-THE GAMES OF THE GODS-
-Disclaimer:-
CS: I own absolutely nothing...except Gil-Galad. Because he's a man-whore and sold himself to me.
Gil-Galad: *cringe* I did not.
CS: Yes you did.
Gil-Galad: All I said was that if you paid me enough, I'd tell the Valar nothing strange was going on in your disclaimers even if it was...I said nothing about selling myself.
CS: Mm-hm. Whatever. You're mine now! MINE! MUHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! *grabs Gil-Galad and runs off into the distance*
...
Glorfindel: Hmm...think we should rescue him?
Elrond: No, he deserves it. Going and dieing without an heir...*grumbles*
Rachel: Somebodies bitter.
Glorfindel: He's just upset that no secret document proclaiming him heir was ever found...
-55: Boredom-
Lothlórien is boring. It is the most beautiful place in the world, and a lovely place to wander around in a lovesick daze, but if you have nothing official to do, it's absolutely, utterly BORING. At least to me. Other elves may like simply strolling through pretty woods, or under the sparkly stars, or copying histories in the library so that they won't be lost 'to the ravages of time', but I am, as we have established already, not your typical elf. I like to DO things, and the occasional sword-fighting lesson just didn't cut it. Neither did taking rides on Aratelpe.
Which made it really no surprise that within a week and a half of the Yuletide Feast, I drove Galadriel to the point where she ordered me to head out with the next border patrol. Glorfindel's little excursions with border patrols had stopped after the Yuletide Feast, and even then I had technically only been tagging along, and had not actually been expected to take part. This time I would be. And as I was still horrible at using a sword, and had demonstrated my skill in archery a few days after the Yuletide Feast when I'd shot the target beside the one I'd been aiming for, this not only horrified most of the other elves in Lothlórien, but scared the elves that might be called to go out on patrol soon. Galadriel ordered me to go out, however, and in a rare show of obedience, I let nothing dissuade me from following her orders - not even Glorfindel.
Of course, as luck would have it, Haldir's patrol was the next to be heading out of Lothlórien. The members of his patrol all let out barely audible groans as I popped up (Haldir and my's 'conversations' had become almost legendary), but as I wanted to continue being able to go out with patrols, I did not start in on my usual verbal war. Haldir looked mildly surprised when I failed to respond to his insults, so I explained to him the situation, and after a brief argument over my 'insulting' the Golden Wood and it's Lady, Haldir and I subsided and spent the entire patrol not speaking to each other. The only words he ever aimed my way were orders - and they were mostly 'stay here'. Which I was more than happy to do.
The patrol itself lasted a week, and when I got back, I was treated to a wonderful dinner by Kari - along with Haldir, Val, and Glorfindel, of course. (About Valinlot's nickname - she heard me use it one time, and decided she liked it, so it stuck. Haldir even called her by it sometimes...though most often he just used 'love' and other sickeningly cute pet names. She seemed to enjoy them, but I felt like throwing up whenever he used them.) And as if that wasn't enough, Glorfindel turned out to be quite happy I was back, and pulled some rather romantic stuff that night. Oh yes, that patrol was an all-around wonderful thing.
Unfortunately, Galadriel seemed to realize that I'd enjoyed going out on the patrol, and so my next attempt to annoy her to the point of sending me out with a patrol resulted in me being ordered to organize the books in the library - which Kari and I had completely messed up. And this time, Galadriel hit the mark, because as much as I love reading books, I hate organizing them. So I was stuck in the library, organizing books, when I suddenly realized that it was the 15th of January. The day the Fellowship arrived in Lothlórien.
"Holy flying penguins, Batman!" I exclaimed entirely randomly, and then put down the book I'd been looking for the proper spot for on a nearby table and dashed out. I hunted down Kari, and then dragged her away from the ladies she was talking to.
"Rachel, what on Arda are you so worked up about?" Kari asked with annoyance.
"It's the 15th of January!" I replied excitedly.
"And?" Kari asked, blinking at me in confusion.
"The Fellowship arrives in Lothlórien tonight!" I replied, scowling at her.
"OH!" Kari said, her eyes lighting with comprehension. "Cool! When will they get to Caras Galadhon?"
"With all the arguing and walking, they'll get here on the 17th." I said, bouncing.
"Neat," Kari said, nodding wisely. "Now can I go back to my conversation?" I shot her a glare as she looked at me innocently.
