You Color My Life: Part 2
(Bard/Ren, Legolas/Ren)
Bard groaned as he raised his arms above his head and stretched his aching back out. When he heard a satisfying pop and felt the release of tension in his spinal cord, he sighed in contentment as he opened the door to his bedroom and stepped out into the quiet house.
Light streamed in through the various windows of the house but he suddenly realized that it was cold in his house, his toes being the ones to come to that realization.
Yawning, he made his way into the kitchen first, lazily pushing on the swinging door with his shoulder as he rubbed a hand over his face, half expecting to see a blonde woman poking around in around in the cupboards or around the stove but instead found the room to be completely empty.
Frowning softly, he took note that the fireplace across the room had burnt down to mere embers and walked over to it, picking up a few logs from the pile beside it and placed them onto the glowing pieces in hopes of warming up the rest of the house. Reaching over, he picked up the old fire poker and began to churn the glowing coals in hopes of reviving the flames.
Blinking blearily, he turned and did a once over of the room, finding that nothing was out of place, meaning that he was the first one up.
Once again frowning, he pushed out of the room again and walked further into the dinning room, taking note of the unconscious man still lying on the table.
He felt a bit of annoyance trickle into his system but he felt it soon melt away when he took note of the person at his side.
There was Ren, her arm placed under her head, as was a sliver of the blanket covering the other elf. Her long braid was spilling over her shoulder and dangling in the air while the oversized tunic slipped slightly off her shoulder. Her lips were parted slightly and the rest of her face was lax as well as she slept.
And yet, finding her there was not so much of a surprise.
No doubt she had stayed up all night, making sure that her patient was fairing okay. He noticed that the book that she had been reading was lying open on the floor, having evidently fallen out of her lap in her sleep so that the pages were splayed open.
Feeling a small smile pull at his lips, he walked across the room and simply stared down at her for a moment, admiring how peaceful her features looked just then.
Reaching out, he gently smoothed her soft hair down, his thumb brushing some stray strands from her forehead so that he could get a better view of the lovely face that he had been dreaming about for the past few nights.
She just shifted slightly, a small sleepy whine coming from her throat as she settled further into sleep, her fist tightening around the blanket under her head.
The bowman just smiled again before moving across the room and picking up one of their old wool blankets. He then returned to her side and gently drapped it over her shoulders, giving them a gentle squeeze before leaving to stoke the other fire in the room.
He glanced back at her again, wondering if he should wake her up and tell her to go back to her own bed but figured that if he woke her, she wouldn't sleep until that very night. For Ren wasn't one to sit still or take naps during the day. It just wasn't in her nature to do so. For some strange reason, she always felt the need to be busy.
When the fire was once again crackling with life, he turned and left the room to begin making breakfast for his children who would no doubt soon be awake and causing chaos all throughout the house.
It was only then that he stopped and bent down to retrieve the book that had fallen out of her lap, placing it back on the table beside her head before with a final stroke of her silk tresses, he moved back to the kitchen.
Breathing deeply through her nose, she shifted in her seat but paused when she heard movement beside her.
Frowning softly, she furrowed her brow and willed herself to settle further into the darkness surrounding her when suddenly the blanket she was using as a pillow was yanked out from underneath her head.
That was when she realized that she had fallen asleep.
However, she found that it was almost too delightful to keep her eyes closed and just continued to doze the day away. But, knowing her duties and that she had to go open up the ward for the day, she slowly began to open her eyes.
Drawing her eyelids back, she sighed once again through her nose and stared blankly at the space before her but as she slowly came to, she realized that she was not blankly staring at the wall of Bard's home like she normally was.
No, instead a pair of curious, light blue eyes were watching her.
Blinking in realization, she sat up then, remembering the events that had unfolded yesterday and why there was a man -no, elf- lying on the dinning room table.
Taking a moment to compose herself, she blinked again before widening her eyes in hopes of waking herself up more quickly, sleep pulling desperately on her mind and wanting to drag her back down into the depths. Brushing away a few wild strands of hair from her face, she tucked them behind her ear and looked back to the now conscious male lying flat on the table. They simply stared at each other for a long moment before it was he who spoke first.
"Hello."
"Hello." She replied quietly, folding her hands into her lap.
"Have I passed into the West?" He asked her quietly, his voice weak and his eyes half idled as he continued to lay on the table. He had one of their warm cotton blankets draped over the top of him, given that the house got extremely cold at night, so much so, she often caught Sigrid and Tilda snuggling in the same bed to conserve body heat.
"No." She replied quietly, the corners of her mouth curling upward slightly, showing him comfort in his time of need. "You are very much alive, no thanks to your comrades who were able to get you here just in time."
