AN: This vignette is part of a series that is too violent and explicit to be posted to this site. If you'd like to read the series, see my profile. Otherwise, this vignette can stand alone as just a friendly little story!
The human's teeth were chattering. This in itself wasn't an unusual occurrence, especially being that the Elf and human were in the midst of a winter storm, caught in the scant shelter of a few pine trees on the declining slope of the Misty Mountains. What was unusual about young Estel's chattering teeth, however, was that they were accompanied by a scowl of frustration and the occasional, colorful curse that someone so young would normally not yet know.
Ice had begun to fall in slick sheets. It clung to every surface of the forest and turned the topmost layer of snow into a frosty, slippery, and very hard to walk through barrier. Legolas and Estel had long since given up trying to hike during the storm and had instead taken shelter where they could in hopes of the blizzard easing.
The storm had not lessened during the day, their shelter had proved inadequate, and now that it was night and the temperature even lower since the sun had set, Estel felt that if his teeth continued snapping forcefully together with each shiver wracking his body, then his teeth would shatter, he would no longer have to listen to them, and then finally, he could fall asleep.
From where he sat nearby, Legolas watched the young one's muttering and cursing, amused by Estel's annoyance, though he tried hard not to show it. Instead, the Elf loosened the blanket he had wrapped around his own shoulders and crawled to the human, who stubbornly gave no indication that he noticed the Wood-Elf's approach.
Legolas wrapped his blanket over the human's body, adding to the thick coverlet that the Adan had already swathed around himself. "It is hard to rest with all the racket you are making," he told the human with a teasing smile.
Shaking his head, Estel tried vainly to keep his mouth from clicking incessantly, but failed before he could even reply. "It is not me! It is my fiendish teeth that will not quiet!" he argued.
The Wood-Elf dropped down next to him. He removed his cloak from his shoulders as he settled against the pine behind him. "Come here," he ordered, opening his arms for the Adan; the human complied eagerly enough. With the cloth-wrapped human pressed against him for warmth, the Elf spread his cloak over top of their heads, forming a makeshift tent.
"The snow will fall on top of us and we will have to dig our way out tomorrow," the human complained halfheartedly, for he was too interested in burrowing his frozen ears against the Prince's warmth.
"That is right, Estel. The snow will fall on top of us, will provide for us more shelter against the cold winds, and keep us hidden from predators." Legolas pulled the young human closer to him, enfolding Estel with his arms and legs until the shivering Adan was naught more than a huddled mass between the Wood-Elf's limbs. "Besides, I doubt that so much snow will fall that we will be trapped," the amused Silvan explained, his smile concealed from Estel by their positions, but apparent in his tone of voice nonetheless.
The human was depressed; though they had planned their return journey to Imladris so as not to miss the winter festivities, and despite traveling through the storm when they should have holed up in the nearest dell or even the deepest cave, the two had trekked onwards towards the valley. Unfortunately, the going had been slow, for the snow was piled up to their shins, and though Legolas could walk with ease, the human could not.
Legolas sighed against the side of the Adan's face, his breath pleasantly humid to the freezing human. "It could be worse," the Elf offered, hugging Estel lightly. He knew just what had depressed the human boy, who was barely more than a child and upset to have missed the festival.
Even with his chilled flesh warming against the Elf's skin, Estel could think of nothing else that could be less fortunate, short of one of them being injured while caught in this storm. He said as much, telling the Wood-Elf, "I can think of little worse than this, Greenleaf."
The Elf replied with a supercilious snort of affected princely hauteur, "You could be trapped in this storm alone."
Although he laughed at the Elf's mock conceit, Estel had to admit, "You are right, Legolas. I would much rather be caught in the storm with you than alone… or with the twins."
Legolas laughed with the Adan; for a few moments more, the Elf and Ranger sat in companionable silence, listening to the howling winds whipping through the too few pines around them. Eventually, Estel's good cheer dissipated as he thought once more of their misfortune to be caught in the wilds, in a snowstorm and far from home.
"Even if we are not with them I am certain that your Ada, brothers, and friends are thinking of you now," the Elf assured, realizing that the human was brooding again. He laid his cheek on top of the human's head, which was just as wet and cold as the rest of the young one. "They are singing in the hall of fire, listening to the bards' tales of valiant deeds and love, wooing the maidens and dancing."
Estel could visualize this very thing; his mind returned to his imaginings of his warm bed in Rivendell, of Elladan and Elrohir and what pranks they would be pulling on the unsuspecting guests in Imladris, and of the food and wine that would be served.
"And just as sure as you are with them as they celebrate, they are with us now, as well," the Elf told him.
The young human's optimism returned to him. Legolas was right: even if he could not be with his friends and family, they would always be with him in his memories, in his heart, and in his thoughts. Wriggling himself until he had curled his smaller body into a warm, tight ball against his Woodland companion, the human whispered, "Thank you, Greenleaf."
"You are welcome, Estel," the Prince replied, covering the young boy's body as much as he could with his own. While the icy shriek of the wind continued, the human fell asleep, but his chattering teeth stopped, soothed by the Elf's borrowed blanket and kind warmth.