Category: Tolkien-Universe
Rating: M
Couples: Egalmoth/Rog
Warnings: AU
Chapter: One-shot (unless people want to see more)
Copyright: Characters & places © By Tolkien Estate, Plot & OC´s © by me, setting by Mynameisjessejk
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"My Lord." Egalmoth looked up in surprise when hearing someone address him as he was reading in the garden. The cloudy eyes clued him in pretty quickly that it was a Maia of some kind, and the dark and drap robes narrowed it down to one of the residents of the Halls.
"Yes?" He rose from his seat on the grass.
"A moment of your time." The Maia inclined his head. "Have you heard of the 'fostering' my Lord has started?" Ah, a Maia of Mandos then.
"Yes." He confirmed. A long time in the Halls of Mandos had proved detrimental for young, undeveloped fëa, meaning children could not stay long. At times, it meant either one of their parents had to be reborn prematurely, or they had to be put in new families if no other relative could be found willing to take care of them. He had heard that there were very stringent requirements for foster-families, having to be of a similar socio-economic class so the children would have as close a childhood as their parents would have given them and most importantly having no children of their own or the ability to have children of their own... which he suspected was to prevent some kind of Fëanor-Fingolfin-rivalry-repeat.
"This is Niphredil." The dark figure gently urged a small form forward. "A child of a Nandor-Noldor couple who were minor nobles in Barad Eithel. Her parents cannot yet be reborn, and there are no appropriate couples in Valinor."
"Oh." She looked young, having inherited silver hair from whomever had been her Nandor-parent, but brown eyes from her Noldor one. "Hello, Niphrendil." He crouched down on her level.
"Hello." She was underdressed for a Noldor-noble, even a low one, but he suspected that came from having been reborn recently. She was still young, but clearly not too young to know what was happening, because she was studying him almost as intently as he was her.
"There is a general shortage of childless Nandor-Noldor couples among nobility, and you and your husband are spoken off highly by various children under you."
"You're suggesting we foster her?" Egalmoth looked up, but didn't stand up. He looked back at the girl within a moment.
"You were suggested as a good family for her, yes."
"And you are okay with that?" He knew that there were contingencies in place to make sure the children would understand what was happening and not forget their true parents, but felt he needed to ask anyway.
"Yes." Clearly, she was as sparingly with her words as Rog, which would make for a perfect fit in that regard. "Mom said she and dad will need a long time."
"I see." He rose to his feet, already imagining how Rog's reaction to all this would be. For all that he proclaimed not missing 'a bunch of rambunctious youngsters'... he absolutely missed having kids around. Also, the reaction of their friends, at the two of them being the first parents - barring Idril and Tuor. "My husband is in the forge. Shall we go meet him to see if you like him too?" At her nod, now a fair bit shyer, he offered her his hand, which she took.
"I will return in a few days to see if all goes well." The Maia promptly disappeared, leaving the two of them in the garden by themselves.
"Walk or carry?" He smiled gently as she tucked herself against him.
"Carry." She hesitated. "Please."
"Of course." Picking her up, he reached across his marriage-bond to Rog. His husband would very much appreciate the warning, even though him throwing his hammer through the forge in shock would be hilarious to see.
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
Tinnuion was happy he had not been drinking when he read the letter from his fathers in Lindon, because he would have spit it all out again in his shock. Instead, he choked on nothing, coughing and gasping for breath for a few moments.
"Tinnu?" Aredhel had visited her son and law-son in Eregion, and they were having a comfortable lunch with Celebrimbor and various dwarves she was sure the Fëanorian smith had just added to their family at this point.
He wheezed, trying to get air in and words out at the same time. Celebrimbor knocking on his back nearly send him sprawling across the lunch-table, which hardly would have been better than if he had sprayed wine, but it did allow him to finally speak.
"They... they are informing my to come to Lindon. I have a little sister." He squeaked as he re-read the pertinent bit of the letter. "One of those fosterlings we've heard about has been put in their care."
"A sister!?" The White Lady of the Noldor reached across the table, snatching the letter from his hand. "Oh Valar, they do!"
As if he'd have lied about that. He sunk down on the chair again. Rog had helped take care of a fair few kids, particularly when they were still stuck on that reed-island on the Mouths of the Sirion, but now they had their own!
"I think I am going to have to leave for a time." What did one even do with little sisters!? Was he expected to bring a gift? Should he ask Uncle Turgon for help? He squeaked again, only managing a mild glare at Celebrimbor's chuckling.
"That is very fair." Fëanor's grandson grinned at him. "You have nothing time-sensitive in the forge, so take as long as you need. Send my congratulations, will you?"
"Oh, I wonder if they send word to Turgon too... I am almost sad I am here now." Aredhel laughed. "The first of his Lords to get kids are one of the same-sex couples! He's going to lose it."
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
There were some things that marked Tinnuion as related to Turgon - and the larger Fingolfian branch as a whole. One of which was the very similar reaction to shocking news. Unlike his nephew and sister, no one would be able to ever catch Turgon squeaking, but the table was distinctly more wine-covered than it had been a few moments prior.
"Dad!?" Idril had only barely managed to save most of the paperwork from the fountain of red that had come from her father's mouth.
"Rog and Egalmoth have a kid!" He did recover much faster than his nephew however.
That announcement was met with outcries and questions from the rest of the meeting, which had been the full number of Lords of the city on lake Evendim's shores, planning this year's Tarnin Austa.
"A fosterling." He ignored most of the outcries, just reading the letter. "Formerly of Barad Eithel." His face fell at the reminder, because while his brother had had a Fëanorian escort to safety after the Fifth battle, most of the civilians in the fortress of his father - and later brother - had not been so lucky. "Now of the Heavenly Arch until her real parents are reborn, because she thinks Egalmoth's House is prettier."
The group chuckled at that, dispersing the minor gloom that overcame all of them whenever they remembered what had been lost in the First Age.
"Are they coming here?" Glorfindel, a big child himself at times together with Ecthelion, leaned almost over the entire table.
"Not yet. They want to wait until she's settled a bit."
"Aaawwww..." The golden form drooped a bit, slumping back into his seat.
"They do say they expect she'll manage larger crowds by the festival, if all goes as well as it does now?" The white-clad male chuckled, putting the letter down on a clean bit of table. "So contain yourselves, will you? Not sure what Egalmoth would do to you if you send his daughter running for the hills."