A/N-Whew. Finally got this chapter out. And guess what ? I got another chapter right after this one. So here's Legolas to read my disclaimer.
Legolas: These are the things that Tina doesn't own. LotR, her friends, New Orleans, The Rainbow or the Pub, Tricous, Jack Daniels, or Mind Erasers. Jem belongs to Australia. She also doesn't own Hammond, Zachary, or SLU. Now do us all a favor and please review.
Chapter 7
Yo ho ! Yo ho ! Its off to New Orleans I go...
Haldir's POV
"Welcome to New Orleans boys ! Home of the never ending party", Tina exclaimed, gesturing to the chaos before us. I was in shock but not from the scene in front of me. I had more important matters on my mind. Skin ! Lots of skin ! Smooth skin. Skin that looked soft to the touch. Sking that was currently being covered by very little clothing. The skin that made up Tina. The Tina who was currently waving her hands wildly in front of my face. "Hellooooo! Is there anybody there ? If not can someone take a message ?"
I grabbed her flailing hands in my own, looking down at her ,"Must you always behave in such a manner ?"
"Jerk", she muttered before pulling away. I think that was one of her many insults towards me. Tina turned to look at everyone else ,"Come on guys. We have to walk before we get to the real party."
Tina's POV
Phew ! I am so glad that I managed to find shoes big enough to fit the hobbits' feet. No matter how tough their feet may be I'm sure the trash in the gutters would've hurt them. I led the way through the streets until we finally stood on the brink of Bourbon Street. Here we paused to take in the capacity crowd that filled the street and the numerous balconies above. I don't even think the word shock could describe the looks on their faces. "I'll be back", I called, running towards the nearest drink booth. The old man looked at me and he was in an obvious bad mood. "Large 151 with an extra shot."
He poured the drink and I paid for it before going back to my group. I took a large pull of the slush through the straw, grimmacing at the burn down my throat. A few more of them and I wouldn't even know what a burn was. I handed Aragorn the drink first ,"We can share this until we get to the bar. My goal tonight is to see if I can get the elves drunk."
"I can say with certainty that it will not",Haldir stated flatly.
I smiled my sweetest smile at him,"Oh, we'll see about that, elf."
Aragorn took a drink and quickly turned red as he swallowed.. He handed the drink to Legolas. "Tina may reach her goal tonight."
The guys continued to pass the drink around as we walked down Bourbon Street. We would've reached our destination sooner if I didn't have to keep dragging the hobbits away from some of the less savory (cough) adult (cough) bars. We finally reached Tricou's but was stopped at the stairs leading up to the bar by the bouncer, Henry. "Sorry, Tina. You know the rules. No kids upstairs."
"Kids ? What kids ?" Henry nodded his head towards the hobbits. I immediately began laughing. "You gotta be kiddin' me. Those aren't kids. They're friends of mine in town for the dwarfism convention and they are way beyond legal."
"Then they wouldn't mind showin' ID."
I balked. Damn, he would have to ask for IDs. "Henry, this is the city of no ID, no problem."
"Not here."
"Henry, how old am I", I asked, smiling up at the larger than life man.
"Not old enough to drink but that's different."
I pulled out my wallet ,"Fine. How 'bout fifty bucks and you look the other way."
"That'll do but if there's a raid I never saw you."
I handed over the money reluctantly. After all, money is rare for a college student. I let the way to the nearly empty bar upstairs. As I stood there gawking in disbelief Boromir shoved the drink back into my hands, snapping me out of it. "Well, its about time I got it back."
I took a long pull from the straw and got nothing but a mouthful of air. I moved the straw around. Shook the styrofoam cup from side to side. Sucked on the straw again. Air. I looked at Aragorn and Boromir who could only smile strangely at me. Maybe introducing them to Bacardi wasn't such a good idea. Then again, the evil side of me seemed to think it was great. "Okay", I sighed, somewhat depressed ,"You guys go wait out on the balcony and I'll be out in a second."
