-THE GAMES OF THE GODS-

-The Extra Goodies:-

Rachel: Before the insanity and general chaos begins, Glorfindel and I would like to say something.

Glorfindel: Indeed.

...

Glorfindel: Aren't you going to start?

Rachel: I thought I'd let you do it.

Glorfindel: ...why?

Rachel: *pokes Glory* You don't like responsibility, do you?

Glorfindel: Well, it's already gotten me killed once...

Rachel: Oh. Right then. So, what we want to say is to the reviewers out there, specifically those that asked for a sequel.

Glorfindel: Yes indeed.

Rachel: Actually, we don't want to say something so much as point it out. And what do we want to point out?

Glorfindel: The fact that the universe ended because Rachel became a Mary-Sue and therefore there can be no sequel.

Rachel: ...I thought you didn't want responsibility?

Glorfindel: Well, further thought indicated that the one who accepted the responsibility might be in danger of bodily harm, and, no offence, but I am somewhat better with my sword than you.

Rachel: ...but the reviewers won't ATTACK you. They'll just kidnap you and...er...

Glorfindel: *grins* Do things to me you want to be the only one to do to me?

Rachel: Exactly.

Rachel and Glorfindel: *looks at each other for a moment*

Glorfindel: Right, we're out of here to do...things. *grabs Rachel's arm and the two disapear*

Gil-Galad: *appears and grins* Sickeningly in love.

Haldir: *rolls his eyes as he jumps down from a tree* Very disgusting.

CS: *shakes head as she fades in* Well then. I suppose here begins the 'insanity and general chaos', as Rachel put it. In this chapter, which really isn't a chapter but more just extra goodies as the title says, you shall find the wrong-turns and interesting alternatives to scenes that I asked you if you wanted to see way back in Chapter 64. The two elves you last saw -

Gil-Galad and Haldir: Us.

CS: - will be helping me...er...'host' this chapter. Other characters might pop in occasionally, but those two shall be my main helpers. Now, for a note as to the quality of these snippets - I have spell-checked 'em, (just to spite Toey) but nothing else since they have been cut from the story. So they are basically my first drafts. That said, let us get on with the good -

Gil-Galad: *ahem*

CS: Hm?

Gil-Galad: Aren't you forgetting something?

CS: Uh...

Haldir: *cough*disclaimer*cough*

CS: *blink*

Gil-Galad: *sighs* CS owns nothing except the horrible quality of the writing that follows.

CS: ...I WILL go steal Boromir's shield.

Gil-Galad: *sticks his tongue out at CS* Can't be any worse than dieing.

CS: ...dammit. Yes, I'm glad this story is over, you're all getting way too smart.

Haldir: ANYWAYS.

CS: Yes. Onto the first piece. It was taken out of chapter 30, which took place in Rivendell and was the chapter where Glorfindel and Rachel, inebriated from Dorwinnian wine, made it back to Rachel's room. This specific part was located right after Rachel gave Glorfindel a graphic description of what he should go do to Elrond...One should also note that this particular part was written before I decided to go completely Tolkien-canon on the subject of Elvish marriage.

-*-*-

"If you're quite done, I'd like to get some sleep." Glorfindel said with a yawn when I paused for breath, then rolled over and ignored me as I gaped at his back. I kicked him again, of course, but he didn't move, and with a growl, I decided he wasn't worth it, rolled over myself, and fell asleep.

---

I awoke to birds chirping, the sun shining on my face, and the steady rise-and-fall of my pillow. A wonderful way to wake up, really. Until that last one registered with my brain. When it did, I let out a startled yelp, rolled away from said pillow, and sat up. Blinking down at the white-covered form that I had previously assumed to be my pillow, it took me several moments to realize that it was actually Glorfindel's chest covered in sheets. I gaped for a moment at the golden head where it was resting on my actual pillow, the thought 'what the hell?' running through my head at various volume and panic levels. Then two things happened - I realized both Glorfindel and I were still wearing clothes, and I remembered what had happened the night before.

"AGH, stupid Elf-lord!" I exclaimed, then brought one of my legs around and gave Glorfindel a solid kick, sending him tumbling out of the bed, much like I had done with Aragorn not long ago. I smirked in satisfaction as I heard the heavy 'THUMP' followed by a loud yelp. Moments later, with a groan, Glorfindel's head appeared on the other side of the bed.

"What was THAT for?" he mumbled, rubbing his head.

"For not leaving." I said, still smirking. At that point, Glorfindel actually seemed to take note of where he was, and looked slightly surprised when his gaze finally settled on me. After a moment, his surprise turned to bewilderment, then thoughtfulness, and then a light frown.

"Did I not pass out at the base of the bed?" he asked. I nodded. He glanced between his position on the floor and the end of the bed in confusion, then over at me.

"Hey, don't ask me how you managed to finagle your way up to the top of the bed in your sleep!" I said, raising my hands in mock surrender. "All I know is that I want you OUT so I can change." and, of course, at that point, there was a loud knock on my outermost door - which had apparently been closed at some point during the night, though the bedroom door remained open.

"Rachel! Father needs your help with Boromir!" I sighed, then clambered out of bed and went over to the door. Opening the door, I found Elladan preparing to knock again. How I knew it was Elladan, I don't know. I think all the time I had recently spent sparring with him finally paid off in me being able to distinguish him from Elrohir.

"I'll be there as soon as I change." I said, but Elladan didn't seem to hear. In fact, he was busy staring over my shoulder in what seemed to be shock. I glanced over my shoulder and scowled at Glorfindel where he stood a few feet behind me - I hadn't even heard him following me.

"And as soon as I kick certain annoying Elf-lords out." I said, narrowing my eyes at Glorfindel, who studiously avoided my gaze.

"What?" Glorfindel asked after a short silence, unable to ignore both Elladan's and my gazes on him anymore.

"Out." I commanded, moving away from the door. Elladan, taking the hint, moved aside as well, and Glorfindel quickly slipped out. Once he was out, I stuck my head out the door and yelled after him "And next time pass out in your own rooms!" before turning back to Elladan and commenting, "That Elf should be kept far away from Dorwinnian wine."

"We try our best." Elladan said, sounding somewhat disappointed.

"Which reminds me -" I ducked back into my room, looked around quickly, found the empty flask of wine, picked it up, and returned to the door. "Here's your flask back."

"Empty?" Elladan asked forlornly, peering into the flask.

"Yep. Sorry." I replied with a shrug. "Now if you'll excuse me, I need to get changed before I go help your father calm down Boromir."

"Sure..." Elladan said. "I shall see you later?"

"Probably." I said with a shrug, and then Elladan gave me a slight bow - which I returned - and headed off down the hall. I shut the door, then quickly changed and left the room myself, heading for Boromir's quarters, which weren't far away.

"How many knives does he HAVE?!" I grinned as I heard Aragorn's exclamation when I neared Boromir's quarters, and picked up my pace.

"Y'know, yelling will only make him more disagreeable." I commented as I came around the corner and encountered the group of Elrond, Aragorn, Elrohir, and a few curious on looking Elves standing by Boromir's door.

"Ah, Rachel!" Elrond said, in what almost sounded like relief. "Elrohir said you might know how to cure Boromir of his hangover?"

"Not cure, no. But I do know how to stun him into being quiet long enough for someone to get close to him and give him something for the hangover." I said cheerfully.

"Then by all means, do so." Elrond said, motioning to the door. I smiled, and then ducked into Boromir's room. Immediately upon entering, I was forced to duck a knife, scowling as I realized Boromir had never made it to his bedroom the night before, and was now lying facedown on the floor, head facing the door, eyes closed. If he opened those eyes, this wouldn't work. But, as Boromir rarely opened his eyes when he had a hangover, I had little fear. So I smoothed my scowl into a smile, and focused my attention on Boromir.

"Good morning, Boromir!" I said cheerfully, in my best imitation of his mother, Lady Finduilas. Instantly, Boromir, who had been barely moving, visibly stilled. "How are you this morning? Well, I hope? Dear me, what on earth are all these knives doing here?" I continued in the same voice, smiling with amusement as I saw a good number of Boromir's large collection of fighting knives peppering the room's walls. "I hope you didn't throw them. They've put awful holes in the wall..."

I eyed Boromir, wondering if I should continue, but he showed no sign of moving, so I opened the door and motioned for Elrond to come in. He came in quickly, carrying a cup of something, and went over to Boromir. Deftly, he turned the man over and poured the liquid in the cup down his throat before Boromir knew what was happening. Spluttering, Boromir went for another one of his knives, but Elrohir, who had entered right behind his father, quickly pinned Boromir's arms. Shaking my head, I came over to Boromir and looked down at him as he spluttered and tried to wriggle out of Elrohir's grip.

"Why are you always such a pain when you have a hangover?" I asked rhetorically as I looked down at the Man. He stilled when he heard me, and then looked up with a glare.

"Someday, your little trick will not work." he said dangerously.

"And then you'll immensely enjoy throwing a knife into me and watching me bleed to death for daring to profane the memory of the dead, yes yes, I know." I said, waving a hand through the air dismissively. "I've heard it several dozen times, Boromir. And what Faramir says still goes - Lady Finduilas would be ashamed of your behavior when you're hung-over, so it's more paying tribute to her memory than profaning it, and besides, it works." Boromir shot me a glare. I smiled sweetly, and then, with a little wave, left the room. Elrohir and Elrond followed soon after.

"What I do not get is how he could hear us entering, even when we were being out quietest." Elrohir said in confusion as he shut the door to Boromir's room. Inside, Boromir could be heard hauling himself to his feet and staggering into his bedroom.

"It's something no one has been able to figure out." I said, shaking my head. "Faramir and I decided awhile ago that it had to be his Númenorean blood making its only showing."

"Only showing? A little harsh, isn't that?" Aragorn asked, arching an eyebrow.

"Nope, it's the truth." I said, shaking my head. "Between Boromir and Faramir, Faramir got every drop of Númenorean blood Lord Denethor and Lady Finduilas had to offer. Even Boromir admits to it."

"Such a pity." Elrond said almost sadly.

"Agreed." I replied. "But fate moves as it will, and the Númenorean attributes of Faramir and Boromir have their roles to play, as do most things in this world." The three males stared at me for a moment.

"That sounded surprisingly wise." Elrohir commented finally.

"What, you don't think I can be wise when I want to be?" I sniffed defensively.

"When you want to be? Of course. I have just never heard of a time when you wanted to be." Elrohir said, arching an eyebrow. "Even from Kari."

"Yes, well, she and I tend to be slightly insane when we're near each other, so that's no surprise." I said. "Now, is there food somewhere around here? My stomach wants some." The three males seemed to relax as I returned to my normal, predictable self, and lead the way to the dining hall, where breakfast was just beginning to be served. Glorfindel and Elladan were already there, but much to my worry, while Elladan seemed to be pestering Glorfindel with questions, Glorfindel was studiously ignoring Elladan. Glorfindel NEVER studiously ignored someone without good reason, and that little incident at my room was, as far as I knew, not a good enough reason.

My worry only grew when, after the meal, Glorfindel came over and asked me to take a walk with him. I shot him a curious glance, then nodded in assent, and took the preferred arm and let Glorfindel lead me off. We walked in silence, passing many Elves who inclined their heads respectfully to Glorfindel. This made me absently wonder when I'd stopped doing that myself, and I determined that I had, for some reason, never really ever done so with Glorfindel. I could remember doing so for Elrond, but not Glorfindel. Before I could wonder on that more, however, Glorfindel spoke up.

"I wish to apologize for last night." he started. I arched an eyebrow in surprise.

"Really now." I said flatly. Glorfindel glanced at me, then focused his attention on the path again as he continued.

"I normally find some place more...private when I find Dorwinnian wine. Unfortunately, I was already partially inebriated -"

"OK, stop using big words. Not only am I still trying to sort my brain out from last night, but it's slightly scary." I interrupted. Glorfindel looked at me in surprise. "And anyways," I continued, "As I recall, I was the one that stuck my head out the window to see who was singing? And wasn't I the one that subsequently accepted your invitation to go sit in the tree and have some of the Dorwinnian wine?" I arched an eyebrow at Glorfindel, and he nodded, looking slightly surprised.

"I am still apologizing, however." Glorfindel said after a moment. I sighed in exasperation.

"There is no need to apologize, Glory." I said, then after a pause, added with curiosity, "What precisely did you want to apologize about, anyways? Just all of last night in general?"

"The end of it." Glorfindel replied dryly.

"The part where you passed out on the foot of my bed?" I asked, and Glorfindel nodded almost gravely. I chuckled. "Then you REALLY don't need to apologize. That was actually fairly amusing." Glorfindel looked at me in surprise.

