You had been listening to Maglor compose a new piece for a concert he'd perform next month and expressed how much you liked his music. Sometimes you couldn't help but stare in awe of his skill. In those moments if you allowed your eyes to lose focus a little, it almost looked like his hands were made of pure gold. His skill was so ridiculous that it mattered not what instrument was given to him, he knew what to do with it.

You on the other hand were an absolute wreck, and that's putting it lightly. Everytime your parents attempted to have you learn an instrument, the teachers fled after little over two weeks of attempts to teach you. The last teacher was assigned to help you learn to play a small lyre. There were so little strings, you could master that right?

Wrong.

It was a constant battle between you and the lyre. In your frustration you had managed to snap one of the strings. That's where the lyre lessons ended rather abruptly. You've never picked up another instrument since. You had made peace with the fact that you simply weren't musically inclined.

Sometimes your non-musically inclined nature made you feel unworthy of Maglor. How come someone with such talent in music would choose someone who can't even read notes correctly? Let alone sing a duet with him. Unbeknownst to you, Maglor had noticed your timid behavior and your insecurities. He knew that you felt unworthy, of him, of being part of his family, and perhaps more. He knew about these feelings better than he was letting you know.

And because of this you are now sitting on the bed in his room with a small harp on your lap. Trying to make sense of his instructions.

"Melda, that is an F. The parchment says you need to play B."

You felt pretty terrible at this point. How did you confuse and F for a B? Though to you it didn't matter so much whether it was F, B or even G you had to play. What mattered to you was the expression on Maglor's face. It was unnaturally stiff and almost fully devoid of emotion. He was trying incredibly hard not to crack.

It made your heart ache. In a way you could say that these lessons weren't helping either one of you. Yet Makalaurë pressed on. He firmly believed it to be possible for you to learn. Even if it would take you much longer than the average student, he was willing to sit through every single hideous note. If only you'd feel more confident.

You sigh deeply, your frustration and thoughts are overwhelming you. You honestly wanted to chuck the harp out of the window and cry. But you knew better than to do that, so you put the harp down on the pillows as gently as you could in your frustrated state. You felt your eyes starting to sting, you knew you were about to cry any moment now...

Suddenly you feel two arms wrap around you, and a soft soothing song being whispered to you. Your eyes widen and a tear slips out despite trying to keep it inside. Maglor embraced you tightly, rubbing circles on your back.

"It's okay meldanya, we can take a break. It's okay." He whispers. He pulls away from you and smiles a soft smile. His hand still resting on your shoulder in a reassuring way.

"Maka.... Makalaurë, how are you so patient with me? I saw the look on your face, I am a horrible harpist!" You said in between sniffles. The waterworks had taken the embrace as their que to start pouring out. You felt like a mess, both emotionally and physically.

"Y/n, listen, I understand that you feel frustrated with learning an instrument. Music is an art form that takes many years to perfect. Even I, during the time that I had not played my harp for nearly an age, even I snapped a string when I picked it back up again. Just like how you can't make a smith out of me, no matter how much I wanted to try to appease my atar. When it came down to smithing, I was horrible."

Maglor pulls you close to him, looking into your eyes. He is serious, more than you'd seen him before.

"Y/n, just like that, I do not expect of you to be a master of song. You are a master of your own unique set of skills. And I am more than grateful to have you as my partner. I chose you because I saw the brightness of your soul, your joyful nature, how caring you are to others....and the way you look at life itself. Not because I expected you to be the best harpist out of all of them."

You felt like your heart was playing jump rope of some sort. It was beating rapidly. His words were like a soothing cup of tea after a terrible breakdown. The fact that he saw you for who you are, and not for any potential you could've had, was a relief. Marrying into the Fëanorian household made you feel like you had to constantly perform. Now knowing that to be false, a huge weight has been lifted from your shoulders.

You let out a deep sigh, calming down slightly from your frustrations. You were still mulling over some things but were soon interrupted by Maglor.

