An- Hey everyone! As you can tell, here is our newest part (which is not a rewrite). So, much like the part with Saruman, we did not get to write the extended post- Helm's Deep party because ROTK extended version hadn't come out. That made me very sad, because drinking game? Niori would be all over that! So, that one of the things I did with this part. The second is giving some more Eomer/Carla interaction, because, quite frankly, there wasn't nearly enough in the original story. Enjoy!

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Carla wove her way through the crowd, dodging bodies as she went. The room was too damn crowded for her tastes, but the person she wanted to talk to was here. Finally, after a good five minutes of trying to reach him, Carla came to stand beside Eomer.

"Seems we've met again after all," she said, causing his attention to shift from the drinking game going on in front of him.

She hadn't had a chance to talk with him since he and the riders had saved the day at Helm's Deep. The funniest part is that she actually wanted to talk to him. She had only met the guy once and spoken to him all of ten minutes, yet Carla had been sorely disappointed that there had been so much going on that she hadn't been able to say anything. Yet here there was nothing stopping her, and she shocked herself by actually carrying through, especially since she had no idea how Eomer would react.

He looked surprised at first, but his expression quickly turned to a pleased one, "Seems we have."

Carla smiled a little at that, but didn't reply as she turned her attention to the antics of Legolas, Gimli and Niori. Eomer did the same, and the silence went on between them. It wasn't an awkward silence though. It was somehow comfortable, which to Carla made no sense.

"Where did your other friend go?" Eomer asked a moment later.

Carla couldn't help but laugh, "She was too embarrassed to come back in after their little dance, so she went to bed."

"I see your other friend has no such problem," he said as he nodded to a laughing Niori.

"Niori doesn't understand the concept of embarrassment," Carla replied dryly.

"What about you?"

"I guess I fall in the middle," she said after a moment, "but then again I wouldn't climb up on a table and dirty dance in a room full of people, so the point is moot."

"Shame really."

Carla laughed and looked over at him, grinning, "Believe me, it's really not; I'm a terrible dancer."

Carla had no idea where this flirty streak was coming from, but she was enjoying it. She never let loose like this. It was fun.

"I find that hard to believe," he replied, "I've seen you fight, and you're far from awkward or clumsy. You're quite graceful actually."

"Boy, you know how to pay a girl a compliment," Carla was smiling at that, "But I don't know. The minute you try and make me move to music, it's not a pretty sight."

"Perhaps all you need is lessons."

"Maybe if you're offering, I'll accept."

His eyebrows rose when she said it, "I know you wouldn't know the kind of dancing I'm used to, but I'm sure we could work something out. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go get my cousin out of here before does something everyone will regert. Talk to you later."

"I'll make sure of it," he said as she once again began to make her way through the crowd, "Goodbye Carla."

Carla paused and turned around to face him with a smile, "Bye Eomer."

With that she continued to move, that little smile still on her face. The flirty banter was fun; usually she avoided it, finding it rather forced and kind of awkward. But she and Eomer seemed to on the same page. Hopefully they did it again soon. She couldn't wait.

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Partying was something Niori was good at. Really good at. The partying thing was going so well that Niori wanted to indulge in another thing she excelled at. That other thing was drinking, so when a drinking game was purposed, she was in. Niori sauntered up to that table liked she belonged there, looked around at her competition and announced her intentions.

"There any bets on this?" She asked, "Or is pride the only thing at stake? Because I'm good either way."

Incredulous looks were thrown her way from the men of Rohan, but Gimli and Legolas looked amused and unsurprised. In fact, they would have been more shocked had she not wanted to join in.

"Lass-" one of the men began to speak, his voice holding that kind of warning tone. Clearly he wanted to tell her that this wasn't a good place for her, for her own good of course. Gimli snorted, cutting off the rest of the man's words.

"Believe me lad, the girl could drink the lot of you under the table."

"Gimli," she beamed at him, "you say the sweetest things!" then she looked at the crowd around her, "You're talking to the drinking champion of Bayside High School. I'm Canadian, drinking is in our genes. Bring it on boys."

Niori had her work cut out for her. A Dwarf and an Elf were stiff competition. She was willing to bet that, good as this stuff probably was, it was nothing compared to the tequila back home, and that was what had gotten them all plastered back in her world. Here, she bet the two of them would last longer. Legolas had mentioned the tolerance level of Elves, and Gimli would have a high tolerance due to sheer habituation.

Oh well. Niori did love a challenge.

