-Note- Here's another one. I am very excited to announce that I can now add Elladan and Elrohir to the character list! And yes, the P in the address book was for Peredhil! Hurrah! : D I will also be gone August 5-13. I will hopefully post another chapter before then. I'm trying be prompt and post one chapter a week. : )
-Disclaimer- I don't own anything.
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A Meeting
Apparently, the forecast he had seen the night before had been a faulty one.
When he woke at dawn, rain was spitting from a dull, gray sky. He showered, dressed- old khakis and a brown woolen sweater-, made his way slowly into the kitchen. He managed to make himself toast without burning it, sat down at the head of his long dining table, and buried himself in the business section of the daily newspaper. He realized an hour later when he reached for a drink, that his tea, untouched, was stone cold. He drank it quickly as he could, fed Alyaran, and together they left for a hurried walk.
The rain was of the steady sort- the type that could, and would continue for the rest of the day. He was wearing his old, sorry-looking coat. Long, and bottle green, something the twins would, no doubt, laugh at and ridicule him for. He'd had it for just over half a century, and it had begun to show signs of wear a decade ago.
Outside of his office, Glorfindel was not one to trouble himself with appearances.
Several hours later, without thinking twice, he pulled the damp cloak off the rack by his door, jammed at the elevator buttons, retrieved his car, made his way through empty streets and downhill toward the water.
He had settled on a long, curving shoreline because the same, solitary sea- longing that pulled his kin across the ocean so long ago had never fully abated or lost its wonder. Often he and Alyaran would walk in the surf on the public beach, and his gaze would be drawn westward across the water. No, it wasn't that sea, and Aman was not on the other side, but the idea was still there.
He parked around the corner from the deli, waited on a bench outside the door. Across the street, knee-height waves stretched onto sand. He put his hood up- it was still raining- and smoothed the wrinkles in his green trench coat. He was not talented with an iron, and never had been.
He watched several people enter, checked his watch.
Early. He was always early.
He waited.
Waited.
Ah. Noon. Glorfindel slumped, sighed, checked his watch once more. A luxury car rolled past, slowly. It parked, a darkened window slid open, a gloved hand fed the meter. The doors opened. Black dress shoe, black trouser leg, long, black hair, smoky gray sweater with a smart white collared shirt underneath.
Ah.
High, delicate cheekbones, dark eyes surveying the deli's glass façade, sharp brows.
Ah, and the other. They were identical to those who were not familiar with them, but Glorfindel had known them from their first cry in the open world.
He stood, sauntered into the brick doorway.
"Excuse me, sir," said one, in a voice that had not changed for millennia.
"El..." the other began, staring, wide-eyed.
"Stars, Glorfindel!" roared Elrohir, pushing aside his twin and embracing Glorfindel. Elladan stood back, studying him.
"What ate your cloak, Glorfindel?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Nothing ate my cloak," he replied indignantly, "it's just...old."
"Old and hairy," said Elrohir.
"No, that's dog hair." He stepped back from Elrohir, which was very hard to do in a small doorway, and brushed off an offending clump.
"Shall we go in?"
"Lead the way," said Elrohir.
Glorfindel turned, opened the door. A bell tinkled in the back of the small deli, behind the counter. An older man wearing a white apron looked up from the stool where he had been bent over a book.
"Welcome, may I serve you?"
Glorfindel nodded, exchanged glances with the twins, ordered sandwiches and water for them all. There was room enough for three tables, crowded together under the rain-splattered window. A solitary stranger sipped coffee and read the newspaper in the corner, and the room was silent as they seated themselves near the door.
"Where have you been? I haven't heard from either of you in years," he said. He frowned. "Your father would not be pleased."
"We told you last night...revisiting the Mediterranean." Elrohir lowered his voice. "It had been a good thousand years since last we saw it, you know. You were with us, after all."
"I recall."
"A vacation, I suppose. I think we needed one after the war, but we waited twenty or so years before going back to the continent," Elladan explained thoughtfully, examining his sandwich.
"Stars, you should have been with us! You'd have enjoyed it greatly, I think."
"Yes, Elrohir. Why don't you tell him about that day in Greece..."
"Elladan!"
"Well, you see, Glorfindel, Elrohir and I spent several days on the beach in Crete, and Elrohir found himself a lady."
"A lady?" Glorfindel eyed Elrohir, who hid his face in his arm.
"Yes, a lady. He quite fancied her, and after-"
"Don't tell him how long, for the love of Eru!"
Elladan grinned maliciously. "After some length of time, he deemed it fit to ask her father for her hand."
"Oh, brother, don't..."
"Little brother, do remember what happened in Turkey?"
