Lord of the Rings / Aragorn x Legolas / slash
Fandom: Lord of the Rings
Pairing: Aragorn x Legolas
Theme set: Epsilon
Title: Of Elves and Men
Rating: G - NC17
Warning[s]: slash, mentions of non-graphic sex, mentions of character death
Disclaimer: Sadly not mine...Lord of the Rings belongs to Tolkein
#01 - Motion
In his younger years, when Legolas visited Rivendell, Aragorn loved to watch him spar with the twins, his graceful form in motion, blades flashing in the sunlight; Aragorn had never seen anything more beautiful.
#02 - Cool
When Legolas confronted him before the battle of Helms Deep, Aragorn knew he was afraid, if not for himself, then for the people around him; it was strange, Legolas had always been so cool and calm in battle, the one who silenced fears; Aragorn had been at a loss as to how to handle this reversal in roles.
#03 - Young
It was odd and a little frightening, Legolas thought, that the man he loved, the man he had watched grow from a boy, would wither and grow old before his eyes, while he remained, at least in appearance, forever young.
#04 - Last
When they made love before the final battle at the black gates, it was with a distinct sense of desperation; it went unsaid, but not unfelt, that this time could be their last.
#05 - Wrong
Deep in his heart, Aragorn knew that he shouldn’t ask for Legolas to return his love; it would just make his inevitable passing all the more difficult for the elf to bear, but loving Legolas, and knowing without a doubt that his love was reciprocated, was as perfect a feeling as Aragorn had ever known; how could such a thing be wrong?
#06 - Gentle
Before he met Aragorn, Legolas had not realised that Men could be gentle; now it was one of the things he loved most about the man.
#07 - One
There was a reason that most of the elves that love mortals choose to die after their loved ones pass; elves only love, at least when the love was as true and deep as what Legolas felt for Aragorn, once for it is a love that transcends death and separation, a love that can never be forgotten; or escaped.
#08 - Thousand
For all his thousands of years, Legolas new that he would always treasure that small portion of time spent at Aragorn’s side as the best of them all.
#09 - King
Aragorn felt that his pout was perfectly justified as he ran his palm over his head to check for a lump; he was entirely undeserving of the smack that Legolas has bestowed upon him; he had only been teasing when he asked that since Legolas was his lover and he was the King of Gondor, did that make Legolas his queen?
#10 - Learn
In the beginning, Legolas found living in Gondor more than a little trying; before the quest he’d spend very little time around Men and had never expected to have to interact with them on a day-to-day basis; Aragorn had been wonderful, helping Legolas to learn how to fit in; although he grew up among elves, he had spend much of his adult life with the Dúnedain and so, in this situation, was the more experienced of the two.
#11 - Blur
Aragorn’s first encounter with the spiders of Mirkwood was not something he cared to remember; despite Legolas’ many warnings about not leaving the stronghold alone and keeping to the path, he had found himself in the middle of a nest, alone, surrounded by the beasts; he had woken in the houses of healing three days later, to the slightly blurry sight of a very worried Legolas at his side; suffice to say that the elf had not let him out of his sight for quite some time.
#12 - Wait
When they had initially advanced their relationship to romance, Legolas had secretly been a little uncertain of the sense of this development, but he did know that he would rather be by Aragorn’s side than anywhere else, so he chose to put all uncertainty from his mind and make the most of the time they had together; after all, he couldn’t afford to wait.
#13 - Change
Legolas found it both an amusement and an annoyance the number of times he had to remind Aragorn that little things like straightening clothing and brushing hair before leaving one’s bedchambers were considered a requirement for a king; Aragorn would always look at him sheepishly from where he stood, about to leave, before returning to his lover and allowing the elf to make him presentable; Really, that man would never change.
#14 - Command
Aragorn had been surprised that Legolas chose to accompany him to the paths of the dead, but really he should know better; without need for plea or command, Legolas would follow him to the end of the world if necessary; such was the depth of his love for the man.
#15 - Hold
Legolas had never been one for physical contact, even as a child, his mother had had no end of difficulty getting so much as a hug from her son, but somehow, he didn’t mind so much when Aragorn held him; in fact he rather enjoyed it.
#16 - Need
The first time they made love to each other was in Lothlorien; they had planned to wait until after the quest had been completed, but with the shock of Gandalf’s fall in Moria, both had needed something to get them through their grief.
#17 - Vision
When the fellowship came to stay in Lothlorien, Galadriel had been most surprised to have a vision of an intimate encounter between the elf and the ranger; she refused to tell even Celeborn what she had seen, but she was never able to look at the two with an entirely straight face again.
#18 - Attention
Aragorn couldn’t help but feel somewhat jealous of the attention that Legolas gave to the world around him, when he spent hours of the night with his gaze directed upwards, enraptured by the beauty of a single star, or when he darted among the trees, talking to them with words that Aragorn could neither hear nor understand; he realised though, without much censure, that Legolas would always be first and foremost a child of nature.
#19 - Soul
Legolas had laughed at him when, after resolving to ask Thranduil’s blessing to court his son, Aragorn was overcome with a fit of nerves; Elladan and Elrohir were more understanding, it took a brave soul indeed to confront Thranduil, especially when the subject was the heart of his youngest son.
#20 - Picture
When he first became aware of the relationship between his two closest friends, Gimli had been more than a little shocked; as he saw the two together, however, holding hands and sharing intimate glances, the shock gradually became understanding, and then, eventually, approval; after all, the two did make quite the pretty picture together.
#21 - Fool
Legolas knew that many thought him foolish for choosing to be with Aragorn; loving a mortal could only lead to pain, after all, but in Aragorn’s embrace, Legolas couldn’t bring himself to care; he was the happiest fool in Arda.
#22 - Mad
The first time Aragorn kissed him, it had seemed to come out of nowhere and Legolas had quickly put an end to it, feeling slightly worried for the man’s sanity; the second time Aragorn kissed him, Legolas spared a brief thought for his own sanity, because he kissed him back.
#23 - Child
The first time that Legolas met Aragorn, he had been called Estel, and was known only as the adopted son of Elrond; he had also been four years old and had immediately latched onto Legolas as his idol; the twins had teased Legolas, and then Aragorn when he was old enough to take it, mercilessly about it, but Legolas had not been offended; in fact he had felt somewhat honoured.
#24 - Now
Aragorn loved waking up next to Legolas, especially on the few occasions when the elf was still asleep; he knew that in a matter of hours he would need to rise and tend to all the kingly duties that he was only just beginning to get used to, but for now, he could lie in the still quiet of the very early morning, and listen to the relaxed breathing of the slumbering elf in his arms.
#25 - Shadow
Whenever he visited Rivendell, Legolas knew that it would not take long for him to gain a second shadow; this shadow took the form of Elrond’s human foster-son, Estel. The child was the heir to Gondor and Arnor, and yet he seemed perfectly content to follow the Mirkwood elf like a duckling after its mother, with small legs moving at a fast trot to keep up with longer strides and a seemingly permanent grin pasted across his face.
#26 - Goodbye
It took much encouragement from Gimli to get Legolas to board the ship bound for Valinor, the Dwarf had been invaluable during the preparations for their departure; leaving was more difficult than Legolas had thought it would be; in his heart he knew that Aragorn was gone, but leaving Arda would mark the final farewell to the man he loved and Legolas wasn’t ready to say goodbye.
#27 - Hide
Aragorn hated hiding things from Legolas, but in the case of his newly discovered feelings for the elf, he was content to make an exception; if Legolas ever discovered how much even standing near to him affected him, Aragorn was sure that he would die, if not because Legolas killed him in horror, then certainly from embarrassment.
#28 - Fortune
Though nothing of the sort ever reached his ears, Aragorn knew that many of his subjects tutted and sighed that their king had the misfortune to have his heart captured by an elf, and a male one at that, thus being unable to provide Gondor with heirs of the bloodline; Aragorn did not mind the talk, however, for he knew better; he whose heart was captured by an elf was a fortunate man indeed for no other would care for it so diligently nor return their own so wholly.
#29 - Safe
As a small child, Aragorn had been afraid of the dark and often suffered nightmares; on his fifth birthday, Legolas had gifted him with a stuffed rabbit; the toy provided a source of comfort at night and he had felt safe with both rabbit and elf ever since.
#30 - Ghost
The first year following Aragorn’s death was agony for Legolas; everything he did reminded him of the man, and whenever his mind drifted, Legolas could still see his face and hear his voice as if he were beside him, as though the man’s spirit lingered on with his immortal lover.
#31 - Book
As his days as the King of Gondor were so hectic, Aragorn looked forward to the evenings when his duties for the day were completed and he could sit by the fire with his lover and a good book; the book was just a front however for his favourite pastime of watching Legolas, Legolas reading, Legolas writing to his father, or perhaps Gimli or the twins, Legolas doing anything at all; always he observed through lowered lashed, over the open pages of his book; if the elf ever noticed Aragorn’s peculiar habit, he never mentioned it.
#32 - Eye
Elrond had once told him that the eyes were the windows to the soul and Aragorn thought this particularly true for Legolas’ eyes, they had been the first thing he’d noticed when he met the elf as a small child; even then, they had captivated him.
#33 - Never
It had never really occurred to Aragorn, but in all their years together, he had never seen Legolas cry; it was only in his last moments, with one age-weathered hand tightly encased in his lover’s smooth ones, that he saw the elf shed tears.
#34 - Sing
Aragorn would always remember one particular occasion on which he’d been ill as a boy; Legolas had been visiting Rivendell at the time, as he often did in those days, and although his memory of the worst of his illness was foggy with fever, he distinctly remembered a cool hand on his forehead and Legolas’ voice, singing songs from the days of old.