The surprise of her entry was gotten over quickly, because the ground rules were being laid out.

"No pauses, no spills"

"And no regurgitation!" Gimli's proclamation was met with laughter from the men around them.

While Gimli was practically jumping with excitement, Legolas was still looking sceptical, maybe a little distasteful. Niori cocked an eyebrow at him, a Cheshire cat smile spreading across her lips.

"Scared you're going to lose to a Dwarf or a teenage girl?"

Legolas's eyes narrowed, and Niori almost snickered at how well she knew how to play him. Legolas had a competitive streak a mile long, and Niori knew exactly what to say to bring it out.

"Of course not," he replied, and Niori tipped the mug she was holding in his direction.

"Last one standing wins!" Gimli announced, and then it was on.

Gimli finished his drink before she did, but Niori finished hers before Legolas. When she put the mug down, everyone (except Legolas and Gimli) was looking at her in anticipation. She figured that they were waiting for her to choke or gag or do something equally girly now that she had taken her first drink.

"Not as good as a good Canadian beer, but this is damn fine stuff," Niori smirked at them all, "next one please."

A roar of laughter and admiration went through the crowd.

Years of unhealthy drinking habits had made her tolerance levels high, so five mugs later she was still going strong. An equal number of years of drinking contests had taught her that there was more to winning than just drinking. Being able to hold your liquor was only one part, and the rest of it was all psychological. One of Niori's biggest advantages was that, more often than not, the competition underestimated her. That time that was not going to work in her favour- both Legolas and Gimli knew who they were dealing with. Her second advantage was that, as in most things, she was willing to play dirty. From years of experience, she knew that distraction was the key. Personal experience told her that her kind of distraction worked every time."

When she leaned forward to grab her next mug, Niori made sure that an ample amount of cleavage was showing. Over the years, she had perfected the appearance that she was about to fall out of her top even when she wasn't. The ploy worked, because almost every pair of eyes was drawn down to her chest, including Legolas, who faltered in his drinking. He then spent a few moments staring before Niori straightened back up, before he shook himself and got back to the task at hand. It wasn't a hundred percent effective, because Gimli made no sign of even noticing, let alone being distracted. He just kept drinking, though Niori wasn't surprised. She knew for a fact that Gimli saw her as some sort of little sister, and would tell her to cover up before ogling her. That was okay, because the act wasn't meant for him. Niori had pegged Legolas as her main competition, and was doing her best to throw him off his game.

Losing to Gimli would suck, but losing to Legolas would be painful. Her competitive streak was just as bad as his.

Besides her almost flashing him (which, worse came to worse, Niori was not opposed to doing if it came right down to it), Legolas was looking a hundred percent. While Gimli was obviously drunk by now. At least that's the impression Niori was getting based on his outburst about hairy, naked women (Niori really, really didn't want to know). Not that Niori wasn't feeling it herself. Her head was swimming, and everything had taken on a giddy sheen. Her inhibitions (not that she had many while sober) were drifting away, and any worry Niori could possibly feel were long gone. It didn't mean her mind was gone. Whatever else could be said, when it came down to it, Niori was a smart drunk as long as it didn't have to do with sex. If she had a task, especially one as important as winning, she could continue and complete it.

Her clearer mind could also be attributed to the fact that, unbeknownst to the other two, she hadn't had as much to drink. The first thing she had taken note of was that the rules were last one standing. It had said nothing about how much had to be drunk, or that they had to be on par with each other. That was a loophole that Niori had been exploiting for as long as she could. The louder Gimli had gotten, the more attention had been on him, and the less attention on the drink count. All she had to do was slow down a bit and make sure her empty mugs were mixed in with Gimli's pile of empties, and no one was the wiser. She was only a few drinks behind, but it was making all the difference. It wasn't cheating, but it wasn't exactly fair either.

But really, winning was winning, and Niori had a reputation to keep up.

She figured that, it was about time to take another swipe at her competitors.

"My God it's hot!" She complained, which was something that was a legitimate problem at the moment. Then, without ceremony, she quickly undid the buttons and shrugged out of her shirt. Her inhibitions were so far gone that standing there in a room full of people in nothing but a small undershirt that just covered her chest, didn't bother her at all. The clapping, cheering and catcalls made her grin, and Legolas's reaction made her laugh out loud. He quite literally spit out the liquid that was in his mouth and just barely stopped himself from dropping his half empty mug. She could have called him on the no spilling rule, but didn't. She wanted to win, but his reactions were just too much fun to give up now. His eyes bugged out of his head and his mouth fell open…and he couldn't stop staring. At all. She gave him her best innocent look, and seeing it, his eyes widened in comprehension. Apparently, he had caught onto her game plan. Time to step it up then.

