Tonight and Any Other

*smiles and says a few choice words* Comcast is the spawn of anything and everything evil.

Gaberiel, I'm waaaaaaaaiting... *taps foot impatiently*

-Megumi (who is thinking about founding the Society Against the Complete Bastardization of Thranduil)


Title: Tonight and Any Other [Part 9/?]
Author: Silvertree (Megumi Takahashi)
Rating: NC-17
Pairings: Legolas/Haldir, Orophin/Whitelock, Glorfindel/Elrond, eventual Legolas/Aragorn and Celeborn/Haldir
Setting: Pre-LotR
Disclaimers/description: Please see chapter one of Tonight and Any Other.
Dedications: CryKat - You rock, chica. (Without you, where would I get my happy little LotR lemon piccies? Ah, Rúmil's bang-things... *purr*) Also to AJ Matthews. Thank you for jumping on the Haldir/Legolas bandwagon! ^^

'...' Denotes speech in the Elvish languages.
/.../ Denotes thought.

----------


"Cold be hand and heart and bone,
and cold be sleep under stone:
never more to wake on stony bed,
never, till the Sun fails and the Moon is dead.
In the black wind the stars shall die,
and still on gold here let them lie,
till the dark lord lifts his hand
over dead sea and withered land."

-A Song of Tom Bombadil


-----

Orophin could not remember the last time he had seen his brother so restless and, for lack of a better word, jumpy. The elf was beginning to become genuinely concerned about his sibling's behavior; it was almost as if Haldir expected bad news wherever he went. Even though Legolas had only been gone for five days, the guardian of Lórien had become taciturn and removed from those in whom he usually confided. Haldir had also stopped eating all together. The last time a bite of food had passed his lips was three days ago, but even then it had been a scant meal, consumed only after the repeated urgings from Orophin and Rúmil had finally culminated in threats. After that meal, nothing could make Haldir take either food or drink, and the deprivation was beginning to take its toll on the elf's body.

A healthy elf could, Orophin knew, go for days without water, and even longer without food. But Haldir was far from healthy, and though he made no effort to hide the fact, he refused all help. He had actually shoved Rúmil away so violently that the elf had crashed into Lord Celeborn, who was stopping by to try to persuade Haldir to eat. In response to his Lord's actions, Haldir had uttered a stream of profanities so vulgar and unexpected that they made Orophin's ears burn, and even Celeborn stopped what he was doing and stood dumb with shock.

That had been the previous day, and Orophin hadn't seen Haldir since. This complete absence of Lórien's most well-known and prestigious guardian only served to re-enforce what Orophin had known all along. Something was seriously wrong with his brother, and the elf was determined to find out what it was.

It was that oath, no less sincere for not having been voiced, which led Orophin to his current position. The blond elf was perched upon a sturdy tree limb, directly over one of the less-trodden paths used by the elves. Haldir frequented it, Orophin knew, for exactly that reason. It was a place of solitude, where one could walk and digest thoughts and information, with very little chance of being disturbed.

Orophin was in the middle of some digestion of his own when the sounds of footsteps, noises that were inaudible to all ears except those of another elf, reached him. Orophin shifted his position and looked down at the path, his mind unconsciously comparing the rhythm of the footsteps he heard to the patterns he had stored in his mind. He was in luck this day; the elf approaching him was none other than Haldir himself.

The footfalls grew progressively louder, until finally Orophin could see his sibling. Haldir walked slowly, all of the energy he usually showed absent as he dragged his feet. Then, one of the last things Haldir expected happened. He stumbled, discovered that he was unable to catch himself, and fell headlong, collapsing on the ground. Orophin nodded at the sight, knowing that a fully alert and healthy elf would not have missed what Haldir had. A thin tripwire, stained green to blend in with the surrounding trees and grass, still glinted in the late afternoon sun, visible to the sharp elven eye as a shining line across the path.

Orophin slid from his branch and dropped lightly to the ground, stooping in front of his brother. Haldir groaned softly and made to rise, an annoyed look crossing his face as Orophin impeded his progress.

