#49- A Simple Delight

He padded through the halls that night, bare feet making barely a sound on the cold stone floors. He wasn't quite sure what he was looking for, but it wasn't sleep, by any means. He'd had more than enough of that within these last few months.

It was cold- very cold. He wasn't quite sure if it was just how he felt inside, or if the weather had something to do with it. Of course, it was the dead of winter, so that might be the cause.

He found himself outside the kitchen door, of all places. He never went in here, but that coughing inside was getting quite irritating. He walked inside, put the kettle on over the fire, and sat down at the table, opposite the sleeping figure of Galion, slumped over the table.

Thranduil studied the pale figure before him. One bony hand clutched a once-white handkerchief, now stained with rusty red. The shoulders shook occasionally with silent coughs, the grey-green eyes, which had once glowed with excitement over finally being appointed the long-coveted position of butler, were dull, half-closed in sleep.

Had he driven Galion to this? This state of- perhaps not brokenness, but certainly a state of weariness. The Elvenking thought over the events that had occurred since the summer. The death of… no...the going-away-of… the queen. His wife. She was gone, never to return.

Then, everything else had fallen downhill. He wouldn't look at Legolas. It wasn't the poor baby's fault, but he still wouldn't look at him. Things would have fallen apart if not for Galion's vigilance, now that he thought of it; the butler's many quiet efforts to keep the household running smoothly, never publicly caving in under pressure...

And all that he could do was yell at him. Yell, and cry at him(not with him; at him), and glare. And Galion only wanted to serve him. Perhaps, even be his friend. They used to be friends.

That must have hurt him dreadfully.

Thranduil got up, and poured water out of the now-boiling kettle into the teapot. The noise that he made doing this was barely noticeable, but, naturally, Galion heard it. The butler startled violently, startling himself into a coughing fit. A fresh stain found its way onto his handkerchief. Then Galion saw Thranduil. His eyes widened in horror. "Oh, sire! I...I'm dreadfully sorry. I didn't mean to fall asleep- I meant to-"

"Shut up, Galion," said Thranduil. He pushed a teacup across the table. "You're sick, and, like a fool, I didn't notice. Drink this; it's good for you. It's one simple delight that we can afford to partake in these days."

Galion took the cup hesitantly. "I'm not very sick. And you aren't expected to notice, sire. You have so much on your mind these days."

Thranduil shook his head, looking down at the table. "Well, I've given you enough to worry about, I'm afraid." The Elvenking got up from the table. "You're allowed to sleep late tomorrow. Which means that you have to go to bed. Do so as soon as you're finished that cup- and no pouring it out where you think that I won't notice. I assure you that I will."

Thranduil swept out of the room. Galion stared, stunned, after his retreating figure. When the king had disappeared, when his footsteps were no longer audible, the butler stared confusedly into the depths of his tea cup.


A/N- I'm so sorry for taking so long to update anything! School is hard, life is busy, and writer's block has plagued me. Forgive me?

Finally, after trying and trying to come up with a drabble, this came out of nowhere. It's sort of self-indulgent(actually; very self-indulgent- there's nothing better than Thranduil and Galion friendship/angst/fluff stuff.) I know it's way too long, but it wouldn't stop earlier, and, since Arrow was so short, I thought this was okay. Also, please don't flame me for making Galion sick. I guessed that if Legolas could get infected arrow wounds, Galion could get pneumonia. ;-)If you're still doubtful about the possibility of sick elves, check out this article at www. silmarillionwritersguild reference/references/pdf/elvish_fanons. pdf(remove the spaces and add a lower-case "HTTP slash slash colon" before the "www". That kept getting edited out by the site when I tried to link it.

Please let me know your thoughts. I love reviews way too much. Thank you very much to Lir and an anonymous guest who reviewed chapter five for reviewing as guests! Thank you all for reading, and, once again, please let me know your thoughts!