"Wipe your feet, wipe your feet!" Glorfindel tugged on the collar of one of the recruits, practically dragging him back to the door. "See this? This thing? It is a mat. You wipe the mud off of your boots with- hey, you! Get back here, you are even worse than he is!" scolded their Captain. "If you think forgetting to return something on time will get you into trouble here, just try tracking blood through the place."
"Oh, dear me." Halfway across the main room of the library, with his hands grasping one another within the fold of his sleeves, stood a tall, thin ellon with dark hair and robes to match. There was a smirk pulling at the corners of his mouth as he watched Glorfindel's vain attempts to keep his soldiers from dirtying the floor of the library.
Glorfindel let out a loud sigh as a fifth recruit ignored his directions, traipsing soil and a clump of grass across the stone floor. "That is it! Everyone back out!" he instructed, earning him more than a few glares and a shush from the nearest librarian.
"Master Erestor? What is all this about?" Melpomaen was clutching a stack of books much too high to be carried about, and after a quick glance, Erestor rolled his eyes and pulled half of them into his own arms.
"As part of Glorfindel's introduction to the recruits from other realms, he acquaints them with places that they should be aware of," explained Erestor, placing the stack aside. "Fig, why not get a cart? I am sure there is one in the-" Before he could say where, it began again.
"What is wrong with the lot of you? Have none of you ever entered a library before?" Glorfindel threw his arms in the air as one of the recruits absently brushed against the wall, leaving a smear of grime on the otherwise pristine white wall. "It is like you were all living outside or something," he muttered, yanking a handkerchief from his pocket to wipe the smudge away.
A few of the young soldiers looked as if they might interject that, yes, indeed, they did live outside, more or less, when they were residents of Lothlorien. Before they could further anger their mentor, though, Erestor briskly approached, smiling warmly. "Good morning, everyone. Welcome to the Library. I am Erestor, Head Librarian and Chief Counselor to Lord Elrond. I trust that you have all been enjoying your first day under Lord Glorfindel’s tutelage?"
The answer was evident in the looks he was given, but Erestor continued. "I am quite pleased, as always, that Lord Glorfindel has seen fit to bring you here as part of your tour. First, before we continue further into the library, a note of importance. When you enter, we always ask that you either wipe your feet, or else leave your boots at the door. It keeps the floors neat and tidy." As he said this, a number of the recruits hurried to clean the mud off their boots or discard their footgear altogether. "Thank you for your understanding," said Erestor quietly. "And now, my secretary, Melpomaen, will show you about. Master Melpomaen?"
For a moment, Melpomaen simply stood and blinked. Realizing he was being given a task, he set his books down and scurried to the doorway. "Well, ah, good morning," he said. "I am Melpomaen. Although I suppose that is obvious. Alright. I will show you the books and everything else, although, there is not much of anything else. It would not be much of a library if there were something much more than books in it." Nervously fidgeting with his sleeve, he said, "Well, then, let us go." Into the library he led the recruits, leaving Erestor and Glorfindel standing at the door.
"Sure, I tell them not once but fifty times-"
"Shhhush, give me a moment." Erestor carefully watched as Melpomaen and the small group he was leading disappeared into the stacks.
"What are you doing?" whispered Glorfindel as he followed Erestor following the others.
"Shhhh... observing."
"Observing what?" hissed Glorfindel back.
Erestor did not answer until they had tracked the recruits for nearly a minute, stopping and hiding around a shelf or behind a chair or statue every time the group paused. "I need to see who will be the most trouble."
"What do you mean?" questioned Glorfindel as the pair walked back to the long counter that separated the patrons from the staff.
"The ones who do not pay attention to what Fig's saying and keep looking at the pretty little ellith shelving books are the ones I need to keep an eye on," explained Erestor quietly. "The ones paying attention to what he is showing him are the more studious ones; usually less trouble."
"Oh." Glorfindel grinned wickedly. "What about the ones paying attention just to Melpomaen, and not to what he is saying?"
Grinning back as he walked around the counter so that he stood across from Glorfindel, Erestor responded with, "Those, I will just send to you. Or, wait, were you simply talking about yourself?"
"What?" Glorfindel pondered for a moment, then snorted (which was met with a shush from across the room). "I was not looking at your secretary."
"Yes, you were," argued Erestor.
"I was- only looking for a moment," said Glorfindel. "Fine, a few moments. Can I help it? Look at him- he is asking for it!"
"He is not interested," said Erestor firmly. "So stop looking."
"Fine." Glorfindel waited until Erestor was flipping through a report that was sitting on the counter that one of the pages had brought in. Looking about to be sure that there was no one around, Glorfindel slipped around the counter and stood behind Erestor.
Without looking up from what he was reading, Erestor asked, "What are you doing?"
"Juuuust lookin'," relied the balrog slayer.
For a moment, Erestor continued to read. He suddenly looked up, noticed that the rest of the staff was busily in the tall stacks of books filing things away, and that he had been left alone. Alone with Glorfindel. Alone in the lion's den, one might say.
Erestor made to take a step back and turn around, but he bumped into something instead. "Anything interesting in the morning minutes?" asked Glorfindel, pressing against Erestor's back so that he could look over his shoulder.
"Glorfindel-"
"Shhhh... we are in a library," he whispered into Erestor's ear. Erestor swallowed hard as Glorfindel reached around on the other side to turn to the next page. His arm rested lazily along the counter, so that he was practically holding the other ellon around the waist. "Today's meeting has been canceled. Care to join me for tea this afternoon, then?"
"Fin, I-" The sound of Melpomaen returning with the soldiers caused Erestor to panic and wriggle himself away from Glorfindel. The commotion caused a bottle of ink to be knocked off of the counter top, falling to splatter on the rug behind the desk. "Damn!"
"Master Erestor? Is everything alright?" asked Melpomaen as he edged out from around a stack of books, a dozen recruits following close behind.
Erestor looked at the rug, waving his hand. "Nothing major, just-"
"-me being a klutz," interrupted Glorfindel. "My apologies, Master Erestor, I did not mean to knock the ink over. Rest assured, I shall pay for the damages. We can discuss it this afternoon over tea. Everyone, please thank Master Erestor and Master Melpomaen for their hospitality."
A round of thank yous came from the recruits as they filed out, some of them picking up their boots before leaving. Erestor just blinked, unable to manage to say a thing.
"That Lord Glorfindel is some elf," chuckled Melpomaen as he walked back to where the stacks of books awaited him for reshelving.
"Quite," answered Erestor quietly as he looked down at the ruined rug.
Just Lookin' by Zhie