Time to torture our favorite elf with a weird genetic disorder. (Have you guys looked up chimerism yet?)
"Can you say 'Storm', Legolas?"
"Twee," said the elfling.
"No, 'Storm'. Say 'Storm'."
"Ewk," said Legolas, pointing to the (to him) colossal beast grazing nearby.
"Yeah, it is. Can you say 'Storm'?"
"No," Legolas decided.
"You won't make your uncle really happy?"
"No."
"Ouch." Storm looked to his sister for sympathy. "I thought we were friends."
Sky gave him a superior look. "Legolas, what's my name?"
"Nana!" Legolas yelled, throwing a handful of leaves in the air for emphasis.
Sky clapped. "Yay, good job!"
Legolas grinned. "Good dob!"
Storm tried not to show his amusement. "Uh-huh. Well, Legolas, are you ready to go?"
Legolas's eyes got big. "Go?"
"Yup," said Storm, lifting the toddler. "We're going on an adventure."
Legolas was not impressed. "No go! No go! No go! NO GO!"
"Storm's taking you to see Taen and Lanthirel and Silana!" Sky interrupted before the child could throw a fit.
Legolas quieted immediately. "Taen!" he cheered.
"Ow," said Storm, clutching his chest dramatically.
"He likes you more than he lets on," Sky confided. "Now shoo, Thranduil and I need some alone time." She hopped up to kiss her son on the forehead. "Bye-bye, Legolas! Have fun!"
"Nanaaaaaaaaaa..." Legolas reached over Storm's shoulder as his uncle walked away, but Storm (who had, after all, raised a very opinionated elfling in his youth) just patted his back and kept going. The youngster had been away from his parents before.
"I'm very offended, Legolas."
. . . . . .
"Aww, you brought me an elfling?" Silana gladly snatched Legolas from Storm as soon as she opened the door and saw them. "Ada, Nana, Storm brought Legolas!"
Suddenly Legolas was in Lanthirel's arms instead. "Can you say hello, Legolas?"
The little prince put his thumb in his mouth and shook his head.
"No? Well, okay, but there is no need to be shy."
Taensirion appeared behind her. "Will you talk for me?"
Legolas hid his face in Lanthirel's shoulder.
"Oh, all right," Taensirion chuckled. "May I?" He took Legolas from Lanthirel and casually slung the elfling over his shoulder. "Ah, Storm, hello."
"Hi," said the elfling's escort, who'd been counting the sentences until someone remembered he was there.
Silana pulled him inside and closed the door. "Told you he would show up, Nana."
Lanthirel winked at her daughter and stole Legolas back from her husband. "And a good thing, too; I invited your sisters and their husbands as well as Feren and Aleinia."
Storm made a face; they'd successfully plotted against him. Heledir and the she-elves he didn't mind, but Ruscan? Oh, dear. (And the looks Feren kept giving him lately...)
Silana poked him. "Stop that. If you'd agreed to have dinner with us before, maybe Nana would have been nicer."
"Besides, they are impatient to get better acquainted with you," Taensirion added, getting Legolas back again as Lanthirel remembered she was supposed to be making dinner. "So, what are you two going to do in the meantime?"
Silana's eyes gleamed. "We," she told her father, "are going to fight."
. . . . . .
"All right, let's see what you've learned," Storm told Silana, flipping the padded swords he'd borrowed from Taensirion over in his hands. They were longer than he preferred, but they'd do.
She stood a few paces away from him, hands on her hips, swords still sheathed. "I wouldn't be so cocky; remember the first time we met?"
"No," said Storm, who remembered perfectly well, of course, especially the conversation right before Silana and Feren's ambush, when Sky teased him about the possibility of him marrying one of Taensirion's daughters someday. He'd have to make sure his sister never remembered that, or he'd never hear the end of it.
"That's too bad," said Silana, thinking back to how she'd almost knocked him out of the tree with the first whack of her bow. He didn't brace against blows well, if his near-tumble was any indication, though that was a long time ago and she had caught him by surprise. Still, if it meant any hit or kick she managed to land would disable him, even for a second...
Storm didn't like that look she was getting. He tried to remember the few times he'd seen her fight, but all he could remember were a few passing thoughts on how good she was getting, not any actual weaknesses.
"WHAP!" Legolas yelled impatiently from Taensirion's lap where the two of them sat out of the combatants' way. The elfling's parents never waited this long before whacking each other with swords.
