's tears were subsiding.
Sören retreated to his room for the night, and Dooku and Maglor worried about him. The next morning, Sören was up before they were, painting, and after breakfast Sören said, "I think I'm going to go out for awhile. Go for a walk, maybe do a little shopping."
As he hadn't been out by himself in over a week, it was a good sign, and Sören, noticing the relief on Dooku and Maglor's faces, nodded and squared his shoulders. "I need to do this for myself," Sören said, determination in his eyes. "I feel like I'm his fucking prisoner, and I can't spend the rest of my life afraid of him."
"We're proud of you," Maglor said, rubbing Sören's shoulder, and Dooku nodded.
But a couple of hours later, Sören came back obviously distraught, eyes red as if he'd been crying, and he went right to his room and Dooku heard him sobbing. Dooku and Maglor let him be for a bit, and then when the cries got even louder, Dooku knocked on Sören's door.
"Sören, dear, what happened? May we come in?" Dooku asked.
"Jæja, come in."
Dooku opened the door; Sören was curled up in the fetal position, holding his bunny dolls, pillow soaked from tears. Dooku's heart sank at the sight of him, and Maglor sat on the edge of Sören's bed, with Dooku sitting on an ottoman.
They gave Sören a few minutes to collect his thoughts, and when he just continued to rock himself, not speaking, staring into the distance as if he were looking at something far away, Maglor rubbed Sören's knee and asked, "What's wrong?" His jaw set, anger flashing in his eyes, as he asked, "Did you see Justin? Did he violate the injunction -"
"No." Sören took a deep breath. He ran a hand through his curls and pressed his hand against his forehead as if he was ashamed of himself, wincing. "But... when I was out, I saw someone who I thought was Justin... turned out not to be him, just someone who resembled him a bit... the problem is, I had a panic attack when I saw the lookalike and I was in line and there were people behind me and I just completely fucking choked, left my shit there without paying, ran off like an idiot..."
"Oh, Sören." Dooku moved the ottoman closer, took Sören's hands in his and squeezed. He was torn between wanting to take Sören in his arms and make him writhe with pleasure, forgetting everything that existed, and go out, find Justin, and beat him to a pulp.
Sören's jaw quivered and tears rolled down his cheeks.
"I hate this," Sören hissed. "I hate this so much. It's been over with him for over a month and it's like part of me is still stuck there... like he owns space in my head, and even with the injunction I'll never feel safe knowing he's out there, somewhere, and he might be crazy enough to try to violate the injunction, to go after me again..." Sören closed his eyes and shuddered. "I won't feel safe until he's dead."
Dooku felt that urge to kill again, to hunt Justin down and make him pay for everything he'd done... Dooku pinched the bridge of his nose, trying to dial back the volume on that thought, his first priority needed to be Sören.
"I feel like such a coward," Sören choked out, shaking with sobs. "And Justin told me I was. So did Einar..."
"They were wrong," Maglor said, his tone firm. "You were scared all week and today you made yourself try to face your fears."
"And came back with my tail between my legs."
"You still went out there."
"I don't know if I can try it again." Sören hugged his bunnies tighter, swallowed hard. He closed his eyes and shook his head with a shudder. "The panic attack was bloody awful, and I don't think I can deal with that again, every time I see someone who looks like him..."
"There's a compromise," Dooku spoke up, "between going out by yourself when you don't feel safe just yet, and never leaving the house except to go to work. Mark and I can take you out during the day, the next while, and as you go out with us and see that London is a big city, and you're not running into him out there... it might help you to feel less afraid, with time and exposure."
"He's right," Maglor said. "We'd be happy to use our afternoons for a good cause."
"I feel like I already cramp your style too much," Sören said, frowning. "Like you already spend too much of your time -"
"Nonsense." Dooku glared. "You're our friend, we care about you, we want to help. Let us help you."
