Chapter 11 Uncovered Subjects

A/N: If you haven't seen the costume Legolas wore for Halloween, go now to my bio page for a surprise. Then come back and catch up with us.

I don't own him. Never will. He is a free spirit if I ever saw one. He still has a whole half-bushel basket of chocolate candy to eat from his adventures for Halloween. Maybe now he can type your responses faster.

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"Go on and get your bathing suit," I tell Little Pip. "Before you do, ask your father to send me one of his for Legolas to wear."

"But, Momma, how's he gonna . . .?"

"Just go, ok? There are some things you just shouldn't ask people, you know that," I say, nudging her through the glass door.

Time for a little "talk" with the Prance.

I move over to the side of the sunken tub, kneeling down so that I can speak to Legolas. Damn those bubbles I brood to myself. It would be nice to have this talk without having the whole neighborhood hearing me yell over the sound of the swirling jets. You could just turn them off the little devil sitting on my left shoulder says. Hey, I COULD do that! Just long enough to get my message across.

As I reach out for the button, the little angel sitting on my right shoulder reaches out to smack me sharply on the hand.

"Ow!" I yelp, obviously aloud because Legolas opens his clear blue eyes and looks at me.

"Whut is da maettr?" asks Bathing Beauty.

Glad you asked says my brain. "Oh, nothing," says my mouth, "I must have knelt down on an acorn or something here." I rub my knee to give myself time to collect my thoughts.

"Noe, I meen whut is da maettr bekuz u ar luukin at me fuennie" he clarifies, turning now to face me and raising about half of his chest from the bubbles.

Dang, busted AGAIN.

And now I'm speechless. And blushing. And I'm starting sentences with the word "And."

Averting my eyes momentarily, I clear my throat and turn back to him again. "Legolas," I begin, "it's just that. . . well,. . . we don't really. . ."

"Yeas?" he encourages, cocking his head a little toward me and to the left.

"Well, you don't. . . I mean, you took. . .Ummm. . . "

"Jest spid it oud, okae?"

Ok. Ok, I will. I will just spit it out. If I can get my tongue back in control, that is.

"Legolas, you see, ummmm. . . you are. . . naked."

He looks down at himself, most of which is still covered in foamy bubbles, and blinks. In slow motion. Then he looks back up at me, blinking twice more. He waits, saying nothing.

Go on, say something I send my thought processes to him. It's your turn

Finally, the Thranduil eyebrow raises up, and "Yaes?" issues forth. That is all. Just the one word, "Yaes?"

Ok, try again, al.

"Legolas," I begin, "You see, you can't get into the hot tub without a bathing suit on if Little Pip is getting in there too." There. That covers that.

I mean, that covers that subject. Done. Complete. THAT is still uncovered.

"Whie?"

"Well, ummm, she's still very young in mortal years," I reply.

He looks at me, as if confused about where this conversation is going.

"She, ummm. . . doesn't really know much about what it is like to not wear a bathing suit when in the hot tub," I try.

"Buet I doent hav a bafing suwt."

Ah, truth comes out. He didn't put one on, because quite frankly, he's not got one. Maybe he thought his birthday suit would suffice. Maybe elves really are uninhibited about their bodies like all the fanfiction authors would have you believe.

There is a loud, "HMMMPPHHHTTT" behind me, and a deep voice says, "Would you be needing these?" Yes Dear is holding out a pair of bright blue bathing trunks that are going to be big enough for 3 of Legolas from the looks of things. At least they have a drawstring waist.

"Are those the smallest pair you have?" I ask.

"Well, no, I still have that pair of Speedos I bought to wear under my diving wetsuit," answers Yes Dear.

Well, if those are the ones I remember from 15 years ago, you could squeeze one Legolas into them, but it wouldn't leave much to the imagination. "You still have those? . . .Nevermind," I shake my head to clear my thoughts. "We'll just make do with these blue ones until we can get him a pair that fits."

Legolas starts to stand up and reach for the trunks. Yes Dear hastily smacks them up against Legolas' bare chest, wetting them. "YOU put those on while you are IN THERE," he says to the Prance. He points to the water swirling in the tub, bubbles popping merrily against Legolas' flat, muscular belly.

Did I say merrily? Whew..

