I'm baaaaaack! …Hi. I know I said that I was going to post a chapter while I was gone, and I could have… if the computer had been nice to me. But the computer was mean and wouldn't let me go on the net… so I couldn't update. I'm sorry. This chapter is pretty long though, 25 pages. But I guess I had better also add that the admin. for this site are being turds and taking down a lot of things which are in script form... so my spoof was taken down and I was put on 'probation' for the last week. Ugh. Otherwise this would have been posted sooner. And that kinda means that the replies are really old, but I'm not really supposed to be on so I'm trying to be quick. So that's that I guess. I'll try to get another chapter up in a short space of time, but we'll have to see. Sadly, I don't think it'll be done by the time school starts as I would have liked. Oh well.
REVIEWEEEEEEEEEEEEERS! Weeee!
kingmaker: I think really bored people came up with the place setting thing. REALLY bored people. And yes, Sauron the Amazing Super Fast Cleaner Dude. Or something. I dunno, I'm really tired and not thinking coherently so you can't take what I'm saying seriously. I'm glad you enjoyed the chapter, and I hope the first chapter with the family tickles your fancy.
AzureDragoness: Yes, he's still dusty. I'm glad you could deal with the wait too… cause it was a wait. I'm really sorry about that. But here this is. That counts, aye?
Shadow: It isn't Sauron who has to beware. Muahahaa...
XNemesis: Cleaning stinks. It's servile and blaaah. Hehehe. Grammatical errors, something which goes with me just writing down whatever comes in my head. English is so messed up anyways. …I'd be happy if they made The Hobbit a movie.
Darth T-Rex: …eh… Bad Frotu and the late update.
Kit Cloudkicker: …You used the phrase. Wow. But yes, they are hopeless.
Carmen: …Nice about your mirror. I can't stand nastiness. "A clean desk is the sign of a sick mind." … No, it is a sign of an organized mind! Moo! Sauron the neat freak.
Spoofmaster: I hope you had a spiffy birthday. And you'll just have to see what his family thinks.
AAAClub: …eeeh… sorry?
Elderberry: I completely understand busy. I'm glad you like the snipping, as there is a lot of it going around.
Feagliniel: Hehehe… lemon juice. Ooooh, you're psychic. Go you. And yes, he does set himself up for a lot. I love the lay, it makes me giggle. Which probably isn't a good thing. Come on now, he can regenerate. Not like… deh… other people. Did it to himself the arrogant little bakunka. Hehehe… is the Voice whispering? Mine always does sadly. Thuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu. And yes, I knew he had a cape/cloak. And his eyes were on firaaaa too. It says that. Yup. You said it! I'm impressed! Hehehe.
Passing By: I'm sorry the review went away, and thank you for making a new one! And I've moved a bit past the really sugary stuff… got too much of it on our super long drives. Ugh. Thank you for the luck. I've needed it a bit!
Ruler-of-Da-World: Maybe if more people had air conditioning, the world would be a less grumpy place. I'm sorry again that this took so long, it made me really frustrated. Aw, now your e-mail doesn't work? Does your scanner work yet? Not that it would do much good without e-mail… but still. And I have been a good girl. Had a big long chapter that I started typing up as soon as I got home. Honestly. I'd been in a car 9 hours and then I came and started typing it up. His reaction could be funny, I'll think about it.
GollumRox: You are a silly silly little wench. All I have to say is this: My Dwayne is name and would you like some turkey?
Ooookay. I think I'm done. A chapter! Wooo… glad that I'm able to post it. That is good. Hope you like it and that it was worth the wait!
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It took Haldir a minute before everything registered with him. True, while going to answer the door he had briefly considered the idea that it might have been his family, however he had decided that it had been too quick for that to be the case. Now he was standing there, his siblings all huddled around him.
"You're out of Mandos already?!"
"We didn't think you'd have been released yet."
"Of course, it seemed a bit odd that we were directed specifically to this house rather than going along with the rest of the group, but the thought never crossed my mind that you'd be here."
"Do you have any food?"
Haldir's head stopped spinning long enough for him to shoot his youngest brother a look.
"Rumil, honestly, can you get your head out of food long enough to greet our, until recently it seems, dearly departed brother?" Orophin asked, looking at Rumil too.
Haldir smiled slightly. "Well, he hasn't changed at all."
"And do you really think that is anything positive?" his sister asked.
Taking a good look at her, Haldir beamed. "Lalaith, I'm so glad to see that those two haven't worn you threadbare," he said, jerking his head towards the other brothers, who were arguing with each other at the moment over the earlier topic of food.
Lalaith looked over at them and shook her head. "They got close a couple of times, but then I just pulled some of those tricks you had told me to use."
"Such a good pupil," Haldir said with a grin.
It was at that moment that he was reminded that there were some introductions that needed to be done. Rumil apparently had noticed Sauron and Elhith and had said hello. It seemed an appropriate time to butt in a bit.
"Well, Elhith, Iaewur," Haldir began, momentarily pausing while he remembered Sauron's new name, "these are my siblings: Rumil, Orophin, and Lalaith. And you three, this is Elhith and Iaewur."
Orophin and Rumil both became more serious and seemed to remember something of the manners they had been taught during their upbringing and bowed slightly while Lalaith curtseyed. A moment later Elhith bowed too. During this Sauron looked on with a suppressed repulsion, which was pretty predictable. Haldir instantly knew that this could cause trouble and elbowed Sauron lightly, just to get his attention. When Sauron turned a little towards him, Haldir gave him a pleading look. One day, he had only asked for one day.
