I wrote something for the HobbitCon Fanfiction Book Project, and used determamfidd’s lovely dwarrodam Mizim in a short, fluffy, caries-inducing ficlet staring Glóin’s little family. I hope you like it 😀
I remember reading somewhere about a headcanon with Legolas actually completely holding it in that time he drank with Gimli and felt only a ‘tingly sensation’. So in reality, he was actually drunk as fuck.
Bonus for Thranduil being proud of his son for following his footsteps to Dwarf-owning.
He’s the perfect balance between mine and his mother’s looks. Well, except for those eyebrows. I keep telling him I would get him an eyebrow transplant.
And son, would it really kill you to give your father a call every once and a while? We never talk anymore. (You do realize your girlfriend should really do something about her facial hair, right?)
Father, what do you mean my eyebrows aren’t good enough??? They are almost as majestic as yours!
(And when will you stop deluding yourself that Gimli is a woman, please father, this is getting out of hand)
What is this attitude, young man? I knew I shouldn’t have let you go off to a state university. Clearly it’s a bad influence on you.
And I don’t mean to bring up a sore subject, it’s just obvious that you haven’t been using the eyebrow plumper that I got you at New Years. I am sure that they will finish filling in with time, you just have to do the regiment.
Ah yes, Gimli. So you are really dating then? I know this is a time for exploring who you are, Legolas, and you know I will love you no matter who you are, but I just want to make sure you are making choices you won’t regret later on.
So you mean like, physical attributes? bc believe me, I am in fact hugely attracted to personal attributes like loyalty and kindness and understanding and humour, and I think both Gimli and Legolas would be too.
Physically it would have taken a lot longer for them to see the beauty in each other. (In Sansukh, young!Gimli thought that elves were very unfortunate-looking, all stretched-out and colourless. We can imagine what Elves generally think of Dwarves – and it isn’t flattering).
I think they would have learned to admire each other through skill. Have you ever seen a virtuoso play their instrument, or a truly skilled person draw? A world-class dancer? Being in the same room as that sort of skill is mesmerising. It can make you feel breathless, to be close to it.
Both Legolas and Gimli are masters of their art.
And through that, Gimli would have been able to see the hidden strength in long limbs. Legolas would have seen the sheer power in Gimli’s arms. From there, Gimli could have seen the fleetness, the superb elegance in Elvish movement. Legolas would have noticed the resilience and brawn of dwarves, and how they have a brutal grace all of their own. Gimli would have first scowled at, then scoffed at, then teased about, and finally appreciated the incredible agility and speed of Legolas. And in turn, Legolas would have at first sneered at, then wondered at, then teased about, and eventually admired the endurance and might of Gimli.
And that would have led to a startling moment when Gimli looked at Legolas and saw only the beauty that Elves are famed for – when his long elongated limbs and bare pointed face appeared fair to him because it was Legolas, and not because it was what Gimli had always found pleasing. That Elvish movements reminded him of dancing on air-currents. That impassive-seeming elven faces were in fact full of emotion, but you had to know the trick of reading them. That the fluting melodies of Elvish song were not bland and insipid, but soaring and sad and merry and longing and as varied as the thousand different types of birdsong. That he missed the sound of that voice when it was not around.
And one day would see Legolas turning to Gimli to speak, and finding that there was nothing about him he would change: that the short powerful limbs, huge and strangely-nimble hands, thick muscular body and wild abundant hair were not repellent as he had always been told they were, that they looked natural and had a symmetry and functionality and nobility and design that was right to them. That the Dwarves were in fact exactly as they should be, and not misshaped at all. That a deep hearty voice that could sing like the very soul of the mountains could shake him to his bones, and that a bearded and ready grin was the first thing he looked for when he entered a room.
Okay, so you’ve probably gathered that I don’t subscribe to the whole ‘ALL TWINS ARE SECRETLY FRED AND GEORGE WEASLEY’ thing that always seems to be ascribed to Elladan and Elrohir. I mean, these guys rescued their own mum from a nightmare and as a result they have a vendetta against orcs that is fucking personal. They’re not light-hearted joke-a-minute pranksters. They have seen some shit, and they mean to kick its arse.
I think Elladan and Elrohir would have met Legolas once or twice prior to this meeting, being of noble houses. But I doubt they’re friends. They’re not snobs, as Elves go. I don’t actually think any of the Peredhil are snobby: they don’t really have the touchy pride of the Noldor or the stiff resentment of the Sindar. They’ve been so entwined with mortality and for so so long that most of those edges have been rubbed away.
Legolas, however, thinks that they look down on him. They don’t, not a bit, but he thinks it. For some context on Elrond’s family: Elladan and Elrohir’s grandfather Earendil is one of the greatest heroes in history, he is the goddamned evening star, and is basically worshipped. Their other grandmother is Galadriel. They are the descendants of the who’s who of Middle-Earth. That’s something to keep in mind.
Legolas is also a bit touchy about them looking down upon Gimli or their affection. Legolas is feeling a bit rustic and Silvan right now!
Aw Yiss 