Peaches of love
Author's note: Much thanks to Maylovelies for letting me borrow her OC characters for this little AU story! Niquion means Son of Snow and Mélien means Affectionate/Loving One, they are meant to be names for Idril's two OC siblings, born much later in Valinor when both their parents are reborn. Both names found on the website realelvish in the Quenya names for people. She is also to credit for the idea that Nan Elmoth is the name of both the forest and a Maia who lived there.
~X~X~X~X~X~X~
It was a lovely summer day in Valinor. A fitting day for a big market, where Elves came from nearby and far away to shop and sell their goods. Even a few Maiar could be spotted in the mass of people.
"Celeian, do not fall behind!" a female Maia, dressed in rather dark forest colours, called to another Maia who was much younger-looking than herself. The younger one, who had taken the shape of an albino Elf in order to not stand out too much, looked up from a silver circlet he held in his hands, several smaller white-haired braids falling around his face.
"Coming, elder sister Nan Elmoth."
Paying a couple of copper coins for the circlet, which he placed in a pocket of his earth-coloured robe, he hurried back to the female Maia. They were not siblings in terms of blood, it was merely a sign to their close bond. They were both Maiar of Yavanna, but Celeian was one of the few rare Maiar who served two of the Valar at the same time, being a servant of both Yavanna and her husband Aulë.
"Found anything you liked?" Nan Elmoth wondered with a small smile in her lips, seeing him nod. Celeian did not really talk much, mainly because he was one of the youngest Maiar around and tended to be somewhat babied by the others at times.
At the same time, at another market stand, two young siblings were trying to persuade their much older cousin into buying something.
"Come ooooon, Maeglin, only one each!" pleaded a dark-haired little nis in a green summer dress, doing her best wide eyes impression as she tried to beat him.
"We can share on one!" her older brother, who was very Vanyarin-looking in colour but paler, tried to use as argument. The black-haired adult Elf narrowed his black eyes, arms crossed in front of his chest.
"The answer remains no. I will not have aunt Elenwë scold me for giving in and causing the two of you having a sugar rush this early in the day. Last time you also got a lot of cream on your dress, Mélien. And Niquion, you know that you have to be careful with food or you will be ill."
Maeglin tried his best to not feel too guilty at their disappointed faces, but he had been tasked with watching them for a couple of hours and refused to fail on that. he loved them as if they had been his own younger siblings, for they were so unlike their older sister idril in personality and looks that he still could not really believe that they shared the same set of parents.
"Sorry, cousin…"
"We forgot that rule."
Maeglin signed before ruffling their hair carefully. "Not your fault that you still are affected by the place you originally were begotten, Niquion," he said kindly.
Elenwë had been pregnant with her son when she had died in the Grinding Ice thanks to falling though a weak spot of thin ice and drowning. Even if she had become pregnant with Niquion again later in Valinor, he had a very washed-out Vanyarin appearance which would have mirrored his mother if he had been born healthy.
"Let's go, or we will be late to arrive back home."
Taking one small hand in one hand each, Maeglin led them along.
Unknown to Maeglin, he happened to pass by the two Maiar just as they also had left the market. Without any warning, Celeian suddenly walked straight into a tree, causing it to become uprooted because he did not control his powers at the moment and thus Nan Elmoth was extremely surprised by an unexpected tree almost landing on her.
"Oh, by the stars of Varda, Celeian! If I did not know you to be a Maia like myself, I would though you to be an Elf stuck by love so hard that you are blind for the trees around you!" she said in mixed anger and amusement at his shocked face over what he just had done.
"Which tree?" he asked in confusion with a hand laid on his now sore face, once again proving that he was among the youngest Maiar. At her silent nod, he took hold of the tree and carefully set it back into the earth as he said:
"You do not see a single tree in the forest, they grow almost everywhere."
To both of their surprise a protesting wail announced poor Radagast falling out of the tree branches, clutching some bird nests from being smashed on the ground.