Sauron gave a sigh, but then bowed too, just a moment after Elhith. Haldir had to keep the smile off his face that wanted to go on. For once this sort of thing didn't make him want to smile to rub it in however, but from relief.
It seemed that Sauron actually might keep his word and behave in a cordial manner. So far so good, but only time would really be able to tell.
Elhith seemed to instantly go into his welcoming happy mood. "Would you like to see your rooms, or would you rather get something to eat or drink first?"
"Food!" Rumil chirped, adding, "if you please," a moment later.
Orophin sighed. "Rumil, you're hopeless."
Elhith took the lead and began walking towards the kitchen. As they did, Sauron hung back a little next to Haldir. "Seems to be a bit of a family phrase you have that people are hopeless," he noted.
"Certain habits rub off in families I suppose."
"I honestly don't know so I'll just have to take your word for it."
"Well, that's something."
Sauron just shook his head and followed on for a moment. "So this is your family then?" he asked a bit suddenly.
"Yes," Haldir replied.
There was a short pause. "Where are your parents?"
Haldir did not have an answer for this. The thought had sadly not occurred to him yet. It had been a bit just to see his siblings that the fact that he hadn't seen his parents didn't impact him at all.
"You're a very observant fellow, did you know?" Sauron remarked sardonically. "Didn't you say sometime that you were a march warden?"
Haldir nodded. "Captain."
"Sad," Sauron remarked dolefully. "And how old are you?"
Ignoring the fact that such a question seemed remarkably random, Haldir scratched his head as he tried to pull up the answer. "I'm not sure anymore. Time in Mandos is messed up. I was nearly 1,497 when I… died," he ended lamely.
"You were alive when I sent orcs and stuff to Lorien then. I should have spent more time having them trained and all if they could be beaten even with your sad observation skills."
Haldir scowled at him. "For one, I hadn't lived near my parents for a long time whereas I was around my brothers a lot so it didn't seem odd that they weren't here. Second, I haven't done that sort of thing, scouting and all, for a long time. My skills aren't as good as they used to be; they haven't been used for a long time."
"Long time you say? Couldn't have been that long."
"Why not?"
"Well, what year did you die?"
"3,019."
"See, you were only in Mandos a couple months."
"WHAT!?" Haldir yelled, stopping in the hall before the kitchen.
Everybody who had already taken seats inside turned to him curiously. He used his best fake smile and told them to carry on and that he'd be there in a moment.
Stepping back from the doorway a little, Haldir yanked Sauron over, keeping him from going on to the kitchen. "Come again," he said in a low voice.
"You died early that year I'm assuming, and I was…" Sauron began, but drifting off.
"Defeated?" Haldir supplied.
Sauron frowned. "Yes, that… in March of the next. After that I sort of drifted around for a bit, trying to ignore the fact that Namo kept invading my thoughts and attempting to summon me of my own free will to Mandos. I'm not sure when he finally gave up on that and somehow just yanked my spirit over there; maybe it was two months, but that would probably be pushing it. And you were lucky enough to meet me the day I came to and figured out where I was. Sadly, that was the most together I had been since… March. Until then I'd hardly been capable of a rational thought - the only things that occurred to me were that I should be very upset and that I didn't want to listen to Namo. So I suppose it was a bit of a step up that I could… express my displeasure."
Haldir listened, jaw slightly dropped, as Sauron rambled on. Much more information than had really been necessary had been shared, and although this brief lack of reserve from Sauron was slightly amusing, it was also disturbing. Those two things seemed to go hand-in-hand a lot.
Shaking his head, Haldir spoke up. "Okay, okay, okay that's nice," Haldir said, cutting Sauron off. "Back to the subject though. You're saying that I was only in Mandos four months or something?"
Sauron looked up at the ceiling in thought for a moment, and then abruptly down at Haldir again. "Yes."
Sputtering, Haldir grabbed the braids at the sides of his head. "You're kidding."
"No."
"UGH!" He yanked harder on his braids, ignoring the fact that it hurt quite a bit. "But Narhir said that I'd been there 12,982 years!"
"Well, he was wrong wasn't he? Sheesh… waaay wrong. How'd he die?"
Haldir slowly released his braids. "…He attacked at the wrong time in a battle," he said quietly.
Sauron nodded. "And you were trusting his time keeping abilities?"
"I did."
"Again, I say sad."
"But it felt like it have been that long! All those groups! It felt like it would never end!"
"And it probably would have continued on indefinitely had it not been… for me," Sauron said with a falsely sweet smile.
"Oh hush," Haldir said irritably. "I am very upset right now."
"I bet you are." His smile became more genuine, meaning it took on more of a sinister appearance. "Slightly ironic that just earlier I said something about time passing slowly?"
"Yes," Haldir said listlessly, finally accepting that he had only been in Mandos for a third of a year.
Sauron frowned a bit, and then threw his arm over Haldir's shoulder. While Haldir would have shaken him off, Sauron gripped his shoulder to prevent him from doing so. Slowly he led Haldir back towards the kitchen. Haldir again was reminded of how strong Sauron was. Although he did try to stop or pull away, Sauron's hand grasped his shoulder like a vice. Sauron's smile widened. "You're too transparent Haldir. I figured out your whole demeanor in a week or so. It's obvious that you would wrench away if you could, but, alas, I happen to be a bit stronger, hm? Smithing will do that to you. But anyways, the point I was going to get at was that time is all relative. It only seems slow because we dislike what we are spending it doing. Of course, then it is also true that doing something we enjoy will make it go faster."
