A/N:As always, thank you for your reviews Raider-K, melodicechoes (for not reviewing in emojis, especially;), CalistaLegaci, jshaw0624, Trich, REMdream, Andy the willow tree, Scylla's revenge, Woman of Letters, wickedGreene13, , SparkyTAS, dreamer, Woman of Letters, Amateur Bacon Cook, WyomingCowboy15, middleagemanager…and guests :)
. . . . .
The Gift
~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0
"Um…no. Definitely not."
"Why do I bother trying it if you're just going to veto it, Kristine?" Legolas snapped.
"I'm sorry. You're just not the baseball cap type!" she laughed. "We're trying to get you to fit in, not stand out more. The coat's alright, just-just not the cap."
Legolas stood wearily in the threshold of the dressing room. He refused to look in the mirror at all. It hurt too much. He'd never imagined shopping could be like this. To think all these years, Legolas managed to think females went marketing by walking straight to what they needed, buying one or two of it, and heading sensibly home.
Oh, how he was wrong!
Kristy never stopped. She just shopped…and shopped…and shopped until he had more than he knew what to do with.
Legolas stared out at the mall cafeteria, exhausted.
"…um, and I'm really not sure how it works." Kristy was in the booth next to him, twirling a straw round and round her empty glass.
The woman was trying to explain the concept of an 'escalator' to him. Legolas refused to go anywhere near them, so they had to shop on the ground floor.
"But there's really nothing to be afraid of. Well, unless you catch your hair in the rail like I did." She half-smiled. "Then they're pretty scary. But you know, other than that."
"Are we finished yet?" he sighed, casting his eyes sidelong. At this rate, the woman would never think they had enough. It was ridiculous. He needed a pair of boots, another clean shirt, trousers…a hair comb maybe. That was all.
"Come on, it's not so bad." She patted his arm, sliding out of the seat and looking into his weary eyes. "You have to have these things, you know."
Legolas curled over and put his face in his hands, took a deep breath, steeling himself. He leaned on the tabletop, dreading more music from the loudspeakers, words he didn't understand, clacking heels… all of this.
Kristy touched his head. He started at the contact, and she almost drew away, but not quite.
"I know you're tired," she said softly. "I am too, but we're almost done. Really."
Legolas' side was beginning to ache again and he felt queasy, light-headed. She gave him a moment, and by the time the hour was up, finished the last of the shopping.
"I'm sorry it took so long," she said as she opened the door and helped load the bags into the back seat. A brisk, cold wind blew, and it seemed unfair that she bought and he carried. But then again, he couldn't drive and she could.
Legolas wasn't fond of walking, especially at night.
"If that is supposed to be comforting Kristine, don't bother." He sighed, dropping wearily into the passenger seat.
Yellow parking lamps shattered the darkness of the crowded lot and reflected off the white lines. It glowed on his face through the tinted windows. He was too tired even to feel nervous in the steel beast. Driving around in it, swerving and honking through an edgy and still frightened city all day dragged every scrap out of him.
"Well." She slammed the door shut. "If you're getting hungry, I can always microwave something before I leave."
Legolas blinked. Leaving…and hungry in the same sentence? What did they have to do with each other? "I assume you mean we're leaving to eat?" he guessed.
"I have to run down to my sisters' tonight," she explained without really explaining. "But don't worry, I'll make sure you get some food first."
Legolas just frowned.
It was eight-thirty by the time they were 'home'.
Darkness fell and the stars were out, cool and gleaming in the night sky. It was just the same day, but amazingly, there were already words around him that Legolas understood. Bits and pieces of the phrases and letters he'd crammed into memory popped out at him everywhere. Conversation, shouts across the parking lot… "hello, food, restroom, hungry".
In the apartment, Legolas collapsed on the couch. Kristine was worried for his injuries and insisted that he didn't walk very much, but it didn't matter. The new sights, sounds and smells, catching bits and snippets of conversation in a chaotic world, it was exhausting.
Kris slid a panel open and dropped the bags in a closet. "Are you all right?" she asked wearily. He was crashed face-down in the leather cushions like a dead body. "…Legolas?"
He groaned.