Sören managed to pull himself together for work, and after work, Dooku and Maglor did things to try to help Sören relax - Maglor cooked dinner, making Sören his favorite of grilled Swiss cheese on rye, with a seafood bisque on the side. Dooku drew a bubble bath for Sören, with lavender and epsom salts in the water. As Sören bathed, and Dooku and Maglor played chess together, Dooku's mind kept wandering to the mental image of Sören naked in the tub, and he got aroused enough to make moves where Maglor knew he wasn't thinking clearly and ended the game, dragging Dooku off to bed to have his way with him.
They fell asleep together after lovemaking, and after they'd been asleep for a few hours they were woken up by Sören screaming across the hall, sobbing. They rushed over to his room. It was another nightmare - Sören was chased by Justin this time - and Dooku and Maglor both held him, rocked him, until Maglor picked up Sören and carried him to their bed, bringing the bunny dolls along.
Dooku and Maglor were both nude under their robes, and Sören was wearing just boxer-briefs to bed - his room was warmer than the living room - but Sören had said previously he didn't mind the nudity, so in the interest of just getting back to sleep they climbed in bed on either side of him without putting on pants. This time they both snuggled closer to him, holding him tight, and Maglor sang "Stairway to Heaven" again, with Sören falling back asleep before the song was over. Dooku watched him sleep in the blue glow of the nightlight, reminded of the way he used to watch Fëanor sleep in the silver glow of Telperion, before sleep claimed him as well.
In the morning Dooku woke up hard, and feeling Sören hard against him didn't help. Dooku relieved himself in the bathroom, bringing himself to intense climax with fantasies of making love to Sören, both on his own and he and Maglor pleasing Sören together. When he came out, Sören and Maglor were both awake, and Dooku shielded his mind as tightly as he could, not wanting Sören to know he'd just gotten off thinking about him - again, not wanting to scare him away.
Neither Maglor nor Dooku had specific plans for taking Sören out that day before work, and over breakfast they asked Sören what he wanted to do. It had snowed last night, and Sören kept looking out the window at the little backyard, the snowdrifts on the ground, the snow and ice frosting the trees. He stroked his beard and then he said, "I really want to play in the snow." He grinned sheepishly into a forkful of eggs. "I haven't done that since I was a kid."
"We made a snowman at Southwark Park a few weeks ago," Dooku pointed out.
"That's not quite the same as playing in it." Sören's eyes met his - Sören was giving him the sad puppydog eyes, that Dooku couldn't resist. "You know what I would love to do? Sledding. And you probably don't have a sled."
"No, that's... not the sort of thing we do."
Dooku found himself driving to a sporting goods store and buying a "family size" sled that would fit two tall adults, and a snow tube, much to Sören's delight. Then he drove out to Greenwich Observatory. The famous hill leading up to the landmark had gorgeous views - Sören kept pausing to snap the occasional photo - and they dragged the sled and snow tube up with them.
"I can't believe I'm doing this," Dooku said as they were almost at the top.
"There's always a first time for everything, right?" Sören asked. He pulled out his inhaler and took a puff. "This is gonna be so much fun. I remember doing this with my siblings and cousin when we were kids. We didn't have much money but we didn't need money to entertain ourselves." Sören turned to smile at Maglor, and Maglor smiled back but the smile was sad. Sören noticed, and paused, this time not taking out his camera. "Are you OK, Mark?"
Maglor nodded. "Yeah. Just... gets me thinking about my own siblings."
"Jæja, you never talk about your family. So you've got siblings? I have just the two, my brother and sister, and my cousin Ari is like another brother..."
"I was the second of seven children. All boys."
Sören's eyebrows shot up. "Seven?" He let out a low whistle. "Wait, your surname is Lowry... you're Irish, right? Irish Catholic?"
Maglor said nothing in response.
Sören continued to go on, both in speech and hauling the tube up the hill. "So, do you keep in touch with your brothers..."
"They're all dead." Maglor looked away.