Haldir raised a brow and looked at Sauron. "Going all philosophical on me now are you?"
With a shrug Sauron let go. "I'm just telling you. I've been around a long time and know about these things. I mean, I was here before there even was such a thing as time for that matter."
"Well then how old would you be?"
Sauron looked at him as though he had missed something obvious… which he had. "Can't really have an age without the ability to measure years and such, can you?"
"I suppose not."
By now they were near the table and took the open chairs. Elhith was busy around the kitchen as ever, however now Lalaith and Orophin were helping as well. Rumil, who had the same talents as Haldir when it came to cooking, sat at the table too. For a moment they were silent, staring at the bowl in the middle of the table which served as a centerpiece.
Yet then Sauron did something which surprised Haldir a bit. He figured that it shouldn't as Sauron had agreed to be amiable, but it was the nature of the thing. After all the time he had spent in Sauron's company with his natural disposition, it seemed so odd, like if a fish suddenly grew wings and started flying around.
Haldir paused after that mental analogy and wondered where his brain was going.
"I see that there is another chef here in the family," Sauron noted, none of the usual abrasive sarcasm to his voice. The remark had been sardonic, true, but was not to the point of rudeness.
Rumil smiled. "Yes, neither Haldir nor I learned anything of the culinary arts. That was left to Orophin."
Sauron glanced at the people in the kitchen. "What about your sister then? Normally wouldn't it be her?"
"I suppose so," Rumil conceded. "However she is the youngest, and for a while it was just us three boys. So, that being the case, our mother decided to teach them how to do it themselves; I was too little at the time to learn. Haldir didn't pick up on it at all, so I'm told. Orophin says that he almost burned our flet down once."
Sauron grinned slightly at Haldir. "I'm not all that surprised."
"Anyways, continue on," Haldir said, mildly aggravated.
"So it was only Orophin who learned, and since he did so well with that, our mother decided to teach him other things."
"Such as?" Sauron asked.
"Medicine and sewing primarily."
Haldir nodded, smiling. "He can make a lovely stitch. Very straight and even. Rivals Lalaith for sure."
"Definitely," Rumil said, holding back a laugh.
They didn't notice Orophin listening now at the counter, pausing his work. "Are you talking about me?" he asked, narrowing his eyes.
"'Course we are. You're the only one away to talk about at the moment."
Orophin frowned. "You could talk about Lalaith."
Rumil put his hand to his chest, taking on a fake outraged look. "Are you suggesting that we tarnish her honor for our amusement?"
Leaning over the counted, Orophin nodded. "Yes."
"For shame! No, Orophin, your honor had been tarnished enough by yourself for my little additions to not make any different. Lalaith however is still such an angelic lady."
Hearing her name, Lalaith turned to the group and curtseyed, smiling as sweetly as she could while batting her lashes. She then promptly shook her head and went back to her work.
Still feigning hurt, Orophin too saw back to whatever he had been doing. "Well, I'll show you worms. Look out for my germs in your food."
Sauron raised a brow at this, looking slightly amused.
Rumil laughed. "I will. Extra protein."
By now everything seemed to be done and a handful of platters were placed around the table. Elhith, Orophin, and Lalaith sat down, Elhith seeming pretty pleased. "I like having two others in the kitchen to help out, rather than just being by myself cooking for you two."
"Oh, you were cooking for yourself as well," Haldir said, smirking."Yeah, that made the situation a whole lot better."
They then began serving themselves and eating. That meal was full of chatter, more so than any Haldir could recall. Then again, the population of the house had doubled.
"Where did you say our parents were?" Haldir asked as he helped himself to more bread.
"They stayed with Celeborn. Father being in the royal guard and all, he has to stay as long as Celeborn does, and mother wouldn't leave him," Rumil said through a mouthful of food, for which Lalaith promptly smacked him on the arm. He gave a small yelp and rubbed his arm, glaring a bit at her.
"I don't think they will be there long though," Orophin added.
"How come?" Haldir asked.
"Well, Galadriel left. We all agreed that Celeborn would probably get bored without her around, and when he leaves so will our good old parents."
"Why did Galadriel go ahead of him?"
Orophin swallowed. "I figure she didn't want to see Lorien wane. We don't know why, but she didn't seem to have as much power over the lands once the Ring was destroyed and all."
Across the table Sauron choked on his drink, coughing for a moment. Everyone turned to him, if not for different reasons. Haldir and Elhith both of course knew the real reason he had choked. Now they just had to see how he handled it.
"You all right?" Rumil questioned slowly.
Still coughing, Sauron nodded. "Just swallowed wrong," he said quickly before coughing once more.
Haldir sighed. Sauron hadn't even snapped at Rumil. Simply amazing.
"So she left," Orophin continued. "Lalaith of course came along with her, being one of her handmaidens. We decided to accompany her."
"The trip was lovely. I'd never been in such noble company before," Rumil started excitedly. "Lord Elrond was there, as was Mithrandir. There were many others too." He paused. "Haldir, do you recall that Frodo Baggins?"
