CHAPTER FIVE

            At breakfast the next morning, Elrond sat once more at the main table, almost half an hour after it's beginning, and there was still no sign of either of the young boys.  Most of the elves had already finished their meals.  Finally, he heard footsteps coming down the stairs and he rose to his feet as Legolas sailed into the room, followed closely by a very anxious looking Estel.

            "Boys, I thought I asked you not to be late like this again," Elrond reprimanded.  Legolas didn't even acknowledge that he had heard the elf lord; he merely brushed past the table and straight on towards the kitchen.  "Legolas!" 

            At the sound of his name, the young elven prince came to a graceful halt, his eyes just barely flicking up to look at Elrond.  The elf lord felt aggravation stirring in him.  "Legolas, I would like you to apologize to everyone here."

            Legolas's eyebrows shot up slightly in a total "you've got to be kidding me" look; his expression remained disdainfully the same other than the skeptical eyebrows.  Silently, he turned away and continued on his way, pushing open the doors leading to the kitchen and disappearing from view, the doors swinging behind him.  Estel remained where he was, shaking his head at the spot where Legolas had disappeared.  Elrond waved a hand, dismissing the other elves, who got up silently and quickly left the room.  It wasn't until Elrond was alone with Estel that he finally spoke.

            "Estel, may I ask what the meaning of this is?"

            Estel turned to face his foster father, keeping his eyes on the floor.  "I'm not quite certain," he said, scuffing the floor with his foot.  "I said something yesterday that upset him...I think he's still mad about that."

            "I see.  Well, don't lose track of him.  You still have to stay by his side.  Go after him, quickly!"

            Elrond quickly turned and rushed through the kitchen door after the young elf, leaving Elrond shaking his head as he stood alone in the dining room.

            ~*~

            Legolas entered the kitchen to find the elves already finished eating.  There were baskets and plates full of food nearby.  He eyed it without much interest; he wasn't very hungry.

            "Legolas!"

            The young elf spun about towards the source of the voice just in time to be practically knocked off his feet as the speaker, young Estel, came barreling through the doorway, crashing right into Legolas.  Recovering his balance, Legolas glared at Estel. 

            "Sorry," Estel said quickly.  Legolas rolled his eyes in response and turned away, snagging a roll from out of a nearby basket before striding towards the door that lead outside.  Estel stared after him, then looked longingly at the food.  As fast as he could, he gathered as much food as could be stored in his tunic and ran after Legolas.

            "Legolas!  Slow down!" Estel hollered as loud as he could after the elf, who didn't slow his pace at all.  Estel scowled.  "Slow down, you horses'-" he bit his lip abruptly, cutting off the insult that he had almost shouted out for all to hear.  It would not do to upset Legolas even more, especially when he himself was responsible for the elf's bad mood.  "Legolas, will you *please* slow down?!"  If anything, the elf only moved faster.  Feeling his anger rise, Estel broke into a run, his feet carrying him as fast as possible.  Legolas was immediately aware of the change in pace; his keen elven ears pricked up at the hastened patter of feet as Estel rushed towards him.  The elf immediately stopped dead in his tracks and spun about in time to see Estel flying towards him.  There was enough time for both boys' eyes to widen in shock with the knowledge that they could do nothing to prevent what was about to happen before it happened.  Estel, unable to stop himself, flew head on into Legolas, who put up his arms in an attempt to either catch Estel or push the boy away.  Instead, Estel crashed right into Legolas, hitting the elf hard.  Legolas, stunned by the blow and with the wind knocked out of him, automatically folded over slightly, leaning into Estel as he fell backwards.  His arms wrapped around Estel as he tumbled over, falling to the ground and dragging Estel on top of him.  Estel's stash of food flew everywhere, even hitting nearby elves, who quickly hurried on their way.  Legolas' head hit the ground hard; he winced in pain, eyes squinched tightly shut.  Estel stared down at Legolas, completely shocked.  ".....Legolas?" His voice was timid.  "Are...are you all right?"

            Legolas' only response was a grunt.  "Ugh."

            "Legolas?"

            Slowly, brilliant blue eyes fluttered open and fixed on anxious gray ones with a look akin to resigned annoyance.  "Why am I not surprised."