Brad, the current bartender/owner, smiled at me as I walked up to the bar. He raised an eyebrow at me when I leaned on the old mahogany bar. "And what are you going out and about this early."
"I decided to get an early start on the night. 'Sides I have some friends in town I wanted to show around."
"So same set up as last time ?" Brad motioned for the lone waitress, Janelle to come over. "You fill this bar up and you guys drink free all night."
"Your bar'll be full in no time." I turned to Janelle, placing our order. "Five whiskey shooters and five minderasers. And keep 'em comin'."
I walked out on the balcony feeling slightly bad that I couldn't order anything for the hobbits. All of the guys turned, staring at me oddly. "The people here behave quite odd", Legolas replied.
Haldir smirked down at me ,"Not unlike you."
"Keep it up, elf. Just keep it up and see what happens", I hissed up at him.
"I can't wait."
Someone cleared their throat and we all turned as one to see Janelle smirking, holding a full tray of drinks. "Aren't you suppose to be earning these ?"
"Drink first", I smiled, greedily grabbing a shot ,"work after."
I handed the elves, men, and dwarf their own shots. I quickly downed mine and the others followed suit. I then distributed the minderasers. Janelle left as I started earning our drinks. I was calling people up rather loudly while flipping off the ones that asked me to flash. The bar was half way to capacity when I felt a tug on my short skirt. It was Pippin who looked quite depressed. "Where are our drinks", he whined. "We haven't had a good ale in a long time."
"You four drank a whole case of beer last night."
"Yes", Merry popped in ,"we did. But what Pippin said was that we haven't had a good ale in a long time."
I crouched down so I could look directly at the hobbits. "I'm sorry guys. No beer tonight. We can't run the risk of ending up in jail tonight." I shuddered at a particularly bad memory before whispering ,"Jail is bad."
Boromir pulled me back up straight. He pointed down to a group of girls all screaming up to them. "Why do they ask us to flash ?"
"They want to see your goods."
"Goods ?" The look on his face was priceless.
"You know."
"No, I don't."
I leaned up, whispering the information into his ear. His expression got even more distorted. I couldn't help but to burst out laughing. "Just don't do it. You might scare them."
Janelle brought out more drinks which the guys immediately grabbed. Janelle managed a tenative smile at the group before turning to me ,"Your partners in crime are here."
As if on cue Matt, Betsy and Mandy burst out onto the balcony. They, of course, had their own drinks in hand. "All of your boys are here", Mandy giggled.
"All of them ?"
Mandy's face fell and she pouted quite pathetically. "Except Jacob."
"Don't worry, Mandy." I felt for my friend. I really did. I completely knew how it felt to have a crush and the other person not feel the same. "He knows you're there. It just takes him time to....HEY !"
Boromir had knocked me out of the way to talk to Mandy. I couldn't hear what they were talking about over the music but Mandy now looked extremely happy. "Jacob who", I thought to myself before Matt grabbed my ear. I began yelping ,"OW ! OW! What you jerk ?"
"Lets go to the Rainbow. They're having a drag show tonight."
"No", Betsy yelled over the music ,"The Pub. They have better music."
I was going to have to be the voice of reason for the two. AGAIN ! Out of the four of us you would never guess that I was the youngest. "How about some dancing at the Pub first then catch the last half of the show at the Rainbow."
"Fine", the two echoed each other.
Then I saw him. Well, it was kind of hard to miss this Adonis since he was standing directly in front of me. "Hello, beauty, and who are you", he asked in this thick Australian accent. I love accents !!
"Tina. And you ?"
"Jem." He ran a finger over my shoulder just under the strap of my tank top. I failed to notice the murderous looks the guys were giving the Australian god of a man. I failed to notice that I wasn't breathing. Hell, I even didn't realize that he was touching my shoulder. If I wasn't a little tipsy I would've clobbered him right then and there for having the balls to touch me.
"My friends and I are going down to the Pub. Wanna come with ?"
