Dear Readers: I am ElfHuntressAutumnBurgundy, or EHAB. I and my partner Phe-
Chan are the writing team known as Wandering Minds. If this is the first of
our fics that you have read, we strongly advise you to first read "Wishes
of Golden Chain," "Túla Merna Eel," and "Elven Dreams and Misadventures" (
in that order) before you proceed further, as this is a sequel to those
fanfictions. To all of our veteran reviewers, welcome back! We hope you
enjoy this fic as much as, if not more than, you have enjoyed our previous
ventures. Before we start, here are the routine disclaimers: Wandering
Minds does not own any aspect of J.R.R. Tolkien's fantasy world Middle-
Earth; nor do we own any soft-drink, toy, or car companies. In fact, we own
no corporations or companies at all. Therefore anything you recognize is
not ours. Thank you.- EHAB And now for your entertainment pleasure, "The
Place to Be: Chapter One: Celi the Koosh-ball."
Siobhán Gild, known to her friends and husband as "Sivi" (See-vee), was standing alone on the little balcony outside her apartment. HER apartment... that was a new idea. Only hours ago it had been her father's. Yet in those few hours, she had met a king, saved his life, and become his queen. In those few hours, her father had gone from being a factory supervisor at a New York car manufacturing company back to being an angelic power in another world. In fact, in those few hours, Sivi and her friends had played with the fabrics of space and time... And in the latter part of those few hours, they had returned to New York (without Sivi's father but with Sivi's uncle), where her father's old coworker had, out of spite, purposely gotten Sivi's husband ( a Noldorin Elf that did not know what soft-drinks were, much less how they affected members of his race) ridiculously drunk on Surge.
He was asleep now - her husband, Ereinion Gil-galad, that is - in the room just behind the balcony door. She turned to watch him with a faint smile. She had managed to get him up to bed before he did anything embarrassing or hurtful, but she had had several hard names for her father's coworker afterwards. She turned back to the New York City skyline.
"Lord Jesus," she said clearly into the night, "You never said that it would be easy, and it wasn't, but You did say that You would always be there to help me, and You always have been. Praise You, God of all worlds! You are truly beautiful. Forgive me for being afraid, and forgive me for calling Derek all those things. Even if what he did was wrong, I can't judge him. I pray You'll speak to his heart and let him see You. I also pray that You'll continue to be with me, with my family, and with my friends. I'm not sure how we're going to get the Elves naturalized - or Boromir for that matter -, or how we're going to convince the authorities that Ereinion and I are really married. Sadly, they may not much care about the latter. I do, though, and even if I know we were married in Middle- Earth, I'd feel a lot better if it were easier to prove it here. Maybe we should have another ceremony, here in New York, just so no one can question us. Elves in New York City! My Dearest Lord Jesus, how are we to teach them all that they need to know in this world? It's all so different from what they're used to. Still, it was different from what I was used to when I first came here, but I've been here for so long now... Ah, well. I promise, Lord, that I shan't worry about it any more. I give it to You; all of it! Please let Your Sovereign Will be done. In Jesus' precious Name, Amen."
Sivi awoke to find her husband already gone from the room and a smell of smoke hanging ominously in the air. For any other woman, this might not have been a big deal, but as Sivi's husband WAS a Noldorin Elf, and thus not used to all the modern conveniences of our world, there was no end to the prospective calamities he could cause through his ignorance. Sivi hopped out of bed and immediately tripped over her long Celtic nightgown.
'Such grace from one of your noble heritage,' she laughed at herself.
When she arrived in the kitchen, her suspicions were confirmed. Ereinion stood with his back against the bar, studying with no little consternation the formidable blaze issuing from the stovetop range. All four of the eyes were turned on high. Looking at his wife with wide, penitent, and much confusèd eyes, he murmured uncertainly,
"Is... is it SUPPOSED to do that?"
With a gentle, tolerant smile, she went to the stove and turned off all of the eyes as she quietly replied,
"No."
She got a glass from the cabinet, filled it with water from the sink, and doused the flames. Then she turned and folded expectantly her white-clad arms.
"What did you think that you were doing?" she asked softly.
"I thought... the little knobs - are they not 'light-switches like those that you showed me yesterday before Derek came? The metal began to glow red..."
