Another World

Chapter 21

A/N: A huge thank you to everyone who had been kind enough to leave such wonderful reviews. I truly am touched by all the support and kind words that you guys have shown me :) So, thank you so much. Here is the next chapter - I hope you enjoy it :)

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Thranduil groaned as he opened his eyes, his mind feeling somewhat sluggish as he tried to wake from the thick sludge of alcohol-induced sleep. The incessant headache, as well as the far too bright light that filtered through the window, told the familiar tell-tale signs of a hangover. By the Valar, it had been a while since he had experience such a sensation! That was some potent stuff Carl had in his possession!

Thranduil blinked a few times to clear his head and finally sat up with caution, flinging aside the blanket Charlotte had draped over him during the night. Thankfully, Carl's 'whiskey' was not as inebriating as Dorwinion, and he was not suffering the severe after effects as much as he would have been if they had spent the day consuming the elvish wine. Still, his head felt as though a dull drum was beating an annoying and incessant tempo against his skull, ceaseless in its torment. Not to mention that his mouth felt as though it were stuffed with cotton.

Voices from the kitchen alerted him to the fact that he had slept in far later than usual - he had even out slept Charlotte, and that was saying something! Disappointment laced through him at the realisation that he had probably slept alone last night, and he recalled that he had been quite looking forward to sharing Charlotte's bed. Curse Carl's 'whiskey'!

Thranduil rubbed the last remnants of sleep from his face and stood. Dorwinion wine would have, without a doubt, left him in far worse shape, so he considered himself quite lucky that he was quite functional.

Thranduil made his way to the kitchen. Charlotte and Carl were sitting at the table, Charlotte nursing a cup of tea and Carl had a foul looking glass of thick red liquid sitting in front of him. Charlotte noticed his appearance first and gave him a warm smile that lit her face with a radiance that he felt drawn to each and every time. Thranduil returned her smile and came to sit down next to her, clasping her smaller hand in his own.

"So, Sleeping Beauty has finally woken up. Nice of you to join the land of the living," Carl muttered, his head clutched in his beefy hands, not bothering to look up at the elf.

"You woke up only fifteen minutes ago," Charlotte pointed out.

Carl gruffly muttered something unintelligible under his breath, his words too thick for Thranduil to make out, though he was certain that Carl, in his own way, was giving Charlotte a piece of his mind.

Charlotte grinned and took a sip of her tea. She turned her attention to Thranduil. "Want a cup?"

"Please," he replied, eager for a bit of rejuvenation that only a good cup of tea could offer at this very moment.

Charlotte went to prepare him some tea while Thranduil turned his attention back to the bedraggled man in front of him.

"Here, try this," Carl stated, sliding the glass of the thick red sludge towards Thranduil.

"Past experience has taught me to exercise caution with regards to what you now offer me to drink," Thranduil replied diplomatically.

Carl chuckled, the sound reverberating from deep within his chest. Finally, he dropped his hands from his head and stared back at Thranduil with puffy and tired looking eyes, though they gleamed with amusement.

Thranduil, curiosity getting the better of him, picked up the glass and raised it to eye-level, scrutinising the unappealing looking liquid within. "What is it?"