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greenleaf4stuff · 10 days ago

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In Convenience - Chapter 5, part 3

Adar x Celebrimbor (silverscars) political marriage to marriage of love AU, post story snippet 5, part 3. Celebrimbor and Gil-Galad continue to welcome the guests. The smith is delighted to see his neighbors from Khazad-Dum again. When Adar ends up joining the group, an unexpected item helps to avoid hightened tensions - and showcases the affection between the two spouses.

(all previous parts of "Of Convenience" and "In Convenience")

This was just very lovely and cute to write, the interactions between these characters were unexpectedly fun and sweet, to the point it almost wrote itself. Also, the 'item' hinted at above is something I had wanted to write about for quite some time now. :) Enjoy! <3

Once Oropher and Thranduil had concluded their conversation with Gil-Galad and Celebrimbor, more and more guests began to arrive and came to greet the latter two. Delegations of elves, men and even dwarves had followed the invitiation, most of them either curious or skeptical. What united them almost unanimously, however, were their open relief and delight at the defeat of Sauron.

It also seemed that once they saw Celebrimbor’s obvious happiness, and how his city showed all the signs of prospering in the aftermath of Sauron’s brief reign of terror, they were becoming somewhat convinced that the marriage, too, was worth celebrating.

One of the more openly questioning groups happened to be a delegation of neighbors and friends that Celebrimbor was particularly delighted to see.

"Prince Durin, Princess Dísa, Narvi! Welcome to Ost-In-Edhil," the elf greeted them with open joy, and was quite elated when the the latter came over and readily took Celebrimbor’s hands in his own to squeeze them. The elf returned the pressure with a wide smile. Even with his magnificent beard, it was clear Narvi was returning it with an equally bright one.

Before the elf knew it, the other had dragged him down and pulled Celebrimbor into a powerful, heartfelt hug. It made the Lord of Eregion realize how long the two of them hadn’t seen each other, and under what circumstances. He returned the embrace readily as a result.

"It is so good to see you," he said, and felt his frame shake as Narvi patted his back. He didn’t mind it in the least. "I had feared for you and your people, after Durin told me about the dwarven rings."

"Hmpf. As you can see, I am alive and well," Narvi replied. "Though your concern honors you."

He drew back and held onto Celebrimbor’s shoulders as he studied him. His gaze quickly turned approving. "You look very well, my friend. I, too, had feared the worst when news reached to us that Sauron had taken hold of Eregion," a long pause. "And that you’d been wed to an orc-"

"Uruk," Celebrimbor gently corrected, unable to help himself. It had become second nature to him, the way it was for Adar. One might claim the two of them had already begun to rub off on each other, which...likely wasn’t entirely inaccurate.

Narvi paused, but did not try to rebuke Celebrimbor. "Uruk, then. Still. A political marriage while they were right at the gates of your city, you can’t fault a dwarf for worryin’."

"If I could fault you for anything, Narvi, I have yet to discover it," the elven smith replied, and chuckled at Narvi’s fond eyeroll. "Your concern is much appreciated. Thankfully, it is unnecessary – I am indeed quite well. Splendid, even. More so, I imagine, once the hustle and bustle of today has passed."

The other gave him an understanding look and nodded, but then seemed to remember something and released Celebrimbor to step back. As he half-turned, Prince Durin and his wife Dísa came into view.

"We will continue to speak more, my friend, later on," the dwarf promised, before he bowed lightly and stepped back to let his prince come closer. Celebrimbor caught Durin and Gil-Galad throwing each other meaningful glances that the smith couldn’t hope to parse, and so he simply shrugged inwardly and fully turned his attention to the dwarven royalty in front of him.

"Prince Durin," Celebrimbor greeted, then turned to the dwarf’s wife. "Princess Dísa. It is good to see you. You, Dísa, look lovely as always."

And indeed, the princess had either changed before stepping in front of Celebrimbor and Gil-Galad, or she had been dressed quite elaborately for her journey. Her dress was beautifully made, shining like rare metals from the depth of the Misty Mountains, adorned with gemstones and jewels, gold dust in her hair, on her eyes, cheeks, and fingers. She shone preciously, even more so as she smiled at him, and he told her as much.

She chuckled and tried to wave him off. "Oh, quit it with the compliments, you’ll turn your husband jealous. Or mine," she joked, then came close and also gave him a hug while laughing warmly. "Narvi’s right, you look much better than we dared to hope for!"

Celebrimbor flustered, a little, but also laughed and returned her hug, mindful not to accidentally undo Dísa’s beautifully done hair; he could only guess how much time and how many people it must have taken to make it look like a piece of art, because it did.

