This 500 word ficlet was inpired by the prompt: "Hidden"

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Erestor did not look up at the sound of the soft knock on his study door. He said brusquely, "Come in!"

Estel confidently pushed open the door and crossed the room, looking about him appraisingly. There were books on every flat surface and parchments on every spot not completely covered by the books. Estel sighed. This was obviously a busy-Erestor day. His conclusion was confirmed when Erestor said, still without raising his eyes from his work, "Now is not a good time, Estel."

"Not a good time for what?"

"For whatever you have come to bother me about."

"I did not come to bother you, Erestor," whimpered a voice that could only have come from a starving orphan. A starving orphan in a blizzard. Dressed in rags. With a crutch for his crippled foot.

"Do not think to try your tricks on me, sir! I am not Glorfindel—I do not heed your every whim."

Estel sighed again. "May I stay if I do not bother you?"

"Have you suddenly transformed into a well-behaved, quiet child?"

A wounded protest: "Erestor!"

"Very well. But please allow me to continue my work."

Estel took a seat and crossed his ankles and folded his hands. He sat for five minutes before saying, "May I have a book?"

Erestor groaned but laid aside his quill. Far be it from him to discourage intellectual development in the young. He rose and went to a shelf stocked solely with books he thought Estel would enjoy. "Try this one."

"Thank you." Estel looked at the beautiful illustrations for half of an hour, but then his heels began to tap against the chair legs—first gently and then with more vigor. Erestor's brows drew together and he prepared to snap at the boy, but the sight of the bent head and tongue-tip sticking out made him pause. Finally, after a few more minutes, one long-fingered hand moved to a drawer and removed a small, foil-wrapped oval. Without a glance at it he placed it on the edge of the desk and soon a much smaller hand closed over it and it disappeared. Then gentle sucking sounds were added to more chair tapping. Erestor huffed. Estel smiled; he thought Erestor could huff better than anyone.

Suddenly, the door opened and Lindir stepped in to tell Erestor that Elrond wished to see him. The councilor shoved his chair back in annoyance and left the room. Lindir looked at Estel, puzzled. "Why do you like to spend time with such an old grump? He never says anything kind to you, or even smiles at you."

"Yes, he does. You just need to know where he hides them."

"Hides what?"

"His smiles."

The minstrel chuckled, humoring the child. "So where does he hide them?"

Estel said seriously, "In that bookshelf, over there. And in that drawer. In his lap when I'm crying, in his fingers when I hurt myself, and sometimes, when it's a very big smile—in his eyes."

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