            "About what?"

            "That you wouldn't let me escape without doing something completely klutzy and managing to take me down with you once again."  Legolas sighed; Estel flushed.  "You want to get off of me, Estel?"

            "With pleasure," Estel muttered, embarrassed, but when he tried to move, he found himself unable to do so.  Something was holding him down.  //What in the...oh.  *OH*.//  "Um...Legolas?"

            "I thought you were going to get off me."

            "Well, I *can't* get off of you until..."

            "Yes?"  The voice was exasperated now.

            "...until you take your hands off my waist."

            In shock, Legolas realized that his arms were tightly locked about Estel's waist.  It was his turn to blush now.  His hands leapt off of Estel's waist faster than elven eyes could register.

            "Thanks."  Estel pushed himself up off of Legolas and struggled to his feet, still feeling slightly woozy from the fall.  Looking down, he realized the elf was even worse off than him.  Legolas was extremely pale and looked vaguely ill.  "Here."  Estel reached out a hand to help Legolas up.  The elf stared up at him.

            "You've got to be kidding me..." before the elf could finish, Estel rolled his eyes and took matters into his own hands...literally.  He bent down and grabbed Legolas' hand, hauling the elf up, immediately placing his free hand behind Legolas' back to steady him as the elf swayed out of dizziness and surprise at Estel's behavior.  When his eyes finally focused on Estel, Legolas tried to seem indignant.  "Hey!"

            "You don't look so good," Estel said, voice worried.  "Did you hit your head very hard?"

            "Um, it's not s- OW!" Legolas' excuse was interrupted as Estel's fingers gently traced across the back of Legolas' blonde head.  The elf recoiled from Estel's gentle touch.  "Don't *do* that!  It hurts!"

            "I just want to look at it, Legolas," Estel said gently.  "I swear I won't hurt you." 

            Legolas' gaze remained suspicious.  "Promise?"

            "Promise."

            Legolas stared at Estel for a moment longer before making up his mind.  His arms, which he had been holding up protectively in front of him, slid down to his sides.  Estel stepped closer and reached out again.  Legolas flinched as the hand got closer, but he remained otherwise still as Estel traced his fingers over the sore spot.  Legolas bit his lip hard to prevent himself from crying out.  Estel was now behind Legolas, brushing locks of blonde hair out of the way.  He jumped slightly.  "By the Valar...Legolas, we have to get you inside to Elrohim."

            "What?  What is it?"

            "Nothing...nothing."  Estel attempted to sound carefree, but it didn't work.  He stared in horror at the damage he had caused.  Legolas' wound wasn't as bad as it looked, but Estel had no way of knowing that.  All he knew was that the cut on the back of Legolas' head was gushing copious amounts of blood quite freely.

            "WHAT *IS* IT?!"

            "Uhhh..."  Unable to come up with a thing to say, Estel settled for grabbing Legolas' hand and dragging the elf back inside.

            "ELROHIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIM!!!!!!!!"

            At the sound of his name, Elrohim came running, thinking death, war, poisoning, deception, expecting the worst to happen...by the tone of Estel's voice, he could expect nothing less.  The young mortal sounded positively terrified.  Estel stood in the large center hall, one hand clenched tight around Legolas' wrist as he bellowed for the older Mirkwood elf.  Elrohim ran into the room and skidded across the floor, coming to a halt right in front of the two boys.  "What is it?" His voice was breathless and frantic.  "Who died?  How many troops?"  Estel and Legolas stared at Elrohim in complete confusion, for the moment too baffled by Elrohim's words to remember what they had been so upset about less than a minute ago.  "Well?!" Elrohim's voice rose to a higher pitch in his alarm.  "What is it?!  Who is it?!  What kind of poison did they ingest?!"  Legolas and Estel turned to each other, exchanging bewildered looks.  "What *is* it, boys?!  Who's been hurt?!"

            "Legolas!" Estel stated incredulously, as though this should be incredibly obvious.  This was, however, the wrong thing to say.  At the news that his adored young master was wounded, Elrohim went berserk.