He stopped when she began to laugh and shake her head at the same time.
"My Love, that is a stove," Sivi told him with an exasperated mirth. "Here; let me show you a little about household appliances."
Sivi entertained a certain gentle patience for her Elven husband, but after two hours of complicated explanations about microwaves and the spectrum beyond visible light; refrigerators and ice-makers; and kitchen sinks and garbage disposals, her tiredness and aggravation were beginning to get the better of her.
'At least,' she tried to reason, 'I didn't come in and find him with those adorable pointed ears stuck in the microwave. After all, he only came to this world yesterday.'
Just then, the telephone rang, and Ereinion jumped. For a human Man, a jump is no great matter, but for an Elf, a jump means a leap of some distance. Ereinion landed on his haunches on top of the refrigerator. With a sigh, Sivi picked up the phone.
"Hello?" she said, trying not to laugh at her husband's mystified expression.
"Hey, Sivi?" came the timid and upset voice of Andrea, one of Sivi's good friends.
"Andrea, heyla! What's going on?"
"Uhmmmm, Sivi?"
"Yeah?"
"Legolas found the hairdryer."
"O no! Is he hurt?" Sivi asked in alarm.
"Uh... no."
"You know my hamster, Celi?" Andrea queried miserably.
"Great Scott! Yes, of course, I do. What's he done to her?"
"Uh, he... well, last night, I was explaining to him how a hairdryer works, right?"
"OK..."
"Well, this morning I introduced him to Celi and how cute she was, right?"
"Yeah..."
"OK, you know how Celi's cage is on the bathroom counter, right?"
"Mmm-hmm..."
"Well, he took her out of the cage to play with her..."
"I'm listening..." Sivi said, trying not to rush her friend, but at the same time impatient to know what had happened.
"Well," Andrea continued, "he dropped her in the toilet."
"Hamsters can't swim."
On the top of the refrigerator still, Ereinion furrowed his brow. With an irritated glance upward, Sivi motioned for him to get down. He leaped again, landing on his feet like a cat - but sock feet and linoleum floors don't mix. The feet hit the floor, the socks slipped on the floor, the feet flew up in the air, and the ELF hit the floor. Sivi sighed and stuck a finger in her phone-free ear.
"Well, he fished her out with the plunger," Andrea was saying.
"So, she's Ok, then?"
"Well, yeah, I think so, but..."
"But what? Spit it out!"
"he thought I might get mad, I guess, so he blow-dried her, and now... now..."
"O, great."
"CELI'S A KOOSH-BALL!!"
Siobhán Gild, known to her friends and husband as "Sivi" (See-vee), was standing alone on the little balcony outside her apartment. HER apartment... that was a new idea. Only hours ago it had been her father's. Yet in those few hours, she had met a king, saved his life, and become his queen. In those few hours, her father had gone from being a factory supervisor at a New York car manufacturing company back to being an angelic power in another world. In fact, in those few hours, Sivi and her friends had played with the fabrics of space and time... And in the latter part of those few hours, they had returned to New York (without Sivi's father but with Sivi's uncle), where her father's old coworker had, out of spite, purposely gotten Sivi's husband ( a Noldorin Elf that did not know what soft-drinks were, much less how they affected members of his race) ridiculously drunk on Surge.
He was asleep now - her husband, Ereinion Gil-galad, that is - in the room just behind the balcony door. She turned to watch him with a faint smile. She had managed to get him up to bed before he did anything embarrassing or hurtful, but she had had several hard names for her father's coworker afterwards. She turned back to the New York City skyline.
"Lord Jesus," she said clearly into the night, "You never said that it would be easy, and it wasn't, but You did say that You would always be there to help me, and You always have been. Praise You, God of all worlds! You are truly beautiful. Forgive me for being afraid, and forgive me for calling Derek all those things. Even if what he did was wrong, I can't judge him. I pray You'll speak to his heart and let him see You. I also pray that You'll continue to be with me, with my family, and with my friends. I'm not sure how we're going to get the Elves naturalized - or Boromir for that matter -, or how we're going to convince the authorities that Ereinion and I are really married. Sadly, they may not much care about the latter. I do, though, and even if I know we were married in Middle- Earth, I'd feel a lot better if it were easier to prove it here. Maybe we should have another ceremony, here in New York, just so no one can question us. Elves in New York City! My Dearest Lord Jesus, how are we to teach them all that they need to know in this world? It's all so different from what they're used to. Still, it was different from what I was used to when I first came here, but I've been here for so long now... Ah, well. I promise, Lord, that I shan't worry about it any more. I give it to You; all of it! Please let Your Sovereign Will be done. In Jesus' precious Name, Amen."
