Around The Fire
A/N: Just a little something. Also includes my OC Eleniel! You can read about her in Rivendell's Star and One Hundred Green Leaves, but there's nothing much else to know about her other than the fact that she is Elrond's youngest child! She is around the age of 17 (in Elven years) in this story, and Estel is 22. Please enjoy!
Spirits were high in the small party of elves camping out in the woods, less than three days away from Lothlorien. Due to the lack of orc sightings reported from the Dunedain recently, Elrond had decided that he and his family, including Erestor and Glorfindel, were warrior enough if anything were to happen along their journey.
It was nice, the elf lord thought absently as his stormy eyes roamed the small camp they'd set up and watched his family as they sat around the fire Glorfindel had made, to have some time away from the work and responsibilities that being Lord of Imladris accompanied and spend it with the people he loved most. The seven of them had been on the road for four days already, and the whole trip had been nothing but laughter as they shared jokes and enjoyed the warm sun beating down on them while they journeyed to visit Arwen, Galadriel and Celeborn.
It was dark, now, and Elrond could see the stars beginning to shine in the midnight sky, the faint silhouettes of white clouds against Ithil's light floating daintily along in the light breeze. He smiled softly at the brightest one before turning back to the dancing flames in front of him.
Peace.
"What about you, Ada?"
Such pea- Oh. Had that been Estel's voice?
"Sorry? I wasn't listening." The Peredhel's face was one of pure shock as he turned wide eyes on his youngest son, who was sat across from him, knees bent up to his chest and chin resting on top of them. He shook his head as everyone erupted into laughter. Excuse him if he couldn't sit quietly for a moment and appreciate the tranquillity this trip was bringing him!
"We are talking about our… hm, how shall I say this? Our unheard of moments," Elrohir supplied helpfully, and his father rose an eyebrow.
"What does that mean?"
"The things we have never told anyone!"
"Really, now? Well, I don't like to disappoint, but I do not have one."
Glorfindel snorted, throwing a stick he'd been absent-mindedly fidgeting with into the fire. "Do not lie, Elrond!"
"I'm not," Elrond said with a frown. "The Lord of Imladris does not keep secrets."
"Ah, alright, then." The balrog-slayer shook his head, a disbelieving smirk on his face, and Elrond couldn't help but mirror it after a moment. "Who is next? Elladan?"
Elladan chuckled. "Let me think for a moment," he said, moving slightly to rest his chin on top of Eleniel's platinum head from where she was sat in front of him, leaning back against his chest.
"Come on," Elrohir said beside him, "it should not be too hard."
Erestor rose an eyebrow. "Speak for yourself, Elrohir Peredhel." A chorus of laughter echoed around the small clearing in the forest once again as the younger twin childishly stuck his tongue out at the advisor.
"Alright, I have one," Elladan announced. He glanced down at Eleniel for a brief moment, noting she was being unusually quiet, but his mind was set at ease as he saw the smile gracing her tired face. She snuggled a bit closer to her brother before he began to speak. "Do you remember that time – I think it was around our annual summer festival – I broke my wrist?"
Elrond nodded slowly. "When you were an elfling, yes? You fell out of a tree."
"And you missed a lot of training because of that," Glorfindel scoffed.
Elladan grimaced before sharing a small smirk with his twin, the two of them beginning to chuckle a little nervously. "Mhm, well… that wasn't so much of an- uh- an accident, as it was done purposefully..."
Estel frowned. "What do you mean?"
"I broke his wrist," Elrohir said, biting his lip.
Elrond, quite frankly, was appalled at this statement, head snapping around to face his second eldest son and give him a look that only signalled trouble. "Elrohir!"
Elladan quickly moved to intervene. "No, no… I asked him to."
Everything was silent, save for the flicker of the orange flames and the hooting of a distant barn owl. Everyone was staring at both twins, who looked fairly uncomfortable to be under such confused glances, completely quiet until Glorfindel gained a look of quick recognition and tilted his head slightly to the side, leaning forward. "You," he said, pointing at Elladan, "wanted to get out of training. Didn't you?"
"Possibly."
"You little-"
"I was tired, okay? You'd put us through so much training in preparation for the festival and I was tired. So, as I was less than one thousand years old, I believed that spraining my wrist was a sufficient way to get out of it for that week."
Eleniel made a face. "But you broke your wrist."
Elrohir coughed a little awkwardly. "Uh, yes. Apparently even as an elfling I did not quite understand how strong I was. That… plank of wood came down frighteningly faster than either of us anticipated."
The silence was broken after that, Eleniel's giggles setting it off as the twins glanced guiltily between each other. Thankfully, Elrond joined in after a moment, all frustration at his boys playing him like that dissipating in moments. It had been thousands of years ago, after all. If he had found this out around the time it happened, that would be a different story entirely…
"Now, Eleniel… have you got a story for us?" Glorfindel asked after the laughter had died down.
"Yes, tithen muinthel, which one are you going to share?" Elladan asked with a wink. She frowned and turned her head to glare up at him.
"Which one? I am not that rebellious, Dan."
"More so than we were at your age," Elrohir said.
"I would like to argue that point-"
"Shush, Ada! It is Eleniel's turn."
Eleniel sighed. Unheard of times, unheard of times… she did have quite a fair few, she'd admit, but which of them did she actually want to say out loud? None, was the answer. Any one she picked would result in something or other. "There was one time… okay, maybe not."
Elladan sat up straighter. "No, no! You must tell us, now!"
"No. I have changed my mind."
Glorfindel shook his head. "Do not back down, El. We want to know."
"Ah… I don't think you do."
The balrog-slayer's smirk grew wider. "Now I really do."