"Are you so certain?" A small smile of his own pulled up his lips as his eyes continued to lazily trace across her facial features. "You cannot be real." He reasoned with her, his words still coming out as almost a whisper.
"I am very real." She told him, her voice still soft as she continued to be the kind healer that she was.
Tentatively reaching out, she placed her hand upon his bare forearm, feeling how he was once again warm with life. Quite unlike he was the night before.
At her touch, he looked at down where their skin met and his smile grew wider and there was a strange dreamy look in his eyes. Slowly reaching his hand up, Ren just watched as he carefully took hold of her wrist, his own touch light against her skin. His long fingers just moved along up her hand until he was had her fingers lightly trapped between his thumb and his palm.
"Are you so sure?" The elf asked quietly, slowly quirking one brow as he continued to gaze at her. "Because I have never laid eyes on any living creature as beautiful as you."
The she-elf couldn't help it when her cheeks burned with warmth at his remark. They turned a soft pink and she pulled her hand from his grasp before placing it back into her own lap where it grasped the fabric of her trousers.
She just looked down and away from him as she fought to control the flush racing through her entire body.
Simply smiling and shaking her head, she played it off as him still being delirious, thinking that perhaps he hadn't yet recovered entirely from being bashed over the head.
"Thank you for the flattery..." She smiled shyly again, brushing more hair behind her ear. "But, I am only a healer."
She stood up suddenly, the blanket that had been draped over her shoulders falling to the ground in the process. This caused her to pause a moment, recalling that last night, she had not had a blanket.
Turning her head back to the rest of the house, she listened for a moment and found that it seemed to be entirely empty.
Bard. She sighed through her nose, her eyes fluttering closed in realization. He must have taken the children out with him that day, leaving her to sleep awhile longer, given that she had been up most of the night.
Bending down, she picked up the blanket and folded it before tossing it back onto the basket where it normally sat.
The male elf only watched her move around the room for a minute before he slowly propped himself up on his elbows, wincing the entire way. His head pounded and ached so he slowly reached a hand up to feel it. He was surprised when he found bandages lying there.
"Where am I?" He asked through gritted teeth.
"Esgaroth."
"Laketown?"
"If I recall, there is only one town in Middle Earth named Esgaroth..."
"What happened?" He asked, trying to sit up further but instead hissed in pain. "Why am I in so much pain?"
The female immediately didn't even turn back to look at him as she placed another log into the large fireplace. "It would be in your best interest to remain lying down." She told him in Sindarin which caused the male to incline both his brows and blink, trying to comprehend that she had actually just spoken his native language to him. Or perhaps he was going insane. She just turned back to face him, wiping her hands on her trousers. "You attacked a band of orcs and were hurt. Hit over the head and were cut deeply in the side."
"You speak elvish?" He completely ignored her remark, instead choosing to focus that she could speak his language.
With a disbelieving look on her face, she just crossed her arms and shook her head at him. Momentarily unfolding her arms, she motioned to her pointed ears which were easily on display given the thick braid that was plaited down the center of her back. And given that he had been consistently staring at her, he should have noticed by then.
The male just blinked slowly and opened his mouth to say something but stopped before frowning softly. "You said I was hit over the head?" She gave a single, slow nod, confirming her previous words. He just gazed at her, trying to wrap his mind around it. "How hard?"
"Hard enough to force me to give you stitches." She told him, her eyebrows raised as she once again turned away from him and picked up the fire poker beside the fireplace and began to adjust the logs.
"So that's why it feels like there's a dwarf hammering away at my skull every time I open my eyes..." He murmured, reaching a hand up to rub at his eyes.
"It's lucky you're alive." The elleth replied as she finished her work. "You lost a lot of blood. It was a good thing your companions found me before it was too late. And even then, I was worried you wouldn't make it through the night." She busied herself with folding another blanket that had been discarded on the floor before the fireplace, no doubt one that Tilda had drug through the house that morning.
The male just narrowed his eyes at her and smiled slightly once again. "Is that why you were asleep beside me?"
He watched as she paused and he felt his smile widen slightly when he took note that her ears had turned a shade pinker once again. "I was supposed to be up to make sure you didn't suddenly wake up and panic when you didn't recognize where you were. I was supposed to make sure you didn't hurt yourself again."
"But... you fell asleep?"
"... unintentionally."
The elf just watched her for a minute before pursing his lips and slowly shaking his head, only to wince in pain again. "You are an awful healer then."
Her head snapped back to look at him, a dangerous glint in her sharp blue eyes. "Excuse me?"
