For erviniae, who beta'd my Slashy Santa story. Thankyou! Sweetie!!!

Title: Erestor, Aglarien and their Nana
Author: chaotic_binky
Rating: PG
Pairing: None
Characters: Erestor, Glorfindel, Elrond, OC's
Summary: Erestor's nana reads to him about the fall of Gondolin.
Warning: Fluff
Disclaimer: I do not own the elves or their surroundings. The elves
made me write this even though they belong to Tolkien; they are very
naughty making me do this! I make no profit and have no intention of
making any.


Erviniae sat in the library with her sleeping baby elfling, Aglarien,
on the sofa next to her and her ion Erestor sitting on her lap. The
book she was reading was titled: "The Elflings Book of the Fall of
Gondolin." It was a personal favourite of Erestor's and one she had
read to him many times.

Before sitting down Erviniae had made sure that they were alone as
Erestor had the habit of unwittingly asking very personal questions
and she did not want him to upset Glorfindel who seemed a source of
endless fascination for the small elfling. Not that the warrior ever
said that he minded the small elflings inquisitiveness; However,
Erviniae thought that his tolerance would only stretch so far.

Fate has a way of interrupting the best-laid plans.

Half way through the story and unbeknownst to Erviniae, Glorfindel and
Elrond walked into the library. They heard Erviniae's voice; grinned
to each other and made their way over to listen to what Erestor would
eventually say when she had finished. They were aware that the
elfling's nana was always horribly embarrassed when they heard him
start asking questions but he was too funny to resist. Both Lords
dismissed her apologies as unnecessary and encouraged the Lady from
Mithlond not to worry about the hilarious things her ion said, but
still, she had been brought up in a more formal atmosphere and so she did.

"The balrog sprayed the streets with fire from his mouth and……"
Erviniae read and was interrupted by her small son who had his head
against her chest.

"Nana, how do we know for a fact that balrogs really did shoot fire
from their mouths?" Erestor asked. "Because, although I can see it
quite clearly in my mind, it seems we only have Glorfindel's word for it."

Elrond and Glorfindel grinned at one another. A series of priceless
gems was about to come from the elflings mouth.

"Oh dear," Erviniae said, "I am so glad that Glorfindel is not here to
hear you say such a thing. I do not see why we should doubt his word;
he is an honourable elf."

"What does honourable mean, Nana?"

"I means: deserving or worthy of honour and having high moral
principles," Erviniae smiled. She knew her ion could not argue with that.

"So why is he deserving of honour, Nana, and how do you know he has
high moral principles? Did he tell you this?" Erestor put his thumb
back in his mouth.

"He will make a good interrogator when he is older," Elrond whispered
to the warrior who grinned widely.

"He certainly runs rings around his Nana," Glorfindel replied in a
very low voice.

Erviniae sighed and was glad that they were not being overheard.
"Sweet one, Glorfindel died saving the lives of many others. Only an
honourable elf would do such an action and give up his life to keep
others safe. He did not run away; he stood and fought even though he
knew that he could not survive."

"Yes, but that was ages ago wasn't it Nana?" Erestor said with a sly
grin. "Doesn't mean to say he is like it now."

"Well he is still honourable because he agreed to come to Imladris and
protect it from harm. That also includes elflings like you. We are all
safe because of his selfless bravery and you should remember that."
Erviniae hoped that Glorfindel was nowhere around as she was becoming
rather uncomfortable.

"So if Sauron knocks on the door, Glorfindel will go outside and beat
the crap out of him?" Erestor asked. "I ask you, Nana, can a mere elf
defeat a Maia?"

It was probably fortuitous that Erviniae could not see the two Lords
helpless with laughter at her ion's last remark.

"Well, Lord Elrond has the power to keep evil at bay, which means that
Sauron cannot enter, so that could never happen and no elf on their
own can defeat a Maia but a group of elves could." There, that told
the small elfling.

"So if Lord Elrond can keep evil away from Imladris does he really
need Glorfindel?" Erestor pondered. "'Cause if he doesn't the premise
for his residence here is a bit skewed or invalid, isn't it?"

"I hope your Ada never hears you talking like this, Erestor. He says
that Glorfindel is very brave and that he and his warriors keep the
lands around the borders very safe indeed." Erviniae's attention was
distracted as little Aglarien started to stir.

"Nana, every time you read to me, Agie starts waking up and crying and
we never get to the end of the book. She is the most selfish baby on
Middle-earth." Erestor looked outraged. "Why don't we send her back
and tell whoever left her with us, that we don't want her anymore?"

"She is a gift from the Valar, sweet one," Erviniae smiled. "She is
very precious, just as you are."

"But Nana, Agie doesn't even know how to walk or use the toilet. She
makes horrid smells and she cries lots. What could you possible love
about her?" To Erestor, it was unthinkable that babies even existed;
he could never remember being one.

"She is too little, sweet one. A two week old baby can do nothing
except sleep, drink milk and use a nappy when they want to do their
wees and poos. She will be able to do more as she grows older. You
were a baby when you were first born." Erviniae smiled at her small
ion and kissed the top of his head.

"I don't think so," Erestor said with a certain amount of scorn in his
voice. "You are just making excuses for her."

Glorfindel grinned at Elrond, "I think I should read him the story,
don't you?"

Erviniae put Erestor on the floor and picked up her small iell. "Go
and ask the librarian for some modelling dough and you can make a
balrog for me and Ada."

The small elfling ran off and Glorfindel looked over the top of the
chair. "Guess who?" he said smiling widely.

