Dreivierteltakt by chrissystriped  

Maeglin stood with his back to the wall, partly hidden behind a potted plant with big, feathery leaves. He was fiddling with his cup of wine and questioning his decisions that had led him to agree to come to the ball. He was trying so hard to make up for his actions. He wanted the members of his family — he was meeting so many of them for the first time —  to like him, despite all the bad things they must have heard.

(He had not yet had the courage to read the account Pengolodh had set down.)

He wanted to try and be more sociable this time around and he’d been invited to this ball, so he’d come. But the air was too stuffy and the room was too loud, conversation droning on around him.

Maeglin tensed when he realised that someone was walking towards him. The elf smiled when he saw him meeting his eyes. Maeglin didn’t think he’d met him yet, but he had the looks of another relative.

“I don’t think we’ve been introduced yet, I’ve only recently come back to the city. I’m Celebrimbor. Would you do me the honour of dancing with me? This is a waltz, I think? That’s at least a dance I know.” He laughed with a shrug. "I'm not very good at this."

Maeglin stared at him, wondering, if he’d misheard. “Dance… with you?”

“Yeah, unless you’d rather go outside for some quiet. You look a little pale.”

“No, no I’d love to dance actually.” He’d always enjoyed that part of courtly feasts. If it weren’t so hard to ask someone. “I just didn’t know…” Maeglin blushed. “Two males…, I mean.”

Celebrimbor smiled. “It’s alright, no one will stare, it’s not uncommon.”

Maeglin took the hand, Celebrimbor was still holding out to him and let himself be led to the dance floor with a happy flutter in his chest.

“I’m so excited to meet you”, Celebrimbor said. “I’ve heard so much about your craft! They say you invented the process for making orc-detecting steel? That’s so awesome!”

Maeglin blushed and tried to concentrate on his feet. “I hope I won’t step on your toes, haven’t done this in a while.”

“I’m not that used to court dances either, I’m more familiar with dwarvish dances.”

“Dwarves? Really? I knew some dwarves when I was a kid.” Before his father had decided he didn’t want him to come with him when he visited the dwarven cities anymore.

“Yes. I had lots of dwarf friends back in Middle-earth", Celebrimbor said. “My city was close to Khazad-dûm in the Misty Mountains.”

Maeglin relaxed as Celebrimbor chatted about his memories. They twirled around, moving together, the music joining them together. He laughed when Celebrimbor recounted Narvi’s reaction to him putting the password right on the door.

“They didn’t quite get how not being a friend would stop people from entering. They didn’t understand how after singing over the writing, the mindset would matter, too. They have their own crafts that are unattainable by us, but this was a bit beyond them. It worked though, in the end.” A shadow moved over Celebrimbor’s eyes, the pain of a memory he didn't share with him.

Maeglin quickly started to tell him about some mining adventures he’d had in Nogrod, because he wanted to see a smile on Celebrimbor’s face again.

He was glad, he’d come here today. His heart beat in three-four time.

Chapter End Notes

Written for the prompt "waltz" from the challenge "It comes in threes"

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