"I'm sorry." He immediately held up a hand to show that he was innocent. "That wasn't supposed to be spoken out loud..." He suddenly looked concerned for a moment as he stared blankly at the floor beneath the legs of the table. "And that was very rude. I'm not usually this rude." He mused to himself, his pale blue eyes growing wide with worry. He then looked up at her. "Something is amiss in my mind."
"You mean you're not usually a talkative muttonhead?" She couldn't help the smile that now pulled back her own lips. A small laugh even escaped her throat and she just shook her head before walking passed him on the table. "I'm sure you're still just being affected by the concussion." The blonde reassured him, watching how the tenseness in his shoulders began to dissipate. "Now, are you hungry?"
He thought about this for a moment. "Not terribly so."
"How about I make you some broth?" She offered as she began to back towards the kitchen. "It'll make you feel better, I promise?"
With a slight quirk of his lips, the elf decided that he could not deny her if she was offering so willingly. Simply nodding her head, she turned back around to enter into the other room through the swinging door but as she was doing so, the male realized something.
He had to go.
"Ah! Ah-Miss!" He called after her and she paused in the doorway before turning to look back at him. She just raised a brow in response to his call. "Do you um..." He licked his lips, wondering how he could word his next statement so it didn't sound so... crude. "Do you have... a bucket that I could borrow that you... wouldn't want back?"
"What?" She asked, wrinkling her brow slightly in confusion.
"I need to..." He took a deep breath and shook his head, knowing that this was going to sound horrible but it needed to happen anyway. "... relieve myself?" He then glanced down at his crotch and he watched as the she-elf slapped an embarrassed hand over her face.
"Oh, Eru." She murmured, closing her eyes and sighing heavily through her nose. She then rubbed her forehead with her hand. "How badly? Like do I need to go get a bucket right now?"
"It's just a little urgent." He told her, his cheeks burning slightly.
With a resounding sigh, she rubbed her hand over her face one last time before opening her eyes once again, glaring right at him.
"Very well." She murmured, rolling the sleeves of her blouse down so that the ends once again rested at her wrists. "I just have to run down to my medical ward and get one. I'm not having you wasting one of our good buckets here." The blonde replied as she reached for a heavy blue coat that rested upon one of the various hooks by the door. She also wrapped a dark gray scarf around her neck. "I shouldn't be but a couple minutes before I'm back with the piss-pot." The elleth muttered dryly before she opened the door to the house. "And don't you go anywhere." She warned him, pointing a finger in his direction before she shut the door and left him alone.
The male elf couldn't help but chuckle slightly at the vulgarity of her words though he couldn't deny that it was amusing. She was an elven healer in a town of Men. No wonder their sharp words and gritty attitudes had rubbed off on her.
And yet, he still couldn't deny that he rather enjoyed her underlying charm.
Her boots were quiet as they pounded on the wooden boards that made up the docks. Smiling contentedly, she raised her head up towards the cloudy sky, enjoying the fact that it was starting to snow. Winter was only just settling over the land and with it, it seemed to bring the wonderful flakes with it.
Moving through the various paths in the village, she eventually came upon the familiar sight of Esgaroth's medical ward, or as she liked to think of it, her second home.
It wasn't huge and immaculate but it was big enough to serve the citizens of Laketown.
The tiny building consisted of three rooms, a front room which she used as a general examination room that held about six cots placed close together. It was also where she grew the various herbs she needed in the windows. The second room was only entered through the first one and Ren typically used this one to house patients who were sick and needed to be kept quarantine from the other patients and held four cots in it. And lastly, the third room was more like her personal office where she also grew more herbs in the numerous windows but she also had a number of tools and a fireplace in there, as well as a long and wide table she used for surgery, as she should have used with the injured elf.
Again, it wasn't much but it was enough.
Without hesitating, she walked up to the front door and pulled it open before stepping inside, the familiar heat from a fire warming her skin as she stepped out of the nippy air. The little bell above the door dinged, for it was placed there if the ward was empty and she was busy in the back and couldn't hear the door open.
Not she needed it with her hearing but it had been there before she had taken over the ward and hadn't the heart to take it down.
Shaking the white flakes from her hair, she paused just inside the doorway and looked around the larger room. A few of the elven warriors were seated on some of the cots and were talking in their native tongue while one of the others was looking through the small collection of books she kept there for recovering patients. One also walked in the back door, shutting it behind him and looking up to her find her standing there.
They all turned to look and she just nodded her head in greeting.
"Good morning, gentlemen." She said before moving across the room and picking up the bucket that sat in the corner of the room. "I cannot stay and talk long but I will say that your comrade is awake and doing well. He made it through the night and I would love to stay and give you more details but..." She held up the bucket to exaggerate her point. "He needs to relieve himself."
And with that, Ren was gone, once again leaving out the front door.
