A/N: Loosely inspired by a lovely old piece by an FFN comedic genius named Erestor called "Looking for Work." I recommend all of Erestor's works, coincidentally; they are always good for a laugh. Also written somewhat in reminiscence of winter and snow...it's high summer where I am. Enjoy!
"The first fall of snow is not only an event, it is a magical event. You go to bed in one kind of a world and wake up in another quite different, and if this is not enchantment then where is it to be found?"
- J.B. Priestley
o..o..o..o..o
Lindir was jolted from reverie one freezing winter morning to the squeals of two young boys as they galloped down the hall outside Lindir's room. Muttering under his breath about inexcusable excitability, Lindir burrowed deeper into the thick comforters he liked to have on his bed, wished fires didn't die, and tried reenter reverie. However, it wasn't long before two pairs of elven feet galloped back the other way, with the same excited, high-pitched voices ringing through the otherwise-silent hallway. Lindir groaned as he recognized a favorite tactic of the twins: the two boys would run up and down the hallways of Imladris in the early morning when they wanted something, and would not stop until they got it or were diverted in some manner. Imladris, in fact, was on a rotational schedule as to who had to get up and occupy the twins until breakfast in order to allow every one else a little more reverie in the morning.
Lindir thought back to the large piece of parchment that hung on a wall in the dining hall. Let me see, he thought sleepily. Two days ago it was Ivorwen who looked after Elladan and Elrohir, so that makes it…oh, Valar save me. My turn.
Lindir groaned and threw aside his covers, and was instantly wide awake when he felt the frigid air of his room on his erstwhile warm body. The elf had no choice but to get up and keep the twins quiet; if he did not do so, as Hwindes had found out not long ago, an unpleasant surprise would most likely find him soon, courtesy of some other disgruntled elf whose own morning rest had been disrupted. For Hwindes it had been a bucket of water rigged so that when she stepped out of her room it fell on her and drenched her with liquid. As it was the middle of winter, Lindir didn't really want to meet the same fate. It was better to take his turn at occupying the twins.
Lindir hastily pulled a tunic, shirt, and breeches on, then opened the door to his room just as the young twins galloped by again. Elladan and Elrohir, interpreting this action correctly as "I am the unfortunate person who is supposed to look after you while everyone else in Imladris gets to rest, so if you want to be entertained, you had better come in here now before I go back to bed and leave you to your galloping, and Valar take the consequences of such an action," dashed into Lindir's room.
Lindir was making his bed neatly, the way he did every morning, and the twins fidgeted impatiently from foot to foot as they waited for the older elf to be done. When the pillow had been fluffed to Lindir's satisfaction, he turned to the young elflings and knelt so that he could be on their level.
The two boys were still in their nightgowns, and each worried at a thumb as they stared at Lindir. The minstrel squinted slightly under their steady gazes, trying to decide which twin was which, then gave up and said, "Now, Elrohir, what is this all about?"
Elrohir pulled his thumb out of his mouth. "Snow!" The second the one-word sentence was uttered, the thumb popped back in.
"Snow?" asked Lindir, acting surprised. "Are you certain? It does not usually snow in the middle of summer!"
The twins giggled around their thumbs, as Lindir had expected them to. "No, no, widder!" piped Elladan.
"Ah, yes, that is correct. It is winter," said Lindir, standing to gaze out of his window. As Elrohir had told him, there was a thick blanket of snow covering the grove of trees outside where there hadn't been one the day before. Blankets… thought Lindir longingly, then pushed that thought aside and turned back to the twins.
"There is indeed quite a good deal of fresh snow on the ground," said Lindir reluctantly. He knew what came next. "I suppose the two of you wish to go play in it?"
"YES!" shrieked the twins excitedly. Lindir covered his ears, wincing, then put a finger to his lips.
"Sorry," whispered Elrohir. Elladan nodded guiltily.
"We must be quiet so we do not wake everyone else, lads," said Lindir. The boys nodded in agreement, then put their own fingers to their lips in imitation of Lindir.
"That is better," said Lindir, holding out his hands to the twins. "Well, if we are to go outside, you two must be dressed in something much warmer."
Elladan and Elrohir each gripped one of Lindir's pointer fingers in their much smaller hands, and together the three elves made their way down the hallway to the room the twins shared. Once inside, Lindir helped the twins dress in thick long-sleeved shirts, warm boots, and breeches, and order their already-long dark hair. Once this was done, Lindir stood and shook his head at the expectant looks of the elflings.
"You must eat something before we go outdoors to play," he told them. The little faces of the two boys had puckered when Lindir had shaken his head, and when the countenances of the children smoothed out again as they accepted Lindir's explanation, the older elf gave a sigh of relief. If Elladan and Elrohir had started to cry, that would have been the end of it; the whole of Imladris would have been awake in no time.
