"You're still my friend."
"Yes, always."
"But... not my lover..."
"Haldir, were we ever truly lovers? Or was I simply a means of forgetting what you really wanted?" Legolas turned and looked into the sad eyes that had meandered down the shoreline as they walked. "We love each other, yes. Like brothers, we are close, but I do not think this is what was meant to be."
"Then I am to be alone," sighed Haldir, a weight visibly upon his shoulders.
Legolas pushed Haldir's chin back up. "No, never alone. You have your family, all of us. Having a lover isn't the end all to everything. That, I can attest to," he said, his eyes sparkling with a slight playfulness. "Can we not still be brothers, in spirit if not by blood?"
With a nod, Haldir agreed. Legolas smiled, but it was a sad sort of smile, as he leaned in and kissed his cheek just as Orophin and Rumil so often did to Haldir.
- - -
"I need to find a way to cheer my brother up," mused Legolas to Rumil as they sat in the kitchen of the First Homely House, drinking hot chocolate as a light snow fell outside.
Orophin came to sit down with them. "What's wrong with Ilmendin?"
"He doesn't mean Ilmendin, he means Haldir," corrected Rumil. "I really hate it when you jump in mid-conversation, Oro."
"Fine. I'll have my own conversation."
"All by yourself?" questioned Rumil.
Picking up his plate, Orophin said, "Lovely day today, isn't it, Toast? Say, do you think we might find Egg somewhere - oh, there he is, he's just sleeping, poor little thing." Orophin picked up the hard boiled egg in one hand and petted it with the other. "Rise and shine, l'il guy."
Legolas and Rumil simply ignored Orophin's eccentric attempt to annoy them. "What sort of thing did you have in mind?" questioned Rumil.
"Nothing, really," answered Legolas. "Nearly everything I thought of to cheer him up involved things I told him we weren't going to do anymore."
"Good day to you, Mr. Porridge! I've not seen you and Madame Apricot out so late in the season before. Have you met my friend Toast?"
Swirling his spoon in his hot chocolate, Rumil said, "What about a trip to the King's Kastle? Wait, no, scratch that," he added suddenly. "Last time all of you went up there, you brought back my son, married, with no wife." He tried to glare at Legolas, but it was a half-hearted attempt.
"How was I to know he was going to do that?"
"Because impulsiveness and silliness run in this family," Rumil reminded him.
"Toast, I would like you to meet my special friend, Syrup. Syrup has a cousin named Maple Butter, but she's a little shy. I think she's in town, though, and I'm sure the two of you will hit it off right away. Let me see if she's available," Orophin said, winking to his plate before going to the pantry.
Legolas scratched his head. "It's always so cold here on the beach, or I'd think of doing something out here."
"We have the whole house, it isn't as if we need to go outside," Rumil reminded him.
"True, but Haldir, left to himself, is a true 'wood elf' as the expression goes. He would live in a tree- not on a flet, but in a tree. He delights more in nature than in sitting in a house, no matter how cozy."
Orophin returned to the table, an egg still in his hand and the butter tub in the other. "Here we are. Toast, may I introduce Maple Butter, Maple Butter, Toast. Ah, Mr. Porridge, cooling down a bit, I see." Orophin buttered his toast and then set to devouring his porridge.
"So, both the beach and house are out, which means we will be traveling." Rumil drummed his fingers on the table.
"We?" asked Legolas.
"He was my brother first!" joked Rumil. "Besides, I think this might be good for everyone, to travel just a little bit. Not too far away, though, Celebrian can't go too far, and neither can Nana and the baby. A place we can walk to without much hassle."
Legolas nodded. "You know, your daughter-in-law has some land not very far from here. We could even walk if we wanted, though horse and carriage is best all things considered."
"Oh, my! Toast, you saucy thing, you! Maple Butter has just melted for you, but I was sure she would! I suppose you'd like me to leave the two of you alone for a while, wouldn't you? Well, that's quite alright, I was just about to take Egg out for a stroll around the block and a picnic. Egg's such a good boy, isn't he? Isn't he a good boy?" Orophin rubbed the back of the egg he had picked up again.
