DELTA 9-7

On AO3

Part one

Part two

Part three

Part four

Part five

Part six

Part seven

Part eight

Part nine

Part ten

Part eleven

Part twelve

Part thirteen

Part Fourteen

Part Fifteen

Noncanonical drabbles

Women want me, fish fear me (<- now with updated/corrected link :)

Discovery channel

Discovery Channel, redux

Djungelskog

Meet cute redo

Pursued by bear

Daisy chains

Show off

Chew toy

Cub on the way

ovulating

bear walks into a bar

keyboard karen bunny

fat bear week

Honey

shark week

Don't wake the bear

Stupid headcanons

And that had worked for you for a long time now. Your team—your friends—mostly seemed to understand where you were coming from. Bucky didn’t care to be touched, either, so Steve and Nat and even Sam had long since learned to keep a safe distance. Clint didn’t like to be touched without warning, especially when he didn’t have his hearing aids in, so the rest of the team developed the habit of making eye contact with anyone before reaching out to touch them. It wasn’t hard for them to see the reluctance in your face when they looked at you, so they just...stopped trying.

You knew that your aversion to touch pretty much went against everything that humans had evolved for survival, though. In one of your psych classes or something, you’d learned all about those experiments on babies, the ones where doctors and nurses refused to touch them any more than was strictly necessary, and the babies withered away. You’d learned about elderly folks who were all alone in their homes, utterly lacking in interactions with other people, and how their health always seemed to decline. But you were the exception, surely. You’d gone all this time cringing away from outstretched hands, and you were fine. You were neither a baby nor an elderly person.

But...things were bad out there. They’d been bad for a long time now, but you still had yet to really adjust to the overall badness. Being part of the Avengers meant you had the unique opportunity to protect your fellow humans from the intergalactic types of badness, but there was still the typical, everyday, human sort of monsters who roamed the streets. During the last lockdown, you’d gotten away from watching the news every day. It took a huge effort, but you stopped doom-scrolling through your phone. Guilt weighed on the edges of your consciousness: guilt at not being more aware of the problems that people were facing, but you’d restricted yourself to whatever news came from your teammates and from your mission briefings. The guilt was better than the crushing sense of helplessness. At least for now.

The Tower wasn’t really locked down anymore. The city had sort of opened up again, as the leaders apparently decided that they were fine with letting the virus rage through the population as long as it kept businesses going. You were still careful anytime you went outside, but it was hard to ignore the sight of all the people who weren’t being so careful. You only went out when you absolutely had to, or when you started to feel like you were at risk of becoming a voluntary shut-in. Everything just felt so hopeless. Sure, you worked with the Avengers, but you were ultimately just one single human being. There was so much you wanted to do for the world and so much you wanted to heal, but you’d never be able to have the kind of impact you wanted to have. As much as it pained you and your stupidly-mushy heart, you forced yourself to ignore everyone else in favor of absolutely destroying yourself in the gym. At least that way, you could continue fighting the more-obvious antagonists in the world.

One night, you crept through the hallway on your way back to your room. Your whole body was sore and aching from your workout. All you really wanted to do was collapse into bed, even though you knew you should shower first, for the sake of your morning-self. You’d been training for hours, just one workout after another, but nothing really helped to distract you from that awful hollowness in your chest. Your doctor said you were in great physical condition, but you knew that something was wrong. In the middle of the night, lately, you found yourself musing on the idea of setting up an appointment with one of the counselors that Tony kept on the staff, but you’d yet to follow through on that one. If this was all in your head, you were going to have to deal with it on your own. You could probably guess what a therapist would tell you, and there was no way that that was going to help.

You were so lost in your own thoughts that you nearly ran straight into somebody. A rather undignified squeak escaped your lips and made your cheeks burn with embarrassment, but the person in front of you didn’t say a word. Wincing at your own behavior, you looked up to see who it was.

Loki.

As slow and sluggish as you were feeling, it took you several moments too long to try to make your face look more like yourself. Your brow was too heavy. You could feel the tension in your forehead and in the corners of your lips. By the time you were able to shake off some of the melancholy, he was already looking at you with a little too much understanding in his gaze.

You liked Loki. Out of everyone on the team, you probably spent the most time with him. He wasn’t really one for small talk, which suited you just fine, so you often found yourself sitting somewhere with him, doing paperwork or reading or just sort of staring off into space. Even knowing his backstory, there was something calming about him—at least when he was alone with you. With all the others, or surrounded by strangers on the streets, he tended a bit towards the manic, as though he needed to remind people that he was the God of Mischief and Chaos. When it was just the two of you, though, he felt...familiar. Something in you identified with something in him, and maybe he felt the same, because he kept spending time with you.

