Chapter Text
"Lord Elrond!"
His gaze turns from the large plant he was examining to find his assistant jogging up to him. "My lord," he says between pants.
"Ah, Lindir," Elrond bows his head slightly. "Did you need something?" His eyes focus on what Lindir is hugging close to his chest.
"Yes," he says, brushing some of his hair out of his face. "The new librarian needs you to sign these fo–"
"New librarian?" Elrond frowns slightly. "I don't recall requesting for another librarian, I thought Erestor was doing just fine on his own."
"He was," Lindir says. "Err, he is! But he will be visiting some of his family in Lorien, he came to me to send in the request and I put it in. I hope you don't mind."
"No, I do not," Elrond says. "But please come by me before you make official requests."
Lindir nods his head, shuffling the papers in his hands nervously. "Of course," he says bluntly. "My apologies."
"Now the forms you were talking about?"
"Right." Lindir pulls out a long piece of parchment from the stack and hands it to Elrond. "Lady Y/N has requested that we add more windows to the library, claiming that Erestor lives like an orc and that books deserve sunlight."
Elrond hums, reading over the request form as his mind tries to remember why that name sounds so familiar. "Well thank you Lindir," Elrond says rolling up the form and tucking it under his arm. "I will see to this now, maybe it'll do Erestor some good to get some sun."
-
As much as he would hate to admit it, it is nice to go to the library. Usually, he would have Lindir or Erestor deliver him any books or scrolls he requests directly to his study, but the old scent of paper and leather still welcomes him warmly. The large bookshelves pressed against the walls seem to nearly touch the ceiling as candle-filled scones hang on the lightly carved wood.
His grey eyes scan the room before him, locking onto a tall elleth behind the staff's desk. As Elrond quickly moves toward the desk, his hands start to unroll the parchment. "You must be Lady Y/N," he greets, watching her whip her head around in shock.
"Ah, my Lord," she bows her head. "You have frightened me, I did not hear you come in."
Elrond sucks in a breath, his eyes quickly scanning her face as he remembers why her name sounds so familiar. The sunlight from one of the few open windows pours light onto the desk, her long hair shimmers a familiar molten gold as the warm sun highlights her high cheekbones and hard straight nose.
"My apologies," he squeaks. "I didn't realize that your father had sent you here."
"Hmm? Oh yes," Y/N chuckles to herself. "I suppose I beat the messenger here as I arrived not too long ago. But have you looked over the forms?"
"Yes, I have. But please tell me why we need more windows? I thought we had enough," Elrond says, glancing around the large library.
"It has four," Y/N says, moving to walk around the large desk. "The library has two in the front and one over here and in the back, but they are always closed. I feel that it is important to enjoy the sunlight as you read."
"A-and if you're worried about the humidity ruining the books," Y/N says, fiddling with the end of a small braid in her hair. "There are many underground rivers in the Woodland Realm, I know how to handle it."
"I am not worried about that," Elrond says, rolling up the parchment. I just worry about Erestor's reaction, he wants to add but doesn't. "But please, show me where you would like the windows."
Y/N's eyes widen with excitement, picking up the ends of her dress, she gleefully skips away towards the left side of the library, leaving Elrond to chase her down with a small smile.
-
The flash of light draws his attention away, his gaze falling on the large window to his left, with the curtains pulled back, he has a front-row seat to the prettiest show. With raindrops pattering against his window, Elrond turns back to what he was working on, maps of his realm and others sprawled across his desk, the only one missing is the map of Rohan.
He had sent for it more than twenty minutes ago and he doesn't live that far from the library...twirling a long dark quill in his fingers doodling a small flower on a scrap piece of paper. Elrond hums, trying to picture the map of Rohan in his head as he wonders what the quickest path is through to Helm's Deep.
Grumbling to himself as and strike of lightning hits. Elrond then perks up when he hears someone knocking on his door, joy flutters in him as he calls to whoever is at the door. He finds himself hoping that it is one specific person. A confused and concerned look crosses Elrond's face when he sees his soaking and red-faced assistant. "Lindir?"
His usually calm and collected assistant slams a mostly dry rolled-up map on his desk before shooting out breathlessly. "Y/N AND ERESTOR ARE FIGHTING IN THE LIBRARY!"
"Again?" Elrond groans, rubbing gently at his temples. "I thought I solved their petty argument about the windows."
"It's not about the windows this time my Lord," Lindir says, a clear shiver running through him. "It's about organization?"
Elrond lets out a loud sigh, standing from his desk, wrapping his thick robes tightly around himself as he walks around his large and messy desk to the door. "You are dismissed for the rest of the night Lindir, thank you for the map, now if you excuse me," he grits out the last part.
As he walks out of his study and then house, he sets a straight path towards the library, not caring about the fat drops of water hitting him. As he reaches the large ornamental doors of the library, he puts on the sternest face he can muster as he can already hear the screaming.
"By the Valar," he says, slamming open the doors, quickly finding that no other elf is in the library besides those two. The screaming comes to a very abrupt halt when they hear him. "What is it this time?" Elrond growls, stalking to where he can see Erestor poking out of the large shelves.
Erestor's eyes widen as Elrond quickly approaches, moving so his Lord can see the both of them. "M-my Lord," he stammers.
Elrond glares at the red-faced librarian before turning to Y/N, surprisingly finding that only the tips of her ears are red. Her long hair is currently tied up in a large neat bun on the back of her head, she quickly bows her head before folding her arms against her tunic. "What could the two of you possibly be yelling about at this time?"
Erestor turns to glare at Y/N. "She–" he points harshly. "–Is un-organizing this whole section!"
"I AM ORGANIZING IT!" Y/N yells, making Elrond turn to see what books they are yelling about.
