/Here we go for another session!/

Gandalf sat in his chair, slowly blowing out smoke rings. His next appointment was late. Noticing that he was almost out of pipeweed, he got up from the chair and was going to leave. Before he had reached the door, a certain dwarf walked in.

"I made up my mind. Just don't tell the pointy-eared elf" Gimli muttered.

Gandalf looked bemused, "and which elf would that be my dear Gimli? We are in Rivendell after all."

"Any of them. Can't let them see a dwarf in a weakened state" Gimli replied quickly, looking around to see if there were any nearby elves.

"I will close the door then" the wizard said, and motioned for the dwarf to take his seat.

"So master dwarf, what brings you here?"

"Elves...I mean, I don't like them, especially the blonde one who swings his hair in my face all the time."

"Ah, Legolas. And why, apart from having hair in you face, do you not like him?"

"He cheats. Whenever we have a bet of who can kill the most orcs, he cheats. One time he took down a massive troll and considered it equivalent to three orcs! I lost that bet by two! I would have one if that stupid pointy-eared no good princely elf hadn't cheated!"

Gandalf thought about this before speaking, "well, trolls are considerably larger than orcs, but you have point. A life is a life. Perhaps you should measure your kills by lives, instead of one particular creature."

"Still that elf insists he is better than me. He makes fun of my height. When I can't see something, he offers me a box. And have you seen the way he holds back a laugh when I need help getting on a horse? Of all the people, why did I get stuck with the elf!"

"Perhaps it is your fate to rekindle the friendship between elves and dwarves. Surely you felt differently when you met the Lady Galadriel?"

"W-well yes. But that's different. And off topic. We're talking about Legolas."

"Yes, yes. I would advise that you try not to take things to heart too much" the wizard said.

"We are a proud race, we dwarves. I can't just let some elf prince claim he is better than me when he is not!"

"Of course master dwarf."

"You're a wizard. You could give me something, something to make that arrogant elf flub up, or chicken out when he sees orcs. Ha-ha, I would love to see his scared face!"

"I'm afraid I cannot give you anything like that for multiple reasons: one, I don't really brew concoctions that match your description, two, you could ask Lord Elrond for a hallucinogenic, or Radagast for a mushroom that makes people see illusions - but they would not give such a thing to you, third and lastly, it is counter-productive."

"You side with the elves!"

"Your stubbornness is almost equivalent to Thorin Oakenshield's. Then again, all dwarves test my patience - and you do not want to see an angry wizard" Gandalf boomed.

Gimli eyed him suspiciously, "then what should I do about this matter?"

"Make friends with elves, you fool!"

The dwarf grumbled something incoherent.

"Elves are a wonderful folk. While some do pass on an aura of arrogance, most are kind and friendly. I am sure that if you make an effort to be friendly to Legolas, he will make the same effort. Who knows, you may become the best of friends!"

"Best friends, pshh. I'd rather have my eye poked out" Gimli retorted.

"It seems you have already made up your mind, which consists of nothing except pride. Dwarves, if I knew if I had to work with dwarves again, I would have had Elrond brew me a knock-out tea!"

"Why does everyone hate dwarves?"

"Not everyone, well except for trolls, orcs, goblins, *cough* some elves *cough*. Most are just tired of dealing with consistent stubbornness and lack of cooperation."

"Oh, well I can see where some would get that impression. But still, you have not helped me with my problem!"

"If the counselling I have already given you has not helped the least little bit, then I cannot help you until you see within in yourself and fix the problem there" the wizard said, eyebrows raised, his voice slightly impatient.

The dwarf took sometime thinking to himself before getting up and leaving.

"Wizards" he mumbled on his way out.

"I heard that" Gandalf hollered back.

/And that's Gimli's session! Comments are most welcome! If you're interested, check out the forum: Ask the White Council - you can ask members of the council and various other people of Middle Earth any question, literally! Here's the link, which you will have to copy into the browser's url box: forum/Ask-the-White-Council/125844/ Thank you!/