#malya

“Cousin Elrond!” Celebrimbor exclaims brightly, adjusting the baby on his hip as he turns abruptly from the elf he is talking to and hurries down the steps. “You’re here early! We weren’t expecting you or Gil for another week yet.”

Elrond blinks at him, never quite ready for his cousin’s…exuberance. “That’s a baby,” he says, forgoing any greeting.

“Yes, this is Malya - say hello to your cousin Elrond, Malya.”

Malya, apparently, does not want to do this and buries her face into the fabric of Celebrimbor’s tunic.

This, in fact, makes Elrond just a bit more confused. Who was this child? Was she Celebrimbor’s child?

He shakes his head. That is, of course, ridiculous - Celebrimbor isn’t married.

A young girl bursts out of the doors at the top of the stairs, startling quite a few people milling around, and half runs, half leaps her way down towards them.

“Atto!” She exclaims, coming to a skidding halt and ignoring the fact that Elrond is standing right there. “Atya says that a bird just arrived from Aunty Galadriel. It won’t let him take the letter so he needs you.” She nods seriously. “The bird keeps attacking him.”

Celebrimbor makes a face. “Your aunt needs to find better carrier birds.” He laughs, apparently to himself. “Thank you for telling me. Now, Nenya, run up and tell your father that I will there momentarily and try and get the bird under control. And Vilya,” he turns to a pair of boys who appeared without Elrond noticing. “can you and Narya please find Fenordh and tell xem that the king’s herald arrived earlier than expected?”

As quickly as they came, they disappear again, Nenya with her head held high and with a great air of importance about her which doesn’t quite fit with her childish countenance and Vilya chasing his brother.

“Sorry about that, Galadriel still doesn’t like Mai even though I explained that he’s not evil and he doesn’t want to kill me.” Celebrimbor grins brightly at Elrond, adjusting Malya’s position on his hip.

“Mai?” Elrond asks, trying to work out whatever it is that’s going on.

“Annatar,” Celebrimbor explains as if Elrond should know this. “Mairon is another of his names.”

“Mairon…” Elrond says weakly, the name sparking uncomfortable familiarity. “You…”

“Atto!” Narya calls, leaning over the fence of a balcony about three floors above. Celebrimbor turns, shielding his eyes with his hand, distractedly letting Malya go when she wiggles to get down. “Atya says that the bird has destroyed the linen cupboard!”

“Oh Eru,” Celebrimbor mutters and calls up to his daughter that he will be there in a moment and to try and get the bird to calm down.

Seemingly forgetting all about Malya and Elrond, he runs up the stairs and disappears into the main building.

Someone tugs on the edge of his tunic.

"'Rond," Malya mumbles, looking up at him with wide eyes, "'m hungry."

Elrond blinks down at her, entirely unsure what to do with this child. "Well then, we should probably...have some food."

He digs around in his pocket a moment, trying to remember if he had pocketed any of the dried fruit from his last meal. He doesn't find any but he does find a bag of dried seaweed that he doesn't remember packing but he supposes is good enough as food.

So with Malya happily eating that on her place on his hip, they venture further into the palace.

1. who said “i love you” first?

mal, which surprises nat not gonna lie, like she was very certain it was gonna be her and she was waiting for a good moment but here comes mr tracker dropping the l word.

2. what are their primary love languages?

mal's way of showing love is through physical touch, while nat opts more for words of affirmation. both of them do quality time though.

3. who uses cheesy pick-up lines?

nat, because she spends entirely too much time with nikolai who just gives her cheesy lines to see which ones make mal the most 😳because he is nothing if not a menace.

4. how often do they cuddle/engage in pda?

not super super often on the pda front because it makes nat a lil shy at first but mal is like,,,i wanna show you off. cuddling however...pretty much anytime they're able to share a bed tbfh.

5. who initiates kisses?

at the beginning of their relationship, definitely mal. he's definitely the more physical one in their relationship so he's always like starting something, but once she gets comfy, she initiates her fair share of kisses as well.

6. who’s the big and little spoon?

mal is the big spoon nine times out of ten but (and he'll never admit it) he does enjoy being little spoon every once in a while.

7. what are their favorite things to do together?

anything outdoorsy. mal grew up spending his time in the meadow and like just running wild in the woods and shit and spent so much time tracking and nat grew up spending a ton of time in the woods with her dad so they're both super into like nature and shit that like just spending time doing outdoor activities? that's their jam.

8. who’s better at comforting the other?

i think when it comes to verbal comfort, probably nat because she can have a better handle on what needs to be said at a certain moment whereas mal is probably better at physical/just being there with her kind of comfort, like holding her and stuff.

9. who’s more protective?

mal mal mal mal.

10. do they prefer verbal or physical affection?

nat at first is more like give me verbal affection because a lot of the whole mal/alina shit kinda makes her a little insecure when they first get together (meanwhile alina's off with shreya living her best little life anyways), but after a while, she kinda gets used to mal's more physical affection approach (and she grows to love it but refuses to act like lol). mal's pretty much the opposite, like he wants the physicality and then nat's like just giving affection through words and shit and he's like you know what this love shit ain't half bad.

11. what are some songs that apply to their relationship, in-universe or otherwise?

... august by taylor swift because angst (mainly late s&s/early r&r) and maybe carry you by ruelle and fleurie!

12. what kind of nicknames do they call each other?

mal calls her nat mostly but also calls her tally every once in a while. nat calls him malyen when she's teasing, but that's not much of a nickname.

13. who remembers the little things?