Disclaimer: I do not own any of the recognisable characters in this story, and make no money from them. This story is purely a work of fanfiction and written for fun. However, I do own the OC's, and I ask that you don't use them in your own writing without consulting me first.

Thanks to CoffeeRanger, Hawaiichick, and Whyamiobsessed for reviewing Ancestry!

This story, like all of this series, has not being beta-ed, so please excuse any mistakes. I do my best to thoroughly proof-read, but they do slip through.

I would recommend, for those who haven't been following these stories, that you read Bad Hair Day first. For everyone else, enjoy Elrond's suffering! My Plot Bunnies sure do...

Tales from Mirkwood: Visit to Imladris

Third age.

Belegon, Tordir, Legolas and Lothwen sat in a circle on the bed in Legolas's guest room in Imladris.

"How are we going to get the twins back for humiliation us in front of the whole population of Imladris?"

It was Legolas who'd spoken; his normally cheerful face was now set in grim angry lines. The other three did not look any happier, especially Belegon. In fact, he looked furious. He was Crown Prince after all, and the twins prank had severely wounded his pride.

While not quite as mad, Legolas, Lothwen and Tordir, young and carefree as they were, were still smarting from the prank. Those sons of Elrond could not be allowed to get away with it.

'It' referring to a rather humiliating prank that had been pulled on the gathered Mirkwood Royal children in the dining hall just that morning.

A prank that had ended with the four of them covered in milk and surrounded by a multitude of broken dishes. And no, it hadn't been a food fight.

None of them were sure exactly how it had happened, or even what had happened, but the twins had laughed themselves practically into comas. It hadn't helped that everyone who lived in Imladris had witnessed their humiliation. It was only the beginning of their third day here. Thranduil had given them all a long talk before coming here about how they must behave and uphold the good name of their family, which they'd all agreed to do. Then Elrond's identical spawn had come along, and suddenly they were the laughing stock of Imladris.

But not for long.

The twins needed to be gotten back at; they may have had their fun, but would pay dearly for inflicting that humiliation on the wood elves. They just had to think of a suitable way to carry out their revenge.

And make sure that the whole of Imladris would witness it.

They had already dismissed the usual prank materials as not being epic enough; which meant glue, honey, feathers, ferrets, pretty much any type of animal, the trees, and even clothes were out. Belegon had initially suggested stealing their clothes when they next went to the bathhouse so they would have to run back to their rooms naked, and make sure they also hid all the clothes in their rooms so they didn't have anything to wear. He was really smarting from the prank, and desperate to humiliate the twins in whatever way possible.

The other three had shut down that idea, as appealing as it was, as it would land them in deep trouble with Thranduil. And while the King had been lenient this morning, understanding that what had happened wasn't their fault, facing his full displeasure was something none of them wanted to do.

But, what could they do to the twins to pay them back?

It was Tordir who unexpectedly came up with the answer.

"It's a pity we don't have the supplies to create dye."

Belegon's face contorted in pain for a moment as he remembered that incident, even as Legolas and Lothwen looked horrified. While that particular prank had been aimed at Tordir, Belegon had managed to get caught in the cross-fire. It had taken weeks to figure out how to remove the blue dye from his hair, and Tordir had not stopped rubbing in the fact he'd escaped having blue hair for even more weeks after that.

Belegon had eventually found out that soaking his hair in alcohol for half-an-hour or so was very effective at removing the dye. Even if it did leave his hair smelling like a brewery for a few days.

But, back to the present. Belegon's face gradually went from murderous to thoughtful. Then a wicked looked entered his eyes, a look that made his younger siblings and his nephew sit up and look at him warily.

Eventually, it was Lothwen who broke the silence.

"Are you okay, Belgie?"

The Crown Prince grinned menacingly.

"I think I will be. Legolas, you don't happen to have some of that dye handy, do you?"

Legolas looked horrified, and shook his head rapidly.