Elrohir opened the door for his brother and Lindir, then trotted down the hall after Elladan as Lindir followed. The elflings made directly for the kitchens, where they knew from experience they could find at least a couple of buns, which were enough to keep them energized until the other residents of Imladris were awake and it was properly breakfast time.
Inside the kitchens, fifteen or twenty of the earliest risers of Imladris were busy kneading bread dough, boiling water, slicing fruit, carrying things into the dining room, and doing various other things that entailed making breakfast for the many citizens of Imladris. Lindir stopped at the door, uncertain how to navigate the roomful of bustling elves, but Elladan and Elrohir darted straight through the mayhem, making for an elf Lindir recognized as the overseer of the kitchens. The good lady was inspecting the dwindling store of winter apples, slicing them up, and dropping the segments into a large china bowl that stood beside her, already half-full of apples. A small mound of fruit sat on her other side.
The twins safely reached the fruit-slicing elf, then tugged on her apron until she noticed them and looked down. The cacophony of the kitchen kept Lindir from properly hearing the little voices of the two young boys, but the kitchen's overseer apparently heard, for she laughed and called out to a passing worker, "Three buns for the early birds!"
A moment later, Elladan, with a bun in each hand, scampered back across the busy kitchen to Lindir, then held out one of the buns to the older elf. Elrohir followed a moment later, one hand clutching his own bun, and the other filled with apple slices. Lindir accepted the bread from Elladan, then mouthed a "thank you" to the woman, who had watched the twins' progress across the kitchen with fond eyes. She nodded once to Lindir with a smile, then turned back to her pile of apples, calling out brisk instructions to other workers as she did so.
Lindir shepherded the twins out of the kitchens and into the hallway beyond with one hand as he bit into the bun with the other. It was still warm, flavored with cinnamon and studded with raisins, and made him feel better about having to get up early and play with the twins in the frigid winter air outside.
Elladan and Elrohir plopped down on a stone bench tucked into a little nook a bit further down the hall, and Lindir sat down next to Elrohir, who doled out the apple slices he held with solemn equality. The twins wolfed down their buns and apple slices, then stared at Lindir with impatient gray eyes as he slowly finished his own breakfast, savoring every bite of the warm bun and crisp apples.
Once the last bite had been carefully eaten, Lindir surveyed the eager elflings with scarcely concealed amusement. "Well, shall we?" he asked.
The twins nodded happily, then leaped to their feet as Lindir also stood. The moment Lindir was on his feet, Elladan took off down the hallway with Elrohir hot on his heels. Lindir grinned and began to jog after the boys, his long legs easily keeping pace with their much shorter strides.
Elladan and Elrohir obviously knew where they were going; they turned multiple corners without hesitation and ended up at two large double doors that, Lindir knew, led out onto a meadow, surrounded by trees through which the Hall of Fire could vaguely be seen. Elrohir and Elladan arrived at the doors first, and teamed up to try and push one open. However, it took the combined efforts of Lindir, Elladan, and Elrohir to open the door. As they did so, a blast of icy wind burst through the growing gap between the door and the outdoors, making Lindir's eyes water.
Lindir reached up with one hand to wipe the tears away and forged on ahead with the other, pushing the door open so suddenly that Lindir felt the loss of pressure as Elrohir and Elladan tumbled head first into the snow. Lindir reached the snow himself a moment later, a cold presence that rose just shy of the middle of his thighs.
Once Lindir could see again, he blinked at the sheer quantity of the deep - "Snow!" squeaked a muffled voice from somewhere in the substance.
"No jest," muttered Lindir, impressed. Imladris rarely got this much snow, even in the heart of winter. Snow was actually still falling, just a light sprinkling of flakes that made everything look even more ethereal than it already did.
Elrohir's head popped out of the snow, only to immediately disappear within it again as the jumping elfling dropped back to the ground. A moment later there came a giggle, and then Elladan's head appeared and disappeared alongside his brother's as the twins jumped in tandem. Lindir smiled and reached down with both arms to pull Elladan to the top of the snow so that the young elf could stand without having to hop to see where he was going. Elrohir was next.
"Ooh!" gasped Elladan, staring up at the sky. "'Old!" said Elrohir. Lindir frowned. He still had trouble deciphering the twins at times. A second or two passed as Lindir swapped consonants, trying to find the word Elrohir had meant, then decided the young elf had meant to say "cold."
"Yes," said Lindir. "The snow is cold."
This statement got him a confused look from both twins. Lindir elaborated. "This," he said, gesturing at the snowflakes that continued to fall to the ground, "is snow."
The twins shook their heads, then pointed at the snow on the ground already. "Snow!" piped Elladan. Elrohir motioned to the snowflakes, then said, "'Old!"
