Earcalie yawned, leaning against the low stone wall in front of Celondim's docks. She had no patience for waiting on people and the fisherman going to and fro along the wooden planks stopped being interesting after maybe a couple minutes. There were no ships on the horizon anyway so what was he even fussing about, she had no idea. Even her dog stopped chasing the fisherman's cat, joining her in a synchronized yawn. Well... it was partially her fault for not sending a note to Naergon asking to meet at the docks, instead thinking it would be nice to surprise him. "He's gone to Limlaen's vineyard, he'll be back soon" told her one of the working elves. Sure, but how soon is soon? Not soon enough.
After more time passed, she was of a mind to go fetch him herself when Tolog barked.
"Finally!" she exclaimed as she saw Naergon lumbering towards them. "Oh, hello Calie, good to see you!"
"Hm. First the feast on the beach, now the vineyard, are you turning into a drunkard?" she grinned as the remark earned her a glare from the ellon. "Nay, I was merely getting acquainted with the other elves and learning their way of life. I've been here last week as well, as you know"
"Relax, I am just joking. I am glad to see you are adapting well to life in Lindon, you should feel free to do whatever you want for as long as you'll stay here. I was however coming to find you. I've something you'll find interesting"
He smiled, tilting his head. "What would it be?"
The elleth rummaged in one of her tunic pockets, producing a small, blue leather-beaten note-book. She presented it to Naergon. "I've had this for the longest time. It was given to me by an old elf who left for the West some two hundred years ago. while it is a fun read, it is also of no use to me and I'm sure you can find some use for it instead"
Naergon took the note-book from her hands carefully. The worn blue leather creaked slightly under his fingers, the bindings were loose and one of the pages almost escaped his grasp. Looking at it, he saw it was a poem... but a very silly one. It was written in elven tengwar yet the content of the poem could have been fit for one of those rowdy mannish taverns, he was reminded of his time with the raft elves of Loeglond, hearing the silliest songs coming from the tavern in Lake Town.
"What....?"
She shrugged. "The elf who gave it to me thought I'd find it entertaining. Which it is, but as I am not... musically inclined, I would only worsen the contents of the book if I try to play those songs"
"Songs?" he blinked. Then, he noticed on the rear cover a title written in faded ink, barely legible.
Elven sea shanties, a compendium by Gaeruil of Lindon
"What is a sea shanty?" he asked. "Sea rhymes. Silly songs mariners sing to pass the times at sea. A very old tradition... although mostly gone nowadays. It has been picked up by men and if you find elven shanties silly, I don't want to imagine how much worse the mannish ones can be. Anyway, I know you keep a songbook yourself, so you can add the sea shanties to it"
He smiled again "Thank you Calie. You'll be the first I wake up early morning when I get around to play these"
"WHAT"
"WOOF"
Perhaps she made a mistake, she thought, watching Naergon skim through the pages with a rare amused face instead of his usual melancholy.
