Busted! by Gwenniel

Busted!

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BustedIt was a warm afternoon, and the dust in the air swirled about Fëanáro Curufinwë's feet as he walked in the halls of his father. He was coming from the forge where he had been working on some gems. He was particularly proud of today's result -- he had made a small diamond shaped like a star.

Nothing could dampen the spirits of the young prince -- until he turned into another corridor and saw what he would have to walk past if he was to get to his room. There stood one of Fëanáro's least favourite persons -- second only to his step-mother. His young half-brother Nolofinwë stood in the corridor. For some reason he was clutching a quill in his hand and blushed when he saw his elder brother strutting in and raising his eyebrow suspiciously.

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"What are you doing here?" Fëanáro asked his brother who he had successfully avoided meeting for the past few days. Nolofinwë said nothing, but looked at his toes. For some reason he was standing in a puddle of black ink, and his small sock-clad feet were dirty.

"Perfect," Fëanáro thought looking at the mess on the floor. "The little bastard's been up to mischief." He smirked as he thought what his father would say when he heard that his beloved son had done.

"What are you doing?" Fëanáro asked again, now in his most authoritarian voice. He stood tall and kingly and glared at his brother as only Fëanáro could. The child did not say anything, but shifted uncomfortably as if trying to hide something behind him. Fëanáro grew now very suspicious. He lowered himself to lean on one knee - -careful not to smudge his pants in any of the spilled ink -- and his eyes on the same level as Nolofinwë's he hissed in a most intimidating voice.

"Nolofinwë. Don't be a coward."

Slowly Nolofinwë raised his head. He looked at his brother. Then unexpectedly a small smile crept upon his childish face and his eyes glimmered. "I drew," he mumbled.

Not what Fëanáro had expected. That his brother had been drawing explained the ink and the quill, but the small innocent smile of the child surprised him. "Drawing what? I don't see anything," he replied. Nolofinwë shifted on his feet again. Fëanáro sighed. "You're afraid of showing it to me?" he muttered. "A coward."

He stood up again. "Look at the mess around you," he scolded the child. "Father will not be pleased." Small footprints of ink covered the wooden floor and there were smudges and fingerprints on the wall as well. Then it hit Fëanáro. "You have been doodling on the wall!"

Nolofinwë looked at his toes again. "I wanted to draw..." he said. "I drew..."
Fëanáro interrupted his brother by pushing him out of the way. On the part of the wall that Nolofinwë had tried to hide behind him was the drawing.

"Don't ruin it!" poor Nolofinwë cried out. "It's still wet." Fëanáro didn't care and the embarrassed child bit his lip as his far more talented brother examined critically his painting.

"What's this?" Fëanáro asked crossly. "Is that supposed to be me?"

The doodle pictured the Two Trees shining brightly and there was a mountain behind them - presumably Taniquetil. In the front stood two elves -- one short and one one taller. Fëanáro squinted to decipher the letters below the figures. The taller elf was labelled as "Curu", whereas the other had an arrow drawn to it.
"What's this?" Fëanáro asked a bit more softly. The second elf -- apparently holding the "Curu"-elf's hand -- was entitled "Nolo".

"I hadn't seen you for many days. So I drew a picture," Nolofinwë said squirming as he stood. "That's you and that's me," he said explaining his artwork.

"Why did you draw me?"

"You're my big brother, so I drew you spending time with me," Nolofinwë said simply. He looked at Fëanáro as if the message of the drawing was obvious. The elder brother looked at the young one sceptically.

"Okay," he said at last. "Let's go spend some time together then." Nolofinwë smiled and laughed with joy. He ran in the hallway, leaving even more smudgy footprints on the floor. The child stopped to wait for his elder brother and Fëanáro followed him. They went outside into the garden bathing in light. Again very unexpectedly after glancing at his brother Nolofinwë slipped his tiny inky hand between Fëanáro's fingers. Fëanáro glanced back at him. He could not help but smile. No matter how much he tried to hate his sibling, the young one would always be the faithful follower that he was.