Long time no see, I got a FYD question! How does Thil & Ilmare's relaitonship differ from a public and a private setting? I'm longing for a Thil & Ilmare piece or just a snippet inside FYD of how they're like alone together, because ~they cute
You asked this a hundred thousand years ago, and I’m sorry it took me so long to answer! I’ve turned it into a little Christmas ficlet; I hope you like it! Thanks for always being around to scream about these babes with me <3 Merry Chrismas!
“Areyou sure about this?” Thuringwethil asked.
Ilmarëturned to her, arching one perfectly manicured eyebrow. “It’s a little late now, babe.”
“No,it’s not,” Thuringwethil said.
Ilmarëlaughed. “We’re sitting in the parkinglot,” she said. “The time tosecond-guess has passed, I think.”
“I’mjust saying,” Thuringwethil insisted, “that if you don’t want me to go, then Idon’t mind just going home.”
Ilmarëfrowned. “Do you not want to go?”
“No,”Thuringwethil said, shaking her head. “No, I do. I just don’t want youto feel like you have to take me.”
“It’s aChristmas party,” Ilmarë said, a little exasperated. “Not a deposition.”
“It’syour office Christmas party,” Thuringwethil said. “And I’m just saying that if you don’t wantyour coworkers to see us together—”
“Oh,God forbid my coworkers see my smoking hot girlfriend,” Ilmarë said.
“It’sless the smoking hot girlfriend part,” Thuringwethil said, “and more the factthat it’s me.”
“Whatare you talking about?”
“I knowI have a…reputation.”
“Theonly reputation you have is as a kick-ass trial attorney that everyone’s afraidto have to face in court,” Ilmarë said.
“Yes,”Thuringwethil said, grinning at the compliment, “but I also work for Angband,which has a less than stellar reputation.”
“Ialways thought that was a little undeserved,” Ilmarë said charitably.
Thuringwethillaughed and leaned over to kiss her. “You’re too nice,” she said.
“One ofmy many faults,” Ilmarë said, smiling. She grew serious again. “Listen,if you don’t want to go, we can go home.”
“Youhave to go,” Thuringwethil said. “It’syour Christmas party.”
“No, Idon’t,” Ilmarë said, “and I won’t without you.”
Thuringwethilkissed her again. “I love you,” shesaid. “And if you’re sure, then let’sgo.”
The twoof them got out of the car, and Ilmarë whistled, shaking her head. “Damn, you look good.”
“Youlook damn fine yourself.”
“Comeon,” Ilmarë said, offering her arm. “Let’s go get ourselves some free, expensive booze.”
Thuringwethilwas uncharacteristically nervous. Intheory, this was exactly the kind of party she loved. The venue was extravagant, the dress code wasblack tie, the hors d’oeuvres were to die for, and the alcohol was top-shelf,readily available, and free of charge. She didn’t even hate the people that surrounded her. She knew some of them, both professionallyand by reputation, and there were some she wouldn’t even have minded speaking to. The thing that made her nervous, more thananything, was Ilmarë.
Thatsounded wrong, even in her head, and it wasn’t even true, strictlyspeaking. She loved Ilmarë, and she washappy to be here with her, but it was that fact, the very reality of being heretogether that made her nervous. Itwasn’t going to be the first time she had seen Ilmarë in a professional settingsince they’d been together; they’d been at conferences and networking eventsand professional development gatherings in the months since they’d beentogether. It hadn’t been a problem. Those were professional events, and althoughthey were friendly and familiar, and people probably at least guessed that theywere friends, it was a different sort of thing than this.
Thiswas a couples’ thing, and it wasn’t something Thuringwethil had ever donebefore. She was nervous—not for herself,but for Ilmarë. These were people Ilmarëworked with, people whose opinions she valued, and Thuringwethil was stillhesitant, no matter how proud she was of her own work and her friends, to linkIlmarë too closely with Angband.
Ilmarë,it seemed, had no such reservations.
Thefirst time Ilmarë introduced her as her girlfriend, it startledThuringwethil. The second time, it madeher smile and squeeze Ilmarë’s hand. Bythe tenth time, she was half-giddy with delight, and her cheeks had started toache from smiling.
“Areyou alright?” Ilmarë asked. They had madetheir initial rounds of greeting and had managed to snag a small table forthemselves, tucked away toward the back of the room.
