Title: Carry On No More?
Author: Eternal Elves
Rating: T
Summary: See previous chapter
Author Notes: We'd like to thank the reviewers. Reviews mean more and better updates!
Carry On No More?
Chapter Two
Elladan and Elrohir, or Ellison and Elliot as the world knew them, sat in a cold subway, squished between a drunk man and a little old lady who kept muttering 'cats' and 'chocolate mousse'. Now, they had never been judgmental elves, but the company they were in was just weird. And everyone kept looking at them! Elrohir smirked to himself. It wasn't their fault his brother looked like him.
"Nay, my brother. You look like me." Elladan whispered in his brother's ear.
Elrohir rolled his eyes and ran a hand through his chin-length hair, before jamming his baseball cap on again, to cover his pointed ears. He stretched as much as he could, releasing the tension built up in his muscles. "You wish." He whispered in return. "Gwador." He smiled up at his brother, his best friend. It had been years since they had spoken elvish, but they had never forgotten their native tongue.
"Shush!" Elladan looked around. "They can't know. Estel would not wish it." He thought about his little human brother and sighed. He wished the boy had been born an elf, so they could have spent more time together, but it taught him to not get close to humans, for their lives were brief.
"Do you think its him?" Elrohir still clutched a picture printed off from the Internet. "He disappeared after we fought with Alexander the Great." He kept his voice a low murmur, and it seemed his lips were only moving, but Elladan's sharp hearing could still detect it.
"I pray to the Valar it is. I miss him." The elder twin replied softly, his azure eyes dark and full of pain. He missed his father, his sister, his friends... at least he had his brother. He threw an arm around his brother's shoulder for a moment, before dropping it as the subway slowed down.
Elladan looked down at printed directions. "C'mon, Elliot. Time to get off." He announced, and the twins stood up together and walked out of the subway. They passed a few musicians and threw their spare change into their guitar cases. It reminded them of Lindir, the Imladris musician. Their hearts twanged again. Too few elves there were now. If their memories served them, they and Legolas were the only ones left.
"Ellison!" Elrohir had to catch up. "Which way, left or right?" He asked as they walked up the stairs to emerge in the crowds.
Elladan looked up at the street sign and pointed to the left. "Lets go."
They matched each other for strides and it looked from the side that they were one person. The only difference was their height (it was a very, very slight difference) and the color of their eyes. Elrohir had more aquamarine eyes, but no one noticed, except Glorfindel and Erestor and their father. Elladan plucked at his coat, feeling very uncomfortable. He still yearned for the soft, comfortable tunics of the elves.
A large grin grew on Elrohir's face as a group of teenage girls passed them. He glanced over his shoulder and winked at them, seeing them gaping at him. He knew he was the more handsome of them. At least now, ladies only liked him for his looks or his personality. That was better than being adored for being an heir of Imladris. Only a punch to the arm 'awoke' him from his trance.
"Stop." Elladan warned.
"Why?" Elrohir asked innocently, with wide puppy dog eyes.
"Because they are innocent girls."
"Pshaw. Ladies aren't innocent in this world." Elrohir hated the lack of respect ladies received and had for themselves. They allowed men to have their way and not think anything of it. They thought it was a sign of love. He wanted to laugh at that notion. Sexual relations was a gift for married couples. He sighed.
"Don't lead them on. You're untouchable Elliot, remember?"
"And you're he-who-has-no-fun Ellison." Elrohir returned playfully.
Elladan shook his head at his brother and turned his eyes to the street sign. Fourth Avenue. He absentmindedly reached a hand up and squeezed some rainwater from his shoulder-length midnight black hair. He grabbed Elrohir before he walked out onto the busy street in his distracted state of mind.
"Do you really think its him, brother?" Elladan asked suddenly. He was starting to lose hope. It was a fool's hope really. They were questing for a dream, a sliver of a memory that was quickly slipping through his fingers.
"It has to be. No human has such dreamy eyes." Elrohir adopted a dreamy look. "Oh, Legolas, be mine!" The twins chuckled at the memories of all the ladies that would rush after the great Prince Legolas, when all the prince wanted was to be simply Legolas.
"I wonder about how you feel about women sometimes." Elladan commented casually, grinning madly when Elrohir gasped and growled.
"I like women, thank you." He muttered, insulted.
"Sometimes, I'm not too sure." Elladan prodded his brother's 'buttons', loving the reaction he got out of his younger twin. Elrohir hated the fact men were turning from natural relations to lay with men as they once did with women and the same with women. It was not right.
"Just shut up!" Elrohir joked and smacked his brother across the head as they walked to the other side of the street, nearly getting killed by a young lady on the phone in her car.
"WATCH IT!" She screamed and the twins merely smiled patiently.
They continued on their way, weaving through all the people. Luckily, they still had their 'super elven powers' that enabled them to weave through the crowds in one-sixteenths of the time it would take a human. They stopped as they looked up at a looming apartment building and glanced back down at the paper that Elladan held.
"This is it." Elrohir whispered, a lump forming in his throat.
"Uma." Elladan agreed and entered the building.
Elrohir, using his natural charm, wrangled "Luke Green"'s apartment number from a pretty young lady about to leave the building. It seemed "Luke" had helped her when her car had broken down and he had bought her a coffee afterwards. After that exchange, there was no doubt in either Peredhil's mind that "Luke Green" was Legolas Greenleaf. That was exactly what Legolas always did when helping a lady. Always the gentleman.
They climbed the stairs, three at a time, and still remaining completely silent. Elladan looked at Elrohir and slowly raised his hand to knock on the door. They heard no sound coming from within, and the thought crossed their minds that maybe he was out or still working on a case or something.
The door handle turned and it opened to reveal a blonde with short hair, a soaked pair of jeans, mug of coffee in hand, and the brightest blue eyes they had ever seen. The mug slipped from the "man"'s hand, as his jaw fell down in shock.
"Dan...Ro?" His eyes slowly became darker, full of sadness. "Valar help me if my mind deceives me."
Elladan was first to recover. "It is no deception." He grasped his friend's arm in elven fashion and then embraced him in a bone-crushing hug. "No deception." He whispered as Elrohir pushed him away so the younger twin could do the same.
"Come in, come in, mellyn!" Legolas whispered, opening the door for them. "Tell me of your travels, and I'll make some spaghetti."
Elrohir looked at Legolas suspiciously. The Prince had never been known to be a cook.
"Relax." Legolas rolled his eyes, and all three of the elves roared with laughter as the prince closed the door. Even though the rain still fell, and their souls yearned for familiarity and home, they would always have friends in each other. Always, and forever.