Days 14, 15, and 18 - First Kiss
Mar. 21st, 2019 11:35 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
grundyscribblingBingo Number: G57, N44, G51
Prompts (Cards): First Kiss (Lord & Lady of Imladris), Menegroth & Nargothrond (First Age), Master of Huan (Complexities of Celegorm)
Rating: PG
Word Count: 1464
Notes: If you think this fits with Dancing in the Dark, you'd be right.
“What did you do to Elrond?”
Celebrían looked at Gildor in confusion.
“I didn’t do anything to him,” she replied. “What makes you think I did?”
That wasn’t completely true, but she didn’t think he really wanted to hear that she’d finally plucked up the courage to act on what she’s starting to think might be just a foolish, hopeless crush. She could only pray Elrond hadn’t been too horrified by her boldness. Or disgusted.
Elrond was used to the court, where she was sure there must be any number of women angling for his attention. Hard as it was to remember here in this hidden valley, he was Gil-galad’s right hand and a prince in his own right. That would tempt plenty of ladies who might not actually appreciate him for himself.
“Poor Elrond has been completely distracted and losing track of any conversation he’s party to all afternoon. As far as I can tell, you were the last one to speak to him who has no such complaints, so clearly you did something.”
Gildor waited expectantly. The look on his face might have been described as ‘innocent’ by anyone who didn’t know him.
Celebrían would have liked to play it off, but a traitorous blush rose on her cheeks.
“Ah, you did do something!”
Gildor looked positively gleeful now.
“Come on, nethig, out with it. I’ve been trying to find a reliable way to startle him out of that ridiculous Noldorin formality for years, and you’ve done it in only a few months. You have to share.”
Celebrían sighed. The only one who would be able to get Gildor to stop trying to worm the story out of her would be her father – and that was only if he wasn’t equally curious. Even Elrond himself wouldn’t be able to help. Gildor treated Elrond like another younger sibling rather than a lord.
“Of course I don’t treat him like a lord,” Gildor snorted, having caught her thought. “First off, he doesn’t actually enjoy having everyone behave as if he’s a prince or a king. It makes him uncomfortable. I can’t wait to see how he’s going to squirm whenever we all go West and he can’t very well insist to everyone that he’s not a prince. Ammë’s sure the Noldor will hold him to be one no matter what he says. And I suspect the Sindar will, too. Oropher’s not the only one who thinks he’s being ridiculous. I think he’s actually hoping Elrond grows out of it.”
“I still don’t see how any of that makes it ok for you to treat him like an annoying little brother,” Celebrían shot back.
“It does him good,” Gildor replied airily. “Besides, he needs family. It’s only since we found this valley that he’s been anything like he used to be while Elros was alive, you know.”
Celebrían was actually very curious about that, but she wasn’t about to admit it to her nosy big brother lest he ask why she was so interested.
“And really, whether he admits to it or not, Elrond misses having family. Since you’re spending so much time with him, ask him about Amon Ereb sometime – you’ll see a completely different side of him.”
“Amon Ereb? The Fëanorions’ fortress?” Celebrían asked in surprise. “I didn’t realize he’d ever been there.”
“He lived there for several years,” Gildor replied. “I’m not sure how many. Balar wasn’t exactly on good terms with Maedhros and Maglor by that point. But I did go there not long after Sirion to check on the twins.”
Celebrían raised an eyebrow.
“Why you?”
“Because if I hadn’t, Ammë would have, and that probably would have gone rather badly,” Gildor shrugged. “I was the only alternative.”
“And you wanted to see the fortress anyway,” Celebrían guessed shrewdly.
“Well, yes!” Gildor laughed. “Wouldn’t you have? Besides, it seemed only fair they host me after we put up their brothers at Nargothrond.”
“Put up with, don’t you mean?” Celebrían corrected. “I wouldn’t have wanted to see them after what they and their brothers did. At Nargothrond and at Menegroth!”
“Easy enough for you to say,” Gildor shrugged. “You were born long after all that. It’s a little more complicated for those of us who were there.”
“Complicated how?” Celebrían prodded. “They sent your Atto to his death, and nearly killed Ammë too!”
“I knew them as kinsmen first,” Gildor said quietly. “You’ve only ever heard of them as kinslayers. Celegorm never took you hunting or let you ride on Huan, and Curufin didn’t make you a circlet before you were even old enough to walk.”
