Spicy hot from the East
"You have never tried to eat food or spices from the East before?!"
It was unusual quiet in the house owned by the Asar family, where the female family members currently had a rather strange guest in their home for dinner. Odin were not at home, he was needed for the night shift among the city guards and would not be returning home until late next evening.
"Perhaps tasted a few of the spices, used by the Easterlings who my family was allies with, but they did not have all the spices of their original homelands in Beleriand, and I am sure that new ones may have been discovered since then…" Celebrimbor admitted, setting down a tankard with wine on the table. Looking at each other when he said so, the four Dwarrowdams nodded in agreement with barely a visible nod.
"That's it, you are gonna get the very best of tastes of the distant East, master Elf! So get ready for what foreigners usually call an evening that's spicy," Frigga promised with a smile that somehow managed to intimidate Celebrimbor despite that neither her daughter-in-law, granddaughters or herself was warriors. No, it was the knowledge of that Dwarrowdams could be almost scarier than their male equivalents when they had reason to, and how powerful they could be in Dwarven sociality due to being so rare among their race.
"Yes, madam!" he yelped nervously, secretly praying for that he would not end up regretting the dinner invitation.
~X~X~X~X~X~X
Celebrimbor waited in the family library while the Dwarrowdams was making the dinner. He could smell a lot of strange scents that was all unfamiliar for him. Trying to read a book did not work, they were all written in Khuzdul, by Runes he had trouble reading because he was not that familiar with the Dwarven version of them.
"I wonder if I can take a look on those…"
The fine stone statues made in miniature, was rather tempering to look at where they stood at a table.
"No touching of those, they are old family heirlooms from mother to daughter in Amad's maternal family," Narvi suddenly warned from behind him, right before Celebrimbor felt a firm slap on his butt.
"Pardon my curiosity!"
The first course was not too bad for his taste buds, a mint-flavored yogurt with some bread to drop into the yogurt, though Celebrimbor admitted that yogurt had been rare in Valinor because the Elves had mostly used either the milk itself, butter or cheese in their cooking.
"There you see a advantage of trade, exchange of ideas and goods," Ala commented, since as the widow of a merchant she had learnt some secrets in trade. Frigga, who had enjoyed the career that her deceased son Balder had chosen, nodded in motherly pride.
"Yes, my family ended up preferring the food here in Middle-Earth because it was more variations on it than in Valinor where there was no Men or Dwarves to trade with."
A lamb dish served with rice, a rarity here in the West that only the wealthy and merchants could enjoy if they could afford to pay, and boiled vegetables. They had not joked about the spices, the ginger taste was strong enough to make Celebrimbor drink a lot of wine between every now and then.
While he tasted on the sorbet, flavored with a real luxury fruit called mango, Narvi and Loki hurried to their shared clothes chamber to take a quick bath and change into something else.
Now, this was not the first time Celebrimbor had seen Narvi in her belly-dance outfit, but he managed to notice that this one was slightly different; a longer shirt in light blue all the way down to her bare feet where silver anklets could be hinted. Her top, on the other hand, was a light green with silver thread to shape wide patterns, with purple sleeves of silk thin enough to see her skin. A jewelry set of silver and emeralds added even more color to her with a large necklace, earrings and a tiara. With her long hair loose so her beard was braided into several small braids which in turn was interlaced in her hair at the ears and a green face veil of silk that was lighter than her dark green eyes, the impression of this stunning beautiful Dwarrowdam was complete.
Loki wore a similar outfit in lilac colour and gold thread, with her long hair, similar in color to her sister thanks to the genes from their grandmother, set up in two large braids as her gold and amethyst jewelry in hair, beard and ears flew around her as she danced. Perhaps she aimed for a more vigorous dance style, for where Narvi danced slowly and surprising graceful that could have fitted a Elven dancer thanks to using her taller height, Loki was more wild in her movements to create a contrast to her elder sister. It seemed to fit their personalities as well, given that the sisters was different in character from each other.
"I think I am starting to agree with you Dams, Elves really should travel to the East and set up new trade routes with the Dwarves here in the West as intermediator," Celebrimbor said before eating on a muffins with cardamom. It seemed like Loki was the one in change of baking in the family, given her skills to work in the bakery.