#35 - Sudden
It was not a sudden thing, the development of Legolas’ love for Aragorn, rather a gradual shift, over many years, of friendship and brotherhood to something more. As such, it was impossible for him to say when or how it began; only that he was glad beyond words that it did.
#36 - Stop
Legolas had known from very early on in their relationship that loving Aragorn would not be easy; he also knew from very early on in their relationship that it would be impossible for him to stop.
#37 - Time
On the few occasions in the past that Legolas had spent in the company of Men, he had always been puzzled by their preoccupation with time; it seemed to be all they thought about and yet they never had enough of it; it was only after he met Aragorn that Legolas began it understand its importance.
#38 - Wash
Aragorn always enjoyed washing Legolas’ hair; the elf teased him mercilessly for being so easily pleased, but the feeling of those long, silken strands running through his fingers was one that Aragorn adored.
#39 - Torn
Just keep your eyes on the fire, Aragorn told himself; Legolas had torn his tunic during a skirmish with orcs earlier in the day and hadn’t had time to fix it until now as they rested for the night; with his eyes on the fire, Aragorn would not be tempted to stare at the beautiful sight that was his shirtless friend; he had seen Legolas without clothing before, of course, but things were different now; very different; Aragorn stared harder at the flames in front of him.
#40 - History
Legolas knew that he wasn’t the first elf in history to fall in love with a mortal, but that wasn’t much comfort; no matter how he tried to put it from his mind, the fact remained that Aragorn would die, and he was powerless to stop it, and as he watched his lover sleep, with eyes shuttered as they would be in death, Legolas thought that that was the most painful thing of all.
#41 - Power
Legolas had not intended to become a member of the fellowship, but when Aragorn offered his sword to protect Frodo on the quest, his decision to join had taken only a moment; Legolas would always do everything in his power to protect Aragorn, and if that meant partaking in a quest with a brutish man, a hateful dwarf and four hobbits that had probably never even seen a battle before, much less fought in one, then so be it.
#42 - Bother
Legolas knew that Eowyn’s obvious attraction to Aragorn shouldn’t bother him; the man had sworn himself to him, after all, and had shown absolutely no interest in reciprocating her feelings; knowing that didn’t prevent the fierce possessiveness that arose within him whenever the woman got too close, however.
#43 - God
Growing up in Rivendell, it had always been a battle for Aragorn against feelings of inferiority to those around him, both more attractive and physically capable than himself; initially, being around Legolas had made him feel the same, a mere mortal in the presence of someone truly blessed, a god even, but as he got to know, and eventually love, the elf, Aragorn came to realise that he was the one who was blessed.
#44 - Wall
Aragorn blamed the lingering heat of the battle for his eagerness, but on entering the room in Helms Deep that they shared with Gimli to find the dwarf absent, it had taken very little time for Aragorn to have both Legolas and himself divested of their clothing and to pin the elf against the closest surface; he took Legolas against the cool stone of the wall with the lingering fear of losing each other fuelling their passion.
#45 - Naked
Though they made Aragorn self-conscious, Legolas found the differences between their naked forms fascinating; where he was smooth, Aragorn was hirsute, where his skin was clear, Aragorn’s was freckled, where he was pale, Aragorn was tanned; the elf found great pleasure in these differences and was determined to make Aragorn experience it too.
#46 - Drive
There were times when Aragorn was sure that Legolas would drive him to insanity; he was grateful, certainly, that the elf had intercepted that blade that probably would have ended his life, but he would have preferred it if the elf had used something other than his own body.
#47 - Harm
Legolas knew that Aragorn was angry with him for stepping in front of the orc’s blade from the way he tugged at the bandages around his chest a little too forcefully, but he couldn’t help but smile; Legolas knew he couldn’t always be there protect the man from harm, but when he was, there was no doubt in his mind that he would always do it to the best of his ability.
#48 - Precious
During the quest to destroy the ring, the members of the fellowship never discussed its lure in any great detail; as such, Legolas did not know how the others resisted the pull of the ring, but for him, it was not difficult, for he had something far more valuable, far more precious, than a cursed ring; he had Aragorn.
#49 - Hunger
Aragorn, Legolas and the twins regarded their quarry in silence as they crouched behind the low foliage; they’d been tracking this band of orcs across the mountain for several days now; their hushed vigil was rudely interrupted by a loud gurgle, and three pairs of elven eyes turned to look at their human companion, while Aragorn blushed and glared down at his traitorous stomach; his blush deepened when Legolas wordlessly reached into his pack and tossed the man an apple.
#50 - Believe
When Aragorn first found out about his heritage, Legolas had been flattered, and a small part apprehensive, that he was the one that the young man came to for comfort; barely more than a boy, Aragorn hadn’t felt ready to bear the weight of his destiny; not experienced with giving comfort, the elf had simply told him to have faith in himself and his abilities, because Legolas believed with absolute certainty that he could do it.