thanks for all of the follows! No reviews? :( anyway, here's the next chapter...

Chapter 3

"We're going to meet my best friend in front of the mall when we get there, just to let you know." I informed the elf by my side. He nodded wordlessly, still a little uncomfortable without his sword which I had insisted he leave at home.

"Please be on time, Lark." I muttered as we approached the automatic doors. Sure enough, she was there, leaning against the glass panes beside the door and looking at her phone.

"Lark!" I called. She looked up and hugged me. Just then, she noticed Maedhros.

"Oh my Eru, where did you-"

I slapped a hand over her mouth. "No, he's real. Look." I shoved the letter into her hands, and she read it, looking up at me, wide-eyed. "I'm not joking, Lark." I begged her to believe me.

She nodded. "I believe you. You're here for clothes, aren't you?" She asked, mouth suddenly twitching. I rolled my eyes.

"You need to stay with me for at least a month." I begged. She snickered.

"I can't promise, but tonight sounds fine." She agreed, then turned to the elf who was waiting patiently. "You certainly look like you would fit in an anime show. Manga too." She added thoughtfully. "Well then, come on!" She said cheerily, dragging us both into the mall. "We'll need to go get jeans and-" she rattled on while I laughed.

Maedhros turned to me. "Is she always like this, Seler?" He asked, sounding amused.

"Yes, I am." Lark answered for herself, while I rolled my eyes at him helplessly. "And in exchange for helping, Celine, I expect you to give me Maglor if you get him." She smirked at me.

"Done deal, Lark." I replied dryly. "And If Curufin or Caranthir end up in my house, you can have them too." I added. "Oh, and Maeglin or Eöl."

She rolled her eyes while I sniggered and we made it to the men's clothes section. Maedhros was staring around him. I headed to the man at the desk who was staring at Maedhros like he was shocked.

"Hey!" I said cheerily. He snapped to me.

"May I help you?" He asked. I grinned.

"Actually yes, that's my brother Mark, and actually he was in cosplay, hence the costume, but he unfortunately just came from another state and left all his clothes there. I need some new ones- can you show me the rack for his height?" I asked.

"How tall is he?" The man gawked. I sighed.

"Say six and a half feet- maybe nearly seven- I'm not so sure anymore." I mumbled. He nodded, albeit looking a bit dazed.

"Over there." He replied, pointing.

"Thanks!" Lark called, dragging me away.

"Lark! Let go of me! Go glomp Mae-Mark!" I protested. She rolled her eyes at me in reply and proceeded to drag us both off, to my annoyance.

"Alright then, I'd say shorts and slacks, with t-shirts." I mused, trying to study Maedhros, who looked rightfully confused by my assessment.

"Umm, risk assessment?" Lark asked, poking me.

"What?" I replied, bemused.

"Risk a-ssess-ment." She dragged out the word. "Don't choose certain kinds of shirts to draw unwanted and unnecessary attention- he's an elf lord." She reminded me, stressing the elf factor. I got the point.

"Right." I agreed. "You know, this might be good, and this might be bad. I mean, we were complaining about having nothing to do... Anyway, here goes!"

"Hey Mark, what's your favorite color?" Lark asked Maedhros, pulling him over to a rack of shirts.

"Red." Was his obvious reply. I burst out snickering.

"Come on, Lark, you actually have to ask? I mean come on, he was known for his hair!" I teased, to which she groaned.

"I meant besides red." She grumbled, while Maedhros smiled, amused. I hope nobody saw his face. Ladies in particular. We'd never get out of here whole.

"Blue." He amended. I grinned wildly at Lark, who glared at me.

"I told you! I told you he would! Blue and silver, in fact, right Maedhros? I'm a Russingon bromance fan!" I crowed jubilantly, laughing.

"Never mind what I said, Mark, you wouldn't get it. Not now, anyway. Now we need to get you the right size-" I said. Lark and I had awful fun (literally) trying to get him the right size, colors, and styles, but we finally had about seven proper t-shirts and five pairs of slacks and loose shorts, oh and a pair of sandals. After debate, we decided on a pair of swim shorts too. After all, who knows when the opportunity will arise? Lark does have a pool in her backyard.

We checked out and Maedhros changed, popping the old clothes into the bag and we headed out. "Whatcha say we go to Baskin Robbins?" I asked. Lark grinned wildly at me.

"Are you kidding? Yes! We need to show Mark the finer things in life." She said with a decided nod, while I grinned back.

"Right. Mark, come on! We're going to get something sweet to eat!" I exclaimed. He looked at me curiously.

"Sweet?" He asked, sounding interested. I nodded.

"Uh huh. What kinds of sweets have you had before?" I asked, curious.

"Well, there was the kings bread, a type of pastry with special nuts, and also some sweet pastes and other cakes and things of that sort." He replied thoughtfully.

"Mmm. Sounds delicious." I said dreamily, almost drooling. Maedhros chuckled.

