Title: Of Iron and Steel
Pairing: Mostly Legolas/Gimli. If you don't like it don't read. Perhaps side pairings if you squint...
Rating: M in later chapters.
Notes: I own nothing but the plot...the characters belong to a member of the Inklings J.R.R. Tolkin and his estate/publishers. I mean no offense...I write as I see it. The friendship between Legolas and Gimli seems far from platonic to me...
Gimli's idea of sex was rutting in a well-hidden niche and then being drilled into a stone floor. With so many males and few dams, Dwarves were either celibate, cleaved to one of the few females or rutted in manly love. Gimli was the later, he was not effeminate by any stretch of the imagination; he was no doubt as manly as a person of his stature could be. He spoke gruffly and carried an ax that belied the size of his other tool. Yes, the vilified dwarf was a passionate fellow when the mood struck him, he didn't always focus on masonry, mining [the non-sexual kind] or fighting.
What the stoic appearing dwarf wanted more then anything was a mate; a person who he could trust to watch his back, someone who wasn't truly ashamed to be caught drilling [the sexual kind] with him and if he was lucky someone who was would find him attractive.
Yet, the moment he was introduce to Legolas Greenleaf, Prince of Mirkwood; he noticed his father's grimace. So this the was son of the man who had imprisoned his father and his companions all those years ago. The Elven Prince was by far the most priceless jewel he had ever seen, he doubted the prince would cast more then a disdainful look in his direction. He was a dwarf and therefore; ugly, dirty and stubborn as hell. He was far from ugly by his people's standards, he was fastidious about his appearance and he was stubborn. What a dwarf wants, he usually gets…few if anyone can stand in their path.
He grumbled, "I have to travel in company with an ELF…" and the Elf he was trying not to be caught admiring. Stuck traveling with someone he desired above all, the chances of seeing what was beneath those fine clothes were very high.
He heard whispering later after his 'conversation with Legolas spread…
"So Merry…how long do you think before the dwarf kills the elf or the elf kills the dwarf…the loser buys three flagons of ale at Green Dragon for the winner."
"Dunno Pip…three days out of Rivendell…and the Elf wins but the Dwarf make the first blow."
"Then I say five days out of Rivendell, the Elf starts the argument but also lands the first blow."
Sam snorted, "I…think you are mistaken…I refuse to wager."
The Ring-Bearer was silent, which was good…
Gimli snorted to himself; I don't want to kill him, I'd like to kiss him. I want to throw him against the railing of one of the stone balconies and see just that the true differences between an elf and a dwarf truly are.
XoooooX
Legolas was perhaps one of the most beautiful of the Elves of Mirkwood, third son of King Thranduil. Not heir but still a Prince of high rank. Elves rarely tarry with those they do not love. Chosen to represent his father at the Council of Elrond to discuss the One Ring as well as the how to deal with the two-fold threat of Sauron and Saruman. He was Sindarin, rarer now in these last days; his Elven kin were fading. The Silvan Elves of his mother's land had 'gone native'.
Not that he minded, they weren't as stagnant to the ways of his Father's people who had come from the Blessed Land; Valinor. His was among the last of the Elven kingdoms to survive the First Age; The Famed Lady of the Golden Wood was the eldest of her kind save Cirdan, She was said to be the first generation of Elven born; before then the Children of the Stars had been created, lay in sleep until the rising of the Stars. Cirdan, the Shipwright was never borne merely awaken and was old before any alive today were even a thought, in age perhaps only Gandalf could rival. He had never met either, he had not yet been borne when his father passed through Loth Lorien
He was wild in ways his father would never understand, skilled with Bow and Knife; many Elves were deemed fair with a Bow but Legolas took to the bow as one borne to it. Fair he maybe but a force to be reckoned with be it bed or battle.
Yet his idea of Sex was being tenderly made love to in a forest far from people…the few that graced his bed had merely scratched an itch not filled him with desire.
Staring at a Dwarf who was far from the ugly stunted thing he was raised to believe had just been named a member of the Fellowship. Surrounded by other Elves he spoke insulting words, which raised the ire of his new companion. They nearly came to blows, Legolas was fighting against a passion he could not understand. He wasn't sure Elrond the Half-Elven would understand…he was drawn to the Dwarf. To love a Man was considered distaste full enough but a Dwarf? Yet there were tales among his Father's people that there had been days where the two elder Races lived side-by-side and traded in Harmony. His Silvan upbringing should have made him more Open-minded but the rumors and ill-will since the capture and imprisonment of one Thorin Oakenshield had made the ancient friendship fade.
Legolas' body was strung tighter then his bow and he stalked out of the place where the Council met. Why out of all the males in Middle Earth was he drawn to Gimli, son of Gloin, Dwarf of the Lonely Mountain, heir to a veteran of the Five Armies? Surely, his desires wouldn't be returned, Dwarves were famous for their grudges and his father Thranduil had imprisoned Gimli's father. Legolas hadn't be home at the time, he had been a guest of Elrond's at the time or had he been out in another part of Mirkwood forest? He couldn't remember. The problem with being long lived in that you tend to forget more things then members of the mortal races even knew.