Title: Winter Hunting
Author: Dark Temptations
Rating: PG13
Warnings: One grumpy Dark Elf.
Beta: Vash is my Angel
Disclaimer: Olwen, Secunda and Elfin are not mine, they are the creations of the incredible Vash is my Angel. Arlisse, her parents and Ithil are also not mine, they are the creations of the amazing Shadow's Mirror. All characters appear in this fic with the full permission of their creators. I just hope I've done them all justice *smiles*.
Summary: Three Mordel go on a hunting trip and end up stuck in a cave together.
Terms: Dark Elves/Mordel - a type of elf that usually live in underground cities and come out at night. They live in a matriarchal society in which most males are little more than slaves. They are generally evil or cruel with the notable exceptions of those currently living in the elven city - who are all either very sweet or very grumpy. Atar - the elven word for Father.
Author's Notes: This is a gift for my two best friends, Vash - who taught me the value of grumpy boys and SM - for proving that even grumpy boys love kittens *laughs*.
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Dark Temptations Presents
Winter Hunting
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They had been out hunting for over an hour without anything to show for their trouble, but Secunda knew that wasn't the cause of the dark look that had been on Olwen's face for even longer than that.
It had been there ever since Secunda had suggested - perhaps foolishly, although he would never admit that thought to Olwen - that a certain someone might like to go hunting with them and learn the lie of the forest around the city.
That suggestion had been an impulse that he had quickly regretted giving in to - and not only because of the constant glare his lover had been giving him ever since.
He had not realised how... tempting... having the other near for so long would be.
That Arlisse had no idea how tempting she was merely made him ache all the more.
Of course, Olwen knew how he was feeling. Olwen always knew. Which was part of the reason for his glaring - Secunda had no doubt about that. Just as he had no doubt that the rest of the glaring was due to Olwen being rather more grumpy than usual.
Being around females tended to have that effect on Olwen.
When the female in question was a Mordel as well... That was ten times worse.
Secunda knew Arlisse being female wasn't the only cause for Olwen's current bad mood, though. Even if it had been Arlisse's brother walking ahead of them, Olwen would still have been brooding - and Olwen liked Arlisse's brother.
What Olwen didn't like was having their weekly hunt invaded by anyone else.
But did he really have to keep glaring like that?
A soft gasp from ahead of them distracted Secunda from his thoughts. He looked at Arlisse just in time to see her take off after whatever animal their approach had roused from its hiding place. Secunda couldn't see the creature, but from the sounds it was making as it crashed through the snow-covered undergrowth, it was large enough to make for a challenging hunt.
Olwen apparently felt the same. As they ran after Arlisse in pursuit of the creature, Secunda noted happily that Olwen had finally stopped glaring. Instead, his eyes were gleaming with the thrill of the hunt.
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An hour later they were still in pursuit of their quarry when the first snowflakes began to fall, but it wasn't until the snow began to come down more heavily within minutes that the three Mordel stopped their chase and took stock of the situation.
With the bloodlust coursing through them, they had been aware of their surroundings only in terms of how to use them in their hunt and where their prey was going. The rapid shift in the weather had gone unnoticed by all three of them - so it was with considerable shock that they realised the few clouds that had been in the sky barely two hours earlier had become a storm. Already, the wind was rising and the snow was falling so thickly that it would be only a matter of minutes before their tracks were erased. That made Secunda uneasy.
"We had best return to the city." He had to nearly shout to be heard over the wind.
Arlisse nodded in agreement and Olwen scowled at her, then at Secunda - as if he was upset at him for saying something that the female agreed with. Secunda had no time to scowl back at him though - Olwen was already striding away in the direction they had come from.
"Olwen! Wait!" Secunda started after him - his hand instinctively reaching for Arlisse to keep her with him. The snow was so thick it was becoming difficult to see and he had no wish to lose track of her because of it.
