This is for day 4 of Gigolas Week, the food/cuisine day. I spent a long time researching odd looking fruit before settling on dragon fruit for Legolas, and about the same amount of time before settling on chocolate rocks for Gimli. Unimaginative title is unimaginative, sorry.
"What in Mahal's name is that?" Gimli asked. His voice seemed disproportionately loud in the otherwise quiet of their home, but he couldn't help himself. Five minutes ago, he was sitting in their main room by the fireplace, tending to his axe and considering what they would have for dinner. Legolas, he had found, was hopeless at creating anything other than that elvish waybread, Lembas, and so most meals were made by Gimli, who was only grateful that his mother had insisted that he learn to cook long ago, to please whoever he decided to court. At the time he had rolled his eyes, as he had been only sixty and barely considering courting, but it had come in handy.
Now, however, he was staring askance at his elven lover. No, not Legolas specifically, the monstrosity in his hand. It was a vivid pink color, with various overlapping layers, and the points of said layers were sickly yellow or green. When Legolas cut it in half with his knife, Gimli could see a marble white interior dotted with multiple black speckles throughout the white interior. All in all, Gimli could not imagine an odder looking object, but his thoughts were derailed when Legolas actually scooped out some of the white interior and ate it.
Legolas seemed startled by Gimli's evident confusion, and borderline disgust, looking up from the odd thing in his hands. "This is a fruit, a delicacy among my people." He trailed off into that lilting birdsong language that Gimli was slowly learning before switching back to Common. "I believe the closest translation would be 'dragon fruit'. It has a rather light flavor, and is made into desserts during festivals and other special occasions. It is quite good, although I believe that the Greenwood is one of the last places in all of Arda to still grow them."
"You eat that?" Gimli asked, frowning and taking the half of the odd fruit that Legolas handed to him. It didn't smell bad, admittedly, but it hardly looked inviting. It was odd, extremely odd, and he honestly wasn't sure why Legolas seemed to like it so much. He had never seen something like this before. "Why would you grow these?"
"My grandfather carefully adjusted part of the Greenwood long ago, so that one section would always have the appropriate climate for growing them," Legolas replied. It was a secret, only known to the elves who dwelled there, but it would hardly hurt to let Gimli know. Who would he tell? "It is a relatively bland fruit like this, although it is mildly sweet. Those little black seeds have a rather nutty taste, and are obviously edible as well. My father makes a rather good wine out of these fruits, and several others have made varying drinks, including teas. On it's own, it may not be much, but it is fairly tasty when combined with something." He enjoyed the taste of the fruit as it was, it was mild and reminded him vaguely of a melon, but most preferred it to be made into beverages or simply added to beverages.
"I will take your word for it," Gimli said, still eying the fruit distrustfully. He didn't see what was so great about it, honestly, it was an extraordinarily odd looking fruit but Legolas had done stranger things in the time that he had known the elf, after all, and if it made him happy then Gimli could accept it. The smug look on Legolas' face, however, he could not accept. "What?" He had a feeling that his elf was laughing at him.
"Nothing, melleth nin," Legolas said innocently, although his bright eyes were dancing with amusement. "I am simply unaccustomed to seeing such a mighty warrior felled by such a little thing. All that is needed to conquer a dwarf is a fruit, regardless of his remarkable battle prowess. It amuses me highly." Gimli was always willing to experience new things, so finding something that was odd enough to give him pause was highly amusing. Granted, he thought that anyone who looked at a dragon fruit would need a second look to identify it as something edible, but it was still highly amusing.
Gimli scowled, setting aside the half of the fruit that Legolas had given him before stomping off to the kitchen, returning with a small bag and amusement replacing the irritation that had been in his expression. "A trade then," he said. "I will try that fruit you say is edible, and you will try what is in this bag, which I swear is edible and tastes good." Perhaps it was slightly mean to tease his elf, but Legolas deserved it. The chocolates in that bag were a dwarven specialty and looked like pebbles. Most looking at them, unless they were a dwarf, wouldn't be able to tell that they weren't real stones until they ate one.
Legolas took the bag, reaching inside and pulling out…pebbles? "Gimli, my love, I cannot eat rocks." He hadn't known dwarves could eat rocks either, admittedly, but Gimli had been proving to him how little he knew about dwarves from the time that they first met, and it seemed like his beloved enjoyed each time it occurred. Now, for example, Gimli's eyes were gleaming and his beard twitched in a way that Legolas knew meant he was smiling. It was only because of that, and the fact that he knew Gimli wouldn't hurt him, that he took out one of the pebbles and hesitantly bit it, eyes widening in surprise. "It is chocolate!"
"A dwarven specialty, chocolate rocks," Gimli said, chuckling. A promise was a promise, however, and he hesitantly took a piece of the flesh from the dragon fruit, chewing and swallowing meditatively. "And it's like you said, a bit bland, but the seeds are nutty and there is a faint sweetness." He hadn't expected that, although he knew Legolas would never lie to him. Their opinions differed often, however, so he hadn't been sure if he would like it. Still, Legolas would never deliberately steer him wrong.
"So, it seems that we have both learned something new," Legolas said, amused, and ate another of the chocolate rocks. "Dwarves will continue to surprise me with their creativeness."
"And elves will continue to surprise me with the multitude of things they manage to grow," Gimli replied, smiling. "Besides, sharing food and tales with friends and family is often one of the greatest joys in life."