-THE GAMES OF THE GODS-
-Disclaimer:-
Snowflake #1: CS owns nothing.
Snowflake #2: Except a whole bunch of us.
Snowflake #3: Which she doesn't really, since we're not really objects that can be bought or sold.
Snowflake #4: Though by rights we should be, since we are all unique pieces of art.
Snowflake #3: Yeah, but since there's so many of us, I doubt we would be worth very much.
Snowflake #5: Even if they could find a way to preserve us.
Rachel: It's called a freezer.
Snowflake #5: Oh. Right.
Snowflake #3: Still, our commonness would still stop us from being worth very much.
Snowflake #2: Is 'commonness' a word?
Snowflake #4: I don't think so...
Snowflake #1: Who cares? Stop picking things apart!
Snowflake #3: Yeah. You're always so picky, why don't you stop it? *pokes snowflake #2*
Snowflake #2: Hey! No poking! *bumps into snowflake #3*
Snowflake #3: Oh, you did not just bump into me.
Snowflake #2: And what if I did, huh?
Snowflake #3: You wanna fight?! You wanna FIGHT?!
*snowflake #2 and #3 start fighting*
...
Rachel: Yep, the weather has finally made CS lose the last of her marbles...
Glorfindel: What I want to know is how the snowflakes can use swords without hands...*looks confused*
-53: Dance-
The next two weeks in Lothlórien were spent quite pleasantly for me, as Kari drafted me to help her prepare for her Yuletide Feast, and gave me charge of the decorating of the feast hall. Normally, this would be a rather simple job of organizing Lothlórien ladies to go find flowers, leaves, or whatnot in the forest, and then finding some extra lanterns and arranging it all nicely. Kari, however, had to repeatedly warn me to tone down on the sparkly stuff, and not to create anything that would scare the Elves, like Santa Claus. She was forced to concede on the artificial snowman, however, when Glorfindel took a look at the sketch I'd made and commented on it looking cute and recalling Elladan and Elrohir making them when they were younger. Later prodding revealed that, as I had suspected, the snowmen made by the twins often had an uncanny resemblance to whoever the two were currently unhappy with, and often had filched arrows sticking through uncomfortable areas. I contemplated following the example and making the snowman look like Galadriel, but decided that wouldn't be wise.
While we're on the topic of Galadriel, she had finally gotten the full and true story about the river from Haldir - who had defended himself to us later by saying that he could not lie to his liege lady - and had not been happy with Glorfindel or Kari. Kari was sentenced to run errands for her grandmother in-between her planning for the Yuletide feast, while Glorfindel was 'politely asked' to help with the patrols on the borders. I think that punishment kind of backfired on Galadriel, however, as she looked quite annoyed when I returned to Caras Galadhon with the patrol and innocently said that I'd followed them. It was more out of boredom than a strong desire not to be parted from Glorfindel - I knew he was going to be sticking around for awhile. I just wanted to get out of Caras Galadhon.
On that occasion, Celeborn looked like he was trying very very hard not to laugh. Glorfindel commented later that Celeborn's Sindar upbringing was probably exerting itself and its amusement over having a Noldo's plan thwarted. Certainly, Celeborn earned my stamp of approval for that, and from then after I went to him if I needed any sort of permission or supplies that only a ruler of the Golden Wood could give. Which was actually rather a bad thing when put in connection with Kari's adversity to sparkly stuff, as Celeborn turned out to share Thranduil's almost dwarven like of anything sparkly - though he hid it much better than the Mirkwood King. I wondered if this was perhaps a Sindar trait, and if so, did that mean I was a Sindar elf?
As for Glorfindel and I, we continued with our 'active courting'. Though several comments from Celeborn, Haldir, Galadriel AND Kari made me aware of the fact that the type of...physical relationship that Glorfindel and I were enjoying was not considered entirely proper for Elves. I kept meaning to ask Kari more about it, and about Elvish courting in general - I hadn't read all that much on it back on earth, and Kari's first-hand experience would probably be better, anyways - but I never got around to it. Glorfindel didn't seem to mind the comments or the 'improper' relationship, at any rate.
Kari and I continued with our friendship, which was quickly growing back to the same insanity as before, and we often scared people we were around together (though Glorfindel - quickly becoming equally strange - took it all in stride, and Haldir merely muttered and wandered off). However, this time, to our amusement, our roles were somewhat reversed - I was the more wild of the two of us, and Kari the more reserved. Kari was still the master of innuendo and Dirty Thoughts, however. Apparently she had had Elladan to spar with to help keep that particular trait going.
