Title: In the Company of Men, part 5
Author: Sunraven
Feedback: sunravenbjw@verizon.net 
Pairing: Boromir/Aragorn, mention of legolas/gimli 
Category: Mixture of comedy and angst and striving
Date: 27-Feb-07
Status: U
Series: yes  
Synopsis: The path thru the mines of Moria.  Boromir has a little 
embarassing problem.
Notes: Mixture of JRRT's book and the movie universe, whichever fits my 
plot better at the time.
Warnings: R rated
Disclaimer: Not my property. No profit

_______________________


The trip down the mountain and south to the path that led eventually into 
the mines of Moria was a time of relief for the entire fellowship.  They 
stayed under the shadow of the misty mountains to hide themselves from 
the eyes of Sauron and Saruman.

Pippen and Merry were coming along nicely with regards to their sword 
lessons from Boromir.

"Good!  Pippen, now make a pass at Merry."  

Pippen yelled and jumped towards his friend, swinging his sword towards 
Merry with an enthusiasm making up somewhat for the hobbit's lack of 
skill.  Merry stood fast and caught the other hobbit's blade against his 
own.

"No, Merry!  You and Pippen are equally matched in strength, but if you 
both just pound away at each other like that, you will soon tire with 
unnecessary bruising to your muscles.  Step back and to the side, let 
Pippen's blade pass by you like the wind passes around a blade of grass.  
Then he would be at your mercy."

Merry grinned at Pippen, more a leer than anything else.  "I want you at 
my mercy, cousin."

"In your dreams, Merry!"

"Now, both of you, remember:  be as supple as the blade of grass."

Boromir sat down on the rock next to Aragorn, who watched the halflings 
as they sparred.

"They are starting to gain a little skill with their blades."  Boromir 
whispered quietly to his friend.

"They have a good teacher."  Aragorn's face darkened.  "I am afraid that 
they will need this skill, with the road we have decided to travel."

"I have heard of Moria, but only the usual tales that the old dames tell 
to frighten small children into behaving."

Aragorn looked at his lover.  "I am neither a dame, nor are you a small 
child, Boromir.  Yet the thought of entering the constant dark of Moria 
fills me with fear."

"Gandalf seems concerned as well.  What is it that you know about this 
place?  Tell me."

"Nothing in detail, for I only went through it once before, when I was 
young and was in great need.  The darkness felt as though it was 
smothering the very life within my chest."

Boromir's face echoed his concern.  "There is not much that causes you 
fear, Aragorn.  What did you see when you passed through there that still 
bothers you up till this day?"

"I found sign of something very large, of an evil that is almost extinct 
in these days of Middle-Earth.  Both fire and darkness.  Not to mention 
that the place was filthy with goblins at the time."

"What of Gimli's cousin Bali?  He speaks enough of him."

"Bali traveled to re-work Moria over fifteen years ago.  The Blue 
Mountain dwarves received messages from him for a while, but nothing for 
the last eight or so years at least, according to Gandalf."

Boromir shook his head.  "That bodes no good, that long silence."

"No. It does not."

Boromir stood up, putting his hand lightly on his lover's shoulder as he 
rose.  "I am thirsty and have to relieve myself.  I think I will take a 
walk down to the stream and refill my water bag."

Pippen, who had heard the Gondorian's last comment, ran up to Boromir.  
"Can I come too, Boromir?  I am also thirsty, and Sam wants me to get 
some water for tea."

"Of course, Pippen, as long as you don't mind a stop at the privy hedge 
first."

"Nae, not at all.  Let's go!"

Aragorn sat smoking and listening to the three hobbits talking to each 
other.  Gandalf was meditating, and Gimli and Legolas were over near 
their bedrolls speaking quietly to each other.  He forced his mind off of 
the long dark they were headed for at the dimrhil gate.  What would be, 
would be. 

When Boromir came back with Pippen following him, Aragorn looked up at 
his lover in surprise.  He knew that flushed look and flashing green eyes 
intimately.  Why was Boromir embarrassed?

"Boromir?"

The other man shook his head with a warning look and said, "I think I am 
going to go to my bedroll now.  Do you wish to go as well?"

"Aye, I might as well.  All I will do is sit and brood, else."  He tapped 
his pipe against the rock to clear it, and placed it back in its place in 
his pocket.  His curiosity was more than roused by now, and he wanted to 
find out what had put Boromir into such an ill humor.

After they had gotten under their blankets, Aragorn moved closer to his 
lover and whispered, "What has gotten you so embarrassed?  You haven't 
looked that way since we took our first bath together and I offered to 
wash your back."

