Hi guys and girls!
I hope your New Year is going swimmingly :)
I do actually have sisters who are twins, which is where I drew my inspiration for all twin-based activities in this story (Peredhil-based or otherwise), as there just aren't enough twins in Middle Earth for my taste. One thing that has always been difficult for me is explaining just what the twin-bond is like, so I hope I'm able to show it here. I love my twins because it is so wonderful, and so beautiful, how their bond works. Its a world we get the privilege to see, but that we will never truly be a part of because that connection is so unique.
However, I'm equally glad I'm not a twin because you sort of lose your sense of identity, which my sisters will attest to. That is something you will see in abundance in the coming chapters, as our twins fight to find their own identity as well as their identity as a pair.
Also, I have just written some AWESOME chapters for later on. I am properly in love with them and I can't wait for you all to read them.
Read, review, but must importantly: enjoy.
MM –x
Benny
"Ugh..." I sat up, bleary-eyed and sore. I lifted my hand to my face, only to come into contact with a brutal-looking splint. It was cast... well, I wasn't sure what it was cast in but it was incredibly heavy and it was quite uncomfortable when you hit yourself in the head with it. "Ow..." I rubbed my nose and eyes with my not-potted left hand. A gentle wave of dizziness came and then passed, encouraging me to only move slowly as I pulled myself upright.
My thoughts and memories from the previous day presented themselves for inspection at the forefront of my mind, but I was both too achy and too hungry to really bother thinking about them in too much detail. It was, looking at the standard of light, mid-morning and that required food.
I looked around the strange room. It was different to my own, in varying green hues ranging from very dark to almost white. The bed was large and the wood was stained darker to match the various furniture, and the curtains were of a dark green gauze that fluttered as the breeze caught it. I swung my legs over the edge of the bed, "Argh, cold." I squeaked, and gathered myself under the covers again, crossing my legs so I could lean and move more comfortably. "Hello?" I called, and after a moment the door opened. Haldir's head appeared and he smiled warmly.
"Haldir." I sighed with relief. "I thought I'd been abducted by some strange elf."
"Sadly not, unless I am counted as strange of course." He said lightly, bearing a tray of food. "It may not be up to your own high standards of cooking, my lady, but here is your breakfast." He sat on the edge of the bed and placed the tray on my lap. "Eat slowly, the medicine you were given will make you feel nauseous if you eat too much and too quickly."
I nodded, looking at the tray, suddenly feeling less well. "I feel really awful." I muttered, and my head swam again as my ears began to ring and a cold sweat took me. I fought to stay upright and the tray was removed quickly, I didn't really notice as my vision started to go white.
I felt strong arms around me. "Rest back against me, there now." The words sounded distant but I did as they said, and the nausea began to subside. A cool cloth was dabbed along my brow and down my neck, and I slowly felt the trembling stop until I felt normal again and could feel my surroundings. Haldir had his arms around me, holding me steady as he laid on the bed next to me. He tilted my chin to search my eyes, and seemed satisfied with what he saw.
"You moved too quickly." He said gently. "Do try to look after yourself, a head-wound is no laughing matter." He chided, stroking my arm as I relaxed into him further. "Benny, you are surely more trouble than our poor souls can take." He cradled me and I looked up at Haldir, meeting eyes that were watching me with a tender warmth that I was quite unaccustomed to seeing from him.
I nodded, guilt welling as I imagined the scene I must have made when his brothers found me. "I know. I'm so sorry if I scared anyone or upset anyone." He hushed me.
"Do not think on it. Would you like to try a little food again?" I nodded and he stood carefully, propping the pillows at a more suitable angle so I could sit steadily. "I will just reheat these, bear with me a moment." He took the tray and I closed my eyes for just a moment. I was startled awake with a gentle shake at my shoulder.
"Do not rest just yet." Haldir popped a bottle in front of me. "Drink it, please." I looked at the swirling contents an with a sniff recognised the pain reliever as the same one I had been given in Rivendell. Tipping my head back I downed the contents and then felt myself being gently revived by the herbs.
