Title: Bribery and Brothers
Fandom: The Silmarillion
Rating: K+
Length: 351 words
Content notes: N/A
Author notes: I've always felt that there should be more caring brother Caranthir fic.
Summary: Once, Maedhros was in charge of rounding his younger brothers up for baths. Then they all were older, and the roles changed.



Maedhros ran after his brother. “Carnistir! Get back here. You know you have to take a bath, or Amil won’t let you have any cake after supper.”

Caranthir darted behind a tree and laughed, causing Maedhros to groan. “Why did my siblings have to be the evil ones? Why couldn’t some of our cousins be so disagreeable?”

Caranthir laughed again at this. “You love us though!”

“Of course I do.” Maedhros suddenly ran forward, catching Caranthir as he made to run away again. “Now I have you, you little-”

“Problems?” Fëanor appeared from the doorway.

“No, Atar. Carnistir just didn’t want to wash up.”

“I see. Well, if you two hurry, I will see if I can find some fresh berries to go with the cake for desert.”

“Yes, Ata!” Caranthir darted up the stairs.

Fëanor’s mouth twitched upwards as he looked at Maedhros’ face. “You will find that bribery works better than anything else.”

“What? Oh. Yes. I suppose I should go after him.”

~

“Up, Nelyo. Can you just raise your head up enough for me to wash your hair?”

Maedhros moaned as he was pulled out of his sleep and stared up at his younger brother.

“Well, yes, I’m sure that you would prefer Canó here to help you wash you off, or our cousin, but they’re both busy. So you have me.” Caranthir looked down at his brother. “Since we both know that I don’t have the best bedside manner, let’s get this over with, and I’ll then go see if I can convince the servants to bring you some cake in addition to all this ‘healing’ food.”

Maedhros laughed.

“What?” Caranthir raised an eyebrow. “Did you decide you no longer like cake?”

“No, it was just something Atar said once.”

Caranthir paused. “Oh?”

“He said that I would eventually find that bribery worked better than anything else.” Maedhros smiled.

“Well, our father was the smartest elf in Valinor for a reason. Does that mean you’re going to raise up?” Caranthir said.

“Yes,” Maedhros said. “Moryo?”

“Yes, brother?”

“I’m glad it’s you here.”

Caranthir paused again, before smiling briefly.