Bitter elf is bitter... and maybe being dragged to a game.

[makalaure]

[ The elf is hunched over, hands clenched tight and held close to his chest beneath a ragged cloak. He is almost hiding behind a curtain of tangled black hair and his silver eyes are wet with tears, but he still manages a steely gaze. ]

Why do you bother me? Why not leave me to mourn my family in peace?

I have fulfilled my father's Eru-damned oath, and those cursed jewels are out of everyone's reach now. What more do you want?

[ Maglor's mun just wants to send him to a game for fun... sadly, he's a little too upset by his canon point to see the upsides. Like getting medical attention for his burned hand or the very slim possibility of other people bringing in some of his brothers... ]

... I am done with games. With fulfilling others' promises and wills. Let me be.

Comments

[inafadingcrown]

[The anger sort of melts away when he moves his hand, reminding her of his injury- a small miracle in itself and a mark of just how far Galadriel has come from Artanis. There's still an edge to her voice, but she's still here and she's still listening.

She reaches for his hand again.] Explain to me while I see to your wounds.

[makalaure]

SO HE SINGS THE NOLDELANTE FOR HER THE END

/merrily sprinkles headcanon in here whee; also I cut myself/Maglor off early whoops

[makalaure]

[ He shakes his head and does not give her his hand. ]

... it is fitting that my hands should remain like this.

[ And then he falls quiet for a long moment, closing his eyes. If she takes his hand then, he will not resist, but he will not thank her for it. ]

To the everlasting darkness doom us if our deed faileth... [ He repeats that line of their accursed Oath in the older lisping dialect it had been spoken in. But then he continues on more normally in pronunciation but in an almost dreamlike tone. Whether it's the explanation Artanis wants or not remains to be seen, but it's the explanation he gives all the same. His tired, poet's mind drifts in a way that likely makes sense only to him, and it is not always chronological. ] ... I told Nelyo that the everlasting darkness would be our lot whether we kept the Oath or broke it... I wonder if Atar knew what he was dooming us to? I wonder if it would have mattered...

[ He opens his eyes again, but they are distant and a little glazed. In a way, it's a little like when they were all young and he would sing for his youngest cousins after spending a few hours with Findarato and a harp - the expression he'd get when telling a story, singing it out for them to see. But now he does not sing of Orome's adventures nor the mysteries across the sea. Now he simply speaks for he has not the heart to encompass it in song. He wants his cousin to understand, but he does not wish to draw her in and inflict upon her that which is still raw in his heart. ]

It ate away at us... not so much when the damn jewels were utterly out of our reach, but when there was even a sliver of a chance we could reach one, it rose, hungry and rabid. The void isn't a place outside of everything. Not really. It's a place inside - a place you carve yourself until there's nothing left there, and you stare into a darkness that gnaws at your very bones, drives you mad. You'd do anything to escape it...

[inafadingcrown]

[Her hands fall into her lap and remain there throughout his explanation. She won't waste her efforts healing those who don't want to be healed.

She watches him as he speaks, her eyes never leaving his face. Her first response is a long slow nod as she considers his words.] I do not know if I can forgive you for all that has passed. [Perhaps she should. It has been so long for her, so many years. But the taste of betrayal is still bitter in her throat.] But neither can I shun you entirely. [Again, perhaps she should. But she has so little family left to her...]

[makalaure]

[ Hunching over a little more, he shakes his head. ]

We tried other ways... until Curvo and Tyelko and Moryo grew too impatient, and Pityo was only half a soul after Losgar anyway... I am almost glad Marille* died before she could see... After we had gone that far, what was going a little farther? What was a little more insanity? A little more everlasting darkness? A little more death...

I suppose Sirion turned out better than expected... that silmaril shines so brightly in the morn - and its song is soothing, now. Too little too late...

[ Abruptly he looks at her, again, meeting her eyes. The distance in his own clears, and his gaze is intent. ]

I do not ask for forgiveness - I do not deserve it. But I would ask a favor, if you would grant it, cousin...

Please... watch over Elrond and Elros as best you can. [ His gaze drops away a little, and a faint, sad smile curves his lips for a moment. ] Elros... he will almost certainly choose to be counted among Men, I think, so that may be as impossible as convincing him not to jump in the mud, but... Elrond -- his heart lies most with our people, and it will be difficult for him... all the moreso when the time comes for the brothers to go their separate ways.




(( * Maglor's wife in my headcanon; she died during the Battle of Sudden Flame when Glaurung overran the Gap of Maglor and burned the fields beyond. I also headcanon they had a child together who either died during that battle too or else later died in the Kinslaying at Doriath because it is perversely fun to create family members only to kill them off later. I mean um... no this actually spun out of earlier RPing and chatting and idk. I've just kept the headcanon. c: ))

[inafadingcrown]

That I can promise with ease, cousin. [Finally, a genuine smile warms her face.] It has been... many years for me and much has gone as you expected. Elros chose to be counted among Men, as Elrond chose to be counted among our kind.

I have watched over him and I will continue to do so. He is my daughter's husband and the father of grandchildren. [And that makes him family.]

[makalaure]

[ His eyes widen a little, but then he smiles just a little. ]

That gladdens my heart - both that you are blessed with a daughter and that she and Elrond are happily wed. [ Well, he assumes happily. He very much hopes happily. ] What... what is he like now? What is your daughter like?

[inafadingcrown]

He is among the wisest and most powerful lords in Middle Earth. Yet it is his skill as a healer and his hospitality for which he is truly known. His House is a place of healing and of rest. And there is no finer place for music and song either.

[He'll like that in particular, she thinks. Celebrian is a little harder to talk about, but if she avoids bringing up...the fact that it's been hundreds of years since she's seen her, then she can handle it.]

My daughter is a gentle soul- you'll laugh to hear it, I'm sure, remembering my temperament in my youth, but it is true.