"They are." He agreed. Lark squeed randomly, and I rolled my eyes, a smile on my face. His laugh was to die for. Tell me no one heard it!

We skipped randomly into the malls BR's, and chose a whole tub to take home and enjoy. Need I say that we tried to hurry? Maedhros was attracting some attention that looked troublesome. Of course, he was oblivious, staring out at the walking people while waiting for us.

In a hurry, we took him back home and flung open the door. "Hey mom! We're back! We brought some dessert for the family, and Lark is staying overnight!" I hollered as we went into the kitchen. She turned and smiled at the ice cream, then gave her approval on Maedhros.

"You look a lot happier." She noted, raising an eyebrow at me.

"Yeah well come on, mom, Maedhros is in our house. That's not to add that I got a letter from the Valar, and added that I'm off school on vacation- although I dare say that I'll start freaking out again when more elves start landing in my living room." I answered dryly.

"Come on, Lark, we've gotta give Maedhros the 101 on how to survive on Earth, what to do about fifteen hundred possible case scenarios, give him our history books to read, teach him how to use a computer, and then go read some plushie fics." I decided, dragging her off. And so that's what we did for the rest of the afternoon. Man, this had been a long day.

Maedhros decided to read while Lark and I hogged the computer and laughed our heads off at the plushie fics and empathized with their troubles. Then had dinner and dessert, in which Maedhros decided that he liked ice cream, and finally went to conk out in bed. Well, Maedhros had the bed while Lark and I were on the floor. Air mattresses are never comfortable when shared with two people. One moves and the other gets tossed around and vice versa.

At least it's better than none at all. I just hoped that tomorrow Mandos would wait to bring the next elves until after my music school was over.

...

I woke up the next morning to find myself on the floor and Lark on the mattress, me still covered up with a blanket, strangely. A look towards the bed explained that, though, because Maedhros was gone.

Staggering to my feet, I noted by the clock that it was eight in the morning and stumbled downstairs with a groan. I staggered into the kitchen blearily, blinking owlishly in the lights.

"Need- hot- chocolate-" I mumbled incoherently, making my way to the fridge and heating up a cup in the microwave. I managed somehow to get it to the table without spills and plopped down in a random chair.

"Good morning, Celine." An amused voice made my head pop up to see a fuzzy Maedhros across from me with a newspaper in his hands, looking like he wanted to laugh.

"Good morning, Russ. When did you get up?" I asked, yawning and rubbing my eyes. The chocolate perked me up a little more.

"An hour ago." He replied, turning back to the paper. "Your world has strange happenings." He said, obviously intrigued. I nodded.

"Yep. Unfortunately, they're mostly bad." I said dryly, with another ginger sip from the cup. I scowled at it. The nasty thing burnt my tongue the first sip.

A moment later, Lark came tumbling down the stairs and bee-lined for the fridge. She blindly groped around until her fingers locked on the jug of milk, then she made herself a cup of hot chocolate too. She tottered over and next to me, while Maedhros watched, clearly entertained.

"Are you always like this in the mornings?" He asked us.

"Yes." Was the simultaneous groan as we plonked our heads on the table. "And I have music lessons this afternoon." I moaned. "Seriously, it ends today for the vacation! Knowing me, it's going to be utterly ruined." I shuddered.

"Mom says I'm going to stay for a whole month. She and dad made arrangements with your parents so they could to go out together on a cruise." Lark mumbled into her cup.

I fist-pumped. "Yes! Victory!" I shouted, relieved.

"Talk about it. They've been mooning around for a whole week. Geez, I really need a break from them." She agreed.

"Celine! You need to get ready for last class!" Mom called from the top of the stairs. "Did Lark tell you?"

"Yeah!" I called back, standing up, half-awake. Then I dumped my mug into the sink, went over and hugged Maedhros, and made my way precariously back up the stairs. I heard Lark laughing as Maedhros sputtered, shocked. I smirked and got myself ready, washing my face vigorously to wake myself up more.

Lark came into the bathroom, still sniggering, while I grinned at her in reply. "What time are you leaving?" She asked. "And what should I do with Maedhros?" She added as an afterthought.

"I'm leaving in about an- hour- since the classes were bumped up earlier so we can finish early. I don't know about red-head. Why don't you try taking him to the local dojo for exercise?" I suggested lazily. She contemplated.

"Good idea. I'll do that. How about the other elves thingy?" She queried.

I groaned. "I'll just take it as it comes, I guess. The same brother-cosplay-roleplay thing." I added with a sigh. "Whelp. Here goes."

I clattered down the stairs and went through the living room, where Maedhros was currently engrossed in another history book. "See ya later, Maedhros! Please be good for Lark for me!" I said cheerily, moving through the room. He nodded in reply.

"Have a good time, Celine." He replied politely with a smile.

"Hannon lle, Gwador." I thanked him, going into the hallway. "See ya mom! I'll be back!" I hollered, heading out the door.

"Be safe!" She replied, and I shook my head as I headed out.