"Have you seen the guest list yet?" asked Celebrian. She was sitting opposite from

Haldir at the kitchen table, with Rumil to her left and Orophin to her right. Tallasinde

was next to her eldest brother, who was shaking his head as he buttered toast for the

elfling beside him.

"Anyone we should hope gets eaten by a balrog before the party?" asked Orophin, who was

slapped on the shoulder by Rumil with considerable force.

"Not in front of you-know-who!" hissed Rumil.

Tallasinde shrugged. "I am not scared of balrogs 'cause I know they do not live here.

An' Glorfindel would take care of `em if they did."

The elfling's words were convincing enough, but the way she delivered them was not.

Haldir gave her a reassuring kiss atop her head as he set her toast onto her plate,

shooting Orophin a contemptuous look. "Who is on the list, Clebri?"

Celebrian unfolded a paper she had kept tucked away under her plate and read off the

names one by one, receiving commentary from her brothers as she did. "Glorfindel."

"Would not be a party without him!" smiled Orophin.

"Erestor."

"And, there goes the party," he added.

"Some of us happen to like Erestor," scolded Haldir, and Tallasinde nodded.

"Thranduil."

"Will he be bringing any wine with him?" wondered Rumil.

"Thaladir."

"Oh, yes! Yes, yes, yes," Orophin gleefully said to himself, sprinkling brown sugar into

his bowl of oatmeal.

Rumil raised a brow. "I can not believe you are more excited about Thaladir than you are

about Erestor."

"I will have to prepare something special for `round two'…" mused Orophin, confusing his

siblings with his mumbling.

"Ilmendin."

No one said anything about the elder of Thranduil's sons, so Tallasinde spoke up on his

behalf. "I like Ilmendin. He gave me the dolly with the pretty green dress."

"So he did." Celebrian looked up from her list with a grin. "And do you remember what

you first called your dolly when you got her?"

"I named her Ilmendin, but Nana made me change her name," recalled Tallasinde.

"And what do you call her now?" asked Orophin.

"Ilmendiel," replied the elfling.

"Well, I suppose if Thranduil is coming, and Ilmendin is coming…" Haldir trailed off,

glancing to Celebrian for confirmation of his assumption.

"Next name on the list. Legolas."

"And if Thranduil, Ilmendin, and Legolas are coming, I imagine the next name after that

would be…" Again, Haldir did not finish his sentence.

"Yes, your dwarf friend is coming, too," smirked Celebrian, and Haldir snorted.

"The dwarf and I are not friends," corrected Haldir with a half-hearted sneer. He swore

the last thing he was going to admit to any of them was that he and Gim—the dwarf – had

developed a solid friendship over the past few years.

Tallasinde looked up in alarm. "But when you and Gimli were hunting on—ah!" Tallasinde's

eyes lit up as Haldir held out a piece of colorful taffy, wrapped in waxed paper, that

he had had in the pocket of his tunic. One small hand reached out to take the piece and

she immediately began to unwrap it.

"You learned that from Valarda," accused Orophin with a mischievous smile.

"Yes, I did," said Haldir. "It is a very effective means of muting an elfling. Do you

agree, Celebrian?"

Celebrian nodded. "It worked on me even after I reached my majority. For a while, at

least," she added.

Orophin shrugged. "Still works on me." Orophin eyed up Haldir's pocket, which he could

tell held more of the taffy. "I think I could be bribed not to press Tally for

information if you – there we are!" Orophin snatched the taffy that was dangled before

him, while Rumil and Celebrian held out their hands as well. Once everyone, except

Haldir, was eating the taffy, he took the list from Celebrian and read through the rest

of the names.

"Glorcheniel. She is nice, I like her."

"Nah asth mucth asth the twinth do," said Orophin wickedly.

Haldir glared at Orophin for the comment, but smiled as well. He looked back to the

paper with slight confusion. "Galadhon. Lhunerin. Finarfin. Eärwen."

Rumil, who had decided to suck on his taffy instead of chew it, pushed it into his cheek

to speak. "Our grandparents will be here?" He looked to Celebrian, who nodded her head.

"That is wonderful news!" Celebrian shook her head now, and Rumil looked confused. "That

is not wonderful news?" Again, Celebrian shook her head, and Rumil frowned. "Why is it

not wonderful news?" The three brothers had never met their grandparents, and looked to

Celebrian for answers to her odd behavior.