After a brief staring contest, Legolas turns and sits back down to put on the trunks. Little Pip shows up, a plastic bucket full of Barbie and her entourage in tow.

"Ready?" she says, and not waiting for an answer, climbs over the edge and down into the pool.

"Iz dat a Keeler Well?" Legolas asks, reaching to take the basket from her.

"That's Squirty, she's a girl. I named her after a real whale I saw in the Pacific Ocean. If you want to, when we get out I will show you the pictures I have of her."

"Okae!" he answers, enthralled.

Soon they are splashing happily, having underwater races to see who can swim the furthest holding their breath, Barbie or Ken. Legolas appears a bit concerned about this, especially since his Ken always comes up to the surface with a whole head full of water, which Little Pip promptly removes by squeezing his head flat. Ken's head, not Legolas'.

When supper is almost ready, I call them to come in. Legolas climbs out readily, though Pip is reluctant and protests and procrastinates. As they stand dripping and shivering on the deck, I hand Legolas one of the towels Little Pip has brought outside.

"NO, Momma!" protests Pip. "Don't give him THAT one!" She snatches the brown towel with the white horses from him.

"Pippin, that was not nice!" I say. "Whatever is the matter?"

"That's my favorite," she says, hugging the towel to her chest. " I don't want him to get his stinky butt on it."

Legolas glances back at his posterior.

"It's a figure of speech, dear," I tell him, tossing the 101 Dalmatians towel around his shoulders. As I bend to pick up Barbie and Ken, I see him do a little shimmy with his hips.

"NO! NO!" I shout in my best gruff, no nonsense basic dog training voice. He stops shimmying, his back still turned to me, the blue trunks hanging halfway down his legs. Jewel the Dalmatian puppy winks at me from her position on the towel just above Legolas' left thigh, her tongue lolling from her mouth.

"No, Legolas! Wait and take them off INSIDE the house."

"Bud I weel git da floar ael weat!" he argues.

"It's okay," I say," we do it all the time."

"Some people." mutters Little Pip, shaking her head.

"Whut?" says Legolas, as she stalks off into the house.

"Whut?" he repeats, as I nudge him through the door.

"Don't worry about it. Just go put on the clothes I left for you on the bed in the blue room."

Three minutes later he is back in the den, looking quite Modern earth in my forest green T-shirt with "SPOKANE" written in matching embroidery across the front. I picked it for him because the letter A is made from a pine tree. I hoped maybe he would feel more at home in it.

I notice he is clutching the waistband of the jeans tightly through the untucked T-shirt. "Are they too big?' I ask him, pointing at his lower half.

"Meabe a leedle," he answers. He lets go of the waistband, then does a frantic clutch to catch the pants as they collapse down his legs towards the floor.

"Let's try a belt." Digging through my closet, I find one that is braided, adjustable to any size. I help him run it through the belt loops while he holds up the jeans.

"Oh, dat IZ bedder!" he exclaims, waving his hands about in the air.

Supper goes by uneventfully, and I am happy to say he is not a picky eater, and did well cleaning his plate even though he did not take out very large proportions to begin with. After the dishes are cleared away, Legolas and Little Pip settle down on the couch to look at her scrapbook from her trip to Washington State to visit my brother, taken when she was 6 years old.

She shows him the vintage carousel we rode, telling him about the plastic rings that you try to grab as the horses go by the dispenser. She tells him about how the lucky person who gets the gold ring wins a special prize. I see him flinch from where I am sitting all the way across the room.

She shows him the mountains, covered in snow in the middle of July, the pictures of our summertime snowball fight in short sleeve shirts and sandals. He mumbles under his breath, and it sounds something like, "remienz me ov Caradras."

She shows him the pictures of the rainbow trout farm we visited; the vast holding tanks of baby fishes you could feed ground corn to. I can almost see the clear blue lakes reflected in the memories passing before his eyes. "We aet a raneboew trawt at Amon Hen," he whispers.

When she shows him the pictures of the ferry boat we road to the islands, and the fishing boat we took to see the Orca whales, he becomes even more wistful. I know what he is thinking. Will he ever hear the call of the Sea?

A tear slides down my cheek, and I brush it hastily away. As much as I want to keep him, as much as I have enjoyed having him here, there is one thing I am now certain of.