"No," corrected Lindir. "It is all snow. The flakes merely joined together to form this."
Elladan and Elrohir frowned as they tried to wrap their young brains around the concept, then pointed up at the sky as one. "'Old!" they chorused.
Lindir laughed resignedly. "Very well, twins. Cold."
Elladan and Elrohir grinned at having won the argument. To distract them from their victory, Lindir asked, "Can you catch one?"
The twins immediately began jumping for the snowflakes that continued to fall. However, since the snow melted the second it touched their warm hands, whenever the boys thought they had caught a flake, they brought their hands down to peer at it and were disappointed to see only a very small drop of water. They were becoming increasingly frustrated when Lindir knelt and held out one long forefinger just in time to clearly catch a snowflake on the tip.
"Ooh!" said Elrohir, who had paused in time to see the action. Elladan stopped leaping as well as Lindir reached over and caught another snowflake that was falling right in front of Elrohir's nose.
Elladan grinned. "Lin'ir caschd 'old!"
"Yes, I caught a cold," said Lindir, enunciating clearly to help the twins learn, then grinned at the play on words, introduced to Imladris by the occasional mortal. Elladan resumed jumping, this time in excitement, and purposefully fell through the snow, with Elrohir following a minute later. Elladan's head popped out of the snow, only to immediately disappear within it again as the jumping elfling dropped back to the ground. A moment later there came a giggle, and then Elrohir's head appeared and disappeared alongside his brother's as the twins jumped in tandem.
Lindir smiled at the scene as Elladan and Elrohir grew more and more excited at their new game and added loud cries of "Hop! Hop! Hop!"
The next time the heads of the elflings appeared above the snow, Lindir jumped into the snow with them, shouting "Hop!" just as the twins did. The boys laughed to see their friend acting so undignified, and continued their game. After a while, instead of just jumping in place, Lindir hopped forward, continuing his cry of "Hop!"
Judging by the sound of their voices, which were breathless with giggles, the twins followed Lindir as the minstrel traced the form of a figure eight through the freshly fallen snow. Suddenly, though, Lindir tripped and sprawled, face first, in the snow. The cause of the mishap was evident by the two warm weights on Lindir's back and the corresponding giggles in each ear.
"Oh, no," Lindir groaned, only half-mockingly. "I have been bested by two snowmen!"
The giggles increased, and then both elflings piped as one, "No, Lin'ir, we's d'ins!"
"Twin snowmen!" gasped Lindir, horrified. Elladan and Elrohir both fell from the minstrel's back in their ensuing laughter. Lindir also couldn't help but chuckle at the antics of the elflings as he pushed himself to his knees in the absence of the weight on his back, then stood once more.
"Do you know what I do to little boys who tackle me in the snow?" Lindir asked mischievously once the twins had collected themselves. They both shook their heads, wide-eyed and quivering with suppressed laughter and excitement.
"I eat them!" shouted Lindir, pulling a scary face and raising his arms mock-menacingly above his head. Elladan and Elrohir let out identical shrill screams (which left Lindir's ears ringing for quite a while afterward) and ran excitedly from the minstrel-turned-monster. Lindir chased the twins across the meadow and back before scooping first Elrohir, then Elladan, up in his arms, growling enthusiastically all the while. Once both boys had been caught, Lindir nibbled at each squirming elfling until they screamed again with laughter. Lindir chuckled, then dropped the twins into a particularly deep spot near the base of a tree at the edge of the meadow, where they promptly sank to the frozen ground below, leaving child-shaped holes in the snow.
Lindir grinned as he waited for the twins to emerge. However, after about thirty seconds, the elflings still hadn't reappeared above the snow in any way, shape, or form. The twins were such bundles of energy that Lindir hadn't thought them able to sit still for longer than ten seconds unless they were deeply asleep, and had often wished they could sit still, but now that such a thing had actually occurred, Lindir was becoming swiftly worried. After waiting impatiently for one more minute, Lindir was convinced that there was something seriously wrong with the twins.
He knelt in the snow and stuck his head down the hole Elrohir had made in the snow bank, hoping fervently that he hadn't accidentally knocked both elflings unconscious when he dropped them into the snow.
"Elladan? Elrohir? Are you both all - llp!" gulped Lindir as two snowballs were launched in his face. The musician brought his face out of the snow bank in a hurry before any more missiles could be launched, then wiped snow from encrusted eyelids. Once he could see again, Lindir raised an eyebrow at the giggling heads that now appeared at regular intervals in Elladan's hole as the twins jumped up and down to keep sight of him.
"That was foolish, boys," said Lindir sternly, reaching surreptitiously behind him and scooping snow into his hands. Although the heads continued to bounce so that the twins could see Lindir, they now wore worried and slightly guilty expressions on their faces. The elflings sensed that they were in trouble.
