In Twilight

A/N: A bit of humor halfway through the story. Another big thanks to Ilye for beta reading and all you readers keeping up with my horrid piece of fiction. I'll have to work harder this week and write faster since many of you are waiting for other chapter additions to other stories I'm writing. Sorry to keep you waiting!

/ / denotes thoughts.
~~~~~~~~~ denotes changes in scene.

Chapter 10: Curiosity
Summary: Though he has been with his lover for two hundred years, Legolas finds he knows much about Elladan the warrior and adult, but little about him as a child. Curious, the prince confronts Elrond’s trusted advisors, and former tutors to the twins, about the eldest son.

He found it wildly curious as he watched with keen sapphire eyes from his perch on the balcony, while the object of his endless affection mounted the stallion and rode off with the morning’s patrol. Over the past few days during his yearly visit to Imladris, Legolas couldn’t help but notice how little he knew about Elladan. He had pondered the thought before; Mirkwood’s youngest prince had known his dark-haired lover for a little over two centuries now. He had seen Elladan the elf, Elladan the warrior, Elladan the son and brother, and, of course, Elladan the lover. But, Legolas realized, he knew nothing about Elladan the child, and whatever mischievous things he might have gotten himself into, which, he suspected, numbered among the plenty.

Deciding to rectify the problem, Legolas stepped away from his balcony perch to turn and head down the vast and intricate corridors of the Last Homely House, seeking out someone who could tell him a story, or two. He passed a few servants, whom he greeted along the way, familiar with many of the inhabitants of Imladris from his visits over the years. The young prince wandered the halls without thinking too much about where he was going. Turning a corner, he nearly collided with his sister, who was eagerly dragging his two brothers by the wrists.

“Oh, Legolas!” Nimriel cried in excitement, rocking on her heels, as she was unable to keep still in her sudden excitement. “Come with us! Gildor is visiting, and we are going riding with him. Arwen and Elrohir are coming along as well. Please say you‘ll join us.” Legolas smiled at her somewhat childish nature. Now well into her six hundred years, Nimriel still acted much like an elfling. He would have loved to join her, and have a pleasant conversation with Gildor, but he had other matters in mind.

“Nay, gwathul-nîn,” he declined gently with a chaste kiss to her golden crown of hair. “I wish to speak with Glorfindel and Erestor today. Please give Gildor my regards, and tell him I shall speak with him at the evening meal.”

“I will.” With a dazzling smile, and a quick kiss upon her brother‘s cheek, Nimriel proceeded down the corridor towards the stables, still dragging her two other very reluctant brothers behind her. Legolas chuckled softly to himself at the sight, especially that of Arondil and Celeron’s much annoyed faces, before continuing on his way towards the library.

The large oak doors opened at the faintest touch, barely making a sound on their hinges. Rows of shelves lined with scrolls and books decorated the much-used library, the room where most of Elrond’s paperwork was stored. Passing the stacks, Legolas found the lord’s two advisors sitting at a table near the large paneled windows, maps of Imladris spread out before them as they spoke in hushed whispers about various things concerning the valley haven. For a moment Legolas was silent, watching the two of them converse, before Erestor sensed the prince’s presence and turned to him.

“Mae govannen, Legolas Thranduilion,” the dark haired advisor greeted. At the sound of the greeting, Glorfindel looked up, following Erestor’s gaze before smiling and bowing to the prince.

“Mae govannen, Erestor, Glorfindel.”

“What brings you to the library this morn so that you may grace up with your presence, ernil-taur?” Glorfindel inquired, re-rolling a few of the maps and setting them aside to allow his lean form to perch on a corner of the table. Erestor remained seated, slim hands folded upon each other as they rested on the table. Legolas took a seat opposite both of them, tilting his head slightly as he thought of what to say. “I would think you had other things you would rather be doing than spending time with two old elves, such as ourselves.” Legolas grinned at Glorfindel’s good-natured teasing before speaking

“I was wondering if you could enlighten me a little.”

“As to what?” Glorfindel’s curiosity was sparked to say the least. He had always found it fascinating how Elladan and Legolas seemed to compliment each other, much the same as between himself and the twin’s father. While the young prince seemed to enjoy the company of the pair of advisors, he spent less time with them than he did with the servants and stable hands. Legolas usually only sought out their company when he wanted to learn something about the twins that Elladan never spoke of.

“I was hoping you could tell me what Elladan was like as an elfling.” The silence that followed was stifling, or at least it felt that way to Legolas. For a moment, neither advisor spoke. Glorfindel seemed to be staring out at something through the windows while Erestor suddenly found his lap of great interest. Then, almost as one, the both of them broke out into laughter, having to lean on one another for fear of losing their balance and collapsing onto the floor in their hysterics. Legolas could do nothing but stare, completely confused by the scene taking place before him, especially that of Erestor. The dark-haired advisor always seemed stern, even when he was being pleasant--quite the opposite from Glorfindel, who was always lively and energetic, engaging the younger elves in sportive events. But, here was the pair of wise advisors, laughing in near hysterics, while leaving poor Legolas completely out of their amusement. Eventually they calmed, straightening their rumpled clothing as the last giggles left them.

