Thirteen by Dawn Felagund  

Towels

Nelyo discovers something unexpected in Tyelkormo's room. Prompt: towels, humming, travels, harmless

The trail of mud betrayed Tyelkormo, returned unannounced from his travels to Oromë’s halls. Nelyo drew the broom from the closet with a sigh and followed the mud. He could hear the voices of Tyelkormo and Curvo, kept deliberately low but humming with excitement, beyond Tyelkormo’s door. When he opened it, there was a scurrying that produced a sudden mound of towels in one corner.

That began to writhe a little.

Broom and mud forgotten, Nelyo stammered, “What—?” as Tyelkormo squeaked, “He’s harmless!”

And Curvo, hands folded coolly. “Just towels,” Curvo reassured him, right as the towels began yipping.