As Thranduil led Himelon through the marketplace it became ever more obvious that the starlight haired king had little to no interest in entertaining the idea of shopping at one of the more common establishments. A few times Himelon had pointed out a seamstress or ellon who he thought had exceedingly elegant wares but each time Thranduil had led him away assuring the other that there were much better garments yet to be seen. The further in they went the closer Thranduil seemed to be walking and the more stares seemed to be directed at them. A few stares were sweet and almost amused while others were straight up hostile. The attention they seemed to be attracting was making the raven haired elf exceedingly nervous. Himelon had scrunched in on himself as he walked and was doing everything he could to stay hidden in the crowd. Thranduil had been getting closer because he too had been noticing the looks. Granted he was rather used to them by now. Ever since he was young his people seemed to believe that anyone at all he walked with was a lover. This led to inordinately large amounts of jealousy that seemed to erupt whenever he walked near someone. Granted this case was different. The starlight haired King had full intention of courting the other. That was the very reason he tried to gather Himelon ever closer to himself. Yet the raven haired elf seemed to want nothing to do with it and after a while Thranduil had completely lost track of where Himelon had gone. The Elven King spun around a few times trying to locate his guest to no avail. Despite all logic that should have existed in his mind Thranduil found himself being truly frightened. He was afraid that he had lost the other. This was rather silly seeing has how there weren't many placed to go in the marketplace, but still Thranduil found himself cutting quickly through the crowd trying to hide his panic as he searched for the other.
Himelon had snuck away from the main crowd while Thranduil had set his gaze to glaring down a few elleths who had no been sending the friendliest of stares at Himelon. The raven haired elf had snuck off into the shadows behind a fruit cart. It was a place that was rather out of the traffic path and it looked to have some very ripe apples. In truth Himelon had given very little thought to how Thranduil might react if he found him missing. This was in part because he thought the Elven King had seen where he slunk off to and partially because he believe his King to be more level-headed than some others. He assumed, wrongly, that Thranduil would remain calm and find him in due time should he not have seen where he went. All too soon though Himelon saw the error in his assumption. Shortly after paying the fruit vendor with some Athelas he had still with him Himelon turned to see Thranduil moving a little too quickly through the stands and turning his head a little too much. To most it might have seemed as if the starlight haired king was simply looking for something but Himelon, for all his social shortcomings, knew panic when he saw it. It was an all too familiar emotion and he had seen it one to many times among the many races of Middle Earth.
"Thranduil!" the raven haired elf called with a whistle as he moved closer to the starlight haired male, "Got you an apple!" A small smile spread over the raven haired elf's face at the thought that Thranduil was worried. He truly thought the Elven King above such things as worrying over where someone had gone. No matter how great his feelings toward said individual may have been. When Thranduil caught sight of the other jogging toward him with a half eaten apple in one hand and another in the other he felt a wave of relief wash over him and practically ran over to the other. Without thinking Thranduil pulled the raven haired elf into a tight embrace sighing audibly as he felt the other lean softly into him.
"Sorry," Himelon muttered against Thranduil's shoulder as he returned the embrace as best he could with apples in each hand, "I thought you'd seen where I went." As Thranduil released the embrace Himelon tilted his head up slightly to meet the other's gaze while offering a soft smile and an apple.
"Why did you even sneak off?" the starlight haired king's question had come off more as a demand as he took the offering and furrowed his brow, "Am I that terrible that you cannot stand to be near me?" As the question left his lips Thranduil felt his face soften into a slight grimace and turned his eyes away from the other. Perhaps that was why Himelon had snuck off. Perhaps he truly couldn't stand to be near him and was trying to be polite. As Thranduil felt the soft sting of tears in his eyes he also felt a soft and gently hand take a hold of the side of his face. It wasn't a tight or demanding grip but there was enough to indicate that Himelon was trying to get him to look back at him.
"Of course not," Himelon sighed as he brought the other back to look at him and wiped away the collecting tears in the starlight haired elf's eyes, "I just got really uncomfortable with all the stares and went to find a place to hide." It was the truth and Thranduil knew it by the sincerity in Himelon's tone and eyes.
"You shouldn't be so skittish," Thranduil sighed gently as he leaned into the other's touch, "No one would dare harm you with me here." Thranduil knew his people and thought such a thing would have been self-evident. Sure they might glare and stare but nobody would actually do anything.