"How about we have some tea, and I'll play you a song or two? Because there is one skill of yours that I am most certainly in awe of, and that is your ability to truly listen to what someone's heart is saying. And that's a lovely quality for someone I'd love to be the first to hear my compositions....before anyone else does."

-------- Curufin POV ------

This morning I woke with a strange feeling in my fëa. I feel weak and somehow unattached to my body. I was going to get out of bed when I noticed that my brother was half see through. My mind must be playing tricks on me…. At least so I thought until I saw my own body becoming see through. Some parts of my body were starting to fade away. I felt a great amount of panic surge through me and I nearly fell out of my bed just to stumble out of my shared chambers like a drunkard. I ran into every single room belonging to my brothers. I slammed open the door to Nelyo and Káno’s room only to find them completely gone. The room was empty like it had never been touched. Nothing was left by them. Not even a hair.

I ran to the next room, Tyelko’s. Nothing either. Neither was there anything to be found in the room belonging to Ambarussar. Running back to the room I shared with Moryo I noticed I was fading away more and more. I could not feel the ground underneath my feet. To my absolute horror I saw that Moryo had also entirely disappeared. Together with all of his parchments and other trinkets upon his desk space. 

I reminded myself to be calm, somehow I am the last one to disappear, there must be a sound reason behind this. I thought to tell y/n about this so I made my way into their room. I approached their bedside and tried to wake them.

I could not produce a single sound. I felt like I was screaming louder than Káno on one of his hoarse voiced days yet not even a single peep came out. My hands were now also well on their way to fade out completely.  I could not touch y/n. My hand simply went through them. I was horrified. What purpose does it have to let me be last to fade if I cannot even say goodbye or warn them?

I stumbled back to my room feeling defeated. I didn’t want to stay in the room with y/n. I couldn’t. I have grown attached to them and it hurts me to not be able to say goodbye. I’d much rather suffer alone and in silence until I fully fade away. I reached for the one thing that had brought me comfort many times before. Maybe I can at least still touch my pendant. A sole memory of my atar. To my greatest surprise I could. It wasn’t like it’s usual self though. It was hot and pulsating with a bright light. As if it had gotten a heartbeat of its own.

It was strange. However I did not get much time to inspect this new discovery as the rate with which my body was fading started to accelerate. I have faded almost up to my chest! I still had a good portion of both legs barely a moment ago!

In absolute terror I grasped onto the pendant that was starting to burn violently in my hand. I do not understand what’s happening. I fell back against my desk, expecting to fall through it but instead I could still feel it. At this point I became desperate. Something that I never am and hopefully never again will be.

Opening the drawer with caution I start to feel nauseated and the room begins to spin. I cannot feel my body….! I feel drowsy…

In my predicament I slip forward and hit my head on the corner of the desk. Hissing in pain I notice that I don’t have my pendant around my neck anymore. Shit….I ripped the chain. I have never felt so disoriented in my life aside from that one time where Ambarussar had gotten their evil little elfling hands on some kind of herbal aromatherapy blend and dared to infest my entire work room with it.  I was unable to wake for two days.

My hand to eye coordination was absolute crap, each time I moved it seemed like the drawer had grown legs and moved away from me. At this point I had grown desperate enough to chuck the pendant into the drawer haphazardly with possibly a little bit of unnecessary violence.

I hope it at least stays behind as a reminder of us. To make up for our carelessness…..

That was my final thought before I faded away.

---------------

In the first hour there was a bright light, and within it was a voice, calling upon the fëar of those who were lost. A space formed inside the light, revealing itself to be a grand room. It was bright and filled with a million voices of a million different elves. The sound produced by the many voices was turned into a mighty melody by the valar that were present.

They had succeeded in salvaging every single fëa that had come and gone upon arda. Every single elf that had lived was now gathered into the room of light. Before they came into the room they had been sent through Mandos, to wipe bad memories and to be restored to the way they once were. All scars faded, limbs were restored, ailments cured and weary hearts were given another chance at living.

