#timeline; ties that bind (valinor; fourth age 140+).

[vezely-a]

         As others depart the early brunch, the sudden emptiness of the greenroom, save for Celebrían Altanissë and herself, makes itself uncomfortably apparent. Without her son to defer attention or her husband to lead in conversation, instinct is to escape rather than engage in a discussion alone with her in-law. But such manners are unworthy, even for her. Her gaze, though temporarily deferred by those departing, returns to the table. There, two porcelain cups emptied of their tea and a freshly brought teapot recalls fragmented memories of a Pultic custom where the youngest in the family attends to the needs of their elders. ❝More tea?❞ she asks, clearing her throat and stunting the silence, with intent to pour Altanissë’s cup before her own. An invitation, perhaps, to engage in a conversation long overdue.

@aeternitie​ (Celebrían)

#aeternitie #verse; of where the shadows lie (tolkien). #timeline; ties that bind (valinor; fourth age 140+). #(( hope this starter is ok! let me know if you would like anything changed #looking forward to writing with you! ))

[vezely-a]

@peredhellen​

         Along the spacious room’s periphery sit wooden crates of varying sizes and weight. Books, tapestries, and heirlooms hidden from sight and unneeded to be disturbed at this late hour. Most would find their way to other places of storage in the morning. The more personal items are tucked away in lacquer chests but despite the journey’s briefness, Vezely remembers not what each contains --- and unfortunately, not where her excess kretek is stowed. She stands cold, as if bewildered. It is not the surroundings of stowaway items that overwhelm her, but the crushing weight of feeling once again in a place she does not belong. Her partner’s footsteps make themselves known, making her wonder if his weighted soles are on purpose as if sensing the need not to startle her --- that, or her senses are heightened by the circumstances. The day was long, the introductions incessant, and though thin to begin with, the cordial façade that hides her dirt is all but cracked through. No word is spared but a smile, weary in its formation but loving and welcoming as always. Perhaps, she considers, she does not actually want to be left alone after all.

#peredhellen #verse; of where the shadows lie (tolkien). #timeline; ties that bind (valinor; fourth age 140+). #(( I hope this works to start us on this new shiny thread... :D ))

[vezely-a]

@mindsmade (Varda) | cont’d from x

            Varda could have appeared as something else entirely. As something horrific, something to inspire nightmares for the duration of another lifetime ––––– but she does not. Manwë may not have bade her to maintain an open heart, but he did ask it of her. Thus, like so many times before, she will comply so long as the cost does not transgress the boundaries of reason.

            The expression with which she is met upon her descent into the valley displeases her, which arguably makes for rather a poor start. Arguably, she reckons, for not all faces are as telling as one might expect. The nondescript expression on her own features is close to a perfect demonstration of that. The same cannot necessarily be said for the energy that pools around the woman, however ––––– or lack thereof, perhaps. She appears unwilling in her presence, there by necessity alone.

            They have that much in common, at least.     All the same Varda looks not aside, notwithstanding her urge to be faced with another sight ––––– any other sight. Vezely ( for she recalls her name ) is as such revealed to be unlike most she has ever seen in these lands. Although the glare the Elf wields puts her at risk of a destroying stare in return, what she notices most of all is the presumedly forced humility and the remnants of darkness unparalleled in these lands. That is, unparalleled at present. In the past … that would have put Vezely’s now diluted affinity for the unspeakable to shame.

            Varda only wishes she had not been reminded of those times.  ❛  ––––– VEZELY, I presume?  ❜   

         Bleak is her solo display of defiance, standing not as if plotting rebellion but more as one awaiting judgment with certainty of the verdict before it is spoken. She holds no cards to play or schemes to wield in her nakedness before an all-knowing, and in this case, all-hearing being. Did Varda hear the screams of the innocents she killed? The voices silenced by the chains she clasped around their wrists? A Pultic warmonger. A Mordor slave driver. Sauron’s emissary. The life once lived is not forgotten among those who see all and remember more still. To stand upon these blessed shores is surely an affront to all that name it so and for those in charge, the decision to remain defiling the land is theirs alone. Vezely does not stand optimistic.

         ❝Varda.❞ Acknowledgment is given without prompted answer or any of the courtesies one should tempt in the presence of the Valar. The distaste rolling off her tongue with its darkened intonation is directed more at the situation than for the person standing before her, who she knows little about beyond the endless songs sung in praise by the residents of Imladris, and from Manwë whose poetics better bespeak myth. Civility should be spared for her friend’s sake, but it is hard to channel indifference when she has so much to lose. ❝I was uncertain who to expect, but I suppose in lieu of your leader --❞

#mindsmade #verse; of where the shadows lie (tolkien). #timeline; ties that bind (valinor; fourth age 140+). #(( imagine the conversation with dan prior this... 8) )) #q.

[vezely-a]

tag fix (just adding dates) ~

#timeline; a child misplaced (talath harroch; third age 2460 to 2480). #timeline; destroyer of nations (kravod; third age 2510 to 2780). #timeline; instrument of violence (mordor; third age 2780 to 3019). #timeline; shackled to ruins (exile; third age 3019 to fourth age 4). #timeline; burying the past (rivendell; fourth age 5 to 140). #timeline; ties that bind (valinor; fourth age 140+).

[vezely-a]

@tofindthesun | continued from x

             The sarcasm that drips from her her question doesn’t surprise him nor slip past him. However, for the sake of peace, he chooses not to take the bait this time. “I think it impossible to like everyone, don’t you? So of course I so think ill of certain persons. However I find that treating them with some amount of civility, when the situation allows for it of course, is best. Don’t you?