Your throat felt thick. You tried to swallow so you could force out some kind of greeting, but it was all in vain. Without a word, he stepped closer to you. Normally, or with anyone else, you would have bolted. Tonight, you didn’t have it in you. He walked you backwards until you were standing against the wall and trying not to look up at his face. Slowly, he lifted one hand into your line of sight. You recognized the hesitance in his movements: he was giving you a chance to refuse. You could have, too—it would have been easy enough to push him away and flee to your room—but…you trusted him. You trusted him with your life, and you were feeling weird enough tonight that it was hard to convince yourself to run.

He hummed quietly, low in his chest, when he saw that you planned to stick around. He continued to raise his hand until, finally, he was smoothing his touch along your cheek. It was hard to breathe. But he touched you gently, tenderly, sweetly almost, as he finally cupped your face in his palm. If you pressed your face a little more solidly into his hand, what would he possibly say about it? He gave you a moment to adjust to his first hand, there, before raising his other hand to the other side of your face. He was being so careful. That weird part of you, the small, trembling little prey animal in your chest, it ached to burst free and run away, but he was caressing your cheekbones with his thumbs and he was doing it so meditatively that you had no choice but to stay still.

Your eyes were burning. It was hard to know why, exactly, until you felt the first tear drop. It burned your skin before dripping onto his, and you would have jerked yourself away with shame, if he hadn’t stepped even closer to cage you against the wall. He said something in a low, rumbly tone, but you couldn’t make it out. You closed your fingers tightly around his wrists and tried to pull his hands away. He wouldn’t let you.

The best you could do was to duck your head a little. If he wouldn’t let you cry alone, then he could at least let you keep him from watching you do it. And he did. He kept caressing your cheeks and murmuring words at you even as your breaths became shuddery and gasping. What was wrong with you? What was he doing to you? When you shivered, he nudged your legs apart with his knee and pressed himself to you to offer you his warmth. His warmth. It made you cry harder. He was so warm, and so solid, and he felt so good.

He didn’t move for a long time. Gradually, as you came back into yourself, you became aware of the way he had his face pressed to the top of your head. Even now, he was still speaking into your hair. He wasn’t speaking English. Was that Asgardian, then? Was he speaking to you in his mother tongue? What was he saying?

As your sobs died down, he shifted a little. It made your stomach clench. You didn’t want him to stop touching you. For all your weirdness and discomfort with touch, you liked the way he was touching you, and the thought of being without it right now physically pained you. You went perfectly still against him, hoping against hope that, if you didn’t move even a fraction of a centimeter, he wouldn’t stop.

All he did was press his lips to your forehead. He kissed you. He went on kissing you, and he was breathing long and slow against you, like he was breathing you in. You were still clinging to his wrists, but you couldn’t force yourself to loosen your grip. What if that made him step away? He kissed your forehead over and over again. He wasn’t speaking any longer, but his kisses made you feel the same way his words had.

Slowly, he made his way to your temple, and solemnly kissed you there. Dimly, you knew you should be intensely uncomfortable right now: you were a sweaty, sobbing mess; he shouldn’t be kissing you like that. It was hard to really care, though. He trailed his mouth down the side of your face, and moved his hand away, but only so he could press warm kisses to your cheekbone, and then to the bridge of your nose, and then to the very tip of your nose. You just went on clinging to him as he mirrored the trail along your other cheek, up to your other temple.

Your heart should have been racing. He was touching you more than anyone else ever had. He was very much in your personal space, and this should have been weird, and you should have wanted to fucking cut and run. As he breathed out against your temple, though, your stomach barely even fluttered.

“I’m sorry, I—” Your voice was a mess. Disuse and tears had made it go rusty. At the sound of it, Loki pulled away from you—but just a little. You tightened your grip on him yet again. A nervous laugh bubbled up through your chest. “I don’t know...what’s wrong?” Even to your own ears, you sounded dazed and dizzy.

Somehow, he kept from laughing in your face. Instead, he tilted your chin up a bit so he could kiss your jawline. He was just as reverent as he’d been before, and worked his way up, just behind your earlobe. His breath made you shiver. You couldn’t stop yourself from dropping your hands from his wrists so that you could wrap them around his middle and pull him in tight. You hugged him. You clung to him. Shivering and trying to breathe normally, you held him close and buried your face against his chest. And he held you too.