However grand and lovely this all was, they had to spend extra time on the Fëanorians, something they would never give away to the others. No one must know of their failure. Or so they reasoned. It would threaten their authority and make the trust of elves waver again. Because the Fëanorians had been accidentally sent away through the portals of Ëa into another world, instead of being taken back to Valinor. As it should have been. Yet it was not, and they spent three whole weeks away in this other world. Three weeks too many…. the valar thought. Even a second was too long in their opinion. For now they had memories of another world, new worries, desires and possible trauma to process. So they erased every single bit of knowledge of the other world from their minds. They did not look at what the Fëanorians had seen on earth, as the valar had decided that it must’ve been far from peaceful. Despite the good intentions of the valar, intentions without counsel seldom bear good fruit.

What sorrow would they know if they had realized that the fëar of the Fëanorians had been altered by their visit? The valar have been careless in their dealings with the reborn. Because no matter how clean you wipe one’s mind, the fëa will remember what it needs to.  And such is the case.

In the second hour the elves were returned to the lands of Valinor. Everyone got to see their loved ones again. All hurts and sorrows had now been mended. The people did remember things from their time in middle earth but they were no longer wounded by them.

The Fëanorians were also reunited with their family. Nerdanel was ecstatic to see her sons alive and in one piece. Many tears were shed in happiness , and even more embraces were given. Even Fëanor himself had managed to be released from Mandos. Some didn’t expect it at all, but there were also others who felt glad he was home.  Life in valinor continued as it used to, many feasts and festivals. Lots of music , art, dance and creation. The elves had once more everything their hearts could ever desire.

And so it continued for quite some time, the people were merry and had no cares in the world. Though we all know that good times tend to come to unwanted ends. But maybe this time it will be the start of something new, and much loved.

----------------

“I am missing Atar’s pendant.” Curufin hissed under his breath. He had recently been having the strangest dreams. Dreams about some distant place with strange contraptions. But it was not the objects that puzzled him most, it was the person he kept seeing. He couldn’t clearly see their face but he held strong feelings for them in his heart. That much he understood.

Over time it wasn’t just him who regained memories in the form of foggy dreams. Maedhros, Caranthir and Maglor were the ones who caught on soon as well. They had a deep understanding of the feelings that had been forcefully shut out of their minds. They also knew that whomever it was that though in dream remained unclear, it was someone whom they loved. They wanted them close. They wanted you close. And so it didn’t take long for all seven brothers to regain all of their memories. Now even in their dreams they could distinguish your face, voice and mannerisms. They missed you dearly.  It’s therefore not surprising that as soon as they managed to overhear each other’s secret talks about a person in their dreams that they came together to discuss. What might surprise you is that all of them, even the emotionally constipated Caranthir and stickler-for-rules Maedhros shed tears knowing that they have been sundered from someone they loved so dearly. As much as they were grateful to be together as a family again…… it felt incomplete.

Because of this they decided to devise a plan to get you back to them. Perhaps selfish of them to sunder you from your kin in return, but when have the Fëanorians been known to be rational in pursuit of their wishes?  And so we have arrived at this particular moment in the room of Maedhros, having a meeting with the rest of his brothers.

“How are we going to get y/n back? We don’t even know how we got there in the first place.” Caranthir said.   “He has a point, unfortunately…” Maglor sighs. “We don’t know anything about traveling through the dimensions of Ëa……if they are even from Ëa…”  

Maglor’s comment made the air in the room feel a thousand times heavier. It seemed that there was no way out of their despair.  “The only way that I am certain that it was not a fever dream, is because I’ve lost my pendant that I wear at all times. “ Curufin noted.

