A/N: Well, it was supposed to be up days ago, but I'm not kidding. I wrestled and fought with this one until I re-wrote it two or three times. I think I finally got it right now. x)
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Remember…today is just the tomorrow you worried about yesterday. - Unknown
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Legolas woke up to the smell of bacon frying. He cracked his eyes open, looking around blearily for the source, and he noticed Kristy wasn't in his arms. She must have been gone for some time too… He'd grown cold without her.
Another gust of that smell wafted to his nostrils and he looked to the kitchen with a furious blink. Breakfast.
Bless you, Kristy.
Legolas splashed through a shower and washed his hair, pulled on a dark hoodie, and came out into the kitchen. Morning streamed through the sheer curtains and bathed the kitchen in a sunny light.
Kris was at the stove, taking eggs off a burner and he crept up behind her. Legolas extended his hands, ready to touch her around the waist and-
"Hungry?"
Legolas laughed. Damn human body. If he were an elf, she'd never have heard him. To his further surprise, Kris turned around and…Legolas blinked.
"And what makes you smile like that, little girl?" he said, feeling brave enough to edge closer. She was positively shining.
Kristy backed up against the counter instead, still grinning like a madman, before fumbling behind her back. She pushed a plate of bacon and eggs into his chest.
"Eat."
Legolas was about to protest. The smell was heavenly though and he couldn't resist. "Aren't you going to have breakfast?" He nodded to the two other covered plates on the stove.
"Already have." She smiled, folding her arms and watching him slide up on the counter. The kitchen was sparkling clean too, Legolas noticed.
"Here." She set a glass of orange juice beside him, and a berry muffin.
He was about to thank her, still a little stunned at all this…when she touched his head. It was just like she used to, before all this: an affectionate pet. And a little more. It was a caress that lingered too long.
He liked it.
Kris stared at him the whole time he ate. She leaned on the counter across the kitchen and just watched.
The food was cooked to perfection. Yet Legolas couldn't bring himself to ignore her either. As he chewed, he ran his eyes up and down her frame. She looked so fresh and alive in morning light. Kris was already dressed in a fitted cotton shirt. She looped her thumbs through her belt loops, tilting her head to look at him more intensely, hair back in a shaggy ponytail.
And when he was finished, feeling her grinning eyes on him the entire time, he set the plate in the sink and brushed his teeth. He wasn't sure why she kept looking at him…but soon, it became a game. Things were so much simpler in cheery light.
He felt playful. Maybe things weren't so bad as they seemed. Legolas caught a glass from the counter and drank water down with a gulp, never taking his eyes off her. He even looked at her through the glass as he drank…and then something shifted inside.
This was a game, and he didn't like it. Under the playfulness, he felt it, no matter how light-hearted. The ease and then tension was tangible in the air. He felt it charge and release, back and forth, swell and then dissipate, riding wave after wave.
She just kept staring at him with that silly smile…as if daring him, asking him, warning him. And Legolas snapped.
"Kristy." He threw the glass in the sink with a bang and stalked across the kitchen.
He slammed into her and his mouth collided with hers in a flare of frustration and glee. He took a terrible chance. You never knew with Kristy. But to his mild shock, he felt her hands grab his hair in fistfuls and it felt oh, so good. She ran them down his shoulders, caressed his neck, and he kissed her fiercely, hungrily.
"Why?" he breathed, pulling himself from her mouth with a gasp. "W-why? What are we doing?"
"You did it. Not me."
"You let me!"
"… I know," she whispered, flashing another breathless smile.
"But it is impossible, anything more. You know this." Legolas shook his head, staring into her eyes.
He couldn't read them, not at all. But she nodded. And he gently yanked her closer, turning so they were sheltered from the brilliant, glaring sunlight. He ground his fingers in the small of her back, back and forth, round and round in circles.
"How can you do it? Don't you care that-that…" he grimaced, "I mean-"
"Yes?"
He furrowed his brows.
Kristy just cradled his neck in her hands, memorizing every curve and line of his face. And she asked for herself, because she had to know. She had to know what he really thought of her now.
"Legolas, what do you call someone who wants something so bad they don't care what it costs?"
"A fool." He answered immediately. He knew it. He was a fool.
"And someone who wants it so badly, they don't care who it hurts? Themselves? The other? Heartbreak no matter what happens?"