Kris just smiled, before she came over and patted his arm, trying to shake him awake. "Legolas, I'll get you some food and then I have to leave. Okay?"
Legolas dragged his head up. "Leave?"
"Yeah. Me." She pointed to herself. "I'm leaving. I'll be gone a couple hours or so, okay?"
He thought about it. Kristy was leaving…again. Nothing new. Well at least this time, she left him in her apartment instead of a homeless shelter. He considered it.
No. The feeling wasn't quite the same.
"Very well," he muttered, dropping his head again and staring at her from one eye. His entire body felt limp, like every last thread of energy was sapped out of him, leaving a dry, empty husk. "You do not look safe to operate that beast, Kristine," he muttered.
She was tired too. It was obvious and he saw it.
"Yeah well…" she said nondescriptly, not quite sure what he meant by that look, before gesturing. "Come on. I'll show you where you can throw these pillows when you go to bed."
Legolas reluctantly got up and watched her unravel the couch. He didn't bother feeling suspicious. It was just another oddity. At least this was of some use to him. The couch turned into a real bed. Kristy trudged out of her room with sheets and a blanket, helped him make the bed, before heaving it back in on itself.
"There. All clean." She looked up and Legolas smiled. Even that was weak.
It was just a few minutes later that she set a plate of food out for him, poured him a drink…and left. He was all alone. It was so quiet. Not the kind of quiet that he could listen to, or feel at peace in. Legolas looked around. It was a ticking, whirring, humming quiet. And it was cold.
But then Legolas sat down on the carpet, cross-legged against a warm vent. It breathed on his back. He slowly rubbed his fingers. Warmth enveloped him and Legolas basked in it. It felt good. This place wasn't really so bad.
~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0
"Laura?"
No answer.
Kristy glanced around the porch in the dark, shuffling uncomfortably. The doorbell didn't work.
The moon threw long shadows down the lawn. Silence, eerie silence brushed the dark and tickled wind chimes in the trees…made them swing and ding in the night. She heard a shout, echoes, a car motor starting up.
The door was unlocked.
"Um, Laura?" Kristy peered inside, cracking the latch open. All was dark, except the kitchen light and…and barking. That was Shenzie. "I came like I said I would. Can-can I have my dog?"
Nothing… Nothing but a rustle in the dark.
And suddenly, a sharp squeal and a giggle came out of the kitchen. Kristy jumped in surprise and Laura sprinted out. Her husband, a tall man that grinned at the shout followed after. Laura cleared her throat, still tittering.
"Oh, oh Kris…" She glanced quickly to the man and back, straightening her shirt. Shenzie was still locked in the other room and barking. "We weren't expecting you."
Kristy blinked in the dark, forcing her eyes to stay away from the man. "B-but…my dog, remember?"
"Oh right, of course!" Laura shook her head and scurried out, still laughing. She switched the lights on and disappeared. "Stupid me!"
Kristy blinked owlishly in the light. The TV was on mute. Pillows were everywhere, scattering the room and it was a mess. Mark's shirt was still open.
Kristy glanced down, uncomfortable. She supposed it was to be expected. They were newlyweds, after all. Mark was Laura's, after all.
"So…" he started.
Kristy shoved her hands in her coat pockets awkwardly, swallowing the knot in her throat. It felt like there wasn't quite enough air in the room. She never knew what to say to her brother-in-law. Brother-in-law. It felt so strange, thinking of him like that.
Kristy swallowed again, staring down. The carpet was blue. The air in the corner smelled like cleaning detergent and dust. Kristy wasn't sure why she noticed these things, but they made her feel lonely, out of place.
"So Laurie tells me you've been taking care of some…friend?" Mark leaned on the threshold as they waited.
One of the living room bulbs were burnt out, throwing dark down one-half the room and lighting the other. He fiddled casually with his shirt tails, ignoring his disheveled hair and rumpled pants.
Kristy glanced to the ground. "Um, yes. You could say that."
"What's his name?"
"Um…it's kind of complicated, Mark. I-I'd rather not- Oh, Laura!" Kristy exclaimed in a rush, just as her sister appeared. Pure relief.
It was an innocent enough question. But what could she say? I honestly have no idea who he is? I'm living with him because…because I don't know why? Nothing made sense. She might as well not try.