“You could’ve lost that anywhere Curvo, not helpful.” Celegorm bit back. He had become crankier the past few weeks to the point where he rivalled Caranthir on a bad day.  “No brother, it is helpful. I distinctly remember leaving it in a drawer of the desk I had on my side of the room. I may have chucked it a bit aggressively, but I am sure it has stayed behind.”

“Assuming that you are right and it has remained with them, how will that be of any help to us Curvo?” Maedhros questioned.  This made Curufin quieten. He hadn’t thought about that. All he had been focused on was to have the pendant remain with you somehow.

“Perhaps….Atar would know something…” Amrod mumbled. “I think we should ask Atar. He has made the palantiri which are able to cross through any space or time. We could try?”

Amrod was right in his assumption. Fëanor was most skilled and wise in his devising , spare of course the times his burning fëa got the best of him. The only problem was how would they even begin to explain what has happened and even more so, how to convince Fëanor to devise something of the sort? His creations have gotten him in serious trouble before. This was a very risky endeavour. This wasn’t something akin to the capturing of light in a jewel. This was bringing a whole person into Valinor, preferably unseen. Not to mention this person being a mortal. Those didn’t belong in Valinor. The valar would throw a fit.

Six brothers now turned towards their newly chosen sacrifice; Curufin. He would be the perfect ploy for their beloved atar to agree on their request.

“Curvo….you are Atya’s favorite…..could you inspire his heart for our quest? It would benefit all of us after all…” Celegorm said, a deviously wolfish grin spreading over his face. It looked almost taunting. Perhaps it was. It was no secret that Fëanáro favored his fifth son by a fair margin.

“Come now háno, we can do this the easy way or the hard way.”  Celegorm was smirking like a mad man at this point. It was always fun to tease his younger brother.  Curufin felt like he was being pressed into a tiny corner of the house by the rest of his brothers. They almost literally had him cornered. Despite this, he knew what they felt was the same as him so he relented. Although not without a good scoff at Tyelko.

Time felt like it was crawling past slower than a snail. To the Fëanorians it felt like time had purposely been made painstakingly slow during their wait for Curufin’s return. Impatience sprung up repeatedly and irritation reared its head just as frequently. After a good hour and a half the wait was finally over. Curufin came out of their father’s study at last.

He was immediately questioned by his more impatient brothers, though right now that would be all of them. You couldn’t possibly take so long to win him over right?

“Atar was intrigued by our journey. But he said that he is not feeling much approval for the fact that they are an edain. However he believes that this could be a wonderful chance for him to test his knowledge and skills to devise us something to get y/n here. After all he can’t possibly pass up a single chance at skewing the reputation of the valar.”

A smile graced everyone’s faces. They were overjoyed. They could get you back! And so the plan to get you to middle earth was set in motion. It took many weeks for Fëanáro to create his device. But once it was done it was a breath taking sight to behold. It felt almost unreal that he has actually done it. He found a way to connect different areas of Ëa to each other. He tested it constantly with small objects. He increased the sizes of the objects gradually to make sure it wouldn’t break down with a larger mass. And now the time had finally come to try it out on someone else.

He was a little frustrated by one thing. He was an incredibly curious soul, he wanted, no, needed to know what this world was like. So he really wanted to go himself. He however wasn’t sure if he could send more than one person there and back. It would be a risk he had to take. Because of this there was now a heated discussion raging in the Fëanorian household.

Everyone was fighting about who could go. They all wanted to go. Not surprising to say the least. Finally having enough of everyone’s screaming Nerdanel’s voice pierced through the cacophony of voices.  “Enough! At this point none of you are capable of rational thought. NONE of you and I truly mean NONE will go through with this procedure until someone finds themselves with a sound mind! In fact, I will go there myself. Perhaps y/n is better company than you lot. ”

Her outburst made the room go silent. Suddenly they had not so much noise to make. Some turned away their face in shame. The only thing betraying their emotions being their reddened ears and clenched fists.