“I’mgreat,” Thuringwethil said. “Why?”
“Idon’t know,” she said. “You’re just notusually this smiley in public.”
“I’mhappy,” Thuringwethil said, a little surprised at the truth of it. “I like being here with you.”
Ilmarëlaid her hand on Thuringwethil’s and smiled. “I’m going to go get us a drink, okay?”
Sheturned and headed off into the crowd, and for a moment, Thuringwethil wasalone, free to scan the crowd and pass silent judgement on the outfits of herfellow guests.
“Sorryto bother you,” said a voice she didn’t recognize, pulling her out of herthoughts.
Thuringwethilturned to see a woman she didn’t know standing at her table, smiling. She looked vaguely familiar, andThuringwethil studied the pretty, elegant face, wondering where she knew thewoman from.
“You’reThuringwethil, aren’t you?”
“Sorry,”Thuringwethil said, cocking her head to one side. “Have we met?”
“Idon’t think so,” she said, and held out a hand. “I’m Varda.”
Thuringwethilshook her hand, and the name finally sparked her memory. “Varda,” she said, realization coming in aninstant. “Manwë’s wife.” Varda nodded, and Thuringwethil smiled. “I’ve heard a lot about you,” she said.
“Goodthings, I hope.”
“Mostly,”Thuringwethil said, and Varda laughed.
“Areyou here with Ilmarë?” Thuringwethilnodded. “That’s good,” Varda said. “You know, I can’t remember her ever bringinganyone to one of these things before.”
“Inever brought anyone to our Christmas party either, before her,” Thuringwethilsaid, and then wondered why she had.
“I maybe biased,” Thuringwethil said, “but I have to agree.”
Someonecalled her name, and Varda turned and waved, smiling. She turned back to Thuringwethil. “I have to go and schmooze, unfortunately,”she said. “But it was nice to meet you,Thuringwethil. Tell Melkor we saidhello.”
Thuringwethilsmiled and watched her go, the crowds gently parting around her as she made herway through the sea of friends and acquaintances. Then Ilmarë returned, and Thuringwethil’ssmile was real again. “Come on,” Ilmarësaid, handing her a drink. “I want to goshow you off to my coworkers.”
*****
“Youknow,” Thuringwethil said thoughtfully, sitting down and slipping off hershoes, “I know intellectually that you work with a bunch of rich snotty people,but I was still surprised to see them there tonight.”
Ilmarëlaughed. “It’s a context thing, Ithink,” she said. “It’s weird to seepeople you associate with work in a normal party setting.”
“Iguess,” Thuringwethil said. She reachedup and fumbled with the clasp of her necklace, long nails impeding her grasp onthe tiny mechanism. “It was extra weirdto see Varda there.”
“I sawyou two talking,” Ilmarë said, coming over to help her. “It seemed…cordial.”
“Itwas,” Thuringwethil said. “We mostlytalked about you. Definitely avoidedmentioning Melkor.”
Ilmarëset the necklace aside and leaned down to kiss the nape of Thuringwethil’sneck. “Thanks for that,” she said.
“Ifigured causing a scene would be a bad move,” she said. “Not least of all because I want to beinvited back next year. That food was todie for.”
Ilmarëlaughed and wrapped her arms around Thuringwethil’s neck, kissing hercheek. “Thanks for going,” she said.
Thuringwethilturned and pulled Ilmarë into her lap. “Thanks for inviting me. It wasnice to be at one of these things with a date, for once.”
“Itreally was,” Ilmarë said. “Let’s do itagain next year.”
“Assumingyou keep me around that long,” Thuringwethil said.
Ilmarëleaned in and kissed her lightly on the lips. “Well,” she said, the seriousness of her tone belied by the mischief inher eyes. “I think I can be convinced.”
What horoscope signs do you think Mairon and Melkor belong to?
Ok so knowing absolutely nothing about horoscopes and also not having nailed down a solid birthday for any of the gang, here’s my (terribly uninformed, probably) thought:
I’m calling Mai a Leo because I’m a Leo and he’s my fave bad boi.
I’m calling Melkor a Scorpio because he seems like That Bitch.
So I finally read FYD for the first time in a span of about a week, good job btw, and I was thinking. Now that the two dumbnuts are living together, Mairon should wake up wearing one of Melkor’s shirts. Only the shirt says, “sounds stupid I’m in” and Melkor refuses to delete the pics.
