Tears Unnumbered Shall Ye Shed

[bythewaves]

Who: Elfhouse residents + anyone who would like to drop in
What: They've lost family, and are in quiet mourning
Where: Elfhouse
When: Nowish
Warnings: Loss, Depression, Grief.... all that sort of stuff

It was Celebrimbor they lost first. Curufin had noted that the tie between father and son had been getting thinner, as if the distance between them grew. And then one day, he simply wasn't there, the forge-fires cold when Curufin went to greet him, no sound of hammer on anvil, his bed cold.

And then the next was Maedhros, the same story again, an empty bed, the place where his presence sat silent and empty.

All of them grieve differently, in private, and together. But loss is still loss, especially knowing what potentially Maedhros, especially, goes home to.

Maglor can be found sitting by the little indoor fountain, empty eyed and quiet, although he rouses for family, instincts as old as himself to try and comfort his kinsmen.

Comments

[stonebird]

Grief weighs them down, creating a dark atmosphere in the house, but Sansa is determined to see to the day to day needs of everyone, one way or another. She moves about, mostly in silence, bringing the Elves - her second family - food and drink. If they don't feel like speaking, she doesn't force them, however there is one soul that tugs at her heart more than the rest.

Her dear Uncle. She slips her arms around him, holding him in a simple embrace. The world might feel unsteady, but he is not alone.

[bythewaves]

Maglor looks up and smiles automatically for her, faint though it is.

"Ah, little niece. I'm sorry, I did not mean to make you worry."

[stonebird]

She doesn't release him - she refuses to, frankly. His smile does not appease her and she rubs their cheeks together affectionately.

"Shush. I'm here because I love you."

[utulien_aure]

Fingon spends his time moving hurriedly from one task to another, constantly on edge. A lot of it is done outside the house, where there are fewer reminders, but when rest becomes a necessity he can be found in a chair in the common rooms of the house. He's in no hurry to go back to his room, at the moment. It feels too empty.

He jumps at the chance to move on the day the Door opens, when the monsters are there to provide a few hours distraction. Fingon is gone till very late in the evening, when he comes home carrying a new instrument looking like some cross between a harp and a guitar.

"Though it seemed interesting," he says gruffly to anyone who would question him. "Besides, I probably owe it my sword; I couldn't leave it in the arena."

Of course, why he stayed so long in the Colosseum-more particularly, whether an object was what he was really hoping to bring home- is a subject he doesn't speak of at all.

[bythewaves]

Maglor doesn't say anything about why he's been gone - he can guess! And if his own smiles are rather transparently fake, well...

But he comes over to look. "Did something happen to your blade? And what exactly is it?"

[utulien_aure]

Everyone’s smiles seem rather pasted in at the moment; Fingon won’t take it personally,

“No, though if I hadn’t been paying attention, I wouldn’t have one. Have you seen the Door’s newest pests? I lost three steel-tipped arrows to them before I realized they were corroding the metal. Ended up using a pile of ocarinas as projectiles until I could find something safe from them.”

He shrugs at the second question. “I have no idea, to be honest? But it has a good sound and squashes giant insects effectively, and both of those are virtues I appreciate.”

Sorry, coming in late. Is this okay?

[so_dark_a_road]

When Fingon comes back with that strange-looking instrument, Curufin's curiosity is piqued, for a once a craftsman, always a craftsman. But later for that. He comes to meet him. The traces of tears are still on his face, but the smallest smile is on it as well.

"Findekáno! I am so sorry." His dark gray eyes are warm with sympathy, for Fingon's loss of Maitimo is inestimable. And Fingon has lost Celebrimbor as well.

More than fine

[utulien_aure]

"Don't apologize. Don't..."

Fingon can't quite meet his eyes.

"This isn't your fault," he chooses to say, after a moment's thought. How he wishes it was someone's fault. Then he could punch them, and find a way to get Maedhros back.