"Really." he said, and I nodded. I could see he wanted to add something to that, but he held his tongue and we continued walking. Not long after, we stopped in front of a building, and Glorfindel bid me goodbye before disappearing inside. I stared after him for a moment, frowning thoughtfully. Glorfindel had always been rather...informal with me, so to speak. It hadn't even occurred to me that he would ever try to apologize for something like last night - that sounded more like something one of the other stuffy Elf-lords around would do, presuming they ever LET themselves get that drunk. Letting my mind wander in an attempt to figure out why Glorfindel had suddenly gone stuffy Elf-lord on me, Elrohir's words from the night before came back to me:

'Lord Glorfindel's true personality only shows when he is drunk....the rest of the time it is simply an act for the other lords.'

I frowned lightly in thought. Glorfindel had certainly loosened up last night the more Dorwinnian wine he had, but he'd still been informal with me before that. Then what Elrohir had said after that popped into my head -

'Grandmother once commented that the female who got Lord Glorfindel to act like he was drunk when he was not would end out being his wife. The scary part is, I think she was speaking from foreknowledge.'

I pursed my lips and held in a curse, shaking my head. I was letting my thoughts run away with themselves, and that was never good. So Glorfindel had an extreme problem of trying to be someone he wasn't, and I happened to be exacerbating it. What of it? Elladan probably did the same thing, by virtue of being just about as insane as I was. Otherwise it wouldn't have been so easy for me to break through to the other Glorfindel in such a short - aka, almost nil - space of time.

"Is the door interesting?" a voice said behind me, and I whirled to find the one and only Elladan. Glancing behind me, I realized I'd been staring at the door Glorfindel had disappeared through for the past several minutes while I thought.

"Think of the devil." I murmured to myself in amusement as I turned my attention back to Elladan, then said louder, "Not so interesting as what the voices in my head are saying."

"Voices in your head?" Elladan asked, arching an eyebrow. I nodded.

"They're telling me that the ladybugs are invading." I said. Elladan blinked.

"Really." he said. I smiled and nodded again in response. After a moment of silence, I shook my head and chuckled.

"No. I was just thinking." I said.

"What about?" Elladan asked.

"Who else but good ol' Glory?" I replied, rolling my eyes. "He seems to have decided to go prissy Elf-lord on me, and I was trying to figure out why."

"Did you not see the looks he was getting at breakfast from the other Lords?" Elladan asked in amusement. I blinked in surprise.

"No, I didn't." I said. "The food was far too good to pay attention to something like that. Why? What sort of looks was he getting?"

"Disapproving, to say the least." Elladan said dryly. "Through not fault of mine, the story that Glorfindel spent the night in your room seems to have made its way around." I blinked.

"So?" I asked. "I KNOW that isn't cause for disapproving stares - if it was, you would be getting plenty."

"They have given up on giving me disapproving stares, actually. But that is beside the point, since you are right about his spending the night in your room not being enough for disapproving stares to be sent his way." Elladan said. "It is more due to his recent...well, they would call it immature, behavior, as well as the fact that the story of Glorfindel spending the night in your room includes the part about you both being drunk, and your kicking him out rather ungracefully this morning."

"Soooo...they've decided that he's not acting like a respectable Elf-lord, and are shooting him disapproving looks for that, spurring him to go stuffy Elf-lord on me?" I asked, arching an eyebrow. Elladan nodded. "Tell me, Elladan, how long has Glory been a high-ranking Elf-lord?" Elladan frowned slightly.

"I would have to ask father to know for certain, but as far as I know he was born to his position." he said.

"So Glory's had to fit in with all the other stuffy Elf-lords all his life?" I asked, and Elladan nodded.

"As far as I know. Why do you ask?" Elladan asked, looking at me curiously.

"Oh, I don't know. Maybe I'm trying to point something out." I said dryly. "Like, maybe all the stuffy Elf-lords need to frigging lay off Glory. He's been alive for longer than I care to know, killed a Balrog, died and come back to life, and yet they still frown at him in disapproval if he dares to act like himself instead of like some sedate old grandfather?" There was a pause.

"Maybe you should go point that out to Glorfindel." Elladan said. "I think he would get more use out if than I or even the other Elf-lords."

"Probably." I said. "Where is he?"

"I think he is in a meeting with some important Lords." Elladan said, a slow smile spreading across his face as he answered. My eyes lit up and I grinned.

"Ooooh, perfect timing then." I said. "Just need to think up a way to get him out..."

"Can I help?" Elladan asked brightly. I paused, and then nodded.

"I'd get lost trying to find the meeting room by myself, anyways." I said with a grin.

---

Glorfindel shifted in his chair as he listened to Lord Manveru continue his report on the defenses of Rivendell. The report was basically for the benefit of the other Lords at the meeting, as Glorfindel knew more about the defenses of Rivendell than Manveru did. But then, most of the reports made at these meetings were for the benefit of the other Lords. Glorfindel seemed to be the only one in Rivendell - beside Elrond - who kept track of things outside of weekly reports at meetings. Most of the Lords hadn't even seen the places or parts of Rivendell they were supposed to be in charge of. Glorfindel couldn't remember the last time he'd heard of Lord Námovaryar going into the stables, which were in his charge. In fact, Glorfindel had heard that Námovaryar was AFRAID of horses.

Glorfindel brought his thoughts back to the meeting and desperately tried to pay attention as he felt a frown forming. It would not do for him to get so wrapped up in his thoughts that he lost track of the meeting completely. The other Lords were already giving him odd looks for his little escapade with the Dorwinnian wine and Rachel last night.

Glorfindel almost sighed in relief when Manveru finished his report, but held it, and the groan it turned into, back as Lord Maltahonda started asking Manveru to clarify some points. There was nothing to clarify, really, if one simply remembered what had been talked about at the LAST meeting, but like senile old humans, none of the other Elf-lords seemed to remember anything from one meeting to the next. Or even one day to the next.

Now, as Lord Anganámië started up a debate on how many more elves they had on border duty since last week - 17 - Glorfindel absently wished that a Balrog would appear in the middle of the room so he wouldn't have to stand any more of this. Then he had to hold back a wry smile at his wish - he'd been suffering his way through meetings like this for centuries, but he couldn't remember ever having wished for a Balrog to appear before. His memory of how unpleasant his last encounter with a Balrog was must be failing somewhat.

"Lord Elladan, this is a highly impo -" Glorfindel's attention instantly focused one the Lords again and found that they had been joined by Elladan, who had snagged Lord Maltahonda's chair out from underneath him while he'd been standing up and was now sitting in it, leaning back with his - muddy - boots propped up on the table.

"- important meeting that cannot be interrupted even if the Dark Lord Sauron is knocking at the door with the One Ring on his hand and all the hosts of Mordor behind him." Elladan said, imitating Lord Maltahonda's voice almost perfectly. Then he executed a slightly disrespectful bow from his sitting position and said, "I know, milord Maltahonda. However, I simply could not wait to know if you had all heard of the offer of forces the Halflings brought with them." Glorfindel looked at Elladan in confusion, wondering what on Arda he was going on about. Glorfindel knew the Halflings had brought nothing with them except themselves, their appetites, and the One Ring. The other Lords apparently didn't, however, and after a brief silence, suddenly started shooting questions at Elladan.

With a sigh, Glorfindel stood and prepared to cut off Elladan's - actually rather amusing - joke, but he suddenly felt a tap on his shoulder, and he whirled to find himself staring at Rachel. Surprised, he wondered how he hadn't noticed her entrance, then realized that his attention, like the rest of the Lord's currently was, had been on Elladan.

"Come on, Elladan can't keep them distracted forever." Rachel said quietly, then moved to the small side exit of the room and held the door open. Glorfindel looked at her in surprise, then back at the Lords. His duty was to stay at the meeting, he knew, and if he disappeared, he'd be on the receiving end of even MORE scowls and disapproving looks. But he really really REALLY didn't want to stay. Especially since Rachel and Elladan had gone to all this trouble to get him out of the meeting.

That last one was a feeble excuse to justify his actions, he realized as he dashed through the door, Rachel close behind. He also realized, however, that he really didn't care. It actually felt really GOOD to be escaping that meeting, though he knew it shouldn't, and that he shouldn't be thinking of it as 'escaping'.

"Stop. We need to wait for Elladan." Rachel said suddenly, grabbing the back of Glorfindel's tunic and pulling him into an alcove in the hall. Glorfindel obliged, and then turned to face Rachel.

"Now can you tell me what in Arda you and Elladan are up to?" Glorfindel asked.

"Getting you out of that meeting, of course." Rachel said with an impish grin. "We figured that since we almost fell asleep after listening for only a minute or so at the door, you could use some rescuing. And anyways, I wanted to give you some lessons in loosening up and not caring what the other stuffy Elf-lords think of you."

"Why?" Glorfindel asked in curiosity, though he knew he really shouldn't have been encouraging her.

"Because the only way they will ever approve of you is if you become one of them, and that would be REALLY bad, trust me. Not to mention that you've been through a hell of a lot more than them and so, by this point, THEY should be the ones worrying about what YOU think about them." Rachel replied, then paused and added, "Did that make any sense?" Glorfindel smiled.

"Perfect sense." he said, recalling the number of times he'd had those exact thoughts when he'd first come back. Of course, he'd never spoken them out loud to anyone, even Elrond, and had dismissed them with various excuses. Now, it was relieving to hear someone else voicing the same thoughts - even if it was Rachel.

"Did I miss you telling him to loosen up?" Glorfindel's memories were interrupted as Elladan came to a sudden stop beside the alcove, causing both Glorfindel and Rachel to start slightly, as neither had heard him coming.

"By a miniscule amount of time." Rachel said. "The horses are waiting right outside?"

"Horses?" Glorfindel asked, his eyebrows shooting up as Elladan nodded.

"Yep, we're going for a ride." Rachel said, flashing Glorfindel a grin.

"At least, you and Rachel are." Elladan said with a dejected sigh. "I have to stay behind and keep the other Lords from going ballistic." Rachel rolled her eyes.

"Hey, you're the one that insisted on staying behind. I told you that you could come if you wanted to." she said. "The whole point is to not CARE what the other Elf-lords think."

"Ah yes, but there is a difference between them thinking and them going ballistic!" Elladan said cheerfully. "Now shoo, you both need to get some riding clothes on, and the other Lords are not slow enough to still not have noticed Glorfindel's absence!"

"Going going gone..." Rachel said, then grabbed Glorfindel's hand and pulled him off down the passageway before he could protest - not that he particularly wanted to. Get out of a boring meeting to go riding with a beautiful maiden? Oh no, Glorfindel wasn't complaining at all.

To Glorfindel's surprise, Rachel managed to lead him straight to his rooms, where she waved quickly, then dashed off - presumably to her own rooms - without another word. Glorfindel looked after her with amusement for a moment, then disappeared into his own room and quickly changed out of his robes and into some riding clothes. He threw a cloak over his shoulders, then emerged from his rooms - and found Rachel already waiting for him in some slightly odd winter riding clothes.

Her dress and cloak were both in the current style of Gondor, from what Glorfindel could tell, but there seemed to be something...different about them. It took Glorfindel a moment to sort it out, but he eventually realized that the dress was more form-fitting, shorter, and generally less proper, than any riding dress he had ever seen. But the cloak almost looked like a blanket. Glorfindel dubbed it 'Rachel Style' and decided not to ask as she grabbed his hand again and pulled him off down the hall.

Rachel led Glorfindel through the halls of Rivendell quickly, ducking out of sight of everybody, Elf-lord or not, and soon they reached a little-used side door. Stepping through it, they came out into a fast-becoming pleasantly warm autumn day - their cloaks were probably unnecessary, Glorfindel mused - and found Asfaloth and Black Thunder waiting for them. Black Thunder was tied to a tree, as human horses were wont to wander off, but Asfaloth was wandering around eating just about anything green he could get his mouth around. Glorfindel sighed as he pulled Asfaloth away from his meal, wondering not for the first time if the Valar had given him Asfaloth to prepare him to deal with hobbits. Both creatures seemed to want to do the same things, at least - eat and rest.

Shaking his head, Glorfindel dismissed his thoughts and jumped lightly onto Asfaloth's back. Deftly directing the horse with his legs and hands, Glorfindel turned Asfaloth just as Rachel mounted up on Black Thunder - rather ungracefully and cursing her height the entire time - then motioned for him to go first.

"It's up to you where we go from here." she said. "Just as long as it's far away from the main part of Rivendell. And inside the border guards. I have a theory that I'm long overdue to be attacked by Orcs."

"How about we actually finish the spot-check of the border guards?" Glorfindel suggested, and Rachel shrugged.

"As I said, it's up to you." she said. Glorfindel smiled slightly, then set Asfaloth into a brisk trot and headed out of Rivendell proper.