"Oh! My Lord!" Erviniae was shocked and she blushed. "I did not know
that you were there."

"Do not worry, Ervy. Erestor is Erestor and always will be." The
warrior laughed. "I will read the rest of the story to him whilst you
see to little Agie."

"The Elflings Book of the Fall of Gondolin," was handed to the
warrior. When Erestor ran past with the modelling dough, Glorfindel
called out to him, "Come here, Erestor. I will read the rest of the
book to you."

"I have to ask Nana first, because you might be a Glorfindel
impersonator out to trick an innocent elfling." He ran around the
chair to Erviniae, accompanied by much laughter from the two Lords. A
moment later, he was sitting on the warrior's lap with the book opened
out in front of him.

"Right, where were you up to?" Glorfindel asked.

"Up to the bit where I questioned whether the balrog sprayed fire from
its mouth," Erestor answered and laid his head against the warrior's
broad chest. He could hear his heart beating and it was a soothing,
comforting sound.

"The balrog sprayed fire from its mouth and set two houses alight.
Happily there was no one in the houses because everyone had left for
the pass." Glorfindel raised his eyebrows. "Well that's crap," he
said. "I saw plenty of houses burnt down and heard the screams of
those who died in the fire because they left it too late to leave."

"They are not going to put that in an elflings book are they?" Erestor
said. "Ada says that some books need to be taken with a pinch of salt
and I think this is one of them."

"Let's not give little Erestor nightmares, eh Glorfindel?" Elrond said
with a mildly warning look.

"All right then, lets see what else this book has to say," The warrior
could not see the point of a book that, he considered, lied by
omission but he had promised to read it, so he carried on. "Ecthelion
tricked one of the balrogs into jumping into a fountain with him. The
balrog pleaded with the great warrior, "Please do not hurt me," in a
little squeaky, elleth type voice." Glorfindel stopped reading and
looked at Elrond and Erestor. "What a bloody stupid book. Who wrote
this shit?"

"Normally the name of the author is on the front cover," Erestor said
helpfully.

Glorfindel could not see the name of any author but noted that the
book was published as one of a series by the Stiffy toys publishing
house. "Cant wait to read the elflings book of the kinslayers," he
remarked.

"I have read that," Erestor announced loudly. "There is a part where
Fëëanor says, "I hope you don't mind but I would really appreciate it
if you could just promise me one tiny thing and then we can get on our
way." As if, he would say that. He probably demanded that everyone
swear the oath or else he would kill them."

Elrond gave Erestor a sharp look. "Why would you think that, Erestor?"

"Because in the context of the story it seems pretty unlikely doesn't
it?" Erestor replied. "It is like Ecthelion saying to the balrog,
"Would you please step into this fountain," isn't it? It simply would
not have happened."

"Very perceptive of you," Elrond said and looked at Glorfindel who had
closed the book. "What do you think Ecthelion would have said to the
balrog then?"

"Well, I think he would have made a noise of angry rage and ran
forward, headfirst, and hit him in the guts with the spike of his
helmet. This would have pushed the balrog backwards into the fountain
and as the helmet was strapped on, Ecthelion would not have been able
to remove it in time and would have landed in the fountain as well.
The balrog, being made of fire, would have heated the water up when he
fell in it and Ecthelion would have boiled to death." It all seemed so
obvious to Erestor and he could see it all so clearly in his mind, as
if it were a memory.

None of the paintings depicting Glorfindel's lover had ever shown the
strap on the helmet that fastened under the chin and there was no
mention in any of the literature of this small but very relevant fact.
Erestor was held a little tighter by the warrior who wondered, with a
renewed hope in his heart, at the small elfling sitting on his lap. He
looked at Elrond and was met with an affirmative nod.

"Erestor, shall I read the rest of the book or do you want to play
with your dough?" Glorfindel looked down at the small elfling on his
lap and he was fast asleep. "He must have been very tired."

Erviniae finished feeding little Aglarien and she walked around to
where the two Lords were sitting. "Oh, he has gone to sleep," she said
and smiled at her small ion. "He is less likely to open his mouth and
embarrass me when he is like that," she joked and sat beside the warrior.

"I think your ion is perfectly delightful," Glorfindel told her. "He
is very perceptive and unafraid but that is the nature of elflings is
it not?" It was also the nature of one whom he had known in his former
life and his heart sung at how alike they both were.

"I suppose so," Erviniae said and smiled. "I hope little Agie is not
like that, though. I do not think I could take two enquiring elflings."

Elrond smiled at Erviniae. She was so shy and conscious of etiquette
that some times she found it hard to adjust to the informal life of
Imladris. He knew that often she felt alone but she seemed to be
slowly coming out of her shell and he would do what he could to
encourage that. He called a servant over and asked him to get
Melpomaen to come to the library. "Tell him that he has worked hard
enough and that he is to drop everything and come to lunch." He leaned
forward, took baby Aglarien from her nana and stood up.

"She is the one hundredth elfling born in Imladris, did you know
that?" Elrond said to Erviniae as he stroke little Agie's downy cheek.
"I have delivered many more but she is the one hundredth that I have
delivered here."

Erviniae grinned, "For a change I am not carrying an elfling."

"It means that you will be able to take Melpomaen's arm when you go
into dinner," Elrond smiled, knowing that such small intimacies were
often lost when taking care of small elflings.

Glorfindel held the sleeping Erestor, who let out a snore as the
warrior stood up.

Just like Ecthelion, the warrior thought and followed Elrond and
Erviniae as they went to meet Melpomaen at the library door.

END