As for Haldir...well, that relationship went along much as it had begun, despite orders otherwise. Galadriel came across Haldir and me during one of our little verbal sparring matches one afternoon. She was Not Pleased, and ordered Haldir (since she had no command over me, as I had curtly informed her when she tried to stop me from following Glorfindel on his patrols) to either stop talking to me, or to clean up the way he spoke with me. After she left, it only took three pointed remarks before Haldir went back to giving as good as he got.
And so, before I knew it, the afternoon before Kari's Yuletide Feast had come around. Galadriel attempted, in vain, to send Glorfindel and Haldir both out on patrols for the day and night (what is it with her and separating me from them?) but Celeborn beat her to it by announcing that all the patrols could come in for the feast. As he later commented, Galadriel would sense any incursion, anyways.
Still, everyone tiptoed around Galadriel, and Haldir worriedly commented that this was the first time in over a thousand years that he had seen his Lord and Lady not on the best of terms. I told him not to worry - every couple needed a good fight every now and again to get out all their frustrations. Kari, of course, put in that Celebrían might even end up with a sibling out of the deal when Galadriel and Celeborn decided to make up. Haldir twitched and left in a hurry.
Eventually it came time to personally prepare for the actual feast, and Kari and I were - for the first time since we'd had breakfast that morning - forced to go our separate ways. We had spent the entire day running around checking on everyone to be sure that the feast was ready. Technically, I was supposed to be one of those that Kari checked up on, since I was head of the decorations department, but I'd drafted Glorfindel for that when Kari had shown up during breakfast. It really is amazing what a smile can get you when used in the right spot. Judging from the glare Glorfindel gave me the first time Kari and I checked up on him, however, I would be paying for sticking him with the job later.
Anyways. As I'm sure I've mentioned before, I only had one fancy dress with me, so I would be wearing it to the feast. Kari had suggested I get another one made, but I briskly informed her that after getting my breeches and tunics made just before I left Rivendell, I wasn't about to subject myself to seamstresses again any time soon. So the blue dress it was.
I took, like most respectable ladies, at least an hour to get ready - mostly because Glorfindel showed up halfway through my preparations (barging in without even knocking, thank the Valar I was already wearing my dress) and spent the rest of the time distracting me through various means. Like kissing me senseless, reading aloud from his history book (which had somehow gravitated to my room over the last two weeks), or throwing pillows at me, which I had to duck and do fancy shenanigans to avoid lest I mess up the intricate braid work I was attempting to do in my hair.
I finally solved the Glorfindel Problem by drafting him to do my braids, which he was actually more than happy to do, as it involved playing with my hair - something he'd taken a liking to doing. Apparently he liked long, straight black hair...or maybe it was just my hair. I really didn't care as long as he stopped distracting me and finished off the braiding properly. Which he did, much to my relief.
"Wonderful!" I said happily when he'd finished, inspecting his handiwork in a mirror. "And now that that is done, we can get going!"
"Finally." Glorfindel commented.
"Well if you hadn't distracted me..." I said, tossing a glare in his direction.
"Think of it as revenge for leaving me to the decorating all day." Glorfindel said with a grin, and then held out a hand to me. I took it, and we headed off down to the feast.
Surprisingly, we weren't late when we arrived, though the majority of the people that warranted a seat at the main table were already there - those warranting seats there including Celeborn, Galadriel, Kari, Glorfindel, me, and the rest of the organizing heads for the feast. Everyone else important in another way - like, say, being the Marchwarden of Lothlórien, or the Boatmaster - got to sit down at the heads of the 'common' tables. It was all, I had been informed, a complex arrangement according to rank and how easily certain Elves were insulted. It was beyond me, at any rate - always had been.
Not long after Glorfindel and my's arrival, the feast began, and the next few hours were pleasantly spent eating a wide range of foods, some of which were actually Middle-Earth versions or re-creations of Christmas dishes from back home. Others, however, were purely Elvish, and absolutely exquisite. This was, I decided as the feast progressed, one of the few things I had missed when I'd been off gallivanting around Gondor and Rohan - Elvish food. After all, with chefs having several thousand years to perfect their skills, is it any wonder that the food was about fifty billion times more delicious and wonderful than human food? Though some of the Rohirric dishes had their charm...and the breads of that one bakery in Minas Tirith were absolutely to die for.