They rode in silence for a time, enjoying the scenery, but eventually Glorfindel decided some conversation would be nice. Especially since they were nearing the border guards stations and he wanted to test just how good - or bad - the border guards hearing was. So he dug around and came up with the obvious topic.

"Out of curiosity, what prompted your and Elladan's sudden urge to encourage me to neglect my duties?"

"Well, quite frankly, you're actually really really scary when you turn serious Elf-lord." Rachel said with a small smile. "Which you did on me for the first time this morning. It freaked me out, which got me thinking, and then Elladan showed up and answered a few of the questions my thinking had brought up, and that resulted in the conclusion that you need to loosen up and stop worrying about what the other Elf-lords think about you." Glorfindel blinked.

"Being scared makes you think?" he asked.

"Being freaked out makes me think, yes. Once I calm down somewhat." Rachel replied cheerily.

"How...interesting." Glorfindel said, arching an eyebrow.

"Agh, you officially belong to the EES." Rachel said completely randomly, making a face.

"The what?" Glorfindel asked in confusion, totally lost as to what she was talking about.

"The EES. The Evil Eyebrow Society." Rachel replied.

"I repeat - the what?" Glorfindel asked again, arching an eyebrow again.

"The Evil Eyebrow Society." Rachel replied patiently. "Those in it have creepy eyebrows in some manner or another. So far it consists of you, Elrond and Kevin Richardson."

"Kevin who?" Glorfindel asked blankly.

"Singer from back home. I, and many other people, swore that his eyebrows were really just caterpillar symbiotes that lived on his face." Rachel replied matter-of-factly. Glorfindel eyed her for a second, trying to decide if she was serious. Before he could decide, she frowned lightly and added, "And then there's the honorary member JC Chasez. Because his goatee looked like the streaked triplet of Kevin's eyebrows." Glorfindel shook his head.

"Sometimes I wonder why I even bother trying to understand you." he said wryly.

"Because you know that, deep down, somewhere, I am making sense." Rachel said with a grin. "You just haven't found that somewhere yet. Mostly because I hid it - a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away." Rachel giggled slightly, and then dissolved into full-fledged laughter. Glorfindel unconsciously moved Asfaloth away from her a bit, slightly unnerved by the 'laughing at nothing' thing. Nonsensical ramblings he could tolerate - he actually found them to be quite entertaining - but laughing at nothing? That made him SLIGHTLY concerned. And, as luck would have it, Rachel spotted his confused/concerned/freaked out look. She instantly stopped laughing and shook her head with a wistful sigh.

"I REALLY need to find Kari and make my peace with her. Nobody else around here gets half my jokes." she said.

"Perhaps if you did not continuously make jokes that related to your home..." Glorfindel suggested.

"Yes, well, that's where the other half of my jokes that people around here DO get come in." Rachel said, waving her hand through the air dismissively. "Really, though, you'd think that after 800 years here, my experiences would have far outweighed the 20-odd years I spent at home, and I wouldn't still be dragging up material from there for jokes."

"Maybe your home was funnier?" Glorfindel said with a small smile. Rachel blinked, looked at him for a moment, and then chuckled.

"Too true, too true." she said. "I think it must be a bad side effect of not having such a clear-cut line between good and evil."

"Oh?" Glorfindel asked.

"Mm, yes. Everything's so black-and-white, good-and-evil here. Back home everything is just a mush of grey mid-tones, and people can debate for years over whether a murderer is actually evil or just misunderstood." Rachel said, with no little amusement in her voice. "Hell, you remember that weapon I told you about that could wipe out an entire city and poison the lands around it for centuries?" Glorfindel nodded. "The only times it was ever really used in combat, it was used ON the supposedly bad guys by the supposedly GOOD guys."

"Truly?" Glorfindel asked, somewhat shocked. Rachel nodded.

"Of course, nobody really knew how bad it was at that point, and once they did know, it was decided that it should never be used again." she said. Then Glorfindel made the mistake of asking if this weapon was safe and far from the reach of Sauron, which prompted Rachel to start in on an explanation of something called 'atomic theory' and 'quantum mechanics'. The gist of the entire explanation, as far as Glorfindel could tell, was that the weapon was readily available to Sauron if he had the technology, but there was no way in or outside of Middle-Earth he would get the technology in anything less than several hundred years, and the hints Rachel constantly dropped lead Glorfindel to believe that Sauron wouldn't be around that long.

Eventually, Glorfindel was forced to halt Rachel's explanation to hail a guard that had spotted them and was now watching from his post in confusion - though whether it was from seeing Glorfindel out with a strange lady he probably hadn't seen before, or from Rachel's rambling, Glorfindel couldn't figure out. At first. Then Rachel asked the guard if he'd knew the muffin man, and Glorfindel decided that it was most definitely Rachel's rambling that was confusing the guard.

"The muffin man?" Glorfindel asked as they rode on to the next guard station.

"It's a kid's rhyme from home. It goes 'Do you know the muffin man, the muffin man, do you know the muffin man who lives on Dreary Lane!'" Rachel sang the last part, and then chuckled to herself. "I haven't sung that in ages."

"It does not really make sense..." Glorfindel commented with a slight frown.

"'Course it doesn't. Most kid's rhymes don't." Rachel replied with a shrug. "Heck, it's not even that funny until you go around randomly asking people if they know the muffin man. Kari and I did that in Sydney - a city back home - once. It was quite amusing. You could tell the locals from the tourists, because the tourists would just look at us funny, while the locals would ask without missing a beat if we meant the one that lived on Dreary Lane."

"Tourists?" Glorfindel asked in confusion.

"Oh, sorry, forgot you wouldn't know what a tourist is. Hm, call them visitors, there to see the sights. It would be like someone from Rohan traveling to Minas Tirith for no other reason than to look around the White City." Rachel replied.

"That sounds...rather useless." Glorfindel commented.

"It is." Rachel replied with a chuckle. "Fun, though. You get to see parts of the world you've never been to before."

"I take it you have been a...tourist...at some point?" Glorfindel asked.

"Me? Probably, though I tried not to be. Most of the places I went to at home I usually went to to see relatives or to do business." Rachel replied with a shrug. A comfortable silence fell as they continued to ride, and lasted until they reached the next guard station. The guards still managed to notice them, however, and hailed Glorfindel cheerily enough when they arrived at the base of the guard post. They exchanged pleasantries, Rachel asked if they knew the muffin man - a confused 'no' was the answer - and then Glorfindel and Rachel continued on their way.

"So how many guard stations are there left, anyways?" Rachel asked as they continued.

"Three or four." Glorfindel replied, then teased with a small smile, "Why, getting bored already?"

"Nah, I'm just wondering if we're going to be able to get them done before lunch." Rachel said.

"Ah." There was a pause. "Speaking of lunch -"

"Elladan's going to bring out a picnic lunch to a garden he showed me how to get to." Rachel supplied with a wry smile. Glorfindel's eyebrow shot up.

"You two planned this very carefully." he commented.

"Well, we figured it would be best if you weren't seen in Rivendell proper for the rest of the day." Rachel said with a small smile.

"So I get to ride around all day instead?" Glorfindel asked, eyeing Asfaloth uncertainly.

"Not necessarily. You should just stay out of Rivendell proper. Walking around outside of there, sitting and thinking, and going to your study are all acceptable options besides riding." Rachel replied.

"My study is in Rivendell proper, you know." Glorfindel said, arching an eyebrow.

"As far as I'm concerned, anything that far away from well-used corridors is not in Rivendell proper anymore." Rachel replied emphatically, and Glorfindel chuckled.

"Yes, but the other Lords would be sure to look there." he said.

"I suppose." Rachel said with a light frown. "OK, so your study wouldn't be a good idea. Anywhere else is fair game, though!" Glorfindel chuckled.

"Very well." he said. Once more, a comfortable silence fell, and lasted until the next guard station. The same thing happened at this one as at the last - including Rachel's inquiry after the muffin man and confused negative answer - but after they left the guards, they fell silent once again. Rachel seemed content to just look around at the scenery, and after looking at the scenery himself for awhile, Glorfindel decided that it was far too long since he simply looked around without worry for an attack.

So he let himself relax, and looked around without worrying that every sound was an Orc hiding in a bush. And somehow, he managed to spend more time watching Rachel than looking at the scenery, though he always yanked his gaze back to his surroundings the instant he realized he was watching Rachel. The fact that his gaze kept slipping back to Rachel, anyways, just annoyed Glorfindel, though, and soon he was tensely watching the surroundings and waiting for an Orc to pop out of a bush at any moment just to keep his mind off of where his eyes kept wanting to go.

Because of this, when they came to the next guard station, and the guards didn't hear him and Rachel approaching, Glorfindel practically snapped the Elves heads off. They retreated in embarrassment when Glorfindel and Rachel finally turned away, and once the two were outside of earshot of the guards, Rachel spoke up.

"Ok, when did that stick get shoved up your arse?" she demanded, halting Black Thunder and turning to face Glorfindel. Asfaloth had stopped out of instinct, so Glorfindel had nothing to do but look at Rachel and arch an eyebrow, silently asking for her to repeat what she'd just said in language he could understand. "You skewered those poor guards! Why the heck were you so mean?!"

"I was not being mean. They were neglecting their duties." Glorfindel said tersely.

"So are you." Rachel said, arching an eyebrow. Glorfindel paused, then, against his will, his lips twitched slightly in a smile.

"I suppose I became wrapped up in my thoughts." he said. Rachel eyed him for a moment, and then nodded.

"Very well. But if that's what your thoughts do to you, then we shall have to stop you from thinking." Rachel said, and Glorfindel had a moment to feel dread before Rachel started pestering him with questions about the stars, and soon he was so busy answering that he had very little time to think about more than his answers and how far away the next guard station was.

They continued on checking guard stations while chattering for quite some time, but when they were leaving the third to last station, Rachel announced it was time for lunch. Then, with Rachel leading, the two of them set off back in the vague direction of Rivendell proper. After only a short while of Rachel peering around and muttering to herself about things looking familiar and being sure it was this way, both were thoroughly surprised when they entered a clearing and found Elladan waiting for them on his horse, a picnic basket behind him.

"Hey cool, I found it!" Rachel said with a grin, and Glorfindel chuckled. Elladan shook his head wryly.

"And you are not too late, either." he said as he urged his horse over to the Glorfindel and Rachel.

"Which is the really amazing part, since I could probably find just about anywhere if I was given enough time to wander around." Rachel said.

"Indeed." Elladan said with a small smile, then pulled the picnic basket off from behind him on the horse and held it out. "Here, it should still be warm."

"Aren't you saying?" Rachel asked as she took the basket. Elladan shook his head.

"The Lords decided to complain to father about Glorfindel going missing, and have cited me as an accomplice. Father seems to heartily approve of our little escapade, but out of respect for the Lords, he has me working in the library for the rest of the day - where I'm checked on every hour or so. I have Erestor covering for me now, but I really need to get back." he said.

"Perhaps it would just be easier if I went back?" Glorfindel said, arching an eyebrow.

"NO!" Rachel and Elladan said at once.

"I finally got Erestor on my side for once, you cannot ruin that!" Elladan said in a pitiful tone of voice, and Glorfindel chuckled.

"Very well." he said. "Not like I want to, anyways."

"There's the Glory we all know and love!" Rachel said cheerfully, hopping down off of Black Thunder. "Well, if you've gotta go, Elladan, then you should probably go. Have fun in the library with Mírëría!"

"She's off visiting family." Elladan replied, shooting a glare at Rachel.

"Ah, such a pity. And I had such high hopes that something good might come of your punishment." Rachel said with mock disappointment. Elladan rolled his eyes.

"Farewell, Rachel, Glorfindel." he said, then with a wave and returned farewells, he set off at a brisk trot for the main part of Rivendell.

"Ooo, he found some meat pies..." Rachel commented, peering in the basket once Elladan was gone.

"Indeed?" Glorfindel asked, both eyebrows rising as he dismounted from Asfaloth.

"Yeah...he must have had a hay-day flirting with the cooks." Rachel replied, arching an eyebrow.

"He always does." Glorfindel replied dryly.

"Too true." Rachel said with a grin, then handed the basket to Glorfindel and took her mare to a tree and tied her securely to one of the branches. Glorfindel, meanwhile, had shooed Asfaloth off a ways and spread his cloak on the ground before sitting on it and uncovering the basket. As Rachel returned, Glorfindel began pulling things out of the basket. Once the basket was emptied, the two set to eating, and before long they had finished the picnic and lay back on their cloaks, talking about random things and looking up at the sky.

"We should probably finish with the border guards." Rachel commented after awhile.

"Probably. But I believe the whole point of this was to get me away from my duties?" Glorfindel commented.

"True." Rachel said.

"So let us forget about the border guards and explore. It has been far too long since I explored Rivendell." Glorfindel said.

"Sounds good to me. On horse or on foot?"

