"Now, at first," explained Glorfindel, "Erestor hated the poem. At least, he said he hated it. But about thirty years later, he had written music for it, and then we had another version of it for Lindir that was more repetitive with less detail."

"I have heard many a lament of myself," answered the elf who sat on the couch beside Elrond, "but that seems one of the more accurate. Tell me, though, Glorfindel, why is it necessary to say that my sword was long? If it were not long, would it not be a knife?"

The back of Erestor's hand smacked Glorfindel's shoulder. "See? What did I tell you?"

Glorfindel was about to defend his work until he saw another elf at the doorway. "Rumil, good morning to you!"

Briefly, Rumil nodded back, glancing around the room for something. "Ah, good morning," he answered, and quickly walked to a table where his drawing pad and various other tools sat.

"You look as if you're on a mission this morning," remarked Erestor as Rumil hastily scooped everything up.

"Yes, well, Nenniach finally agreed to... something we discussed, as did Valarda, and Legolas just stopped by, so I must catch them all before they find something else to do today." With that, he hurried out of the room.

"He's not one of mine," Elrond said quickly, motioning toward the doorway that Rumil had disappeared through, having spent most of the morning proudly talking about his brood. "Although, he is my brother- in-law."

"He's my son-in-law," spoke up Erestor, "technically."

"Cousin," admitted Glorfindel.

The fourth elf nodded. "Yes, I can see that."

Elrond and Erestor chuckled while Glorfindel attempted to pout a bit, but they were interrupted as Orophin rushed in. "Where could it be..." he mumbled as he walked aimlessly through the room.

"Orophin, good day to you. Perhaps you'd like to join us for a moment," offered Glorfindel.

"No time. There are two naked elleths and a naked elf up in my room, and I need something heavy to drape over- ah, there it is," he said, yanking a heavy quilt off of the back of the rocker. "Perhaps this afternoon," he called over his shoulder as he left.

"Brother of the first," Elrond said carefully as the elf watched Orophin leave, raising a brow just slightly.

"Didn't you tell me your wife had three brothers?" asked the elf warily.

"Yes. The third, the eldest is the one who has been taking care of your dog," explained Elrond.

"Unlike the other two," spoke Erestor, "he is more disciplined. I like to blame it on the fact I did not have... help... during his secondary education." He turned his head to the left, giving Glorfindel an accusing look.

"Meh," he answered, conceding defeat.

Elrond stood up. "Would you like to see Squysh? I assure you, she has been well taken care of."

"Yes, I would like that very much," replied the elf, standing as well. "I truly need to find a new herder, though," he said. "A sheepdog who runs away isn't much help- especially one who does it once a week."

"She is outside in the gardens with Haldir and Elodien," Elrond said, leading the elf from the room.

"Provided she hasn't run off again," added the other.

They walked past the kitchen and the elf stepped inside for a moment. "Dearest, I'm going to be outside for a bit."

"Alright, love," replied a cheerful elleth who sat across from Celebrian and her infant elfling, Vilya. The elf stepped a little further in upon seeing the babe, and smiled down at her before leaving with Elrond. "He is going to spoil your daughter rotten," said the elleth, whose name was rather long and hard to pronounce, and thus everyone simply called her Sinaryn.

"She's spoiled enough as it is," said Celebrian. "She hardly spends time in her cradle, everyone is always holding her."

"Truly nothing wrong with that," Sinaryn told her. "She is well loved."

"And well spoiled!" Celebrian laughed.

Sinaryn grinned as she rose from the table. "I'm going to fetch myself another glass of milk. Would you like one?" she asked.

"Oh, no thank you," answered Celebrian with a crinkled nose. "Honestly, I hate it and avoid it."

"All of it?" questioned Sinaryn, pouring herself a glass from the pitcher on the counter. Although goat milk was the prominent drink of choice at the house, since Glorfindel and Erestor had taken up residence further down the beach, they had acquired a dairy cow. Glorfindel despised the taste of goat anything, and so every few days a surplus was brought by them to the First Homely House. Celebrian shook her head in the negative. "Well, sweetie, that isn't much good for the little one," she said carefully. "Not that I'm questioning your choice, but for her sake it might be a good idea."

"I tried, but I keep spitting it out. It tastes so vile to me," Celebrian said.

Sinaryn stood up again. "Do you have a little chocolate somewhere?"

Celebrian nodded. "Up in those cabinets. My Gran-nan Lhunerin is a confectioner, so she sends us treats on occasion."

Opening the cabinet, Sinaryn found a block wrapped in a cloth that smelled sweetly. She took it down and set it upon the counter, unfolding the cloth from it as she searched a drawer for a sharp knife.

"What are you going to do?" asked Celebrian.

"You'll see. Rather, you'll taste," giggled Sinaryn. A few minutes later, she brought over a tall glass of light brown liquid. "The best is if you can find a good, hollow cinnamon stick. Then, when you stick it in, you can blow bubbles into the chocolate milk to stir it up."

"Oh! We have some of those, right over in that jar," Celebrian said with delight as she tried a sip of the drink. "Sinaryn! This is heavenly! Can I adopt you?"

Sinaryn laughed as she handed the cinnamon to Celebrian, and took Vilya into her arms. "Now, blow gently with it, otherwise you'll get it all over."

