next chapter, yay! I think there's only about two left until they go to Valinor, so keep cheery! Thanks for all of the faves and follows, as always. You faithful reviewers make my day!
WoodElfJedi:'yep yep yep thanks!
Evangeline pond: i didn't know that. 0_0 yep. Dangerously close to sanity...
Cupcake155: thank you. The romance will be extremely slow and developed, trust me!
Rosiethehobbit17: thank you! It always makes me grin like a loser when someone tells me that I've made them laugh! Ooh, I hope you didn't hurt yourself! Enjoy!
IMPORTANT: to all of my readers of this story, I have a question. Would you prefer for me to keep it humorous and lighthearted when we get to Valinor, or would you like it to be more serious?
Chapter 10
I woke up with a hazy feeling of warmth, and opened my eyes to see Mairon snuggled into my arms comfortably. But there was also a warm feeling more than that. I looked up to see that Glorfindel, during the night, had thrown a careless arm and it had landed haphazardly on my arm.
Carefully, I scooted away from his hand and sat up with the niggling feeling that I was forgetting something. Then I remembered and groaned. What a way to wake up in the morning.
"What's wrong, seler?" Maedhros asked lazily.
"I forgot that I need to practice singing for my music classes." I grumbled.
"You never told me you could sing." Maglor spoke up interestedly.
"I can, though my voice really isn't that great." I sighed, running a hand through my hair.
"What are you talking about?" Lark mumbled, rubbing her eyes. "You sing as well as I can play the flute." She said.
I grinned sleepily. "Thanks for the compliment Lark, since you can do the bumblebee on the flute." I said. She grinned back lopsidedly.
"Well, I'm in an angsty mood, so I'll just sing everyone awake." I shrugged, and leaning back, sang 'If I Die Young' by band perry and sung by justinrobinnet. By then they were all awake, rubbing their eyes slowly.
"I wish I had an elven voice. Human voices are so inferior." I sighed wistfully.
"Perhaps, but even with a human voice it was admirable." Maglor said thoughtfully, strumming his harp along to the tune.
I smiled. "Thank you. To hear that from you is nice, although I know that my voice is not very good because it hasn't fully matured yet, but I like to sing nonetheless because I pour my emotions into it. To me, that's what counts most." I noted, looking at the ceiling and closing my eyes.
"Mortality is so sweet. To be immortal is so daunting." Lark murmured. I nodded.
"It is." Ecthelion sounded so bone-weary. I smiled sadly.
"But at the same time, it is beautiful to know that you have forever to express your thoughts, and for those who can, love." I said thoughtfully opening my eyes again as Mairon wrapped his arms around my neck.
"Yes, Mairon, I love you too." I giggled.
"Those who can." Caranthir pointed out dryly. I suddenly grinned at him deviously.
"I think I can find someone who would care to love you." I winked. He glared daggers at me. Lark snickered.
"That would be difficult, after all he is mr. Grump." She teased.
"I will not deign to answer." Was his lofty reply. I rolled over and pinned Mairon lightly underneath me.
"Ohh, mr. High and mighty won't answer that one." I laughed, then kissed Mairon's cheek for the first time. His eyes snapped open and he stared at me, amber eyes swirling incredulously.
"You- just-" his voice wavered hesitantly. I frowned.
"Did I frighten you?" I asked regretfully. He blinked, and suddenly looked sad.
"No, but no one has ever-" he paused. I swept him up and cuddled him tightly.
"Well get used to it, then, because you'll be getting a lot more." I declared, and promptly gave him a hearty smack. Lark giggled as he smiled shyly but brightly.
Then I sat up and promptly began to belt out Pentatonix's version of 'I Need Your Love.' Lark joined in as we began to make our pallets and get prepared for the day.
"Do you think that elves can do bass?" I asked Lark thoughtfully when we finished. She shook her head.
"Nope. Everything but that." She disagreed. I nodded.
"Probably-" I was cut off by dad opening the door to find us all in the middle of jacking up out of bed.
"Good morning. It's all set up, Celine." He winked. I grinned broadly and hugged him.
"Thanks Dad!" I exclaimed happily.
"What is?" Mairon asked. Dad shook his head and headed back to his room. He had never really gotten used to seeing Sauron in his house. Much less talking to him civilly. Or seeing him so small.
"You'll see." Was all I answered mysteriously with a quizzical smile.
"And here you say that you will never know why people speak in riddles." Glorfindel noted amusedly.
"Hush, Glorfy, that's different. I said it quite clearly, not a whole paragraph that could be summed up in one sentence." I scoffed. "Besides, I was much too sane last night." I grumbled.
