36.) Leaving for the Retreat - written by Jenny

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The first chapter concerning the Student Council of Elrond weekend retreat - Gimli is forced to share the bus ride with Arwen.

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Gimli ran the last half mile back to campus. He hoped that he wouldn't be late, but it would be a close call. He had been hanging out with some friends at the Harley shop, where he'd decided to leave his bike for the weekend, and lost track of the time.

The newly elected Student Council members were supposed to meet in the parking lot next to Arnor Hall at 3 p.m. to leave for their weekend retreat. The clock in the Orthanc Tower had chimed three times for the hour around 15 minutes ago. Crossing his fingers that the bus would still be at Arnor, Gimli pushed on determinedly through the campus.

As he came around the corner of Arnor he saw the bus still idling in the lot. Breathing a heavy sigh of relief he sprinted up to the door of the bus and climbed aboard.

At first glance all of the seats appeared to be taken. Feeling a bit winded, Gimli moved slowly down the bus's center aisle looking hopefully for an empty seat. Reaching the back of the bus Gimli groaned to himself - the only spot left was next to "the princess". At least that's what he and his friends called her. Her name was Arwen and she was an elf.

But that wasn't the most irritating thing about her. She was a stuck-up sorority girl who had never been known to give the time of day to anyone besides one of her elf friends, or her antisocial human boyfriend. And if that wasn't enough, she was the daughter of Professor Halfelven, the scariest professor on campus AND the faculty advisor for the Student Council.

Seeing that there wasn't another choice, Gimli made his way to the seat where Arwen was sitting. She had moved right next to the window and was doing some kind of needlework on a frame. Probably something with kittens, Gimli thought to himself. She had piled the rest of the space on the bench seat next to her with books and CDs and various items of clothing.

Gimli cleared his throat gruffly when Arwen didn't notice him at first. Startled, she jumped slightly, then reached up and took off the earphones which were attached to the CD player in her lap. "Yes?" she asked in a polite but cool tone of voice.

"This is the only seat left," Gimli gestured to her pile of things in a heap on the seat.

"Oh," Arwen said in a puzzled voice. She turned off her CD player and glanced around the bus to verify for herself that there were no empty seats. She turned her glance back to Gimli and gave him an apologetic smile. "How about I move my things?"

Gimli watched her stash the items in the bags under the seat, then he sat down heavily, tossing his army surplus duffel bag to the floor. He leaned back and let out a breath, wondering how long this bus ride was going to be.

He was rather startled by a delicate hand suddenly appearing in front of his face. He glanced at Arwen and saw that she was holding her hand out to shake. Unable to escape, he held out his own hand, noticing with a grimace how perfect and clean her hand was compared to his large callused one. And were those really jewels attached to her finger nails?

Noticing his puzzled gaze as he stared at her nails, Arwen laughed. "Yeah, they're kind of frou-frou, I know. One of my sorority sisters was testing out ideas for a manicure fund raiser. My name is Arwen, by the way. What's yours?"

"Gimli", he replied rather gruffly, taking back his hand. "Well, I was up kinda late last night, so you'll excuse me if I get a little shut eye on the ride."

"Of course," Arwen shrugged elegantly as she picked up her sewing project. "It should be a pretty quiet ride since most of the student council members are still working on their introductory speeches. You were smart to get it done last night."

Gimli's eyes took on a slightly alarmed expression. "What introductory speech?"

Arwen put the sewing frame back in her lap. "The introductory speech for tonight's dinner. Everyone at the retreat gives a speech about themselves and what they hope to accomplish at the retreat and on the Council this year. It's a tradition. Didn't you get a letter explaining about the retreat and what to prepare?" she asked him, looking rather concerned.

"Yeah," Gimli grumbled, "but I didn't read it all. There was a ridiculous list about what to pack, like we've never spent a night away from home in our lives, or something. I kinda lost interest after that part."

"I know what you mean," Arwen smiled at him reassuringly. "Don't worry about it. You can work on it now. There's plenty of time before the dinner tonight."