"Both!" Glorfindel replied cheerily, sitting up and starting to pack up the remains of the picnic. Rachel nodded and sat up as well, helped Glorfindel briefly, then stood and headed towards Black Thunder. Halfway to her horse, she stopped, glanced around, and then turned in a full circle, squinting into the trees as though looking for something.

"Rachel?" Glorfindel asked, arching an eyebrow.

"Where's Asfaloth?" Rachel asked. Glorfindel paused, and then looked around. Not immediately seeing his horse, he whistled, but the horse did not emerge.

"Silly horse probably wandered back to his pasture." Glorfindel grumbled.

"I thought Elvish horses didn't wander off?" Rachel asked, arching an eyebrow.

"Elvish horses do not wander away from home and get lost. They DO, sometimes, wander away TO home. Especially if they are my horse." Glorfindel replied, rolling his eyes.

"And here I thought he was a smart horse." Rachel said in amusement.

"Smart as a hobbit." Glorfindel snorted.

"Hey, don't diss the hobbits!" Rachel said defensively. "Hobbits are cool! Hairy, but cool." Glorfindel just held up his hands in mock surrender and chuckled.

"Very well. Shall we go find my errant horse, or walk and ride double on your mare if need to?" he asked.

"As I recall, Asfaloth's pasture is rather close to Rivendell proper. So, let's just let him be. Walking is fun, anyways." Rachel said.

"What shall we do with the basket, then?" Glorfindel asked, holding up the object in question.

"Leave it out of the way somewhere. Elladan said he would come back for it later. And if he doesn't, we can always come get it." Rachel replied with a shrug. Glorfindel nodded, put the basket beneath a tree, and then went over to Rachel where she stood beside Black thunder, holding the mare's reins.

"Where to?" Rachel asked.

"Pick a direction." Glorfindel said, making a sweeping gesture with one hand to indicate all the directions that lead away from the main part of Rivendell.

"That way." Rachel said, randomly pointing across the clearing they'd just picnicked in. Glorfindel nodded, and they set off.

---

"Enjoy yourselves?" Elladan asked cheerfully as Glorfindel and I walked into the main building of Rivendell.

"Would have, if genius here hadn't kept losing things. Like his horse. And us." I said, rolling my eyes and jerking my thumb towards Glorfindel.

"Asfaloth wandered off by himself!" Glorfindel said defensively. It was after midnight, and Glorfindel and I had just found our way back to the buildings of Rivendell after spending the majority of the evening lost.

"Doesn't change the fact that you got us lost." I muttered. Elladan chuckled.

"You got lost, Glorfindel? That is something new." he said, amusement dancing across his face. "You must have been very distracted." Almost like we'd practiced it, Glorfindel hit Elladan in the arm at the same time as I whacked the half-elf on the back of the head.

"Ow! No fair!" Elladan whined, trying to rub his head and arm at the same time.

"Very fair!" I said cheerfully.

"How so?" Elladan asked with a mock scowl.

"Because I said it is." I replied with an innocent smile. Elladan glared even harder.

"If you three are quite done?" a new voice said, and I whirled to see Elrond stepping out of the shadows in the hallway, somehow looking serious, yet amused at the same time. I glanced back at Elladan and he shrugged sheepishly. Glorfindel whacked him again, and he edged away from the Elf-lord while rubbing his arm and mumbling something about revenge.

"Good evening, Lord Elrond." I said cheerfully.

"Good evening indeed." Elrond said in that same amused, yet serious, way. "Glorfindel, the Lords wish to have a word with you tomorrow before lunch."

"Of course." Glorfindel said smoothly.

"I would suggest you stay to hear what they have to say this time." Elrond said dryly. Glorfindel just nodded in response. "As for you, Rachel, I have need to speak with you. Now."

"I just spent the entire evening wandering around Rivendell. Can't it wait until morning?" I asked, eyeing Elrond uneasily.

"Unfortunately, no." he said, with a far too cheerful smile.

"Fine." I said with a sigh, and with that, Elrond turned and headed off down the hall, apparently expecting me to follow. I glanced at Elladan and Glorfindel, gave a little wave, and then dashed off down the hall.

Not surprisingly, Elrond led me directly to his study, where he had to light a few candles before taking his seat behind his desk. He didn't motion or indicate to me that I should take the one seat still in the room, and I wasn't quite sure what was going on, so I remained standing. I began to shift uneasily from foot to foot, however, as Elrond simply sat in his chair and watched me with a contemplative look on his face.

"I thought you needed to speak with me?" I asked tentatively after a time. There was a pause, then Elrond seemed to shake himself out of whatever his thoughts were, and he nodded briskly.

"Indeed I do." he said. "Gandalf and I had a discussion this afternoon, after things had calmed down, about several things. We have decided that the Ring cannot stay in Rivendell. And, after today, I do not think you can, either."

"I can handle disapproving Elf-lords." I said with a roll of my eyes.

"I know. But I am not sure they will be able to handle you." Elrond said, a smile threatening to form on his lips. "I know you claim that the way to Lothlorien is too dangerous for you to travel at this time, but I truly believe it would be best if you were to go there as soon as possible."

"Hey, if you're gonna kick me out, there's not much I can do." I said with a shrug. Elrond shot me a weary look.

"I am not 'kicking' you out. I am simply suggesting that it might be a good idea for you to leave for a time." he said. "Among other things, I think it is best for you to speak with Kari yourself instead of letting the news of your return reach her by other means."

"That's what I'm trying to put off, to be honest." I said with a sigh, and Elrond nodded in understanding.

"Nonetheless, you need to do it." he said, and I nodded.

"OK, but how am I going to get to Lothlorien? I'm not going to risk going without an escort. I've had far too much luck in the No Orc Attack department." I said.

"There will, perhaps, be an opportunity in a few months -"

"NO." I said firmly, and Elrond looked at me in slight surprise. "I'm not messing with that little group. And besides, I thought you said I needed to leave soon? There will be messengers going to Lothlorien soon, right? Why don't I go with them?"

"They will be riding fast and hard." Elrond said with a light frown.

"So? I made it from Bree to Minas Tirith in under a month." I said, arching an eyebrow. Elrond looked at me in surprise, and I added, "On Liltalen." Elrond chuckled.

"Very well. You shall go with whatever messenger goes to Lothlorien." he said, then added with a small smile, "Most likely Elrohir."

"Eh, I think he's going to have other things to do..." I said, shifting from foot to foot again. Elrond arched an eyebrow, and then nodded in acceptance.

"As you say." he said. "Be prepared to leave with the messengers, then. That is all for now."

"Yay - sleep time!" I said cheerfully, then waved to Elrond and dashed out, making for my rooms. When I arrived at them, I changed quickly into a nightgown and then collapsed into bed, asleep within moments. It seemed that no sooner had I fallen asleep, however, then the sun was falling across my face and someone was knocking on my door. With a groan, I hauled myself out of bed, put on a dressing robe and stalked over to the door. Opening the door revealed Boromir preparing to knock again, and I sighed.

"What's up?" I asked.

"It is near noon. I thought perhaps you might want to join me for lunch and then some sparring." Boromir replied, arching an eyebrow.

"Noon?" I asked, blinking in surprise. Boromir nodded.

"You seem to have slept late today." he said with a smirk.

"Paying for lack of sleep." I grumbled in reply. "Well, I'd love to join you, but I'll need to freshen up, first. You can come in and wait, I won't be long." Boromir looked doubtful at that, and I rolled my eyes. "I won't, trust me." Boromir smiled slightly, nodded, and entered when I held the door open for him. I shut the door behind him, then disappeared back into my bedroom and set about getting 'freshened up'.

Fifteen minutes later, much to Boromir's surprise - he had settled down with a book - I emerged from my room, ready to go in that still-not-returned set of clothes I had borrowed from Elladan. They had been washed several times since I borrowed them, and I had since acquired another set to wear when this one was dirty, but they were still Elladan's and not my own.

"Remind me to see about getting my own breeches and tunics after we finish sparring today." I said thoughtfully as Boromir and I set off for the main hall. Boromir smiled slightly again, then nodded.

"Of course." he said.

When we arrived at the main hall, it was mostly empty, and it became apparent that lunch had actually just finished. Nonetheless, Boromir and I managed to get some food, which we ate quickly before heading off to one of the more common sparring rings we used. At least, that was where we had started for. Halfway there, we ran into Glorfindel.

Or, more appropriately, he almost ran US over.

Glorfindel cast us an annoyed glance when we didn't move out of his way quick enough, apparently not recognizing us, as the instant he DID recognize us, his scowl immediately smoothed into a polite smile. Then, as he realized what I was wearing, the polite smile turned into a warm one, and a gleam entered his eyes.

"Going to practice?" he asked.

"Aye, Lord Glorfindel." Boromir replied even as I nodded warily, not trusting the gleam in Glorfindel's eyes.

"Would you perhaps mind if I joined you?" Glorfindel asked.

"As long as you only spar with Boromir." I replied. "My last spar with you was done far too quickly for me to want to have another go with you until I've had a LOT more practice." Glorfindel and Boromir both chuckled.

-*-*-

CS: Yes, long, I know. The longest of all of them...it was actually three or four chapters. I removed it because...well, I had planned from the beginning for things to happen the way they actually did in the story, but I wasn't in a mood to write that type of scene when I got to that part. Stupid me didn't stop writing. Also, I don't like the characterizations later in the section...

Haldir: Probably because they are very far off and odd...

CS: Yeah...At least I changed the part about Rachel and Glorfy leaving the meeting via a secret passage, though.

Gil-Galad: ...Rivendell doesn't even HAVE secret passages...I should know, I had many arguments with Elrond over putting them in.

Haldir: Why, didn't he want some?

Gil-Galad: No...claimed that Imladris was a refuge, and that if it was attacked, there was no where they could escape TO, even if they did have secret passages...He cited Gondolin as an example.

CS: ...What about Valinor?

Gil-Galad: *shrug* Elrond gets far too wrapped up in history sometimes...I think he forgot about Valinor.

Haldir: *blink*

Gil-Galad: Or at least that Elves could escape back to it now...

CS: Alrighty then, it's official: Elrond's demented.

Elrohir: *appears* Coulda told you that years ago. *disapears*

CS: Oh look, a twin fly-by...

Haldir: Or just a fly twin...

CS: *whacks Haldir* Thou shalt not diss the sexy Elf-lords! Even if thou art a sexy Elf-lord thyself!

Haldir: *thwacks CS back, and the two proceed to start a...well, let's be honest, it's a Thwapping and Poking War*

Gil-Galad: *sighs* Here's the next bit...from chapter 47. Which I'm sure you all remember as the chapter that truly got Glorfindel and Rachel together - in the hot springs, of course. This particular part takes place just after Glorfindel makes his oh-so-intelligent observation about the month and the state of Rachel's clothes, implying the coldness of the situation.

-*-*-

"Mmm, true." I mumbled, though truth be told, I hadn't noticed the cold before he mentioned the month - even before I dove into the springs. I quickly scampered over to where Glorfindel had evidently dropped my belt and put it on, then proceeded over to where my boots were still resting on the first pool's banks and put them on. Now I was very much feeling the cold, and was thus quite thankful when, once I had my boots on, Glorfindel wrapped his arm around my shoulders and pulled me up against him before leading me off for Caras Galadhon.

I was close to shivering when we finally reached the Elven city, and cursing myself for an idiot for diving into that pool. I wouldn't be surprised if I became the first Elf ever to catch a cold because of that foolish action. Matters weren't helped any when Haldir suddenly popped up in front of Glorfindel and I.

"Fall in a pool?" Haldir asked me, arching an eyebrow.

"Jumped in." I replied. "Now go 'way, Haldir. Wanna get to my flet and get warm." Haldir arched an eyebrow at me, and took the hint that I was not in the mood for squabbling. Unfortunately, he also took that as a sign that something was wrong, and concernedly followed Glorfindel and I. I kept shooting him looks, trying to get him to go away, but that was a hint he didn't seem to WANT to take. So I walked as close as I could to Glorfindel and huddled in on myself, intently ignoring Haldir.

I hoped that Haldir would go away once we reached my flet, but the bugger ran ahead and stoked up the fire. Which, while it made my flet nice a warm, was a pain, because he was now in my flet and I couldn't very well get him to leave without being rude. I grumpily plunked myself down in front of the fire and continued to ignore Haldir - especially the strange look he gave me for sitting on the floor within a foot or so of the fire. He and Glorfindel then started talking quietly in Elvish, but I couldn't be bothered to pay attention and listen to what they were saying. I was too busy reveling in the fact that I was getting both warm and dry.

