YULETIDE TALES 2003
"THE TW(ELF) DAYS OF YULE"
This is a series of 12 ficlets, pure fluffy silliness, which will be rated G - PG-13, depending on the day. Gen, het, slash - something for everybody. Beta-read by Eveiya, thanks a lot!
I wish you all a joyful festive season. And if you, between unwrapping presents and digging into the Christmas dinner, should stop a moment to think of those who have less or nothing, you might feel like sharing your happiness, and go here:
DOCTORS WITHOUT BORDERS
5 dollars can make a difference - and a donation in honour of somebody rather than presenting him with another tie or ashtrey he or she doesn't need might be a nice idea this Christmas, too...
Thanks!
Erestor
THE EIGHTH NIGHT OF YULE
"It is the eighth day of Yule, the Elfling is playing
the guardian is musing, the trees are swaying"
"Ai – now you are a beauty!" Orophin said to himself, and patted the bark of the large spruce lovingly.
"I do not know yet how I will get you back to the Last Homely House, but somehow I will manage."
Orophin was an Elf on a mission. This was the first traditional Elven Yule Celebration of his marriage, and he wanted everything to be perfect. He and Elladan had only recently moved into their own chambers, in a wing far away from Lord Elrond's chambers, and luckily, the redecoration had been finished just in time for the festive season.
There was no plush or velvet – these were warriors' chambers - but at the same time, Elladan's hand had placed a picture here and an ornament there, just enough to make the place look and feel like a real home. Weapons decorated the walls and the only luxury was a sinfully large bed, courtesy of Lord Glorfindel, who had given them the skilfully carved monster as a present.
Right now, the Lórien Elf was dreaming of an exquisite Yule dinner, of scented candles filling the room with their sweet fragrance, and, of course, of this wonderful tree here. It looked like it had grown just for the purpose of being decorated and having Elladan seduced underneath it.
So the Galadhrim picked up the axe he had put aside in the snow, and began his task. It took him only ten minutes to fell the tree, but another hour to drag his heavy load back home. When he arrived in the courtyard, slightly out of breath, half a dozen servants came running, led by Melpomaen, who clapped his hands over his head.
"My lord," he cried, "what have you been thinking to do such heavy work? We have enough servants to carry out your orders; one word and the tree would have been here in no time!"
Orophin blushed, thanked Melpomaen and left it to him to take the tree into his chambers. Then he hurried directly to the nursery to take Estorel for a walk. Sometimes he doubted that he would ever get used to the fact that he was now a noble Elf, for he certainly didn't feel like one. Lord Elrond had already hinted that there were about four shelves worth of books waiting for Orophin to study, so that he would learn all there was to know about Imladris' history, customs and politics.
He groaned while he lightly stepped up the stairs, for he certainly felt more home and at ease in the woods than in a library, but if this was part of becoming a worthy husband to Elladan, he would do it.
Glorfindel had already dressed Estorel, so all Orophin had to do was to pick the Elfling up and walk with him down to the Bruinen while Estorel's bed was moved to the extra chamber next to Elladan's and Orophin's - they had promised to look after the child for a few days so that Master Erestor got some rest.
It was a cold, but beautiful winter day, and Estorel was in the best of moods. Erestor insisted that his son was outside as often as possible, he wanted the child to be in touch with nature and its spirit from an early age, and Orophin, who often felt trapped inside the thick walls of the Last Homely House, enjoyed these walks greatly.
He talked to the Elfling as he would have to an adult, something he had done with the twins when they were little, and earlier on with Haldir, for he saw no use in teaching a child baby talk. He also made a habit of repeating every sentence in Westron as well – in times like these, it would certainly be useful for Estorel to speak the common tongue.
Estorel, like all Elflings, had immediately taken a great liking to his guardian, and held long conversations with the quiet, silver-blond Elf in his own language – a language only Orophin, Glorfindel and Erestor seemed to understand.
Today Orophin felt a little melancholic while he sat by the banks of the river, holding Estorel, who had fallen asleep after playing in the snow for an hour. His thoughts wandered to Haldir, and it hurt him greatly to realize that he had missed out on a very important part of his life. Would he have cared for Haldir more or less if he had known that the annoying Elfling who kept running after him was his son? He would certainly have cared in a different way. Orophin felt robbed of the chance to be a father, and the knowledge that he would never have this chance again made him sad. He almost envied Rabbit and Erestor, who had been given an immeasurable gift with their ability to give life.
Estorel woke up, and sneezed twice, a sure sign that it was time to bring the child back home. Orophin put the Elfling on the ground, and Estorel took three careful steps in the deep snow, then he stumbled and fell, and with his thick layer of clothing, he couldn't get up again on his own. Orophin grinned, for the child looked like a bug who had landed on his back. Estorel kicked his feet and waved his arms, but instead of crying, he began to giggle, and Orophin admired once again the sunny nature of the little one.
"Up, up, Phin!" he laughed, and Orophin immediately complied.
"As much as I enjoy seeing you smile, penneth, I must insist that we return to Elladan, who should be finished with his work at the Healing House," he said to Estorel, picking him up and gently brushing the snow from the Elflings clothes. He sat the child on his shoulders; Estorel giggled again, and immediately began to tug on Orophin's braids. Now that he was married, there were small, dark blue beads woven into the silver blond strands, a sign of his new status, and the child was fascinated by this new toy, so he took every opportunity to torment his guardian.
The two made their way home, Orophin singing to the Elfling. Then it was the same procedure as every evening: undressing Estorel, making sure that his dinner ended up in his mouth, not in his hair or on the carpet, giving him his sponge bath, wrapping him in warm towels, dressing him for the night, sitting in the rocking chair and singing a lullaby. When it came to Estorel, he was more of a mother-hen than Erestor at times, and secretly, he was even a little grateful that he could now spend more time with the child.
