One thing, which had surprised the whole family from the very start, is the simple joy Rûsa expressed when he had found a set of simple color crayons and discovering what he could do with them. Of course, the walls in the living room was not planned as something for toddlers to draw on, but that was to be explained later. After all, Rûsa could not know that little detail.

~X~X~X~X~X~X

Year 22 of the Fourth Age:

After that reasonable good, but not perfect visit to Tirion to show the rest of the Noldorin royal family the main reason to why they had not shown themselves in the capital since rebirth, Fëanor knew that his father Finwë would most likely insist on catching up. Especially in terms of gifts.

"I knew it," Maglor commented in a dry voice of displeasure, where the whole family had gathered on the front yard.

"Really, grandfather? Did he have to send this much to all of us?" one of the Ambarussa wondered in disbelief, and in that moment it did not matter if it was Amras or Amrod who spoke. Mutters around them told that everyone in the family agreed on that.

Nerdanel was already keeping herself busy with sorting through a large set of fine robes and dresses from the royal court for her family by Queen Indis which would be horribly out of place here in Formenos, either because they was made of silk and other very fine fabrics, or being just plain impractical to wear up here in the north.

"Nope, not this one, it will never look good on any of you, boys. This one is too bright in color for the redheads in the family. Are this one movement-restraining one meant for Tyelko? Does Indis and her seamstresses really think that Nelyo is still the same size after all those years of war and pregnancy?!"

"Huh? Same size on what?" a confused Rûsa asked at her last words, stopping in the middle of opening some wrapped gifts which had been marked with his mother-name.

Lucky, Maglor's wife Rainiel saved the situation before it turned hard to explain what Nerdanel really had meant.

"Your grandmother meant that your ammë is much more muscular nowadays than what she was back before the Darkening. Just look at us, would you believe that she, Astarë and I would be able to have the same design on a finer dress in terms of body shape?"

Rûsa took a quick look between his mother and his two aunts by marriage, trying to figure out what she had meant.

"...maybe ammë and aunt Astarë? Are the difference that you have not yet carried a cousin to me, aunt Rainiel?"

It was so right, and yet sounding so innocent that the the two married sons of Fëanor had to mask their own laugher as a cough, while the remaining four brothers could not hold their laugher back. Fëanor and Nerdanel pretended to not have heard anything.

"You will learn more of that when you are older...oh, this must be from Aredhel. None of our other cousins are hunters and Fingon would not have been able to resist adding some gold paint on it," Celegorm spoke, holding up a small toy bow and a quiver of arrows from where he had helped Rûsa opening the gifts.

"Simple story books for Elflings, history books to use in lessons with master Rumil later and some "How to survive among the Noldor" joke books for children from Finrod and his siblings, pretty useful as they all are written in simple sentences," Caranthir counted up from his place near the garden gate. It seemed like the Houses of Fingolfin and Finarfin must have aimed to try and win back some trust from the House of Fëanor by focusing on gifts for its currently youngest family member. After all, there was just no way for them to know how much their Fëanorian cousins had changed in taste of clothing and personal interests since the First Age.

Naturally, what caught Rûsa's attention the most of all the gifts from the royal family, was a simple set of painting colours to be used with a brush and water, sent from Finarfin and Eärwen. No one among the adults protested when he rushed away to start using them right now, they all know how much he enjoyed to paint.

"Feels nice in that he seems to have a more peaceful hobby in this new life of his, rather than having to kill for survival."

That reminded Maedhros about that one of the artists in Formenos had offered to be a teacher for Rûsa when it came to painting, since no one in the House of Fëanor had really been blessed with much skills in that area. Simple drawings of family members and nature, yes, but nowhere close to a real artist, any of them.