The studio in Ost-in-Edhil was usually a place of silver light and humming potential, but tonight it felt like a cold, empty vault. The air was thick with unspoken words and the brittle tension of a relationship finally collapsing under its own unsustainable weight. Celebrimbor stood amidst the gleaming tools of his trade, his hands trembling slightly, not from exhaustion at the forge, but from the sudden, sharp reality of your words.You had finally spoken the truth, laying out the precise, agonizing geometry of your shared life: the years of emotional labor you had invested, the constant management of his volatile moods and ambitions, the endless cycle of his promises to change, followed by his relapse into self-absorption.

You had been the immovable anchor, the strategist, the emotional protector—the true "man" of the relationship, shouldering the burdens he perpetually insisted he would eventually take on. Celebrimbor's face, usually so expressive of Noldorin pride, was a mask of shock and raw devastation. He had been so consumed by his own genius, his projects, and the heavy shadow of his lineage that he hadn't truly grasped the extent of the damage—until this moment. "No, nís," he pleaded, his voice a low, desperate sound, utterly stripped of its usual eloquence. He took a hesitant step forward, but stopped, recognizing the finality in your stance. "Wait. Please. I know what you've said—I know you believe it's been one-sided. I know I have been... preoccupied. But I am going to change. This time is different, my heart, I swear it."

He gestured wildly toward the magnificent, half-finished works around the room—pieces intended to bring glory to his name, to prove his worth beyond the shadow of Fëanor. "Look at this! This next piece... it demands everything, but once it is done, once this phase is past, I will have the stability to devote myself wholly to you! I will take charge, I will plan our future, I will give you the support you need! You won't have to carry the weight anymore!" His desperation escalated, his breathing shallow. The repetition of his promise—the same promise you had heard for years, the promise that was the cornerstone of the breakup—was all he had left.

"You can't leave! You are the only person who understands the true pressure I face, the only one who doesn't judge my ambition! If you go, the very foundation of my work, the stability you provide, will collapse! You are the perfect crucible for my spirit!" He closed his eyes for a moment, letting the agony show fully when he opened them. "Give me just one more chance. Tell me exactly what I need to do. I will do it! I will be the strength you need, I will make the plans, I will protect you from the world, just as you have protected me from myself. Please, my love. Don't dissolve the only perfect, flawless bond I have ever forged. Tell me the riddle of how to win you back, and I promise you, this time, I will solve it with my life."