Ahahaa, it's been three years since I posted the first chapter of Rehab! ... Aw, dang, it's after midnight. And I thought I was being so clever, too.
Anywho, this was supposed to be a one-shot, but I'm terribly talented at underestimating such things. Therefore, it will be a couple chapters, but just a few. Seriously. I have it all figured out. It was something I randomly thought of over the summer when I was wanting to write and actually lamenting the fact that there was no more Rehab to write. The characters are just so fun that it's impossible to let go. Haha... yeah. So tada!
It was much too loud.
There was not one noise but a collection of a hundred little ones: carts groaned over the smooth road beyond the houses; a group of musicians in the square played a cheerful, sweet tune; cutlery and dishes clattered within the home; adults chattered as the two children – twins – giggled and squealed while scampering on some imaginary journey.
Sauron had decided to pass on mingling with the gathered individuals, as immensely attractive as that option clearly was. He snorted to himself, glancing over his shoulder at the activity inside the house.
Considering the fact that he was currently sitting outside on the steps leading down to the commons, Sauron had to wonder why he had agreed to come. While he might have felt something vaguely like duty – not that he thought the word fit what he considered to be a very frail shade of the idea – he could not think of a legitimate reason for his continued presence.
He had known even while accepting the invitation that he would end up standing in some corner glaring half-heartedly at the assembly or wandering off by himself once the atmosphere grated his nerves too severely. The passing years had given him a fair amount of time to anticipate the outcomes of certain situations. So, while he was reluctantly willing to consent to a polite invite, he was not going to guarantee that he'd be good company.
In fact, Sauron was more likely to admit that he'd be a damper to most occasions. It was closer to the truth in any case.
Well, he had been there for roughly an hour. He had grudgingly gone through the required pleasantries and had made his presence known. As far as Sauron reasoned, there was really no reason to stay. Although there wasn't anything he needed to do, there was an infinite number of more entertaining things to do. Staring blankly at a wall of his room, for instance.
Sauron stood, brushing out the wrinkles on the front of his tunic, and decided to leave. There was no reason to announce the fact, either; he had made it well known by now that his arrival and departure were entirely at his discretion. Everybody was pretty well used to this habit by now, so there was no reason to deviate. Haldir had clearly been surprised that he even showed up, hours after the event had started.
He was halfway to the alley leading to the main road when he was stopped.
"Giving up so quickly?"
Sauron furrowed his brow and turned around. "There is no prize for me to win in putting up with it," he responded coolly.
Haldir grinned from where he stood in the doorway. "I'll have to keep it in mind that your attention can be bought for a trinket."
"Trinket? Please," Sauron muttered, folding his arms. "My time is worth more than that."
"I realize you think so," Haldir acknowledged, still smiling in that mildly annoying way. "As such, I do appreciate that you agreed to come tonight. Even if you spun through the pleasantries as quickly as physically possible before making a rather hasty retreat outside."
"I did not retreat."
"Oh come now, I think we both know you did." Sauron was about to cut in at this, but Haldir quickly continued as he walked out to where Sauron was. "Not that I blame you for doing so. I understand why everybody is here, but I'd rather not have to be around them all at once. It makes me feel like a child again, having to be on my best behavior. At least you can sneak off without the threat of consequences hanging over your head."
Sauron did have to concede that what Haldir said was probably true. "Everything has its price," he reasoned, deciding to be benevolent at the moment and let the comment about retreating pass. "You couldn't really expect that marrying Raudwen would come without strings."
"No, I knew things would be different," Haldir agreed before smiling brightly. "But I can stand a few nuisances for—"
"Please don't," Sauron groaned, holding up his hand. "I can't stand it when you wax all sentimental like that. It's horribly cliché."
Haldir, instead of frowning, laughed. "I know, I know. Unfortunately, I suppose love is a recipe for cliché. There is nothing I can do about it."
"You could not talk about it. That's something you could do."
"If you feel so strongly, I suppose I could spare you," Haldir replied with mock thoughtfulness.
"How very magnanimous," Sauron drawled, allowing Haldir to fall in step with him as he changed his course and began to walk around the common.
Having expected something of a response, Sauron was surprised that Haldir was now silent. Casting a sidelong glance at the elf, Sauron noted the torn and anxious expression painted across Haldir's face.