"Pardon Celeian for his clumsy hands, Radagast, he is still not used to having an actual body as per the test we currently are doing," Nan Elmoth explained while Celeian desperately apologized in fear of possibly having harmed the baby birds or unhatched eggs which Radagast had saved.
~X~X~X~X~X~X~
Much to Maeglin's pleasure, nothing strange happened on the way home to his relative's house, outside his little cousins trying to run in opposite directions while he still held their hands in his own. They mostly did so then he lowered his guard, even if they never had pranked him in a mean way. The worst pranks he had suffered was the classical water-filled bucket when a door was opened, or getting his face painted in sleep during a rare nap.
"Cousin, do you want to see the clothes we will wear tomorrow at the festival?" Mélien asked while still dragging Maeglin along by his pants. Niquion had already escaped ahead of them to his own chamber.
"Easy, easy, I am coming."
It never quit to amuse Maeglin in how both his younger cousins had an innocent interest in fashion from the older Ages, even if Turgon had forbidden anything of the fashions in Gondolin; the reasons being he could not stand being reminded about the Fall.
"I hope that this does not make me seem too pale…"
Like many others begotten on the Grinding Ice and having very pale appearance as result, Niquion needed to be mindful of which colours he wore on his clothes, ere he risked looking like a drowned wraith.
"No, that dark green robe looks good on you, and the dress truly is in a lovely purple colour on you, Mélien."
However, there was one minor thing that was not unnoticed by his cousins: Maeglin had no feast robe himself. Those few he currently owned was rather old in terms of age, a couple of them too small as he had worn them during his teenage years in his second life and being a muscular blacksmith could cause some trouble for the tailors.
"You need a new fest robe, cousin, but seeing that the festival is tomorrow…"
Maeglin nodded without looking up from the nature book he was reading, a gift from Fingolfin on his latest begetting-day. Just because he was a blacksmith did not mean he liked other things as well. Reaching out, he took a peach from the bowl beside him and took a big bite, since Maeglin loved peaches as his favorite fruit.
By now, their parents had arrived home to the manor too.
"Where is ada?" Niquion asked his mother, to which Elenwë responded that Turgon had gotten behind thanks to lot of old friends from his childhood and thus was rather unlikely to get back home in time for the festival.
"More cheerful mood for us others then," Eöl smirked in trumpf as he emptied his water bag on the remaining water inside.
"Aunt Aredhel! Uncle Eöl!"
Aredhel tried in vain to hide her laugh as her nephew and niece tried to give her husband a welcome hug together.
"Get of me, you two brats," he grumbled in a vain attempt to hide a thin smile at the double hug from the two Elflings. Eöl was far less grumpy than when he had been in the First Age, but he still disliked Turgon over their horrible first meeting and both preferred to not meet each other at all for the sake of giving peace for the rest of the family. The few times they had met face to face it had been dangerously close to a fist fight. It was for the better for them to not be in the same house, let alone the same room.
"Pardon, my lords and ladies? This just arrived at the front door, a small note says that it is for young master Maeglin."
A housemaid entered the room, carrying a basket in her arms which she placed on a table.
"I have not ordered anything new lately, and my begetting-day are not yet for another five months," Maeglin was quick to defend himself at the questioning looks from his present relatives, gently pushing away his youngest cousin's curious hand from the basket as she would try to take a sneak peek inside.
"Unless you have a secret admirer somewhere, cousin," Niquion teased with a big grin on his face from below the sitting couch, causing Eöl to frown at him. For all his rather stoic manner, Eöl was rather nervous about Maeglin trying to find a spouse given his son's fatal history of romance in Gondolin.
"Come on, sweetheart, show us what you have got," Aredhel suggested while Maeglin removed the small blanket used to hide what was inside. The first thing was a circlet made in silver and black obsidian stones. Then Maeglin carefully held up a robe in the colours of a clear twilight sky, faint orange-red at the bottom up towards the middle with blue and indigo at the top. It even had gold thread at the bottom part to give hint to a rising sun.
