#tolkienite

'An elf! Of all the people I could have fallen in love with, I have fallen for a pointy-eared blonde.'

Gimli sighed, smiling, he pictured Legolas fighting. How graceful he was! Gimli muttered,

'I simply must tell him - even if he shuns me - I can't keep going on like this.'

Silent footsteps made their way towards him.

'Gimli, I didn't expect to see you here - meleth nîn!' Legolas smirked.

The dwarf jumped. 'You startled me, Legolas - how do you manage to be so quiet?'

Privately, Gimli thought about the elf's words -''meleth nîn' - that is what Aragorn calls Arwen.' Could it be possible that Legolas felt the same way about him?

Legolas looked concerned - 'You look troubled, Gimli. Pray, tell me what ails you.'

The elf rested his pale, slender hand on the dwarf's muscular arm.

Gimli shivered at the touch. He took a deep breath.

'I will admit there is something on my mind', Gimli confessed, and added:

'it has been for a while now.'

'You know you can tell me anything, meleth nîn.', Legolas assured the dwarf.

In his head Gimli exclaimed 'Again! He called me 'Meleth Nîn' again, that infernal phrase - I must get Aragorn to teach me some Elvish.'

To Legolas he simply said, 'I know that, I thank you for being such a loyal friend. It is just the...sensitivity of the topic. It could change things....'

The elf dismissed this concern: 'Change isn't always bad you know. I think, in life, one has to take some risks '

Gimli hurriedly agreed, 'I know that but-'

Gimli stopped mid-sentence, surprised by the sudden appearance of delicate fingers which danced across his cheek and then fell to brush the hair out of his face.

Continuing his combing, Legolas purred, 'I know how difficult it is to take risks. I will confess that I, too have been thinking something over that I have not been able to say.'

Gimli simply stared. Nervous now, Legolas hesitated and made to move his hand away from his friend; without stopping to think, Gimli grabbed it and held it in place.

The two just looked at each other, an uncomfortable silence came and settled itself around them like a cloak.

Finally, the dwarf swallowed and spoke up, praying that they were thinking the same: 'Perhaps, perhaps both of us would fare better if we spoke not with words, but with actions.'

Legolas nodded. He braved himself and, resting his hand behind Gimli's head moved closer to the dwarf. He looked into Gimli's eyes and then - all of a sudden - closed the gap between the two with a fleeting kiss. The kiss ended as abrubtly as it had begun and Legolas stepped back.

Gimli's head was spinning, the kiss was as brief and as light as the caress of a falling leaf. His eyes remained closed, endeavouring to etch the sensation in his memory forever.

Legolas, meanwhile, was biting his lip anxiously, wondering whether he had misjudged the situation entirely.

To the elf's surprise when Gimli opened his eyes at last - he smiled, saying - 'I think you managed to speak for both of us there, laddie.'

Legolas visibly relaxed and grinned but was immediately pulled forward by two strong hands which brought his face to Gimli's, who repeated the kiss - albeit with much more violence; desperation could be read in their movements - they both had imagined this moment for a long time. The love they held for each other had only increased as they continued their journey to Mordor and only now could their feelings be expressed - not in words but in grabs, gasps and moans.

'Meleth nîn means my love, by the way.', Legolas whispered in Gimli's ear.

'So that's what you were teasing me with!', Gimli boomed.

Legolas responded with a swift lick of Gimli's earlobe, eliciting a groan from the dwarf.

Gimli coughed. 'Say, Legolas, what do you say we retire to the bedroom?'

'I say yes; I love you, Gimli - son of Gloin.'

'I love you too, Prince of the Woodland Realm.'