"Legolas is right," Silana agreed. She casually drew her swords—nothing fancy, no quick routine meant to impress her opponent—and dipped into a low bow, eyes on the ground. "Let's do this."
Storm wasn't sure what to make of her apparent good manners, but he figured he'd show her why it wasn't a good idea to look away from one's opponent. He realized his mistake as, while his blade slashed in at her, Silana leaned forward, dropping her swords and putting her weight on her already lowered hands, and twisted to kick him full in the chest with more force than even most tree-hopping Silvan elves could manage, knocking the breath out of him. Storm staggered back and fell down on his rump, stunned.
Silana knelt next to him. "Nice trick, huh?"
Taensirion placed Legolas on the fallen tree they were sitting on in, ready to interfere in case Silana had gone too far, but Storm just stared at her and wheezed, "That... was impressive."
"Thanks," Silana said proudly, settling down to wait until he recovered.
. . . . . .
"Sorry, but Storm already asked if he could take Legolas to Taen and Lanthirel's house for dinner." Sky winked at her friend.
"Ooh..." Kilvara raised both eyebrows at Storm. "Going to see Silana?"
"I think he's going to give her an elfling instead of flowers. Might work better, honestly."
Thranduil entered the room, with the aforementioned elfling tottering along behind him. "Really? I assumed he was hoping to win her parents' favor."
"I'd expect Silana to be paying more attention to Storm," Felrion put in.
Storm pretended not to realize they were there, instead stealing a cookie from the baking sheet Galion had just pulled out of the oven. He burned his mouth, but it was worth it.
"Probably thinking about kissing him," Sky agreed, trying to get a reaction.
"Oh yeah, Storm, have you kissed her yet?" Kilvara approached and, when he still didn't look at her, leaned over the counter to enter his line of sight. "Even a little kiss?"
"Have you thought about it?" That was Galion, surprisingly enough; like the other adult elves in the room, he'd been teased by Storm while trying to figure out his romantic relationship.
"Is he blushing, Kilvara?" That was Sky again.
"I can't tell..."
Storm was most certainly not blushing, though he was also not enjoying this taste of his own medicine. He instead turned his attention to Firith, who had noticed Legolas climbing the counter to reach the yummy-smelling cookies on top and was now trying to pull the much smaller elfling to safety. "No, Legolas, they're too hot to eat; you might burn yourself, and besides, you don't want to fall on the floor, do you?"
Storm reflected that Firith resembled his father in many ways.
"Have you thought about it, Storm?" Now Sky was next to him. "Come on, have you?"
"Have you held her hand?" Felrion inquired.
"Snuggled on the couch?" Kilvara asked.
"Told her you love her?" Thranduil wanted to know.
Storm very deliberately did not think about kissing or hand-holding or snuggling or sappy conversations, just in case doing so would cause weird things to happen to his brain. Firith had removed Legolas from the counter and was holding him, ignoring the young prince's protests of "Num!" (The other adult elves had been keeping half an eye on Legolas until it became clear Firith had the situation under control.)
"Hmm," said Thranduil, sounding disappointed. "Nothing."
"He's blocking it from his mind," Felrion said confidently. "He'll think about it later when he's alone, I suspect. It's too bad we won't get to see his reaction, but we can imagine it."
"Ooh," said Sky, clearly doing so.
"And we should ask Silana if they've kissed, since he's not about to tell us," Felrion added.
Storm concentrated on using his sleight-of-hand skills to slip Legolas a piece of (rapidly cooling) cookie, which his nephew gleefully shoved into his mouth.
"I'll do that," Sky agreed. "Legolas, when did you grab a cookie?"
Firith's mouth dropped open as he realized Legolas had crumbs all over his shirt.
. . . . . .
"Why hello, Storm."
"Ruscan... It's been a while." Storm dropped to one knee to swipe a sword under Silana's defenses. She hopped over his blade and used the momentum to spin around him; he could have leapt backwards from that awkward position to escape, but chose to lunge forward instead, locking his blades with hers and trying to shove her backward. It would've worked with Sky, but Silana was Sindarin, and she shoved back. Storm ended up breaking away before attacking again. He'd greatly underestimated her; she'd won two of their six fights so far.