"Oh shit. I'm sorry." Sören swallowed hard, and then he leaned the tube up against his leg and reflexively wrapped his arms around Maglor. Maglor was wearing gloves today, but Sören had seen his hands enough times, and took the right hand in his, thumb stroking where the scar would be on Maglor's palm. "You said this was a war wound... and..." Sören's voice dropped to a whisper. "Is it IRA? The Troubles? Was that why you ended up in the States? It's OK, I won't tell anyone, my friend Frankie's uncle was in the IRA and he got killed in a car bomb, which is how her mum and aunt ended up leaving for England years ago... you and her uncle are about the same age -"
"I don't want to talk about it." Their eyes met.
"Sorry..."
"No need to apologize. I know you're... curious. It's understandable. It's just a sore spot for me." Maglor patted Sören's shoulder. "Besides, we didn't come here to talk."
They reached the top of the hill. Sören really wanted to go on the sled before he tried the tube. He looked at Dooku with those puppydog eyes again, but it was Maglor who said, "Here, I'll sled with you." He got behind Sören and put his arms around Sören - a sight that got Dooku a little aroused - and then they were off, speeding down the hill with Sören howling and laughing. When they got to the bottom they rolled out of the sled into the snow, and Dooku watched as Sören made a snow angel, wiggling his arms and legs, and then Maglor did the same thing at Sören's behest; he heard Maglor say, "I feel ridiculous."
"We are ridiculous, but it's OK." Sören got up and pulled Maglor up. "Come on, I wanna go again."
They dragged the sled back up the hill and then Maglor slapped Dooku on the shoulder and said, "Your turn," grinning.
Dooku rolled his eyes. "I..."
"Aw, come onnnnnnnnn," Sören whined. "Please?" He pouted.
Dooku would take the moon down from the sky and give it to Sören when he made that face. "Oh, all right," Dooku said, chuckling.
He got behind Sören and immediately hardened up at the feel of Sören's back against his chest, the feel of Sören in his arms. His cock throbbed when Sören tilted his head to give him a shy little smile and the briefest nuzzle of his beard.
Force, I want you. Dooku restrained the urge to pull Sören off the sled and take him in the snow.
All lustful thoughts were pushed out of his mind with the drop, the world rushing by in a dizzy blur. "I'm too old for thi-i-i-IIIIIIIIIIIS." Dooku's protest became a shout as the sled gained momentum, going even faster. Dooku felt almost like he was going to be sick, feeling like he was falling - and he'd driven on the Autobahn. But then Sören threw his hands in the air and his laughter rang out, and fear became joy, and by the time they got to the bottom of the hill and were thrown into the snow they were both laughing.
"See, it wasn't so bad," Sören said.
"I suppose not."
"I suppose not," Sören repeated in an imitation of Dooku's basso and London accent, and Dooku glared at him.
"There are worse things," Sören said in his regular voice.
"Such as..."
Sören made a tiny snowball and hit Dooku with it. He giggled at the irate look Dooku gave him. He stopped laughing when Dooku used the Force to fling some snow directly into Sören's face - there was nobody else around at the moment.
Sören used the Force to hit Dooku with two balls at once, and when Dooku said, "Brat," Sören gave him an innocent face and asked, "What's the problem? I thought you liked balls..."
Sören and Dooku ended up in a snowball fight, and at last Maglor intervened, coming down the hall and using the Force to barrage them both with dozens of snowballs. Sören collapsed in the snow in hysterics, while Dooku brushed snow off his face and winter coat and Maglor grinned at him.
"You know..." Dooku raised an eyebrow.
"I know." Maglor gestured to the hill. "Here, we can take the sled together and let Sören go down on the tube."
Sören had sat up, and at the phrase "go down on the tube" Sören fell over in the snow again, his sides heaving, laughing so hard he was snorting and wheezing. Dooku facepalmed, and Maglor turned bright red but his eyes were twinkling, and Dooku could feel across their bond that the innuendo had absolutely been intentional and Maglor was thinking filthy thoughts about Sören. When Maglor's eyes met Sören's, Maglor winked at him, and Sören crinkled his nose and bit his lower lip and it was all Dooku could do to not drag them off to the car and ravish them both.