She blinked in sheer astonishment.
“You rode on Huan?” she asked stupidly.
“No, I didn’t, Celegorm never visited when I was small enough for that. But Gil did. He took Findë and me hunting, and taught us to talk to birds. I am the one with the circlet, though.”
“Curufin. Made you a circlet,” Celebrían repeated in disbelief.
Gildor nodded.
“Two, even. Apparently I liked red as a baby, so he made a child sized one with a red stone, and an adult sized one with a green one for when I was old enough not to need any inducement to treat his craftsmanship with proper respect.”
“But…” Celebrían paused. Her brother had a circlet with a green stone. He didn’t wear it very often, but he had it.
“Yes, I still have it. Even as angry as she was with him after the Kinslaying, Ammë forbade me to get rid of it. She said if I did, I would someday regret having cast away such a unique gift. I suppose the red one must be at the bottom of Belegaer. I didn’t take it with me when I went to the Falas.”
Celebrían felt like she might need to think about that for a while. Her mother couldn’t stand to hear Celegorm or Curufin spoken of, but had still told Gildor to keep something made by Curufin?
“He used to be Atto’s best friend, you know,” Gildor said quietly. “Before…everything. Back in Tirion. Maybe Ammë thinks they’ll make it up someday.”
“It’s such a strange idea,” Celebrían replied.
“What, that Atto should have been good friends with Curufin, or that they might be again?”
“Either. Both. And Tirion, too.”
“Cheer up, little one, I don’t know Tirion any more than you do. It’s all just stories for me as well.”
“Yes, but you got to hear some of those stories from Grandfather and Grandmother,” Celebrían sighed. “They may not even know I exist!”
Gildor gave her a hug.
“It might be kinder if they don’t, nethig. I imagine Grandmother would be terribly disappointed to miss out on the childhood of another granddaughter. She was devastated to hear about Findë.”
Celebrían leaned into her big brother. She envied him having gotten to know their grandparents. But she also knew that Finduilas had been the ‘sister’ he’d grown up with, and that he missed her.
“You’ll meet them someday,” Gildor assured her. “And they’ll adore you.”
He dropped a kiss on her head.
“But in the meantime, don’t think that all this family history has distracted me from what under the stars you did to Elrond.”
Celebrían weighed her options. If she didn’t tell him, he’d keep after her until she did – or worse, pester Elrond about it. She wasn’t too sure that was a good idea. If she did tell him…
“I doubt you’ll be able to replicate the trick,” she warned him.
“That’s all right, just as long as you can.”
“I don’t know if I can either,” she sighed.
“What did you do?” Gildor asked eagerly.
“I kissed him,” Celebrían said mournfully. “He looked so shocked I didn’t know what else to do, so I left.”
Gildor was silent just long enough that she began to seriously worry. Then he absolutely howled with laughter.
“Stop! It’s not funny!” Celebrían protested indignantly.
“Yes, it is,” Gildor gasped between laughs. “Oh, nethig.”
She socked him on the arm.
“Oh, little sister,” he settled himself enough to say. “Please say I’m invited to the wedding.”
“Don’t be ridiculous,” Celebrían said crossly. “He didn’t even say anything to me, I doubt he likes me at all in that way.”
“I’m not being ridiculous,” Gildor retorted. “I’m actually being honest! I’ve known him a good deal longer than you have, and I’ve never seen Elrond this distracted. By anyone!”
“It was only a little kiss,” Celebrían murmured, trying not to get her hopes too high. Gildor might be wrong, after all.
“Rian, if he’s this distracted from ‘only a little kiss’, just imagine what a proper kiss would do to him!”
With such encouragement, she couldn’t help but imagine – and she hoped to find out for certain.
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Date: 2019-03-22 10:16 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2019-03-22 02:13 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2019-03-22 04:23 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2019-03-22 08:22 pm (UTC)Celebrian and Gildor are such fun together. Meanwhile, poor Elrond had his world turned sideways...
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Date: 2019-03-22 06:18 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2019-03-22 06:55 pm (UTC)This absolutely links up with By Any Other Name - it's a few months later, when CelebrÃan's been in the valley a bit longer.
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Date: 2019-03-22 08:21 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2019-03-22 08:22 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2019-03-22 08:52 pm (UTC)- Erulisse (one L)
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Date: 2019-03-22 11:53 pm (UTC)(He wasn't quite as sage yet in the mid Second Age!)