Title: Icicle Cream
Author: Khylea
Rating: G
Warning: Rampant mush and sweetness ahead. I would advise against reading if you're looking for a plot. Nothing to see here, move along, move along.
Timeline: The twins are still young. I'm not sure how quickly elves age, but I'm picturing them to be about the maturity of a human child of around six or so.
Characters: Elrond, Glorfindel, and the twins
Archive: Feel free, just drop me a URL where I can visit it please sl_chester@hotmail.com
Disclaimer: I do not own any of these characters, Mr. J.R.R. Tolkien and his estate does. But hey, I'm just letting them have some fun. Please be nice, okay?
Summary: First snowy day in Rivendell, the twins want icicle cream. (Told you there was no plot!)
Author's Notes: Okay, this little bit of silliness came out of a discussion I had with my friend Anais about how silly me and her father are in that we go to 31 flavors Ice cream and order vanilla. Which got me thinking about what flavors certain elves might like. Join me in a vanilla cone, anyone? :-)
Translations at the end.
"Ada! Ada! Wake up! Wake up!" Elrond sucked in a breath, rolling over to face his youngest, blinking blearily in the predawn darkness.
"Elrohir?" He sat up in bed, wearily rubbing the sleep from his eyes, stretching out the stiffness in his body. It had been a long night, spent feverishly trying to stabilize one of the older elves who had taken a misstep on a stair and fallen, hitting his head on the carved railing. Elrond had finally been able to satisfy himself that the elder was out of danger and had collapsed into bed not more than an hour before.
"Ada! Come on!" Elrohir insisted, grabbing his father's hand and pulling him off the bed, with surprising strength for one so small. Celebrian muttered something in her sleep and rolled over, used to her husband being roused from bed at all hours of the night by the various emergencies that seemed to plague Imladris. Elrond stumbled after his son, too exhausted to protest. "Hurry! Hurry Ada! You have to hurry before it's too late."
At the mention of the words "too late", the Elf Lord was abruptly at full alertness, hurrying his son down the hallway. Had someone been injured, or taken ill? His sons knew he often worked late into the night and would not wake him early unless there was a true emergency.
Elrohir pulled him down the stairs and out onto the veranda where they met Elladan and an equally bleary-eyed Glorfindel. The other Elf was running his hands through his tousled blond hair, yawning loudly. He had stayed up nearly as long as Elrond, helping with the injured Elf, and was in no better a mood. Elrond looked around, confused, seeing no one hurt or ill, and glanced over at his advisor. Glorfindel shrugged as the twins released the hands of their respective Elf-Lords and ran to the edge of the snow-covered veranda. They excitedly jumped up and down in the blanket of white, picking up clumps of snow and throwing them at each other.
"Elladan!" Glorfindel barked. "You had better have a better reason for dragging me out here in the middle of the night other than to see the snow."
Elladan stopped mid-toss, glancing nervously at the blonde Elf. "But Glorfy....it's the first snow of the season, isn't it wonderful?" He yelped as his brother hit him in the back of the head with a well-aimed snowball, and turned, throwing one of his own, which his twin ducked.
Elrond tried to hide his smile, crossing his arms over his chest and leaning against the doorframe. Now that he saw there was no emergency, he could see the humor in the situation and nearly laughed out loud at the glare on the other Elf Lord's face. He was not surprised that Elladan, as the older, and somewhat braver of his twin sons, had been the one to wake Glorfindel. His advisor had been able to convince most of the young elves of Rivendell, including Elrohir, that in addition to having slain a Balrog, he had also been known to kill an Elfling or two who had awakened him in the predawn hours.
Elrond nearly jumped out of his skin when Elrohir shrieked loudly and came running toward him with a long icicle, almost as long as he was tall. "Ada look!!!" He jumped up and down, nearly dropping his hold on the icicle. "Icicles!" He dropped the ice at his father's feet and ran after his brother, screaming "icicles" the whole way. Before long the two brothers returned, each carrying a large armful of icicles, broken off the railing of the veranda. "Can we make icicle cream, Ada? Can we, can we please?" Elrohir begged.
Elrond hid a smirk, glancing over at the still yawning Glorfindel. "All your fault, my friend." He said with a chuckle. "You are the one who showed them how to make icicle cream."