"You should never throw snow in someone's face," persisted Lindir, struggling to keep his face straight as he molded the snow in his hands into a ball, then split it into two smaller clumps. Once the snowballs were ready, he roared, "because you might just find some thrown back!"
Quick as lightning, Lindir pulled the snowballs out from behind him and fired one each at the bouncing heads of the twins, who now registered deep surprise. As soon as the snow was in the air, Lindir sprang up, turned and ran the other direction, knowing that the twins would give chase and probably start a snowball fight. True to form, the twins eagerly bounded out of the snow bank, shouted "Go!" in unison, and ran after Lindir, who risked a quick glance over one shoulder to see two pairs of little hands busily scooping up large amounts of snow.
A few seconds later, two snowballs thumped into Lindir' back. However, the musician was not unprepared; he had also prepared two handfuls of snow, which he threw at the elflings and ducked Elrohir's snowball simultaneously.
The snowball fight lasted for a good half an hour longer as Lindir and the twins hastily built two forts of snow and kept on producing and launching snowballs. Although Lindir could throw farther and more accurately, and could make his snowballs faster, he found himself hard-pressed to defend himself against the two tenacious boys.
They are truly the sons of Elrond and Celebrían, thought Lindir as he dodged Elladan's latest snowball, and threw one of his own in return. They are both as stubborn as their parents.
Elrohir and Elladan continued to alternate throwing snowballs as Lindir fought to duck and fire at the same time. He managed to land a blow on each elfling once, but in return was hit twice by Elladan and once by Elrohir. He was beginning to gain a bit more ground against the twins when the snowball fight abruptly ended; a twin burst out of the snow directly in front of Lindir's fort, charged through the snow wall that was Lindir's only line of defense, and tackled the musician before any snowballs could be thrown at the invader.
Dimly Lindir heard a shout of triumph from the twin who had remained in the other fort, and a few seconds later another body pushed him deeper into the snow. As Lindir thrashed in protest, the older elf realized with one part of his mind- the part that wasn't preoccupied with trying to avoid inhaling snow- how the twins had beaten him. One boy had remained behind in the fort, pretending to be both twins, while the other tunneled to Lindir's side of the meadow and tackled Lindir. The minstrel chuckled and sighed in defeat, then used his adult's strength to push himself upright, figuring that the twins had held him under the snow for long enough.
The elflings tumbled from Lindir as he rose, chortling in glee over having defeated their playmate. Now, face to face with their ally, the twins hugged each other ecstatically, threw handfuls of snow in the air and at each other, and gave voice to shrill battle cries.
Lindir waited until the boys had calmed down a little and plopped down next to him in the snow, then said, "Well done, you two. Do you know what you just employed?"
Elladan and Elrohir shook their heads, wide-eyed. Lindir grinned down at them. "Battle tactics!"
"Ooh," said Elladan, eagerly, grinning back at Lindir around the ever-constant thumb in his mouth. Elrohir, however, looked confused.
"Battle tactics are actions one uses to confuse your opponent, and ultimately win the match," Lindir explained. "When you two won the snowball fight, I thought both of you had remained in the fort, when in reality, one of you was tunneling through the snow to attack me. Do you understand now?"
Elrohir nodded, then giggled. "We wonned wi'h 'ADDLE ADDICS!" the younger twin shouted in glee tackling Elladan.
"'Addle addics?'" queried a voice from among the trees that bordered the clearing.
"'Findel!" shouted the twins, immediately ceasing their antics and dashing towards the direction of the voice. Lindir also stood and followed the twins, hoping fervently that breakfast was ready.
Before Lindir entered the clearing, the Lord Glorfindel appeared, Elladan on one hip and Elrohir on the other. Lindir stopped and bowed as Glorfindel came closer.
"Good morn, Lord Glorfindel."
"G'morn, Lindir," replied Glorfindel cheerfully, nodding to him. "I was sent to tell you by that breakfast has been prepared."
"BEFAS!" shouted the twins. Glorfindel and Lindir winced as the high voices of the two young elflings tortured their eardrums; a moment later, a snow-framed window opened further down the valley, sending the snow resting on the sill crashing softly into a drift.
"I am coming!" Erestor shouted back, his tone characteristically cross as he communicated the point, then shut his window with a bang.
Lindir and Glorfindel chuckled; Elladan and Elrohir loosed great peals of laughter with the infectious humor of the young. Eventually, though, the comedy of the situation wore off, even for the twins, and Glorfindel and Lindir began to walk towards the Dining Hall for breakfast, the twins in Glorfindel's tow.
Lindir caught one of the last falling snowflakes on an outstretched finger, then smiled.
Caught a cold, indeed.
o..o..o..o..o