Halmir and Gildor raced up the stairs, taking them two at a time before bounding down the hallway. "Teleporno! Where are you?" Halmir poked his head into the spare bedroom. "Teleporno?" He looked down the hall, noting the half-open door at the end. "Oh, good gracious, not again."
It was Gildor who peered into the room first before they both burst in. "Teleporno, where is your sword?"
The young elfling sitting on the floor turned to address the two older elflings at the door, but before he could answer, the pair gasped and reared back in surprise.
"WHAT is THAT!?" Gildor pointed at the adornment in Teleporno's hair.
Trying to look up and nearly going cross-eyed to see what it was that Gildor spoke of, Teleporno said, "I think it is a rose."
"It is a carnation," corrected Finduilas politely. She sat across from Teleporno, mixing something in an old, worn teapot. Set on the folded blanket that separated them were various oddly matched cups and a plate of poorly shaped slices of bread. Around the rest of the blanket sat the stuffed animals from Teleporno's bed and a few dolls Finduilas had obviously brought along.
Halmir gave his sister an indignant look. "I thought you said you were off to play with one of your friends."
"I AM with one of my friends," she said rather pointedly. "My best of friends, in fact, for your information."
"He can't be your best friend," sneered Halmir. "He's a boy and you can't have a boy friend until you get to be Nana and Ada's age."
Finduilas did not answer. Instead, she put the lid back onto the pot and held it up daintily. "More tea?"
"Yes, please," answered Teleporno, holding out his cup and saucer.
"This is madness!" Halmir dropped down to the ground next to Teleporno, knocking a bear and a cat out of the way. "You're not supposed to play with girls. Don't you know that?"
"Why not? She doesn't punch me like the two of you do," argued Teleporno quietly before sipping his 'tea'.
Gildor, who had been exploring the room, lifted up a corner of Teleporno's bedspread. "What's this?" he asked, aghast.
"Oh, isn't it lovely? I asked my Na' to make it for me." Teleporno reached out to touch the embroidered images of deer and trees. "It's much less scary than the one I had," he said with a shiver.
"Your other one was better!" Gildor argued. "It had fire and winged serpents and monsters and things. What was wrong with it?"
"Everything you just said," Teleporno replied dryly. "More coimas?" he asked, picking up the plate and holding it out to Finduilas. She nodded and took a piece for her plate.
"That," Halmir said, pointing, "is the saddest looking coimas I've ever seen. Did you burn it? And who made it, a blind mule?"
Teleporno, not bothering to look at the other elfling replied, "I made it with Finduilas, and it's dark because it's really gingerbread. You have NO imagination," he scolded.
"Ridiculous!" Halmir tugged on Teleporno's arm. "Come on, let's get you out of here before she puts a dress on you and calls you her sister." Gildor snorted at that, but neither Teleporno nor Finduilas were amused.
"I do not wish to leave," Teleporno simply said, pulling his arm away.
Halmir shook his head. "You're too young to know what you want. Where's your sword and your bow? We're off to play in the fields, and you're coming with us."
"I am not," asserted Teleporno, still in his quiet manner. He resituated the animals that had begun to fall over since the arrival of the two others.
"Come, help me find his sword." Halmir and Gildor went to the toy chest in the corner and opened it, and again, their was shock. "Teleporno! What's wrong with you?"
Gildor poked at something in the box. "Why is everything... neat..."
"Because I like it that way," he said, still at the tea party. "Finduilas showed me how to organize."
"Oh, good gracious!" The pair began to dig through the bin, knocking things over. Teleporno finally looked up at them, pain in his eyes at seeing his things being haphazardly handled, but Finduilas shook her head that he should stay. Not long after, something was triumphantly pulled out of the box, but the celebration was brief.
"It's ruined!" Halmir brought over the wooden sword. "It's utterly ruined!"
Teleporno looked at the toy. "What? What's wrong with it?"
"Can't you see?" Halmir traced his finger across the blade, where multicolored flowers had been painted. Teleporno examined the flowers and shrugged, the carnation in his hair bobbing up and down.
Narrowing his eyes, Halmir snatched the flower from the silver locks and crushed it in his fingers. "Boys do NOT wear flowers," he said, and threw down the ruined bloom into the teacup sitting in front of a doll. "Not, strap on your sword while we find your bow."
Teleporno looked on the verge of tears as Halmir went back to the toy chest. "I do not wish to come with you," he spoke, but it was less convincing than he had hoped.
"Too bad," called Gildor.
Finduilas motioned to Teleporno, and he looked to see her motion to the sword, then to the space under the bed. Without a second thought, Teleporno slid the sword across the floor and gave it a final push, sending it under the bed.
"Who did this?!" Gildor held up an arrow, but instead of feathers in the shaft, there were leaves. A second he held up had large orange flower petals on it. "Teleporno, did you do this?"
"No, I did," said Finduilas.
"I asked her to," Teleporno added. "I didn't want any poor ducks or turkeys hurt to make them."
"Incredible." Gildor tossed the arrows on the ground, but paused. "Teleporno, what happened to your sword?"
"What sword?" he asked without blinking.
Halmir slammed the toy chest shut and marched to Teleporno. "You. Hallway. Now." He kept going into the hall. When Teleporno did not follow, Gildor walked over and grabbed hold of the younger elfling's arm, dragging him out the doorway.
"Teleporno," began Halmir after Gildor had shut the door, leaving a protesting Finduilas on the other side, "you have to understand a few things. First, boys do not make coimas. You eat it, you don't make it. Girls make it."
"But I like to make coimas," explained Teleporno. "If I didn't I wouldn't do it. Why do girls get to have all of the fun."
"It's supposed to be fun to eat, not to make. Furthermore, boys do not wear flowers in their hair."
"You covered that already," Teleporno said in a bored voice.
Gildor, who was holding the door closed best that he could, said, "Teleporno, what's wrong with you? You clean your room, you have tea parties, you like girls, and you won't play boy games like normal."
"Because I like all of those things!" Teleporno argued. "Especially the girls!"
"Fine. If you want to choose girls over us, you can never play with us again."
"Never?" questioned Teleporno. "Never ever?"
"Never," both elflings answered seriously.
"It's us, or her," Halmir said. "What is it going to be?"
- - -
Very slowly, the door opened. Finduilas, who had gone back to sitting at the tea party blanket, looked up hopefully. She bowed her head again as Teleporno went to the bed and pulled out the wooden sword. A tear fell from her eye as she heard him gather up the arrows from the floor.
Then there was a creak. Finduilas turned and watched as Teleporno meticulously placed the items back into the chest and straightened them up before returning to the floor across from Finduilas. She was smiling broadly as he sat down, and plucked a flower from her hair.
Leaning across the blanket, she tucked it into his hair over his ear. He smiled back. "I thought you were going to choose to play with them," she said.
"That's silly," said he, "you're my best of friends. You said so yourself."
Grinning, Finduilas picked up the battered pot and held it up. "More tea?" she asked.
"Yes, please!" Teleporno replied.
