Fic A Day, Day 17 - Doing Things Her Way
Aug. 17th, 2021 09:09 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
grundyscribblingTitle: Doing Things Her Way
Author: Grundy
Rating: FR13
Crossover: LotR/Silmarillion
Disclaimer: All belongs to Whedon & Tolkien. No money is being made here, it's all in good fun.
Summary: Anariel isn't one for marching to someone else's tune.
Word Count: 1545
Note: I am sorry, I'm behind on replying to comments. I hope to catch up tomorrow. (I'm on the point of falling asleep right now.)
Anariel sighed as they all watched Anairë and Nolofinwë ride off.
“She meant it about that big family get-together, didn’t she?” she asked.
“Yep,” Tindomiel said cheerfully from the other side of Maeglin. “Pretty sure she’s party planning as we speak.”
The heartfelt groan that got from the twins pretty much summed up Anariel’s own feelings about it.
“At the very least, she’s getting the entire family together. Also, if word gets out in Tirion you’re on your way into town, it’s going to be a mob scene,” Tindomiel added. “I was so mad at Nana for making me ride in a carriage when we came from Alqualondë the first time, until we got to Tirion and I saw how ridiculous many people there were.”
“Yeah, but that was you and Nana and Ada and Grandmother,” Anariel replied. “Plus Glorfindel and Tas and Cali. I’m just me. Nowhere near as big a deal.”
“Ro and Dan haven’t been there yet either,” Tindomiel pointed out. “Also, ‘just’ you? Good one. You should start practicing your beauty queen wave now. You’re gonna need it.”
Anariel was plenty disgruntled, but only just managed not to laugh at Maeglin’s bemused, “what’s a beauty queen?”
“Kids! Dinner!” Nana called.
“I don’t wanna deal with crowds,” Anariel protested as they walked into the dining room.
“Good luck with that,” was her sister’s heartless evaluation.
“Tinu, don’t rile your sister,” Celebrían sighed. “We’re having a quiet family dinner. Please?”
Anariel was not reassured in the least by the slight edge to her mother’s request. It implied that Tindomiel was not exaggerating about the forthcoming family festivities.
Tindomiel neatly combined humoring her mother and answering her husband by launching into a mini-lecture about beauty pageants and beauty queens that segued into explaining electricity after she mentioned screwing in a light bulb.
Anariel could practically see figurative bulbs lighting up above her brother-in-law’s head and had to work not to laugh.
Haven’t you told him about California already? she asked curiously as Tindomiel seized a break between questions to grab a few bites. You said he knew about the Key!
Of course I have, Tindomiel replied. Quite a bit, actually. But it’s all situational. Electricity hasn’t come up before now. And the last time I explained anything, it was about life in Sunnydale. After that dream.
Anariel focused intently on her own dinner for a bit. She didn’t like the reminder that her sister had almost gotten roped into her throwdown with Morgoth.
Unfortunately, she liked the idea of dealing with large crowds of Noldor even less. Crowd scenes were something she really wanted to avoid for as long as possible. She had no idea whatsoever how that would go for her. But if her sister was right – and that seemed likely – that’s exactly what Tirion would be.
There had to be a way around it. Compared to fighting Morgoth, evading Noldorin rules and fussiness should be easy.
Uh-oh. I know that look.
She blinked innocently at her sister.
What look? she asked.
The look of ‘about to do things your way’, Tindomiel replied with a mental snort.
Fortunately for everyone else’s peace of mind, their father interrupted with a question of which dessert she preferred.
Happily, the choices all involved chocolate. And she wasn’t limited to only one.
Anariel waited until later, when everyone had retired for the night, before slipping into her brothers’ shared study. As she’d hoped, she found them still up.
“I am not waiting to go to the city until everyone expects me to be there,” she announced flatly.
“We did not think that you would,” Elladan chuckled.
“You have a plan, of course,” Elrohir added, sounding more resigned than curious.
“Of course,” she said. “Go tonight.”
Her brothers sighed.
They were about to answer when Tindomiel walked into the room – without using the door – dragging Maeglin with her. She really did make use of the the Key freely here.
“So?” she demanded.
Anariel didn’t quite glare, but she was annoyed – though only at Tindomiel. Maeglin looked sufficiently confused that it was reasonable to assume he had no part in barging in. It was possible he had even attempted to be the voice of reason.
“You’d better not tell,” Anariel began warningly.
“Of course I’m not going to tell,” Tindomiel huffed. “Did I tell… Never mind. I’m not.”
