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Varda had fallen into the habit of hosting regular teas, once Yavanna and Estë had invented the stuff, so everyone could get to know each other better outside their official work. The only reason Námo had agreed to come today was because Irmo had relentlessly asked him to, and because Irmo and Nienna were both going.
Usually he found these gatherings tedious. The last tea he had been to had just been full of drama, since the beautiful new table Aulë had crafted for them to sit around was made of wood and Yavanna had complained the entire time about how many of her trees Aulë had used to make it. Neither of them had come today, though. While their drama was hard to sit through, the endless small talk of the other teas Námo had come to was almost worse.
All the same, he sat between his siblings and complimented Estë on her new tea blend (perhaps this was why Irmo had dragged him along, his brother had been finding excuses to spend a lot of time with Estë of late…) and tried to be polite enough until it was over.
The conversation, mostly coming from the other end of the table, was led by Vána, bubbly as always, and Tulkas, easily excitable as always. They chatted with Varda about flowers and the best design for fields, and who knows what else, until everyone was on their second cup of tea. Námo had mostly stopped paying attention, as had Nienna next to him and Vairë across from him, and Estë and Irmo were lost in their own conversation.
“You should come out and see Vána’s new flowers sometime, Nienna! You don’t get out nearly enough,” Tulkas told her suddenly, jerking them all back to attention. Varda narrowed her eyes at Tulkas’ comment and Námo tensed, but Tulkas didn’t seem to notice either of those things.
“Oh… well, thank you, seeing the flowers would be lovely, but you don’t have to be concerned about how often I go out,” Nienna said a bit awkwardly.
“I just thought you must be lonely spending all that time by yourself being sad, and the flowers should help cheer you up!”
Nienna sort of sighed before quietly mumbling, “I’m not lonely.”
Námo put his teacup down with a loud clink and narrowed his eyes at Tulkas in a glare that usually made others stop in their tracks, but again Tulkas didn’t seem to imagine he’d said anything wrong.
“But you must be! I know I couldn’t spend all that time being alone and quiet without needing to get out. Who wants to be sad all the time?”
Irmo was staring at Tulkas too now, and Nienna had a look on her face halfway between bewilderment and looking as though she might start to cry. Neither Irmo nor Nienna seemed to be able to think what to say to him. Tulkas was utterly clueless about some things, but meaning well about it was no excuse for upsetting Nienna.
“I’m just trying to help,” Tulkas said, and Námo finally took a breath to snap at him, but Vairë beat him to it.
“Tulkas, maybe she doesn’t need your help. We aren’t all the same, and not thinking exactly like you do is not necessarily a bad thing. If Nienna says she’s fine, she is. Leave it be.”
Tulkas looked very confused and a little surprised, but he shrugged, turning instead to talk to Vána and Varda again.
Nienna smiled gratefully at Vaire, and went back to her tea.
Námo caught Vairë’s eye to nod his thanks to her, too, and she held his gaze and smiled for a moment before looking away.
Perhaps, Námo decided, these teas weren’t so bad to bother with after all, especially if Vairë would be at the next one too.