When she drew back, she studied his chest and then her eyes widened excitedly. "That is the Sirannon, and the end of the embroidery there, isn’t it? And the Doors of Durin," her eyes sparkled as she smiled up at him. "What a wonderful choice for your garment."

Celebrimbor’s smile was a little proud, perhaps, and certainly wide enough to almost split his face in two. "I’d hoped you and your people might approve. We are neighbors, after all – good ones, or so I should hope. I wish to pick up and continue the collaboration between our people, and honor it to the best of my abilities, as soon as possible."

"Don’t you worry about that, elf," Prince Durin replied from the side, and Celebrimbor straightened to incline his head in respect at the redhead. The other returned the gesture, both to the Lord of Eregion and the High King of the Elves. "Now that the lyin’, deceivin’, good-for-nothin’ Lord of Falsehoods is gone, we will be quick to restore our previous trust, I am sure. If only because Elrond would surely subject me to his blasted doe eyes if we didn’t."

He was audibly joking, and smirked as he said his words, but also couldn’t help and curse Sauron in khuzdul afterwards. While Gil-Galad seemed quite content not to know what the dwarven prince was saying, Celebrimbor wasn’t afforded such a mercy, and he wheezed in his attempt not to laugh at Durin’s language.

"Sorry. I tend to forget Narvi taught you," Durin replied, though there was very little sheepishness to his words. He threw a sidelong glance at Dísa. "And this one, too. Elrond tells me you know how to curse in khuzdul now?"

Remembering his outburst at Adar’s camp – the one he hoped Elrond had not translated and retold to Gil-Galad in full –, the elf scratched the back of his neck and looked to the side for a moment, visibly caught, before he turned back to the dwarves. "I assure you, it wasn’t your lovely wife who taught me these words," Celebrimbor looked at Dísa, who smirked at him, emboldening him to add, "Or, rather. Not all of them."

They shared some laughter among each other. "I couldn’t have known you’d actually use any of it," Dísa defended, though her husband looked more approving than anything.

She stepped forward to touch Celebrimbor’s arm then, and her gaze grew unexpectedly soft. He was quick to pay attention as a result. "So, Celebrimbor. I know this is a feast to celebrate the peace, but there is another matter as well," her eyes seemed to bore into his, despite her light tone and easy smile. "How is the marriage? Are you as content as the occasion makes it seem?"

There were a few hidden questions, tucked safely into the corners of what she had asked – whether he was happy, if he was safe, if this was truly what he wanted or if he was merely doing his duty to the elven people.

It warmed his heart to witness her concern, even diplomatically voiced as it was. As he glanced at Durin, the prince wore a frown, much more plainly displaying his doubts than his wife did. Gil-Galad, notably, had been quietly observing the situation, sipping on some tea and holding himself back.

Perhaps, the interaction between him and Durin concerning that large stone table was still at the forefront of his mind. The thought brought a bit of mirth to the smith; Elrond had taken much delight in gossiping to Celebrimbor about the real nature of the dispute after the fact.

He gently put his hand onto Dísa’s shoulder, and let his own expression turn soft with open affection he thought of Adar, and how he felt whenever he was with his husband.

"I assure you, Lady Dísa, I couldn’t be happier with my lot. The circumstances of my marriage and subsequent partnership with Adar might have been unusual. But the victory achieved, we all achieved together. And both our feelings for one another are genuine. It’s not merely a political match – we have grown quite fond of each other."

He grinned and winked at his last words. Dísa’s bright laughter in response broke whatever tension had fallen over them.

"Now then, that does sound very promising indeed," she replied, and patted his arm. "You should come visit us. Maybe we’ll have more time to speak then. I’d certainly like to hear all about what happened to you. Must have been quite the experience, from what Elrond told us already."

"Oh, you have no idea," Celebrimbor replied. "I will make sure to visit you again soon, once all of this," he indicated Eregion at large, "has been taken care of. Speaking of which, how have things been in Khazad-Dum? Have they- improved?"

His question was asked haltingly, and the elf couldn’t help but fiddle with the braided ring on his finger as he brought it forth. He wanted to hear news from the dwarven kingdom, but he also feared what his friends might tell him; about the corrupted rings and their effects, especially. The fact that Narvi, Durin and Dísa had been so elated to see him was already more than he deserved, in his opinion.

Dísa kept her smile, but it visibly became a little strained as she grew more serious, and turned towards her husband, who readily stepped closer and regarded Celebrimbor. Instead of appearing angry or dismayed, his expression was wry more than anything else.