[roseofthetyrells]

[Margaery had not been as close to Celebrimbor or Maedhros, but she knows that the loss of them causes her friends pain and she wants to do whatever she can to help them in their time of need.

so she fetches food and doesn't make a fuss if it goes uneaten, she brews tea, she tries to stay strong for them so that they may feel and grieve at their own paces. she will not falter. she will not fail them in their time of need.

as she initially goes to carry a tray with a tea set from one room to another, she sees Maglor sitting by the fountain and her heart aches for him. she sets the tray down on a nearby table and sits next to him, trying to reassure him with her presence.

it's all she can do. she hopes that it will be enough]

[bythewaves]

[ He stirs and smiles a little at her ]

Margaery... thank you for coming by. Are you alright?

Hope this is okay?

[so_dark_a_road]

[ Curufin is grateful to have Margaery here, because she is a friend and a highly sympathetic one. Her help with serving the food and the tea is wonderful, too. The Elves are a little distracted at the moment, and it is largely Sansa and Margaery who are handling the hosting duties. Fingon, Maglor, and Curufin are trying to be mindful of these things, but they are functioning at less than 100%. ]

Margaery! Thank you so much for coming!

[so_dark_a_road]

Curufin comes home to South Island after a long day of work on the latest boat project. Work does not alleviate the sorrow he feels for those two who are missing, but it does absorb his energy and keeps the agony down to something (mostly) containable. But he knows he should be at home with the others, at least for a while. Grief is a family affair. He ties up at the pier and crosses the island, comes to Delight's Housing, and runs down the spiral walkway. He opens the door, enters, and drops his satchel and weapons near the living room couch.

"Maglor?" he calls. His voice is a little shaky.

[bythewaves]

Maglor rouses instantly when his brother calls, and goes straight to him.

"Here Curvo." Still here. "I'm here. Come sit down." He draws him straight into a hug.

(ota)

[puzzlingly]

It takes Atem as long as one would expect for someone who can only sail from island to island to get to any location. In truth, he hesitates that he should intrude into this little family's moment of grief but, Curufin is one of his dearest friends, and Sansa had been kind to invite him for whatever reason (maybe just she was just trying to be polite). But it is too late for him to back down now that he's just a couple of steps away from the so called Elf house. He had dropped everything he had set to do that day just for this. Losing people was always hard, he knew it, not because he had been on that side a couple of times now, but because it had been him who had left before, twice now, twice, willingly, he had left his loved ones behind, never to come back. To imagine the pain he had probably brought to them with his choices only seems to add to the everlasting guilt he's carried ever since.

It was necessary, he'd object. But if his own excuses wouldn't help to ease the pang of guilt, maybe this would.

While it is true that he didn't really personally know any of the ones who left, it is also true that he might not know much of the ones that stayed, except for Curufin, which is exactly who he seems to be trying to find when he makes it there, also for the young kind woman. He doesn't bring any kind of food with him, apparently, he's learning, that's what people did when trying to help someone else overcome grief? But he's no cook, even so, he is seen carrying a little peculiar thing with him, a cage made from Null's metal and inside, a little fiery salamander. Maybe it's time to let Sansa meet her, let her know that those beautiful gloves she helped made are still being used, that's one way he can think to thank her for her help.

<3

[stonebird]

While Sansa does try to be polite, her inviting Atem had little to do with her manners. He is a friend of Curufin's and they are long overdue in meeting properly. Sansa is standing outside, wearing a dress of dark grey to reflect her mourning. Unfortunately the color brings out her pallor and the redness around her eyes from crying. Yet when she sees him - cage and all - she smiles and steps forward to greet him.

"Who have you brought?" she dips down slightly to look into the cage, "Is this one of the fire lizards Curufin spoke of?"

She has wanted to see one; they sound a bit like small dragons. While she feels wary, she knows she should become accustomed to such creatures. It won't do for her to panic in Queen Daenerys's presence!

"Please come inside, Atem." she leads the way down the path to the house.

[so_dark_a_road]

Curufin comes to meet him, his face lighting up when he realizes that Atem has come to visit. And even more so when he sees that Atem has brought the salamander with him.

"Atem! Thank you for coming. And I see you brought your little friend."