Ruscan—Milaera's husband—approached with his wife. "It really has; seems like last time we talked, you were teasing me for falling in love with a Sindar. How the tables have turned..."
Storm resisted the urge to groan as he landed a hit on Silana (probably putting a nice bruise on her hip). Though he'd grown apart from Ruscan since the Sindar came, they'd practically been brothers in their youth due to being only fifteen years apart in age, and his old friend (the sort of elf who, though he'd never been caught in a fight, always seemed to be nearby when one occurred) had been one of Storm and Sky's most valuable allies in their prank war against the newly arrived Sindar until he accidentally fell in love with one of them. Storm still remembered realizing Ruscan was telling their plans to Taensirion, of all elves.
And yes, Storm had teased him a lot after a certain revelation.
Milaera, meanwhile, was cheering on her sister. "You get him, Silana!" Indeed, right then, her younger sister thumped Storm rather hard on the leg, causing him to try to hop to safety, which did not work at all. Storm, four; Silana, three.
"Not bad," said another voice; Heledir, coming over to observe as Storm tried and failed to fend off his attacker from the ground.
"Can I try?" asked Feren, appearing next to his brothers-in-law while Aleinia joined Faena and Milaera in fussing over Legolas (though if they wanted to hold him, they were going to have to fight Taensirion).
"You all had to get here right now," muttered Storm, kicking out and tripping up Silana, then pouncing and trying to wrestle her swords from her. Rrrgh, she was almost as strong as he was.
Taensirion, too, came closer to watch, the three she-elves trailing after the elfling in his arms. "She is quite a fighter, is she not?"
"Oooooh," Legolas observed as the sword-stealing attempt turned into an all-out wrestling match.
"Just remember, Storm, that if you hurt her, we'll have to cause you a significant amount of pain," Ruscan noted as the Silvan elf succeeded in pinning Silana's legs to the ground. "Silana, try biting."
Feren casually whacked Storm with one of the discarded swords.
"Feren," Aleinia warned. "All right, all of you, let him go." Ruscan was reaching for a sword as well, and Silana, thanks to her brother's help, had Storm trapped.
"Not fair," muttered the bruised-up Silvan elf.
"Whap whap," said Legolas happily.
. . . . . .
"Cawwot?"
Aleinia reached for the carrots. "Can you say please?"
"Pweese?"
"Aww"s came from all around the table. Legolas was given a carrot, which he immediately started gnawing with his tiny teeth. "Nom nom..."
Storm propped his chin on his hand. "All that work to get Sky to eat vegetables, and you're not going to get revenge for me, Legolas?"
Silana took a carrot of her own and began chewing at it like a wolf chomping on a bone. "Grrr..."
Storm caught himself imagining her doing that to convince a stripey-haired child that carrots were tasty.
"You savage," Faena accused her sister fondly. "And Storm, I know exactly how you feel." Storm had a moment of panic, thinking she'd somehow read his mind, until he remembered his comment about Sky.
"As do we," Lanthirel said dryly.
Faena ducked her head. "Well, yes."
Legolas, being deprived of attention (his attempt at shyness was in the past, evidently), threw his carrot at Taensirion's head. The older elf caught it before it could hit the floor and handed it back to the elfling. "No throwing, Legolas."
Legolas threw the carrot at Storm, who casually snatched it out of the air and put it in his own mouth.
"Cawwot!" Legolas gasped in horror.
"My carrot," said Storm, biting off a chunk.
Legolas looked to the others for help, his eyes growing far beyond their normal size. Several of them appeared to be affected by this.
Storm circled around to Legolas's baby chair and knelt so he was at eye level with the elfling. "No throwing," he said sternly.
"No fwow," Legolas agreed sadly.
Storm returned the carrot to him.
"Num cawwot!" Legolas cheered, and he went back to mangling it.
Silana leaned over to Storm as he returned to his chair. "You know that whole carrot was in his mouth at some point, right?" Indeed, there had been toothmarks all over its orange surface.
"I've done worse," he replied, unconcerned.
Meanwhile, most of the elves were still focused on Legolas, with Taensirion and all the she-elves totally captivated. Heledir tapped Ruscan's shoulder to get his attention. "This is why I say one of us needs to have another child."
Ruscan raised an eyebrow and tipped his head toward Storm and Silana.
"True," agreed Heledir.
"You are blushing," Silana whispered in Storm's ear.
He quickly turned his attention to his nephew.