"Here she is, safe and sound." Shenzie followed behind, a large, dark Golden Retriever, all eyes and fur. Her haunches reached the woman's knees. "I guess this means your 'house problems' are all taken care of?"
"I'm really sorry to have put you out like this," Kristy said, hurriedly taking the leash. She almost snatched it from Laura's hands, and it left both of them staring at her in surprise. "…but-but it's really kind of a mess." Kristy reached behind herself and unlatched the knob, beginning to back out the door. "I should get going. It's a long drive back."
"Sure, Kris. I understand." Laura looked after her retreating form, still a little stunned. "But don't you want to stay for coffee or anything?"
"Oh no! No." Kris waved half-heartedly like a madwoman, before hurrying Shenzie into the car. She knew it was abrupt and more than strange.
But she couldn't do it.
She couldn't stand in that house and laugh. She couldn't talk and drink coffee, make herself feel comfortable, keep a smiling face on. It was wrong. How could her life go on like normal when there was so much…so much changed? She wasn't sure what it was. Seeing her sister and her husband was unnerving. And Legolas was a strange man, yes. Yes, the storms were strange too. Maybe they even were some kind of 'rip in time and space'…
But you know what? Life went on. So did everything else. Right? Coffee was still coffee. Chocolate was chocolate. And two times per week at the gym was routine. Period.
Kristy shook her head, trying to rid herself of the panicky, dark feelings threatening to engulf her. They were absurd. They didn't make sense. It was the dark, the cold and biting wind.
She slammed the door shut and pulled out, Shenzie in the back seat. It was a long drive. The skies faded into dark clouds coiling in the west, blocking the stars from view. It made her feel alone, watching the highway median reflectors speed past in a never-ending blur.
And then, she did something she told herself she wouldn't. It would only make things worse in the end. She was sure of it.
But she wanted to be distracted…from all of it, her tiredness, the dark. She found the audio book marked 'Fellowship of the Ring', the fantasy book where Legolas' name came from.
What could it hurt?
She listened awhile. The book was well-written. The introduction began with a prologue telling about 'hobbits' and elves, hobbit holes and woods filled with wonderful, magical things. It sounded like an actual history book. Kristy almost laughed. But she didn't feel like it. The miles sped by and she listened intently.
It was half-way through the book—Kristy was almost home—when Legolas appeared. Now it was getting interesting. According to the book, he was an elf. She listened more carefully. Shenzie was asleep in the back seat. Everything was quiet except the road. Traffic, a whining bleeping mass, was backed up for the roadblocks. They were stopped completely by the time she hit the city limits. Streams of red and white lights filled the windows.
So Kristy sat in the car, hands in her lap, focusing. Listening.
Legolas wasn't just any elf. He was a goddamn prince. And a messenger from his father, sent to the place called Imladris. Kristy couldn't laugh, and she couldn't switch it off either. She just soaked it in, feeling the warm purr of the heater on her face.
"ID please?"
She handed her driver's license out the window blankly. A mile on, the freeway finally cleared and she drove home. In the garage, under the complex, parked, the people in the book were on their way to someplace called Moria. They were out to destroy a ring…
A ring? How dangerous was that? Couldn't the author at least think of something believable?
Kristy shook her head at the end of the chapter, staring through the windshield, before shutting off the car and dragging Shenzie out. All of it was just plain ridiculous. Legolas wasn't an elf, and he certainly wasn't some prince.
Why his parents named him that? Why Legolas kept up such a ridiculous facade…she didn't know. But she couldn't help but wonder.
. . . .
. . . .
When Kristy opened the door, peering inside, the roll away couch was unfolded. Firelight licked at the walls and all the lights were off. All was quiet. All was still.
Maybe it was exhaustion, or maybe it was just late… but Kris smiled.
Elf or no, she thought, Legolas was beautiful. She crept closer until she could lean over him, letting the door snap quietly shut behind her. Her shadow fell across his face.
Legolas lay haphazardly in the rumpled sheets, wrapped in his own arms and a blanket. He'd thrown his shirt over the pillows. Firelight snapped and danced on the walls, on his shoulders, tinted his warm skin orange. He looked tired, serene, and perfect.
