Beyond Canon
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The door was knocked upon softly, then opened a crack. Someone peered in, and when he saw the person he was looking for, he stepped inside and closed the door. "So here you are. I missed you at breakfast."

"Shhh." Erestor motioned to an empty part of the desk he was sitting at, and Glorfindel sat down. "We had a difficult night." His eyes looked past the blond perched next to a document he was writing and fell upon the blond who was in the bed across the room, back to them, breathing evenly in slumber.

"What happened?" asked Glorfindel, his whisper barely audible now.

"He went to that tavern again," said the adviser.

"Drinking?" guessed Glorfindel.

"No. But that was where they met, and he just keeps going back there after I warned him not to. Then, he followed that by wandering up the road to look at the house. Thank Eru he had enough sense to ride back here before he lost his senses completely." Erestor set his quill aside and folded his hands in his lap. "He came in, he went to the Hall of Fire, he made it a few paces, and he collapsed. Luckily, Mr. Baggins was there and had seen him speaking with me enough times to have a page come to retrieve me. At first, we all thought he was just tired, but when I arrived and tried to help him up he was babbling incoherently between his sobs. Lindir helped me get him up here and I put him right into bed. He cried on and off all night."

"Have you slept yet?" questioned Glorfindel, noticing that Erestor was still dressed in the same robes as the evening before. Erestor shook his head. "He finally fell asleep, then?"

"Well... I had to force that a bit. Elrond came up and we gave him something. He tried to refuse, but we had to sedate him somehow. He scares me, Fin," admitted Erestor quietly. "He still does not understand what he can do, and he burned a hole through one of the pillows."

"I was wondering what that smell was."

"He scares me like Celegorm did at times."

Glorfindel's face became solemn. "That seems harsh. Bainith is just young."

"Younger, yes, and not as arrogant... but he lacks control of it. I have watched him at times, Glorfindel. He starts fires just to watch the flames burn. He is advancing in his studies quickly - perhaps too quickly. On top of that, his current emotional state is fragile. If he breaks, I do not know if he has the discipline to stop himself from doing something he will regret." Erestor sighed. "As sleep was finally calming him, I told him he has to stop saying 'if' he finds Valanyonnen and start saying 'when'."

"Minstrel, right? Minstrels wander, and minstrels get pulled into different directions when someone needs help."

Erestor nodded. "I agree. However, it is the letters. He writes, he gets no response. And now, this." Erestor opened a drawer of the desk and pulled out several weather-worn envelopes. "They have begun to come back - stamped 'Delivery Unsuccessful' by the post. He does not know about them yet. Actually - do me a favor and take these," he said, gathering them up and handing them to Glorfindel.

"You are not going to tell him? He should know..."

"To what end? Give the boy a little hope, Fin."

"Then, you think.."

Erestor shook his head. "I have no idea what to think. I have been drafting this, though," he said, motioning to the page on the desk. "The six soldiers who had been accompanying us are useless now; he no longer needs them or me with him when he goes out to train or fight. Since he advanced sooner than I thought he would, I am asking if Elrond will redeploy them elsewhere, as a search party."

"Seems like a lot of resources to go looking for one person," remarked Glorfindel.

"I feel like I need to do something. I would go myself if I were able."

Glorfindel nodded. "Do you want me to take it to Elrond for you?"

"I think I need to get out of this room." Erestor motioned toward the letters now held by Glorfindel. "Probably best to burn those. We would not want him to find them later." With another nod, Glorfindel tucked them into the pocket of his vest. "I think he should remain sleeping for another hour at least," decided Erestor. "Do you want to walk with me?"

"Sure. Give me a moment, I just want to check his pulse quick. I can meet you in the corridor."

"Alright," said Erestor, who would likely have been more suspicious had he not been deprived of his own rest. He rolled up the parchment and yawned as he walked to the door and opened it. "I hope someone has brewed some strong tea this morning," he said sleepily as he walked out of the room.

Glorfindel slid down from his perch and removed the letters from his pocket as he walked around to the other side of the bed so that he could face Bainith, whom he had known was faking slumber the entire time. The young elf was staring at the window, eyes framed red, tears sliding down to disappear into a mangled pillow. "Where do you want me to put these for you?" asked Glorfindel softly of the letters he held.

Bainith sniffled and tried to swallow back his sobs. "In that blue satchel, on the floor there." He hiccuped softly as he watched the elf lord lift the flap and deposit the unopened mail beside an assortment of jeweled stones. "Thank you... for not... destroying... them," he managed.

A quick glance at the door checked to be sure that Erestor had not reentered before Glorfindel said, "This is really hard for me to say to one so young as yourself, but remember, you are an Elf. One way or another, you will see him again." Glorfindel's eyes now glossed over as he watched Bainith nod his head against the pillow, and Glorfindel took hold of the blanket and pulled it up to tuck Bainith back in. "In the meantime, there are a lot of people counting on you. Hard as it is, you need to keep strong for them."
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