Glancing over at Sauron, who seemed a bit pale and also very tense, Haldir cautiously replied. "I do. I showed him Cerin Amroth."
"I don't know if you found out in Mandos or not, but it was he who too k the Ring to the fire and destroyed it."
Both Haldir and Elhith caught each others eyes, comprehending the danger of the situation. The present subject was not a good one.
Rumil continued, oblivious. "Anyways, the point I was getting to was that he was granted a place on the ship as well. He's to live in Tol Eressea."
At that moment two things happened simultaneously: Haldir was curing that Rumil had shared that information in his mind, and there was a loud, high crack which caused him to jump.
Instantly he looked across the table. Already broken out of his trance, Sauron was looking at what he had done and, shockingly, getting out a tight apology. Apparently he had broken his glass, which lay in little fragments all around his hand, water soaked into the tablecloth.
The room had fallen to a hush now. Always good with difficult situations, and proving this skill once more, Elhith jumped up, starting the conversation again and beginning to clean the shards of glass.
Since she was sitting to Sauron's right, Lalaith had also started to aid in the clearing of the glass. "Are you okay?" she asked, concerned as she ever was for somebody else. "The glass didn't cut you, did it?"
Sauron turned to her, for once allowing some expression of surprise to cross his face.
"Well?" she prodded, reaching for his hand and turning it palm up.
"I don't believe so," he answered slowly, observing her carefully, as though she was something altogether new and strange.
Satisfied, Lalaith released his hand and smiled. "Good."
Still appearing slightly baffled, Sauron returned her smile, at least in some measure, while he pulled his hand back.
Lalaith now had a handful of the glass and went with Elhith to dispose of them.
It was then that Haldir figured it to be appropriate to excuse Sauron and himself. "Well, I think it's time for me to go off to bed. We'd been a bit busy today, if you could not tell," he said, gesturing to his dusty tunic. He looked over at Elhith, who nodded. "I believe that Elhith will show you all your rooms when you're ready to go to them."
Orophin and Rumil both nodded and wished him goodnight, while Lalaith came over and hugged him quickly. "It's so wonderful to see you Haldir," she whispered before going to finish the cleaning.
Haldir smiled, and then nudged Sauron as he passed him. Obviously getting the hint, Sauron got up and followed him from the room.
Once upstairs, Haldir stood at the doorway of Sauron's room. There were a few things that needed to be discussed.
Sauron apparently knew this already by the first thing he said. "Now, I'm curious - will you ask the questions I think you have first or at least give me some credit for not throwing a complete fit down there."
"The later," Haldir replied. "I must say that even with the slight mishaps you did amazingly well."
"At least you realize it," Sauron responded sharply, beginning to pace the room with his hands clasped behind his back. "I haven't had to use such restraint in hundreds of years."
"Well, you did a good job."
"Besides busting a glass, right?"
"Yes, other than that. But we can write that off as an accident of course. You raging over something which, you realize caused everybody else a great amount of joy, would be a bit more difficult to explain away."
Still pacing, Sauron nodded. "I suppose. But oh how I wanted to rage." His hands clenched behind him, the angry glare he usually wore, which had been absent the rest of the day, appearing again. "He's here," he hissed, his eyes flashing.
"Not really here," Haldir pointed out. "Tol Eressea."
"Not a time to play word games with me," Sauron said quietly, accompanying it with a warning glance.
"Point taken," Haldir replied.
"He's here… he RUINED me!" Sauron fumed. "I've been reduced to nothing and he's being praised only miles away!"
"You can't expect to be praised though considering the things you did."
Sauron waved his hand at him, a last sign for him to shut up. Haldir tried a bit harder to oblige.
For a few more moments Sauron walked around the room, regaining his cool again. "You need to take me there so that I can pay him a visit," he said finally.
Haldir became a bit more alert. "Oh no you don't. I see where this is going plain as day. You think I'm going to take you somewhere so you can murder a helpless little halfling?"
"I never said I'd murder him," Sauron said as convincingly as possible, with very little success.
"You didn't have to say it, I knew it without being told."
Quicker than he had time to realize what had happened, Haldir found himself being shaken by Sauron. "You don't understand!" he cried. "I have a chance for revenge, to get back for what he did, even the score a bit."
"I think it was he who evened the score," Haldir stuttered, his voice sounding strange from the continued shaking.
Sauron let go of Haldir and turned around, pulling at his belt. Haldir figured that it must have been his anger release, or one of them. At least it was better than the shake-Haldir-to-the-point-of-making-his-brain-jelly anger release. "I need to go."
"You don't."
"I do."
"You don't."
"I do."
"How'd you like the strawberries?"
"Haldir!"
"Sauron, just drop it. You might as well forget about it because there is no way on this earth that I will take you out there. No way."
"No way? We'll see about that."
"No we won't. You're going to let go of the topic and forget you ever heard it.""I don't think I'm going to," Sauron said thoughtfully. "I'm just going to wait until I find something that will make you have to take me."
"There isn't anything, so don't trouble yourself."
"There's something, and I'll figure it out eventually."
Haldir sighed. "Shall we go to another subject then?"
Although he did not answer instantly, Sauron slowly nodded. "If you wish."
"I do." Well… it was true that he wanted to go to another subject, he just didn't know what that was. "So… thank you again for doing as you said you would. I'm very grateful for it."
"Seemingly not enough," Sauron grumbled as he flopped into a chair. "You said that you would do something for me but you won't."
