Aragorn woke slowly, his bleary vision taking in his surroundings. Yawning widely, he moved his right hand to rub the sleep from his eyes. His injured shoulder protested sharply at the movement, and the young ranger gasped in surprise. Oh yes. he had almost forgotten. With a cranky growl, the human peeled back the sleeve of his sleeping tunic, exposing the blistered flesh.

Fortunately, it was not serious, as he had told his brothers the night before.

'But that does not mean it hurts any less,' he thought dryly. Aragorn sighed deeply and pushed his legs over the side of his bed.

It would be best if he dealt with this before his brothers came to check on him.

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" Up already, Estel?" Elladan pushed his head into his brother's room, an irritating grin spread over his features. " How is your shoulder?"

" Fine," the human lied as he quickly laced up his shirt. " I told you it was nothing to worry about."

" Mm-hm." Elrohir appeared next to his twin. " In that case, you would not mind us having a look at it."

" Of course not," Aragorn pushed past his brothers. " But I am already dressed. You can look at it sometime later."

The twins fell into step behind the young ranger, whispering loudly to each other to make sure he heard.

" Perhaps I am not as familiar with the Edain speech as I thought," Elladan said quietly.

" Oh?" Elrohir raised his eyebrows in mock surprise. " What do you mean?"

" This term that our younger brother uses, it always seems to change it's meaning."

" And what term would that be?"

" Later."

" Ah. Well, I can help you there, brother. When Estel says later, it means never."

" I see. Rather like when he says, fine, it means, I am about to die."

The younger twin smiled. " Exactly."

Aragorn snorted. " For beings who claim to be older and wiser than I, you do not offer much proof."

" Estel," Elladan cried, placing a hand across his heart. " You wound us!"

Elrohir was laughing too hard to reply. His twin elbowed him in the ribs. " You are not helping, my twin."

The ranger rolled his eyes and stopped in front of Legolas' room. He raised his hand to knock, but before it fell, the prince pulled the door open.

" Good morning," Mirkwood's heir said cheerfully, a very wicked glint in his blue eyes. " How are you feeling, mellon nin?"

" Fine." Aragorn answered warily.

" Really?" The fair prince's grin threatened to split his face in two. " What about your shoulder?"

The young human shot a withering glance at his snickering brothers. " I am fine, Legolas," he said icily.

" You know," the elf continued as he leaned against his doorframe. " If you had not begun that disgusting habit none of this would have happened… wait, where are you going?"

Aragorn had turned and was stalking away down the corridor. " Out into the gardens," he called without turning. " To smoke."

The three elves exchanged sour looks.

" Come," Elladan finally said. " Ada wishes us to join him for breakfast out on the balcony."

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Glorfindel sat beside Elrond, absently picking at the food sat before him. He wasn't really hungry, but he did enjoy sharing a meal with his Lord. The golden haired elf sniffed at the air and his brow furrowed. Eru… What was that smell. ?

Elrond's face was turned toward a parchment he was reading, not noticing the change that came over his friend.

The elf lord blinked rapidly. What on Arda…? Now his eyes were itching. Not as if something had flown into them, but itching. It was all he could do not to dig his fingers in and scratch until the irritation was removed. At least he could no longer catch that horrible smell… but then again, he suddenly couldn't smell anything. Glorfindel's eyes widened as he realized that his nose was actually…stuffy. Trying to breathe again, he inhaled deeply.

sniff

Elrond's head jerked upwards in shock. " Glorfindel, was that you?" He turned his head toward his second in command and nearly leapt from his seat. " Glorfindel!"

The fair-haired elf lord sat aghast. Elf lords did not sniff. The only person he had ever heard make that noise was Estel. But even that was not enough to merit his friend staring at him in such a fashion.

Elladan, Elrohir and Legolas strode onto the balcony, chattering happily. " Good morning, Ada," Elladan began cheerfully. " Did you slee.. ai! What happened to Glorfindel?"

The other two young elves could only stare, their mouths opened wide in astonishment.

Glorfindel turned to Elrond. " Wad is da badder?" Suddenly speech had become very difficult.

" Glorfindel, it is your eyes," Elrond said cautiously.

" And your voice," Legolas interjected.

" And everything else," The twins said together.

Quickly, the lord of Imladris pulled his friend to his feet and directed him inside. " Head towards the healing wing, I will be there momentarily."

As the elf entered the hall, he caught sight of himself in a small mirror set in the wall.

Glorfindel choked. His eyes were red. And they were starting to swell. His nose was running as well. The elf lord turned and all but fled to the rooms of the healers.

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Legolas elbowed the nearest twin. " Look." He pointed towards the sky. It was clear. Cloudless. A beautiful blue…Except for the rings of smoke that were rising past the balcony railing.

