Author's Note: Hey there, y'all! Sorry it's taken me a bit to get this chapter up. If it makes you feel better, last night was my first night of decent sleep in a week, so it's not like I have had a ton of free time. But at long last, here's the second installment; hopefully I'll put up the last one pretty soon. Thank you for reading; I hope you enjoy!

…

"Best behavior," Estel charged her crew as she climbed out of the driver's seat and onto the pavement outside her apartment. "I'll let y'all inside in just a minute."

Before Aragorn could protest the dishonor of his royal person being left in the backseat of a tiny sedan, Thalion let her car door slam and walked up to the apartment's entrance. She unlocked the door and took a deep breath, stepping inside with no small amount of trepidation.

A single roommate was inside the living room, the only one who had also roomed with Estel in her freshman year. This was good because it meant this girl had met these two rangers before when they had crashed her apartment last year to watch the first baseball game of the season. This was bad because it meant she would know at least a portion of what was going on.

"Hey," Thalion greeted with a sheepish smile. "Um, do you remember those two, uh, guys that showed up last year at the apartment? Kind of tall, weird clothes…"

"Yep!" came the cheerful reply as the girl looked up from a book. Thalion swallowed hard.

"Well, they showed up again. I know it's last minute, but they sort of need a place to hang out for the evening. Edennil will be here, too. Is that okay? Sorry it's such short notice." It's not like they were kind enough to notify me, either.

The roommate paused for a second, but the writer could not read her expression. "Sure!" the girl concluded after a moment. "That's fine with me! I'm not quite sure how the others will take it, though. It's kind of…weird."

"Yeah," Thalion said slowly. It was a very awkward situation. Suddenly, a rather brilliant idea entered Estel's mind. "I'll have them act as our pest control!"

"What?"

"They can be here on my request to look into our pest problem! They probably know a thing or two about those demonic bugs that keep showing up anyway. I'll have them check some things as cause to come in, and then out of my southern hospitality, I'll let them stay a while."

The roommate grinned. "I'm cool with that. I'd love to get rid of the spiders and roaches."

Thalion nodded and rushed off to ask permission from the other two roommates, both of whom were watching a something together (a show which sounded a lot like Downton Abbey, but Estel couldn't be sure since that fandom was way outside her league). The writer gave her explanation with as good of wording as she could create, and though there was indeed some hesitancy, the two agreed to allow the writer's muses to come inside. No one likes pests, after all.

"We're almost done with our episode," one said, "and then we'll be making dinner. Is that okay?"

"For sure!" Thalion said, wondering what that would mean for later on. But right now, what mattered was that she had permission. She rushed back out the front door and to her car where the three men were still talking.

"You guys have to try to take care of our pest problem," Estel told them as she opened door to the back seat so that the two Gondorians could pile out. "That's the only thing I could think of that would get you in without causing too much ruckus."

"Ruckus?" asked Aragorn incredulously. "What about our character would ever give you that idea?" Estel look down at the long sword on the ranger's belt and rolled her eyes.

"Weapons stay in the car," she ordered before turning her face toward the apartment and stepping beside Edennil. She gave him a smile that subtly communicated her stress level, and he gently took her hand and squeezed it.

"It'll be fine," he told her quietly, giving her a look of reassurance.

Estel's smile became more genuine, and she walked with Edennil, hand in hand, through the apartment's front door. The two rangers brought up the rear as the company stepped into the living room and surveyed the interior.

"Take your shoes off," the writer instructed, pointing to the pile of footwear beside the door. "And don't be loud; this is a study-zone."

"Good evening, my lady," Faramir said pleasantly to the roommate who was seated on the couch. "We have met before, correct?"

The roommate nodded, and Faramir gave his typical, polite smile. "It is, again, a pleasure."

Aragorn issued similar pleasantries while Edennil and Estel tried to find a way for the two rangers to do some kind of pest control. They gathered some random objects from around the apartment that looked to have an effect on insects, handing them over to the rangers.

