Rating/Warning: K. None.

Time frame: Year 37 of the Second Age. Elros left for Numenor in year 32, so 5 years before this story takes place.

A/N: So originally, this was not my idea for this prompt at all. But then lately I've had a series of rather sad/creepy/disturbing ones, and I thought this needed a bit of humor. So even though I don't usually write humor, I gave it a go. So then I had no idea what to do, so I went and asked a couple of friends. And one of my friends just said "ducks." So I just kind of ran with that. Because of that, though, this whole thing might never come up again. It probably will...but it might not. We'll just have to wait and see.

Thank you a thousand times to all of you wonderful people who reviewed last chapter! Lorinand, Reader, Charlotte2May, TheHouseWitch, nosmaeth, and Dreamflower, you are very awesome people. Thank you! And also huge thanks to all who have favorited and/or alerted, and I'm glad you're enjoying! To all of my lurkers, I hope that you are enjoying reading, and I'd love to hear from you at some point. Most importantly though, enjoy.

Day 14 – Something about phobias

Elrond

If there was one thing in the world that Elrond was positively terrified of…it was ducks.

He had no reason for such an odd fear. No duck had ever done anything to him – bit him, charged him, or even quacked at him – and he could eat duck without batting an eye. But when they were alive, waddling around and making that terrible honking sound…

Few knew about Elrond's fear of the brightly colored aquatic birds, for he was able to hide his fear well. But the fear was still there, numbing him and making his hands go cold, causing him to shake ever so slightly, but for the most part he was able to keep a handle on his emotion for long enough to excuse himself from whatever company he was in, and flee with elegance. Sometimes. Not always.

Glorfindel and Gil-galad were two of those who knew about this strange phobia, and they would tease Elrond mercilessly for it. Elrond took it all in good stride, usually simply deigning to ignore them, or on occasion shooting them a withering glare.

(Mithlond – S.A. 37)

The gardens were beautiful at that time of year. The flowers were in full bloom, the trees laden with thick, green leaves, and the air smelled of the first traces of summer and the last of spring. The burble of water running in a small brook just out of sight behind the trees, accompanied the gentle sea breeze that stirred the air.

Gil-galad, Elrond, and three other lesser nobles strolled amiably down the garden path, talking quietly and admiring the flowers. They rounded a bend, and the garden hedge opened out into a small, grassy knoll, the path twisting around the edge and then into the trees on the far side of the well-manicured glade. Wildflowers dotted the verdant grass, and near the center of the glade was a shallow pond. Flowers and reeds grew at the water's edge, and the croak of frogs joined the rustling and intermittent quacking of ducks to form a peaceful sort of hum.

Elrond stopped abruptly, eyeing the ducks that were bustling about the pond. Three were in the water, bobbing their heads beneath the waves, their tails wriggling as they snatched for food. Two more were waddling around the muddy edge, ruffling their feathers, and watching each other warily.

Gil-galad turned, sensing that Elrond had fallen back. "Elrond, are you coming?" he asked pointedly.

"Uh…" Elrond stammered, glancing over at Gil-galad before his eyes returned to the ducks. "Yes," he replied. He didn't move.

By now the other three courtiers had noticed Elrond's odd behavior as well, and turned to look at the young peredhel with varying degrees of confusion. Gil-galad sighed, then retraced his steps to the mouth of the path, and lay a hand on Elrond's shoulder. Elrond was quivering, Gil-galad noted with surprise.

"Elrond, are you well?" Gil-galad asked, softly this time so that the others could not hear.

"What? Oh, yes," Elrond said, trying to sound reassuring. He failed miserably, and the smile that he gave Ereinion was both too wide and falsely bright. "I am well, no worries. I am coming."

"All right then," Gil-galad said with a frown, now very thoroughly confused. He dropped his hand from Elrond's shoulder, and then turned back to the other courtiers. "Have any of you seen the new ship that Círdan is building?" he asked, going back up the path.

Elrond took a deep breath, and then took a hesitant step forward, out into the meadow…and closer to the ducks. His eyes remained locked on their feathered bodies, although his head began to hurt from watching all five birds at once so intensely. Carefully, without taking his eyes off of the ducks, he began to walk up the path toward the others, trying to control his shaking.

"Elrond, how about you?" Aeleg, the youngest of the courtiers as well as the only ellon (besides Elrond and Gil-galad, of course) asked.

"What?" Elrond grimaced at the sound of his voice – high-pitched and strained. He cleared his throat, and then tried again. "My apologies, what are you speaking of?" He was relieved to hear that it sounded a little more normal.

Aeleg looked at him oddly, then repeated his question. "The new ship that Lord Círdan is building – have you seen it?"

"Oh, yes," Elrond replied distractedly. "I helped him some of the measure-" a duck quacked and Elrond jumped, "-ments in fact," he finished.