"No, no, certainly not. Ada forbid me from using it. I haven't touched it since."

Belegon frowned, even as his eyes did not leave his little brother's face.

"But you know how to make it, right? All you need is the right ingredients."

Legolas nodded slowly, even as curiosity overcame his nerves.

"Yes, I do. Why?"

"What colour do you think we should dye the twin's hair?"

Legolas, Lothwen and Tordir went dead silent for a moment, staring at Belegon in shock. Tordir recovered first.

"You really mean it? You want to dye their hair?"

Belegon's grin was feral. For all that he was older then Lord Elrond, he had a sadistic streak that rivalled his younger-by-more-than-an-age sibling's devilish senses of humour.

"Yes. I am more aware than anyone how impossible that stuff is to remove without knowing the right method. And we won't tell them that secret until we are satisfied that they have been thoroughly humiliated in front of everyone."

By this point, Legolas was also grinning, more than keen to go along with his brother's plan. For all that they had different mothers, they were all very much their father's children. Thranduil's sadistic sense of humour was something he'd passed on to all of them. Even Tordir, though Thranduil was his grandfather, still had it.

"That would be a great idea. How are we going to get the ingredients for the dye though? Some of the plants only grow in Mirkwood, and if we don't make it the same way it may not stay in."

Belegon nodded.

"True, but tell me what you need, and I'll make sure you get it. What pigment would you need to colour the dye?"

Legolas frowned as he thought hard.

"Not sure. It might be better if I make the base dye, and then add the colour last. That way, we can add small amounts of different minerals to samples, and see what the effect is."

Belegon nodded. That made sense.

"Okay then, here is the plan. Legolas will make the dye, I will get the ingredients he requires. Lothwen, would you be able to get the pigments? The colour mineral powders in that paint kit Glorfindel gave you should work." The princess nodded firmly in assent. She was looking forward to this. "Tordir, you must cover for us while we are collecting the supplies. We can't let anyone know what we are doing, or they will most certainly stop us. Especially Ada, if he hears wind of this. And Lanny must also be kept in the dark, as I'm not sure she would approve, and I don't feel like having my daughter give me her disappointed look just yet. They will find out about it after of course, but not a word must reach them before we can carry it out. Agreed?"

The other three nodded in agreement, excitement showing on all their faces. Belegon smiled around at his siblings and nephew, as he rubbed his hands together in anticipation.s

"Operation: Payback, is a go."

Three days later, the whole of Imladris was awakened at dawn to identical screams coming from the bathhouse. Recognising his sons as being the culprits, Elrond tried to leap out of bed to see what was wrong. However, in his hurry, his legs got tangled up in his bedsheets, and he hit the floor with a loud thump that succeeded in winding him and thoroughly waking up Celebrian, who had managed to sleep through the initial screams.

These incidents slowed Elrond down enough that he arrived at the bathhouse at the same time as Thranduil did. Despite the early hour, the King looked wide awake, and was immaculately dressed. Rubbing his eyes tiredly, looking down at the old robe he'd thrown over his nightclothes and his slippers, Elrond wondered how the Sindar did it.

He didn't have time to contemplate that thought further, because at that moment two familiar figures emerged from the bathhouse.

Despite the early morning mist, the steam from the baths, and their dark clothes, they stood out perfectly, thanks to their bright pink hair.

Elrond gaped. He couldn't help it. The pink was very bright.

Thranduil's lips twitched slightly, but otherwise he retained his composure, and glared at the twins like he couldn't see their hair.

"What is the racket for? Some of us were sleeping."

The thought entered Elrond's head that Thranduil must sleep in his royal robes, if he'd truly been awakened by the screams. The twins gaped at Thranduil, too shell-shocked at his question to point out the fact their hair was not naturally this colour, and that that's what was wrong thank you very much. Elrohir recovered first, even though his voice was very squeaky.

"What do you mean? Look at our hair!"

Thranduil examined their heads gravely.

"What about it?"