"Yeah, well. About that," he seemed a bit sheepish, causing Celebrimbor to blink in confusion. "Let’s just say I might have temporarily lost my place as heir apparent when I took a fist to my father’s face, knocked him out cold, and threw his ring down the deepest shaft I could find."

He said it with a mix of pride, defiance and embarrassment that gave Celebrimbor almost as much whiplash as the prince’s words had done. He heard Gil-Galad quietly choke on his tea, and needed a moment to fully grasp the other’s meaning.

"You. You punched your own father? King Durin III?" The smith raised his eyebrows in disbelief. Things must have been truly dire for the prince to do so; he might not always see eye-to-eye with his father, from Celebrimbor had witnessed, but deep down Prince Durin held plenty of respect for his king – adored him, frankly, from what Dísa had spilled in conversations between the two of them.

She nodded, gravely, and threw her husband a disapproving glance. "He did. At least he didn’t do it in public but, word got out anyways," the way she looked at Celebrimbor clearly said, 'Can you believe this hotheaded fool?'

The smith was torn between wanting to point out that the rings had indeed been far more dangerous than even Durin could have forseen, and agreeing that perhaps, stealing or wresting the ring from the dwarven king might have been the preferable option.

His eyebrows were raised in worry as he asked, "A-and. How is your father now?" He blanched. "You’ve not been cast out from your people, or your home, surely?"

The prince was quick to wave him off, while Dísa reassured him by rubbing his arm and giving him a firm headshake. A weight slid off Celebrimbor’s shoulders. "Nah, nothin’ like that. He was rightly pissed, declared I wasn’t his heir anymore and gave me the cold shoulder for a bit. But, I think ever since the rings ‘ave been gone, he’s slowly come back to his senses."

He shrugged. "He’s still mad about the punch itself, but I think he can understand where I came from."

Dísa nodded. "We need to give it time. King Durin’s got other things to deal with, for now, anyways," she was obviously reluctant to worry Celebrimbor even further, but then sighed and admitted, "We suspect there might be another...problem. Down in the depths of the mountain. We’re not quite sure what yet, but there have been rather ominous rumblings, and reports of fireshine from down below. We have been halting a lot of our mining, and even prospecting for new veins, as a result."

"That sounds quite foreboding," the elf agreed, feeling troubled by her words. "Don’t get me wrong, I am very glad to hear the rings have been taken care of. But this new potential threat...is there anything I can do to help?"

Durin’s smile was wry, while Dísa’s was bright.

"Nothin’ concrete yet, but we appreciate the offer," the prince said. "My father wants to exercise utmost caution – his words, not mine. We’ll have to see how that works out, for now."

"Of course," Celebrimbor replied, and bowed just a little. "You are not just allies, but neighbors and most importantly, friends. I would be happy to assist you."

"Perhaps me and my people might be of help here," came a voice from the far corner of the hall. Celebrimbor looked up to see Adar come in from the hallway, some of his uruk in tow, though they were careful to keep their distance from the dwarves. Adar inclined this head to Durin and Dísa, before he stepped up to Celebrimbor’s side. The elf held his breath, trying to gauge how the delegation from Khazad-Dum might react.

Adar, however, continued to speak – and looked at the dwarves evenly. "My children are able to navigate the dark with ease. They can also dig tunnels and climb quite well. Maybe they might aid your people in any excursions down into the depths of the mountain; if there should be remnants of something truly evil there, they would be able to sense and help identify it."

There was a heavy pause after he had made his offer; both Durin and Dísa had been visibly more alert since Adar had announced his presence. While Dísa merely looked cautious, but was trying to subtly keep an eye on the other, Durin was openly scowling at him. Adar, for his part, did not give away much through his body or expression, appearing serious but not tense.

Except for the fact that Celebrimbor make out how his husband had pressed his thumb to his wedding ring, judging by how he held his right hand. The elf suspected the uruk was itching to have his broadsword – not because he expected to use it, but because he’d often grasped it in the past when he had needed something to ground himself, from what Celebrimbor had witnessed.

He could see Dísa chance a glance at her husband, raise her eyebrows, and hurry to try and find both a smile and a polite answer to Adar’s words, while Durin opened his mouth to retort and squared his shoulders in a way that did not bode well.

The smith could hear Gil-Galad stepping over, perhaps to intervene, and Celebrimbor too was quick to put a hand onto Adar’s arm in preparation to utter his support of his husband’s idea.

However, neither of them were as fast as Narvi.

"That is a fine piece of work," he remarked, audibly impressed. When the Lord of Eregion and the others looked over, the dwarven smith had his gaze fixed on Adar’s cuirass. Celebrimbor blinked, and saw Dísa and Durin both halt, then take a closer look at the armor as well.

