This chapter is especially for Ziggy.
sorry about the long hiatus...had come,etely forgotten about this story!
Elrohir had always hated meetings, especially his father's meetings.
They just weren't his thing. They took too long, his father obsessed about the timetable and it seemed to him suddenly, when they walked into a meeting, a spell was cast over the participants meaning they instantly took 100 words to say what they could have easily said in 10.
This council was no exception to that rule.
He was sitting next to his father—as he always had to—looking regal, as was expected.
"Just sit there and look important," his father had said to him. "You don't have to open your mouth, Elrohir. No one expects that. Just put on one of your intimidating scowls."
"If I don't have to speak why do you even need me there?"
Elrond had sighed, "To show a united front, boy."
"But these are our allies. They already know we are united, Father" He really didn't want to go to this for he knew it would be tedious and his face would get sore from all the scowling.
"Elladan wants to go and I cannot have one son there without the other! Now be quiet, Elrohir. It is not a hard task I ask of you."
Trust Elladan, Elrohir thought. Trust him to want to go. He liked these kind of things, all the politics that bored Elrohir to tears Elladan actually enjoyed.
And so here he sat...scowling. He had wanted to sit next to Legolas because Legolas was a defeated mess and needed his support, but oh, no, his Father wouldn't have a bar of that! Apparently there was an intricate seating plan that meant Elrohir had to be as far away from Legolas as possible. The other side of the circle to be exact. And if you listened to his father the sky would fall in if the seating plan was altered in even the tiniest way.
It didn't bode well for the rest of the meeting.
Well, he was stuck here. He thought, and if he could not support Legolas by sitting next him he would do it from afar.
And Legolas, from what he could see, was behaving very oddly. First he stared at Elrohir as if he wanted to continue that very pleasant interlude they had had down by the waterfall. Now Elrohir would normally be all up for that...but it was rather inappropriate in the middle of a council meeting and if Legolas kept being so obvious Father would notice and he would just get Elrohir in trouble.
He tried sending Legolas secret mind messages, the way he could with Elladan...but that was an abject failure as it always was. He could never make sense of the messages he recieved from Legolas' mind. They were always chaotic. Today it seemed as if Legolas was thinking of Elrohir's Father without clothes on...and that could not be right! Surely Legolas did not have a secret crush on Elrond...did he?
He became so caught up in examining this, trying to analyse any signs there might have been that this could be true—and there were none—that he missed a big chunk of the meeting and only Glorfindel jumping to his feet and shouting at Estel regained his attention.
"This will stop! This will stop right now, Estel!" Glorfindel was furiously yelling in the middle of the Council. "There will be no more of this bullying! You will take that back. Elrond, I thought you had dealt with this? You promised me."
Could this be? Did Glorfindel mean Estel was a part of the Gang of Thugs his father had told him about?
Had Estel been bullying Legolas?
Legolas had denied there was any Gang. Wholeheartedly denied it, but of course he would...if Estel was involved. They were so close normally. It would be crushing for poor Legolas if Estel had started ganging up with the dwarves against him.
"Estel was one of the bullies? Estel! How could you?" Elrond was shocked and so he should be, Elrohir thought. It was all he needed to hear. This had gone far enough and got completely out of hand. He was not letting anyone bully his beloved Legolas, especially not his own little brother.
Not bothering to think any further about it he leapt to his feet and joined in the fray.
"How dare you?" He cried, stepping in front of Legolas, between him and Estel. He would defend him to his last, Elrohir thought, and he hoped Legolas was noticing how romantic this was.
"He has been ill! Leave him alone. How dare you gang up on him, you and those dwarves!"
In the back of his mind he did remember Legolas had not actually been ill at all, but that was a minor point surely, and Estel didn't know that. Plus it sounded so dramatic when he brought that up.
"I haven't Elrohir!" Estel held his hands up in supplication. "I have done nothing to him I promise."
He seemed so genuine that for a moment Elrohir hesitated, it was getting hard to think, especially since the dwarves were now shouting as well. But then he remembered Glorfindel had said it was so...and Glorfindel was always right—never wrong.
He was suddenly very angry, very angry indeed, for he loved Legolas with all his heart and the thought of him being bullied, by Elrohir's own family, in Elrohir's own home was to terrible to countenance. It made his blood boil. And so without any more thought he let loose with a punch that threw Aragorn to the floor.
