𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝓈𝓉𝒶𝓇𝓈 𝒶𝓇𝑒 𝒻𝓇𝑒𝑒

⊱    @ga1adriel   ┊ ❝ i don't think you know yourself. ❞

confidence snakes about him, writhing and turning in perfect intricate loops. to glare and the pick at her words with serpentine eyes that glint with opportunity — her words, ones she attempts to choose wisely despite their return to this shared space, this monstrous ocean of secrets and uncertainty that stretches out beneath them. galadriel's eyes lock against his own. unflinching, a silent battle against her own better judgement as the lapping of the waves that surround them nudge against the battered raft that has so often been a marked space in her dreams of late. there is nothing but the roar of the depth that reaches out beyond them. the glaring open maw of the sky above, gold and amethyst meeting the deep unfettered blue below. were it possible for the space to swallow them whole, it would. she wishes it might as she bites at the dry skin of the bottom lip.

❛ do you imagine a softness within me? ❜ she nips at his tone, her unflinching gaze tipping away to the great beyond and the limitless sea that makes her yearn for distant shores that might offer some comfort.

❛ i fear it is something far more brittle that exists beneath, sharper and more unforgiving than you might wish. ❜

galadriel's smile is cutting - though perhaps he would think her softer yet, a gentle thing wrapped 'neath sheets of ancient patience, forged within a crucible of pain and punishment. would that be his wish ? she thinks not. for he has seen her broken, tried to be the one to break and mould at his own pleasure. but it was her own failings that caused the most pain, not his own. the hazel autumnal shift of halbrand's attention beats into her as a heavy hammer upon the anvil of indecision. a familiarity that only breeds contempt — despite the heat of the kindling beneath the weight of her heart.

❛ why do you always meet me here ? ❜ her words whisper upon the breeze that shifts between them, the world that belongs to neither of them altering again as the water settles to the stillness of a millpond. her eyes close, her lips parting as she feels him close - the burning shadow, the darkness that prickles at teases at the edges of her mind. he swoops between the fractures hope within her and seeks to find a shelter she knows should not feel so sacred. 

the  thrill  of  a  gallop  !    birdsong  barely  invades  sunrise  as  dawn  chorus  retreats  to  the  skies  at  the  pounding  of  passing  hooves .   clad  in  splendid  teal  chased  with  gold  &  a  wild  glimmer  in  his  eyes  the  southlander  emerges  swift  upon  the  riverbank ,   a  mere  tail-length  behind  the  elf .   a  toss  of  shadowy  mane  as  rein  is  tugged  swiftly  towards  galadriel's  pale  mare ,   flanks  touching  as  they  steadily  slow  to  a  walk .   early  light  dances  upon  the  glanduin ,   a  twisting  serpent  beside  them as   water  mint  brushes  at  their  mounts'  legs .   speckled  with  stars  of  violet  the  fenland  grows  bright  &  verdant  at  river's  edge yet  his  gaze  now  lingers  upon  the  she-elf ,   her  cheeks  painted  rosy  by  the  warmth  of  the  wind  &  the  delightful  taste  of  freedom  ── the illusion of it ,  at least .     “  you're  right ,  ”    he  yields ,   leans  serenely  back  against  saddle  with  the  breezy  airs  of  a  king  upon  his  throne  as  a  smile  suffuses  across  raffish  features   “  a  ride  does  raise  one's  spirits .  ”   

she finds herself feeling more alive than she has done in decades moving beside him, centuries even, as they ride out together against the rising sun over the east and beyond the mountains that stretch away beyond. plumes of hot breath catch in the chill of the season's changing air as galadriel looks across her shoulder to where he now rides beside her - the sweat and scent of their horses filling the space between them as she leans lower to run her hand along her steed's muscular throat. the tips of her fingers rake through fine grey dappled softness as her beast cants' forward before tilting its head toward the heavy set brown stallion upon which halbrand sits. noble he seems, right and just - a perfect fire in his amber and hazel eyes she cannot help but focus upon as a fleeting smile drifts across her lips.

❛ they will miss us eventually - though i confess i hope it is not for a while. it is not so often i've been able to ride with such joy and without urgent purpose... ❜

she thinks briefly of the broad númenórean beach and the rolling hills of the island she'd traversed, but even then it had been upon a quest for knowledge. for now it is simply them, together - a chance to show the newly forged king of the southlands the beauty of eregion before need summons him home. the thought of it is not something she finds she wishes to dwell upon, the realisation of just how close they have become rushing over her as galadriel takes a deep sweet breath of cool air. the mere thought of his absence makes something deep within her chest curl up, aching and unknown.