"I said as long as it wasn't really bad. That is really bad."
"Isn't."
"Probably be signing your own doom there. Be worse off if you did that than you are now. Although I don't understand how you can call this bad."
Sauron just made a sound which seemed to mean that he didn't care about what Haldir had said and wasn't going to take the time to reply.
"I hardly think you could say you're badly off."
"To each his own."
Haldir sighed. "Anyways, on another note, now you've met my family."
"Yes."
"And?" Haldir encouraged.
Sauron glanced agitatedly at him. "I'm assuming that you are wanting to know my impression."
"A bit, yes."
"Well, you can tell the relation. You seemed to be quite generous with sharing parts of your disposition with them."
"Being the eldest that happens."
"I can guess. Although it seemed that Rumil would be able to have somewhat evil tendencies."
"He has, and often times he drags Orophin into his little ploys."
"Orophin? Isn't he older though?"
"Yes, but he always went with whatever was going on."
"So why didn't he just listen to you then?"
"Before I went off to be tutored he would. However in the time I was gone they became very close. And since then Orophin would only blindly follow Rumil."
"Hm. It seems that you got the short end of that stick," Sauron pointed out.
"True, but there isn't much I can do about it. At least I was around Lalaith before Rumil could suck her into his bad pastimes."
"Well, you didn't give her much of your mannerisms either."
"Oh no, she was the only daughter. I wasn't about to let her pick up any of my bad habits. So I pretty much tried to stay away from teaching her things since I figured most of them wouldn't be very lady like."
"Probably not. But you did well on that - she seemed to have a shred more nobility than the rest of you."
"That is likely. When she was little my father was promoted to the royal guard and she ended up being in contact with Galadriel more than the rest of us had while growing up. Then she became a handmaiden and I didn't have to worry about her behavior after that."
"She was… nice," Sauron said thoughtfully.
Haldir looked at him, a bit disturbed. "Come again?"
Turning his hand over and looking at it himself, Sauron continued. "She seemed genuinely concerned. I don't know the last time somebody actually wondered about me without some ulterior motive considering who I was." He paused. "I can't even remember when it was that way. Seems hard to think that it ever was. So it's odd now."
"She just doesn't know who you are is all," Haldir put in.
"I know. Still… in an odd way, it's sort of nice."
Haldir couldn't really believe what he was hearing. "You actually liked that? I thought it would annoy you to have somebody do that."
"Fawning I do not like particularly. But that was all right, although it surprised me a bit." He smiled slightly then, dangerously close to wistfully.
Haldir looked at Sauron, officially creeped out. Sure, he had asked Sauron to act in such a way… around his family. For show. Now away from them with only him around. "Um… Sauron?" he said, snapping his fingers in front of his face.
"Eh?" he said, blinking.
Haldir stared a bit more.
"What? Just off in my thoughts, nothing really earth shattering going on there."
Haldir nodded quickly. "All right."
Sauron looked at him quizzically, but the expression slowly melted to one of comprehension. "Did you think that I liked your sister a bit more than just casually or something hm?"
Now that it seemed so obvious that such wasn't the case, Haldir didn't really feel like replying.
With a smug grin, Sauron nodded knowingly. "That's pathetic Haldir. You must be really defensive of her if you think that I'm sort of threat to her… at least that way. The only love I've felt was that for myself and the things I've made. Never gotten into that romantic type. Sounds like a bunch of unnecessary stress if you ask me."
"I see," Haldir said, just a tad embarrassed. It was true that he was extremely protective of his little sister, and it was also true that it left him to over thinking things at times.
Still seeming to be lightly amused by all this and not yet ready to drop the topic, Sauron displayed an absolutely roguish grin. "Although, she was quite fair," he said softly, putting his arms behind his head.
Haldir was pretty sure he twitched. Didn't matter if Sauron had said it in a joking manner or not, that statement was not one he wanted to hear from his mouth. "Don't say that," he said, repositioning himself uncomfortably on the door frame.
"You were the one asking for my impression of your family. I'm simply saying what I thought of your sister."
"I didn't that that you cared about that sort of thing," Haldir continued, his voice a bit tight.
"What things?" Sauron said, playing stupid, which Haldir at the moment didn't think needed much acting.
"Visual stuff," he said awkwardly.
"That is something in which you have misjudged me," Sauron replied seriously. "It would be hard to accomplish the things I designed if I had to work on what they looked like, however I can appreciate beauty."
"Knock it off," Haldir said, frustration spilling somewhat into his voice.
"What? You are even the one who told me that I should start to think that way a little more, didn't you?"
Haldir bit his lip. It was true. "I didn't intend for the one time you followed what I said to be in relation to my baby sister."
Sauron continued to smile, enjoying Haldir's discomfort. "Haldir, your mind is too easy to play with. If I was a good person, I'd almost pity you. However, seeing as how that sort of thing amuses me, I do not pity you. All the same, I'll stop toying with your mind for now." A moment earlier he had gotten up and walked to the door. Now he patted Haldir on the head and got ready to shut it.
Haldir sighed. "So you were kidding?"
"No, not completely," Sauron answered and shut the door.
Although Haldir considered knocking on the door and continuing the conversation, he decided against it. So there really wasn't much else for him to do other than go to bed. He still didn't feel very good, but there wasn't anything for it that night. Maybe in the morning.
