Fanfic Can We Keep Him, Timo? (Story Component)

[Maedhros_Nelyafinwë]

(For my little bro, @Tyelkormo the Fair . The accompanying artwork can be found here.)

“Can we keep him, Timo?”

Maitimo frowned slightly as he eyed the squirming raccoon in Tyelko’s arms. The creature was otherwise oddly calm, but how long would that last?

“I don’t know, Tyelko,” he said with a sigh. “Raccoons are wild animals, not pets. They’re viciously prone to biting people and getting into things they’re not supposed to.”

Kind of like you, he thought, but didn’t say.

“Please?” Tyelko whined, his bright blue eyes seemingly enormous. “It’s his birthday! We can’t just abandon him on his birthday!”

“And how do you know it’s his birthday?”

“He’s wearing a party hat,” Tyelko said flatly. “And he’s eating birthday cake. Come on, Nelyo, I thought you were supposed to be the smart one.”

Maitimo opened his mouth, ready to raise several questions, but Tyelko interrupted:

“Nobody’s given him a gift yet. And he says he wants to come home with us. Please, Timo, I know you would never let anyone celebrate a birthday alone on your watch!”

Well, this was true. Ever since Fëanáro and Nerdanel had forgotten Kano’s birthday a few years back—and then Moryo’s that same year—Maitimo had taken it into his own hands to make sure no one would be forgotten again. While he already had far too much on his plate between his own studies and managing his little brothers’ daily activities while their parents became increasingly absent, someone had to make sure the brothers didn’t feel forgotten on their special days.

“Well, doing it for my brothers, who are actual Eldar, is one thing,” Maitimo said. “But to do it for a raccoon, a mere animal—”

The creature suddenly stopped his munching on the chocolate cake, and its snout scrunched up as it gave a loud hiss.

Tyelko softly chattered at it until it calmed down, but his eyes glared coldly at Maitimo. “You offended him,” Tyelko scolded. “And I thought you were supposed to be the diplomatic one. Either you’re not acting like you’re supposed to, or everyone is calling you the wrong things.”

“Okay, okay, will you tell him I’m sorry?” At this point, Maitimo knew better than to argue whenever Tyelko translated the speech of animals, even though sometimes he had his doubts about whether the translations were accurate. Sometimes, it sure felt like Tyelko said whatever he wanted in order to tease or mess with Maitimo.

“He’ll forgive you,” Tyelko said with a somber nod. “If you let him come home with us.”

With his brain hazy from sleep deprivation, Maitimo finally nodded in agreement. He found it difficult to stubbornly refuse when both his brother and the raccoon were so cute. “All right. But we’ll keep him outside. Atar and Ammë will be furious if they find out.”

“Just like how they’ll be furious if they find out about your secret picnics with Aranya,” Tyelko said in a singsong voice.

Maitimo blushed, but could not argue against that point, and so he and Tyelko and the raccoon headed out of the woods and back towards the house.

“What’s his name?” Maitimo asked. Though sometimes it took him a while to catch on when Tyelko was having conversations with animals—especially when he was particularly tired—once he caught on, he had gotten used to engaging in the conversations as well.

“Seeker,” Tyelko replied.

“Is there anything in particular he wants for his birthday?”

Tyelko glared at Maitimo as reproachfully as though he had suggested cutting off the raccoon’s tail. “It’s supposed to be a surprise! Are you forgetting everything you know about birthdays here? Where would the fun be if you asked me or Kano or Moryo or Curvo what we wanted?”

“That’s different because I know what you all would like,” Maitimo said, rolling his eyes. “I don’t know what raccoons in general would like, let alone Seeker in particular.”

“Oh, leave that to me. You just go get us some food for the party, and I’ll handle the gift.”

Maitimo agreed to this, and they soon arrived at the gardens outside the house. Tyelko offered Seeker a chair at the garden table, and Maitimo headed for the kitchen inside.

But by the time he returned with a tray full of bread, cheese, cuts of meat and bunches of grapes, he found Seeker burying himself in Nerdanel’s favorite red rose bush, munching happily away at the flowers. Tyelko was watching him, smiling and seemingly too enamored to do anything about it.

