a Middle Earth therapy session

the patients' edginess

Alcop waited anxiously for the wooden doors to slam open and reveal his next patient. It was becoming increasingly irritating for him to have to wait so much. What was taking the niece so long? Had she broken a leg? He could only hope.

"Are you sending him in?" he yelled out to the closed doors. All she had to do was write up the patient's name and ask for their address. Not too hard-ish. Not even for her.

A small head peeked in through a crack in the doors, scaring Alcop profoundly, though he quickly returned to his neutral, expressionless mask, which he had proudly mastered during his time as a therapist. 

It was the niece. She had a dangerous glint in her eyes and was smirking.

Alcop sent the giddy girl a seething glare. "What is it? What have you done?" he hissed.

But she only rolled her eyes, ignoring his questions entirely. How rude. "There're three of them. They insist on seeing you together." 

He froze. Stunned. 

Now that was odd. He had only ever treated patients one by one. Well. There was a first time for everything, he supposed. What could possibly go wrong?

"Bring them in then. And have another two chairs shifted in here at one," he totted, scratching the underside of his tongue.

The niece gave him a disgusted look and left to complete the tasks.

A few moments passed silently and then there were three knocks on the wooden doors that snapped him out of his momentary discomfort. 

"Come in!" he said, calm and collected. 

In came a dwarf. His bright orange beard lay ruffled and covered most his chest and face. He was armed and looked ready to march into war this very instant. Doctor Alcop cleared his throat and was about to great the grumpy-looking thing... when in entered an elf, carrying the demeanor of a high and noble being. He was clad in war clothes, much like the dwarf, and had an elegant bow clutched tightly in one hand. There were also knives attached all over him. This sparked some concern in doctor Alcop's heart. Was it necessary to come this armed into a safe and cosy (according to Alcop) office?

The two very different beings smiled rather hesitantly, at which the doctor returned his own shaky grin.

Then the elf unexpectedly yelled out the cracked open doors, "It is safe Estel! Stop your worrying and come in!"

Doctor Alcop watched the slightly open doors with a mixture of horror and fear. This 'Estel' could be absolutely anything.

Then again, there was a dwarf and an elf in his office...what could possibly be weirder?

The doors were pushed back fully revealing an edgy looking man. He had a mass of dark brown hair matted to his face with what Alcop could only assume was sweat. 

Alcop gave a sigh of relief upon seeing him, though; he had been expecting a troll.

The wooden doors closed behind the man, creaking as they did so and causing the elf and dwarf to shudder. Doctor Alcop shook his head, a concerned look genuinely glued to his face. What was wrong with them? They were quite on edge and were pale faced and fevered. Their haggard appearance piqued his interest greatly. 

Then the niece pushed the wooden doors open again, dragging two chairs into his office. 

"Here," she pushed the elf and man back forcefully so that they had no choice but to sit. The man was now noticeably shaking, his longish hair slapping his cheekbones. Alcop wasn't sure whether it was from the cold or sheer fear. Deciding to play it safe, he ordered the niece to get a fire going. She did just that, lighting the longs in the fireplace with a thin matchstick. 

When she'd left the office, he turned his attention to the odd trio who still very much looked weary.

"So gentlemen—uh, gentle folk...how are you three feeling?" Alcop started, watching them nervously and wondering who would be the first to reply. The man looked back at him defiantly, as if to say 'No way in Arda am I starting off.'

Alcop was used to the looks and so he ignored it.

Surprisingly the dwarf started to speak gruffly, "Well laddie, I ain't really sure about these two but I'm having an awful day." He paused, then added, "Thanks for asking."

Alcop begrudginglywrote down 'awful day -dwarf' on his paper, promptly shutting the clipboard afterward. He put down his pen having nothing else to add to that.

He hoped his day didn't turn out to be like the dwarf's, for all their sakes.