Disclaimer: I don’t own them and I’ll put them back when I’m done!

Author’s Note: I am so sorry that I’ve taken this long to get an update to you all! Moving was difficult, and then my wireless decided not to work down here. I ended up having to buy a new wireless card and a new router, and finally got the whole thing hooked up yesterday. I can only hope that you are all still with me and interested in this fic. Sadly, this chapter is quite short, for once again I must ask for your help in practical jokes. Any suggestions?

Chapter Nine: Waiting

Legolas was not best pleased with the situation. Never before in all of his thousands of years had he ever been trapped in a privy, certainly not a privy that had exploded around him. He did not even want to think about what he was sitting in.

Above him he could hear various people talking loudly, clamoring to know what had happened and how they were going to fetch him out of the mound of rubble. Legolas sighed and instantly regretted it; the acrid smell of the fireworks mixed with the horrid stench of the privy’s contents made his stomach roll.

He knew whom he had to blame for this predicament, of course. Arwen was not the sort of elf to let something go for very long, and Legolas knew that he had stoked her ire with his comment about the strawberry bubble bath. Such a silly thing, but so deadly. He would never understand her obsession with strawberry bubbles.

Now, her joining forces with the hobbits was something that Legolas understood perfectly. Arwen favored the underdog in most things and this was no exception. Still, things were definitely getting out of hand. Blowing up the privy was a bit below the belt.

“Legolas! Legolas? Are you all right?”

Legolas grimaced at the voice. “As well as one can be when trapped under a mound of rubble and refuse, Aragorn.”

Aragorn laughed. “I must say I am glad that it is you and not me. Hold on, Legolas, we’re getting to you as fast as we can.”

“Aye, laddie, but it will take some time. Just you it tight.”

Legolas swallowed a groan. Of all the people to help him out of this predicament, Gimli was not one that he wanted. The dwarf sounded positively gleeful. Oh, he was going to get Arwen for this.

*****

Merry and Pippin were one again hiding in their room. They had been watching the rescue attempt from their balcony, but when Legolas had finally been freed they had scampered indoors. They had considerately taken the prince’s feelings into account, and had refrained from laughter at seeing him covered in refuse until they were safely behind closed doors.

“That was low of us. Brilliant, but low,” Pippin gasped, giggling. “We are masters, Merry! Absolute masters.”

Merry nodded, his mouth still stretched into an impossibly smug grin. “Poor Legolas. He wasn’t expecting that. Now for the rest of them.”

Pippin looked up at his cousin, noting the thoughtful look on the Brandybuck’s face. He wondered what they would do next. It was Aragorn’s turn for something shocking.

“I think we should wait for awhile, Pip. That’s what he did to us, and we were wrecks,” Merry said at last. “Yes, I think a day or so between pranks might be a good thing.”

Pippin shrugged. It sounded good to him. He just hoped that Aragorn and company did not get them, first. Somehow he did not put it past them.

TBC