Anyways, enough with the hobbit talk. After the food there was, quite predictably, dancing! Over the past two weeks I'd gotten to know more Elves in Lothlórien - and true to form for me, most of them were male (Glorfindel, surprisingly and most happily, did not seem to mind this in the least) - so this time, it wasn't just Glorfindel who I had to turn down dancing offers from. Rúmil and Orophin, surprisingly (considering how I treated their brother) were the two I had grown closest to, and when I turned them both down, they started talking, and the next thing I knew, they had cornered me and seemed just about ready to drag me out to dance.
"The only way you'll get me out there is if there's a Rohirric jig going, and somebody else around here is found who can dance said jig!" I said firmly as they pleaded and cajoled to try and get me to go out onto the dance floor. They looked about ready to insist more, but Glorfindel showed up at that moment.
"She will not even dance with me." he said dryly. "So I suggest you give it up."
"I have not even seen you ask her!" Rúmil said.
"That's because I've told him before that I can't dance." I said, waggling a finger at Rúmil. Rúmil and Orophin looked at each other in silence for a moment.
"You cannot dance?!" Orophin exclaimed with only partly mock horror.
"I can dance on my own, when there are no rules, and I can dance Rohirric jigs and reels, but the rest of it - no." I said blandly. Rúmil and Orophin exchanged glances again, and then abruptly moved off.
"Drunk or dancing lessons?" Glorfindel asked me, cocking his head to one side as he watched the retreating brothers. He was referring, of course, to what they would do in retaliation.
"Probably both, knowing them." I grumped. Sure enough, Orophin showed up a short time later with two goblets of an alcoholic beverage, and I was forced to take one for the sake of being polite. After I finished that glass, Orophin wandered off, and Rúmil came over with another drink for me. When I was done with that glass, Orophin showed up again, and so on and so forth. They followed me around wherever I went and wouldn't let me escape, and would start pestering me about dancing if I didn't drink.
I was just beginning to feel the effects of the alcohol - apparently they had nothing as strong as Rivendell Mirovur or Dorwinnian Wine in Lothlórien, so it was taking longer than normal for me to succumb - when I felt a sudden shift in the tempo of the music. I was talking to Rúmil at the time, and he looked at me strangely as I stopped in the middle of a sentence.
"I know that tempo..." I said thoughtfully, struggling to remember where I had heard it before. My attempts were interrupted when Celeborn suddenly appeared in front of me.
"I heard a rumor that you know how to dance Rohirric jigs?" he asked blandly, holding out a hand in an invitation to dance. My jaw dropped momentarily.
"No way." I said, and then grinned. "You are so frigging cool, Celeborn." He shrugged noncommittally.
"It does away with my nickname." he said innocently. I laughed, then handed my goblet of wine off to Rúmil before taking Celeborn's hand and letting myself be led out onto the dance floor. The dance floor had emptied quite quickly of confused Elves when the musicians had started in on the new tempo, so Celeborn and I were now quite conspicuous as we went directly to the center and had a quick conference about which jig to dance.
There were a limited number of ones that could be done with only two people, and Celeborn only knew a few, but we settled on one of them easily - an active one that, unlike some of the other dances, didn't really require a lot of the more wild (or intimate) dancing. I think it was a harvest celebration dance - I hadn't really paid attention when my instructor in the dance had been explaining it to me a few hundred years ago.
As we danced, I absently - because any serious thought would cause a mistake - wondered where Celeborn had picked up a Rohirric jig. I'd never heard mention of him going near Rohan...but then, they were neighbors of a sort. Or maybe Aragorn learned it and passed it on? He'd passed through Rohan as Thorongil. I decided I'd ask Celeborn later.
After a short while, I became aware of the fact that several other adventurous elves had also taken to the dance floor, and were doing an Elvish-like imitation of the jig. It was quite amusing to see out of the corner of my eye, as the true appeal of all jigs is that you're not SUPPOSED to look graceful and coordinated. Half the time you look like you're drunk, in fact - and the Elves, except for Celeborn, just ruined that. I smirked at the realization that I had found something Men could do better than Elves, resolving to tell the Rohirrim at the next opportunity to do so.
