ataraxionlogs | We meet and part

Entry tags:

We meet and part

CHARACTERS: Muscovy, Cole, Galadriel
LOCATION: Garden
WARNINGS: TBA technically nothing but who knows
SUMMARY: Two boys go to see if a lady's still around.
NOTES: Continuation of this thread

When they enter the gardens, Cole has not only acquired a wheelbarrow that all of Muscovy's things - the bundle of clothes and fur coat, the harp, the backpack and the bow and arrows - can be placed in. No, the vehicle is also large and sturdy enough for Muscovy to sit on it as Cole pushes it around, and thus they travel the gardens until they reach the area near the treehouses. The fairies have taken off as soon as they reached the natural area, feeling much more comfortable in these surroundings, and Muscovy is sitting in the front of the wheelbarrow, feet dangling down, singing a song that his father taught him, one of the first ones that he learned to accompany on the harp. Which means that he is of course playing the harp to go with it. It's small enough to be held this way. It's in Quenya, a simple tale of the adventures of two young girls that are trying to catch a cat. It is a happy, funny tale, and he thinks that Cole must like it too (even though he doesn't yet realize that the older looking male can understand the words).

...and they saw it
the cat they saw
ah, on the rooftop
so one said to the other
let us climb it
yet they could find no ladder

and as they scaled
the walls and climbed
ah, their fine white clothes
dresses made well by their mothers
oh what cruel fate
torn and tattered they got

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Cole liked music. It was great fun, to listen to Maryden singing in the tavern from his normal place among the rafters. The bard enjoyed singing, enjoyed her place in the Inquisition. She had no need of Cole.

He wanted to make sure the kid got where he was going, and he wanted to see Galadriel was safe and sound as well. There was a saying about birds and stones, but Cole thought birds were better flying free in the sky so that probably wasn't applicable here.

So he listened quietly while Muscovy sang, pushing the wheelbarrow to where he remembered Galadriel had said she often could be found, the houses among the trees.

She heard the music before she saw its player- an oddly familiar song. Too familiar, in fact. On the Tranquility, only she was fluent in Quenya and while Lúthien was making strides, there was no way she would know Noldorin tunes, let alone be able to teach them to a child.

It's more than enough to draw her out of her thoughts and out to investigate. And, of course, once she saw Cole, she had more than one reason to greet the duo.

"Cole, you must introduce me to your young friend. It is not often I hear my native language in this place."

He perks up when he sees her, the song abruptly ending. He quickly puts the harp away and moves to jump off the wheelbarrow to greet her properly, words on his lips

and then he stops and his eyes go wide. Introduce me. But... she can't just have forgotten! Maybe she hit her head? Or maybe - it could be the uniform. Sure, his hair and the scarf are normal, but the those new clothes are really weird, so it could be that.

"I'm Muscovy, yes?" Please let it be that she just doesn't recognize him, because it would be so silly if she didn't, if she is one of those who don't recognize everyone not from their original world once they woke up, and Galadriel is not silly, right?

"This is Muscovy." Cole said in that vague but matter of fact way he always spoke in, repeating the information the child said right after he said it. He let the wheelbarrow sit, moving to help the kid out of it before he hurt himself making the attempt on his own.

"He said he knew you. I wanted to find you anyway, and it was something I could do to help."

Galadriel's expression goes quickly from interest to confusion. "Muscovy?" She shakes her head, looking from Cole to Muscovy. "I am afraid you have me at something of a disadvantage. I must confess, I cannot recall ever meeting before this."

But there is something very odd going on here. Not only did the child speak Quenya- and pre-exilic Quenya, at that- his hair was in a traditional Noldorin style.

"But I do not doubt you. Tell me how you know me, little one, if you would."

There really is one easy answer to that - not exactly complete, but it is a big part of why he first approached her and has been a defining characteristic of their encounters after that. It's certainly a part of why he sought her out now.

"My lord father is your cousin, yes?" He remembers vaguely that Maglor is one of the eldest of his generation, so Galadriel at the very least can't have forgotten him if she has forgotten parts of her life (not that he ever was important to her, he doesn't think so, but she should still know him and if she doesn't - he's encountered the phenomenon of someone not remembering an earlier part of their stay in the Drabwurld before, and this seems to be like an extension of that place. But she must know Maglor, he's from her world and older and no matter what time she is from...

"One of my friends didn't remember me." Cole tells Muscovy softly. "People come from different times and places here, but it's never too late to start again."

Having gotten Muscovy safely to the ground, and having seen Galadriel safely still on the Tranquility, Cole's reasons for being here were fulfilled in his mind. Provided no one made a direct request of him, he seemed to melt into the shadows between one heartbeat and the next after saying the words that he hoped would be assuring to Muscovy.

Somehow, it was all to easy to lose track of Cole- something slightly unnerving for Galadriel to experience. She understands, though. His self-appointed tasks were met and so there was no reason for him to stay. Still, she could not let him leave without some small expression of gratitude; she reached out with her mind- a soft, swift gesture, like the brush of hand. Thank you, Cole.

And with that, she turns her attention back to Muscovy, her brow furrowing even further. "I have a great many cousins. Might you be more specific?"

Muscovy turns around at Cole's words, flashing him a brief, genuine smile - only there for a moment and out of place in his otherwise anxious expression - before turning back and fully concentrating on Galadriel.

He turns around the other way though, so that in the end he has shown 360° of his head, displaying his braids in full. "But you cannot tell the lady from Doriath, yes?" It doesn't really matter if she can read his hair or not (he honestly doubts a bit that you can really say that much with a hair style - sure, rank and job you can all express with your appearance if you have enough money, but even heraldic devices start to repeat after a while), he will tell her in a moment, but that is quite an important thing to make sure of first.

