"You know all too well." Lindir pushed himself from the ground, and Legolas helped dust him off. "I swear if you were not my twin, I would have thrown you to the Lady�s goldfish." He paused and studied the other elf�s face intensely. "Hey, aren�t you . . ."
"NO!" Legolas gulped, fearful of being identified, "No! I�m not!"
"I thought you were." Lindir�s eyes narrowed, but then sighed, "Must be a face lift, then." He grinned, "Your nose is smaller, skin clearer, hair more plaited, a bit taller and seemingly fairer all together!"
"REE does it every time!" Legolas and the other elf began at a brisk walk towards the tallest Mallorn of the Lord and Lady, "Mmm. Maybe you should get a treatment too."
"Yes." Still, Lindir did not appear to be convinced, and stared into Legolas�s eyes, "Your eyes changed color."
"What?" Legolas blinked quickly, "No they didn�t!"
"But I thought that you had green eyes." Lindir peered deeper into Legolas�s eyes, "They seem to be getting a nice shade of gray." He peered even deeper, if that were even possible, "And I�d swear I can see Mirkwood in them . . . OUCH!" Lindir paused as he slammed head first into a gigantic Mallorn he did not see. Nose gushing with blood, Lindir motioned that Legolas should step on up first, thus, he led the way, wondering if he could fool the Lord and Lady long enough.
Oh no. Legolas gulped as he saw Lady Galadrial. She could read minds. What would Haldir be thinking about? Arrows . . . arrow heads . . . captain . . . . elven women . . . REE! All elves thought about REE! He focused all attentions on REE and squinted as Lindir tramped up behind him, both announced by Galadrial�s herald.
"Ah, you have returned." Galadrial spoke, "With Greenleaf." It was not a question. Legolas gulped and focused on REE. She turned to him, "Why, Haldir! You have had a face lift!" Legolas smiled. "Ah, my, from REE too, by the looks of it! Your eyes . . ."
"Contacts!" Legolas squeaked, "Contacts!"
"Mmm." Lindir grabbed onto the edge of his brother�s cloak and shoved it against his face to hide the blood. "Smells nice." He hissed, "Now let me keep on sniffing it." Legolas sighed. How weird. Two twins. One with a face lift. The other with a face stuck in a cloak. Always works.
"Two plus two!" Celeborn squeaked with somewhat a bit of confidence, paused, and then clapped loudly, "FIVE!"
"No, not five!" Lindir snarled through the cloak, "Four!"
"Oh, right." Celeborn�s face fell, "Four." He looked about, "FIVE!" Legolas gulped. Could he sense both Haldir and himself, thus five? But no, the Lord pointed to the herald, "FIVE!"
"Very good, dear." Galadrial automatically replied and patted Celeborn�s hand, "Very good."
"Mmm." Celeborn moaned happily, and sank back into his throne, "Well, where is Greenleaf?"
"He fell out of the flet, my lord," Legolas dropped a bow and nearly pulled Lindir to his knees (the elf was still clutching to the cloak), "And has departed from us."
"Alas!" Galadrial gasped, "What awful fate is this?"
"He was an idiot, tripped and fell." Lindir muttered, "Pretty simple to me."
"And, pray, tell me," The Lady whispered, "Why are you holding Haldir�s cloak to your face?"
"It smells nice." Lindir mumbled, "Really?"
"Oh, can I smell too?" Galadrial began to rise, and Legolas shook his head furiously, "And why is that?"
"Um," Legolas thought quickly, "Lady, the scent of Urine du la Halfling is far too coarse for your fair senses!" Galadrial laughed lightly and Lindir yanked the cloak from his face, turning white.
"Alas, Lindir!" The Lady gasped, "What happened to you?!"
"I fell out of a flet and smashed into a tree." Lindir muttered, brining his own cloak to his face, "It�s nothing."
"Nothing?" She asked, almost innocently, "Of course not! And how could you have walked into a magnificent Mallorn?" Lindir dropped a bow, but did not speak. "Lindir, pray you, speak!"