"Orophin, that's a wonderful idea," agreed Rumil. "A picnic for a lazy afternoon, we can bring a few amusements to pass the time-"
"Have a campfire- oh, we could even camp there! If Beineilien allows us to," Legolas said with excitement.
"Let's not tell Haldir, let's just make it for everyone," Rumil said. "I'm sure he's not the only one who could use cheering up."
Legolas nodded as the pair left the room.
"Why, Maple Butter, I do declare, you are simply sinful, spreading yourself out on Toast like that. My, my, what a possessive-" Orophin looked up as the door to the kitchen closed. "Ai, where did everyone go?"
- - -
In the end, it was a small party that traveled inland to a strip of land that was between the mountains. The river ran through the middle of it, emptying into the ocean, but the waters here were crisp and clean, and smelled fresh compared to the bite of the salty air on the shore. Though there was a chill, it was warmer than on the beach, so that coats and mittens that the peredhil bundled themselves in were discarded into saddlebags when they approached their destination.
Celebdreth was at the lead, smiling broadly and engaging anyone who asked in conversation about his beloved who lived here. The closer they came, the happier he became, coaxing his horse to go just a bit faster when he could. Rumil, Orophin, Haldir, and Legolas were all in the group, as well as Valarda and Nenniach, Elladan and Elrohir, and Elrond. The rest, for varying reasons, had stayed behind, and although Elrond nearly did not come, it was Celebrian who convinced him this was his last chance to go anywhere before he would be an Ada to an elfling again.
When they came to the Valle Escondido de los Delfines, they were warmly greeted by their hostess, Celebdreth's wife Beineilien. Her preference was to live closer inland, and not on the sea, and so they would spend time together here and again, but neither wished to move, and both were content with this arrangement. She embraced him joyfully after he dismounted, and then toured the others before they set out their lunch on a large blanket near the river's edge.
- - -
"I have had such fun today, haven't you, Halli?" questioned Orophin, leaning back on the cool grass. "I can hardly think of anything to make it any better."
"Should we fill our water skins before we go?" asked Rumil, holding up the empty one that was on the ground beside him. "Beineilien, is the water safe for drinking?" he called to where the ellith had grouped themselves away from the male population after the picnic and the games. The sky was darkening, and inevitably, they would all return, with the exception of perhaps Celebdreth, who had hinted that he might send his horse with the group and walk back in the morning.
"Si, Sa'Adar," she called to him. Rumil waved that he understood and then turned to the rest of the elves. "Listen to that, I have a daughter-in-law!" he said, unable to contain his excitement.
"A daughter-in-law who speaks Southron, but, aye, you do," Haldir answered as Rumil gathered the skins and took them to the edge of the river, along with a pitcher they had been using to fill their cups. He filled the skins quickly, but as he leaned closer to fill the pitcher, he felt he was suddenly being watched. As he turned his head a little to see behind him, he felt a gentle brush against the top of his head a bit like the wind. When he looked back to the water, he nearly shrieked.
"Halli! Oro! There's something in the water!" he shouted, taking a step back. "It's a monster fish and it tried to bite my head!"
A great laughter rose up from the ladies, and most of the group came down to the shore as a great blue-grey creature the size of an elf but shaped as a fish rose up out of the water to stare eye to eye with Rumil. Rumil took a cautious step forward, and made to reach out and retrieve his hat, which had been knocked from his head by the odd water dweller and was now hanging off of its long nose.
"Why do you think I call this Valle Escondido de los Delfines?" Beineilien smirked as she reached the water with the others. Elrond stood a little distance back, eyeing the creature warily.
"Because it's a pretty name?" guessed Rumil, still trying to reach his hat without falling into the water.
"You may not want to get too close, they're very-" Elrond was cut short as the creature suddenly flopped to his side, spraying the crowd with water, and positively soaking Rumil. "-playful," he finished.
"What is it?" demanded Rumil, making another attempt to get his hat, which was now floating on the surface.