Elladan recovered enough at that point to speak.

"It is pink! It's not supposed to be PINK!"

Thranduil blinked, and frowned as if seeing the colour for the first time.

"It is too. Why would you do something like that?"

It was the look of sheer shock and disbelief the twins gave him that finally broke through the indifferent façade Thranduil had been maintaining. Not able to hold in his amusement any longer, the Sindar started laughing. Full on laughing, great bellows of laughter that caused him to double over and clutch his stomach in pain. Once he'd gotten over the worst of his shock, and realised that the twins were not physically hurt, Elrond couldn't help but grin as well. His sons really did look a sight.

Elladan was shaking in rage at the situation in general. Thranduil's hysterics were not helping his mood.

"Who did this? Show yourselves!"

He shouted around at the surrounding woods, as he was pretty sure whoever had set this up was hiding nearby to witness their humiliation. Thranduil stopped laughing long enough to speak.

"Maybe next time, you should think twice before antagonising a wood elf. Especially if they have royal blood, and a very sound knowledge of chemistry. Oh, by the way, the dye is permanent."

Elrond and his sons looked at Thranduil with wide eyes; the king ignored them and continued to chortle away to himself. It was only a bit of a lie; the dye was permanent if you didn't know the secret to washing it out. And Thranduil was not about to give away that secret. After the prank they'd pulled on his children a few days ago, the sons of Elrond deserved what they got. While no one was hurting more than their pride, Thranduil did not plan on interfering with justice.

Even if he did not totally approve of the form said justice took.

Finally slotting all the pieces into place, Elrond almost face-palmed. It was too early in the day for all this. Elrohir and Elladan were slightly quicker in putting all the pieces together then their father was. When they'd realised who was responsible for their pink hair, the twins had looked at each other in horror. They'd known the wood elves, especially Belegon, had been mad at their prank, but they'd never dreamt they would think up something like this as a comeback.

In that moment of silence, a sudden garbled giggle could be heard. It was quickly hushed, but the damage had been done. As one, the four gathered elves turned to face the tree the giggle had come from; the twin's faces were almost the same colour as their hair as a clear laugh floated down from the very top of the tree.

Looking up, Thranduil was sure he could just make out a flash of silver hair, before it vanished. Thoroughly roused now, the twins ran to the base of the tree and started to climb, yelling at the elves who were no doubt hidden up in the leaves that they would get them for doing this. However, the Noldor elves did not get higher than a few branches, before they simultaneously slipped, and came crashing to the ground to land in a tangle of limbs. Thranduil chuckled, even as Elrond helped his sons up and checked them for injuries. There were none, it was just their pride that was severely wounded.

One of the twins, Thranduil thought it was Elrohir but couldn't be sure, glared at the still sniggering Sindar with annoyance.

"What's so funny? Just because I rarely fall out of trees that does not give you the right to laugh when I do!"

Thranduil only laughed harder.

"Oh my, you really think you fell out of the tree? My dear elfling, the tree pushed you out."

All three Noldor blinked as they processed this information. Elrond was the first to speak.

"Seriously? Why would they do that?"

Thranduil grinned. It was the grin that had caused many humans to completely break down in front of him. It didn't have quite the same effect on Elrond and his sons, but it was still slightly terrifying to look at.

"Let me give you thick-headed Noldor a lesson. In a contest between a wood elf, a tree, and a Noldor elf, the Noldor elf will always be outnumbered. Add more trees, and they become even more outnumbered. Add wood elves, and the Noldor will lose. Every time. We are called Wood Elves for a reason."

Elrond gaped.

"You mean, the trees will take your side?"

Thranduil nodded sagely.

"Yes, and those of us with Silvan blood can even speak to them." Looking at the twins, Thranduil smiled maliciously. "That also means that trying to climb any tree around here to enact revenge on a wood elf is futile."

Elladan glared up at the tree, whose leaves concealed the laughing Mirkwood Royal children, who were now making no effort to hide their glee over the whole event, and shook his fist at them both.

