A Conversation Between Cousins (Closed)

[utulien_aure]

Who: Maedhros+Fingon

What:  A loud conversation catches Fingon's attention and he investigates

Where: Casa Feanorian...or whatever exactly this place is called, Fingon didn't ask

When: Evening of April 22, just after this conversation

Warnings: None at the moment, will update if necessary

Recovery requires rest, the healers say, and Fingon is trying- even now, weeks after his arrival and decidedly on the mend, he does try to get the sleep that he's been ordered to. That, of course, doesn't mean he's actually getting it, with his mind too distracted for reverie or slumber. So it's a compromise he goes for- lying down, yes, but keeping his mind busy with harp scales, battle tactics, and listening to the murmur of Maedhros' voice a few rooms away. 

It's sort of relaxing, right?
 

Then the voices become distinctly audible. "No!"  He hears Maedhros snap, and he sits up. Was something going on? His cousin sounded agitated....

Moving out a bed with a grumble, Fingon makes for his cousin's chambers. It might be best to check what was going on, just in case....

"Russandol? Is something wrong?

Comments

[castintofire]

Maedhros tried to keep his voice quiet in general when he was speaking over the communication device they all received. He didn't always succeed, when he forgot himself and raised his voice.

Certain topics managed to wind him up and he'd snap before drawing his temper back in and forcing calm over himself. His conversation with Anakin had just come to an end when Fingon came knocking, and he went and opened the door with a guilty and apologetic look.

"Only that I woke you."

[utulien_aure]

"You did not," Despite himself, Fingon was a bit amused at Maedhros' guilty look. "I was still up. Are you well?"

He looked around for a moment. "And would you mind if I sat down?"

[castintofire]

The answer was a relief. "Yes, I was having a discussion with a friend. The topic...strayed and surprised me."

Maedhros stepped out of the way with an inviting gesture. "Of course, come."

[utulien_aure]

"It must have been some diversion." Fingon watched him carefully, looking for answers. "I've rarely heard you raise your voice so suddenly."

"Thank you, cousin," he took the seat gratefully. "I will be glad when this recovery is over; I may be going mad from boredom in there."

[castintofire]

Maedhros let the door close softly behind them, walking with his cousin to the bed {the only real option beside the floor} and sat beside him. His gaze dimmed, cast to recent memory, and his voice lowered, lips thinning. "Morgoth entered the conversation and my friend offered to poke him full of holes. I want them to never meet." Because he cared about Anakin.

He shook his head sharply, pulling away from those memories, and reached to rest a gentle hand on Fingon's shoulder. "I know. I look forward to when you can go on patrol with me, so I may also show you around properly."

[utulien_aure]

"You friend may fall in line with the rest of us." Fingon looked up at Maedhros, giving him a small smile. "I've wanted the same thing for years, and I am hardly alone in that desire."

He leaned into Maedhros' touch easily and unconsciously. "The guard Curufin spoke of? Or is this your own effort?"

[castintofire]

Maedhros frowned, gaze sharpening. "I want you far from them, Finno. I am grateful you saved me from them, but I never want you to come near them again."

He curled an arm around his cousin and rest his cheek on the top of Fingon's head. "The City's Guard, yes. I recently joined them, though before I patrolled alone."

[utulien_aure]

Fingon met that glare with an equally pointed look. "Has that become your decision to make, Russandol? I have been a soldier near as long as you, and not, I thought, a poor one. If a battle should come, I would be in the thick of it, be it against Glaurung or Sauron or Morgoth himself. Do you think I would choose any other path?"

He shook his head. "And if your friend is anything like most of the people who are drawn to you, he is likely little different."

"Why the change?" Funny how easy it was to relax like this, but then, sitting quietly with Maedhros had always been easy....

[castintofire]

"No," Maedhros reluctantly admitted. "You are my king even here and I will not dictate what you do. More than that, you are my closest friend. I only wish for your safety," his gaze dropped before lifting back to Fingon. "I lost you once, twice, and it destroyed me. I have no desire to lose you a second time to death, though I know you would be at the front of any host against any enemy you felt needed put down."

