A/N: Thank you, as always, to Phish Tacko for her help beta'ing this
Ch. 76
Legolas and Aragorn spent the rest of the morning with Gilbert. Aragorn liked how kind and responsible the man was, while Legolas appreciated how much Gilbert knew about the other residents.
Around mid-morning, the tall red-headed woman and her brother that Gilbert had described came outside. He had been right- the woman was very beautiful and very tall. She was wearing a blue and white striped dress and smiled when she saw them.
She and her brother came over to introduce themselves.
"You must be Legolas and Aragorn," She said, extending her hand. "Dr. Schnabel told us about you. My name is Carlie Hightopp, and this is my brother Tarrant." She glanced at Tarrant, who was already scowling. Seeing her looking at him made him fall into line, though, and he made an effort to introduce himself as well.
"Tarrant, these are the two who come from another place just like we do," Carlie explained.
"Oh. Oh," Tarrant said, suddenly realizing what his sister meant. The thought of meeting others who understood the shock of having to leave one's realm made Tarrant happy. He hadn't ever been able to talk about Underland with the others in the past.
"We assume you can't discuss it out loud, but perhaps we can talk some other time," Legolas suggested.
Tarrant grinned and nodded.
"Yes, yes. That would be great! It looks like I may be staying here for a while again, so it will be nice to talk to someone else who understands."
"I agree," Legolas replied.
Right then, Sam and Arnie came over.
"Hey guys," Sam said. "Schnabel wants me to tell everyone that the counselor is here and that she will be having a meeting for trauma therapy in the common room in fifteen minutes, if anyone's interested."
Carlie looked at her brother.
"It might be good for you to go to that, Tarrant."
Tarrant pouted.
"I don't want to go to see the silly counselor."
"She may help you with some of your issues, though. And I'm sure other people will be going too, right?" She looked at Legolas, Aragorn, and Gilbert.
"I know that Mr. Todd, Ichabod and Mort are going, so there will definitely be a small crowd."
Tarrant rolled his eyes, knowing that he was going to have to go whether he wanted to or not.
"...Fine," He agreed before walking back inside to get himself a seat.
"Trauma counseling?" Aragorn asked once Hatter had left. "That might be a good idea for you too, Legolas."
Legolas nodded.
"I was thinking the same thing."
00
Lonni Rotterdamm, MA, LPC, NCC arrived exactly on time to greet her potential patients. Dr. Schnabel had led her into the common room where she saw that several people had already gathered. Seeing her enter, everyone quieted down, though they all seemed to be staring.
That was okay, though. She was used to it. Being a little person and all, people often stared at her.
"Good morning!" She greeted brightly.
Everyone mumbled a 'good morning' in response.
Lonni made sure that the doors to the common room were closed before grabbing an easel and a giant pad of paper from the corner. She had requested the items, along with a few others from Schnabel.
The pad was just high enough to be slightly out of reach for her, so she looked around for something to stand on. There was nothing, though, so she resigned herself to having to stand on her tip toes to write.
"First things first, let me introduce myself. My name is Lonni Rotterdamm, and I am a licensed therapist." She uncapped a red marker and wrote her name on the pad.
"Dr. Schnabel requested that I visit and try to work with some of his patients here. Hopefully, I can be of help to some of you."
Everyone in the group nodded and continued to watch the counselor, with the exception of Sweeney, who had his iPhone out. He was too busy texting Mrs. Lovett to pay attention.
'She's a midget!' He typed. 'A real live midget!'
'So what?' Mrs. Lovett replied.
'She's small! And blonde! And she has to stand on her toes to write!'
'Stop texting me about her and listen to her!' Mrs. Lovett scolded.
Sweeney would've frowned, had he been able to, but he did stop typing.
"...Now, we have the room for two hours, so how about we go around and introduce ourselves? Say your name and something interesting about yourself." She motioned for Tarrant to start.
Tarrant stood up.
"My name is Tarrant Hightopp and I make hats."
Next was Ichabod.
