That next afternoon Faramir was utterly torn between spending the day in the library or spending it outdoors. Even indoors scarcely seemed to really be "in" when one was at the Last Homely House. Faramir compromised with himself by taking a particularly interesting book and reclining in the garden. Already Faramir was feeling at home and no longer shy about where he was going and what he was doing. In fact, he was much more at home here than he had ever been in Minas Tirith. Here he felt at ease and welcomed and in no way judged; the only expectation there seemed to be of him was that he just be himself in all things.
That afternoon at lunch Aragorn picked up the book Faramir had beside him. He grinned seeing the title Lay of Leithian. "So that is where that went off to. I'd been looking for that this morning," he said.
Faramir looked apologetic. "Adar, i am sorry, i had no idea you where reading it," he said handing the book to his father.
"Oh no," Aragorn said quickly. "I don't need to read it again really, i could recite most of it in my sleep."
The twins glanced at one another. "Actually, Estel... you have done so," Elladan said.
"On more than one occasion," Elrohir added, as was his wont.
Aragorn raised a brow, looking much too much like Elrond. "I will not mention at the table the things the two of you have been known to do in your...," he cleared his throat insinuatingly, "sleep."
Elrond took a deep breath and did his best to ignore the conversation that was sure to be forthcoming. Instead he leaned close to Faramir and asked him if he wanted to undertake palantír usage.
For a moment Faramir hesitated, so much terrible trouble had come because the wrong people had used them in the past. But Faramir reminded himself that the past was over. He nodded and Faramir and his grandfather slipped out of the dining hall.
Neither Aragorn nor his twin brothers nor Glorfindel, who had also joined the conversation, noticed anyone leaving; Erestor did, however, and took it as his cue to exit as well, leaving the other four to their contest to see who could come up with the most ribald pun. Erestor was truly happy to be back home, especially now that his study was back to the state of perfection that he'd left it in. It was the wonder of Imladris that Erestor had not gone on the warpath when he saw the desecration the twins leave in their wake, but then, some noticed that since coming back from Gondor, Master Erestor was a much changed Elf.
As Elrond lead Faramir to his own private inner sanctum, Faramir asked, "Do you think i could see my son? As much as i love it here, this morning in the garden i noticed for the first time how much i miss his little fists in my hair."
"I know very much how you feel," Elrond said with a sad smile. "I can not give you my word that you shall be able to make much use of this immediately," the Elf-lord said, pulling away a heavy silk-velvet that covered the palantír. "Your use of it depends very much on your will and the strength of your mind, as well as other, less tactile factors. I must also warn you that you are liable to feel quite exhausted from your attempt, that is why i do not recommend frequent use of these things. In any case, let us take this one step at a time. The first and most important thing is that the palantír gets to know you. Pick it up and hold it, let it get a sense of who you are."
Faramir reached out tentatively to the mystical orb. As his fingertips made contact with it, it started to glow and Faramir swore it hummed faintly. He could feel a strange vibration flowing from the palantír to himself and he immediately withdrew his hand as if it had been burnt.
"Sidh, Faramir!" Elrond said soothingly. "There is nothing to fear. This is quite safe in these days, great thanks to you." He took his grandson's hand, gently guiding it back to the seeing stone. Faramir's hand again made contact, but this time Elrond kept his hand over Faramir's in reassurance that this was safe, and also that, were something to go awry, Elrond was right there to intervene. "Feel it respond to you?" Elrond said, slowly moving his own hand back.
Faramir nodded and moved a little closer to the palantír. The previously darkened orb began to glow stronger now and Faramir sensed what was almost like a clearing, a changing of the very quality of the rock. It was growing less dense and he could almost see something coming into focus in the center of the impossibly deep stone. Everything around him seemed to drift away and he was sure that if he looked a little harder, deeper into the stone he could see and understand what was being shown there.
Elrond saw Faramir sway and noticed that the young man did not try to straightening himself and quickly but calmly Elrond slipped his hand under Faramir's, breaking the contact with the stone. Faramir looked up as though he had just woken and Elrond's smile was thin. "That should be enough for now. It knows you and will response to you later. You should be in the garden or off under the trees on a beautiful day like this," Elrond persuaded Faramir without much effort. "Here," he handed Faramir the copy of the Lay of Leithien that he'd left on the table by Elrond's door.
Faramir smiled, taking the book. "Thank you, daeradar," he said embracing his grandfather, as such, for what was actually the first time.
"Do not waste time thanking me!" Elrond said, "Go and enjoy this day. We shall work with this again tomorrow. Rest for now, though."
Faramir nodded. "I do feel a little tired. Perhaps a nap in the garden will refresh me," he said with a grin, then turned and made his way down the hallway.
"You will sleep best under the lavender!" Elrond called as Faramir disappeared around a corner.
"Another one you will be loath to leave," said a voice, every bit as velvet as Elrond's own.
"Ai, Erestor... this is going to be much harder than i thought," Elrond conceded, still watching down the hallway. "Take a glass of wine with me and tell me how everything went in Gondor," the Lord of Imladris said, turning his attention fully back to Erestor. "We have had such little time to talk, you and i, since your return. As usual, you always seem to be busy... though it seems you have a new preoccupation?" Elrond said, an arm about his old friend's shoulder as they sat down in Elrond's chamber.
Upon my first upload of this chapter i noticed that i had forgotten to leave reviewer responses. My apologies!
Two important questions: 1) Have any of my readers a debilitating fear of snakes? and 2) Who wants Hobbits? The next few chapters depend on your replies.
linda: I totally agree, Faramir needs to talk to Aragorn, too. Though, if i know Faramir, he won't say anything at all until it's no longer an issue for him. I fear that Aragorn may not appreciate that though and feel, perhaps. Might make him feel a little jealous. As to gifts bestowed, that will come in time.
Elenhin: Moose on an island not a hundred paces? That would be hard to miss. Still, i understand that irrationality of fear. As for the twins helping with Faramir's fear... let's just hope they don't. I like Faramir, after all, and i think i have done enough harm to him (maybe...).
The Polar Bears are a club of people who could probably be diagnosed as clinically insane who, every year on New Year's Day, gather at a chosen aquatic location andgo for a'swim'- for our 'chapter' it is adammed up lake about 40 miles west of where i live, about a 5 minute ride from Cathy and Frank's (the folks with the log cabin in the woods and the horses i told you about). Most people don't exactly swim, though some do. I just run in and back out, as much as a person can run back out of a freezing lake. It's a unique way to start the New Year though, and hanging out at the cabin afterward is great.
I think i agree about desks. If they are not cluttered, they are not desks, merely tables. Yet my desk is not as full as my book shelf. I can not even readily access my books without great care - they are guarded by a plethora of LotR action figures. Top shelf, of course, is the Fellowship, second shelf is secondary characters (including a certain Ranger from Ithilien, three Rohirrim, five Elves, a White Wizard, an Ent, and an elderly Hobbit), and the bottom shelf is orcs, witch kings, another White Wizard, a Southron, Gollum, and a Dark Lord,though elsewhere are Gil-galad and Elendil.