Dear Inkdrops,

Should I start another story - nope.
Did I - yes.
This is holiday-themed and I hope I will sort-of be able to update it in real time (though most likely not).
It is also cross-posted on AO3.

I hope you enjoy it!

Disclaimer: I don't own the characters!

Going out on Christmas Eve had not exactly been Éowyn's plan - truth be told, it was probably one of the last things that would have been on her mind only five hours ago. If you had asked her then, she would have likely said something along the lines of 'work, food, bed'. Maybe thrown in a couple of episodes How I Met Your Mother, if lucky. A cheesy Christmas movie if she wanted to go all the way.

But then her boss (read: uncle) had really really pissed her off and blown the business merger she had been working on for weeks to bits. Just like that. Countless hours of work, of arguments with other companies, of research and documentation, made useless. Because he felt 'it wasn't the right time to expand after all'. Of course, she had complained. Then, instead of taking her side, her colleague (read: brother) had started to mansplain her about the complexities of the project - a merger she had organised in the first place! Everything, the drafts, the ideas, the legal work had come from her. And now he meant to tell her what to do?! This was outrageous, ridiculous even. How had he dared, strutting around her office like a parrot, taking in more space than humanly possible. His broad shoulders and muscular arms had almost stretched the fabric of his custom-made suit as he had crossed them in a sign of silent confidence. So, like any sensible 25-year-old lawyer, she had told him to shut it, and kicked him out of her office. He had complied, but only after a couple of choice words and pointed glances and the recommendation 'to get over it'. At this point, Éowyn had almost stormed after him to strangle him with her bare hands, but at the last second had resolved to merely slamming the door.

Usually, there was no way she would have left any mail unanswered or any file unchecked before the holidays, but now, in her current state of mind and mood, she really hadn't cared one bit: For once Éowyn only had done what had to be done and had ignored the rest, this would be a problems for 28th-of-december-Éowyn. She had also let her family's and most other calls go on voicemail and had left the office as quickly as possible in a whirl of high heels, green pantsuit and golden curls. After all, she would have to see the whole crew again the next day for Christmas dinner, she supposed, so she needed to put as much space between these events and the 'family fun' as she humanly could. Maybe then she would be willing to hold the Christmas peace tomorrow. Maybe. (Not likely though).

Bring the only woman in the sort-of-not-so-nuclear-family of four had never been easy - three overprotective men that at the same time relied on her expertise but still didn't give her the opportunities she craved. Okay, let's be honest, business world had been, was and is highly mysoginist, and why they certainly didn't want to treat her any different, she was pretty sure the guys had all internalized their fair share of prejudices over the years. Male boarding school anyone? Adding to that, they also seemed to have forgotten that she had grown up in the meantime and could handle herself. And the business. It infuriated her without end.

Now, Éowyn took in a deep breath as she stepped into the cold evening air. It was getting dark already, tiny snowflakes were drifting down on the streets of London. Christmas lights had been wrapped around the trees and the houses, and the shops hadn't spared expenses to decorate their windows. She scoffed. Was anyone ever thinking about the energy costs?

For a moment, she debated texting one of her friends - or even all of them - just to complain about the job and the world, but then decided against it. No, they all had their own problems, she wouldn't impose. Éowyn shivered slightly as she stood on the sidewalk, waiting for a cab. Curling up on her couch seemed more and more like the most reasonable course of action and she would likely have done that, if there hadn't been a certain someone who suddenly tapped her on the shoulder. She startled, but relaxed quickly when she suddenly came to stare straight into the big green eyes in a very pretty face. The woman was a little bit taller than herself, slender built, with a forest green peacoat and very sleek and very red hair. Snow had started to freckle it with white, like white dust on a fire.

"Tauriel, hey!" Éowyn greeted her happily, a smile forming on her lips, "what's up? And what are you doing here?"

"Hello Winnie!" the woman responded, "great to catch you here!" The tone however sounded suspiciously sly.

Éowyn looked at her confused.

"Seriously, what's up?"

"Did you check the group chat? "

"Uhm nope. Should I?"

The other woman gave a long-suffering sigh.

"You know, the chat exists to actually get hold of each other, right? Anyway. I thought you didn't read the messages, and the call went on voicemail, and your lovely assistant told me you had just left. Since I was just leaving as well, I decided to swing by, try to catch you. Truth be told, I didn't think I would!"
She smirked proudly.
"You are finished for today, right? I am done too, literally, and I thought you'd might want to meet up for a drink. Legolas might join us as well."