Eventually, with Haldir and Glorfindel still quietly conversing in Elvish behind me, and the warm fire in front of me, I felt my eyes slip closed for sleep in a way that they hadn't done in over 800 years. I smiled sleepily, and though some part of me registered that an Elf sleeping with its eyes closed was a bad thing, I didn't care. Glorfindel apparently did, however, because before I could drift entirely into sleep, I felt his arms suddenly wrap around me and I was hoisted into his lap, as he had apparently sat down right behind me.

"Rachel?" he asked quietly, his concern obvious in his voice.

"'m sleepy." I muttered, cracking open an eye to look at him.

"Then sleep. In Elvish fashion." Glorfindel said, looking at me intently.

"Pfah." I grumbled, though now the sleepy urge to close my eyes was gone and I doubted I could sleep with my eyes closed if I wanted to. "You're no fun."

"I am simply concerned." Glorfindel said softly.

"Mm." I said slightly grumpily. Glorfindel shook his head slightly and kissed me lightly on the temple.

"Perhaps you should go to bed if you wish to sleep?" he suggested.

"Yeah, but you woke me up. Now I don't want to sleep anymore." I muttered.

"I am sorry." Glorfindel said, but the apology was ruined due to the fact that I could hear amusement in his voice. I peered up at him.

"Funny boy." I said, and poked his nose. Glorfindel went momentarily cross-eyed, trying to follow my finger as it poked his nose, and I giggled at the sight. Glorfindel shook his head.

"I think bed would be a very good idea for you." he said.

"No, not the evil bed!" I cried in mock horror, and latched onto the front of Glorfindel's tunic, pulling him closer to me, so we were almost nose-to-nose. "Keep the evil bed away from me!!" I exclaimed. Glorfindel looked somewhat frightened at this point, so I fell over - out of his lap - and started laughing.

"Rachel, are you alright?" Glorfindel finally asked as I continued to giggle convulsively on the floor.

"Yep." I giggled. "But the purple skeleton monkies named Jack are invading from Mars." Glorfindel's face entered my range of vision, looking deeply concerned. "This is all your fault, you realize." I told him.

"Mine?" Glorfindel asked incredulously, and I nodded emphatically.

"Didn't you believe me when I said you'd fried my brain?" I replied.

"Not really, no." Glorfindel replied dryly. I tsked and waggled a finger at him.

"Baaaaaaad Glorfindel!" I said, using the 'a' sound in 'bad' to imitate a sheep. Then I announced randomly, "I feel like I just had a dozen pixie stix and two liters of Pepsi."

"Pixie stix? Pepsi?" Glorfindel asked in confusion, and I nodded emphatically.

"Otherwise known as sugar, more sugar, and caffeine. The stuff that makes hyperness. Though apparently you can have the same effect. Hmm, wonder how much people back home would pay for bottled Glorfindel, then?" I paused thoughtfully. "Bottle of Pepsi is around $2, pixie stix are ten cents each...a dozen pixie stix and a bottle of Pepsi would therefore be around three and a half dollars. So $3.50 for bottled Glorfindel? Bah, far too cheap. Well, following my budget, rather expensive, but after taking that boat-" I was cut off by a kiss from Glorfindel.

"You ramble, you know that?" Glorfindel asked when he pulled away.

"Yes, but if it causes you to shut me up like that, then it's all good, yes?" I replied, arching an eyebrow. Then I propped myself up on an elbow and peered around.

"Haldir left, right?" I asked, suddenly worried, and Glorfindel chuckled from the floor.

"Yes, he left. After trying and failing to get an answer out of you at least a dozen times, he decided to let me see if I could get a response. So I told him to get out." Glorfindel smirked.

"You're my hero." I said happily, giving him a big hug. Glorfindel chuckled.

"I am glad to hear that." he said with a smile, and kissed me again.

---

I know what you're thinking happened after that, but it didn't. Glorfindel and I continued to crack jokes in-between kisses for awhile longer, until my stomach loudly informed me that I was hungry. So we got up - we had not bothered to move from the floor - and wandered out of my flet in search of food. We found some in the kitchens, where we then wolfed it down, both reasoning that there was no point in taking it up to our flets when we were both so hungry that we'd devour it in seconds, anyways. Then we headed out, heading somewhere - I certainly didn't have a direction in mind - and ran into Kari.

"Monkey!" I exclaimed in fright, and hid behind Glorfindel. In the silence that followed, I cautiously peeked around Glorfindel to find Kari still standing there, looking surprised.

"Middle-Earth does not have caffeine." Kari said finally, suspiciously.

"Naw, it has Glorfindel. Twice as good. I'm thinking of bottling him and selling the bottles for $3.50 each back home. Whaddaya think?" I asked. Kari arched an eyebrow. "University students would probably love it, yes?"

"What DID you give her to eat?" Kari asked, glancing at Glorfindel.

"Pixie stix." Glorfindel replied blandly, and I giggled. Kari looked at Glorfindel in surprise for a moment.

"You are both insane." she finally declared.

"So are you." I replied promptly. "Or at least you were. Maybe 800 years with Elrohir has inflicted you with normalcy?" I peered at Kari intently.

"Yo juzuw rallangoo Glorfindel faezh." Kari replied promptly. I paused, taking a few moments to adjust my brain to remember the language Kari and I had made up oh-so long ago, as my internal translator didn't seem to be able to handle it. When I translated what Kari had said, I peered up at Glorfindel as I formulated a reply. {Glorfindel is a purple pickle.}

"Uver shi yo murr'iz elf lawna gah r'urokrow jei." I said. Kari wrinkled her nose. {Looks like a sexy elf lord to me.}

"Do you know how OLD he is?" she asked.

"Do you know how old Elrohir is?" I retorted.

"2888." Kari replied promptly. "Whereas I'm not sure even Glorfindel knows how old he is."

"7254 as of last October." Glorfindel replied casually. I blinked up at him, and he shrugged. "Add 3644 years if you want to count the ones where I was dead." I mentally did just that.

"10898?" I asked, and then turned back to Kari. "Murr'iz gah faezh, zoj baevoo kue efae." {He is sexy, no matter how old.}

"Yeah, but..." Kari wrinkled her nose. "Shimork'gl gah faezh !" {He is boring!}

"You have no idea how wrong you are." I replied, grinning. Kari eyed Glorfindel.

"What are you two saying? Or do I want to know?" Glorfindel asked warily.

"We're just debating you." I replied, bouncing on the balls of my feet.

"Somehow that scares me." Glorfindel muttered.

"Good." I said, and turned my attention back to Kari. "I thought you were mad at me?" I asked.

"You are incredibly hard to stay mad at." she said grumpily. "Especially when you start acting hyper."

"Ah! Munderful." I said, nodding.

"And I just came back from talking to my grandmother-in-law." Kari replied, twitching. I arched an eyebrow.

"Creepy Lady strikes again." I said.

"Indeed." I whirled at the sound of the very-unamused voice and found Celeborn standing behind me. What he was doing down at the kitchens, I have no idea, but there he was.

"Creepy Lady's Scary Husband!" I squeaked, figuring the damage was already done and I couldn't make it much worse, then hid behind Glorfindel. I heard Celeborn sigh.

"Lord Glorfindel, we have found a messenger willing to go to Rivendell." he said. "Unless you wish to return yourself, now?"

"He's staying." I answered, poking my head around Glorfindel.

"Lord Glorfindel?" Celeborn asked pointedly. Glorfindel seemed to hesitate, and glanced down at me. I knew, then, that he did indeed have orders from Elrond, and I resolved to at least bop the Peredhil next time I saw him. Glorfindel still hadn't given Celeborn an answer, and was still looking down at me, so I arched an eyebrow up at him, letting him make his own decision.

"I believe it would be wiser for me to stay, Lord Celeborn." Glorfindel said finally, still looking down at me.

"Very well then. Would you like to brief the messenger now, or tomorrow?" Celeborn said, and Glorfindel looked up at the Elven ruler.

"The sooner the messengers get back to Rivendell, the sooner the Fellowship can leave." he said, and Celeborn nodded.

"Manveru is down at the paddocks, readying his horse." the elf ruler said, then gave a slight bow to Glorfindel, who returned it with a deeper one, and then, without even waiting to see if I would curtsey (I wasn't about to leave the protection of Glorfindel to do so, anyways), Celeborn turned and glided off.

"Gah, with grandparents like that, it's no wonder that only one of Elrond's kids is married." I shuddered. Glorfindel chuckled.

"I have a messenger to find. Do you want to come with me?" he asked, changing the subject.

"Sure!" Kari and I both said as one. We looked at each other in surprise, and then I grinned mischievously.

"Kari, did you teach Elrohir Diyla?" I asked.

"Nooooo..." she replied cautiously. "Why?"

"What say we send him a message, via this messenger Manveru, that says that 'yo fobobair nawe shmirm tnik tay faezh.'" I said with a grin. {your dad is an evil nipple boy.}

"How saying that 'Yo juzuw elf Elrohir faezh, jek Elladan faezh aev uver'...mmm, what was our word for squirrel again?" Kari paused thoughtfully. {Elrohir is a purple elf, and Elladan is attractive to... - literally: Elladan is cute to...}

"I don't think we made one." I said thoughtfully.

"Let's just send 'yo fobobair nawe shmirm tnik tay faezh', then." Kari said with a shrug.

"Okie." I replied, and then looked up at Glorfindel expectantly.

"What does 'yo fobobair nawe shmirm tnik tay faezh' mean?" he asked warily.

"Tell you later." I replied airily. "Now, paddocks?" Glorfindel sighed, then headed off the way Celeborn had went, Kari and I following.

We reached the paddocks rather quickly, and found the messenger even more quickly - rather hard NOT to find him, considering he was the only elf in sight. Glorfindel briefed the elf on his messages - mostly stuff about orcs movements and other such things - and then went off to get some written messages, leaving Manveru to Kari and me. We grinned at each other, and then asked him - very nicely - if he'd take a message for us. By the time Glorfindel got back, not only had Manveru agreed to pass on our message, but he'd learned how to pronounce the words correctly. Glorfindel just rolled his eyes at us when he got back and saw our very-pleased-with-ourselves looks, and handed Manveru a package of papers wrapped in an oiled cloth.

"If you see Orcs, run and don't stop until you get to Rivendell." Glorfindel said in parting to Manveru, who nodded before strapping the bundle of papers to his horses saddle - which he had somehow managed to put on while Kari and I had been talking to him. Then Kari and I followed Glorfindel as he left the paddock area.

-*-*-

A slightly disshevelled CS: *glares at Gil-Galad* Nof air. You started the scene without me.

Gil-Galad: *shrug* You were busy.

CS: *sighs, attempts to make herself look presentable, then sits down on the currently unconcious Haldir...no, you don't want to know how he got that way...nor why his ears are now pink and bunny-fied* Alright. Piece was cut for the obvious reason: too quick of a resolution between Kari and Rachel. Also the whole sick-Rachel thing. I also wanted more to happen at the hot springs...

Gil-Galad: Because we all know what romantic spots hot springs are...even several-thousand-year-old Elf-lords know.

CS: Yes indeed. Now, before Haldir wakes up and decides to turn me into sushi because of his precious ears, we shall move on to the next bit. It is from chapter 59, and was how I originally started the chapter. I cut it because...well, I didn't like the way it was going. I also didn't like the time skip-age. The duel, however, I liked and worked into chapter 61, in a way...and the chat with Boromir got re-written and put in another chapter, of course.

-*-*-

The next few weeks were, I'm sure, some of the most interesting Caras Galadhon had had since Elrohir and Elladan were kids. With not only Boromir, but Merry and Pippin, with me, I was only one short (Faramir being absent) of my full army, and took full advantage of it. And the best part was, as long as we made sure to run into Celeborn first after doing anything that might get us into trouble, we usually got off very lightly - after all, if Celeborn had already punished us, Galadriel couldn't very well do anything, could she?

Though that didn't stop her from trying every once and awhile. She didn't try very hard, though, and I think it was because she saw as well as Kari and I did the effect the shenanigans had on the Elves of Lothlórien and the Fellowship - they'd been extremely disheartened after the news of Gandalf's death, and the topic of 'What Rachel & Co. Have Done Now' always cheered them up. Though I was still Asira to them - having been introduced as Asira, and not wanting to seem like I had multiple personalities or was wanting to claim the name of the only Elf to suicide in Rivendell (who just about blinking EVERY elf had heard of, it seemed), I just let it be. There were a few questions from Haldir, Rúmil and Orophin about why Glorfindel called me 'Rachel', but Glorfindel said something to them that somehow stopped their questions - I don't know what it was, nor did I ask.

It did make for interesting practices, however. Rúmil and Orophin - and sometimes Haldir - had taken to joining Glorfindel, Boromir and I at the practice fields most afternoons, when Boromir practiced - usually sparring with some Elf or another near the end - and Glorfindel taught me how to use a double-bladed sword. The two brothers eventually ended up sparring, as well, and sometimes they had a little free-for-all with Boromir, if Kari or someone else who spoke both Common and Elvish was available to translate for them.