Fëanor was the first to speak. “I will go with you. My curiosity simply cannot be contained. I will die all over again if you won’t let me! Not to mention I am it’s maker, only I know how to use it properly.” He sounded like a small child, but it was true that despite this he was the one who made the device. It would be foolish not to take him in case something went horribly wrong.  

Nerdanel was quite done with her husband’s foolishness, but she knew he was right. Perhaps if she was there he would be less likely to destroy something. And so they went into your world.

----------------

It was 23:55 when you heard something crash downstairs. Followed by a heaping load of cursing in a language that made tears well in your eyes. Someone came back! Your curiosity got the best of you and you dropped everything and anything you were holding onto the floor without even bothering to look back. You ran down the stairs as fast as you could afford without breaking your legs.  It felt like you couldn’t get to the door fast enough, almost as if it tried to walk away from you.

Finally you reached the door to the living room and in one breath you threw it open to reveal two incredibly stunned elves. With one already quite regrettably disassembling your grandfather’s antique clockwork. You recognized the red haired elven woman instantly. It was Nerdanel. Then the one finicking with the clock must be Fëanor himself. You were overwhelmed with emotions, even to the point where you now had tears slowly rolling down your cheeks. In happiness of course.

Your light sob pulled the crafter out of his musings to join at the side of his wife. Both were stunned. Though Fëanor was more jubilant to know his invention had worked so well. He’d done it. He couldn’t be more proud, and it also showed that he indeed was the most skilful Finwëan out of all. To him at least.

Immediately you were bombarded with questions. But all you could do was laugh uncontrollably. In your joy you managed to latch onto the unexpecting Nerdanel and enveloped her in a bone crushing hug.

“I am so glad to see you! Right now I don’t know how this is possible, but I am so grateful that it has happened!” your face was blushed and you were smiling so much your cheeks hurt from the stretch.

You spent a good 15 minutes explaining to them what transpired in the three weeks that their sons were in your company. It drew a good laugh out of them and they were glad that nothing bad had happened to their sons. At the last moment you remembered the pendant that you had kept with you.

“Oh I almost forgot! I have something to return to you Curufinwë Fëanáro.”

You pulled out the pendant from your pocket and presented it to him. He seemed surprised that you had this. It was Curufin’s after all. He took it without much questioning and assured you that he’d return it. Unless you wanted to do so yourself.

This piqued your interest. How would you get there? Soon you got the whole explanation about how they got here. You were astonished. And happy beyond imagining. You could see them again.  After some time Nerdanel decided that they had spent enough time discussing strange contraptions and that Fëanor could always question you upon their return home.

It didn’t take long for the transition to happen. You had barely felt a single thing to be completely honest. When you opened your eyes again you were met with seven oh so familiar faces. And before you could do anything at all,  you were dragged into the sweetest group hug one could have ever imagined. With all the tears, sniffles and confessions of heartfelt gratefulness by each and every one of them.

It was another beautiful morning, another morning meaning another heap of muffled yelling from downstairs. You groaned and rubbed your eyes to clear away the last bits of peaceful sleep.

At this point you were starting to give up on the idea of ever getting to sleep in for a day. It simply was not possible with the Fëanorians around. Much less, specifically, with Celegorm. Who coincidentally is also the reason for your rude awakening.

“Hey y/n! Wake up. It’s morn already, we’re hungry.” He quite literally yelled at you. Unfortunately he had abandoned his prior position at the door in favor of standing by your bed. This meant you now had a god awful ringing in your right ear for the past 5 minutes. You glared at him and told him to get out, which he did.

You slowly got up from your bed, getting dressed was not your priority right now. You were overheating from both the summer weather and the idiot that had woken you. So you decided to change later, right now you needed something cold.

Slipping on some light shoes you walked down the hallway to the living room. It made you happy to see they had learned from the previous days not to do any cookery in the fire place, and to patiently wait for you to wake up. Patiently is subjective here. It seems it always is with these guys around.