For as long as you could remember, you’d kept yourself alone. Distant. Just on the edges of things. And so had Loki. But there, in the quiet solitude of the darkened hallways, you allowed him to hold you up.

As you walked through the gardens of the forest, looking for a comfortable place to finish your book, the atmosphere seemed magical, the sunlight seeping through the treetops, the sunset was even more beautiful in Mirkwood, the sound of the water and the calm breeze dragging the first autumn leaves along the stone path, It was an atmosphere that helped you to think and forget all your worries, but while your body was moving you felt that you were being watched, you stopped for a moment, trying to analyze who or what it could be, until you felt the hand of someone touching you lightly on the shoulder, scared you turned towards the unknown hand, until you found a pair of eyes as crystalline as the winter dawn. With your hand resting on your chest you took a deep breath, still a little shaken with fright.

"Sorry I didn't mean to scare you" Legolas laughed softly, as you looked at him with a slightly annoyed look "I've been looking for you everywhere, where have you been?" His voice sounded breathless, how long had he been looking for you?

"Ahm I was looking for a place to finish reading this book on medicinal plants, but why were you looking for-" You might be a mile away but the approaching voice was unrecognizable, you looked around to see which direction you were coming from and even though you weren't an elf you had a good eye, and right at the end of the stone path you saw his perfect figure walking steadily towards you, accompanied by two royal concelors and some guards. In one swift movement you took legolas' hand and ran away to some bushes a little further away from there, panting you hid just in time to escape being caught by Thranduil.

"What was that for?" he asked quickly, but soon you put a hand over his lips preventing him from speaking and made a sign of silence with your finger, as you heard his father's voice coming closer and closer to the two of you.

"I don't want your father to find me..." you said a little embarrassed, but Legolas seemed confused by the sudden revelation

"What? but why? I thought it had stopped, since when... you know he revealed his feelings to you, come on let's go talk to him!" The young elf was about to get up but you grabbed his hand and quickly pulled him down again, you could see in his eyes the frustration and at the same time how funny he was finding this situation.

You didn't have the courage to tell him what was really going on, so you thought of a way to try to escape without having to reveal your feelings, you closed your eyes (E/c), for a bit and an idea lit up the dark cloud of thoughts, sweeping it away from your horizon.

"I haven't been feeling very well, I've been a little sick and I don't really want Thranduil to worry about me."

You lied, but to tell you the truth, but not everything you said was a lie, you were feeling unwell, and it was true that you didn't want to worry anyone, especially if that someone is the King and has other things to worry about. "Help me to get to my room without your father noticing, I promise I'll tell you everything later, just help me with this please, Legolas" you put your hand over Legolas' hand and grabbed it tightly, the young elf knew that you didn't often have this kind of attitude, you were very independent, But he respected your privacy and wouldn't interfere in something you didn't want to tell him, being your best friend he knew you needed some time alone, that this sudden revelation of feelings had made you happy but exhausted, so he agreed to help you.

"Of course, count on me, but promise me that you will rest and if you need me, you will call on me," Legolas said, pulling you to him and hugging you tightly.

Legolas would try to distract his father while you escaped behind them, it was a good plan, so you were sure it would work, you waited for the opportunity and when you saw legolas nodding his head, you realized that the coast was clear, to escape.

But no matter how much you tried to appear discreet, Thranduil had noticed your behavior in the last few days, the way you tried tirelessly to hide from him, to keep away from him, he wouldn't deny that he was worried about you, that he felt alone without the heat of your body to warm him, without the sweet melody of your voice when you talked for hours wrapped in the darkness of the night, talking, about fears and happiness, about old stories that lulled you both, until sleep became contagious and you ended up falling asleep on his arms, while his body covered and protected you, he wanted to have you back with him, and found it ridiculous how dependent on you he had become in such a short time, but even though he tried to pretend that none of this new behavior affected him, he couldn't deny that seeing you slipping away from his grasp drove him crazy, even crazier for you, how much he loved you and couldn't bear to be apart from you for more than a day, and seeing you slip away and escape his touch, killed him inside.

Mirkwood was a beautiful place, but the rooted passages that crossed its heart was the safest place for you, you still remembered the first time you came here, scared and nervous to meet a king for the first time, never in your life you had thought that his heart would choose you... a few minutes walking, and you had already reached the black oak door that gave access to your room, the low light that illuminated your room made you feel that you weren't alone. ... his smell was hypnotizing, like a drug, ignoring his presence you walked to the middle of the room, letting the silence drive him crazy, neither you nor he moved, but you felt his gaze travel through your body, as if he was bewitching you, still on your back you let your voice manifest itself.