"Oh my… what a stunning gift," Elenwë whispered in wonder as she and Aredhel touched the silk robe; they had rarely seen a such fine work and it brought to mind of Aredhel naming Maeglin after the twilight as a mother-name.
"No letter or anything from the sender?"
Indeed there was none. Maeglin raised an dark eyebrow at this, over the past few years he had gotten pretty many gifts from an anonymous sender. At first he had freaked out and been worried that it would be a cruel prank meant to crush his hope for romance once more, but to his honest joy it had not stopped.
"I think it is the same person once again, but he or she always seems to be nearly too shy to reveal who it is…" he revealed carefully with a tender look at the robe and circlet he had gotten this time. Whoever the anonymous sender, he did hope to meet that person face-to-face one day eventually.
~X~X~X~X~X~X~
The feast area was lovely decorated with flowers, silk ribbons and water lilies in different colours to celebrate the early summer. Celeian knew that it was a minor risk of that he would be flirted with by many people of both sexes tonight, given that he had made a somewhat feminine-looking body, and Nan Elmoth had said that he was very pretty by Elven standards.
"Stay calm, I will not let people bother you if you so wish not to," Nan Elmoth promised in a whisper into his ear, her light brown hair bringing out the forest green dress she was wearing.
"Thank you, sister."
In secret, Celeian hoped that the pale purple robes he wore along with his albino colours would not draw too much attention if he remained in the shadow of this tree. Just watching the Elves talking and laugh together, and how they danced, was good enough for him. Besides, being not fully used to a body meant that Celeian would be rather clumsy if he ever tried to dance. At least the food and wine was sweet to taste on.
"Nan Elmoth!"
That must be one of the Elves who once had lived in her forest and thus recalled her aura, Celeian thought when a small group of Elves came towards her, and she smiled in return to them. It was, however, not long to pass. Sudden he heard her call:
"Celeian, please come over here, I want you to meet them."
Maeglin, who had chosen to wear his new feast robe and circlet, had been happy to sense Nan Elmoth's familiar aura among all the guests and to see her in person again. He recalled her few appearances from his childhood as a old-looking, premature aged person who had to fight all the time to keep the evil presence from Angband away from the forest.
"I would like you to meet Celeian, he is one of the rare Maiar who serves two Valar."
Looking up, Maeglin suddenly felt his heart stop for a moment when he met Celeian's purple eyes. They were nothing like the frightening golden eyes of Sauron which still haunted his nightmares on really bad nights, no these were a soothing twilight kind of colour, soft and gentle. It also helped that Celeian looked far younger than Sauron, clearly doing his best to keep his Maia powers in control instead of using them to strike fear in the hearts of others.
"Maeglin? Would you perhaps like to see some of Celeian's powers, if it feels alright?" Nan Elmoth asked. Knowing that she meant it in a kind way, Celeian carefully made a seed grow into a small plant in his hands, then made a beautiful diamond take form from the ground. Maybe he overdid it a bit with the flowers around his bare feet, but it still was a far cry from what Maeglin had feared about Sauron.
"May I take a look at the diamond?" Maeglin asked, noticing that Celeian suddenly blushed a bit as their fingers momentarily touched at him giving the diamond to Maeglin. Having an interest in gemstones and being able to see if it was false or not, Maeglin could see that it was a real diamond. Celeian must be a Maia linked to both Yavanna and Aulë if he were able to use his Maia powers in two such different ways, Maeglin realized just as the music started to play a new dance tune. Unsurprising, Aredhel was quick to drag Eöl along into dancing before he got a chance to protest.
"I cannot dance, I am still not fully used to have a body yet…" Celeian confessed right away, hoping to spare himself some embarrassment before anyone asked.
"Would… you perhaps like to get a little teaching before testing it?" Maeglin tried to say, hoping that it did not come out in the wrong way. Going by the way those purple eyes lightened up in joy, it was a good idea.
