Footnotes by grey_gazania

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Mushrooms

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Carnistir was acting oddly today. We'd met at the fountain, as usual, but his brow was furrowed and his gaze turned away from me. It was clear that he was only half paying attention to what I was telling him. Something had him distracted, and it clearly wasn't to his taste. "Carnistir. Hello?" I waved my hand in front of his eyes. Then I realized that his look of incredulity was directed at my lunch.

 

"It's a sandwich," I said, slightly vexed.  "I've been eating them for years."

 

He met my eyes, finally, and said, "Is that a fungus on it?"

 

"It's the common brown mushroom, and before you ask, yes, it's completely edible. I grow them in a window box. I'm not dumb enough to eat something toxic, Carnistir."

 

"And now you're cross with me."  He frowned and took a slow breath, seemingly counting to himself, and then said, "All right. You eat fungi. It's strange, but you're strange in plenty of other ways."

 

"Thank you so much," I said dryly.

 

"But how on earth did you learn they were edible?" he continued.  "I hope you didn't just randomly pick one and eat it."

 

"Of course not," I said.  "I've been eating the brown ones since I was a child. My grandmother cooks with them sometimes; her people ate them in Endorë."

 

"Her people?"

 

"She came west to be with Haru," I explained. "But most of her people were Unwilling."

 

"Huh." He tipped his head, looking thoughtful. "She left her family? That must have been difficult."

 

I shrugged. "I asked her about it once. She said she misses them sometimes, but that she's happy here. But anyway," I said, getting back on topic, "that's only how I learned about brown mushrooms. There are plenty more that are edible. You know Laimelindo?"

 

"The botanist? Not personally, but I've heard Maitimo gripe about him.  'Possessing an occasional spark of brilliance, but prone to bouts of complete inanity' is how he last described him."  Carnistir paused and then said, "Wait. He published something on mushrooms a few decades ago, didn't he? Hardly anyone bothered reading it."

 

"Which is precisely why it ended up on the bargain shelf in Tatyacambo's bookshop," I said, and grinned when he laughed. "It's really quite useful, and very attractive from an aesthetic standpoint — lovely illustrations and buff covers with a deep green binding. I'm quite fond of it."

 

"You're weird," he said, shaking his head. "But I hope you never change."

 

"And you're sweet," I said, tapping him lightly on the nose.

 

"Shh!" he hissed, looking around theatrically. "You'll ruin my reputation!"

 

"Your reputation as an adolescent curmudgeon?"

 

He nodded vigorously, trying to keep a straight face as I giggled, but soon joined in with a snort of laughter.

 

"Secret's safe with me," I assured him. The bell tower chimed the hour, and I stuffed the last bite of sandwich in my mouth, chewing quickly.

 

"See you on Ar Ulmon," he said, and I waved as he dashed off across the square. His masters were stricter about the time than mine. Still, it wouldn't do for me to be late either, so I slid my shoes on and made my way back to the archives.

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Chapter End Notes

"To the astonishment of Elves and other Men they [Drugs] ate funguses with pleasure, many of which looked to others ugly and dangerous; some kinds which they specially liked they caused to grow near their dwellings. The Eldar did not eat these things. The Folk of Haleth, taught by the Druedain, made some use of them at need; and if they were guests they ate what was provided in courtesy, and without fear. The  other Atani eschewed them, save in great hunger when astray in the wild, for few among them had the knowledge to distinguish the wholesome from the bad, and the less wise called them ork- plants and supposed them to have been cursed and blighted by Morgoth." - J. R. R. Tolkien, "Late Writings", The Histories of Middle-earth (Volume 12)