. . . . . .
Legolas provided entertainment for the rest of the meal, and as Lanthirel and Aleinia prepared to wash dishes and Milaera got out some blocks for Legolas to play with, Taensirion came over to Storm. "Come for a walk with me; I would like to speak with you."
"Uh-oh," said Heledir.
"He's in trouble," agreed Ruscan.
Storm would've been more concerned if not for their tone of voice and his knowledge of Taensirion's personality, but he still prepared himself for all possibilities as he followed Taensirion outside and down to the forest floor—hmm, so Silana's father wanted them to walk side-by-side instead of jumping between branches.
"Coryn," Taensirion began, and Storm wondered if he was trying to be formal or if he even realized he'd used Storm's full name, "I need to know how serious you are about all this."
Storm really wasn't sure what to say to that.
"Because if you are not truly interested in a future with my daughter, so be it, but you will tell her so tonight," Taensirion said bluntly. "I know this has been something of a game so far, but she is beginning to take it seriously, and I cannot tell what is going on in your head. I need to know."
"Well," said Storm.
Taensirion waited.
"In all honesty, I'm still trying to get used to her being an adult," Storm admitted.
"Ah," Taensirion said, frowning.
"And being good enough to beat me in a fight," the Silvan elf continued.
He had Taensirion's attention again.
Storm's brow was furrowed in confusion. "And she's already a captain... Her grasp of strategy is amazing... She scares me a little bit."
Taensirion was beginning to smile. "You want someone who is your equal, I take it."
"Which she might be," Storm murmured. "Was Lanthirel so bold with you?"
"Only beginning the instant I realized she was interested," Taensirion grumbled good-naturedly. "Apparently her eye had been on me for a long time, but I had no idea."
"Hmm."
"So...?"
Storm groaned and pinched the bridge of his nose. "She's messing with my life plans."
Taensirion thought that was quite funny. "I have never heard it said that way before."
"I didn't say anything," Storm reminded him. "Especially where my sister's concerned, if you know what I mean. And nothing's decided yet."
"Fair enough," Taensirion agreed. "I should warn you that if you ever do anything to harm her, I will not have to come after you, as several other members of my family will get to you long before I can."
"Understood. Including her, I expect."
"Indeed. But in all honesty, I am not concerned."
Storm smiled, while also really hoping Taensirion didn't tell his whole family (or Sky!) that Storm and Silana were going to get married in a few years or something. He had a reputation to uphold, and if everyone found out what he'd told Taensirion, he'd never hear the end of it.
Curse these stupid feelings of his. And curse Silana for being so attractive, for that matter.
Storm was still mentally scolding himself for letting this happen when Taensirion brought up a new topic. "Have you heard what the king decided a few days ago?"
"Of course; Sky tells me most things."
"Alagon has been pressing him on it for a long time," Taensirion said softly. "I hate to admit it, but he may be right."
"I think so," said Storm.
"Oh?"
"You've heard his reasons."
Taensirion sighed and nodded. "I do not envy Thranduil."
"No," Storm agreed. "...Will Silana and Feren be coming this time?"
"I have no excuse to keep them here," Taensirion murmured.
Storm wondered if he could somehow get himself and Silana in the same battle group, but no, she'd just proven she could take care of herself. She wasn't a child anymore. "She—they'll be okay."
"Most likely," Taensirion agreed, patting his companion's shoulder as if it was Storm who was anxious.
. . . . . .
"Which one next, Legolas?"
"Gween!"
Silana selected a green wooden block and placed it on top of the stack. "And now?"
"Bwue!"
"Okay, now what color?"
"Gween!"
Silana carefully set another green block on top, then jumped and almost knocked the tower over as someone poked her in the ribs. "Storm!"
"How did you know?" Storm knelt down, examining the entirely blue-and-green tower. "Legolas, what color is this?"
The elfling considered the orange block Storm was holding, squinting against the glow from the fireplace. "Gween?"
"Thought so. Well, two colors is a start."
"It is orange, Legolas," Silana told the elfling. "Can you say 'orange'?"
"Wange!"
Silana clapped.
Storm decided to repeat his earlier attempt. "Can you say 'Storm'?"
"No!"
The other elves (who were watching from various spots in the room) all laughed.
"Poor Storm," Silana sympathized. "Maybe you would feel better if we took a walk?"
