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Author's note: I'm assuming by now that everyone worth bothering with has already figured out who Estel and Mithrandir are? Good. Thanks go to Megan, the typist, and Hemsley, for causing the whole idea.
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The Birds and the Bees, Part 2
When Elrond stalked back to Estel's end of the table, he looked furious. "Why must that idiot child insist upon playing foolish games at an important feast?" Glorfindel winced slightly. Estel would be in for it big time. The boy apparently realized this, for he squeezed Glorfindel's legs as tightly as he could. Mithrandir attempted to placate the Elven-lord by dragging him off to dance.
However, when Mithrandir stood up, there were large, reddish stains on his butt. Yes, Mithrandir had managed to sit on one of the chairs with cherry preserves on it. Glorfindel couldn't restrain himself and burst out laughing. Mithrandir immediately whirled to see what Glorfindel was laughing at, giving the furious Elrond a very good view of the wizard's cherry preserve rear end. Elrond seemed to be counting to ten in some obscure language, especially after Glorfindel asked, "Is there something you haven't been telling us, Mithrandir?"
Mithrandir then struggled to contain his fury. Glorfindel was probably the only one in Imladris who had the nerve to say something like that to the Istari. Dying once and coming back must do that to a person. Mithrandir instead decided to take his wrath out on poor Estel. Elrond must have also had that idea for at the same time, on opposite sides of the table, the two made a dive under the tablecloth.
The loud THUNK was audible three tables away. The swearing coming from under the table was even louder. Glorfindel covered Estel's ears in a vain attempt to keep the child from learning any new swear words. It would seem that the elf and the wizard were grappling under the table, each believing that the other was Estel. After a large crowd had gathered around this end of the table and fifteen minutes had gone by, Elrond managed to drag Mithrandir out from under the table by the beard.
Upon seeing that he had caught Mithrandir not Estel, Elrond shrugged to himself and shoved the wizard into the arms of one of the spectators. He then dove back under the table. This time, Estel was quite obvious cowering behind Glorfindel's legs. Elrond quickly snatched the boy by the ankle before he had a chance to escape. Estel however, latched onto Glorfindel's legs.
When Elrond started to drag Estel out from under the table, Glorfindel was almost dragged under as well. Refusing to be yanked into the situation, the blonde grabbed onto his chair. When that started to flip over, he held onto the table legs. When he stopped sliding, Glorfindel relaxed a little. At that very instant, the table flipped over, landing on top of the elf-lord and anyone who happened to be still sitting nearby.
Estel, however, let go of Glorfindel's legs when the table flipped over. Therefore, he and Elrond went flying backwards into the mob of spectators standing behind them. Most people hurried to distance themselves from the scene, realizing that two infuriated elf-lords and an irate wizard would be very bad. They were quite right, and Estel was stuck right in the middle.
It was hard to say exactly who was the most furious, but anyway you put it, Estel was in trouble. He might have been kicked out of Imladris right then and there if it hadn't been for Elladan and Elrohir. They thought the whole thing was quite hilarious. That is they did until the entire room noticed that they too had suspicious spots on their rears. Then they were just as irate. However, Elrond seemed to find some humor in the situation (perhaps because he was quite clean compared to everyone around him.)
The Lord of Imladris decided to spare Estel. The boy was cowering behind same random elf in the crowd. Then Elrond said, "Glorfindel, Mithrandir, go clean yourselves up. A bath and some clean clothes will likely do wonders for your dispositions." Turning to the twins he added, "The same goes for the two of you." After some protest, all of the dirty parties went to clean up leaving Estel with Elrond. The lord then instructed everyone to return to the feast.
Elrond and Estel, however, went to have a little "chat." One the way out, many elves told Estel things like, "Farewell, Estel. We'll miss you!" or "Such a shame, we were fond of you Estel!" Elrond hurried him along though.
In retrospect, Estel realized, that "chat" wasn't too bad. Elrond simply told him that he was going to have the twins, his teacher, Glorfindel, and Mithrandir each assign him a punishment. Over the next few weeks, Gilraen, Estel's mother, became very familiar with the feel of chalky, dried out hands, the sight of sword polish under fingernails, the sound of small yelps whenever a small cut from fletching arrows was brushed, and the smell of the herbs Mithrandir made the boy work with.
Overall, Gilraen considered herself lucky to still have a son, until she got off a chair one day to find cherry preserves all over the back of her dress and all splattered across the wooden chair.
The End.
A/N: Come on, be nice and click that little button. Reviews are nice!