Renacida || Fili x MGIME OC ||

And...

I watched Luis play Shadow of Mordor on the television in the basement. He had the game memorized, but he still like to play it for fun. Coincidentally, I didn't have to ask about watching him; when I went over to my parents' house, he had just started it up.

In the past week, I had to learn terms like "canon" and "headcanon" and "canon divergence" and all that shit while I did research. Shadow of Mordor, Shadow of War, and all the characters within them weren't official, leaving me to wonder if they'd appear at all. Then again, Tauriel wasn't meant to be canon, and yet there she had been, her soothing, sure hands applying pressure to the puncture wound in my thigh, uncaring that I traveled with dwarves and already close to death. In fact, she was ready to murder the Company on my behalf when my bruised throat made her suspect that they hurt me.

And, well, I hadn't been canon, either.

Under the Broncos blanket I wrapped myself up in, I absently touched the mangled scar on my thigh. It was, in my opinion, the ugliest. It also reminded me that I needed to grab an EpiPen or two before I went back. They had an expiration date, but it wouldn't hurt to carry some for a little while.

"So Celeborn—" I began.

"Celebrimbor," Luis corrected.

"Right. Celebrimbor. He made the Rings, and now he's in Talion's body?"

"Yeah."

"And when's it set again?"

"Between The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings."

"Oh. And he becomes a wraith? Like one of the Nazgul?"

Luis slammed his fingers down on the controller as he executed some sick combo move on the orcs—no, sorry, Uruk-hai. It made me wonder that if I met Talion in real life, would he be as epic as he was in the game? Because none of the dwarves were as hyped-up as they had been in the movies when it came to fighting. Brutal and experienced, yes, but not cinematic.

Maybe I was the only one that actually looked cool. Because, you know, that was my natural aura.

Once Luis blew up some shit and then had Talion mount up on a cara-whatever, he answered, "Nah, not exactly. He's not corrupted like the Nine are. Just kept alive by a wraith."

"That...okay."

I'd have to wiki everything about the game to make sense of the information and be sure that I had it just in case.

Luis fought more Uruks. "Why're you so interested in all this, anyway?"

I shrugged, even though he wouldn't see it. "I'm just curious. I've always liked this stuff."

He went silent for a moment.

"...Seems like you're spending time with me because you're getting ready to leave again."

Luis kept his voice casual, and he didn't remove his gaze from the television screen. Exaggerated sounds of sword fighting and beasts snarling filled the basement. Why was I so ready to jump back into a world where those sounds were real? My family was right here. And with less than week left, my time with them dwindled.

I sat up straighter and tucked both knees under my chin. Luis continued playing because he knew that if he paused the game to look straight at me while I answered, I would clam up.

"I...I've gotta go, Lui," I whispered.

"How long are you going to be gone?"

"I'm not sure. A while."

"Are you going to be doing illegal shit? Like, blowing up things and killing human traffickers and poachers?"

I couldn't help but smile. They all collectively decided I was running off to do something like that. Going in deep. Losing myself to a cause that extended beyond the law.