#* angsty

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･ﾟ✧ Aragorn.

Aragorn will stop dead in his tracks if you ask him to “no longer coddle you”. Hands raised but not leaving your side, he will calmly inform you that your wounds had not yet healed and that he would need to take care of you for a while longer. Because of his great intuition and insight, he will touch upon your childhood on his own accord and assure you that everything was fine – you are safe with him. His kindness is greater than any guilt or shame inside your chest. With someone as understanding as Aragorn, is it easy for you to open up about your fears.

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･ﾟ✧ Éomer.

Éomer learns quickly that you expect nothing of others and that you are very hard on yourself. At first, he thought he could learn to respect your declines whenever he offered you help with the horses or the food. “You do not need to do this for me.” – “But what if I want to?!” One day, it just breaks out of him like that. He is more desperate than angry, though he cannot help but feel a nebulous anger towards those you have estranged his beloved from their own needs like this. More than anything, he wants to see you treat yourself with kindness, no matter how hard the road to this goal might be – he’s by your side.

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･ﾟ✧ Éowyn.

At first, Éowyn is very irritated when you decline her offers to help you with your broken ankle. “What do you mean, you’ll draw a bath for yourself? You can hardly stand up! I’ll do it, and I won’t hear anything about it.” She is stubborn in her help, but never angry. Because of her relentless and gentle pragmatism towards you, you begin to soften – at least when it’s Éowyn. It takes you a surprising amount of strength to accept help and kindness from others, but each time, Éowyn is there to comfort you, commenting on the progress you’re making if you feel like talking about it. She is proud of your growth.

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･ﾟ✧ Faramir.

✧ And you'll make sure he'll rest – he may be a legendary healer, but his own wounds are deep, some of them unseen. His house will welcome all those in need, but for now, he must treat himself with the same kindness he extends to his guests. And that is hard for him.

✧ In his chambers, you help him out of his hauberk with the Ñoldorin emblem. He avoids your eyes. His dark thoughts and restless nights worry you – you've known your dear Elrond for centuries and never seen him like this...

✧ One night, you need to wake him from a nightmare that has him turning in your bed, mumbling Elvish pleas and curses. You rest your hands in his, listening, until he'll finally share the war's burdens with you: In his dream, he was back in the fiery abysm of Mount Doom, sick with poisonous air and a heart so heavy he almost fell into the flames himself.

✧ Was has chained his heart so gruesomely is guilt: "What if, after all, I could have done more? Even if Men are weak, I was there to prove that Elves could take care of them, lead them... In the end, I failed as much as Isildur himself!"

✧ Shaken by what you hear, you assure Elrond he did what he could and that he stayed true to himself and the goodness of all Free Peoples' hearts. But the truth is that you, too, have heard the Ñoldorin gossip: "Why hasn't Elrond taken the One? If Isildur wouldn't want to part with it, why not deliver him to the flames along with it and free us from its influence?"

✧ Chasing away those memories, you ask Elrond, "What darkness must already boil in one's heart to surrender an ally to the flames, even if it meant destroying the enemy's weapon?" You know that Elrond is as kind as summer and that he would never betray the descendants of his dear brother's house, let alone sacrifice a life like that.

✧ You stroke his hair and caress his face, slowly and surely softening beneath your loving hands. You let him rest his heavy head on your shoulder and chest, holding him close as though to shield him from the evil lurking in the shadows.

✧ The next months are filled with careful steps back into life. Elrond is eager to renew Rivendell and take care of those the war has hurt. He knows he can count on you to support him and offer him warm hugs in the nights when he needs a safe haven.

✧ The two of you make sure to have time together alone, reading in the library, walking in the gardens, or singing on the balconies. As the seasons change and return to their circle, so does Elrond. Like a rose that has been cut down, his kind warmth returns brighter than before – but a shadow remains.

✧ You notice how Elrond develops a tendency to question and resent Men, despite your best efforts to help him heal from the trauma of Mount Doom.

✧ However, this shadow is weak, dwelling in secret, while Elrond finds a different way to deal with it: One day, he asks you your opinion of him fostering the heirs of Isildur here in Rivendell. You wonder if he has glanced into the future but do not question his wish.

✧ "You have been and will continue to be as great a father as anyone can wish for. If it is your desire to help those Men grow, I will assist you where I can. You have my support and my heart, as you well know, my beloved, forever."

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･ﾟ✧ Arwen.

Nightmares are worse for Elves than Men, due to their gift of foresight which amplifies the bad things they see in their dreams. The dark future Arwen sees at night haunts her during the daylight, too, but you are there to hold her hands and offer a shoulder to cry on. While she won’t lose hope easily, the shock in Arwen’s heart is deep every time.

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･ﾟ✧ Boromir.

