Just wanted to say thank you for all the reviews, follows and favourites! Appreciate the support ;)
This chapter is a bit slow I guess but oh well...
Enjoy!
With a loud gasp Farandir shot up straight. The first thing he noticed was that he wasn't sitting on the rocky canyon floor anymore. As his eyes adjusted to the relative darkness he realized he was in a spacious room, lavishly decorated fine materials and ornaments. The walls were for the most part lined with bookshelves. A sense of familiarity washed over him. He was in his old room in Rivendel. As he sighed and lay back down on the soft pillows the door burst open, banging loudly as it hit the wall. Farandir lifted his head to see a rather sheepish looking Kili and Fili standing in the doorway.
"Damn flimsy elf doors." Fili muttered as he stepped into the room, moving to pull the door forward to inspect the wall for any possible damage.
Kili briefly glanced at his brother before returning his eyes to Farandir. He smiled slightly. Fili cursed from behind him. Aparantly his little misjudgment had made a small dent in the plastered wall. Swiftly he moved to grab the tall standing mirror from where it was in a corner to push it in front of the damage. The door, now blocked from opening fully by the mirror, stood at an odd angle. Fili stepped back and nodded briefly to himself before turning to face the other two. He was met with loud laughter from both, making his face go a bit red for a moment. As the laughter died down, both dwarves turned their attention to the half elf.
"Finally awake then?" Fili asked, even though the answer was quite clear.
"Well, after that little display how could I possibly still be sleeping?" Farandir asked, arching an eyebrow.
Fili grinned sheepishly. Farandir smiled before speaking again.
"How long have I been out?"
"Just a few hours." Kili said, speaking for the first time. "We got you back here just as night fell. One of the elves here healed you. It's almost midnight now."
"You gave us a good scare there." Fili said as he folded his arms, Kili nodding his agreement.
Farandir, who had laid his head back down lifted it swiftly again.
"I gave you a scare?" he asked loudly, "What about you?" he went on, indicating towards Kili.
The dwarf shrugged self-consciously.
"Why didn't you say that you were hurt?" Farandir demanded. "Had we delayed just a little longer, you would have died!"
When Kili simply looked down at the ground and didn't answer, Farandir huffed, muttering something about the pride of dwarves and how it would be the end of him.
"Well, at least you decided to get my attention in the end." Farandir said with a small sigh.
"What do you mean?" Kili asked.
"Well, you tripped me, making me land face first in the dirt."
Kili looked like he wanted to wince, making Farandir chuckle.
"Don't feel bad, it worked out in the end." He said with smile.
Before Kili could respond, Fili spoke out again.
"Why did we find you unconscious when we came back and not Kili?" he asked.
Farandir bit his lip. How was he going to explain magic to dwarves.
"Well, to simplify the matter, I had to take on Kili's pain to heal him. That's how it works."
Fili frowned.
"So you passed out because of a little pain?"
Farandir shook his head.
"The effects of the pain were very brief. It was the poison that got me."
"Poison?" the blonde asked with a raised eyebrow.
Farandir nodded.
'Oh, well that makes sense then I guess." Fili said with a small frown as he toyed with his beard. "In any case, thank you for saving my brother." He said, a smile returning to his lips.
Farandir inclined his head slowly.
"It's what I'm here for after all." He said as he raised his head again. "So, what's been going on while I was sleeping?"
As Fili filled the wizard in on the happenings of the past few hours, Kili stared dumbly out the window. He hadn't realized how much it cost to heal someone. He thought it was a simple snap of the fingers. He felt guilty knowing that his delaying to speak out had only made his injuries worse and in so doing made the healing process more difficult for Farandir.
"Kili?" Farandir asked for the third time before the dwarf finally heard him, bringing him out of his thoughts.
"Oh, yes?"
"I asked if you were feeling ok now? No more lingering pain?"
The dwarf shook his head.
"I'm perfectly fine now." He said with a small grin. Farandir noticed it looked a bit forced but he said nothing.
Before any of them could speak further, Thorin Oakenshield strode into the room. The younger dwarves stepped back from the foot of the bed where they had been standing to allow their uncle to stand there instead.
"Glad to see you're awake, Elf. We need to get moving."
After a brief explanation of what they had learnt from the map with the help of Lord Elrond and of how they intended to sneak off without the elves noticing, the three dwarves departed to let Farandir get his things together. Thorin said they would wait for him in the dining hall and that he had better hurry. Fili smiled briefly at him before following his uncle. Kili hesitated in the doorway.
"I'm sorry, for what you had to experience on my account." He said softly.
Farandir smiled at the defeated look the dwarf gave him.
"Hey, it's really not that big of a deal. It's not you fault one of those damn orcs got lucky."
Kili grinned slightly.
"I guess not. But still…"
Farandir frowned at him.
"Come on now, I don't want to hear any of that. What's done is done."
Kili looked at the floor for a moment.
"Thank you, Farandir." He said finally, a small smile on his lips, before turning and following his kin.
Farandir lay back down again for a few moments. What was about that dwarf that made him feel so different… He sighed deeply before sitting up and swinging his legs over the side of the bed. It took him a moment to locate his things; the elves had stored them in one of the closets along with fresh clothes and supplies. He smiled briefly as he stuffed the herbs and vials into his pack. Moments later he stood fully dressed and ready to go. Grabbing his staff from where it stood against the wall he moved to the door. As he did so he caught a glimpse of himself in the mirror. His thick hair appeared to have been washed making it puff out a bit more that he would have liked. Glancing around he saw a thin strip of leather on a nearby shelf. Snatching it up he proceeded to tie back most of the hair on top of his head, letting the tail and the rest fall behind him to hang down his back. A few strands came loose almost instantly, falling forward to hang in his face. He sighed and hooked them behind his ear. He noticed then that he appeared quite pale. His usually sun browned skin was now a much lighter shade, making him appear a bit sickly. His bright blue eyes had also dulled a bit, now looking more grey than blue.
"Damn orcs." He cursed and swept out of the room.
He trudged down the steps and made his way to the meeting place. He was met with friendly smiles from all the members of the company, except Thorin who looked all serious as always and Gandalf who wasn't there.
"Where's the old man?"
"Meeting with the elves." Balin answered.
"Are we to wait for him then?" Farandir asked glancing at Thorin.
"Yes, but not here. He is keeping the elven leaders busy, so to speak, so we can be on our way." The old dwarf answered again. "They aren't to keen on letting us go."
"Didn't think they would be… Very well, let us be off then. Before my grandfather catches wind of what we're doing."
The whole company stopped in their tracks.
"Grandfather? Who's your grandfather?"
So don't flip out, it's really not gonna be what you think...
Also... on the random/awkward side. How and when would you like Kili and Farandir to eventually burst the bubble and do something about those growing feelings. I don't want to rush it but I'd like to know what you guys think before I decide on something final... (suggestions for steamy scenes would also be appreciated haha)
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