"Selfish," he hissed, and he was furious at himself for it.
But then he thought of the day…the day he would leave. And the centuries that would follow, remembering that he didn't try. He'd remember he pushed her away, kept his feelings at bay because he was afraid of losing them.
Then, when he was alone and he was without her forever, he would look back and wonder what he lost. All that time he wasted
And he'd miss her so much. So goddamn much.
Maybe he couldn't do it. Maybe he'd find a way home, staring into a flashing beam of light, the passage home, and he couldn't walk away. Maybe he wouldn't be able to leave her.
Kris dropped her head, nodding slightly. His words were realization and a little disappointment. It wasn't enough to make her pull away though. She knew, after all. She was selfish. She was a fool.
But so what? She knew what she wanted. She knew what she loved and what she didn't want to let go.
Legolas didn't notice her disappointment. He was occupied with kissing the spot just under her ear…slowly, deeply. He brushed his lips over hers, glancing over her face as she reached for him.
He wasn't wasting time now. He was enjoying it.
"Kiss me…" he whispered against her mouth. "I know you want to. Kristy-"
She covered his mouth, cutting him off. Kris slipped her finger over his bottom lip, back and forth, grazing his cheek with her hands. There were so many things she wanted to ask him. Do you love me? Is Tauriel right? Why wouldn't you answer me?
But she didn't.
What did this ache in her chest matter if he didn't feel the same way? Tauriel's words played over and over in her head.
Was there a part of him…no matter how small, no matter how insignificant, that dreaded leaving here? Was Tauriel just a fantasy to him and a symbol of home?
Of course there was. Whether he knew it or not, a part of him felt what she did. And she didn't want to let go of that part.
"Legolas…" Kris whispered.
Legolas just smiled. He didn't know what made the icy wall between them melt. But it didn't matter. She was here and she smelled so good. She was warm. She wanted to touch him and feel his hair, stroke his neck and she didn't pretend not to.
Legolas smiled, slowly pulling the tie from her ponytail. And he ran his fingers through the locks, deftly combing the strands behind her ears.
"No more fighting," he said quietly.
And she nodded.
"No more riddles." He said even quieter, "…no games."
Kristy leaned forward and still nodding, slipped her head under his chin and hugged him. And he smiled harder, folding his arms around her. She rifled her hands up under his shirt. His skin was warm and she curled and uncurled her fingers, stroking his back.
"Why are you so happy?" he asked softly.
Wasn't it just last night she was telling him this was a reprieve? It was as if she was as desperate to grab the time they had left as he was.
"I heard some things," she said nondescriptly, fingering the muscles dip of his spine. He shivered a little. "And I've been doing some thinking," she admitted, that irresistible smile still tugging at her mouth.
And he kissed it off. "I'm glad. I'm tired of fighting with you."
"And hearing about Roger?" she smothered the laugh and it came out a repulsive giggle. Kristine was not a giggled.
The grin drained from his face. "What about him?"
"I-"
And suddenly, the door outside opened. Legolas looked up with a start. Kris broke off, twisting in his arms. He didn't let go of her though. Not quite. Estel and Tauriel walked in.
If it were any other time, or she was any less deliriously happy to be in his arms, Kris would have yanked herself out of his crooked hug. But as it was, Legolas smiled at the intruders, and he rested his chin on her head.
"Breakfast on the stove." He nodded with his eyes.
Estel just threw a strange, silent glance and went on his way. Kris couldn't help but notice the distant, estranged look in Tauriel's eyes as she passed by and disappeared into the bathroom.
Kristy sighed. She wanted to stay tucked under his arm forever; he felt so good. So warm. But today was her first day of running the store herself. She had to.
"Legs…I gotta go to work," she whispered as Estel sat down to eat. The ranger was quiet, even more quiet than normal, but she couldn't let that bother her. Not right now.
"Ah…" he groaned aloud. "Why?"
"You know why. Please just take Shenzie out this afternoon like normal, huh?"
He shook his head. "How about if I take you out?"
She laughed, twisting in his arms to peer up at him. "Out where?"
"For a walk? Tonight."
"I don't need you to walk me."
Legolas laughed. "Nay. But tonight, we will walk home anyway. Agreed? Through the park?"