Elladan was daydreaming through most of the council. He knew he shouldn't. He knew this was vitally important to the fate of Middle Earth, but he just couldn't help it. It was all so very, very, boring. Worse even than the worst of Fathers "We Must Fix the Plumbing" meetings.
He did notice about halfway through Legolas looking at him very strangely...it was almost as if he was...no. Surely not. He had told Legolas to imagine people naked when he was speaking. Not simply when Father was droning on and on...he wouldn't...couldn't be doing that now could he? And not imagining Elladan naked! That was not the point AT all.
He must be misinterpreting that look he finally decided. Though it wasn't a look he usually had any trouble misinterpreting at all.
His contemplating this was brought to a sudden halt when Legolas leapt to his feet crying out in distress,
Alas! Alas! This is terrible and I have only just now realised just how terrible. Gollum has escaped to the enemy!"
He was obviously very upset and Elladan—distracted as he had been by the sudden fear he may have accidently discovered Legolas fancied him—struggled to work out exactly what was wrong.
Who was Gollum again?
He did not have much time to ponder, because whoever Gollum was it was obvious Aragorn was very, very, unhappy Legolas had lost him.
"How came the folk of Thranduil to fail in their trust?" He cried.
That was rather harsh...Elladan though. A bit on the mean side. He was sure Legolas hadn't lost this Gollum deliberately and including the whole of Thranduil's folk in his displeasure was certainly unfair.
Then Glorfindel went totally and completely mad.
Elladan had known Glorfindel was wildly upset about this "Legolas Bullying" situation, but he hadn't expected him to take the whole thing public. Yes, Aragorn was out of line and Legolas did look upset but still...leaping up in front of everyone shouting like a mad man? Elladan was not sure this was the way to go about things.
He was even less sure when his brother stood up to join in. This could only go badly, badly, wrong.
And, it turned out, he was right about that.
Elrohir was enraged, and when Elrohir was enraged things always went badly. Elladan was relieved at least it meant Glorfindel must have had that part wrong. There was no way this furious Elrohir could have had any part in the bullying—though Aragorn was certainly looking more and more guilty.
Elrohir was raging on and on. Despite Legolas frantically pulling at his cloak to get his attention, despite the increasing clamour from the dwarves as Elrohir included them in his accusations. He was out of control. Something he proved when he suddenly lost control and punched Aragorn solidly in the face. The punch connected with a sickening thump.
Oh Dear, Elladan thought to himself. Father is not going to like this.
"Enough!" Mithrander was on his feet, waving that dangerous staff of his and they all froze. Every single one of them.
"This is enough. We discuss the very survival of Middle Earth here and the lot of you squable like children!"
No one dared to answer him back. Not even Elrond...well none but Glorfindel—who was magnificent, Elladan did hope everyone noticed that.
"They have been bullying this child Mithrander. I could not sit down and say nothing!" He protested.
"No one has been bullying me!" Legolas had found his voice it seemed.
"Enough I said!" Both Legolas and Glorfindel cringed under the Wizards displeasure. "We will sort this out later. Sit down and be quiet all of you."
Mithrander bent down and extended a hand to Aragorn hauling him to his feet where he swayed, one hand cradling his cheek which must be sore, Elladan thought. It must be very, very, sore.
But despite that it seemed even Aragorn was not to be spared a telling off.
"That was uncalled for Estel. Your words were hurtful. In a public forum no less. Apologise." Mithrander snapped at him.
"Apologise? Is Elrohir going to apologise to me for public battery? Is Glorfindel going to apologise for wildly untrue accusations?"
"I do not have time to sort out the problems of all of you now." Mithrander frowned, "so I will start with this. Apologise to Legolas, sit down...and let us carry on with this interminable meeting!"
And Aragorn hung his head. He knew what was good for him. In fact Elladan was surprised he had dared to speak back in the first place.
"I am sorry." He muttered.
"I am sorry, Legolas!" The wizard was not letting him off that easily.
"I am sorry, Legolas..." He may have said it but Elladan did not think Aragorn was sorry in the slightest.
"I am sorry, Legolas for..." Mithrander lifted and eyebrow in displeasure. "Make it sound like you mean it."
"I am sorry, Legolas for my hurtful words of earlier." Aragorn muttered resentfully. Elladan did not think that sounded like he meant it at all but it was obviously all Mithrander was going to get.
"Thats better." Mithrander swirled his cloak and marched back to his seat. "And Elrond..." He added just before he sat down.
"A good parenting manual wouldn't go amiss here I think. Discipline. That's what they need."