Mary Oliver poetry prompts pt 2 number 30 for Maedhros and Fingon please. I really like the way you write their friendship.
Thank you for the prompt! <33 This turned into a bit from the meanwhile the world goes on 'verse, not long after Go On Aching Still. Also it got a bit longer than the other ficlets so it's going under a cut.
30. What I want to say is that the past is the past, and the present is what your life is, and you are capable of choosing what that will be.
Fingon crossed his arms. āYou really want to do this now?ā
āIād rather not do it at all.ā Maedhros sat under a willow tree, just out of sight of his motherās house. A small river flowed along beside it; Fingon had many happy childhood memories of this river, and of Maedhrosā grandparents house with the plum orchard beside it. The ancestors of this willow tree had been quiet witnesses to many hours of laughter and idle conversation, to youthful daydreams and the occasional argument. It did not surprise him to find Maedhros out there now, leaning back against the tree with a sketchbook on his knee, and a pencil in his hand; he had snapped the book shut as soon as Fingon had stepped through the willow fronds. His hair was loose and tangled on his shoulders, and he looked as though he hadnāt slept in the three months since he had returned from Mandos.
Finrod had warned Fingonāthat Maedhros was still deeply unhappy, that Mandos had hardly helped him at all, that he would do his very best to send Fingon away and reject all offers of comfort or friendship. Fortunately for them both, Fingon had never met an obstacle he did not want to overcome. He sat down and crossed his legs. āFine,ā he said, ābut thereās no point to the back-and-forth, you know, because we both know how itās going to end.ā
āFingonāā
āFirst of all, you should know that Iāve never blamed you for the Nirnaeth. I knew even then that if you did not come when you were supposed to it was because something had happenedāand I was right. My death was not your fault, and I will not have you continue to punish yourself for it even now, when we are both returned to life.ā
Maedhrosā jaw was set in that particularly FĆ«anorian way. āFingon,ā he began again.
āWhat came afterāthat was terrible. Of course it wasāI barely recognize the Maedhros of the latter part of the First Ageābut it was nearly six thousand years ago now. I have had quite a lot of time to reconcile myself to all manner of thingsāā
āFindekĆ”noāā
āI would rather choose to be happy to have my best friend back than to stew in the miseries of the past, which canāt be changed. All we have is the present, and with neither oaths nor wars to loom over us, we can both shape our futures as we wish. You can try to send me away all you like, but it wonāt work, because I can tell you donāt really want that.ā
Maedhros sighed, and slumped back against the tree. He dropped his pencil to his lap and rubbed his hand over his face. āIt doesnāt feel like six thousand years,ā he said finally.
āTime is odd in Mandos,ā said Fingon. āRusso, why did you not let them help you?ā
āI didnāt want help. I justāit was quiet, there. If I could have just stayedā¦ā
āFinrod thinks it was doing you more harm than good,ā Fingon said quietly. Maedhros didnāt answer. Fingon sighed. Heād said his pieceāwhether Maedhros believed him or not didnāt much matter, because he had no intention of staying away. āWhat have you been drawing?ā
āNothing in particular.ā Maedhros made no move to open the sketchbook. āMy mother just thinks I need to be doing something.ā
āSheās right.ā Fingon stretched out his legs and leaned over to bump his shoulder against Maedhrosā. āI missed you,ā he said.
Maedhros sighed, and surrendered to the inevitable. āI missed you too,ā he said, very quietly.
