Legolas peered into the white castle's vast kitchen, training his eyes into the darkest corner. He edged closer, suddenly wishing he had brought his bow from the bedroom. His hand searched the hanging hooks and grasped a long rolling pin that would suffice for a weapon. Drawing it back, he approached the dark curtains that covered the pantry, made even more alert by rustling and another thump. It was just behind the curtains.

Silently, the elf crossed the distance and threw back the curtains, weapon swishing through the air.

And locked his elbow just in time to prevent smashing the dwarf's red head.

"Gimli, what are you doing here?" he asked in astonishment. He pitched the rolling pin aside, appalled at how close he had come to killing his friend.

Gimli grunted and yawned. "What? Hm? Oh, Legolas! What's going on? What happened?"

"Oh, Gimli, you were sleepwalking again!" Legolas cried, and took the dwarf by the arm. "You have been doing that a lot here in the white castle since Aragorn and Arwen were wed. Let me take you back upstairs to bed!"

After another yawn, Gimli resumed chewing. "Oh, yes, I must have been walking in my sleep!" he said, and stretched again. "I should take this plate of stew with me so it doesn't go to waste! How it got here in my hands, I'll never know!"

Legolas nodded knowingly. "Bring it and come with me before someone accidentally hits you with a rolling pin!"

The dwarf's hand thrashed out in the dark, goosing the elf, who jumped and yelped. "Oh, sorry about that," Gimli said. His plate curled in one arm, he followed his taller friend up the stairs to their shared bedroom.

"I will sleep next to the door tonight since you seem to have a sleepwalking problem," Legolas decided as he lit a candle. "Finish your food and take rest. It is late."

Gimli grinned at him as he sat next to him on the bed. "Would you like a wee bite of the meat? It's very tender. Ripe meat seasoned to perfection!" With his fingers, he held the morsel out to his friend.

One thing that Gimli loved about Legolas was that he never got annoyed at Gimli's behavior. Those sensitive blue eyes studied the meat a moment before he bent, parted his lips to accept it, and chewed appreciatively. "You're right, Gimli. It is very good."

Gimli was fascinated. Picking up a bit of potato, he offered it to him, hoping the gesture would be repeated. "Try this, and tell me they spare the seasoning in this household!"

Legolas took it, careful of the fingers. "Just the right amount of seasoning," he agreed. "Not too salty."

"And how about a carrot?" Gimli raised the orange vegetable to those mesmerizing lips, and when it was taken, the elf caught the hand that had borne it and said, "I'm quite full, Gimli. No more, please. Here, let me clean off your fingers." And with that, he began to lick the thick juice from the dwarf's stubby fingers.

Gimli gulped down his lusty gaze as he watched the elf's tongue dart out and lick every drop of the stew's gravy from the thumb and index finger. "You could kill a dwarf like that, you know," he huffed. "You shouldn't tease so much, my dear Legolas!"

"What are you talking about, Gimli?" Legolas' wide, innocent eyes scaled him. "If I bothered you in any way, it was accidental! Pray, tell me my offense."

Gimli shook his head. "Nothing about you offends, my sweet elf, but instead, lends voice to my heart."

Legolas was mystified. "I have done nothing deliberately, Gimli, for the good or bad, but if I have in some way elated you, I am happy. You are my friend, and I would do nothing to make you otherwise."

Gimli took the elf's hand, and when he had secured it properly, he dragged three long, slender fingers through the stew. Smiling confidently at Legolas' shocked expression, he lifted the messy fingers to his mouth and slowly, meticulously began to suck the gravy from each one.

Legolas' confusion transformed into suspicion. "You did that on purpose!" he accused.

"And why would you think a thing like that?" Gimli asked, licking happily on the middle finger.

"Because I saw you!"

"But why would I do it? What purpose do you think I have in mind for such an act?"

The confusion returned, and the elf considered as he watched the dwarf's tongue lap at the ring finger until it was clean. "I don't know," he answered finally.

"Would you care to guess?"

After a brief hesitation, Legolas pulled his hand away, licked clean. "No, I would not."

"Would you like me to give you a hint?"

"Yes."

"Very well, I'll tell you. Because no seasoning in Middle Earth has the power to enhance flavor so well! I enjoyed the taste immensely, and hope you will allow me a second helping before this night is done. I hope that tasting is not offensive to you, or that you will not find a bearded dwarf adverse, a dwarf, mind you, who holds you in the highest esteem and savors the touch and taste your flesh adds to the food."

The blue eyes were round. "My flesh?" he asked, incredulously.

"I don't plan on taking a bite out of you, Master Elf. Merely tasting you in various places until I find the most pleasant parts." Gimli set his stew aside, no longer interested in it. "If you would allow me this liberty, that is."

"You wish to…" Legolas went to his knees on the floor before him and looked up at him with a pensive smile. "To taste me?"

"Yes, to taste you. And to pet you, rub you, nuzzle you and kiss you, if you are not in opposition to such actions." Gimli's brown eyes were uncertain as he waited for an answer.

Legolas crossed his arms on Gimli's lap and said softly, "I am not opposed. This leads me to wonder about all the times you have 'accidentally' bumped into me, and all the times I have awakened to find you practically on top of me."

Gimli bent forth, cupped his fair face in both hands and kissed his lips. "Yes, it makes one wonder, does it not? Yes, my dear elf, I shall confess," he said, very sweetly, repeating the kiss, pressing his lips to each of his eyelids. "I will admit to my transgression."

"What transgression is that?" Legolas asked, sighing contentedly at the kisses.

"All I have done to be close to you?"

"Yes?"

"Deliberate."

~~

~end~