Beauty is subjective as well. Perhaps it’s the most subjective thing out there. There are beauty standards, but many don’t adhere to them. It’s simply not natural. If only people could see one another through the lens of love and compassion, maybe there would have been fewer hurts. You thought sadly. You arrived in the hallway and was greeted as usual. Happy smiles and welcoming gestures.

Breakfast was tasty and light. It seemed that everyone shared your thought of needing something cold. So breakfast consisted of many fruits and cold drinks. Somehow Caranthir still managed to drink his many cups of coffee for breakfast. How he was keeping himself cool and fresh was a mystery to you.

After breakfast everyone went about their day in varying scales of loudness. You decided to sit out on the sofa for a little bit. Not wanting to go out in the heat just yet. You started to doze off a little. However as soon as you got comfortable the doorbell scared you out of your wits.

You weren’t expecting anyone, right…? Your thoughts were a jumbled mess and you attempted to untangle them on your way to the door. You opened the door and before you stood a delivery guy. With two big boxes signed by a few clothing companies.

Then it clicked. You ordered clothes for the 7 elves in your household. You quickly took the packages and signed the delivery paper. Wishing the delivery guy a good day as you closed the door.

Walking back to the living room you practically yelled for everyone to come to the living room to try out their new clothes. Soon everyone was seated and visibly excited, if not a little anxious to try out their new items.

The Ambarussa’s outfits were a great success. They looked great in the varying shades of green and brown they chose for their first outfit change. Celegorm had something that looked ridiculously similar to an elvish archer outfit. Though perhaps a little more casual. Nonetheless it looked great.

Maglor immediately threw himself on the biggest, puffiest minstrel sleeved shirt he had bought. It was a pure white and had a lovely embroidered neckline. He was head over heels with it and spent the rest of the day in it.

Curufin pulled out some exceedingly fancy items from his package. He still looked ridiculously regal in the fine fabrics, but compared to his elvish robe you could get away with calling his new outfit “Casual”.  His current favorite was a deep maroon shirt with a snug fit around the body. It had some golden detailing on it to make the soft fabric stand out. He had let you touch it prior to wearing, since he did agree that it was very good quality.

Caranthir was pretty straight forward with his clothing as well. A textured black jacket with silver thread embroidery seemed to be his current favorite. He seemed to enjoy the deeper shades on the color spectrum. He wore a highly pigmented, deep Bordeaux red top under his jacket.

Maedhros was quite excited about his items, until he tried on a particular top. It was a gorgeous peacock green with long sleeves, but the neckline had been a deeper cut than what he anticipated. Exposing many of his scars as a result. His face fell and he instinctively reached to cover the exposed skin with his left hand.

It was obvious that he was uncomfortable, so you quickly gave him a different shirt with a higher neckline for him to change in to.  He thanked you and changed into it quickly.

Though his shirt now changed and didn’t expose as much scars, his face remained sullen.

For the most part of the day, everyone seemed to enjoy their items, both the clothing and the decor. Maedhros however wasn’t so chipper anymore. Caranthir seemed to notice this as well.

Something you had noticed about both Maedhros and Caranthir was that their clothing interests , modesty wise, were extremely similar.  Both preferred clothes with high necklines, long sleeves and hemlines that also draped down as low as possible. Their clothes seemed to cover almost every bit of skin they had. Modesty is never a bad thing of course, and you knew that. Though something inside you remained warry of Maedhros’ and Caranthir’s reactions to some clothing styles.

Take for example the lovely phthalo blue shirt you pointed out to Caranthir when you were online shopping, it would surely look good on him. He had glanced over the item no more than even half a second before paling and brushing you off. “Absolutely not, do you wish for me to look like a beaten corpse?” he sounded somewhat hostile and avoided eye contact with you for a good 5 minutes after.

