10.) Chemistry and Campaign Slogans - written by Corli
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Legolas can't seem to get away from his annoying roommate Gimli!
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Gimli hurried across campus towards his dorm. He had spent far too much time chatting with his friends after Circuit Analysis, so now he only had ten minutes to get to General Chem.
Oh, well, Gimli thought, dodging a group of sunbathers on the lawn, at least it was PRODUCTIVE chatting. He smiled, glancing down at his petition. Nineteen...Twenty...Twenty-one. Almost halfway there. Maybe I can get the rest in Chem.
Gimli reached Rivendell Hall and ran up the stairs. Like all dwarves, Gimli was a natural-born sprinter, so he reached the third floor in no time and hurried on towards his room. He unlocked the door and flew inside, dropping his books and papers in the middle of the floor while he scrambled to find what he needed for his next class.
Legolas looked up serenely from his desk. "In a hurry?" he asked sarcastically, raising an unnaturally-dark eyebrow.
Gimli nodded. "I've got less than ten minutes to get to my next class."
Legolas glanced at the wall clock and gasped. "I didn't know it was so late," he said, grabbing a spiral notebook and a textbook from the neat stacks on his desk. "I've got to get to Chem."
"Chem?" Gimli asked. "General Chemistry?"
The elf nodded, pulling his schedule out of his back pocket and glancing at it as he headed for the door. "Yes. Two o-clock, Orthanc Tower Rm 107, Professor Grey."
"That's where I'm headed," Gimli said. "If you'll wait a minute, we can walk together."
Legolas sighed, set his skateboard back down, and leaned against the doorframe.
"It's in here somewhere," Gimli grumbled to himself, rummaging through the multiple bookstore bags. He heard Legolas sigh again. Man, elves are impatient! Maybe he won't sigh if I distract him. "While you're waiting, you want to sign my Student Council petition?"
Legolas looked intrigued. "You're running?"
Gimli nodded, handing his roommate the petition. "Yep. Sophomore Class V.P." Gimli went back to searching for his chemistry text, teasing, "As my roommate, you WILL vote for me, won't you?"
"If you'll vote for ME."
"YOU'RE running?" Gimli was surprised. Legolas seemed like the antisocial loner type, always hiding out by himself at the music building - Gimli hadn't pictured him as having an interest in student politics.
But Legolas nodded. "Sophomore Class Secretary."
"That's great!" Gimli said before exclaiming, "Aha!" as he finally found his elusive chemistry textbook. He then sorted through the pile of stuff on the floor, found a pen and his Engineering Tools notebook - Close enough - I'll just copy my notes into my Chem notebook later - and said, "Let's go."
As the two roommates started down the hall, Gimli chuckled at the irony of it all. "It's kinda funny - two roommates both running for Student Council."
"Funny ha-ha, or funny peculiar?"
Gimli noted the elf's wry tone but chose to ignore it. "I mean, it's weird enough that an elf and a dwarf are roommates in the first place." Gimli suddenly stopped on the stairs as a thought struck him. "That's it!"
Legolas had stopped a few steps below so that when he turned he was eye to eye with the dwarf. "What's it?"
"We could run as a ticket," Gimli said excitedly. "A dwarf and an elf as running mates - how cool would that be?"
Legolas shook his head and continued down the stairs. "But I'm running for Secretary, not President."
"It doesn't matter," the dwarf said, running to catch up. "We can campaign together. The key to winning a campus election is name
recognition. And who's gonna forget an elf and a dwarf running together?"
"Not YOU, apparently," Legolas said under-his-breath.
But Gimli was determined not to let Legolas's icy demeanor get him down. "Don't you see? Running together, we'll be GUARANTEED to win. I can bring in the engineering vote AND the dwarf vote, and you can bring in...the artsy elf vote."
"I'm a FORESTRY major."
"Okay, so you can bring in the TREE vote as well. What I'm saying is we each only know a small number of people on campus. But if we COMBINE all those votes together, you and I have a real shot at winning. Now what we'll need is a good campaign slogan." He thought a minute as he jogged alongside Legolas, who was taking giant strides as he sped towards the science building. "Hey, I know - how about 'Two races, one race'?"
Legolas rolled his eyes. "How about 'We'll FIGHT for you'?"
