{Video; UN: elvenking}

[tauraran]

{He is a king without his elegant trappings - but, really, he doesn't need them. The robe he wears catches the light with the smallest of motions, glittering faintly as if precious jewels are woven in the fabric. His hair is bound into a single thick braid that lays against his back and his circlet is elsewhere - as are his rings.}

How many parents reside in Lunatia? Are you separated from your children if so? {The flickering light on the table before him is all the illumination he requires as he works on a sketch. The drawing depicts trees and a variety of animal life beneath their mighty boughs.}

My fear for my son increases by the day and I have found no relief for it. I hardly realized how helpless I could feel as a father.

{His attention shifts from the sketch of the forest to a second sketch of a face much like his own - yet different enough that it must be his son.}

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[tauraran]

{Eru must have a grand plan for them - or so Thranduil presumes. He takes note of the differences, however it is their similarities that intrigue him most.

For a moment, his eyes are unfocused - his mind is elsewhere. Then he breathes out.}

I will be parted from mine for longer. {Much longer after Legolas Sails.}

Is there no way to soothe it?

[hymnals]

[Adra observes the shifts in this man's expression carefully; the sudden leave of absence from the current moment, the quiet return.

He spreads his hands in front of him, his own tone somber.]

Distractions help. Besides that, I try to keep in mind that time here passes differently than time at home. That alone consoles me with regard to his safety, even if it doesn't stop me missing him.

[For it was a dire world he left behind, and dire circumstances.]

[tauraran]

{Dire is a word he would use to describe Middle Earth too. Actually, all of Arda will be at stake if the Enemy returns to his full might.}

What distractions do you favor? {There isn't any wine strong enough for his tastes and until he can afford a larger residence, his apartment feels...confining.} He and I did not part on good terms. There is much more that I would have said had I known...

[hymnals]

[He's at home right now, engaged in one such frequent distraction--baking. There are glass bowls with melting butter in them near him, as well as an orange, half sliced, on the cutting board.]

Oh, ah ... Cooking and baking, making ink, working on my herbarium, caring for my garden. That sort of thing. Little tasks to occupy the mind and the hands.

[He clears his throat, the tips of his long ears reddening. He was never very good at talking about himself. When it came to others, however -- ]

It's difficult to leave family, and even more so when there are feelings left unsaid. I know you it may be hard to think of it now, but I believe you'll see him again.

[tauraran]

{The idea of Thranduil covered in flour in a kitchen is rather hilarious. But he admits that there are activities he could do instead of giving himself an ulcer about Legolas. Can Elves even have stomach aches? Probably not. Even so, being this stressed isn't good for him.}

You have a garden? I do miss my forest. {Keenly.} Is there a place I could go to walk under trees again?

{The rush of color stands out so boldly against the other Elf's hair and Thranduil can't help smiling.}

Perhaps. I have no intention of dying and I do not believe he will either.

[hymnals]

I do, on the roof of my building. It had many caretakers once, but these days it's mostly just me.

[People come and go, here. After a year's stay, he's used to it, so there's only a little bit of melancholy to his tone--and he brightens as he answers the next question, nodding.]

But I spend quite a bit of time cataloging the plants in the Greatmoon Groves--you'll find plenty of trees and other flora there. It's my favorite place in the city.

[He smiles back; always one to offer warmth for warmth (though he's a bit sheepish, being fully aware of how easily he blushes).]

I shall pray for your reunion, and for your hearts to know each other when they meet again.

[tauraran]

Would you mind if I visited? {He understands plants and knows how to care for them. Dirtying his hands might do him good.}

Yes, I was invited to the Groves recently. I must say I would rather reside there than in an apartment.

{Or in the city if he is being honest. There are far too many foul sounds and smells.

The offer is kind enough to break through his thoughts about their temporary home and his voice softens.}

He will Sail before I do and we will be reunited on Valinor. But the years will be long until then.

[hymnals]

I'd be glad for the company. And any help with the weeds, besides.

[He adds that second remark with a little smile. He is not a man of great stamina, and though he minds the garden competently, the work is never as efficient as he might like.

A pause, and then he adds--]

Can I ask what you mean by saying that he'll 'sail'? What is Valinor?

[He'd noticed the peculiar emphasis.]

[tauraran]

The weeds are not difficult for me to remove.

{More of a nuisance than a competition between arm strength and root strength. While Thranduil does like to leave nature wild, he understands that some plants choke the life around them.}

Valinor is the place where my kind first woke. It is an island and only those that are blessed by the Valar will be able to find it.

[hymnals]

Then I'd be grateful.

[He makes a 'hmm' noise of acknowledgment as Thranduil explains.]

I see--and you'll return there, eventually?

[tauraran]

Inevitably. {They are stars that orbit about their "sun", which is Valinor.} There we will reside until the end of days.