life, and this is my punishment. He sighed and looked down at his
feet - well not his feet; Frodo's feet, hairy and dirty and beginning
to come away at the ankle. Elijah blew out a despondent lungful of
smoke and then ground out his cigarette, probably damaging the
prosthetic, but finding it hard to care for a bit of latex.
Two days. Two days since he had woken up in the warmth and security
of Ian's bed after one of the best night's sleep he could remember.
He had reached out an arm expecting warm flesh but had met only cool
cotton, and just as he had opened his mouth to call Ian's name, the
older man had appeared in the doorway of the bedroom, a tray in his
hands. Elijah had sighed and collapsed back onto the mattress.
"You should never start work without having something decent to eat,"
Ian had said, setting the tray down before sitting on the bed next to
Elijah, one hand resting on his shoulder, the fingers slowly
clenching and unclenching - not quite stroking, but not still.
"What time is it?" Elijah had asked, doing his best to appear
indifferent to the soft touch.
"Four. The car will be here soon. How are you, dear boy? Did you
sleep well?"
"Very well." Elijah had taken Ian's free hand and placed it on his
belly, under the baggy t-shirt, then covered it with both his own
hands and smiled.
"Sleep soft," Ian had muttered, making Elijah frown and ask a silent
question. "You're sleep soft. You haven't got your sharp edges on
yet," Ian explained. "It's the one time when people are at their
most vulnerable, when they've just woken." Then he had moved his
hand softly on Elijah's belly, and lowering his head had kissed
Elijah's chest, through the t-shirt, making Elijah flinch and giggle
sleepily.
"Do I get another lesson tonight?" he had asked, surprised and
disappointed when Ian had shaken his head. "Why not?"
"Because our next step will be a big one," Ian had answered
seriously. "And I want to give you time to think whether you want it
to happen."
*
And Elijah had been thinking of little else for the past two days.
Days he had spent on his own, separated from all his friends, while
he did the loathed blue screen work. They were all in the huge
studio, some of them doing motion capture, others working on blue
screen in a separate part of the building. But he was effectively
alone.
A big step, he thought as his ankle was strapped up for the millionth
time that day in order for him to be thrown about above some not very
soft looking blue mats. How big a step? What?
"Ow, fuck!" He glared at Adam, the guy in charge of fastening him
into the various harnesses he had to wear. "That hurt!" He rubbed
his ankle.
"Sorry," Adam apologised. "You okay?"
"Course I am," Elijah smiled. "Over-reacted there. Sorry." He
moved his hand and watched as the thick band was tightened.
It was only when he was upside down, starting to feel dizzy as the
blood rushed to his brain that he had any respite from the workings
of his mind.
*
He was sitting with Sean and Billy as they ate their lunch when he
next saw Ian. He was in the middle of a long story involving
swinging upside down and the effect it had on various parts of your
body, when a hand on his shoulder made him jump.
"Aren't you eating, Elijah?" Ian's voice was smooth and Elijah could
feel himself reacting. "You should eat."
"No," he answered, his voice remarkably calm. "I'll end up throwing
up if I eat."
"But you have to eat!" Sean looked at Ian pleadingly. "I've been
trying to get him to have some lunch, but he just won't shift. Can't
you use your wizardly powers or something?"
"Sean dear, I'm not really a wizard, you know." Ian sat next to
Elijah.
"No, and I'm not really a fat hobbit," replied Sean. "You know what