"Aye, Lady," He faltered, and glared at Legolas, "I was not paying appropriate attention to where I walked."
"Then, what were you doing?" Galadrial tilted her head slightly, "Pondering something?"
"Aye, Lady," Lindir faltered again, "I was staring into fairness."
"And who is this, person of whom you speak?" The Lady leant forward, "Perhaps I have placed against her in the last Lady of the Woods competition."
"Nay, I speak of no lady." Lindir gulped, and bowed again, "But only my poor brother, Haldir."
"HALDIR?" Celeborn squeaked, "Ooh." And covered his eyes.
"It is only a passing thing, I assure you." Lindir sighed, "I thought there was something in it."
"Ah, something." Galadrial sighed, "Love? Romance? Enchantment?"
"Actually," Lindir cleared his throat, "A speck of dust."
"I have no dust in my eye." Legolas returned, "He spoke to me of Mirkwood."
"Alas!" Galadrial clutched at her heart dramatically and Lindir shot Legolas a dirty look, "The depths of the Great Forest! Dark, but once beautiful! It is a tortured love!"
"Oh no." Lindir covered his eyes, "What did I get myself into?"
"I had no idea that you would think of such a thing!" Galadrial warmed up to her role, "Alas, poor Greenleaf! I must send a message to his father!"
"He can�t read." Legolas stumbled quickly, "His eye sight fails him regularly."
"Ah, how thoughtful of you, Haldir!" Galadrial wiped at a tear, "I shall send him some spectacles."
"Mmm." Legolas bowed, "Then I shall thank you in place of Legolas Greenleaf, Elven prince of Mirkwood."
"Why," The Lady paused and looked at Legolas long and hard, "If you were not Lindir�s twin, I�d dare say you were the twin of the fair elven prince of whom we had spoke!" She sighed, "I shall draft a letter, expressing our sorrow and requesting for new goldfish to be sent to me."
"And I shall send it myself, on the wings of my fastest eagle, for I have known Greenleaf the short time he has spent here, and it would mean so much to me." Legolas bowed, hoping to intercept the letter before his daddy thought that he was dead and cut off funding to his Mithril ElvenCard. Lindir stared at him, mouth open.
"Ah, Lindir," Galadrial whispered, "What shocks you so? Your brother�s generous offer?"
"Aye, Lady," Lindir bowed, "It is far more than what I would have expected from him." He turned to Legolas, "Pray forgive me, brother, for I have wronged you."
"Ah," Legolas gave the other elf a big hug he thought was quite brotherly, "I have and would have never taken that to heart."
"Mmm." Lindir stared into the eyes of Legolas, "Gray. Definitely gray."
"Yes." Legolas pulled away and dropped his eyes, disturbed, and hissed, "Will you stop staring dreamily into my eyes?"
"I am not staring dreamily into your eyes, you idiot!" Lindir sneered back, "I�m just seeing what color they are!"
"Yeah right!" Legolas snarled bitterly, "You foul thing!"
"You idiotic contact-lens wearer!" Lindir growled, "Now those two idiots think I�m all starry-eyed over you!"
"You ARE!" Legolas glared and would have continued, but both elves looked up to find Galadrial and Celeborn bending over them, looks of confusion on their faces. Clearing his throat, Legolas whispered, "I humbly beg your leave, Lord and Lady for I must go see to my eagle." With a quick bow and before anyone could snatch him, Legolas sprinted away from them, leaving Lindir to face the wrath of the Lord Celeborn and the Lady Galadrial.
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Sirius rolled over onto his back with a yawn and felt all the things Adhara had braided into his fur crackle under his weight. She glared at him and rolled him back onto his stomach quickly, fixing the broken leaves. He growled, "Stop braiding things into me! I look like an Ent for Pete�s sakes!"
"Ah," She pulled him to her and sniffed at his fur, "But you smell pretty!"