Celebrian swallowed the last of her taffy and began to count off the reasons for her

brothers. "To begin with, Eärwen and Galadhon still blame one another for Nana and Ada's

marriage, and will cite the unseemliness of the situation at least ten times if they are

in the room together. Galadhon, the last time I spoke with him, still believes that

Nana was controlling Ada with some sort of evil spell, and that his son would have `done

better than he did in Lorien' without Nana."

"That is not fair. I came up with the evil spell theory first," argued Orophin. "And the

Elf-Witch of the Forest thing, that was me, too," he informed them.

"Why does this not surprise me?" groaned Haldir, rubbing his temples.

"And then also, the – oh, wait, you are here. Nevermind," Orophin looked off into space

after regarding Haldir for a moment.

" `Then also the' what?" demanded Haldir.

Rumil disregarded his brothers and nudged Celebrian. "What else will we be subjected to

while they are here?"

"Eärwen is very picky about the spouses of her children and grandchildren. You can

expect that she will scrutinize every detail of your wives," warned Celebrian.

"I suppose I should thank Elrond for making me wait to be married, then," said Haldir

happily.

Celebrian gave Haldir a look of pity. "You are worse off than the rest of us. Expect her

to nag you throughout her visit as to why you have not yet married and why it has taken

you so long. It will be better for you if you and Elodien say nothing during their

visit. You will save yourselves a lot of trouble in the long run."

"Well, it is not my fault! I shall have no qualms about pointing her in the direction of

your husband when she gets here." Haldir pouted and glanced at Rumil and Orophin, who

both seemed to think this would be great fun, but Celebrian pointed a finger at Orophin.

"Just you wait. You might be married, but you will be asked constantly why you have no

children," Celebrian said.

Orophin shrugged. "And this differs from what I listen to from Nana in what way?"

"Looks as if I am the perfect son for once," smiled Rumil.

Celebrian let her gaze fall to the youngest brother, and her look made Rumil

uncomfortable. "Rumil, oh pretty one, I fear you shall have your own problems. For

Lhunerin's great flaw is that she can not resist pinching cheeks and patting faces, and

I think you most definitely have pinchable cheeks." She reached a hand up and pulled at

the flesh on the side of Rumil's face, and he swatted her away.

"As if it can get no worse," sighed Rumil, "What pleasantries do we have to look forward

to from Finarfin?"

"Ever since coming back to Valinor, he has had an obsession with defending his

decisions. It is more a minor annoyance than anything else. But he also likes to come up

with odd pet names for people, and I fear he will invent some very interesting ones for

us. Though, he has a few for me already, and I am sure he will be delighted to have so

many new elves to play with," said Celebrian dryly.

"Oh, what does he call you?" Orophin's eyes lit up, and Celebrian shook her head.

"Never you mind. I hope he will be too distracted with the rest of you to remember about

me," she admitted, and her cheeks were burning a little.

"Well, indeed, tomorrow night shall be an interesting one," Haldir said, handing the

list back to Celebrian as Elrond came into the room.

Elrond was holding a list as well, though his was much longer, and he was trailed by

Erestor, which was most unusual to see nowadays and reminded those at the table who had

been to Imladris of the past. If only Glorfindel would have been sauntering behind them

somewhere, doing a bad job of hiding the fact he was staring at Erestor's backside, the

picture would have been complete.

"Excellent. I was hoping to find many of you here." Elrond looked down his list as he

spoke. "Considering how long the party tomorrow is to last, I wish to be sure we can

accommodate everyone if they are to stay tomorrow evening into the morning. I am

assigning our guests to rooms to simplify this later. Do not attempt to tell me there is

no room, for I am well aware that each of your suites has enough couches or extra beds

to accommodate another elf. Or a dwarf, as the case may be." He let his eyes fall to

Haldir, who looked around the table before responding.

"Why must I share a room with the dwarf?!"

"Because he is a better friend to you than to anyone else in this house," Elrond said

simply, seeing nothing odd about the situation.

"But we are not- oh, bother." Haldir rested his face in his hand and Tallasinde propped

herself up onto her chair with her knees and gave him a pat on the head, thinking it the

right thing to do.

"Gimli can sleep in my room," she offered, and Haldir smiled, turning to kiss her

forehead.

"Thank you, Silanor, but that is not necessary." Haldir told her.

"But you do not seem to want him in your room, and I do not mind," she said honestly.

"He tells good bedtime stories and I like his songs."

Elrond made a note on his list, not looking up from it as he addressed the elfling.