They climbed the hill again, and Maglor and Dooku got on the sled, with Sören climbing into the tube. "I'm going down on the tube now," Sören giggled once he was inside.
Dooku smirked. "Hi Going Down On the Tube Now..."
A snowball hit him in the face, and then Sören was off, the tube spinning and spinning as it flew down the hill. "Oh, shiiiiiiiiiiiiiit," Sören yelled. The tube sped faster and Sören threw his hands in the air, laughing and screaming. Dooku was almost a little afraid for him, and then had his own fear to worry about as the sled zipped down the hill and the world was a blur again, the blood rushing to his head. Maglor's arms tightened around him, and Maglor tilted Dooku's face to steal a kiss just before the sled reached the bottom.
Sören wanted to go for one more round, and then after another ride on the sled with Sören in the tube, Dooku said, "I think that's enough excitement for one day," and they piled into the car.
Sören was in much better spirits, and felt like painting when they got home from the restaurant. Dooku made a pot of hot chocolate, and then Sören made a request of Maglor. "Do you think I could paint in the same room as you while you play music?"
Maglor considered for a moment, and he nodded.
Dooku read in the bedroom, enjoying the strains of Maglor's harp in the living room, and even more, feeling the way Maglor's creative energy and Sören's creative energy played together, touching the Living Force; after awhile Dooku noticed that he was levitating, and that he'd been levitating for some time without realizing it. He broke out into gooseflesh, again wondering if Sören was Fëanor... if it was the Flame and Song reunited, working deep magic.
"If."
Dooku was also deeply relaxed - it was as if the energy down the hall had lit a cozy fire and he felt like he'd come home. It was getting harder to pay attention to the book, and Dooku put it down and gently lowered himself onto the bed - if Maglor wanted sex before sleep, now was a good time to make that happen. He stretched, and made his way down the hall, noticing the harp music had stopped.
He was in time to see Maglor and Sören look at each other with awe, lips parted... and then Maglor took Sören's face in his hands and kissed him hard. Dooku's cock stirred at the sight, one of the most erotic things he'd ever witnessed. The kiss deepened, and when Sören made a little whimper into the kiss Maglor pulled away, breathing hard, and took a few steps back, as Sören stared at him, mouth open, looking a little dazed.
"I'm sorry," Maglor said, and started down the hall, looking down until he bumped into Dooku, who drew him into his arms, led him to bed.
Dooku bottomed that night, laying on his back with Maglor's teeth on his neck, driving into him with abandon, and it didn't take long for Dooku to come, completely lost by lust at the look on Maglor's face, the wild, savage side of him that came out to play, needing to take. Dooku thought of Maglor thrusting into Sören the same way, thought of what Sören would be like inside him, inside each of them, what it would be like to take Sören, to taste him... and when Maglor came inside him, he knew Maglor wasn't just coming for the man he was making love to underneath him, but Maglor was having the same thoughts about Sören, wishing he were in bed with them.
When they lay there afterwards, Dooku asked, "Why didn't you..." His voice trailed off.
"Why didn't I... what." Maglor raised an eyebrow.
"You kissed him and then you walked away. Why didn't you drag him down the hall with you?" Dooku gave a small smile. "I wouldn't have minded another night with him in our bed, especially not if we were both..."
Maglor let out a deep sigh. "Nicolae... our little friend has been through quite a lot. I know, from what I can feel, that you've been holding back on expressing your interest because you don't want him to get the impression he's obligated to go to bed with us to keep a roof over his head. I've been careful around him for the same reason, and... I kissed him without asking first if it was OK. I want him to feel safe again, not feel like he's in a situation that hits on consent issues in a bad way..."
"I understand." Dooku nodded and patted him. "But now that you have gone ahead and kissed him..." Dooku pinched the bridge of his nose. "We're going to have to have a talk with him and clear the air about our feelings, where things stand. We have tomorrow night off, so it's the opportune time..."