“Forgive us, Legolas,” Erestor said at length, a bit breathless from his fit of laughter. “We weren’t expecting such a question from you.”

“Don’t misunderstand,” Glorfindel said quickly, reading the bristled expression coming to Legolas’ face. “We’re not amused by your question, but at the answers we could give you. Elladan and Elrohir were quite…precocious little elves when they were younger.” Another fit of laughter seized the blond Elda. “I will never forget the frazzled looks on Elrond’s face all those years.”

“Nor will I,” Erestor replied, trying desperately to stifle a giggle, but failing in his attempt. A faint smile of mirth began to tug at the corners of Legolas’ lips.

“So, they were a handful, I gather?” he asked innocently. Erestor nearly fell out of his chair at the question, but collected himself at the last moment.

“I believe ‘handful’ does not quite describe how they were. More like…terrors?”

“That’s more appropriate, I believe,” Glorfindel concurred with a nod of his head. “Always running around causing trouble, those two were. Few could calm them down when they were feeling mischievous. There were times when Elrond would throw up his hands in annoyance and frustration before threatening to feed the twins to the first dragon or Orc he could find.” Glorfindel sighed, a twinkle in his azure eyes. “Seems like forever ago, but it really wasn’t.” Legolas’ sapphire eyes widened at such a confession.

“They were THAT bad??”

“Oh yes, quite,” Erestor replied, smoothing out a wrinkle from his sleeve as if to distract himself. “Do you remember the time they decided to give one another haircuts, Glorfindel?” A loud snort issued from the blond before he said a word.

“That has got to be one of the worst times. I remember Elladan looking something like this.” Using his hands and hair, Glorfindel began to demonstrate, illustrating a lopsided coiffure with raggedly cut streams of hair on the right side, the left being impossibly short with frizzy ends hanging into his eyes. Legolas couldn’t help the sudden laughter that overcame him; he had to grip the arms of his chair hard to keep his seat, tears of mirth just beginning to roll down his cheeks.

“And Elrohir?” he managed to ask through his hysterics.

“Completely gone,” Erestor said as Glorfindel fixed his mane. “We fixed Elladan with a short cut, but Elrohir lost so much hair to the blade that nearly all of it was gone. The poor boy wouldn’t come of out his room for a week afterwards, then proceeded to blame Elladan for the whole incident. But, of course, it had been Elrohir’s idea from the start. I always thought the honey-in-bed incident was quite difficult to manage though.” The corners of Erestor’s lips twitched at the wide-eyed smile Legolas fixed on his person.

“Do tell,” Legolas said, rather insistently when Erestor didn’t speak right away.

“Well, the twins were quite fond of sweets when they were young.” A blush from the prince told the advisors at least one of them still was. “Every few nights or so, one of them, usually Elrohir, would sneak into the kitchen and pilfer a slice or two of bread, and either some butter, jam or honey. On this particular night, it was Elladan who snuck into the kitchen and indulged himself just a bit much with the honey.” Erestor paused for a moment as Glorfindel let out a snort of amusement in reference to the deepening flush on Legolas’ face; he chose not to comment as he continued. “Well, it all boils down to the two dozing off while in the middle of their snack. The next morning, Elrond received a knock on his chamber door and found two sticky, sheet-wrapped boys on the other side. They had been thrashing around in their sleep, mingling the honey and the linens to create a horrid mess in the morning.”

“The twins are quite active in their sleep sometimes,” Glorfindel commented.

“Aye, this I know.” Legolas bowed his head, unwilling to look into either of the advisors’ eyes. The blond Elda found the prince’s reactions highly amusing, but forced himself to concentrate on the subject of the conversation, at least for the time being. “So, how did you get them untangled?”

“We didn’t,” Erestor replied. “Elrond did. He was the only one awake at the time. The whole household awoke to a rather loud squawking sound. It took us a moment to realize the sound came from the baths. When we reached them, we discovered that Elrond had, rather unceremoniously, dumped both twins, and sticky sheets, into a pool.”

“Yes, indeed,” Glorfindel said, taking up the narration. “There, in the middle of the largest pool, were two wet boys trying to disentangle themselves from one another, and the sheet. And, in the corner of the room sat Elrond in a fit of hysterics, and offering his sons no help at all. Can’t say I blame him either. It was all too amusing to watch Elladan and Elrohir climb out of the pool looking like a couple of wet hens, fuming at their father, though knowing full well that it was all their fault. They haven’t snuck any honey or sweets into their rooms since.”

“That’s what you think,” Legolas murmured unconsciously, unaware of the snickers he set off in the advisors. The prince coughed, trying desperately to control his blush and to draw attention away from himself. “So? What else did they do?”

“Ah, what else indeed?” Glorfindel said, a thoughtful look crossing his face. “Are there even enough hours in the day to relate them all?”

“I dare say there are not,” Erestor commented, pleased at the excited look his words elicited in the prince. This would be quite an eventful morning.