"Haldir is doing what we call `lying through his teeth', little one. In all reality, he

is just too stubborn to admit that indeed he does like the dwarf. He is merely in a

state of denial."

Tallasinde looked up at Erestor expectantly, who said softly to her, "In the morrow, we

will discuss all of the unfamiliar words and phrases Lord Elrond has just said to you

during our weekly language lesson, and how it is that he has become such an expert on

the topic of denial." Tallasinde nodded appreciatively, and Elrond would have shot his

ex-advisor a murderous glance if he had didn't need him to help with the planning for

the rest of the day.

"Rumil, you will be sharing your rooms with Ilmendin," Elrond said, and Rumil gave a

nod. So far, the worst he would be dealing with would be sore cheeks at the end of the

party. It seemed to him that staying silent would do him good.

"Orophin…." Elrond ran a finger down the list. "Ah, you will have the pleasure of

entertaining Thaladir in your rooms."

"What?!" Orophin panicked at the name. "No, not Thaladir. I will take Legolas instead."

"You were excited about him coming before," said Rumil, a little confused.

"Legolas has already been assigned to a room," Elrond said.

"Where? To who? I shall speak with them and switch." Orophin was half out of his seat

already.

"He is going to be in the suite with Celebdreth and the twins. So your bribery will need

to be threefold to convince them to trade with you," Elrond explained, and some caught

the slightly evil glint in his eye.

"Oh, no," groaned Orophin, sitting back down. "Valarda is going to be most unhappy."

"I am sure Thaladir will do his best to avoid you both like a plague," remarked Haldir.

Orophin shook his head. "That is not it. There is no path to the couch – in fact, I am

not entirely sure that the dust bunnies living in the room have not devoured the couch.

I can not really remember seeing it in three years."

Celebrian laughed. "So, you are not upset because of Thaladir, but because you have to

clean the room."

"Well, I have to clean the room because of Thaladir, so he is not completely going to be

forgiven for this," grumbled Orophin. "He had better laugh, that is all I can say."

Once again, Orophin's odd words puzzled them, and Elrond cleared his throat. "If anyone

were to see Elodien," he said, looking directly at Haldir, "would they please tell her

she will be sharing her room with Glorcheniel."

"Here is a thought," Haldir said as he began to put strawberry jam on a roll for his

little sister. "What if Legolas and Gimli, good friends that they are, took my room for

the duration of their stay."

"And you would be in the room as well?" questioned Elrond.

"No, no. That would make it too crowded. But there would be room in the suite down the

hall from mine."

"So you will sleep in Elodien's room," Elrond said in none too pleased a voice.

"There you are, problem solved. Thank you for agreeing with me." Haldir handed the roll

to Tallasinde as Elrond shook his head.

"I have agreed with nothing," warned Elrond.

"Dearest, I think you may have," smirked Celebrian, and her husband did something rare.

He raised his brow and peered over his paper at her, only to be stared back at with

narrowed eyes. Elrond broke the gaze first, looking darkly at Haldir.

"That is not possible, for as I have already told you, Glorcheniel will be in the room

as well."

Haldir objected quickly. "I am having another thought."

"Do tell," said Elrond icily.

"If Legolas is not in the room with the twins, Glorcheniel could take his place in the

room with the twins and Celebdreth." Haldir looked up and gave Elrond a smile, knowing

full well he was losing. "That is where she would want to be anyway. But I suppose if

you doubt the…'structural integrity' of the house…that wouldn't be such a good idea."

"You continue to test me, Haldir, but you tend to forget that I have dealt with three

grown elflings already and whatever you say, they have bested you in the past, ten times

over."

"Wow." Orophin mused. "I should talk to the twins about that. Get a few pointers,

perhaps."

Elrond scratched a few notes and ignored Orophin. "The list stands as it is. If need be,

I shall have it posted and Erestor shall do room checks at the end of the evening." To

this, Erestor gave a small and crafty smile, and without having to look behind his back

Elrond changed his decision, remembering that Erestor was Haldir and Elodien's biggest

proponent. "I will be checking rooms tomorrow night, and everyone will adhere to this

list." Elrond swept out of the room around Erestor, who remained behind for a moment and

leaned toward the group at the table.

"Perhaps if he is very drunk tomorrow night, he will not be up for making a check of the

rooms." Erestor gave a wink to Celebrian and let his comment hang in the air as he left

the room.

Haldir crossed his arms contemptuously. "I am most definitely pushing Elrond between

Eärwen and myself tomorrow. Let him give her the explanation as to why I'm sharing a

room with a dwarf and we shall see what happens then."