"Fine then! I'll go see if somebody else appreciates my knowledge." I grumped, and headed off to find Glorfindel, leaving Kari to go back to her boring conversation. I didn't quite make it to Glorfindel, though, as Galadriel spotted me and asked why I wasn't in the library. I had fallen back on my 'no disrespect to Creepy Lady' philosophy lately, so I quickly scampered off to the library.
I had to wait until evening to tell Glorfindel about the Fellowship arriving, and then I decided, what was the point? They'd show up in two days. He didn't need me to tell him. So I just pushed it as far to the back of my mind as I could. Which wasn't very far. The next two days I was useless for just about everything - I was acting like a kid just before Christmas, I knew, but I couldn't help it. Lothlórien, as I've said, is a boring place, and dammit, Boromir and the hobbits, not to mention Gimli, were just what it needed to liven in up. My excitement was only made worse by the fact that, since Haldir was out meeting the Fellowship, I didn't have someone to spar with to get rid of excess energy.
I was waiting outside the gates of Caras Galadhon when the Fellowship finally approached, coming around the road from the north. Haldir was leading them, and they were all looking about in awe and didn't really notice me. Well, I think Legolas did, but dismissed me just as soon as he saw me, not really knowing me. So, when they finally got close enough that even the hobbits could see me, I launched myself at Haldir and jumped onto his back.
"Dad! You're back!" I cried gleefully. Haldir groaned.
"Must you ruin a pleasant evening with your insistances that I was involved in your poor ancestry?" he asked, trying to pry me off him.
"As long as you continue to ruin pleasant evenings by existing." I replied cheerfully, thwarting Haldir's attempts to get me off.
"Asira?" Boromir asked, a distinctly creeped-out note in his voice.
"Hiya 'Mir." I said absently, concentrating on making sure Haldir didn't get me off.
"What are you doing?" Boromir asked after a slight pause.
"Annoying the Marchwarden. What does it look like? Don't answer that." I said, realizing very well what this could look like. And those thoughts put me right off of remaining latched onto Haldir, so I jumped off and away. The Fellowship were now all looking distinctly creeped out - though I think Merry and Pippin were trying to hide laughter. Gimli, as well.
"Go find someone else to annoy." Haldir said with annoyance.
"Nah, I like annoying you too much." I replied cheerfully, and Haldir twitched.
"Somehow, I feel insulted." he said.
"That's because you don't know a good thing when you hear it." I replied in a soothing tone of voice.
"It is impossible to hear anything when you are prattling on in the vicinity." Haldir retorted.
"Only because you have the hearing skills of a human!" I said with a disdainful sniff.
"At least I can hear more than my own voice." Haldir replied.
"Yeah, you can hear your ego, as well." I said. The Fellowship was now looking slightly worried, and at this point, Glorfindel appeared. He took one look at the Fellowship, and Haldir and I glaring daggers at each other, and sighed.
"Lord Celeborn said there was a disturbance," he said, "But I had really hoped it was not this."
"Lord Glorfindel." Aragorn said politely, nodding to the elf-lord, and the four hobbits looked cheered at the sight of Glorfindel.
"Aragorn." Glorfindel replied with another nod, then turned to Haldir and I. "Rachel, come. Haldir, you know your Lord and Ladies commands." With that, Glorfindel took my arm and pulled me away. I didn't resist, as Glorfindel seemed to be in full elf-lord mode, and I doubted I could have gotten away if I tried. So I just waved over my shoulder and yelled back a 'See ya later!' to Boromir.
"I should have known they were going to arrive soon." Glorfindel said with a sigh when we finally stopped, some ways into the forest and out of earshot of anyone else. "You have been far too excited lately."
"Who wouldn't be at some new people? Lothlórien is such a boring place!" I complained.
"Sometimes boring is not a bad thing." Glorfindel said, arching an eyebrow down at me. I paused, sensing that this was turning into a serious discussion.
"True. But with all the activity going on in Middle-Earth these days, I can't help but feel excited and hyper." I replied after a moment. "And Lothlórien is simply too secluded and tranquil for me in that state of mood."
"Says the one who is constantly causing uproars and has been the most popular topic of conversation in the Golden Wood for the past month!" Glorfindel said in exasperation, throwing his hands up in the air. "Really, Rachel - can you not at least TRY to calm down? Any other Elf I know would leap at the chance to come to Lothlórien!"