"Isn't it a little cold?"
Legolas grinned at that. This was the best part. "Look at the temperature gauge."
"It's-" and she blinked, staring at the thermometer in disbelief. "…forty-three?"
Legolas nodded slyly, enjoying her reaction. "It seems you can count on nothing, even a Minnesota winter. So it is settled. We will walk home."
"When the Christmas lights are on?" she smiled before she could stop, whipping around in his arms.
He nodded. "Five o'clock. Wait for me."
"Promise?" She reached for the door handle, trying not to leave.
He stood so close it was intoxicating. It made her heart beat wildly and she felt excited, impatient for later and loathe at the same time.
Maybe things would change by tonight. He always kept his promises, but…but maybe he wouldn't want to. He'd realize what he was doing was stupid, so stupid he shouldn't encourage it.
And there was real worry in her voice.
Legolas just grinned and pressed his lips to her forehead, combing her hair aside He lingered longer than he had to. And he whispered. "…Precious thing, I promise."
. . . . . .
At four thirty o'clock, Kris looked up with a start at the dingle of the shop bell, and she felt footsteps behind her. A single thought struck.
Legolas.
Kristy inwardly sighed in relief, but she didn't turn. She was so worried he wouldn't come! Aragorn would talk him out of it, or he'd talk himself out of it. He wouldn't show and she'd take a taxi home, alone, wondering why he didn't come, asking herself if it was something she did or not…
And suddenly, two hands covered her eyes and she leapt.
"Guess who?"
Kristy's heart dropped into her stomach. The hands were meaty and not large enough for Legolas. She blinked furiously under the darkness of his hands– "Roger."
. . . . . .
Fifteen to five.
Kristine would be free in just a few minutes. Legolas strode down the sidewalk and reveled in the warm wind as it blew through the city. It was so unpredictable, the weather, especially with the storms. Kris said they stirred the atmosphere, upset normal weather patterns, brought on storms and heatwaves at will.
It certainly felt like it today.
Legolas opened his coat and shook his unruly hair, pushing it back with his hands. The setting sun was warm and the evening lights winked and blinked in the dusky sky. Tiny, spinning droplets of water poured from the rooftops— melting snow.
He smiled inside. Kristy would love it tonight.
And then as he walked, a pain built suddenly in his lower abdomen and he grimaced. He stopped a moment, catching his breath as a wave of dizziness swept over him. The pain eased up and he held his belly, using a wall for support. Then he gasped aloud as it came back in full force.
Everything felt hollow and too real. It hurt. He heard the screech of tires, voices like they were thunderous; the cacophony of city noises was deafening. He held his head and tried to block it out.
Legolas' hearing was always sensitive: he knew that. Things that didn't bother Kristine hurt his ears. He sensed things before she did. But this…this was something else. It was wrong. It was like fever, but not. Pain and weakness.
And almost as soon as it was there, it faded to nothing, leaving him breathless. He hissed through his teeth, grabbing the wall in a vice-like grip…before pushing on. His muscles loosened again and he felt better again after a few blocks. Every step loosened the pain a little more.
Hopefully he was catching a flue.
Soon he was close to the glass storefront, traffic whizzing by like before. He saw a car parked in the alley nearby. He slowed down.
Movement inside the window made him glance in. Kristy was there, yes…and so was Roger.
Legolas' eyes darkened.
The door wheezed shut behind the prince—a pathetic excuse for an entrance. Legolas walked slowly into the store, still stiff from the pain. He stuck his hands in his pockets, pushing it down and curling them into fists.
"uh-" Kris broke off from what she was saying. They were talking about the heatwave melting the snow outside. "Luke! Ha, um, fancy seeing you here."
Roger spun around in surprise, pulling dark hands out of his cargo pants. Legolas didn't move. He just stared at the Marine very quiet, and very still.
"So this guy bugs you at work, too?" Roger laughed, genuinely curious.
"'Course not. I mean, it's almost closing time anyway…" Kristy said a little awkwardly, glancing between them. She wanted Legolas to say something, defend himself. But he just looked at Roger with a smoldering stare.
"Great." Rog's eyes never leaving Legolas' blue ones. You could dice the tension in the air with a knife. "Since you're almost off work then, we can get out of here, Kris."