Orophin stood, sighing deeply. "Well, I am off to tell my wife the terrible news. If I

do not return, make sure there is lots of pie at my funeral." Orophin stepped toward the

door, stopping to look at something on the floor. "What is this?" he asked, tapping it

with his foot.

Rumil peered over the table. "Looks like a book with pink fur."

Haldir looked as well. "Someone must have dropped it."

"Well, it is not Elrond's," confirmed Celebrian. "At least…I do not think it is his. One

never knows about anything around here," she admitted.

"I think it belongs to Master Erestor," said Tallasinde. "I have seen him write in

something like that when he is in the gardens."

All four adult siblings looked at one another before diving for the book.

"Stand up straight, Haldir."

"What? I am standing—" This was followed by a low growl as Celeborn shushed his eldest

son with a look. Galadriel had moved on to Orophin and was frowning at his choice of

clothing, and began to pull and tug at the collar and belt and hem of the tunic Orophin

was wearing.

Orophin shrugged his mother off of him gently. "If you please, Nana, you will tear it in

two if you keep doing that!" Galadriel gave one more yank on the right sleeve in an

attempt to straighten the garment out, causing Orophin to huff at her. Galadriel frowned

at Valarda's choice of attire – simple, yet elegant, yet at the same time looking more

like something from the wardrobe of her sons than her daughters. She had learned long

ago that Valarda was one of the few elves she could not win an argument with, and moved

on to Rumil.

Rumil pulled himself up stiffly, tidy and in pristine condition. Galadriel smiled warmly

and patted him on the cheek, then moved her hand to tuck Nenniach's loose braids behind

her ears. She walked on to Celebrian and sighed. "The red dress? No, no, not for today.

Perhaps for the evening…"

"Nana, I do not wish to change halfway through. I can wear this the entire time, can I

not?" Celebrian looked to her father, thinking she would obtain his approval, but

Celeborn appeared more interested in studying the sky than partaking in Galadriel's

inspection.

"Dearest, we must make the proper impression," Galadriel said, placing her hands on

Celebrian's shoulders. "Wear this one this evening, but for now, run up to your rooms

and change into something more appropriate."

"Galadriel," Elrond broke into the discussion, setting Vilya down next to Tallasinde. He

had been trying to keep the elflings apart so that they would not accidentally mess the

formal clothing they were wearing until after their guests arrived. "I think the dress

is just fine."

Galadriel pressed her lips together and took a few deep breaths through her nose,

finally saying nothing more than, "Fine," as she moved on to look at Celebdreth.

Celebrian sighed heavily and turned to go to the house. "Ria, wait." Elrond glanced over

his shoulder to make sure that the girls were not getting into anything, and put an arm

around his wife, drawing her close so that he could speak to her without any of the

others hearing. "Ria, you look fine. They are not going to care what color you are

wearing."

"Well, I am not putting up with her eye rolling and sighing for the next six hours. I

shall return in a moment," promised Celebrian. Elrond gave a sigh of his own and

returned to find Galadriel clicking her tongue at his twin sons.

"Cirdan has one," argued Elrohir. "I have never heard you tell him to shave it off. And

Mithrandir! And Gimli! They are both rather fond of wearing one as well!"

"Elrohir, it will grow back," Galadriel said sweetly, knowing Elrohir could not be moved

by harsh talk and loud arguments.

"But I like it how it is!" Elrohir said, crossing his arms.

"Is this the first impression you wish to give to your great-grandparents? You look

nothing at all like an elf, save for your ears, which you hide behind your hair."

Galadriel continued, looking deep into Elrohir's eyes, and Elladan narrowed his, getting

the idea that she was using more than mere persuasion on Elrohir as his arms started to

loosen. "Right now, you look like one of those scruffy forest rangers you used to travel

with, and that does not look very attractive."

"On the contrary," spoke up Elodien, "scruffy forest rangers are quite attractive." This

comment caused everyone to look down the row of elves to Elodien, who had been purposely

placed on the other end, completely opposite of Haldir. "I know of one elf who I would

like to see with a beard if ever it were possible."

Haldir looked away and straightened up in his spot, getting a nudge from Orophin as he

turned red. Galadriel took a step back from Elrohir so that she could address Haldir and

Elodien at the same time. "As I mentioned earlier, I do not wish to see any

inappropriate intimacies of any sort conducted in this house for the duration of the

stay of our guests. Is that quite clear?" Reluctantly, Elodien and Haldir nodded their

heads, and Galadriel turned to look at her husband, regarding him with a wrinkled nose.