It did not take her long to get back to Bard's house and she strode up the steps and opened the door, only to pause when her eyes landed on the elf before her. He was sitting up and had his feet dangling over the edge of the table as he was struggling to lower himself onto the floor, his face scrunched up in pain as his side stretched painfully yet he had to go and he didn't appear to care.
Cursing loudly, the female dropped the bucket and raced to his side before he could fall and hurt himself.
"That's unlady-like." He said through gritted teeth as she slung his arm over her shoulder, helping him to place his feet onto the wooden floorboards before he leaned back upon the table's edge.
"Well... you're being an idiot." She said once he was upright, brushing her hair out of her eyes.
"It is an emergency." The elf explained and the blonde female simply glared at him before picking the bucket up and placing it on the ground before him. "I was on my way to find a bathroom."
"Well, the toilet is downstairs, out in the cold. It's beginning to snow out and you're shirtless." The blonde just smirked, shrugging out of her coat and scarf before replacing it on the hook, shaking the snow out of her hair and onto the floor. "I don't think you would have liked that."
He only smiled slightly, bracing his hands back on the table as his head throbbed once again. He then reached out and toed the bucket before him, a slight wrinkle in his nose. "So... this is the famous... piss-pot."
"The appropriately named piss-pot." She chuckled slightly as she moved to the kitchen, wanting to give him some privacy. "Though I wasn't the one to name it. A couple of guards last year got sick during the winter and didn't want to use the out-house down the dock. So, they decided to do their business inside, away from winter's chill."
"Doesn't it... disgust you?"
"I'm a healer and it's a natural thing the body does. You can't just... not go." She pushed into the kitchen and retrieved one of the smaller pots from the cupboards and walked over to the small stove so that she could heat the broth she promised her patient.
Ren couldn't help but scrunch her nose up slightly when she heard the sound of water dripping in the other room but instead chose to ignore it as she ladled a few scoops of water into the pot.
Drawing open another pair of cupboards, she pulled out some spices and began to add them to the clear water. She was about to push through the swinging door but paused for a moment.
"Are you finished yet?" She called to him through the wood.
"Yes."
And with that, she exited the kitchen and was relieved to find that he actually had covered himself and was once again sitting calmly on the table. But, when she entered into the room, he turned to look at her.
Slowly striding across the room, she paused just before the bucket and reached down, taking hold of the rope handle before lifting it up. "You're lucky I'm such a nice person." She smiled slightly before she began to approach the door down the hall that led to the lower level of the house. "I usually make the other men do it."
Quietly chuckling, he just shook his head and watched her as she disappeared down the steps, the cold beginning to creep up the stairs into the house.
He shuddered slightly when the nip his his bare chest but the she-elf returned a few minutes later with the same bucket and a bundle wrapped in cloth. She shut the door behind her and sat the bucket down at the end of the table again.
Again disappearing into the kitchen, the woman was gone a number of minutes as she unwrapped the package of chicken that had been chilling out in the winter air. She dumped it into the herbs and water and waited.
The male elf just glanced around the room for a moment before he spotted a book that was left upon the table. Reaching down, he picked it up and held the leather novel in his hands, looking over the title on the spine. The Tale of Beren and Lúthien, his eyes traced over the golden letters, never having read the story before.
Just as he was debating on opening the book and beginning to read, he felt the pain his injuries were causing him come full force once again.
"Excuse me, um... My lady?" He called after her and the quiet movement he heard in the kitchen ceased.
"Yes?"
"I don't suppose you have anything for pain, do you?" He waited a beat before she came through the swinging door once again, a cup held in her hands that was filled with water. "Some herbs or something that can take away the hammering in the back of my skull?"
She didn't say a word as she picked up a leather satchel that had been placed on the lone rocking chair in the room.
Standing beside where he was seated on the table, she sat the bag down and the cup before she flipped open the flap. She began to rummage around inside the bag and began to withdraw various vials and bottles filled with different colored powders and leaves.
Wordlessly, she began to mix certain ones into the water, using a stirring stick that she had also pulled from within the satchel.
"You know, I've asked so much of you already and we have only just met. You saved my life and you are still taking care of me and yet..." He smiled slightly when she raised her eyes up to look at him. "I don't even know your name."
Going back to her work, her eyes just sparkled for a moment as she continued to stir the concoction. "Just as I don't know my patient's...?"
Upon hearing this new information, the male just smirked then, shifting in his seat upon the table. "I am Legolas." He said simply, bracing his hands on the edge of the worn wood. "Legolas of Mirkwood."
"Galaren..." She responded, handing him the wooden cup. "... of Lothlorien." Tossing her long braid over her shoulder, she just leaned on the table beside him for a moment. "But, most everyone calls me Ren, save my parents."