"Elrond, are you sure you are well?" Gil-galad asked in concern.

"Just peachy," Elrond retorted. "Can we walk any faster?"

They were nearly to the trees on the far side of the glade when it happened. Without warning, one of the ducks on the edge of the pond took off, flapping its wings with a flurry of wind. Elrond flinched, jumping away, and neatly pulling Gil-galad between himself and the flying beast.

"Elrond, what…?"

The duck landed in front of the small group, quacking as it politely asked if they had any food for it.

Elrond leapt back with a very un-warrior-like yelp, and promptly tripped over his own feet. He fell on his back, but almost instantly he was scrambling backwards, putting as much distance between himself and the duck as he could. The duck quacked, and then turned to look directly at him.

"Get it away from me!" he shouted. "GIL-GALAD!" he bellowed, when no one made a move, only watched in shock as Eärendil's son cowered away from the small, and perfectly harmless bird.

Gil-galad suddenly burst out laughing, throwing his head back. He gasped, fighting the tears that threatened to stream down his cheeks, and clutching at his sides. The other courtiers simply looked on in shock and confusion, torn between chuckling themselves, or simply staying out of the way of the cousins. They wisely chose the latter option.

"THIS IS NOT FUNNY!" Elrond bellowed, scooting back another inch as the duck waddled toward him, opening its bill to quack again. "GIL-GALAD, THIS IS NOT FUNNY."

"Yes….yes it is," Gil-galad gasped, barely able to contain his laughter for long enough to choke out the sentence. "Your face…"

"JUST GET IT AWAY FROM ME!" he screamed, still sitting helplessly on the ground and watching the baffled duck as it took another step closer.

With one final laugh, Gil-galad stepped forward, shooing the duck away. "We have nothing for you. Now go on, before you give my cousin a heart attack."

With a final, disgruntled quack, the duck took off again. It flew right over Elrond's head, just barely avoiding hitting him. Elrond shrieked and ducked, covering his head with his arms.

When the duck was gone, Gil-galad started laughing again. "Don't tell me, Elrond," he gasped, "you're terrified of ducks?"

Elrond picked himself up off of the ground, dusting himself off and looking thoroughly embarrassed and put out. "Yes, I'm terrified of ducks," Elrond replied churlishly. Gil-galad started laughing again. "It's just…their eyes, and the way they move, and…"

"Yet you have no qualms with swans or seagulls," Gil-galad pointed out.

"Well no. But…They're not ducks!" Elrond protested. Gil-galad only laughed all the harder. "Forget it," the peredhel growled.

Turning to the other courtiers, Elrond bowed slightly. "My apologies that you had to witness that," he said, then turned to Gil-galad. "Your majesty." He bowed low, even as Gil-galad still strove to regain his composure. With that, Elrond turned on his heel and stalked back to the palace. Of course, he took the long way around the glen, well out of sight of the duck pond.

There was a knock at Elrond's door. He bade them enter, and Gil-galad stepped into the room, closing the door behind himself.

"I came to apologize for my actions earlier," he said. "You truly were afraid, and I should not have treated your fear so lightly."

Elrond sighed, and then stood up from behind his desk. "No need to apologize, my lord," he said formally. "If anything, I should be the one doing so. My actions…"

"You were afraid," Gil-galad said lightly. "Fear makes a person do strange things."

"I still should not have addressed you as I did, especially in the presence of others," he pressed, a light blush coloring his cheeks.

Gil-galad snorted inelegantly. "Elrond, you are my cousin. You have the right to address me as such if you like."

"You are also my king," Elrond pointed out.

"You are right, I am your king," Gil-galad said brightly. "And as such, I am telling you that you can address me as such all you like." Elrond frowned and shook his head, but he did not say anything. "Just…kindly refrain from screaming during the banquet next week – I have heard we are having roast duck as the main course."

Elrond buried his face in his hands. "I am never going to live this down, am I?" he asked, voice muffled by his hands.

"Most certainly not," Gil-galad grinned. "Now come to dinner. Or else I'll let the ducks loose on you," he threatened. Elrond sighed, but followed Gil-galad nonetheless as he led the way down to the dining hall.

And if you're wondering…yes, Elrond had to suffer through Gil-galad's duck jokes for the rest of the night.

A/N II: Okay, just to give you all a heads up, I'm going out of town on Sunday. That means I have no idea when my next headcanon will be posted. It could be tomorrow, but that really depends on how much stuff I have to do to get ready. It may be Monday after we get there. It may be later. I'm staying with the loverly Mirnava, so I'll have internet and possibly writing time, but it's getting into the college tour season of life for me, so I'll be busy going and around and actually doing stuff while I'm gone, not just vacationing. So yeah...Just thought I should let you all know!

Thank you so much for reading, and I hope you enjoyed! (I'd also love it if you reviewed *nudge*) Have a wonderful weekend!