Galadriel's eyes linger on that hair for a long while; she's starting to doubt her eyes. It turns out that there is quite a lot that you can say with hair style- and if Galadriel is reading those braids correctly...

But the request to keep this from Lúthien is a touch concerning. If she's right about her suspicions, it's an entirely sensible request to make. But at the same time, it wasn't something that rested well with her. She had had more than her fill of lying by omission to that family. But, after a moment of consideration, she does nod.

"I will tell her nothing without your consent. You have my word."

He's wrestling his own priorities and convictions a bit with that request, because you should not lie, lying is bad and will get you into trouble, and make bad things worse. But at the same time... "You don't have to lie." But there are many other ways to not tell someone the truth about a thing than to directly lie to them, and from what Muscovy has heard about Galadriel she shouldn't be bad at that at all.

"I know, little one."

The truth is, Galadriel is extremely good at avoiding providing answers when she wishes to be. Generally, she prefers to be honest with those who are dear to her, but she's not above misleading even them.

"I need not lie to keep knowledge from her."

He nods, relieved. This is good, very good indeed.

But... He probably should explain why he is here. "My lord father once said that if he left, I should find you, but I would have to wear something new." Which he is, his old clothes are bundled up with the fur coat, the shirt that has the star on it carefully wrapped into a tight ball in the middle of the pile. "When he did leave, I" well, stay is not the exact word, and he waffles over it for a moment "kept myself towards the lord Aragorn and John and the lady Lucrezia because you were gone by that time, too. But now only you and the lady from Doriath are here.

I have a room." He adds, belatedly - he can stay somewhere and he can feed himself. But having an adult to point to is important in places where people see only a child and nothing else in him, and it is safer to have family or allies, and having ones that you trust is always favourable (and Maglor trusted her, so he'll trust her, too. Maglor would not have entrusted him to someone troublesome).

She's seen this happen before, to others. People arrive who know them but who they do not know. Usually, it is a matter of time, but sometimes they do speak of other places- other worlds.

"It was been centuries since I have seen Makalaurë." And they did not part on the best of terms, to say the least. "But if he has entrusted you to my care, I will honor that." She gives a slight smile. "And I would like to know you better."

As for him staying in his own room- she is not quite certain she likes the idea. IF the child is to be under her care, she would prefer to have him where she might protect him most easily. But... she's well aware that Muscovy is not a human child. She's not entirely sure what he is, but he is certainly more than he seems. It makes it difficult to know how much she should worry.

"Do you wish to stay in your own room? There is space enough here for you, if you would prefer."

That makes sense. "He said that he didn't want to trouble you." Both back home and in the Drabwurld. By that logic it would be reasonable that Galadriel hasn't seen him in a long time. "And because of that he told me that I couldn't wear the star if I live with you, but could I keep my braids?" It's the last obvious thing that he has of Maglor, that ties him to the Elf in ways that aren't entirely in his head (the harp and Sketto and his daggers he also got from Maglor, but nothing on them speaks of their origin. They don't really tie him to the Elf, not in Muscovy's head, anyway). And he really would like to keep them. So before answering about the room, he needs to know this.

"He would say that." She had assumed that he was dead, truthfully. That the tales of him wandering the shores of Middle Earth were nothing more than fanciful invention. If that isn't true, if she isn't the last of her cousins to remain in Middle Earth- it was a lot to think about. For now, she set it aside.

"Of course you may keep your braids." She could and did respect wanting to keep links to family, after all. The Star of Fëanor is simply an unfortunate exception.

"Then I will stay with you."

Well, at least while her husband is not there, and the thought flashes through his mind quite strongly, though he doesn't speak it aloud. Because as much as Galadriel and her husband seemed to love each other, he also doubts that Celeborn will be at all happy to have someone who belongs to that side of Galadriel's family under his roof. Or the roof that he lives under, anyway.

"Is your house safe?" If not, he'll lock his things into one of those rooms that he was told about, because they sounded very safe, with locks and everything. The bow and the harp are not the most supreme items but still quite valuable, and while his old clothes and the coat aren't things that he will need, most likely, he'd still hate to lose them.

"It is as safe as any place aboard the Tranquility." Which is something of a muted statement. Galadriel never truly considers herself safe anywhere here. "We do not have the benefits of the nanite locks, of course. Will that trouble you?"

On the one hand, he is worried that someone will steal his things - even those things that he doesn't strictly need he would hate to lose because of the sentimental value attached to them or because they could still come in handy later.

But on the other hand he isn't sure how likely it is that someone would - or would manage to - steal from this cousin of his lord father. What he was told, and what he has seen of her, don't really suggest that it would be a good idea to to do that. And maybe her home will be protected by that... "Has someone stolen from you before and survived it?"

Galadriel gives a startled little laugh, though she looks more concerned than amused. "I would not have someone put to death for simple thievery, little one. But truthfully, I cannot recall having any of my personal possessions stolen. I suspect that my presence and my gifts are more than sufficient deterrent for any who know of them."

He nods with a smile. That is enough for him to know (and if he isn't entirely certain that there really is no possession that such drastic actions might be taken for by her, he's not planning on taking anything from her so it won't be a problem).

"Then I can leave my things in the treehouse and they will be safe, yes? Where is it?" With Cole gone, he will need help to move the cart - it's simply a bit large for him.

"Of course you may." She moves to the cart, positioning herself behind it. "Come, I will take you there."

He climbs back onto the cart, and off they go!

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

We meet and part

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject