Archive of Our Own

The bright sun prickled at Ecthelion's eyes. He tried to open them, but they felt too heavy--and why was the sun up so early, anyhow? His head throbbed as he slowly became aware of his surroundings. He was on something soft and something warm was curled against his side. Events of last night came back in pieces through the fog of his sleep or was it a hangover? There was something about ships and sailing and oh no! Ecthelion sat up quickly, and immediately regretted it. Piercing pain shot across his temples and the sour taste of alcohol and bile rose in his throat.

“Glorfindel.” He groaned, pushing awake the mass of golden hair next to him. “Did we agree to go sailing with Gil-galad last night?”

Glorfindel mumbled something akin to yes.

“We have not taken the ship out since…” Ecthelion trailed. “In years.”

In fact, they had never taken out the boat. They only had elaborate picnics and romantic dinners on the boat. Everything Ecthelion knew about the boat was from a book and Glorfindel’s knowledge was almost exclusively from talking to the mariners at the docks and the tavern by the bay.

“Ten more minutes.” Glorfindel mumbled into the sheets. A strong arm coaxed Ecthelion back into the comfort of the soft mattress and Glorfindel snuggled into the crook of his neck. “’Tis too early to be this worried. Just ten more minutes.”

“We need to go now.” Ecthelion said, but let himself be cuddled. “We should at least take the ship out as practice before Gil-galad shows up. I...I think I might have bet the ship.”

“We made a bet?” Glorfindel rolled on his back, rubbing his eyes. “We have to stop drinking with Gil-galad.”

Ecthelion, having been released from his husband’s embrace, ambled over to the table and drank deeply from a cup.

“He went on and on about ships.” Ecthelion refilled the cup and drained it. “You don’t think he would really take our ship, do you?”

“Of course not!” Glorfindel propped himself on his elbows. “He would not, would he?”

“I don’t know,” Ecthelion said. “What would Gil-galad want with our ship anyway? He’s got two already!”

“Neither of them are as beautiful as ours,” Glorfindel said. “They are so boring, not a splash of color.”

“We better go. I’m not losing our ship to Gil-galad of all people.” He refilled the cup with water and pushed it into Glorfindel’s hands. “Get dressed.”

Glorfindel did not move, only watched Ecthelion leave their chambers . The bed was soft and comfortable, his arms and legs were too heavy to move and each new thought ached. He let his heavy eyes close and he drifted back to sleep.

“Glorfindel! We have to go now!”

Glorfindel jolted awake and in the process spilled water on himself. He sat up and scanned the room for Ecthelion. He was nowhere to be found.

“Ecthelion?” he called.

Reluctantly, he changed out of his damp clothes and padded out of their chambers. He finally found Ecthelion, fully dressed, frantically pulling out books from their small study.

“What are you doing?” Glorfindel asked.

“I’m looking for that book on sailing we borrowed from Tuor when we bought the ship,” Ecthelion said. “I thought I saw it in the study somewhere.”

“If you are still not ready, why did you wake me up?” Glorfindel complained.

“You can help me look instead of being grumpy about it,” Ecthelion replied, pulling out another shelf of books.

“When was the last time you read the book?”

“Recently.”

“Uh-huh. How recently?” Glorfindel pressed, shuffling through some books on the other end of the study.

“Recently enough,” Ecthelion snapped. “Oh this is useless. Maybe it’s in the parlor.”

Half an hour later, and a thorough search of the parlor, the study, their chambers, the study again, their guest chambers and in a desperate attempt, the cellars, they had found no sign of that book or any book on sailing.

“Book or not, we have to go now, if you want to practice before His Royal Smugness Gil-galad arrives.”

“But without the book…”

“How about this one?” Glorfindel pulled out a book from one of the shelves and flipped through it. “Oh look, it’s got pictures of a ship too! It does not look like ours, but the principle should be the same.”

“Tuor was pretty insistent that we use that book for our ship,” Echtelion said.

“Oh it will be fine. It is simple enough, get the wind in the sail and the ship moves,” Glorfindel said. “I learnt some things from the mariners. Surely, you recall some things from the book? Between the two of us, we can work the ship.”

Ecthelion and Glorfindel were quite proud of their little ship. The ship in question floated at the dock, gleaming in the mid-morning sun. The seals of their houses were painted on the side of the ship, right below the name. It was the fruit of many hours of labour. Many hours picking and choosing the shades for the sail, and then many hours hunting for the matching shade of ropes and more hours finding threads to embroider the seals of their houses on it. Of course, that was not all. Glorfindel had traveled several months down the coast of Aman to find the shells they used to make the perfect shade of blue for Ecthelion’s house colors. It took them several more months to find craftsmen with expertise to help them not just get the blue paint but also dye the threads and ropes in the exact same shade of blue.

“Gil-galad will be here in two hours. That should be enough time to take the ship out and practice,” Ecthelion said.

“Yes, plenty of time.” Glorfindel was looking through his book. “I suppose we need to row out of the dock first.”

“Those railings look new,” Ecthelion commented.

“Oh, you have not been to the docks in a while.” Glorfindel snapped the book shut. “Come, let me show you what I have been working on.”

Glorfindel excitedly pulled Ecthelion along the docks pointing at various small improvements he’d been making, before pulling him on the deck and pointing at more small improvements. Ecthelion walked around the deck taking the boat in, as Glorfindel talked. He ran his hand over the smooth, polished wooden railing, which every so often was carved with a flower or a fountain. There were ropes, weaved of yellow and blue neatly piled on the deck. Ecthelion picked them up.

“I cannot believe you journeyed to the far beaches just to harvest the shells for this blue.” Ecthelion said. “But I am glad you did. It is brillant.”

“When you said the blue came from your Telerin ancestors, it was very fitting that that blue would adorn the ship,” Glorfindel said. “You can admire the boat once we are out of the dock. Help me look for the oars.”

This was the first sign that this endeavor was going to end in a disaster.

“Oars are the long paddles, right?” Ecthelion asked, sheepish.

And this was not so much a second sign but rather a flaming beacon bright on moonless night that this endeavor was going to end in a disaster.

“Yes, yes long paddles,” Glorfindel said absently as he went searching around the deck while Ecthelion looked in their storage under the benches. There were some nets, a blanket, crumpled pieces of parchment, some looking glasses, and some cutlery but no sign of anything oar shaped.

“Find anything?” Glorfindel called.

“No, nothing. Just some odds and ends.”

“I’m going to look on the docks, or see if we can borrow them.”