Instantly Legolas stiffened. "Is there a reason for your presence here?"
"Actually, he was inviting me to a New Year's party tomorrow night." Kristy explained quickly, "Wasn't that nice?"
"Divine," he agreed with a tiny, sardonic smile. His eyes never left Roger's. But surprisingly, the man didn't break his gaze. He was used to men wilting under his most princely 'stand down, scum' stare. It was unnerving. "What did you answer him?" He turned to Kristy.
"I said… I said yes."
Legolas jolted inside, but he kept absolutely still. "What?"
"I said I'd go if you would." She said, glancing between them, "I-it's okay if Luke comes, right?"
Surprise flashed over Roger's face. But he was quick to wipe it off and he shrugged. "I guess. Sure." He turned to Legolas with a feral grin. "I should warn you though…there'll be a lot of Marines at the party."
Legolas arched a dark brow. It was the last thing he wanted to say, but pride and dignity made him answer smoothly. "I look forward to it."
An awkward moment passed. Kristy found Legolas' stare and it drew her in, as if asking a thousand questions, demanding a thousand questions, with just a single quirk of his mouth and that tilt to his head.
"So," Roger drew out, spinning around to look at her. "Kris, gonna let me drive you home then?"
And she blinked, as if broken from the trance. She shook her head. "No, sorry I can't. Luke's walking me home."
"I see." He agreed with an acquiescing nod. What the marine was thinking, Legolas couldn't tell. But he'd give a family heirloom to find out.
And that was that.
Ten minutes later, Legolas pushed the glass door open and 'helped' Kris out with a light push. He kept a grip on her coat as they strode down the sidewalk, and he didn't even notice the flashing orange, pinks and blues radiating from the warm sunset in the west. Not this time.
"What was that all about?" he hissed when they were out of earshot. He pushed along and as soon as they were around the corner, pulled to a stop and spun around. "What do you mean-" he switched to a high, cracking Kristy voice. "I'll go if you will?"
She stifled a giggle.
And he snapped back to his own voice, glaring fiercely. "Are you mad, Kristine?"
"Legs, listen. There's something going on here. I just have to find out what it is!"
"What are you talking about?" he asked. "I told you that man was trouble from the beginning." The elf leaned closer, so close he felt her sharp intake of breath at his nearness. "What are you up to, Kristine?"
"Honestly?"
He blinked. "Honestly."
"I need your help," she confessed.
Well that was unexpected.
A part of him thought she wanted to run around with the man still. And it made him angry. Perhaps not? Legolas folded his arms, sheltered in the wet alley. He leaned sideways on the brick wall.
"Care to explain?" he inquired.
Kristy sighed, scrubbing her eyes with two fists. "Okay. I…I learned something about Roger the other day. Legs, he's playing something, and I'm not sure what. I need you to help me find out."
"What did you learn?" he glanced over her face.
"He's gay!" Kris said flatly. "And it just doesn't make since."
"He has every right to be happy." He objected, "And he seemed perfectly content to me."
"Happy?" Kris said. "Oh! No no, not 'happy' gay. I mean gay gay."
Legolas narrowed one eye.
"He likes… men?" she trailed off, looking at him as if he should know what she was talking about. "Not women, like me. You know."
And suddenly, Legolas blinked, standing bolt upright. "Oh!" He shuddered out a fast, shaking breath as understanding dawned. Men. "Oh, I…I see. I see what you mean."
"Yeah."
Legolas shook his head. "How in Arda did you come across that information, Kristine? You didn't…" he grimaced. "you didn't walk in at an opportune time?"
Kristy burst out laughing. "No! God no, Laurie told me. She didn't know anything about us, of course. She just mentioned it. But that doesn't change anything. We have to find out why Roger's doing this."
"I see," he murmured, processing the information.
Kris nodded vigorously.
"Well, dragging him down a little further in your eyes?" Legolas smiled fiercely, nipping her chin with a finger. And she laughed a little. "Proving I was right all along? I should look forward to that."
. . . . . .
That night, Kristy looked out over the city in the dark. The air was crisp and cool on the twenty-fifth floor, a perfect vantage point. She was curled up in a corner of her balcony seat, swinging gently back and forth in the breeze.
Water dripped off the gutters and landed on the rail, ping…ping, ping. She listened to it with a deep sense of comfort.