"Yeah, I guess," Gimli sighed and dug into his duffel bag looking for a notebook and pencil. "So, are there gonna be any other surprise homework assignments?" Gimli asked Arwen as he sat back up in his seat and flipped open his worn notebook.

"I don't think so," she answered after a moment. "You know about the team building exercises?"

Gimli nodded, "I was expectin' that."

"And the 10 mile hike?"

Gimli made a disgusted noise, "Well, that won't be hard. Dwarves can hike for a 100 miles without a rest."

"And the potluck dinner where each member has to help in the kitchen and make a dish to share?

Gimli groaned. "Great, just great. I can't cook at all! I'll probably end up poisoning everyone."

"Really? You can't cook?" Arwen looked surprised.

"Not even a raw carrot," Gimli said in a depressed voice.

"Hmmm," Arwen considered this for a moment. "Well, we'll just have to find you a cooking partner. That reminds me, aren't you Leggy's running mate?"

"Leggy?" Gimli said in an appalled voice.

"Legolas, then, if you must. I've known him practically forever. And once I figured out how much it irritated him to be called Leggy, well I just couldn't resist, if you know what I mean. It really fits him too since he's such an incredible dancer." Arwen sighed. "I sure wish I could talk him into joining swing choir."

Gimli chortled to himself. "Leggy. I think I like it."

"Now back to the cooking problem…I bet we could talk Leggy into helping you prepare a dish. You two are friends, right?" Arwen asked, with a slight hint of curiosity.

"Well, I don't know if I'd go that far," Gimli temporized.

"That sure is strange that the housing board paired a dwarf with an elf," Arwen mused. "And it's even stranger that the two of you didn't revolt and demand new room-mates."

"I don't see what the big deal is," Gimli began gruffly. "What exactly do you find so 'strange' about a dwarf sharing a room with an elf?"

Arwen looked slightly embarrassed. "I guess that sounded a bit rude. I apologize if I've offended you. Believe it or not, you're the first dwarf with whom I've ever had an entire conversation."

Oh, I believe it, Gimli thought. But good manners ran in his family so all he said was, "Really?"

"Yes, really. I seem to have this reputation for being ethnocentric, which is unfortunate. It's my dream someday to work with all the races."

"Really?" Gimli said again, although this time his surprise was sincere.

"Anyway, I'll let you get back to your speech writing. And I need to get this cross stitch finished."

Gimli looked at the frame in her hand for the first time and saw that it was a detailed picture of some type of knight fighting a dragon. The two were wreathed in fire. "Hey, that's pretty cool," he said in an even more surprised tone of voice. "Can I see it?"

Arwen handed it to him and he studied it closely for a few minutes. She finally spoke. "I'm not sure that I have the color quite right in here," she gestured to the fire against the knight.

"Yeah, I think that you need some blue and green there."

"Are you sure?" Arwen seemed uncertain as she studied the picture.

"Yeah. Flame on metal has a lot of blue and green color to it."

When Arwen gave him questioning look he continued. "I do a lot of welding."

"Oh! Are you a sculptor?"

Gimli laughed. "Me a nancy, pansy artist! Hah! That's pretty funny!" After he finished laughing he answered. "No, I have a Harley that I tinker with a bit."

"Wow," Arwen seemed impressed. Then she gave him a mischievious smile, "I've always wondered what it would be like to ride a motorcycle. Could I talk you into giving me a ride on your bike sometime?"

"You?" Gimli almost choked as he cut off what he was about to say about her.

"Well, why not?" Arwen asked politely.

"I'll think about it," Gimli finally answered, hoping that would end the subject.

"I hope so," Arwen replied. "By the way, let me know if you want me to look over your speech for you when you finish. That is, if you like to have a proof reader…"

"Yeah, that'd be great." Gimli replied.

Arwen nodded back at him then put her earphones back on and returned to her cross stitch.

Interesting, Gimli thought to himself. She sure isn't what I expected.

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