"Just look like you know what you're doing," the writer said, "and stay at it for a little while. Also, be careful; based on the size of the spider I killed last week, it is not impossible that the offspring of Shelob live in this apartment."

Faramir's eyes widened in horror, but both rangers bravely took their tools in hand and half-pretended-half-actually-attempted to scope out any places that bugs might be hiding. Estel and Edennil retreated to the floor near an outlet and began working on their homework, the guests fielding the occasional academic question to help the college kids get their work done.

Soon, however, the more or less quiet atmosphere was filled with tension as the other two roommates appeared. They were, naturally, very disturbed by the appearance of the rangers—their size, clothes, and demeanor stuck out like a Presbyterian at a charismatic concert. Running into folk such as them is obviously not a common thing for most normal people, and it can be startling. However, out of the charity in their hearts (something which must be possessed if one is to tolerate living with someone like Thalion in the first place), they didn't press the issue. Instead, they went into the kitchen and started whipping something together on the stove.

"So," Aragorn said, spraying some Windex on a floorboard aimlessly, "you guys, uh, trying to get rid of some…pests?"

One of the roommates in the kitchen scoffed and pointed upwards. "Honestly, I feel like those folks up there are the real pests in this apartment. I can handle bugs all day long, but I've been kept up all night long one too many times."

"Mmhmm," the other roommate agreed. "It's amazing how loudly and often people can slam a door."

As if to prove the point, there was suddenly a loud creaking noise followed by a bang that literally shook the apartment walls. Then heavy footfalls could be heard as someone climbed the stairs that led to the floor above. A series of unrealistically loud thuds and slams followed in various places on the ceiling. The rangers were dumbfounded.

"This happens all the time?" Faramir asked, raising his eyebrows. "Even at night?"

The roommate on the couch nodded vigorously. "Yep. We complained to the office, but they shut us down and basically said we were being dramatic."

A very loud bang resounded around the apartment, and both rangers straightened up. "I'm sure something can be done about this," Aragorn said slowly, glancing at Estel. The writer only shrugged her shoulders. She had thought about going to the door and asking the neighbors to be quiet a hundred times, but if they were offended, she would still have to live with them. A stranger, on the other hand, could speak more or less anonymously. Still, it was risky.

"Why don't we have a little chat with them?" Faramir suggested. "We'll be right back."

Neither Edennil nor the girls said anything in response, and since Aragorn is sort of a king, he made his own decision without any trouble. "An excellent idea, my wise steward," Aragorn said before realizing that the use of this title for Faramir probably wasn't helping them remain incognito in front of the roommates. He grimaced and turned to the writer for help, but all she could do was role her eyes. "Er," the king stammered, "I mean, Stewart. Yeah, Stewart. Come, Stewy."

Faramir, who was completely oblivious to the slip up, looked to his master with great confusion, but Aragorn quickly led the two of them out the front door and to the left, following the exterior of the apartment building until they reached the neighbor's front door. It took all Thalion's willpower to keep the giggles inside at Aragorn's ridiculously poor attempt to mop up his mess, but no one said anything as they waited to see what would happen.

The sound of knocking rang in the air, and it seemed that all those sitting in the apartment held their breath. Footsteps echoed from the stairs as someone went to see who the visitor was. The door creaked open, and voices were heard, though Estel couldn't distinguish the words. For a minute or two, it seemed that the conversation was civil. But after a while, it got a bit more heated, and Estel wished very much that she could melt into a pile of goo and disappear. Her muses were ruining her existence; the neighbors would probably make her and her roommates' lives miserable from now on. And that's hoping the police wouldn't be called.

Suddenly, the door slammed with mighty force, making the wall hangings and windows rattle violently. Angry footsteps went upstairs and angry footsteps went around the outside of the apartment to the front door. Aragorn's face, red with frustration and heated argument, appeared in the doorway.

"Estel, would you be kind enough to unlock your car? I believe I left some tools in there."

The writer cocked her head to one side as she tried to process what had been asked of her. Then a ferocious chill seized her blood stream, and she swallowed hard. There was only one thing in the car that the rangers could want. Their weapons.