“Who would she tell?” Maeglin asked practically. “Even if your parents object, they’re not the ones you’re trying to get around. Grandmother is.”
“He means Grandma Anairë,” Tindomiel clarified for the benefit of her somewhat confused older siblings.
To Anariel, as well as Elladan and Elrohir, ‘Grandmother’ without any qualifier still meant exclusively Galadriel. (The twins had met Elwing. All three of them knew Melian. But that left them with many grandmothers yet to meet.) In their collective experience, getting around Galadriel took took doing. And, as often as not, luck.
“Fine,” Anariel said. “You get to be the decoy anyway.”
Tindomiel glared at her.
“We three are going to Tirion tonight,” she continued. “It sounds like it’s not that far on horseback.”
“That makes zero sense,” Tindomiel protested. “Depending on when you leave and how fast you go, you’ll get there at the crack of dawn tomorrow at the latest.”
“Yes, which is well before anyone will be looking for us,” Anariel grinned.
“This is a terrible idea,” Tindomiel pointed out. “It’s not like they defend the gates, but they do man them. You are not getting in without being noticed. You might avoid the crowds, but you’ll be giving Grandma a whole extra day to fuss over you. On her territory, where it’s a lot harder to extricate yourself gracefully.”
The chuckle from Maeglin suggested there were stories there.
“Let me worry about that,” Anariel shrugged. “You just manage Nana and Ada.”
Tindomiel pouted, well aware there must be more to the plan that she wasn’t being told – and that unlike their parents and grandparents, her older siblings could hold out against her indefinitely. At Maeglin’s persuasion, she did eventually (and grudgingly) leave so that Anariel could finish filling her brothers in on their part.
“I’ll go to Gramma Nerdanel’s,” she explained, after checking thoroughly that her little sister wasn’t listening in. “You two go to the King’s House. Grandmother Anairë seems to be into doing things properly, so you showing up should throw her off enough to keep her distracted.”
“And how do you get to the King’s House in this scenario?” Elrohir asked skeptically.
Anariel shrugged.
“If there’s a family thing, Gramma Nerdanel should be coming too, shouldn’t she?” she asked reasonably. “She can show me how to get there. Or I can just wander around until I find it…”
“Yes, a lone undersized golden-haired elleth roaming the streets will not draw any attention in Tirion,” Elladan said drily.
“Tindomiel made it sound like Nerdanel’s part of the family,” Anariel pointed out. “So it’s not like ‘wander around until I find it’ is plan A.”
“A yen and a half later and you still say A rather than tinco or even tó,” Elrohir sighed.
Anariel stopped short.
“Do elves use letters for plans?” she asked curiously. “Is that a thing we do?”
“We never have,” Elrohir shrugged. “Anyway, having called it plan A, which I suppose might make some sense to our kin once they understand that A is the California tengwa that begins your name, you should probably finish explaining the part you had in mind for us in it.”
Anariel shrugged.
“Not much more than that, really,” she said. “You go distract the party planner, I go take haru’s sword back.”
“Ah,” Elladan nodded. “Now I see. You will take your Tirion outfit with you, of course.”
Anariel frowned.
“Should I take it, or would it be better to send that with you two?” she asked. “I might have to improvise a bit to get into Gramma Nerdanel’s without being noticed, and I don’t want to wreck it.”
Particularly when she hasn’t even see it yet – it was still wrapped and tagged in Arwen’s hand, ready to open ‘the first time you go to Tirion’.
Elrohir nodded.
“Yes, that makes sense. Anyway, Grandmother Anairë will expect finery, so we had best have something suitable at hand for you. What about Nana, Ada, and Tinu?”
“And Maeglin?” Anariel prompted wryly.
Her brothers were having more difficulty wrapping their heads around their baby sister being married now than she was. Or possibly more difficulty wrapping their heads around who it was she’d married – another thing Anariel had no issue with.
“Yes, fine, him too,” Elladan sighed.
“They can travel the day after tomorrow as originally intended,” Anariel said. “Tinu sounds like she’s had plenty of practice at the Tirion mob scene.”
“You’re entirely too cheerful about using your baby sister as a decoy,” Elrohir snickered.
“Hey, she was the one giving lessons on how to wave to the crowd,” Anariel shrugged. “And it’s not like it’s my idea to have to go there right away. I’d have been happy to hang out at home for a while.”
Several months would have been nice. But since they evidently had to go to Tirion right away, she’d rather do it on her own terms.
So much for elven patience.
Author: Grundy
Rating: FR13
Crossover: LotR/Silmarillion
Disclaimer: All belongs to Whedon & Tolkien. No money is being made here, it's all in good fun.