The pain in the back of my head was receding to a dull ache I could cope with, but my wrist was still uncomfortable. "Ugh, why did I have to try and get up?" I complained.
Haldir sat on the bed opposite me, folding his legs underneath him as he placed the food in front of me once more. His eyebrows rose as if the answer were obvious; "Because you are so incredibly stubborn?" He offered. I rolled my eyes at him and looked at the contents on the tray properly this time.
"Oh, you worked out toast!" I looked up and felt my smile widen as I took a bite, savouring the warm bread and thick layer of butter and jam.
"I, ah, well... I rather hoped it would be something welcome for you. I know after my own injuries we wish for that which comforts us when we are unwell." He looked a little awkward.
"It's perfect, honestly. Thank you." I ate as much as I could and drank the glass of milk he'd brought, before placing the wooden tray on the floor next to the bed. "Hey, what's up?" I asked him, as he looked a little distant.
He shook his head at me. "Tis nothing worth thinking on for now, I do not wish the darkness of the borders to follow me home."
"Keep work at work, right?" He looked amused as he moved up the bed to sit next to me again so our shoulders touched. "So, how were the orcs? And the hobbits?"
He looked at me shrewdly. "So you knew about that?" I stared at him, eyebrows raised. "Ah yes, I rather suppose you did. There will be no keeping secrets from you, will there?" I shook my head, and decided to sod it and make the first move, leaning on to him. He looked down at me and I let my eyes close, breathing in the scent of him and taking in his warmth and strength.
I felt his arms hold me once more and he pulled me close to him. "Rest. We can visit your halfling friends, and of course your sisters, later when I am assured you will be steady on your feet. I will not have healers braying at my door if you hurt yourself again." He said quietly to me, but with an edge of humour and I opened my eyes, looking up at him.
"Only if you do. I know you need it, too." His lips turned upwards as he nodded, resting his head back. "Sleep sweet." I muttered tiredly, and let the darkness take me.
xxxXxxx
Our nap didn't last nearly long enough, as we were awoken by Rumil who barged in loudly and without any consideration.
"I apologise for disturbing you, I did not know you were resting." He looked sincerely sorry, so I waved a hand as Haldir helped me to sit up. He woke so quickly, I barely noticed any sleepiness that remained. "Your sisters wish to speak to you, Bernadette. I thought you might like to see them and truly, I do not think we could have kept them at bay much longer. How do you fare now?"
"Better, thank you. Apart from almost passing out on your brother, I mean. Sorry, again." I muttered.
I felt my heart flutter as Haldir stroked a thumb across my cheek. "Again I say, do not think on it." He stood. "Would you like a proper change of clothes? I fear my own apparel may be somewhat large for you." He chuckled and I nodded.
I took my key from around my neck and handed it to him. "I'd rather a tunic if that's okay? The sets are kept in my top drawer. Oh! Could you get my camera too? It's in the top drawer of my bedside cabinet." He nodded, and walked out with his brother in tow.
"I shall see what I can find." He answered non-committally. "Oh, it appears your sisters have located my talan. Thank you for that, brother." He said drily and made way for the bundles of blonde that came flying towards me before rolling his eyes and shutting the door.
"Stop!" I made the transition from Sindarin to English fluidly as they were about to launch themselves onto the bed. "Stop. Breathe." I instructed them and they relaxed, standing together hand-in-hand at the foot of the bed. I took in their appearance – really, nothing had changed for them. They had already been so elegant and graceful, but now they stood before me wide-eyed and tall. "Hi." I said quietly, not even knowing where to begin.
They looked almost identical, even more so than they had the last time that I saw them. Their hair was long and straight, and fell like a waterfall around them, mixing and stirring. Their eyes were similar to mine, as they had always been, but their lips were a little fuller and their cheekbones higher. They no longer looked like the awkward young women they had once been, but breathtaking elves in their own right, full grown and fierce. I suddenly felt awfully inadequate, but tried not to dwell on it.