There was a peculiar edge in Tauriel's voice that made Éowyn pause. Maybe it was the slight increase of the accent, it always happened when she was annoyed.

"Did Thranduil piss you off again."

It wasn't question. The other woman only scoffed.

"Of course he did. But I'll tell you later. And Legolas will too, be warned. Can we go now?"

"Tauriel, I actually just wanted to go home," she tried to curb her friend's enthusiasm.

"Wait what? How come?"

The blonde woman sighed.

"Théoden and Éomer. Men. The usual."

"And that's why you want to go home?" Tauriel asked.

"Yeah, so?"

"Stay here! Don't let them ruin your day! Or at least wallow with me!"

"Girl what?" Éowyn had asked slightly incredulously. "I just wanted to change into sweatpants, be done with all of this."

"No, dummy! Drinks, we all need it. I know it. We can do dinner as well, if you want to. Hey, I might even throw in Arwen to sweeten the deal. Let me just quickly text her. I am sure she has some daddy issues she wants to share with the class."

Tauriel pulled out her phone and started to type with lightspeed, presumably to hassle Arwen into joining their outing.

"Alright Winnie, since you haven't complained during the last thirty seconds, I assume you are in. Great!"

She didn't even look up during the delivery of these lines. Éowyn sighed again.

This had never been her style, and she had known she would likely regret it come morning. But maybe, she had thought, maybe she would regret staying in even more, when the walls were almost caving in, making her feel more and more trapped. So she had nodded resolutely to herself.

"Alright. Where do you guys want to meet?" she finally agreed.

"The Prancing Pony maybe? It's nice, cosy. Not snobby, less of a chance to run into your... circle, if you don't want to," she faked a shudder, "and I have heard they do something Christmas related. AND we can have dinner there, too, if we choose to."

"You know I love the place."

"I know, that's why I proposed it. After all, I want you to come!"

Her phone rang and she checked the message with a smile.

"It's Awa. She says she can meet us in 20 minutes in front of Moria Art Gallery." She scoffed. "All you trust-fund-babies and rich kids with your beautiful central apartments! And I can't even hate you because you are all really lovely people and actually work for your living. Which sort of makes me resent you even more. That included you, Miss Eorl!"

Éowyn shrugged, not really impressed by Tauriel's tirade. It had become sort of a running gag over the last couple of years, her telling the rest of the group off for their presumed snobbishness and then everyone finding other reasons to pick at one another, in shifting allegiances. The most obvious one was likely girls vs. boys, where the closest circle included Éowyn, Tauriel and Arwen on the one side, and Legolas on the other. In the slightly further radius there were Aragorn, Haldir, Elladan and Elrohir, Lindir, Kili and Fili, and sometimes even Éomer.
However, they also formed battle lines according to universities, nationality: English vs. all the others, paupers (Tauriel, Lindir and Haldir) vs. rich kids (the rest), soccer vs. cricket vs. archery vs. riding, commoners vs. nobility - you name it.
They were all very aware how careful they had to be with these kinds of statements and that especially some members of the older generation would pull horrible consequences out of an argument they had only for the sake of who would pay the round of drinks that night.

"So, what do we do in the meantime?" Éowyn wanted to know.

"Retail therapy?"

"Tauriel, you just complained about capitalism, and now you want to spend more money?" Éowyn asked.

"Nope, I want to convince you to buy new clothing," the redhead grinned.

"I like my clothes. It's comfortable. And business appropriate."

"Yeah. Because you are always business appropriate. Always on duty. Or doing sports."

The blonde woman stared her down. "Look who's talking. I don't think you are working any different times than I do, or have a better work-life-balance."

Tauriel shrugged. "No. But I get laid. You don't. And you certainly would, if you didn't look like you just jumped off the cover of Forbes Magazine. It's intimidating. And you know, I am all here for that my dearest girl queen, but it's not getting you hot and sweaty with a hot dude without some serious work."

"Maybe I don't want to date?" she repeated the usual argument.

Tauriel just tsked, which meant Éowyn would hear more about that later.

"And with regard to the clothes, you mean slutty," Éowyn corrected the redhead.