The dance eventually ended, and Celeborn and I left the dancing floor as the musicians returned to their normal music. Glorfindel and Galadriel were waiting for us.
"Where the buttermonkey did you learn a Rohirric jig, Celeborn?" I asked, grabbing Glorfindel's goblet and taking a drink of whatever was in it. Celeborn, I get the feeling, would have done the same to Galadriel, but she was prepared and had another goblet exclusively for him.
"Estel." Celeborn said, confirming one of my previous suppositions. "But it has been a long time since there has been a suitable partner."
"I bet." I said with a chuckle, getting a mental image of Aragorn teaching Celeborn the jig we'd just done.
"Where did you learn that?" Kari asked, suddenly popping up.
"Who, me or Celeborn?" I asked, blinking.
"Both." she replied.
"Estel." Celeborn replied once again.
"Rohan." I said with a grin.
"Dammit, I wanna go to Rohan." Kari muttered.
"And I want to go to Dol Amroth!" I said, waving a hand through the air dismissively. "But we can't always have what we want. Or at least, not when we want it."
"Yeah." Kari said with a sigh. "I've always wanted to see Minas Tirith, as well...you're lucky in that regard, at least."
"Tell you what, wait 52 days and I'll go anywhere you want with you." I said, nodding emphatically. "And we can haul Glorfindel along with us to scare away nasty orcses."
"You are both supposed to remain here until the end of the War, for good or for bad." Galadriel put in pointedly.
"And?" I asked her blankly. Galadriel glared at me, and I meeped and hid behind Glorfindel.
"You seem a little...tipsy, Rachel." Kari commented.
"Blame Rúmil and Orophin." I announced. "They're evil and have been giving me alcohol all evening."
"And she just took a large gulp of Dorwinnian Wine." Glorfindel said dryly. "Though this is about half the strength of what she had in Rivendell." I peered around Glorfindel at his goblet.
"Dorwinnian Wine? Where'd you get that?" I asked. Glorfindel looked at Galadriel. Galadriel looked pointedly at me, and I giggled. Celeborn shook his head and took the opportunity to escort Galadriel out of there, knowing that letting her and I remain in the same area for much longer would result in Bad Things happening.
"I drove Galadriel to drink." I said with a snicker once they were gone.
"That is not exactly something to be proud of." Glorfindel said with a small frown.
"Yes it is!" Kari and I chorused.
"And anyways, it serves our purpose, as that way she probably won't try too terribly hard to stop Kari and me from heading off for Minas Tirith, Rohan, Dol Amroth, or wherever in 52 days." I said cheerfully.
"You are serious about that?" Kari asked, her eyebrows shooting up.
"If we can get Glorfindel to come with us, you bet I'm serious." I said, then added in a low whisper, "Lothlórien is boring." Kari and Glorfindel chuckled.
"So?" Kari asked, turning to Glorfindel. "Shall we make plans for it?" Glorfindel hesitated.
"I am supposed to return to Rivendell at some point..." he said uneasily.
"Pshaw. They can survive without you." I said dismissively. Glorfindel glanced down at me in amusement.
"And I have a feeling that if I do not go, you will simply kidnap some other poor Elf instead." he said, then held up a hand as we started to protest. "So I shall go." he said.
"Yay! You're munderful." I said, giving Glorfindel a big hug.
"Glad to know." he said dryly.
----To be continued...with...um...actually, I'm not going to spoil this one...----
(Suffice it to say I'm sure any romantics reading this story will enjoy the next chapter.)
-Authors Note:-
O.o Whoa. Didn't know so many reviewers paid attention to my little note about when I would be updating next...I shall be sure to continue putting it in...
In other news, I think I jinxed my city/region when I wrote that chapter about Rachel and Glorfindel getting snowed in by a blizzard...Since I've posted it, there's been 2 blizzards out here in as many weeks. Lots and LOTS of snow - and a 40-car pile-up on the highway. Gurg. Only good thing is that it's only -11 outside, and the snow is big and fluffy.
And now, because it's been awhile since I gave anything away to my reviewers (and therefore, all the Elven rulers have relaxed their guards) and seamonkeysis requested it - everybody gets random Lothlorien elves! Do with them what you will! Just be sure to stuff them into a cupboard or something if Galadriel comes searching...
See ya Saturday!