"I hate that tunic."

"Do you?" Celeborn looked down at what he was wearing, feigning innocence. "I thought

you rather liked this one."

"No. I told you to burn that one." Galadriel pointed toward the house. "Go, I think you

have time to—" She was cut off before she could direct anyone any further by the sounds

of a coach approaching. Quickly, she barked orders for everyone to stand in their

places, for the elves to mind the elflings, and asked why Celebrian had not yet

returned, wringing her hands impatiently until Celebrian reemerged from the house in a

more formal pale green dress. When the coach did arrive, no one dared say a thing or

move a muscle until Galadriel gave word to do so.

The customary black horses trotted up to the elves at the doors and slowed to a stop.

There was a moment of hesitation before the door swung open. The first elf out of the

carriage was tall and very proud in appearance. Galadriel grinned upon seeing him, and

those who did not know him could guess this was Finarfin. He smiled widely, and held his

hand out for someone who was inside the coach. Stepping down the stairs in a most

graceful manner was an elleth whose eyes of blue looked both ancient and comforting to

those who met her gaze. She was tall as well, though her height did not quite match that

of the elf who led her forward.

Galadriel took a few steps in their direction, embracing the elf as he held his arms out

to hug her. "Adar. It is so good to see you," she said to him, her voice muffled a

little in the folds of his cloak.

Finarfin took a step back, letting his hands run down her shoulders until he grasped her

hands and held onto them. "Ah, my little baby girl, I never get used to how tall you

managed to grow." Galadriel continued to smile and gave her father a kiss on the cheek.

It was odd, to those who had not been introduced to Finarfin before, to see Galadriel

have to stretch upon her tiptoes to accomplish the task.

Galadriel looked now to the elleth, and practically threw herself into her mother's

arms. "I have missed you as well, Naneth," she said, tightly hugging the elleth who was

just shy an inch or two from Galadriel's own height.

"Well, we know now you do not take after Nana's side of the family," whispered Orophin

through clenched teeth. Haldir discretely pinched Orophin's side, and Orophin had to

bite his lip to keep from yelping.

The other elves in the carriage began to make their way out now. First an elf slightly

more muscular than most emerged, his silver-white hair much longer than that of most

elves. He swept his cape over one shoulder in a majestic fashion that was quite capable

of making many an elf maiden swoon, and stood briefly on the platform to make a visual

sweep of the crowd, in case any elf maidens indeed had thudded to the ground due to his

entrance. To his dismay, he found that elf maidens were in short supply, and in fact,

two of the three were probably no higher than his knee. The third, he believed had

rolled her eyes, and was now whispering something to the strange elf who – well, either

he had a beard, or some sort of disease upon his face, and was now puffing his cheeks to

keep from releasing his laughter. Galadhon gave a little snort, but before he could give

a proper stare across the way to either of the young elves, he was poked in the back by

the corner of a book.

"Are you just going to stand their all the day, or do you intend to let me out of this

thing?" demanded a fast yet lyrical voice. Galadhon abruptly made his way down the rest

of the steps, but instead of helping the other occupant from the coach, made his way

over to his son. He patted Celeborn on the back fondly, and tousled little Tallasinde's

hair best he could, though she hid quite well behind her father's leg. Vilya stepped

forward and gave a proper curtsey, bowing her head and asking `How do you do?' and

received a number of awes and coos from those in the general vicinity.

Back at the carriage, a face poked out of the darkness. The elleth looked around and

shook her head with a scowl when she saw what had happened to her husband. "Thank you

ever so for helping your poor wife from this monstrosity, Galadhon. You really should

not have."

"I – oh." Galadhon sheepishly smiled and was about to turn around except for Rumil's

attentiveness to the situation. Rumil bounded over to the coach, and much to the dismay

of his brothers, managed to do so without so much as putting a hair out of place.

"My lady." Rumil held out a hand, and Lhunerin beamed, taking it and carefully stepping

down and out of the carriage. It was easy to see why she had been dismayed at her

husband's disappearance, as it would have been difficult for her to make it to the

ground without some assistance. Haldir could no longer be told he was the shortest elf

in the family.

Orophin snickered and was on the receiving end of another pinch. Rumil was on the

receiving end of a pinch of his own.

"Such a sweet elf you are, helping your grandmother out of that terrible thing!"