"Really? How sane?" Lark perked up her ears.
"I was going on about something like 'darkness can't exist without light' and vice versa and something about night conversations being too much star-crossed-lover-like." I replied sourly. The elves were shaking their heads at us.
"You can be so strange at times." Fingon sighed. I grinned.
"I blame it on my adopted father Feänor." I said sweetly. The Feänorians glared. Lark giggled.
"I'm just kidding, don't take that seriously, you pushovers." I rolled my eyes. "Besides, I think Mairon successfully got rid of what sanity I had left during the day with his ring." I waved vaguely and went back to rummaging through my closet.
"Do you ever wear dresses?" Maeglin asked, ignoring the previous conversation.
"Rarely, and only for very special occasions." Lark answered, while I nodded.
"Well, everyone better get dressed, because we're going out today, first to IHOP for breakfast, then to the mall for snacks and back home for a surprise." I said with a grin, hopping out to get changed.
Finally we were leaving to get breakfast. Sliding into the booth next to Lark and Maedhros, I picked up the menu and decided in what to eat. Mairon was sitting on my lap. He refused to be parted from me be much as possible, and even though I normally would have been annoyed, Mairon was different. He did it in a way that was not a burden at all, but rather a help.
After ordering, throughout which Lark and I had been relieved to see that we had a male waiter, I suddenly plonked my head on the table with a groan.
"What?" Lark asked.
"Trouble at three o clock." I muttered, burying my head into Mairon's golden-reddish hair. She groaned as well.
"Man, I can never seem to escape it." I grumbled. She sighed in agreement. A group of at least five sixteen to whatever older age girls had just come in and had chosen the booth behind us. And were pointedly giggling and glancing our way.
"Oh yeah, by the way, what are you going to do when we get you know where?" Lark asked me.
"Eh, assuming by Mairon that the fourth age is in progress, go meet the fellowship." I replied with a grin.
"Hmm, probably me too." She agreed, leaning back into the booth.
"Hey big bro Mark, can I steal your shades for a minute?" I asked, pinning him with a pleading gaze. His lips twitched as he handed them over. "Thanks!"
"Talk. You make me nervous when you are quiet." Lark complained to the rest of the elves. They raised an eyebrow. "In Quenyä if you wish." She added.
They shrugged and began to talk. I slipped the shades on and peered out the window. I was actually looking at a particular person on the sidewalk that I didn't want to be caught staring by, just in case my suspicions were correct. They were.
I hissed under my breath and took the shades off, then whipped my head back to the table and handed them over to Maedhros absently.
"Something wrong?" Mairon asked, tugging on my shirt. I smiled down at him.
"It's gonna be okay." Was my only answer as I cuddled him like a pillow. I just hoped Gordon hadn't seen me, because that would mean trouble.
...
The mall was large. And busy. As always. Really, why was I acting so weird today? Everything made me a little edgy, and despite my personal reassurances that it would be alright, it still grated on my nerves.
The search for snacks proved to be more then it was worth. Because when we finally were looking around, someone just had to come around the corner. I wished I could just teleport somewhere else.
"Oh hey there, freaky eyes!" Gordon taunted.
"Hello, Gordon. Thanks for the compliment." I replied cheerily, still looking over the racks. I hadn't noticed that the elves had stiffened.
"It wasn't one." Gordon scoffed like I was an idiot.
"Pae-channas, of course I know that, but I choose to see it as one." I replied dryly.
"What does that mean?" He asked suspiciously about my lapse into elvish.
"It's another language, Gordon." I answered calmly.
"What does it mean, I said." He sneered.
I turned calmly and smiled at him. "Baka." I replied. He rolled his eyes, giving up.
"Whatever. Don't think I didn't see you in IHOP this morning. And that other freak on your hip." He said curling his lip at Mairon. I turned towards him calmly again.
"That is my little brother Gordon, and I would appreciate it if you would lay off of him, because your animosity should be directed in the proper direction, not towards lesser subjects that have absolutely no part in the banter twixt you and I." I said smoothly. He blinked, confused.
"Speak English." He snarled. I laughed softly.
"I was, Gordon. It was just more higher words, so to speak." I replied placidly, amused.
"Why can't you just reply like any normal chit does, then?" He asked sourly, glowering at me. I chuckled and slipped another bag into the cart.
"Because then I wouldn't be so unusual anymore then, would I? I would be normal, as you put it, and not such a freak anymore. No more freak, no more bullying excuse." I answered mildly, although inwardly annoyed to the point of anger.