“Hey! Tyelko, tell him to stop!” Maitimo scolded. “Those are Ammë’s favorites!”

Tyelko jumped at his voice, and his cheeks flushed a bright pink, and he muttered some indistinct noises under his breath. Seeker scurried sheepishly away from the bush, chattering in response, and climbed back into the chair.

“He’s really sorry, Timo,” Tyelko said with wide, pitiful eyes. “He didn’t know, and I, uh… forgot. So it’s my fault, but don’t make him leave because of it.”

“It’s all right,” Maitimo sighed. “The roses will grow back next year.”

Besides, Nerdanel hardly tended to her garden anymore. She spent most of her time holed up in the workshop, and the care of the garden was left to the servants.

So Maitimo arranged three plates with the food, and poured chilled, diluted white wine into two goblets, and plain water into a bowl. (He wasn’t sure how raccoons would react to even small amounts of alcohol, and didn’t want to find out.) But as he made the preparations, Tyelko disappeared, presumably to prepare a gift for Seeker.

But Tyelko didn’t return before Maitimo finished, so he was left sitting at one end of the table and Seeker at the other. The heir of the House of Finwë and the raccoon in a party hat stared blankly at each other.

Then, Seeker reached for his plate and started popping grapes into his mouth.

“We should wait for Tyelko,” Maitimo said halfheartedly, but Seeker either didn’t understand him or didn’t care, and continued to devour the items on his plate. And then, Seeker hopped up on the table and reached for Maitimo’s plate. The creature’s stomach must have been a bottomless pit, much like Tyelko himself.

“Hey, no, this is mine, not yours.” Maitimo used his long arms to his advantage to hold both his plate and Tyelko’s high up and far away.

But Seeker, living up to his name and not to be deterred, grabbed onto Maitimo’s waist and began to climb his body.

So it was in this state that Tyelko found his eldest brother, squirming and yelling and dropping food as he tried to balance the plates. Tyelko couldn’t help but burst out laughing. But mercifully, he called out to Seeker, who seemed embarrassed once again as he scurried off.

“You—you looked so funny!” Tyelko wheezed, doubling over with laughter.

“I’m sure it was hilarious,” Maitimo grumbled, frowning at the scratches and small tears on his tunic.

But the rest of the party remained relatively civilized, with Tyelko and Maitimo eating their dinner and sipping their wine, and Seeker waiting patiently, now that he understood his turn was done. Then, Tyelko presented Seeker with a small drawstring bag. The raccoon eagerly opened it and grabbed at its contents: cheap jewelry and half-finished gems of Fëanáro. Though not particularly valuable to the Eldar, these trinkets all had one thing in common: they were gloriously shiny.

Seeker chattered eagerly, jumped up on Tyelko’s shoulder, and nuzzled his face against Tyelko’s. Despite everything, Maitimo couldn’t help but smile.

“Aww,” said Tyelko, his eyes huge and glittering. “Timo, we’re best friends now! Do you know what this means?”

“That you’re a raccoon?” Maitimo said helpfully.

“Yes—I mean, no! But, I’m part of his family now!” Tyelko grinned up at Maitimo and added, “And by extension, so are you. He says he would have been all alone today if not for us. He wants to thank you for the food and the party. It really made him feel special. And he knows he uh, stepped out of line earlier, but he wants to know if he can give you a raccoon hug.”

Maitimo smiled broadly and nodded, and Seeker jumped up on his shoulder and nuzzled his face as well.

After jumping back down, Seeker chattered at Tyelko some more, and his face fell. Holding the drawstring bag in his mouth, Seeker bounded off into the woods.

“You… you were right, Maitimo. We can’t keep him,” Tyelko said sadly. “His home is in the woods, and he’s wild, just like you said.”

Tyelko threw his arms around Maitimo’s waist, and Maitimo rubbed his back gently.

“He was indeed a seeker, and he found just the right person to make his day special,” Maitimo said, smiling. “And who else can say they’ve thrown a party for a raccoon?”

“I’m not the first,” Tyelko said, pulling away and smiling up at him. “You’ve done it every year for your Tyelkoraccoon.”