Faramir Fiction Archive

Tales from Gondor (R)

Written by Minx

23 September 2012 | 36179 words

Title: Cake and Conversation
Author: Minx
Pairing: Aragorn / Faramir
Rating: PG
Warnings: Slash, fluff
Disclaimer: All characters and places are Tolkien’s.
Author’s Notes: Written for the ‘Jealousy’ prompt for the 25fluffyfics community. Many thanks to iris for her help!
Summary: Faramir’s been busy…

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Gandalf sat next to Aragorn at the luncheon table and reached for an apple.

“Wonderful day isn’t it?” he said in a booming, cheerful voice that had Aragorn glaring at him balefully.

Aragorn had spent the morning dealing with two fractious guildmasters, who had insisted on having him mediate their dispute on pricing of supplies to each other. Next to him, Legolas and Gimli were having a loud and extremely boring argument about the merits and demerits of various road laying surfaces in varying climatic conditions. Next to them Merry and Pippin were squabbling over the location of a tavern.

A giggling sound from the far end of the table had him looking up in surprise. Faramir sat there with the twins; the three had their heads together, and were whispering furiously and giggling every now and then.

“What are those two up to now?” Aragorn sighed.

“I shudder to think,” Gandalf said, “Is that seed cake?”

Aragorn ignored the query and continued studying the three raven heads. The twins and Faramir had of late become quite friendly! It was partly due to his own instigation; he’d noticed Faramir’s shyness around them, and had encouraged his quiet young Steward to talk freely to his brothers. Faramir’s interest in lore and his general curiosity and thirst for knowledge would have been well appreciated in any elven realm. He liked Faramir a great deal, and he wished they could be more than just good friends. He’d thought that the Steward too would like that.

“The twins certainly seem to be spending a lot of time with Faramir,” Gandalf remarked suddenly, “They went to the taverns two nights ago; had quite a night of it too from what I hear. Did you know Elladan can balance a cup on his head even after he’s had seven mugs of ale?”

Aragorn nodded distractedly.

“A little too much time,” Gandalf said darkly, “He’s a very nice lad, Aragorn!”

“It’s nice to see him so cheerful,” Aragorn said quietly.

They sat in silence for a while, Gandalf sipping his tea, while Aragorn picked at a loose thread in his robes, and tried not to glance towards the other.

“You are right,” Gandalf said suddenly, “It is good to see him smile like this.”

Aragorn suddenly wished he could make Faramir smile like that too, that beautiful, lovely smile that seemed to light up his face.

That evening when Aragorn sought Faramir out in the hope of sharing a quiet tea with him in his study, he was told the Steward had gone riding with the twins. He had his tea alone in the terrace outside his chambers. He tried leafing through the books he’d received from Elrond; but felt disinterested soon. His gaze kept wandering to the view outside. He could see the city gates and the Pelennor clearly. Every now and then he’d see a group of riders coming towards the city, and would sit up. And then sigh when he’d realise they were just soldiers or merchants. He wondered how Faramir might be doing. Sometimes his brothers could be very overwhelming. But they were also very friendly and kind, and had warmed to the quiet, gentle young man very soon. He remembered how as a young lad, they’d taught him to ride and hunt and handle weapons in the manner of the elves; their graceful movements had awed him.

He could well imagine Faramir’s eagerness to learn from them. The thought left him strangely wistful. He sighed and closed his book.

At the council meeting, the next morning, while discussing the fortifications being reconstructed along the Pelennor, Faramir made a few references to his ride the previous day. He had inputs to give too on some of the plans. Lord Elladan had suggested a different material on one of the marshier banks. And Lord Elrohir had recommended trees that could hold in the water during the rains.

Aragorn listened patiently, all the while deciding that he would ask Faramir to join him on a ride later that evening.

As the day progressed however, the clear skies of the day before gave way to wispy grey clouds, and then darker ones, so that finally by tea time, it was raining hard enough to prevent anyone from going outside.

The hobbits suggested an indoor game of Catch the Dragon that Aragorn was familiar with and disliked greatly, so he invented a meeting and made for the library, quite sure that Faramir too would come there in a while. Faramir however was dragged away by his brothers to join in the hobbits’ game instead.

And Aragorn spent another evening all by himself until Gandalf came by, complaining about the amount of noise the players were making.

“They’ve even got Faramir shouting!” he complained, “I think Elrohir was tickling him, so I wouldn’t blame him, but really…”

Later the next day, Aragorn finally managed to snag some time alone with Faramir in his study.

“Did you have a nice time yesterday?” he asked quietly, observing the young Steward’s face, cheerful and relaxed.