Lhunerin let go of Rumil's cheek and gave him a little pat on the face. Rumil stood back

up, as he had to stoop a bit to allow her to pinch his face in the first place. As

enough activity appeared to be taking place at the other end of the line, Rumil brought

Lhunerin over to meet his brothers, wife, and sister-in-law.

"This is my beautiful wife, Nenniach, a scribe to Elrond's court. Our son Celebdreth is

somewhere over yonder, you will have to see him later."

"A pleasure, and such pretty dark hair you have, my dear," complimented Lhunerin,

patting the back of Nenniach's hands. "Would I know your parents?"

"I am afraid I do not even really know my parents all that well, but it is Erestor whom

I call father," she said.

"Oh." A look of pity was on Lhunerin's face and she patted Nenniach's hands once more.

"I am so sorry to hear that, dear."

"I like her already!" Orophin whispered to Haldir.

"I think she meant she was sorry to hear Nenniach lost her parents, not sorry that

Erestor is her father," Haldir hissed back.

"Actually," Lhunerin said, "a little of both. Oh, but a fine elf he was, only a bit too

serious for me," she added before Nenniach could pout.

“Is,” corrected Nenniach. “He shall be here later.”

“Will he?” Lhunerin frowned a bit. “I do hope we have enough wine to endure.”

"I like you even more," said Orophin.

"You are Orophin," Lhunerin said.

Orophin laughed. "My reputation precedes me!"

"I was warned about you," Lhunerin admitted. "I was told you have a quick tongue."

Orophin nodded. "And a sense of humor." Again, Orophin nodded. "Good. We can tell each

other jokes later." She smiled at Valarda. "And do you have the great misfortune of

being bonded to Orophin?"

"I do, but I make the best of it," joked Valarda.

"This is Valarda," said Rumil. "She was the Captain of the guard while your son was

ruling East Lorien and Commander to Haldir in Lothlorien. Technically also the Crowned

Princess of Lothlorien as well, by default of Haldir renouncing the throne, but we need

not get into details over that," he added with a wink.

"Ah, a strong elleth. Some elves need one of those around." Lhunerin patted Orophin on

the arm, for she could not reach his cheek. "I think you are most like your father of

all of his sons, although there is still one more for me to meet if I am not mistaken."

Rumil nodded, and presented Haldir, who stepped forward and gave a bow. "Captain of the

Galadhrim in Lothlorien, and later the last of the Kings of Greenwood."

"Greenwood!" Lhunerin was quite impressed and put her loose hand on her hip. "Now why

did your father not inform me of that?"

"It was a short lived appointment, I assure you, of little consequence in the grand

scheme of things," Haldir said.

Lhunerin tugged on Haldir's cheek and patted his face. "You should not sell yourself

short, dear. Greenwood is a most respectable place."

"Greenwood * was * a most respectable place," mumbled Rumil at the same time Orophin

murmured, "But he * is * short."

Lhunerin looked at Haldir with more pity than she had Nenniach. "You are the eldest

brother, are you not?" When Haldir nodded, she nodded. "I was the eldest of the three

girls. My childhood was filled with tragedy," she said, but her expression was not so

serious, and Haldir smiled.

"I think I agree with Orophin."

"How is that?" Lhunerin asked.

"I like you already."

"That is good," said Lhunerin. "I like you, too. You are just the right height, I

think," she said, pinching Haldir's cheek once more for good measure. "And where is your

wife?" she asked, noting Haldir's cringe immediately. "Oh, that is not good for you, not

with Earwen here…" Lhunerin glanced down the line at Galadriel's parents, and nearly

gave a shudder. "Such a meddler that one is. You are not at least betrothed yet, are

you?" Lhunerin asked hopefully.

"Not…yet…" Haldir said, carefully avoiding looking down at Elodien.

"Ah. I see. Can you get her here to pretend you are married? Your life will be made so

much easier if you can."

Haldir gritted his teeth and stole a glance at the dark haired elleth, who was trying to

keep Tallasinde from sitting down in a snowdrift. Lhunerin caught the look and put two

and two together faster than a dwarf could have mined a cave of mithril. "Someone

disapproves." A nod. "Her father?" A half nod of sorts. "Mother?" A definite no.

"Grandfather?" Emphatic nod. "How long?"

"Nearly ten years."

"Agh. You poor thing." Lhunerin narrowed her eyes. "Well, that can be fixed easily."

"Oh, no, please, do not fix it," Haldir said, placing a hand on Lhunerin's shoulder to

stop her from leaving. "No, I made a promise and I intend to keep it."

