Ten Counts by Ulan

Rivals
They started off as rivals - the eldest sons of Miriel's and Indis' sons - but it was difficult to hate Findekáno when the other kept conceding that Maitimo was the better craftsman, the better sportsman, the better son, and the most beautiful one.

Upset
The first time Findekáno was angry with him, he nevertheless ran to Maitimo and viciously buried his face on Maitimo's neck, for little Findekáno did not seem to know an alternative way of dealing with things that upset him.

Peacock
"I am trying to get your attention, of course," was Findekáno's laughing reply when Maitimo asked him why he suddenly decided to wear gold ribbons in his hair.

Dispose
He always stood beside Father at the front of the line, except when Father told them to burn the ships and forget the others; at that point, he lingered even as the others began the march again, and wondered if Findekáno would ever forgive him.

Fair
Fingon had always called him "the fairest", and Maedhros' threats, them growing up, family feuds, and even the nightmares and disfigurement brought by those years in Thangorodrim, surprisingly and beyond reason, have done little to change that opinion.

Kin
Maedhros once thought that one cannot be closer to another than to be kin, and while Fingon was that to begin with, the impertinent brat also managed to prove that he could still be something more.

Hierarchy
Maedhros seldom joked - playfulness, after all, was Fingon's field - but it was worth it this time to shock and laugh away the look of uncertainty and loss from their newly crowned king's face by saying, "I have long thought that I would someday be on my knees in front of you, but this is not quite what I had in mind."

Gallop
When they rode out like this, just the two of them, it was easy to forget the war and the call of the Oath, for not even the Silmarils shone to him as brightly as the light in Fingon's eyes.

Wife
Maedhros had been called many names in Beleriand, but he was not quite sure if he should be amused or offended the first time Maglor called him "the High King's wife".

Elope
Some days, when the winters were harsh and Himring felt too far from everything else, Maedhros would dream of riding to Hithlum, of taking Fingon and building a house somewhere in the deep woods and just staying there with him until it all ends.

Landscape
The first time Galadriel saw Celeborn, she mistook him for a Maia like Melian; his hair shone moonlit-silver, his brows were set with wisdom, and the trees seemed to bow down to his stillness.

Loner
She noticed that Celeborn stood apart from others, but unlike Galadriel, who did so out of pride and what she thought was acceptance for being different, Celeborn did so because it suited him, and because he was simply content in the peace of his own mind.

Beautiful
Celeborn would just as often compliment Galadriel for being "beautiful" as she was "strong and skillful", which was uncanny, as people had thus far seemed divided between seeing her as only one of each thing.

Massacre
Galadriel never spoke to anyone about the things she witnessed in Alqualondë, which was why she was surprised when she found herself pouring the horrors of it all to Celeborn's patient ears, especially considering that he did not even ask.

Power
Many Elves looked up to Celeborn as a lord in Doriath because he was constant and steadfast, but he did not seem to desire more power for himself; Galadriel, who marched after Fëanor precisely for power, struggled at first to understand this.

Obey
Brother Finrod laughed the first time he saw his "stubborn Artanis" finally obey another Elf; Galadriel scoffed at him, and said that it was easy to do what Celeborn bade because Celeborn's suggestions just always made sense.

Dry
Galadriel was not one to laugh often, but Celeborn's subtle humour and dry observations seldom failed to at least make her grin behind her hand (for diplomatic reasons) or huff out a sound of amusement.

Evolution
Celeborn taught Galadriel many things: humility, the importance of patience, the wisdom to be found in stillness, the value of silence, the ability to laugh at serious things, and the realisation that even the most stubborn hearts can still thaw and fall in love.

Promise
After a lifetime of being told that her ambition and her interests were unbecoming of a lady, Celeborn's marriage vow to her that he loved and would keep loving her "for all that you are now and for all that you still want to be" served as Galadriel's reminder as to why Celeborn was the one.

Child
For all her pride and desire to leave a legacy, when she saw and felt that her beautiful daughter would take after her father more than her mother, Galadriel nonetheless felt joy and contentment the likes of which she had never known.

Chapter End Notes

I love the idea of Celeborn and Galadriel. I love that Galadriel was known to be the greater of the two, coupled by signs that theirs was a strong union. I think Celeborn became one of my favourite characters precisely because of this. :)

Herd
He noticed him from the very beginning; there in the jarring whiteness of Eru's music and that of his herd, Melkor heard the notes one particular voice sang - deep, flowing beneath the surface and near unnoticeable, so that only one such as Melkor, who sang the bolder version of the discordant tune, could recognise that subtle defiance.

Create
His lieutenant had not been won with lies, by corruption, nor by turning the Maia's will against the rest of the Valar, as had been Melkor's way with the others; instead, Mairon was tempted with but the simple words: "This is remarkable. Did you make this?"

Ambidextrous
Mairon, like Aulë, had the gift of hands, the ability to create the most incredible things, his knowledge of the craft nearly at par with his master; however, only Melkor saw that Mairon, unlike Aulë, was proud, and needed his name to be known and inscribed on the work of his hands.

Loyalty
It was not that Mairon had been a difficult catch, but neither was he easy; surprisingly, he was initially loyal to Aulë, despite their differences in philosophies, but this loyalty was a quality that Melkor had come to covet in the end, making it doubly important for him to win Mairon to his side.

Exchange
Long had he known of Mairon's loyalty and devotion, and once he had them turned to himself, very soon did Melkor find himself delighting in them; there were even those odd times, when the mood struck, that he would work precisely for that attention, for the look of lust and wonder from those intelligent eyes.

Amber
In the beginning, Melkor was amused by Mairon's vanity, but conceded that he was, indeed, beautiful above the others; he chose to walk in a fána, after all, that was pleasing to the eyes, choosing hair of dark gold, skin like ivory, and those deep, sharp eyes that shone like amber.

Experiment
Anyone as curious as Mairon and who was so enamoured with the different forms and ways and tricks of the flesh would inevitably come to this, which was good, for Melkor enjoyed demonstrating the pleasures of the body to him, especially given how Mairon trembled beautifully like the earth and the mountains when they shook under Melkor's hands.

Juxtapose
Melkor had always been upfront with his intentions, but Mairon was subtle, preferring the elegance of seduction that led to slow corruption; it amused Melkor, who decided to keep Mairon close, for while Melkor could see the merit of such techniques to win more followers over, he had no patience to execute them himself.

Carbon
In the beginning, when Melkor sang the fires and the power underneath the earth into Eru's music, Mairon had listened, was quick to understand it, enough to create the song that would form into existence the gems he now presented as gifts to Melkor.

Usurper
He knew his power waned, the more of himself he gave to Arda, while somehow Mairon's power grew; yet Mairon remained to be his most loyal of subjects, never went against Melkor, never turned his other subjects from him though Mairon already very well could, and this was something Melkor never quite understood.

Chapter End Notes

I have always thought that Sauron was a more nuanced character than Morgoth. Morgoth was kind of in-your-face about his evil; Sauron, though, had finesse. Lol, I don't know how to call it. It's interesting, too, how and why he remained loyal to Melkor. Loyal-to-Melkor!Sauron is canon, right?