Celebrimbor felt himself preen, just a little, raising to his full height at the praise, for it was likely in part addressed towards him.

As he’d promised the other, back when Adar decided against wearing a traditional robe for the festivities, the elf had taken the uruk to his new forge a few times during the late hours of the evening. His assistants thankfully had been aware enough to busy themselves with projects on the far side of the smithy, while Adar took off his cuirass and allowed the elf to work on it.

They both had decided to leave the blackened color of the metal as it was, but wherever there were rust or holes, the smith had taken to the armor and patched it up. He’d decided to deliberately not try and make the metal he used fit in, but rather gone and done it by the way of the uruk. That was, he let his own additions be visibly new, and different from the rest.

Adar’s armor was now flecked with silvery patches of metal, which from a distance looked like stars in the night sky. The bigger parts, Celebrimbor made to be less shiny, and had decided to adorn with some subtle designs instead.

The rim of Adar’s gorget, for example, was now decorated with a fine line of subtle, beautiful holly leaves and sage blossoms, interwoven amongst each other in muted silver. There had also been a large hole in his chest armor, near the uruk’s stomach, which had been fixed and adorned with a constellation of the night sky over Eregion, an eight-pointed star as its center piece.

It was indeed a rather fine piece of work, if Celebrimbor might say so himself. Such praise from another smith meant a lot to him.

"Thank you, my lord," this was Adar, who had gone so far as to incline his head in gratitude at Narvi. Celebrimbor felt warmth swell in his chest as the uruk continued. "My husband was kind enough to repair parts of my armor as a second wedding present."

And then he turned and looked at Celebrimbor, gaze softening. "The first being the reforged crown of Morgoth – remade as the sword which helped us kill the Deceiver," with those words, he turned back to the dwarves.

While Durin looked quite stunned, Dísa was once again smiling and looking to be more at ease, while Narvi was nodding in obvious approval.

"No need to call me lord – Adar, right?" Narvi said, and bowed slightly. "The name’s Narvi. I’m a smith, much like your Celebrimbor," he smirked.

Celebrimbor could see just the hint of a grin on Adar’s lips as the uruk looked back at the dwarf, and then also bowed just a little. "Adar is correct. My children refer to me as Lord Father of the Uruk, but Adar is the only name and title I require."

He turned and bowed to Durin and Dísa as well. "Forgive my manner of introduction. I could not help but overhear your...plight."

While she still looked just a little apprehensive, Dísa was quick to smile brightly at the acknowledgement by the other, and curtsied in response to his words. "It’s alright. I am Dísa, and this," she proceeded to subtly elbow her husband in the side, who shook himself from his frozen state and begrudgingly bowed a little as well. "Is Durin IV, son of Durin III and Crown Prince of Khazad-Dum. Though the title might be in question, at the current moment at least." The last sentence was said in wry humor.

"It is a pleasure, and an honor, to make your aquaintance," the uruk replied, voice genuine and wholly without any audible caveats, which was a relief. Celebrimbor knew his husband was just as interested in trying to create a lasting peace between uruk and dwarves as Celebrimbor, Gil-Galad and Elrond were, but he also knew Adar would not accept any ill words or insults to be spoken about his children.

It was a fine line to walk, but one they had seemingly managed not to stray from, at least so far.

Durin’s gaze was still assessing, but between Narvi’s open curiosity and Dísa’s attempts at a polite, diplomatic conversation, nevermind Adar’s proposition, he eventually deflated and merely asked, "So, about that offer you made just now. You serious?"

Adar nodded, "Absolutely. My hope is that, between elven records, my children’s skills and your hospitality and equipment, we might find a solution to your problem – and perhaps, a first step towards a future collaboration between our people."

This time, Celebrimbor did not have to hold his breath, as Durin hummed and nodded in reply. Celebrimbor and Dísa threw each other hopeful smiles, and when the smith turned to his High King, he too looked to be slightly optimistic, at least.

#i think i hinted a multiple points that Celebrimbor wanted to repair Adar's armor - this is the point where it pays off!#i liked the idea a lot since I personally find it hard to believe a smith like Celebrimbor would let Adar walk around with damaged armor #and it's again a nice parallel (to brimby's robe) and a showcase of brimby's skills while tying uruk and elven culture together <3 #i decided against full-blown accents for the dwarves but i couldn't help but hint at it a few times - i hope it comes out organic!#of convenience #adar #adar trop #adar the rings of power #celebrimbor #adar x celebrimbor #silverscars #trop #the rings of power #marriage of convenience trope #political marriage trope #fanfic #my fanfic #my trop fanfic #mine

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