Elrohir slipped quietly into the bedchamber, his thoughts awhirl. He did not need the flash of silver eyes in the darkened room to tell him that Elladan was awake, likely musing on his own conversation with Elrond. Pulling on his sleep pants with unusual haste, Elrohir crawled into the bed they had shared for as long as either could remember. He drew a deep breath. �Well, I�m back,� he said.
Elladan turned his head to meet his brother�s eyes as the unnecessary remark died away, an awkward silence stretching between them for the first time in their lives. �Are you alright?� he asked, cursing the inane question as it left his lips. �Ada...did he...he said we...�
Elrohir nodded quickly, as though anxious to halt the stumbling words. �I am well. I fancy he told me nothing he did not share with you first. Why did he not speak with us together, as he always has?�
There was a curiously heavy pause, then Elladan replied, �Likely he thought it best to give us each his full attention for such an...announcement.�
Elrohir mimicked his brother�s pose, rolling to his back and tucking his arms underneath his pillow, as he shifted his eyes to the safety of the intricately carved ceiling beams. �Only...only that was unexpected,� he said slowly, avoiding Elladan�s unreadable gaze. �He need not have delved so deeply and in such detail otherwise. It is not as though we had no idea how...how things work. We have trained with the warriors, after all.�
Elladan nodded silently, though Elrohir still refused to look at him.
�And Ada himself tried to explain decades ago how we might go about easing our own...�
A snort of pure amusement ended the elf-knight�s rambling. �Do you remember, �Roh, how he flushed?� Elladan asked. �We had not the heart to tell him that we had figured it out for ourselves.�
Encouraged by his twin�s good humor, Elrohir chuckled. �He meant well, though.�
�He no doubt meant well tonight, too.�
There was a long pause, then Elrohir spoke suddenly into the strained silence. �Is there someone you fancy, �Dan?�
�Why?�
Elrohir shrugged. �I only wondered. Is there someone you think of when...� His cheeks coloring fiercely, he let the question fade away.
�Liniel is very fair,� the elder twin answered cautiously.
�A maid, then?� Elrohir said lightly, confused by the stabbing ache that bloomed in his own chest.
�Only because Glorfindel is taken,� Elladan joked, hoping to ease the tension that seemed to crackle between them. There was no answering jibe, and the elder twin rolled to face his brother, all awkwardness forgotten in his concern.
The moonlight silvered Elrohir�s skin and touched his ebony hair with hints of blue, making him seem more a sculpture of flawless marble than a living elf. But it was the pained gleam in his dark eyes that drew the words from Elladan�s heart. �Though neither is as fair as you, t�ren.� Elladan pressed his cheek to Elrohir�s briefly, then rolled back to his own pillow. �And you?� he asked, surprised by the dread with which he awaited the answer. �Is there someone you think of, some other hand you envision?�
Elrohir risked a glance at his brother, the urge to reply in jest dying as he met Elladan�s eyes. �I have no need to conjure up a fantasy,� he said quietly. �You are there.�
