You Color My Life: Part 1
(Bard/Ren, Legolas/Ren)
With a heavy sigh, the man slipped the loop in the rope over the pole on the dock. Reaching back into the barge, he retrieved his bag of supplies before heaving it up onto his shoulder.
It had been a long three days and he was ready to just be home and see his children.
Making his way down the familiar boarded walkways, the man could only faintly smile at the familiarity around him. It had actually been a beautiful day out on the lake with little fog to be seen. The sun shown brightly even then, despite that it was nearly dinner time and it was this thought, and his rumbling stomach, that forced his mind to flicker back to those awaiting his arrival.
As his humble house came into view, he couldn't help but smile ever so slightly once again and the bag upon his back was no longer as heavy as it once was.
Climbing the stairs, he drew open his front door and stepped into the house. To his amazement, it was quiet. A change of what his house normally was.
However, he was suddenly distracted as his nose detected a wonderful smell that was wafting from the kitchen and he found that his curiosity was getting the best of him. Lowering the bag to the floor, he quietly made his way through the small dinning room until he came to the swinging door at the other side of the room.
Lightly pushing it open, he peered inside and found the familiar head of sun kissed blonde hair as she stood beside the counter with her back towards him. Beside her, she had pot of boiling water hanging over the fire place and was cutting a carrot into it. He was surprised that she had yet to notice him.
He did, however, feel a smile tug on his lips when he realized that she was humming quietly as she worked. Moving forward, he was about to try and sneak up on her but even as he took his first step, he knew he was caught.
She turned her head back towards him and it only took half a moment to register that it was the bargeman standing before her. "Hello, Bard." The woman greeted him with a small smile, taking another carrot into her hand off the counter and cutting into it as well.
"If it isn't my favorite housekeeper!" He grinned as well and took a few more steps into the smaller kitchen.
"I'm your only housekeeper." She smiled fully now, her eyes set upon the vegetables before her as she continued to slice. She also momentarily glanced into the pot to make sure that the vegetables weren't turning to mush.
"That is true but we would take no other." He told her, his lips twitching up as he simply watched her a moment. He leaned against the countertop beside her. "The house is sure quiet." He noted after a moment, taking a bite out of a carrot that had been discarded on the countertop. "And there seems to be a lacking of children...?"
"Bain went out and is galavanting with the other boys. I asked Sigrid and Tilda to run to the market before it closes but that was an hour or so ago." She frowned slightly before reaching for the knife and carrot again. "We ran out of potatoes." She prodded at the two small aforementioned vegetables that lay intermixed among the other colorful produce.
It grew quiet then and the bargeman simply watched her work for a moment.
Ren had her tresses pulled back into a simple braid down the center of her back, allowing her pointed ears to be seen. She wore a simple red blouse with her sleeves rolled up so she could cook. She also wore an equally simple, dark brown skirt with an apron tied over the front so as to not ruin her clothes.
"You closed the ward down early today I take it?" He eventually asked her and the female glanced at him, taking note of the carrot in his hand.
"Yes." She murmured, watching as he raised the vegetable to take another bite but she was quicker and took it from him before beginning to cut it up. "Though, I did leave a note that if any emergencies came up, they were to come here."
"And, have you had any visitors?" He asked slowly.
"Three, actually." She replied in a surprisingly gleeful tone. "Littel Reggin had a fever so his mother came to get some herbs. Tom Johnan evidently slipped on the docks and twisted his ankle so I bound his leg and sent him home with some numbing medicine. And Alfrid stopped by to pick up some herbal tea for the Master's gout again."
"Alrfid was here?" Bard frowned, this news causing him to worry.
"Yes. But, I took care of him. He's obviously gone now lest he'd still be here, sitting in the dinning room and eating all our food." She then turned back to her work and gave the carrot in front of her a swift cut of her knife. "He's bloody annoying, I'll tell you that."
"He's got his eye on you." Bard teased her slightly, watching as she wrinkled her nose in disgust. "But that doesn't surprise me. You are after all, the prettiest girl in town."
She just hummed in response, evidently not enjoying that idea. "There are things I'd like to do to that man..." The elf narrowed her eyes and stared out the window before her, ominously shaking her fist with the knife clenched in it. Bard released the breath he realized he hand't been holding and was suddenly very thankful she hadn't lingered on what he had said. "Things that would no doubt get me arrested..."
"You're not usually one to be so violent." He teased her, again feeling relief wash through him when she went back to cutting. "Given you are the town healer after all."
"That infernal man brings out my aggressive side." She growled slightly, picking up the slices of carrot before dumping them into the pot. She brought a potato out onto the cutting board before her. "And it is all your fault."
"My fault?" He chuckled slightly at her remark. "What have I done?"
"He wouldn't stay and chat so long if you were here more often. He's intimidated by you, Bard. That's why when you're home, he rarely visits." She quickly finished with the small parcel and pushed it aside to begin her work on the other one. "But I blame you for shutting down the ward for the afternoon, too." She quirked her brown and glanced sideways at him, the corner of her mouth pulled upward. "The children thought it would be a good idea to make a welcome home dinner for their father..." She sighed dramatically after a moment, as if the task was too great. "But alas, here I am. Slaving away on my own over a hot stove and for what?" The elf glanced over at him, a smile pulling back the corners of her mouth and slight affection shown in her eyes as she chopped away at the vegetable before her. "A silly bargeman who has left his poor housekeeper to take care of his children and his household while he is away exploring the world and galavanting all over the countryside."
"And you know that I appreciate you very much..." Bard murmured, going along with her playful mood. He continued to lean on the counter beside her. "For who else could keep them in line as well as you do?" He beamed when he saw her smile widen slightly. "And besides," He reached out and took one of the smaller carrot slices she had cut and popped it into his mouth, "You are such a wonderful cook, I'm starting to get fat." He rubbed his belly, pooching it out slightly to try and make his point.
Ren only reached out and lightly slapped it with the back of her hand, causing the man to chuckle and drop his facade. "You could use a little fattening up as it is, sir." She jested with him before resuming her work. "You were skinny as a rail when I got here." Again, he chuckled at her words.
She soon picked up the pieces of carrot and discarded them into the boiling water with the other vegetables before she walked over to a cabinet and retrieved another pot. Bard watched as she walked across the room, something so oddly graceful about how she moved.
It was only because she's an elf, he reasoned. They always held a strange, natural grace about them.
She went to their water basin and began to ladle the clean water into it before she heaved it up and placed it over the fire beside the other one. Picking up the cutting board, she walked back over to the pots and dumped in the remaining vegetables.
Returning the cutting board to the counter, she was just about to check on the meat on the small spit below but never got a chance when there was a loud pounding on the front door.
Both Ren and Bard looked at each other for a moment before they moved at the same time.
The man reached the door first and pulled it open, only to be met by a group of about six people, or rather four elves and two of the town guardsmen. In their arms, they held what appeared to be an unconscious male elf.
"Is Ren here?" One of the guards breathed out, wiping some sweat from his brow. "The ward was closed down."
The aforementioned female drew the door back herself, allowing herself to come into view. Her sapphire eyes were wide upon having heard her name and she immediately looked to the injured male before her.
"What happened?" She breathed, scanning the elf over for injuries. He had a bit of blood trickling down his neck from a wound she guessed from the back of his head. He also had a large stain marring one side of his green tunic.
"We were patrolling the lakeshore when we were ambushed by orcs. His side was cut pretty deep during the fight but was knocked over the head with a stone by one of the brutes." One of them, a tall redheaded male explained to her.
"He hasn't woken up since then?"
"No, not yet." One of the other men replied, glancing down at his comrade.
"Bring him in here." She immediately pushed the door open more and stepped back into the dinning room to allow the men more room. Walking over to the long table, she immediately moved the fruit basket in the middle. She picked up a doll that Tilda had left there and placed it in the bowl with the fruit. A pair of pants that she had only just finished mending for Bard was tossed into the aforementioned man's arms. "Put him on the table." She commanded and watched as they carefully lifted the blond up onto the now cleared surface.
Without another word, she placed the bowl down on the rocking chair beside the fire before moving up the staircase. It wasn't a movement later that she returned with a familiar leather satchel clutched in her hands, one that Bard had seen her carry with her whenever she left the house.
Depositing it onto the table, she rolled the sleeves of her blouse up further.
"Bard, can you get me two bowls of water and some towels?" She asked him, moving to the man's head and turning it to the side slightly so that she could look at the wound. Finding that how he was laying wasn't going to help the gash on the back of his head, she looked to his companions. "He needs to be turned over."
Moving without another word, the other elves rolled him over.
"He's losing a lot of blood from both his side and his head." She murmured to herself and reached into her satchel again and retrieved bandages and a roll of gauze. It was at this time that the bargeman returned with the towels. He handed them to her and she took it without even a thank you but the man understood. There was little time for manners when it came to her job.
Not caring about the rag, she pressed the cloth to the back of his head and held it there. For a moment, she raised her eyes up to look to Bard. "Hold this there. Apply pressure." She commanded him as she moved around the corner of the table.
Pressing her hands on either side of his face, she used her thumbs to open one of his eyes to reveal a pale blue eye with an enlarged pupil. Repeating the same process with the other one, she cursed quietly under her breath when she found that this one was smaller compared to the other one.
"Can you help him?" One of his companions asked her, worry evident in his tone after having heard her quietly voiced dismay.
"I'm doing all I can for him right now but there is not much else. We can only wait and hope that he himself pulls through." She told them honestly, a strange glint in her eye that only ever shown when there was an emergency.
Wordlessly pushing his hand out of the way, Bard took a step back and allowed her to continue with her job. Lifting the towel off the wound, she examined the bloody gash, gently prodding at it.
Furrowing her brow softly, she threw open the flap of her satchel and immediately withdrew a handful of vials. Setting them on the tabletop, she then only picked a few of them up and examined them intensely before she popped the tops off them and dumped them into one of the bowls. Mixing them together, she then dropped one of the bundles of cloth into the mixture of herbs. Leaving it for a minute, she looked back at the wound and let out a heavy sigh through her nose.
"Is something wrong?" One of them asked.
"I need to stitch the wound." She murmured quietly, digging back into the contents of her bag. Finding her needle and thread, she immediately raced into the kitchen and dipped them into the boiling water, cursing slightly when it scalded her fingers.
Saving little time for the burning in her fingers, she moved back into the front room.
Approaching the still unconscious man on the table, she lifted the towel off the wound and set it aside. Reaching down into her boot for a moment, she retrieved a knife and cut a section of the thick thread and tied a knot in the end of it.
Swallowing thickly, she internally steeled herself and began her work. She had always hated having to stitch wounds up, it was usually the one problem she had with being a healer. Yet, she still went on with it, knowing that the would would bleed considerably less if closed up.
Behind her, a few of the men shifted uncomfortably and turned away, finding that their stomachs were a bit weak.
It only took a few minutes until she was finished. With the male's blood now coating her hands, she tied the final knot in the stitching and cut the remaining thread off.
Setting down the needle, she retrieved the bundle that had been soaking in the mixed herbs and placed it upon the now closed wound. Taking the long roll of cloth, she began to wind it around his head so that continuous pressure would be applied to the wound.
Tying a final knot in the bandage, she paused a moment to look at her work, satisfied with it for a moment. Wiping the backs of one of her blood covered hands across her sweaty forehead.
"We need to roll him over again." She murmured, her eyes transfixed upon the slice in his side, ignoring the sticky substance on her forehead. "Up onto his side so that the wound is skyward."
The men did as asked and carefully maneuvered their companion so that he was laying as she had directed.
Yanking up the bottom of his tunic, she only looked at the cut for a long moment, frowning slightly as the blood continued to pour out of the wound. Eyes clouding with worry, she lightly grit her teeth, knowing that things could go either way now.
Her patient was awfully cold and pale even now. But, she would still try to save him. Everyone, every life, was worth saving.
"Alright." She said more to herself than the others. Reaching for another one of the clean towels, she pressed it to his side in hopes of slowing the bleeding. "I'll have to stitch this one up as well. It's too deep to just leave it be." She murmured off handedly, remembering that there were in fact others in the room with her. "Hold this down." She commanded Bard who still stood at her side, acting as her temporary assistant.
Steeling herself mentally, she picked up the same needle and thread as before. Moving across the room, she disappeared into the kitchen once again and returned only a beat later, the needle once again sanitized in the boiling water hanging over the fire.
Immediately, she set to work again. Picking up her knife where she left it before, she rolled out another length of thread and cut it before tying a thick knot in the end.
Not hesitating but half a moment, she stuck the needle in and began to stitch the elf's side up.
Grimacing slightly at the sight of the gore and the coppery scent in the air, Bard looked away from the wound and instead looked at Ren. Her brow was furrowed slightly as she worked, her mind entirely focused on the task at hand. Her jaw was clenched tightly and her sharp eyes were alight with a determination, one that Bard had only ever seen before when she was working on other critical patients.
A few minutes later that felt like an eternity had passed as she reached the end of the slice. Tying off the end, she cut the excess tail of the thread and reached for another one of the bandages that was lying in the bowl that held the mixed herbs.
Placing it upon the wound, she pressed it down for a moment before reaching for the long rolls of wrappings that sat beside her healing bag.
Holding one hand upon the wound, she wordlessly began to wind the fabric around his midsection, every moment or so having to stop and raise his side off the table so that she could pass the wrappings completely around him.
Quietly letting out a deep breath through her mouth, she tied the final knot into place, her blood stained hands resting upon the bandage for a moment. Glancing up, she met the eyes of all the men who still remained standing around, waiting for her diagnosis of their comrade.
"I'm optimistic about his recovery but anything can still happen, what with all the blood that he has lost. Some swelling it bound to occur but not so much that it should be damaging. The herbs I soaked the bandage in should deal with that and the pain when he does happen to wake up. For right now though, there is nothing more that I can do except pray to the Valar that he makes it." The men all nodded in understanding but still held solemn looks upon their faces. It was at this time that Ren took note of the bags beneath their eyes and the scrapes and scratches they themselves bore. "I can only imagine that you are all tired as well. Here we don't have much for places to sleep but I have a number of empty beds down in the ward that you can use while your friend recovers."
"We thank you for your services, my lady." One of them murmured, bowing their heads slightly. The female leaned forward and placed her hands flat on the tabletop and looked up at them.
Ren said nothing but nodded her head, accepting their gratitude as gracefully as she could at the moment.
Slowly turning her head to look at the quiet guards who had been waiting in the corner, she met eyes with them. "Can you show them to the ward?" She asked them, knowing that she would need to keep an eye on her current patient.
Nodding their heads in reply, the blonde female felt relief wash through her. Without another word, the entire group left the bargeman's home and quietly closed the door behind them.
It was silent in the house for a minute as Ren stood over the unconscious male, her sapphire eyes staring at his pale face. Feeling a bit of sweat dripping down her nose, she wiped it away, accidentally smearing some of the blood covering her hands onto her face. There was a copious amount of blood also covering the wood of the dinning room table, a puddle of it having gathered around the man's head and abdomen from where it had dripped down his neck and saturated his tunic.
"I need to clean this up before the girls get back." She murmured quietly and the dark haired man watched as her shoulders slumped slightly.
Reaching out, she took the left over bowl of unused, clean water and dipped one of the other rags into it. Dampening it, she began to sop up the left over blood before ringing the cloth out and going to sop up the rest of it.
As she was doing this however, there was an odd smell that filled the air and it seemed as though Bard and her smelt it at the same time. He watched as she glanced over and caught sight of the smoke billowing out of the kitchen.
"Oh, you've got to be joking." She growled quietly, continuing to clean the table. "It wasn't bad enough that we have an unconscious man bleeding on your dinning room table and now the food is burnt."