"I don't doubt it," the raven haired elf's reply came with a distant look back at the crowd, "but Silvan elves aren't exactly known for their wisdom and gentle nature. What is there to stop one of them from doing something when you're not there?" It had been a simple inquiry. Himelon had just been thinking aloud and hadn't really meant anything by it but the hurt expression on Thranduil's face spoke volumes on how he had taken it.
"Just like when I wasn't there with the dragon," the words had left Thranduil's lips before his mind could correct him and before he could internalize the thought. He saw Himelon physically recoil and subconsciously glace at his left arm. The starlight haired elf realized he shouldn't have said anything. He shouldn't have mentioned it.
"Dragons are dragons," Himelon began gently returning his gaze to the other, "You would have died had you taken the fire. Don't feel guilty over something that was my doing." Thranduil softened his gaze as he once again reached for the other to hold close. He knew that he shouldn't feel guilty but he did. All he could do was offer a smile and a nod as Himelon let the Elven King wind an arm around his waist and hold him close.
"Don't you want to try the apple?" after a time of silence it was Himelon who had broken it with the question. Thranduil had jumped slightly as he was abruptly pulled from his thought by the other's voice. Glancing down at his other hand Thranduil let out a soft laugh. He'd forgotten he was even holding the red piece of fruit.
"Of course," the starlight haired king chuckled as he took a bite and let a soft smile slip over his face, "I'd almost forgotten the whole reason I brought you here too." The apple was delicious and seeing the small smile slip over the raven haired elf's lips as he took a bite of the fruit brought back his good mood. He was going to dress the other in the most beautiful thing he could possibly find and would then blatantly show Himelon off at the celebration. After tonight everyone would know how to treat the raven haired elf and, if all went well, Himelon would feel very comfortable and loved.
"Please don't ask me to put on anything shiny," Himelon groaned softly as he found himself being pulled along by the starlight haired elf, "I don't particularly want to look like a woman." Thranduil had done little to suppress the heart felt laughter that escaped his throat at the mental image of the raven haired elf in a shining silver dress with a sparkly blue corset.
"I won't," the Elven King smiled sweetly back at the other, "You have all the say in what you will wear. I'll make suggestions but feel free to say if you wouldn't feel comfortable wearing it." Himelon smiled gently and nodded. He was rather relieved that Thranduil wasn't going to make him wear something he didn't particularly want to.
After a few more minutes of walking and a few more stops at some stands selling sweets Thranduil and Himelon made it to their destination. It was a small building with ornate silver and gold woven wood for a door and the deep greens and grays of the stone and plants from which it was made gave it the appearance of having simply grown out of the ground. Unlike the other stores that had their wares out on display this particular business simply had the door cracked open and a welcome sign placed on the doorstep.
"Here?" Himelon questioned with a quirk of an eyebrow and a tilt of his head. He thought many of the other places had nice outfits and there was nothing here to survey. At least not on the outside. Needless to say the raven haired elf was rather confused as to why Thranduil would come here.
"The tailor only does work for the royal family," Thranduil explained with a soft grin while nudging the other inside, "I'm certain there's something here you'd look stunning in. And if not he can make something for you." The last statement set Himelon on edge. For a little bit of the time he hadn't been thinking about it but he sure was now. Not only might some random elf had to see him barely clothed, if clothed at all, but there was no way such a garment would be anything less that ridiculously expensive.
"There were lots of beautiful outfits back at some of the other stores," Himelon protested softly while squirming around a bit as Thranduil ushered him inside, "I bet they'd be a whole lot cheaper too!" The starlight haired King let out a soft chuckle as he ran a hand gently down the other's jaw line. Thranduil found it to be very cute and sweet that Himelon cared so much about the cost.
"You are worth every coin," Thranduil cooed softly brushing his hand through raven locks, "I'll not have you wear anything of lower quality than what I would wish to wear." After a minute or two of stroking the raven haired elf face and planting a few soft kisses on his forehead and cheeks Thranduil finally got him to agree. With a dark blush and a nod Himelon had agreed to let Thranduil take him to the tailor. In truth he'd always be worried about the price but he wouldn't protest since it seemed as though he truly would get nowhere with the other male.