He snorted softly, letting wry affection touch his eyes and he nodded. "I suspect he agreed not to face them should either arrive so as to calm my temper."

He let himself enjoy the quiet moment, despite the conversation. Anakin was right about how he felt about this Elf. "Curvo and Telpë both are members. I chose to join them."

[utulien_aure]

"I suppose I cannot argue with your concerns over my health, not as things stand," Fingon wryly acknowledged. "But I will soon be well enough again- and do I not have the right to protect you as well, my dearest friend? Perhaps," his lips twisted again into a small smile, "even the duty, if you still hold me as your king?"

"Ah, the dreaded Feanorian temper," he teased gently. "Tell me, who is this companion who would face down a Vala but who acquiesces at the threat of your anger?"

"Of course, family. I should have known..."

[castintofire]

A wane smile touched Maedhros lips. "I have never renounced my loyalty to you, so yes. You remain my King." And the holder of his heart. "I could ask for no better protector."

A hint of real mirth tilted his lips and he nudged his cousin gently. "His name is Anakin. He is a Man who understands much." And needed it in return. Concern turned his lips down, then. "He will be here tonight, to rest and regain some strength...I fear the last few weeks have not been kind to him, and I seem to be able to help him sleep in peace." Which did him good in return.

"You should have," he dared to tease. "I do much for family."

[utulien_aure]

"A hundred years and more and that still hasn't changed? Why, Maitimo, you flatter me." Fingon laughed quietly.

He jabbed back at Maedhros with a grin, then sobered at the description. "'A Man who understands'- now that sounds like the beginning of an interesting story. Was he injured in the severing of the city?"

"You have always made an art of familial loyalty," he acknowledged easily. "And many of us have often been grateful for it."

[castintofire]

"You earned it long ago. I saw no reason to change where my loyalty lies, not then and not now." Maedhros' smile firmed, meaning every word.

"...No. He was uninjured, physically. Only a few scratches." And he had a suspicion they hadn't been earned in the actual splitting. "He has abilities, which allowed him to... feel my death. I fear it left him wounded in spirit, and he has kept his distance until today." He was relieved Anakin planned on coming over for the night, to rest and recover a little.

He pressed a fond kiss to Fingon's forehead. "It has been a mixed blessing, but I cannot find the heart to change."

[utulien_aure]

"Technically, your loyalty was to the High King of the Noldor, not Findekano Nolofinwe's son," Fingon pointed out. The grateful, slightly amused smile he returned to Maedhros belied his words.

"Then his gifts are great- or you have found yourself a firm friend indeed." Strange, though, to think of Maedhros with such close friends that Fingon didn't know at all. "...The one here, you mean? Curufin mentioned...something of that sort when I first saw him here."

"How could you?" Fingon reached up to cup his cheek. "You have been so for as long as I have known you. To change that would be to change your nature entirely."

[castintofire]

"Technically, as king," Maedhros agreed quietly. "Even without that title, you have been important to me and worthy of following."

"Both. His powers are great. And his temper, but he is a friend I am proud to have." Though some of what he'd learned of Anakin worried him. Not enough to turn away from him, only to try and help him heal, in a way it seemed Anakin hadn't managed in his home galaxy.

"...Yes."

He leaned into the hand.

"To change enough to change that is not possible."

[utulien_aure]

"Then we may have a problem, old friend." "Do you fell like we may be going around in circles, sometimes? Because half my council always seemed to fear that I was following you."

"Truly? Then it almost seems as though I've met him already; that's not a poor description of half of our family."

Fingon briefly grimaced at the thought of Maedhros dying. "Tell me there was good cause behind it, at least. I can't lecture you for dying, I suppose, but your life matters to me."

Almost unconsciously, Fingon traced the side of his cousin's face. "Now that I well believe. Sometimes it feels like we changed so much in Beleriand, but some things nothing changes."