Everything was nothing, and then nothing became everything.
In other words, Elrohir found it very difficult to pinpoint what something was, if it was what it was, or if it was not it at all.
He could tell who the people were that were with him: Ada and his brothers, most often. A lady sometimes came into view…and he saw her with silver hair. Either the elf-maid was not real, or the hair color was incorrect. That however was one of the least of his problems; even recognizing there were problems was lacking.
Elrohir's head felt disturbingly light like the rest of his being: weightless but so incredibly lethargic. Gruesome headaches plagued him from time to time, which were not always there, but they kept returning. Ada fixed it though…
Which led to another problem.
His ability to track time and link events together was askew.
Elrohir, once, barely remembered being in water, warm water, and it felt good, if he could say so. That lasted for but for a moment. The next thing he knew he was back to wherever it was that was soft and warm. Plus, there were hands on him.
Stars, that whole event to his memory remained both pleasant and painful. He felt like melting in the good way and the bad way. That is what happens when one gets a good massage, but when they stretch out limbs that have not been used in a long time…it can hurt. Elrohir knew he made that part known, quietly and loudly. And that is where his memory fell short.
After that, nothing made sense anymore, and he did not bother to try and make sense of it.
Images were there, hazy and blurry, and they moved, but he could make distinctions from the blurs. He heard noises too, voices…but when the voices spoke, it sounded like nonsense at first. After an eternity, he then could understand the words. Questions or commands, Elrohir could feel himself answering them, like it was someone else that was doing it instead.
Still…he was able to ask, in his thoughts: 'What happened?'
But for now, life was…simple, and he was alright with that.
Five days passed since Elrohir's true awakening. The younger twin got better, even if it the signs were small and hard to notice. He did not move a lot unless it was to grab something that he was asked to get, to reach out to someone, or to get away from his "tormentors" when they had to stretch his arms and legs, which he failed in doing.
Elrond was aggrieved by this, but did not blame Elrohir. After the third attempt of trying to do those small exercises, Elrond decided to wait for his son to slip into a lesser state of consciousness (or until he fell asleep) to do these exercises. It was that, or use relaxants (which would be a bad idea) and numbing pastes, because Elrohir needed to rehabilitate the use of his limbs.
Estel did not stay around during those gruesome minutes, not even when they were doing it while Elrohir was oblivious to it. Elladan did the exact opposite and stayed, even helped, though he may have been putting himself through sacrificial torment: if Elrohir suffered, then he was going to suffer too.
Aside from that, Elrohir was at peace, or seemed to be. He slept a lot, and no matter how much he slept he looked weary. His eyes were nearly all the way opened, but they drooped still, giving him the look of someone dosed on medicine (truth in some cases, when he had to be given something to ease his headache, instead of being sent to oblivion forcefully).
Estel had watched to see what the difference was between Elrohir now and how he seemed when he was not awake. They asked Elrohir questions or told him commands. Elrohir rarely responded, and even now Elrohir looked to not even have heard their words, but he spoke in a low mumble in answer, and sluggishly did whatever that was asked of him. After those sessions he would sleep again.
"Give it time." Elrond reassured when Estel became afraid and spoke his fears. "Each person is different at the rate which they recover."
The young man believed…and tried hard to keep that belief.
It steadily got colder as the days went by. On this day, a week after Elrohir's procedure, Estel was sitting on the floor being bored out of his mind, having to do his studies still. Erestor was not going to give him slack in that regard, although the green-elf had given the man leeway on the first and second day. When Estel tried to argue his way out of doing it, Erestor bluntly replied: "Do not get smart with me."
Elladan and Elrond were smothering their amusement in the background. Estel sulkily acquiesced, shooting his brother a long stare that begged: help me get this done faster. Elladan knew the look and came to help the man.
Glorfindel and Erestor visited them before now, but, doing most of the hard labor in Imladris for Elrond's sake, they seldom came. Elrond and Erestor briefly spoke of important matters before the green-elf looked at Elrohir, who was keeping Elrond pinned with his head on the elf-lord's leg.
Erestor placed something near Elrohir's fingers of his outstretched hand. Elrohir's fingers flinched at the contact of the cold metal and he slowly curled his hand around it.
"Thank you, mellon." Elrond said with a small nod.
Erestor smiled at the elf-lord and turned to leave. "I will come back later this evening, and I expect your assignments to be done by then."
Estel stared.
"Do not give me that look," Erestor said with a smirk. "You have someone helping you; you might be done within the hour."
"Indeed." Elladan chimed in.
"Still does not make me want to do it…" Estel said to himself.
