Mini Nano, Day 27

Two months after arriving on Middle Earth:

Obi-Wan sighs, reaching for his glass again. "If I knew the words, I would tell you." For all the good it would do him, since he has no way of getting off this planet without a rescue. One which he's not sure if he should expect, since his mission had been confidential and he had made the blind jump through hyperspace.

"Yet you claim to come from no direction." Thranduil is watching him with narrowed eyes. "There is only beneath the earth or the stars, if you claim no place else, and none have come from the uttermost West in two Ages of Arda."

Watching the subtle gestures Thranduil makes as he speaks gives Obi-Wan some idea of the new words, and he smirks, taking another sip of his wine. "Well, I did not come from beneath the earth."

"You wish me to believe you came from the uttermost West?" Thranduil laughs, his smile sharp and dangerous. "You are neither Eldar nor Istari, and you have none of the grace or grandeur that the Valar are said to have."

"What are those? Eldar, Istari, and Valar? I have not heard of any of them."

The flat look that Thranduil gives him makes Obi-Wan smile again, setting his glass aside in favor of another bite of venison.

"I am of the Eldar, as are all my kin." Thranduil reaches for his own wine, sipping at it a moment. "The Istari have the seeming of men, but they wield more power than you, and have a life that is beyond the span a mortal's might reach."

Mini Nano, Day 28

In which Obi-Wan would really like Thranduil to go away, and Valar are meddlesome, nosy beings. (And yes, awkward wording is awkward. Obi-Wan would like more vocabulary, please.)

Obi-Wan and Thranduil:

"Karazak." Obi-Wan knows it means nothing to Thranduil, and he pauses to drink before he adds, "It is like Arda, not on Arda."

"Again, you wish me to believe you come from the uttermost West?" Thranduil lets out a delicate snort, an amused smirk gracing his face after a moment.

"No. I have not been to that place." Obi-Wan sighs, leaning back in his chair, and reverting to Basic for a moment. "I didn't have a chance to see what the landmasses on this planet were before I landed, nor to check for other planets. The ship was too close to self-destructing."

Thranduil narrows his eyes a moment, before sighing, and setting his glass aside. "I will learn what you do not tell me."

"Some." Obi-Wan shrugs, smiling briefly. "I will not tell all of what I know." He will tell as little as he can, about some things.

Thranduil watches him for a long moment more, before he drains his wine glass, and stands. At least he doesn't make any cliched farewells, sweeping out silently instead, the door shutting lightly behind him.

Sagging back against his chair, Obi-Wan lets out a slow breath, feeling unexpectedly as if he's been running the obstacle course for hours, and glad for the chance to finish his dinner in peace.

---

Meddlesome Valar:

Are you meddling with my boy, sister? Irmo watches Obi-Wan over Nienna's shoulder, a quiet pride echoing through the Song.

He is only yours in that you have thought to watch him since he was a very small child. Nienna laughs softly. You and Estë both.

He dreams more clearly than half those meddlers. Irmo shrugs, tugging her away from Arda to the quiet of Lorien.

"You meddled first." Nienna sits on one of the benches, leaning back on her hands as she watches the stars. "Yavanna's boy should have died on Naboo, you know that."

"She's not the only one who likes him." Irmo sits on the ground, leaning against her legs, his head tilted back so he can watch her. "Estë didn't think it would hurt."

"Without Qui-Gon, Obi-Wan never would have come to Arda." Nienna looks down at her brother, raising an eyebrow. "Which while useful, wasn't supposed to happen."

Irmo grins, and shrugs. "And so it did not, in another melody. Does it matter that we have sung a different melody here than there?"