"Alright, we shall let Orophin decide!"
"Eh?" Roused from his delicious daydreams of his rambunctious red-headed bride-to-be, Orophin pretended there was something more important to be discussed. "Look, there, are those orc?" he said, pointing off in the distance while feigning a look of great concern.
Haldir sighed, but it sounded more like a growl. "Orc. In the middle of the day. Not likely, brother." Still, it amused Orophin that Haldir did indeed glance at the spot he pretended to be so intently interested in. "Rúmil and I have a question for you."
"Oro, which of us is the taller one?"
Cringing inwardly, Orophin looked away from his orc watching and gifted his little brother with an odd look. "Now that is a silly request if ever I heard one. What difference does it make which of you is taller; you both still take the same amount of time to hit the ground when you fall from a tree."
Crossing his arms and narrowing his eyes, Haldir said, "You are the only one who can make the determination, and we wish to know."
"Go ask your Nana," attempted Orophin, the last wisps of gentle thoughts of a river and moonlight and a certain pale elleth slipping away. He huffed and harrumphed and finally he answered, "I think you are most certainly both the same height," before leaning against his comfy spot against the trunk that their guard flet was built around.
Orophin found himself hoisted to his feet moments later. "Rúmil and I are going to stand back to back, and you are going to measure us," Haldir ordered sternly. As he turned his back, he missed the creative salute his brother gave him, which did not conform to the traditional Galadhrim salute in the slightest. "Get over here," demanded Haldir when Orophin tried to sit back down again.
The middle brother looked from his older sibling to the younger, and back again many times. "This is ridiculous," he mumbled. "Why can the two of you not simply be happy with the fact neither of you is as tall as I am?"
"Everyone knows you are as tall as a sunflower, we want to know who is next tallest." Rúmil's request came out as something of a whine, which was somewhat to be expected for he had yet to reach his majority. In the last two years, the youngest had grown quite impressively, and there was no doubt he would one day surpass Haldir in height. It was unlikely, however, that Rúmil would ever be as tall as Orophin was.
Suddenly, Orophin snickered. Haldir turned his head, demanding to know the cause of Orophin's mirth. "Nana named you 'tall watcher', and you are the shortest of the three of us! Ow!" Orophin exclaimed as Haldir punched his shoulder.
"Will you stop fooling around and measure us?" insisted Rúmil.
"Fine." Orophin placed his hand atop the youngest brother's head. When he moved his hand toward Haldir, it was stopped by the back of his head. "There. Haldir is taller."
"What?! That cannot be!" Rúmil turned to face a grinning guardian, and frowned. "He still has boots on – make him take his boots off!"
"Oh, honestly!" Haldir removed his boots quickly, kicking them to the side. "There. Do it again, Oro."
Orophin closed his eyes and sighed. "Alright. Uhm..." He did the same as before, but now his hand was on Haldir's head. "Sorry, Halli, Rúmil IS taller than you."
"What?!" Haldir sharply turned on his heel, finding his youngest brother happily bouncing a bit in glee. "Wait, wait... here is the problem. This floorboard is warped, and it rises right there."
"Rúmil was standing here. You were standing there," said Orophin, nodding to the spot Haldir was referring to. "Anyway, why does it matter?"
"It just does!" shouted both of his brothers at the same time.
"There is only one way to settle this. We shall need to go to the ground and find a level spot in the grass to do an accurate measuring." Haldir headed for the rope ladder and kicked it down off of the side of the talan. "Oro? Rúmil? Follow me."
Orophin stayed behind for a few seconds after his brothers scrambled down the ladder and looked out at the horizon. "Now would be a good time for an orc attack. Anyone? Anyone? No? Damn." Looking down at the rope tied around the trunk that kept the ladder anchored to the tree, Orophin took a moment to plead his case.
"Dear Eru, please grace me with the strength I need to tell Haldir he is short and the speed necessary to run faster than he can when I do tell him." As an afterthought he added, "And allow me one more night with that cute little red-haired darling of an elleth before I say something that makes Haldir send me to the Halls of Waiting..."