"Smell like Greenleaf!" Sirius ran away before she could squeeze the living daylights out of him, and sprinted away from the flet, nearly colliding head-first with Legolas who was sprinting the other way. "Hey!"
"What?" Legolas looked down and saw the dog, "Oh, it�s you."
"Mmm." Sirius looked up, "Where are you going?"
"To Haldir�s tree." Legolas paused, "That�s where he would go, right?"
"I suppose." The dog sniffled, and easily picked his way through the Mallorn trees to the base of the right one, "Third flet to the left, I do believe." The elf motioned for the dog to follow, and he did. "How did the meeting go?"
"Oh just FINE!" Legolas spat, "Lindir spent it all drowning in my eyes, Celeborn trying to count, and Galadrial trying to piece a romance together. Awful, these Lorien elves!" He paused before walking onto Haldir�s flet which featured little more than a strung hammock and a carved and ornate trunk, "Wow. Where does he keep his bow? Might as well wreck the thing." He sat down on the hammock (which broke under the weight of the amour) and found himself quickly on the ground. Legolas grumbled.
"When are you going to appear as yourself again?" Sirius jumped onto the trunk and rubbed his back against the carvings, dislodging the leaves, "You�ll have to do that eventually. We are leaving to Mordor and unless you�d like to be Haldir forever . . ."
"Are you kidding me?" Legolas snarled, and looked at the dog, "I can unbraid that for you," Sirius tramped over and spread himself over the elf�s knees, "Mmm. What a mess." The elf began unpicking the many tangles of the dog�s coat, "I suppose that I will have to become un-dead some time, eh?" He paused. "What about the real Haldir?! He can�t wake up, now can he?!"
"Don�t worry," Sirius yawned, almost falling asleep, "Aragorn sent Boromir down for him. You could say that Haldir is having the time of his life right about now."
"Mmm." Legolas leant his back against the Mallorn and flicked away a wilted Mallorn leaf, "So this is the life of an elven captain. Dog sprawled over lap and fingers unbraiding."
"I suppose." The dog rolled over, but Legolas rolled him back, "Darn nab it."
"Well, you don�t see any unbraiding needed on the other side!" The elf quickly finished and sniffed at Sirius, "Wow. You smell awful." He grabbed what seemed to be a little bottle from his pocket and quickly spread it over the dog, "I almost left this behind when I changed to be Haldir, luckily I didn�t."
"Luckily?" Sirius�s eyes widened as he found himself smelling like lavenders, "Ugh."
"Don�t complain." The elf rapped a knuckle against his head, "You smell nice."
"Excuse me." Legolas looked up to find Lindir standing on the stairs, "The Lady requests your presence, with your . . ." He grinned evilly, "Eagle. She�s finished the letter."
"Very well, then," Legolas glared, and waved a fair hand, "You may go, brother."
"Yes." Lindir dropped a bow and continued up the stairs, presumably to his own flet. Legolas gulped and the dog bounded off his lap.
"Now what am I going to do?" Legolas began to pace, wringing his hands together, "Where am I going to find an eagle?"
"Right here." Sirius turned back into a human and the elf looked about nervously. He drew his wand and muttered something, "Aviso!"
"What?" The elf stuttered, but before Sirius could answer, he lost the ability to, and found himself transformed from a bundle of fur to a bundle of brown feathers, clutching a wand. Legolas glared at him, "You�re supposed to be a fine eagle, not a bunch of feather."
"Oh fine." Sirius snapped, and with a flick of his wand, became a brilliant bald that would have had Uncle Sam proud. Legolas grinned, "That�s more like it. Now let�s get out of here!"
Grabbing his cloak, the elf was about to step onto the staircase, but found that he couldn�t. His way was blocked. Lindir stood there, with a cunning smile on his face, hard to achievable for most elves. "My, my, my," He grinned, "What do we have here? A wizard-elf?" Legolas gulped. There was a lot of explaining to do.