The night was so quiet here. She heard faint laughter from inside, a rare, deep chuckle. Estel had persuaded Tauriel to play cards with him. Their voices drifting through the open screen door were like magic. It was so good to hear.
And suddenly, a hand brushed hers. "Mind if I sit?"
Kris jolted, lifting her head. "What?"
Legolas smiled, glancing at the other side of the seat. "May I?"
"Oh! O-of course." She shuffled up quickly. "Sure."
Legolas dropped down heavily beside.
Kris wondered at that. He was usually so lithe and graceful. Legolas had an arm wrapped protectively around his middle. Maybe he was feeling a little off…
Legolas sighed heavily. The cushion tied to the seat frame was old and damp from the snow. Kristy had a plush blanket over it.
He folded one leg under him and used the other on the floor to keep them still, settling in the warm, dry blanket. He looked at her.
It was as if something played over and over in her head, keeping that happy light in her eyes. Legolas couldn't fathom what it was. They were like the stars, cool and gleaming in the dark.
"Come here," Legolas urged suddenly. Kristy had her legs curled up between them, and he didn't like it. She was too far away. He pushed gently on her knees to get them down. "Come on."
To his surprise, she pushed off the cushion without hesitation and sidled up next to him. She even buried her fingers in his sweater. Legolas smiled.
He wasn't sure why she liked him in this hoodie. It was comfortable, but she couldn't feel that. Maybe it was warm. Maybe she liked how he felt in it. Maybe she liked how it smelled.
"Thank you," she said quietly.
It surprised him a little, as the tension in his torso eased. "For what?"
A few moments passed. Kristy breathed softly, reveling in the warm gust of wind and his breath in her hair. "You know."
"No, I don't," he said honestly.
"For coming with me tomorrow… For helping me with Roger."
He smiled, gently crossing his arms around her shoulders to keep her close. Ah. So that was it. She didn't trust the marine either.
But then she spoke again.
"And…for always being here." She whispered softer yet, into his shirt, "…no matter how much I'm scared you'll leave."
Legolas grew silent again. He should have known. With her, there was always something more. And the words disturbed him more than they should have.
Legolas wanted to be here. A part of him that loved sitting outside when it was dark and cool, resting his face in her hair. The part that liked looking out over the city at night. So many lights, as if they were stars, the river twisting through the city and sparkling in the dark.
"Don't thank me," he said softly.
It wasn't a favor. And it wasn't selfless.
Legolas' thoughts drifted back. He didn't know what happened that night, when he saw Kristine driving away. It was as if he had a glimpse of the future.
His eyes were opened and he knew why sometimes, this world could seem so beautiful to him. Why he was so confused, why this world meant as much to him as it did. Because it was where he met a girl.
"I don't care why you're out here with me," she mumbled softly.
Legolas shifted, glancing down. How did she know exactly what he was thinking?"Even if I'd prefer to be inside, alone?"
Kristy's breath froze. "Would you?"
He smiled gently, and said a little more playfully, "No."
She exhaled and hit him in the side. "You-" Kris jolted, shocked. Legolas cursed himself for flinching so violently, but he blinked it away fast. It was such a gentle hit. It was affectionate, not brutal. But it hurt and he didn't know why. Kristy didn't miss it.
"I…" she looked up and down, gently feeling his side where she hit him. As if she couldn't believe she'd hurt him.
"Tis alright." He assured her quickly, "It was nothing. I do not feel well, today. That is all."
"I'm sorry. Are you're alright?"
Legolas nodded. "Perfectly."
"I…" She whispered, still unsure. "okay."
But it wasn't quite 'okay'. Kris wouldn't even rest her head on his chest again until he coaxed her back.
"Tell me about yourself, Kristine," he said, to distract her.
Legolas used his boot to gently sway them back and forth, forward…back, as they looked through the rusty rails over the city. It calmed her and they lapsed into comfortable quiet again.
"You know everything about me." She said finally, a little muffled in his chest, "What's to tell?"
"Have you always worked for Corby?" he asked, curling and uncurling his fingers in her hair.
"No."
There was something a little uncomfortable in her voice. Something she didn't want to talk about.
"What did you do before that?" he encouraged.
Kris apparently thought about it a long while. "Do you really wanna know?"