❛ ...i have not felt peace like this in an age. ❜ a once unspoken, soft drifting confession that runs deeper than he may realise. her crystalline gaze shifts from his well known features where he rests so confidently upon his mount; far and away across to the horizon that extends beyond them.

"Thank you." Celeborn offers her a weak smile, taking her hand and following her out to sit beneath the clear part of the sky they linger beneath. He sits, feeling the distance between them even though they sit so close together.

He opens his mouth to speak, but she does first, and he's relieved for it. While she does not mention their feelings directly, it hangs between them all the same. It's a relief to see it and acknowledge it, and it shows in how he eases beside her.

"You owe me no explanations," he says when she continues, and he thinks perhaps he's found the place of her discomfort. "You have lived a life without me, one I am a stranger to now. I do not hold you to promises we made when we were younger, if that is...." He tries and fails to not wince. "I held no expectation that you would wait for me as a ghost in these halls. There is no ill will between us if you have taken a lover, or simply do not wish to be bound to me. I am...."

It's not easy to continue, but Celeborn thinks he must. For her sake, if she is to be happy. If she has been happy during his time away from her side. He exhales slowly.

❛ we are not as we once were, but you are no stranger to me. ❜ he is broken, but not beyond repair. a soft stroke of gold and light, the kindness of touch and adoration will restore him no matter how long it may take, their lives stretch on for centuries and all they have is time. for better or for worse, galadriel feels herself bend toward him just as a flower may search out the sun no matter how deep it may find itself buried. she can feel the ache in his bones, the pain wrought upon his fea. the endless nights he faced and she is all the worse for it. responsibility sinks inside of her as if a boulder plunged into the depths of a bottomless ocean.

❛ meleth nin... ❜ he speaks of her happiness and she feels the emotion swell within her chest, a raw force of nature - tidal as it sweeps over her and sweeps doubt aside if only for a mere moment. ❛ all i have done, all i will do is for the safety of our people - if i am at fault it is my own doing. there has been no day that i have not thought of you and your loss. happiness has never come easily and i have never sought it - ❜ blood and sweat. tears of rage founded in a crucible of her pain. revenge and clarity come all at once, hand in hand as she sinks toward him and lowers her forehead to meet the swell of his shoulder beneath the soft gowns of recovery he wears.

❛ we are both changed - but you were never forgotten or replaced. i do not owe you this but you deserve it... ❜ she thinks of those that took him from her, took finrod and all of those she held close to her heart. she thinks of elrond and his endless patience, his care and love. she thinks of what her heart had always wanted and the darkness that now pricks against her soul beneath the wound she had taken in desperation - spreading like vines beneath her chest and closer to her true nature than any other.

❛ …perhaps i chased the darkness because i believed it would bring me closer to the truth. but i have found nothing but my own heart, the light below bound deeper and stronger. ❜

her breath is slow and even as she tilts her head to look up to him, lithe hands finding his own, her fingers threading between his own. the healers will complete their work, this she knows. but celeborn's pain is more than that of his flesh. and she will tend to it just as she ought to. just as she should. galadriel feels young again, just as she did when they were bound together underneath the dappled light of doriath. she did not fully understand then what they would mean to each other, but she does now. love is various in shape and size and her love for him knows no limit or form.

Celeborn leans into her touch, tilting his head so he can kiss the inside of her wrist. He wishes he could get the thoughts to calm; this is the closest he can get, when her attention is on him and he can focus on nothing but her and her presence. Cool as ocean waters and gentle as a summer breeze. He wishes they could stay this close forever.

"I fear sleep," he murmurs. "I fear I will wake up and be back there in the dark. It's thought enough to keep me from closing my eyes for more than a moment; I do not know that anything will help." He purses his lips, considering for a moment.

he is not wrong to fear it, as pitch as the depths of his dreams will surely be - it is the silence that somehow echos around her own that drives her to nights of endless roaming. her own mother had told her once that the tales that were sown in slumber were visions of one's own true heart brought to the surface. thoughts that bring shame rising to the surface, made buoyant by the tides of exhaustion that bekon them closer. his voice is softer than she recalls, less pride - laced with a shame she cannot bear as he murmurs against her wrist and the warm billow of his breath causes her flesh to prickle sending a ripple of affection rising upward.

❛ if it would make you feel more whole, we can sit wherever you would wish. come, i will stay with you...❜ she soothes him as she would any other, knowing that he deserves more but forgetting how she should be - for it still feels so long ago that they truly knew each other in a deeper intimacy. not strangers, but not as they were either; something undefined as her hand drops to take his own gently and guide him out to where the sun still hangs like molten glass - solid and warm in the sky above lindon despite the clouds of war cutting jaggedly across the horizon and darkening the far east.

