#mallachel

[jaimsjam]

Mallachel: *frantically jangling the door handle*

@aran-morinorea have an extremely quick doodle.

[aran-morinorea]

Snippet Saturday Sunday

Thanks for tagging me, @lissomelace! Have your daily dose of mad science, the next few hundred words of Mallachel:

Celebrimbor pauses for a moment, but then he's moving, closing into Mallachel's space and reaching for him. Mallachel forces himself still. Somewhat to his surprise, Celebrimbor's hands are gentle, almost solicitous. The device fits perfectly. As Celebrimbor arranges it just so, he hums a few bars under his breath in a way that would seem absentminded and meaningless if Mallachel were an idiot, or at least an Incarnate. The music settles into the jewels, and they in turn hook themselves into Mallachel's spirit, anchoring him to his current shape.

Mallachel lets his hair settle back down against his back and considers the effect. He has not exhausted himself welding by hand this time, so the stability is less of a relief and more of a restriction. He has emotions about it, and they cannot be expressed by twisting his spirit, so they try to come out as a physical movement. He doesn't let them, of course, but the impulse is there.

Inconvenient.

Celebrimbor has stepped back, watching him carefully.

"Did it work?"

Mallachel breathes, and the air is just as bright and lightly smoke-scented as it was a minute ago, and he pretends not to care as hard as he can. "Yes," he admits, "I – I am contained."

"Good," says Celebrimbor. He puts his hand in his pocket, and -- the restriction around Mallachel's spirit unwinds. "Now, would you give me your ring-shape for a moment?"

What was the point of that then? "No, I'm-- I'm not tired, we're not finished yet, surely--" Mallachel is babbling. He forces the mouth shut. He doesn't have to change his shape on Celebrimbor's command, and he doesn't want to give up the mobility of this one. He'd rather wear the collar than go in that fucking box.

"Only for a moment, I promise," Celebrimbor says. Mallachel doesn't believe him. "Two minutes at the very longest."

They look at each other for a long moment. Mallachel considers his options. Celebrimbor's hand is still in his pocket. His safety measure. Mallachel wants to kill Celebrimbor, and his shattered mind shies from that urge like an untrained horse; like a coward; like an Incarnate.

Mallachel snarls, both at Celebrimbor and himself, "I'm going to count the seconds, and if it takes more than two minutes before I have legs again then I'll never listen to a word you say ever again."

He glares a challenge until Celebrimbor nods, and then takes one more tense moment to wish he could explode, and then turns into the Ring.

[jaimsjam]

I made myself giggle at this thought. So i thought I’d make it reality @aran-morinorea

[aran-morinorea]

Hi hello I request Mallachel!

When Mallachel says nothing, Celebrimbor says, "Then will you wear this? As a safety measure?"

Mallachel sulks, and thinks longingly of shoving past Celebrimbor and tearing the door off its hinges, and doesn't know whether he could or what he would find outside the room. He takes a step closer to Celebrimbor. He lifts his hair out of the way. He doesn't make eye contact or think too hard about what he's doing.

[aran-morinorea]

Mallachel

Celebrimbor raises an eyebrow. "Do you really think you can convince me to trust you?"

A dozen lies and several truths offer themselves for that purpose, but none of them would actually work. The truths are less believable than the lies, and none of the lies would hold up against any amount of follow-up questions - and Celebrimbor always has follow-up questions.

[aran-morinorea]

And could get some Mallachel please? :3 it’s one of my all time favorites.

Mallachel flexes his recently-repaired hand. It's - it will have to be - "Good enough."

"Great!" Celebrimbor chirps, picking up... yet another fucking collar. The one he put on Mallachel's cat-shape is gone, the way the clothing his elf-shapes wear go with them when he takes them off. This new one is clearly sturdier than the previous - the one ostensibly meant to be helpful - but it is still plausibly decorative.

Mallachel is disinclined to be decorated at this time.

[aran-morinorea]

WIP Word Game

@slashmarks tagged me with GOTH!

G (Mallachel, chapter 9)

“Go where? Back to my master, who will be angry enough with me he'll ignore all my advice, to be the focus of his displeasure until he finishes losing his pointless war? West, to be judged by those with no right to do so? No.”

O (The Worst Finrod, consecutive with its last snippet)

Orodreth closed his eyes and breathed. He probably just meant the fair-weather friends whose fragile loyalties had cost him so dearly, but even if it were also aimed at Orodreth there was no defending against it. He was. When he looked again, Finrod was looking down at his right arm, where it was bound against his chest to keep it still. He did not seem - Orodreth suspected he was remembering it breaking.

T (Court, part 4 of A Diligent Student):

"Technically, you would, but realistically he would never refuse. It’s a formality. If he were to refuse and you went ahead with it anyway, it makes both of you look bad." Maeglin nods slowly. That sounds like the kind of nonsense politics the Noldor would invent.

H (Homecoming, consecutive with its last snippet)

He really is just suggesting a nap. They were on the road for a while this morning, and there have been enough ceremonies and social functions (one of which was a meal, Mairon isn't an idiot) that it will be dark in a couple of hours. It seems to Mairon that it could be useful for Tyelpë to take some quiet time before they return to the feast-hall, and for himself he can spare that time to sit near him and bask in his recent successes.

Tagging.... @thefearofcod, @slashmarks, and @tanoraqui, along with anyone else who feels like it, with DUST!

[aran-morinorea]

more mallachel? 🥺

"What do you mean? It's--" no, he's not going to volunteer any details. "I'm fine. I think."

"Are you holding it easily?" Celebrimbor presses, because he knows enough about Mallachel's - condition - to know that that's in question, because Mallachel is an idiot. "Is it in good repair?"