Written for Fandom Gift Box 2016.

Maeglin has a secret.

More than one: where the foxes have their den, and the language he only speaks with his mother, quietly, when they have gone out to the eaves of the forest. And the last, the newest—

His forbidden Noldor cousins are just across the river in Himlad. He has met one of them. Sometimes he or Celebrimbor will cross over, to speak together of smithcraft, gold or bright gemstones.

A secret buried in a secret: Celebrimbor's hands warm on Maeglin's skin, Celebrimbor's oddly bright eyes half-closed in bliss, Celebrimbor's mouth—

He keeps that secret for himself alone.

Celebrimbor has a secret. He wonders whether his father knows. He cannot help smiling at odd moments, and his thoughts drift—not in the forge, of course, but when Curufin is discussing less interesting things like the grain supply for Himring.

His father has never specifically forbidden him to speak of forging techniques with his strange cousin Maeglin. Or to kiss his cousin Maeglin, or—

Celebrimbor cannot understand his cousin's half-shadowed existence. Maeglin's father demands it, and perhaps that is reason enough. But he hopes someday he will be able to show Maeglin how wide and bright the world is.