The Beginning of a Friendship

Author's note: This is my first idea of how Erestor started out in Imladris, and how Glorfindel tried to befriend Erestor. I have another plot bunny that seems to be more exciting, but I think I'll write it when I have more time. Hope you have fun reading this short story! Reviews and Comments are welcomed.

I've reread and edited parts of the story after being prompted by horseyyay (thank you!). Do drop a note if there are any grammatical/ content (etc) errors. Thank you!

Disclaimer: I don't own anything, only my own ideas.

The Beginning of a Friendship

"… and this is Lord Elrond and Lord Glorfindel. "

"My lords," greeted the new elf a little shyly, slightly awed by the presence of the two great elves in front of him. Yet there was no sense of fear in him, something which most elves have when meeting one, let alone two, such great elf.

Both Elrond and Glorfindel gave a slight nod. "We hope you will get use to being a councillor, Erestor," came Elrond's voice.

"I will try my best, Lord Elrond," came the confident yet humble reply. Glorfindel regarded the new elf keenly, though not without curiosity.

When the head councillor and Erestor had left the room, Glorfindel cocked his head slightly to Elrond and asked, "Where did you find him from? He seems…different from the rest."

Elrond smiled slightly and replied, "he was talking to a merchant about how the policies here were not as good as it could be when I happened to pass by. You should have seen the merchant," Elrond chuckled quietly to himself, "he positively bleached when he saw me. The merchant apologized quickly and asked Erestor—that is, our new councillor—to apologise as well but he had nothing of it. Anyway, I had to admit that his ideas were good and he had no questionable family history. So he ended up here."

"Indeed," replied Glorfindel thoughtfully, "brave soul. He will rise up the ranks quickly, if his ideas are as good as you make them to be."

"Oh trust me," came Elrond's reply, his eyes twinkling, "he will be an invaluable addition to Imladris."

Rise quickly he did—within a century, Erestor had risen to take the place of the head councillor. As Glorfindel came to realise, Erestor not only had brilliant ideas, his tongue and wits were rather sharp too and dared to cut anyone, even Elrond, if he deemed appropriate to. Yet Erestor was not unpopular amongst his colleagues—something that was inclined to happen when an elf rose too quickly, let alone an elf with a tongue as sharp as his—they treated him with much respect and regarded him highly. This was because not only did the other councillors recognise Erestor's talents in this area, he was also always ready to lend a helping hand to his fellow councillors personally or professionally if he deemed appropriate to do so. Indeed, Erestor took the place of head councillor not because the former one had resigned, but because he had willingly stepped down and let Erestor take his place.

Unfortunately, the same level of understanding present between the other councillors and Erestor was absent between him and Glorfindel. As Erestor had risen too quickly and Glorfindel was mostly called away to scout around Imladris as it was being built, Glorfindel ended up having little or no opportunity to work or interact with Erestor enough to know him on personal terms. And so by the time Erestor had become chief councillor to Elrond, all Glorfindel knew of Erestor was his name, his abilities in making policies, his fear of no one (Glorfindel had the 'privilege' of experiencing this first hand) and the fact that he always wore black robes.

However, whilst Glorfindel knew it was best to befriend the head councillor because they would be having many discussions from now on, he was unsure of how to begin. He did not know what this new head councillor thought of him, but he had a feeling that it was not a good one after the aforementioned 'privilege' he had arguing with the then vice councillor about the placement of the training grounds in the settlement. It would not be good if his attempts to know Erestor better backfire and deepen Erestor's dislike of him. Elrond, for one, would not be pleased that two of the most important players of Imladris' fate were at loggerheads with one another. Glorfindel shuddered as he imagined how uncomfortable the discussions would be if that really happened and shuddered.

Still, Glorfindel was determined to try, and considering that he had already faced death before fighting a Balrog, he reasoned that perhaps trying to befriend the new chief councillor could not be quite as frightful, right?

It was late one night when Glorfindel finally returned from his patrol. Wearied, he trudged slowly into his rooms. As he passed through his Lord's rooms, he suddenly wondered if the chief councillor had already retired. Taking a detour, he found the chief councillor's room to be lit and knew that he had not yet turned in.