"Call it as you wish, Winnie. More skin, less coverage. But since it's Christmas and since I look very preppy as well tonight I shall give you a pass. That said, at least I am wearing pretty underwear."

"But why would you - Aren't you and-"

"Not. Another. Word," Tauriel cut her line of questioning short. For the first time there was a true warning edge to her voice, asking her not to push further for now. Éowyn nodded, backing off a little. Despite her outward brashness, Tauriel had a tender heart and her blonde friend hated that apparently another relationship that had seemed so promising had gone sour. That girl really deserved the world, and somehow, she seemed haunted with bad luck.

So, they did end up doing retail therapy, but the only thing Éowyn bought was a lipstick she had been thinking about for quite some time now. The colour was bold, a dark cherry red, and as she put it on outside, her friend smiled approvingly.

"It looks like - no, 'it's giving'" she rolled her eyes, "Taylor Swift x Marilyn Monroe x Cinderella."

"It does, doesn't it," Éowyn gave back happily.

They slowly made their way to the art gallery, but Éowyn started to curse as her feet began to freeze in her heels.

"I was not planning to go outside for long," she explained, "I didn't change my shoes. And I certainly won't go back to the office to get them now."

"Well, I am sure Arwen will be on time," the other woman replied as they kept staring up and down the street, waiting for their friend, "she always is."

And indeed, she was, to Éowyn's big relief. Other than Aragorn, who for some reason was always a little bit late (unless Arwen made him be on time) or her brother who tended to rush in just in time. One always knew when Arwen was bound to arrive, because people were moving out of the way. They were building pathways as if she were a superstar, and she would strut down these lines like a runway model. Head high, back straight, the picture of poise and elegance, but not arrogant. No, she was floating, sexy in a totally different way than Tauriel. She had at least on the first glance, nothing of her wildness and seductiveness, instead she seemed almost ethereal. Her close friends however knew that at least part of it was just an assumption - while Arwen had the biggest heart humanly possible, she was anything but naive, had nerves as steel, and anyone who had ever seen her hit her bothers would doubt that there was anything etheral about her at all.

Aside from Éomer, she was likely the person who knew Éowyn best in the whole world. While Éowyn loved all of her friends and shared different connections with each of them, her relationship with Arwen had always been a little different. She was her person, that puzzle-piece-best-friend you find once and never let go of again. Like Tauriel and Legolas, Kili and Fili, and Elladan and Elrohir.

Now, Arwen looked as if she had fallen straight out of a winter rom-com: blue coat and white scarf with the cutest white beanie that covered part of her long brown hair. Her nose was a little bit red from the cold, but it didn't make her look any less perfect. She waved at the two otehrs as she approached.

"Good evening you two!"

"Heya you!" Éowyn greeted her, "my feet are freezing, can we get going?"

"Of course!" the others responded and just like that they were off to the Prancing Pony.

Thankfully it wasn't a long walk, the rather whole-in-the-wall restaurant was smartly hidden in a side street close to the office buildings, with the old wooden door and almost shabby looking windows a contrast to the sleek office buildings around it. It was only the good food that kept it afloat, and the fact that it had become a secret getaway for many a business person over the years. Not that anyone acknowledged this, of course.
Pippin Took, the owner, gave them a wave from behind the bar as they entered.

"Your usual booth is free!" he told them, "I'll be with you in a second."

It was warm and they quickly took off their coats, Éowyn sighed with delight as the air started to thaw her body. Then she slid on the bench and stretched out her legs, making Tauriel laugh. She shook out her head, frowning a bit when she noticed it had become wet.

"You should wear a hat!" Arwen scolded her.

"No mummy!" Tauriel complained, "my hair will get all frizzy!"

"Your hair is as sleek as spaghetti," Éowyn deadpanned, "it won't even stay curled after you use your overpriced hair gadgets. So I am sure it will be fine. Arwen and I are in much more anger."

"But Awa's hair looks just fine, despite the beanie!" the redhead commented.

"Well, I'm magic," Arwen gave back, very unapologetic.

She flicked Éowyn's braid that was falling heavily over her right shoulder. Éowyn just wanted to argue back, when a phone beeped insistently. They all rolled her eyes, only one person would text so many messages after one another.

"Tauriel, what does he want?"

The other woman pulled out her smartphone.

"Well, Leggy wants us to order the vegetarian pizza for him. Same as usual. And he'll be here in ten."

Just as Arwen wanted to retort something, Pippin appeared next to them.