Other members of the Fellowship also occasionally came along to the fields, Aragorn being the most common one, and we taught them as they came. Then, unfortunately, three weeks after the Fellowship's arrival, came the day that Glorfindel informed me that he had no more to teach me, and I'd have to get Haldir - who happened to be there that day - to teach me more. Haldir smirked when he heard Glorfindel say that.

"You sure you don't have anything more you can teach me?" I asked Glorfindel, eyeing Haldir slightly worriedly.

"I am sure." Glorfindel said with slight amusement.

"Come now; do you not want to learn from a master of the double-bladed sword?" Haldir asked, still smirking.

"Yes, but I would very much have preferred that someone other than you was a master of it." I replied, making a face. "I've heard tales enough even before coming to Lothlórien of the rigors of training in weaponry, and while I know I've had it easy with Glorfindel, I have no doubt that all those stories will be put to shame by you." Haldir grinned in a disturbingly evil manner.

"You have no idea." he said, his eyes gleaming. He came forward, pulling his - much bigger - double-bladed sword off of his back, and removed the sheaths, tossing them to Orophin. I unsheathed my borrowed sword - the smiths said mine would be ready in a few more days - and readied myself as Haldir calmly looked at me for a moment. Then, with a smile, he suddenly attacked, and I was put on the defensive.

"Too slow." Haldir said after a moment, and the tip of one of his blades nicked my cheek to emphasize his point.

"Too fast." I shot back, and then launched into an offensive. Haldir's blades seemed to be everywhere, however, and nothing got past him.

"Too slow." Haldir repeated almost patiently, and then attacked again, more slowly this time, informing me of all my mistakes as I made them - and none too nicely. Then he attacked with full speed again, and every time I repeated a mistake he'd already pointed out to me, he nicked me somewhere with one of his blades. By the time he announced that that was all for now, I have multiple nicks on my cheeks, one or two on my legs, and three on the back of my hands.

I glared at Haldir as I sheathed the sword. He looked back serenely, and abruptly I whirled and looked about for Boromir. I found him not far away, watching, taking a break from sparring with Glorfindel - and his shield was resting beside him. Legolas and Aragorn were sparring behind him, but I barely took notice as I snatched Boromir's shield and gave Haldir a very solid whack on the behind with it. The Marchwarden's loud curse caused everyone in the training ground to stop, attention suddenly riveted on us as I calmly returned Boromir's shield to him.

Now Haldir was glaring at me as I looked back at him serenely. Then he removed his blade from his back again - where he'd just put it, and unsheathed it. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Glorfindel start to move from where he had been resting, but before he could reach the ring, I unsheathed my own weapon and held it at the ready, calmly arching an eyebrow and inviting Haldir to attack.

And for a wonder, the normally collected Marchwarden did. The Elf may trade insults with me like nobodies business, but he was always in control of himself when he did so - he was not now. I wondered, absently, as I parried his slashes, if I had pushed him too far, but then forced myself to concentrate on fighting.

It became clear, however, that while Haldir couldn't get past my defenses - either his anger had slowed him, or I was pulling another Instant Improvement Fluke - I couldn't launch an offensive against him. We were locked in a stalemate, just waiting for one of us to tire. It never came to that, though, as we were separated by two blurs - my momentum, both physical and mental, made me launch into an offensive slash when I saw an opening, but it was easily parried, and that was enough time for me to ease myself out of Attack Mode. I stood blinking at Glorfindel, and behind him and to the side somewhat, I saw Haldir doing the same to Legolas.

"What did you do THAT for?" I demanded the first to break the silence that had started when I had hit Haldir on the butt with Boromir's shield.

"That was NOT a spar. It was a duel." Glorfindel said tightly. "One likely to result in injury."

"Or something else less pleasant." Legolas put in with annoyance. "Is there not enough destruction in the lands for you two, that you must fight with each other?" I bit my tongue to keep from saying anything stupid, and silence fell again. After a time, I turned from Glorfindel and walked over to where the sheaths to my weapon had fallen. I put them on the blades, and then carefully stepped over to Legolas and Haldir. A quick glance at Legolas made him back off with a slight bow, and I stepped in front of Haldir.

"Sorry." I said, so quietly I know only Haldir could hear me - though I'm sure others saw my lips move - and then I held out his borrowed sword. He took it without hesitation, and I turned and left the practice arena. I heard Boromir follow, and so went to one of the more private spots in Caras Galadhon - a small pool coming off the river we had thrown Celeborn in not long ago. I sat down on the bank and hugged my legs to my chest, staring blankly out over the water as Boromir sat down beside me. I waited for him to speak first, using the time until he did to go over in my mind what had just happened and why.

I knew I had been in the wrong, and that it had been my place to apologize - which is why I had done so. But why had I whacked Haldir in the first place, and why had he reacted so strongly? Was it a result of Haldir's and my verbal sparring, come to a head in physical combat? No, Haldir and I had never had any true animosity towards each other. We always knew that we didn't really mean what we said - it was just that we couldn't stop ourselves, or rather, didn't want to stop ourselves. It was nice to have someone to have an intelligent argument with in this world where most evil either Haldir or I would come up against was mindless and not really worth getting mad at.

So what was it that had driven us to a duel this afternoon?

"Asira?" Boromir's voice broke into my thoughts, and I turned my head slightly towards him, indicating that I'd heard. "What happened?"

"That's what I'd like to know, and am trying to figure out." I said quietly and ruefully. There was a short silence.

"Damn, Faramir is much better at this sort of thing." Boromir muttered, and I chuckled.

"Indeed he is. Annoyingly elf-like, that boy." I said, and then shook my head. "Him and Imrahil."

"Aye." Boromir said, a fond smile crossing his face. "I wish one of them was here."

"Why's that?" I asked, glancing at him. "Besides their people intuition. Because I can tell it's more than that." Boromir hesitated, and then sighed.

"I feel like I am out of my league." he said softly. "I came to Rivendell expecting to get nothing more than a translation of a dream, and yet now I find myself on a quest to save all of Middle-Earth - which I'm not even sure will work - with the heir to the throne of Gondor, a dwarf, an Elven Prince, and four hobbits, creature I had never heard of until only recently. And as if that isn't enough, it turns out that one of my closest friends, who is as close as Faramir to me, is an Elf." I looked at Boromir, who seemed for a moment to have the weight of the world on his shoulders, and felt a surge of sympathy. I reached over and hugged him. After a moment, Boromir returned the hug.

"I'm still the same old me, Boromir." I said, pulling away and looking at him seriously. "I may not act like it, but it's true. The fact that I'm an Elf should not be part of the burden you carry. It changes nothing."

"Except for the fact that you have seen more wonders than I ever could and have infinitely more wisdom." Boromir said dryly. I looked at him incredulously, and then burst out laughing.

"Boromir, when the flying penguin have I EVER had infinitely more wisdom than you?!" I exclaimed. "Do you think that I hid my wisdom just so I wouldn't stick out in Gondor? No, you big lug - I am now, and always have been, a half-insane lady with strange thinking patterns who is sometimes woefully stupid about the world around her.

"And as for seeing more wonders than you ever could - the extent of my traveling has been from Rivendell, to Bree, to Gondor, and then to various places in Rohan and Gondor. All of these places you have been, or could see with a ride of perhaps a year. And you have seen places *I* have not, though I've wished to - Dol Amroth and Ithilien, to name two. You want to talk about seeing more wonders than you ever could, and having infinitely more wisdom, go speak to Glorfindel or one of the other Elves that has been around since the Second Age - or before." Boromir was looking at me in surprise by the time I finished, and I waited as what I had said sunk in. Boromir frowned lightly when it did.

"How old are you, then?" he asked, then added politely, "If you don't mind me asking."

"937, as of this month." I replied with a small smile, and Boromir looked very surprised. "I'm not as old as you thought, am I?" I asked with a grin, and he nodded.

"I thought you to be at least a thousand, quite likely two or more." he said.

"No, not quite there yet." I said with a grin. "Not all elves are old, m'boy. Though I'll admit, I'm probably the second youngest Elf out there at the moment."

"Second youngest?" Boromir asked, arching an eyebrow.

"Kari's 5 months younger than me." I replied with a grin.

"Five months, out of how many years? Somehow it does not seem like such a big gap." Boromir replied with amusement.

"When you get to be in the hundreds and thousands, age really stops to matter." I said dryly. "I mean, if elves went by the human measurements...well, I'm pretty sure the large majority of Elven couples would be frowned upon for the large age difference." Boromir looked amused, and glanced over at me with a teasing twinkle in his eyes.

"Indeed." was all he said, though I could practically see the teases about Glorfindel and me waiting to come out. The whole Fellowship had been rather amused when they'd found out about that - from Kari, as it happened - and Boromir usually didn't pass up a chance to get in a jibe about it. I didn't press the matter, though, and Boromir and I fell into silence once again.

"I think we were both in bad moods." I said suddenly, and Boromir looked at me in amusement, not even needing to ask what I was talking about.

"So it would seem." he said, then abruptly stood, as if that was a signal. He held out a hand to me, and I took it, letting myself be pulled up from the bank. Boromir glanced up at the sky, and I noticed that it was starting to get dark.

"Kitchens." I said, looking at Boromir, and he nodded before setting off in that direction, pulling me along behind him.

---

Boromir and I ran into no one we knew - at least not very well - as we went to the kitchens, nor as we ate, or after we left. It was kind of strange - I thought that Glorfindel might, at least, be looking for me, but perhaps he'd decided I was safe in the hands of Boromir. Or maybe he just hadn't been able to find Boromir and me.

Whatever the reason, for once, I was glad to be alone with Boromir for awhile. He and I - and Faramir - had often sat, or walked, and talked, and I'd sort of missed it since I'd left Rivendell. Kari and Glorfindel were wonderful, but I couldn't seem to have any sort of a serious conversation with Kari, and Glorfindel...well, let's just say that despite my protestations to Boromir about age not really mattering when you were an Elf, there were sometimes when it did. Glorfindel had such a wealth of knowledge packed into his handsome head, and such an abundance of wisdom and cleverness, that it was hard to talk to him seriously without feeling inferior. I wondered absently of Celeborn felt the same thing with Galadriel, and if he did, if that was one of the reasons why he and I got along so well.

-*-*-

Haldir: *groans*

CS: *runs away*

Gil-Galad: *sighs* I shall have to calm Haldir down and then go fetch CS, I suppose. In the mean time, here's another little snippt from chapter 59 - the newer version, this time. It contains the original way in which Boromir discovered that Glorfindel and Rachel were a couple. It was cut because better a idea came along.

Haldir: Wha...*blinks, touches his still pink and bunny-fied ears, twitches and reaches for his sword while looking around* Where is that -

Gil-Galad: *hastily interupting Haldir* Here's the chapter!

-*-*-

Somehow, every day, Glorfindel and I managed to get away from everybody else for a little bit, and because we disappeared so thoroughly when we wanted to be alone, it took Boromir just over two weeks to realize that Glorfindel and I were linked romantically - and then he found out in a rather undeniable manner, as it came one evening when he, Glorfindel, Kari and I were going for a walk along the river, and Kari and I were debating quite emphatically about something or another that I can't even remember anymore. Glorfindel had gotten tired of our arguing, and asked us to stop, but we'd ignored him, and so Glorfindel used his favorite method of shutting me up, 'since there were no grapes nearby to throw at Kari.' Boromir stopped walking and looked at the two of us.

"Oh, right. I haven't told him." I said with amusement when I noticed Boromir's surprised expression. "Way to shock the poor guy, Glory." I gave Glorfindel a playful whap, and he arched an eyebrow at me.

"When did this happen?" Boromir finally asked, pointing at Glorfindel and me, where I was still being held by my Elf-lord.

"A few weeks after we got to Caras Galadhon." I replied.

"Oh." Boromir said, and then started walking again, a thoughtful look on his face. The rest of us followed, Glorfindel with his arm around me waist, and there was silence for a few moments. Then Boromir suddenly turned to look at me, and I could see the mischievous twinkle in his eyes.

"Keep in mind that Kari got thrown in a river for calling Glorfindel a boring old Elf-lord!" I warned Boromir, and he got a slightly sulky look.

"That's no fair." he said.

"Of course it is. You have full access to teasing me about everything else - why should it not be fair that there's one subject you're not allowed to touch without retribution?" I said, arching an eyebrow at him.

"But that's the most interesting subject!" Boromir protested.

"And the most personal. Ergo, you can't touch it." I said.

"Unless you're me." Kari said with a grin.

"And that's only because Glorfindel can shoot back as good as you give, and he tells the most interesting tales about Elrohir's youth." I said with a smirk, and then turned to Boromir. "You, however, seem to love your swords more than women, and therefore, I have nothing I can shoot back at you."