"Lothlorien?" He breathed in disbelief, the same smile upon his face. "You are from the Golden Wood then? I should have guessed so... You don't look like a Mirkwood elf."
"You mean I actually have coloring to my skin?" She teased him lightly, knowing that the Greenwood was very dense and that even then, most of them didn't venture far out into the rest of the world.
In response to her words, the male elf just chuckled deeply before clutching his side as pain radiated through him but he nonetheless continued to laugh.
Ren just shook her head but still held an amused glint in her blue eyes. "Would you drink that already before you spill it?"She pressed him and watched him as he took a sip of the concoction, his face twisting up in disgust. "Keep drinking it…" She told him, forcing his wrist back to his mouth.
"That was entirely unpleasant." He told her once he finished, handing her the empty cup.
"It always is, isn't it?" Ren replied, smiling as she accepted the object before moving back into the kitchen. "The broth should be only a few more minutes and after I change your bandages, you can go back to sleep."
"Now that sounds pleasing…" He mused with a small quirk of his lips on his face, knowing that she could no doubt hear him despite the wall separating them.
Once again looking over, he reached for the book that he had set down earlier and flipped it open to the front page when he began to read.
True to her word, the blonde healer returned just a few minutes later, a bowl of steaming liquid held in her hands. Quickly placing the book down, he extended his hands towards her and she placed it into his waiting palms without another words.
"This smells lovely, my lady." He complimented as he picked up the spoon and then began to stir it. Scooping up a spoonful, he blew on it and then put it into his mouth, humming contentedly as the liquid hit his tastebuds. "And it tastes equally as lovely!"
"Well, I do only try my best…" She murmured as she turned back to the table and began to put her herbs and such back into her satchel. However, she withdrew a few roles of bandages and placed them onto the tabletop.
"Say, Ren…?" He said as he continued to stir his broth. She just hummed in response and continued to sort through her things. "What is this book about?"
He gestured to the book beside him on the table and just by the cover, she knew which one he was was talking about.
"The Tale of Beren and Lúthien?" He nodded in response and frowned softly when she sighed quietly. "Well, it's about love…" She started slowly as took a step towards him and climbed up on the table beside him so that she could examine his wound. She carefully untied the roll of cloth from around his head. He just glanced up at her from the corner of his eye and found that a small, soft smile had pulled back her lips. "Beren is a mortal man who falls in love with Lúthien, an elf maiden who was said to be the most fair among both Man and Elf. But, her father does not accept their love and instead sends him on a quest to find one of the Silmaril... I've trust you've heard of those correct?"
He just turned his head to look at her. "Every elven child has been told the tale."
"That is what I thought about The Tale of Beren and Lúthien." The female murmured as she continued to take the bandages off. "Anyway, to test Beren's skill, her father sends him off to find one of the stones. It turns out that the elf maiden follows him but the story ends with Beren dying and Lúthien is so grief stricken that she also fades. But, she visits the Hall of Mandos and it all ends up that they return to the world of the living, only to die many years later from long, mortal lives."
"That's... tragic."
"It is." She agreed, peeling the bloodstained cloth from his head before placing it on the table. "I'm very surprised you'd never heard of it."
"I never got to spend much time in the library. I was always out on patrol."
"It's a bed time story for children...?"
"My father never really was one for stories, especially those of love." Legolas explained quietly as he ate the last of the stew. "You see, my mother died when I was very young."
It was quiet in the room for a long moment.
"I'm sorry to hear that." She lightly spread his soft hair out of the way to see the cut, finding that it did not look as horrible as it had the previous night. No doubt it still hurt though. "How does your head feel now?"
"The pounding is not so intense anymore." He replied before setting the bowl down and placing his hands in his lap.
"And your side, how much pain are you in?" She slipped down off the table and moved to his other side before she began to untie the knot. The healer then began to unwind the bandages. She had to reach partway around him to slip the other end beneath his arm, which he lifted up, and repeating the process.
"It's become more manageable since I took your medicine."
Her hair was brushing against his bare shoulder as she did so and the elf just watched her out of the corner of his eye. She was very close to him, so close that he was able to smell the sweet soap she used to wash her hair. He detected lavender.
Legolas inhaled deeply, taking the scent deep into his lungs before he breathed out, his eyes momentarily shutting. Ren wasn't paying attention so didn't notice his strange behavior.
"So…" He began slowly, his eyes watching her intently but his curiosity got the better of him in the end. "Do you live alone in this big house all by yourself?"
"What?" She asked, pausing a moment to look up at her patient but froze when she realized just how close she was to him. And how he was staring down at her with a strange glint in his sharp blue eyes. He was breathing softly yet she still felt the gentle puffs catching in her eyelashes. "Um… Uh… What?"
