Sweet Revenge

Orophin pouted.  “I don't see why I have to wear a costume.  I don't mind doing the rest, but why do I have to be dressed up?”  Rumil laughed in reply and stuck his tongue out.

“I told you I'd have my revenge.  If you don't like it, tough!  It's your fault we lost our jobs.”  Rumil handed Orophin a suit bag.  “Put it on.  Let's see how you look.”  Orophin took the proffered bag and stomped through to his bedroom.  He unzipped it and looked.  Inside the bag were a black dress and a white frilly apron.  Rumil wanted him to dress as a French maid. 

“You complete bastard!”  He exclaimed under his breath, but pulled the dress out of the bag nevertheless - well, he had promised Rumil he would do this.  And what exactly was it that Rumil wanted from his brother?  Rumil had made Orophin promise to be his slave for an entire day.  This was Rumil's punishment for Orophin having got them fired from Santa's Grotto.  At the time that Orophin had agreed to this, however, Rumil hadn't mentioned a costume…

Rumil sat in the living room, eagerly awaiting Orophin.  Rumil could barely contain his mirth when Orophin shuffled into the room, fully dressed as a French maid.  Orophin wore the black dress with the white apron.  Under the dress he wore white, frilly knickers and fishnet stockings.  Rumil had even managed to track down a pair of killer stiletto shoes, which Orophin walked upon, somewhat unsteadily.  Rumil thought that Orophin appeared to be quite comfortable in his attire and wondered if this was a punishment or a pleasure for his brother.  Orophin walked over to where Rumil sat and curtseyed before him.

"Happy, Rumil?"  Orophin asked.  Rumil nodded.

"If only Legolas could see you now, eh?"  Rumil chuckled, believing that his brother's lover would be shocked and surprised to see him dressed thusly.  Orophin blushed, knowing that Legolas would love him to be dressed like that and by this point, had Legolas been in the room, Orophin would have been fighting him off.  Orophin smiled to himself, recalling Legolas' reaction to the schoolgirl outfit.  He resolved to keep hold of this outfit for a few more days.  He was pulled back to reality when he noticed that Rumil was talking to him.

“I’m sorry, what?”

“I said, you can make a start on the kitchen.  After that, the living room needs a good dust and polish and the bathroom looks pretty grim too.  I’ll just sit here and read.  When you finish, let me know and I’ll think of something else for you to do.”  With that, Rumil flopped back on the sofa, put his feet on the coffee table and flipped through his book, finding where he’d left off.  Orophin stood there, his mouth hanging open.  Rumil glanced up.  “Is there a problem, Orophin?”  Orophin closed his mouth, shook his head and traipsed through to the kitchen where a sink full of dirty dishes awaited his attention.

Three hours of hard work later, Orophin sank down into one of the armchairs.  His hair – which had been neatly tied back prior to his cleaning frenzy – now had loosened and was flopping over his face.  His knuckles were red and his shoulders and arms ached.  He kicked off his shoes – which had started to hurt his feet ten minutes after putting them on – and massaged his crushed toes.  He sighed deeply.  Slowly, he became aware of eyes upon him.  He turned to see Rumil standing over him, lips pursed and his hands on his hips.  He looked quizzically at his brother.

“I take it you’re done with your chores?  Good.  I’d like some lunch now.  Nothing too fancy, just a sandwich.  Pastrami, humus and tomato on a wholemeal bap, please.”  Rumil looked pointedly at Orophin.

“Do we even have any of that stuff in?”  Orophin asked.  Rumil shrugged.  Orophin wandered through to the kitchen and raked in the fridge.  He called through to his brother, “Nope, no pastrami, no humus, no wholemeal baps but we do have some tomatoes, although I think they may have seen better days.  How ‘bout a fried egg sandwich?”  He heard Rumil huff behind him.  “Look, I agreed to be your slave for the day.  So far, I’ve scrubbed the kitchen from top to bottom.  I’ve dusted, polished and vacuumed the living room.  I have scraped the toothpaste off the bathroom mirror, unclogged the drain and mopped the bathroom floor.  I am willing to make you lunch but I will not under any circumstances leave the house dressed like this, so you can either accept an egg buttie or go hungry.”  He scowled at Rumil and Rumil pouted back.

“Eight slices of pastrami and a tub of humus, please.”  Orophin placed his order through gritted teeth, trying to ignore the sniggers of the shoppers behind him.  He paid for his order and threw them in the shopping bag alongside the rolls, tomatoes and half pound bar of Galaxy chocolate then turned on his stiletto heal and left the shop with as much dignity as he could muster.

“But you promised…”  He muttered to himself, mocking Rumil’s whining tone.  “You said you’d do anything…I really liked that job…call yourself a brother?”  A large woman with a pram crossed the road to avoid the strange male dressed as a French maid and talking to himself.  For the first time, Orophin was glad that Haldir no longer lived with them.  At least he was only making a fool of himself in front of one brother.  He let himself into the block of flats, ran up the stairs taking two at a time and opened the front door.  He heard voices.  “Oh no!”

“I wish I could have seen his face when you told him he had to go to the shop.  That would have been priceless.”  Shit – that was Haldir’s voice.

“Hah-hah!  I bet he looks great as a French maid.”  Oh merciful heavens!  Legolas too!

“Well I think it’s wicked and cruel and you ought to be ashamed of yourself.  You didn’t take any photographs, did you?”  What the…?  Who’s voice was that?  There was only one way to find out.

Orophin stood in the doorway watching three Elves turn red with raucous laughter.  Sure enough, there was Rumil in the centre of it all with Haldir and Legolas, but who was the other?  Orophin gasped when they all turned to look back at him.

“Dave?”  Orophin was amazed to see his brother’s former lover sitting in the living room.  “What…?  How…?  Eh…?”  Dave waved happily at Orophin, adding to the poor Elf’s confusion.  He glanced at Rumil then at Haldir, before returning his gaze to Dave.

“Orophin!”  Dave exclaimed.  “It’s good to see you again.  You look um, lovely!”  Dave sniggered behind his hand.

Haldir offered to make lunch and Rumil consented to allowing Orophin to change, but not before Legolas had made him swear to a private showing later that evening.  Over sandwiches and a few cans of Stella, Haldir and Dave told Orophin how they came to meet up again.  Orophin was still surprised but happy that they had been reunited.  Not only had they met up again, past mistakes appeared to have been forgiven and a new bond formed between Haldir and Dave.

“Actually, the reason I came around today was to invite you and Rumil to come and stay with me over the Christmas season.  I thought it would be nice to have the family together again for a few days.  Would you like to join us, Legolas?”  Haldir raised his eyebrows in Legolas’ direction.

“I’d love to, but I promised Dad we’d go and visit Elrond and his sons.  Elrond’s all miserable because Aragorn’s taking Arwen to Paris for Christmas and leaving the kids with him.  He wants us there to entertain them.”  Legolas looked glum.  “But I could come for New Year!”

Plans were made and agreed.  Haldir would pick Rumil and Orophin up on Christmas Eve and take them to the cottage where they would stay until the second of January.  Legolas would join them on Hogmany.  Rumil told Orophin his slave duties were over and he could have the rest of the day to himself, so he and Legolas quickly disappeared to the privacy of Orophin’s bedroom and his French maid’s outfit.  Haldir and Dave said their goodbyes with promises to see the others soon.  Rumil found himself alone and at a loose end.  So he did what he always did when he was bored.  He reached for his mobile ‘phone.

“Hi, Lauren?  Are you doing anything tonight?”

The end