          A sliver of a smile writhes its way to lips still dry despite the abundance of libations being poured around them. It is not for want of fine wine, but for more lively conversation she seeks --- which is not fully acquiesced despite her scavenging. ❝You are well aware of the need for civility,❞ she casually hints at the prince’s political ongoings. ❝But a thin façade can only be worn so many times before it gets tattered. One wonders how you keep it together.❞

#tofindthesun #verse; of where the shadows lie (tolkien). #timeline; ties that bind (valinor; fourth age 140+). #(( i do love me some valinor las 8) )) #q.

[vezely-a]

Legolas;

          A smile tugs at his lips and he dips his head. Perhaps he is too optimistic, though perhaps his mother was right. There is a reason D’râkringê came to him. But he will not push the subject further, not with her pronounced indifference. She surely doesn’t want to hear him preach to her about hope, and he is not very sure whether she needs it or not, even if she’s an odd duck like himself.

“I figured so. Though I believe there are some aspects of my gardens that you might like. There are the gazebos and the westward fountains, where the gardens are more stone than flora. I suppose you could say I was somewhat inspired by Imladris in that part of the garden, and there are plants around those fountains that once grew in the Hidden Valley.”

           Awareness of the strangeness she protrudes among kin who adore the natural world is there when conversation calls. She wonders if it was bred out of her before or after her Mordor days. Did she not in her younger days take pleasure in walking the rolling fields of the Kykurian Kyn on days away from the overcrowded city of Kravod? Thought passes, however, and the description Legolas gives of his gardens manage to visualize a past nearer to her--- that of her prior home.

          ❝Enticing. And it sounds extensive and well-planned.❞ The attribute is fair she suspects for gardening was a serious undertaking by all those with interest. ❝Undoubtedly it has kept you busy. I need to spark a hobby myself once all is more settled. We are looking for our own residence actually.❞ Living with the in-laws was fine for the time being, but she is glad to be moving away from judgment (as silent as may be).

#tofindthesun #verse; of where the shadows lie (tolkien). #timeline; ties that bind (valinor; fourth age 140+). #(( two odd ducks walk into a bar full of noldor... )) #q.

[vezely-a]

Legolas;

        “Oft hope is born when all is forlorn. I still believe that, and I believe it applies here, as well.” There were numerous times that he had felt restless, frustrated and melancholy since he landed on these shores, but hopeless? No, never hopeless. Hope was always there, even if it was a small part of him that held on to the flickering flame that he would see his family again when the world was remade, when he would get to perhaps see Barathî in all her glory kicking up the sparkling sands to make stars.

         “I offer the same to you. There are many places in the gardens where you could hide away and do what you wish without anyone bothering you.” Even he hides away when it all gets to be too much, letting the sights and smells of a home back East ground him and recenter him once more.  

          ❝Right. The fellowship and all that.❞ Dry retort reveals an indifference and assured distance to the grand feats that mark his past and that of many in her current company. It is the only sane position for one who walks among her former enemies. But whether or not her presumption of the origin of his belief is correct, she also knows it is not without basis. The ending of Sauron all came at a moment of looming defeat, or at least that is how the West writes it.

          ❝Appreciated. I am not much for flora, but I overheard your garden offers familiarity to walk amongst.❞ A curiosity is lit on whether it would be noteworthy considering her lack of interest or knowledge in the details of what grows around her (even if she is aware of the current environment's strangeness).

#tofindthesun #verse; of where the shadows lie (tolkien). #timeline; ties that bind (valinor; fourth age 140+). #q.

[vezely-a]

 Legolas;

      “I suppose when there are only three major cities of Elves in this place, there’s hardly much of a choice. Either you keep away from the cities and hide in the lands further west, or you are forced into something uncomfortable.” It’s something that’s been on his mind for a while now. If he could but build and city for his people so that they might have a safe, comfortable place to congregate if they so choose.

Despite their early animosity and Legolas’ deep offence at words spoken in a different land, he almost feels a bit of a connection to her now. This land was not made for either of them. “Thank you, Vezely.”

          ❝Choice is an illusion anyway. At least here it is more easily acknowledged.❞ Wryly these words rather than others leave her mouth, doubting it wise to too freely speak of her own discomfort. It is not that she finds herself unwelcomed among Elladan’s family, who are mostly supportive, but simply displaced in a land called ‘blessed’ by so many. She should not be here unless via the Halls of Mandos.

           A nod follows his appreciation for what was a rare act of kindness born of the small understanding forged between them. ❝Well. I will not leave you with words of hope for change.❞ Futile she believes it and trite it feels. ❝It is what it is. But do stop by sometime.❞

#tofindthesun #verse; of where the shadows lie (tolkien). #timeline; ties that bind (valinor; fourth age 140+). #q.

[vezely-a]

 Legolas;

            He is quite good at civility, or at least, he believes he is. How many times did he have to stop Targâ from offending the Domí Khugan twins? Or from offending most of the children of tribal leaders, if he’s being honest. If he could handle Targâ, whom had been a thorn in his side since before coming of age, then he can handle a few snooty Noldor. “Luckily for me, I have a very good tailor to mend any tears and turn them into works of art.” His head tilts in Luktiênê’s direction.

          Grey eyes lined in the hint of kohl (as if channeling the fashion of some of the tribes the other ruled over), shift but need not to, knowing of the notorious cousin he speaks. Luktiênê is one elf she avoided since relocating with her family to these shores. The unnerving discovery of his presence born out of discomfort of too many people knowing or having the means to uncover her past. ❝Ah yes, everyone needs a few good men to clean up their messes. I imagine having your brethren relocate here took some convincing.❞

#tofindthesun #verse; of where the shadows lie (tolkien). #timeline; ties that bind (valinor; fourth age 140+). #(( same. and amid all the chaos that ensues ~ )) #q.