Moonsong Glacier rises the moon

Valiant laughed at this rejoinder. "Well, it suits you," he assured her without looking too hard for said gray hairs.

He was visibly startled when he learned their age, and then visibly stymied when he heard their names. They were a mouthful was all, and he wondered if the kids could pronounce them yet at four months old. But he liked the singsong way they rolled off of Vairë's tongue, and the new shimmer of warmth in her voice that Valiant found quietly compelling.

"Do they mean somethin'?" he asked, knowing that Dutch would ask him the same thing, if and when he were to relate them to the other man.

He felt her words deeply when she spoke of her family, and he found himself leaning a fraction closer before he caught himself. He wanted to ask her what she saw in them, but for the moment he only nodded in understanding; Easy was to him what he believed anaa must be to Vairë. "And your kids've got both of you. That's worth a whole lot. And the villages, too."

He looked back toward the glacier and swore, only to wince and sneak a contrite glance at the moondoe. "Pardon," he begged, "It's just I'm keepin' you from your sister, ain't I?" he nodded toward the otter. "If you're in a rush — I could help carry it, if you want."