"Of course."
"You won't believe me."
Legolas had to know now. "Oh tell me, already!"
"Well, when I graduated high school, I…I wanted to do police work," she admitted softly.
Legolas blinked. "You mean, like the ones who patrol the city?"
"Kind of. I actually completed the classes and special training. And my dream was to someday get into a…oh, never mind."
"Kristy, tell me. Were you going to join the military?"
"No." She sighed softly. "I wanted to work my way into special opps, become a SWAT officer. It doesn't really matter. Really it doesn't. It was a long time ago… Just a dumb twerp's dream."
"Kristine, how is it that I never knew this?"
She shrugged.
Legolas shook his head. "But why? Why did you stop? Why would you want to do something like this at all?"
Somehow, he couldn't imagine little Kristine patrolling the broken, crime-filled streets of assaulted Minneapolis with a gun belted to her hip.
But then, there was the time in the park…when she hadn't thought twice about kicking his legs out from under him. And he remembered the fight in the woods, the pistil she was used to handling, how she shot the troll between the eyes …
Maybe it wasn't blind luck. He remembered her pinning him in the snow.
"Can we please not talk about it?" she whispered in a rush. "I didn't make it, simple as that. I'm not cut out for it, that's all."
He breathed softly. It wasn't all; he knew that. There was so much more to this story. But now wasn't the time. "We don't have to talk about it," he said.
And Kristy nodded slightly, content to rest the side of her face in his shirt.
"Tell me about when you were a child, a young child growing up." He asked instead, "What was it like?"
She let out a sigh. "Oh, Legolas! That's not interesting either. I'd much rather hear about yours."
Legolas chuckled deep in his throat, trying and succeeding to lighten the air again. "Trust me, you know more of my childhood than you ought."
"Like?"
"Like…I trained. I told you that. And well, I spent relentless energies getting around my tutors. I became a warrior of my people. And I have spent the last two centuries driving evil from our lands. Simple. Rather tedious, actually. Quite boring."
Kristy laughed and buried her face in his chest, so hard he felt her shoulders shake.
"What is so funny?"
"You!" She sniffed. "You think growing up an elf prince, living all your life in the leafy green-" and she hiccupped. "You think fighting off spiders and a demon lord from your elfly kingdom is boring?!"
Well, put like that, it didn't sound very likely. But it just wasn't like that. What she didn't fathom was the years, every day…day in, day out, just the same. Every day just like the last, just like the next. Kristy didn't understand.
"You have a rather rosy view of my life, Kristine. I will tell you about it then, if you insist."
"Really?"
He smiled, before glancing down. Kris peeked up at him from under a fringe of hair, and he brushed it aside, feeling his smile grow. How could something so simple make her so happy?
"Yes." He touched the tip of her nose. "So get comfortable."
Legolas shifted down and settled into the cushions. She nodded vigorously, and shuffled deep in his arms. There was a narrow wicker table set up on the tiny balcony, and Legolas propped his boots up on that.
"Okay, go," she whispered excitedly.
Legolas couldn't stop his grin. He just couldn't understand. She was so…so eager, so elated. Why? But it made him feel incredibly good. Legolas squeezed a brief hug out of her.
"The greenwood is beautiful, Kristine." He said softly, wistfully, "It is alive. When you visit the trees there, they don't let you go. They become a part of you. Forever. The trees there are older than even I am; you feel that as you walk in them. They are wise and as summers pass, that wisdom grows.
When the sun is out, when it filters through the branches and warms the earth, when the trees sing in the wind…" Legolas trailed off.
Kris gazed through the rails, before lifting them to Legolas.
"It's home. It's everything." He murmured, "Or…at least I thought so."
"Thought so?"
"Now…" he said it like a question, one to himself.
"What do you think now?" Kris whispered faintly.
"Now I…" he sighed. "I wish the choice was easy."
She looked at him. Choice.What choice? There was a choice?
"Legolas…" she asked suddenly, heart pounding in her ears. "You mean you haven't decided yet?"
Legolas exhaled, scanning the starlit sky. Sitting here, holding her, swaying back and forth in the still breeze. He just didn't know.
"Legolas?" She slipped a hand up his chest. Kristy reached to touch his chin. "Legolas? Do you mean you…you might not go back?"
