The Adventures of Glorfindel and Erestor (1?)
Chapter One: The Portrait
Glorfindel stood in front of the tree, one foot resting upon a rock. He had his sword drawn and extended as if battling an unseen creature. "How long is this going to take you?" he asked for the fourth time.
"I am almost finished," Erestor replied. "Quit whining. Everytime you whine, you move."
"I didn't slay the balrog by standing still like a statue, you know." Glorfindel glared, clearly running out of patience.
Erestor sighed, "No, you whined it to death." He dipped his paintbrush into some green paint, applied a few more strokes, then smiled. "Done."
"Finally!" Glorfindel collapsed to the ground. "Imagine. All of Imladris will be able to see the image of the heroic Glorfindel defeating a mighty balrog."
"Of course," said Erestor, with a smirk on his face. "They will be in awe. Elrond is particularly anxious to see it. Would you mind bringing it in to the library when you are finished?" As Glorfindel started to nod his head in agreement, Elrond's cat jumped out of the tree, nearly landing on his head.
"Why Elrond keeps that cat is beyond me," mumbled Glorfindel as he started getting up.
Gathering up the painting supplies, Erestor quickly headed back to the library. He found Elrond there, looking through books. "Lord Elrond, I am finished with the painting."
"Wonderful. I am most anxious to see it. How did you get him to remain still? He's always bouncing about," asked Elrond.
Erestor reached into a pocket and pulled out a few small bits of meat for Elrond's cat Mithren, who had jumped up on his desk. "Yes, Mithren is bouncy, but was quite willing to pose on a tree branch for his portrait after I promised him treats," he said. Mithren purred so loudly in appreciation that Elrond failed to hear the sounds of an angry balrog slayer screaming Erestor's name in the garden.
"Erestor!" Glorfindel bellowed, as he angrily stomped down the garden path, carrying the painting of Mithren. All within hearing distance, which was pretty much everyone, considering how loud he was yelling, rolled their eyes as if to say here we go again. It was a common occurrence to hear Glorfindel and Erestor in varying degrees of yelling and laughing at each other. Usually more yelling.
After Elrond left the library, Erestor sat down and started contemplating. Should he stay and face Glorfindel's wrath? Should he hide for the remainder of the day? The first option promised to be more entertaining, he thought. He shooed Mithren out the window then settled in to wait. He didn't have to wait long.
The door burst open and Glorfindel walked in, with a glare. "You realize what this means, don't you?"
"That Elrond will probably ask me to paint his doves next?" replied Erestor, with a serious look on his face. Well, almost serious. The corners of his mouth were trembling a bit, threatening to turn upward.
Glorfindel leaned in close, and whispered, "It means, that--" They both jumped at the sound of the knock on the door. "Come in," he said, and settled into a comfortable chair. It was a messenger, with his arms full of scrolls and packages.
"Good afternoon," he said with a smile. " I have just come from Mirkwood. I do wish they would do something about those spiders. Where do you want these?"
Erestor leaned forward and cleared off one end of the desk. "You may put them here. Is there anything I need to respond to right away?
The messenger looked through the pile and selected one small scroll. "Just this one from King Thrandruil." He handed it to Erestor, who broke the seal and read the contents.
"Ahh, this will work out nicely." He picked up his quill, dipped it into the ink pot and scrawled a few lines then signed it. After sealing it back up with fresh wax and the imprint of the Elrond's seal, he handed it back to the messenger. "Thank you." After the messenger left, Erestor started going through the scrolls.
"Anything interesting?"
"What? Is there supposed to be? Mostly just the usual." Erestor picked up a scroll case, twisted off one end and dumped out two scrolls. "Hmmm," he said, after looking at one of them. "Some kind of map." He studied it for a bit then handed it to Glorfindel. Picking up the other scroll that had accompanied it, he unrolled it and started reading. Or at least he tried to read it. "This doesn't make any sense."
Glorfindel looked up from the map. "What doesn't make any sense?" Grabbing the scroll from Erestor's hand, and inspected it carefully. "You're right, it doesn't make any sense. And it feels like it is...humming."
"It's what?"
Glorfindel put his hand up to his neck and hummed. "The way that feels when you hum." He handed Erestor the scroll. "Get rid of it, something isn't right about it," he said, as he walked out and down the hall. After he was sure he was out of earshot, Glorfindel ducked into an alcove and burst into laughter. "Oh, this is going to be so good."
I hope you enjoyed this first chapter-- mistybutterfly