"And not just for that. Nicolae, I have to tell him."
Dooku's eyebrows went up.
Maglor went on. "He thinks I've been in the IRA, for fuck's sake. That might seem like a harmless white lie to you, but even without not feeling right about lying to someone we might be letting into our relationship about 'the Elf thing'..." He made air quotes. "It has the potential to cause complications. If the situation with Justin ever escalates and Sören has to go to the police, I don't want him to feel like he can't because he has to protect me since he assumes I was IRA. I..." Maglor facepalmed. "I didn't plan on telling him now, but I suppose there is no other time for this."
"If you're sure."
"I do wonder if the truth of what I am will scare him away, even if my desire - our desire - does not. If you'd known from the start that I'm not human, would you have pursued a relationship with me?"
Dooku answered honestly. "I don't know. But I'm glad that you and I are together, just the same." He affectionately tweaked the pointy tip of Maglor's ear and gave it a soft little kiss. "I love you, Macalaurë."
"I love you, Uncle Ñolofinwë." Maglor's arms tightened around him, and Dooku felt the lump in Maglor's throat, the weight in his chest, worrying have I found my father just to lose him again?
_
The next day Sören mostly kept to himself - he went out by himself in the afternoon, just for a short walk, but it was still something, and then he painted until dinner.
Dinner was spent in awkward silence, with Sören not looking at either of them and not saying much except to compliment the meal - Maglor had made a lasagna. After Sören did dishes he was going to go back to his room and paint some more, and before he could walk away Maglor said, "No, Sören, wait, we need to talk to you."
Their eyes finally met. Maglor gestured to the armchair in the living room. "Sit."
Sören took the armchair and Maglor and Dooku took the couch. Sören looked down until Dooku cleared his throat, giving Maglor an expectant look.
"Sören, I want to start off by telling you again I'm sorry about last night," Maglor said. "I should have asked first before I kissed you, if it was OK or not. I had no right..."
Sören swallowed hard. "I liked it," he husked.
"You." Maglor's eyes widened. "You did."
Sören bit his lower lip and nodded. "I wanted you to kiss me again. I... I want you, Mark." He looked at Dooku, then. "I want both of you."
Dooku would have turned cartwheels across the room if he could. His heart soared. "You do?" Dooku's eyebrows shot up. His heart was racing, stomach fluttering. "That night Justin showed up at the restaurant and you kissed me... that wasn't acting...?"
Sören laughed and shook his head. "No, Nico, that wasn't acting, but I was afraid to tell you how I felt... afraid you wouldn't want me."
"Oh, sweetheart. That sure as hell wasn't acting on my part."
Sören licked his lips, and their eyes met. Dooku found himself getting up from the couch, going over to Sören, standing him up and sitting back down with Sören in his lap, holding him, kissing him so hard it took their breath away. Sören moaned into the kiss, and Dooku's cock throbbed urgently, wanting him as badly as he'd ever wanted anything. "Sören. My sweet, sweet Sören." He kissed Sören again and again, and then he took Sören's chin in his hand, thumb stroking the beard, and looked into those beautiful brown eyes, like liquid chocolate. "Daddy's here," he whispered, and Sören cried out into the kiss, shivering, making a precious little whimper as the kiss deepened, heated.
"Fuck," Sören panted, trembling.
Dooku started kissing and licking Sören's neck, breathing in the scent of him, and then Maglor came over and got on his knees at the armchair, and he and Sören were kissing, as Dooku continued to work on Sören's neck. Sören moaned into each kiss, and Maglor was breathing harder, taking time to suck and nibble on Sören's lower lip before claiming his mouth again. Dooku and Maglor shared a kiss then, and Sören groaned at the sight of them before Dooku's mouth found Sören's once more and Maglor began to lick and kiss Sören's neck, hands wandering. There was a little smile on Maglor's face when he found the bulge in Sören's jeans and rubbed, making Sören gasp and cry out before Dooku kissed him again.