Kristy looked at him, sighing, wondering how such a creature could have stumbled into her life. There was just something about him…something she couldn't pinpoint. It was there and she knew it. The words in Tolkien's book floated through her head…myths, magic, good and evil. But an elf? An elf prince, no less?
Nope.
Who cared, anyway? The man curled on his side, fast asleep, this was who he was. He was Legolas. Strange? Yes, sometimes even frightening, but…handsome. And so goddamn interesting. And—
And suddenly, Shenzie wheezed and gave a great big yawn.
"Okay, okay." Kristy shook her head. "You're right."
A shower would help. She set a bowl of food out for the dog and got ready for bed. When she came out, rubbing her wet hair in a towel, she noticed some papers on the bed. They were perfectly innocent papers. They were tucked under his side. Curious, she reached out.
But Legolas' shoulders were broad. She was tired. It happened. Just when she was leant over him to take a look, her fingers nicked his ear. Instantly, he was awake.
Kris gasped.
Legolas' fingers were like a steel trap. He grabbed her wrist and wrenched down. She almost made a noise of pain. Legolas stared into the shadows lapping at the walls, eyes frozen, steely. They were icy blue and his heart pounded in his chest.
"L-legolas…I'm sorry," she rasped, pulling on her hand.
The warm, affectionate feelings were gone and she remembered what he looked like outside the hospital. Afraid and angry. He didn't flinch. He didn't let go. He was so strong it terrified her.
"Legolas, let me go!"
Legolas grimaced and very very carefully, gripping even tighter, he murmured, "Tis dangerous to wake a woodelf in the dark, Kristine."
Kris looked up, wild-eyed. "Let me go. Please."
And Legolas let her hand slide from his grasp. He didn't look at her, not quite, but he gazed into the abyss of the ceiling. He'd dreamt of darkness. Terrible things. They took no form. They haunted him like ghosts. He remembered pain, fear, loss…an old man, slipping from a cavernous ledge. He remembered a terrible shout, the crack of a whip, black and terrible.
It was a nightmare.
Kristy stared at him, unable to move, unable to breathe. His steel blue eyes were wide, startled and…and afraid.
"Legolas," she whispered, forgetting her hurting wrist. "A-are you all right?"
Slowly, Legolas turned his eyes to the ones above him. Then, without even knowing why, he breathed, "Balrog."
"What? I mean," she blinked. "...huh?"
Legolas was so still, so utterly silent Kristy started to pull away. The look in his eyes scared her. A person shouldn't wake up looking like that. A person's first reflex shouldn't be to grab the hand touching them. It wasn't right. It wasn't normal.
"Don't leave," he rasped. Legolas snatched out to catch her hand, but she was too fast. She didn't get up, not quite, but she backed away. "Please…do not leave me now, Kristine. We have fought both shadow and flame. I have come-come so very far. Do not leave me now."
Slowly, the tension eased a little.
"What was all that about?" She stared at him rigidly, her shadow dancing over the carpet. Kristy nodded with her chin. "Grabbing me? Growling out w-whatever that was?"
"I am sorry," he said quickly in English. Legolas knew what she meant. "You…roused me from dark dreams," he murmured quieter in his own tongue.
"Forgive you…that's it? No explanation?" she shook her head, more confused than angry now. He didn't even bother getting the dictionary. Legolas just pinched his lips together, refusing to answer more.
And Kris decided not to press it.
"Anyway, I…I'm sorry for waking you up. I didn't mean to."
He just stared at her, before nodding a little.
Legolas relaxed deeper in the blankets. They were fresh and warm, like laundered linen. The two looked at each other a long while, listening to the fire snap and burn. A gradual peace fell between them. Kristy felt the warmth of his body through the sheets. Meanwhile, Legolas worked his way out of the panicky feelings nightmares bring…
They weren't real.
He glanced around. This was real: the pillows, Kristine's hair glowing copper in the firelight, the dog. Legolas blinked. The dog?
"Kristine!" Legolas whipped his head up in shock. It was a dog! And it was bounding straight for him.