So it was a thoughtful silence. Unfortunately, this made Sauron uncomfortable. It was fairly rare for Haldir to be pensive in such a manner. True, it seemed that Haldir was hardly ever pensive about anything, as far as Sauron could tell, but there was a difference between a casual introspection and some mental dilemma. Haldir was clearly suffering from the latter.
"What is on your mind, Haldir?" Sauron asked some minutes later when any flickerings of conversation had quickly extinguished themselves. As loath as he was to admit it, he could not help but worry a bit about the stupid elf. He had tried, of course, to become as immune to that reaction as he had been before, but too many of the threads connecting him to the life he had created as a dark lord had snapped over the years. Some discomforting emotions and reactions had slipped through the gaps.
Haldir paused, kicking at the grass for a moment before gushing out his whole statement in one breath. "Raudwen-and-I-were-wondering-if-you-could-watch-the-children-for-a-night."
…Okay, so maybe he had come a long way from being a dark lord, but not that far.
"Are you mad?" he asked incredulously, gaping at Haldir.
"Nooo…" Haldir cringed as he rubbed the back of his neck. He avoided Sauron's stunned gaze and addressed the flowering bush next to the path. "Elhith and Lalaith have asked for the rest of my family to come visit, but it's the sort of visit that children would be a bit inappropriate at, if Raudwen read between the lines of the letter correctly."
Sauron assumed that meant the two were going to go through the engagement ceremony or ritual or whatever they called it. Although he had not seen them as much since they left – Lalaith had gone with her parents to a home closer to the sea, and Elhith had quite suddenly and conveniently regained his station of assisting at the docks in the same port – it was pretty clear what the outcome would eventually be.
Sauron frowned as he realized that all of Haldir's relatives were effectively out of the picture for caring for the children. That only left…
"While we thought about leaving them with Raudwen's family, they are all in Eressea, so it would be a considerable amount more for the kids to travel just for an overnight stay."
… Well, dang it.
"I really tried to think of somebody else… we considered the neighbors, but we haven't been living here long enough to know what they're like," Haldir continued.
Sauron could not help but laugh at this. "And you actually know what I'm like, and you find that to be a reassuring reason to leave your children with me?" He laughed again, stunned.
Haldir looked at him hopelessly, shaking his head. "You just pretend that you're still holding onto your evil ways if it makes you feel so special," he snipped. "But I'm well aware that you wouldn't hurt my kids."
There was a small pause, during which time Sauron sobered considerably. "Not consciously, at least…" he muttered reluctantly. Stupid children.
"Listen, I know that I'm asking a lot."
"It's more than just a lot."
"A great deal?"
"I personally don't think it comes with a pronounceable amount," Sauron said dryly.
Sighing, Haldir nodded. "Alright, I get the idea. I'm well aware of the fact that there is nothing I can offer as compensation and, such being the case, I'm asking you to merely do this as an act of kindness. Since you still seem to be good at deluding yourself after all these years, that idea no doubt irritates you."
"Hm," was all the reply Sauron gave, mostly on account of how accurate that assessment was.
"We'd only be gone for about a day. You could stay here so that you wouldn't have to worry about anything being forgotten, and the kids know where everything they could need is. You'd just have to make sure that they are fed and in bed at a decent time and don't randomly run off. I'm sure that in the scope of the operations you've overseen, these tasks should be easy."
Sauron sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. "It is one thing to command expendable armies and manipulate the minds of the powerful. In my limited experience, I'm guessing that caring for children is very different."
"You are, however, very good at learning new skills," Haldir pointed out. Sauron wasn't sure if this was an actual acknowledgement of his skills or simply an attempt to appeal to his admittedly needy ego.
"Is this really a skill you want me to practice for the first time with your precious bundles of joy?" Sauron asked blandly.
"As frightening as it may be," Haldir responded, brushing stray hairs from his face as he turned back towards the house, "I believe you are perfectly capable of handling it."
Sauron was not quite sure what he should think of this. It was the sort of compliment that came with the strings of being considered a good individual. As his descent into darkness had been a gradual journey that came with many adjustments, coming out the other side was also a slow progression… mostly because the light continued to have moments where it burned. Realigning himself was definitely an ongoing process.
Although he did not reply, Sauron followed Haldir back to the house and went inside. Haldir understood this as a sign that Sauron was still considering the situation. Thankfully, many of the visitors who had been there were apparently leaving; there was a murmur of farewells drifting in from the entry hall.