"Oh don't act all high and mighty, Celine. You know that you're nothing but another poor student next to me. And I won't let you forget it, mark that." He finally gave up trying to intimidate me and burst out into his rant.
Before I could retort, Caranthir, to my surprise, was in front of the boy, eyes dark and his lip curled. "You are despicable, to treat another in such a fashion. That is my sister that you are addressing, do well to remember it." He snarled, leaning close to the boy, whose eyes had gone wide.
"Please, big brother, it's fine." I said softly, placing a hand on his shoulder. "It's alright. It was just a bit of friendly banter." The blatant untruth hung in the air, but Gordon scuttled away under the heavy glare of all of the elves. I sighed.
"Thank you for sticking up for me, I appreciate it, but really, a soft answer turned away wrath. It would be better to just let me turn his own accusations against himself instead of turning to his own method. Fight fire with water, not fire." I said wearily, leaning against a shelf, my hair falling over my face.
"Celine, you know as well as I that he hates you for whatever reason. Why don't you tell someone?" Lark asked me angrily, though not angry at me.
"Because where would that get me? Gordon's father is rich and prestigious, and will believe what his son says, not anyone else. No, it's best to fight my battles alone. I'm not the only one." I added, looking up so that one of my eyes was covered by my hair. I smiled sadly.
"My troubles are small. Well, let's go, shall we?" I asked uncomfortably, turning to go.
"But he deserves to be punished." Mairon blurted from my hip, looking mad. I smiled amusedly and tapped his nose.
"Ah, yes, perhaps, but I am not one to mete it out, Mairon, little brother. I am content to let his actions catch up with him, for it will one day." I said blithely, marching off to the counter. The elves said nothing, but I could feel their anger still in their stiff limbs. Had Lark and I really gathered their affection that much?
...
"So what's the surprise?" Asked Maeglin dubiously as we got back home. Lark and I grinned at each other.
"Well. It can be used for both fun and also for practicing warfare." Lark giggled. They looked confused. I grinned, and dumping the snacks on the table, led the way to our backyard. Dad had bought me one thing I had wanted for my birthday. A huge, mega sized trampoline. And Valar, it was big.
I let out a shriek and jumped on top of it, bouncing with delight. Lark squealed.
"Awesome!" She joined me and I leaped up and did a handspring. I am actually a pretty good stunt person on a trampoline. Lark and I did flips and I bounced her twice as high as normal. The elves stared, open-mouthed.
"Come on!" I squealed, laughing as Lark did a flip over my head. "Circus!" I yelled. Lark dropped down on her back in the middle as I flipped and twirled and purposefully came so close to hitting her. Mairon suddenly decided to get on.
He looked down uncertainly, then finally gave a hesitant bounce. Then he grinned, and began bouncing as high as Lark and I had, making us laugh.
"Fun?" I asked him. He squealed in reply as I bounced him so high that he nearly went over the net on the sides.
The elves seemed to shrug, and Glorfindel suddenly got on first. He jumped on, did a roll, and stood smoothly on his feet in one motion. I made a leap and landed on his shoulders with a giggle.
Maedhros was next, and he carefully toed the tarp underneath his feet even as he made a careful bounce. Elves and their ridiculous gracefulness. Lark and I were grinning uncontrollably at the scene. The rest of them joined in.
"Toss me, Glorfy!" I squealed. He raised an eyebrow.
"I cannot jump the distance you have to toss me!" I tried to make my voice gruff, which made Lark die laughing. He ignored my comment and tossed me gently, while I did a flip-twist and sprang to my feet with a cheer.
"Oh, and- don't tell the elf." I said sheepishly. Lark bent double screaming in laughter while I smirked. Dad came out to see us and chuckled loudly, leaning in the doorway.
"By the way Celine, you haven't told me if there are any snacks for me." He called. I rolled my eyes as I was jostled around by the serious, and bouncing, elves.
"There's a scoops in there and a tub of dip!" I called back. He disappeared into the house while I shook my head after him.
It was all I could do not to laugh hysterically at the sight of elves flipping and rolling on a trampoline with serious faces. Lark was not doing too well. And then again, there was Mairon in the middle of them, grinning delightedly and bouncing with all of his might. I met Lark's eyes- and broke.
We both collapsed laughing, tears forming in our eyes. My stitch didn't go away for a good ten minutes after that.
But I'm beginning to get nervous. Tomorrow Lark and I will need to submit our answer and tell the elves, I guess. I wonder what they will think. I wonder what it will be like to meet Mandos face-to-face.
Hmm, judging from his letters, he must be very absent minded- I really do think he has a sense of sadistic and morbid humor, I really do.