He had never sung lullabies for Haldir. He hadn't known any - maybe his mother had sung him to sleep, but he couldn't remember his mother. And when he came to the Golden Woods, so many millennia ago, he had to learn the language first, for all he spoke was the Common Tongue. It had taken him years to hold a real conversation with Rúmil, who spoke no Westron at all.
While Estorel slowly fell asleep, Orophin's thoughts wandered back to his youth, or at least the part of his youth he liked to remember. What had Haldir looked like as a baby? Cuddly. Had he cried a lot? Not really, all in all, he had been a happy Elfling.
To think that he had seen his own child grow up and not known! Orophin felt cheated, and so did Haldir - though, truth be told, had he known back then, he would probably have fled in panic. How old had he been? 70? 80? Orophin shook his head.
Estorel was already asleep, so Orophin got up very carefully so as not to wake the child, for this would have ended in a vocal demand that Orophin also kissed his hobbit doll good-night. He put Estorel down in his bed and tucked the blankets in, pressed a gentle kiss on the child's head, and then opened the door to his own chambers.
Or rather - he tried to, for something was leaning heavily on the door; it took quite some force to push it open wide enough to slip into the room, and it was with no little surprise that he found himself standing in the woods.
Elladan, who was lying comfortably on a rug in front of the fireplace, waved and laughed: "Hello beloved! Is this not simply fantastic?"
"Fantastic?" Orophin gasped, taking in the scenery. "What in Elbereth's name has happened here?"
"That is a very valid question," Elladan said, putting the book he had read aside. "My theory is as follows: being the sweet soul that you are, you decided to surprise me with a Yule tree. And being the sweet soul that I am, I had the same idea. Unfortunately, both my ada and Lord Glorfindel thought to surprise us with a Yule tree, too, and where the other two trees came from, I do not know yet, but I suspect one is from Elrohir and one from Arwen. So welcome to the chambers of the six trees, dear husband, where firewood will never run out and squirrels nest in the bedchamber!"
This was no exaggeration. The room was filled with spruces – the hearth-rug being the only place where one could see the floor, and Orophin had to step over branches and twigs like a crane in the river to get to his husband, who obviously found the chaotic situation to be most amusing.
"Ai, Elladan, what are we going to do with all these trees?" Orophin asked, slightly desperate, and his husband shrugged.
"You ask me? You are the Galadhrim – you tell me what to do with them. Maybe they will leave if we hug them?" he asked hopefully, and Orophin rolled his eyes.
Elladan flopped down on the closest branches, and sighed happily.
"This is very comfortable, Orophin – it really is. And I like the scent of the crushed needles."
"Do you intend to sleep on these trees now?" Orophin asked, carefully kneeling down beside Elladan and kissing him.
"No, sleeping was not on my mind, to be honest," Elladan said, and winked at his husband, "I suggest you shed your clothes and join me in this unplanned, but nevertheless heartfelt spontaneous celebration of nature's beauty."
Now Orophin had to smile as well. Elladan was hard to resist when he was in such a playful mood, and so he watched with delight as the younger Elf slipped out of jerkin, tunic and breeches and stretched out on the branches of the tree again, looking like a delicious meal arranged on a green plate.
Orophin lost no time in joining his husband and began to cover his face with butterfly kisses.
"Did everything go well with Estorel?" Elladan asked, running his fingers through Orophin's hair.
"Yes - he is a lovely child; he was trying to catch snowflakes with his tongue."
Elladan laughed.
"Oh, I used to do that as well! I once also tried to lick the ice off the gate, and my tongue got stuck to it."
Orophin snickered.
"I doubt this could happen to anybody else but you!" he grinned, and Elladan giggled.
"Indeed! I can only hope my children will not be as clumsy as I am," he said, and the very minute the words had left his lips, his smile froze.
Orophin noticed, and immediately tried to get up. "I am sorry," he said.
"What for?" Elladan asked, keeping him in place. "It was I who spoke without thinking - I... I would not want to be married to anyone but you."
Orophin sighed.
"This might be true now, Elladan - but you are still very young. The day will come when you might regret that you never had children. I could not blame you."
Elladan nuzzled Orophin's ear.
"I would be a terrible father, beloved. I would forget where I put the baby, and if I had more than one, I would mix up their names all the time. Arwen has two, and from all I can tell, only a lock on Estel's chamber will keep her from having five or six more. He looked rather exhausted, to be honest.
Then there are Estorel, Bramble - and Glorfindel. Yes - I really think we have enough Elflings in Rivendell."
Though Orophin still had his doubts, he gave in to Elladan's cheerfulness, and kissed him. After a good while, Elladan broke the kiss, and gave his husband a sultry look.
"Ada would chide us, beloved, for we are neglecting our duties," he purred, wriggling under Orophin and making the older Elf gasp.
"Duties? What duties?"
"Well - decorating our tree, for example," Elladan replied, gently drawing circles, spirals and other patterns on Orophin's strong back and nibbling on his shoulder.
The Lórien Elf gazed down at his dark-haired husband, admiring how the long lashes half-covered the slate-grey eyes.
"This tree looks like it is decorated already, beloved," he murmured, "and I doubt any colourful bauble or silver chain could be more beautiful than you."
Elladan sighed with happiness, and decided not to mention that he could feel spruce needles stinging in all the wrong places - some things were worth suffering for.
* * *
"Happy couples sure are fine,
For all others there's Yule-day number nine."