"I'd follow you anywhere."
Okay, through the haze of my brain I could tell he was feeding me a line of B.S. And man was it thick. I pulled Jem through the bar and down the stairs leaving my large group of friends no choice but to follow. Once in the maddness of the street all of us pushed our way to the far end of the street and into the pub. Well, not really. We stopped to talk to some people outside of the bar first. The conversation consisted of my bandmates that were present running the sexy Austrailian off with a few choice threats. Once they had finished that task we set about talking. If I'd been remotely sober I would've known something wasn't right. That something was missing. But it was Steven who brought it to my attention first. "Are you drunk", he asked, leaning in to my ear.
"NO !"
"Then you're blind. Your fellowship has wandered off."
OH NO ! The Fellowship on the loose in New Orleans ? Alone ! This couldn't be good.
Nienna's POV
"Don't you think we should be makin' our way back Mister Frodo", I heard from my vantage point.
I peered down from the branch I was currently occupying to see four very short boys standing on the other side of my house's front gate. Another curly haired boy spoke,"Sam's got a point. We've walked rather far. Perhaps Tina has managed to get us some beer."
Frodo ? Sam ? And Tina ? Yay, Tina is in town but more importantly....
"Hobbits", I screamed, losing my balance and falling out of the tree. I landed with a nice sounding whump. I stood up and peered over the short fence. Four sets of eyes stared cautiously back at me. "Hello hobbits. Are you talkin' 'bout Tina Baker ?"
"Yes. You know her", Frodo asked.
I snorted,"Who doesn't ?"
"I am Frodo. And this is Sam, Merry and Pippin."
"I'm Nienna. Come on in and I'll call Tina." I said that while thinking to myself ,"Eventually."
Tina's POV
The fifth bar we searched was the jackpot. Actually, only half the jackpot. Aragorn and Boromir were the first ones we found and boy had they been busy. There were two half empty bottles of Jack Daniels and a pair of shot glasses in front of them. Aragorn noticed we were there and he called out,"Come my friends. Join us in drink."
Ah hell ! The elves can wait.
Legolas: These are the things that Tina doesn't own. LotR, her friends, New Orleans, The Rainbow or the Pub, Tricous, Jack Daniels, or Mind Erasers. Jem belongs to Australia. She also doesn't own Hammond, Zachary, or SLU. Now do us all a favor and please review.
Chapter 7
Yo ho ! Yo ho ! Its off to New Orleans I go...
Haldir's POV
"Welcome to New Orleans boys ! Home of the never ending party", Tina exclaimed, gesturing to the chaos before us. I was in shock but not from the scene in front of me. I had more important matters on my mind. Skin ! Lots of skin ! Smooth skin. Skin that looked soft to the touch. Sking that was currently being covered by very little clothing. The skin that made up Tina. The Tina who was currently waving her hands wildly in front of my face. "Hellooooo! Is there anybody there ? If not can someone take a message ?"
I grabbed her flailing hands in my own, looking down at her ,"Must you always behave in such a manner ?"
"Jerk", she muttered before pulling away. I think that was one of her many insults towards me. Tina turned to look at everyone else ,"Come on guys. We have to walk before we get to the real party."
Tina's POV
Phew ! I am so glad that I managed to find shoes big enough to fit the hobbits' feet. No matter how tough their feet may be I'm sure the trash in the gutters would've hurt them. I led the way through the streets until we finally stood on the brink of Bourbon Street. Here we paused to take in the capacity crowd that filled the street and the numerous balconies above. I don't even think the word shock could describe the looks on their faces. "I'll be back", I called, running towards the nearest drink booth. The old man looked at me and he was in an obvious bad mood. "Large 151 with an extra shot."
He poured the drink and I paid for it before going back to my group. I took a large pull of the slush through the straw, grimmacing at the burn down my throat. A few more of them and I wouldn't even know what a burn was. I handed Aragorn the drink first ,"We can share this until we get to the bar. My goal tonight is to see if I can get the elves drunk."
