"Yeah!"

She gets food and nibbles on it quietly, not really looking up at him. She looks, if anything, sadder than she was this morning.

It takes him most of dinner to notice this at all but he does eventually. "Are you sad?"

Small nod.

"Why are you sad."

"...everyone else's happy. Or. Getting happy."

"...and that makes you sad?"

"It's—I—it's like they don't care—it won't happen again but it still did happen—"

"It's just a coping thing for trauma. Horrible things happen to humans a lot and if they were properly sad about all of them they'd spend all their time being sad. Elves - if they existed, which they do not, they're just in stories - are sad about things for the right length of time and remember them forever but old Elves are very sad and don't do much of anything except sit around sadding so I guess there's a tradeoff of some kind."

"...Elves?"

" - my parents told me a lot of stories about Elves growing up. They're people who sing really well and don't like their hair being touched and live forever."

"Oh. That sounds nice. Even with the hair."

"It is nice. I wish more people were Elves."

"More?"

"Than zero. Since Elves are only in stories."

"That's a weird way to say it," she says, and sniffles.

Pat pat. "I could sing about all the sad things. That's what Elves would do. Would it help?"

Nod.

He sings the song for when someone dies.

She listens.

Other people hear.

They stop talking.

It is a six-day-long song. He keeps singing.

Yeah the cheer is definitely gone. For such different cultures, their reaction is pretty similar to that of the Protectorate capes in New York.

Making people sad isn't very nice, maybe? He does think humans cope like humans for a reason. 

But lots of people are dead and he can sing for them.

After it becomes clear the song will last a while some people resume their conversations, but in hushed enough tones that it doesn't interfere with the song.

That makes sense, they are human and can't pay attention for six days! Honestly he can't pay attention for six days without Valinor timesliding them.