As the two Dark Elves hurried after Olwen, Secunda mentally cursed his lover's actions. Having the ability to move instantly from one place to another - teleportation, as he had heard it called - it would have been a simple matter for him to get all three of them back to the city. But oh no - Olwen knew of Secunda's ability and had obviously decided that he didn't want to go back that way, so had set off regardless of anyone else's opinion on the matter. No surprise there - Olwen did it all the time.
But it did not normally irritate Secunda so much.
Grumbling under his breath about fools who were too stubborn to teleport out of the snow, Secunda did his best to keep up with Olwen. As tempted as he was to just reach out, grab him and take them all to the city, he knew it would be a bad idea. Olwen was getting better with that sort of thing, but he still didn't like it and doing it without his permission usually resulted in some sort of repercussion.
Secunda had become too fond of sharing Olwen's bed to be relegated to the rug in front of the fireplace for a week or so.
When the driving snow began to seep inside his cloak a few minutes later - and inside his shirt a minute or so after that - though, Secunda began to wonder if that nice warm spot in front of the fire would really be such a bad place to sleep after all.
It was the last thought he had for some time.
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Through the loud howling of the wind, they never heard the crack of the overhanging branch as the snow piling up on it proved too great a burden and it gave way.
They also never heard the crash as the falling branch struck Secunda's head.
Olwen did hear Arlisse as she called out to him in alarm, though. He turned in time to see Secunda collapse into the female's arms.
Arlisse struggled to keep her feet as the added weight threatened to send her over into the snow. She held on tightly to Secunda though, ignoring Olwen's attempt to take him from her - at least for the moment.
As long as Olwen was close, he'd be able to hear her.
"There was a cave a few minutes back." The howling gale tried to steal her voice and she had to shift Secunda's weight to free one hand so she could cup it around Olwen's ear - sheltering her words from the thieving wind enough for him to hear them.
Olwen frowned at her and shook his head as he again tried to take Secunda from her grasp. "City."
Arlisse held on grimly - fearing that their lives might well depend on this battle of wills. "Too far. The storm is getting bad!" Her green eyes locked with Olwen's and she did her best to relay how worried she was and how urgently they needed shelter.
Olwen glared at her and Arlisse glared right back. "We are wasting time!" She glanced at Secunda and was alarmed to note how pale and still he was. Perhaps Olwen noticed it too because he gave her a curt nod.
As he carefully carried Secunda to the cave Arlisse had spotted, Olwen made no complaint at how tightly Arlisse held on to the back of his cloak.
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The cave was small, but big enough to provide shelter from the storm for three cold and wet Dark Elves. Arlisse took a quick look around, then turned to Olwen. "We would be warmest at the back." At Olwen's glare, she sighed. "I am not giving you orders. You are not my male so I have no claim on your obedience." The faintest trace of a blush coloured her cheeks and she quickly continued. "It was only my opinion." She looked at Olwen seriously. "I just want to help however I can."
"Hn." Olwen looked at her for a moment more before turning and heading for the back of the cave.
Within a few minutes, Olwen was sitting down with his back to the cave wall and Secunda sitting in his lap. He held his lover close and frowned as he studied the very large bump on the boy's head. "What happened?" He shot Arlisse a suspicious and wary look.
"A branch fell on him." Arlisse shrugged when Olwen arched an eyebrow. "I know, but it is the truth. The snow must have been too heavy and broke it off. It was just bad luck that he was walking under it at the time."
Studying the wound as she walked over to the two males, she was both relieved and concerned to see that it wasn't as bad as she had feared. It had hit hard enough to knock Secunda out, but it hadn't done him any obvious damage aside from the bump and what was likely to be a rather nasty bruise the next day.
She knelt down beside Secunda and started to reach towards him - then frowned as Olwen growled at her. "I am just going to remove his cloak. Yours also. They are wet through, but they should provide you both with at least a little warmth if you put them over both of you, so you will share what little heat you each have." Suiting actions to words, she carefully eased Secunda's cloak off him, then tugged Olwen's out from behind him as well before securely tucking both garments around the two males.
Olwen frowned as Arlisse sat back to examine her handiwork. He eyed her wet cloak and looked thoroughly dissatisfied with whatever thought he had about it. Making an annoyed sort of sound, he untucked the side of the cloaks where Secunda's legs were sticking out and held them open. "In."