"Ichabod Crane. I investigate crimes for a living."
Then Mort stood up.
"Mort Rainey. Johnny Depp follows me on twitter and my son's name is Anakin Skywalker Rainey."
Lonni cracked a smile when she heard that. She then looked at Legolas, who nervously stood up.
"Hello. My name is Legolas, and… Uh..." Legolas frantically tried to think of something to say that didn't give away where he was from. "I -"
He was cut off by Mort.
"Oh, good God, what is that stink?!"
Everyone turned to each other.
"Not me!" Ichabod said.
"Whoever denied it supplied it!" Mort replied.
"It most definitely was not me," Ichabod repeated. "Wait, maybe it was you!"
At this point, Sweeney picked up his notepad and pen and began scribbling something down. Then he held it up for all to see.
"He who smelt it dealt it," Mort read off. "Ew, that so wasn't me."
"It wasn't me either," Hatter added in.
Everyone continued to look around before their eyes settled on the counselor. Her face was flushed and she looked embarrassed.
"Holy crud, it's you." Mort cringed.
"Eww," Hatter said quietly.
"What? No way. It's rare to see a woman fart. It's almost mythical, like seeing Bigfoot or a unicorn."
Lonni cringed.
"I apologize - the three bean salad wasn't a good choice for lunch, apparently."
The group quieted down again, deciding to be adults. Sweeney, of course, was texting Mrs. Lovett to tell her about it.
'The midget counselor did an SBD'
'SBD?'
"Silent but Deadly. I thought Ichabod was going to pass out'
'Yuck.'
'It was funny'
'Of course you'd think so. Pay attention to the session!'
Sweeney rolled his eyes and once again put his phone away.
00
After the counseling session, those who wanted to make individual appointments with Dr. Rotterdamm did so and the others went back outside.
The rest of the afternoon was spent playing various games and participating in different contests. Then, the sun began to set.
Schnabel gave everyone two options: stay and eat the barbecue that he and Ashley had prepared, or go out for dinner on their own.
Much of the group decided to stay behind, but a few decided to venture out on their own, namely Mort, Maryanne, Sweeney, Mrs. Lovett, Ichabod, Masbath, Legolas and Aragorn. Anakin and Emma were left with the residents and reunion-goers that remained behind, and the adults went off.
There had been some indecision about where to go. Mort had wanted to welcome Legolas and Aragorn by bringing them to a Denny's, whereas Sweeney felt that they should go somewhere with a slightly lower risk of contracting food poisoning.
In the end, they settled on going to a Texas Roadhouse off of route 441. It was only a few minutes from the shelter. Mort, Maryanne, Mrs. Lovett and Sweeney all piled into Sweeney's Camry while Masbath drove the others in his Altima.
The group was seated quickly. Legolas and Aragorn looked around at the décor, finding it interesting. Masbath found it interesting too, and a sign on the wall caught his attention.
"Steak Eating Contest," Masbath read off. "The 72 ounce challenge."
"Ooh, looks like the steak is on the house and you get a free shirt if you win," Mort said. "I think I'm gonna try it."
Maryanne rolled her eyes.
"Come on, Mort. That's four and a half pounds of steak! You know you're not going to make it."
"Says who? I might be able to do it." Mort crossed his arms over his chest.
"Yeah, okay, whatever. Just don't bitch at me if you feel like crap afterward."
"I think I want to try too," Mrs. Lovett said, not even bothering to look at her menu.
This time it was Sweeney that rolled his eyes. No one else said anything though.
Soon a waitress came along and took everyone's orders. Ichabod had explained to Legolas and Aragorn what the different meal options consisted of, and now the three, and Masbath, were having an intellectual conversation about philosophy and politics.
Being unable to eat solid food, Sweeney quietly sat back and sipped his fruit drink through his straw. Even though he couldn't enjoy the food, he was happy to be out with friends.
00
Half an hour after ordering, the waitress returned with the food. The other meals looked small in comparison to the massive steaks that Mort and Mrs. Lovett had.
