Disclaimer: Gads, must I really put this here every time? I suppose I
must sigh. Therefore, I am humbled before the Tolkien estate as they own
all LOTR characters. I, of course, own this story and my own characters.
So if you steal any of it I will hunt you down and send my killer bunny
upon your home.
A/N: Ok, this was not exactly what I had intended when I sat down to write this chapter as it's mostly the POV of Alania, but sometimes the characters just go where they want to go and I am merely the vessel they use to get there. And now enough with the prose and on you go to Chapter 4. Enjoy!
Chapter 4 – Georn Has No Shame
A few minutes later Alania awoke to find herself on the couch with a cold compress to her head. She glanced over to her side to see Legolas looking at her with an expression of concern and amusement. She didn't know it was possible for both those feelings to be expressed on a face at the same time, but somehow he captured it. She frowned a little as she tried to figure out how she got on the couch when just a few minutes ago she was ready on her way to the kitchen to call the cops.
"You fainted" said Legolas as if reading her thoughts. "Perhaps it wasn't the best time or method for Georn to show his true form to you. He does have a horrible sense of timing in that way. Don't sit up too quickly or you're liable to get dizzy and faint again. At least this time I won't have to catch you" he said with a smile.
Alania hated herself, but she couldn't help smiling back. She couldn't fathom how, after the story that he told, she could feel comfortable with him. It was something about his eyes that did it to her.
Georn had changed physical form in front of her eyes and she just noticed Legolas' pointed ears, so clearly some grain of truth was in his tale. After all, it isn't as though everyone can turn into dogs at their whim. Clearly Alania was having a hard time coping with the reality of the situation. Further, she had no idea what Legolas had meant when he mentioned that she was elemental to this mystery quest.
Slowly she sat up and looked across the room to Georn, who, thankfully, had the courtesy to put on some sweats he must have found in a spare bedroom. Alania had an awful tendency to keep old raggedy clothes that were too big on any normal sized person because they were comfortable. Yes, they were ugly but when you live alone there isn't anyone there to criticize your wardrobe.
Alania didn't know what to say to him. She knew him and loved him as her dog. The mangy cur she had taken under her wing a year ago. She had washed him and fed him and took him to the vet. A small smile crept onto her face when she realized that the vet trip must have been torture to him. So far as she was concerned he deserved it for lying to her all this time. She had spoiled him rotten, and now she knew he hadn't deserved her kind treatment. No dog food for him. He had gotten nothing but prime choice meat and she humored him when he decided he wouldn't eat on the floor like a normal dog, but sat at the table with her for his meals. Of course, now his off behaviors all made sense to her. Then the full impact of thinking Georn a dog all this time hit Alania with such a force that it felt as if all the wind had been knocked out of her. She was furious. She stood up and started to pace as she ranted.
"You fucking bastard! You lied to me all this time! Dog my ass. And I treated you like the king of dogs! No kibble for you. Oh no, your majesty" she said as she bowed for emphasis. "You must have steak and a side of veggies at the table. Perhaps next time I'll provide you with your own silverware my lord. And then you don't warn me, but shock me into a faint with your icky shape shifting. If I never see that again it'll be too soon. Shit. I can't believe you made me faint. I don't faint. I'm not some simpering female waiting to be saved by some prince on a white horse who carries me off to his kingdom. I've managed just fine all this time alone." She was rambling now and she knew it, but she couldn't help herself. She need to vent. She paused and took a deep breath standing near the windows facing away from Georn and Legolas.
Legolas and Georn were sympathetic to how she must feel, and so they had waited patiently, if not without some amusement, as she had gone on and on at them. At her pause they let out small breaths neither had known they were holding. Georn started to say something when Alania ran a hand through her hair and very quietly said "Jesus. You saw me naked. You watched me rehearse. Ohmigod. You heard me sing."
"That's true, and if it's any consolation to you Alania, you are quite lovely, and though I don't like the music much you dance well and you're singing isn't that bad" said Georn.
"You saw her naked?!" asked Legolas. "Have you no shame?"
"Um, not really. What? Like you wouldn't have looked had you been in my place."
"That isn't the point and you know it. She didn't know you weren't what you seemed and it was your responsibility to maintain a certain status quo."
"Ok, elf. I'm not making excuses for my behavior and I apologize if I hurt anyone's sensibilities here. I didn't know you were so delicate. Anyway, I have been living with her for a year and I think I know a little more about her than you do. It isn't as thought I was stalking her, waiting for her to take off her clothes. It happened very infrequently and I quickly left the room when it did happen. Trust me, it isn't that I saw her naked that bothers her."
Legolas cringed at Georn's words. He was angry at Georn. How could he have taken advantage of her that way? And to accuse him of doing the same was beyond all reason. It wasn't true that had their positions been reversed Legolas would have taken the opportunity to look at Alania's nude form. Although the idea did have it's merits. He could imagine what she might look like coming out of her bath, with her hair all wet and clinging to her body. He shook his head a little to clear it. This wasn't the time for that line of thinking.
