Disclaimer: I own nothing. I just like to play.
Eowyn had no business hanging out with the boys, she was supposed to be doing her homework, but she was bored. Eomer was being a total pain and she thought she would see what was up with her friends. She didn't really get along with the girls in Minas Tirith so most of her friends were boys. Especially Strider. His name was really Aragorn but most people just called him Strider. Eowyn thought it was the coolest nickname she had ever heard.
The boys were busy in the throne room. Usually Strider didn't like to hang out there, it made him remember that one day he would have to take over the kingdom. But when they needed a lot of space for something it was a great place. Denethor usually threw a fit when he heard them playing basketball or hockey in there and had got all bent out of shape about them breaking some statue or other but they didn't really care. Denethor was just a pain.
Eowyn saw that Gimli had finished building the stage and was now working on setting up the amps. The boys had decided to form a band. Gandalf had told them to, since he had lost another bet with Sauruman. Gandalf was always betting on something, whether Shadowfax could run faster than one of the Nazgul, or if his ring could beat Sauron's. The kids were used to him. He didn't mind what they did as long as they stayed out of his way and didn't break too much stuff.
All the kids in Eowyn's group seemed to have some kind of family trouble. Strider's mother and father had died when he was young, and he had been brought up by some kind of great-grand-uncle. He loved his uncle, but Elrond was always at him about being responsible and showing leadership to his friends. Strider tried to make his uncle happy but he was still just a kid. When they got caught breaking the rules, it was Strider who took the crap.
Strider's best friend was a blond elf named Legolas. He lived with his dad who was always busy with business, but most of the time he was at Strider's or Gimli's. Legolas told them his father didn't care what he did as long as it didn't cost him time away from work. Legolas was the most laid back elf Eowyn had ever met. He lounged around with Gimli and Strider, cutting class to go to the beach and smoking grass.
Gimli was the lucky one. He had a great relationship with his dad, Gloin. Gloin wanted the best for his son and was proud of his good grades. Gimli was excellent in shop and could fix anything. He drove an old beat up cart he had bought at the junk yard and fixed up. Legolas's dad had sent him a horse for his sixteenth birthday, and he had dug up some old seat covers and fuzzy dice. The pair rode around Gondor looking for girls on the weekends. Gimli was the only boy Eowyn knew with a full beard, but that's just how dwarves were.
Boromir and Faramir were brothers. Boromir was a chick magnet, tough and cute, in a strong way. Faramir was more of a poet and dreamer. Their mother had split years ago, unable to live with Denethor. Denethor liked Boromir better, he said Faramir was just like his mother.
Some new kids had just moved into the neighborhood, Eowyn didn't know them very well. There were four of them, they were cousins or something.
Since her parents and her cousin had died in that horrid horse accident, her uncle Theoden had been overprotective of her. Her brother Eomer was just as bad. Uncle T didn't care if Strider would be king some day, he said he was a greasy teenager, and didn't want her to have anything to do with him. Eowyn ignored him of course. He was always going on about something, either her hair was too tall, (as if), or she had too much make up on, her jeans were too tight, her skirts too short, or she was smoking. She pointed out that all the kids were smoking cigarettes since pipes had gone out of fashion, but he didn't care.
Today Legolas was stretched out on the stage, his long legs in leather pants and some stiff looking boots. It was a change from his usual shorts and sandals. His mirrored sunglasses hid his eyes, but Eowyn was sure they'd be bloodshot.
Gimli was behind the big Marshal. She could see the back of his jean jacket as he worked on the wiring. Boromir and Strider were discussing something. Boromir was wearing parachute pants and a sweatshirt with the sleeves cut off. Strider's leather jacket was thrown over the throne, and his black t-shirt had a circled Nazgul with a line through it. She heard them as she came into the room.
"But why can't I be the drummer?" Strider was asking. His long dark hair fell into his eyes.
"Dude, like, we've been over it already!" Legolas called out, flipping a cassette back and forth between his hands. "You get to be king so Boromir gets to be drummer. It's like, totally fair that way."
"Hey guys," Eowyn called. She crossed the big room, the heels of her ankle boots clicking on the marble floor, and dropped her heavy canvas bag beside the smaller throne. Strider's face brightened when he saw her. She sat cross-legged in Denethor's chair and rummaged through the pockets of her acid-wash jacket for a smoke. She pulled it out and lit it, then exhaled and looked around her.
"Yo, Eowyn, how they hanging?" Boromir called out. He pushed his blond hair out of his face.
