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The fellowship was resting upon a large rocky area which looked over cascading mountains, lush foliage, and dark greenery. The sky that stretched above them was brilliantly blue and the puffs of fluffy clouds that were strung through it seemed to dance upon the peaks of distant ranges. But that was not all that contributed to beauty of nature. The chirps of birds and brushing of leaves echoed against the rocks as the cool air blew briskly among (Y/N)’s loose locks. The scent of soil lingered among the wind to the point where (Y/N) could almost taste the mushrooms that grew in it—reminding her of home. Hopefully, Sam would cook them in the stew this evening.
(Y/N) was a Ranger of the North, she had traveled throughout Arda for many years, meeting new people across all races. She was well known to many—though not always particularly liked. She was stubborn and persistent. Bold if you must say—especially for a woman. Therefore, those familiar with her were not surprised when she joined the journey to destroy the ring of power.
As the fellowship trekked onward, towards a rather certain death, many new bonds of friendship began to form between them. One of which was between the elf and the woman.
Currently, most of the fellowship was attending to their own tasks and participating in conversation. However, (Y/N) was busy sharpening her long silver knives. Lost in thought, the young woman ran the metal file across the steal meticulously.
Legolas of course noticed and took this as an opportunity.
It was a moment before (Y/N) realized she was missing one of her sharp weapons. Her hands felt empty as the wind seemed to steal from her. What could have been so quick that it could have snatched the blade from her grasp without her knowledge? Her eyes then found the beautifully carved weapon that was meant to be used as a tool of protection; it rested in the Elven Prince’s hand.
“Legolas!” She hollered in annoyance.
An infuriating grin stretched across his lips as his eyes filled with mischief. The elf was a decent distance from her; his arm high above his head and her weapon in that hand.
(Y/N) stood up and marched over towards him. She stood before him and hung out her hand, “Give it up, elf-boy.”
He raised his brows, “Elf-boy? Just for that I will hold it out of your reach for longer.”
(Y/N) rolled her eyes, “Legolas. I swear to the Valar, if you do not give it back to me right now I will kick your ass.“
The Elven Prince raised it higher.
Chuckles from the rest of the fellowship flooded into the air as they watched the scene before them.
The young woman frowned in irritation before trying to make a quick grab for her knife, but it still was out of her reach.
Legolas let out a laugh and spoke in a teasing tone, "What are you gonna do about it, you’re too short?!”
That comment made (Y/N)’s blood boil.
Of fucking course.
He was always poking at her for her height. Yes, she was short—shorter than most—but most definitely not as short as the hobbits!!
(Y/N) made another grab for it, but it was clear that tactic was not working. Instead, she took a different approach. The young woman leapt up into the air, latching onto the elf. Her legs wrapped around his waist and one arm clung to his shoulder. Her chest was pressed firmly against his as she reached for the blade. It was clear that Legolas was not expecting this, for he stumbled backwards. He was quick to react though as he snaked his arm around her waist, for if (Y/N) got hurt he would be most upset. And sure enough, the mass of the struggling two idiots began to fall. (Y/N) was quick to snatch the weapon from his grasp before both of them then crashed onto the hard ground—(Y/N) landing on top of Legolas.
There was a stretch of silence as the rest of the fellowship’s conversation faltered in worry. But when a loud groan came from the elf’s mouth, they knew he was alright.
“That’s what you get for stealing my stuff, elf-boy.” (Y/N) stated snarkily.
She easily clappered off and held out her hand to yank him up, which he gladly took.
They stood together for a moment, almost chest against chest, before (Y/N) spoke in frustration. “You’re annoying.”
The elf smirked.
The young woman scoffed and turned on her heals. She stomped towards Gimli who was perched on top of a boulder smoking his pipe.
“Fucking elves,” (Y/N) muttered.
Gimli chuckled at her comment, which then turned to a cough from the smoke upon his pipe.
“Ya know lassie, said elf seems ta have taken a liken to ya.”
(Y/N) rolled her eyes, “Yeah right. He thinks he’s this big bad, tall, strong warrior—he most definitely has no capacity for ‘taking a liking’ to someone.”
Gimli raised his brows as a grin stretched across his lips, “Why don’t ya show him then?”
…….
