“You hafta come wiff me!” Elrohir’s voice was muffled by the many layers of protection his mother had sent him out into the snow wrapped in, especially the scarf that covered a large portion of his face. Two hands in thick mittens took hold of the sash that hung from the advisor’s robes and tugged at it again.

Setting down the book he had been enjoying with his afternoon tea, Erestor looked down at the elfling that was imploring him to leave the coziness of the warm room and generously stoked fire to join him out in the blizzard that was evident through the windows of the Hall of Fire. “Dear child, aren’t you freezing out there?”

“Noh.” Elrohir tugged on Erestor’s sash, but more gently. “I need your help.”

“Wouldn’t you like to stay inside and have a warm mug of cocoa? I bet the server will even put a peppermint stick in it for you,” Erestor said, hoping to tempt Elrohir out of the idea of going outside, for he was loosing the battle of wills with every second that the large, grey eyes gave him that sad little look.

“Mmm...Uhhm...” Elrohir turned his head to look at the others who were gathered in the room for their afternoon break, specifically at a pair of seamstresses who were giggling at him and exchanging words on how cute he was. “Noh,” he answered as he turned back. Changing tactics, he invited himself up onto Erestor’s lap, jostling his plate of biscuits. “Eressor, Ada an Lindir are beating us.”

“Your father and Lindir are what?!”

Elrohir pointed towards the windows. Through the snow, Erestor could barely make out the sight of two tall elves near a large fort built of snow. Pulling down the scarf that masked his face, Elrohir helped himself to one of Erestor’s cookies. “They’re on Elladan’s side, and have been beating us in the snow fight. We don’t even have a snow fort. You need to come help us.” Elrohir took the teacup from Erestor’s hand, drank a little, and handed it back. “Mmm, you put honey in your tea like Nana,” he complimented as he hopped down. “Let’s go,” said Elrohir after pushing the scarf back in place.

“Why me? Wait, who is us?” Erestor had already agreed in part, for he was now standing up and being pulled along by his sash. Handing his teacup and plate to the nearest of the servers, he reached down and dislodged his sash from Elrohir’s hand.

“’Lorfinnel an me.”

“Lorfin... oh, Glorfindel.” Erestor sighed at the snickering and laughing around him at his expense. For a moment, Erestor hesitated and looked out the window again. Then, he smiled almost wickedly. “Do you mean to tell me that you left Glorfindel out there by himself to fend off both Lindir and your father?”

“Uh-huh.” Elrohir nodded his head, and then kept waddling towards the door, reminding Erestor of the strange birds that lived just south of the Helcaraxe in Valinor.

“Well, then, we should go and see how he is doing.” Erestor’s delight was fueled more by getting to see Glorfindel being pummeled with snowballs by Elrond and Lindir than it was for truly wanting to help in this wintry battle.

A gust of wind blew through the house as the door was opened, and Erestor shut it tight once he was on the grand front stoop of the house. He and Elrohir stood at the top of the steps observing the battle. Glorfindel was actually doing fairly well for one against three, having managed to erect a small snow wall around himself, but he had to crouch down for it to do him any good as a barrier. Slowly, it was being knocked away by the onslaught of the others.

“Oh noh!” complained Elrohir, huddling against Erestor as another cold wind tickled his exposed nose. “Once the fort is gone, they win!”

For a few moments, Erestor smirked as he watched Glorfindel draw his arm back and get hit with a sloppy pile of snow that ran down his face and slid down his already soaked and snow-caked clothes. A second one hit his chest, and the snowball dropped out of his hand. Bending down, Glorfindel scooped up another mound of snow as a chunk of the fort was knocked away by a low pitch by Elladan. Looking to the other team, Erestor frowned when he saw the state they were in. Obviously, Elrond and Lindir had been well-prepared to do battle in the snow, while Glorfindel was only in his regular clothing and had no mittens or gloves, no scarf or hat.