Twenty minutes later, Glorfindel returned with a pair of oars. He pushed one of them into Ecthelion’s hands.

“Are these supposed to attach anywhere?” Ecthelion asked, looking around the deck.

“No, I think you are supposed to use them to paddle out, like a barge,” Glorfindel replied

He walked to the aft of the ship and Ecthelion followed. They stood on either side of the deck and lowered their oars into the water. Ecthelion used the oar to push the ship away from the dock.

“Ready?” Ecthelion called. “On three. One, two, three.”

They began to row in tandem and the boat moved forward with pace that made a sloth seem quick. They were only a few feet from the dock when the ship swerved to the side, instead of forward.

“What was that?!” Glorfindel exclaimed.

“I don’t know,” Ecthelion said. “Maybe we mistimed our strokes. Let’s try again.”

The ship swerved again towards the dock.

“Oh look, it is still tied up over yonder.” Ecthelion pointed at the golden lines fore and aft still made quite fast to the dock.

He freed it and dropped it into the water. They resumed their rowing. They managed to get a few more feet before the ship jerked back and they could not move forward.

“Oh what now?” Ecthelion was annoyed. He just wanted to get to the open water, so he could go back to admiring the boat that they had poured so much love into.

“Anchors!” Glorfindel exclaimed as if he had discovered some long lost secret. “It must be the anchor. Celebrían and I were practicing dropping anchors the last time we were here.”

He spied the rope holding the anchor on the bow of the boat. He went to free it. He thought he finally understood the phrase ‘Drop anchor!’. He did not.

“Glorfindel, are you sure we are supposed to leave the anchor behind? It sounds rather important,” Ecthelion asked.

“Of course,” Glorfindel said, confident in the dots he had recently connected. “Why do you think the sailors are yelling ‘Drop anchor!’ all the time?”

It was true. The sailors did say that a lot. Well, they did say a lot of things that Ecthelion did not quite grasp, that was when he bothered to listen. He could not recall the book mentioning anything about dropping anchors when getting out of the dock. Well, Glorfindel had been coming to the docks more often than he had, maybe he picked up some things from the sailors.

Glorfindel “dropped the anchor” and returned to his place with the oar.

“This time we’ll make it out of the dock,” he said.

Dip, pull, lift, and repeat. They set a steady pace and they slowly made their way out of the dock. It was harder than the sailors made it look. It seemed so effortless when they did it and moved at a faster pace than they did.

“This should stop all the nosy questions from Gil-galad,” Ecthelion panted. His arms were already burning in protest. “Of course, we know how to sail our own ship.”

Thirty minutes later, with their arms sore, sweat dripping down their backs, and slightly breathless, they had left the dock behind.

“Those sailors make it look so easy don’t they?” Ecthelion remarked, dropping his oar and stretching his arm.

“They do! I wonder if it is all the singing to please the Lord of Waters to ease their way.”

“Well, whatever it is, I bet they aren’t covered in sweat just by paddling out of the dock,” Ecthelion said, taking off his vest and tossing it on the bench. “Well, what does your book say we should do now”

“Oh right, the book.” Glorfindel scurried around the deck looking for it, but there was no sign of it. “I can’t find the book.”

“Don’t tell me you lost it,” Ecthelion said. “We can’t have lost two books in one day! Where did you last see it?”

“I had it in my hand when we were looking for the oars. I went back to the dock to get the oars and… oh no, I must have left it there when I was trying to pull the oars free. Do you remember what your book said we should do next?”

“Hmm… let me think. Sails? It said something about raising the sails.”

“Of course! Let me undo the sails,” Glorfindel said, walking over to the boom. He undid the gaskets and freed the sail. “Okay, Ecthelion. Pull those ropes near the aft.”

Ecthelion picked them up and tugged on them. The sail rose up a little. He pulled them until the sail was fully unfurled but the ship did not move. It bobbed in the gentle waves as the sail fluttered in the wind.

“That does not look like the drawings in the book,” Ecthelion said.

“No, it’s not supposed to do that!” Glorfindel said, crossing the deck. His foot caught in a pile of ropes and he tripped. Ecthelion rushed forward to catch him.

“Stay here,” Ecthelion said. “I may have left the book on sailing in the storage last time we were here.”

Ecthelion opened the cupboard under the bench in search of the book he may or may not have left there. He pulled out the nets and found a brown leather bound book tangled in them.

“Aha, there’s a book in here!” Ecthelion said, trying to fish the book out of the nets. “Yes! This is the book!” He kicked the tangle of nets aside and sat down on the bench, propping the heavy book open across his lap.

“Well, let’s see what it says,” he said, flipping through the pages. “Ah look!”

He paused on a page that contained illustrations of the different sail positions. His eyes glazed over the descriptions, only deciphering every other word. Was this all in Quenya? Glorfindel came to stand next to him, trying to get a peek into the book.

“Okay, looks like we need to move this stick over to the side,” Ecthelion said, pointing at the boom on the illustration. “It does not say how to move the stick. Just something about lines and sheets.”

“Lines?” Glorfindel puzzled, reaching for the book. “That can’t be right.”

“Yeah that's what it says, ‘Secure the boom with the running line and then pull the main sheet.’,” Ecthelion read aloud.

“Let me look,” Glorfindel reached for the book.

“No, I’m still reading.” Ecthelion swatted his hands away. He turned the page and he found he understood even less.

“Well, find anything?” Glorfindel asked, reaching for the book again. “Let me try.”

“I’m still looking, Glorfindel!” Ecthelion snapped. “Go hover over something else.”

“Let me just look. I can help!” Glorfindel replied, tugging the book towards him. “I have been talking to the mariners, I can recognize the terms.”

“No, I can do it,” Ecthelion cried, gripping the book tighter and pulling it back.

“Just let me take a peek.”

Another tug.

“If you wanted to read, you shouldn’t have lost your book.”

Pull.

“It was an accident! Let me look.”

Tug.

“No, I’m reading!”

Pull.

“It’ll be faster.”

Tug.

“It’ll be faster if you weren’t hovering.”

Pull.

“You’re not even getting anywhere.”

Tug.

“I would if you didn’t keep interrupting me!”

Pull.

“Only trying to help!”

Tug.

“Stop trying. You’re just wasting time. We need to get back to the dock soon.”

Pull.

“Then let me help!”

Tug.

“Fine! Let’s see what you can understand.”