Summary: Anariel isn't one for marching to someone else's tune.
Word Count: 1545
Note: I am sorry, I'm behind on replying to comments. I hope to catch up tomorrow. (I'm on the point of falling asleep right now.)
Anariel sighed as they all watched Anairë and Nolofinwë ride off.
“She meant it about that big family get-together, didn’t she?” she asked.
“Yep,” Tindomiel said cheerfully from the other side of Maeglin. “Pretty sure she’s party planning as we speak.”
The heartfelt groan that got from the twins pretty much summed up Anariel’s own feelings about it.
“At the very least, she’s getting the entire family together. Also, if word gets out in Tirion you’re on your way into town, it’s going to be a mob scene,” Tindomiel added. “I was so mad at Nana for making me ride in a carriage when we came from Alqualondë the first time, until we got to Tirion and I saw how ridiculous many people there were.”
“Yeah, but that was you and Nana and Ada and Grandmother,” Anariel replied. “Plus Glorfindel and Tas and Cali. I’m just me. Nowhere near as big a deal.”
“Ro and Dan haven’t been there yet either,” Tindomiel pointed out. “Also, ‘just’ you? Good one. You should start practicing your beauty queen wave now. You’re gonna need it.”
Anariel was plenty disgruntled, but only just managed not to laugh at Maeglin’s bemused, “what’s a beauty queen?”
“Kids! Dinner!” Nana called.
“I don’t wanna deal with crowds,” Anariel protested as they walked into the dining room.
“Good luck with that,” was her sister’s heartless evaluation.
“Tinu, don’t rile your sister,” Celebrían sighed. “We’re having a quiet family dinner. Please?”
Anariel was not reassured in the least by the slight edge to her mother’s request. It implied that Tindomiel was not exaggerating about the forthcoming family festivities.
Tindomiel neatly combined humoring her mother and answering her husband by launching into a mini-lecture about beauty pageants and beauty queens that segued into explaining electricity after she mentioned screwing in a light bulb.
Anariel could practically see figurative bulbs lighting up above her brother-in-law’s head and had to work not to laugh.
Haven’t you told him about California already? she asked curiously as Tindomiel seized a break between questions to grab a few bites. You said he knew about the Key!
Of course I have, Tindomiel replied. Quite a bit, actually. But it’s all situational. Electricity hasn’t come up before now. And the last time I explained anything, it was about life in Sunnydale. After that dream.
Anariel focused intently on her own dinner for a bit. She didn’t like the reminder that her sister had almost gotten roped into her throwdown with Morgoth.
Unfortunately, she liked the idea of dealing with large crowds of Noldor even less. Crowd scenes were something she really wanted to avoid for as long as possible. She had no idea whatsoever how that would go for her. But if her sister was right – and that seemed likely – that’s exactly what Tirion would be.
There had to be a way around it. Compared to fighting Morgoth, evading Noldorin rules and fussiness should be easy.
Uh-oh. I know that look.
She blinked innocently at her sister.
What look? she asked.
The look of ‘about to do things your way’, Tindomiel replied with a mental snort.
Fortunately for everyone else’s peace of mind, their father interrupted with a question of which dessert she preferred.
Happily, the choices all involved chocolate. And she wasn’t limited to only one.
Anariel waited until later, when everyone had retired for the night, before slipping into her brothers’ shared study. As she’d hoped, she found them still up.
“I am not waiting to go to the city until everyone expects me to be there,” she announced flatly.
“We did not think that you would,” Elladan chuckled.
“You have a plan, of course,” Elrohir added, sounding more resigned than curious.
“Of course,” she said. “Go tonight.”
Her brothers sighed.
They were about to answer when Tindomiel walked into the room – without using the door – dragging Maeglin with her. She really did make use of the the Key freely here.
“So?” she demanded.
Anariel didn’t quite glare, but she was annoyed – though only at Tindomiel. Maeglin looked sufficiently confused that it was reasonable to assume he had no part in barging in. It was possible he had even attempted to be the voice of reason.
“You’d better not tell,” Anariel began warningly.
“Of course I’m not going to tell,” Tindomiel huffed. “Did I tell… Never mind. I’m not.”
“Who would she tell?” Maeglin asked practically. “Even if your parents object, they’re not the ones you’re trying to get around. Grandmother is.”
“He means Grandma Anairë,” Tindomiel clarified for the benefit of her somewhat confused older siblings.