As time went on, the group had endured many losses—Gandalf, Boromir, and the fellowship splitting. Furthermore, they had endured many injuries in Moria. Frodo was nearly skewered by the troll. Aragorn had endured an arrow to the shoulder. And Legolas had gotten slashed by an orc blade while forcing himself between (Y/N) and a vile creature of evil. The elf would never admit it, but taking a blow that was meant for (Y/N) scared him. But not because of the injury, no it was the thought of (Y/N) being the one injured.
Gimli, of course, could see that all this had hit the Mirkwood Prince pretty hard given elves did not often see death in their immortal lives. Yet, Legolas still tried to hide it. He continued to pick on (Y/N) for her height and joke around with the dwarf himself. But quite frankly, Gimli was worried about him….and slightly annoyed.
(Y/N) too was grieving and it saddened him that Legolas could not see the pain in her heart—both of them were too wrapped up in hiding it from each other. Both would not provide or accept any comfort to/from the other—especially Legolas. If anything, the joking jabs from the elf seemed harsher and more prominent. It was obviously, to the dwarf, that the Mirkwood Prince continued to hide his true feelings with arrogance and playful banter. But then again, that was the way of the Mirkwood elves, wasn’t it? They were not touchy or expressive of deep emotions. Instead, they bottled up their fears and regrets; hiding their pain behind anger or mischief. The grief concealed, never to be seen again. Not that Gimli would really know though; he wasn’t an expert on fucking elves!
However, one thing was for sure, Gimli knew (Y/N). The young woman had grown to love the elf beyond the title of friend, for the two spoke about it occasionally. Gimli had continued to push (Y/N) towards the elven warrior. Prodding her to say something—to do anything other than ricochet the same type of concealing banter off of Legolas. Yet she still insisted that Legolas didn’t want her soft touches and gentle embraces—that it wasn’t necessary for the both of them, that they were fine. She stood firm on her belief that Legolas considered himself a warrior and above the concept of love. But Gimli, as a different perspective, was able to see beyond that notion of the elf. His dwarvish eyes captured the longing glances from Legolas—the sad eyes and furrowed brows. The two idiots were entirely in love but refused to admit it to each other.
Gimli decided to interfere. Eomer had gifted the four travelers horses to search for Merry and Pippin. Gimli, with a wink to the young woman, made a scene about sharing a horse with ‘the pointy eared annoyance.’ Therefore, (Y/N) had to climb up behind Legolas.
The young woman scooted close to him, carefully wrapping her arms firmly around his waist. She rested her head on his shoulder and held on tightly as they began to push forward.
(Y/N) drew her bottom lip between her teeth. It was now or never. Under the disguise of their usual playful teasing, she began to inch her hand from his waist to his thigh. She immediately felt the elf stiffen under her touch. The corner of her lip pulled upward at her success. She then wrapped the other arm across the front of his chest.
“(Y/N), what are you doing?” He hissed.
A light laugh brushed upon his ear.
“Nothing, Elf-Boy.”
(Y/N) fingers began to twist themselves in his blonde locks as she slowly continued to move her hand to his inner thigh.
“(Y/N).” He warned, his voice slightly deeper.
She pressed a soft kiss to the side of his neck before pulling away all physical contact, save one arm around his waist to keep her steady.
A light whimper escaped the elf’s throat at the sudden lack of affection—even though he had requested it. Honestly, if (Y/N) was not pressed up against him, she would never have heard it.
But she did.
A chuckle came from her chest, “Hhmmm Elf-Boy…” She pressed another kiss to his neck and his fists clenched onto the reigns harder. “You are not the badass warrior you claim to be.”
He grinded his teeth, “What—what do you mean?”
She rolled her eyes, not that he could see.
Stretching her neck upwards, (Y/N) pressed her lips close to his ear. Her hot breath radiated into him as she spoke. “I think you know.”
What she did next was completely risky, but if she was gonna do this she had to go all in...right Gimli? She planted a soft kiss to his sensitive elf ear. Was it unfair to use elves’ sensitive senses for this? Maybe, but she didn’t care. However, it was safe to say that she was not expecting the response that she got.
A low moan hung in his throat and one of his hands flew from the reigns to clutch her thigh. Except, he greatly miscalculated—his hand grasped onto her ass. Within seconds of realization, he removed it.