"All I am suggesting is that if we are going to show off the Fëanorian section, we could at least show it off in a timely order."
"It is better to organize alphabetically," Erestor growls. "Which I already have."
Elrond lets out an exasperated sigh, his gaze turning away from the books. "I will say that I favor Y/N's idea, it is a little odd to see Fëanor's greatest crafts next to a poetry book of him slaughtering others," he grumbles to himself.
"But if it is alphabetically organized, it is easier to track down the books or scrolls," Erestor argues.
"I can–" Y/N starts calmly before getting interrupted.
"Look, princess, this isn't the Woodland Realm," Erestor grits. "You can't have everything sporadically placed."
"Erestor, Y/N isn't trying to organize the whole damn library," Elrond sighs. "It is a small section, a mere fifteen books at max. I am sure that she can handle keeping track of them."
Erestor opens his mouth to argue more, his eyes glancing from Y/N to Elrond. His jaw shits tightly with a quiet clack before he storms off to the exit grumbling to himself.
"I did not mean to upset him," Y/N moves to rest on the bookshelf. Her gaze pointed at the floor, slowly, very slowly slides to lean against Elrond, almost as if she isn't realizing what she is doing. Elrond tries not to flinch, enjoying the dry warmth she brings him.
"Erestor is a very old and particular elf," Elrond mumbles, glancing softly at Y/N, the dim candlelight flickering against her skin. "There is a reason why we have never had two librarians before."
Y/N lets out a small laugh, her warm eyes gaze into his own. "You remind me of your father Thranduil," Elrond says, a warm smile spreading on both their faces. "Only, you don't seem to be as stubborn as him, he could have let that argument go on for centuries."
Y/N lets out a snort, wiping her face with her hands. "I suppose I should get to organizing," she says, wiggling her eyebrows playfully. "How much do you think he will hate me in the morning?"
"Not much," Elrond says, turning away from Y/N. "He isn't really a hateful ellon, just grumpy from time to time."
-
A month has passed since then, the whole library debacle was put behind them, and now Y/N comes into the Library to be greeted with a muffin every morning, but Erestor claims he doesn't know where it came from.
With a smile, Y/N peels off the thin paper wrapper before taking a bite of it and pulling up a large stack of new books from underneath the large desk. While the Imladris Library typically dealt in history books, scrolls, and even an occasional tapestry, Y/N had petitioned to open a new section for purely fictional stories and poems.
Surprisingly both Erestor and Lord Elrond had agreed, now she just had to add the official Library and Imladris stickers to the outside. It was mindless work, cut the sticker off of the long strip, peel off the back, and slap it onto the spine.
And she enjoys it, the quietness of it, being able to be alone with her thoughts before Erestor unlocks the door for the public, not that many elves came in at all. Not when there was a war upon them. Not when half of the citizens of the realm had left for the white shores.
Y/N lets out a quiet hiss as she forgets what she's doing and slices a small cut on the pad of her finger. Immediately she moves it away from the books and puts it in her mouth, gently sucking on it as she hears the sound of the doors being unlocked.
Damn,
she thought, wishing she had just a little bit more time to eat. Getting back to the stickers, Y/N quietly gets back into her flow, not noticing the quick passage of time.
Humming a faint tune as she sticks the last sticker on the book, Y/N pushes the large stack of books away before glancing up to find a pair of soft gray eyes staring at her.
With a shriek, she launches herself backwards and places a hand over her thrumming heart. "My lord you must stop scaring me!"
"My apologies Y/N," he chuckles, making her cheek softly heat up. "I thought you had heard me enter."
"No, I did not," Y/N tucks a loose strand of hair behind her ear. "But is there anything I can help you with, my Lord?"
"Please," he says. "You have been here for a month now, call me Elrond as I do not call you your title. But yes, I am looking for a few books."
"Really? You usually have Lindir or Erestor deliver them," Y/N mumbles, moving around the large desk. "But errm, what books are you looking for?"
"Poetry ones," he replies, Y/N nods and starts to lead the way, heading to the far right side of the library. Sliding in between two large shelves, Y/N waves her hand to show off the large collection of books.
"We have too many to count," she says, her eyes scanning up the shelves, all the way to the top. "I think Erestor likes to collect them to one day recite them to Glorfindel," she giggles, pulling a thin book off the shelf. "He especially likes to collect the romance ones, he takes them into the back and memorizes them, I think he's in love."
"Then we have something in common then," Elrond sighs, his eyes not moving to look at the books.
"Oh?" Y/N looks away from the book in her hands to meet Elrond's gaze, confusing hope flutters through her. Tilting her head with a curious look on her face, she quickly puts the book back on the shelf. "Who is it?"
Elrond turns his head, his gaze finally hitting the books. "I can not, will not say," he sighs. "I am afraid that it is very one-sided."
A frown graces Y/N's lips, her gaze too turns towards the rows and rows of books. Her eyes locking onto a particular book with a light green cover. "Here," she says, standing on her tiptoes to try and reach it. Elrond watches her fondly, the early morning light catches on her skin splendidly, making her appear to glow.
"This book has my favorite romantic poem," she says, rubbing the cover gently. "It has others too, of course, but the romance ones are very sweet and if you memorize them, I'm sure whoever you are will be reciting to will realize your feelings for them."
"And maybe they will feel the same way," she ends with a grin.
Taking the book gently in his hands, his eyes run over the cover, wondering how exactly he should proceed with this. "Thank you," he squeaks out, wondering if his face is as red-hot as he is imagining it to be.
"Now let's get it checked out before you take it," Y/N says, brushing past him to skip towards the desk.
"Right with you."