No Home Here

Chapter Twelve: Awakening

Birds were singing outside as Estel woke up from what seemed to have been a long and painful nightmare. Right now he was smothering hot, and it seemed that his ada had once again become worried about his comfort in the night and piled one too many quilts on him.

Restlessly he tried kicking off his blankets, only to have firm hands pin his shoulders down. For some odd reason he thought he heard his brother’s voice above him.

“Ro, quick, he’s starting up again!” It was Elladan shouting for his twin, though about what Estel had no clue.

“I thought this was over!” Cried Elrohir from the foot of the bed, and suddenly Estel’s feet were being held stationary as well.

“Apparently not, though we broke the fever last night!” Responded Elladan with a sigh.

Estel was now quite aggravated. “Lemme go, Dan!” He whispered. The boy could feel his brother jerk in surprise, and the pressure on his shoulders disappeared.

“What did you say, Estel?” Asked Elladan in a hushed voice, sounding almost as if he didn’t believe his ears. Estel opened his eyes slowly, struggling against the heaviness that seemed to be weighing heavily on his eyelids.

He saw at a glance two swimming faces, but once they came into focus he could eventually make out the identical faces of his brothers. Both of them looked worried, and Elladan looked vaguely pale. Estel, around his newfound headache, decided that he was going to force his brothers outside more often.

“Well little brother,” asked Elrohir with a deadly ring of calmness in his steady voice. “What have you to say for yourself? I do hope you have a very good reason for dragging us all the way out here.”

At this Estel’s face fell and his eyes threatened to spill over with tears. The approval of his brothers meant the world to him, and if his heroes were mad at him for getting caught in the storm, there was not much he could do but suck up his tears and try to weather out their wrath.

Elladan, however, seemed to have different plans. Estel watched in mute fascination as he calmly punched his twin in the stomach, doubling the other elf over and causing him to stagger back a few paces.

Before he really knew what was going on he was enfulged in a strong pair of arms that smelled faintly of jasmine and another herb that his cloudy mind couldn’t quite place. Sighing softly, the young man allowed himself to relax in his brother’s embrace. He felt the odd sensation of his hair being ruffled, and he knew that Elrohir was behind him, though he had not even noticed when the spry elf sat on the bed.

“I was but fooling with you, tithen pen.” //little one// Came the soft voice at his back, and Estel nodded into Elladan’s shirt. The trio stayed like that for long minutes, and it was like such that Engle found them.

Readjusting the tray that she carried, she stood quietly in the doorway, not willing to interrupt the private scene that she found herself spectator to. She was not quiet enough, however, to evade notice by an elf, and Elrohir quietly detached himself from his brothers, easing off the bed with a nearly inaudible creak.

He drew Engle back out into the hallway, but Estel felt him go by and looked up. Seeing the woman in the doorway he raised a hand and waved to her. She smiled warmly before stepping back into the hallway with the elf. Estel sighed wearily, and Elladan immediately took over.

“Oh no you don’t, tithen gwador, not until you drink this.” //little brother// He pushed a cup towards the young man, and Estel examined it suspiciously before looking back up at his elven brother.

“Just water?” He asked with a trace of incredulity in his voice.

Elladan laughed aloud. “Just water.” He assured. “Now drink it and you can go back to sleep!” Estel complied, and then allowed himself to be pushed back onto the bed.

“Now sleep Estel, just close your eyes.” Elladan murmured above him. With the slightest hint of a smile Estel allowed himself to be lulled into dark, comforting oblivion by the gentle words and soft promises of his oldest brother. The last thing he noticed before his eyelids drooped was the large green smear on his brother’s breeches.

‘Silly ‘Dan.’ He thought to himself. ‘Must remind him to use his shirt next time, it makes one look much more rugged.’

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Engle stood across the hallway from the boarding house’s tall guest. He and his twin had surely given her quite a bit of a fright the night before. Gareth and Garren had barged into the kitchen while she was cleaning up the night before, yelling that their latest guests were manhandling Sam’s little lost ‘Elf-Man,’ as they liked to call Estel.

All of her maternal instincts had immediately kicked in, and she turned from Engle the quiet housewife to Engle the ferocious she-bear. In a huff she had stormed up the stairs that led to the guest rooms, ready to fling the visiting twins out on their tails, snow or no snow.

Greeted with the sight of one ‘man’ with his head on the young boy’s chest and the other mixing up some green concoction, she had immediately tried to pull the one away. It hadn’t been very long until things were explained to her.

Her immediate suspicions about their family ties had been quickly dispelled when she had watched them tend to the raven-haired boy all throughout the night. It seemed to be a familiar pattern for the two, as a matter of fact, with them taking turns administering various liquids and carefully monitoring what she assumed to be his ‘status.’

Something about the two had seemed rather out of place, though she couldn’t put her finger on it. At least not until she noticed how the one twin, whom she gathered to be Elrohir through his conversations with his brother, had his hair tied over the tips of his ears. The other’s brown braids seemed always to cover his ears as well, and it hadn’t taken the sharp-minded woman too long to put two and two together.

Now, as she stood looking at the patient elf, she decided not to mince words and instead cut straight to the point.

“So, will you at least tell me how a boy such as Estel ended up with elven brothers?” The briefest glimmer of surprise flickered across the elf’s face, but it was quickly schooled back into a mask of indifference. Neither affirming nor denying her discovery, he answered the question in the way that only one of the eldar could: without really addressing any of her queries at all.

“Estel’s story is long and complicated, yet nothing that is urgent or pressing in nature. It is enough to know that his parents were killed when he was quite small, and that my father adopted him. Estel has been living in Rivendell for years now, and it is his home.”

Engle heard the door being shut quietly behind her. “Just as we are his brothers.” Said Elladan with a smile. “Races have nothing at all to do with the matter.” The tone of voice that his words held was kind, but signaled the end of that topic of conversation.

Engle nodded sagely, contemplating the elves’ words. “I see. Now, is Estel going to eat a bite of supper, or is he going for malnourishment on top of other illnesses?”

Elrohir turned briefly to his twin, already half-suspecting what the answer would be. “Nys, he is already sound asleep. I consider myself graced by fortune that he woke up long enough to get liquid in him.” //no// Engle shrugged and handed Elrohir the tray that she had been holding.

“Well, if your brother is asleep, set this down on the table in his room and come down to the dining room. You can sup there and get some hot food into you.” She noticed the moment’s hesitation as the two exchanged glances, and then with a little shrug Elrohir silently re-entered the dark room.

Engle could tell that the elves were loath to leave their brother, but perhaps they felt that Estel wouldn’t stir for some time. Thinking about it, she decided that they were most likely right: the boy was barely out of danger and most likely needed much more rest. Quietly the elves and the woman padded down the hallway towards food and away from hope.