"Hi." They said softly back. "Are you... are you okay, Ben?" J said timidly, and I nodded, patting the bed at either side of me. They needed no further invitation and before I could blink, they had lodged themselves in my arms and were curled up against me.
"I'm okay, you're okay, we're all okay. I promise." I held them to me tightly until our hearts had calmed. "What happened? Where were you?" I asked them.
"Ben, we thought you were dead. Then, we met these guys, completely strange but they seemed to recognise us at least a little. None of them understood much English except Gandalf... so kindly, do tell us what is going on." Tori said, sitting up to let me breathe.
"Oh, why are our ears pointy, why have we gained like a foot in height and why do I feel like I have cat senses?" J added, tugging at her ears in demonstration.
I brought them both into a hug again, more gentle than the first. They snuggled up to me on either side of the double bed and I put my arms around them. "You need to not freak out, okay?"
"Okay." They said in unison, hands joined over my tummy.
"You know I made you sit and watch Lord of the Rings that time?" They nodded, quiet, with wide eyes. "Well, we're in the middle of that story; we are in our own history, that was long-since forgotten and then fell into myth. Those men you met are the Fellowship of the Ring."
"They don't look like they do in the film." Tori said, subdued. "But I thought it might be the case. I remembered some of the names." J nodded in agreement.
"Yeah. Though, don't you think Legolas is yummy too as he is?" I teased, spotting Haldir, who was watching us with a smile as he leaned gracefully against the doorframe. I ushered him in and he put the clothing and camera on his own chest of drawers, looking at us thoughtfully. I turned back to the twins who were glaring at him, they obviously had a distaste similar to my own when I first met him.
"What did you do?" I said in Elvish, and he rolled his eyes. "Haldir, seriously, what did you do?"
"Nothing. Nothing!" He said with a little indignation. "I might have been a little disgruntled with the...dwarf," He uttered the word with some distaste "...and they stood up for him. I would dearly wish to know why everyone has elected to oppose me on this particular matter."
I recalled the events that happened at the border in my mind and I sighed. "You knew the Fellowship were coming." I pointed out and I was rewarded with a particularly icy look that only he could provide. "You're lucky they're so optimistic, you know that?" I winked at him to try and show I was joking, then turned back to my sisters and spoke in English. "Haldir's sorry for being an arse." They nodded, their eyes quite wide as they realised I was speaking in another language. "Sindarin, a type of elvish. I'm surprised Gandalf didn't help you to speak it."
"We didn't really have the time; but that's cool, in a very, very creepy way." J said, staring at me.
"Not as cool and creepy as Lady Galadriel." Tori shivered. "I'm not too keen that she talked to me inside my head." She wrapped herself closer as if she felt sudden cold.
"What did she say?" I asked, and they shrugged.
"If you were our sister..." Jade began.
"How old we were..." Tori butted in, grinning at J.
"Who Mum and Dad were..."
"The usual." They said in unison, and I my eye twitched, causing both of my sisters to laugh. "What?" They said together. "Are you getting freaked out yet?" They continued in perfect unison.
"Stop it!" I shrieked, and they started to tickle me viciously. "OY!" My face scrunched as I tickled them back, and we quickly came to a truce as Haldir cleared his throat, tapping the back of his head to remind me that the pain relief was only temporary. "I really need to lie back, you two - calm it down. So, where did you meet the Fellowship?" I asked, catching my breath.
"Um, well, we were wandering about for ages before, living off what we'd learnt at Scouts. Y'know, fire, food, and the rest of it? Oh, and some very nifty hiding when there were some really horrible creatures passing. But the guys picked us up coming back down this huge mountain, and things got... nasty." J was as white as a sheet, trembling – completely the opposite of her mood just a moment ago.