~~~~~~~~~~

“And then there was the time the twins snuck beetles into Arwen’s bed when she was about twenty. The outcome was not pretty.”

“Do not keep me in suspense. What did she do?” The time was nearing noon. Soon, the maids would be calling everyone to lunch and the morning border patrols would be returning. Within Imladris’ library, Glorfindel and Erestor had been recounting numerous stories to Legolas, who had eagerly sat and listened to them all. The young prince hadn’t realized his lover had gotten into so much trouble when he was an elfling. He couldn’t understand why Elladan had never told him such stories before. He reminded himself to ask the twin about the matter later.

“What did Arwen do?” Glorfindel repeated. “Well, what do you think she did? One look at all the little black bugs crawling all over her bed set her off.”

“If I remember correctly,” Erestor said, “first, she screamed. Then, she ran to Elrond. And, the next thing anyone knew, Arwen had grabbed Hadhafang and began chasing her brothers done the corridors, waving the sword around. Now, mind you, this is a child chasing around two grown elves. And yet, Elladan and Elrohir were running for their lives as they knew, once they were caught, Arwen would be serious in whatever punishment she decided to deal out.”

“I’ll never forget her face, either,” Glorfindel added with a snicker. “If you think she’s sweet and refined now, Legolas, you should have seen her then. Dress hitched up in one hand so she wouldn’t trip, dark hair flying loose behind her, elven sword swinging wildly in the air, and a look that promised instant death to anyone who got into her way. Since that day, neither of the twins dared to play another trick on her. The only reason they got away then was because they got to their horses before she got to them.” The room exploded into laughter before the Elda had a chance to finish speaking. The source of the mirth came solely from Legolas, who was doubled over on the table, shaking with uncontrollable laughter. He found it becoming increasingly difficult to breathe, but couldn’t stop the flow of hysterics issuing from him. The advisors found the sight before them highly amusing, but checked their laughter to a mere giggle.

“I never imagined Elladan and Elrohir could cause so much trouble,” the prince said once he had calmed down enough. “You would never think so just by looking at them.”

“You had to have been there to see it all,” Erestor replied. “I’ve lost count of the number of times…”

“Legolas?” Elladan’s voice filtered in from the open doors of the library. He had returned early from the patrol and was seeking out his lover. “Legolas? Where are you?”

“In the library,” Legolas replied. A moment later, a dark head appeared, smiling when Elladan caught sight of the object of his affection. He blinked in surprise when he discovered Glorfindel and Erestor also in the room.

“Am I interrupting something?” he asked, taking a step inside.

“No, not at all,” Erestor said calmly with a faint shake of his head. “Glorfindel and I were just recounting some memories to the prince.”

“What kind of memories?” Elladan seemed worried at the snicker that issued from Glorfindel.

“It’s nothing, melme,” Legolas said, rising from his seat and taking Elladan’s hand. “Come, let us make for the dining hall. The maids will be announcing the noon meal soon.” Elladan nodded, following his flaxen-haired lover out, not noticing the smile Legolas threw the two advisors. Snickers and giggles could be heard as the library door closed.

“What were you talking about in there?” Elladan asked as they walked down the corridors.

“Nothing much. I had asked Glorfindel and Erestor to tell me a story or two to entertain me while you were gone.”

“Did it have something to do with me?”

“Why so worried, melethron-nîn? It was nothing bad.” Elladan didn’t seem convinced. Smiling, Legolas laid a brief kiss upon the twin’s lips, never breaking stride as they walked. “Do not worry so. I just wanted to know what you were like as a child. Glorfindel and Erestor were the only ones I could find to tell me about such things.” He suppressed a laugh at the raised eyebrow he received in reply. “If I have hurt you, ithil-nîn, then I shall make it up to you later tonight.” Elladan’s gray eyes seemed to sparkle at such a prospect; Legolas found himself stifling another giggle.

“You promise?”

“Aye, I promise.”

“I’ll hold you to that then. And you had better not disappoint me.”

“Trust me, I won’t.” A bright smile swept across Legolas’ fair face as Elladan placed a loving kiss upon his brow. The two continued on their way towards the dining hall, hand-in-hand. The prince made a mental note to ask Elrond more about the twins’ childhood. He was sure the elven lord could tell him a great deal about Elladan. His lover had had an interesting childhood. Legolas wanted to know as much as he could about the dark twin, and if he had to ask the whole of Imladris to find out everything that he wanted, then so be it.

Translations:
Gwathul-nîn-My sister
Mae govannen, Legolas Thranduilion-Well met, Legolas son of Thranduil
Ernil-taur-Forest prince or prince of the forest
Melme-Love
Ithil-nîn-My moon