“Oh yes!” Faramir said excitedly, “We played this really nice game the hobbits taught us… ,” and then he hesitated, “Of course, it is a little childish…”

“But fun,” Aragorn said, smiling.

“Aye,” Faramir said, smiling, “And after that we went to the indoor archery courts. Your brothers had been promising me they’d show me some of the elven archery techniques.”

“Oh!” Aragorn said.

“Elrohir let me use his bow… it’s so light! You were right,” he continued, “They are really very kind and nice. I can’t imagine why I used to feel so awkward around them. They must have thought me a fool.”

“No one would ever think you a fool!” Aragorn interposed immediately.

“They are really nice,” Faramir said, agreeably.

Aragorn returned to brooding over a trade treaty.

The next few days flew by rather quickly; Aragorn spent a lot of time with a Rhunic ambassador, and so Faramir spent a lot more of his time with the twins. Since the twins spent a great deal of their time in Minas Tirith outside the city, Faramir too was away a lot. Aragorn hated their evening sorties the most; it meant Faramir returned late. And while he always accepted Aragorn’s invitation for a cup of wine in his study, the king himself hated keeping Faramir awake too late into the night; the younger man still didn’t look completely recovered from his injuries and illnesses from the war.

Besides, talk always turned to his latest exploits with the twins and Aragorn was beginning to get heartily sick of hearing what his brothers had said or done.

Some days later, Aragorn was invited by the twins to join them on a ride north of the city. It had been a while since he’d had a nice, long ride they told him.

Aragorn declined politely; he had too much work.

“There’s work on the fortifications happening along that stretch of the river as well,” Elrohir said encouragingly.

“You could ask Faramir along,” Aragorn suggested, “You may all find it far more enjoyable.”

“Oh dear, no!” Elrhoir said dramatically, “Not Faramir!”

Aragorn looked at him puzzled.

“Oh, he’s very nice,” Elrohir said, “But it gets a little tedious with him.”

Aragorn frowned at that. Faramir was one of the nicest, most accommodating people he knew. He couldn’t ever imagine anyone finding him tedious. He opened his mouth to argue but Elladan forestalled him.

“Yes, all he ever wants to speak of is you!”

“We spoke to him of riding through the woods, and he immediately starts telling us what a wonderful rider you are. We know you are a fair enough rider but certainly not as exalted as he says.”

“I told him about the inn we used to specially visit in Hobbiton to eat seedcakes and all he wanted to know was whether you liked them and would caraway seeds be better than sunflower seeds!”

“I didn’t even know those cakes had sunflower seeds,” Elrohir complained, “Ugh.”

“I don’t remember eating seedcakes with you in Hobbiton,” Aragorn said suddenly.

“Oh, perhaps that was Arathorn we used to go with, then,” Elladan said, shrugging, “Be that as it may, much as we like you, Estel, my dear, we cannot spend another afternoon talking about you. I think too, that we have provided him enough information on you. There are some things that are better left to be found out on one’s own.”

Aragorn stared at his brothers who were smirking at him rather awfully.

“I thought I’d tell him you dislike turnips,” Elrohir said suddenly, “Because I don’t, you see,’ he explained to his brothers who clearly didn’t see.

“He’d tell the kitchens to never again prepare turnips, if he finds out you don’t like them.”

Aragorn simply snorted. But he found he couldn’t stop smiling.

That afternoon, he located Faramir in the library, and invited him for tea in his study.

The kitchens sent over a large tray full of seedcakes, among other things.

“Elrohir said you used to love these as a child,” Faramir said, as Aragorn stared at the tray with interest, “So I asked the kitchens to make more than usual. They’re sunflower seeds of course, but Mithrandir says they do not taste very different here.”

“Ah,” Aragorn said as he ate one thoughtfully.

They ate in a comfortable silence, talking of very general things – a council meeting, a new treaty, the hobbits… until finally the food was over, and the light outside had started to dim.

“I’ll leave you to your work now. I know you have a meeting with the carpenter’s guild later in the evening,” Faramir said, although he made no move to rise.

“I’ve asked them to meet me tomorrow instead,” Aragorn told him.

“Oh,” Faramir said. Aragorn thought he looked cheered by the news.

“I hoped you’d stay longer today,” Aragorn said softly, “I thought perhaps we could get to know each other better.”

Faramir smiled suddenly, a sweet, shy smile, “I would like that,” he replied softly.

The next evening, dinner consisted of turnip stew. Faramir had second and third helpings, even as Aragorn watched on indulgently.

“Faramir likes turnips a lot,” he told a very glum Elrohir, “Gandalf told me.”

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