Arlisse stared at him - the beginnings of a blush stealing over her cheeks - then nodded. As she took off her cloak, her blush deepened. As she moved to sit beside Olwen, her cheeks darkened more. By the time she covered them all with her cloak and settled by his side, she was blushing so much that she had surely reached her limit.
Then Olwen slipped his arm around her waist and pulled her more firmly against his side and Arlisse revealed that no - she could in fact blush even more deeply.
She moved cautiously, snuggling into Olwen's side a little. The soft sigh of comfort that escaped her was involuntary and she tensed - then relaxed again as Olwen merely closed his eyes and remained still and silent.
He didn't even move when Arlisse tentatively rested her head on his shoulder.
Arlisse and Olwen settled in to wait for the storm to ease so they could go home.
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The figure moved silently towards the back of the cave, stopping when she was close enough to see the three Mordel sleeping there. Her worries eased as she eyed the damage the children had done to themselves. Nothing that could not be mended with a warm bed, a warmer fire and a little tender care. But first, she had to get them back to the city.
The boy in the middle stirred and tensed ever so slightly. He was awake.
"It is only me, child."
Olwen relaxed again as he opened his eyes. He frowned at the visitor - a tall and slender female elf with a loving smile and hair that fell in gentle waves of silver to the bottom of her long cloak. "How?"
She moved towards them. "When the storm came up and Arlisse did not return, her atar grew worried. He came to find me and I, in turn, came to find her, and the two of you." She knelt down and lightly stroked his cheek, her other hand doing the same to Secunda's. "Time to go home."
The boy nodded and glanced at his companion before looking back at her. "He needs to be healed." There was an apology in his eyes - although it would remain unspoken.
Smiling gently, the she-elf nodded. "I will do so as soon as we return." She caught the impatience in the boy's eyes and her smile grew a little. "Do not worry, Olwen. My son is not so fragile that a little knock on the head like that will do him much harm."
Olwen kept frowning and looked uneasy. "He has not woken."
She understood his worry - but if she tried to ease his mind, she would only make him feel guilty. Still... she had to tell him something and with Olwen the truth was usually best. "He sleeps to heal, but since his magic is not working, he remains sleeping." She stroked his cheek again as Olwen looked away. "It is not your fault, child. It was far better for him to be with you, safe and protected, than by himself."
That was the truth and she knew Olwen knew it as well as she did.
His 'gift' was that he could negate any magic with a touch - however that also meant Secunda was powerless while he was with him. The two boys had a special bond - theirs from birth - but it made Secunda even more susceptible to Olwen's gift. He could not cast so much as the simplest spell if the other boy was in the same room.
Healing was far from a simple spell.
She turned her attention to the female and smiled - making a mental note of the blush that coloured the girl's cheeks so prettily. So she was embarrassed to be caught snuggling with Olwen, was she? That was something they would have to work out for themselves... although she was not opposed to helping them out a little along the way. "I have already told your atar you are safe. I will take you back to the boys' home. You will be able to get warm there." She added the words more for Olwen's sake than Arlisse's - making sure that he would take care of a girl who was very precious to her.
After all, good priestesses were so very hard to find.
Arlisse bit her lip and nodded. "Yes, Lady Elfin."
Olwen glared at Arlisse, then at the beautiful lady elf - then he sighed. Loudly.
She smiled and gently stroked Olwen's cheek again. "I can take a hint. Home we go." Her magic reached out and drew all three of them with her as she teleported them all back to the small house Olwen and Secunda shared.
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Arlisse blushed very deeply as she realised where Lady Elfin had taken them. They were not just in Olwen and Secunda's home - they were sitting on their large bed. She bit her lip and struggled to untangle herself from her cloak - which had somehow become entangled around her.
"Be still." At Olwen's low growl, Arlisse darted a look at him and bit her lip harder. He did not look happy.
"A...Aye." Arlisse went completely still. A statue could have moved more.