"Yes, but I apologized already!"
"Apparently not enough," said Glorfindel, though he had no inkling of what had happened.
"Exactly, my friend. As I was saying, he asked her father's permission. He was...a very emotional man. Went on a rabid tirade."
He stopped his narrative, took a large bite of his sandwich. "This is quite good, Glorfindel."
"Isn't it?"
"Certainly better than your cooking." He looked up sharply, to make sure he had not offended. "Which isn't that bad..." he amended lamely, then continued on. "Threw his own home into pieces, I tell you. An absolute madman. Nearly choked the life out of this one," he said, gesturing to Elrohir, who still refused to show his face. "And then, he turned around completely, started sobbing! Inconsolable. Babbling lunatic." He shook his head. "We left the island the next morning."
Elrohir's face finally appeared from a mess of dark hair.
"Never saw her again," he said. Not angry anymore.
"That was thirty years ago, El. I expect she's got a nice family now, and children." Elladan patted his twin's back. "Cheer up."
"Time flies, they say. It's true."
"Not for us, though," said Elladan.
"Never for us."
Elladan shrugged. "I told you, Elrohir, we can sail whenever you like."
"I know."
"Good."
"After the whole Geek incident," Elrohir said, glaring at his brother. "We went back to Grandfather. We left only last year."
Glorfindel nodded. "Sill in that wood, is he?"
"Aye." Elrohir smiled. "And the king, with a few of their subjects with them still."
"Are they still quite content here?"
Elrohir's smile faded. "Thranduil does not yet wish to leave, but he and Grandfather acknowledge that time is growing short. The forest shrinks, and dies. Give them a few hundred years, I think."
"And you, Glorfindel? We've heard almost nothing from you," said Elladan.
"Barring the occasional reference in the Business Section of the papers..." Elrohir added swiftly.
"I haven't been traipsing around the globe, for certain."
"Well, you think of something to tell us while I use the restroom. There is one here, isn't there?" asked Elrohir.
Glorfindel nodded, pointed to a sign next to the counter.
"Oh." He stood, folded his napkin, and disappeared through the door.
He and Elladan sat in silence for a moment.
"How are you holding up, Glorfindel? You look a bit tired," said Elladan, frowning slightly. He and the elder twin had always been closer, a sort of innate understanding ran between them.
"I'm alright, fear not." It was a quick thing, but he managed not to add little one to the end of his sentence.
"Glorfindel, I think it's time."
"Time?"
"To go. For you, anyway."
"Elladan, you know very well that I can't sail yet."
"Elrohir doesn't, I think."
"I will leave when you are ready. You know that."
"I know," said Elladan, and for the first time, Glorfindel realized that he was not the only one who was growing weary.
At that moment, Elrohir chose to return. He didn't sit, but watched them intently.
"Plotting against me, or something?" he asked jovially.
"Brother, you know us too well."
"I do."
Glorfindel chuckled. "Shall we go for a walk? There's a beach across the road," he suggested.
"It's raining, if you haven't noticed," said Elladan.
"Brother," Elrohir explained slowly, "We're not going to catch cold out there."
"No, I suppose not."
They rose, gathered their napkins. Glorfindel regarded the almost uneaten sandwich in his hand, shrugged, threw it away with their garbage.
He held the door open for the other two, and they stepped out into the drizzle. Together.
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Thanks for reading!
SilentBanshee: Thanks for the idea- I had thought about that. There's also a passage somewhere (in the Silmarillion? I can't remember!) about how Earendil, Tulkas, Fionwe, and Turin are the ones who finally get rid of Morgoth at the end of the world. There is, obviously, still time to decide- no matter what the outcome, our Elves would have to lose and the Valar would have to intervene. : / Not sure yet- I may just end (I don't know when) with Glorfindel sailing. And if a sequel is in order, that's great!
Aerlalaith: Yeah, that's what it looks like from here. I could make them have a go at Morgoth, but for now I'd rather stick to something laid back. Maybe during the school year I'll feel the need to vanquish a dark lord and take out my pent-up stress on him, but not yet. : P
Erestor: Welcome back! Thanks for the reviews- and yes, Alyaran watches cartoons all day, while Glorfindel is at work. He is a very spoiled dog. From the blatant canine love-fest that was chapter two, I suppose it's obvious that I have a dog. It's reassuring to hear that it's both funny (in a kind of dry sort of way) and sad- that's how I imagine Glorfindel. I wanted to make this kind of bittersweet. I'm glad it's working. And you liked the "dripping with angst" bit? Your mental image made me laugh. Don't worry about the sense of humor- I have a weird one too. Any sense of humor is a good sense of humor. : P