"The usual?" he only asked.
All three nodded.
"So that means apple juice and vegetarian pizza for Arwen, Sex on the Beach and tortellini with cheese sauce for Tauriel, virgin daiquiri and mince pie for Winnie," he made a face at the combination, "and I suppose caipirinha and another vegetarian pizza for Legolas. That right?"

"You are a treasure," Arwen told him with a smile.

"I know."

He winked at the group before sauntering off into the kitchen. About seven minutes later, just after he had brought their drinks, the door of the Prancing Pony opened again and a man strutted in. He didn't really look left or right but made a beeline towards their table, flopping down next to Tauriel with a weary sigh. As he started to peel himself out of his silvery coat, his seating partner frowned.

"Dude, you are making me wet! Take off your damn jacket somewhere else!"

With a sigh, he got up again, but only after shooting her a dirty look. Then he dropped it on a free chair and sat down again.

"Hey girls," he finally started, his voice weary.

As he took a deep gulp of his caipirinha, Éowyn's eyebrows rose further and further.

"That bad?"

"Worse."

"Alright," Arwen folded her hands in front of her in a business-like fashion, "who wants to start? I feel it should be Legolas. Legolas, what do you want to share with us? Let's start with work."

He rolled his eyes.

"I just had to listen for the last two hours about how much of a failure I am, how much more I should have expanded my branch of the company, and what he would have done differently. I am really considering whether working for family is the right choice."

Éowyn scoffed. "Don't we all."

Three pairs of eyes turned towards her.

"My family shot down the Scotland project I told you about. And then Éomer kept mansplaining all that shit to me. So, pretty similar to you. Arwen?"

"Mansplaining brother, but at least no complaints about my work. Only the usual hints that Dad would love me to move to the US and do the stuff there, and I still don't want to, obviously. At least we don't have to go to Washington for Christmas this year."

"Yeyy, Christmas," Legolas commented with a mocking voice, "the whole horror again tomorrow. But please, play nice, we have guests!"

Éowyn clinked her glass against his in silent agreement.

"Christmas sucks anyway," Arwen declared. They shared a silent look, not stating the obvious. In all of their families, at least one person was missing, in the case of Éowyn and Tauriel even two. While they were dealing with it mostly fine, Christmas always hit hard.

"Aragorn's coming to your place?" Legolas asked Arwen.

She nodded. "Sure. Him and his mum. I mean, my family loves them. They just don't necessarily love me with him. But my dears I don't need to tell you that."

"Tauriel?"

The woman just shook her head.

"Nope. Nothing. Nada. Seriously, I don't need to see my boss more than necessary, sorry Leggy."

He laughed.

"That's fair. I wouldn't either."

They were interrupted by their food arriving and for a moment everyone got distracted by the amazing smell and taste of dinner as they dug in. Only when the plates were almost cleared, their conversation started again.

"What now? What are the plans for tonight?" Tauriel wanted to know.

"As I told you, my bed," Éowyn declared.

"As I told you, not happening."

"But we aren't even dressed for going out," she complained, "Arwen always looks pristine, but us other three, we don't exactly look like party, you know. If I remember correctly, you told me earlier."

"We can just stay here and wallow," Arwen proposed.

Legolas nodded.
"Sounds good to me. First round's on me."

Éowyn pondered for a moment.
"So there is something to tell, and you need another drink to do so. Interesting. Alright, let's do this."

Pippin was more than happy to bring them another round, then they all started to stare at Legolas.

"Come on, it can't be that bad."

"It is. Very much."
The words were muffled by his hands in front of his face.
"I sent him a Christmas card."

"You sent him a Christmas card?" Tauriel replied incredulously. "Him being -"

"Uhum," Legolas he confirmed.

"But that's not bad, is it?" Arwen asked.

"He ghosted me!" the man answered hotly.

At this point he almost seemed as if he wanted to rip his hair out. Éowyn couldn't say that she knew how it was being ghosted, but she was a pro when it came to awkward flirting and being let down. So yeah, she was feeling for him. The woman put one of her hands on top of his.

"Then he's a morron!"

"But he's so perfect. Smart and sexy and courageous and he likes puppies -"

"He can still be a morron, Leggy!" Tauriel told him, "he can seem perfect and still turn out to be a douchebag. At least you know now and can move on!"

