Dorm grounds outside the stables - Morning

[thinkbetterofme.livejournal.com]

Despite Maladicta's suggestion to watch people meet their families, Faramir had ended up staying away. He knew that it was not simply a matter of giving others their privacy. Family was a strange thing and while he had come to like the island, he missed his family deeply, more so now that the matter seemed on everyone's minds.

Still, he would not sit around and mope. Like every morning, he had prepared Baru to go riding and now stood outside the stables, checking if the girth was secure.

[Mainly for the one who it is predictable to be here, even if Faramir doesn't know it yet. But open if you want to bump into them, either, someone entirely different. You know how this goes.]

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[gondors-finest.livejournal.com]

If there was anywhere he would find his little brother, it would be the stables. Or the library, but Boromir's first instinct was the stables, and he hoped he need not search through a dusty room full of books to find Faramir.

His wish was granted, and with a near smirk, Boromir forwent a more formal greeting to leap towards him and tackle Faramir to the ground. Baru would stand. He was well trained.

[thinkbetterofme.livejournal.com]

The horse did stand, but Faramir did struggle as he went down all too easily. He pushed at his assailant's shoulders and would almost have received a punch when Faramir finally did notice that he knew his attacker.

"Boromir!" The struggling stopped as he instantly hugged his brother tightly.

[gondors-finest.livejournal.com]

Boromir was laughing as he hugged Faramir back, pounding him on the back. "That was too easy, little brother. Almost like you weren't expecting me."

[thinkbetterofme.livejournal.com]

Faramir punched him on the shoulder. "And how would I be expecting you when I have heard no word of you since I came here?"

[gondors-finest.livejournal.com]

"Expect the unexpected!" he argued, wrestling him away from Baru's hooves.

[thinkbetterofme.livejournal.com]

"That is a way of living on this island," Faramir agreed. They rolled a safe distance away from the horse and Faramir tried to find leverage to turn them around and pin Boromir down.

They had done this often enough, and Faramir knew it would end in his brother's victory but it did not stop him from trying.

[gondors-finest.livejournal.com]

"Not so much different from home then," Boromir decided before turning his focus to wrestling in earnest. Faramir had been away for a good while, and play-fighting was one of the few ways Boromir could show how much he'd been missed.

[thinkbetterofme.livejournal.com]

"More than you'd think," Faramir had only barely time to respond before he was forced on the defensive.

The fighting went on for a while, until they were both sitting side by side in the grass. Boromir had won, naturally, but they were equally out of breath and Faramir was grinning. This was as it should be.

"Tell me, brother, how did you convince father to let you come here?"

[gondors-finest.livejournal.com]

Boromir rested his hands on his knees as he looked over the stable yard and castle behind it. Not a fortified building like Minas Tirith or even Osgiliath, but one he wouldn't wish to assault on a whim anyhow.

"What the eye doesn't see, the heart doesn't grieve for," he commented, not quite answering the question.

[thinkbetterofme.livejournal.com]

It was enough of an answer, one that explained it all and Faramir turned his thoughts away from his father.

"How are things in Gondor? And with the rangers?"

[gondors-finest.livejournal.com]

Even if the situation in their land had been precarious, Boromir wouldn't tell his brother. Faramir needed this time away from their father, time to become the man he was meant to be. "They are as they were," he said. "Your men miss their leader, but the sargeant-at-arms has them well in hand. I've some letters for you to respond to when there's time."

[thinkbetterofme.livejournal.com]

Yet, he knew all too well how they were and knew it would not be getting better. The knowledge would not help matters however, and Faramir decided that he should take what had been given him.

"There should be time," he agreed. "It will be good to read something without having to decipher it! They speak our language here, but their script is very different. It is maddening having a library with the knowledge of several worlds at hand and being unable to read any of it!"

[gondors-finest.livejournal.com]

The comment set Boromir laughing as he clapped his brother on the back. "Yes, one would think that torture for you, brother!"

[thinkbetterofme.livejournal.com]

His response was no different than Faramir had expected and he laughed with him, shaking his head.