"Laugh it up while you can, you damn wood elves! You can't live in that tree forever! Sooner or later, you'll have to come down for food. We'll catch you then!"

Legolas's voice floated down to them.

"We thought of that already, and raided the kitchen early this morning. We have enough supplies to last for days, and the fruit trees were more than happy to share with us."

Elrohir gaped up at the tree.

"Did you even go to bed last night?"

Tordir's voice answered.

"Nope. Didn't have time. Lothie, are you okay?"

By this point, a crowd had gathered around the bathhouse entrance, and every single elf was gaped at the twin's hair. Then, someone started laughing. Before long, there was not one sober elf in the clearing, except for Elrond and his sons.

With a grin that was completely feral yet somehow also completely cultured, Thranduil turned to his host and inclined his head graciously.

"I must be off now to let Tathardis and my twins know there is nothing to worry about. See you at breakfast?"

Elrond could only nod mutely as he watched Thranduil stride off back to his room, chuckling the whole way. Even when viewed from the back, he was tall and regal with perfectly pressed clothes, a perfectly placed mithril circlet adorning his forehead, and not a hair out of place. Elrond ran a hand through his own un-brushed, hastily tied back hair, before looking at his pink-haired sons who were still shouting profanities up at the elves in the tree, and sighed heavily.

He really did not know what to do.

Thranduil was still chuckling to himself when he entered his guest suite. Tathardis was sitting up in bed, reading. Their twins were sleeping soundly next to her, curled up together under the covers with only the tops of their gold and silver heads visible. When Thranduil entered, Tathardis looked up with a smile.

"Did you find out what happened, dear?"

She spoke softly so as not to disturb their babies, and Thranduil nodded as he replied in the same low voice.

"Yes. The sons of Elrond have acquired bright pink hair."

Tathardis put her hand over her mouth, so as not to wake the babies, as she giggled.

"Oh dear. Do I want to know who did it?"

Thranduil grinned at her as he removed the elegant robe and draped it over a nearby chair, revealing the plain nightclothes he was wearing underneath.

"I think you can probably guess without too much trouble who was behind it, darling. Especially given what happened a couple of days ago. I'd say those twins deserved it."

Thranduil took off his circlet, and dropped the glamour magic he'd been hiding behind, revealing hair that, while not a tangled mess, was still less than flawless. Tathardis, who was already dressed and ready for the day, smiled as she got up and crossed the room to where her husband was staring mournfully at his sleep-rumpled appearance in the mirror.

"Let me brush your hair out dear, it really does look a sight. Did Elrond notice that you weren't as well put together as you appeared?"

Thranduil shook his head.

"No, and judged from the covert looks he thought I didn't see, I'd say he was trying to figure out if I slept dressed all done up like this. Thank goodness our magic means that I don't have to."

Tathardis chuckled as she ran the comb through Thranduil's long blond hair.

"What did he look like?"

"His hair was tied back and clearly un-brushed, he was wearing an old robe over his nightclothes, and slippers on his feet. Altogether not a very imposing sight."

Tathardis laughed as she continued running the comb across Thranduil's scalp.

"Poor elf, take it easy on him darling. Remember, he is younger than your eldest son is, and almost the same age as your second born. He doesn't have the life experience that you have, and is disadvantaged from being a Noldor, so be nice."

Thranduil looked wounded.

"I am nice. But he just doesn't get some things. Like how Belegon could act like an elfling at times. I get the distinct impression that an elf his senior behaving like Belegon does unsettles poor Elrond."

Tathardis was still chuckling, even as she finished combing her husband's hair.

"More than likely. Poor Peredhil."

While they'd been talking, Celebiel, who'd been awake for some time, decided she was bored, and had extracted herself from her sister's limbs without her parents noticing. Clambering out from under the sheets to the end of the bed, she was just in time to hear what her mother said.