"I'm not any other elf, though." I replied.
"And far too proud of it." Glorfindel snapped. "Everywhere you go, it seems, you have been trying purposefully to be different. You dislike the Lady Galadriel, whom all other Elves love, you trade insults with the Marchwarden of the Golden Wood without a care for propriety. You wear trousers and tunics, you argue with some of the wisest beings existing in Middle-Earth. I am afraid to even ask Lord Boromir what you got up to in Minas Tirith. I bet if you were face to eye with Sauron himself you would do something absurd like poke his eye just to be different!"
Glorfindel turned away after his outburst and stood facing out into the forest, taking deep breaths, while I looked at his back in surprise and, somewhat, shock. My actions the past few months had been rather...childish, I conceded to myself. And I couldn't think of much of an excuse - I couldn't even use my fear of Mary-Sues, or the lack of it, as an excuse, as my behavior spread over the times when I was both afraid and not afraid of becoming a Mary-Sue. I bit my lip as I stared at Glorfindel's back, feeling very much like turning and running into the forest, but knowing that it would do more harm than good.
But I really had no idea what to say. I'd have to come up with something, however, so with a sigh, I sat down on the ground and stared at Glorfindel's back as I thought furiously. Glorfindel stiffened somewhat when I sat down, and I think he glanced back at me briefly to be sure I was OK, but other than that, he remained still as I sat cross-legged, my head propped up by my hands, and frowning thoughtfully. And what I came up with as an answer, after probably close to twenty minutes of thinking, was (surprise surprise) the truth. Which was that I really didn't know why I'd been acting so childish.
"You're probably right that I would poke his eye." I said finally. "And for the life of me, I couldn't tell you why. Nor can I tell you why I've been acting so childish these past few months. One explanation I can give is that I'm having the childhood I never got to have. I don't think I ever told you, and Kari was probably so love struck that she didn't want to take a chance at a delayed betrothal by telling Elrohir, but we were both under 30 when we came here." Glorfindel turned and looked at me in surprise, as he knew even better than I that Elves reach majority at 50 - so while we had been considered responsible adults in our world, as Elves we had been still much too young to be let out on our own.
"There's also the possibility," I conceded, "That I'm simply trying to avoid thinking about all of the sorrows and tragedies that are going to happen because of this War. I don't know if you noticed, but Gandalf wasn't with the Fellowship just now - because even now he's in Moria, locked in a battle with a Balrog that will cost him his life. Oh, he'll come back, but that sort of thing, as I know you know, leaves a mark. And that's just the tip of the iceberg. Victory or defeat will come at a great price for both sides, and if I think about it too much, I just get depressed." Glorfindel, while I had been talking, had come over, and was now sitting beside me, an arm around my shoulders as I stared miserably at the ground.
"None of that's really an excuse, though." I said, flashing Glorfindel a sad smile.
"I have not stayed around Elrond for over 3,000 years and not picked up a few things." Glorfindel said with a small smile. "It is an excuse. In fact, those two things together are probably the entire cause. Along with your naturally...different personality that comes from having grown up in an entirely different world." I eyed him for a moment. He was being far too understanding about this, considering he'd just lost his cool rather spectacularly - something I'd never seen him do before. I narrowed my eyes as I realized why that might be.
"Did you just pull some healer psychology on me? You did! Buttermonkey!" I poked Glorfindel as he gave me a guilty look.
"Lord Celeborn was worried about you, as well!" Glorfindel said in his defense, fending off my fingers as I tried to poke him again.
"Since when is being crazy cause for worry?!" I demanded, still trying to poke Glorfindel again but not succeeding.
"Since Fëanor!" Glorfindel retorted.
"That's a different type of crazy!" I replied, and then let out a loud 'Ha!' as I finally managed to poke Glorfindel.
"It does raise questions about all other types of craziness, however." Glorfindel muttered, pretending to sulk now that I'd poked him. I paused, considering how to respond, and then burst out laughing as I realized that I was arguing about different types of craziness with an elf-lord that was...several thousand years old, at the least. That made me stop laughing abruptly, and I looked curiously at Glorfindel, who was looking at me in amusement.
"How old are you, anyways?" I asked him, and he blinked at me in surprise at the unexpected question.
"Somewhere over 7000." Glorfindel replied finally. "Add some 3000 years if you want to count the ones where I was dead." I mentally did just that.
