Death is Always Waiting For a Fool

by fantasydancer

Elrond really, really should have known better than to send his sons alone to Mirkwood. As expected, things don't go as planned. Which means, is it time for Elladan to act the part of older twin brother? Contains non-sexual spanking and a switching. Don't like? Don't read.

Disclaimer: I obviously don't own them considering the genius J. R. R. Tolkien himself died in the seventies.

A/N: This story takes place during the Third Age after Celebrian has sailed. Since I mention a young Legolas, this takes place well before the events of The Hobbit. For those of whom like exact dates I have chosen T.A. 2623. ;D Also, the song I mention at the end and use for the title is called Hindsight by Mercedes Lackey. Enjoy!

Warning: This story does containnon-sexual spanking and a switching by a (somewhat) older brother.

Lord Elrond knew that someone needed to report to King Thranduil of Greenwood as soon as possible, but almost all of his courtiers absolutely refused to enter the forest anymore. Dark things were stirring, they had said. It wasn't that Elrond didn't believe them. He had seen some of these things with his own eyes. But he still needed someone to take these messages.

Elrond sighed deeply, rubbing his eyes. He would have had Glorfindel run them, but he was away on another run to Lothlórien at the moment. Erestor could take them, but he wasn't much in the way of a warrior if something were to happen. And he also wasn't much of one for traveling long distance, preferring to be a homebody.

That left only two ellon whom he could trust to be both quick and efficient, who would only too gladly take this chance to get away from their father for a time. "Lindir, please send for Elladan and Elrohir." Elrond instructed the servant waiting by the door.

Lindir nodded before giving a short bow. He turned to leave and locate his lord's sons, but then stopped abruptly and turned back to face Elrond. "Shall I instruct them to bring anything with them?" He asked warily. It was a well-known fact that the twins were notorious for their mischief and ever driving their ada to the need to discipline them.

Elrond shook his head, and the barest hint of a smile crossed his weary features. "No, thank you, Lindir. I just need to speak with them."

Lindir nodded again, this time setting off at a quicker pace.

When he again returned with the two cautious ellon Elrond waved Lindir out, telling him to see to it that no one disturbed them.

"What did you need with us, Ada?" Elladan asked.

Elrond instructed his children to take a seat in front of his desk. When they were settled he began. "I have a few messages that need to be delivered to Thranduil. I need them to be taken as soon as possible, and I have no one else willing to undertake such a perilous journey." The twins' ears perked up. "However, I am willing to send the two of you if you would be willing." Grins spread across their faces. "But only if you promise me you will behave and not do anything even slightly perilous, or engage yourselves in any skirmishes unless it is absolutely necessary." The twins made a face, but Elrond kept his own stern. "If you do and I catch wind of it, it will be much regretted by the both of you. Do you understand, henea nin?"

The twins shared a look before turning back to their father. "Of course, Ada." They spoke synchronously.

And that was how the warrior twin sons of Elrond ended up in the great Greenwood, also known rather commonly among the humans as 'Mirkwood.' Elrond had wished he could have sent at least a few soldiers with them, but they were going for speed and planned to arrive by the end of the week. Any more would have slowed them down.

The journey there was uneventful and, to the twins, rather boring. They delivered their messages to Thranduil, staying for a few days to catch up with their cousin and spend a bit of time with young Legolas who had grown since their last visit here. Thranduil had been surprised Elrond had allowed his sons to come on their own after all the times that they had ended up almost being killed before when he'd made the mistake of sending the twins off alone.

Elladan had replied with a rather cheeky, "Well we have matured since last you saw us, cousin mine." This prompted Elrohir to elbow his brother to get him to hush and stay out of trouble. Elladan responded to this by retaliating and kicking back at Elrohir's shin. Thranduil looked skyward before commanding his young cousins to stop playing around and eat their dinner.

It was on the second night of the return journey that Elrohir offered to take the first watch. Elladan was weary and readily agreed to this so long as his brother promised to wake him if anything happened.