"Yet, you would be fascinated too, brother. They have technology here, a flick of a switch and you have light without fire. There are showers with hot water without needing anyone to gather it or heat it. Or small devices that let you talk to someone who is miles away."

[gondors-finest.livejournal.com]

"I am fascinated already," he admitted, shaking his head at the wonders Faramir described. "Is it some wizard's magic? An experiment of ones like those at Isengard?"

[thinkbetterofme.livejournal.com]

"No, nothing like that, though there are people here who do know magic," he said. "It is science, which should mean that if I could figure out how it works, the knowledge might be of use to Gondor. They even have vehicles that allow them to fly great distances!"

[gondors-finest.livejournal.com]

Boromir looked intrigued at the pronouncement. "That would be of use to Gondor indeed. Even if they just could carry messages faster than a horseman, it would be a great blessing in our fight."

[thinkbetterofme.livejournal.com]

Faramir nodded eagerly. "My thoughts exactly, and they are just some of the things that everyone here takes for granted. This is a marvellous world, brother. There is so much to learn here that could aide us in our fight."

[gondors-finest.livejournal.com]

"That must be another reason you're here then," he said. "To learn about these things and decide which we can use wisely."

[thinkbetterofme.livejournal.com]

The both knew why he was there, but Faramir did not point it out.

"I will try my best. It is getting a little easier to read the script now," he said. "Writing is a different matter all together."

He sighed and leaned his head back, closing his eyes briefly. "You would like it here, I think. Though, their ale isn't all that good."

[gondors-finest.livejournal.com]

"Poor ale?" Boromir sounded horrified. "Forget the marvelous part of this world. It's a horrible place."

[thinkbetterofme.livejournal.com]

Faramir laughed. "The wine was very good, and they seem to have lots of different drinks. Though, I do not recommend their wine coolers."

[gondors-finest.livejournal.com]

"The wine may make up for it a little then," he decided reluctantly. Then a little smirk crossed his face. "I want to hear the story of the wine coolers, brother."

[thinkbetterofme.livejournal.com]

"There is no story, you're mistaking me for my older brother," Faramir teased. "Maladicta told me it was a popular drink and she wanted to try them so we each other one. It's a drink combined with one kind of fruit. I tried apple, but it tasted rather vile."

Little did he know that Quinn had told her wine coolers were a way to lay claim on someone for that evening.

[gondors-finest.livejournal.com]

"Maladicta, hmm?" he asked, smirkingly. "Keep talking, little brother."

[thinkbetterofme.livejournal.com]

"It is not what you think," Faramir assured him, not that it made matters any clearer.

"She is not like any woman we know in Middle-earth," continued, reluctant to have to explain what vampires were as he did not wish for his brother to become wary. "She has strength and speed in battle that we could not even imagine. She can stop a blade with her bare hands. Not everyone here is as you and I, brother. Even if we would not know it looking at them."

[gondors-finest.livejournal.com]

"Very few in Gondor are as you and I, brother," Boromir pointed out. "I did not expect it to be different here. Though -" he grinned just a little sheepishly "-I did not expect to be told a woman would best both sons of Gondor in a battle either."

[thinkbetterofme.livejournal.com]

"Neither did I," Faramir admitted. "It makes me wonder if we should not fear the shieldmaidens of Rohan more."

[gondors-finest.livejournal.com]

A smug grin crossed Boromir's face. "I can think of better things to do with the shieldmaidens of Rohan than fear them," he said.

[thinkbetterofme.livejournal.com]

Faramir groaned and punched Boromir's shoulder. "Do try not to offend all women I know here."

[gondors-finest.livejournal.com]

"If they offend that easily, they're not worth it anyhow," he pointed out, punching Faramir back.

[thinkbetterofme.livejournal.com]

"Should I warn you that both my tutors are women? One teaches military tactics and the other has led a rebellion. It might turn out dangerous to offend them," he warned.

[gondors-finest.livejournal.com]

He looked both surprised and disbelieving. "You're learning military tactics from a woman."

[thinkbetterofme.livejournal.com]

"I am," he nodded, "and from what I can tell she has much experience in it. She seems tough, battle hardened, if you must."