The Madness Begins

Merry and Pippin ran out of Elrond's room, ignoring the vase that flew out behind them. As they turned a corner, they collided with Elrohir who was talking with Elladan and Glorfindel.

"Hey guys" Pippin said excitedly. "Guess what?"

"You are going to go and drown yourselves?" Elrohir guessed in a bored tone. Pippin looked upset.

"Why is everyone always so mean to us?" he asked sadly. "And after we nearly got killed by Elrond too."

"What have you done this time?" Glorfindel muttered, glancing towards Elrond's room as if he expected his friend to run out screaming at them all. "If you've upset him again…"

"They are always upsetting father" Elrohir cut in. "Yesterday, Elladan and I found him sobbing on his bed saying how much he hated hobbits and he wished they were all dead"

Elladan nodded and laughed while Merry frowned. "Now isn't that nice," he said to Pippin. "What have we done to make him hate us so much?"

Glorfindel and the twins looked at each other and shook their heads. Elladan spoke first.

"Well, there was the time one of you dropped a cup of water off the balcony and it landed on his head," he said, trying hard to control his laughter and obviously failing. "Then you let all the horses out of their stables and my brother and I had to get them all back."

"That was an accident," Pippin protested. The three elves took no notice.

"Then you knocked his favourite statue into the pond," Elrohir continued. "Humiliated him at his dinner party in front of lots of important guests, including Galadriel and Celeborn."

"Flooded the first floor bathroom," Glorfindel added. "And…"

"Alright, alright" Merry interrupted. "The point is that he's clearly over-reacting."

"They were all accidents," Pippin added. "We didn't mean to do them. Or make Elrond mad."

"I know, little one," Elladan patted him affectionately on the head. "The thing is, you have far too many accidents. That's why Father gets so angry."

"Oh," Pippin tried to think about this, but he couldn't quite figure out what Elladan was getting at. Accidents were accidents, weren't they? He thought about it for about two seconds, and then remembered why he and Merry had stopped in the first place.

"Oh yes," he continued. "Anyway, we asked Elrond if we could have a party."

"And he said yes," Merry continued, jumping up and down. "We're going to have a party, and you are all invited."

Without waiting for a reply, they ran off to find their next victims. The elves exchanged a glance.

"Poor Elrond" Glorfindel muttered, shaking his head. "I wonder how in the world they got him to agree to that."

"They have their ways, I imagine" Elrohir shrugged. "Well, I think a party would be a good idea. We all need to relax, especially father. He can get way too uptight about things sometimes."

"Well I care not," Elladan said casually. "Providing there is a lot of alcohol, I'll be happy."

"Yes, but we cannot let your father drink too much," Glorfindel reminded the twins. "Do you remember what happened last time?"

"Was that the time he went skinny dipping in the lake?" Elrohir asked innocently. "Or the time when he tried to seduce you and wouldn't take no for an answer?"

"Wasn't it both?" Elladan said in reply. "When father gets drunk, he finds it very difficult to keep his clothes on."

Unfortunately, Elrond came around the corner just in time to hear his son's last words. A table went flying as the Lord of Rivendell fainted. While Glorfindel hurried to his friend's side, the brothers looked at each other and smiled, turning away so that Glorfindel would not see them. Down below they could hear Pippin and Merry arguing with Gandalf.

"Well" Elladan said thoughtfully. "I guess this party is going to be a good one"