"I asked if you lived here alone…?" His eyes momentarily darted down to her lips and the she-elf blinked rapidly a few times in hopes of clearing her mind.
"Do I live-" She registered his words after a long moment and finally was able to form proper thoughts. "No."
And just as she said this, the front door opened and Bard came walking into the house. His eyes glanced around the room for a moment until he spotted the blonde head of hair he had come to know so well and was surprised when his gaze landed upon not one blue eyed, golden haired elf, but two.
"Ren." He breathed, his eyes lingering on the man for a moment before shifting to his housekeeper who was now thankfully awake.
"Hello, Bard." She replied, glancing back at Legolas as she finished unwinding the bandages before she straightened up, her cheeks once again burning after being found so close to this strange elf in almost an intimate position. "You're home early."
The male elf just looked at the dark haired man for a moment.
He was tall and had wide shoulders, strong now doubt, but he wasn't stocky. He also had dark brown hair and eyes set to match with a mustache and a bit of a beard growing on his chin as well. He was handsome in the eyes of his own people, he supposed, compared to other men and as he glanced back at the healer, he took note of the hot blush on her cheeks as well as the horrified look in her eyes.
But as he took note of this, he felt a bit of disappointment bubble in his chest. So, she was taken. He had suspected as much, if her beauty was anything to go by.
"This must be your husband then…?" The elf asked as he glanced between the two of them, gauging their reactions.
The dark haired male just looked at the she-elf for a moment and she herself held a strange glint in her sapphire eyes as she licked her lips nervously. The tension in the air was heavy for a moment, as was the silence. It was uncomfortable, Legolas realized and for a long moment he wondered why.
"No. We're not married." It was surprisingly the man who spoke, his voice gravely.
"I'm his housekeeper." Ren replied quietly, her hands ringing against themselves as she nervously stood there between the two men.
"My apologies, then." He said, offering the other man a smile though the hope was once again restored in his chest. Perhaps the woman was not as taken as he once was.
It was once again quiet in the room before the lady decided to speak up again. "Right, Bard this is Legolas... and Legolas, this is Bard." She gestured between the two of them and they exchanged head nods in greeting but just as before they lapsed back into a rather uncomfortable silence.
The bowman then seemed to snap out of the trance he had been in and remembered what he held in his hand. "Ah, yes." He raised his arm, bringing the bundle of colorful flowers into view so that she could see them. "These are for you."
"Bard…" Ren breathed, an awestruck smile upon her face as she reached and carefully took them into her own hands. She buried her nose into them and smelled them. "These are so beautiful. How did you manage to get your hands on them?"
"Belinda told me to give them to you." He had a soft smile on his face, his lips barely curling up in the corners but his eyes still held a warmth in them as he looked at her.
"Percy's wife?" He nodded and the blonde couldn't help but smile as she thought of the older woman who had a year round garden in her house. She often supplied herbs to the elven healer if she was running low on her own wares. "How kind of her. She really didn't have to give me some of her beautiful stock…"
"She said that after all you've done for them, your happiness is more than enough payment for them."
"Then I'll have to tell her thank you the next time I see her." She reached out and gave his arm a gentle squeeze before she moved by him to go into the kitchen. "Say, you don't happen to know where the children are at, do you? The house has been quiet this morning since I woke up."
Children? Legolas mused as he watched her casually walk to the other end of the house, smelling the lovely flowers the entire time.
"Well, Sigrid is over at Alla's house and they are working on a quilt together. Bain ran off to go find his friends in the market, said that he would probably be home in time for diner, and if not, he would find something at Lusia's house, and Tilda-"
The front door was suddenly thrown open, causing the male elf to shiver from the gush of cold air hitting his bare chest.
A little girl stumbled in noisily and her big brown eyes searched the room before coming to land on the she-elf. "Ren!" She squealed and was immediately across the room as she threw herself at the beaming woman.
The two of them embraced tightly and the she-elf dusted the snow off the top of her soft brown hair before placing a kiss there.
"You're awake!" She giggled, bringing a hand up to her mouth to hide her goofy smile. "This morning, Da said that we had to be extra quiet so as to not wake you. He said that you needed to sleep because he thinks that you don't get enough as it is!" The older female just looked up at the bargeman for a moment, an amused grin on her face. "Do you like your flowers?"
"Yes, they're very pretty. Did Belinda help you pick them out?"
"No! Da did it all by himself! He said that he wanted it to be special for y-"
"Tilda." The dark haired man warned gently as he interrupted her, walking over to join the woman across the room. He placed a hand on the top of her head. "You need to leave Ren be. She has a patient to take care of." He nodded towards the elf who had just quietly been sitting and watching the entire encounter.
