milliways_bar | (no subject)

If Lee was to find out about the events of last night, Námo would prefer the man heard it from him, and not Gorlim.

He is unusually dressed when he appears by Lee's booth -- simple trousers and a silver tunic. His eyes are tired, his posture a bit less than straight.

"Lee," he says quietly.

He looks up with a smile. "Oh, hey--"

The smile disappears as he takes in Namo's condition. "Are you all right?" he asks, sitting up anxiously.

He is not usually nervous. Right now, though, he is nervous.

"I am well."

A small hesitation; he does not want to screw it all up!

"Gorlim and I had an argument last night."

Predictably, his eyes narrow--arguments are never good. But for the first time, he isn't immediately, instinctively taking Gorlim's side.

"Why? About what?"

Uncharacteristically, Námo fidgets.

"May I sit?" he asks politely. "I am certain you will be no happier with me than he was, and I do not have to sit next to you..."

But, oh, how he would like to.

He moves to let Namo sit next to him anyway, finding it easier to talk that way, as it offers the option of avoiding eye contact if he starts to feel the need to do so again.

"Is he still mad at you? What happened?"

"I am uncertain if he remains upset with me; when he left me this morning, I was unsure. He needs some time."

He sits, resting his hands limply in his lap.

"There is a She-Elf from our world here," he says, coming straight to the tale. "Her name is Nerdanel. She is a great Lady -- once the wife of Feanáro. She had seven sons; four of them reside in my Halls, two of them live with her in Aman, and the seventh wanders the earth, never returning to the West."

Námo stops there, waiting to see if Lee has any questions yet.

No questions, but he makes a mental note to go and find Gorlim and make sure he's all right as soon as this is done.

He nods. "Go on."

He takes a deep breath.

"She came to Gorlim last night -- I am assuming they had already met -- and asked if he could find me. Which he did. Then there was a conversation. Nerdanel desires to have her sons back since it has been thousands of years since she last saw them. It is not in my power to return the four in my Halls, but I could call to the one who still wanders. Maglor. Who was once a friend of Gorlim's."

So far? Not so bad. Now... it got bad.

"I do not do such things without a price. She came and offered anything to me in her power. I named a price for this."

Swallows.

"I told her I would call to Maglor, bring him here, if she would bear a child for me."

That comes as a shock. He stares at Namo, at something of a loss for words.

"Well--jesus, yeah, no wonder Gorlim's mad at you." He shakes his head. "And--what does she say about this? I mean, blackmailing someone into having your child? People who do that in my world--I spent two years of my life putting them in prison. It's a shitty thing to do anywhere. And doing it by using her lost son as bait?"

He looks pained, as if he hadn't expected such a thing of Namo. He doesn't know what to think.

It was a far better reaction than he received from Gorlim.

"She said she had to think on it. She would come to me when she had made a decision. I do not understand why this is such an upset," he says, turning to Lee, the look of pain on the man's face stabbing at him. "Nerdanel offered -- and offered anything. Had I gone to her with such a purpose, dangled Maglor in front of her so vilely, I could understand."

"But still--if she doesn't want to have your child--and she's only doing it because it's the only way for her to get her son back--how can you do that to her? Why do you want this woman to have your baby against her will?"

Now Námo feels himself becoming agitated -- and ashamed.

"Because I want to stay who I am, Lee. I want the freedom to be here without having to worry about Duties that should be dealt with but are not because I am here. It would take some time, yes, for it to mature, but I can make due until that time, somehow."