[fracturedbeauty]

Yukari's looking almost lost in his own right. Well, he did know Celebrimbor, but he's mostly here for Curufin's sake. Although, while he's standing off to the side for a moment, he spies a certain Pharaoh with a strange little pet, looking quite misplaced himself.

He makes for Atem in a straight line, approaching at a quick, yet graceful, pace.

"Atem-sama." Though he certainly hadn't quite expected to see him here, he supposes it would make sense. He knows that Atem and Curufin are fairly close after all. "Did you need help finding Curufin? Or perhaps you were looking for someone else?"

Admittedly, he hasn't been paying much, if any, attention to the rest of the crowd as it ebbs and flows.

[bythewaves]

He's so quiet, there by the fountain. So still he might be a statue. But he lifts his head when Atem comes into the room, and curiosity sparks to life at the sight of the little salamander.

"What is that?"

lup l ota

[restinglichface]

[This is awkward for Lup. This place is too emotionally charged. There's too much grief lingering in the air, so thick she feels like choking.

But the elf cares about Curufin, about his family because of him. So even if comfort isn't exactly her best skill, she at least slips in to drop off some food for the family, a couple of fresh pies, a hearty vegetable stew, and some homemade bread. Comfort food that fills the belly and warms the heart, aroma heavy and thick in the air.

She means to slip in and out unnoticed, but Lup's never been as stealthy as she thinks she is.]

[bythewaves]

[ She's not, and despite his preoccupation, one does not survive Three Ages of Arda without being aware of his surrounds, and Maglor has people to protect, here.

He comes to his feet when the wards warn of an intruder, reaching instinctively for his blade before he registers that the stranger is bearing gifts, and he halts, blinking at her in confusion ]

Your pardon. [ He bows a little awkwardly and takes a step back ]

Did you... come here seeking someone?

[so_dark_a_road]

[ Curufin spots Lup trying to slip out after having left the food. After she's been so generous as to come, he's not going to let her get away unthanked! He'll understand if she is troubled by the atmosphere; it is rather heavy. ]

Lup! Thank you for coming. The food smells delicious, and I'm sure we will all be grateful. We haven't had much energy for cooking lately, and if it weren't for Sansa, we'd all starve.

[ He's making a joke, in order to match the style of their past exchanges. Even when they had fought the Null together, they had laughed. ]

hope this isn't too late!

[roseofthetyrells]

[no, she hasn't been. of course, she could have made it in and out with none the wiser if Margaery hadn't been going from one room to the next, a tray with a tea set on it in her hands.

when she sees the amount of food the new elf is carrying, she immediately sets the tray down on a small end-table and goes towards her, hands outstretched]

Come, you must let me help you carry all of that inside. It smells delicious.

OTA

[fracturedbeauty]

Yukari had come by almost as soon as he heard that Celebrimbor was no longer here. Even if he wasn't that close with the younger Elf, he knows that Cel meant more to Curufin quite probably even more than himself, and respected as much. He's here to check on Curufin for it.

Though he seems to be peculiarly standing off to the side, making a bit of a stern face. Because Celebrimbor had told him, once, what awaited the young Elf should he ever return to his homeworld - an undoubtedly certain torture to be met with demise.

While he can try to pretend that perhaps Celebrimbor had the fortune of making it to some other world, to escape his fate back home, he can't promise it. And that has him even more worried for Curufin. He wonders if Curufin knows of it as well, and seems to frown further at the thought. After all, if Cel told him, then he almost undoubtedly told his father as well.

He glances over the showing of people, trying to find his love. He doesn't know if he can console him, but he can at the very least be there for him to show his support.

[so_dark_a_road]

Curufin is in the kitchen with Sansa for a few minutes, and when he comes back out, there is Yukari.

His face breaks into smile, even though the traces of tears are still on it. He crosses the living room in a few strides, and he takes his lover's hand. "Yukari! You came to be with us in our grief. Thank you."

[bythewaves]

"Yukari." Maglor finds him first. He's drawn and pale and tired looking, but the smile for Yukari is genuine.

"Thank you for coming. Curvo will need you more than ever, I think."