Sniffling slightly, she let the cloth go for a minute and started to move to the kitchen. However, she felt a hand close around her upper arm but failed to look back at him.
"I'll take care of the food." He murmured to her. After a moment, she slowly nodded her head, her shoulders slumping slightly in defeat as the man one of them a gentle squeeze before brushing by them.
After hearing him disappear into the other room, she slowly walked back across the room and started cleaning once again. When she deemed that the table was as clean as she was going to be for now, she reached for a third bowl that Bard had brought in sometime while she was busy sowing the wound shut. After wringing out the rag, she carefully began to clean the strange elf off.
The back of his tunic was stained, as was his armor. She unhooked the empty quiver from his back and placed it on one of the various chairs beside the table. Also pulling the leather armor over his head, she was careful of his wounds so as to not open them and have the bleeding start all over again. There was little she could do about his tunic so she instead took her knife and cut it off of him, knowing that the blood would begin to stink and she didn't want to have him sleeping in the soiled material.
After doing so, she carefully wiped down his toned chest, making sure that he was clean as she could manage at the moment. Ren glanced up at his face for a moment, taking note of just how pale his cheeks were. But, despite that, she had to admit that he was handsome enough, she supposed. All elves seemed to be that way though, handsome or beautiful compared to the other races.
Shaking those thoughts from her head though, she picked up one of the stray yet still clean towels and folded it before placing it beneath his head to serve as a pillow. He wouldn't be horribly uncomfortable when he woke up.
With the two bowls of red tinted water clutched tightly in her hands, she walked down onto the lower part of the house and dumped the liquid into the toilet where it hopefully wouldn't be discovered by the younger members of the house.
Ascending the stairs, she then walked into the kitchen to check on Bard and found that he was frowning as he scooped some of the vegetables out of the pot and put them into a serving bowl. On the counter, the meat that she had been cooking was a bit blackened and the sight of it caused the woman to frown.
Hearing her sigh heavily through her nose, Bard looked up at her and seeing the disgruntled look upon her dirtied face, caused him to pause and set down the pot.
Wordlessly, he dunked a stray cloth into the water basin and rung it out before walking up to her. She held her hand out to accept the cloth but instead, he carefully took one side of her face into his palm and used the rag to wipe the mess from her face, a mess she hadn't realized was there until that moment.
"I can do that." She protested quietly, reaching her hand up to tug on his wrist.
"We don't have a mirror in this household." He reminded her, continuing to wipe the dried copper marks from her skin.
Glancing down, she looked at the bloody mess that was her hands and decided that she may in fact still be a mess. Even the blouse and apron she wore had red splotches over it but the palms of her hands were mostly clean after having scrubbed the tabletop but the backs of her hands were still scarlet.
"You yourself look worse than your patient does." Bard teased her after a moment of silence, trying to lighten the solemn mood the woman seemed to radiate.
"I need to change before the girls get back." She said quietly, ignoring his words.
He only gave her a small smile before giving one final stroke of the cloth over her nose. "There. Now you don't look so worse for ware." She just glanced off to the side and only gave him a small curl of her lips. Something strange shown in her eyes and after living with her for nearly four years, he knew that something was wrong. "Are you okay?" He asked her quietly, reaching out and placing both his hands upon her shoulders.
"I'm fine..." She murmured quietly, brushing his hands off of her before moving across the room.
"Something is troubling you."
She didn't respond for a long moment, instead choosing to look out the kitchen window. "Orcs along the shore of the lake." She murmured quietly, the gears turning in her mind. The blonde elf looked back to him. "You were only just there a few hours ago." Worry shown brightly in her eyes as she gazed back at the man. "Bard, you were only just there-"
"But I'm here now, aren't I?" He cut her off, allowing his hands to rest upon her upper arms. "We saw no orcs while we were docked in the river." He told her honestly, searching her bright eyes for any inkling that she believed him.
"But they may have seen you." She murmured, a soft frown pulling down her brow. "And you just may not have known."
"I know my way well enough around a bow. I could handle things if it ever came to that."
