[piosenniel]

‘Look at him!’ snorted Amaranthas. ‘I always held that Men can’t hold their drink. But him! He’s worse than I ever imagined.’ She cackled gleefully at the figure of the drunken Lorien who sat propped up on his elbows at a nearby table, tapping his feet quite out of rhythm with the music.

Pio glanced at the Vala, thinking that at least he seemed quite out of commission and would not be causing any problems for the evening. She had successfully avoided him so far, and was hoping to do so until he took himself back to the Undying Lands. She smiled impishly to herself, and had just called a server over to deliver a large pitcher of the Green Dragon’s mead to Lorien, when Bird’s dramatic arrival occurred.

It was chaos and storm as usual. A grand Bird entrance, done with flair and panache. She knew her friend had probably not meant this to happen, but it was Bird’s doom to do life in a large manner. And Pio loved her for it!

Ignoring the fallen Vala, surely he was feeling no pain, considering the amount of drink he had consumed, she had had stepped over him, and sitting down next to her friend, gave her a bear hug. ‘Nice outfit! Looks good on you!’ she chuckled, brushing the lint from Lorien’s robes off it.

Bird had been astounded to find Cami at the Inn, and after her initial hug, Pio had stood by the pair, grinning like a Hobbit at the prospect of second breakfast, as they spoke to each other. Bird’s hand did not leave Cami’s arm once as they talked, thinking that if she did so Cami would prove only a figment of her weary mind and disappear.

Pio felt the touch of a hand on her own arm, as someone spoke to her.

‘Begging your pardon, Mistress Piosenniel,’ came the low voice, ‘but Cook says to tell you that the food is piping hot, and ready to be put out on the tables.’ Prim looked to where Cami and the new arrival were deep in conversation. ‘Do you think we might bring it out now, and you can get the dinner started?’ She pointed to the area of the common Room where the tables had been set up for the guests. One long table for the ‘elders’ and one for the children, with a convenient play area nearby. Prim came from a large family, and she knew that no matter how tempting the food might be, most of the younger ones would take a few bites and then want to run about.

‘Have you placed the name cards at the tables, Prim? The ones that Mistress Cami made? I know she wanted the guests seated in a certain way.’ Prim nodded her head ‘yes’, drawing Pio’s attention to the cards placed on each guest’s folded napkin. ‘Mistress Cami made some cards also for Master Tom and his wife, and also for Farmer Maggot and his.’

‘But, what shall we do with the new arrival?’ Prim asked, eyeing Bird in her outlandish costume with some distrust. ‘That is my dear friend, Bird.’ Pio laughed seeing Prim’s eyebrows rise in disbelief. ‘Let her sit at my place, across from Amaranthas. She knows Tom and Goldberry, already, and it would be quite interesting to see how she and Amaranthas take to one another.’ The two walked to where the dinner tables had been set up. Pio nodded toward the children’s table. ‘Just put me over there. I can entertain them for a while, and if the dinner becomes too insufferable we can play games to amuse ourselves.’

She hadn’t thought that Prim’s brows could rise any higher, but they did at this suggestion. ‘This is Cami’s night,’ she thought to herself, as she picked up the card from her napkin and placed it at the head of the children’s table. ‘Let her play hostess and enjoy herself among her old friends.’

Her eye caught the limp body of Lorien being carried by four of the servers back to her rooms. She had told them earlier just to put him on her bed, a bucket by his head in case his stomach rebelled at his first glorious foray into the realm of Shire spirits. ‘How inglorious an exit!’ she thought, making a mental note to give him something to settle his stomach and perhaps some willow bark tea for the impending headache when he awoke.

Pio went to the center of the room and clapped her hands together, saying in a loud voice that carried to the corners of the room:

‘Gentle guests! Cook has informed me that our dinner is now laid on the tables along the wall for us, and the casks and flagons at the drinks table have been refilled. Please gather round the tables and help yourselves. You will find cards laid on each napkin that will direct you where to sit.’

She turned, smiling, to where the children stood listening to her. ‘Come!’ she told them, waving them over with her hand. ‘You are all guests at my table. You older ones, if you will help the younger with their plates, we will go first to pick out what we want for supper.’ She overheard young Pippin wonder how much they had to eat before they could look at the dessert table.

Pio crouched down, and drew the children in close to her. ‘It is a party, you know. What say we eat dessert first?’

[ March 02, 2003: Message edited by: piosenniel ]