Ecthelion pushed the book into his hands but Glorfindel was not expecting it and he tugged hard at the same time. He stumbled back, only to have his legs get caught in the tangle of nets. In the mad dash to steady himself, the book slipped from his grip. It went flying in a magnificent arc and right into the water with a plop! Glorfindel scrambled to join Ecthelion to stare pitifully at the small brown book sinking into the depths.

Ecthelion turned to glare at Glorfindel. The winds shifted and the sail filled behind them, and boom swerved away from the deck, the line rigged to the boom trailing after.

“Oh no! Don’t let the stick get too far!” Ecthelion cried, distracted from his ire.

Glorfindel leapt across the deck and grabbed the line.

“That does it! I’m tying all the ropes down,” Glorfindel grumbled, as he wrapped the line around the railing. He knotted it once, and then once more. He picked the main sheet and any other lines in his vicinity and tied it over each other on the railing

“Glorfindel! Glorfindel!” Ecthelion’s voice bubbled with excitement, his hand fluttering against Glorfindel’s shoulders. “Look! We’re moving!”

“We’re moving?” Glorfindel looked up. “We’re moving!”

Glorfindel whooped with glee and pulled Ecthelion into a brief hug before pulling them to the bow. The warm wind swept through their hair as the ship cut through the waves, taking them to open waters. Now that they were unburdened from the immense task of sailing (or so they thought), they could appreciate the ocean air, and smell of salt, and the sound of the gentle waves breaking against the hull. They took in the sight of clear water as far as they could see, shimmering in the late morning sun. Glorfindel took a deep breath, savoring the salty air and let the sound of the waves wash over him. He looked to Ecthelion who leaned over the edge, watching the water, suddenly realizing that this was what he wanted when they bought the ship together. Just the two of them, on an adventure.

“Beautiful, isn’t it?” Ecthelion commented. “I wish we had taken out the ship sooner.”

“No matter, we’re here now,” Glorfindel said. “Even if it is under the threat of possibly losing the ship.”

“Well then, we better get back to the dock and win this bet,” Ecthelion said. “When that’s done, we shall learn to do this properly. Think of all the adventures we could have!”

Glorfindel clasped his shoulder as they made their way back aft. Ecthelion went to undo the lines that Glorfindel had knotted over the guardrail. After much tugging and pulling, Ecthelion managed to free them from the guardrail, but now he held a tangle of lines in his hand. The sail lowered and fell on the deck. Glorfindel looked to Ecthelion holding the tangle of ropes. Glorfindel could not claim to know what the rope for the sail was called. He was certain it had a special name, all of the things on a boat had special names. There were times when Tuor and Voronwë got started on ships, and Glorfindel was certain they were speaking a different language.

“Ecthelion, we still have quite a ways to go. Pull the sail back up,” he called.

Ecthelion considered the tangle of ropes in his hand. He carefully tugged one of them and the boom swerved around. Glorfindel ducked just in time to avoid being hit.

“What are you trying to do? Decapitate me?”

“No!” Ecthelion cried, fumbling with the ropes. He sharply tugged another one and the sail unfurled. The wind filled the sail and the boom swerved again, and this time it headed straight for Ecthelion. He jumped on the boom to avoid being hit as it swept across the deck. Ecthelion clung to the boom as it swayed above the waters.

“Ecthelion!” Glorfindel rushed forward, peering over the edge of the boat.

“I am on the…” Ecthelion faltered. What was this long stick thing called again? “The sail stick” he finished lamely. “Get me back on the deck.”

“Hold tight,” Glorfindel called, as he desperately tried to find the correct rope.

“Hurry up!”

Several seconds passed, but to Glorfindel, it seemed like hours. He tried to undo the knots but they were as tangled as a bird’s nest.

“Glorfindel, I’m slipping.”

Glorfindel, in panic, just tugged on all the ropes at once. Several things happened simultaneously, not all of them bad. The boom swerved back. Ecthelion jumped back on the deck and the next moment he had pulled Glorfindel down the deck. The sails furled again and they were moving.

“We should probably untangle this,” Glorfindel said, pushing the ropes back into Ecthelion’s hands.

There was very little wind now, far less than when they left shore. The water around them was calm and clear, and Glorfindel could see quite far down on account of the crystal water and, of course, nearly perfect elven eyesight. While Ecthelion sat on the built-in bench and tried to untangle the line, Glorfindel rested his hands on the edge of their newly acquired watercraft and watched a school of fish dart as a group one way and then the other before they scattered off in a less structured group. A ripple in the water alerted him to the same creature which spooked the minnows, and he looked to the left, blinked, and scrambled back to the side Ecthelion was on. He was almost so quick that he nearly tripped over the rope coiled on the floor. Thankfully, there was Ecthelion, to help slow his movement, and the bench, for him to drop down upon as he warned, “I think there is a shark out there!”

“A shark?! In these waters?” Ecthelion abandoned the rope and went to look. “I think this is a dolphin,” he shouted back.

“A dolphin? Have you never seen a dolphin?” came a voice from the water.

Glorfindel’s eyes widened. “Does the shark have a hostage?”

“I think that is the shark,” Ecthelion said as he looked back down.

“I am not a shark either, thank you very much! A shark--indeed! Although, there was a time when I would have embraced the chaos of such a prince of the seas, I, my fine fellows, am a whale.” If the creature could have preened, from the tone of his voice, he would have. Though no creature was he. “However did the two of you become lost in my master’s seas on such a tiny boat so far from shore? You Elves do know it is not nature to come this far East, do you not?”

“This is not like the last time,” defended Ecthelion at the same time Glorfindel asked, “Who are you?”

“I should be offended you cannot recognize me,” answered the whale as he lazily circled the ship.

“You seem rather small to be Uin,” reasoned Glorfindel as Ecthelion cautiously kept an eye on the talking whale while he returned to work on the rope.

“I should rather think so,” laughed the whale. He flicked a minimal amount of water at Glorfindel with his tail.

“Hey! Watch the hair,” warned Glorfindel as he held up his arms to block the attack. “So you are not Uin. And you have a sassy mouth, so--”

“Thank you for noticing,” said the whale proudly.

“Ossë .” Ecthelion triumphantly managed to untie another knot. “It has to be Ossë . No other Maia of the Seas would be so flippant, nor so willing to stop by for a chat.”

“Oh, I am not here for a social call,” Ossë the Whale told them as he swam around the boat in the opposite direction. “My master could sense a disturbance in the sea and sent me to investigate. And also to make sure the two of you do not drown. Lord Namo would be extremely upset to find you occupying his halls again.”