"Yes, please!"
Ok, his happiness may have caused some unexpected flowers to grow really tall around them, but that could be overlooked. At least Mélien and Niquion had some fun with the flowers.
Even if Maeglin had not been that fond of dancing back in Gondolin, he had learned the basics as part of his education to be a Noldor prince and thus could help Celeian with the different steps a bit away from the feast.
"Smaller steps there, lower your hands a little…"
Celeian had chosen to make his body more on the slightly shorter side, allowing Maeglin to be taller than him. This secretly pleased Maeglin, who recalled how he had always felt small beside his uncle Turgon even as a fully grown adult because of how tall Turgon was.
"Y—You… look very handsome in that twilight robe…" Celeian muttered, blushing heavily as he tried to look at it during the dance. Maeglin smiled.
"Thank you. Whoever the sender is, I am much pleased with the gifts I am given by that person."
Without warning, Celeian suddenly made a classic beginner's mistake in the steps and dragged Maeglin along into a fall down the small hill they were standing on.
"Ah!"
Thankfully, Celeian managed to fall with his back first, catching Maeglin above him with a set of quickly-grown flowers braided together for better strength.
"…Nice catching…" Maeglin managed to say after a couple of rather awkward minutes, to which Celeian could only nod in agreement to, while blushing so heavily that it was a sheer wonder that he did not faint.
"Thank you…"
Once Maeglin was gently set down on the ground and Celeian made the flowers grow back into normal size, neither one was really sure on what to say or do. At least, until that a still blushing Celeian said:
"You dropped your circlet."
He held it out towards Maeglin, who took it to set it back on his head.
"Your hair got some flowers in it as well during the fall." Maeglin, responded, starting to help Celeian free his now messy hair from all the flowers and even a couple of small gemstones which had gotten tangled into the white hair. Since it was going to take some time, Maeglin took the chance to ask Celeian how he and Nan Elmoth knew each other. Seeing that they were seeing each other as siblings explained a couple of things for Maeglin.
"I—If you would like to taste, I have a peach cobbler somewhere in the outdoor ovens here around…" Celeian whispered, hoping that it had not been burnt.
Luckily it had not. To Maeglin's surprise, Celeian confessed that it actually was his first time trying to make dessert and that it would be perfectly all right if Maeglin found something wrong with it.
"There is a saying that you should not judge a book by its cover," Maeglin assured calmly despite that the piece of cobbler on his plate was an uneven golden brown, with bits of the crust flaking off in crumbled mess, and the gooey golden peaches in the core spilling out a little sloppily. Personally he preferred imperfect meals like this, since the food in Gondolin at the royal table often had seemed more like flawless pieces of food art where nothing was allowed to be imperfect, a far cry from the simple meals from his childhood in the Nan Elmoth forest. With an honest smile, Maeglin took a small piece on his fork and bite down. His black eyes became wide in honest surprise. It was though all of heaven and earth and silky, juicy, peachy perfection had twisted together into a beautiful, magnificent rainbow of flavor on his tongue. It was all she could do not to moan, honestly.
Oh sweet HEAVENS—!
All prince dining etiquette flew out the window. Maeglin flung his fork away, lifted the plate closer to his face, and began wolfing the dessert down in one hand like a starving mine worker Dwarf.
"Whoa, stop now, slow down!" Celeian pleaded in slight worry and unsure how to act, "Easy does it, please! I would prefer that you would not give yourself a bellyache if you eat like that… if you're that hungry, I can just give you the whole thing to take with you home…"
"Thank you." Maeglin was breathing hard, and his mouth was a mess of crumbs and small pieces of peaches. His plate was empty.
"That was… I didn't even know food could taste like that good…!" he gave a small, goofy smile. Celeian blushed, and the Maia held up a hand to hide his red face, the colour seen even more clearly thanks to him having the body of a albino Elf.
