A short time later, Estel came back to find out what had happened. He walked in the still-open door, and saw Legolas sitting in a chair, holding a cloak and staring down at it. "Why did you dress all in blue?" the boy innocently asked.
"Because it is the only color clothing I have. But I had some help with this, believe me..." he trailed off as he turned to look at Estel.
"Did Elrohir and Elladan dye your clothes for you?" Estel smiled.
"Yes, they did. But at least I'm rid of the two of them...for now," Legolas said very mysteriously. "Estel, how would you like to go outside for a while."
"I would love to, Legolas! Right now?" he asked. He was suddenly so excited.
"Well, why don't you stay here and I'll be right back in a few minutes. Is that alright?"
"Yes, I will wait right here for you. Just a few minutes?"
"Yes, I'll be back as fast as I can." Estel sat in the chair that Legolas had recently vacated, picked up the cloak and tried it on, smiling at legolas. Legolas smiled back and headed out the door.
Legolas returned shortly and found Estel lying on the floor all wrapped up in his Ada's cloak, looking through one of the books Legolas had left there. "These books look boring. Why would you want to read these?"
"I wouldn't. They are not for me, they are for my Adar."
"He likes these kinds of books? Why?"
"I have no idea. I guess he has no taste in reading. I'm actually taking those to him to read. They belong to your Ada."
"Ada likes these?" Estel asked, wrinkling his nose. Legolas was smiling and trying very hard to suppress his on-coming laughter. "I guess so."
"It's time we go, Estel. We have to hurry if you want to spend some time together." Estel looked up at him sadly, while Legolas picked up the books off the floor, grabbed his pack, and started stuffing them in among his clothes. He also grabbed his cloak and Lord Elrond's cloak and tossed them on the bed. He decided to take them both. He figured that he could take some of his frustrations out on that huge, blue monstrosity that Elrond, or actually the twins, loaned to him. Maybe he could dye it orange or something. Use it as a blanket on the muddy ground when it rained.
"But why?" Estel asked him.
"Come on, Estel," he stated, brushing the question aside.
"Can I ride on your shoulders, Legolas? Pleasseeeeee!" Estel pleaded.
"Of course you can, short little edan." Legolas motioned towards the chair, but Estel jumped on the bed instead, and climbed onto Legolas' back. Legolas grinned as he shifted himself, trying to adjust the little one on his back, and pick up his heavy pack and cloaks at the same time.
"Why did you call me that?" Estel asked, as they started trudging down the corridor toward the front entrance.
"How many names do I call you, Estel?"
"Lots and lots. But I don't understand why."
"It's a form of affection, Estel. They are called 'Pet Names or nick-names.' I'm sure you will have a lot more of them in your life," Legolas grinned.
"Well, you and my brothers call each other a lot of names, but none of them ever seem very affectionate."
"Well, never mind Estel. We really do care about each other," he nervously answered the boy. He thought a change of subject at this particular moment would be very good. Estel came to the rescue.
"So can I call you some different names, too?"
"Sure. As long as they are decent and do not have the word 'blue' in them anywhere." Estel got very quiet, feeling disappointed.
"Sorry, Estel," Legolas said to him, smiling, knowing he had ruined the child's fun.
So then Estel started swinging his feet back and forth, kicking Legolas.
"Estel," Legolas chided him, "stop kicking me." The Elf then removed the boy's boots. "You're not really going to need these where we're going, anyway."
"Why is that?" Estel asked. Legolas just ignored his question and walked out the front door into the warm evening breeze. He stopped for a moment when the scent of roses assaulted his senses.
"Those smell so good, Legolas. I love roses. Especially the red ones. They smell the best. They're my favorite flower."
"Mine too, Estel," he grinned at him, as they walked towards the lake. It was near dusk, and the sun was getting low in the sky.
"The lake? Why there?" Estel asked. "What are we doing?" Legolas didn't say a word.
When they got there, he swung Estel off his back and tossed him into the water with all his clothes on. "That's for the blue hair, Estel! You deserved that, you know!" But instead of being upset, Estel just laughed and laughed.
"Aren't you coming in, too?" the little edan asked. This time it was Legolas' turn to be a little disappointed. He didn't get the response he wanted. But he wasn't going to let that stop him from having some fun with Estel. He dropped his pack, removed his
boots and cloak, and jumped in after him, swam around him, then dunked him. Estel came up laughing and then dunked splashed each other, raced across the lake and just enjoyed themselves for a while, but got out when the sun was going down, the air turning a little cooler. Legolas was afraid of Estel getting a cold. He smiled as he grabbed Elrond's blue cloak off the ground and used it to dry both Estel and himself .He started with Estel, rubbing him vigorously with it, drying the boy off as well as he could given the fact that he was still fully clothed. Then he did the same for himself.
"Hey, I could have done that myself Mr. Blu...blonde elf," he quickly corrected himself.
"Estel, do you want me to torture you? I could if you like. And I will if you are not careful, little edan," Legolas assured him, as he continued to dry his hair off. "Now come here, you. Let's get out of this wind."
He picked Estel up and carried him to the south side of a large elm tree, surrounded by bushes, with a large pile of leaves at the base of the tree which would make for a very comfortable seat. He put Estel down, pulled a large blanket out of his pack, since the blue cloak was very damp, and spread it out over the leaves. He picked his cloak up where he had dropped it and handed it to Estel. "You can change behind those bushes over there if you like."
"You want me to wear your cloak? Can I wear some of your clothes instead? Then we can be twins!"
Legolas rummaged around in his pack, looking for the least horrid-looking clothes, and decided there weren't any. So he grabbed the tunic and leggings at the top of the messy pile, and quickly put them on, after taking off the sopping wet ones and laying them on a large branch in the tree, where the breeze could reach them and hopefully dry them quickly.
Then he turned to Estel. "I don't believe any of my clothes would fit you, Estel. However maybe we could make something work." He pulled out another tunic with matching blue leggings, and handed them to the boy. He ran behind the bushes and changed quickly. When he came out from behind the bushes and frowned at Legolas, the Elf gave him the sweetest smile.
"These are way too big, Legolas! How can I wear these?"
"Well, you can always wear the cloak..."
"No, I want these. they're yours. Now they're mine. Unless you want them back when you come next time."
"No, that is alright, Estel, you may keep them." Estel got a huge smile on his face.
"Come here, Estel, and let me fix them up for you so they look better." Legolas pulled the leggings up and tucked them into his boots, and rolled the sleeves of the tunic up, turning them up at the cuff. "There. You look wonderful now. I imagine you can make it all the way to your room without anyone noticing you, now. And you can always run. If that is what you are worried about."
"Thank you, Legolas," Estel replied.
"You are very welcome," Legolas answered him.