“Why would anyone think we would be unable to handle ourselves on the high seas?” questioned Ecthelion. Glorfindel, too, looked affronted.

“First, this is just one sea, not seas, just the one, and even on one very calm sea, there are doubts about two land dwellers such as yourselves. To begin with, one normally does not venture this far out in such a small party if they lack knowledge of basic swimming techniques,” explained Ossë .

“Who said I cannot swim?” huffed Ecthelion.

“...demands the Elf who died in his own fountain.”

“Balrogs are heavy,” muttered Ecthelion.

“The size of balrogs has been greatly exaggerated over the years,” Ossë said. “Regardless of whatever happened then, the simple fact that you cannot distinguish a dolphin from a whale or a whale from a shark gives me serious pause.”

“To be fair, I have seen whales, and they looked nothing like you do.” Ecthelion finished coiling the rope neatly and set it on the bench before he walked over to join Glorfindel in fuller conversation with their unexpected acquaintance. “They were prettier, and--”

“Oh, think I am ugly, do you?”

“...noooo…” Ecthelion turned to the side and pulled a face for only Glorfindel to see before he looked back down into the water. “Sleek. The whales I saw were sleek, and they were…”

“Big and dangerous,” cut in Glorfindel. “They had freckles and came with their own swords.”

“Yes, well, those are Helcaraxë whales. Here, where the waters are warmer, you will not find them. Just as well, too--can you just imagine?” And a moment later, the shape Ossë had taken shifted, elongating slightly without growing overly large. A sizable tusk emerged from his head, and speckles populated his skin in a sudden fashion. “Clearly good for navigating the icy waters of the North, but not the best choice in parts of the sea which are heavily populated and traversed by Elves in boats who do not know what they are doing.”

“We read a book,” Ecthelion said with narrowed eyes. Glorfindel looked more interested in making sure his hair had not become wet anywhere from the earlier splash.

“Was it ‘My First Sailing Adventure’ or ‘ABCs of Boats’?” asked Ossë , still circling the small ship.

“Ignore him,” advised Glorfindel.

“How can I ignore him? He’s right off the...sternbowthinger heckling me.”

“Just pretend you are in Gondolin again, and ignore him the same way you ignored Egalmoth and Duilin when they made fun of your unicorn helmet.”

Ecthelion became very quiet. “People made fun of my helmet?” He appeared to pout slightly.

“What? No...uhm...more of a...casual fashion discussion that included very specific constructive criticism.” Glorfindel refused to make eye contact.

Ecthelion did not seem convinced. “What did they say about it?”

“Honestly, I thought you heard most of what they said. They never did it in private--you were right there sometimes.”

“I could never hear much with that helmet on! It muffled most of the noise of battle which honestly allowed me to concentrate when I was fighting.”

“That makes sense. But it did protect your head. And your hair,” Glorfindel realized.

“True, and yet, a giant horn lodged in a very heavy balrog makes it quite difficult to get out of a fountain in full armor, especially if the balrog is on top,” recalled Ecthelion.

“Kinky,” came the unsolicited reply from the sea.

Glorfindel rolled his eyes. “Are you still here?” he scoffed.

“As long as you remain, my master bid me stay and observe, and try to keep anyone from drowning today. He said nothing of keeping Elves from making fools of themselves or recalling their melancholy demises from ages past, so carry on my good fellows.”

“Incredible,” muttered Ecthelion as he scouted for an end of the line. It all looked like a neverending tangle, with no beginning to be found. “Do you suppose one of the boat boxes might have extra rope in them, Glorfindel?”

“I suppose they might,” mused Glorfindel. “Did you put some in there?”

“I did not,” said Ecthelion as he made his way to the storage bench.

“Then, no. Not unless it came with the boat,” said Glorfindel sadly.

It did not come with the boat, though there was an old tackle box, a map of the shores of Tol Eressea, half of a broken fishing rod, and a bucket which was missing a handle. “We shall have to remember to bring extra rope next time,” said Ecthelion.

“Yes. And food! I should have packed a picnic for us. I did not expect the rowing to be so tiring!” said Glorfindel, quite exasperated. He rubbed at a bit of a knot in his shoulder from the unexpected use of muscles that were not accustomed to an hour of rowing, or any rowing, really. “I could have made some of those delightful little cucumber sandwiches with the dill filling. A citrus salad would be absolutely refreshing, too. Oh! And apple tarts, though I would have had to have known ahead of time to make them last night for us. An apple tart would be so good right now, with a nice glass of lemonade. Or tea. I would even settle for a cup of tea right now.” Even though sailing skills were not present, both of them knew enough not to try to drink the water straight from the sea, and so Glorfindel could only continue to imagine what they might have eaten had they thought to pack a lunch.

Ecthelion was working a loop through another loop, oblivious to the fact he was causing part of the coil to wrap around one of his own ankles and include his leg in the tangled mess. “Is it a picnic if it is held at sea?”

“I should think it could be,” reasoned Glorfindel. “If we had the blanket, and those little sandwiches, and ate after bruchtime--”

“That is your great concern at the moment?” asked Ossë , who was back to his earlier whale form so he could come closer to the vessel without causing damage.

“No, obviously this rope is!” Ecthelion yanked it up so quickly as he shouted this to the Maia that he upended himself on account of the winding of it about his ankle. Luckily, Glorfindel was close at hand, and caught him under the arms before he could fall.

Once Ecthelion was righted again, Glorfindel assisted in wrestling the rope from Ecthelion, and stood up with the offending knot in his hands. Looking straight into Ecthelion’s eyes, he said in a rather foreboding voice, “Do not engage! He will only use your words against you.”

“I can just as easily heckle your actions,” said Ossë . “If you are worried about your rope, you may wish to work on actually untangling it soon.”

“And why does it matter to you how quickly we work on such a task?” asked Ecthelion without looking up from the triple knot both he and Glorfindel were puzzling over.

“Oh, it does not matter to me,” answered Ossë in a way that was perceived to be followed by a yawn. “But, see yonder? There are others ashore, newly arrived, and they appear to be watching you.”

Ecthelion and Glorfindel dropped the rope and scrambled to the part of the ship closest to the shore--indeed, they could see another boat, a bit larger than their own, being prepared by three people.

“Is that Gil-galad? Oh, dear me, it is,” fussed Glorfindel. “He is early! And what’s more, he has Elrond and Celebrían with him!”

