The twins exited Aragorn's room, only to come face to face with a grinning Legolas. The prince of Mirkwood leaned against the wall, a smirk of intolerable smugness spread all over his fair face.
" So," he said sweetly. " You have discovered your brother's…habit."
Elladan's eyes narrowed. " You knew!"
The fair-haired elf snorted derisively. " Of course. I only had to travel all the way from Mirkwood with him. And he insisted on lighting it every time we stopped for the night. I would have had to have been deaf, and blind not to know."
" Not to mention bereft of smell," Elrohir added.
Legolas made a face. " Yes. I wonder if my clothes will ever truly be free of the stench." He scowled as the twins chuckled. " It's not funny."
" On the contrary," Elladan's grin threatened to split the dark-haired elf's face in half.
" We find it quite amusing," Elrohir finished.
" Undoubtedly," the prince growled. " You would not have found it half so amusing had you been present."
-------------------flashback
Legolas stretched his lithe form luxuriously, all but purring in his contentment. The night was beautiful, he was traveling to Imladris for the first time in three years, and for once, it looked as though he might arrive with no major injuries.
The elf prince cast a wry glance at the man who sat across from him, his back propped against a tree. Of, course, when traveling in certain company anything was possible.
Not that he would be in any way willing to pass up the opportunity. The main reason he had not graced the elven refuge with his presence was that for the last three years, Lord Elrond's youngest son had been absent.
Two days ago, Aragorn had walked up to the gate of the Elvenking with the request that Legolas accompany him back to his home.
The elf leaned back against his own tree, folding his hands behind his head and closing his eyes for a moment. Oh, it felt good to be out traveling with Aragorn again.
A small twig bounced off the fair prince's nose. Legolas cracked one eye open, squinting across the fire at his companion.
The human was completely motionless, his head bowed. The whisper of his soft breathing met the elf's sharp ears. Deep and slow, it certainly sounded as though he was sleeping.
Legolas allowed his eye to drift almost shut, keeping an eye on the dunadan as he made a show of stretching again.
The man's hands twitched ever so slightly.
The elf prince's hand snaked out almost lazily, snagging the piece of wood sailing toward him.
" As the ground no longer seems a safe option," Legolas said dryly, " I will be sleeping in one of the trees tonight." He rose to his feet and shimmied up the trunk behind him. " For your insolence," he called down to the ranger, " you may take first watch."
The golden-haired prince settled himself comfortably on a branch and listened to Aragorn's grumbling with a small smile.
'Now this, is what I have missed,' he thought as he chuckled softly.
------------------------------------------
Legolas woke with a start, nearly falling off his tree branch. The elven prince choked and gagged as he inhaled. Something that smelled truly terrible was lacing the air, strong enough to wake the prince from a deep sleep.
The elf slid from his perch and quickly made his way to the forest floor. If this was affecting him so strongly, what was it doing to Aragorn?
The young ranger jumped in alarm as his elven friend nearly fell from the tree. " Legolas! What is it? What is the matter?"
The elf looked at his friend with concern. " Can you not smell it?" Indeed, the horrible aroma was even stronger on the ground. Perhaps it was a drug that was clouding the dunadan's senses.
Aragorn looked even more confused. " Smell what, mellon nin?"
" That stench!" Legolas looked around wildly, trying to determine the source. " How can you not smell it? It's all around, it woke me..." his blue eyes suddenly fell on the pipe hanging loosely from his friend's fingers. Oh it was all so clear now. " YOU!"
The human actually stepped back a pace. Apparently Legolas had gone mad in his absence. " Yes, mellon nin," he said slowly and carefully. " It is I, Aragorn, remember?"
Legolas leapt forward with a snarl. Before Aragorn could retreat, the elf snatched the pipe from his fingers. " What," he said in a lethal voice as he held the pipe barely an inch from his friend's eyes. " Is this?"
Now the ranger was truly worried. " It is a pipe, Legolas. People use them to smoke with."
" I know what it is!" the prince bellowed. " What are you doing with it?"
" Using it," Aragorn plucked the still smoking pipe from his friend's fingers and placed the stem between his lips. " It is something I picked up while I traveled with the rangers." He noticed the look of disgust the elf shot him and he grinned. " I happen to enjoy the smell."
" Eru," Legolas breathed. " It has happened already."
The human frowned. " What?"
" The poisons from that insidious plant have turned that underused muscle in your skull to mush and it leaked out your ears while you slept. There can be no other explanation for what I see before me."
" Very funny, I'm sure." Aragorn blew a perfectly formed smoke ring and watched it float away. " Here now, wait. Where are you going?"
Legolas glanced back over his shoulder as he walked away into the woods. " To a tree where I can no longer catch even a hint of that reeking smoke."
----------------flashback ends
Legolas glared as the twins roared with helpless laughter.
" Ah, Legolas," Elrohir patted his friend's shoulder as he wiped away tears of mirth. " My thanks. I cannot wait to regale the warriors of your father's hall with this tale"
" If you tell anyone... " The prince's hand strayed towards the long knifes he always carried.
" Peace," Elladan chuckled. " Enough for tonight. It is late." He and Elrohir turned down the corridor toward their own rooms. " Tomorrow is another day," the elder twin exchanged a wicked glance with his brother.
Elrohir grinned back. " Get some rest, Legolas," he called over his shoulder as he and Elladan turned a corner. " I have a feeling that tomorrow will be anything but just another day."
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Mellon nin- my friend0-0-0-0