"Over 10,000?" I asked in surprise, and Glorfindel nodded. I frowned lightly. "Funny, thought you were older."
"Should I be insulted at that?" Glorfindel asked with amusement. I shrugged.
"I have no idea." I said honestly, and Glorfindel laughed.
"Well, if you do not know whether or not it was meant to be insulting, then I think I shall just take it as a compliment." he said, standing up and holding a hand out to me. "Shall we return to Caras Galadhon?"
"Sure! I need to greet Boromir properly." I said, taking his hand and letting myself be pulled up.
"Oh, so you are going to jump on HIM now?" Glorfindel asked with amusement. I gave him a mock scowl.
"No. I'm going to tickle him. Or thwap him. Depending on whether or not he's being stupid when I find him." I said, and Glorfindel laughed as we set off for the Elvish city at a brisk pace.
----To be continued...with more Boromir!----
(And Glorfindel fun!)
-Authors Note:-
Well, I've decided to ATTEMPT a drawing of Rachel and Glorfindel...I'm going for realistic, so I'll be hunting down photos of a model I think looks like Rachel. I'm using Theban Band's choice for Glorfindel, Helmut Berger, so I've already got him...We'll have to see how this turns out, though. I've only recently discovered that I CAN do realistic drawings of people, and never gotten creative while doing so, so the pic might turn out so horrible I'll never let anyone else see it. But at least I'll have tried, eh?
Anywho, thank you once again to each and every reviewer! I still go into shock somewhat everytime I see the number of reviews I've gotten on this FanFic...*shakes head* Truly amazing. You are all such wonderful people to waste such spare time that you have on reading my writing. *hands out little dolls of Goldolin Elves* Enjoy! (But don't let Glorfindel see them, or he might start going into post-Balrog trauma)
Yeah, and as a shameless plug, the plot bunny hit me late last night, and I wrote up a one-chapter fic and posted it. It's under 'The Mary-Sue That Wasn't' - and as I say in the summary, it amusing in a morbid sort of way, so I wouldn't suggest reading it if you're one of those people who likes to see things end happily...But there it is, my shameless plug. :)
Now I'm off...see you all again on friday!
~Crimson Starlight
-Disclaimer:-
CS: I own absolutely nothing...except Gil-Galad. Because he's a man-whore and sold himself to me.
Gil-Galad: *cringe* I did not.
CS: Yes you did.
Gil-Galad: All I said was that if you paid me enough, I'd tell the Valar nothing strange was going on in your disclaimers even if it was...I said nothing about selling myself.
CS: Mm-hm. Whatever. You're mine now! MINE! MUHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! *grabs Gil-Galad and runs off into the distance*
...
Glorfindel: Hmm...think we should rescue him?
Elrond: No, he deserves it. Going and dieing without an heir...*grumbles*
Rachel: Somebodies bitter.
Glorfindel: He's just upset that no secret document proclaiming him heir was ever found...
-55: Boredom-
Lothlórien is boring. It is the most beautiful place in the world, and a lovely place to wander around in a lovesick daze, but if you have nothing official to do, it's absolutely, utterly BORING. At least to me. Other elves may like simply strolling through pretty woods, or under the sparkly stars, or copying histories in the library so that they won't be lost 'to the ravages of time', but I am, as we have established already, not your typical elf. I like to DO things, and the occasional sword-fighting lesson just didn't cut it. Neither did taking rides on Aratelpe.
Which made it really no surprise that within a week and a half of the Yuletide Feast, I drove Galadriel to the point where she ordered me to head out with the next border patrol. Glorfindel's little excursions with border patrols had stopped after the Yuletide Feast, and even then I had technically only been tagging along, and had not actually been expected to take part. This time I would be. And as I was still horrible at using a sword, and had demonstrated my skill in archery a few days after the Yuletide Feast when I'd shot the target beside the one I'd been aiming for, this not only horrified most of the other elves in Lothlórien, but scared the elves that might be called to go out on patrol soon. Galadriel ordered me to go out, however, and in a rare show of obedience, I let nothing dissuade me from following her orders - not even Glorfindel.