"Naneth, what's a pered-hill? And why is he poor?"

Tathardis laughed, and Thranduil couldn't prevent a smiled from forming at his baby daughter's innocent and genuine question, even as her small face peeked over the bottom railing of the bed. Seconds later, Coliel's golden head joined her, as the older twin echoed the same question.

The pair of them looked so cute, that their parents couldn't resist cooing and scooping them up and cuddling them before getting them ready for the day and answering their question.

Children really were so precious. Especially when they were so little. All too soon, their precious little ones would be grown up and running around with the others causing trouble. Not knowing if they would have any more children, as they had already been blessed with more than most other elves got, both Thranduil and Tathardis intended to enjoy the time their twin daughters were little.

It wasn't until early afternoon that Elrond's twins finally run out of energy. It was long since dark when they finally made a bargain with the wood elves, who had spent the day happily sitting at the top of their tree, laughing long and loud whenever they knew the twins were nearby.

The sons of Elrond were well and truly over it all by this point, and just wanted the dye gone. In return for allowing the wood elves to come down and not attacking them, the twins would be told the secret to removing the dye. Apparently, there was a way to remove it, despite what Thranduil had said that morning. By this stage, every single elf in Imladris had seen or at least heard about their humiliation, so the wood elves felt that justice had been served, and agreed to the bargain.

Elladan and Elrohir watched the wood elves nimbly slide down the tree with more grace then the twins possessed on the ground. Legolas, Lothwen and Tordir were clearly the most graceful, which made sense seeing their mothers were Silvan elves, but the older Sindar also made a neat show.

When they finally touched the ground, the twins had to restrain themselves from lunging at their tormentors. They knew, if they did that, they wouldn't be told the secret to removing the dye. Which they desperately wanted to do.

When they saw the twin's hair up close, which was so bright it practically glowed in the dark, all the wood elves started laughing yet again. Lothwen rolled around on the ground giggling for ages, making the twins even more mortified.

They were so getting the wood elves back for this.

However, it was at that moment that two elves silently emerged from the shadows they'd been hiding in, and seemed to just appeared in the middle of the group. The six elves gasped in surprise, none of them having heard their fathers (or grandfather in Tordir's case) sneaking up on them.

Elrond was giving his sons a very pointed look.

"You are coming back to the house with me. We need to have a serious talk."

Thranduil's children had hastily composed themselves as soon as he'd appeared. Even Lothwen, who was very prone to giggling fits, was now perfectly sober. Belegon shuffled his feet sheepishly, while Legolas looked plain terrified.

Thranduil sighed when he saw the look on his Silvan son's face, and lent down to be less intimidating. Even though he was an adult elf, Legolas was still smaller and lighter-boned than his father. He was, in fact, the lightest-boned of all Thranduil's half-Silvan children, though Garavon came a pretty close second.

"It's okay, ion nin, you are not going to be in trouble. They deserved it. However, we have to lay some ground rules before this whole situation gets out of hand. For that reason, we are going back inside to sort this out. But you are not in trouble. None of you are. Come on."

Thranduil held out his hand, and waited patiently. After a moment's hesitation, Legolas took it. Lothwen quickly grabbed his other hand, and Thranduil nodded at Belegon and Tordir, before turning to the staring Noldor without missing a beat.

"Shall we go inside now?"

Elrond nodding in mute agreement. It would seem that Thranduil had no end of surprises up his sleeve.

"This has to stop, now, before anyone does something they will regret."

Elrond looked sternly at his sons, who squirmed in their seats.

"I don't know what inspired you two to pull that ludicrous prank a few days back, but you deserve that pink hair. You're all even now, which is why Thranduil and I are stopping this before it gets any further."

Thranduil, who was sitting between Lothwen and Legolas (each of them were cuddled into one of his sides; Thranduil had one of his arms around each of their shoulders) nodded in agreement.