When Dooku stopped kissing Sören's mouth for a bit to trail tender little kisses along his jaw, nuzzle Sören's beard, Sören said, "You don't know how badly I've been wanting this."
"We were worried you were going to feel pressured if we told you how we felt," Maglor said. "We don't want you to feel like you have to be with us if you don't want to, to stay here..."
"I want to. I want to so much." Sören shuddered. He gave a shy little smile as he said, "It's insane how much I've been jerking off thinking about both of you..."
Dooku almost came just from that revelation, the delicious mental images of Sören stroking himself to climax fantasizing about them almost too much to bear. It was his turn to moan now as he kissed Sören hard, and Sören groaned back, stroking Dooku's beard before his hand trailed down to rub Dooku's chest.
"We want to make love to you, darling." Dooku kissed along Sören's jaw again, back down to his neck. "We want to love you."
"I want it too, but." Sören let out a sigh.
"What?" Maglor raised an eyebrow.
Maglor and Dooku stopped kissing and caressing Sören for a moment to let him speak. Sören looked down, and when he looked back up - staring at the ceiling - there were tears in his eyes. "I was raped."
"You told me about the gang rape in Reykjavik," Dooku said, nodding.
Sören gave a bitter laugh. "That wasn't the last time." He looked at Dooku, meeting his eyes, then at Maglor, also meeting his eyes. "Justin raped me more than once."
"Jesus." Dooku's urgent lust was replaced by the urgent need to kill, and when he looked at Maglor and saw the fury reflected in Maglor's eyes, a mutual understanding flashed between them - He is going to pay for that with his life. Dooku didn't know how, or when, they were going to annihilate the filth calling itself Justin Roberts, only that they would, and it was something they would figure out another time.
Here and now... taking care of Sören was their priority. Sören's breath was shaking, his voice shaking. "I was so afraid of him by the time you guys found me... I was still trying to do nice things thinking I could placate him somehow, but..."
"But he raped you." Maglor's voice was dripping with contempt. "What a scumbag. And unfortunately, I'm not surprised."
"You never went to the police?" And Dooku knew of course that the answer was no - he knew how the British criminal justice system worked, he'd been a part of it three decades ago and not a whole lot had changed. Rape victims were treated not much better than criminals, having to go to inordinate lengths to prove what happened, and someone with Sören's background - a gay man, an immigrant, who had a history of promiscuity in Reykjavik - already had strikes against him coming out the gate.
"Are you completely daft?" Sören gave him a look, and then he mumbled, "Sorry."
"No, it's..." Dooku patted him. "It was a stupid question, of course you couldn't have gone to the police... which is a fucking shame, because that man deserves to be behind bars."
"And by 'behind bars' we mean 'bars impaled through his body till he bleeds to death'," Maglor snarled. Then he took Sören's chin in his hand. "We love you, Sören. We're sorry he hurt you. We don't think any less of you -"
Sören patted Maglor's hand.
"I know you may not think of me as, like, damaged goods," Sören said, "but... as horny as I am right now, wanting to make love with both of you, I..." He looked down and blinked back tears. "I can't go all the way yet. I tried to use a toy, when I was getting my sex drive back - got it back because of you guys, heh - and I got triggered just from that. So..."
"There are other things we can do, if you're not ready for that," Dooku said.
"OK. I want to be able to do that with you, eventually. I think I can, once my body learns to feel safe with you guys, just like... my thing with going out, by myself. I want to try. But not just yet. I'm glad you understand that and yes, we can do other things." Sören's eyes gleamed. His voice went from mischievous to sad as he looked down again. "It's just as well because I'm going to need to get tested for stuff to go all the way, if you don't want to use condoms. I was clean as recently as October, when I moved in with Justin, and there'd only been him, I should go to the clinic in a couple days, since it's the end of February..."
"That's considerate of you," Dooku said.
Maglor snorted. "I can't get diseases..." And then his jaw dropped, realizing what he'd just said out loud.
Sören raised an eyebrow.
"Oh shit."