Boromir won’t tell you about his nightmares until he would start crying one morning, seemingly out of the blue. You are there to comfort him with a gentle hand on his back and all the silence he needs to collect himself, before finally opening up about his fears and the nightmares they conjured. “At least I have the certainty you would not think less of me, knowing what you know now…”

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･ﾟ✧ Elrond.

You wake by Elrond’s side when his nightmare punches him out of sleep. For long, terrible moments, he was back amidst the fires of Mount Doom, desperate lungs filled with poison smoke and disbelieving eyes on Isildur’s back. Now you can provide him with air and water to bring him back to the cool calm of Rivendell.

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･ﾟ✧ Éomer.

It has taken you far too long to wake poor Éomer from his nightmare. His feverish, sweaty, desperate face would have broken your heart had it lasted any longer. But war leaves its invisible wounds, and Éomer wasn’t spared. He holds onto you for dear life as if he was only half-way back to reality, but you tell him everything would be all right.

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･ﾟ✧ Éowyn.

Upon waking her from her nightmare, Éowyn draws her sword at you, staring you down with a fury you have never seen in her usually so kind eyes before. You back away slowly, speaking softly to bring her back to reality and away from whatever has been haunting her. When she recognises you, Éowyn bursts into tears, hiding her face. “Oh, forgive me! Forgive me, love…!”

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･ﾟ✧ Faramir.

Childhood trauma has often kept Faramir awake, but creeping its way into his dreams was even worse. When he wakes, he needs only seconds to reorientate himself, but would then cover his mouth to not wake you with his sobs. You, of course, are not bothered but concerned by what you hear and offer Faramir to spend the night awake with him until he would fall asleep in your arms as you watch the sunrise.

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･ﾟ✧ Frodo.

Frodo tosses and turns in his sleep with big sighs and sobs which eventually wake you up. You know that Frodo isn’t an easy sleeper, but his nightmare phases still shock you anew every time. You gently wake him up to tell him everything was fine, and at first Frodo genuinely seems relieved. However, you know that the following hours won’t be easy for him, so you keep supporting him with kind words and his favourite tea, taking it easy all day.

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･ﾟ✧ Galadriel.

Nightmares are so rare for Galadriel that she has no way of dealing with them. They bring tempests not only to her heart but Lórien, too. You stay with her throughout and guide her back to the light in the days afterwards. She is weak but leans on you for incorrigible support. Thanks to your care, closeness, and words of affirmation, the Lady of Light can return to her normal life.

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･ﾟ✧ Gandalf.

Gandalf’s nightmare has summoned thunder and lightning, keeping you from sleeping. When you try to deliver him from whatever evils keep chasing him, a magical fire flames up. When you try to touch Gandalf’s shoulder again, it diminishes, and you manage to wake him up. The storm is gone almost in an instant, and Gandalf’s face is as soft and friendly as ever. He won’t talk about his nightmare right away.

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･ﾟ✧ Gimli.

One night, you would hear quiet sobs next to you and realise Gimli was crying in his sleep. He would not wake up easy when you pat his shoulder or caress his arm, but eventually his eyes would open and he’d meet yours with a sad and tired gaze. Perhaps he would like to talk to you about his nightmares of Moria’s fall at a later point, but for now, he is content with you letting him cry without judgement, stroking and kissing his hair gently.

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･ﾟ✧ Haldir.

Out of fear of giving others leverage against him, Haldir won’t tell anyone of his horrible nightmares. Since your sleep has always been light though, you notice very soon that something is wrong with dear Haldir. While he would deny your offers of comfort rather coldly at first, he eventually asks you to simply listen to his sorrows so that they no longer weigh down his heart. You know how bad the sentiment is for Elves, so you thank him genuinely for sharing it with you.

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･ﾟ✧ Legolas.

As with all Elves, nightmares are poison to Legolas due to his Elven abilities. Darkness and terror spread in his heart, and it will take him weeks to recover. You are always there to hug and kiss him – physical touch is what comforts poor Legolas the most in these times. He is as restless as ever, but you remind him that he is safe with you. “Indeed, there no fortress in this world where I would be more secure than in your arms, my love.”

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･ﾟ✧ Merry.

Merry always tries rationalising his nightmares, to the point where he won’t allow himself to be vulnerable and let his fear sink in. That is where you can help your poor Hobbit the most: by reminding him that you will always be there for him, no matter if it’s the middle of the night and some random “nonsense darkening his mind”. You sit down with him by a fire and talk about it all.

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･ﾟ✧ Pippin.

After nightmares, Pippin is often still scared for a longer time. After helping him calm down, you make sure to light as many candles and lamps as possible. Food is also a good comfort for Pippin, which has led you to make strawberry sandwiches at three in the morning twice already. To ground himself further, Pippin would also sometimes sing to you quietly.

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･ﾟ✧ Sam.