"The stars are very nice tonight," Ruscan observed, looking out the window. "Have fun."
"Wait—" said Storm.
"And it is nice and warm," Milaera added, nudging Storm to his feet.
"Very romantic," agreed Lanthirel, herding Storm toward the door.
"But—" Storm protested as he was practically shoved out the door, but Silana yanked on his arm.
"Come on, silly."
Storm grudgingly followed Silana until she stopped halfway down the curving stairs to the ground, folding her arms in annoyance. "Storm."
"What?"
"Do you want to go back in?"
He opened his mouth, not that he knew what he was going to say.
"Because you are acting like you do not want to be alone with me."
Storm's mouth was faster than his brain. "I'm trying to stop falling in love with you."
Silana stared at him for a few seconds. "Stormfire, I'm not sure whether to slap you or kiss you."
Storm backed up to a safer distance. "I mean I'm... er... Can we forget I said that?"
"Absolutely not."
"Ugh."
She resumed their walk, and he followed, sulking. "Now tell me why you do not want to fall in love with me, or I will tell Sky what you just said."
"Don't you dare," he growled, but he answered anyway. "Getting married really isn't among my goals in life."
"Because?"
"Ever heard the phrase 'settle down and start a family'?"
"Who said anything about settling down?"
"It's not like I could visit friends on the other side of the forest whenever I wanted."
"You could if you gave me an hour to pack."
"I couldn't spend so much time hunting any orcs the patrols miss."
"Because you've been doing that so much lately."
"I couldn't visit another ki—"
"I have always wanted to see Gondor."
"Sky hasn't been able to travel nearly as much."
"That's because Thranduil's a prince, and he is not that type of elf, anyway. I am."
"I don't want to have to babysit you."
"Shall we have another sparring match? A hunting contest? What do you want?" Her tone was irritated, but her eyes were sparkling; she knew he couldn't win the argument this way.
"Maybe I don't like relying on people," he snapped.
"Now you're contradicting yourself."
He huffed in frustration. "I just don't want to!"
"Can't argue with that one, but you are still in denial." She held up her hands to stop him from replying. "I wouldn't have to tie you down, Storm. I am not Thranduil; I would not get upset every time you came home with a cut or two, and I would not stop you from traveling whenever you wanted, as long as you came back after a while. You already stay for Sky."
"Barely," he whispered.
"I wouldn't hold you down, Storm. We would go on adventures together, like you used to do with Sky, and maybe you would not feel so out of place anymore. You could have a family again."
He glanced back up at the house, its windows glowing with firelight. He could hear laughter within.
"I know they could never replace your parents, but that is not what I'm asking. Just let us be there for you."
"I don't belong here," he murmured.
"You could."
He looked at her, then up at the house—now disappearing into the trees behind them—and chuckled. "Deep thoughts for a walk under the stars."
"Just putting the idea in your head," she said. "And I find the stars inspire such thoughts."
He shrugged. "I always get the urge to run."
She took off. "Then let's run!"
He chased after her, taking to the trees, as did she. Up and up and up they went, darting like dragonflies among the branches, and then down again, chasing each other back and forth, losing each other in the darkness and each trying to sneak up on the other and startle them. Finally they ended up at the very top of the canopy, laughing as they caught their breath. The starry sky twinkled far above them.
"You," Storm complained, pointing to Silana, "are messing with my emotions."
"And you are in denial," she returned.
He snorted. "You know what else is fun to do on nights like this?"
"Try kissing?" she suggested innocently.
He rolled his eyes. "No. Listen." He cupped his hands around his mouth and howled at the moon, then tilted his head to listen. "That's the local wolf pack," he told her as a chorus of mournful cries rose from the northeast. "And..." He waited, grinning when an enthusiastic, musical howl came from the northwest. "That's my sister."
Silana howled back.
"...who now knows we're outside together," Storm observed, his head in his hand. Sure enough, Sky's answering howl sounded quite amused. "Our mother showed us that; it's a nice way to keep track of each other."
"And it's fun," Silana pointed out. "Win-win."
"Yep." He liked how she didn't comment on how he'd been holding her hand since right after he howled. It felt way too nice.
. . . . . .
Legolas heard the howls and pointed out the window. "Stowm!"
"Quite right, Legolas," Taensirion said. "And Silana. What interesting customs these Silvans have," he remarked to Lanthirel with a wink.