"Well, you were planning on telling him, tonight." Dooku cocked his head to one side.
"Telling me what?" Sören gave Dooku a suspicious look, then Maglor.
"OK. So." Maglor took a deep breath. "Sören, now that we've all come clean about our feelings, and you want to go to bed with us... well, consent should be informed consent, and there's something you need to know if we let you into our relationship, because it's a pretty big deal and it will impact you with time."
Sören folded his arms.
Dooku patted Sören to get up, and once he did, Dooku got up from the armchair and turned off the lights in the living room and kitchen, leaving just the small light on above the stove.
"What's going on? Why does everything need to be dark?" Sören asked.
"Sören, look at me," Maglor said.
Sören's jaw dropped as he watched Maglor's hair lengthen from the middle of his back down to his thighs and he began to glow silver. His complexion was even more flawless, smooth as marble, and his eyes became a light iridescent silver-grey like they were made of labradorite. Maglor tucked hair behind his ears to reveal the pointy tips.
"Þú ert einn af huldufólki."
"Your ancestors would have recognized my people as the huldufólk, yes, Sören," Maglor said, his voice resonating like several voices at once.
"You..." Sören gasped, and started to tremble, crying a little. "You're so beautiful."
"So are you, love."
Sören cried harder. Maglor came back over to him and pulled Sören into his arms, and gave him a sweet kiss. Sören's fingers brushed the tips of Maglor's ears, played through his hair - held a strand of it, glancing with near-disbelief at its length - and his fingers traced Maglor's face then.
"I can't believe it, the huldufólk are real?" Sören's voice was hushed with reverence.
Maglor just nodded.
Dooku turned the lights back on. Maglor continued to glow, not as intensely, and Sören kept looking at his eyes, the flood of hair, the pointy ears. "You're so fucking hot," Sören said, giggling, and Maglor laughed too.
"So, Sören." Maglor brought Sören over to the couch, sat down with him, took Sören's hand and kissed it. "Now that you've seen what I really am, you need to know how this is going to affect things..."
Sören raised an eyebrow then. "Your name's not really Mark, is it? That seems like a weird name for an Elf to have."
"It's not, but you can still call me that if you want. It would actually be easier for you to call me one thing consistently so you don't slip up in public, as I'm not in the habit of advertising I'm not human. Which is actually what I was about to get into." Maglor looked at Dooku, who nodded, and then back at Sören. "I'm immortal."
"Hi Immortal, I'm Sören."
Maglor pressed his face against the back of the couch, making a noise. "You walked into it," Dooku said.
"Thank you, that was exceedingly helpful commentary," Maglor shot back.
Sören grinned, and Maglor poked him. Then he went on. "I don't age. I've been alive... a long, long time. Because I don't age, and people get suspicious if you've been living in a place forty years and still look like you're in your twenties or thirties, I necessarily have to move around. I had a bad experience in the 1970s in the States and because of this, my 'shelf life' for staying any place is about seven to ten years. I've been in London since 2010, and sometime within the next one to three years Nicolae and I will have to think about moving. Again."
"Is that why you were in Sweden?" Sören asked Dooku.
Dooku nodded. "And Amsterdam before that. And Berlin before that."
"We met in Berlin, in December 1989. We've been together all this time," Maglor said.
"That's... holy shit, wow," Sören said.
"We want you to come with us, wherever it is we go."
"And I want... Mark... to not be alone, when I eventually..." Dooku didn't finish the sentence.
"You're sixty-seven, dammit, and you don't look it or act it. That's not even old nowadays," Maglor said, blinking back tears, not wanting to think about the inevitable end of Dooku's life.
"I maybe have another twenty good years, but that's hardly a drop in the bucket for you." Dooku turned to Sören. "I want you to take care of him, when..."
Sören reached out to squeeze Dooku's hand, and squeezed Maglor's hand with the other hand. Dooku and Maglor clasped their free hands and squeezed as well; Maglor leaned against Dooku for a moment, stifling a sob.