A little giggle escaped her throat at this for the elf-boy wasn’t indeed as stoic and strong as he said. Gimli was right….Legolas was just as touch starved as her.
……
By the time the group had gotten to Rohan and Gandalf the White had pulled the poison from Theoden’s mind, it was incredibly late and (Y/N) and Legolas still had not spoken of the horse incident. Quite Frankly, it seemed that Legolas was avoiding her.
(Y/N) was walking through the Rohan halls, her mind swimming with regret. Everyone must’ve been long asleep by now as the moon was out and the stars hung high. Each heavy step she took seemed to increase with speed as her angry thoughts flooded through her.
Damn she took her teasing too far, didn’t she?
She royally fucked things up between them.
It was her fault.
She never should have listened when Gimli insisted that Legolas felt something for her.
Suddenly, she felt her body be slammed up against the wall. The breath being knocked out of her. But before she could even react, she was ushered into the nearest door and pressed against the cold stone once more.
“With heavy footsteps like that I could hear you from at least two miles away.”
A soft trace against her cheek encouraged (Y/N) to open her eyes, only to be met with brilliant blue ones. Her heart pounded with adrenaline and suspense for his chest was pressed firmly against hers, locking her in place against the wall.
She groaned, “Seriously, Elf-Boy?! I thought I was about to be killed.
Legolas’s calloused fingers caressed her once more, “You know I would never do that to you, Nettë.”
“Nettë?” She questioned.
“Little girl,” He clarified.
She laughed, “I am hardly a little girl.”
Legolas smirked, “You are young….and small.”
(Y/N) rolled her eyes before shoving him off and walking further into the room before plopping down on top of the desk, her legs dangling over the edge.
“So what level of importance is such a thing that you could not approach me like a normal person?” She pressed in a teasing tone.
He turned towards her and spoke hesitantly, “Today….when we were riding towards Fargorn Forest….”
She sighed for she knew this conversation was coming, “Legolas—“
He moved towards her and positioned his body in-between her legs. Surprised by this action, the words she was going to speak left her mind.
“Yes?” He encouraged, his voice full of amusement for he knew exactly what he was doing to her.
“I…..I…” (Y/N) stuttered looking up at him.
He raised his brows, yet she still could not speak.
As a newfound confidence grew within him, he placed his hands in her hips and yanked her form against his. Without hesitation, he slammed his lips to hers. (Y/N) did not catch a glimpse of his expression for this action was so instantaneous and urgent—especially with that tongue of his. So she did what she had been craving to do since the near beginning of their journey: let herself drown in him. (Y/N) wrapped her legs tightly around his waist and clung to him as if he was the only solid thing in the world. Legolas let his arms wander across her body, snaking over every curve and bend, while (Y/N)’s hands found their way up his chest and to the corner of his simple tunic.
The rough kiss was paused as she pulled the fabric over his head. He then stood before her shirtless and painting. She could not help herself as her eyes wandered over his toned biceps and perfectly carved abs. A fair amount of scars littered his body—one of them sticking out to her in particular. She let her hand trace the angry red slice on his side that was meant to be on her.
“Legolas…..” She whispered, “I…I love you.”
His lips parted in shock and surprise. For a moment he could do nothing but stare. “(Y/N)….say it again.”
She looked up at him, their eyes locking. “I love you.”
He kissed her forcefully once more and she happily obliged.
……
The next morning, what was left of the fellowship and most of the Rohan soldiers were gathered in the dinning hall.
(Y/N) entered and sat down next to Legolas, snatching his cup of water and bringing the cold liquid to her lips.
Aragorn casually spoke,” Did you hear that Theoden’s office was left in complete disarray last night? They suspect a spy of Sauron broke in.”
The young woman choked on the water as the uncrowned king’s sentence met her ears.
Aragorn continued, “(Y/N), you wouldn’t happen to know anything about that, would you?”
While coughing she shook her head, “No….no of course not.” She stated hoarsely.
Gimli looked at the elf’s rosy cheeks beside her before loud laughter echoed from his throat. “Finally! You two idiots have been dancing around each other for far too long!”
“Gimli!” Legolas hollered in exacerbation.