#and braids

Biting down on his lip now to keep it from trembling with dismay, he looked at the gawky youngster staring back at him from the looking glass despondently. He hated those feasts where people kept milling around endlessly, chattering about this and that and – no doubt – looking upon him, that other, lesser son, with disappointment and disapproval.

Of course, he could not be like Curufinwë, nobody was, and nobody ever would be. 

Maybe, he thought desperately, if he pretended to be taken ill, they’d let him stay in his chambers; it was highly unlikely that anyone other than his siblings – his mother’s children, not Fëanáro, as he preferred to be called – would even notice let alone regret his absence.

“Ñolofinwë…” The bored drawl of the older brother he had just been musing about crept into the room like a venomous snake much too mighty to be wrestled into submission by a mere princeling. 

“Your mother desires to see you in blue,” Fëanáro went on as he stepped into the chamber confidently, “and I am here to fetch you. Why are you not dressed? Why is your hair not done?”

Shame flooded Indis’ son like an overwhelming, suffocating tide and he had to clench his fists to prevent himself from patting his half-undone braids helplessly.

“Come here, you fool,” the other commanded and – pulling the younger boy rather forcefully towards him by a slender wrist– he yanked a brush through the dark, silken hair that was so much like his own.

“I don’t want to go,” Ñolofinwë whined and bit down on his tongue as he heard how pathetically weak and shrill his words had sounded; no doubt, that son of his father’s, who stubbornly denied being of his kin, would now reprimand and mock him harshly.

To his utter surprise though, Fëanáro’s hands stilled immediately and he let them sink heavily onto the bony shoulders of the boy standing – tense and miserable – before him, staring still into the mirror at an awkward angle that only highlighted his sharp, handsome features into which he’d no doubt grow faster than the seasons could change.

Their eyes met and there was unlooked-for understanding in the flaming gaze of the eternal prodigy; an echo of loneliness and stubborn ambition resonated dully in the cool air of a room that was halfway between a child’s bedroom and a lord’s chamber. 

“We each have our role to fulfil,” Fëanáro hummed finally, pensive, “and we must do our father proud. Finwë has sired great sons and it is his prerogative to display them for all to see.”

“I am not great,” Ñolofinwë sighed, lifting his yet spindly arms to flap the wide sleeves of the overcoat he was shrugging into while his hair was no longer being tugged at.

“Not yet,” came the sombre, premonition-laden answer, “but – I well fear – that the day will come when the tides shall shift.”

That generous mouth which was the fountain of so much wisdom and cruel jibes tightened into a pale line of discontent and the brush returned, all the more vicious after this short reprieve.

“I shall be loyal to you,” Ñolofinwë promised under his breath, not sure if he wanted his brother to hear him, ashamed of the childish gratitude soothing his frayed nerves. The creature in the looking glass resembled a prince – thanks to his brother’s competence – and Ñolofinwë felt heartened by the sight.

“Let’s go down and be scions of a king,” Fëanor huffed in a choked voice as he wound the last silver ribbon around the end of an expertly crafted braid and righted the cloak around the other’s shoulders needlessly.

Despite his misgivings and innate jealousy, he held his brother’s slender hand encouragingly in his own as they descended the stairs and walked up to the big ballroom. 

Fëanáro – the great and mighty smith and inventor – did not know then that he had lifted a heart from misery and dejection and that it would be, for better or for worse, his forevermore.

@fellowshipofthefics we're almost done, almost...

I hope this will not get me into too much hot water lol read it as you wish...I love you all and I promise that I did not mean to force down your throat what you didn't want to read!

Lots of love

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