~Crimson Starlight
-Disclaimer:-
Snowflake #1: CS owns nothing.
Snowflake #2: Except a whole bunch of us.
Snowflake #3: Which she doesn't really, since we're not really objects that can be bought or sold.
Snowflake #4: Though by rights we should be, since we are all unique pieces of art.
Snowflake #3: Yeah, but since there's so many of us, I doubt we would be worth very much.
Snowflake #5: Even if they could find a way to preserve us.
Rachel: It's called a freezer.
Snowflake #5: Oh. Right.
Snowflake #3: Still, our commonness would still stop us from being worth very much.
Snowflake #2: Is 'commonness' a word?
Snowflake #4: I don't think so...
Snowflake #1: Who cares? Stop picking things apart!
Snowflake #3: Yeah. You're always so picky, why don't you stop it? *pokes snowflake #2*
Snowflake #2: Hey! No poking! *bumps into snowflake #3*
Snowflake #3: Oh, you did not just bump into me.
Snowflake #2: And what if I did, huh?
Snowflake #3: You wanna fight?! You wanna FIGHT?!
*snowflake #2 and #3 start fighting*
...
Rachel: Yep, the weather has finally made CS lose the last of her marbles...
Glorfindel: What I want to know is how the snowflakes can use swords without hands...*looks confused*
-53: Dance-
The next two weeks in Lothlórien were spent quite pleasantly for me, as Kari drafted me to help her prepare for her Yuletide Feast, and gave me charge of the decorating of the feast hall. Normally, this would be a rather simple job of organizing Lothlórien ladies to go find flowers, leaves, or whatnot in the forest, and then finding some extra lanterns and arranging it all nicely. Kari, however, had to repeatedly warn me to tone down on the sparkly stuff, and not to create anything that would scare the Elves, like Santa Claus. She was forced to concede on the artificial snowman, however, when Glorfindel took a look at the sketch I'd made and commented on it looking cute and recalling Elladan and Elrohir making them when they were younger. Later prodding revealed that, as I had suspected, the snowmen made by the twins often had an uncanny resemblance to whoever the two were currently unhappy with, and often had filched arrows sticking through uncomfortable areas. I contemplated following the example and making the snowman look like Galadriel, but decided that wouldn't be wise.
While we're on the topic of Galadriel, she had finally gotten the full and true story about the river from Haldir - who had defended himself to us later by saying that he could not lie to his liege lady - and had not been happy with Glorfindel or Kari. Kari was sentenced to run errands for her grandmother in-between her planning for the Yuletide feast, while Glorfindel was 'politely asked' to help with the patrols on the borders. I think that punishment kind of backfired on Galadriel, however, as she looked quite annoyed when I returned to Caras Galadhon with the patrol and innocently said that I'd followed them. It was more out of boredom than a strong desire not to be parted from Glorfindel - I knew he was going to be sticking around for awhile. I just wanted to get out of Caras Galadhon.
On that occasion, Celeborn looked like he was trying very very hard not to laugh. Glorfindel commented later that Celeborn's Sindar upbringing was probably exerting itself and its amusement over having a Noldo's plan thwarted. Certainly, Celeborn earned my stamp of approval for that, and from then after I went to him if I needed any sort of permission or supplies that only a ruler of the Golden Wood could give. Which was actually rather a bad thing when put in connection with Kari's adversity to sparkly stuff, as Celeborn turned out to share Thranduil's almost dwarven like of anything sparkly - though he hid it much better than the Mirkwood King. I wondered if this was perhaps a Sindar trait, and if so, did that mean I was a Sindar elf?
As for Glorfindel and I, we continued with our 'active courting'. Though several comments from Celeborn, Haldir, Galadriel AND Kari made me aware of the fact that the type of...physical relationship that Glorfindel and I were enjoying was not considered entirely proper for Elves. I kept meaning to ask Kari more about it, and about Elvish courting in general - I hadn't read all that much on it back on earth, and Kari's first-hand experience would probably be better, anyways - but I never got around to it. Glorfindel didn't seem to mind the comments or the 'improper' relationship, at any rate.
Kari and I continued with our friendship, which was quickly growing back to the same insanity as before, and we often scared people we were around together (though Glorfindel - quickly becoming equally strange - took it all in stride, and Haldir merely muttered and wandered off). However, this time, to our amusement, our roles were somewhat reversed - I was the more wild of the two of us, and Kari the more reserved. Kari was still the master of innuendo and Dirty Thoughts, however. Apparently she had had Elladan to spar with to help keep that particular trait going.
