Yeah, when watching the films one of my very first reactions was ‘holy crap Dwarves are really tactile’. They always seem to be touching in some way, as friends or comrades, butting their shoulders together, slapping backs, etc. So I had to write that in.
Legolas is going to have to deal with that, actually. Elves don’t appear to be NEARLY so touchy-feely! The conversation between besties Legolas and Tauriel has them standing three metres apart!
And it’s an interesting character note: many relationships have to deal with one partner being a lot more physically demonstrable than the other, and learning to compromise and understand the other and be respectful of their space. 🙂
Gimli was trying to beat the next level of his video game when Legolas sauntered back into their dorm. He dropped his backpack by his desk and crouched down in front of their mini fridge to inspect the contents as the sounds of Gimli trying to take out an evil alien race filled the small space.
“We still haven’t gotten any more breakfast burritos,” he remarked as he grabbed a couple of cans of Mountain Dew and wondered what would make a better breakfast for the next day; Easy Mac or canned ravioli.
“We should probably do that,” Gimli replied without taking his eyes off the game.
Legolas came over and sat on the futon, opening one can of Dew and pressing the other against the back of Gimli’s neck until he paused the game to grab it.
“I heard there’s a campus event out on the quad tomorrow,” Gimli said, taking a sip of his Dew. “Looks kind of dumb but I hear they’re giving away free burgers.”
Legolas grinned at the mention of free food.
“Yeah, we should probably do that,” he agreed. He settled in to watch Gimli blow up some digital aliens and enjoy not thinking about his Mandarin class anymore. He didn’t know why he took that class. Even if his Dad said it was a good language for business, just sticking with Spanish would have been much easier.
“You know, Pippin thinks we’re dating,” he said after a moment.
Gimli made an interested sound.
“Apparently he and Merry are certain of it,” he continued, only pausing to drain the rest of his drink, “while Boromir thinks it would be a crime if we never started dating.”
Gimli gave him a little wink, momentarily taking his attention off the game.
“Well then, we should probably do that,” he replied with an amused laugh.
“You know, my cousins think we have passionate make out sessions every time we’ve got our door closed,” Gimli continued, saving his game at a checkpoint and turning it off. He moved to join Legolas on the futon.
“We should definitely do that,” Legolas said with a grin at the familiar feeling of Gimli’s hands framing his face as he went in for a kiss.
Five years later Legolas came into their flat to the smell of Gimli cooking some kind of pasta.
“I ran into that old pastor we helped with the charity last week,” he said as he took off his shoes. “Apparently he thought we were such a cute couple that he’s offered to officiate if we decide to get married.”
Gimli ran a finger over the little velvet box in his pocket and tried to contain his smile.
Gimli had heard rumors of elves glowing in the dark since he was a child. There was a long standing miners joke that they would make friends with an elf just to have a light that would never go out. As a child, he imagined elves flickering like candle flames, and was very disappointed the first time he saw that was not the case.
After months spent on the road with an elf, you would think he would have become familiar with it, but that was not so.
During the early nights there was always a fire or starlight to mask the elf’s glow. Even in the pits of Moria Legolas’s glow was indistinguishable from the light of Gandalf’s staff.
It was not as if the elf was hard to spot either way, what with his bright hair, fair skin, and tall stature. It took a long time for Gimli to realize that it was not only his outstanding features that made him seek out the elf before all others of their company, but when it did it led to the first time he truly note elf glow.
Gimli lay on his back in their bed, breathing deeply and letting exhaustion settle deeply in his bones, when he noticed a faint light through the cracks of his eyelids. He cracked one open and his breath caught.
There, in the pitch darkness of their room with the lights snuffed out and the windows shuttered Legolas sat on the edge of the bed giving off the faint hint of silvery light. Gimli first likened it to moonlight, but that seemed wrong. Starlight, he decided, was much more fitting. Yes, it was as if the starlight had clung to the elf’s naked skin to be carried around the way road dust sticks to travelers.
Legolas noticed his staring and gave him a rueful little smile.
“Has my glow disturbed your sleep?” he whispered, “Sorry, it can’t be helped, or I would dim it for you.”
Gimli reached out to brush his fingers over the luminous skin of Legolas’s thigh.
“How could it disturb me when there is no gem I could dream of to catch the light as beautifully as your skin?”
A light flush colored Legolas’s cheekbones and the tips of his ears, and Gimli marveled at the sight.
Legolas laid down facing Gimli, catching one of Gimli’s hands in his own gently gleaming grasp. The light of Legolas’s skin reflecting on his own work worn fingers was a sight he felt he could happily study for the rest of his life.