"My King I did not expect, to see you here..." you said a little nervous, you knew that Thranduil wasn't so gentle and nice, you knew him very well and being ignored was one thing he couldn't stand.

"my love, I know you are hiding from me" his voice froze your blood, you turned your body slowly, until you faced the crystal blue of his eyes, lit by the moonlight, there he was sitting in an armchair in the corner of the room, his breathing was calm, but you knew quite well that his mind did not express the same serenity. "Now it remains for me to find out why..." he said lifting his body, walking towards you, each step his majesty took was a missing beat that your heart forgot, you felt smaller than what you already were, his body stopped right in front of yours, giving you not enough movement to escape.

You shifted your gaze to the ground in an attempt not to have to handle his gaze intertwining with yours, however that attempt was unsuccessful, the moment you felt his finger wander across your face, caressing you until it reached your jawline pulling it up, forcing you to look into his gaze.

"Aran nin, I-" you tried to explain yourself but were stopped when you felt his lips on your ear.

"I didn't say you could talk nin meleth" you lost your breath, his voice traveled to the deepest places of your body, feeling your temperature rise, his lips slid smoothly across your skin, when he rose once again you could see the smirk on his lips, his gaze was destructive, his breathing began to quicken, along with your "Now sweetness, you have premission to explain yourself" for a few moments you remained silent not knowing what to say for sure.

"I... I didn't hide from you because I wanted to, but... I can't stop thinking about you... and right now isn't the greatest time to see each other or even talk" you whispered, but for Thranduil it wasn't hard to hear your voice, an elf's hearing was very keen and it took almost no effort.

The king stood there, watching your small body, sighed and with a simple gesture pulled you to him, hugging you tightly. "Nin Meleth, what you are doing to me is torture... and I don't usually let my enemies come forward alive, but something tells me you are not being honest with yourself" Thranduil lowered his lips to your neck once more and murmured against your skin "And you can be sure I won't let go until you are" It was the last straw, what could you answer? What could you do? You had no choice, once again he knew how to control you, how to make you do what he wanted, he had you in his hands and you didn't complain.

"I feel disgusting... I am impure for someone like you to touch me, I am not worthy to have you my king... "You couldn't say anything else, you felt the tears fighting hard to escape your eyes, but you remained strong, and you were thankful that his body hid yours so easily.

"If you're going to start that again .... I already told you Tári (my lady/queen), I'm not worthy of your love, yet here we are face to face once again, and as much as I may find our relationship inappropriate, I don't deny how important and necessary you are to me, and if you think you're impure because you bleed, you're wrong" your gaze opened quickly, did he know? Curious, he laughed at your reaction, and carefully ran his hand through your hair. "My love, I already knew that was the reason, but I respected your silence until you came to me, you are not impure, you are perfect, and if it has caused you this unfortunate feeling I will be delighted to take care of that problem" You felt yourself blushing at his words and could say no more, Thranduil stepped back letting the moonlight bathe his platinum hair.

"Thranduil... you knew... how did you know?" was the only thing you could say when you felt his touch leave your skin.

"Instinct" He said walking over to the small white quartz bathtub on the other side of the room, filling it with water, the steam spread to the rest of the room, the smell was sweet and exotic.

"Now Nin Meleth let me take care of you, I feel your aching body, and your unsteady mind, I promised I would take care of you and love you, and I will not break my promise" he said raising his hand towards you so you could grab it and so you did, still unsure of what might happen.

Thranduil guided you to the front of the bathtub and carefully removed the first pieces of your clothes, nervous with what he could see and his reaction, you pushed him away and covered your half naked body with your small hands, Thranduil laughed softly and knelt in front of you, taking your hands carefully and observing the neckline on the shirt that allowed him to see your breasts, his gaze almost ate you alive, but he controlled himself, letting him continue what he had started, you felt embarrassed to be half naked in front of him for the first time, with his gaze again travelling over every curve of your body, you felt the need to cover it up, but before you could the Elf took your wrists and stopped you from ending his wonderful view.

"My queen.... Do not forbid me to see what is mine... I have never seen anything so perfect in my life..." he whispered so that only you could hear these sweet words.

"Thranduil... I am nothing special, you must have seen better and more attractive bodies surely" You said looking deep into his gaze, you saw the passion burn.