She stuck her tongue out at him. "You are such a spaz," she told him. "Can't you buy a new joke?" She reached up to check that her hair was holding. Earlier the bow in her black headband had come undone.
Gimli waved at her, his head still hidden by the amp. She could see his bushy red hair sticking up. Legolas stood up and, pulling the joint out from behind his pointed ear, wrapped a bandana around his head. He tucked the joint into the headband. She stared at him.
"New look. Whadda ya think?" he asked her. She looked at him. She nodded approvingly. The pants were tight, the sleeves ripped from the tee-shirt he wore and the bandana made him look exotic somehow.
"It needs something though," she told him. She pulled her bag to her lap and began digging through it. "This might do," she said, getting off her seat. She went to him and tied another bandana around his thigh. She tilted her head and looked at him critically. "I think you need one around your arm, too."
"Sound check, Legolas," Gimli grumbled from his corner. "Just say check first, then sing something."
"Like what, dude?" he asked.
"I don't care. The alphabet if you have to."
"What language, Gimli?"
"Let me," said Eowyn, walking to the mike. "I always wanted to sing."
"Not that bubblegum pop crap, Eowyn." Boromir said, getting behind the drum kit. "We only do metal, rock, good stuff."
"Go for it, Eowyn" said Strider. He was nice that way, he always encouraged her, not like her brother or Boromir.
"Check, check," she said into the mike. Her voice reverberated through the hall. Gimli waved his hand again.
"Okay, sing!" he called.
Eowyn smiled and started singing the latest craze in town. It was a dance tune, very lively. After a minute Boromir laid down a beat and Aragorn tried to follow along on his guitar. It was terrible but it was fun, and for a moment Eowyn felt like a star. She closed her eyes and did a few dance steps, her feet banging on the wooden platform. She didn't see Faramir coming in. He stopped and looked at her, really looked at her for the first time.
When they had finished, Faramir came up to the stage. "You were wonderful," he told Eowyn. She blushed and looked at Strider. He nodded. She smiled from ear to ear.
"You're late, bro," Boromir said, hitting a cymbal. Gimli walked behind him and took his drumstick away, hitting him on the top of the head with it.
"I found out why Gandalf wanted us to form a band," Faramir said, ignoring his brother. "He entered us in the Battle of the Bands contest. Sauruman's got a band too and they bet Middle-Earth on who'll win."
"That sneaky old bastard," Strider said. "Like, when do we have to do this?"
"In like, two weeks," Faramir told him, glancing after Eowyn who had gone back to her seat. She had found her mirror and was touching up her eyeliner.
"We need major practice," Gimli said, looking to Legolas who was stretched out on a bench. "If we can, like, wake up the singer."
"Dude, you like, so need to relax," Legolas told his friend. Eowyn went back to her seat, but Strider waved her to sit in front of the temporary stage.
"We need you to tell us how we do," he said, smiling at her. She melted at the look in his blue eyes.
Legolas leaned on the mike stand and looked out from behind the sunglasses. "Take off the shades," Eowyn told him. He did, blinking at the light for a moment.
Boromir hit the beat and they were off. Strider missed the riff, and Faramir fumbled the bass line. Gimli played rhythm and Boromir managed to keep the beat steady, although he like to put in extra bass every now and then. Legolas stood slouched over the mike and sang. She watched him for a moment.
"Dance, Legolas!" she called to him.
He began to sway and move his feet, sinuously. "Let go of the mike" she hollered. He did, continuing to dance in that bizarre way. His arms waved about. She watched him, fascinated, as they finished the song.
"What the hell was that?" Gimli asked the elf.
"I can't dance, dude. I just kind of made it up." Legolas told him.
"No way!" Eowyn said, staring at him.
"Way," he told her.
"Do it again," she said. They started the song again. Strider missed the riff the first time but caught it on the second. Eowyn barely noticed. She seemed mesmerized by the gyrating elf. Then she held up her hand. "Stop for a sec," she said. They all looked at her.
"Legolas, can you like, growl?" she asked seriously. He stared at her.
"You sound like a wuss. Snarl. Rough it up a bit. Try it like that. And keep dancing."
They started again and she watched them with an odd smile on her face. When they had finished, they looked at her expectantly.
"Are there going to be like, any girls judging this thing?" she asked Faramir. He nodded, still puzzled by the look on her face.
"You are totally going to win!" she told them.
"We're good?" Gimli asked, surprised.
"Hell, no! You suck big time. But, he," she pointed toward the grinning elf, "is the sexiest thing I've ever seen!"