Elrohir of course agreed. Now he reclined in a tree, preferring to have the high ground if anything were to come crashing through the trees. A few hours slowly crept by as Elrohir did his best to stave off boredom and fatigue. He realized his efforts had proved futile when he suddenly snapped awake to the sound of branches snapping in the distance. Elrohir rubbed his eyes quickly and lifted his loaded bow before crouching low, preparing to attack if necessary.

A garbled mess of words and hisses reached his acute ears and, carefully swinging from tree to tree in a manner that his ada would surely have forbidden back in Imladris, he made his way towards the noises.

When Elrohir was almost upon them he realized that perhaps it would have been better to have woken his twin first. He started to turn back, but then remembered how tired Elladan had looked. His brother was still going through a rough time from where an elleth he had been courting had moved on to another ellon. Elrohir decided he had made the right choice in leaving him to sleep and moved on.

Elrohir started to rethink that decision only moments later when he was hit full in the face with some sort of large, sticky substance. He tried to pull away but found himself stuck, and the more he struggled the more tangled he became in it. Spider webs, he thought despondently. Thranduil had warned them about the giant spiders that had started to take up residence here.

Elrohir cursed and tugged angrily at his sheath, but when he made to draw his sword and cut his way out the whole web suddenly spun. He cried out as he was turned over and over, the spider encasing him in an even thicker web. He heard the spiders hissing and spitting excitedly, and assumed they were speaking to one another. He fathomed there to be about five. Probably no more.

Great, Elrohir thought wryly to himself. When Ada gets a hold of me, assuming I get out of here alive, I am never going to sit again.

However, his thoughts were cut short when a spider suddenly screamed in dying agony and then fell silent. The other spiders were instantly on guard, mumbling to one another. As he heard the sounds of a sword being drawn he couldn't help but begin to struggle excitedly. "Elladan! 'Dan! I'm over here!"

He heard another spider die, and he then heard the others scurrying off, not wishing to be cut down by the furious Elven warrior who fought for the life of his twin. Moments later a sword gingerly began working the spider sack open, freeing Elrohir who was met with the face of a furious and worried twin.

He thought the spiders had good reason to flee if they'd even took one look at Elladan's face.

Elladan worked his twin's head, arms, and torso free before crushing him to his chest. "Do you even know how worried I was when I woke to hear you shouting?" He chided, his voice rising in temper. He felt Elrohir cringe, and bury his face further into his shoulder. Elladan tried to get ahold of his rage. It wasn't too hard because it was soon being quelled by the feel of his twin's trembling beneath his hands. "Shhh," He whispered soothingly. "It's alright now, brother. We are safe now." He wasn't certain who the words were having more effect on; his brother or himself.

After a few minutes Elladan pulled his twin back. They both looked over the other, as they always did after a particularly dangerous situation, taking into account every scratch and bruise on the other's body. Thankfully neither had more than bruises and small scratches this time. Elladan finished helping his twin out of the webbing, pulling twigs and leaves from his hair and generally fussing over him. For some reason Elrohir found himself too embarrassed to respond. He felt as though he had betrayed his twin's trust.

They both began gathering their weapons, and making their way back to their camp. As they walked, both twins were deep in thought. Arriving back at their camp, Elrohir swallowed hard and whispered, "I am sorry for worrying you. I should have woken you."

Elladan didn't look up from where he was pulling a jar of salve out of his pocket and beginning to apply it to his brother's wounds. "Not yet you're not. You will be by the end of the night though."

Elrohir gave him an incredulous look. "What do you mean?"

Elladan concentrated on smearing the salve over his brother's forehead where a branch had scraped him. "I think you know what I mean, gwanur muin nin."

Elrohir stared at him. "You would not!"

Elladan gave him a hard look. "You scared me senseless for absolutely no reason at all today, gwanur. I most certainly do mean to take you over my lap and stripe you well enough that I ensure nothing like this ever happens again."

The younger of Elrond's sons gaped. He and his twin had never threatened one another with a spanking before. The most they had ever even given one another were playful swats, here and there, done only in jest.