"No... I haven't, and I certainly won't and I don't want to, now, hold on to my neck and let me make you feel better, this water has medicinal plants in it, its steam will help you there with the pain"

His touch on your body made you even more nervous, but you did as he had commanded, and effortlessly he placed your body into the water, you closed your eyes as you felt your skin being wrapped in the warm water, but you felt your breath being stolen as you felt the elf's hands caress your hair and shoulders, you were in heaven.

Time flew by, and your lover's hands went over every inch of your body, leaving your muscles relaxed, your breath heavy, and his gaze lusting for you more and more as he saw the white dress that protected your body from his gaze gluing itself tighter and tighter to your curves.

His hands took care of you, his words made you nervous and comfortable, his smell made you dizzy and his presence made you feel safe. After a long bath, it wasn't long before the king took your body, covered it in a crimson dressing gown and put you to bed so that you could sleep a little before the sun rose.

Deep inside you knew that after crossing that darkness, you would face your worst nightmare... your breathing was racing, you felt the cold sweat dripping down your face, lost in your thoughts, you didn't notice that your name echoed through the trees, it was calling you from beyond and a simple touch was enough to drag you back to reality.

You blinked your eyelids several times still trying to assimilate what was happening, until you saw the crystal clear look of Legolas, standing in front of you with his worried eye.

"Y/n? Were you listening to me? No wonder you almost got killed, you've been too distracted-" through his words you analyzed the scene in front of you, legolas was standing in front of you on top of the fresh corpse of one of the big spiders that were poisoning the forest roots, for a moment you didn't know how to react to what he had told you and a strange silence fell over you. "You've been like this ever since I said we were going to visit my homeland, is it so degrading to have to deal with elves?" he said while laughing.

"Ahm... no, I'm used to it, having to deal with you is worse, besides, every time we go there, the guards mistake me for a dwarf... you know being small and chubby doesn't help, so answering your question, no, it's not unpleasant, it's just weird, besides-" you were interrupted when you heard the sweet laughter of legolas echoing through the tree branches.

A little annoyed you took your backpack and walked forward following the path in front of you, you knew Legolas since you were 15 years old, when he was on a quest searching for a horde of Orcs that had been seen near the village where you lived, you lived only with your grandmother, but when the village was attacked, her soul was one of the many that filled the sky that night, while you were crying and mourning her death, you felt a chill hit you in the stomach like a punch, you were alone in the world, you had nowhere to go, no one to stay with. ... so you just hid from the population waiting for hunger and thirst to take your life back to the only person you knew and loved.

But those plans were ruined when a pair of hands took you gently and wrapped around you, with watery eyes, and with some difficulty you looked up and saw two sapphires staring at your eyes with sadness and relief, that was the first time you met him, since then you have been accompanying him in his travels and adventures, moving from land to land, You had dedicated yourself to books and medicine, but by the encouragement of legolas you learned to fight, because you needed to know how to defend yourself when he wasn't near you, so as much as you refused because you considered yourself too "fat" to be able to fight, you let yourself be influenced by his charisma.

The first time you visited Mirkwood you were 16 years old and it was the first time you were in his presence... King Thranduil, when his eyes landed on yours, your heart soared and you had never felt so small, his gaze was intense and his beauty incomparable, from then on you knew that your heart had chosen him to love, and that was always the problem... whenever you and legolas returned to the forests of Mirkwood to rest a little before setting off on a new adventure, you tried your best to avoid being too long in the presence of Thranduil, you knew that you could not contain yourself, as soon as his gaze crossed yours or his voice whispered your name, nothing else mattered, not a single word could leave your lips, without embarrassing yourself, without making some ridiculous or unnecessary comment, every time you found yourself in his presence you didn't know how to react, and that was a nightmare for you.

"Y/n?" You heard the voice of legolas calling you quietly, he knew... he knew that you had fallen in love with Thranduil and he had always been by your side, and he had always supported you, but no matter how hard you tried to let yourself be carried away by the wonderful feeling that warmed your chest, storms crossed your thoughts, your body, your race, your age, you felt powerless, and that was a huge insecurity for you. "It's good to visit home, you'll be quieter, I no longer have to listen to your voice all day, reciting those poems or facts you find in your books" legolas joked in an attempt to calm you down

"Well sir, if it wasn't for my intelligence, you wouldn't have made it through several fights, besides, what would you be without me massacring you with wisdom?" you replied quickly, walking over the bridge to the gate.

"You know, sometimes I appreciate you being such a pain in the ass, Mellon nin" you smiled, watching the elf enter the big gate towards the throne room, so he could talk to King Thranduil, you took a deep breath, because you already knew what was coming, you went from a friendly and chatty person to a shy and awkward person in less than seconds.

Quietly you walked behind Legolas in an attempt at his height to hide you and avoid having to deal with his father's presence directly, but that was in vain, as soon as you walked through the door your names were announced and the attempt died even before it was used.

"Returned from the far northern lands, Prince Legolas and (Y/n), have arrived"

you never felt so annoyed in your life, as they walked to the center of the room, your bodies bent in a rather unformal bow, when your head was raised again there was his gaze fixed on you again, you felt an electric shiver run down your spine, The only thing you could do was to lower your head again, feeling your cheeks burning with embarrassment, you could feel his gaze on you, and you could feel the smirk forming on his lips, finally his voice echoed through the room, making you shiver a little.

"i am glad you have finally arrived iôn nin" King Thranduil smiled a little at legolas as he walked down the stairs towards you, you felt your heart beating too hard, you were nervous, afraid that your panting breath could be heard, when you saw him to your front, your whole body adopted a reddish color, shyness invaded your being, leaving you helpless towards that crystal clear gaze, slowly you raised your face to face him, his smile grew a little as he saw the act of courage.

"I'm glad you're still here too, heryn Y/n" his voice was husky and authoritative, which made you shiver once more, you bowed your head in a respectful gesture and smiled embarrassed, when your gaze met legolas', you could see the effort he was making not to laugh, annoyed, you sighed looking away, observing the huge corridors.

"T-thank you my king" you replied tremulously, still looking for a place to hide.

"How long do you intend to spend here?" Thranduil asked curiously, still in front of you, you didn't know for sure how long you would stay there, usually you stayed for a few days to gather some supplies and rest, but they only were mere few days, this time would be no different.

"A few weeks, I'm afraid, Y/n will need to learn to fight a bit before we continue, I thought I would stay here for a few weeks to teach her, if it's not too much trouble" your blood ran cold, weeks? why should you stay for weeks, your tremulous gaze fixed on legolas who remained with a serene expression, on the other hand, your expression was terrified, staying here for a few days was sufficient, and it was hard enough trying to dodge going through the same places as his father, now weeks? you wouldn't last for weeks!

Thranduil looked at you slowly, analyzing you, trying to decipher what that head of yours was thinking, as much as he didn't want to he had gained a special affection for you, he still remembered the first time they met you were a child, trembling all over, and now you had become an amazing woman, in all the letters exchanged between him and Legolas, his son made a point of mentioning how fast your progress was and how intelligent and insecure you were, you were like a jewel waiting to be polished. When your gaze crossed with him, he could see the fear in your eyes, it was normal of you, whenever you were in his presence he could feel the terror radiating from you, and it always worried him.

"As long as heryn (Y/n) doesn't mind, you can stay as long as you need for me, I will be delighted with your presence here." Thraduil knew what he was doing, he wanted to make you comfortable, he wanted to at least be able to feel you calm down, but the opposite was the result.

A few hours had passed since the meeting in the throne room, you were pissed off with Legolas, you hated when he made decisions without asking, knowing that you would have to see Thranduil every day was exciting and scary at the same time... The rain was pouring against the large window in the palace library, you liked to go there to think, during the night it was rare to have anyone over, so you took refuge there, near the fireplace, sitting on the bench built into the window, facing the mountains. You looked at the black clouds that stood out in the darkness of the night, a storm was approaching, what you hated most were storms, the lightning, the thunder, the rain beating madly on the glass, the wind and the cold... only thing that was good for you was to be protected in that big library, where nothing could harm you.

Watching the drops of water running down the glass, you sighed, you felt ridiculous, for not being able to talk to the king, he wasn't a bad person... but your feelings for him closed your voice in a tomb, and it was hard to get out, laying the book on your thighs, you sighed once more, you felt insecure, you knew he would never look at you as a lover, your body wasn't worthy of a king, you were short, chubby Lost in your own insecurities you didn't notice the shadowy figure beside you, Thranduil walked calmly, noticing that your mind wasn't there, without wanting to scare you he coughed to call you back to reality.

Lost once again in the dark labyrinth of your thoughts, something had pulled you, you often lost track of your surroundings while in this strange trance between reality and thoughts, you looked around still a little stunned and noticed the tall elegant figure in front of you, When you finally recognized who it was, your blood froze, stopped in time, your breath sharp as a dagger, your eyes went through his body, as if in a dream, his eyes fixed on you, as if he was trying to put you in a trance, you had nowhere to run. ... but did you want to escape?