"I can say with certainty that it will not",Haldir stated flatly.
I smiled my sweetest smile at him,"Oh, we'll see about that, elf."
Aragorn took a drink and quickly turned red as he swallowed.. He handed the drink to Legolas. "Tina may reach her goal tonight."
The guys continued to pass the drink around as we walked down Bourbon Street. We would've reached our destination sooner if I didn't have to keep dragging the hobbits away from some of the less savory (cough) adult (cough) bars. We finally reached Tricou's but was stopped at the stairs leading up to the bar by the bouncer, Henry. "Sorry, Tina. You know the rules. No kids upstairs."
"Kids ? What kids ?" Henry nodded his head towards the hobbits. I immediately began laughing. "You gotta be kiddin' me. Those aren't kids. They're friends of mine in town for the dwarfism convention and they are way beyond legal."
"Then they wouldn't mind showin' ID."
I balked. Damn, he would have to ask for IDs. "Henry, this is the city of no ID, no problem."
"Not here."
"Henry, how old am I", I asked, smiling up at the larger than life man.
"Not old enough to drink but that's different."
I pulled out my wallet ,"Fine. How 'bout fifty bucks and you look the other way."
"That'll do but if there's a raid I never saw you."
I handed over the money reluctantly. After all, money is rare for a college student. I let the way to the nearly empty bar upstairs. As I stood there gawking in disbelief Boromir shoved the drink back into my hands, snapping me out of it. "Well, its about time I got it back."
I took a long pull from the straw and got nothing but a mouthful of air. I moved the straw around. Shook the styrofoam cup from side to side. Sucked on the straw again. Air. I looked at Aragorn and Boromir who could only smile strangely at me. Maybe introducing them to Bacardi wasn't such a good idea. Then again, the evil side of me seemed to think it was great. "Okay", I sighed, somewhat depressed ,"You guys go wait out on the balcony and I'll be out in a second."
Brad, the current bartender/owner, smiled at me as I walked up to the bar. He raised an eyebrow at me when I leaned on the old mahogany bar. "And what are you going out and about this early."
"I decided to get an early start on the night. 'Sides I have some friends in town I wanted to show around."
"So same set up as last time ?" Brad motioned for the lone waitress, Janelle to come over. "You fill this bar up and you guys drink free all night."
"Your bar'll be full in no time." I turned to Janelle, placing our order. "Five whiskey shooters and five minderasers. And keep 'em comin'."
I walked out on the balcony feeling slightly bad that I couldn't order anything for the hobbits. All of the guys turned, staring at me oddly. "The people here behave quite odd", Legolas replied.
Haldir smirked down at me ,"Not unlike you."
"Keep it up, elf. Just keep it up and see what happens", I hissed up at him.
"I can't wait."
Someone cleared their throat and we all turned as one to see Janelle smirking, holding a full tray of drinks. "Aren't you suppose to be earning these ?"
"Drink first", I smiled, greedily grabbing a shot ,"work after."
I handed the elves, men, and dwarf their own shots. I quickly downed mine and the others followed suit. I then distributed the minderasers. Janelle left as I started earning our drinks. I was calling people up rather loudly while flipping off the ones that asked me to flash. The bar was half way to capacity when I felt a tug on my short skirt. It was Pippin who looked quite depressed. "Where are our drinks", he whined. "We haven't had a good ale in a long time."
"You four drank a whole case of beer last night."
"Yes", Merry popped in ,"we did. But what Pippin said was that we haven't had a good ale in a long time."
I crouched down so I could look directly at the hobbits. "I'm sorry guys. No beer tonight. We can't run the risk of ending up in jail tonight." I shuddered at a particularly bad memory before whispering ,"Jail is bad."
Boromir pulled me back up straight. He pointed down to a group of girls all screaming up to them. "Why do they ask us to flash ?"
"They want to see your goods."
"Goods ?" The look on his face was priceless.
"You know."
"No, I don't."