“Where else would they be? And the rope is still a mess! We will never convince him of our sailing prowess if he sees what has become of our ship,” groaned Ecthelion as he hurried back to the rope pile. “Maybe he does not yet know this is our ship, though, and will wait at the dock expecting us!”

“Yes! They will not leave without us, and they do not know we have a ship!” Glorfindel sighed with relief.

“I can fix that!” And off swam Ossë after a chortle, diving below as shouts to the contrary were lost to the waves.

“Hurry hurry hurry!” shouted Ecthelion. He himself was frantically yanking at the knotted rope.

“Stop stop stop!” returned Glorfindel as he pried the rope from Ecthelion’s hands. “You are making it worse! Just breathe,” he advised as he took Ecthelion by the shoulders and turned him so that his back was to the shore. “We just need to find the end and work our way from there.” As calmly as he could, Glorfindel scooped up the nearest tangle of ropes and deposited them into Ecthelion’s arms. “Here. Just...hold these,” Glorfindel said. He tried to keep an eye on the shore without looking too worried that the boat carrying their friends was leaving the dock.

“This was a bad idea,” bemoaned Ecthelion. “We really need to stop drinking with Gil-galad.” For a few minutes, Ecthelion stayed silent as Glorfindel worked on the ropes. It was when he sneaked a peek over his shoulder that he whimpered. “How are they halfway here already? It took us so long to row this thing out here!”

Glorfindel, whose concentration had been on the knotted ropes, looked up and was also surprised to see the other boat gaining on them. “None of them are rowing, either. How are they doing that?!”

“It must be Ossë . He is probably pulling them along,” theorized Ecthelion. “That is cheating, too! Maybe we can find a loophole to get out of this bet.”

“Are you even sure you made a bet? Maybe you only think you made a bet,” Glorfindel considered. “We drank a LOT.”

“Why does their sail look so much better than ours?” wondered Ecthelion. Indeed, the sails on the other boat were being utilized to masterfully capture the wind to pull the vessel along. They were curved in perfect proportion, painting a picturesque representation of a day on the lake. Or in this case, the sea. As the boat came closer, Ecthelion could make out that it was Elrond who was tending to the ropes, brows knit together in concentration, while Gil-galad and Celebrían sat and spoke merrily, pointing to various seabirds that flew by or bobbed up and down in the water.

Glorfindel gave up on the rope momentarily and stood to watch the ever-closer boat approaching them. “Why are none of them rowing?” questioned Glorfindel.

“Come on! We need to look like we know what we are doing!” hissed Ecthelion. He carefully stepped out of the mess of rope at their feet and headed for the boom. “Help me with this!” Ecthelion grabbed hold of a dangling rope and began to hoist the sail higher. Glorfindel also abandoned the rope, and came to Ecthelion’s aid. “Look! The wind is catching it! Ha! Look at that!” Ecthelion pointed up at the sail with one hand and clasped Glorfindel’s shoulder with the other.

Glorfindel grinned and watched as the wind filled the sail. “We might win after all!” he said gleefully. He dropped the rope, too, celebrating with a hug and a snuggle. “We are sailing!”

Ecthelion continued to grin--for about two more seconds. Then he frowned. “What is going on with that sail--is it--oh, no! The rope! Where is the rope?!” The sail, left to its own devices, now loose, pulled by the wind, left completely to the will of Manwe’s breath, began to slide back down. The heavy canvas of the sail attacked, blanketing both occupants as they fought to find the rope they had previously held.

“Found it!” Ecthelion finally called out, his voice muffled from under the heavy fabric. He crawled out to find that Glorfindel had already extracted himself--and, that they were now aligned beside the boat containing their friends. “Gil-galad! How...lovely to see you!” Ecthelion greeted. His smile said he was happy to see him, but his eyes belied his expression. “And Elrond and Celebrían, and, my, what a lovely day for a sail!”

“Indeed it is,” agreed Gil-galad. He remained seated while Elrond manipulated the ropes to keep them beside the vessel Ecthelion and Glorfindel were on. “You came out early,” remarked Gil-galad. “You must have been impatient.”

“Oh, truly, it was so amazing when we got to the dock, we could not tarry a moment more on land,” Ecthelion declared as he pulled himself out from under the sail. “We were just so drawn to the sea. Just smell that sea air,” Ecthelion announced. He closed his eyes and breathed in deeply.

He was sprayed with water from Ossë ’s tail a moment later, and sputtered a curse at the Maia.

“It is incredible that you made it to this spot,” said Elrond as he made the line fast with ease, fingers so quick that neither Glorfindel nor Ecthelion was able to take note of his technique. “It was a bit of a challenge to navigate to you, with the current path of the wind.”

“Oh, we rowed,” answered Glorfindel without considering his words for a moment.

“You rowed.” Elrond titled his head. “You rowed a sailboat?”

“We love a good row in the morning,” interrupted Ecthelion. “It gets the blood flowing, and strengthens the arms, and...and…”

“Keeps the seagulls away,” offered Glorfindel helpfully.

“Exactly. It keeps the seagulls from getting stuck in the sails on the way out here,” said Ecthelion matter-of-factly.

“Does that happen to you a lot?” wondered Celebrían.

“Well, no, because we row,” replied Ecthelion. “We row for the seagulls. You never know--one of them could be Elrond’s mother! We would not want to have her get caught in the sails!”

Elrond seemed perplexed at this statement. Celebrían had a sour look on her face. Only Gil-galad stifled a laugh. Elrond cleared his throat. “My mother takes the form of a snow petrel, when she flies,” he said in a low and slightly stern tone.

“Ah. Well, we shall row for the snow petrels, then!” declared Ecthelion. “Beautiful, graceful birds! Queens of the sea!”

“Have you any idea what one looks like?” called out Celebrían.

“Possibly,” answered Ecthelion.

“Have you ever seen one?” pressed Gil-galad.

“Absolutely never,” Ecthelion replied.

Glorfindel groaned internally, but kept a smile on his face. It was a smile that said, sometimes he is an idiot, but he is my idiot.

“So you have been out here sailing,” Gil-galad said. Just on visual assessment, he had a completely different idea what had been going on. “Sailing all morning, after your early row.”

“Yes. So much sailing. In fact, we have done so much sailing today, maybe we should just call it a day for sailing. Not sure that the wind will hold up for too much more sailing today. Probably best to get back to the shore,” said Glorfindel.

“Heading back so soon? Did you already deploy your flamoparge out here?” asked Gil-galad.

“Oh, I am sure they did,” Celebrían said. “Everyone knows to do that.”