"Oh, our old home-town in the Orocarni would enjoy some more visitors, I am sure that a visit from a Elf like you would be the talk for the rest of the year!" Loki laughed from her dance spot, right before Narvi suddenly seated herself in front of Celebrimbor with the small table as a sitting place, giving him a rather good view of her upper female curves, clearly visible given the difference in body build between Dwarrowdams and She-elves. So could he really be blamed for turning a bit red in the face at the sight?
"Indeed. There is mention of Elves living in the deserts, but they are so rarely seen that few have actually seen a Elf."
Celebrimbor did not fail to notice how Narvi tenderly touched his hair with one hand, it felt almost like a intimate touch, somehow, not in the way Elves may do it. And that feeling deepened when Narvi took out a long hairpin of silver from her own hair, a big ruby set in as decoration and gently put it in his ponytail without stabbing him with the sharp end.
"You have such lovely black hair, mister Silver-fist, if you were a Dwarrowdam you would most likely get lots of poems about it from suitors as one of the most striking points of your beauty," she smiled behind the veil. Normally it was almost a insult to call a male Elf feminine, especially if it was aimed as a blow at his masculinity, but Celebrimbor guessed that it was just payback from the Dwarves, given how poorly the Elves had to see the difference between them and their Dams thanks to the beards and deep voices on both genders among the Dwarves, as he had found out over time, even if the Dams could sometimes be mistaken as young Dwarves going though the voice change of adolescence if one was to listen carefully on the voice sounds.
"Narvi dear, please be kind to our guest. It would not do well if he faints from blood pressure, so red-faced as he already is," Frigga giggled as she raised a glass of red wine to her lips, Ala smiling for herself as she cleaned off the dinner table with a rag. Loki's attention was caught by the reminder that she had something left in the spare oven she used for her baking experiments, and so hurried out before it was burned.
Now Narvi seated herself on Celebrimbor's lap, her legs on one side to not make it seem like she planned to take a step too far. But that she seemed to have fun, there was no doubt. Celebrimbor, on the other hand, found himself rather unsure on what to do now. For some strange reason, he did actually like the attention Narvi was giving him, the way she was so close to him. Sure, she was a bit heavier than a She-elf, but that body weight felt pleasant since Narvi was careful with any sweets he was offered by Loki and did not want to become too plump in her body shape before her old age, at least for now. Her work as a stonemason and the belly dance training also helped to keep her in shape. Not slim, but a body shape that was a rare hourglass figure for Dwarrowdams.
"Sis, do you think Celebrimbor would like to taste the cookies I have just made, if we allow them to cool a bit before eating them?" Loki called from the other end of the house.
"With some nice ale, yes," Narvi responded over her shoulder, before returning her smile to the Elf in question. With one elegant movement, she removed her own necklace and set it around his neck. Celebrimbor did not know it, but in the Orocarni it was a sign of affection if a Dwarrowdam gave a piece of her jewelry to someone. Khazad-dûm had some differents tradition because the Longbeards had not so similar surroundings and contact with non-Dwarves as their equivalents in the Blacklocks clan.
"Brings up some nice memories of the past, right Ala?"
"Yes. Lovely to see my oldest daughter have fun in that way as well."
Whatever Frigga and Ala meant, Celebrimbor had no idea. But he was well aware of how close Narvi was to his face. Much to his displeasure, however, he felt the headache that normally warned him that he was starting to get dangerously drunk on drinks he was not used to.
"Narvi...I think I have too much drinks…" he tried to warn her. He did not feel nauseous yet, but he found it kinder to not have her fun suddenly come to to a disappointed end because of him. Probably sensing what he attempted to tell, Narvi hurried to get off his lap and his last view before passing out, was that nice waterfall of pale blonde hair in her back.
"She would look great with something there…"
Laki arrived back with the cookies just after that Celebrimbor had passed out on the couch which he just barely fit into with his longer Elf body.
"Hah? Was sister a bit too forwards with him because he have no idea how to do a Dwarven courtship?" she asked in confusion.
"More like a bit too much spicy food and good ale, I think Elves are not so used to what we serves in the East," Frigga commented as she laid a blanket over Celebrimbor to keep him warm while sleeping. It would be too much trouble to drag him back to the Elven guest chambers in this state.
"Culture differences, indeed. But I think we shall call this evening a successful one, even if the person of interest for Narvi is a bit unusual."
Her daughters and mother-in-law agreed with Ala on that point.