This is Lord of the Rings fanfiction. The characters and settings are not mine and belong to Tolkien. This story was written for Skyfire's Fuzzy Green Caterpillar Challenge. The twins are maybe seven or so.

~*~

"I bet mine is faster!" Elladan lay on his stomach on the grass, and prodded at his caterpillar with a blade of grass. Unfortunately, instead of speeding up to as fast as it's many legs would carry it, it curled up and stopped.

It was a quite exceptional caterpillar, bright green and exceedingly fuzzy, and once the twins had seen them nibbling on the leaves of one of the flowers there had been no argument as to what game they should play that day.

"Well, it's not going very fast now, is it?" Elrohir wrinkled his nose slightly. "You wouldn't run faster if someone poked you with a blade of grass would you?"

Elladan scowled at his brother and grumpily poked at the caterpillar again.

"I bet mine will start sprinting once it sees this!" Elrohir picked up a fresh green leaf that he had been keeping in his pocket, and waved it in front of his caterpillar. "Come on, go Calen, go!"

Calen did not appear particularly interested in the delicacy, as his pace along the stone pathway did not increase noticeably.

"I do not think that he likes dandelion, 'Ro." Elladan observed.

Elrohir gave his brother an annoyed look.

"He just hasn't smelt it yet. Once he smells such a yummy leaf he will come."

Elladan leant down and peered at his caterpillar. "I do not think that they have a nose. Perhaps he can't smell."

Elrohir sat back, his lips pursed as he thought it over. Perhaps they could not smell. No wonder Calen was not coming to his dinner.

"Maybe they cannot. Shall we go and ask Ada?"

"Mmm." Elladan had lost interest in fuzzy green noses, and now picked up his caterpillar. "Do you think he would crawl on me?"

Before Elrohir could answer, Elladan had carefully placed the caterpillar on his arm.

"Look 'Ro! It's moving!" The caterpillar had begun crawling up Elladan's arm, and both twins watched with their mouths open as Fuzzy battled his way onto the rumpled sleeve of Elladan's training tunic.

"Watch this!" Tired of his brother having all the fun, Elrohir lay down on the grass and placed his caterpillar on his cheek. It uncurled and began to crawl its way over the child's face. "It tickles."

Elladan sulked for a few moments. It had been his idea, and now his brother had taken it and made it even better.

"I can feel it walking!" Elrohir said excitedly. "It's going over to my ear."

"Maybe it will nibble on them." Elladan pictured his brother's ears full of tiny holes.

"It will not!" Elrohir said confidently then looked worried. "It won't, will it Elladan? Caterpillars don't eat ears."

"I do not know. Once I saw an elf with their ear tips chewed right off!" Elladan said forebodingly. Then he grinned at his brother's horrified expression and added reassuringly. "But do not worry, 'Ro! I'll take him off if he takes really big chunks out."

Elrohir nervously watched the progress of the caterpillar out of the corner of his eye. He did not want the caterpillar crawling onto his ear anymore, but if he did anything then Elladan would think that he was scared.

"There! It's on your ear now!" Elladan commented in a satisfied voice. "It's crawling around."

"It tickles!" Elrohir dissolved into giggles.

Elladan took this chance to pounce on his brother's exposed stomach and begin tickling him, so it was quite some time before they next looked at the caterpillar.

"Oh!" Elrohir screwed up his eyes and waved at his ear. "It tickles lots now. Take it off, Elladan! Take it off!"

Elladan scrambled over to look at his brother's ear.

"I cannot see it!"

"Well it's there! I can feel it!"

"Oh. . ." Elladan leant closer. "I think it's inside your ear 'Ro."

Elrohir was silent for a while, then took a long shuddering breath in.

"Get it out." His voice quavered slightly.

Elladan tried to reach for the caterpillar, but if anything, only succeeded in pushing Calen further into his brother's ear.

"Is it out yet?" Elrohir asked in a wobbly voice.

"Not yet." Elladan bit his lip and looked worriedly at his brother. "Do not worry, 'Ro. I'll think of something."

~*~

Celebrian and Glorfindel were strolling through the gardens when a strange site came before them. Elrohir was lying pale and still on the path, while Elladan knelt over him, apparently trying to poke various species of plant life down his brother's ear.

"Elladan!" Celebrian's horrified voice rang out across the gardens. "What are you doing?"

Elladan sat up with a jerk, a dock leaf in hand. Glorfindel looked at Celebrian and raised his eyebrows.

"Do I want to know what you're doing with that that thing?" Glorfindel asked, as they approached.

"Ammë!" Elladan sprung to his feet with an expression of relief and ran to his mother for a hug. "Help. Calen has got stuck in Elrohir's ear."

Celebrian nodded, then asked. "Who is Calen exactly?"

"It would appear to be a caterpillar." Glorfindel said calmly, kneeling down and taking Elrohir's head in his lap. "Calen seems to have got a little stuck."

"Oh boys!" Celebrian gathered up her skirts and knelt down too. "And I do not want to hear whose idea it was either."

Elrohir began to sniffle, and wriggled towards his mother.

"You will get Calen out, won't you Ammë?" Elrohir's eyes filled with tears. "I do not want Calen to live there all my life."

"Of course we will." Celebrian said confidently, taking Elrohir's hand in her own, and patting it lightly. She caught Glorfindel's eye and gently examined Calen's home in her son's ear herself. Eventually she sat up again and looked at Elladan who was lounging guiltily on the border of the flowerbed. "Elladan, go and get your father."

As Elladan sped off, Celebrian sighed. Her husband would not be over pleased to have his meeting disturbed by shrill cries of "Ada! There is a caterpillar in Elrohir's ear." But at least it made a change from "Elladan's head is stuck in the railings", "Elrohir tried to jump over the rose bushes" and "Ada, you know that spear in your study. . .".