Chapter 3

Laying in bed, your mind was in turmoil. You weighed the options. Firstly, he speaks fluent elvish. Quite convincing, considering it's not a real language and even the biggest Tolkien fans couldn't possibly be THAT fluent in the made up language. His hair, ears and eyes look real – but there's no way to tell for sure without overstepping unspoken boundaries, so they're either really good fakes or the real deal. You decided you were 50/50 on that one. The same with the clothes; every opportunity you got you stole secret glances at him to appraise his appearance when you thought he wouldn't notice. And what you found was that his clothing definitely looked every bit as expensive as you first thought it did back at the café. Sighing, you rolled over.

If this was real, that would mean that another world existed and this man – elf – whoever – had somehow travelled between them, defying the laws of physics and throwing space-time continuum out the window. Which would mean a higher power was responsible . Something above this existence and not answerable to its rules and logic. Even more unbelievable, this also meant that Tolkien had actually travelled to Middle Earth and wrote about it under the guise of fiction – his stories then seized and made into a multi-million movie franchise with a humungous fanbase.

Sighing heavily through your nose again, you shifted your gaze to the time illuminated on your alarm clock. 2:51am. 'Great' you thought dryly. Another bad nights sleep. Turning on your back, you stared at the ceiling. You never were very religious. But that didn't mean a higher power didn't exist. People say miracles happen all the time, you thought, before immediately stacking that in the 'not real' side of the argument raging inside your head. 'Miracles' in your modern world just conjured images of those staged 'healings' in churches done by crooks intent on gathering a following through their charisma, or phony psychics claiming to be able to contact your loved ones.

There was no way to concretely prove he's an elf, as far as you could see. Not unless you both found a way to take him back to Middle Earth. Excitement and dread swirled in your stomach at the thought of travelling to a different world with him, but it was just too crazy to entertain so you quickly pushed the thought away before it could properly take hold. If he was an elf and if he was from Middle Earth, there's no guarantee he would invite you to come with him. There's no sense in getting ahead of yourself, you thought with disappointment. Shifting up onto your elbows, you turned the pillow over to get the cool side and flopped back down, lifting your H/C hair to expose your neck. Settling back in, you continued musing.

Whoever he was, this guy's entire being radiated a self-assured confidence that both intimidated and attracted you. He might be a nutcase, but he was without a doubt the dreamiest man you'd ever met. And he was sleeping in your spare room. This time a different sensation rippled through your abdomen and your breathing quickened at the not so PG thoughts flooding your brain. To distract yourself, you mused over the evening so far, a smirk tugging one side of your mouth up as you remembered the car journey home. It certainly was going to be an interesting weekend, you thought wryly.


Thranduil had accepted your offer to take him home, after some moments of silent consideration. Offering a slight head tilt and tight lipped smile, somehow his regal composure had made you feel as though taking him home was an honour he was bestowing upon you. Which it kind of was, seeing as he was possibly, probably, the real Elven King of the Woodland Realm.

A slight breeze brushed around you, offering a moment of relief from the still summer air.

"Okay, cool" you replied to his acceptance with a shy smile. As soon as the words left your lips you knew they would confuse him, and sure enough a thick eyebrow was raised questioningly. "It's an expression" you explained apologetically. "People say 'cool' when they mean, 'great' or 'fine' or whatever. It's not a reference to temperature".

"I see" came a smooth reply, as those ethereal eyes remained fixed on yours. With burning cheeks you led him to your car. This was certainly going to be a steep learning curve for him, you thought, and felt a pang of empathy.

Unlocking the car, you patted the boot to encourage Bailey inside. Thankfully your dog was pretty well behaved and never tried to jump from the boot into the backseats, so you were able to drive her about without the flimsy shelf bit at the back of the car. At first you'd copied other people you knew, putting her in the boot and keeping it separated from the rest of the car, but your heart broke every time thinking of her trapped in there in the dark, and worried if it was too hot for her. So now you always detached the shelf at the back, allowing her to sit up fully with her head poking over the backseat rests. Like clockwork, she hopped in and settled in her favourite spot; laying her chin in the middle between the two head rests.