Legolas shook his head. He was so comfortable here, right now, so content. Could he leave this? Her? "Oh, Kristine. I do not know."
It was selfish. She knew that.
But an unreasonable hope flared in her chest and she buried her face in his chest anyway. There was hope. He might not leave. He might stay. He might.
And that wasn't what made her happy. A place deep down didn't want him to do that. But that he even thought about it! The idea crossed his mind, he wrestled at all with what tore her heart in pieces.
It meant after all this, even after all the fears and the fights, how he hated this world…he cared. It wasn't the traffic and the crummy apartment that made him fight like this. It was her. It had to be.
"Tell me more," she urged him, fingering the drawstring hanging from his hood. She couldn't press it now. And she couldn't corner him. Kristy drew back and asked. "What it was like growing up, please?"
It took a little while, but eventually, his fingers began stroking her hair again. "I grew up a prince of my people," he began again quietly. "…in every respect. All the tedious ceremonies, the name to uphold. I was always missing functions, feasts, welcoming parties. My brother sometimes would even cover for me when I just-"
And Kristy let out a muffled sound of surprise and bolted upright. "…brother."
Legolas blinked.
"Brother?" she gasped. "You have a brother?"
"Why yes," he said, as if it were obvious.
"W-why the heck haven't you told me that?" she gaped at him like a fish out of water.
"Heck? Watch your language." He frowned playfully, before taking his thumbs and running them across the crease in her brow. "And don't fret so. I thought you knew?"
"No!" she protested. Kris was about to say out that the books never mentioned this, not ever!
…Before remembering he didn't know about those books. She quickly snapped her mouth shut, realizing he wouldn't take that information well. Legolas knew there were stories and legends about him, of course, which was how she knew so much about Estel and his quest. But not in so much detail.
"Tell me about him!"
"Manwe Kristine, I thought you knew." Legolas drew her loosely back into his arms, shaking his head. "You knew so much else of my world..."
"But you never mentioned him."
"Well it…it is difficult," he admitted. "We were close, my brothers and I. Tanlen, it is especially so for him. He was gone from us so very young, you see."
"Tanlen?"
"My youngest brother," he clarified.
Kris could hardly process this. "You have two brothers."
"Yes, but let me explain. My eldest brother is Gwaethir. And he is quite a few years older than I," Legolas said. "Tanlen was but a babe when he sailed to Valinor with…my father's sister. The forest was growing dark and it was not safe for children so young. It was for the best, and yet terribly difficult. It left only me and Gwaethir."
She nodded slowly, before craning her neck back and looking up at him. "So you're not the oldest?"
He shook his head. "No. I am the youngest at home, actually."
And Kristy went still. That meant— "But I thought you were the crown prince!" she spilled out before she could think.
Legolas blinked.
Kris pulled out of his arms, shuffling around to face him. "You're not the crown prince?"
He shook his head.
"Gwaethir is. You won't be king?"
Legolas appeared uncomfortable for some reason. She wanted him to be ruler. She wanted him to have power, or riches…maybe influence. "Does the thought bother you?" he asked, somehow dreading the answer.
"No. Legolas, I love it. This is wonderful. I mean, it's bad enough that you're a prince. But king?"
Legolas felt a smile tug at his mouth as she visibly shuddered.
"I'm so glad." Kristy sighed, "You're just a prince in name only, then. And you're probably just a worthless playboy prince too, you creep."
Legolas laughed. "Well even we princes in 'name only' must keep to his king's law," he was quick to quip back, revenge for scaring him so.
"What?"
His voice dropped low and he said deadly serious. "We royalty are all celibate, Kristine. No philandering for me."
And Kristy went very still.
"Is something wrong?"
"C-… celibate?"
And then…Legolas threw his head back and laughed. That face!
"Oh, you creep." She smacked him hard in the chest. He crowed harder. "That's not funny!"
Legolas lost his breath and snorted. Then he wiped his face and when he calmed down again, he said breathlessly. "No, it wouldn't indeed. What fun is that?"
"How could royalty possibly be celibate, you idiot?" She poked him in the chest. "What do you think I am, dumb? Obviously your dad had you." "
And his voice dropped to a delighted hum, deep in his throat. "Then what was that face for, precious thing?" He'd laughed so hard he was on his back. Kris just folded her arms, glaring at him through his knees. "Afraid I couldn't properly satisfy a lover?"