"Now, you have an hour to eat the steak, and you don't have to eat the fat, but you have to eat everything else. Only twenty people have ever won the challenge, but if you do you'll get a t-shirt, your photo on the wall of winners and the steaks will be free. Any questions?"
Both Mort and Mrs. Lovett shook their heads 'no' and dug in.
As they ate, a small crowd gathered around to watch. Two men had made bets on Mort winning, while a woman had bet on Mrs. Lovett.
The two competitors had very different plans of attack. Mort seemed to be shoving as much food as possible into his mouth, while Mrs. Lovett ate slowly but steadily.
Both of them got through the first quarter of the meat, and when they did, the crowd cheered, but as they got towards finishing the first half, Mort felt that he had to give up.
"I can't do it. You were right," He said, throwing his napkin down.
"Told you," Maryanne mumbled.
"Come on, take another bite!" One of the men who was watching yelled.
Mort cringed and pushed his plate away.
"If I even have to smell that thing for another second, I'm going to puke."
"Ew," The man replied. He dropped the subject.
Everyone turned their attention to Mrs. Lovett. She was beginning to slow down but was still going strong.
"Wow. What a lady," A fat guy in a cowboy hat remarked. He was looking at Mrs. Lovett with a grin on his face.
Sweeney glared at him, and the guy shut up and looked away.
Though most of the people there were amused, Legolas, Aragorn and Ichabod seemed to be somewhat disgusted.
"Is this a typical event for people of this realm?" Legolas asked softly. He didn't want to offend anyone, but it seemed kind of insane to eat like the way Mort and Mrs. Lovett had been.
"Only some of them," Ichabod answered. He himself was picking at a small salad. Masbath had urged him to try to eat more, but Ichabod refused, saying that he wasn't feeling all that well. "Most people don't participate though."
Time wore on. Mrs. Lovett soon was down to the last few bites. The crowd was chanting, now.
"Eat! Eat! Eat!"
And then, it was done. Mrs. Lovett won the contest.
A manager came over and threw some confetti, then took a photo of her to put on the wall.
"I'll be right back with your t-shirt," The man told her, taking her plate away.
"That was amazing!" Mort remarked. "Don't you feel sick?"
Mrs Lovett shrugged.
"I don't feel great, but I'm not dying, either."
"Wow."
Several feet away, the woman who had bet on Mrs. Lovett was collecting her money.
"Looks like someone made some cash off of you," Maryanne noted.
"Good choices deserve rewards," Mrs. Lovett replied.
The manager returned with Mrs. Lovett's t-shirt. It was neon yellow and had '72 oz Winner' written on it in giant letters below the restaurant's logo.
Legolas looked at the shirt and shivered. His tunic was not doing a very good job of keeping him warm.
"You like the shirt? Masbath asked.
Legolas shook his head.
"I'm just cold."
"Oh. Here." Masbath pulled his hoodie off and handed it over. "It should fit you."
Legolas was going to protest, but decided against it. It was very cold in the room they were in and the garment looked like it would be very comfortable. Before putting it on, he looked it over. There was a boy with a strange hat and a yellow dog emblazoned on the front.
"Adventure Time," He said, reading off the words on it.
"Yeah. One of the best shows ever," Masbath said, grinning.
"Alright."
Legolas put the hoodie on. It was a little bit baggy on him, but just as comfortable as he imagined it would be.
"Are you ready to go?" Mort asked everyone.
The group stood up. Mrs. Lovett passed by the man with the cowboy hat one last time before leaving. Sweeney could've swore that he saw the man slip a piece of paper in her hand.
Once in the parking lot, he tapped her arm to get her attention.
"Yes, Mr. T?" She turned to face him.
Sweeney took out his pen and notepad.
"Who was that guy?" He wrote.
Mrs. Lovett read the note and raised an eyebrow.
"Who?"
Sweeney shook his head and began to write again.
"The guy with the hat."
"Oh, him?" Mrs. Lovett smiled. "Just a fan. Nothing more."