"Balrog." I muttered. "Huge creature, lots of fire?" I hugged the two of them as they recollected the fight, burying their heads in my shoulder.
I mouthed Moria, Orcs, and Balrog to Haldir as his eyebrow rose in concern. He understood my meaning and his look darkened as he nodded.
"It's okay, shh..." I began to sooth them automatically in Sindarin, rocking them gently, then corrected myself. "It's gone, and Gandalf, whom I'm sure was the only one to talk to you in English..." One of them muttered a yes into my shoulder "Well, he's not dead, he'll be back, okay?" I stroked their hair. I felt safe telling them this, at the very least.
"Promise?" J sniffed.
"Promise." I looked her , and then Tori, in the eye. "Did you kill any Orcs?" I teased, and that brightened Tori up.
"Yeah, I killed four, J killed two." I was impressed with them and it must have shown as they smiled brightly, though their eyes were puffy. Ever the optimists, they were.
"Impressive, my young padawans. Don't suppose you've seen mum anywhere on your wanderings?" They shook their heads, looking sad again. "I think we need a chat with Galadriel." I muttered. "I need to know a few things, and so do you. Apparently, we belong here. But I don't know the full story."
I sat them up, straight, and arranged their hair so it was flat once more. "Oh, you died, by the way."
"Beg pardon?" J looked like she was going to fall over.
"When we died on earth, we came here, and took on our apparently natural elven state...Yes, you're an elf. Be very, very glad you don't remember it." I said, remembering with nausea the devastating nightmares that plagued me even now.
"So, Dad'll be alive somewhere then?" Tori was looking hopeful.
"I had thought of that, but I don't know for sure." I said. "We need to find Mum first though, okay?"
"Kay," They both said, solemnly. "Woah... so we're elves? Like, proper elves?"
"We will find them." I sat up, looking at the two of them, taking a hand. "Promise. Because if they aren't here, they'll have sailed to Valinor. Which they will do, if any other elves find them." The twins looked utterly confused. "Oh, that's like the Elvenhome. It's where all the Valar live... um... sort of God's assistants... in heaven?" I tried to explain. "And yes, we are real elves. Ears, gracefulness, the lot. Oh, and living forever, basically."
"We'll figure it out later." Tori said, looking annoyed as she poked me in the arm. "Living forever, eh? That's... scary." She poked me a second time, as if it were my fault.
"Ow." I frowned. "What was that for?" she poked me again, so I poked her back. "Give it up!"
"Y'know what I miss?" J piped up, to avoid an all-out poke war. "Jam sessions."
My eyes went wide. "Oh, the possibilities. Fancy a sing-song?" I said.
"Oh I vote for something Celtic, if we can get a drum, double-stick and a penny whistle." Tori bounced on the bed. It was one of her favourite genres to play within and I had to agree with her.
"I call the penny whistle!" J said, waving her hands. "Not like you can play it anyway, idiot." she motioned to my right hand. I thumped her, and she moaned in exaggerated pain.
"Well, why don't you go out whilst I get dressed, go pester Rumil, Orophin or Legolas for instruments or something." I said. "I need to get dressed, and then talk to Haldir about something."
"Don't be so patronising." Tori grumbled as she clambered from the bed, rearranging the oversized tunic that covered her threadbare jeans.
"Gobby bitch." I retorted light-heartedly. Haldir coughed politely and looked at me pointedly, making it clear he understood that particular word. I rolled my eyes at him and turned back to my sisters. "My apologies, mind your language around here, it isn't like it was before." They sighed as one, but clearly catalogued the information.
"I'm gobby? What planet's thee on lass?" Tori perked up and began to form the broad Yorkshire dialect we had often found ourselves using at home. I grinned, glad to be able to play and mould the words from my mother-tongue for the first time in months.
"Mars. Sithee later." I answered in kind, and she stuck her tongue out. "Go on, bugger off."