Erestor said nothing more as he left.
Elrond looked down at Elrohir while reaching for the book he had nearby: a specially designed book. It contained tales that could draw a mature person into its depths and a few pages had illustrations, for stimulation and interaction. The illustrations alone made this volume few throughout the valley, as they were meant for severe head traumas: for evaluation when needed, and for their and the healer's amusement primarily.
Elrohir's fingers traced the rough cool edges of the pin: a clasp of some sort, intricately designed with gems and precious stones. When Elrond looked back to his face, Elrohir was awake, hazed and drowsy as expected, but thoughtful and…lost. Elrond internally sighed, not wishing for Elrohir to be thinking about this: confused and unsure of what is happening, wondering what has happened, and why he is like this when he cannot fully grasp those concepts and put it to long-term memory. It would cause unnecessary stress in the end. Thankfully, Elrohir had not shown a lot of distress lately, aside from the pain in his head and when they were stretching his muscles.
Elrond started to read quietly, loud enough for Elrohir to hear and quiet enough not to disturb Estel and Elladan. Elrohir's shoulders moved at some point and he managed to flop onto his back in the process. Elrond helped him to get comfortable before he resumed reading.
"I think your reading is boring him, Adar." Elladan spoke up after a half hour, grinning.
"Is that where I got my skills?" Estel mentioned after. "Maybe we both need lessons on being entertaining when we speak of tales and sagas!"
Elrond raised a brow at them before looking at Elrohir. When he last checked, Elrohir appeared to have paid attention to his father's voice or was resting his eyes. Now he was watching Estel and Elladan in a more alert and attentive fashion.
"It seems so." Elrond agreed to their statement.
Elrohir made a noise, and he unclasped his hand from the pin and had his palm face upward.
"Elrohir?"
Elrohir hummed, still looking towards his brothers, "…d-daaa..."
Elladan seemed to get the message. He stood up from the ground. Estel tried to rise, but Elladan pushed him back down by placing his hand on the man's head. They were almost done with Estel's schooling, and the message the adolescent got was to finish it now, so he did not have to worry about it later. Estel made a small face, though he went back to work anyway (it was not that much…like one or two sentences…).
The older twin sat himself on the bed and smiled at the younger. "Right here, brother."
Elrohir's fingers twitched, and the look in his eyes showed he would go into another daze soon.
Elladan slipped his hand beneath Elrohir's and with the other picked up the gift Erestor had left. He allowed Elrohir to knead and play with his hand, even though what he did sometimes brought discomfort.
"The first vowels you uttered when you were yet small were 'A' and 'O'." Elrond thought outloud as he watched.
Elladan looked thoughtful at those words. "…I doubt any amount of messing with our heads will make us forget that...they are in our names."
"If it was the earliest thing of importance in your lives: the sounds of each other's name, it will stay that way forever."
Elladan turned the pin over. It was a small ceremonial piece. He briefly looked at Elrohir's scar mark on his head. It would not be a permanent mark, though severe injury or invasion tend to look like a scar for a time before fading away completely. The hair above the mark could cover it, however it was a thin shield.
Elladan frowned slightly. "If it were possible, I would give some of my own ability of living a self-sufficient life away, for his sake." Elladan looked at his father, and continued before Elrond could form different thoughts. "Not in the way that I would become a burden to you and the others. If I could be a little inattentive, hyperactive, or slow, for Elrohir to pay attention and understand and make decisions faster…Just…small things."
Elrond looked at his sons evenly. The amount of self-sacrifice they can do for each other was admirable, but they can go too far and in the wrong way in their suggestions and wishes…such as wishing they receive one another's wounds to save the other. They did not go to that length before Celebrían was taken and her spirit broken. It was after that event that the twins grew darker in their souls. It reflected in their orc slaughter.
Elrond saw it was a tad unhealthy, but they were grown elves, and by now it was a habit of them, set in stone, to think the way they do.
"One step at a time, my son." The elf-lord answered at last. "Elrohir will need all our help and support, maybe much more than the last time."
Elladan felt Elrohir's slack hand slide off his own, as the younger twin had lost himself to darkness. "I only wish it will not be as hard…I will even have a staff made for him if I must, by my own hand even."
Elrond answered naught, now letting Elladan to spend time with Elrohir, even if it was just one sided.
He heard Estel's cheer for joy when he was done with his work, and smiled.
A/N *iron ball and chains clink...clink...slowly...slowly...* But more family time.
I'm glad you liked the scene with them all together. This might be something similar..because...filler, and getting to the next high, and those things take time.
Thank you for your reviews. :)