Glorfindel knew that this was a chance and started to weigh the advantages of making the informal meeting now versus in the morning. If he were to go in now, he might meet the councillor in a bad mood as he finish his work and he, being already worn out for the day, might not be the most agreeable of all companions. Yet, if he went in the morning and should both of them start arguing, it would most probably be noted by most of the staff here, and any hope of friendship between the two would be lost immediately.

After considering the matter for a short while, Glorfindel decided that he would meet the councillor after he had changed into a more agreeable attire. After all, he could hardly walk unannounced into the councillor's room with his cloak and boots dripping with mud and yet expect not to be chased away.

So after Glorfindel had gotten himself ready, he started for the councillor's room as if he was going into a court of inquiry. Standing outside the councillor's door, Glorfindel considered once more whether approaching Erestor when he was probably busy was a good idea. Memories of their argument came floating back and suddenly, his fear when facing the Balrog paled in comparison to his current anxiety about this inevitable meeting. He shook his head, trying to clear his mind of thoughts of confrontation and of possibly serious consequences should his 'quest' fails. With that, Glorfindel took a deep breath and knocked the door a little hesistantly and waited nervously for a reply.

"Come in," came the new head councillor's voice.

With the permission, Glorfindel opened the door carefully and approached the chief councillor, who was looking at him a little curiously albeit never stopping his writing, as if he already knew what to write subconsciously.

"Does Lord Elrond want anything of me?" enquired Erestor. He had hardly ever seen the captain in his current state, looking as if something deadly will fly and hit him soon.

Glorfindel shook his head, starting to wonder if quills in Erestor's hand could be used as a weapon to chase others out. "I was wondering… if we could talk?"

Erestor could have almost laugh out looking at the Lord of the Golden Flower and Balrog slayer seeming a little nervous asking for permission to talk to him. However, as he remembered how he had retorted the captain the last time over the issue of training grounds relocation, he slowly understood Glorfindel's nervousness. He had been rather sharp the last time—hopefully not too sharp, thought Erestor, seeing as they still needed to work together.

"I guess?" came Erestor's reply, motioning Glorfindel to a comfortable red chair, which Glorfindel happily sank into. He had cleared the first obstacle: entering Erestor's room without harm.

"I hope you are coping well with the new workload," started Glorfindel, as his eyes strayed to Erestor's work table. Piles of documents laid themselves on the table and several used ink bottles strewed across a small shelf. "Paperwork looks terrible," mumbled Glorfindel subconsciously to himself. He only realized that he had voiced his thoughts aloud when Erestor's amused face came into view and he tried futilely to murmur an apology.

Erestor waved the apology away and tried too to make the mood lighter. "I did not know that the Lord of the Golden Flower had a phobia of paper work," he continued with a little mirth, but not without respect.

Upon seeing that Erestor was willing to make acquaintances with him, Glorfindel's nervousness dissipated significantly. "I make a mess of paperwork. I tried it once, and I think I messed it up," Glorfindel answered, grinning with some embarrassment as his memories in Gondolin came back to him. "Well, I could certainly remember confronting a steaming Elrond and a furious Gil-galad when they heard what I did and it was not funny."

Erestor smiled as he tried to picture the scenario. "I'm sure," he replied, as if trying to suppress his laughter, "that Lord Elrond has forgotten the incident. I remember tidying up quite a bit of reports that he made you do…"

At this, Glorfindel's face turned a shade redder. "Uh well that. Mm. Sorry about the reports. I uh finished it rather hurriedly."

You mean you finished it when you took a 'sick' leave.

Erestor did not need to say it out. It was all in his eyes and Glorfindel could only manage a weak smile back. How foolish he must look right now!

Fortunately, Erestor was in a rather good mood and decided to switch topics, his hand slowly creeping back to the parchment on his paper.

"So… do you play chess?"

And so, the captain and chief councillor talked through the night, each getting to know each other better. While there were some awkward pauses in the middle, Glorfindel usually tried his best to save the conversation for Erestor seemed to care not much about the conversation after a while and soon half his mind was back on his work. His answers, short as they already were in the beginning, started to become monosyllabic, leaving Glorfindel to keep the conversation going. Sensing that he had probably overstayed his welcome after trying to restart a conversation for the tenth time, Glorfindel bade goodbye to Erestor, who waved casually at the door. Glorfindel smiled, a little resigned, before closing the door. But there was no need for any more words, for both knew in their hearts that the other already treated himself as a friend.

-The End-