Before Elrond could open his mouth, both Glorfindel and Ecthelion were nodding emphatically. “We did that right away,” said Glorfindel. “As soon as we left the dock.”

“Oh, but not too soon,” Gil-galad warned. “You did wait until after you were past the mistwater. Right?”

“Absolutely,” Ecthelion said, and then he chuckled, and then he said, “We would never dream to drop the...the...flarmo...flermopurge…”

“The flamoparge,” cut in Glorfindel. “Right, we got that taken care of well past the mistwater. Just like everyone knows to do."

Celebrían bit at her bottom lip, but Gil-galad kept on with a straight face. “Then you should at least bring the flamoparge back on deck and hoist it up before you sail back.”

“We were just about to do that,” said Glorfindel, though Ecthelion was saying, “Did that just as you came upon us!” They blinked at each other. “I mean, we were just putting it away as you came up to find us,” Glorfindel said.

“You must have done so quickly--usually the pardodwin is still extended after retrieving the flamoparge, and it gets tricky if it gets stuck,” continued Gil-galad. “Where do you store your pardodwin on such a small vessel?”

Before they could conjure an answer, Elrond saved them by scolding the rest of his ‘crew’. “Stop teasing them. They are doing the best they can.”

“Funny thing about the pardodwin,” began Ecthelion. “I just had it, and I have no idea where the darned thing ended up after we...once we retrieved the...the…” He looked to Glorfindel.

“The flamoparge.”

“There is no flamoparge!” Elrond took a deep breath in an attempt to stifle his irritation. “Gil. Celebrían. Please stop teasing them. Glorfindel. Ecthelion. I am going to come over there and help you. And you…” Elrond looked down at Ossë, who was rolling about in glee, snickering at the exchanges. “You just stay down there.”

“Aye aye, Captain!” called up Ossë.

“Please, Elrond, we have everything under control!” insisted Glorfindel. Some wayward piece of the ship suddenly came loose from above and fell down to hit Ecthelion’s foot. “Except maybe that,” admitted Glorfindel without so much as looking over.”

“This has gone on long enough,” announced Elrond. “Make way--I am coming aboard and taking charge of that ship.”

“Elrond, this is really not necessary. We have slain balrogs, we can certainly manage a small wooden ship.”

“They also killed you. Certainly not a reassuring track record for survival,” Ossë said lazily.

Glorfindel turned to glare at Ossë only to be rewarded by a splash of water.

“If either of you can tell me what the rope Ecthelion is holding is called, I will leave you alone.” Elrond fixed them with a look which he used to dissuade the annoyingly persistent courtiers.

“Uh.” Damn these mariners and their obsessive need to name everything!

Elrond, Gil-galad and Celebrían shared a look before Elrond boarded their little boat. There was a splash behind him and both Glorfindel and Ecthelion jumped.

“Relax, it is only Ereinion dropping the anchor,” Elrond said. “Speaking of which, that shall be your first lesson. Come along.”

“Uh…” Glorfindel looked sheepish.

“I told you that it sounded important!”

“What happened to the anchor?” Elrond asked carefully, as if he was almost afraid of the answer.

“Well…” Glorfindel trailed.

“Yes?” Elrond arched an eyebrow.

“We left it at the dock,” Glorfindel said.

“You left the anchor at the dock,”Elrond repeated slowly in disbelief.

“Yes, you see. We were rowing out of the dock and we got stuck. And I heard the mariners saying drop anchor, and I thought, well of course, we’d need to drop anchor so we could row out of the dock.”

“Why were you even anchored at the dock?”

“I was practicing how to anchor and I forgot to pull it back up.”

“So you left your anchor at the dock?” Elrond said. His voice wavered, the vein in his forehead throbbed.

“Yes.”

Elrond closed his eyes, pinched the bridge of his nose and muttered something under his breath that sounded something close to spare me from the idiocy of Elf Lords. Laughter sounded from down below. Ossë was laughing .

“Okay. Let’s forget about the anchor for now. Where are the dock lines?”

“The what now?”

“The dock lines. The rope which you used to tie the ship to the dock.”

It was Ecthelion’s turn to look sheepish.

“We…. uh left it at the dock.”

“It’s a miracle that you managed to get out of the dock and sail this far from shore without drowning,” Gil-galad called.

“Not a miracle,” Ossë said. “Just pure dumb luck and wise Maia looking out for them.”

“Ereinion, throw me a line,” Elrond called. He tied their ship to theirs.

“Why do you even have a boat?”

“We’re allowed to buy things, aren’t we?” Ecthelion replied.

“It’s a ship!” Glorfindel said at the same time.

“But why the ship?” Elrond pressed.

“Elrond, are you not supposed to teach them how to not die on a ship?” Celebrían called. “Spare them the inquisition until we are back on shore.”

“Right,” Elrond said. “Let’s start with securing the boom by attaching a preventer.”

“What’s the boom?” Glorfindel asked.

“The wooden beam holding the sail,” he replied, pointing at it.

“Oh you mean the sail stick,” Ecthelion said.

Elrond sighed. It was going to be a long day.

Arien was high in the sky. Her rays shimmered over the gentle waves. Ossë Gil-galad, and Celebrían had grown bored of heckling the two balrog slayers. They left an increasingly flustered Elrond to continue his instruction and had taken to gossiping. Ossë had traded the hroä of a whale for a large turtle and was perched on the stern of their ship. Suddenly there was an undignified yelp and a splash. Then followed by another splash. They leapt to their feet and peered over guardrails. Ecthelion was standing by the rudder, guilty clutching the main sheet. Glorfindel was in the water, barely staying afloat, trying to hold on to an unconscious Elrond with one arm, while keeping as much of his golden tresses out of the water with the other.

Ossë dove in the water, scooped them on his back and brought them to Gil-galad’s ship. Gil-galad pulled Elrond and Glorfindel onto the deck of their ship. Meanwhile, Celebrían had leapt on to the smaller ship and secured the boom and several other things on deck.

“All right, I am putting an end to this little misadventure,” she said. “Ecthelion, get on our ship.”

“But…”

“Now!”

Celebrían pulled the sail down and secured it before clambering back onto her ship. Elrond sat propped up against the bench coughing water, while Glorfindel and Ecthelion were apologizing profusely. Gil-galad was rubbing circles on Elrond’s back and glaring at the two Elf-Lords.

“Honestly, why do you two even have a boat?” Gil-galad was saying. “Have you even taken it out before this?”

