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 TENTH NIGHT OF YULE
"'t was the tenth day of Yule, and it's a difficult thing
to shop for a lady who has everything"
Mauburz watched Rúmil with great amusement while she polished the shelves with walnut oil. For over an hour already he had been rummaging through oils, perfumes, soaps and hair tonic, picking one bottle up, pushing another aside, reading a label here and sniffing at a perfumed powder there. In between, he was sighing, and finally, Mauburz thought he had suffered enough, and stepped to his side, putting her large paw on his shoulder.
"Nice brother of Haldir has never come here before, and now stands here looking like Sauron after lost battle. Can help you? What is Rúmil looking for? Comb for Haldir? Muzzle for Rabbit?"
Rúmil sighed again, and raked both hands through his hair, forcing a smile to show he knew the Orc was joking.
"Ai, Mistress Mauburz, if only it was so simple. I am looking for a Yule present for a person who has everything..."
"Female person or male person?" Mauburz asked, and Rúmil murmured "female". The Orc giggled upon seeing the warrior blush, and scratched her head.
"Female persons difficult to shop for. Never happy, always want other thing than they get, and come and exchange and make mess. Could give her stuffed Warg head, looks nice on wall."
Rúmil imagined how Galadriel's face would look when she unwrapped a stuffed Warg head on Yule Eve, and shuddered. It was bad enough that she could read his thoughts and probably knew that he still had no present for her, but a Warg head – no. Just – no.
"I do not think the lady would appreciate such a gift, lovely as it might be," he said diplomatically.
Mauburz snorted. "Then she is stoopid Elf. You could make yourself present, with bow around little Elf, how like that?"
Rúmil stared at the Orc, and Mauburz grinned, happy that she had confused the Elf.
"I beg your pardon, Mistress Mauburz? I think I did not understand you well..." he stuttered, and she rubbed her hands.
"No, no, nice brother of Haldir did understand right. You could put yourself under Yule tree, wearing only bow. Is nice idea. Is what nice lord Orophin will get from nice lord Elladan."
Rúmil groaned.
"This is – too much information, Mistress Mauburz. And I dare not ask where you got it from."
A smug smile answered his question, and he decided to return his attention to the goods on display.
At that very moment, Lindir entered the shop. Unlike the minstrel with the same name, this lovely young Elf had grown up with an overprotective mother who had kept him away from the realities of life for millennia, so while he was about the same age as the twins, he had the mind of an Elfling. Despite lengthy explanations from both Erestor and Glorfindel he still firmly believed that babies were placed under Mallorn trees by Yavanna, and he knew every single fairytale in his "Nana Goose" books by heart.
Had he lived in any other place but Rivendell, people would have looked at him as an oddity, but here, he definitely had to be counted among the more sensible part of the population.
Right now, he looked very excited, his blue eyes sparkled, and he held up his favourite toy, a cuddly Nana-Goose-doll.
"Miss Mauburz, Miss Mauburz, look what I got for Yule!" he called from the door, and quickly walked over to the Orc, who reached up for the cookie jar to welcome her special friend with a treat.
"You got new doll?" she asked, and Lindir laughed, shaking his head, sending his braids flying.
"No, no – look! Miss Goose got a new outfit for Yule! Miss Arwen has sewn it!"
Mauburz took the toy in her large paws, and admired the red velvet bonnet, cloak and silk shirt of the goose as much as her Orcish sense of aesthetics allowed.
"Very nice, elegant, looks like Lady Galadriel," she grinned, eyeing Rúmil, who swallowed down a comment on this insult. Lindir turned around, saw the Galadhrim and ran now in his direction.
"Mr Rúmil! Have you seen Miss Goose's new outfit?"
Rúmil had a snarky remark on his tongue, but when he saw Lindir's shining eyes and his happy smile, he didn't have the heart to ruin the day of Arda's oldest Elfling, and said: "Indeed, these are garments fitting for a noble lady. You must be very proud."
Lindir nodded, gave Rúmil a quick kiss on the cheek and returned to Mauburz, who had watched the scene with great amusement.