The rain beat softly, making you a little calmer, you put your hand on your chest and took a deep breath.

"I am sorry... I did not wish to frighten you, I was just passing by and saw light through the door floorboards, and decided to see who it was." Thranduil knew he was lying, minutes earlier he had asked Legolas where you were hiding, legolas didn't want to reveal that information to him as he knew how upset you were and that you needed to become mentalised that you would have to face your feelings, but his father's concern prompted the young elf. He knew that it would be good for you to finally face Thranduil. Legolas suspected that the king had also noticed your connection to him, but he kept quiet about it, not wanting to provoke any kind of bad blood between the two of you.

"N-no, you didn't scare me your majesty, I was just thinking, lost in my thoughts, forgive me if I was rude for not noticing your presence" you said almost as if it was a whisper, embarrassed and still a little hypnotized by his gaze, when a smile brushed on his lips, a warmth enveloped your body, leaving you helpless.

"Please melui Y/n, don't refer to me as your majesty, it's just you and me here" Those words made you even more nervous, as much as you didn't speak sindarin fluently, know that Melui mean sweet, and the thought of you two being the only ones in that room made you distressed.

"But your majes-" you could not finish your thought, for as your voice left your lips, thunder echoed through the mountains, making you cry out, a little, hiding your face in your knees, hugging them. Thranduil had heard that you were afraid of thunder, but he had thought it was when you were younger... slowly he sat down, at your side, taking your hand gently, you looked at him quickly, your heart was beating so fast, because of the sounds that broke the clouds in the skies, and also because of his touch, it was the first time you had felt such a delicate and yet firm touch... another flash of lightning lit up the mountains, and your body shrank in place.'

"Y/n?" Your name danced on his lips, and for a moment you felt your heart stop "are you okay?" well at that moment you were facing your two worst nightmares, being okay was not quite the feeling you were in the moment.

"I- AH!" You screamed as you saw the flash of light radiating from the heavens, it seemed so close, without realising it tears were running down your temples, making you even smaller and more vulnerable.

Thranduil's heart was breaking when he saw you so scared, he couldn't stand still, when he saw the tears running down your rosy face, he carefully wrapped you in his arms, without thinking, just wanting to protect you with his body, a feeling bloomed in his chest, a feeling that hadn't touched him for centuries, he tried to pull you into his lap, but you struggled, looking at him scared, your eyes were red and swollen from crying.

With your breath you tried to refuse, you knew you were too heavy to be in his lap, and feeling his warmth on your skin almost made you faint, you wanted more, but at the same time, you wanted to run away and never face him again.

"I can help you, to calm you down... do you trust me? " he said softly in your ear, ruffling every hair on your body, hypnotized once more you let this feeling overwhelm you, Thranduil wrapped you in his arms and pulled you to himself, he was much taller and bigger than you, on his lap you looked like a child, you felt comfortable, there, in his lap wrapped by his body feeling his warmth, while he whispered sweet nothings in sindarin, for moments the elf felt your hands wrapping him leaving him paralyzed, he delicately raised your head, with a finger on your chin, and let himself get lost in your eyes (E/c), he himself didn't want that moment to end. ... was it wrong? An elf falling in love with a human? was it wrong after so many years for him to feel love again? He knew that your time was short, but still he wanted to enjoy it, he wanted to love you, he wanted to worship you, to make you forget all the fears and insecurities that tormented your mind, he wanted to hold you in his arms forever.

"What are you doing to me?" those were his last words before his lips fell on yours, you didn't know how to react .... you were paralyzed, debating internally if this was a dream or reality, until once again you let that feeling embrace you, and kissed him back, leaving him delighted, giving him permission to continue, his hands danced on your skin, pulling you to himself, as if there was still a distance between you both, your hands wandered across his chest, while you felt the white light of thunder illuminate the atmosphere.

With difficulty,Thranduil, parted your lips, finding you in a vulnerably pleasurable state, your face even rosier, your breath panting, your lips half open, your eyes adorned by his, you were driving him crazy, but he knew he had to control himself, but his body moved on its own as he heard your sweet voice steal his name "T-Thranduil? " without thinking he removed you from his lap just so he could lay you down on that small bench, covering you with his body, the reflection of the raindrops on your skin, was leaving him amazed, how could such a wonderful and delicate creature exist, carefully he unbuttoned the first buttons of your shirt, leaving your neck exposed, kissing and leaving small marks on your skin, stealing sweet sounds from your lips, he wanted to go further but something in him made him stop.