Éowyn wondered whether she was still talking about Legolas or about herself. She also wondered why (apart for Arwen) they all seemed to have bad luck with regard to relationships or men in general. Maybe it was karma, or maybe they ahd found each other because of these resemblances?

"But I don't think I want to move on just yet," Legolas complained now, "maybe after Christmas. Yes. Or in the New Year. As a New Year's resolution."

"Sure," Tauriel didn't sound convinced, "then at least you can help me convince Winnie to have some fun tonight."

The blonde man grinned evilly.

"You should. Be a black widow, destroy patriarchy."

Arwen scoffed, amused.
"Winnie is the biggest softie, not a cougar. For her to have a go at someone, he must be really exceptional."

"Well, that would be like Christmas come early. And you could unwrap him and -"

Éowyn shuddered.
"Thank you, that's absolutely enough. I certainly don't need a man for Christmas."

She took another sip of her drink, shaking her head to herself. As the conversation floated to more mundane things, she let her eyes wander over the decoration. Tinsel and baubles everywhere, a sweet, chaotic vibe that very much screamed 'Pippin'. The lawyer frowned when she noticed a couple of mistletoes here and there, she certainly would have to keep away from these. Thankfully, the playlist in the background did not just consist of Christmas songs but of a weird mixture that made it almost bearable, at one point she even found herself humming along. It was slowly getting fuller inside, to her surprise, she would have suspected people to be home, to prepare Christmas trees and fill stockings for their kids. Maybe this was just a place for lonely souls, she wondered, a place that collected human beings that had no places to be nor people to see.

Just now the door opened again and two men waltzed in, both rather tall. Cold air followed the two of them, making her shiver for a moment as they were swiftly making their way to the bar. Both were taking off their coats while moving, casually draping them over their arms. It was this simple gesture that captured her attention, the way they both weaved through the accumulating crowd with such ease. It was the ease of a man that knew how to use his body, the way the men in her acquaintance did. It was also ease mixed with the confidence of a man that was used to get what he wanted - especially the leader of the two seemed to have it in spades. There was a swagger in his steps that made her grin wryly, it reminded her of Éomer on one of his too good days. She found herself wondering where they were from and what jobs they were doing.

The first guy was wearing a dark blue bespoke suit, clearly dressed like a businessman. Éowyn couldn't quite shake the feeling she had seen him somewhere sometime, but she couldn't put a name to the face. Since she often had to go to parties to represent the company, it was very well possible they had crossed paths, maybe even shook hands. A face in an endless sea of faces.
She only briefly saw the other man's face, but she was fairly certain they had never met. Still, judging by the features and the hair colour he could very well be the man's brother, but in terms of styling, he was the total opposite. Instead of a suit, he was wearing jeans and a brown leather jacket on top of what she supposed was a white shirt. It didn't look shabby by any standard, but it was a far cry from the dressy picture Legolas or his companion provided. His hair was probably the colour of hazelnut and it was falling down onto his shoulder in waves, but it had not been pulled back as the other guys'. Instead, it looked soft and fluffy and perfect for -

"Who are you staring at?"

Suddenly, someone snipped their fingers in front of her face, and she jumped. It had been Tauriel, who looked at her with very much interest.

"Nobody," she tried to gloss it over.

"Nonsense, you were totally gone," Legolas added.

Arwen, the little traitor, looked around.

"Oh, I believe the two guys on the bar, right? Don't turn around too obviously now. Don't stare. Don't be creepy. It's two men, one suit, one leather jacket. Brown longish hair. Very much her type."

Éowyn groaned.
"I am never going to live that comment about longer brown hair down, am I?"

"Nope. After all, you dated my boyfriend first and you mentioned that you found Tauriel's - anyway, that you found Kíli attractive," Arwen deadpanned, "and all that in connection to longer brown hair. I have to say though these dudes ahve lighter hair, I hope you can compromise."

The blond woman rolled her eyes.

"Well, Miss Peredhel. At least I didn't make a fuss when you suddenly started to date Aragorn, and I was never interested in Kíli. So shut it."

There was no bite behind her words, she was rather busy with stopping her blush.

"Which one is your preference though?" Legolas wanted to know after sneaking a look, "suit or leather jacket? Or both?"

Arwen and Tauriel looked at him, aghast.

"Leather jacket!" they said in unison, before breaking out into laughter as Éowyn hid her flaming face in her hands.