As for Haldir...well, that relationship went along much as it had begun, despite orders otherwise. Galadriel came across Haldir and me during one of our little verbal sparring matches one afternoon. She was Not Pleased, and ordered Haldir (since she had no command over me, as I had curtly informed her when she tried to stop me from following Glorfindel on his patrols) to either stop talking to me, or to clean up the way he spoke with me. After she left, it only took three pointed remarks before Haldir went back to giving as good as he got.
And so, before I knew it, the afternoon before Kari's Yuletide Feast had come around. Galadriel attempted, in vain, to send Glorfindel and Haldir both out on patrols for the day and night (what is it with her and separating me from them?) but Celeborn beat her to it by announcing that all the patrols could come in for the feast. As he later commented, Galadriel would sense any incursion, anyways.
Still, everyone tiptoed around Galadriel, and Haldir worriedly commented that this was the first time in over a thousand years that he had seen his Lord and Lady not on the best of terms. I told him not to worry - every couple needed a good fight every now and again to get out all their frustrations. Kari, of course, put in that Celebrían might even end up with a sibling out of the deal when Galadriel and Celeborn decided to make up. Haldir twitched and left in a hurry.
Eventually it came time to personally prepare for the actual feast, and Kari and I were - for the first time since we'd had breakfast that morning - forced to go our separate ways. We had spent the entire day running around checking on everyone to be sure that the feast was ready. Technically, I was supposed to be one of those that Kari checked up on, since I was head of the decorations department, but I'd drafted Glorfindel for that when Kari had shown up during breakfast. It really is amazing what a smile can get you when used in the right spot. Judging from the glare Glorfindel gave me the first time Kari and I checked up on him, however, I would be paying for sticking him with the job later.
Anyways. As I'm sure I've mentioned before, I only had one fancy dress with me, so I would be wearing it to the feast. Kari had suggested I get another one made, but I briskly informed her that after getting my breeches and tunics made just before I left Rivendell, I wasn't about to subject myself to seamstresses again any time soon. So the blue dress it was.
I took, like most respectable ladies, at least an hour to get ready - mostly because Glorfindel showed up halfway through my preparations (barging in without even knocking, thank the Valar I was already wearing my dress) and spent the rest of the time distracting me through various means. Like kissing me senseless, reading aloud from his history book (which had somehow gravitated to my room over the last two weeks), or throwing pillows at me, which I had to duck and do fancy shenanigans to avoid lest I mess up the intricate braid work I was attempting to do in my hair.
I finally solved the Glorfindel Problem by drafting him to do my braids, which he was actually more than happy to do, as it involved playing with my hair - something he'd taken a liking to doing. Apparently he liked long, straight black hair...or maybe it was just my hair. I really didn't care as long as he stopped distracting me and finished off the braiding properly. Which he did, much to my relief.
"Wonderful!" I said happily when he'd finished, inspecting his handiwork in a mirror. "And now that that is done, we can get going!"
"Finally." Glorfindel commented.
"Well if you hadn't distracted me..." I said, tossing a glare in his direction.
"Think of it as revenge for leaving me to the decorating all day." Glorfindel said with a grin, and then held out a hand to me. I took it, and we headed off down to the feast.
Surprisingly, we weren't late when we arrived, though the majority of the people that warranted a seat at the main table were already there - those warranting seats there including Celeborn, Galadriel, Kari, Glorfindel, me, and the rest of the organizing heads for the feast. Everyone else important in another way - like, say, being the Marchwarden of Lothlórien, or the Boatmaster - got to sit down at the heads of the 'common' tables. It was all, I had been informed, a complex arrangement according to rank and how easily certain Elves were insulted. It was beyond me, at any rate - always had been.
Not long after Glorfindel and my's arrival, the feast began, and the next few hours were pleasantly spent eating a wide range of foods, some of which were actually Middle-Earth versions or re-creations of Christmas dishes from back home. Others, however, were purely Elvish, and absolutely exquisite. This was, I decided as the feast progressed, one of the few things I had missed when I'd been off gallivanting around Gondor and Rohan - Elvish food. After all, with chefs having several thousand years to perfect their skills, is it any wonder that the food was about fifty billion times more delicious and wonderful than human food? Though some of the Rohirric dishes had their charm...and the breads of that one bakery in Minas Tirith were absolutely to die for.
