Disclaimer: Middle Earth entirely belongs to JRR Tolkein.

Epilogue Custard Missiles

Amdir picked up his bulging balloon and turned to grin at his twin. "Ready?"

"Ready…" Elemmire chirruped in reply grinning devilishly, dancing on this precariously perch on a stump.

"Then…"

"Fire!" Elemmire cried hefting his ammunition in his hands and throwing it hard at Amdir.

"ARGHHHH!" The missile was a perfect hit. And Amdir fell backwards from his stump and landed hard on his bottom. "Oww. Elemmire you cheated."

Elemmire laughed and jumped up and down on his stump. "I got you! I got you!" he chorused loudly.

"You cheated," Amdir snarled. "Cheat. Cheat. Cheat."

Elemmire stopped jumping and started to hop from one foot to the other. "Am not."

"Am to," Amdir stated.

"Am not." Elemmire poked out his tongue.

"Am to…" Amdir corrected poking his tongue out as well.

"Am to."

"Am not!"

"Ha! I got you Amdir you said I wasn't cheating!" Elemmire wiped his brow coating his hand in a sticking substance.

"Didn't."

"Did!"

"Didn't."

Frustrated Amdir stepped backwards and picked up another balloon. Before Elemmire could cry out and protect himself, Amdir burst the balloon over his head. This caused a great yellow river of stickiness to cascade down Elemmire's hair.

"Why you!" Elemmire took a running leap and landed on his brother and tackled him to the ground. Amdir reeled backwards and the two twins frolicked in the autumn leaves.

"What's this?" The elflings found themselves separated by strong hands and lifted up by the back of their jerkins.

Elemmire blinked his large eyes and smiled winningly. "Ow, Aldros we were just playing," he said to the large blacksmith. Aldros looked from one twin to the other looking rather stern.

"So you were behind the smithy making enough noise to wake the dead trying to kill each other and you call it playing?"

"Well," Amdir said practically, "What would you call it?"

"Could you put us down your hurting me," Elemmire whinged.

Aldros didn't look impressed. "Lord Celeborn and Lady Galadriel are leaving for Lorien today and this is how you will farewell them?"

"Well…at least…" Elemmire stuttered.

"They'll remember us," Amdir finished with a curt nod of his head.

"Hmm…" Aldros hummed deep in the back of his throat.

"Can you put us down now?" Elemmire inquired hopefully.

"No you're going straight to your ada and the baths…"

"I don't want a bath," Amdir complained.

"I don't like the soap," Elemmire added crossing his arms against his chest.

"Nonsense," Aldros sniffed, "You're covered in… in… erm…"

"Custard," Amdir supplied.

Elemmire dipped his finger in his hair coating it with thick gooey custard. "You want a lick?"

"It's very sweet," Amdir added helpfully as if this description would be enough to convince Aldros to try the custard.

"Erm.. . no thankyou," Aldros replied knitting his eyebrows in consternation. You keep it."

With the two twins bundled underneath his arm wiggling and squirming Aldros marched back to the Last Homely House. In the past few weeks the elflings had been warned against any terribly messy games and it retrospect they had done well. But they just had to throw balloons of custard at each other the last day of Lord Celeborn and Lady Galadriel's visit. Aldros sighed the children's behaviour had been too good during the visit.

"Maybe we should try honey next time," Amdir suggested.

"With cream?"

"No!" Aldros snapped.

"Why not?" Aldros was assailed with two pair of green blue eyes staring innocently at him.

"Do you have something better than honey?" Elemmire inquired.

Aldros was feeling slightly panicked what could he say? "It's a dreadful waste of food," he scolded. "And terribly naughty."

"I didn't know being naughty was so fun," Amdir commented innocently to his brother.

"Well there was that time we had an egg fight in the hen house and told master it was a fox that created the mess," Elemmire supplied.

Amdir nodded knowingly. "Now that was fun."

Aldros sighed, by this time he had reached the front steps and could see Elrohir approaching him in deep discussion with his grandfather, Lord Celeborn. He groaned aloud and wondered if he could scurry around the other side and hide the children until they were more presentable. No such luck. Lord Celeborn looked up and saw them. Was it just Aldros or did he catch the corner of Celeborn's mouth twitch?

Celeborn leaned into Elrohir and whispered something in his ear. Elrohir looked up and couldn't help but smile dotingly at his little ones.

"My, my, my," Elrohir called, "what have you got there, Aldros?"

Aldros grimaced and set the twins down on their feet. "Hello Ada," Amdir chirped happily. Elemmire ran forwards wrapping his arms around Elrohir's legs. Elrohir brushed his thumb over Elemmire's sticky cheek. "I think I can see an elfling under there."

Elemmire giggled gleefully and blinked. "I got Amdir really good, Ada."

Amdir scowled. "Cheat."

Elemmire merely smirked at his twin. "You should have seen his face."

Lord Celeborn covered his mouth with the tips of his fingers in a regal attempt to hide his smile. He knelt down beside the two twins and glanced momentarily up at Elrohir. "You look after your, Ada." The twins nodded simultaneously. "You treat him well. Elemmire no getting stuck in trees and worrying your Ada to fading." Elemmire smiled winningly he had been a standing joke in Imladirs about him going missing. "No punching March Wardens." Another nod. "And Amdir, look after your brother, eh? Keep him out of trouble." Amdir nodded shyly he found Celeborn's presence a little uncomfortable.

"Good lads." Celeborn kissed both the twins on the cheek. He stood slowly looking pensively. Deliberately he licked his lips and asked, "Custard?"

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That is the end of the story for the little twins. I'm posting the first chapter to the sequel up as soon as I finish posting this one. Sequel is called Double, Double. Bigger elflings, bigger trouble.