We'll dance among the stars by daughterofshadows

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Balar 2

Okay, here are where things get minorly complicated, because I introduce a lot of OCs from my other Gondolin centred fics.

As per usual for any fic involving many of my OCs, I'll give you a short who's who. This includes Quenya and Sindarin names where applicable.

Language Notes:

Nellas is speaking nearly exclusively Sindarin, so she'll be using those names until a character tells her otherwise. Laegolas, too, is speaking mostly Sindarin at this point, while Celebrilmal uses Quenya names, even though she is in-universe speaking Sindarin for Nellas' sake.

 

The Cast:

Nellas: We've met her in the previous two chapters. In this universe, she is a biologist. More on this will come in Balar - Part IV, so stay tuned to learn about her research!

Laegolas/Laiquilasse (of Gondolin). Also called: Laiko: Just like in And we were never meant to win (a canon universe Galdor/Nellas romance), I'm not using the Silvanised version of the name, because I don't see why Nellas would be using it. (Also, it helps me differentiate him from LotR Legolas, which is sometimes important). He's Galdor's nephew, but was mostly raised by him and therefore considers him his father.

Celebrilmal. Also called: Celee, Laura (based on her Quenya name Laurelohte). OC: Originally developed by Lyssa, I adopted her when I started writing the TMP universe. You can find her in a few canon universe fics such as Coming home and How I met your mother. She is the daughter of Salgant of the House of the Harp and Laurendil (another OC. More on her next chapter.)

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Nellas had left the ocean behind and was standing on the boardwalk again when someone called out to her.

“Nellas! Wait!”

She turned toward the voice. It was Laegolas, hair tousled by the wind, and bright smile on his face. By his side walked a golden-haired girl.

“I’m so glad to see you here! How do you like Balar? I still find it hard to believe a single place can contain this much water! But it looks rather beautiful, doesn’t it?”

He had linked their arms together, while he rambled on, talking about this and that, and nothing at all.

Nellas looked at his companion and saw the same fond smile she knew was on her own lips.

When Laegolas finally paused to take a breath, the girl linked their fingers together and said, “Perhaps you can introduce us now?”

A blush darkened Laegolas’ face.

“Of course! Celebrilmal, this is Nellas, Ada’s wife and their daughter Anneryn! Nellas, this is my best friend Celebrilmal. Her parents have invited us for dinner tonight! Ada said he wasn’t sure if he could make it, but you should come anyway. They’re all really nice, and you’ve probably not had the chance to meet many people, yet.” He looked chagrined. “I’m sorry about that. I shouldn’t have left you all to yourself. That wasn’t very nice. Especially since Ada hasn’t had much time for you either.”

 

Nellas patted his arm reassuringly.

“Don’t worry too much about it. It is hardly your responsibility to keep me entertained. Yes, I was feeling rather lonely this morning, but it was nothing a nice walk along the shore couldn’t fix. And besides, soon we’ll be on the ship, and I’m sure I’ll have plenty of opportunity to meet people then.”

“You should still join us for dinner. My mother was glad to hear that Galdor found you. She is very excited to meet you,” Celebrilmal announced. “My uncle and his family should also be there. You may have met him already since you’ll be working together in the future. His name is Glorfindel.”

Nellas’ mind flashed back to the blond officer that had shown her the labs. Now that she was looking for it, she could see the similarities between uncle and niece, shared family traits that went beyond their golden hair.

Glorfindel’s enthusiasm had known no bounds as he talked about his team’s previous projects and what they hoped to achieve on the coming journey.

Perhaps joining Celebrilmal’s family for dinner would not be too bad. If worse came to worse, she might at least be able to learn a bit more about her new workplace.

“Alright then, if your parents truly don’t mind me and Anneryn coming, even without Galdor, we’ll happily join you for dinner tonight.”

Laegolas and Celebrilmal cheered.

 

They chose to spend the time until dinner together, wandering through the town bordering the shipyard.

At one point, Laegolas had taken Anneryn, so Nellas wouldn’t have to carry her the entire time, and Celebrilmal took the chance to tell her more about her family.

Her parents both were from Valinor, albeit different parts of the planet, while Celebrilmal had been born during the crossing of the Helcaraxë. Just like Laegolas, she had spent nearly her entire life on the VSS Gondolin.