Of course, as luck would have it, Haldir's patrol was the next to be heading out of Lothlórien. The members of his patrol all let out barely audible groans as I popped up (Haldir and my's 'conversations' had become almost legendary), but as I wanted to continue being able to go out with patrols, I did not start in on my usual verbal war. Haldir looked mildly surprised when I failed to respond to his insults, so I explained to him the situation, and after a brief argument over my 'insulting' the Golden Wood and it's Lady, Haldir and I subsided and spent the entire patrol not speaking to each other. The only words he ever aimed my way were orders - and they were mostly 'stay here'. Which I was more than happy to do.
The patrol itself lasted a week, and when I got back, I was treated to a wonderful dinner by Kari - along with Haldir, Val, and Glorfindel, of course. (About Valinlot's nickname - she heard me use it one time, and decided she liked it, so it stuck. Haldir even called her by it sometimes...though most often he just used 'love' and other sickeningly cute pet names. She seemed to enjoy them, but I felt like throwing up whenever he used them.) And as if that wasn't enough, Glorfindel turned out to be quite happy I was back, and pulled some rather romantic stuff that night. Oh yes, that patrol was an all-around wonderful thing.
Unfortunately, Galadriel seemed to realize that I'd enjoyed going out on the patrol, and so my next attempt to annoy her to the point of sending me out with a patrol resulted in me being ordered to organize the books in the library - which Kari and I had completely messed up. And this time, Galadriel hit the mark, because as much as I love reading books, I hate organizing them. So I was stuck in the library, organizing books, when I suddenly realized that it was the 15th of January. The day the Fellowship arrived in Lothlórien.
"Holy flying penguins, Batman!" I exclaimed entirely randomly, and then put down the book I'd been looking for the proper spot for on a nearby table and dashed out. I hunted down Kari, and then dragged her away from the ladies she was talking to.
"Rachel, what on Arda are you so worked up about?" Kari asked with annoyance.
"It's the 15th of January!" I replied excitedly.
"And?" Kari asked, blinking at me in confusion.
"The Fellowship arrives in Lothlórien tonight!" I replied, scowling at her.
"OH!" Kari said, her eyes lighting with comprehension. "Cool! When will they get to Caras Galadhon?"
"With all the arguing and walking, they'll get here on the 17th." I said, bouncing.
"Neat," Kari said, nodding wisely. "Now can I go back to my conversation?" I shot her a glare as she looked at me innocently.
"Fine then! I'll go see if somebody else appreciates my knowledge." I grumped, and headed off to find Glorfindel, leaving Kari to go back to her boring conversation. I didn't quite make it to Glorfindel, though, as Galadriel spotted me and asked why I wasn't in the library. I had fallen back on my 'no disrespect to Creepy Lady' philosophy lately, so I quickly scampered off to the library.
I had to wait until evening to tell Glorfindel about the Fellowship arriving, and then I decided, what was the point? They'd show up in two days. He didn't need me to tell him. So I just pushed it as far to the back of my mind as I could. Which wasn't very far. The next two days I was useless for just about everything - I was acting like a kid just before Christmas, I knew, but I couldn't help it. Lothlórien, as I've said, is a boring place, and dammit, Boromir and the hobbits, not to mention Gimli, were just what it needed to liven in up. My excitement was only made worse by the fact that, since Haldir was out meeting the Fellowship, I didn't have someone to spar with to get rid of excess energy.
I was waiting outside the gates of Caras Galadhon when the Fellowship finally approached, coming around the road from the north. Haldir was leading them, and they were all looking about in awe and didn't really notice me. Well, I think Legolas did, but dismissed me just as soon as he saw me, not really knowing me. So, when they finally got close enough that even the hobbits could see me, I launched myself at Haldir and jumped onto his back.
"Dad! You're back!" I cried gleefully. Haldir groaned.
"Must you ruin a pleasant evening with your insistances that I was involved in your poor ancestry?" he asked, trying to pry me off him.
"As long as you continue to ruin pleasant evenings by existing." I replied cheerfully, thwarting Haldir's attempts to get me off.
"Asira?" Boromir asked, a distinctly creeped-out note in his voice.
"Hiya 'Mir." I said absently, concentrating on making sure Haldir didn't get me off.
"What are you doing?" Boromir asked after a slight pause.
"Annoying the Marchwarden. What does it look like? Don't answer that." I said, realizing very well what this could look like. And those thoughts put me right off of remaining latched onto Haldir, so I jumped off and away. The Fellowship were now all looking distinctly creeped out - though I think Merry and Pippin were trying to hide laughter. Gimli, as well.