'Lavoro an min, Orophin, sí.' [1]

Orophin chose not to comply with his brother's request. A flash of anger darted across Haldir's face as he repeated himself, only to have Orophin force him back to the ground once more. Haldir stared into his sibling's face and met an equally stubborn and stony gaze.

'Lá Haldir, ten lle uya handa, lle na tyaro ten er.' [2]

Haldir's eyes flashed with anger at the statement, but he wisely remained silent. Orophin sighed and relieved some of the pressure he was putting on his brother, helping the other elf into a sitting position, though he kept both hands firm upon Haldir's legs to prevent the other elf from rising. Orophin studied Haldir's face for long moments. The normally bright grey eyes were dull and lifeless, and the skin beneath them sported dark circles. Even the long blond hair, prized among the elves, was unkempt, snarled and uncombed. Orophin took a deep breath and raised a hand to Haldir's shoulder, wincing inwardly as the other elf flinched.

'Haldir, what thing causes you so much grief? Never before, at least not within my frame of memory, have I seen you like this.'

Haldir glared at his brother and shoved the hand aside, forcing himself away from Orophin and rising to his feet. It was fortunate that Orophin rose along with his brother, for Haldir promptly fainted, collapsing into Orophin's waiting arms. The elf wasted no time; he simply scooped the unconsciously weight of his brother into his arms and ran to the palace, going as quickly as he could without risking the awakening of his brother. Orophin suspected that this was the only sleep Haldir had gotten recently, and he would draw it out for as long as he needed to.

Orophin darted up stairs and trotted down familiar corridors, ignoring the glances others threw in his direction, and shoved open the door to Haldir's room with his shoulder. Carefully, he placed the unconscious elf upon the soft bed, stripping him to the skin and drawing a blanket up to his chin. Haldir murmured something in Westron [*] that Orophin couldn't understand, and tossed fitfully among the soft coverings and pillows. Orophin bit his lip with worry and crossed to the door of Haldir's room, poking his head out into the hall. Luck was with him this day, it seemed, for Whitelock was passing by, reading a scroll as he went and singing softly to himself. Orophin hailed him with a low whistle, and Whitelock stopped his reading and crossed to where his lover waited. They kissed briefly, before Orophin pulled away, a worried look firmly stamped upon his face.

'Could you possibly bring me two buckets of hot water?'

If Whitelock found the request strange, he did not let on. He merely nodded and hurried away, leaving Orophin alone with his brother. The blond elf sighed and sank into a r ner next to the bed, only looking up at Whitelock's soft footfalls. The raven-haired elf's eyes were wide, and he was staring at the gaunt figure that lay cradled by blankets scarcely lighter than the pallor of the one they held. The buckets were hastily lowered to the floor and Whitelock rushed to the bedside, gazing at Haldir in disbelief.

'What is wrong with him? He's so pale, so lifeless...'

Orophin nodded grimly and rose, retrieving several towels from a rack near Haldir's window. He took a cake of soap as well, and motioned for Whitelock to bring the water nearer. This the other elf did, and between the two of them they washed Haldir's hair and cleaned the tearstains from his face. It was Whitelock who found a cut on Haldir's thigh, the sort inflicted by whippy branches, which had not yet showed strong signs of healing. It was a mark of how exhausted Haldir was, for it was a small wound that should have healed within an hour at most.

When they had finished cleaning the elf, Orophin bandaged the injury on Haldir's thigh and Whitelock gently moved Haldir's pillows and positioned himself in their place, drawing Haldir against him. Carefully and patiently, he began to comb out the tangles that now adorned the normally flawless golden hair. The long strands dried and smoothed themselves as he worked, and Haldir gradually came awake as Whitelock began to deftly braid Haldir's hair back into its customary style.

Orophin was the first to notice Haldir's return to consciousness, and so he bore the full brunt of his brother's accusing glare.

'You tripped me,' Haldir muttered mutinously, before looking curiously at the dressing on his leg. Orophin chuckled, and settled back into his chair.

