-Disclaimer- All characters, etc. belong to Tolkien.
Departure
He blinked rapidly in the sunlight, waiting for his eyes to adjust from the cool dark of the forest. The summer sun baked the black asphalt so that if he looked up or down the road the landscape would ripple and wave at him. His palms were sweaty; he once more adjusted his hold on his suitcase.
He wasn't quite sure if the perspiration was because of the heat or his anxiety. Maybe it was both.
A shape appeared, glinting brightly, on the road a way down. It approached and he wondered if this was the thing he had been instructed to meet. He shifted his weight from one foot to the other, his face expressionless, and remembered quietly when this road had been made of dirt. When there had been no roads at all.
It was a car. He had been in them before and hadn't liked the experience at all; hurtling about in several tons of steel did not seem the safest idea to him. Especially with one of those reckless Peredhil behind the wheel.
He recognized the grin behind the wheel of this particular car (a red, sleek thing) with a pang of irony - Elrohir. He straightened his awkward, Mannish clothing and scolded himself for being so self-conscious. By now, he ought to be considered aged to perfection.
The tires skidded to a stop and it took a good bit of willpower to keep from jumping back. The window rolled down slowly, perhaps menacingly, and Elrohir's face appeared.
"Hop in, Orophin. What are you waiting for?"
Orophin sighed. It had been a long time since he had last left the confines of the wood, a long time. He had always prided himself on being good with languages, having lived with Men and Elves alike, and he responded in kind.
"I…cannot believe I am doing this."
Elrohir snorted, something very unbecoming of his stature and background. But then, mused Orophin, Elladan and Elrohir had been getting to know their mannish ancestry for the better part of the last millennium.
"Where is your brother?"
"Waiting for us back home- he couldn't tear himself away from the store even for you."
"Ah." Orophin realized two things: first, that he hadn't actually entered the car yet and second, that Elrohir had called their apartment home. He himself had not bestowed that title on any place since he had left Lothlorien. That was in the nature of an Elf; he supposed his friends' Númenorean forefathers had passed down a sense of fleeting life, for Men called many places "home" in their short years. Men had always been the more adaptable ones.
Orophin remembered how his brothers had persuaded him to come out of his stagnant routine, with help from the twins and a little gentle pushing from Lord Celeborn, who had offered him a place in his own country house. But Orophin had never liked to do things halfway, and if he was going out into the outside world, by Oromë, he was going to do it right.
Elrohir was looking at him with raised eyebrows. There was something of Elrond in his eyes. He blinked, it disappeared. "I know," he said, "It's a lot to get used to. But Men don't bite, in spite of what Elladan and I may have told you when you were an Elfling."
"Thanks," he said quickly, gritting his teeth and moving at last. He opened the door, tossed his suitcase inside, buckled his seatbelt tightly. The engine revved to life and the woods disappeared from view too quickly for Orophin's comfort.
(tbc)
Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed it, as I haven't done a chaptered story in quite a while and am rather nervous about doing another. : )
Orophin, if you'll remember, is the brother of Haldir and Rúmil. I don't believe Tolkien tells us who is the eldest, but I have put Oropin in the middle here.
Diminuendo- to die down; fade out.