Mairon is notorious for stealing Melkor’s clothes. Melkor doesn’t mind (because it’s cute, lbr) but he also has a whole folder of pics on his phone called ‘mairon blackmail’ that includes the above evidence because you never know when you might need a little blackmail amiright
If the quartet were in Hogwarts, what would their best subject be? Which house would they belong to?
You might be tempted to toss the whole quartet into Slytherin, but let’s think about it for a minute.
Melkor is the obvious Slytherin. He’s cunning, he’s ambitious, and he doesn’t take no for an answer. He’ll pretty much destroy anyone/anything he has to in pursuit of his goals. I feel comfortable sticking him there. I feel like Melkor would do well in something hands-on, like Care of Magical Creatures. He’d have gotten on well with Hagrid if it weren’t for the whole unrepentantly-evil thing.
Gothmog...I could make a case for Gothmog as a Hufflepuff, tbh. He’s loyal to a fault, and kind, and he puts his friends pretty much above anything else. I bet he’d like potions, since he’s good not only at following recipes to make amazing things, but also at tweaking existing structures to put his own spin on it and make it even more amazing.
I waver on Thuringwethil, because i think you could make an argument for both Slytherin and Ravenclaw. She’s smart and loves knowledge like a Ravenclaw, but she’s also ambitious and a leader like a Slytherin. I think the sorting hat would have a hard time with her. I think she’d like Herbology, tbh. She’d probably love to have a house completely concealed and protected by deadly, crazy plants. On the other hand, I think she’d be hella good at charms.
Sometimes I think I could go either Slytherin or Ravenclaw on Mairon, but I think I lean more Slytherin. We know the sorting hat takes personality and desire into account when choosing, and I think cunning and ambition would take precedence for him even over desire to know everything. Because that’s just part, in his opinion, of being the absolute best. I think ambition trumps all for this kid. His favorite subject is tricky...I’m tempted to go with arithmancy, because it’s so math-y, but also, consider how frickin’ good he’d be at transfiguration.
FYD pop quiz! What’s Mairon’s favorite Stone Temple Pilots song? What’s Melkor’s fav AC/DC song? What’s Gothmog’s fav Metallica song? What’s Thuringwethil’s fav Britney Spears song? (If you don’t think Work Bitch is at least in her top three you’re not paying attn)
oooooo good questions good questions
Okay...
I’d go with Plush (huge shoutout to the acoustic version), The Art of Letting Go, and Interstate Love Song, in that order for Mairon’s fave STP song
I’d switch Melkor and Gothmog and give Melkor Master of Puppets and Gothmog a solid tie between You Shook Me All Night Long and Back in Black (he plays it loudly on his phone every spring when he puts away his winter coat and dusts off the trusty old black leather jacket)
Thil used to have Work Bitch queued up on her phone and ready for every time she caught Melkor dicking around. Melkor would send her links to bad youtube lyric vids of I’m A Slave 4 U with the message ‘take notes’. That ended poorly for him several times. As for a favorite...might have to go with a classic, aka baby one more time. It’s a good girls night out in college drunk song. Although, on the other hand...toxic. A traditional earth anthem, after all.
Who is better at math and physics between Melkor and Mairon? I bet Mairon finds those moments where Melkor functions like a human computer incredible sexy
That’s a tough call, honestly. I mean, Melkor is, despite all appearances, damn good at math, but Mairon is an absolute whiz. If it was classroom, conceptual math, Mairon would have it in the bag. If we’re talking applied math and physics, though? They’re both good in their own ways. Mairon can think through complex computations and problem-solve little nitpicky things like no one’s business. Melkor is good at coming up with hands-on solutions to mechanical problems. They’re good at math and physics in different ways, and it makes them a great business team.
As for Mairon seeing Melkor at work...
“Woah,”said Mairon, standing in the doorway, hand still on the doorknob. Melkor was sitting on the living room floor, chewingabsentmindedly on the pencil in his hand, papers scattered in a three-footradius around him.
“Hey,”said Melkor, not looking up. “There’sleftover Chinese in the fridge if you want it.”
Maironclosed the door and hung his bag on the hook in the hall. “What are you up to?” he asked, walking overto where Melkor sat, stopping short of the outer circumference of paper debris.