"There is no need for you to wait. It is ridiculous," Lhunerin argued.

"It is more complex," Haldir whispered, pleading now. "I have only six years left and I

do not wish to estrange her. Or myself."

Lhunerin dropped her voice. "What are you, cousins?"

"She is Haldir's great niece," explained Rumil when Haldir did not answer.

"Is that all?"

"She is only ninety-four," added Orophin sadly.

"Ninety-four?" Lhunerin crossed her arms. "I knew of elves who caused less of a scandal

bonding at forty." Lhunerin paused. "Wait, she is not your granddaughter?" She asked

Rumil, who shook his head. "What about you?" she asked Orophin.

"We do not have grandchildren, let alone children," he said.

"Oh…" Lhunerin looked at Valarda. "You might want to pretend you are with child around *

her *." She tossed her head in Earwen's direction.

"Noted," said Valarda unhappily, for it was a plan she and Orophin had come up with the

day before while cleaning their suite.

"So that would make her Elrond's granddaughter? That about explains things." Lhunerin

gave Haldir a pat on the cheek as he hung his head. "Chin up, young one. Six years, you

say? Six years is not too bad. But if at any time the two of you decide you are not

waiting any longer, you just let me know. I will give him a piece of my mind about this

situation. No one should ever try to get in the way of true love." Lhunerin looked over

at her husband, to Earwen, and then to Celeborn and Galadriel. "Ever. Period."

"I think we should adopt you," Orophin decided. "Better yet, a trade. We will take you,

and get rid of Elrond."

Lhunerin reached up, and with some stooping from Orophin, was able to pinch a bit of his

cheek. "I think I am a little too big to adopt, Orophin. But please, dears, keep in

mind, Elrond's house is not the only one open to you here in Valinor." She gave a few

more pats and pinches before joining her husband near the other end of the group.

"What do you think she meant by that?" wondered Orophin to his brothers once Lhunerin

had left.

"I think she may have invited us to mutiny," frowned Rumil.

- - -

"Has anyone seen Tallasinde?" asked Celebrian, trying to maneuver her way past her sons

as she headed down the hallway. The house actually seemed crowded, with only four extra

elves, mainly for the reason that only half of the house was being used. The other half

had been decorated for the evening, and the morning and afternoon visiting was to be

kept to the originally built portion of the house.

Elodien shook her head as she walked toward the parlor. "I shall look for her," she

offered, not taking notice of the elf in the kitchen doorway. As she was about to walk

past, an arm snaked quickly around her waist and she was pulled backwards.

Haldir let the door spring outward and put up a hand to stop it as it swung back into

place. His right arm spun Elodien around and he pulled her close, capturing her lips

before she could protest his actions.

"Haldir!" she scolded, pulling away after their kiss, but he did not permit it.

"What were you laughing about outside?" he asked, grinning at her mischievously.

Elodien frowned and stopped her struggle. "What do you mean?"

"When you spoke to Elrohir. The two of you found something funny." Haldir brought both

of his hands to her sides, wiggling his fingers to tickle her briefly. Elodien gasped

and giggled, trying to push away his hands as her knees began to give way. Haldir

steadied her. "Tell me what was said outside," he demanded playfully.

"I said – stop it! – I said, when that arrogant elf came out of the coach, I said to

Elrohir, `I came to the West for THIS?!' " Elodien managed to grab one of Haldir's

wrists and struggled to get the other.

"You came to the West for that? I thought you came to the West for me!" he pouted,

trying to resume his tickling.

"Haldir, please! We will be heard!" protested Elodien.

Haldir stopped trying to make Elodien laugh and pulled her closer. "Not if I have

anything to say about that," he promised as he brought their lips together once again.

He had had some time to speak with Lhunerin further, and found that indeed, there were

many other places where they would be welcome to live, including the large house

Galadhon and Lhunerin lived in. Though Haldir felt he should still keep his promise to

Elrond and not marry Elodien before her hundredth birthday, it was nice to know there

was another place where they would be welcome, and the idea had made him giddy, though

he had yet to tell Elodien about it. For the moment, he did not seem to care about much,

only the fact that he had had the good fortune to be able to smuggle Elodien into the

kitchen, and was now taking full advantage of the situation.

Elodien did not say much until her mind began to entertain thoughts of them being walked

in on. "Everyone is right in the next room!" she finally warned. "And we told your

mother—"

"—that she would not see us. And she will not see us, for she is busy upstairs right now

convincing Tallasinde to come down. That gives us at least three more minutes." Haldir

had been walking Elodien to the high counter that surrounded half of the kitchen as he

spoke, but frowned when he saw the trays of food set upon every inch of it.