“Ammë and Atto both work in administration, which is how Laiko and I met. Technically, Galdor works there, too, though in reality, he goes where the captain needs him to. They’ve known each other since childhood, and Turgon holds him in high regard. You might meet him tonight, too. His wife, Elenwë, is my mother’s older sister, and our families are close.”

“And Glorfindel is your mother’s brother, yes? Or are you related on your father’s side?” Nellas’ head was spinning with all the new names, and she very much hoped she would not be introduced to all of them tonight.

Celebrilmal nodded. “Glorfindel is Ammë’s twin, yes. Atto doesn’t have any siblings, as far as I know.”

 

“Really, the only two people you need to know about on Salgant’s side are Rog and Alma. The trouble is all on Laurendil’s side,” Laegolas added helpfully, and Nellas sighed.

“And Rog and Alma are…?”

“My father’s best friend and his spouse,” Celebrilmal immediately replied. “You will definitely meet them tonight. We’ve been living together for as long as I can remember. They’re kind of like second parents to me.”

“Rog used to watch us a lot when we were younger. Our parents were often busy, and we didn’t have a nursery or a proper school on the ship, yet. Those were only added a few years ago,” Laegolas picked up the tale. A nostalgic smile spread across his face. “We had a lot of fun. He must have been so frustrated at the time, but he never let it out on us.”

The question must have been obvious on her face, because Celebrilmal answered before Nellas could ask what was meant by that.

“Crossing the Helcaraxë took nearly 20 years. Two ships had to be left behind when they were damaged beyond repair. The Gondolin almost suffered the same fate when we were hit by debris. I’ve never been so terrified in my life. I thought for certain that the ship would fall apart.”

 Celebrilmal shuddered.

“So many were injured. Rōka was one of them. It was really bad, and it took a long time before he was cleared for work again. I think part of the reason we ended up with him was so he wouldn’t go stir-crazy. You see, Rōka and Alma are both engineers. Alma works with electronics and systems and Rōka is one of the people responsible for the reactors that provide the ship with energy. They’ve been working on the Gondolin since construction began, and not being able to help when she was in such a terrible shape was really frustrating Rōka.”

 

“But it all worked out in the end!” Laegolas cheerfully concluded, bouncing Anneryn on his hip. “We reached Hithlum shortly after, and Rog was back at work before the Gondolin headed out again three Anar years later. And in the meantime, we spent just enough time with him for Celebrilmal to fall utterly in love with Silma-engineering.”

“Laiko!” Celebrilmal exclaimed. “Don’t talk about that!”

“You know you’re going to have to confess soon, Celee. We’re almost done with our schooling. Have your parents not started bugging you about your career choices yet? Ada won’t shut up about it.”

Celebrilmal looked chagrined. “They have.”

“And?” Laegolas asked expectantly.

His friend sighed. “I haven’t told them yet.”

“Celee!”

 

Nellas looked from one to the other.

“Is Silma-engineering such a contentious career choice that you fear your parents’ disapproval?” she asked.

“Not really?” Celebrilmal replied, though it sounded more like a question. “I’m just worried they’ll be disappointed because it’s got nothing to do with administration.”

Laegolas rolled his eyes. “They won’t mind. It’s a well-respected career, and you’re going to have your pick of ships to work on. Nearly our entire fleet uses Silmaril-based cores and all of them are desperate for more engineers who know how to deal with them. And besides, I don’t think Salgant or Laurendil actually expect you to follow in either of their footsteps.”

Celebrilmal said nothing and Laegolas let the matter drop.

 

Instead, Anneryn joined the conversation, making it known that she’d had enough of her brother’s arms, and wanted to return to her mother.

“You’re probably hungry, aren’t you, my treasure?” Nellas whispered as she lifted her daughter out of Laegolas’ arms and back into the sling.

“The park is just up ahead. We can find a bench to sit on while you nurse?” Laegolas suggested carefully.

Nellas smiled brightly. “Lead the way!”

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Chapter End Notes

Worldbuilding notes:
I decided that in this universe, the Silmarils are nuclear fusion based power sources.

The first three where developed by Feanor and are used in the largest ships of the fleet (such as the VSS Rochallor), but since then, the concept has been adapted, and nearly all VSS ships use a similar concept as their power source. It allows to them to make the long journeys between the different systems.

 

As always, ask, if there is anything unclear! I promise, the majority of the background info is not particularly relevant if you're happy to just go along.