"By the Creator, I feared that it would be a failure since it was my first time making dessert…"
"It was amazing, honestly," Maeglin asserted, reaching out and moved Celeian's hand out of his face.
"Utterly amazing. You are amazing at this," he said intently, and Celeian's cheeks reddened further while his purple eyes seemed to become even brighter in happiness over that the peach cobbler was a success.
~X~X~X~X~X~X~
Although it was not noticed very much at first in the following weeks after the feast, the other Maiar slowly began to see a different behaviour in Celeian. While he had always been good at controlling his powers, nowadays he seemed to be even better for some reason. The first clue came one late morning as the Maiar just had started to work in the forges in the Halls of Aulë:
"I am late, I am late, I am LATE!"
The surprising loud cry in distress came from the chamber where Celeian slept, and there was thrashing sounds as well coming from the half-closed door, as if he was in a fanatic hurry to get dressed and get in time for something.
"What in the name of the Creator is he doing?"
"He is not supposed to work in the forges today, if I remember right… whoa!"
With Celeian trying to dress himself in his normal robes and hurry outside on the same time, he scattered around both plants, normal stones and even gemstones around him. More than one of his fellow Maiar had to duck for a stray gemstone sent flying through the air.
"I take it that you overslept, huh?" Nan Elmoth said while slipping on her cup of hot tea.
"I have a important meeting with someone who awaits me right now! Why did no one wake me up earlier?! And hands off those peaches, they are a gift for someone important!"
Picking up the basket of ripe peaches in one arm, Celeian had barely time to draw a comb through his hair with his free hand before he needed to leave, there was no time to braid it into his normal smaller braids. In fact, he even happened to run straight past Aulë as the Smith Vala opened the door to enter the forges and Olórin, who had arrived for a short visit, was literally pushed from the small wooden bridge into the river.
"See you all later this evening!" Celeian called over his shoulder before using his powers to become a bird of prey and flying away, peach basket held in his talons. He was gone before anyone had proper time to hear him, although Olórin frowned in displeasure as he pushed up the now wet topped grey hat he wore out of habit from his time in Middle-earth from his head.
"Anyone who can explain why young Celeian was in a such hurry?" Aulë asked, surprised by the young Maia's odd behaviour. Most of the Maiar gave him similar looks in not know why, yet Nan Elmoth could not resist to point out in a blunt voice:
"You are really too used to seeing him as the baby of the brunch here, huh? You guys are sooo blind… he is in love! And he does it in the right order thankfully, no weird magic on the other while staring into each other's eyes, no seductive dance or needing to steal a magical gemstone which technically is not yours… nope, here is a proper courtship slowly growing in love."
And with that, Nan Elmoth vanished as well, leaving for the forest which she had claimed as her own.
"Ever ready to deliver some hidden thorns in that rosely speech of hers," Olórin commented for himself, having climbed back up on the bridge by now and trying to dry his wet travel robes alongside his hat.
~X~X~X~X~X~X~
Maeglin had just arrived to the meeting spot just outside the market, when he spotted something unusual in the sky;
A bird of prey, carrying a basket.
"Maybe there is meat or fishes in that basket, else I can not figure out a reason for a such bird to steal a basket of all thing… eh?"
Suddenly something made the oak tree beside him shake rather violently, and he nearly managed to catch the basket in his arms before it landed on the ground.
"Not one of my best landings or transformations up in midair…" admitted Celeian in embarrassment as he revealed himself among the branches and leaves, once again looking like a mess. Maeglin had to smile at the sight,
"Come down, I have my part of the picnic food ready back home, we just need to borrow a picnic blanket from my aunt first."
Putting down the peach basket at his feet, Maeglin helped Celeian to climb down from the oak tree and then started to remove smaller twigs and leaves from his hair. In return, Celeian easily created a jeweled comb from a gold piece and some emeralds which Maeglin could use to comb his hair.
"There, done."
With a smile, Maeglin offered a hand to Celeian, who accepted it with an eager smile in return to the Elf lord and they walked away, hand in hand.