"It was a good plan-" began Elodien, but Haldir was not so easily daunted. Sweeping a

tray of cheese up from the counter with one hand, he wrapped his other arm around the

elleth's waist and hoisted her with little difficulty to sit upon the counter. Still

balancing the tray with one hand, his free hand slid up Elodien's neck as they kissed

once more. Elodien's hands rested on his shoulders, and Haldir stepped forward boldly,

Elodien's legs wrapping around him in a most unseemly manner as his hand moved down and

snaked its way up her dress. Wishing to have both hands free, Haldir quickly looked

around in dismay, finding his options were to place the tray onto a large plate of

cupcakes or dropping it onto the floor. The door to the kitchen swung open.

"Oh, my. Please, do not do that when the ex-Mirkwood delegation gets here," begged

Valarda. "I am going to have to listen to enough comments from Thaladir without him

seeing something of that manner going on in the kitchen. I can not believe what you were

doing is sanitary."

Elodien had hopped down from the counter by this time, and Haldir was placing the tray

back where she had sat. Orophin crinkled his nose, using his foot to stop the swinging

of the kitchen door. "Cheese, brother? I did not know you were into such kinky things."

He winked at the pair, and both of them had the decency to blush as they readjusted

their clothing and hair.

"It is not very nice to tease us," sulked Haldir. "The two of you can grope one another

all you want and none shall think unkindly."

"Oh, but we do not, not in front of guests," Valarda informed him.

"Yes, but…the rest of the time…" Haldir paused. "So, what do you do when guests are

here? Somehow, I do not believe Orophin can just turn himself on and off."

Orophin grinned in a silly manner, with his tongue bit between his teeth. "No, no, no, I

never get turned off," he grinned. His hand slid under Valarda's arm, and she smiled

wickedly at her husband. "Long ago, we learned that we needed something for when we

could not ravish one another on the kitchen counter." Once more, Haldir and Elodien

blushed, and Orophin smirked as his words had the desired effect. "We came up with an

idea both clever and undetectable."

Haldir raised a brow in interest, and Valarda replied, "Elbows."

"Elbows?"

"Yes, elbows." Valarda used one hand to lightly touch Orophin on the elbow. "It seems so

innocent, and yet if you know what it really means, it is rather naughty."

"You just… you touch his elbow?" Haldir asked, intrigued.

"Or, he touches mine. And then, there is a little nudge of the elbows, or a caress, or

even a grab if need be." The various techniques were demonstrated by Orophin and Valarda

as Haldir and Elodien watched with great interest.

"No one else knows of this?" asked Haldir.

"I told Celebrian once when she picked up on it, but she never told Elrond. She did tell

the twins, and I suspect they told Glorcheniel." Valarda said.

Orophin nodded. "You may also see Rumil and Nenniach use the technique once in a while.

With Celebrian, it is amusing, though. If she realizes we are doing it, she will start

touching Elrond's elbow as many times as possible, and he is completely clueless that

something is going on."

"Elbows…" Elodien playfully tried out the idea, pressing two fingers against Haldir's

right elbow. He gave an unexpected shiver when she did it, and Elodien giggled.

"See? Quite a lot of fun when you know what it means." Valarda moved around behind

Orophin and rested her head against his back, reaching along either side to rub his

arms, carefully spending the most time on his elbows. "Just imagine the possibilities,"

she purred.

Haldir looked up as Orophin, grinning, and Orophin grinned back. "A contest," said

Haldir.

"A duel?" Orophin grinned. "I accept."

"We must let Rumil partake," added Haldir.

"I shall tell him." Orophin considering things for a moment. "First one to fifty?"

"That seems fair. Beginning at noonday." Haldir looked at the clock to see the time, but

saw that the large ornate object was still broken. "Or, thereabouts."

"Agreed. Let us find Rumil." Orophin took the lead out of the kitchen with the rest

following behind and into the parlor. As they all found places around the room, Orophin

took Rumil aside and whispered a few words to him. Rumil looked over at Haldir and

grinned, making sure to rub his elbow against Nenniach's as he crossed the room to sit

back down next to his son.

`So it begins,' thought Haldir to himself as Rumil gently gave Nenniach's elbow a quick

squeeze and held two fingers down at his side briefly for Haldir and Orophin to see.