A thought occurred to him.
“You have no Dark Name to give me,” he began, “but I shall know the glow of your skin in any darkness. And when I have died—”
“Gimli,” Legolas interrupted, clutching his hand tighter.
“I am sorry, love, but it can’t be helped,” he apologized, running a comforting hand over the elf’s pale hair. “And when I have gone to that darkness, my soul shall find you again by the glow of your skin.”
Sometimes it seemed like there wasn’t enough time to think during the day, much less relax.
Gimli had almost forgotten what it was like to not have a deadline hanging over his head. He was grateful for the internship at Narvi Architects, especially when it would lead to a full time job in only a year’s time, but being low man on the totem pole meant the least pleasant jobs. It had been after ten at the earliest when he’d been able to leave the firm every day of the last two weeks.
By the time he got home most nights all he really had the energy to do was flop in bed. Sometimes he would wake up when Legolas slipped into bed after his shift tending bar at the Greenwood Tavern, but more often than not he only woke briefly when the alarm went off the next morning and he wished Legolas a good day. Then he would curl up around the still warm pillow, and fall asleep for the crucial half an hour before his own alarm went off. It always hurt to pry himself away from the strange lingering scent that came from someone sleeping there who worked days in a bakery and nights at a bar.
It was tough to see so little of each other everyday while trying to still keep their spirits up at work. Gimli couldn’t fault Legolas for working two jobs. He knew he was saving up to open a bakery of his own someday. It wasn’t like Gimli was much better, seeing as he spent most of his weekends working on designs from his laptop. At least they still made a point to grab lunch with each other at least three times a week.
So when Gimli unexpectedly found both Legolas and himself with a day off one Tuesday, he was quite understandably at a loss with what to do. It felt a bit like his brain was trying to reboot and readjust to the idea of free time. Thankfully, Legolas appeared to have a plan.
Gimli woke up to the smell of baking bread instead of a blaring alarm and shuffled into the kitchen to find his boyfriend singing as he pulled a loaf of bread out of the oven, rolls already cooling on baking racks.
Legolas greeted him with a peck on the cheek and instructions to go get cleaned up while he finished in the kitchen.
After a relaxing shower Gimli shrugged on one of his favorite t-shirts and met Legolas in the kitchen. Legolas handed him a breakfast roll and finished packing slices of bread into his drawstring backpack before dragging Gimli outside.
There at the bottom of the stairs were the old bicycles from their college days.
The day that followed felt almost dreamlike in quality.
They biked to the market place and filled up Legolas’s backpack with cheeses, meats, and produce the kind of quality they just couldn’t get in the groceries. After that they went through the arts district, stopping to take silly photos with some statues outside the art museum and check out some of the smaller shops and galleries. Gimli even bought a new set of drafting pencils.
Afterwards they simply biked down whatever street looked interesting. They ran into a few friends at the corner of Lake ave. and High st. And stopped to listen to some street performers on East Bree st.
Finally they came to a park overlooking the lake and stopped to rest and have a bite to eat. As they sat munching on sandwiches made courtesy of their finds in the market and Legolas’s bread (his great aunt Galadriel’s recipe, Gimli recognized) and watching the sailboats on the lake Gimli couldn’t imagine a more perfect day.
“We should find time for this more often,” Gimli said.
Legolas turned to give him a smile.
“What,” he asked, “Bike riding on a Tuesday?”
“Exactly,” Gimli replied, finishing his sandwich, “Why not?”
Legolas chuckled to himself and flopped down onto his back.
“You know what? I think that’s a great idea.”
It wasn’t easy to manage, but they found a way to set aside at least one Tuesday a month for a bike ride around the city. And the best memories of their toughest year were made coasting down the streets on their bikes.
End.
(Thank you for the prompt! If you have any 5 word prompts let me know!)
Legolas finds out Gimli is dating Bolg and well they have a bit of a past. That ended terribly. And tbqh they hate each other. After finding out that Leggles and Gimli aren’t actually dating (and they hear everything from Legolas’ side of the story through Tauriel) Fili and Kili take Legolas’ side cause tbh they don’t like the way their lil cousin is being treated.
I’ve been listening to the excellent 1981 BBC radio adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien’s ‘The Two Towers’, and am always touched by the growing
friendship between Gimli the dwarf and Legolas the elf. I’ve been mostly
preoccupied with teaching work, writing for the TEFL game and drawing
pages for my comic, but, seeing as it’s the holidays, I thought I’d do a
portrait of the two of them, after having won the battle of Helm’s
Deep.
Aw Yiss 