"A whole orc pack though?" Her voice raised slightly and a hint of anger shown in her irises. At hearing her question, the bargeman only bowed his head ever so slightly, knowing that she was right. "Bard, you have three children here. Young children... who have no other family in Esgaroth. What would happen to them if you didn't return one day?"
He slowly raised his head up to meet her gaze and he sighed quietly through his nose. "You would take them."
At hearing this new spill from his lips, the elleth was a bit taken aback. Her mouth hung ever so slightly and her brow creased as she just gazed back at him, a bit of confusion but realization in her eyes.
"I am not their mother." She breathed when her mind calmed itself down. She gave a few slow shakes of her head at the thought. "I would have no right taking them." Lightly pushing his hands off her shoulders, she brushed by him and moved to exit the kitchen.
"We've known you for a good four years, Ren." The pounding of her boots upon the floor stopped as he finished speaking. Slowly, he turned back to face her, only to find that she instead had her back turned. "Sigrid wants to be a healer now, too. Because of you. I've never once heard Bain complain about you're cooking. And Tilda, well... she loves you. They all love you."
And I do, too. He added silently in his mind, a bit of muted pain flooding through his brown irises, silently telling her what he truly meant.
"You are one of the few people that they and myself completely trust in this world."
Allowing her gaze to fall to the floor, she just stood there, thinking hard about his words. At seeing the reluctance that was still evident on her face, the bowman sighed heavily through his nose before taking a few steps towards the elf. He stopped a short distance before her.
"If I promise to be more careful, to be more watchful when we go upstream, will that keep you from worrying?" He asked her, ducking his head slightly in hopes of meeting her gaze. Though, after a moment, he didn't have to given that she raised her head and looked him right in the eye.
"I will always worry about you, Bard." Ren admitted quietly, her eyes almost appearing a bit glassy. That was when the bargeman felt his heart clench painfully in his chest. He hated to see her cry.
For she did not do it often but when she did, he knew that she was aching horribly in side. The first time he had seen her shed tears was when she had been called to deliver a birth but the woman was not due for another few weeks. She had managed to get the child out but he was silent. He didn't cry, he didn't squeal or move.
After consoling the parents, she had returned to the home, barely holding back tears as she sunk to the ground just inside the door. Bard had only heard quiet sobbing from the kitchen and had raced out, thinking it to be Tilda but instead discovered the elven healer in a shaking mess on the floor.
It was almost as if they moved at the same time.
Ren, being slightly shorter had to stretch up slightly but she nonetheless wrapped her arms around his neck. Bard himself snaked his arms tightly around her waist and the two of them held the other against them. They stayed like that for sometime, simply holding the each other.
The bargeman let a quiet sigh escape his nose and he ever so slightly tightened his grip upon her as his eyes slid closed. His head titled to the side and ever so slightly rested upon her own. "I'll be more careful." He whispered to her, his embrace around her still holding true.
After a long moment, Bard released her but did not step away. Instead, one of his hands took hold of her upper arm while the other slowly rose, as if full of uncertainty.
His thumb ever so slightly brushed against her jaw before he gently hooked his forefinger beneath her chin. He ever so slightly tilted her face up towards him.
There eyes met for a moment, a multitude of emotions playing across both their colored pools.
Ren herself couldn't do anything as she gazed up into his softened chocolate eyes which briefly flickered down to look at her lips which she had just so happened to wet just then. Her hands slowly inched up to lightly grip at the fur collar of his coat, her hands having moved subconsciously.
Their breathing mingled for a moment before the man slowly dipped his head, his lips moving closer to her own as his nose brushed along side her own-
The shutting of a door was heard.
Just before his lips covered her own, he froze in place. His eyes, which had since fallen shut, opened to gaze into the lady's own sapphire pair. For in them, he saw a question that he was also pondering.
Hearing the familiar sounds of footsteps, the elleth's eyes suddenly widened and she released her hold upon his coat and took a step back, her cheeks blazing a bright red as she moved out of his embrace.
