#crabs!

YOU CAN SEND CRABS??!

@disastermychild

Doesn’t it just? I would absolutely use it if it were.

Thank you so much for the crabs!!! Love my lil red buddies. Sirion is such a generous prompt, too! Here's some early times by the sea with Elwing and Eärendil <3

They went fishing with nets of Elwing's own making.

They attempted to go fishing with nets of Elwing's own making. By the time the sun rose over the glittering waters, Elwing had thrown hers aside in disgust, while Eärendil consoled her.

"They are not so bad," lied Eärendil. "Look, we caught a few clams! Enough for a few of Meleth's pastries, I think."

Elwing crossed her arms. It was a cold morning, and the wind was strong, her sandals full of damp sand. There would be trouble if she was found away from her rooms or ended up late for her morning duties, even if her guards knew where she was and were hiding very badly and quite reassuringly behind the grassy dunes.

"Barely a handful! And only because Ulmo took pity on us. I am sorry, Eärendil! The weaving was strong enough yesterday when I finished it." Lúthien's only heir, and she could not string a humble net without it unraveling at the seams! Elwing crossed her arms a little tighter around herself.

"We can mend them, afterwards; the rope is not so bad, I think. It shall be better next time," Eärendil said confidently.

That was quite likely, in his case, and they both knew it. His nets were strong and fine, and that only made Elwing more disappointed in herself, for she had been so proud of her work she had convinced him to leave his behind.

There were children among the people of Sirion, though not many, Atani more than elves; and all of them spent the summer waking early and running in canny packs by the shore, clutching long poles with round, deep nets and catching molluscs for lunch.

So many times she had sat in the high chair of the White Tower, hearing her council speak and darting quick, envious looks at the beach front, longing to be among the hungry and wild and laughing children of Sirion.

Eärendil's fair hair was always easily recognizable from a distance. His father let him run as he would, and learn from the mariners of the Falathrim as much as the scholars and warriors of Gondolin; and never worried a moment for what might befall him by the waters.

It was only rarely that Elwing got to run in the spray, and weave herself nets to play with. Eärendil would have shared his without hesitation; but that was not the point of it. Rarer, even, that they had time for themselves away from their bodyguards and minders.

The carefully bargained terms for a morning spent fishing together were not without careful oversight - Elwing could always tell when someone watched her, and Eärendil had caught the tell-tale glimmer of Legolas' worn gilded armour where he kept a discreet guard behind a cluster of wild pines.

Elwing frowned. She had a frown like a dark cloud crossing the sun, and a way of being quiet about it that was regal and frightening and quite sad. Eärendil was quite good at telling how she felt, because he often felt the same.

"You have started on knotwork already, and sailing on skiffs! I fear I never shall be any good at living by the sea. It is not the thing I ought to be. And if I am -"

She sat down on a rock, glaring at a passing crab; and the small fists that clutched her skirts were shaking.

Eärendil understood. How could he not? They were both so valuable, so dearly prized and dearly needed by two needful people. To fail at any task felt like the doing of a cruel injury, never to someone more than to the dead.

"I am no good at knots yet," Eärendil said thoughtfully. His mother always said: If you cannot be happy now, think of a happiness that is to come, be it very small or very far. Look for it! "But I'll teach you what I know, and then we shall go sailing together when I have my own ship!"

Elwing smiled a little. "That might take some time," she said, the pragmatic queen with pearls in her hair.