"What does nice Elfling Lindir want?" she asked, and Lindir blushed.
"Oh, I do not really know, Miss Mauburz. I am looking for a Yule present for Mr Faramir, for he was very friendly and showed me how to imitate bird calls."
Mauburz cocked an eyebrow. Now look at this, she thought, is young Lindir finally growing up?
"You could give nice Master Faramir tobacco for Yule," she suggested, but Lindir shook his head.
"No, he does not smoke. He said smoking would be harmful, and Mr Gandalf said this was nonsense, and they argued, and he insisted, and nice Mr Gandalf said he would put his pipe somewhere dark where the sun does not shine if Mr Faramir would not stop it, and then I do not know what happened, for Master Erestor held his hands over my ears. Where does the sun not shine, Miss Mauburz?"
Rúmil pressed his hand over his mouth to keep himself from howling, and Mauburz had the same problem.
"Must have talked about Mordor, Lindir. So no tobacco. Maybe soap?"
Lindir looked at her, all righteous indignation.
"Mr Faramir does not need soap, he is not dirty!"
Mauburz shrugged.
"So Lindir has no idea what to give Master Faramir?"
"Oh, I did have an idea," Lindir said, shuffled his feet and blushed again. "But Master Erestor said it was the wrong present, and Mr Faramir would maybe not like it."
"What present?" Mauburz asked.
"I wanted to give him my favourite Nana Goose book, because," and here he blushed even more, "he is my bestest friend."
A warm, large hand came to rest on Lindir's arm, and when he looked up, he saw the smiling face of Glorfindel.
"Dear, dear Lindir," he said, "while my beloved scroll-shuffler might be right most of the time: in this case, he was wrong. It is not important what we give as a present, but why. You want to give Mr Faramir your book because you like him a lot, you are willing to give away something that has a great meaning to you, and with that, you honour him. This will be the greatest present of all for him, and if I judge him correctly, he will appreciate this gift very much."
Lindir beamed up at the warrior, getting all excited.
"Oh, thank you, thank you, Mr Glorfindel! Then I will go to Miss Arwen now and ask her to help me wrap the book! And you are sure Mr Faramir will like it?"
"Absolutely sure," Glorfindel said, stroking the younger Elf's head.
Lindir jumped up and down, then he held Miss Goose right in front of Glorfindel's nose.
"Look, Mr Glorfindel, Miss Goose has a new outfit! Does she not look splendid?"
Glorfindel, who had to hold long conversations with Estorel's hobbit doll just to keep his son happy, took one of Miss Goose's red-clad wings, and pressed a kiss on it.
"You are looking most charming today, Lady Goose. If I was not already bonded to the lovely Erestor, I would give you my heart right away."
Lindir squeaked with delight, then he ran out of the door, waving everybody goodbye, and disappeared in the direction of the Last Homely House, without a doubt to visit Arwen and get his present for Faramir ready.
"A lovely child," Glorfindel remarked, and Mauburz nodded. "Lovely old child," she said, "should already be married and have six Elflings by now. Stoopid Lindir-nana."
Glorfindel smiled.
"Ai, Mistress Mauburz – in time, this heart also will find a key and be unlocked. We are Elves, we have all the time in Arda. And now I need a salve for bruises, Estorel has managed to throw one of Erestor's shelves over and one of the books hit his head."
Mauburz climbed up on a chair and took the article from a shelf, put it in front of Lord Glorfindel, and took the coins. Then she opened the cookie jar.
"Here, take cookie for nice young Estorel, Lord Glorfindel," she said, and Fin thanked her.
"Wonderful, he has already run out of food to make a mess with!" he laughed, waving Rúmil good-bye as he left the shop.
"I guess I shall leave now, too," the Galadhrim said, "I have not found what I was looking for."
He headed for the door, and ran right into Celeborn. Neither of the two Elves spoke, they stood almost nose to nose, and though Rúmil blushed, he did not avoid the Lord's look.
The Galadhrim bowed his head, and said: "Mae govannen, my lord. I am most sorry, I was not looking where I was going."
