silwritersguild | NEW FIC - Celebrimbor's Homecoming

Title: "Celebrimbor's Homecoming"
Author: Anna_Wing
Characters: Celebrimbor, OC
Warnings: None
Rating: G

"Tyelperinquar! How lovely to see you again! Welcome back!"

The Director of the House of Knowledge crossed the entrance hall at speed and descended upon Celebrimbor like an extremely tall, friendly Eagle. He gurgled feebly as he was enveloped in a bone-crunching hug, but reciprocated with a gingerly pat on Mistress Istarielle's back.

"Thank you, m'lady," he managed to gasp when she released him, "Very happy to be back too." He had rather hoped to slip quietly back into the House of Knowledge at mid-morning, when everyone there would be fully occupied, but that was obviously now out of the question.

"Come," Mistress Istarielle commanded. "We shall have some tea." Celebrimbor followed her meekly up the side stairs to her office and out to the Director's private garden, a small but delightful space with blue-pea vines growing up a trellised wall, a little lotus-shaped fountain and a matching bench, a lush and tidy herb-patch, and a nice eastwards view over the descending terraces of Tirion. He sat down on the bench and took a deep, happy sniff of the herbs (curry leaf, mint, several kinds of basil, ginger, torch ginger, galangal, flowering chives, water mint, pennywort in a wide, shallow pot, lemongrass, fragrant screwpine and a large, healthy calamondin bush).

Mistress Istarielle appeared from her office with a plate of yellow-bean cakes and a tea-basket, from which emerged a large cylindrical tea-pot and two cups, both patterned with more lotuses. Tea, green and strong, was poured. The traditional courtesies were exchanged (yes, he was well; yes, he was staying in his mother's rooms in the city, since she was mostly either at the House of Aule or with his grandmother in Valmar; yes, she had been the Director for three Great Years now, with a while to go until the end of the Age, when she could return to her own research; yes, still the effect of groundwater activity on vulcanism). A quick update on the current social gossip of the House was given (marriages, children, current status of the major academic feuds, old and new). Celebrimbor reminded himself of Lady Vaire's lessons on Social Interaction With Peers and paid diligent attention.

At last, Mistress Istarielle said cosily,

"So, my dear, you'll be wanting to catch up."

Celebrimbor nodded, relieved that they had at last reached the interesting part. "Yes, I've missed a lot. Which of the working groups are in Tirion now?"

Mistress Istarielle took a sip of tea. "Well now, let's see. The Yavannildi are presenting their update on the New Spring Project in the Sun Chamber. Angiosperm Taxonomy will begin its Gathering of the Age in the White Garden for the next Great Year starting next week. It's going much better now that Lady Galadriel is chairing. Their rate of agreement is pretty much correlated with the average rate of plant evolution in Aman, so they're keeping up nicely. And the Great Year meeting of Archival Sciences is ongoing in the Moonrise Room, you might be interested in that."

Yes, he was. "Materials, Retrieval or Philosophy?"

"Materials and Retrieval mostly, the arguments in Philosophy have largely been resolved. Everyone has agreed that everything should be recorded, just in case something turns out to be useful later. Lord Finrod is leading the group this time round. The ongoing argument, you know, between the quantum crystallisation faction and the bio-storage enthusiasts. I'll pass you the papers, your mother left a list. I think that you would have a lot to contribute to the discussion."

"Hmm." Celebrimbor took one of the yellow bean cakes (a specialty of the House, a recipe especially developed long ago by the School of Theoretical and Applied Gastronomy). As the familiar, slight sweetness dissolved on his tongue the memory came back, quite without his volition, of the last time that he had tasted it. And suddenly he was young once more, as he never would be again, and instead of the harsh sky and glaring Sun he walked and talked with his father and mother to and fro in the golden warmth of Laurelin, in a world that had never been anything but joyful.

He came back to himself to find Mistress Istarielle watching him with kindness. She refilled his cup without a word and waited without impatience as he got himself together. After a while she said in exactly the same tone as before,

"And of course, the Periannath are on the Lonely Isle now. Rumil is over there, interviewing them."

And there it was. Galadriel had told him the tale of the Fellowship of the Ring when he awoke in Lorien. The last echoes of his great failure, still reverberating. He had dreaded having to face Elrond, but had not quite realised until this moment that there were also Younger Children here, who were also due apology and recompense.

"I have to go and speak to them."

Mistress Istarielle waited, still kind, but with a certain familiar patience. Celebrimbor thought frantically. Aha.

"They're mortal. It should be soon."

That would be why she had been so uncharacteristically hasty about introducing the subject. In the Day of the Trees, a lesson like this might have taken months. But there could be no leisurely approach when dealing with mortals. The Dwarves had taught him that in their efficient way ("get a move on, laddie, we can't wait around for you forever").

Mistress Istarielle was nodding calm approval. She poured him some more tea. He ate some more bean cakes. They discussed the airship schedule from Tirion to Avallone (via Falastirion on the coast, its sister-port Andunaith on the western coast of Tol Eressea and Alalminore, Queen Lalwen's capital on the great central plateau of the island) and agreed that he should leave at the end of the week. Mistress Istarielle would inform her counterpart in Avallone, and he would have rooms in the House of Knowledge there. He would meet the Periannath and his relatives. There was a plan, there was something for him to do that mattered.

Celebrimbor smiled at his old teacher and realised that he had come home.