"Haldir, come look! Haldir, come look!" Orophin demanded.

Haldir turned over in his bed and tried to ignore Orophin.

"Haldir!" Orophin stomped his foot. "Haldir, look at me!"

Haldir brought the pillow from beneath his head over it and pulled it down to cover his ears. Orophin ran over to the bed and yanked the blanket off, throwing it across the room before he ran back to the center of their room in the Great Mallorn. "Now, look at me, Haldir!"

Haldir had no intention of looking at Orophin, and blatantly put his hands over his eyes as he grumpily got out of bed and fetched his blanket. He had nearly settled himself into bed once more, keeping his eyes shut, when he felt his pillow pulled out from under his head. Although the bed was not very hard at all, Haldir cried out and swung a fist, hoping to make contact with the pillow thief.

"Look at me, Haldir, or I won't give it back!" threatened Orophin.

"NAAAAAA-NAAAAAA!"

"Oh, bother." Orophin took advantage of the fact that Haldir's eyes were closed and whacked the pillow against the side of his brother's head before tossing it at the elfling and racing back to the center of the room.

"What in the name of the ages is going on in here?" exclaimed Celeborn as he and Galadriel burst into the room. In his bed, Haldir was sitting up and sobbing while Orophin was in the center of the room.

"Look at me!" Orophin shouted. He had his palms flat on the ground, as well as the top of his head. His feet were momentarily planted on the ground as well, but he tried next to lift his legs up, putting his knees onto his elbows. He held the wobbly position for a moment before tumbling to the ground. "Ta-da!" There was silence, and then Orophin informed them, "See? I almost stood on my head!"

Haldir, who had quieted down with the help of a hug from Galadriel, picked up his pillow and threw it in Orophin's general direction. Galadriel drew Haldir closer as the pillow slid across the floor. "Haldir! That was uncalled for!"

"But, he took my blanket and then my pillow! And then he hit me with my pillow!" Haldir struggled to get away, intent on getting to Orophin, but Galadriel held him back.

"Celeborn, why don't you take Orophin to one of the guest rooms?" she suggested.

Celeborn looked as if he'd rather take Orophin over his knee, but he nodded, though his expression was not particularly happy. He held out a hand to the younger of the brothers, and gasped when Orophin came into better view. "My word, child, what did you do?" Celeborn said, stooping down.

Orophin suddenly became shy, shrugging his shoulders. Wanting to know what was going on, Haldir squirmed until he could see over the end of his bed, his eyes suddenly getting huge. "Your hair, Orophin, what did you do to it?"

"I just trimmed it a little. I kept getting it caught on the floor and in my hands when I was trying to stand on my head," he explained. "I can do much better, now, almost stood on my head that time."

"Come along," said Celeborn, not about to start further discussion in the middle of the night. "We'll talk about your behavior in the morning."

As Galadriel made to get up, Haldir sniffled a bit in hopes of gaining a bit of extra sympathy. He leaned into his mother as she sat back down. "I think," he said, after a fair amount of time had passed, "that I have experienced a very traumatic experience tonight."

"Would you like me to hum you to sleep?" offered Galadriel. Haldir shook his head. "Perhaps a story would help you?"

"No," sighed Haldir. "This was very traumatic. I think I'm going to need to be snuggled with."

"I am snuggling with you," she said, stroking his head as she rocked him.

Haldir frowned. "This is cuddling. Snuggling only works in your bed when Adar is there, too."

Galadriel smiled and pulled away, standing up. Looking down at the sad face, she somehow doubted she would have many more chances to cuddle her future warrior. She bent back down and picked up the elfling, tucking him against her. "I think I need to be snuggled with, too," she said, carrying him up the stairs to bed.