"I've got a problem, Aragorn."

Concerned now, Aragorn asked, "What has happened?"

"Promise me you won't laugh!"

"Not laugh?  Did we lay in the nettles last night and now you have a rash 
or something?"

"No!"

"Then what?"

"Pippen tried to seduce me down by the stream, is what!  He offered to 
suck me off."

Aragorn really tried.  He tried hard not to let the smile come out at the 
Gondorian's words.  But the image was just too much!  He smiled, then 
giggled, a very un-kingly sound.

"Stop it!  Stop laughing, or I will let you sleep alone tonight, Ranger!  
It isn't funny."

Aragorn fought and finally controlled his mirth.  "What did you say to 
him in response, Boromir?  You did not hurt his feelings, did you?"

"What do you think I am?  A monster?  I thanked him for his kind thought, 
and told him that I didn't think it would be a good idea.  Our sizes were 
just too disparate."

"Well, /that/ is certainly true.  Perhaps he doesn't realize exactly how 
much larger you are than he, Boromir."

"He has seen me naked.  He knows how large I am."

"There is naked, and then there is /naked/.  He would barely be able to 
take in the tip of you, when you are erect."

"Oh stop it!  I don't need that image in my mind, Aragorn.  You know he 
has had a hero-worship for me for a while.  But I never thought he would 
try to take it further.  He and Merry have always seemed so close.  And 
he is so /small/."

"Still, I suppose where there is the will, a way could probably be 
found."

As his outraged and very ruffled lover started getting up to move, 
Aragorn firmly pulled him back down and into his arms.

"Don't leave.  I am only teasing you.  I am also glad you did not hurt 
the little one's feelings."

"I like Pippen, Aragorn.  If I ever had a son, I would be glad to have 
one as stout-hearted as the littlest hobbit.  What am I going to do?"

"Do you want me to speak with him?  I am surprised that he has not 
realized by now about us."

"I know.  We have been discrete, but we haven't hidden our actions.  
Maybe we have been too discrete."

"Perhaps so.  I will speak to him tomorrow."

"What are you going to tell him?"

"That there is already a claim on you, because you are mine.  What else?"

Boromir smiled finally.  "You are arrogant, Ranger, aren't you?  Yours, 
indeed."

"There is no arrogance involved.  You do not wish to take another lover 
at this time, do you?"

"I can barely keep up with you, you old lecher!  How would I take 
another?"

"Old lecher!  You make me sound like I have been dandling you poor young 
thing on my ancient knees, man of Gondor!"

"Ancient and creaky knees, at that."  Now Boromir was smiling.  "And I 
think it was me who was doing the dandling the first time, if I remember 
correctly."

"I will show you who has creaky knees!"

After Aragorn showed his lover just how energetic he could be in a method 
that left Boromir sated and exhausted, they continued the conversation.

"Seriously, Aragorn, would you speak with Pippen for me?  You use your 
tongue so much better than I do."

"I doubt that, Boromir.  You used yours pretty well a few moments ago.  
If you had not put your hand over my mouth, I might have yelled and 
embarrassed us both.  In any case, I will speak with Pippen.  Even if 
your sizes were not so disparate, you are not a man who takes more than 
one lover at a time.  I know that, and that is what I will tell Pippen."

"Thank you, my King."

"Do not call me that in joking, Boromir."

"I have not joked about you being the King of Gondor since a few days 
after I met you, Aragorn.  You are what you are.  Sooner or later, you 
will realize that it isn't a sword or the shards of one that makes a 
King.  It is what is in his heart.  I hope to see that before I die, when 
the rightful King finally decides to leave the shadows and claim his 
birthright."

"Boromir!  Do no talk of dying, even in jest.  It is bad luck, and I will 
not hear of it coming from your lips!"

Boromir looked at Aragorn in the dimness, seeing only his outline and the 
flash of his annoyed blue eyes.  "I have been a soldier in a constant 
battle with evil my entire life, Aragorn.  Death will probably be my fate 
in any case, though it seems more likely sooner than late, with this 
accursed mission we are on.  And luck, good or bad, has nothing to do 
with it.  Rare has there been over the last few centuries a ruling 
Steward of Gondor who has died peacefully in his old age in his bed.  It 
is the price we have paid because your kin stayed in the shadows."

Before Aragorn could respond, Boromir put his fingers over his lips to 
stop him from commenting and said quietly, "It is a fate that we have 
been proud to bear, my King.  To hold Gondor safe until one of the line 
of Isildur steps forward to take the reigns of kingship back into his 
hands."

"You humble me with your kingly words, Steward-Prince.  I just wish I 
believed that I was worthy of them."