Smiling to yourself, you turned to Thranduil who was looking at the car in denial.

"This is our transport" you stated proudly. You'd had the car cleaned two days ago and it was looking as good as ever. Walking him to the passenger side, you courteously opened the door for him. He stood, looking at you with a bemused expression.

"Where are the horses?" You laughed out loud at his perfectly serious question, and gazed at him in open amusement. "There aren't any, it moves by itself. It's perfectly safe, I promise" you encouraged when he looked at the car suspiciously, flinching slightly when his stony expression turned to you. If looks could kill, you'd be a dead woman by now. Okaaaay. Maybe this would be harder than you thought.

"It's called a car. It's the most common means of transport here – that's how all these other people are getting home" you said with a vague sweeping wave of your arm. He turned, inspecting the numerous other cars in the carpark and watching with interest as people got in and drove off. "I'll be driving us - don't worry, I'll do my best not to crash!" Alarm flitted across his handsome features at your humour. Damn, maybe now's not the time for jokes.

Bailey barked from inside the car, telling you to hurry up. "Well, we can't get home without it. You're going to have to trust me, I'm afraid." You stated. Both of you looked at each other. You folded your arms, and gave him a look similar to how a parent might look at their stubborn child. "Very well" he replied, reluctantly moving to get in. "Oh, wait!" you exclaimed, startling him a little as you suddenly leaned in front of him to move the seat back for more leg room.

Once both inside, you bit back a laugh at the sight of a very regal elven king sitting stiffly with his hands on his knees, looking very much like a duck out of water. Smiling to yourself, you decided to ease his nerves and give him a quick run down on how it worked. "Okay, so despite what I know you're probably thinking, this isn't magic." He turned to look at you as you spoke, intrigue piquing his features.

"It works by…" you paused, not entirely sure how cars do work. Whatever, he'll never know if you're wrong. You decided to just keep it vague and use terms he'd hopefully understand. "It uses a power source" you began again. "Like you'd use wood to fuel a fire, cars use a liquid substance. Depending on where you are in the world, people call it gas, petrol or diesel."

He nodded slowly to indicate he understood, so you continued: "That's the energy source that makes it move. And how it moves is... well.. it's very complicated mechanics. I can't really explain those to you because I don't understand them. In the same way a man who knows how to use a sword might not necessarily know how to make one".

You hoped your childlike comparisons didn't make you sound too stupid, and glanced shyly at him. He was staring at you, completely enraptured. A small smile tugged at the corner of your mouth. You were explaining something so everyday to him, and yet he was looking at you in reverence as though you were revealing the secrets of the universe. And in a way, you suppose you were – teaching him about alien technologies his world hadn't even dreamt of. Your heart swelled slightly and you continued, getting more into teacher mode as you relished the feeling of having an elven king hang onto your every word.

"At my feet, I have three pedals. One makes the car move, the other makes it stop, and the other enables me to change gears. Gears are used to change the speed of the car. I have five gears, numbered one to five." You tried not to speak too fast, and took the opportunity to gaze freely into his eyes. Your heartbeat sped up at the eye-contact, but you were enjoying his attention being entirely on you, even if it did still make your stomach whirl with nerves. "If I want the car to go faster, I have to change it into a higher numbered gear. So gear one is used when I'm driving at a snails pace, and gear five is when I'm going as fast as the law allows." Pausing, you waited to see if he had any questions.

His azure eyes sparkled with interest and he regarded you in a way you'd never been looked at before. Inhaling deeply, you continued the impromptu lesson.

Putting your hand on the gearstick, you indicated for him to look at it. "This gearstick is how I change the gears in the car. To change a gear I have to ease my foot off the 'go' pedal and my other foot onto the 'gear' pedal at the same time, and do it evenly or else the car will stop. The gear pedal isn't actually called the gear pedal, we call it 'the clutch'." You rambled, hoping you weren't going too fast for him. You pushed your foot on the clutch and moved the gearstick around, demonstrating how you can select different gears. "Go ahead, move it into different gears" you encouraged, withdrawing your hand back into your lap.