"Oh, okay." The little girl's shoulders sagged slightly beneath an invisible weight, disappointment evident on her face which was still tinged pink from the cold air outside. She looked back at the strange elf sitting on the dinning room table, her lips pouted slightly.
Sighing slightly, the she-elf just looked back to Bard before handing the flowers back to him, her hand gently closing over his own as he curled his calloused fingers around the stems. "Can you please go find a vase for these?" She asked him quietly and the dark haired man nodded, his boots pounding quietly on the wooden floorboards as he disappeared into the kitchen.
Untying the scarf from around her neck, Ren just smiled gently as the little girl continued to pout. "Tell you what, Tilda…" She also unbuttoned the coat and helped her out of it so that she could hang it up, along with her scarf. Coming back over to her, the healer crouched in front of the child. "After I'm done with him, you can walk down to the ward with me, okay?"
With a grin, the brunette girl lunged forward and wrapped her hands around her neck to give her another tight squeeze. "Okay!"
"Now… Why don't you go and get warmed up in the kitchen? Your hands are freezing on my neck!" With another giggle, she also disappeared into the kitchen, leaving the two elves to watch after her.
"So, you're their housekeeper then?" Legolas mused, drawing her attention away from the door where her eyes had been trained. "I thought you were a healer?"
"I needed a place to stay and Bard needed someone to help him with his children." She replied quietly as she took a step towards the table again and set to work organizing the new bandages.
"He doesn't have a wife?"
Another string of silence filled the air around them.
"She died giving birth to Tilda." Ren explained as she once again climbed onto the table and began to place a new bandage on his head wound. "And I came to Esgaroth a few years ago and became the village healer."
"You mentioned two other children?" The warrior asked after a long moment of quiet.
"Sigrid is his oldest daughter and Bain is his only son." The she-elf explained as she continued to wrap the bandages around his head.
"She seems to be very fond of you…" He said with a slight quirk of his lips, careful as to not move his head to disrupt her work. "In fact, both of them do. I can't imagine how the other two must feel."
"Well, I suppose I'm rather fond of them, too." The she-elf admitted, tying a knot in the wrapping upon his head, a soft look in her eyes. "The whole lot of them."
Slipping from the table, she began to silently bandage his side and it didn't take long for her to secure that wrapping as well, her cheeks burning the entire time with the thought of what had almost happened before Bard came home.
However, as she was finishing up and putting her things away she paused and looked down at the hard table top.
"I suppose you want to go back to sleep now?"
"Indeed." The elf blinked blearily at her, showing just how exhausted he was. "I feel so tired... So much more than I've ever felt before."
"You're probably still sluggish from blood loss." She reasoned as she finished packing away her things. She then tossed her satchel over her head and gazed calmly at him. "But, I figure that you want to have a nice bed to sleep in, yes?"
"That would be preferable. Not that your dinning room table isn't comfortable." He teased lightly, causing the woman's mouth to curl up slightly with amusement.
"Well, my ward is empty, save for your comrades so you can stay there if you like?"
"That sounds wonderful." He mused and the healer just stepped forward to help ease himself back down onto the ground. And yet, the gears in her mind continued to turn and she realized that his chest was still bare and that his trousers were also soiled with tried blood.
"I think that we leave however, you will need clothes." She told him as she released him. "We don't want you walking around looking like a mangy muttonhead, do we?"
"I think you wouldn't mind." He teased and she just shook her head before turning back to face the kitchen door.
"Bard?"
"Yes?"
"It wouldn't be too troubling to ask if you could lend Legolas one of your tunics and a pair of pants until I can get my hands on more clothes tomorrow?" The dark haired man emerged from the kitchen, his dark brows furrowed as he looked at both the blondes.
His eyes then automatically traced to the female's and the stubbornness to give up his clothes seemed to melt before his eyes. "No... I'll go get a pair right now."
With an appreciative smile upon her face, she watched as the man moved down the hall into his room before disappearing inside.
In his absence, the little brunette raced out of the swinging door as well and came running towards the older woman and the male elf. "Are you ready to go yet?" She asked, her eyes wide with excitement.
"Yes, little one. Go ahead and get your coat on and wait for us. I'm almost done." The healer promised her and Tilda bounded over to the coat rack to snag her own thick jacket.
It was then that Bard returned, holding one of his tunics and trousers in his hands.
"Here." He handed them to the male elf before bending down and helping Tilda fasten her coat shut, having heard all about the she-elf's promise to take her to the ward with her when she was finished treating Legolas.
