@celairmirdan // continued
“It’s so loud,“ he whispered through the crack in the door, leaning against the wall. “I don’t like it. And there’s so much happening at once. Not in here. There’s no open spaces to have behind me and no one can surprise me or try to touch me or talk to me about things I don’t want to talk about.”
In here was dark and quiet. Lonely, but far easier and less frightening. He hadn’t left it since the first terrible attempt at going outside. Nor would he, if he could dissuade Kano from asking.
Maglor knelt, his robes pooling messily around his feet, so that he was at eye level with his frightened nephew. “Then may I come in and sit with you?” he asked after a moment. “We can talk of anything you like, or perhaps I could play for you?”
He wasn’t going to leave Celebrimbor alone, no matter what the other thought was best, but he also wasn’t foolish enough to attempt to drag him out of his sanctuary. “I won’t touch you or ask any questions. I promise.”