Olwen arched an eyebrow and gave her his 'such a strange female' look before he sighed heavily and opened his hand, releasing the corner of the cloak he had been holding.
The material fell free and Arlisse felt herself blushing again. Although she was still fully clothed, it felt as if she had just been bared to his eyes. Not that Olwen would have any interest in looking... "Oh. Thank you." She slipped off the bed and turned to watch Lady Elfin.
The beautiful elf had moved the other cloaks aside and was in the process of taking her son from Olwen - despite the boy's apparent reluctance to part with him. On the third tug she managed to pull him free of Olwen's hold but her smile was only a little smug as she stroked Olwen's cheek with her free hand. "Go and warm yourself by the fire, child, before you fall ill. Take Arlisse with you and make sure she gets out of those wet clothes, also."
"I will help!" A small, cheerful voice piped up from the other side of the bed and earned a gentle smile from the she-elf.
She reached out and gently patted the dark hair of the little boy standing there. "Thank you, Ithil. I am sure you will take very good care of them."
Ithil smiled happily at the praise and nodded, then ran around the bed. He smiled up at Arlisse and took her hand before taking Olwen's as well. "Come on. This way." He tugged and Arlisse had to bite her lip to keep from smiling. She had no doubt that the boy would try to pull them both all the way to the fire if they dared try to resist. She was more than happy to walk with him and a glance at Olwen revealed that he too was obeying the child's instructions - although the look on his face suggested that he was only doing it because both Elfin and Ithil had asked it of him.
It never ceased to amaze Arlisse how much Olwen - quite possibly the grumpiest and most contrary Dark Elf to ever live - loved and indulged the child, who had come to live with him and Secunda shortly after the two males had begun living together.
Ithil led them both over to the fire and gave Olwen his version of a stern look. "I will get you some dry clothes. Stay here and warm up." He turned to Arlisse and smiled sweetly at her. "I will get you something dry, also."
Arlisse blushed and nodded as she smiled at the sweet child. "My thanks." She watched Ithil as he ran over to the wardrobe and began searching through it happily.
Olwen stoked the fire until it blazed up more intensely, then began to remove his wet clothes - not ignoring Arlisse so much as not acknowledging that there was anyone else with him in the house. Arlisse quickly turned away as heat flooded her cheeks.
Not because of the warm fire, either.
On his way back to them carrying a bundle of black clothes, Ithil looked anxiously at Arlisse. "Are you all right? You have gone so very red. Do you have a fever?"
Arlisse's blush deepened as she smiled at the child. "No, I am fine. I am just feeling a little... warm. Most likely from the fire."
"Oh." Ithil nodded and smiled as he handed her one of the items he was carrying - a large black shirt. "I hope that is all right."
"It is perfect. Thank you, Ithil." Arlisse gifted him with a sweet smile. As the child smiled and went over to his stand-in papa, she watched his progress - then quickly looked away again when she saw rather more bare Olwen than she had expected.
She could feel the heat in her cheeks as her hands hesitated on the clasp of her belt. Although she had something dry to change into, doing so would require her to undress first and she wasn't entirely sure she wished to do that.
Secunda had seen her bare, as had Lady Elfin, and Arlisse had dreamed about Olwen seeing her in such a way for so long that she felt little embarrassment over actually disrobing in front of him - but Ithil was another matter entirely.
Fortunately, Ithil only stayed long enough to give Olwen his change of clothes before he ran back to 'help' Lady Elfin - who was using her power to heal her son's injury.
Arlisse kept a close eye on Ithil and got changed as quickly as she could.
She also managed to keep herself from looking to see if Olwen was watching her - although her heart was racing as her spine tingled with the feeling that he was.
The borrowed shirt was a little too long for her, but it worked well as a makeshift tunic and she was relieved to see that the top - while snug - was not too revealing. She felt quite decently covered and turned around to face the fire with confidence.
As she whirled around again, Arlisse mentally cursed Olwen for being so self-assured that he was able to stand with his backside facing the fire - so close that there was a good chance of roasted Olwen in the near future.
Especially when he - and his backside - were still completely naked.
His crossed arms may have preserved his nipples' modesty, but they did nothing for the rest of him.
Hopefully her blush would fade sometime within the next week.
Lady Elfin's amused voice cut through Arlisse's line of thought. "Olwen... do put some clothes on. You are proving to be rather distracting."
Arlisse had a feeling she should consider herself most fortunate that Lady Elfin had not said who he was distracting.
She didn't have to look at Olwen to know that he was arching his eyebrow at the lady elf's words. Or that he would then do as she asked.
Although he was about as predictable as the landing site for a leaf being blown in a gale during a snowstorm - he did have his moments.
Her ears told her that he was indeed doing as he had been asked. When she was sure he was dressed, Arlisse risked turning around again. She smiled shyly at Olwen as she moved a little closer to the welcome warmth of the fire - and tried to ignore the way her heart beat a little faster or the thought that she had been warmer while sitting beside him in the cave.
A groan came from the bed.
"M...Mother?" Secunda's voice was soft and ended in another groan.
Elfin smiled gently and stroked her son's hair. "Aye, my sweet son. All is well."
"Olwen... Arlisse..."
"Are safe also." Elfin looked concerned as Secunda tried to sit up and fell back with yet another groan. "You were injured. Do you still hurt?"
"My head aches a little." Secunda made a soft sound as his mother lightly stroked his forehead - her hand shining briefly with a pale blue light. "Oh..."
Elfin was still smiling. "Better now?"
"Aye." Secunda smiled a little in return. "What happened?"
Olwen headed over to the bed. "Tree branch." He looked rather grumpy, although whether it was because he was disgusted that it had been something that simple, or that he had been unable to keep it from happening, was anyone's guess.
Secunda winced and bit his lip, looking contrite. "I am sorry for worrying you." He reached a hand out towards Olwen and smiled - his cheeks colouring a little - when his lover caught it and held it tightly.
"Hn. Do not do it again." Olwen scowled at him and then turned an even fiercer scowl on Arlisse as she joined him.
Ignoring Olwen, Arlisse smiled at Secunda. "I am relieved you are well."
Secunda smiled back at her, his cheeks darkening. "Thank you."
"Well... now that you three are safe and well, I shall leave you." Elfin smiled at them all. "I have told Arlisse's atar that she will wait out the storm here."
With those words still hanging in the air around the three surprised Mordel, Elfin vanished.
Arlisse could feel her cheeks burning again as she kept her gaze firmly on the floor.
"Perhaps we should go and sit by the fire?" Secunda's voice sounded a little tense.
"Snuggling in bed would be warmer." Ithil's voice was pure happy innocence.
Arlisse wondered if she was still the only one blushing.
She bit her lip and risked lifting her eyes... and found herself looking into Olwen's scowling face.
He wasn't blushing.
But Secunda was.
"I... I do not think that would be a very good idea, Ithil." Secunda stared down at the bed and looked very uncomfortable.
Olwen's scowl deepened as he looked from Arlisse to Secunda. He strode over and both the other Mordel gasped as he began to remove Secunda's shirt.
"Olwen! Wh... what are you doing?" Secunda stared at the other male as if he had suddenly grown two more heads.
Olwen frowned at him. "You are wet."
Arlisse caught herself staring as a tug-of-war over ownership of Secunda's clothes began. She whirled around and started towards the fire. "I... will go over there."
As the girl settled down on the soft rug in front of the blazing fire, she did her best to distract herself from listening to the sounds of the two boys battling - which soon became soft moans and sighs.
Unfortunately, her mind was all too happy to provide her with mental images to accompany what she was not listening to.
Ithil plopped down on the rug beside her and leaned against her side. "They do that a lot." He smiled up at her. "You do not want to play with them?" His look turned curious. "Oh... you are all red again."
Arlisse remained 'all red' for the rest of the hour before the storm finally let up enough for her to return home - her leaving and her goodbyes going entirely unnoticed by the two 'busy' Mordel males who would feature in her dreams for the rest of the week.
end