"Thank you." The elf replied and calmly slipped the fabric over his head, wincing slightly as his side pulled but the pain dulled when he lowered his arms back down.
"You're welcome." The bargeman replied calmly, his eyes assessing the warrior before him. "Why don't you two go get some fresh bread from the kitchen?" He turned to the females in the room so that the elf could change in privacy. "Have a snack before you head out?"
"Okay!" Tilda beamed before taking hold of Ren's hand and pulling her along behind her. Bard just turned away but remained in the room incase he needed help due to his injuries.
"I don't deserve all this kindness that both you and Ren have given me." The other creature mused from behind him as a rustling of clothing was heard and then he could hear the tell-tale sound of pants being unfolded.
"Aye, no one deserves all the kindness she gives them." The bargeman mused quietly before the elf cleared his throat behind him and he turned back to find him fully clothed. "She gives it away too freely and at no price."
"And that's why you love her...?" His dark brown eyes snapped up to meet the other male's blue ones. "You and your family I mean?"
The man didn't say anything but gave the man a pointed look, instead choosing to call out for the two girls who came back into the room, each holding a piece of soft bread in their hands that Bard himself had only just then cooked that morning.
"We're ready to go then?" The blonde female asked as she shoved the last bit of bread into her mouth before crossing the room and taking her coat off the hook. "Here, you can use my coat." She handed it to Legolas but when she reached back to pick up her other jacket, she found that it was gone.
I must have left it in the ward. She told herself and just as she was about to comment, she felt another heavy weight come to rest upon her shoulders and she was suddenly engulfed in warmth.
Looking back over her shoulder, she found Bard there and he had shrugged out of his warn fur jacket and placed it over her own shoulders.
"Take mine." He lightly pressed her.
"I'll be fine." The blonde muttered, about the shrug off his jacket but his hands remained holding the coat on her.
"Ren, it's winter outside." He chastized her slightly, his brow set in a firm frown. "It's snowing for Aulë's sake and it's a long walk down to the ward."
Listening to his words and momentarily glancing at Tilda, the she-elf couldn't help but give in to his request. She had to be a good role model for the child. Never go out into the cold without a coat on.
Looking up into his deep brown eyes, she found it very hard to refuse him and slipped her arms in the sleeves, the coat obviously being too big for her but it didn't matter. It just mattered that it kept her warm.
"Thank you." She said quietly as he helped her to settle it upon her shoulders. Then reaching out with tentative fingers, he lightly pulled her braid free from where it had been tucked inside her coat, leaving it now to instead hang freely down the middle of her back.
The dark haired man didn't reply but instead gently squeezed her shoulders before turning back to Tilda.
"Best be off with you then?" He grinned widely down at his little girl, reaching out to gently fix her scarf which she had tied haphazardly around her neck. "Hopefully you will make it back for dinner? We wouldn't want you to miss it now would we?"
She just shook her head and Ren smiled and offered her hand to the little girl who took it without a second thought, a huge grin upon her face as she did so. Then, the blonde gave him a warm smile before pulling open the door and stepping out into the cold.
"Thank you again, Bard." Legolas told him and with a firm nod of his head in response to his words, the elf was following behind her and his youngest daughter.
The elleth pulled the door shut behind the three of them and they set off into the world, leaving the bargeman to watch as two of the three most important women in his life walk down his front porch and off into the snowy world, leaving him to anxiously await their return to him.
Hey guys!
Finally got this part out. We've been having problems with our internet for the past couple days and it's only just now started to work again.
So in this chapter, we have more interaction with Legolas. But this is only the beginning, don't worry. Probably going to make this into a multiple story chapter as well. I'm thinking perhaps... four chapters? Maybe five if I string things out?
Anyway, more fluff and stuff. More Bard being cute. I know Legolas seems kind of strange in this story, more open and talkative but I simply blame it on the fact that he got hit pretty hard over the head and it's making him weird.
Next chapter will probably be another chapter of Gladiator. Will probably start writing it tonight but I don't know when I will get it finished because I'm having surgery tomorrow. Kinda nervous about that and hopefully things will go well.
Should be laid up for a couple days after that but hopefully I'll use that time to write to my hearts content. Wish me luck, anyway. A few well wishes might be good to cause I hate surgery and am terrified. Lol.
Oh! I also thought about anther AU I could do where perhaps there is a bit of a story between Richard and the actress who would have played Ren in the movies? Like a little romance thing where their characters fall in love, as do the actors playing them kinda thing?
Anyway, just tell me what you guys think. If you have a new idea for a fic, then just hit me up and I'll think about it!
So, you know what to do, read and review!
Love,
Blue
P.S. Didn't get to say Merry Christmas or Happy Holidays but... Merry (late) Christmas!