"So you're saying that I have to have a love life to tease you about your love life?" Boromir asked thoughtfully, and I nodded.

"Exactly!" I said, and Boromir shook his head somewhat.

"Very unfair." he said, and I reached over and flicked him on the arm.

"View it as my one attempt to meddle in your love life." I said as he rubbed his arm and glared at me.

"Why do I find it hard to believe you have not tried to meddle in his love life before this?" Glorfindel murmured, and I shot him a mock scowl.

"Because you know her too well." Kari said with a grin, also having heard him.

"Ah, I do not think there is such a thing as knowing her too well." Glorfindel said, giving me a tender smile. Boromir made a rude noise, and I whipped my head in his direction. He looked back innocently as I narrowed my eyes at him. Then he abruptly found himself on the ground, me sitting on his back, and tickling him mercilessly. Things just went downhill from there, and it was a very disheveled - and tired - group that eventually made its way back to the Fellowship's pavilion, and then off to their own sleeping quarters.

-*-*-

CS: *to Gil-Galad* DUDE. You hafta stop doing that!

Gil-Galad: Stop being busy when it's time to start a new chapter then! Or get me more help, if you wish the audience to be entertained while you and Haldir *pauses, smirks* while you and Haldir flirt.

CS: *blink*

Haldir: *twitchspasm* I will not kill the king of the Noldor. I will not kill the king of the Noldor. I will not kill the king of the Noldor. I will not kill the -

CS: You kill him, I'll give you many shiny things.

Haldir: ...

Glorfindel: *appears* NO. *whacks Haldir* No killing. Otherwise I would have to kill you. and you wouldn't want your blood spattered all over your new shiny things now, would you?

Haldir: Hmm, no, I suppose not. It would probably escalate from there, anyways, and two kinslayings is two too many as it is...

CS: Bah. *turns Gil-Galad into a frog* There. Now he has to be kissed by Elrond to turn back.

Frog!Gil-Galad: Ribbit! *looks at Glorfindel commandingly*

Glorfindel: *looks at Frog!Gil-Galad in amusement, then picks said frog up and disapears*

CS: Heh. Now that that annoyance is out of the way, on with the next bit! It's from chapter 74 - which is the chapter in which Rachel, Kari, Elladan and Glorfindel plotted to get Lothíriel and Éomer together. This particular piece had a bit of a prologue to it that ended up being deleted, but the basis of it was that this happens the day after the camp-fire planning session, right when they begin to implement The Plan. The intent was to get Éomer sparring, shirtless, with Rachel, and have Lothíriel watching, but I couldn't figure out how to get it there and so scrapped the idea, and the scene...

-*-*-

It involved, joy of joys, me hitting Haldir up for lessons with my sword again - which, due to the fact that we took hour-or-so long lunches, there was plenty of time for.

Haldir was quick to agree to giving me lessons, and so, even before most of the Men had finished eating, he, Glorfindel and Elladan cleared a spot in the center of the camp while Kari and I sat and 'supervised'. Elrohir wandered in just at the three male Elves started, so Kari drafted him as well, and when they were done, I went to get my sword. I could have gotten it while they were preparing the practice ring, of course, but the whole point was to draw the event out so that people would come watch.

It turned out to work better than we had supposed it would, as the sight of me walking across camp with my double-bladed sword attracted the attention of most of the Gondorians, half of the Swan Knights, and Imrahil. And as Haldir and I began to spar, more and more kept drifting in to watch, until soon we were the focus of attention for the majority of the escort - the exclusions being the Elves and the Fellowship, of course. Haldir, amazingly, didn't take the opportunity to publicly humiliate me (I think he was afraid of what the Gondorians might do) and actually just focused on the lesson. As a result, it was one of the most pleasant lessons I'd had with him yet, and I found myself quite pleased at with this unexpected boon.

The lesson ended when the command came for us to get going, and we were soon mounted up and on our way. I rode next to Haldir as he rode with the guards - Glorfindel having entangled himself in the mess that was Elrond's Emotionally Well-Being - and discussed moves to use with a double-bladed sword. Now that we weren't in front of a crowd, of course, it was littered with our normal insults, and several times the monotony of the ride was interrupted by either Haldir or I galloping by, being followed closely by whichever one of us had been insulted. Galadriel would, of course, order Haldir back to his place after a few moments, but it was still great fun, and around mid-afternoon, after one of Haldir's and my little chases, I didn't bother to follow Haldir back to his place in line.

Instead, I set Aratelpe in the direction of the Rohirric group, and rode casually up next to Éomer where he was riding alone. He cast me a somewhat amused glance when I rode up, but said nothing at first. I knew he would speak eventually, so I simply waited.

"Were you and the Marchwarden having fun?" Éomer finally asked.

"Of course." I replied promptly. "Questioning the purity of his Elven blood, and his taste in mates, is always fun." Éomer cast me a somewhat shocked look.

"You two do not get along, then?" he asked.

"Oh, we get along." I said, waving a hand through the air dismissively. "At least, in the sense that we'll insult each other every chance we get."

"I fail to see how that is 'getting along'." Éomer said, sounding somewhat confused.

"Hmm...well, we really are friends, deep down, but we find it far too easy to poke fun at each other, and we know this. We also know that since we're just insulting each other because it's too darn easy, we don't really mean it, and don't take offence. So we get along, but not in the normal sense of the phrase." I explained. Éomer looked thoughtful for a moment.

"Ah." he finally said, seeming to understand.

"It is a pain having to have sword lessons from him, though." I said with a frown. "Especially since that leaves me somewhat indebted to him, and he milks it for all that it's worth."

"He did not seem to be taking advantage of it at lunch." Éomer commented.

"That was because he had an audience and had to hold up the image of an aloof, superior Elf from Lothlórien." I said with a grin. "If he just has Elves around, or nobody is paying attention, he'll be as unpleasant as you please. Or don't please. Whatever." Éomer shook his head lightly.

"And Lord Glorfindel does not mind this?" he asked.

"He only minds when we involve him in it, or when we engage in it when he'd rather have me all to himself." I replied with a grin.

"Involve him in it...?" Éomer arched an eyebrow. "I'm not sure I want to know."

"You probably don't." I said with a grin. "And anyways, it's a standard rule with him - whether it's pointless arguments with Kari or insult trading with Haldir, Glory is to be left out of it. I think he prefers not to be used to poke fun at someone, and if he's going to be argued over pointlessly, he wants to be in on the argument."

"Very true." Glorfindel said, suddenly coming up beside me.

"Hey, you managed to get away from Elrond unscathed!" I remarked cheerily.

"This time." Glorfindel said, casting a fearful look back the way he had come, and Éomer and I chuckled.

"Well, I'm sure Éomer won't mind if you join us for a while to recuperate before plunging back into that particularly blood-thirsty battle." I said with a smirk.

"Not at all." Éomer agreed, looking amused.

"We were just discussing Haldir." I put in cheerily, and Glorfindel immediately cast a considering look back at Elrond. I thwapped him, and Glorfindel gave a mock-grimace before letting his expression settle into pleasantly amiable.

"What were you discussing about the Marchwarden?" he asked.

"How annoying he is." I replied promptly. "Especially when I have to have lessons from him."

"You are the one that wanted to learn." Glorfindel pointed out.

"Yes, but does he have to take so much pleasure from it?" I asked.

-*-*-

Elrond: *appearing* Crimson Starlight, I feel I must come and compla- *stops, blinks, stares at CS and Haldir*

Haldir and CS: *continue making out*

Elrond: *twitch*

Glorfindel: *appears, still carrying Frog!Gil-Galad* Elrond, will you ju- *stares at CS and Haldir* Well, I guess that explains why he keeps getting into her stories.

Elrond: I guess so. *pulls out one of those screen-thingys, that you only seem to find in the orient or in medieval dressing rooms, and uses it to hide CS and Haldir from view* Ahem.

Glorfindel: Well...er...shall we make a stab at doing these last two, or...*holds up Gil-Galad*

Elrond: *shrinks away* Let's just guess. It can't be that hard. I mean look, she has notes. *points to pile of papers half-under the screen*

Glorfindel: Right then. *sets down an indignant-looking Frog!Gil-Galad (who promptly tries to hop up Elrond's leg) and gets papers* Let's see...'From chapter 75 - set just after the group leaves Edoras. Removed due to irrelevancy and-'...hey, wait, I remember this scene! This was a nice scene! How was it irrelevant?!

Elrond: What scene? Let me see. *looks* Ah. Yes. It was rather irrelevant. And see what else she put, as well - 'I felt this was dragging the story out unnecisarily'.

Glorfindel: But...but...it's a nice scene!

Elrond: You're only saying that because you get to make out with Rachel multiple times.

Glorfindel: AND?! What's wrong with that?!

Elrond: ...no comment.

-*-*-

The only problem with the trip, however, was that it severely cut down on my Elf-lord cuddling (and other activities) time. I mean, it was one thing to be all mushy in the woods around or gardens in Caras Galadhon, where one could at least PRETEND that no one was within sight (even though someone usually was, due to Elvish eyesight being so good) but it was another thing entirely when surrounded either riding and surrounded by elves, or camping and surrounded by sleeping elves who would probably wake up at the slightest non-natural sound.

I handled it rather well, at first, considering how much time I was used to spending alone with Glorfindel, but after a few days, it just got to be too much, and one night when we stopped to set up camp, I grabbed Glorfindel's arm before he could dismount from Asfaloth.

"Don't bother." I informed him.

"Hm?" he asked, looking at me curiously.

"I want to get away from camp for a bit." I said, and he smiled slightly as he translated that correctly to 'I want to get away from other people'.

"Very well then." Glorfindel said, a sudden twinkle in his eyes, and before I realized what he was going to do, he reached over to me and managed to pull me off of Aratelpe and over onto Asfaloth, so I was sitting sideways in front of him.

"Ack!" I exclaimed, drawing the attention of several nearby Elves, who gave us those oh-so-annoying knowing smiles before politely ignoring us.

"Elladan!" Glorfindel called, the Peredhil being the first Elf he saw that wasn't busy with their own horse. Elladan looked up somewhat sheepishly - apparently he was doing something he wasn't supposed to and thought he just got caught.

"Yes Glorfindel?" he asked, his guilt clear in his voice.

"See to my lady's horse?" Glorfindel asked with amusement, nodding towards Aratelpe, then urged Asfaloth out of the camp, leaving a shocked Elladan behind. I grinned over Glorfindel's shoulder at him and waved. He gave a bewildered wave in return, and then turned to Aratelpe. I chuckled, then snuggled up again Glorfindel and enjoyed the ride.

It didn't take long until we reached the sentries that were - amazingly - already in place, and they simply shot us amused looks as we went past. I was slightly concerned about being out of the ring of guards - being overdue for an Orc attack and all - but Glorfindel still had his sword with him, and quite frankly, I'd rather have him and his sword in-between me and a bunch of orcs than the Lothlórien or Rivendell guards - Glorfindel, at least, was used to fighting mostly on the ground and wouldn't flee for the trees at the first opportunity so that he would have the advantage. Most of the other guards would, and probably completely forget in the process (if they knew in the first place) that I'm not all that good at climbing trees.

For awhile, we simply rode out into the countryside, getting as far away from the camp as possible, but eventually we turned so that we were going parallel to the camp. I couldn't actually SEE the camp, of course, but Glorfindel apparently could, as he kept us going in an even circle around it, riding slowly, as we watched the last bit of the sun sink below the horizon.

"What do you think Elladan was in the middle of doing?" Glorfindel asked after a moment.

"I think it's more a question of what was he NOT doing." I replied with a smile, leaning my head back against Glorfindel's shoulder so I could watch the stars as they began to appear. Eärendil, I noticed, was already up there shining brightly. I smiled slightly, both at the star, and at the funny vibration against my back that was Glorfindel's low chuckle.

"Indeed." he said as he rested his head on my shoulder, his eyes closing slightly as he dropped both of Asfaloth's reins to wrap his arms around my waist. Silence fell for a while as we rode, Glorfindel occasionally glancing over to the camp and correcting Asfaloth's course with his legs or a quiet verbal command, but otherwise just us and nature, in silence.

It was when the glow in the west was almost gone, and the stars shining brightly throughout the sky, that Glorfindel lifted his head, looked to the sky, and started singing softly. It was one of those happy love songs that the Elves seemed to so rarely come up with, and it was perfect for the evening and the mood. The song started quietly, but grew louder as Glorfindel got into the song, and Asfaloth slowed and eventually stopped without Glorfindel even noticing, his eyes fixed on the stars and his concentration on his singing. I listened contentedly, and felt happiness wash over me. It was peaceful to be out here in the wilderness, alone with Glorfindel under the stars, and it felt so RIGHT.