Feeling a pang of sympathy for the warrior, Erestor shuffled down a few steps where a drift had formed and packed a snowball firmly as he watched the fight. “Elrohir?” Erestor waited for the elfling to join him. “You make the snowballs, I’ll throw them.”

With a grin that Erestor could not see, Elrohir began this task, making snowballs as big as his little hands could make them. The first one hit Elrond squarely in the back of his neck. Lindir and Elrond turned, only to find themselves assaulted in two directions.

Standing at the top of the stairs, Erestor had a definite advantage. The tide quickly turned, and the trio that had been winning now spent more time trying to block the quickly thrown balls of snow. “We won! We won!” shrieked Elrohir, screaming happily as he tottered down the steps. He greeted his brother with a returned hug and the two looked up at their father.

“It appears that with our captain’s reinforcements,” spoke Elrond, loud enough so that Erestor (who was still holding a snowball, just in case of retaliation) could hear, “have appeared just in time. Lindir, we have lost.”

“You have to pull us on the sleds now!” Elrohir reminded the two defeated elves. Lindir nodded and after Elrond gave each of his sons a pat on the head, hoisted up Elrohir onto his shoulders.

“Last one to the shed is a...” Elrond looked up at Elrohir. “What should they be, ion?”

“A... a slimy leach!” he shouted gleefully.

“A slimy leach? Not I!” declared the minstrel, and he lifted Elladan onto his own shoulders, following off after Elrond.

Back on the battlefield, Glorfindel had been moving closer and closer to where Erestor was still standing on the steps. One arm was behind the slayer’s back, concealing a snowball he had gathered along the way. “Erestor, my hero!” he shouted, and when the dark elf looked at him cautiously, he even went to far as to bat his snowflake-covered lashes. Erestor narrowed his eyes in return. “For such bravery... you should be handsomely rewarded.”

The snowball left Glorfindel’s hand the exact moment that Erestor threw the last one of his in return. Glorfindel was hit on the shoulder, while Erestor’s knee fell victim as well. Both ellyn chuckled, and Glorfindel continued to move closer. “Well, now... it’s hardly any fun to return from a snowball fight with such a small mark of battle,” reasoned the blond as Erestor began to back away. “And pelting you with a lot of them will take much, much too long-“

The moment Erestor turned and bolted for the door, Glorfindel sped his pursuit. Erestor reached the door well in front of Glorfindel, but an enormous gust of wind kept him from being able to pull the door open. With a yelp, he was picked up and slung over Glorfindel’s back. “Stop it, Fin! Fin, I have work to do! These are very delicate robes, Glorfindel!”

“A little snow never hurt anything,” laughed Glorfindel as Erestor struggled to get away.

“Glorfindel, put me down!” demanded Erestor.

“I intend to!” he promised. Realizing what was to come, Erestor tried to cling to Glorfindel. “Oh, you think that will stop me!” Glorfindel carried him to a nearby tree, and fell down on his knees, then plopped Erestor down into an immense drift of fluff. “There you are. Down now.” Glorfindel panted a little, between the exertion and the cold.

Despite his discontented shouts, Erestor was laughing now, sitting in the snow and being covered by the flakes that were still falling from the sky. “Now what?” he grinned.

Glancing up into the tree for a moment, Glorfindel leaned forward abruptly. Erestor’s laughing stopped as Glorfindel hovered above him. There was a pause, a hesitation, and then the blond craned his neck just a little more, and quickly kissed Erestor gently on the lips. It was over almost as soon as Erestor registered what was happening.

Glorfindel was already standing up as Erestor opened his mouth to speak. “What- why-“ His eyes followed the direction that Glorfindel was pointing in.

The warrior had always wanted to tell Erestor the real why. ‘Why? Because I love you.’ But instead, he let the cluster of leaves and tiny white berries that clung to the apple tree be the scapegoat for his and Erestor’s first kiss.