Anyways, enough with the hobbit talk. After the food there was, quite predictably, dancing! Over the past two weeks I'd gotten to know more Elves in Lothlórien - and true to form for me, most of them were male (Glorfindel, surprisingly and most happily, did not seem to mind this in the least) - so this time, it wasn't just Glorfindel who I had to turn down dancing offers from. Rúmil and Orophin, surprisingly (considering how I treated their brother) were the two I had grown closest to, and when I turned them both down, they started talking, and the next thing I knew, they had cornered me and seemed just about ready to drag me out to dance.
"The only way you'll get me out there is if there's a Rohirric jig going, and somebody else around here is found who can dance said jig!" I said firmly as they pleaded and cajoled to try and get me to go out onto the dance floor. They looked about ready to insist more, but Glorfindel showed up at that moment.
"She will not even dance with me." he said dryly. "So I suggest you give it up."
"I have not even seen you ask her!" Rúmil said.
"That's because I've told him before that I can't dance." I said, waggling a finger at Rúmil. Rúmil and Orophin looked at each other in silence for a moment.
"You cannot dance?!" Orophin exclaimed with only partly mock horror.
"I can dance on my own, when there are no rules, and I can dance Rohirric jigs and reels, but the rest of it - no." I said blandly. Rúmil and Orophin exchanged glances again, and then abruptly moved off.
"Drunk or dancing lessons?" Glorfindel asked me, cocking his head to one side as he watched the retreating brothers. He was referring, of course, to what they would do in retaliation.
"Probably both, knowing them." I grumped. Sure enough, Orophin showed up a short time later with two goblets of an alcoholic beverage, and I was forced to take one for the sake of being polite. After I finished that glass, Orophin wandered off, and Rúmil came over with another drink for me. When I was done with that glass, Orophin showed up again, and so on and so forth. They followed me around wherever I went and wouldn't let me escape, and would start pestering me about dancing if I didn't drink.
I was just beginning to feel the effects of the alcohol - apparently they had nothing as strong as Rivendell Mirovur or Dorwinnian Wine in Lothlórien, so it was taking longer than normal for me to succumb - when I felt a sudden shift in the tempo of the music. I was talking to Rúmil at the time, and he looked at me strangely as I stopped in the middle of a sentence.
"I know that tempo..." I said thoughtfully, struggling to remember where I had heard it before. My attempts were interrupted when Celeborn suddenly appeared in front of me.
"I heard a rumor that you know how to dance Rohirric jigs?" he asked blandly, holding out a hand in an invitation to dance. My jaw dropped momentarily.
"No way." I said, and then grinned. "You are so frigging cool, Celeborn." He shrugged noncommittally.
"It does away with my nickname." he said innocently. I laughed, then handed my goblet of wine off to Rúmil before taking Celeborn's hand and letting myself be led out onto the dance floor. The dance floor had emptied quite quickly of confused Elves when the musicians had started in on the new tempo, so Celeborn and I were now quite conspicuous as we went directly to the center and had a quick conference about which jig to dance.
There were a limited number of ones that could be done with only two people, and Celeborn only knew a few, but we settled on one of them easily - an active one that, unlike some of the other dances, didn't really require a lot of the more wild (or intimate) dancing. I think it was a harvest celebration dance - I hadn't really paid attention when my instructor in the dance had been explaining it to me a few hundred years ago.
As we danced, I absently - because any serious thought would cause a mistake - wondered where Celeborn had picked up a Rohirric jig. I'd never heard mention of him going near Rohan...but then, they were neighbors of a sort. Or maybe Aragorn learned it and passed it on? He'd passed through Rohan as Thorongil. I decided I'd ask Celeborn later.
After a short while, I became aware of the fact that several other adventurous elves had also taken to the dance floor, and were doing an Elvish-like imitation of the jig. It was quite amusing to see out of the corner of my eye, as the true appeal of all jigs is that you're not SUPPOSED to look graceful and coordinated. Half the time you look like you're drunk, in fact - and the Elves, except for Celeborn, just ruined that. I smirked at the realization that I had found something Men could do better than Elves, resolving to tell the Rohirrim at the next opportunity to do so.