"But-but, 'Dan! You can't! You can't!" Elrohir cried as he backed quickly away.

Elladan grabbed his twin's arm to keep him from running and spun him around. "Oh yes I can, Elrohir Elrondion!" To prove his point he landed two hard swats to his brother's backside causing him to cry out. "It is what Ada would have done to you, and your senseless hide. As he is not here, I shall take over the duty." He turned his twin back to face him, and gentled his voice. "And I shall do it because I love you, 'Ro. Because if something were to happen to you…" He trailed off, his eyes glazed with pain as he imagined how this night could have ended.

Elrohir stared at his brother, horrified, as the truth dawned on him. He put himself in his brother's boots. If Elladan had done something like this, in a situation such as this and something had of happened to him…Elrohir shuddered, unable to even contemplate that. He relaxed in his brother's grasp, and took a deep breath before asking, "Where do you want me?"

Elladan kissed his brother's forehead, silently thanking him for understanding. Then he instructed him to cut a switch and stand in front of the old oak tree to their right and wait for Elladan to return. Elrohir complied as his brother moved off into the woods for a moment to gather himself.

Surprisingly his twin had done as he'd asked, facing the old oak, his leggings pulled down and a switch in hand. Elladan made his way over to the fallen tree and sat down, draping his cloak over it first before calling his brother to him.

Elrohir reluctantly turned and took a few awkward steps forward so that he was standing beside his twin. Elladan gently took the switch from his brother and placed it on the ground nearby where it would be easy to reach when the time came.

"I believe you know how this works, gwanur nin." Elladan told him firmly, yet not unkindly.

Elrohir stared at his brother's waiting lap before lifting his head, a pitiful gaze on his identical face that went straight to Elladan's heart. Do you have to? I'm very sorry.

I know you are. But you know this is what Ada, or Glor, or Thranduil, or anyone else would have done had you done something like this. So let's have it over with.

Elrohir sniffed but nodded, feeling chagrined already. Elladan took his brother's hand and guided him over his lap, helping him into position. Shifting him forward a bit, Elladan wrapped his arm securely around his twin's waist. Then, he wasted no time in bringing the first smack down crisply. Elrohir gasped, but as more followed quickly, turning his bottom to a pinkish hue, he fell silent. Elladan wasn't worried though. He had seen his twin take quite a lot of spanking before, so he knew his twin was generally more stubbornly silent at the beginning whereas he himself was more vocal from the first swat. And though Elladan had never pulled Elrohir specifically over his knee before, it wasn't the first time he'd ever spanked someone. He had taken some insubordinate, practically elfling soldiers to task a time or two. And they had both spanked Arwen before, so he knew how it worked on the giving and receiving end.

When Elrohir's bottom had changed to a darker pinkish hue, Elladan paused, feeling his twin's discomfort and embarrassment. He rubbed his twin's back gently, calming unsteady breathing and causing a few of the tears that had gathered in Elrohir's eyes to fall due to knowing what was coming after this momentary respite.

"Don't be frightened, gwanur, for you know I would never harm you." Elladan reassured him.

When Elrohir's breathing had a slowed a bit, Elladan reached for the switch and rested it lightly on his brother's bottom cheeks. Then he brought it down sharply at the crest of Elrohir's bottom. The younger of the twins jumped and whimpered, feeling more tears slip down his cheeks. Another five swats came down in quick succession, the last two catching his sit-spots. Then another two fell on Elrohir's upper thighs, and the younger of the twins cried out, "Nîdh!"

Elladan paused, rubbing his brother's back with his left hand. His twin was close to sobs, his face buried in his cloak, his hands wringing it tightly. "Give me your hand, gwanur. I do not want to accidentally hit it." Elrohir slowly put his hand behind him and Elladan gently took it, holding it at the small of his brother's back. He ran his thumb soothingly over the back of his brother's hand. "Just four more. They will be the hardest."

With that, Elladan quickly brought down the switch onto his brother's bottom twice. Then to his sit-spots twice more. Elrohir yelped loudly, and then slumped over his brother's knee, crying hard and muttering over and over again, "Goheno nin. Goheno nin."