"If I tell you, you have to promise not to get mad."
Erestor chuckled. "And who are you directing that towards, hm?"
"Uh-" She glanced at Elrond, grimacing slightly, and he rose an eyebrow, tilting his head slightly to the side.
"Me? Well, then; out with it, and we will see how much I like you afterwards."
Eleniel doubted it would be very much. "Okay, well… Fin, you have to stay quiet."
"Oh, you are silencing me, now, are you?"
"Quiet, Glorfindel." Erestor shoved his friend, who glared at him in response. "I wish to hear this story."
Eleniel took a deep breath before starting. "It all started one sunny day-"
"Get on with it, El," Estel said with a grin.
"I am telling a story, pen-channas! Listen!"
"Terribly sorry."
"Well… everyone was doing something on this one sunny day, and I was bored."
Elrohir snorted. "When are you not?"
Eleniel sat up in Elladan's arms and turned a glare on the younger twin. She pointed a finger at him, giving him an image of a very irritated Celebrian, and frowned darkly. It really did amaze Elrond how much she was beginning to look like his wife. The beautiful hair and the stunning eyes and the perfect face had been all when she was growing up, but, now that she was older, he was beginning to see more of the Lady of Imladris in their little girl each and every day. And he wished every night that she were there to see it. Eleniel leaned over Elladan's knee, and Elrohir smiled fondly. As much as his little sister wasn't an elfling anymore, there were often times that she reverted back to her elfling ways and made his heart burst with love all over again. "Okay, you have to stay quiet, too! Anyway, as I was saying, I was bored and had nothing to do. So, naturally, I decided to play a, uh- a prank… on someone…"
Erestor crossed his arms over his chest. "Naturally."
Eleniel's face was becoming more nervous by the second. "And, um… yes. Do you know what? I am going to get straight to the point. Ada, do you remember that time you were getting into bed only to find… worms in there?"
Her father turned and shot Glorfindel an accusatory glance before nodding. The blond's eyes widened. He did not like being the one on the end of his Lord's glare, especially when he, quite frankly, had no idea why he was there in the first place. "How could I ever forget?" Elrond ground out.
The youngest Peredhel decided it would be best if she nestle back into Elladan's arms, just in case, and so she did, leaning back and almost sighing in relief when his hands encircled her and came to rest lightly on her stomach. "Um, haha… well, you see… that- that was me."
The camp was silent for a brief moment, interrupted only when an all too familiar look crossed Elrond's face and he opened his mouth to question his daughter. "Not Glorfindel?"
"Uh, no."
Glorfindel's eyebrows furrowed. "Hold on… you blamed me?"
"Ada was so angry!" Eleniel rushed to justify her actions, though she feared it was a little too late for that. "I was an elfling at the time, and I thought it was a fantastic idea until-"
"Until I yelled 'who on Middle-earth put worms in my bed?' throughout the house?" Elrond asked, and Eleniel nodded, albeit a little sullenly.
"Yes."
Glorfindel threw another stick in the fire and uncrossed his legs. "How did this get to blaming me?" He would be lying if he said he was not confused. Surely his little warrior would not have set him up? Of course, he had played many a prank in his time, but he'd always owned up to them at the end… alright, sometimes. But mostly. Either way, he could not quite believe his elven ears that Eleniel had done so. Especially as she had been an elfling, a time when she was so besotted with her Fin that he did not often get time away from her (not that he had complained). He could not remember teaching her such things!
Elrond turned to the blond. "She came in to 'help' me get rid of the slimy little monsters and then proceeded to tell me she saw you coming into my room earlier in the day with a bucket. However, she made me swear, amidst tears, not to mention it to you, as you had threatened to give her extra training if she told me. Now, I see that it was because if I asked you, her little secret would have been revealed. Nine hundred-years old, you were," he said a little disbelievingly, looking at his cowering daughter. "How did you manage to pull that off?"
"She learnt from the best, Ada," Elladan said, grinning down at his sister. "Well done, El. Fake crying and everything? Wow. Your big brothers are very proud of you."
"Never mind that!" Eleniel was slowly beginning to grow concern for her safety as Glorfindel interrupted the older twin, blue eyes boring into her. "She blamed me! Me! I wondered why you were giving me dirty looks for months after that, Elrond! How dare you, you little imp!" He started to rise from his spot on the ground, and Eleniel thrust her hands out in front of her. She was quite the picture, now, having sunk down Elladan's chest so much that she was almost laying down, with her legs bent at the knees and platinum hair loose around her shoulders, and it made the warrior all the more happy to put on this show.
"No, hey! I told you not to get angry!" she protested.
"Oho, do not pull that one on me. I am more than one thousand years overdue my revenge!"
Her eyes only got wider as her father rose to his feet as well, rubbing his hands together and giving his little girl a look. "As am I, I believe," he said.
She groaned. Glorfindel's ideas of revenge she was used to, but her father was Elrond Peredhel, and he was very unpredictable. It did not help that the sky was as dark as could be, now, the only light being the still-dancing flames, and so the sight of both elves coming toward her appeared very sinister, indeed. "Stop it," she said, grabbing Elladan's arm for protection from the two grown ellyn advancing toward her, "I am too tired to run."
Glorfindel paused for a moment and crossed his arms over his chest. "Will that really stop you, though?"
Both he and Elrond watched as she seemed to think for a moment, before a mischievous smirk spread across her lips and she was up and running into the trees, her pursuers not far behind her.
The four remaining around the campfire shared glances before bursting into laughter. Oh, to have such a family. It really was a blessing.
Elvish used:
Ithil - Moon
Ada - Dad
Tithen muinthel - Little sister
Pen-channas - Idiot