The dance eventually ended, and Celeborn and I left the dancing floor as the musicians returned to their normal music. Glorfindel and Galadriel were waiting for us.
"Where the buttermonkey did you learn a Rohirric jig, Celeborn?" I asked, grabbing Glorfindel's goblet and taking a drink of whatever was in it. Celeborn, I get the feeling, would have done the same to Galadriel, but she was prepared and had another goblet exclusively for him.
"Estel." Celeborn said, confirming one of my previous suppositions. "But it has been a long time since there has been a suitable partner."
"I bet." I said with a chuckle, getting a mental image of Aragorn teaching Celeborn the jig we'd just done.
"Where did you learn that?" Kari asked, suddenly popping up.
"Who, me or Celeborn?" I asked, blinking.
"Both." she replied.
"Estel." Celeborn replied once again.
"Rohan." I said with a grin.
"Dammit, I wanna go to Rohan." Kari muttered.
"And I want to go to Dol Amroth!" I said, waving a hand through the air dismissively. "But we can't always have what we want. Or at least, not when we want it."
"Yeah." Kari said with a sigh. "I've always wanted to see Minas Tirith, as well...you're lucky in that regard, at least."
"Tell you what, wait 52 days and I'll go anywhere you want with you." I said, nodding emphatically. "And we can haul Glorfindel along with us to scare away nasty orcses."
"You are both supposed to remain here until the end of the War, for good or for bad." Galadriel put in pointedly.
"And?" I asked her blankly. Galadriel glared at me, and I meeped and hid behind Glorfindel.
"You seem a little...tipsy, Rachel." Kari commented.
"Blame Rúmil and Orophin." I announced. "They're evil and have been giving me alcohol all evening."
"And she just took a large gulp of Dorwinnian Wine." Glorfindel said dryly. "Though this is about half the strength of what she had in Rivendell." I peered around Glorfindel at his goblet.
"Dorwinnian Wine? Where'd you get that?" I asked. Glorfindel looked at Galadriel. Galadriel looked pointedly at me, and I giggled. Celeborn shook his head and took the opportunity to escort Galadriel out of there, knowing that letting her and I remain in the same area for much longer would result in Bad Things happening.
"I drove Galadriel to drink." I said with a snicker once they were gone.
"That is not exactly something to be proud of." Glorfindel said with a small frown.
"Yes it is!" Kari and I chorused.
"And anyways, it serves our purpose, as that way she probably won't try too terribly hard to stop Kari and me from heading off for Minas Tirith, Rohan, Dol Amroth, or wherever in 52 days." I said cheerfully.
"You are serious about that?" Kari asked, her eyebrows shooting up.
"If we can get Glorfindel to come with us, you bet I'm serious." I said, then added in a low whisper, "Lothlórien is boring." Kari and Glorfindel chuckled.
"So?" Kari asked, turning to Glorfindel. "Shall we make plans for it?" Glorfindel hesitated.
"I am supposed to return to Rivendell at some point..." he said uneasily.
"Pshaw. They can survive without you." I said dismissively. Glorfindel glanced down at me in amusement.
"And I have a feeling that if I do not go, you will simply kidnap some other poor Elf instead." he said, then held up a hand as we started to protest. "So I shall go." he said.
"Yay! You're munderful." I said, giving Glorfindel a big hug.
"Glad to know." he said dryly.
----To be continued...with...um...actually, I'm not going to spoil this one...----
(Suffice it to say I'm sure any romantics reading this story will enjoy the next chapter.)
-Authors Note:-
O.o Whoa. Didn't know so many reviewers paid attention to my little note about when I would be updating next...I shall be sure to continue putting it in...
In other news, I think I jinxed my city/region when I wrote that chapter about Rachel and Glorfindel getting snowed in by a blizzard...Since I've posted it, there's been 2 blizzards out here in as many weeks. Lots and LOTS of snow - and a 40-car pile-up on the highway. Gurg. Only good thing is that it's only -11 outside, and the snow is big and fluffy.
And now, because it's been awhile since I gave anything away to my reviewers (and therefore, all the Elven rulers have relaxed their guards) and seamonkeysis requested it - everybody gets random Lothlorien elves! Do with them what you will! Just be sure to stuff them into a cupboard or something if Galadriel comes searching...
See ya Saturday!
~Crimson Starlight