Sivi awoke to find her husband already gone from the room and a smell of smoke hanging ominously in the air. For any other woman, this might not have been a big deal, but as Sivi's husband WAS a Noldorin Elf, and thus not used to all the modern conveniences of our world, there was no end to the prospective calamities he could cause through his ignorance. Sivi hopped out of bed and immediately tripped over her long Celtic nightgown.
'Such grace from one of your noble heritage,' she laughed at herself.
When she arrived in the kitchen, her suspicions were confirmed. Ereinion stood with his back against the bar, studying with no little consternation the formidable blaze issuing from the stovetop range. All four of the eyes were turned on high. Looking at his wife with wide, penitent, and much confusèd eyes, he murmured uncertainly,
"Is... is it SUPPOSED to do that?"
With a gentle, tolerant smile, she went to the stove and turned off all of the eyes as she quietly replied,
"No."
She got a glass from the cabinet, filled it with water from the sink, and doused the flames. Then she turned and folded expectantly her white-clad arms.
"What did you think that you were doing?" she asked softly.
"I thought... the little knobs - are they not 'light-switches like those that you showed me yesterday before Derek came? The metal began to glow red..."
He stopped when she began to laugh and shake her head at the same time.
"My Love, that is a stove," Sivi told him with an exasperated mirth. "Here; let me show you a little about household appliances."
Sivi entertained a certain gentle patience for her Elven husband, but after two hours of complicated explanations about microwaves and the spectrum beyond visible light; refrigerators and ice-makers; and kitchen sinks and garbage disposals, her tiredness and aggravation were beginning to get the better of her.
'At least,' she tried to reason, 'I didn't come in and find him with those adorable pointed ears stuck in the microwave. After all, he only came to this world yesterday.'
Just then, the telephone rang, and Ereinion jumped. For a human Man, a jump is no great matter, but for an Elf, a jump means a leap of some distance. Ereinion landed on his haunches on top of the refrigerator. With a sigh, Sivi picked up the phone.
"Hello?" she said, trying not to laugh at her husband's mystified expression.
"Hey, Sivi?" came the timid and upset voice of Andrea, one of Sivi's good friends.
"Andrea, heyla! What's going on?"
"Uhmmmm, Sivi?"
"Yeah?"
"Legolas found the hairdryer."
"O no! Is he hurt?" Sivi asked in alarm.
"Uh... no."
"You know my hamster, Celi?" Andrea queried miserably.
"Great Scott! Yes, of course, I do. What's he done to her?"
"Uh, he... well, last night, I was explaining to him how a hairdryer works, right?"
"OK..."
"Well, this morning I introduced him to Celi and how cute she was, right?"
"Yeah..."
"OK, you know how Celi's cage is on the bathroom counter, right?"
"Mmm-hmm..."
"Well, he took her out of the cage to play with her..."
"I'm listening..." Sivi said, trying not to rush her friend, but at the same time impatient to know what had happened.
"Well," Andrea continued, "he dropped her in the toilet."
"Hamsters can't swim."
On the top of the refrigerator still, Ereinion furrowed his brow. With an irritated glance upward, Sivi motioned for him to get down. He leaped again, landing on his feet like a cat - but sock feet and linoleum floors don't mix. The feet hit the floor, the socks slipped on the floor, the feet flew up in the air, and the ELF hit the floor. Sivi sighed and stuck a finger in her phone-free ear.
"Well, he fished her out with the plunger," Andrea was saying.
"So, she's Ok, then?"
"Well, yeah, I think so, but..."
"But what? Spit it out!"
"he thought I might get mad, I guess, so he blow-dried her, and now... now..."
"O, great."
"CELI'S A KOOSH-BALL!!"