Kristy shouted and jumped up after her. It was too late. The mass of fur leapt onto the bed and crashed into him. He was too late to block the attack. Legolas let out a startled yelp and scrambled back, smothered in wet nose, silky hair and tongue. It was all over him!
"Kristine!" he shouted and they both hit the floor. A brief scuffle ensued. His first instinct was to grab the dog's neck and pull…but he refused. It wasn't attacking. He wouldn't kill it.
Legolas felt his side yank and he gasped in pain. The dog had her victory then. And almost as soon as it started, Kristy was dragging the dog off him and panting apologies.
"God, I'm sorry. Stop!" She held onto Shenzie's collar and clamped her arms around the dog's neck. Kris straddled her haunches and collapsed, sitting on her. "She's just upset and excited and-and-and-"
Legolas winced, holding his side. "Tis all right." He looked up, forcing himself off the floor. "What is that thing? You keep a street animal here in your home?"
She started pulling the creature into her bedroom.
"Huh?" Kris grimaced, shoving Shenzie inside and slamming the door shut. "I don't know. I'm sorry. I thought she was over that. She hasn't done it in months. I.."
Kris trailed off. Legolas had a hand curled around his ribs. He didn't say a word, but she saw the ooze of blood in his fingers. He used the wall for support. "Oh… God, I'm sorry."
"Never mind," he muttered in response, glancing to her wide eyes. He took a moment to slow his breathing, keeping the pain down, before looking up and down. "The stitches are still intact."
"Does it…does it hurt?" she asked tentatively, edging just close enough to see the wound. The stitches were like an ugly black caterpillar clinging to his side.
Legolas thought about pretending he didn't understand, but instead, he took the better option. Lying. He shook his head no.
"Good." Kris smiled, guilt etched all over her features. "I guess…I should get to bed then." She back stepped, looking horridly uncomfortable.
"No!" Legolas jolted too fast. It showed desperation. Weakness. So he forced his voice to come out more quiet, more even. He shrugged his shoulders and sat carefully down on the edge of the bed, pinching his ribs with the inside of his arm for the pain.
"I mean, no…stay. Please," he whispered more subdued.
English. Kristy was so startled at the words, she was too slow to think of an answer. Instead, she nodded reluctantly. "Oh, a-all right."
Legolas refused to admit it, not to anyone, but he was afraid. The horror of the dreams would return. He knew it. He was afraid he'd wake up in the dark. He'd be alone. Maybe he'd remember something about himself that he didn't want to.
He didn't want to be alone.
Legolas looked at Kristine. He felt the depression in the mattress as she slowly sat beside. Dark blood creeped up her face. It took a moment, glancing confused to Kristine's averted eyes and back, before making the connection and smiling. Legolas was bare-chested. She was doing that thing with her mouth again…a self-conscious, nervous twitch. It was almost worth exposing skin just to get that reaction from her.
But that was cruel.
Legolas reached back and pulled a shirt over his head, careful not to pull his arm.
"So…what now?" Kris asked quietly, staring at the fire. The room was still again, as Shenzie settled down in the bedroom.
Legolas didn't answer. As moments ticked into minutes, he began to feel sheepish for jumping at the chance to be with her. It was ridiculous. A full-grown man, a warrior…afraid of nightmares? Afraid to be alone in the night? It was unheard of.
But then again, the things that happened to him were unheard of.
When he glanced over, Kristy was looking at his papers. She was chewing the inside of her lip.
"Kristine..?"
She looked up.
Legolas nodded to the bedroom. "You can leave if you wish."
She glanced up at him. He was obviously upset. She could see it in his haunted eyes. "Something's wrong with you."
Her expression said it all. "I am alright."
He sighed. Or he would be. Once he got these ridiculous emotions under control.
Kristy couldn't think of anything to say. Nothing that could help or that he'd understand. And so, she tentatively reached up to his shoulder. It was nothing more than a touch, but as Legolas looked into the shadowed depths of her eyes, it soothed him.
Late in the night he relaxed back into the pillows, Kristy sitting next to him. She leaned on her knees, watched the fire and listened to the wind. Legolas wasn't sure how long they rested like that. But the next thing he knew sunlight was pouring through the closed drapes and he was blinking his eyes open. A blanket had been draped over him. The apartment was quiet and Kristy was gone.