            "Where are you hurt?  What happened?  Does anyone else know?  How bad is it?"  The concerned elf fluttered about Legolas, who began to panic himself.

            "WILL SOMEONE PLEASE TELL ME WHAT IN THE NAME OF THE VALAR IS GOING ON?!?!?!?!?!?!"

            "It's his head," Estel told Elrohim.  "He fell and hurt his head."

            "I didn't fall, you fell on top of me and knocked me over!"

            "Hush, Legolas, you're delirious," Estel said, arching one eyebrow at Legolas as if to say 'Don't get me in trouble' and beginning to laugh nervously.  "He must have fallen pretty hard...heh heh..."

            "Are you okay?  Can you stand?  Are you going to lose consciousness?"

            Legolas sighed in exasperation.  "Will you just take a look at the back of my head, Elrohim?"  He pointed with one finger, bouncing his hand up and down with impatience as he gestured.  In a flash, Elrohim was behind him, carefully examining the younger elf's wound. 

            "...Oh."  Elrohim sounded surprised and much calmer.  "This isn't bad at all."  He straightened up and looked at Legolas.  "I'm surprised you were so worked up about it."

            Legolas clenched his fists in annoyance.  "I was *not* worked up about it!  *You* two were!"

            "It's not bad?" Estel asked anxiously.  Elrohim shook his head and pulled out a handkerchief.

            "Not at all," he replied, beginning to dab at the blood on Legolas' head.  "He'll be fine...just needs to stop panicking."

            "I AM NOT PANICKING!!!!!!" Legolas hollered.

            "What d'you call that?" Estel shot back.  Now that he knew that Legolas was in no danger, he couldn't help snickering to himself about the whole situation.

            "Could maybe do with a bath," Elrohim stated.  "To wash off some of this blood."

            "Why is everyone always giving me baths?!" Legolas was aggravated as he saw Estel beginning to snicker.  //No doubt he thinks it funny, me getting dragged off for another bath// he thought to himself.  //I'll show him.//

            "Hush, young master.  It won't do to have you wandering around with blood flowing from your head.  I'm sure that once we wash your hair, it will stop."

            In response, Legolas arched an eyebrow.  "Really."  Without another word, he paced into the other room where a washbasin stood.  He picked up the pitcher and upended it over his head.

            "There," he said, wiping dripping hair and water from his eyes, "I've washed my hair.  Now may I go?"

            Elrohim stared, mouth agape.  Estel was in much the same condition as the older elf.  "Master Legolas," the elf gasped.  "Wha...wha...wha..."

            "What?" Legolas prompted.

            "You...you just..."

            "...dumped water over my head?" Legolas once again finished the older elf's sentence.  "Yes, I just did, didn't I?  Oh well.  I guess that my cut's been washed now.  May I leave?"

            Wordlessly, Elrohim nodded, far too shocked by Legolas' behavior to protest.  Legolas turned and cast his gaze at Estel.  To his surprise, the boy wasn't glaring at him or shaking his head in disbelief at Legolas' rudeness.  Instead, the mortal boy was hiding a smile behind one hand, trying to control his laughter.  Legolas gave Estel a small smile, shrugging his shoulders.  "Coming, Estel?"

            Estel abruptly turned his laugh into a cough.  "Right behind you, Legolas."

~*~

A/N:  Heh, you can't tell me that this chapter wasn't long enough b/c you got two chapters in one day...so there.  I know this chapter was basically pointless, but the two boys have to start liking each other somewhere, don't they?  Plus, I like making Estel a complete klutz.  It makes me happy.  Anyway, I want to know, how much longer do you think I should go with this?  I have later chapters written from the point where their relationship first *truly* changes and after that, but I want to know how much more time you think there should be where the two of them are struggling to get on...I could write in a bunch of scenarios or I could just say that time has passed, briefly mention some instances that occurred, and move on.  What's your opinion?  Feedback, please!

Dedications:

Orlando Bloom:  Fulfiller of my idea of Legolas and my future husband.  You continue to amaze me with your astounding skill and astonishing beauty.  *huggles Orly*  I love you!  Marry me!  Ahem.  *coughs and regains composure*  Composure?!  Ah, who am I kidding?!  *jumps Orlando*