To Anariel, as well as Elladan and Elrohir, ‘Grandmother’ without any qualifier still meant exclusively Galadriel. (The twins had met Elwing. All three of them knew Melian. But that left them with many grandmothers yet to meet.) In their collective experience, getting around Galadriel took took doing. And, as often as not, luck.
“Fine,” Anariel said. “You get to be the decoy anyway.”
Tindomiel glared at her.
“We three are going to Tirion tonight,” she continued. “It sounds like it’s not that far on horseback.”
“That makes zero sense,” Tindomiel protested. “Depending on when you leave and how fast you go, you’ll get there at the crack of dawn tomorrow at the latest.”
“Yes, which is well before anyone will be looking for us,” Anariel grinned.
“This is a terrible idea,” Tindomiel pointed out. “It’s not like they defend the gates, but they do man them. You are not getting in without being noticed. You might avoid the crowds, but you’ll be giving Grandma a whole extra day to fuss over you. On her territory, where it’s a lot harder to extricate yourself gracefully.”
The chuckle from Maeglin suggested there were stories there.
“Let me worry about that,” Anariel shrugged. “You just manage Nana and Ada.”
Tindomiel pouted, well aware there must be more to the plan that she wasn’t being told – and that unlike their parents and grandparents, her older siblings could hold out against her indefinitely. At Maeglin’s persuasion, she did eventually (and grudgingly) leave so that Anariel could finish filling her brothers in on their part.
“I’ll go to Gramma Nerdanel’s,” she explained, after checking thoroughly that her little sister wasn’t listening in. “You two go to the King’s House. Grandmother Anairë seems to be into doing things properly, so you showing up should throw her off enough to keep her distracted.”
“And how do you get to the King’s House in this scenario?” Elrohir asked skeptically.
Anariel shrugged.
“If there’s a family thing, Gramma Nerdanel should be coming too, shouldn’t she?” she asked reasonably. “She can show me how to get there. Or I can just wander around until I find it…”
“Yes, a lone undersized golden-haired elleth roaming the streets will not draw any attention in Tirion,” Elladan said drily.
“Tindomiel made it sound like Nerdanel’s part of the family,” Anariel pointed out. “So it’s not like ‘wander around until I find it’ is plan A.”
“A yen and a half later and you still say A rather than tinco or even tó,” Elrohir sighed.
Anariel stopped short.
“Do elves use letters for plans?” she asked curiously. “Is that a thing we do?”
“We never have,” Elrohir shrugged. “Anyway, having called it plan A, which I suppose might make some sense to our kin once they understand that A is the California tengwa that begins your name, you should probably finish explaining the part you had in mind for us in it.”
Anariel shrugged.
“Not much more than that, really,” she said. “You go distract the party planner, I go take haru’s sword back.”
“Ah,” Elladan nodded. “Now I see. You will take your Tirion outfit with you, of course.”
Anariel frowned.
“Should I take it, or would it be better to send that with you two?” she asked. “I might have to improvise a bit to get into Gramma Nerdanel’s without being noticed, and I don’t want to wreck it.”
Particularly when she hasn’t even see it yet – it was still wrapped and tagged in Arwen’s hand, ready to open ‘the first time you go to Tirion’.
Elrohir nodded.
“Yes, that makes sense. Anyway, Grandmother Anairë will expect finery, so we had best have something suitable at hand for you. What about Nana, Ada, and Tinu?”
“And Maeglin?” Anariel prompted wryly.
Her brothers were having more difficulty wrapping their heads around their baby sister being married now than she was. Or possibly more difficulty wrapping their heads around who it was she’d married – another thing Anariel had no issue with.
“Yes, fine, him too,” Elladan sighed.
“They can travel the day after tomorrow as originally intended,” Anariel said. “Tinu sounds like she’s had plenty of practice at the Tirion mob scene.”
“You’re entirely too cheerful about using your baby sister as a decoy,” Elrohir snickered.
“Hey, she was the one giving lessons on how to wave to the crowd,” Anariel shrugged. “And it’s not like it’s my idea to have to go there right away. I’d have been happy to hang out at home for a while.”
Several months would have been nice. But since they evidently had to go to Tirion right away, she’d rather do it on her own terms.
So much for elven patience.
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Date: 2021-08-18 04:01 am (UTC)Of course, Nerdanel’s house has its own potential issues….
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Date: 2021-08-19 12:51 am (UTC)Nerdanel's house has really only one issue at the moment.
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Date: 2021-08-18 04:12 am (UTC)For something that was done when you were completely knackered, this is damned funny (and good) and I very much enjoyed it. Thank you. :)
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Date: 2021-08-19 12:54 am (UTC)Thank you!