After a few minutes of tearful silence, Maglor went on. "When I move, I have to protect my secret. Forged identity paperwork. A new backstory to go with the identity, though I keep most people at an arm's length enough where I don't have to get into it. This Mark Lowry is American, when I was in Sweden I was pretending to be British." He gave a guilty grin. "I was pretending to be Swiss German in the 1980s and 1990s."
"You were also pretending you had good taste in music," Dooku quipped, desperately needing a moment of levity after the talk of his mortality.
Maglor glared.
"When I met Mark," Dooku said, putting a hand on Sören's shoulder, "he had so much hairspray in his hair I believe he was single-handedly responsible for the hole in the ozone layer. He was rather a fan of Whitesnake, Bon Jovi, Poison, Dokken..."
Maglor facepalmed.
Sören doubled over laughing. "Oh my god, really. Do you have pictures..."
"I do," Dooku said, nodding. "He doesn't like his photograph taken but I do have some photos of that time anyway."
"We... are not going to look at those right now," Maglor said.
"You were still quite fetching, dear," Dooku said, planting a kiss on Maglor's forehead. "Especially in those leather trousers."
"Oooh, leather trousers?" Sören made a little growl. "I'd love to see that."
Maglor was blushing. "Hells, Nicolae..."
"Leave your unicorn out of this," Dooku teased.
And Sören had another gigglefit, and finally explained, wheezing, "I'm sitting here with an Elf... who has a stuffed unicorn named Hells... and likes Dokken..."
Maglor covered his face in his hands and made noises. Dooku patted him. Sören also patted him.
"ANYWAY," Maglor said, "it's a difficult life."
"Must be, being a Dokken fan," Sören said.
"You know..."
Sören kissed the tip of his nose. "I know."
When Sören calmed down, Maglor took both his hands and said, "So... as I was saying. I move around from place to place. Seeing the world might sound exciting except it's not when you're not doing it by choice and you're living as something of a refugee because the world can't know what you are - I've seen the consequences of what happens when they do know, and have barely survived them. It's been better having Nicolae around, we've made the most of it, I've managed to find some happiness, finally, the last twenty-six years... but he's had to make some sacrifices too as he moves around with me, and we live in a mild degree of paranoia of my secret being exposed somehow."
"That's why you guys have been together so long and not gotten married since gay marriage is legal now, right?" Sören asked, after another few minutes of tearful silence. "Because of the paperwork thing?"
Maglor nodded. "The people I hire to draft up new IDs and other documents every time I need to move, they're pretty thorough, but it's getting harder each time with the world being so automated now. It was a lot easier to move around a couple centuries ago. My paperwork will hold up with something like a routine police pullover or having to show ID at the bank, things like that, I don't want to risk being in a database with a legal partnership."
"That sucks."
"Yes, it does." Maglor rubbed Sören's hands. "And that, my dear Sören, is what you're looking at. We want you to share our life with us, but... it's a much more complicated decision than just agreeing to go to bed with us or not. It's the entire package of..."
"I already left home once." Sören shrugged. "You guys feel like home to me. I don't want to lose that." He stroked Maglor's face. Then he reached out to take Dooku's hand, and put an arm around him, leaning against Dooku as Dooku stroked his curls. He looked up at Dooku with adoring eyes. "You lead, and I will follow."
Dooku got on his knees and kissed Sören, hard and hungry, remembering echoing those same words to Fëanor, back in the days when he was Fingolfin. His head was as dizzy as it had been on the sled, the rest of the world blurring as he was carried away in the rush of passion. "Sören," he rasped. "Shall we..."
"Please," Sören breathed.
Maglor kissed Sören, and then Maglor and Dooku kissed each other, and Maglor and Dooku took Sören's hands and pulled him from the couch, leading him down the hall to the bedroom, Sören breathless and giggling. Sören was stone sober once they stepped into the bedroom and Maglor and Dooku were looking at him like he was a feast and they were starving.
"Yes," Sören whispered, and pulled his lovers into his arms, marching them backwards to the bed.