Beineilien was removing her shoes as she replied, "It is a delfin, Dolphin in the common."
"And in Sindarin?" prompted Rumil.
"There is no name," replied Beineilien. "They did not exist, and then they did. They are talkers, as we are, not as the other birds and beasts are. They have community, society, but they live in the water. Some have said they are the only thing more beautiful than our own kind, and stories are told of how they are the spirits of the Teleri who were cast from their ships, as none from that bitter battle have been known to walk the halls of Mandos or to have been reborn."
"Really? I have never heard that legend before," said Haldir, wringing out the ends of his sleeves where the most water had hit him.
Beineilien smiled mysteriously. "Some of us do not believe it is a legend," she told him as she approached the edge of the water. "T'iranist," she called out in a musical voice, "please give Rumil his hat back."
A laughing chatter came from the dolphin, and Beineilien smiled. "I'm sorry to tell you, T'iranist rather likes your hat."
"As do I," huffed Rumil.
Beinieilien grinned. "He said you can have it back if you can get it."
Rumil narrowed his eyes at the dolphin. "If I can get it back? I assure you, I most certainly can," he said. "It's just a big dumb fish," he mumbled to himself as he began to wade into the water.
He completely missed the second big dumb fish that came around behind his legs and slapped his tail, knocking Rumil over onto his backside and drenching him completely. "That's it!" Rumil dived down in an attempt to follow the one who had knocked him over, and his brothers were not far behind, but only so that they could get a good view of things.
T'iranist swam back and forth, edging his way closer to the shore. "T'iranist, be nice, they are guests," warned Beineilien. T'iranist swished back and forth in the water, looking a little forlorn at the command.
"Aw, he's so cute," cooed Nenniach. "Too bad we don't have these on the beach at home."
"Look at those big eyes," added Orophin. The dolphin blinked twice at the trio, which included Valarda, before popping up out of the water, propelling himself up and twisting so that his tail faced them. When he hit the water, it sent a spray over all of them.
The twins were laughing hysterically with Legolas at this point, but only until the second dolphin resurfaced, having confused Rumil into coming up for air some fifty feet away from shore. "Watch out!" shouted Elrond in warning, but the twins were too close to the water, and after a moment were hit with a stream spit at them by the playful water nymph.
"Hey!"
"Not fair!"
Legolas continued to laugh, but was cut short as Elladan grabbed one of his arms, Elrohir the other. Seconds later, he was sitting up, sputtering in the shallow part of the river. "Oh, that's it. This is war! Haldir!"
Haldir, who had been making an attempt to stay dry, looked up with a bit of fear. "No, not today," he called out, but that was before Valarda and Nenniach exchanged wicked glances and quite literally pounced their brother-in-law, dragging him into the water.
"Oh, Ivenil!" Beinie shouted to the second dolphin who was dancing up and down in a circle, "Look what you started!"
Ivenil ducked down under the water before jumping in an arc over it. "Everyone!" called out Rumil as he swam closer to shore, "There are others! Under the water! I was swimming with them!" Taking a deep breath, he plunged under again, and it took no further convincing for the rest to join him, save Elrond, who watched the water frolic with amusement as the light in the sky faded and darkness fell over the land.
When the group returned, completely soaked, Elrond laughed at them heartily, especially his sons, who seemed to have tangled themselves in more seaweed than was even in the small river. "No horse in their right mind would let you sit on them now," scolded Elrond. "Best to go in and dry off for the night and start home in the morning."
"But we're expected," said Elladan. "Everyone will worry that we aren't back."
Elrond weighed this. "That is true. I shall ride back tonight then, being quite dry- Orophin, do not even think it," he warned as he caught the young elf trying to sneak up on him. Orophin frowned and slunk away, peeling off his wet tunic as his went. "The rest of you can return in the morning," he suggested.
Tired and too happy to argue, the others filed into the house, laughing and chatting about the adventure they had. Elrond waited until he had bid his sons good night to ready his horse. When the door to the cheerful house Beineilien lived in closed, Elrond mounted without a moment's thought and galloped off under the cover of night, swiftly to the west.