I leaned up, whispering the information into his ear. His expression got even more distorted. I couldn't help but to burst out laughing. "Just don't do it. You might scare them."
Janelle brought out more drinks which the guys immediately grabbed. Janelle managed a tenative smile at the group before turning to me ,"Your partners in crime are here."
As if on cue Matt, Betsy and Mandy burst out onto the balcony. They, of course, had their own drinks in hand. "All of your boys are here", Mandy giggled.
"All of them ?"
Mandy's face fell and she pouted quite pathetically. "Except Jacob."
"Don't worry, Mandy." I felt for my friend. I really did. I completely knew how it felt to have a crush and the other person not feel the same. "He knows you're there. It just takes him time to....HEY !"
Boromir had knocked me out of the way to talk to Mandy. I couldn't hear what they were talking about over the music but Mandy now looked extremely happy. "Jacob who", I thought to myself before Matt grabbed my ear. I began yelping ,"OW ! OW! What you jerk ?"
"Lets go to the Rainbow. They're having a drag show tonight."
"No", Betsy yelled over the music ,"The Pub. They have better music."
I was going to have to be the voice of reason for the two. AGAIN ! Out of the four of us you would never guess that I was the youngest. "How about some dancing at the Pub first then catch the last half of the show at the Rainbow."
"Fine", the two echoed each other.
Then I saw him. Well, it was kind of hard to miss this Adonis since he was standing directly in front of me. "Hello, beauty, and who are you", he asked in this thick Australian accent. I love accents !!
"Tina. And you ?"
"Jem." He ran a finger over my shoulder just under the strap of my tank top. I failed to notice the murderous looks the guys were giving the Australian god of a man. I failed to notice that I wasn't breathing. Hell, I even didn't realize that he was touching my shoulder. If I wasn't a little tipsy I would've clobbered him right then and there for having the balls to touch me.
"My friends and I are going down to the Pub. Wanna come with ?"
"I'd follow you anywhere."
Okay, through the haze of my brain I could tell he was feeding me a line of B.S. And man was it thick. I pulled Jem through the bar and down the stairs leaving my large group of friends no choice but to follow. Once in the maddness of the street all of us pushed our way to the far end of the street and into the pub. Well, not really. We stopped to talk to some people outside of the bar first. The conversation consisted of my bandmates that were present running the sexy Austrailian off with a few choice threats. Once they had finished that task we set about talking. If I'd been remotely sober I would've known something wasn't right. That something was missing. But it was Steven who brought it to my attention first. "Are you drunk", he asked, leaning in to my ear.
"NO !"
"Then you're blind. Your fellowship has wandered off."
OH NO ! The Fellowship on the loose in New Orleans ? Alone ! This couldn't be good.
Nienna's POV
"Don't you think we should be makin' our way back Mister Frodo", I heard from my vantage point.
I peered down from the branch I was currently occupying to see four very short boys standing on the other side of my house's front gate. Another curly haired boy spoke,"Sam's got a point. We've walked rather far. Perhaps Tina has managed to get us some beer."
Frodo ? Sam ? And Tina ? Yay, Tina is in town but more importantly....
"Hobbits", I screamed, losing my balance and falling out of the tree. I landed with a nice sounding whump. I stood up and peered over the short fence. Four sets of eyes stared cautiously back at me. "Hello hobbits. Are you talkin' 'bout Tina Baker ?"
"Yes. You know her", Frodo asked.
I snorted,"Who doesn't ?"
"I am Frodo. And this is Sam, Merry and Pippin."
"I'm Nienna. Come on in and I'll call Tina." I said that while thinking to myself ,"Eventually."
Tina's POV
The fifth bar we searched was the jackpot. Actually, only half the jackpot. Aragorn and Boromir were the first ones we found and boy had they been busy. There were two half empty bottles of Jack Daniels and a pair of shot glasses in front of them. Aragorn noticed we were there and he called out,"Come my friends. Join us in drink."
Ah hell ! The elves can wait.