Haldir stood before his dressing mirror and stretched his arms behind his head as he tried to secure his newly formed braid before his brothers inevitably invaded his room again. It was the same every day. He would wake up in the morning to find one (or both) of the little pains in his bed snoring away like they belonged there. Then there would be quite the argument as to when they could and could not come into his room that ended with Haldir shoving them out his door and slamming it in their faces. The little ones would then scamper off and give Haldir about an hour or so to cool off and get ready for the day. Then they would come back dressed but with messy hair and they would shove open the door and harass their older brother until he braided their hair for them. Haldir just finished securing his own hair when his door was flung open and he was greeted with the familiar sight of Rumil and Orophin running over for their daily demand of braids in their hair.
"Haldir! Haldir! Braid our hair for us PLEASEEE!"
"No, braid it yourself."
"But Haldir, we don't know how!"
"Then find someone else to do it, I'm busy!"
"But no one braids our hair right except you! They always pull too hard and make it all lopsided. Please Haldir? Pleaseee?"
Haldir didn't want to look. He knew that tone of voice only meant one thing: The puppy dog eyes. He knew that if he looked he would cave and do whatever they wanted. He placed his comb down on his dressing room table and cautiously peered at his little brothers.
Gods damn it.
"Alright! Alright! I'll braid your stupid hair. Go sit down on the bed."
No sooner had the words come out of his mouth that the brothers scampered over to the bed in glee. With a sigh Haldir picked up his brush and followed much less enthusiastically behind them. Rumil bounced on the edge of the bed impatiently while kicking his dangling legs back in forth with a goofy smile painted on his lips. Orophin was calmer, abet only slightly, as he sat crosslegged in the middle of the bed swaying from side to side so his hair swished back and forth. Haldir slowly took his place by the headboard and gave a long suffering sigh at the insanity that always followed his next question.
"Alright, who wants to go first?"
"Me! Me!" cried Rumil as he scampered up to Haldir ignoring the angry look Orophin sent his way.
"No! Rumil ALWAYS gets to go first for EVERYTHING! It's my turn!"
"Shut up Orophin, you're just mad because I'm faster than you!"
Orophin opened his mouth to retort back but Haldir cut him off, "You'll go first next time Orphy, I promise." Clenching his fists and going red in the face Orophin turned away from his brothers and pouted at the end of the bed. Haldir just rolled his eyes and turned to Rumil,
"Turn around and sit still ok?"
"Ok," came the instantaneous reply as the youngest brother turned and let his older brother run the brush through his hair gently. The normally hyper elfling stayed fairly still as he closed his eyes and hummed in happiness at the way Haldir untangled the knots without pulling his hair. Once all the knots were banished from the strawberry-blond locks Haldir set the brush aside and gently gathered the stands of hair into his hands. Even Orophin, still upset about being left for last, couldn't help but creep closer as Haldir's hands weaved the hair into a neat, intricate, miniature version of his own hair.
"There you go, you're all done Rumil."
"What? Already?" came the disappointed whine of the youngest brother as he reluctantly vacated his spot and shifted to the middle of the bed. Orophin then took his pace as Haldir picked up the brush again and slid it through the middle brother's hair gently.
Orophin's hair was much more like his older brother's in color and texture as they took more after their father in appearance but not personality. That they stole from their wise yet firm mother who has a heart of gold yet a look stern enough to make even the youngest behave. Rumil looked very much like their red haired mother but had a personality all his own. Only Rumil could find a game in everything and anything and only Rumil could make everyone play right along with him.
Orophin sat perfectly sit as Haldir gathered the stands into his hands. He was about to make another copy of his own hair again when he stopped and started braiding a slightly different hairstyle into his younger brother's locks. The one he wore never looked quite right on Orophin and Haldir felt that he would like having something special that only he had. As the middle child he often felt forgot about and it was clear to see he resented that to some degree. Rumil sat fascinated as Haldir finished the new hairstyle with a small smile.
"You're all done Orophin."
As Orophin scooted away from his older brother murmuring a soft thank you he went over to the mirror with his little brother. Haldir delighted in the way their eyes lit up as they twisted and turned to look at their freshly braided hair. It was funny how such a simple thing made them so happy. They squealed in delight as they rushed over to their older brother and embraced him tightly.
"THANK YOU HALDIR!" they cried in excitement. Haldir just smiled and pat their backs as he watched them run out of his room to undoubtedly cause mischief somewhere else. With a sigh he followed them as he made a small mental bet as to how long each of them could keep their braids nice until their manic antics inevitably ruined all his hard work.
He bet an hour.