"Shut up. Both of you just shut up. I can't believe this. This is really too much for me to take in right now, and listening to the two of you debate about seeing me naked as if I wasn't in the room is more than I can chew on" Alania said pointedly. "Georn is right. I am not upset at his seeing me naked. It isn't the first nor will it be the last time some guy has taken an unsolicited peek. It isn't as though he touched me, and lord knows that you get very used to being ogled at the clubs. I would have preferred a couple of dates first though." Alania sighed knowing that the situation was out of her hands at this point. There was nothing she could do about the past and she resigned herself to it. No point in regretting that which she couldn't change.
She walked over to the cabinet near the fireplace. In the bottom was a small supply of liquor she kept for entertainment purposes when she was rehearsing with artists or dancers for an upcoming video. Grabbing the first bottle her hand came upon, she opened it and took a big swig. Gasping as she swallowed, she looked at what she had grabbed and mentally vowed to never purchase another bottle of tequila. Closing the bottle and putting it away she said "I am going to take a shower – with the door locked. And then I want the two of you to leave me alone for a few hours. I need to absorb this and I don't know…" Her voice trailed off because she just didn't know what to say at that point. She was exhausted and just wanted to get it all straight in her head before she spoke to either of them further. "Feel free to take any of the spare bedrooms upstairs. Mine is the one that will be barricaded when I'm inside it."
With that she climbed the stairs and headed for the bathroom. While she showered she heard the stereo come on and go through every station in short bursts. She imagined that Georn was showing Legolas the finer points of the digital age. As she was drying herself off she went over everything Legolas had told her. She did her best to challenge every aspect of his story, but no matter what she came up with there were two things that brought her back to the conclusion that he was being truthful with her. The first was that Georn (although she was still referring to him as Dante in her head) wasn't really a dog. And in this world there certainly wasn't anything like him. At least nothing that the government would allow out of Area 51. The second, and strangely the stronger of the two, was that her gut was screaming at her to trust Legolas. The track record her gut instinct had was 100%. Whenever she had listened to her gut it had brought her success. It would be illogical to ignore it now. Alania decided to do what she could, within reason, to help those two out. She headed to her bedroom to get some sleep, more relaxed now that she had come to terms with what fate had in mind for her.
*** OK everyone! Make this author happy and push the shiny button and give me those reviews I so badly need. They are my drug of choice.
A/N: Ok, this was not exactly what I had intended when I sat down to write this chapter as it's mostly the POV of Alania, but sometimes the characters just go where they want to go and I am merely the vessel they use to get there. And now enough with the prose and on you go to Chapter 4. Enjoy!
Chapter 4 – Georn Has No Shame
A few minutes later Alania awoke to find herself on the couch with a cold compress to her head. She glanced over to her side to see Legolas looking at her with an expression of concern and amusement. She didn't know it was possible for both those feelings to be expressed on a face at the same time, but somehow he captured it. She frowned a little as she tried to figure out how she got on the couch when just a few minutes ago she was ready on her way to the kitchen to call the cops.
"You fainted" said Legolas as if reading her thoughts. "Perhaps it wasn't the best time or method for Georn to show his true form to you. He does have a horrible sense of timing in that way. Don't sit up too quickly or you're liable to get dizzy and faint again. At least this time I won't have to catch you" he said with a smile.
Alania hated herself, but she couldn't help smiling back. She couldn't fathom how, after the story that he told, she could feel comfortable with him. It was something about his eyes that did it to her.
Georn had changed physical form in front of her eyes and she just noticed Legolas' pointed ears, so clearly some grain of truth was in his tale. After all, it isn't as though everyone can turn into dogs at their whim. Clearly Alania was having a hard time coping with the reality of the situation. Further, she had no idea what Legolas had meant when he mentioned that she was elemental to this mystery quest.
Slowly she sat up and looked across the room to Georn, who, thankfully, had the courtesy to put on some sweats he must have found in a spare bedroom. Alania had an awful tendency to keep old raggedy clothes that were too big on any normal sized person because they were comfortable. Yes, they were ugly but when you live alone there isn't anyone there to criticize your wardrobe.
Alania didn't know what to say to him. She knew him and loved him as her dog. The mangy cur she had taken under her wing a year ago. She had washed him and fed him and took him to the vet. A small smile crept onto her face when she realized that the vet trip must have been torture to him. So far as she was concerned he deserved it for lying to her all this time. She had spoiled him rotten, and now she knew he hadn't deserved her kind treatment. No dog food for him. He had gotten nothing but prime choice meat and she humored him when he decided he wouldn't eat on the floor like a normal dog, but sat at the table with her for his meals. Of course, now his off behaviors all made sense to her. Then the full impact of thinking Georn a dog all this time hit Alania with such a force that it felt as if all the wind had been knocked out of her. She was furious. She stood up and started to pace as she ranted.