"Yeah, just because you want sexy time with him." Tori pointed at Haldir as she went to the door. "He's not even fit, Ben... seriously. And if he does anything at all to hurt you I will actually kill him."
"Behave yourself!" I hissed, blushing. "No, I don't want sexy time with him at the moment children, thank you very much. Please don't get involved in my love life again." I said smartly, then visibly twitched. "I remember last time far too well. Oh, and go talk to Galadriel – she should be able to help you to speak some of the language so you can get by more successfully." I waved them out.
"But you do want sexy time with him at some point." J said, hugging me before diving off the bed. "And he is quite good-looking, Tori, it's just 'cause you like brunettes..." They chattered as they left, and I looked at Haldir, grinning.
"I love them." I said, and he just laughed. "What? I do! And pass me... oh, why did you get me a dress? I don't want a dress, I can't do anything in them."
"Then it is most fortunate that nothing is precisely what you will be doing." He said sternly, holding out the dress to me. "Change, and then we can risk a walk, perhaps."
"Yes, sir!" I saluted, getting out of bed. He diverted his eyes quickly and I looked down. "Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't realise." I quickly took the dress and used it to cover myself a little more. I checked the camera that had been handed to me, and realised I'd forgotten to mention the batteries. "I need to change so if you like you could go back to my talan, and go into the top of the chest of drawers. You'll see four little black cylinders rolling around. They make this work, so you could bring them up?"
"Whilst I am happy to care for you I am not your servant; but if it means you will change your attire, I shall." He stood awkwardly for a moment longer before turning and leaving, I could tell he was fighting a blush.
"Sorry." I mumbled again and I could hear his strangely awkward laugh as he shut the door. Once he was gone I pulled off the tunic top and pulled the dress over my head with only a little difficulty this time. It was my nice, plain woollen one, and I smiled as I realised he had found his cloak and brought that too. Fastening it in place, I checked myself in the small but functional mirror, frowning. I looked pale and ghastly, and my hair was a mess, so I went on a quick hunt for a comb. Upon finding one, I carefully untangled my hair and wrapped it in a knot at the back of my head, wincing as hairs pulled at my cut.
"Are you dressed?" A voice called in.
"All dressed. Come in." I said. Haldir stuck his head though the door. He smiled as he saw the cloak I was wearing.
"Not quite right, but well enough for now. Oh, sit, I will braid your hair. It does not look as beautiful tied back like that." He handed me the batteries and sat on the edge of the bed, moving the stool so it was between his legs. "Sit, and we'll talk." He said, and gave me my key to put around my neck.
I sat and he un-knotted my hair, taking a comb through it very gently. "So, you knew of the death of Mithrandir?" his tone was faintly accusing.
I caught his eye in the mirror. "He's not dead. Or he will be, but we'll be seeing him back before you know it." I said. I held comfort in the fact that this little bit I could tell some people – not all, but certainly my sisters and the Lothlorien elves who wouldn't be affected.
"Did he have to die?" Haldir looked a little torn with grief, and I nodded. "Keep your head still." He muttered, playing with my hair for a while rather than braiding it. It was relaxing, and I leaned back to rest on him. His arms dropped, almost daring to linger at my hip but not quite touching.
"I was feeling guilty about it for so long when I met him in Rivendell." I said, and I felt his arms rest on my shoulders. I put my left hand up to grab his, squeezing gently. "And I know damn well that Aragorn is going to be after my blood." I said.
"He is not 'after your blood' – he is grieving for Mithrandir, certainly. He does not blame you." I smiled sadly.
"At least I don't have an angry... no, sorry, an angry ranger on my heels." I stopped myself from saying "king".
"Do desist." Haldir let me drop my hand, and continued his work. "You seem lighter." He said after a while. "Your troubles have eased."
"I've missed my sisters so much you cannot imagine. Would you feel truly complete without your brothers?Ow." I muttered as he caught my cut. He looked at my hair and then parted it, looking at the cut. "Is it really bad?" I asked, half wishing to know, and half not.