He went to his room and changed into his pajamas. With one last reflection on the day, shaking his head, Haldir crawled into his bed and fell asleep.
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"This is his room, right? It has to be one of these three."
"Shhh! You're so loud!"
"I am not. You're just paranoid that he'll wake up."
"I have reason though. We just got here today and you're already wanting to pull a prank on him!"
"Orophin, stop being a priss. How many pranks have we pulled on him during our lives?"
"I never counted. Tons."
"And how many times has he woken up while we did it?"
"Twice I believe."
"So there really isn't much of a chance that he'll wake up tonight. Besides, he had been cleaning and stuff so he'll probably sleep good and deep."
The two stopped at a table next to a window while Rumil stirred something in a bowl. Orophin glanced around the hall. "I'm not sure of this," he said, frowning.
Rumil looked up at him, flipping back his long ash blonde hair, his expression slightly exasperated. "Why?"
"It's just that it's not only us anymore. There are other living here too."
"Maybe they'll be amused too," he responded, turning back to his work.
"And maybe they'll side with Lalaith and find it in bad taste."
Rumil shook his head. "She's always been on Haldir's side. As for the others, do you think they've really earned our concern yet?"
"It's not quite like that Rumil, and you know it."
"You're not wimping out on me, are you?"
Orophin paused, and then sighed. "No."
"Good."
"I still don't know about it though. You sure that it will come out? Why don't we just use honey like we usually do?"
"Because this will be more work for him to get out. He's figured out the tricks for honey, but not this. It will come out, don't worry. I only put enough stuff in there so that it would make it interesting." He smirked.
"Where do you come up with these things anyways?"
"Years of observation."
"You could probably put that skill to better use, you know."
Rumil grinned, picking up the bowl. "But what would the fun in that be? Now come on, let's go."
They went down the hall, Rumil glancing at the doors. "Which could it be? Hm…" he looked from one door to the next. "Which one is the most like the one he had in our talan?"
"The one at the end," Orophin said, pointing. "He was at the end then too wasn't he?"
"Yes, you're right," Rumil whispered, nodding approvingly while moving to the door.
When he noticed that Orophin wasn't following, he turned. "Well, come on."
Orophin came up to him then, hesitantly. Slowly Rumil opened the door, trying to be silent. Both of them stuck their head in.
For a moment it was absolutely black. "What are you doing?" a voice, definitely not Haldir's, asked. There was a creak, probably a bed, and then a pair of glowing eyes appeared in the corner.
Orophin, who had been leaning past Rumil, clutched his brother's shoulder. Although he couldn't tell, Rumil was gripping the doorframe pretty tightly himself.
"Well? Going to leave?"
Neither answered.
There was a short sigh that wasn't noticed by Rumil or Orophin, promptly followed by a "WAH!" which made them both jump out of the room.
Orophin closed the door and turned to Rumil, eyes wide. "Was that Iaewur?" he whispered.
Blinking, Rumil scratched his neck. "I think so. Sounded like him."
"Does he seem a bit odd to you?" Orophin asked.
"A bit."
There was a silence. "Something's different about that fellow."
"You can say that again."
They moved on to the next door, taking even more care with opening it. As the door slid wider, they cautiously looked in.
In this room however the curtains were opened, allowing a good amount of moonlight to filter in. From this they saw the blonde head on the pillow. Both looked at each other, smiling slowly.
"This is grand," Rumil said, pulling up the spoon from the bowl as he walked towards the bed.
:::::
The next morning, Haldir once again found himself waking up earlier than he intended. Apparently he had left his curtains open the night before and now the sun was shining into his eyes.
Reluctantly he got up, yawning as he picked out some clothes and put them on. It was nice to have all of his clothes finally put away and in predictable places, however he knew it would not last long.
He made his way downstairs, going to the kitchen as was usual. There he found Sauron eating the rest of his breakfast while skimming through a book.
"Where is everybody?" Haldir asked, yawning again.
"What makes you think they aren't here?" Sauron asked in response, still flipping pages.
"Well, I know that they are not asleep because of all the places scattered around, and since there isn't much noise in the house, I figured that they were out."
"You surmise correctly," Sauron replied, closing his book and reaching for a pitcher of juice. "Both of your brothers were anxious to leave the house for a while so Elhith took them out to see the city. Lalaith went along. Elhith left some breakfast for you over there…" he said, finally looking up and starting to point towards the meal, but stopping suddenly.
"What?" Haldir asked, frowning.
However Sauron didn't answer. He just continued to stare at Haldir blankly.
Slowly the corners of his mouth turned up until he was smiling widely. He suddenly tried to wipe it from his face, biting his lips in the attempt.
Haldir was quickly getting upset with this. "Sauron! What is it?!" he demanded angrily.
This only seemed to make whatever had caused his amusement to be funnier. Sauron now proceeded to snort, a hand flying to his nose to prevent it from continuing. He looked away from Haldir for a moment, and then back up. Yet this time he was not limited to the cut off laughs which resulted in the snorts. For once he was unable to hold back the laughter.
So Sauron laughed. Haldir could recall a couple of times when he had done so, but they had all been in a very derogatory manner, intent on mocking somebody else. For a long time he had figured that it was probably just the way Sauron laughed, but that always left the problem of why on all other occasions he had kept himself from doing it. And now he knew differently to his theory and realized why Sauron had always tried to keep himself from laughing.
His laugh didn't fit with his personality at all.
