*** Written for Cormak (Gwenneth) who inspired the idea in the first place from a pic she’d posted on her LJ (see below). A Happy Belated Birthday present for her! Written 6/15/04. ***
Picture taken by
Gwenneth waved goodbye to her friends as they drove away, then turned and went back inside the house, sighing happily. She’d had a wonderful birthday and was sad to see the day come to an end. But at least she had been able to spend some time with her friends and family. As she shut the front door behind her Gwenneth thought there had only been one other person she wished could have been with her today.
She looked to the cardboard stand-up of his likeness resting in the kitchen and snickered. Well, he had been there with her… kind of. The poor abused Legolas stand-up had offered her and her friends much entertainment that night as they experimented with his fashion. At last they had decided the Elf looked best adorned with one of Gwenneth’s cowboy hats… a pink one, to be exact. Through all of dinner and dessert the friends had giggled over it, while the helpless Legolas looked on from under the pink brim.
Gwenneth couldn’t help but laugh to herself even now as she surveyed his looks. At last she decided she had better go retrieve the real Elf. He’d been stuck in her bedroom all day and she had no doubt he’d be a little crabby. But she couldn’t wait to see what he thought of the hat.
She cracked her bedroom door, peeking in to see Legolas sitting cross-legged on her bed, fiddling with an edge of the blanket.
“Legolas?” she called.
He looked up at her, then sprang off the bed eagerly. “Are they gone?” he asked.
Gwenneth nodded. “Yes. You can come out now.”
“Thank the Valar,” he huffed. “I don’t see why you can’t just tell them about me.”
Gwenneth shrugged as she swung the door open and let him pass by. “Would you want a bunch of girls poking and prodding you? Oohing and aahing over you? Fighting over who gets to braid your hair or take you to get your nails manicured?”
Legolas turned to face her, narrowing his eyes in warning, but Gwenneth just grinned playfully and winked at him. She couldn’t help teasing him. He saw the glint in her eye and shook his head in surrender. “I’d rather have my hair braided and nails manicured then sit another day in your bedroom.”
Gwenneth grinned. “Sorry. Maybe next time you can stay in the barn? Tempa and Princess would love the company.”
Legolas rolled his eyes at her and Gwenneth followed him as he made for the kitchen. “I think you just don’t want to share me,” he accused.
“You’re right,” she agreed easily. “I don’t want to share you.”
He looked over his shoulder at her, lifting an eyebrow.
“All right,” she moaned. “So next time people come over you can go for a ride or something. Okay?”
Legolas hissed out a breath, walking into the kitchen, but then he suddenly stopped short and Gwenneth nearly ran into him. She looked over his shoulder to see he was staring at the stand-up.
“What is that?” he demanded.
Gwenneth had to try very hard to stifle her laughter at the expression of shock on his face. “What is what?” she asked innocently.
“What is that?” he asked again, pointing a finger. “What is that… that… thing on my head?”
Gwenneth couldn’t help herself; she burst out laughing. Legolas crossed his arms, glaring at her.
“It’s not funny,” he insisted. “It’s disgraceful.”
“It’s just a hat, Legolas,” Gwenneth managed to choke out between her giggles.
“Elves don’t wear hats,” Legolas said firmly, eyeing the stand-up with displeasure. “Much less pink cowboy hats!”
“But why not?” Gwenneth asked, trying to catch her breath. “It fits you so well!”
Legolas scowled, making it all the more funny for his female companion. “It is humiliating,” the Elf sulked. “Perhaps I am glad your friends do not know about me after all.”
The thought of her friends huddled around Legolas, sticking one outrageous hat on him after another was too much, and Gwenneth collapsed into the nearest chair, laughing so hard she could no longer stand up. Doubtless the real Legolas would never have stood still for such torture.
“Yes,” she gasped at last, wiping tears from her eyes. “You see why I hide you?”
Legolas moved closer to the stand-up, peering at it, then shook his head. “How could you let them do this to me? It’s shameful!”
Gwenneth snorted, rising from her chair and making her way to stand next to him. “It was my idea,” she said boldly.
Legolas looked to her in disbelief and she patted his shoulder.
“It’s all right. We were just having some fun.” She reached out and lifted the hat from the stand-up’s head. “In fact, before I call it a night, I think you should try it on too.”
Legolas backed away from her. “No. It’s bad enough you put it on that imitation of me. You have had your fun for the night… put it away.”
Gwenneth just stood there, hat in hand, giving him a devilish look. “It’s my birthday,” she stated. “And I want you to wear it.”
Legolas frowned. He would often grant her even the most unusual wishes on her birthday, but this one was pushing his limits. He hesitated. And then at last he got an idea, and a gleam came to his bright blue eyes. “If you can catch me I’ll wear it,” he offered.
Gwenneth eyed him doubtfully, knowing she had little chance of catching the Elf on foot, unless… “Will you stay in the house?”
He nodded. “Yes.”
“Okay then. You’re on.”
There was a brief moment of stillness, and then Gwenneth leapt forward, hat outstretched and aiming for the Elf’s blond head. But Legolas ducked her attack and took off down the hallway, laughing at her apparent slowness.
Gwenneth recovered from her miss and went after Legolas, gritting her teeth. When she caught that Elf… she’d make him wear the hat for a week! She followed on his heels, and like two children who’d eaten far too much sugar they tore through the house, oblivious to everything but their chase. They went upstairs, and downstairs, and through every room. Each time Gwenneth thought she had him cornered Legolas would somehow find a way to evade her.
She trapped him in her room, only to have him use her mattress as a spring to vault himself past her. Then she had him in the kitchen, but he ducked under her arm and slid across the kitchen table, disappearing once more into the hallway. At last she had him stuck in her study, and she braced herself in the doorway, eyeing the Elf across the room warily.
He was grinning at her, and though he breathed heavily, Gwenneth knew he was not nearly as worn out as she was. She just could not compete with his stamina, and he knew it. But she wasn’t going to let him win this one. She vowed Legolas would not get out of this room without wearing her hat.
She took a slow step forward and saw him ready himself to flee. He was so fast… she had to be ready. She reached behind her and shut the door, and Legolas shook his head.
“That’s not fair!”
Gwenneth smiled. “You can always open it.” At his annoyed expression her smile grew wider. It would slow him down… he knew it, and so did she. Gwenneth gripped the brim of the hat in her hand, and then she launched herself across the room.
Legolas shot sideways faster than she could have imagined, but she reached out for him as he passed and her fingers hooked on his belt. He stumbled as his forward momentum was suddenly halted and Gwenneth seized the opportunity. She jumped on his back, throwing the Elf off balance and knocking them both to the floor.
Legolas grunted as Gwenneth landed on top of him, but when he tried to roll over she sat on his chest, looking down at him with triumphant eyes. “Ha ha,” she smirked. “I won!”
“So you did,” Legolas reluctantly admitted. In all the times they had played this game she had never actually caught him. He decided he would never again agree to stay in the house. From now on they were going outside.
She held the hat out to him. “Here’s your hat, Princeling.”
Legolas groaned, snatching the hat from her. “Elves don’t wear pink cowboy hats,” he growled.
Gwenneth smiled down at him sweetly, taking hold of his wrist and guiding his hand down to place the hat on his head. “They do now,” she said cheerfully.
***
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