But Gimli failed to catch his sarcastic tone. "That's PERFECT! 'Gimli and Legolas: we'll fight for your rights'. It's perfect - short,
sweet, and it kinda RHYMES! Even the hobbits will go for that. So what do you think?"
"I think we're gonna be late for class," Legolas said, checking his watch and quickening his pace.
...
Once again Aragorn checked the wall clock: 1:58pm. I'm surprised Legolas isn't here yet, Aragorn thought, staring back at the door. He's usually overly punctual.
Aragorn remembered a time in Dol Guldur, back when they were in the Rangers together, when Legolas...
His thought was interrupted by Legolas suddenly appearing in the doorway, a talkative dwarf on his heels. Aragorn waved to his friend, indicating the empty seat that he'd saved, and saw Legolas mumble "Thank Goodness" as he began to make his way through the crowded aisle, the dwarf still following.
As the pair reached him, Aragorn nodded towards the clock. "It's 2pm. You're ALMOST late," he teased.
"Don't remind me," Legolas said, collapsing into his saved seat.
"I didn't know you were bringing a friend," Aragorn said, gesturing towards the dwarf, "or I would've saved two seats."
Legolas thanked him with a look as the dwarf squinted at Aragorn. "I don't think I know you. Tell me your name, and I'll tell you mine."
Aragorn smiled at the arrogance of the dwarf, answering, "Which name would you like - I have many."
Legolas sighed, not amused. "This is my friend Aragorn. And THIS," he said, gesturing to the dwarf, "is Gimli...my ROOMMATE."
Aragorn couldn't help but laugh as he held out his hand. "Nice to meet you, Gimli."
Suddenly a loud explosion was heard from the front of the classroom, causing everyone to jump.
Professor Grey chuckled at the reaction. "Now that I have everyone's attention, let's get seated so we can start."
"I'll see you after class," Gimli said, scurrying off to find an empty seat.
Legolas sighed, clearly glad to be rid of his roommate. "I don't know what I would've done if you'd saved TWO seats," he whispered.
Aragorn shook his head, amused. "What was he talking your ear off about?"
Legolas rolled his eyes. "He thinks we should run for Student Council TOGETHER. 'Gimli and Legolas: We'll fight for your rights'!"
Aragorn laughed. "Catchy. And it RHYMES!"
"Don't remind me."
"...And feel free to call me Gandalf," the professor was saying. "Now I hope everyone has signed up for a laboratory section - the three-hour labs will..."
Legolas turned to Aragorn. "What lab section did you sign up for?"
"Two to five on Thursday."
The elf sighed with relief. "Me, too. Maybe we can be lab partners."
Before Aragorn could answer, a loud bang of the door announced the arrival of two late students. The entire lecture hall turned to watch the two giggling hobbits come down the stairs and take seats in the front.
"Did they set all the clocks slow in the Four Farthings again?" Gandalf teased before continuing with his opening remarks.
Aragorn stared after the hobbit pair, trying to place them. Finally he remembered - they were the two hobbits with Frodo at the Golden Perk the other day, the two hobbits that had been making out in the booth.
Subtle entrance, Aragorn thought. It's clear why THEY were late.
But Aragorn soon noticed that he wasn't the only one contemplating the couple. Legolas had a wistful smile across his face as he mumbled to himself, "They're so cute."
Aragorn grinned, nudging his elf friend. "Decided to give up on elf girls, have you?" When Legolas looked at him blankly, he nodded his head towards the two hobbits.
"Oh," Legolas said, smiling with realization. "I meant they're a cute COUPLE."
"Do you know them?"
Legolas nodded. "One of them. Pippin's a music major, so we have a lot of classes together."
Aragorn shook his head. I should've guessed - it's always the artsy ones. Aragorn wondered if perhaps THIS was why Frodo always rejected his romantic poetry submissions - maybe, like his two buddies, Frodo wasn't interested in girls either.
Not that there's anything wrong with that.
"...To bring them all, and in the classroom find them."
Aragorn suddenly noticed that all the students, including the elf next to him, were frantically copying down what Gandalf was saying. I guess I missed something important, Aragorn thought. Of course, it's only the first day - how important can it be? Besides, I'll just copy Legolas's notes later. And Aragorn settled back in his seat, ready to learn.
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