You were too embarrassed, you still thought you were dreaming, when you felt his lips, brushing against the exposed skin of your neck you couldn't contain your voice, with your hands dancing in his platinum hair, you felt wonderful, but when you felt Thranduil trying to undo the rest of the buttons of your shirt, you pushed him away feeling insecure with your body, you didn't want him to see the body you had, the scars that adorned your skin, you didn't want him to feel disgust, and what seemed like a dream quickly turned into a living nightmare.

"N-no... please, I'm not worthy of you seeing my body, Aran nin I don't deserve such affection..." your words hurt him, what do you mean you weren't worthy? What do you mean you were not worthy of his affection? Thranduil saw the tears forming in your eyes again and felt frustrated, how could someone so beautiful be so insecure? "Aran nin my body is not worthy of your love, I'm just a human, I'm not as important, not as beautiful as you, I feel like I'm in a dream, but this is wrong..." you looked away feeling the tears wet your face, but Thranduil didn't let your cruel words get to him, he lifted you up and pulled you back into his lap, leaning your back against the cold wall of the window, he trapped you, creating a cage with his arms.

"Oh (Y/n), my sweet (Y/n), can't you see the beauty that radiates from you? How perfect you are, how mad you make me that I can't possess you here and now? Do you think I never noticed your feelings? That I've never caught myself thinking about you, and that with every letter I read about you, I find myself feeling a sensation I haven't had for centuries? Why so much hatred... why so much repulsion, when you are by far the most beautiful creature I have ever had the pleasure of seeing, if I could I would wrap you in my arms for all eternity, feeling your warmth on my skin, feeling your lips on mine, how can you say that your body is not worthy of my love, when it is I who am not worthy of having you? " you looked at him confused and amazed, he already knew of your feelings, and knew he reciprocated them, he needed you and you needed him, but none of this seemed real, still with his gaze fixed on yours, his hand wrapped around your face wiping away every tear that dared to fall. "bereth nin, you are everything to me... let me love you... let me take care of you..." he stood up and knelt in front of you letting his head fall into your lap, Seeing him vulnerable, begging for his love to be accepted by you, made all the insecurities vanish, all the fears, you just wanted to be with him, to feel that you were loved and to feel that however insecure you were, you had him to remind you what a goddess you were.

Still trembling, you caressed him giving him premission, for everything, feeling his look facing yours again, the words you spoke, were the last drop of sanity of the elf in front of you "Gi melin Thranduil" in a quick gesture he took your body in his lap and took you to the sofa in front of the fireplace, depositing you there, walking to the door of the library, locking it.

Walking back to you, Thranduil lay down on the sofa pulling you with him, his lips explored every corner of you, marks were deposited on your neck, words of comfort filled the room... "I will worship you as the goddess you are, Bereth nin" wrapping you in his arms once more, kissing your lips and your face, until the rain and the night enveloped you, feeling his touch, caressing every insecurity in your body, "Bereth nin" he called you, his queen... could you really believe in that dream?

The next morning you woke up a bit confused, you remembered a wonderful dream, you smiled thinking how cruel your mind was, but something attracted your attention, when you looked to the side, you saw the body of Thranduil, the elf king of Mirkwood, wrapped in yours, his eyes still closed, his hair shining with the sun rays that came in through the window beside you, for seconds you didn't believe it, taking your hand to his face, almost as if to prove that your brain was deceiving you.

"You know it's rude to watch someone sleep, Bereth nin" the elf's husky voice echoed to your ears, a little startled, and embarrassed you turned your body letting him stare at your back, you felt his delicate hand exploring the side of your body, until it reached your hair, brushing it back, kissing your shoulder and with a whisper destroying you even more.

"Don't tease me, my sweet (Y/n) or I won't be able to control myself... we better get going, if they find out we slept here, I know someone who could be upset with both of us" he said gruffly with his hand resting on your waist.

You both got up and as you walked towards the window, watching the orange and brown leaves of the trees adorning the ground, and the bright orange sunrise over the mountains, Thranduil, walked over to you, lifting your face and placing a quick but passionate kiss on your lips, embarrassed, you laughed a little "Soon leave the door of your room open my love... I will come visit you and we can continue what we didn't finish yesterday" he said before walking away, leaving you panting and smiling, fantasizing about your future with him.