Maedhros made it quite clear at the beginning of the shopping spree that he would take his time looking for proper clothing. He wanted modest lines. As such he also paled visibly each time one of his brothers suggested him clothes with daring lines. He however wasn’t responding to them in a hostile way, he wasn’t responding at all.

Every time something specifically different to their tasted passed by, their reactions would seem as if they had been nailed to the ground in fear, like a startled deer caught in the glaring headlights of a passing car. Unsure how to act.

Maedhros had been hiding away in his room for the remainder of the day. Each time you came to visit he somehow scrunched deeper away into himself at his desk. Assuring you that all was fine with a smile that looked just a tiny bit forced.   He had refused to come to dinner this evening, you were starting to worry about him.

It was 01:48 am when you finally decided to come ask him what happened. The majority of the Fëanorians had retired to their rooms, so that gave you some guarantee that there would be little interruption.

You walked upstairs quietly. Cicada’s and birds were singing their songs loudly out in the garden, contrasting heavily with the silence in the house. Their song always seemed so much louder at night.

You gently knocked on the door, hoping not to wake Maglor in case he was sleeping. A barely audible “come in” came from behind the door, and you stepped inside. Maglor was indeed already asleep, his back turned towards you. Maedhros was still awake and sitting at the desk with a lone candle lighting up the space.

He turned away from the desk slightly, but not enough to show his face to you. “Is everything alright y/n ? Why are you not asleep?” he asked in a hushed tone. You walked a bit closer to him so you wouldn’t have to speak so loud. “I’m fine, but we missed you during dinner as well as during the rest of the day. Is anything bothering you Maedhros?” you whispered. His body tensed for a moment when you said that. He let out a sigh. “No, I am fine, it is nothing you need to worry about.”

You stood there for a moment, quietly pondering what to do or say next.  You remembered that somewhere in the Silmarillion it was described that Maedhros had an extremely low self esteem regarding his appearance post Angband.

You glanced over his hunched form. Taking in the many scars upon his skin. Lingering on his missing hand for a few seconds. You knew very well what horrors he’d been through. You felt a wave of sadness rush over you. It pained you that he had suffered so much, and to see that even now, far from the horrors of Angband he was still suffering.  You wanted to help him somehow, perhaps offer him some words to console him. Unfortunately words were failing you at this moment.  So all you could do was stand there by his side, pondering and mulling over things quietly.

You were startled from your meditative haze by a short knock on the door. The door opened to reveal a cranky looking Caranthir. He looked dishevelled and had darker than normal circles under his eyes. He stepped further into the room, eyeing both you and Maedhros with questioning eyes. “What is going on here? Are you two done having your tea party yet?” he hissed.

Maedhros sighed and turned towards his brother. “Y/n only came to ask if everything was okay. No tea parties here dear brother.” He said.  You stepped to the side so you could face both Fëanorians at the same time.  You thought it over and decided it might be good to get information from both of them over tea. Perhaps Caranthir’s tea party joke wasn’t too far off.

In a soft voice you asked them to come downstairs for some herbal tea. Chamomile, lavender, Valerian, you had all three. Something for each person’s needs.

As such it turned out that all three of you were now sitting at the kitchen table drinking tea. Maedhros got the strongest herb; Valerian. Most commonly used for destressing an individual to the point of near knockout. This of course depends on the dosage. You used loose leaf teas, so you made sure to be careful.  Caranthir had chamomile and you drank lavender. Caranthir had complained before that he felt stressed and couldn’t sleep well. Chamomile helps with relaxation, unfortunately Caranthir didn’t fancy the flavor much. You had gotten a streak of insomnia from the sudden changes in your life, this combined with poor digestive health led to you now drinking lavender tea.

You stayed still for a while, observing the scene. Both Caranthir and Maedhros were starting to visibly relax and unwind from your herbal tea. The night air was starting to chill a little.  The silence between the three of you was comfortable.

Maedhros set down his cup on the table, he sighed and reeled back into the chair. He rubbed his face with his hand, contemplating what to say or do.  He broke the silence not too long after that.  