'Aye, brother, and for your own good. You are weakened from lack of food and sleep, not to mention your troubled heart. Consider yourself fortunate that you have not fallen before this; another couple of days and you would have had to enter a deep healing sleep. We are all worried about you,' he added quietly, reaching out to take Haldir's hand. 'Everyone would help you, if we but knew that which caused you pain.'

Almost without meaning to, Haldir told Orophin everything. He told him of the incident with Galadriel's mirror, of Legolas' departure to Imladris, and of his fears about his lover visiting Elrond's house.

'And now he's gone, Orophin, gone to the House of Elrond where... where he is-' he spat the word as a curse '-and I have no idea where I shall stand in his life when next he passes through our lands.'

Orophin listened quietly, but a spark in his mind was rapidly being kindled into a raging blaze. When Haldir had finished, Orophin rose and placed a kiss upon each of his brother's cheeks, before brushing the kiss of peace across his lips.

'Forgive my departure, dear brother, but I must speak with Lord Celeborn. He will be anxious to hear of you, for he has been worried as well.'

Haldir nodded absently, and Whitelock smiled at him as Orophin slipped quietly out of the room. The dark-haired elf slid out from his position behind Haldir and seated himself in the chair his lover had vacated.

'If I brought you food, do you think you could eat?'

Haldir seemed to think about the idea for a moment, before a slight growl from his stomach answered for him. Whitelock grinned, and Haldir forced a pained smile onto his face.

'I will eat if you will sing for me.'

Whitelock laughed at the statement, and he rose from his chair, placing his hands on his hips.

'And by the stars, I shall. Do but give me time to make a visit to the kitchens.' He grinned again and left the room, only to return moments later, his hands cupped together and cradled close to his chest. A look of puzzlement was on his face, and Haldir looked at him quizzically. Whitelock opened his hands slightly, and peered into them.

'Haldir, you won't believe what I found. He was actually sitting on the lantern across the hall, thank the stars it was unlit, and he flew straight for your door the second I opened it.

Whitelock opened his hands further, and in a flutter of brown and off-white feathers a bird flew from them and landed atop Haldir's head, settling itself into a golden lock and chirping in a contented manner. Haldir laughed and reached up to stroke the small animal, which hopped onto his finger.
You You look like my Lin, though he has long since been gone from me.'

The bird gave an enthusiastic warble, and Whitelock smiled. Haldir was so completely engrossed with the bird that he didn't even notice the other elf leave.

---

Orophin had managed to keep a rein on his temper while inside his brother's rooms, but the mask dropped the second the door had closed behind him. His grey eyes hardened, and he stormed off towards Celeborn's chambers, his mind full of things he wished to say, and do, to the Lord of Lórien. Most of the ideas were inappropriate, and all of them were unpleasant. Orophin barely hesitated outside of Celeborn's rooms, delaying himself only long enough to determine whether or not Celeborn was alone. Despite his anger, Orophin had no wish to humiliate Galadriel's husband in front of others.

The soft sounds of a harp carried through the closed door, and so Orophin burst into the room. Celeborn only played when he was with Haldir or by himself, and since Haldir was in his own room... Orophin cleared his throat loudly, and Celeborn looked up, startled.

'Orophin! Why are you here?'

The elf stormed over to his Lord and glared down at him, words hissing from between clenched teeth.

'You knew what he would see, didn't you?'

Celeborn looked genuinely confused as he stared back at Orophin, too taken aback to react to the elf's blatant lack of respect.

'What?'

'What?!' Orophin exploded, lunging forward and grasping the arms of Celeborn's chair to prevent himself from striking the other. 'My brother, your friend, is currently bedridden from emotional and physical exhaustion, and all you can say is 'what'?! You knew what he would see in the mirror all those years ago, Celeborn, and yet you asked him to look anyway! What in the stars possessed you to do such a thing?!'

Celeborn paled, and he averted his gaze.

