An Atypical Night in Rivendell

Aranel Carnilino and Airra; 2007

Elrohir jolted upright, panting. All in an instant, he realized it had been a nightmare and heaved a huge sigh of relief. He glanced furtively from side to side, fluffing his pillow and nestling into his blankets again. As the rustling of these actions faded into silence, though, something else rose to the surface.

Who was snoring?! Estel. Estel had caught a cold the day before, and he snored something awful when he was sick.

Drat, of all the nights to keep me awake. Being none too polite when his sleep hung in the balance, Elrohir snatched up a hard roll pillow and lobbed it forcefully at his adopted brother's sleeping form. There came a satisfying moan that put a wicked grin on the twin's face. He grabbed for a matching pillow and tossed it gently at Elladan.

No need for me to get blamed for that. He smiled and turned over, ready to sleep, then realized he was out of pillows.

"Perfect," he muttered under his breath. He turned back and tried to snatch one of Elladan's pillows. Elladan, however, had excellent reflexes, even when asleep, and grabbed Elrohir's wrist without waking. Elrohir tried to retrieve his arm, but Elladan's grip just tightened.

"Elladan, let go!" Elrohir whispered loudly. "It's me!" His brother didn't respond. "You would sleep though an earthquake, landslide, flood, and attack without ever knowing."

Finally, after receiving a large punch to the nose, Elladan roused angrily. "What was that for?"

"You're grabbing my wrist, genius. Let go."

"Oh, sorry. I think I was dreaming that Ada was in here trying to steal my pillows."

"Hmm... I wonder what might have caused that dream. Anyway, now we'll never get back to sleep. Estel's snoring like a goblin with a bone caught in its throat."

"Well, we can take care of that," stated Elladan. He slid out of bed, grabbing a small towel from near the washbasin and balling it up. Then he moved toward Estel and, with a grin even Elrohir couldn't mistake in the darkness, opened Estel's mouth and shoved the rag in.

"There, that'll fix it."

"Good, now we can get some sleep."

"MMMMMMMMMM!" came Estel's muffled yell as he woke to find a towel in his mouth.

"What was that? I couldn't understand you!" Elladan replied, laughing.

Pulling the towel out of his mouth, Estel dove at Elladan, knocking him to the floor.

"Not fair!" Elrohir shouted as he threw himself at Estel. Elrohir's timing, however, was particularly bad. Just as he shoved Estel off of Elladan, Elladan, who was still seeing stars from the fall, sent a punch intended for Estel. The punch landed just below Elrohir's eye. Elrohir immediately changed his strategy and began attempting to pin Elladan. Estel leapt at the twins, temporarily flattening Elrohir. The three proceeded to pummel each other, though more out of fun than spite.

"By the Valar!" yelled a stern and very impatient voice. A lantern illuminated the room. "Do you inconsiderate imps even realize that you have woken the entire household?!"

Elladan was the first to stop. "Uh... I'm sorry, Ada. It was Estel. I was sleeping peacefully when he yelled something about you being ugly. I jumped up and attacked him to defend your honor. You should be proud of me!"

Estel's eyes flashed with anger. "What are you talking about? I was asleep when—"

"Denial!" yelled Elladan, cutting him off.

"Yeah! He's just denying the facts!" Elrohir yelled from under Estel.

Estel picked himself up an inch or two and dropped back onto Elrohir's stomach, knocking the wind out of the unfortunate elf. Elladan, seeing his twin in distress, launched himself at Estel.

"Listen to me when I'm speaking to you!" Elrond yelled at his uncooperative sons, who were rolling on the floor trying to kill each other.

A wayward pillow suddenly flew up and struck Elrond in the face. "That's it!" he bellowed indignantly. "You will stop this instant!"

The brawling boys paid no attention. Elrond hated being completely ignored, especially by subordinates. It made him doubt his significance. He decided that desperate times called for desperate measures.

"All right, if that's the way you want it!" Abandoning his dignity, he ran forward and leapt at the pile, attempting to separate the boys. "Arghhhhh... this is not fitting behavior...cease and desist! Now... or no allowances for eight months!"

"Elrond is cheating!" Elladan yelled indignantly as he kicked his father in the face. Elrohir and Estel, who had been busy strangling each other, turned to come to Elladan's aide. Estel jumped on Elrond's back as Elrohir dived at his knees. Elrond crumpled and fell to the floor on top of an unfortunate Elrohir. Estel and Elladan wasted no time in taking advantage of the opportunity by placing themselves squarely on top of Elrond and shaking hands smugly.

"No allowance for a year! Two years! Fifty years!" Elrond continued his threats from under the boys.

"Help!" Elrohir moaned, gasping for breath, "You guys weigh a ton—apiece!"

"A hundred years! A thousand years!"

"And just how do you intend to enforce that, Ada?" asked Estel. "I won't even live that long!"

"Then it's for the rest of your life!" came the muffled reply.

The boys snickered. "Well, in that case, we'll just have to hold him for ransom."

"How much should it be?" queried Estel.

"Oh, say a lifetime's allowance for you, a thousand year allowance for me, and all the chores for Elrohir."

"Hey, no fair!" Elrohir protested. "I'm the one who knocked him down!"

"You're also the one on the bottom," Elladan pointed out.

"Some brothers you are," muttered Elrohir, making a vain attempt to kick Elladan and Estel.

"If you think you're going to get away with this… you'll… you'll both be grounded for life!" Elrond fumed.

"Hey, what about Elrohir; he's the one who knocked you down!" Estel shot back.

"I'm also the one on the bottom!" Elrohir added quickly. "If I were on top, I'd let you up!"

"Well, what do you say to that, Ada?" asked Elladan, referring to his previous bargain. "1,000 years allowance for me (at least) and a lifetime's for Estel."

"Whatever, whatever!" moaned Elrond, quite smashed and desperate. He never intended to keep his word, of course.

"No, wait!" cried Estel. "Don't let him up until you're sure he means it."

"Estel, go get paper; I'll keep Elrond down," Elladan said, thinking fast. Estel slid off the pile, getting tripped by Elrohir in the process, and hurried out the door to find a scroll. Elrond quickly took advantage of the situation and rolled over, landing hard on top of Elladan.

"Ha!" Elrond yelled. "That's what you get for trying to threaten your father! You are all grounded for the next 5,000 years!" Then he stood, brushed himself off, and left the room, looking as dignified as possible.

The twins glanced at each other, then stole Estel's pillows and went back to bed. A few minutes later, they were fast asleep once more.

"Guys?" Estel came running in. "I found a scroll!"

A pillow hit his head, and Elrohir muttered something in his sleep.

Estel dropped the scroll and crossed his arms, affronted. Then he noticed the twins had stolen all his pillows. "Hey!"

The End