“I felt exposed this afternoon. Too much for my comfort.”

This startled both you and Caranthir. Caranthir knew from the many years he’d spent with his brother that speaking of his appearance was challenging to say the least. Maedhros always covered his scars as much as possible, especially post Angband. After his torture in the hands of Morgoth, he became cold and discarded a lot of things he used to care about appearance wise.  He had cut his hair as short as that of the human men, and refused to wear the clothes he once wore. They drew too much attention to his “unsightly parts” as he would say. Even his copper circlet, made by his father, had been banished to the back of one of his drawers to collect dust and grime.

Losing his right hand on top of the scarring, was almost the last drop for the bucket to overflow. Through his time in Mandos he has recovered slightly, but far from enough.

“I understand how you feel somewhat. Though my worries are perhaps not as great as yours, I still feel insecure about my appearance as well.” Caranthir suddenly said.

Caranthir has always been made fun of due to his red facedness. His birthmarks span not only over his face but on his neck and arms too. Elvish beauty standards are not always inclusive. Especially in the elder days when there simply were no other known races yet. There was no appreciation for differences back then. It sounds rather black and white, perhaps it is, maybe not. Unfortunately in the times when he was younger he simply didn’t have anyone else who looked the same. So the constant taunting and poking only further fuelled his doubts and insecurities. At some point he truly felt like his birthmarks were a curse.

You felt grieved to hear their stories. From the book you can only get so much, yet now you got to see them face to face. It’s so incredibly different. Nowadays we also have many beauty standards. Mostly they are Eurocentric. Luckily lately this has started to change, even if only a little. A little often goes a long way. Acceptance is slowly becoming the new normal.

You looked at the two elves, taking in their appearance.

Maedhros’ hair has become much longer again, with beautiful red waves and curls. He had freckles all over his skin. Scattered around in clusters of golden stars and milky ways. His scars were deep and colored in silver like lightning. A lone dimple could be spotted on his right side when he smiled in a certain way. He somehow looked incredibly beautiful yet intimidating. Despite his scars. His blue eyes seemed warm, not cold as described in the book. Though maybe it’s the sleepiness catching up to him.

Caranthir’s hair was a dark brown, nearly black. It was smooth as silk in appearance with a slight bend at the ends. His eyes were just as piercing as his brother’s, though his are silver, not blue. On his skin what people call unsightly birthmarks, to you looked like hundreds of lively red carnations. Blooming freely and undisturbed across his skin. It was a stark contrast on his pale skin. A strong contrast that was inviting.  He looked beautiful to you as well.

It made you wonder just how beautiful Lúthien must’ve been, if she was considered even more beautiful than all others. And what of the Valar & Maiar? It made your head spin just trying to think about it.

Now though it was your turn to feel embarrassed. You had been in a trance describing their features. Unknowingly you had spoken all of it aloud. Both elves were too stunned to speak. They could only stare at you in disbelief.

You felt your blood boil in embarrassment. The lavender tea seemingly did it’s work a little too well. You wanted to sink through the ground right now. Unfortunately that wasn’t an option, the only option you had was to sit still and listen to their newly formed thoughts.  

“Thank you….I guess. But I’m quite certain my red face does not remind anyone other than you of carnation flowers.” Caranthir huffed. His face was even redder than normal, it even reached his ears. He got up and walked off “To bed.” He had muttered. He looked back at you and Maedhros, still sitting at the table. Caranthir huffed again like a child and stormed off as quiet as he could.

“That was very kind of you to speak so highly of our appearances. I am not certain if I myself could see it the way you do any time soon. But I will try to keep your opinion in mind more often. It surely does sound far more gentle than my own thoughts.” Maedhros said quietly.

“Have a good night y/n. We’ll speak more tomorrow.”

He stood up and walked away to his shared room. Undoubtedly later questioned by Maglor.