"You are more than worthy, love.  And you will find that out, before this 
is all over."  

Aragorn heard the affectionate name, and didn't know what to say.  That 
this proud man could love him and believe in his greatness was a gift 
that he didn't deserve. 
 
Boromir stretched a little to find a more comfortable position on the 
rocky ground.  "If this fellowship does nothing so much, it will have at 
least have allowed me to see a little more of Middle-Earth than my one 
little area of it in Gondor."

"Boromir!  You have never been outside of Gondor before this?"

Surprised at Aragorn's surprise, Boromir said with a small smile, "This 
is the first time.  I wouldn't have come in this case if my Father hadn't 
forced me to do so.  Little did he know what danger he was putting his 
eldest through, eh?"  Boromir's smile got bigger. "If he found I was 
sharing a bedroll with the future King of Gondor, he would think of 
disowning me, I don't think.  He never approved of my tastes, or of 
Hammain.  I think he would hate you even more than he hated Ham, 
Aragorn."

"Your kin have held a difficult post for a very long time, Boromir.  He 
is entitled to his hatred of my people, I don't think."  Aragorn 
tightened his arms around his lover.  "In any case, Boromir, we have a 
very long, dark way to go before we can stand in the white city together 
so your Father could see who you have taken for a lover."

"Yes.  That is true.  Good night, Aragorn.  Sleep well." The Gondorian 
turned on his side, which was his favorite position to sleep. 

"You as well."  Aragorn kissed Boromir's neck and spooned tightly around 
him, as though he would get under Boromir's skin with him.  After he 
heard his lover's soft snore, he whispered quietly into his hair, "I love 
you too, Son of Gondor."
______________________


"Pippen.  May I speak with you for a moment?"

Merry and Pippen looked up from where they were walking close together.

"Aye, Aragorn.  What is it?"

Aragorn looked over at Merry.  "Could we have a moment of solitude, 
Merry?"

"Of course."

Merry glanced one more time at the other hobbit, then walked over to 
where Gandalf and Legolas were talking as they walked along.

"What is it, Aragorn?"

"My friend, I would like to speak with you about your offer to Boromir 
the other night."

"You don't need to say anything, Aragorn.  I could tell that I insulted 
Boromir when I made the suggestion I did.  I guess my people are more 
open about such things than the men of Gondor."

Aragorn put his hand on Pippen's head briefly.  "You did not insult him, 
Pippen.  You shocked him."

"Why?  Because I am smaller than he?  Does he think that my size means 
that I am a child, not an adult, with adult needs and wants?"

"None of those things.  I think he was shocked that you would want to 
join with him at all.  He told me he was really flattered."

"Boromir is beautiful and strong.  Anyone would be lucky to be his 
lover."

"Yes, that is true.  But he does not see himself that way.  He thinks of 
himself as just another soldier of Gondor.  That is why he was so 
surprised at your offer, I think."

"Oh.  Why is he having you speak to me of it, instead of speaking with me 
himself, Aragorn?"

"I decided to speak to you on my own.  To let you know that Boromir is 
not the type of man who would allow himself more than one lover at a 
time.  And he is already taken, at this point."

"By who?"

"By me, Pippen."

"You and him?  How did we miss that?"

Aragorn smiled.  "We have tried to be discrete.  Screaming aloud in 
ecstasy every night would have endangered the fellowship."

Pippen smiled back at the man.  "No wonder he didn't want me!  What about 
Arwin, Aragorn?  What about that jewel you wear?"

"I have asked Arwin to forget about me, Pippen, and to take the ship of 
her people into the west, where she can live forever.  I would not have 
her die to be with me.  She made me keep the jewel as a gift of 
remembrance."

"That is a noble thought, to save your love from a short life."  Pippen's 
smile became a huge grin.  "Just the thought of the two of you men 
rumbling under the blankets turns my head, Aragorn.  I hope you don't 
mind if once in a while I fantasized of what can't ever be?"

Aragorn's face suffused with blood in his embarrassment at the hobbit's 
teasing.

"Pippen!  Please!"

Pippen laughed out loud, patted Aragorn on the arm, then ran up to where 
Merry was now walking near Sam and Frodo, no doubt to immediately share 
this news with his friends.

Aragorn dropped back to where Boromir was walking in the rear position.

"How did it go?  You are blushing, Aragorn.  What did he say to you?"

"He said that the thought of us together would lead him to some pleasant 
fantasies."

Boromir laughed suddenly.  "He said that, did he?  Cheeky little hobbit!  
I think I will give Merry a few extra tips at our next sword lesson so 
that he can teach Pippen a lesson."