Haldir went about clearing up the dishes from the gathering, a job that he had received on account of being completely unable to help with the cooking. Time had changed nothing. Raudwen had shown herself to be a wonderful cook, therefore removing any reason Haldir saw for learning the skill himself, especially when there were other tasks he could complete to contribute.
While the elf was doing a good job of maintaining his composure in the face of Sauron's silence – one thing time apparently was teaching him – he was clearly impatient for an answer. On some level, this left Sauron wishing to extend the waiting as long as possible.
A muted thud announced that the front door had been shut. This was followed by the gentle swish of fabric across wood and the light plodding of feet.
Raudwen turned the corner into the kitchen and smiled at Haldir, who was violently sloshing away in a tub of soapy water while attempting to clean a plate. "Ah, how well you can scrub the serving platter, my love," she smirked as the water splashed up and drenched the front of Haldir's tunic.
Haldir threw her some look over his shoulder that Sauron did not see. He did not particularly care. At the moment, his thoughts were placed elsewhere.
The little boy, Elbaras, was held in one of Raudwen's arms, his arms draped limply over her shoulders. From the other hand clung the girl, Anariel, her mouth open in a massive yawn that she attempted to conceal behind a fist.
They were both so tiny. It was something that never ceased to baffle Sauron. Even though their forms were small and fragile, they managed to hurt themselves in a variety of ways at every turn without bringing about any life-threatening injury. Perhaps he would be able to handle it.
After all, Haldir had.
Some sort of conversation had taken place while he considered this, and now he found that the attention was focused on him. With both of them looking at him so expectantly, it was clear what topic he had missed.
Sighing, he reluctantly nodded his head, even though it felt like leaping knowingly into some vague doom. "I'll watch them. You had better leave good instructions, however, if you want them to still be around when you return."
Raudwen grinned before nudging Haldir with a foot. "I told you he would do it!" she said triumphantly.
"Again, I would like to remind you that you don't know him as well as I do," Haldir said under his breath as he set some of the dishes on a towel to dry.
"You always talk like he is some terrible person," she said, shaking her head. "What has he ever done to give you that impression?"
Sauron felt a flicker of a smile curl his lips at the expression that crossed Haldir's face.
Clearing his throat, Sauron – against his earlier plans – announced that he would be going and headed for the front door. "What time do you plan to leave?" he asked as an indirect way of figuring out when he would be expected. Simply inquiring about when he had to be there was too much like asking for an order.
"Oh, around noon, I should expect," Raudwen replied, trying to usher the half-asleep Anariel up the stairs they passed on the way to the door. The little girl made it up the first few steps before looking back at her mother with her arms out. Sighing, Raudwen shifted Elbaras and scooped Anariel onto her free hip. Sauron observed the execution of this task with mild interest. It didn't look quite possible for both children to be so comfortably situated on one person.
Haldir finally appeared, brushing his hands off on his tunic. Raudwen sighed at the action and shook her head. "Do you have to do that all the time, Haldir?" she whispered.
"It's just soapy water," he returned, smiling. "Unless I've been misled, it shouldn't stain clothing."
He then gently touched Raudwen's arm and nodded to the stairs. "Go ahead and put them to bed. You can give Iaewur your spiel tomorrow."
Glancing between the two, Raudwen finally nodded. "Alright. Goodnight, Iaewur, and thank you again."
"It's no problem," replied the public façade of Iaewur, while Sauron griped moodily that it was most definitely a problem.
Somehow, Raudwen managed to get up the stairs in the dark without tripping on her dress as she carried the children. As she disappeared into the dark hallway, Haldir spoke up. "No problem," he muttered dismissively, but his glance was amused. "As though I believe that for a moment."
"What is it about that feeble mind of yours that makes it impervious to the power of my voice?"
"Oh don't give me that," Haldir replied flippantly. "You can coat your words with as much sweetness as you want, but, even if I wasn't immune, I've dealt with you long enough to know when you're full of crap." Moving past Sauron, Haldir opened the front door, allowing a wave of cool evening air into the house.
"Give it a rest," he muttered as he shoved his hands into the pockets of his tunic and walked out.
There was a faint chuckle that made Sauron's frown deeper. "Noon tomorrow, then?"
He didn't respond. Unfortunately, Sauron recognized that by now he didn't need to. They both knew that he would be there at noon. Somewhere down the line, his word had started to hold some weight.
Chapters will generally be longer than that, but this was just a very convenient place to stop. Please review my dearies, because everybody knows that makes people happy and confetti fall from the sky and birds sing. ... Well, it makes people happy at least.