The swinging door suddenly was pushed open and in trudged Sigrid with Tilda just behind her.
"We got the potatoes..." The older girl begrudgingly murmured, holding up the burlap sack as she looked between the two of them, her face showing just how aggravated she no doubt was. "And we tracked down Bain for you so that we could all eat together."
"Oh, thank you." The blonde replied shakily, stepping forward and taking the bag from the girl who shot her a strange look, taking note that the female looked immensely flustered and still had large blood stains both upon her skin and her clothes.
"Why is there a man lying on the dinning room table?" Bain walked into the room, casually pushing the swinging door open as he went. However, he stopped short when he took notice that Ren herself was covered in scarlet stains. "And why are you covered in blood?!"
"There was an accident inland. A small troop of elves stumbled upon a group of orcs and hunted them down." Ren replied, setting the bag of potatoes down and taking up one of the wooden buckets near the water pump before filling it. She then proceeded to scrub her hands clean of the scarlet blotches. "The man on the table was smashed over the head and I'm keeping him here so that I can keep an eye on him."
"Well, why can't you just keep him in the ward?" The boy complained, jutting a thumb over his shoulder. "He's stinking up the house!"
"He's unconscious, not dead, Bain." Sigrid growled at him, crossing her arms over her chest. The younger brother only sent her a dark look and she only wrinkled her nose at him.
"He lost a lot of blood and I need to keep him here under close observation." The blonde elf explained, as she tried her hands on the already stained apron. When she took note of this, she sighed. She would need to get a new one.
"How long before he'll wake up?" Tilda asked her, walking up to the blonde woman until she stood just in front of her.
"I don't know, little one." Ren admitted placing her hand gently atop the child's head, her fingers gently stroking the chocolate strands. "With cases like these, no one is ever sure. We can only wait." Looking down at the little girl, she offered her a small smile which was gladly returned. "Now, I think that it is time for supper." She tapped Tilda on the end of the nose, causing her to giggle.
"Indeed. The food is getting cold!" Bard added, stepping to the side and gesturing to the food. The children stepped forward without hesitation and began to prepare their plates.
The dark haired man only glanced at the elleth and when she felt his gaze upon her, she glanced at him for only a moment before her cheeks turned pink again. He himself only gestured to the food before them, silently telling her to go ahead.
Ren only replied with a shake of her head. "I need to change." She told him quietly, not waiting long for him to answer and instead turned and ducked out of the room, her feet carrying her away from him at a swift pace. He just watched her go, disappointment pooling in his chest as he watched her disappear as the door swung shut.
For the opportunity had presented itself to him and he had missed it.
The house had since grown quiet as night fell over the land. The only sound to be heard was the crackling of the logs in the fire or the occasional giggle from the small bathroom just down the hall, located at the other end of the house.
Ren was seated in the rocking chair that she had pulled closer to the table. She held a book in her hands and was just sitting in the and reading with a single candle placed upon the table as a source of light.
There was a sudden squeal that came echoing down the hallway and a door was opened.
Turning her head away from the novel, the blonde watched with amusement as a rather damp looking Bard came marching from the room, the rolled up sleeves of his red tunic now significantly darkened due to, no doubt, the bath water. The man himself looked a bit flustered.
"Are you having problems?" She asked with a small smirk on her lips, taking note that most of his hair had fallen out of its tie as well and that his face was dampened itself, with sweat or with water, she didn't know.
Coming to a stop in the dark dinning room, he huffed and brushed a few strands of hair from his face. "Tilda demands that you are the one to give her a bath."
The blonde felt her lips twitch up further and her eyebrow rose slightly in response. "Really?"
"She says that you're better at it. That you, somehow, make it more fun." He himself smiled slightly before glancing back at the still opened door, allowing the candlelight inside to stream out into the darkened hallway. An amused glint entered his eyes. "What have you been doing this past week that I've been gone?"
