faderift | (no subject)

WHO: Elros & you!
WHAT: Back in Kirkwal after the dragon fight, and Elros is remembering how annoying having "parents" around can be. Help a man sneak out for an unsupervised drink?
WHEN: the latter half of December
WHERE: Kirkwall
NOTES: probably nothing, but there may or may not be family drama.

For the Family - YOU ARENT MY REAL DAD

Elros glares, paces the floor agitatedly and snarls at the confinement.

"It's a scratch! Galadriel was away, Master Anders did a good job, I'm healed! I'll not be confined to my room like a child!"

For the Neighbours and those passing by - 90 is too old to be sneaking out the room, right?

It's taken him a full two days, and Elrond would shake his head at him if he knew, but he's finally managed to wrangle time alone without one of his kinsmen in the room, and its the work of a moment to pick the lock and sneak into the corridor. The yelling and throwing things probably was heard by all around, so Elros is hoping no one is actually here to see him slide silently across the hallway, wincing as he steps on a loose floorboard and it creaks.

Maybe tomorrow he'll try climbing out the window instead.

Tavern

He's laughing, open, friendly, sharing a drink or a tale or a song or a game of dice, totally forgetting that he was meant to be quiet and careful, so as not to be found out.

"Hello stranger! Come and join us!"

Training Fields

Normally, he'd have stayed away for a little while longer, but Anders' magic healing has left him itching in his skin. He has no ship to sail, and the fishermen can only sometimes be persuaded to take him out, so the training fields it is, the longsword singing in his hands as he pushes himself.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"You...chose to be mortal?" Skadi stares in open confusion. "How would that even work?" The rest of it can wait, she wants to hear about how that can possibly make sense.

"I did." Elros shrugs.

"I did say my brother and I are... somewhat unique. The sons of heroes, the foster-sons of villains. Children of Fate and Destiny, blah blah blah. We are related, by blood, to every royal line of the Edain and Eldar both - that's Men and Elves, if you like. And we're related to the Powers themselves - one of our foremothers was Melian, the Maia of the Twilight, who loved an elf and bore him a child, Luthien the Fair, who bested both Morgoth and Death for love of her mortal husband. Our father is Earendil the Mariner, the Morning and Evening Star, who slew Ancalagon the Great and pilots Vingilot in the heavens as a sign, our mother is Elwing, Elu's heir, who flies in a seabird's skin. You can see why the Powers gave a collective shrug and essentially passed the choice of our final fate to us! I suppose they thought they were doing us a favor."

"Lady above...I don't know what all those terms mean, but that sounds like a hell of a family tree." Skadi shakes her head, taking another swig from her drink that's been a mite neglected. "But why make that choice? If my twin sister chose one fate, I don't think I'd have it in me to chose something else."

"It rather is." Elros shrugs, and then falters, pain flitting through his eyes.

"We...didn't think to ask each other. We were...so sure. When Elrond heard my choice...oh my brother! The look of betrayal he gave me... But I couldn't stay. I wanted to know what was on the other side. I didn't want to linger. But Elrond wanted the opposite."

"Siblings can be contrary, that I understand." Her expression shifts to one of sympathy, for all that she can never truly understand what it is to be put in that situation. "And you couldn't take back that choice even if you wanted? That's a weighty choice to bear for the rest of time, either way."

"No. Death is the Gift of Men - to choose that fate is to step outside the known path of the Song, to surrender yourself to the unknown for the opportunity to change your fate. You cannot go back. I knew that then, and still I would not change it, but the grief that divides us is very great."

"Lady...I hope the end result is worth it to you, then. You've more than paid the price for it." Skadi raises her drink to him, a spark of respect in her eyes. As unthinkable as it is to her, the fact that he stuck with it in light of the consequences is still worthy of note.

"I hope it will be." Elros sighs and then smiles. "Hope, hah! The family motto, I suppose. Hail Earendil, brightest of stars, above Middle-earth sent unto Men! They say my father's star is a symbol of Hope for us all." He explains to Skadi. "But to me, it is only a way of reminding me that he will never be able to be there for us as a father - the problem with having heroes as parents! But thank you - I chose for the unknown, and only time will tell if it was worth it. But I think it will be."