The humor was still there, Kristy heard it. But so was a suggestive huskiness. He was panting from the exertion of laughing so hard. His face was flushed for one reason or another: amusement, embarrassment maybe.
So perfect. Was all she thought stupidly. So unreachable.
He quirked a smile, still looking at her through his parted knees. "Because I could, you know."
"I couldn't care less." She tilted her eyebrows. "And I'll bet a creep like you has never even had a girlfriend, much less been a philanderer."
Legolas shot upright and shuffled into his earlier position, propping his boots on the little table. To his vague shock, or maybe not, Kristy twisted around and settled back in his arms just like before. Her back was to him now.
"Girlfriend," he asked, knowing perfectly well what she meant. Legolas locked his arm around her waist with one and stroked her hair with the other. She sighed and leaned into it. "Don't you mean how many lovers have I had?"
Kris frowned. She didn't know how the conversation switched to that so fast, but she didn't like it. Or maybe she did… She wasn't quite sure.
But Kris was immensely comfortable here, and despite his titillating whisper, he was joking. Legolas was relaxed and warm, setting them to swaying again, back and forth.
"Well, how many?" she asked grudgingly.
"Mm…lovers?" he clarified.
"Yeah."
"Hm. Not too many."
Listening to the distant city noises and rocking gently in the seat, Kris was tempted just to ignore it. Maybe he was joking. Maybe he just wanted to be funny, or bug her…Something. But she couldn't resist.
"Alright, I know this is a mistake, Legs. And I don't know how we got from your family to this, but I think I wanna know anyhow." Legolas shifted comfortably under her, and Kristy twisted around to see him. "Well?"
"Not many." He echoed again, grinning, "Don't you trust me?"
"But Legolas, I-"
Footsteps on the balcony made them look up. Drat. Now she'd never find out!
"Who would like something to eat?"
Kristy peered up at the platter of bread and cheese, fruit and water a certain, unshaved ranger offered.
"Estel." Legolas muttered, before asking in Sindarin, "Why now, of all times?"
Aragorn just smiled. He was waiting for a lull in that conversation, and this was an opportune time. "You are trying to impress her." He said in a quiet voice, "That is why."
"So?"
He handed Kristy a thick slice of meat and a slab of cheese. "So you are the most inexperienced elf in all of Greenwood when it comes to love, and you know it. You are too busy with the trees to play with maidens."
"That doesn't mean she must know that!" Legolas protested.
"- What are you guys talking about?" Kris glared up at the elf.
But he was saved by the entrance of Tauriel. Estel slid the platter onto the low table by Legolas' boots, and before Kris quite knew what happened, all four of them were settled down comfortably. Tauriel stared at the moonlit river from atop the banister, Aragorn cross-legged on the floor with his back to the rusty rails.
"It's not nice to talk in foreign tongues," Kristy chided. Her Westron was bad enough as it was. Legolas already talked in Westron most of the time now, and Sindarin was just impossible.
"Forgive us," Estel merely smiled. "…But tell me, Kristine, how does this government of yours work?"
"Our…our government?"
"Yes." He murmured, eating a handful of nuts, "I have witnessed many a country's ruling system, and yet nothing quite like yours."
So she launched into as much of what she could remember from high school government classes, still wondering what those two said, and wondering how he possibly thought she'd know anything about this.
She wasn't sure how long they talked. It didn't stay long on that topic though, and Kristy rested comfortably in the crook of Legolas' arm, enjoying it immensely as the tide of the conversation shifted and lapsed into heady laughter and perfect, quiet spots.
It was the most she'd ever heard the Ranger speak, even if Legolas talked more than her.
So Kris fell asleep sometime in the night; she knew it because the world went dark and hazy. Her last vision was tiny embers in a long pipe lighting Aragorn's face in the dark.
The sweet smell of smoke wafted on the breeze. It was a discussion on the fine points of Shire weed now, or something like that, and also the disgusting points of the sport. Tauriel couldn't care less either way. And Legolas didn't seem to like the stuff at all... He fanned even the whisper of smoke away with a disgusted, playful snort.
Figures.
Either way, it all felt incredibly good.
. . . . . . .