There didn't seem to be any way that the laughter filling the kitchen now could belong to Sauron. Haldir then considered that maybe it seemed that way because, as he had thought long ago, Sauron and things of the nature of laughing didn't seem like a natural combination.
But here he was, laughing hysterically. He leaned back in his chair and then to one side, resting his head in his hand.
For a while Haldir was too surprised at his laugh, which still sounded like the last thing he would have ever heard out of Sauron, to do much. Yet finally he got over his slight shock and became upset again. "Why don't you stop your completely un-dark lordish laughing and tell me what is so funny?"
Sauron tried to stop, holding his nose again and slowly getting under control enough to speak. "Looked in a mirror lately?" he choked out.
"No," Haldir said suspiciously.
"You might want to," he just barely said before dissolving into laughter again.
Ignoring him now, Haldir rushed around the kitchen, finally finding a pan and holding it up.
Upon seeing his reflection, Haldir dropped the pan, eliciting another peal of laughs from Sauron. Haldir however was nowhere near laughing.
Hoping that he had been mistaken in what he had seen, or that the pan had distorted the reflection, Haldir ran out of the room and upstairs. He knew that there was a mirror in the hall there.
But it wasn't any different. What he was greeted with was the same as the pan. His hair, which he had always taken such good care of, was a tangled web sticking off his head.
Sauron appeared at the rail of the stairs. "If I can just say, I don't think it is really that funny, it was just a bit of a shock."
"You really made it apparent that it wasn't funny by laughing your head off," Haldir snipped.
"I told you, it was a shock. By the looks of that, one would think that you had taken some styling lessons from me last year. Bit of a switch, hm?"
Haldir hated to admit that it was the truth. Now it was his hair that could hardly be called such while Sauron's lay straightly. It was seriously unfair.
For a minute he lamented his hair and the condition it was in, but then his mind turned to other things when he heard the door open. The voices of his brothers drifted up to him and everything suddenly clicked.
His expression turned venomous, enough that Sauron's continued laughing died down. The amused expression remained, although now slightly altered. "Somebody is in serious trouble, aren't they?"
"Yes," Haldir hissed, feeling his stiff locks.
Sauron looked thoughtful for a moment. "Your brothers came into my room last night. I believe that they must have been looking for you, obviously. It was annoying. They just stood there like they were little cornered mice."
"Hmm…" was all the response Haldir gave before he stormed downstairs.
He didn't care that Elhith looked at him with eyes as wide as saucers or that Lalaith was too surprised to speak. All he saw was Rumil and Orophin, who looked pleased for only a moment.
"You both better start explaining now," he said in a low voice, one that he had only rarely used.
Both blanched. "Rumil thought of it," Orophin said, pointing.
Rumil slapped his hand away. "He helped though."
"I don't care!" Haldir snarled, clenching his fists at his sides. "Just tell me how to fix it!"
Orophin shoved Rumil forward. "You made the concoction," he whispered.
Rumil smiled nervously. "Just put it in hot water and let it soak for a long time. It will all come out after that."
But it didn't all come out. None of it came out in fact. It didn't come out in cold water, or with soap, or with anything. It all remained stubbornly attached to his hair.
The momentary hope he had felt vanished, the anger from before taking its place. Haldir was staring at his reflection again, which looked the same except now dripping with water.
Slowly he turned to his brothers. "I am going have your scalps for this!" he roared, racing after them. They both instantly turned tail and scattered from their very, at the moment, crazed brother.
Lalaith reached for his arm, but he shook her off. While Elhith attempted to do something Haldir was past him before he got the chance.
When their paths split, Haldir decided to follow Rumil, intent on catching the initiator. While Rumil yelled back apologies, Haldir didn't listen, only wanting to catch him at the moment. Yet just as he got close, he was suddenly caught and stopped. He squirmed, trying to get loose and caring little about who was holding him. "Let go," he commanded.
"I do not think that would be wise," the person answered, now obviously Sauron. "Although in this situation, considering how you have reacted and the threat involving pain and all that which you just made, I have never identified closer with you, something tells me that preventing you from taking him out would be in your best interest."
Haldir didn't want to acknowledge that he had a point.
"If I let go, you won't chase them, will you?" Sauron asked.
"No," Haldir said quietly.
"Alright." Sauron then let go.
Haldir took an angry breath, itching to dart after Rumil. "Look at what they did though!"
"I know, but it's done. Yet I don't believe that your happiness at that revenge would last long."
"Since when did you care?" Haldir snapped.
Sauron frowned thoughtfully. "I don't know. Hmm… that's a bit disturbing."
Finally Haldir was calming down, simply feeling disheartened now. "Yes, it is a little," he said, sighing. "But you're actually right. As much satisfaction as I might get from doing terrible things to them, it would only be temporary."
"There, that's a very elvish thing to say… or at least closer than it had been."
They went back towards the kitchen, Haldir dejectedly sitting down in a chair. Within moments Lalaith and Elhith appeared, sitting at the table too. Orophin and Rumil did well to stay away.
For a bit they just stared at Haldir, but finally Lalaith dared to ask. "What happened?"
"Far as we got, Orophin and Rumil decided to pull a joke on him," Sauron supplied.
"But what did they put in that couldn't come out?"
Prodding his hair, Haldir replied. "I have no idea."
"You can't leave it that way though," she said.