“It’s a ship!” Glorfindel corrected, rather forcefully. “Of course we have! Why would we have a ship we have never taken out before? How do you even know we have not taken it out before?”

“Because you rowed out of the dock like it was a kayak! Or maybe because you left your anchor, your anchor, at the docks. Or maybe because you keep referring to the lines as ropes, which by the way are not supposed to be tangled and they’re called lines!”Gil-galad ranted.

“Nothing wrong with a good row in the morning,” Glorfindel defended.

“Oh I can’t wait to hear what you have to say about the anchor and the tangled ropes.”

“Okay, maybe we are a bit rusty but we managed to sail, didn’t we?”

“Is that what pasess for sailing these days?” Ossë chimed.

“We were doing fine, until someone lost the book!’ Ecthelion replied, ignoring Ossë

“Lose the book? If you had just let me look, we’d still have it,” Glorfindel retorted. “We would not have even needed to come out here if you had not bet the ship.”

“We did not bet the ship,” Gil-galad interjected before Ecthelion could reply. “Why would I want this ship? It’s hideous.”

Two offended gasps sounded. Ecthelion and Glorfindel turned to glare at Gil-galad.

“Royalty is no guarantee for taste, it would seem,” Ecthelion said, coldly

“I do not think it is hideous,” opined Celebrían. “It has a certain charm about it.” There was a pause, and then she added, “It just needs a few coats of paint, new sails, better upholstery--”

“Maybe the style seems old, and a little antiquated,” interrupted Glorfindel, “and maybe the sails are just customized used tent canvas I bought at a discount because the ship itself cost quite a lot for us and there are not a whole lot of ways for two old retired Elven-lords to be useful in this world, and maybe the paint has lost the shine of years long past, but we like it. It might not be the best ship, or the prettiest ship, but this is our ship.”

Everyone was quiet for a little while. Gil-galad twiddled his thumbs. Ecthelion stared at his lap. Glorfindel drummed his fingers and looked out at the water. Elrond and Celebrían seemed to be silently communicating, and after a nod exchanged, Celebrían put an arm around Glorfindel. “You know, my mother and I made the sails for our ship,” she mused. “Now, if you really like the sails you have, they just need a little repair. However, if you wanted, I am sure she would be happy to help me make new sails for your boat... er, ship,” Celebrían self-corrected.

“And I am fairly free for the next few weeks,” added Gil-galad. “While Celebrían is working on those sails, I would not mind giving this ship a couple of new coats of paint to get it back into shape,” he offered. “In fact, my father loves painting projects. Give him a bucket of paint and a brush, and he can be as happy as a clam for hours on end. He says there is just something that makes sense about painting. I am sure he would enjoy assisting.”

Elrond, who was still a little shaken up from the earlier accident, considered the implications of what he was about to offer before he spoke. “If they are working on getting your ship entirely seaworthy, I could spend the time showing the two of you the ropes, as it were, on our ship so that when yours is all spiffed up you will have a better grasp of how to use it. Let us all be honest. Whatever book you read is no substitute for experiencing the real thing. You need to be properly trained. If you truly have an interest in sailing--”

“Oh, we do,” Ecthelion assured Elrond. “We very much do.”

“And we are both very good learners,” added Glorfindel. “Perhaps not from books…”

“If Erestor were here, he would agree with you on that,” said Elrond. “Alright, then. When we get back to shore, we can write up a plan for sailing lessons and getting your ship into ship shape. After we find your anchor,” added Elrond.

“It should be right where we left it,” Ecthelion said.

“Yes, but someone needs to get it. Since it is your ship, and someone needs to retrieve it from the sea floor, I think you will be elected,” said Gil-galad as he patted Ecthelion on the back.

Ecthelion pursed his lips. “Or...maybe not me.”

“It should be easy to find,” guessed Celebrían. Both vessels were moving back in the direction of the shore. It was slower going back with one ship towing the other, but there was a good amount of breeze to carry them along with ease.

Ossë still swam aside them, no doubt awaiting opportunity to get another jab or two in before the adventure ended. He was now in a merman form, lazily swimming on his back and looking up at the clouds overhead.

Both Ecthelion and Glorfindel remained quiet as the others eased the conversation to the nice weather and the wind currents, but they exchanged several glances back and forth. When the conversation lulled, Glorfindel spoke up. “I can get the anchor when we get back. It is my fault that we dropped it in the first place.”

“That seems like quite the sacrifice for you, Glorfindel,” said Celebrían. “It looks like you styled your hair for an awful long time today. Surely the water will ruin all your work.”

“It is the least I can do,” said Glorfindel. He patted Ecthelion’s knee and gave a muted smile to the others.

Ecthelion sighed and closed his eyes. “I cannot swim. I cannot dive, I do not know how to hold my breath under water, and if I try to get the anchor I will surely drown.”

“Oh, honey, none of us knew that. I am sure someone else can get the anchor.” Celebrían looked pointedly at Gil-galad.

“Why me?” questioned Gil-galad.

“You got them in this mess to begin with, going out drinking all night, and making them think they bet the ship,” scolded Celebrían.

“Drinking, yes. Their delusions are their own,” muttered Gil-galad.

“There is another solution,” suggested Elrond.

“You are going to get the anchor?” questioned Celebrían.

Elrond shook his head and looked over the side of the ship.

Ossë craned his neck as if looking to see if there was someone else in the water with him. “Oh, fine,” relented the Maia. He bobbed back into a position that made him look as if he was standing in the water. “Come.” He motioned to Ecthelion.

“What? Where?” Ecthelion scrutinized the Maia.

“Here. Into the water.” Ossë motioned to the calmly swaying waves.

“Why?” Ecthelion worried.

“I thought it was obvious. I am going to teach you how to swim.”

“Now?”

“What better time?” questioned Ossë . “We will be back to the dock within an hour, and that anchor is not going to bring itself to shore.”

“Out here? I should think we should do this in a small stream or somewhere it will be easy for me to stand up and touch the bottom,” said Ecthelion.

“Technically, you can stand up and touch the bottom here,” said Ossë . “You will have many feet of water over your head, but you could still do that.”

Glorfindel touched Ecthelion’s shoulder. “Would you feel better if I came with you?”

“Not really,” admitted Ecthelion.

“Oh, good. I am actually hoping to keep my hair dry,” said Glorfindel.

“Go on, Ecthelion,” encouraged Gil-galad. “Ossë has not let you drown so far, he will not do so now. And who better to teach anyone to swim?”

“Who, indeed?” Ossë held out his arm. “I promise on all the water in the sea not to let you drown.”

