A Man Who Flies From His Fear May Find He Has Only Taken A Shortcut To Meet It by LadySternchen  

Spiders/Monsters- Beren/Elurín

Beren freezes, his gaze fixed on the wall over his bed, where a big spider is sitting. A spider that was not there a few moments before ago. He shudders.

“I…I think I shall sleep outside tonight.” he stammers, his voice hitching.

“Don’t be ridiculous.” Lúthien answers, without looking up from washing mud off the twins’ little faces. “It is autumn, and you are not as young as you were. The cold will hurt your poor bones. Why on Arda… oh.”

She has finally looked up, and immediately spotted what so unsettled him. She giggles, but swiftly walks over to Beren, leans over the bed and carefully picks the spider off the wall with her bare hand. Beren shudders even more at that sight.

“I shall put her outside again. She is but a weaver, and we really should revere her.“

Beren mutters into his beard, making sure that the word ‘Nan Dungortheb’ is clearly audible. He will never forget the horrors he’s seen there.

“That, love, were monsters. This is a very useful little spider.”

“Monsters? Nana says there are no monsters, only poor creatures enslaved by Bauglir!”

Little Eluréd’s tone is almost accusing, but as Beren turns to look at his grandsons, he finds that Elurín does not seem to share his brother’s indignation. His face has drained of all colour at the mere mention of the word ‘monster’, and Beren has an inkling that no amount of explaining and correcting themselves will make much difference. Seems like he will find no sleep tonight, even in a newly spider-free house.