"Knowing his miff about hair, it would take a lot to get him to go in public with it looking that way," Sauron said.
Having thought about what these facts would have to mean, Haldir groaned.
"Haldir," Lalaith said gently.
"Yes?" he said, although he could guess what she would say.
"You're going to have to cut your hair."
He sighed, and then nodded. "I know."
"Do you want to get it over with then?" she asked him.
He nodded slowly and got up, as did Lalaith. Without another word, leaving Lalaith to excuse them, he went out of the room.
Once he was sitting down in a chair by the mirror, Lalaith looked at his hair. "I still don't know what they made that could do this and not come out," she said in slight wonder.
"If I ever find out, they will be learning the finer points of its texture with hair in it," he grumbled.
Lalaith laughed softly. "Oh Haldir, hair grows back."
"Yeah, something that you'll be able to remind them of too."
She did not reply until she had scoped out his hair, seeing how much damage had been done. "And?" he asked.
"Three, four inches if you are lucky."
"Ugh," he groaned.
"At least it's something. You should be a bit happy, I mean, the fact that you aren't going to lose it all is good."
"Well three inches is a bit different from what it was before!"
"I know, but we can't do anything about it now." She paused. "Ready?""…Yes."
"That wasn't very convincing."
"Yes! Just go!"
There was just a second of silence before Haldir heard clipping next to his ear. For the next couple minutes he listened as his hair was cut, seeing it fall to the floor around him in globs. "It's all cut," Lalaith finally said, just a few parting snips left as she found other little knots of the goo.
"You're done?"
"Yes. Turn around and look."
Haldir didn't at first. Ever since he had been young his hair had been long. He had never cut it until it reached a certain length, after which he had just trimmed it to keep it that long. He couldn't even remember when it had been short.
"Come on, you're going to have to get used to it eventually. I think it looks okay."
At her urging Haldir turned and looked at his reflection. And then for a while he just stared.
"Well…" he said finally. "It's shorter."
"Did I do alright?" she asked.
"Fine," he replied, tousling his short hair, trying to let it sink in that it was his. Through his newly formed bangs, Haldir saw both Sauron and Elhith come up.
Not to much of a surprise, Sauron spoke up first. "It's a new look for you, that's for sure."
"Yes, you could say that," Haldir responded, pushing the hair back so that he could see better.
"Doesn't look too bad actually," Elhith noted.
"Not much I could do if it did look bad though."
Lalaith put her hand on her hip. "Do you think that I would give you a bad haircut?"
"No, I have complete faith in you," Haldir said, managing a small smile. "It's just that there was limited hair to work with."
She smiled too. "I can accept that answer. So you'll be able to live with it then?"
"I suppose," Haldir consented.
"That's a boy!" she smirked, brushing off his shoulders. "Well, I'll try to see where those lunatics went off to. I'll be downstairs if you need me."
Then it was just the three of them. With a grin, Sauron stepped up closer. "How long will that take to grow out again?" he asked.
Haldir pondered for a moment. "Two, two and a half years."
"Just don't appreciate what you have until it's all gone, do we?" he asked.
"Probably not. Speaking from experience yourself?"
Sauron nodded. "Of course, although I would rather that I wasn't."
Haldir pulled up a bit of his hair, eyeing its length. "It's so short," he said, still a bit unbelieving.
"That it is," Sauron replied.
"You aren't the only one around with short hair though," Elhith said.
Haldir gave him a look. "Really? Care to tell me where the others with short hair happened to be cause I haven't noticed them anywhere."
Elhith frowned. "Um… I've seen them around."
"I feel like a loner," Haldir mumbled as he leaned against the table, setting his head on his hands.
Sauron leaned over by his shoulder, looking at him in the mirror. "But I thought you'd always feel like that," he said with a smile.
"Ai ai ai," Elhith sighed, shaking his head and going downstairs.
Haldir decided that he wouldn't acknowledge Sauron's remark. Once he seemed to realize this, Sauron tried a new tactic. "Well you know, now that I see how important hair seems to be, maybe I should take more thought to mine, do you think?" he asked, flipping some of his long black hair over his shoulder and continuing to grin.
Haldir furrowed his brow. "Going to flaunt it now or something, hm?"
"Now I have a reason to. I am willing to take some time out of my day on the rather useless and ridiculous practice of styling one's hair if my doing so would irritate you."
Haldir didn't reply.
"It would, wouldn't it? That here I still have all my hair while I could care less about it and you have, well, three inches short of none."
"No, I don't mind if you decide to do that. In fact, it would probably be good for you. Although its condition compared to when you first got out of Mandos is considerably better, it wouldn't hurt for you to take a mind to it a bit more than you do."
Nodding, Sauron stood up and brushed the hair back. "I suppose. But we'll just see about your reaction to it after its been done. I'm sure I can find a way for it to aggravate you."
"I won't even honor it with a reaction, so you'll just be wasting your time," Haldir shot.
Sauron laughed, but it was once again his condescending sort. "We'll see, we'll see," he said as he walked away.
Haldir turned back to the mirror, looking at his reflection for a moment more before sighing. As Lalaith had said, he'd have to get used to it eventually, but at the moment eventually looked far off.
:::::
Poor Haldir. Ah well. Hehehe. Oh yes, and I was going to ask, since I am on vacation and can actually do something about it, if anybody knows how to make websites and would mind helping me make one, I would be soooooo grateful. ...Please.