"It is healing. The sutures are holding strong." He evaded.
"So it's not that nice?" I joked, and he let my hair drop.
"No, it is not." There was a tone of dry humour evident in his voice. I popped the batteries in the camera and flicked it on, running through the pictures till I found the ones I wanted as he wound my hair into careful braids that helped to hide the cut.
"I took this one." I showed him, and he laughed. "What? I thought it was a good picture."
"It is. It is just so very realistic. I fear you have captured me entirely." He joked, then I flicked to the next one, and he stopped laughing. His hands stopped moving and I swear I could hear his heartbeat as we sat in silence. Not looking, I clicked onto the next one, and he sucked in a breath.
"I think we've been caught by someone with an over-active imagination." I said, trying not to let my nerves and my racing heart get the better of me. I had planned to have this conversation under far more relaxed circumstances after I had practiced a nice little speech, but now seemed as good a time as any as we had been so comfortable with each other.
"So it would seem." Haldir said, as though he did not know what else to say. He busied himself with my hair for about five minutes, but I could still feel his heart racing. His hands stopped and he seemed to move back a little, his work done.
"Haldir, are you okay?" I dared to ask, and he looked at me in the mirror. I shifted to the side on the stool so I could see his face, and I lifted my non-potted hand to give his arm a quick squeeze. "It's just a silly picture taken by your brothers, and it's got me into trouble with a few of the other ladies. I thought you might like to see what has set it all off..." I began to ramble out excuses, feeling my face and neck heat as I panicked.
I promptly shut up when Haldir raised a finger to my lips, touching them briefly before moving his hand away. "Is it just a silly picture?" he asked, not to me specifically, but in general, taking the camera and looking at the picture again. I licked my lips subconsciously, and dropped my hand from his arm, at a loss as to what to do now.
"You know, my dear brothers have been unrelenting in their teasing since I began my most recent stint at the border. They have a theory, you see..." He trailed off.
"Yes, I think Lord Glorfindel had a theory himself too, when we first met." I muttered.
"I rather imagine that he did. He's a meddlesome elf at the very best of times, and downright invasive when he feels like it. He's over seven thousand years old, more if you count the time when he was dead, so he enjoys entertaining himself when the other elf-lords have become rather too much for him." Haldir said drily, placing the camera down and looking at me. "Bernadette, forgive me but I feel being forthright in this matter is better than dancing with words. I have no patience for it and I know that you do not either." He sighed, taking my hand in his ever so gently, and grazed a kiss across my knuckles, without taking his eyes off my own. I felt a shock to my stomach – such an innocent gesture, but yet I could not believe the sensuality of it.
"We are still getting to know each other, I know." I said carefully. "But I can't help but feel there could be something more..."
"If we chose to pursue it." Haldir finished. "The question is, would you wish to? What would your concerns be?" I felt his fingers stroking my own, the skin firm and calloused in places from swordplay and from his bow.
"I've been thinking about this since the day by the falls, and I would. I really would." He used his free hand to tilt my chin, looking into my eyes as he had earlier.
"Beautiful." Was all he said, and I used our still entwined hands to touch his face gently, running a finger across his lips.
"But I'm not the beautiful one. My sisters..." I began voicing my earlier fears, equally quietly. He looked astonished and shook his head, tracing my features with a feather-light touch.
"... Do not hold a candle to you. They are beautiful, as all elves are, but you..." his thumb brushed across my lower lip. "You are simply enchanting."
Smiling, he shuffled back on the bed and indicated for me to sit next to him. Moving carefully, I came to rest by his side and he wrapped me in his arms as he had earlier in the day. I listened to his heartbeat, strong and steady, and a peaceful calm came to rest over us.
"What are your concerns?" I asked him after a little while.
"My fear would be not returning to you." He said gravely, his voice rumbling. "That I would leave this world, no matter how unintentional. I would never have what happened to my parents happen again."