Celebrian did, and laughed merrily after watching the bubbling foam float across the top of the glass. "Where do you come up with such ideas?"

"Married to someone who once ruled one of the largest realms in Arda and headed whole armies into dangerous battles, one needs to come up with a few things to break up the monotony of being a shepherd every now and then," she smiled.

- - -

"Did you ever have a dog when you were an elfling?" questioned Elodien as she threw another stick to Squysh. The dog bounded after it, her shaggy fur flopping around this way and that as she skidded around to where the stick had landed and snapped at the ground for it.

"Not until I was in the guard, and then I had hunting dogs here and there. I had a cat once, when I was four or five. I brought him in and tried to keep him secret, but Celebrian found him and told on me," Haldir said, recalling the memory. "I was allowed to keep him, but I had such a difficult time when he died, so I didn't have any other pets after that. Just horses, and hunting hounds, which really aren't pets."

He paused as Squysh returned the stick and took it from her, flinging it back out again. "I take that back," he said suddenly. "There was one other time, but I don't know if it counts. It wasn't for very long."

"Tell me about it," said Elodien. "Please?" she begged when he did not answer.

"It was in Gondor, right at the time of the marriage of your parents. We were there for the event, and as part of it, Arwen devised a game. It was a treasure hunt, something of the sorts her brothers would come up with for her when she was a child. Her idea was that everyone would mingle and get to know one another, the different races. Men and women put their names in a sack, and elves or hobbits or the dwarf as he just came to be known," Haldir said with a smirk about Gimli, "would choose a name. I wasn't going to play, but Orophin pushed me into doing it, and thus I spent two days scouring the city with Lady Eowyn."

"Oh! I knew her!" exclaimed Elodien joyfully. "I am not ashamed to admit that I had great respect for her, and that I very much wanted to be like her."

"I think you are," said Haldir, a little shyly. "She was a vibrant woman once the war ended and her duty to her country fulfilled by her standards. I would wager she was meant to be a queen; she would have ruled Rohan most fairly, though do not mistake me, her brother was noble as well. There was always a sadness about her, though. As if no matter how hard she tried, she always felt she was never quite given the due she was deserved, and yet, she was a proud warrior and never once spoke ill of it. Valarda knew her a little better, they became close. I think the only time I saw Valarda brought to tears in public was when Elrond gave her the news of Eowyn's passing."

"But," he continued, "we were discussing a puppy."

"Ah, yes," remembered Elodien. "I just love your stories so, I forget what my questions were." She edged a little closer on the bench to him as Squysh rolled in the grass. "So, you and Eowyn were on a treasure hunt."

"Yes. We were on a treasure hunt, and the last item on the list was 'Palantir'. Now, it was a joke, no one was actually expected to find one. Except, Eowyn would not relent. So we tried to come up with other possibilities of what to do as we roamed the streets, and turned the corner to find a small boy selling pups. He had two left and was trying to find someone who would buy them both. One of them was named Palantir. It was good enough for her, and she paid for them on the spot, handing me the one that was not Palantir and telling me it was a gift for putting up with listening to all of her troubles over the course of our search."

"But you didn't keep it?" questioned Elodien.

"I thought it better that both of them grow up together," Haldir lied. "But I had matching collars fashioned for them, and she seemed to delight in all of it. Lord Faramir took a liking to them as well, so it worked out for the best."

"Squysh!" a commanding voice called out from behind them. Haldir and Elodien turned, and the elf nearly fell off of his seat as the sheepdog romped over to her owner.

Elrond smirked as Haldir almost tripped over himself standing up and walking to them. "Haldir, I would like to introduce you to-"

"No introduction needed," he said in awe, and bowed low. "My lord, this is the greatest honor."

The elf blinked and turned to Elrond. "Are you sure he's related to those other two I met inside?" Elrond shrugged a little in a jesting way. "Haldir, there is no need for such formality."

"My granddaughter, Elodien," said Elrond, referring to the elleth who curtseyed.

"As Haldir has said, it is an honor." She bowed her head as she spoke, but the elf chuckled and took hold of her hand, kissing the back of it.

Not letting go of Elodien's hand, and then placing one around Haldir's shoulder, the elf led them back to the bench. "Please, I had enough bowing and reverence when I was alive the first time. A simple nod of the head does well for me these days, and I shall return it. I thank you for taking care of my dog, rascal that she is." Squysh flopped down on the grass, rolling onto her back with her legs in the air. Her owner shook his head at the sight.

"I apologize then, for any offense-"

"Haldir, please." The elf smiled. "Elrond has told me much about you, and the stories he would tell you about me. As long as I'm here because of my runaway, I thought I might indulge you in a bit of storytelling, if you have the time for it."

"Anytime," Haldir replied enthusiastically. Elodien grinned at Elrond, who smiled back, and motioned for her to come walk with him. When they were alone, Haldir said, "I can't believe I've finally met you."

Still smiling, the elf said, "I have a few hours before my wife and I journey back home. You are welcome to visit us, if there are other tales you wish to hear that I cannot tell you before noonday comes. For now, what is it that you would most like me to tell you about?"

"Everything," Haldir finally said, unable to unjumble his thoughts, and the elf chuckled heartily before starting as close to the beginning as he could remember.