"Go find someone else to annoy." Haldir said with annoyance.
"Nah, I like annoying you too much." I replied cheerfully, and Haldir twitched.
"Somehow, I feel insulted." he said.
"That's because you don't know a good thing when you hear it." I replied in a soothing tone of voice.
"It is impossible to hear anything when you are prattling on in the vicinity." Haldir retorted.
"Only because you have the hearing skills of a human!" I said with a disdainful sniff.
"At least I can hear more than my own voice." Haldir replied.
"Yeah, you can hear your ego, as well." I said. The Fellowship was now looking slightly worried, and at this point, Glorfindel appeared. He took one look at the Fellowship, and Haldir and I glaring daggers at each other, and sighed.
"Lord Celeborn said there was a disturbance," he said, "But I had really hoped it was not this."
"Lord Glorfindel." Aragorn said politely, nodding to the elf-lord, and the four hobbits looked cheered at the sight of Glorfindel.
"Aragorn." Glorfindel replied with another nod, then turned to Haldir and I. "Rachel, come. Haldir, you know your Lord and Ladies commands." With that, Glorfindel took my arm and pulled me away. I didn't resist, as Glorfindel seemed to be in full elf-lord mode, and I doubted I could have gotten away if I tried. So I just waved over my shoulder and yelled back a 'See ya later!' to Boromir.
"I should have known they were going to arrive soon." Glorfindel said with a sigh when we finally stopped, some ways into the forest and out of earshot of anyone else. "You have been far too excited lately."
"Who wouldn't be at some new people? Lothlórien is such a boring place!" I complained.
"Sometimes boring is not a bad thing." Glorfindel said, arching an eyebrow down at me. I paused, sensing that this was turning into a serious discussion.
"True. But with all the activity going on in Middle-Earth these days, I can't help but feel excited and hyper." I replied after a moment. "And Lothlórien is simply too secluded and tranquil for me in that state of mood."
"Says the one who is constantly causing uproars and has been the most popular topic of conversation in the Golden Wood for the past month!" Glorfindel said in exasperation, throwing his hands up in the air. "Really, Rachel - can you not at least TRY to calm down? Any other Elf I know would leap at the chance to come to Lothlórien!"
"I'm not any other elf, though." I replied.
"And far too proud of it." Glorfindel snapped. "Everywhere you go, it seems, you have been trying purposefully to be different. You dislike the Lady Galadriel, whom all other Elves love, you trade insults with the Marchwarden of the Golden Wood without a care for propriety. You wear trousers and tunics, you argue with some of the wisest beings existing in Middle-Earth. I am afraid to even ask Lord Boromir what you got up to in Minas Tirith. I bet if you were face to eye with Sauron himself you would do something absurd like poke his eye just to be different!"
Glorfindel turned away after his outburst and stood facing out into the forest, taking deep breaths, while I looked at his back in surprise and, somewhat, shock. My actions the past few months had been rather...childish, I conceded to myself. And I couldn't think of much of an excuse - I couldn't even use my fear of Mary-Sues, or the lack of it, as an excuse, as my behavior spread over the times when I was both afraid and not afraid of becoming a Mary-Sue. I bit my lip as I stared at Glorfindel's back, feeling very much like turning and running into the forest, but knowing that it would do more harm than good.
But I really had no idea what to say. I'd have to come up with something, however, so with a sigh, I sat down on the ground and stared at Glorfindel's back as I thought furiously. Glorfindel stiffened somewhat when I sat down, and I think he glanced back at me briefly to be sure I was OK, but other than that, he remained still as I sat cross-legged, my head propped up by my hands, and frowning thoughtfully. And what I came up with as an answer, after probably close to twenty minutes of thinking, was (surprise surprise) the truth. Which was that I really didn't know why I'd been acting so childish.
"You're probably right that I would poke his eye." I said finally. "And for the life of me, I couldn't tell you why. Nor can I tell you why I've been acting so childish these past few months. One explanation I can give is that I'm having the childhood I never got to have. I don't think I ever told you, and Kari was probably so love struck that she didn't want to take a chance at a delayed betrothal by telling Elrohir, but we were both under 30 when we came here." Glorfindel turned and looked at me in surprise, as he knew even better than I that Elves reach majority at 50 - so while we had been considered responsible adults in our world, as Elves we had been still much too young to be let out on our own.