'I-I meant him no harm, Orophin,' he stammered, clenching his hands in his lap. 'I did not know if he would see it as well; I only sought to know if what was in my mind was merely a delusion or if it could be read in the futures of others.'

Orophin wrenched his hands from the chair arms and began pacing, his entire frame rigid with anger.

'Yes, Celeborn, you sought for an answer, and in finding it you hurt someone very dear to me. What could possibly have driven you to do what you did? You knew that Legolas was in that vision; surely you could have asked someone not so bound to him to look.'

The pale color of Celeborn's skin switched to an embarrassed flush, and his response was mumbled.

'I did not think.'

'That,' Orophin ground out, 'is quite obvious to me. Though I have no earthly idea why you would have seen that, unless it...' Orophin trailed off, his eyes widening. 'Don't tell me you wanted to see if Haldir would be in your future.'

Celeborn flushed an even brighter shade of red, and Orophin groaned in despair.

'Elbereth, no. You want him.'

Celeborn jumped to his feet at that statement, and seemed to regain some control over himself. He matched Orophin in height, and he placed himself in the other elf's path. Blue eyes and grey eyes met and warred as Celeborn spoke in a grating voice, a mixture of embarrassment, disgust, and pain.

'I am shocked at you, Orophin. For you to think that I would only 'want' your brother, that I would take him for his body alone... I may have erred, but this thought of yours is madness. I would sooner be pierced through with an arrow or spear than violate Haldir in such a manner.'

Orophin's eyes widened, and he stared at Celeborn for a moment. The final piece of the puzzle had fallen into place, and what he had been mulling over for over one thousand years finally came into focus. It explained everything, really, the combination of pleasure at Haldir's company at some times and the complete avoidance of the elf at others, the reverence with which Celeborn spoke of Haldir, the frequent looks... Orophin groaned again.

'Nay, 'tis worse than that. You love him!'

Celeborn crossed his arms over his chest, and then moved them to brush back his hair. The fine silver strands were in disarray, and they fell about Celeborn's shoulders and face like a veil. The elf-Lord glared at his guardian and messenger.

'I do, and I shall not hide it from you. However, you know as well as I that he is untouchable, and I would not make any advance that would hurt either Haldir or Prince Legolas. I could not, would not, be willing cause either of them pain. Had it been within my power, I would have ordered Legolas to remain here in Lórien instead of traveling to Imladris. But my kinsman had already given his son the command, and-' Celeborn cut himself off and stalked over towards the door, intent on leaving his chambers and Haldir's irate brother behind him. He was humiliated, angry, and hurt by the exchange that had taken place, and he wanted nothing more than to run into the forest and be by himself. His hand was actually touching the handle when Orophin's voice stopped him.

'Yet you would have Haldir see his lovers hus husband by the standards of our people, in the arms of another.'

Celeborn turned, and his demeanor and voice were strangely cool and calm.

'Not willingly, Orophin, for though I desire your brother greatly, I would see him happy before I would see him by my side. For that reason, I had hoped that Haldir would not see what he did.' The Lord of Lórien opened the door, and paused again as he stood framed by the elegant arch.

'But know this, my friend, that if it weren't for the fact that Elrond would become... rather terse with me, I would personally march into Imladris and teach his foster son a few lessons about what happens when one treads where one should not.' The door shut behind him, but his words were clearly audible to Orophin, who still stood in the middle of the room.

'I would do it in a heartbeat.'

----------

To be continued...

[*]- Also referred to "the Common Speech," Westron was the language spoken in M-E by the Men and Halflings living in the old areas of Gondor and Arnor, as well as the inhabitants of Anduin as far north as the Gladden Fields (the Woses, Dunlendings, and Rohirrim did not speak Westron). The form was enriched with the addition of Sindarin words by Elendil, and this is the form of Westron that spread. Westron is also the public language of the dwarves and the base language of many Orkish tongues.

[1]- 'Allow me to rise, Orophin, now.'

[2]- Loosely translated as, 'No Haldir, for you are a fool, or else you are an actor of one.'