"I know you wouldn't." I looked up at him and smiled knowingly. "We're safe on that front, at least for quite some time." I assured him, and he quickly raised two fingers to rest against my lips.
"You should not speak further." He hushed me, but I could see a light in his eyes that hadn't been there before, and I knew it had answered at least part of his question. "What of you? I asked, but you never answered."
"My only worry is that I feel too much, and too fast." I admitted. "I've never been a love-at-first-sight woman."
"Yet it is oft our way to feel so – or at least, to know in our hearts that such feeling would be possible in time. It makes my heart glad to hear that you feel as you do." I felt the warmth radiating from my skin and he chuckled as I blushed again. "Now, that is most endearing." He stroked my cheek before holding me once more, pulling the cloak around me a little more comfortably.
I felt myself begin to drift in and out of sleep as we laid together, so I shook myself and made to sit up a little only to find resistance. "As much as I am very much loving this." I said into Haldir's chest. "I think I have a few people to meet, and a bit of havoc to prevent." I looked down at my bare feet, and yawned.
"I think what you need is to rest further. You will feel exhaustion more easily as you heal, but you will heal quicker than you did when you took the form of man." I nodded.
"Are you planning on letting me go any time soon?" I asked sleepily.
"Oh, I quite like you here." He said, pulling me closer, and I finally let myself fall asleep.
xxxXxxx
Haldir
He felt Bernadette relax fully in his arms, and her breathing deepened as she fell into sleep. Gods, how content did he feel in that one moment? Looking down at her, he could see she still slept with her eyes closed. He felt a smile tug at his lips as in he sleep she placed an arm across his waist, the other bearing the cast cradled carefully between them.
Carefully shifting further down so as not to wake the sleeping lady beside him, he arranged himself more comfortably and let himself drift into a light sleep so he could wake easily if he was needed. A quiet knock on the door roused him and he looked up to see Orophin smiling warmly. With careful movements, he extracted himself from Bernadette and placed a soft kiss on her brow before slipping out of the room behind his brother.
"Well, that seems to be going well." He commented as Haldir quickly picked up the things he had discarded earlier in the day.
"I suppose." He said carefully, but with a smile he couldn't prevent. "She has reassured me in part that we have nothing to threaten us, as I so feared."
"I did tell you this, brother dear." Orophin took an apple from the fruit bowl and sat on one of the chairs in the room. "So what happens next? We have a few months off, I understand."
"Correct. We are well owed it, after all." He stilled, coming to sit opposite his brother. "I do not know. I am not particularly well versed in the ways of romance, as well you know." Haldir paused, then looked up from his hands. "What would you suggest?"
Snorting, Orophin threw his apple core into the waste basket by the door. "I would not have the first clue where to start. Flirting, of course I could. A courtship? Those are murky waters for me, brother. Taeglyn would be the one to ask but alas, he is on patrol."
"Yes, I rather thought you might say that. I think it is best to continue our friendship, and see where it may lead." Haldir rubbed his temples. "I do so wish she had not fallen asleep in my room, I am in dire need of proper sleep and I cannot do so with her next to me. Valar, I cannot think properly when she is next to me." He let out a long breath.
"Haldir, this is good. You need a little more in your life than patrols, Rumil, and I. Take your time, but do not take too much. Get the official phase of the courtship out of the way."
"Oh the joys, I am not an elfling that needs watching with the first elleth that stirs me." He spoke candidly, eying his brother who seemed to find the whole idea far too amusing. "It is pleasant, though, having her so near." He admitted. "Too pleasant. I will take her back to her talan later when she is well enough to be stood."
"That would be best." Orophin agreed. "In the meanwhile, how about a game of cards? I need to refresh my skills before I go out this evening."
"You can refresh your skills all you wish, you will still lose." Haldir commented with humour, but set out to find his cards to play. It would distract him, in any case.
Ooh, looks like things are heating up for dear Benny...!