Hesitantly, he placed his slender fingers around the stick and shifted it around before withdrawing and looking at you expectantly, waiting for more. You fixed it back in neutral and tucked a stray strand of hair behind your ear.

"That's the basics, but there are lots of other little rules, like if you start the car when you have a gear selected but don't have your foot pressing down on the clutch, your call will stall. Or if the cars moving and you have a gear selected, but take your foot off the 'go' pedal without pressing on the clutch or else putting the gears in 'neutral' then you'll stall too. Oh, this position the gearstick is in now is called neutral. That means no gear is selected." Glancing at him, you saw his brows slightly furrowed in concentration as he drank in your wave of alien information.

Eager to get going and afraid you might be boring him, you decided to wrap it up. "I'm sure there are probably other things I'm forgetting, but that's the gist of it. Oh, this is the handbrake" you said as your hand gripped the lever. "This locks the wheels in the same way the 'stop' pedal does, but you're supposed to put this on whenever you leave the car, you know, because your foot won't be pressing on the stop pedal anymore. So this handbrake effectively makes sure the car doesn't roll away."

Thranduil looked down at the lever and nodded slowly. His eyes roamed across the gearstick to your feet and then to your face.

"Does.. does that all make sense?" you faltered.

"I.. think I understand. Thank you." came his deep reply, and you noted his shoulders seemed a bit more relaxed. His eyes sparkled with intrigue and never left your face.

Suddenly embarrassed at his fixed attention, you glanced shyly away from him and ran your hands up the steering wheel. In the back, Bailey let out another impatient whine.

"Okay. Well, ready to go?" you asked lightly as you put on your seatbelt, butterflies churning in your stomach. You really were about to take him home. He nodded in reply, elven eyes keenly watching your every move. "Um. You have to put on your seatbelt" you said sheepishly, pointing. "It's the law, for safety in case there ever is a crash - " You stopped yourself at the apprehensive look returning to his face and offered a reassuring smile. He regarded you for a moment, before checking where you had pulled yours from and turning to find his. With his back to you you gazed longingly at that sheen of flawless white-blonde hair. It looked so perfect and soft, and you wondered what it would feel like to run your fingers through it, your cheeks blushing at the thought.

He pulled the buckle down swiftly and it jammed. Biting your lip, you watched as he tugged sharply, the material remaining locked. You unclipped your own and leaned across, your heart racing at the closeness. "Here, you have to do it slowly or else it gets stuck sometimes" you said softly, leaning across him to pull it for him. As you drew close, intoxicating scents assaulted your senses. He smelt like pine and musk and jasmine, all rolled into one. Just inches from his neck, you had to stop yourself from leaning in to breathe more deeply. Your fingers grazed his, and your stomach danced with what felt like a hundred butterflies fluttering around in there at the contact. Deliberately avoiding looking at his face, you clipped it in for him and retreated hastily to your seat, busying yourself with your seatbelt and lifting off the hand-break.

"Ready?" you asked shyly, before forcing yourself to turn to face him. He was calm, but there was a storm brewing behind his eyes as he looked at you. He smiled and nodded once, his eyes never leaving yours. Swallowing, you tried to ignore the slight wetness between your thighs and put the key in the ignition. The car purred into life, radio music automatically filling the air. Flicking through the stations you found one of your favourites and internally prayed there wouldn't be any rude lyric, hyper-aware of the sophisticated royalty in your passenger seat.


Author's notes

The next few chapters will be recounting your experiences with Thranduil; his first time in a moving car, showing him around your house, explaining how the appliances work etc. There'll be a shopping trip coming up and a cosy movie night, before a club or bar scene a few chapters down… expect some jealousy and maybe a kiss in that one😉