Elladan threw the switch away from him. No wonder Ada always spoke about how it hurt him more than it did them. Their ada didn't like causing them pain, same as Elladan didn't like knowing he was the one who had caused his brother pain.

He had released his brother's hand and was now rubbing gentle circles over his back, in an attempt to calm him. Elladan glanced at his brother's no-doubt sore bottom. It was pink and laced with angry red stripes, but nothing that wouldn't heal in a few days.

"What you did was more something I would do than you, gwanun muin nin." Elladan stated wryly.

Elrohir sniffed, and whimpered, but made no reply. Instead he began to push himself up, his twin immediately going to assist him in standing. Elrohir's legs shook slightly, but Elladan's hand on his arm helped to keep him standing. Once he was certain his twin wasn't going to fall over, Elladan pulled his twin into his arms, holding tightly, as Elrohir's head fell to his brother's shoulder.

"Gomen nin. I'm sorry." Elrohir murmured. He was still sniffling, though his tears had stopped falling.

Elladan had also finally managed to completely blink back the water in his own eyes. "I know. You are forgiven, gwanur muin. Please don't make me have to do that again."

Elrohir shook his head. "Do not worry. You have a hard hand. Not as hard as Ada's, but hard."

Elladan chuckled wryly, pulling back enough to press loving kiss to his brother's brow. Suddenly though, he sobered. "'Ro?"

Elrohir looked at him. "Yes, 'Dan?"

The older twin seemed uncomfortable. "You realize that nothing has changed. You are still my twin, my equal in every way that matters."

Elrohir's eyes gleamed. "I know, 'Dan." Suddenly, he gave a wicked smile. "Though, now I can deal with you next time you act like an idiot."

Elladan laughed. "Fine. We're agreed."

The twins pulled away, and Elrohir began slowly pulling up his leggings with a hiss. Elladan gave him a sympathetic look. "You can leave them off if you want, gwanur nin. No one is here other than myself, and it is most definitely not the first time I've seen you naked."

Elrohir shrugged. Modesty had never been an issue between the twins. They had shared a room their entire lives, and when they were younger the two had shared a bed. They still did sometimes, even now. Especially if one or both had been disciplined, or if nightmares plagued them, or sometimes if it had just been a trying day. Besides, his shirt came down to mid-thigh anyways.

"I think we had best get some more rest and resume our return journey come dawn. We could both use some sleep." Elladan yawned.

"I will take first watch if you would like, gwanur."

Elladan shook his head. "I think we are safe for now. And if you think I am ever going to leave you on watch again, brother, you are sadly mistaken." Elladan winked. "Come. We will both sleep now."

Elladan rolled out his bedroll and then snagged Elrohir's blanket before laying back and gesturing for his twin to snuggle in beside him. Elrohir did so immediately, sighing contently as his brother wrapped his arms around him and pulled him, still lying on his stomach, so that he was practically lying atop his twin. Elladan stroked his brother's hair fondly.

It was several minutes later when Elladan spoke again. "'Ro?"

"Mhmm?" Came the sleepy reply.

"Do you remember that old song called Hindsight that Ada used to like?"

Elrohir lifted his head and looked up at his twin. "Of course. He used to tell us when we were younger that the song had been written to warn halfwits not to do stupid things."

Elladan grinned. "Aye. Specifically us halfwits after we'd done something foolish. And his favorite line he would always stress to us until Nana would get mad and tell him to leave off was…?" He trailed off expectantly.

Elrohir finished. "'Death is always waiting for a fool.'"

"Precisely."

Elrohir stuck his tongue out with a cheeky grin. Then he flopped back down on top of his brother. Elladan chuckled, and gave his brother another squeeze.

It wasn't long before the both of them drifted off to a, thankfully, peaceful sleep.

Translations:

Ada-father, dad, daddy

Gwanur-brother

Gwanur muin-dear brother or brother dear

Gwanur muin nin-My dear brother

Nîdh-Ouch

Goheno nin-Sorry or Forgive me