( she wishes at once that she could offer him the warmth they had once shared so gladly, but perhaps for now that is not their lot. )

the bench that she finds she barely uses now the view plagues her mind is still adorned with plush cushions and blankets - the smooth wood it is carved from marked for comfort and ease as she waits for him to sit before taking her place beside him. such a small distance between them now. she feels it keenly, as she suspects he does also.

❛ i'm sorry this - our reunion, has not been as joyous as perhaps many would have liked. ❜ galadriel does not mention herself, only the expectation of it all. swinging between them like a bladed pendulum.

﹟  pining﹕ receiver  is  pining  over  sender . ﹟  love confessions﹕ receiver  confesses  their  love  for  sender . ﹟  threats of violence﹕ receiver  threatens  sender  with  violence . ﹟  first kiss﹕ sender  &  receiver  have  their  first  kiss . ﹟  kissing it better﹕ sender  kisses  receiver  after  bandaging  them  up . ﹟  sexual tension﹕  sender  &  receiver  endure  sexual  tension . ﹟  character death﹕ receiver  faces  the  aftermath  of  sender’s  death . ﹟  domestic fluff﹕ receiver  &  sender  share  a  moment  of  domesticity . ﹟  recovering together﹕ sender  &  receiver  recover  from  a  bad  experience  together . ﹟  first meetings﹕ receiver  meets  sender  for  the  first  time . ﹟  love confessions﹕ sender  confesses  their  love  to  receiver . ﹟  crack treated seriously﹕ a  crack  interaction  written  seriously . ﹟  amnesia﹕ sender  is  suffering  from  amnesia  &  doesn’t  recognize  receiver . ﹟  fix-it﹕ a  moment  in  sender  &  receiver’s  relationship  rewritten  to  have  a  positive  outcome ,  from  the  receiver’s  pov . ﹟  getting together﹕ sender  &  receiver  give  into  their  feelings  for  each  other . ﹟  canon rewrite﹕ rewrite  a  canon  scene  from  receiver’s  point  of  view . ﹟  betrayal﹕ receiver  is  betrayed  by  sender . ﹟  nicknames﹕ receiver  uses  a  nickname  when  addressing  sender . ﹟  nightmares﹕ sender  wakes  receiver  from  a  nightmare . ﹟  panic attacks﹕ sender  finds  receiver  having  a  panic  attack . ﹟  severe injury﹕ sender  comes  to  receiver  after  being  severely  injured . ﹟  flashbacks﹕ receiver  has  flashbacks  involving  sender . ﹟  fakeout makeout﹕ sender  &  receiver  use  PDA  to  provide  a  cover  for  their  fake  relationship . ﹟  possessive behavior﹕ receiver  shows  possessiveness  over  sender . ﹟  introspection﹕ a  study  on  a  thought  receiver  has  had  about  sender . ﹟  missing scene﹕ a  ‘missing  scene’  between  sender  &  receiver . ﹟  feelings realization﹕ receiver  realizes  they  have  feelings  for  sender . ﹟  unsent texts﹕ a  text  from  receiver  to  sender  that  was  never  sent   . ﹟  secret relationship﹕ sender  &  receiver  have  a  secret  relationship . ﹟  sharing a bed﹕ sender  &  receiver  have  to  share  a  bed . ﹟  lost love﹕ sender  &  receiver  break  up . ﹟  wedding planning﹕ sender  &  receiver  are  planning  their  wedding . ﹟  morning after﹕ receiver  wakes  up  next  to  sender  after  sex . ﹟  unresolved tension﹕ sender  &  receiver  endure  unresolved  tension . ﹟  almost kiss﹕ one  time  sender  &  receiver  almost  kissed . ﹟  fake/pretend relationship﹕ sender  &  receiver  are  faking  a  relationship . ﹟  scars﹕ sender  broaches  the  topic  of  receiver’s  scar/s . ﹟  tooth-rotting fluff﹕ a  ridiculously  sweet  moment  between  sender  &  receiver . ﹟  friendzone﹕ receiver  is  friend - zoned  by  sender . ﹟  making up﹕ sender  &  receiver  make  up  after  a  fight . ﹟  reunions﹕ sender  &  receiver  reunite  after  some  time  apart . ﹟  manipulation﹕ sender  shows  manipulative  behavior  with  receiver . ﹟  eventual smut﹕ a  fade - to - black  of  sender  and  receiver . ﹟  self indulgent﹕ receiver  picks  any  prompt  from  this  meme  to  write .

…  𝑴𝑼𝑺𝑬 𝑺𝑷𝑬𝑪𝑰𝑭𝑰𝑪