The three dashed to the edge and peered over. Directly beneath them, Aragorn was obliviously seated against a young tree, his pipe resting in his hand.

" You don't suppose… " Elladan gestured to the smoke that rose past them.

" That this had something to do with what happened to Glorfindel?" Legolas finished. He wrinkled his nose as he caught a whiff. " Most definitely."

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Elrond turned back to the balcony, finding his sons and Legolas looking over the railing. As he approached, they turned.

The guilty look that passed between them only served to condemn them further.

" Elladan, Elrohir," the elf lord's eyes narrowed slightly. " Legolas. I suspect you know something about this."

The three looked at each other, and Elrond could almost see the panic flash in their eyes.

" Us, ada?" Elrohir said weakly. " Why would you think that?"

" Because I have known you for over 2000 thousand years," the father said dryly. He grew serious. " Are you keeping something from me?"

The twins squirmed.

Elrond nearly rolled his eyes. Did they think him blind? " I will come to the point, since none of you seem willing to tell me. What did you find that Glorfindel is allergic to, and where did you put it?"

The looks of shock that spread across all three faces took the elf lord by surprise.

" US?" The twins cried in unison.

" Oh no, hir nin," Legolas said putting his hands up in a warding gesture. " Not us."

" The culprit sits below in your gardens, ada," Elrohir gritted through clenched teeth.

Elrond cast a piercing gaze at them, but they stubbornly refused to elaborate. " Very well," he finally said. Turning, he swept down the hall.

Elrohir and Elladan exchanged dark looks. " This calls for retribution," the younger twin said quietly.

" Oh, yes," Elladan allowed a small smile to pull at the corner of his lips. " And something occurs to me."

---------------------

Aragorn leaned back against the tree, and blew a smoke ring into the air. It was good to be home. To relax.

The hand holding his pipe drifted to the ground as he felt himself start to doze.

" Good morning, ion nin."

The still lit pipe disappeared behind the ranger's back as he stumbled to his feet. " Ada! What are you doing out here?"

The elf lord raised an eyebrow. " You mean in my gardens?"

The young human blushed. " I… I meant, that I thought you were breakfasting with Glorfindel at this time. "

" I was." Elrond fought hard to keep a smile from turning the corners of his mouth. " Something strange happened to Glorfindel though."

" Really?" Aragorn tried to pay attention and put out the pipe at the same time.

" He began to suffer an allergic reaction to something."

" Really?" the human repeated weakly. His hands stilled. He didn't like the direction this conversation was taking.

" Really," the elf lord assured him. " At first, I suspected your brothers, but they assured me that they were not to blame. In fact, they informed me that the one responsible would be below in the gardens."

" Ah," Aragorn said as he started to edge away. " In that case, I will let you continue searching for him, ada. "

" Estel," Elrond's voice was stern. " Let me see your hands."

With a sigh, the human pulled them in front of him. " How did you know?"

The lord of Imladris tried not to smile. " It was not to difficult, ion nin. The smoke was rising from behind your back."

Aragorn winced at his carelessness. " Do you wish me not to continue?"

" As long as you remain outdoors, I do not mind." The elf lord watched surprise spread across his youngest's face. " However," he continued sternly. " If any of that substance finds its way anywhere near Glorfindel again… "

Aragorn emptied his pipe and tucked it away. A mischievous smile started to pull at the corners of his mouth. " What if it was not I who brought it near?"

" If you include your brothers in your schemes, you, and they, will regret it."

The two started to move back towards the indoors.

" What of Legolas?"

" Estel!"

------------------------

Aragorn immediately sensed something was wrong as they were met by Legolas and the far to innocent looking twins as they stepped into the hall, the door closing behind them.

" So," Elladan said sweetly. " Ada knows?"

" Yes," the ranger answered uncomfortably.

" Everything?" Elrohir prodded, a wicked glint appearing in grey eyes.

The ranger suddenly realized what his brothers were driving at. His hand reached back for the door's knob.

" Yes," Elrond answered, unaware of his son's intentions. He began to stride away from the group of young ones. " In the future, I do not wish you to keep things from me."

" We are sorry, ada," Elladan's voice was filled with false remorse.

" Yes," Elrohir sighed as if in repentance. " However," the tone of his voice caused Elrond to pause.

Aragorn started to turn the knob ever so slightly. 'Don't' he mouthed at his brother.

Elrohir disregarded him completely. " He did say that he could deal with the burns himself."

Elrond whirled. " What burns!"

It was too late. Aragorn threw the door open and fled.

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Ada-Father(daddy)

Ion nin- My son

Hir nin- My lord

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