“I’mreviewing some designs for new body structures,” Melkor said. “All the results came in today.”
“Andyou’re reviewing them?”
“Hey,”Melkor said, looking up at last, managing an affronted scowl. “I do some work here and there. You know, when they need someone with anactual brain.”
Maironlaughed. “Okay then, Poindexter,” hesaid. “What’s the verdict?”
“I’mnot sure,” Melkor said, frowning and looking back at the paper in his lap. “I had a team on each design, and I have togo through each one of their results packets to make sure I have all thenumbers I need to make a determination.”
“Soundslike some serious work,” Mairon said.
“Don’tmake fun,” Melkor said.
“I’mnot,” said Mairon. He mostly meantit.
“I’vebeen trying to sort through these packets for an hour,” he said, annoyed. “They’re in no distinguishable order. I can’t even find half the shit I want tocompare.”
“Iwould sympathize,” Mairon said, “except that I’ve gotten similar input from youabout seventeen times too many.”
“Shutup,” said Melkor, with no real venom in the words. “Just let me bitch, will you?”
“Here,”Mairon said, plucking a page from the piles in front of him. “I see stress testing on this page. Let’s start there.”
“I’dlove to,” Melkor said. “Except I thinkpacket number three forgot that section.”
“Thenthat one’s out for testing,” Mairon said.
“Fairenough,” said Melkor. “Which one do youhave?”
“Four,I think.”
“Here’stwo,” Melkor said, handing him a page. “And…”Helooked around for a moment. “Here’s one,”he said, picking up another page. Theyspread the pages out on the couch, and Melkor turned around to look at them,Mairon leaning over the arm of the couch to help.
“Areyou kidding me?” Melkor said, making a noise of disgust. “Look at this.” He jabbed a finger at submission numberone. “They did one replicate. One! Whatthe fuck kind of determination can you make from one replicate test?”
“None,”Mairon said.
“Idiots,”Melkor said, shaking his head. “I swearto God, my whole department is full of morons. How do these people even get degrees?”
“Easykiller,” Mairon said, trying to stifle a grin.
“Isthis what it’s like to be you?” Melkor asked, rubbing his eyes. “Just constantly reminded that everyonearound you is way dumber than you are?”
“It’s astruggle,” Mairon said, laughing. “Although,I have to say, it’s much more entertaining when it’s not happening to me.”
“Nowyou know how I feel,” Melkor said.
“Touche,”said Melkor. He sighed, running a handthrough his hair. “I feel like I need tosit my whole department down and give them a crash course in how to dostatistics for fucking dummies.”
“I’dpay money to sit in on that class.”
“Oh,yeah?”
“Oh, ahundred percent,” Mairon said, absolutely serious. “First of all, seeing you teach a class wouldprobably be the funniest fucking thing I’ve ever seen in my life.”
“Hey,”Melkor said, affronted. “I’m good atmath.”
“Oh, Iknow,” Mairon said. “But watching youtry to explain it to people would be priceless.”
“Imean, that’s fair.”
“On theother hand,” Mairon said, “I probably couldn’t actually handle sitting in a class,watching you teach.”
“Whynot?”
“Becausewatching you do actual work and say smart math stuff is, uh, how do I put thisdelicately? Oh, right. Reallyfucking hot.”
“Really?”Melkor said, sitting back on his heels and giving Mairon a look.
“Absolutely,”Mairon said, nodding solemnly.
“Well, then,”Melkor said, standing up, a mischievous grin creeping onto his face. “Sounds like you need some privateinstruction then.”
“I likethe sound of that,” Mairon said, reaching out to run a hand slowly up Melkor’schest.
“Wantto start now?” Melkor asked, taking Mairon’s hand and kissing his palm.
“Very, very much,” Mairon said, putting hishand to Melkor’s face, stroking his cheek with his thumb.
Melkortook Mairon’s hand and pulled him close, heedless of the papers scrunchingunder their feet. Mairon put his armsaround Melkor’s neck, pressing himself to Melkor’s chest, and kissed him, hisfingers curling in Melkor’s hair, pulling gently.
Melkor pickedhim up, and Mairon wrapped his legs around Melkor’s waist, kissing himagain. “Come on,” Melkor said, his voicegaining a rough edge as he started down the hall. “I know exactly where I want to start.”