"Miss Margaret sold me a new type of soap at the market the other day." The elleth replied as she stood up, the book still in her hands. She rolled her eyes as she sauntered over to him. "It makes bigger bubbles all the while producing copious amounts of them. No need to worry though, Da." She teased him slightly, a smile upon her face. "You've only just gotten home after your journey. I've got things under control here." She pressed the book against his chest and moved behind him. Placing her hands upon his shoulders, she lightly pushed him forward and guided him to the rocking chair, pressing down upon his shoulders to make him sit. "Now, watch my patient while I take care of Tilda."
Rolling her own sleeves up, she walked down the hall, Bard watching her the entire way.
She had since changed into clean clothes like she had promised him earlier. Since it was growing later in the night, she had changed into a light purple tunic, it's color having been nearly washed out given the number of times it had been worn. A pair of slightly oversized trousers was held around her waist by a simple leather belt.
She disappeared into the room and shut the door behind her but even through the wood, the man could hear the shrill cry of delight that his daughter made.
Sighing through his nose, he glanced down at the book in his hands before his gaze slid to the man lying unconscious upon his table. Ren hadn't left him alone but for only a few moments, for fear that he would wake up or roll off his makeshift bed.
She was a good healer, that was for sure. The best the village had ever had. That wasn't really saying much really though and wasn't an adequate way to compare her skills.
The female elf had saved a number of people, so many so that Bard was almost sure everyone in the village had at least visited her once in the last couple years to be tended to. He himself even had been treated by her, given that he had come down with a powerful cold that had kept him in bed for a week. But, Ren had taken care of him and he had was soon back on his feet.
She had come at the perfect time, too.
Laketown's old healer had seen better days and the woman could hardly tie a knot in a bandage let alone perform surgery as the elleth had done earlier.
And she was kind beyond belief. Never a day went by when she raised her voice at any of her patients. Even in the heat of taking care of an accident, she still managed to keep her voice soft and comforting. But what amazed him the most was the fact that she never charged anyone a single piece of gold. Save for Alfrid when he came knocking on her door for something the Master requested.
To say the least, the villagers respected her work and were always friendly. She had somehow even managed to befriend the Esgaroth guards themselves and that in itself was impressive. It was not everyday you managed to get one of those blokes to smile.
But, there could have been another reason for their smiles and kindness... especially from the men.
Just as she was the greatest healer, she was also the most beautiful woman to have ever walked among the floating houses. He remembered the first day she had arrived and he imagined he never would forget it.
A ship had come in through the toll gate, harboring a few boxes of supplies and a few other traders who had sailed inland to trade with some of the scattered folks.
He himself had only been docking when suddenly, a glimmer of gold had caught his eye in contrast to the bleak colors that seemed to have painted themselves across the entire existence of Laketown. It had been that way since Ingrid had passed.
His whole world muted and grayed, save for the flickers of color he saw in his children. But sometimes, even then it was not enough for him.
When he had turned from his work of knotting his barge to the dock, he had felt whatever color that had been left in the world melted away to dull blacks and whites. Except her.
She shone brighter in his eyes than the sun, the moon, and all the stars combined. Her eyes were the bluest of blues. Her hair was pure sunlight itself. She had a face that even the gods would just jealous of. And with her smile, she took his breath away. She made his knees weak as her eyes briefly flickered over to him, lingering a few moments before turning and moving on down the dock. From that day forth, that very woman changed his life.
And ever since that very day, Bard never again saw the dulled and muted grays that had once spanned his world. For, that was the day that color had returned to his life.
Alright, so there you have it.
There will be a second part to this fic or maybe even a third part to it, given that we have not yet met Legolas (technically speaking) and therefore haven't had time to interact properly. Plus, there will be more Bard/Ren stuff to come as well so don't fret because I feel like they didn't get much fluff time either.
Have a few more personal AUs that I want to pump out, partly because of the upcoming Christmas Holiday. I have a really good one that makes me squee a lot.
But, again, if you guys wanna see an AU, just submit one in a review or send me a PM!
Anyway, if you liked what you read, you can just drop a review if you like. Thanks again to all those who read and favorite my stories. BOtFA is in three days, I'm so excited!
You know what to do, read and review!
Love,
Blue