"Elrond is right. There will be no repercussions for what you did my children, but no more pranks will happen while we are here. Not on the twins or anyone else. We are all going to be nice to each other, and enjoy the rest of our time here without any incident. Promise me that?"

While Thranduil was speaking calmly sitting there cuddling two of his adult children, the thread of steel in his voice caused everyone, Elrond included, to take careful note of what he said. Legolas, Lothwen, and Tordir immediately nodded in agreement.

"Yes, Ada/Ada Adaenin, we promise." (father of my father; Tordir) They chorused, somewhat subdued. Belegon said nothing, and his father glared at him for a full minute-and-a-half before he gave in. Elrond watched the whole process with awe, wondering how Belegon did not wilt and die under the force of that glare.

"Fine. I promise no more pranks while we are here. But they have to promise as well."

The Crown Prince was glaring very pointedly at the twins as he said that, and Thranduil nodded.

"They will promise the same, won't they, Elrond?"

Suddenly finding a watered-down version of Thranduil's glare directed at him, Elrond nodded hastily, and turned to his sons. Who, he noticed, were wilting under Belegon's glare.

Like father, like son, apparently.

"What Thranduil said applies to you as well. Promise me that there will be no more pranks while we have guests here?"

The twins nodded hastily, and breathed a not-so-subtle sigh of relief when Belegon dropped his glare.

"We promise Ada." They chorused in unison.

Thranduil nodded.

"Good, that's settled. Now, since I have a fair idea who thought up this revenge…Belegon. Would you please tell the twins how you removed the dye?"

The Crown Prince nodded and turned to face the sons of Elrond. They looked like they'd just bitten into something very sour upon hearing that an elf older than their father (with a glare to rival Thranduil's) was responsible for their humiliation.

"Fine. Soak the hair in alcohol. I discovered quite by accident that it removes the dye without damaging the hair. At least, it did for me."

Elladan blinked.

"Alcohol?"

Belegon nodded.

"Alcohol."

Elrond could not hide his relief at hearing the cure was so simple. Elrohir, however, wanted more confirmation.

"Any particular type of alcohol?"

Belegon shrugged.

"I wouldn't know, I just used some old ale we had hanging around. It worked."

None of the Noldor elves were game to ask how Belegon knew all this. Truth be told, they were all in awe of the older Sindar's, Elrond included. That tended to happen when someone had known you from the time you were an elfling.

Though, Elrond reflected, Belegon certainly did not act his age most of the time.

Thranduil, very satisfied with the outcome of their little conversation, stood up and looked around at the group.

"Now that's all sorted, I'm off to spend some time with my wife. And I think you lot need an early night. Tordir can't stop yawning, and no wonder, if you really stayed up all last night?"

Belegon fell into step behind his father, and nodded.

"We did. All night long."

Thranduil shook his head, even as a smile so small it was practically invisible (especially in the dark) made itself known on his face.

"Dedication. If only you showed that dedication to helping me run a Kingdom. Speaking of that, I wonder how Golwendir and Garavon are managing in my absence. Golwendir is probably ready to pull his hair out, but he did volunteer to stay behind."

Belegon grinned.

"Happily for me."

Thranduil rolled his eyes as he directed the younger children to their rooms. Even though none of them were under 700 years old, they were still his children, and always would be.

"Happily for me as well. I get a nice vacation, while they sweat over the changes the latest Lake Town Master wants to make to our trading contract."

Royals visiting Imladris:

Thranduil

Tathardis

Belegon

Lanthirwen

Tordir

Legolas

Lothwen

Coliel

Celebiel

(The Mirkwood twins are just babies in this. It takes place around Third Age Six-Hundred, and Elrond's sons are their canonical ages in it.)

Preview of next week's story: Public Relations

Thranduil was crouched in the middle, cradling an unconscious Legolas in his arms. Around them lay many more unconscious guards. The Master of the town was laying across from them, also out cold. Golwendir looked at his father in panic.

"Ada? What happened? What's wrong with Legolas? Are you hurt?"

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