"A decision I shall regret til the end of my days." The blonde yawned around the words.
"Ada, we must hurry!" Elladan joined in the begging, pulling on his father's sleeping robe. He glanced at the rapidly lightening eastern sky, his already large eyes widening further. "Ada! Hurry, please! Before the icicles melt."
Elrond sighed, resigned. It was still early in the season, and though the nights often froze, once the sun rose, the ice would quickly melt. His sons would whine for days if he took too long and they missed their opportunity to make icicle cream.
Glorfindel saw the look on his friend's face and started to edge back into the house but Elrond caught the sleeve of his robe and stopped him. "Oh no, you don't. You are the one who showed them how to make icicle cream, you are NOT going back to bed while I stand out here and freeze with them."
Glorfindel glared at Elrond, but jumped when Elladan slipped his small hand inside the larger hand of his father's advisor. "Glorfy?" He said softly, his eyes huge as the elder glared down at him. "Glorfy, Elrohir and I found some vanilla root a few days ago. Ada helped us make some extract for you."
A slow smile spread over Glorfindel's face at the mention of vanilla, and before long, he was running to the kitchen, dragging the elder twin after him. Elrond laughed out loud when a few minutes later the two returned with everything needed to make icicle cream.
Elrohir had spent the time gathering more icicles until there was a large pile at his father's feet. Glorfindel dropped the icicle cream maker on the ground and quickly set to work combining the ingredients in the bowl, pouring salt in the outside and combining it with broken pieces of the icicles.
He stirred the first batch, adding in the nuts and berries that the twins preferred in their icicle cream, then scooped it into bowls for them when it had frozen. He wiped out the bowl and started on another batch, adding in only the vanilla extract for Elrond and himself. The twins kept making suggestions about what else he should add in, and by the time the second batch was set up, Glorfindel couldn't decide who he was more exasperated at, the twins for their insistence, or Elrond for laughing at him the whole time he made the icicle cream.
Finally the second batch was completed and he handed a bowl to Elrond, taking another for himself and starting to eat it slowly, savoring the flavor. The twins had bolted theirs down and left their bowls on the veranda, yawning and returning to bed now that the excitement of the snow was fading. The two elders continued to eat slowly, watching the sun rise. Finally Elrond spoke.
"We are getting old, Glorfindel."
His advisor turned toward him, raising a delicate eyebrow. "What makes you say that, mellon nin?"
"All the flavors of icicle cream we could have made, and what are we having? Plain vanilla."
Glorfindel chuckled softly. "If you must know, I have always preferred plain vanilla."
Elrond laughed, finishing up the last of his treat and collecting the bowls from where the twins had dropped them. He glanced out at the snow covered landscape, hearing Glorfindel picking up the icicle cream making bowl. When he turned back toward the house, the elder's back was to him, and with a wicked smile, he picked up a large handful of snow, quickly packing it and launching it at his advisor. It hit Glorfindel in the back and he quickly spun around, glaring daggers at his friend. "I see. Do not worry, my friend. I will remember this."
Elrond laughed, nudging his friend into the house, brushing the snow from his robe. "Just a little snow, Glorfy. Surely the mighty Balrog slayer is not afraid of a little snow."
Glorfindel's stare darkened further. "Do NOT start with me, Elrond Peredhil!"
"Glorfy! Glorfy! Glorfy!" Elrond teased, laughing at the glare from his friend.
"Rondy! Rondy! Rondy!" Glorfindel returned, using the name some of the youngest elves had taken to calling the Lord of Imladris. He laughed loudly at the glare Elrond gave him, pushing him down the hall to the kitchen.
They dropped the dishes on the table and looked out at the snow, which even now was beginning to melt as the first rays of sun hit it. After a minute, Glorfindel looked at his lord, a slight smile on his face. "Happy first snow, Elrond." He said softly.
Elrond smiled, turning to clasp the shoulder of his long time advisor. "To you as well, mellon nin." They turned back to the window, each lost in their own thoughts as the younger residents of Imladris tumbled out the door into the first snow of the season.
END
Translations of Elvish: Mellon nin (my friend), Ada (short for Adar, which means "father" so Ada would be the equivalent of "dad" or "daddy".)