Niori's grin was positively wicked as she surveyed the room, "You know," she remarked conversationally after chugging down her latest drink, "when I get this drunk, I usually end up bringing home some company for the night."

A number of men of men perked up at her announcement. Legolas scowled, and then sent a death glare to every man who looked remotely interested in Niori's thinly veiled offer. That made most of them lost said interest rather quickly. That was a shame really, because there had been quite a few good looking ones in the crowd. Quite frankly, Niori wouldn't mind a one night stand…and with every new drink it seemed like that much better of an idea. She was drunk beyond reason, hadn't gotten laid in months and all the constant sexual tension with Legolas left her horny.

Legolas glared at her, telling Niori that he knew what she was doing, and was not impressed with her tactics.

"I feel something. A slight tingle in my fingers. I think it's affecting me."

It was said point blank to her in a deadpan voice. Even in her booze soaked mind, Niori knew that he was trying to intimidate her. He was trying to use scare tactics about her being plastered and him not even being close, to get her to back down. Niori didn't think he had it in him.

Gimli just laughed at Legolas's proclamation, "What did I say? He can't hold his liquor!" With that declaration, Gimli was down for the count.

Niori looked back at Legolas and smirked, "Looks like it's just me and you."

She didn't think it would last long. Niori could barely stand up at the moment, especially as she kept drinking. Her mind was going fuzzy, and it was taking all the concentration she had left to stay on task. Legolas on the other hand, looked as perfect as he always did, just a lot more irritated than normal. There was no way in hell she could beat him now, but she wasn't going to go down without a fight.

"Oh no you're not!" Carla appeared at her side, almost causing Niori to fall over.

Niori ignored her cousin and chugged down another.

"Niori," Carla hissed, "you've gotten to the stripper phase. Time to get out of the room full of men before you hit the next one."

"What's the next phase?" Niori thought she should know this, but she really couldn't remember it at the moment.

"The sex phase," Carla said in a voice only Niori could hear, and maybe Legolas with his super hearing, could hear. Niori assumed he did, what with the groan she heard from him.

After another mug was chugged, she asked, and her voice, unlike Carla's, was loud enough for everyone to hear, "Why is the sex phase bad?"

Niori couldn't understand why sex was bad. It sounded very good. It seemed like a great idea.

Carla looked like she was praying for strength, "Because you'd regret it in the morning, and I'd rather Legolas not get arrested for murder!"

From the dazed look on Niori's face, Carla wondered if she was even comprehending this conversation.

"Why not?" Niori pouted, "He's not sleeping with me, so someone else should be."

Carla felt like shaking her cousin, but figured that she's either throw up or pass out. Niori certainly looked ready to black out.

"Niori, we're leaving before you do something stupid…even more stupid."

Sudden inspiration struck Niori, and she turned back to Legolas.

"Nope. Not until Elf Boy is out. I'm gonna keep drinking and drinking. I wanna do stupid things…stupid things fun….and I'll wanna do 'em more as we go."

"I concede," Legolas replied quickly, seeing the utter determination on her face. He would rather be defeated than let her decide to do 'stupid things'. Letting a teenage girl best him was far preferable to letting that teenage girl continue and then go on to do things he refused to think about, involving people he refused to think about, "game over."

Niori just grinned, "And she remains undefeated!"

It didn't matter that he had given up, or that it hadn't been about her out drinking him. Half of her strategy had been psychological, and that had worked like a charm. Not to mention, being able to psych Legolas out? Epic achievement right there. That was a victory. Besides, she won, so who cares?

"Okay then," Carla grabbed onto her arm, "time to go."

"For those of you who want an encore," she addressed the crowd that was still cheering for her, "I'm here all week!"

She didn't know if she actually would be, but it sounded like the thing to say. Carla groaned and Legolas looked distinctly upset at the prospect. Niori couldn't help but giggle as a semi-pissed off Carla pulled her away.

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The next morning, when Niori was so hung over that she felt like she was literally dying, she heard about her new reputation as being the most awesome woman ever by Rohan standards, and then thought back to the looks on Legolas's face the night before, she decided it was totally worth it.

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An- There you go! Hope you enjoyed, and don't forget to leave us a line! Peace, Love & Rainbows!