Celeborn studied the Elf in front of him. 'Yes,' he thought, 'you are of my blood, you are fair and know no fear, and you caught the heart of the fairest one of all.' Alas, the secret pride he felt vanished quickly when he remembered at whose cost Rúmil had won the fairest heart in question.
"Nice lord Celeborn, not kill nice brother of Haldir in here. Have just swept floor, no make mess. If want to kill him, do outside, and use hands, not sword."
Both Elves stared at the Orc, not sure whether she was jesting or not. Finally, Celeborn grabbed Rúmil's arm and dragged him into a corner, out of the Orc's hearing – at least this was what he thought.
"Rúmil – I know that this is the wrong place and the wrong time, but as you have been avoiding me for weeks now, I must take this opportunity to ask: are the rumours I hear true?"
The younger Elf swallowed hard – so this was the moment of truth. He had feared it. All along, he had been torn between his love for the lady and his loyalty to the lord, and he didn't know how he should explain the situation to Celeborn. At least his lord did not look angry, only concerned. For a moment, he considered playing games and asking 'what rumours' or something equally ridiculous, but the respect he felt for the Elf in front of him forbade it, so he decided to be honest.
"If those rumours say that I love the Lady Galadriel, then aye, they are true. If they say that I have betrayed my lord, then no, these rumours are not true."
Celeborn nodded.
"Is your love true, Rúmil? Is it the she-elf you love, or the lady of the Golden Wood? Is it the power and the wealth, or her beautiful heart and soul? Answer truthfully, for I will know if you should lie."
Rúmil didn't waver.
"I love her for the precious being she is. Nothing else holds interest for me. If you ask me whether my love is returned, then I cannot answer you, my lord, for only she knows the answer. I would give my life for her without even thinking."
The lord sighed.
"I gave her free long ago, Rúmil; she is free to go her own ways, as am I. Love can change over the ages. While I do not wish to spend my life with her any more, I would not tolerate seeing her hurt. She has suffered enough, and I am afraid that I was more often the cause of her pain than her happiness. Are you aware of what you get yourself into, Rúmil? Will you be there for her when she cries for our lost child, when darkness comes over her mind and she wanders through the woods without knowing who she is or where she goes? Can you bear this?"
The younger Elf's eyes were glittering.
"Aye, my lord. I can and I would. I know all about suffering and grief, I have mourned my brothers, my mother, my father. But I am strong! I can help her carry her burden!"
Celeborn gently touched the cheek of the other Elf.
"Your father would be very proud of you, young Rúmil," he said, "and now leave, it pains me to see you this moment, but note well: you have my blessing, and I do not wish you any ill."
Rúmil, who had expected anything from a duel to a fit of hysterics from his lord, was thunderstruck by this noble acceptance, nodded, and quickly left the shop, thereby sparing himself the humiliation of crying in front of his lord.
Celeborn stood motionless for quite a while, realizing that he had cut the last ties to his old life. This had not been an easy step, and was one he had feared for so long – to let go, to finally let go.
He sighed deeply, and then he saw the box on the counter. It contained an assortment of jewellery; rings, combs, necklaces – not valuable things, but pretty to look at. One hair clasp caught his eye – it was carved out of amber, shaped like a flying bird, and something about it caught his attention. It was delicate, of a warm brown colour, and it reminded him of something. For the fraction of a second, he remembered rich, brown hair, feeling like silk, spread over a cushion – but the moment was over very quickly.
"I would like this clasp, Mistress Mauburz," he said, and the Orc opened the glass lid of the box, took out the fragile item and wrapped it in soft, white silk.
Celeborn had no idea why he bought it – but somehow, it felt right.
* * *
"Day eleven comes soon, and Yule Eve is near
As well as some trouble, dear readers, I fear..."
* * *
Author's notes: the Lindir in this story has sneaked in from the Magic Rat's universe, and is entirely and completely Zimraphel's character, as portrayed on our tagboard. Miss Goose appears here with special permission by Mister Goose, who honked his approval.