Glorfindel ended the song with a light kiss to the tip of my ear, causing me to let out an involuntary half-growl, half-moan. I moved so I could look over at Glorfindel, and saw him smiling slightly, his eyes twinkling with mischief.

"You are an evil, evil elf." I told him quietly.

"Nay, I'm just a tease." Glorfindel replied with a brief grin, and then gave me a kiss. I think he intended it to be a short kiss, but in revenge, I didn't let him go when he made to pull away. He didn't struggle too hard to get away, however.

A snort from Asfaloth pulled us apart, and we both looked to the horses head to find him eyeing us with one big, brown eye, conveying his message clearly even though he couldn't speak. I giggled, Glorfindel chuckled, then I jumped off to the ground, and Glorfindel followed. He loosened Asfaloth's saddle girth, (even Elves preferred saddles on long journeys, after all) tied up anything that might get caught in a bush, and then firmly told the horse to stay nearby. Asfaloth looked between Glorfindel and me dubiously, but then whickered softly, snuffled Glorfindel's hair, and wandered off. Glorfindel watched him go with amusement.

"That horse has far too much personality." he said.

"Impossible." I said with a grin, and then took a look at my surroundings. As I'd thought, Asfaloth had stopped in a rather nice looking meadow, and it was no hardship whatsoever to lie down on the ground, snuggling up close to Glorfindel and staring up at the stars once again. This time, however, we didn't get lost in the stars, nor start singing. No, we were finally away from the camp by ourselves, and Glorfindel seemed as determined as I to make use of the time. We held each other, we kissed, we did all sorts of other things any Elf would find absolutely scandalous considering we weren't married, but would probably be viewed as rather tame back home in my world.

At some point, I became aware of an underlying tension, and I realized it was the tension of holding back - of not letting ourselves get too emotionally involved, because we probably wouldn't be able to stop if we did. I wondered next if that was such a bad thing, even though I knew now what doing so would mean, and I asked Glorfindel as much. He took a few moments to kick his brain into the 'philosophical thinking' gear, and then tilted his head to one side as he looked down at me.

"Perhaps not." he said after a moment. "But I, at least, would wish for a romantic setting."

"Hmm, alone, out in the middle of a field, under the stars. Dunno about you, but I find that pretty romantic." I said, arching an eyebrow. I made myself sound serious, but I was teasing Glorfindel, and he knew it.

"Alone, on dirt, with bugs crawling around underneath you, along with dead, prickly plants, stones, and other discomforts, and the very real possibility of someone deciding we've been gone too long and coming out to look for us." he countered, grinning slightly. His words, of course, brought to my attention suddenly that there WERE rocks, dead plants, and 'other discomforts' underneath me, and that was quickly followed by the mental 'ew' at the thought of what sort of bugs were probably within inches of me, and possibly in the dirt right under my back. I shuddered.

"Gah. You had to mention the bugs, didn't you?" I growled, then wiggled out from underneath Glorfindel, stood up, and started brushing off my back and hair, and anyplace else that had touched the ground, while making faces. Glorfindel looked extremely amused.

"What's this? The mighty Rachel afraid of bugs?" he teased.

"Hey. I was afraid of a teenager's bad-grammared imagined creation. I have every right to be afraid of bugs." I replied with a slight sulk. "And besides, I'm not really afraid of them. Just really really really grossed out by them. Unless you're talking about that buggy thingy that was in 'Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan'. THAT bug I'm afraid of." I shuddered, and Glorfindel gave me a blank look. I gave him a brief explanation of the bug, and the premise of the movie, and though I knew he didn't understand half of what I said, he got the part about the bug, and seemed completely in agreement with me about being afraid of it.

Actually, though I don't think he would admit it, I think my tale of that bug was what prompted him to stand up and suggest we go find Asfaloth and ride around again for a bit. Certainly, he didn't look even a little unhappy about leaving the meadow, and was quite determinedly NOT looking at anything that might have bugs on it. I snickered, but said nothing. I wondered how he'd react to some of the actual horror stories from my world, if this was how he reacted to 'Star Trek'. I made a mental note to get Kari to tell him - and any other Elf she could find, just for the heck of it - some horror stories. When I was far away. Because most of the horror stories she knew scared me shitless.

-*-*-

Glorfindel: I still say it's not irrelevant!

Elrond: I won't be arguing with you. But now we have the absolute last part of this special feature - the alternate ending. Yes, 'The Games of the Gods' has an alternate ending. This is due to the reviewer AngelQueen, who made a comment in one of her reviews to the effect of 'maybe Mandos will have released Gil-galad from his halls by the time Rachel and Glorfindel get to Valinor'.

Glorfindel: And we all know how well Crimson Starlight can resist a good joke.

Elrond: In other words - she can't. It starts right after Rachel waves goodbye to Kari and runs on board the ship to Valinor...

-*-*-

I was quite depressed about leaving Kari behind for the first few days of the voyage to Valinor, but after that, excitement quickly set in, and from then on, I was mostly to be found either in rigging, at the front of the ship, or in the cabin Glorfindel and I shared with Glorfindel. Or the galley. All in all, I became rather predictable, and the others on the ship found it surprisingly easy to keep Galadriel away from me - though with my excitement, anytime I did run into her, most of the annoyance was generally on her part and due to me being annoyingly chipper.

There was one slight disappointment about the entire journey. There was no obvious transition point between when we were just a normal ship sailing, that could, conceivably, run into another ship out there on the big blue, and when we were on what the Elves referred to as 'the straight road', heading to Valinor. The only clue I had was that one morning I woke up to the lookout in the crows nest reporting that he could see Valinor ahead.

From the sighting of Valinor onwards, just about everybody was on deck for as long and as often as they possibly could be. I was absorbed in trying to see the legendary Undying Lands, myself, so I only casually noticed when Glorfindel, Elrond and Galadriel all disappeared at once, and that didn't even really register until I caught a flicker of dread coming across the bond from Glorfindel. I sent a questioning thought his way, but he insisted it was nothing, so I let it pass.

Soon enough we were docking, and everyone on board was quite amused at the fact that, upon seeing who was at the head of the crowd waiting for us, Elrond did not wait for a gangplank or any otherwise convenient form of disembarking. No, he just pushed his robes aside and vaulted over the railing of the ship onto the dock and met Celebrían with a hug and kiss that had half those present embarrassed, and the other half whistling or laughing. For my part, seeing that Celebrían was alright was probably one of the better things about coming to Valinor. It allowed me to let go of that niggling piece of guilt I had about not doing anything to stop the Orc attack.

Once the gangplank had been set up, the rest of us disembarked in a calmer fashion, and Galadriel was able to greet her daughter with a hug. Well, alright, she had to hug Elrond as well, since he didn't seem inclined to let go of Celebrían, but Galadriel didn't look as if she minded. The rest of us on the ship that knew Celebrían were then able to greet her, me being one of the last, as I knew Celebrían would probably need a moment or two to get over her shock, and would then want a brief explanation. I obliged, and just as I finished giving a brief explanation of how I'd 'died' and returned, that feeling of dread came from Glorfindel again.

I turned to look in Glorfindel's direction with a concerned frown, but Elrond had apparently caught a whiff of whatever Glorfindel was dreading, and caught my attention quickly and engaged me in a conversation, before I could focus on Glorfindel and whoever he was talking to. That, of course, only made me more curious, and I sent many questioning thoughts Glorfindel's way, but I got the impression that they weren't even reaching him. The answer eventually provided itself, however.

"Dammit, I want to see my Herald, Glorfindel! Get out of the bloody way!" The loud voice caused a momentary lull in the noise on the dock, and I turned with wide eyes to find none other than the High King Gil-galad pushing past a sheepish looking Glorfindel.

"Elrond! You finally made it here!" Gil-galad said as he strode up, completely ignoring me.

"And you made it out of Mandos' Halls." Elrond said with what looked suspiciously like a tight smile.

"I think he got tired of me." Gil-galad said with a grin as the two clasped each others arms in a roman handshake. At this point, Glorfindel appeared at my side and attempted to lead me away, but Gil-galad caught the movement and turned from Elrond to Glorfindel and me. He simply looked at us for a moment.

"So, you were not trying to keep me from Elrond after all, eh?" Gil-galad said, arching an eyebrow. "Who is this, then?"

"The purple monkey from Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious Land." I said with a straight face before Glorfindel could reply. Having recalled what Glorfindel said about Gil-galad's sense of humour, I now wanted to see if he was right about it. Gil-galad blinked at my response, and then slowly smiled.

"Welcome to Valinor then, Ms. Purple Monkey." he said solemnly. "We are always pleased to have Elves of different lands travel here."

"It's Mrs." I corrected. Gil-galad arched an eyebrow, and then noticed that Glorfindel was holding my hand. His eyes suddenly lit with understanding, and he grinned.

"So, our lovely substitute Sun finally got married, did he?" the High King asked.

"Yes indeed. Though the one he's married to shall have to express her concern over your referring to him as 'lovely'." I replied, quirking an eyebrow upwards.

"Oh, you do not have to worry." Gil-galad replied dismissively, and grinned impishly at me. "I'd be far more likely to pounce on you than him."

"Ew, High King cooties!" I said, making a face. Glorfindel couldn't hold in a snort of laughter. Everyone else was a little confused, not knowing what I meant, but Gil-galad got the gist of it and chuckled.

"You have a most interesting wife, Glorfindel." he said, turning to Glorfindel.

"Yes. I've yet to discover whether this is a good or bad thing, however." he said dryly. Gil-galad and I gave Glorfindel identical looks, arching our eyebrows at the same time. Glorfindel sighed. "I finally get you away from Haldir, and what does Mandos do? Release Gil-galad." Glorfindel grumbled, and I giggled.

"Oh come on, you know you love it." I said with a grin.

"Actually, I love you." Glorfindel corrected me. "The insanity just sort of follows you around."

"And this is a bad thing?" Gil-galad put in, just a step ahead of me. Glorfindel glanced between me and the High King, then shook his head and held up his hands in defeat. Gil-galad and I immediately turned to the much more interesting, and important, task of finding out just what each other's sense of humour was like, completely ignoring those on the dock who knew me and shot somewhat despairing looks in our direction, especially when we set off away from the dock into Valinor proper discussing whether or not it would be possible to make a magnet big - and strong - enough to pull Vala's crowns off their heads.

-*-*-

Glorfindel: Somehow, I like the first ending better. Less traumatizing all around.

Elrond: Yes. No offence, but I think I would jump back ON the ship if that had happened. Before, as AngelQueen commented, Valinor went 'KABOOM'.

Glorfindel: Fortunately, however, the universe ended before we got that far, yes? *grins*

Elrond: *rolls his eyes* Your wife is rubbing off on you.

Glorfindel: Most likely.

Elrond: Indeed. Ehm...so, we've come to the end of this little feature...do you think CS and Haldir have...er, stopped now? I'm not sure what her reaction would be if we ended this without her.

Gil-Galad: *walking into view from behind screen* Considering that she's currently engaged in a game of strip poker with Haldir, I don't think she'll mind if you end without her.

Glorfindel: *blink* How did you get de-frogged?

Gil-Galad: I hopped into CS's shirt. *smirks*

Elrond and Glorfindel: *looks at each other* Ew.

CS: I HEARD THAT!

Haldir: *tosses a few rocks over the screen that, miraculously (well, not really, considering who he's behind the screen WITH) hit Elrond and Glorfindel*

Elrond: Ow.

Glorfindel: *sulks* I don't have to take this. *disapears*

Rachel: *appears, picks up a rock, stomps behind screen, and a loud 'THUMP' is heard*

Haldir: OW!

*a satisfied looking frog hops out from behind screen, then disapears*

Gil-Galad: *looks amused*

Elrond: *shakes head*

Gil-Galad: Well, shall we end this, then?

Elrond: I suppose...

Gil-Galad: How shall we end it?

Mandos: With The End.

Elrond and Gil-Galad: *blink*

Elrond: I thought Valar were banned from this story...

Mandos: Yes, well, Crimson Starlight is a little distracted at the moment. And anyways, I am rather good at endings.

Gil-Galad: *quietly* I wonder why...

Mandos: *tosses a small rock at Gil-Galad, hitting him on the arm*

Gil-Galad: *yelps, rubs arm, looks repentant*

Mandos: Right then. This is the end of the special feature for 'The Games of the Gods', in which no games were ever actually played by gods.

Elrond: That's a horrible ending...

Mandos: *glares menacingly at Elrond*

Elrond: *deffensively* It is!

Mandos: *turns Elrond into a frog*

Gil-Galad: What is it with people and FROGS?!

Mandos: *shrug* It makes them walk funny when they get turned back...

Gil-Galad: *blinks, walks funny, then twitches as he realizes Mandos is right*

----And thus we come to the REAL end.----