It's very scary. Reminds me of the White Walkers in George R.R. Martin, which come to think of it, go very, very well with the Helcaraxë. Now you have me thinking of horror genre Silm fics and I do not DO horror. Runs screaming from the room.

Seriously, it might be AU in its factual details, but these guy really feel like your interpretations of Fingon and Maedhros.

Very nice story (OK, nice is not the word I want! but you get my point).

I popped over here upon Oshun's recommendation, and a solid recommendation this proved to be.  Very subtle horror, this is.  Nothing horrid or in your face, but subtle, like ice crystals creeping out over the still waters of a pond or the sleepiness that takes over when one succumbs to the cold.  Beautiful prose and evocative images.  I have to say that this...

"But by the fire Fingon would not go, and instead, smiling, he took his place near the window, peering through the glass for the view outside. His breath did not fog up the glass."

...showed your cards, but did not detract at all from the fabulously strange feelings of loss and repulsion that this wonderful ficlet evokes.

Nicely done, both of you.

Oh, I love it! Thanks to both for this :) The conversation with the ghost made me think of Shakespeare.

As a huge fan of horror I must say that even if it is mild, it's very effective and gives you a creepy sensation when reading it. Very good! 

I really love ghost stories and it takes a lot to creep me out, but this really did. I love Fingon's melancholy and Maedhros feeling the numbing cold. There are a lot of nice touches here but I especially liked:

"For, of course, he had known all along: ever since the temperature in the room had plummeted when Fingon entered until it was colder inside than outside, ever since he had seen frost bloom under Fingon’s boots in midsummer, ever since the mere touch of Fingon’s fingers had been enough to cauterize the bleeding stump of his wrist."

Maedhros sees all the signs but denies it because he doesn't want it to be true.

And then this:

"it is a different sort of place, the Grinding Ice. It has an intelligence, a will of its own. I knew that well enough, even before...”

Makes me shudder. Great story.

I'm still beyond thrilled that my silly little spur-of-the-moment prompt yielded this gem. There was a lot of squee in Zeen's journal back then, I believe, so I'll confine myself here a bit more and say that yes, this was excellent - beyond excellent even - and still as good as the first time around. Squee! :D Thank you both!