"There's also the possibility," I conceded, "That I'm simply trying to avoid thinking about all of the sorrows and tragedies that are going to happen because of this War. I don't know if you noticed, but Gandalf wasn't with the Fellowship just now - because even now he's in Moria, locked in a battle with a Balrog that will cost him his life. Oh, he'll come back, but that sort of thing, as I know you know, leaves a mark. And that's just the tip of the iceberg. Victory or defeat will come at a great price for both sides, and if I think about it too much, I just get depressed." Glorfindel, while I had been talking, had come over, and was now sitting beside me, an arm around my shoulders as I stared miserably at the ground.
"None of that's really an excuse, though." I said, flashing Glorfindel a sad smile.
"I have not stayed around Elrond for over 3,000 years and not picked up a few things." Glorfindel said with a small smile. "It is an excuse. In fact, those two things together are probably the entire cause. Along with your naturally...different personality that comes from having grown up in an entirely different world." I eyed him for a moment. He was being far too understanding about this, considering he'd just lost his cool rather spectacularly - something I'd never seen him do before. I narrowed my eyes as I realized why that might be.
"Did you just pull some healer psychology on me? You did! Buttermonkey!" I poked Glorfindel as he gave me a guilty look.
"Lord Celeborn was worried about you, as well!" Glorfindel said in his defense, fending off my fingers as I tried to poke him again.
"Since when is being crazy cause for worry?!" I demanded, still trying to poke Glorfindel again but not succeeding.
"Since Fëanor!" Glorfindel retorted.
"That's a different type of crazy!" I replied, and then let out a loud 'Ha!' as I finally managed to poke Glorfindel.
"It does raise questions about all other types of craziness, however." Glorfindel muttered, pretending to sulk now that I'd poked him. I paused, considering how to respond, and then burst out laughing as I realized that I was arguing about different types of craziness with an elf-lord that was...several thousand years old, at the least. That made me stop laughing abruptly, and I looked curiously at Glorfindel, who was looking at me in amusement.
"How old are you, anyways?" I asked him, and he blinked at me in surprise at the unexpected question.
"Somewhere over 7000." Glorfindel replied finally. "Add some 3000 years if you want to count the ones where I was dead." I mentally did just that.
"Over 10,000?" I asked in surprise, and Glorfindel nodded. I frowned lightly. "Funny, thought you were older."
"Should I be insulted at that?" Glorfindel asked with amusement. I shrugged.
"I have no idea." I said honestly, and Glorfindel laughed.
"Well, if you do not know whether or not it was meant to be insulting, then I think I shall just take it as a compliment." he said, standing up and holding a hand out to me. "Shall we return to Caras Galadhon?"
"Sure! I need to greet Boromir properly." I said, taking his hand and letting myself be pulled up.
"Oh, so you are going to jump on HIM now?" Glorfindel asked with amusement. I gave him a mock scowl.
"No. I'm going to tickle him. Or thwap him. Depending on whether or not he's being stupid when I find him." I said, and Glorfindel laughed as we set off for the Elvish city at a brisk pace.
----To be continued...with more Boromir!----
(And Glorfindel fun!)
-Authors Note:-
Well, I've decided to ATTEMPT a drawing of Rachel and Glorfindel...I'm going for realistic, so I'll be hunting down photos of a model I think looks like Rachel. I'm using Theban Band's choice for Glorfindel, Helmut Berger, so I've already got him...We'll have to see how this turns out, though. I've only recently discovered that I CAN do realistic drawings of people, and never gotten creative while doing so, so the pic might turn out so horrible I'll never let anyone else see it. But at least I'll have tried, eh?
Anywho, thank you once again to each and every reviewer! I still go into shock somewhat everytime I see the number of reviews I've gotten on this FanFic...*shakes head* Truly amazing. You are all such wonderful people to waste such spare time that you have on reading my writing. *hands out little dolls of Goldolin Elves* Enjoy! (But don't let Glorfindel see them, or he might start going into post-Balrog trauma)
Yeah, and as a shameless plug, the plot bunny hit me late last night, and I wrote up a one-chapter fic and posted it. It's under 'The Mary-Sue That Wasn't' - and as I say in the summary, it amusing in a morbid sort of way, so I wouldn't suggest reading it if you're one of those people who likes to see things end happily...But there it is, my shameless plug. :)
Now I'm off...see you all again on friday!
~Crimson Starlight