Legolas must go back.

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Responses to Reviewers:

TreeHugger: *al hands Tree a red Elrond hankie 'cause she already knows she needs another one* Thanks for the beta, mellon-nin! Hae Trea! Peepin duz waent a beeg bruthur. I weel keap her fur a leedle seester tu. An I doe like Yeas Deer, he maekz a grate Daed! Tael Nate buddie I sed hae! An Emma tu! *waevez tu Nate an Emma* Yaes, all poar al got wuz a gleempz *weenkz* I wuld giv her muech moer! *mooenz al* Knock that off, Legolas!

Mom: Iz it snoewin yeat? Yeas, dat al duz luv her choklats. Dere haz bean noe snoew hear tu teech u snoewaelkin in. Com hoem suun!

Elvea Aure aka Amanfalathiel: Az u kin sea, I em regaening sum of my meamoriez. I thank id muest bea sumthang majik en da choklat.

Sake: Ar u shur dat de leedle boey at ur doar wuz noet me?! Yeas Deer ez a purty kool giy.

McDoodle: Whut's a skreemeen faengurl? I em glaed u like my lief stoeree.

Skye Rocket: Deed u git a theasarues yeat? I luuked up awesum in dere, an it sed maegnifasent meenz da saem as dat tu!

LegolasGirl666: Thankz fur tipin tu me! al got da faek me at Waldenbuukz. Dere iz a new won of me an Gimli frum Advanced Graphics. Dere wuz an ad in da LOTR fain clueb magazeen dat sed trie www.elifesize.com.

Seaweed: hae Seaweed! *waves Hershey's kisses* We elvz ar nod az enhaebited az peeple hear on Moedrn-erth seam tu bea, no. Nekkid iz guud!

Puter Patty: I dunnoe whie u an Trea ensis dat al thot I wuld pea on da karpet. I haeld id ael nite loeng da furst nite in da kloset, remimber? I doent reely git tu eggisted thankin abot wachin misef take a baf, bud whudever maekz u haeppie. Whin I eat a Twix, I biet it tu git da choklat to brake off, den I eat da kooky an karolmal tugeder. I em sorrie Legoalz fuuld u ento thanking he wuz me. We weel trie agin, okae?

JastaElf: Hae Ada! Hae Jaesta! I deed sae I'm sorree dis like u taut me, Ada, foar throen da Noldor poewr taentrum. I deed not noe da peeple hear wear soe enhaebited about not haveen enni klothz on. al sez whin u git da Buukstoer joeb, u kin git a faek me tu!

Magical Rachel: Deantust? I hav pearfek teath! al duz not let me reed slaesh. She deed led me trie sum Kadberry choklat, an id iz verie guud tu!

laure: Da hoet tueb iz oudsied on da dek. Ther ar wuudz ael aroun us. De nayburz liv akross da streat en da frunt yaerd. I lub u tu!

Sarwolfe Snape: I duenot noe eggsackly hoew I got hear ethur. I due like it hear at al's houez. Luuk for loetz of updaetz suun!

Stimpy: Sumbuddy axed me whoe I whuz at Haelowean, an I sed I am dat aktur dat plaez Legolas. He muest reely luuk like dis cauze eberrybuddy beeleeved me. U doe hab almoest as meny naemz as Elessar!

Nancing Elf: Uze ur emageenashun an u kin sea me tu! *She already did, Legolas, believe me!* Thaenkz-I em glaed u liked my kostum.

Newmoon: She deed sea whut she thot she saew! I kin taek a loed of shuger, I hav a hie toelraence. *He better, with all this fangirl drooling going on!* I em glaed u deed nod let dat Blaek Rieder in ur doar!

the_ringspell: Id waez waerm hear for Haelowean. Id wuz a leedle skarie, bud I em an elf worrier, so I wuz nod afraed. *BOO!* Stoep dat, al!

IRENA: HEAR I EM, BAYBEE! Com an git me! Brang ur chaerriez, okae? I got da choklat wid da raepprz on dem, wateing fur u. Im-boi le-se, baybee. Tulya an Ada!

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I wish you could see how excited Legolas gets over your messages to him. He is just CRAZY about all of you! Send him a little note and tell him how much you love him, and he promises to send one back to you next chapter!