“Not helping,” said Ecthelion, but he loosened his belt and left it and several other items he did not want getting wet in Glorfindel’s care. When he was down to just his leggings, he tentatively sat on the edge of the ship and looked down. “Are you going to catch me when I come over the side?” he asked Ossë .

“No. As long as you do not flail, you will float. You just need to relax and spread your arms and legs out to the sides, and you will float. Like this.” Ossë demonstrated, letting the water hold him up while he floated on his back.

“Right. Well, you have years of experience and you live here, and I do not, but, here goes.” Ecthelion lowered himself down. He kept a grip on the ship as long as he could. “One...two…” Ecthelion swallowed hard. “...three. Four...five...six…”

“Oh, come on.” Ossë took hold of Ecthelion’s leg and pulled him into the water. There was a bit of flailing, and this was followed by Ossë coaxing Ecthelion onto his back. Ossë had to remind Ecthelion to relax several times while Glorfindel kept a concerned watch from the ship.

It took a moment, but after Ecthelion realized he would not sink to the bottom, he looked up at Glorfindel and smiled. “How am I doing?”

“Great. Are you sure you do not need me down there?” asked Glorfindel.

“He is doing just fine,” answered Ossë , who seemed much less interested in heckling the pair. “He could do to be less tense.” Ossë looked back to Ecthelion. “ Take a breath, let it out slowly.” Ossë waited until Ecthelion was indeed relaxed before he moved to the second lesson. “I am going to have you hold your breath and submerge you. Ten seconds. We will add ten more seconds each time.”

Ecthelion started to tense again. “And you promise I will not drown?”

“You will not drown. I will be right here.”

Ecthelion gave a slight nod.

“Alright. Take a deep breath in, let it out, and when you take the second breath we will dip under. Ready?” Ossë patiently counted and eased Ecthelion into an upright position, and kept his hands steady under Ecthelion’s elbows. This allowed him to keep them both up as he treaded water, and to have full control on pulling Ecthelion down under the water as they practiced.

Holding one’s breath moved to diving and surfacing, and even a little swimming before they reached the shore. As they approached the dock, Glorfindel clapped as Ecthelion dived down on his own and came back up with a jubilant expression.

“I dare a balrog to fight me now!” shouted Ecthelion.

“Let us not get carried away,” suggested Ossë . “Now, I think I see the anchor down there,” he said as he pointed. “Remember, you just need the chain, not the anchor.”

“Got it!” Ecthelion dived under and after a minute proudly came back up with the end of the chain to reattach to the ship.

“I just realized Ossë could have gone down there to get the anchor,” said Gil-galad as he detached the ships and anchored his own.

“Shh...it was better this way,” said Elrond. He spied something on the dock and went to retrieve it. “Is this the book you were using?” he asked Glorfindel.

“Hmm?” Glorfindel stood up. “Oh! Our sailing book!”

“Book, yes. Sailing, no.” Elrond paged through the volume. “This is how to kayak.”

“Ohhhh…” answered Glorfindel and Ecthelion collectively.

“All is well that ends well,” Celebrían said. “We all got back, we had a little adventure, Elrond does not need stitches--”

“Again, sorry about that,” interjected Glorfindel.

“--we have projects to work on together, and a great story to tell everyone at the pub tonight.”

“I want to dry off first, but then I could definitely use a drink,” said Ecthelion.

“I think we can all use a drink,” Gil-galad added.

“If you are buying…” And Ossë walked up onto the shore, transformed to look, quite literally, like a fish out of water, except that he had legs and arms instead of fins.

“Why not. You have more than earned it,” said Gil-galad. “Besides, everything is going on Glorfindel and Ecthelion’s tab tonight.”

“That is fair,” said Ecthelion with a sigh. Something quite large overhead suddenly cast a shadow down on the party, and Ecthelion shaded his eyes from the sun and looked up. “What...is...that?”

Overhead, a large, colorful balloon floated lazily in the cloudless sky. Carried on the wind and aloft from the heat generated just under the multicolored cloth, Glorfindel’s attention was now on it as well. “That looks amazing!”

“Oh, sky ships...yes, they are becoming quite popular in Formenos. One rarely sees them this far south,” commented Gil-galad.

“Looks like one of the Feanorian sky ships,” added Celebrían. Indeed, as the balloon turned slightly, they could make out the markings that identified it not only as belonging to the Feanorian clan, but that this was ship number four of whatever fleet they had constructed.

“Sky ship…” murmured Glorfindel as it floated overhead.

“I wonder where we could get one?” Ecthelion whispered back.

Behind them, Elrond came and placed a hand atop each of their heads and gently brought their focus back to the ship floating on the water. “One thing at a time, boys,” he said in a tone reminiscent of him grounding his sons. “Sea ships first. Sky ships later. None of us would know how to rescue you from a sky ship.”

“Who says we would need rescue?” scoffed Ecthelion at the same time Glorfindel mumbled, “Well, technically, your father has his own sky ship.”

“We can discuss it over drinks,” said Celebrían, but her voice made it obvious that in this three (and possibly four, with Ossë ) against two scenario, there would be no sky ships in the immediate future.

That never stopped anyone from dreaming.

“We could put a big golden flower on one side, and your sigil on the other,” planned out Glorfindel as they all walked in the direction of the pub. “All gold and green, and blue and silver! We could take people on day trips up into the mountains and wave to everyone below. Do you think they can see us from all the way up there?” Glorfindel tested his theory by waving up at the balloon, though it was already drifting further from them.

“I think they can--I think I saw them wave back,” said Ecthelion, though he could not tell if it was someone waving or just the flames keeping the balloon aloft or maybe even a flash of sunlight off the basket. “Do you think they have sky ship races?” asked Ecthelion as he and Glorfindel led the group, arm in arm.

“I bet they do. Do you think they have any cucumber sandwiches at the pub?” wondered Glorfindel.

Next were Celebrían and Gil-galad, planning out how to convince their parents to help with the projects they had promised to help Glorfindel and Ecthelion with. Lagging behind a bit, Ossë clasped Elrond’s shoulder. Elrond paused and raised a brow. Ossë cleared his throat. “You do realize they are hopeless, right?”

“There is always hope,” said Elrond solemnly.

“Oh?” Ossë awaited more.

“There is always hope we can get them drunk enough to forget about sky ships.” Elrond’s lips remained in a straight line, but his eyes sparkled with mischief.

Ossë cracked a smile, nodded, and they followed the others to their destination.