Aragorn placed his hand on Boromir's neck, stroking his lover fondly.  "I 
think I will do so as well.  Though I do not think that doing that will 
lessen Pippen's spirit.  I just hope that nothing will lessen it on this 
road we are traveling."

"I agree completely.  I would hate to see his spirit dampened.  Just 
being the way he is lights my own spirit and fills me with joy."

"As long as it is only your spirit that is filled with joy by Pippen, and 
not your body, I can agree with you on that."

"Aragorn!  You aren't jealous of Pippen, are you?  As you said the other 
night, he could not come near handling me naked."

"And as I said then, where there was a will, a way could probably be 
found, no matter how large you are."

"You are being silly!  I will hear no more talk like that."  Boromir 
snapped, his face darkening in embarrassment.

"I am just teasing you again, because you are so serious most of the 
time, Boromir.  As to what you said about lessening of Pippen's spirit, 
well, we will just have to protect him from anything that would cause him 
sadness, if we can."

"Aye.  If we can, we will do that."

------------------

Moria

As the fellowship moved across the rocky path between the lake and the 
Dimrhil gate into Moria, Boromir saw his lover stop to stare suspiciously 
out at the filthy water.  It shined dully with a sullen red glaze from 
the setting sun.  

Boromir stopped behind Aragorn and said into his ear, "I mislike that 
water, Aragorn.  It has the dark one's taint to it.  There are areas in 
Gondor and Ithilian that have the same taint, and it is familiar to me."

"Yes, I sense the same.  Let us not disturb it while we are here."

As the moon came out, the two men sat on a downed hawthorne tree and 
watched as the moonlight brought out the mithril outline of the gate into 
Moria.

"It is beautiful, is it not?"

Boromir looked over at Aragorn.  "Yes it is.  Are you starting to feel 
better about going inside?"

"No.  But that doesn't mean that I need to ignore the incredible 
craftmanship of the dwarves of old."  Aragorn caught his lover's eyes 
with his own.  "Admiring the gate keeps me from throwing you down to this 
ground and loving you in front of the entire fellowship because you look 
so beautiful to me in the moon and starlight and the gleam of mithril."

Boromir smiled broadly, chuckling quietly.  "Oh, come, man!  You think 
that I look beautiful in /every/ light.  Throw me down, indeed!  You mean 
to give Pippen more fuel for his fantasies?  That is, if I would even let 
you throw me down, instead of doing so to you!  I swear, Aragorn, your 
eyes look to me like ice on fire in this light!  You know, this dark 
place could use some good old-fashioned joy in it."

Aragorn smiled back at his lover.  "Yes, it could at that."  Under the 
cover of their cloaks, he reached over at took Boromir's hand.  "But I am 
afraid that we must await Gandalf before we can think about being 
together again.  Though it does seem that he is not having much success 
in getting the door open."  

"No. He is not having much success at all."

As the two men talked, Pippen and Merry, who were easily bored, started 
throwing stones into the water. 

Aragorn, once he noticed, got up and grabbed Pippen, stopping his throw 
with a whisper.  "Do not disturb the water!"

Right after that, Frodo figured out the riddle to the gate, and the gate 
opened into the dark mines. 

Once they were in the mine and Gandalf had conjured a light, the 
fellowship realized that the floor of the cave was littered with dead 
dwarf bodies.  

Boromir said angrily, "This is no mine.  It is a tomb!  We should never 
have come this way.  We must leave and head for the Gap of Rohan."

Gandalf agreed, but before they could turn around, huge tentacles came 
out from the lake and wrapped around Frodo and started dragging him into 
the water!

Boromir and Aragorn fought desperately to free the Ringbearer from the 
evil creature, finally resulting in Frodo falling into Boromir's arms.  
The Gondorian yelled to Legolas to shoot the creature as it followed them 
into the mine, and the elf did so.  But the arrow to its head was not 
enough to stop it.  The creature crawled up the shore and started 
bringing down the stones around the gate, causing a collapse of the 
opening and trapping them inside.

"Now we must face the long dark of Moria!"

Boromir looked at Aragorn, his green eyes troubled.  Aragorn smiled and 
reached up and stroked his lover's neck.  "We will be fine.  You will 
see."

Boromir nodded, though he was not comforted.  Was this dark place where 
his life would end?

The Steward-Prince of Gondor stroked his sword hilt, then his hand 
stilled.  What would be, would be.  Worrying would just take his strength 
away when he needed it the most to protect the ringbearer and his love 
from harm.  That, he could deal with from long practice, and he did so.