"You fucking bastard! You lied to me all this time! Dog my ass. And I treated you like the king of dogs! No kibble for you. Oh no, your majesty" she said as she bowed for emphasis. "You must have steak and a side of veggies at the table. Perhaps next time I'll provide you with your own silverware my lord. And then you don't warn me, but shock me into a faint with your icky shape shifting. If I never see that again it'll be too soon. Shit. I can't believe you made me faint. I don't faint. I'm not some simpering female waiting to be saved by some prince on a white horse who carries me off to his kingdom. I've managed just fine all this time alone." She was rambling now and she knew it, but she couldn't help herself. She need to vent. She paused and took a deep breath standing near the windows facing away from Georn and Legolas.
Legolas and Georn were sympathetic to how she must feel, and so they had waited patiently, if not without some amusement, as she had gone on and on at them. At her pause they let out small breaths neither had known they were holding. Georn started to say something when Alania ran a hand through her hair and very quietly said "Jesus. You saw me naked. You watched me rehearse. Ohmigod. You heard me sing."
"That's true, and if it's any consolation to you Alania, you are quite lovely, and though I don't like the music much you dance well and you're singing isn't that bad" said Georn.
"You saw her naked?!" asked Legolas. "Have you no shame?"
"Um, not really. What? Like you wouldn't have looked had you been in my place."
"That isn't the point and you know it. She didn't know you weren't what you seemed and it was your responsibility to maintain a certain status quo."
"Ok, elf. I'm not making excuses for my behavior and I apologize if I hurt anyone's sensibilities here. I didn't know you were so delicate. Anyway, I have been living with her for a year and I think I know a little more about her than you do. It isn't as thought I was stalking her, waiting for her to take off her clothes. It happened very infrequently and I quickly left the room when it did happen. Trust me, it isn't that I saw her naked that bothers her."
Legolas cringed at Georn's words. He was angry at Georn. How could he have taken advantage of her that way? And to accuse him of doing the same was beyond all reason. It wasn't true that had their positions been reversed Legolas would have taken the opportunity to look at Alania's nude form. Although the idea did have it's merits. He could imagine what she might look like coming out of her bath, with her hair all wet and clinging to her body. He shook his head a little to clear it. This wasn't the time for that line of thinking.
"Shut up. Both of you just shut up. I can't believe this. This is really too much for me to take in right now, and listening to the two of you debate about seeing me naked as if I wasn't in the room is more than I can chew on" Alania said pointedly. "Georn is right. I am not upset at his seeing me naked. It isn't the first nor will it be the last time some guy has taken an unsolicited peek. It isn't as though he touched me, and lord knows that you get very used to being ogled at the clubs. I would have preferred a couple of dates first though." Alania sighed knowing that the situation was out of her hands at this point. There was nothing she could do about the past and she resigned herself to it. No point in regretting that which she couldn't change.
She walked over to the cabinet near the fireplace. In the bottom was a small supply of liquor she kept for entertainment purposes when she was rehearsing with artists or dancers for an upcoming video. Grabbing the first bottle her hand came upon, she opened it and took a big swig. Gasping as she swallowed, she looked at what she had grabbed and mentally vowed to never purchase another bottle of tequila. Closing the bottle and putting it away she said "I am going to take a shower – with the door locked. And then I want the two of you to leave me alone for a few hours. I need to absorb this and I don't know…" Her voice trailed off because she just didn't know what to say at that point. She was exhausted and just wanted to get it all straight in her head before she spoke to either of them further. "Feel free to take any of the spare bedrooms upstairs. Mine is the one that will be barricaded when I'm inside it."
With that she climbed the stairs and headed for the bathroom. While she showered she heard the stereo come on and go through every station in short bursts. She imagined that Georn was showing Legolas the finer points of the digital age. As she was drying herself off she went over everything Legolas had told her. She did her best to challenge every aspect of his story, but no matter what she came up with there were two things that brought her back to the conclusion that he was being truthful with her. The first was that Georn (although she was still referring to him as Dante in her head) wasn't really a dog. And in this world there certainly wasn't anything like him. At least nothing that the government would allow out of Area 51. The second, and strangely the stronger of the two, was that her gut was screaming at her to trust Legolas. The track record her gut instinct had was 100%. Whenever she had listened to her gut it had brought her success. It would be illogical to ignore it now. Alania decided to do what she could, within reason, to help those two out. She headed to her bedroom to get some sleep, more relaxed now that she had come to terms with what fate had in mind for her.
*** OK everyone! Make this author happy and push the shiny button and give me those reviews I so badly need. They are my drug of choice.