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Title: Not too Ill for Snuggling
 "Yih-HESCH!" A gruff sniff followed the sneeze, and Gimli blew his nose. "You're sounding worse, my friend. Should we stop?" Aragon asked, worried. He'd never seen a dwarf sick before. Then again, he'd never seen a dwarf pushed to the limits that Gimli had been. The Fellowship had gone their separate ways only a few weeks before, but that did not mean their trio: the ranger, the archer, or the dwarf had stopped to rest. In fact, they pushed themselves harder than ever - knowing that Frodo would need all the help he could get if he was to destroy the ring in the fires of Mount Doom. "Nonsense!" the dwarf spat back at him. "We dwarves were meant to run. Sprinters we are. And - yih-heh-HEH-ATCHA! I cad do id sneezing as well." He stopped, briefly to blow his nose, and continued - sprinting to make up the slack that had been caused between the two of them and Legolas, who scouted up ahead. "Legolas!" Aragon called. "Tamp! Tul-sinome." (Stop! Come back.) Legolas stopped and redoubled back to join them. "What is it, Aragon? We have only a few more hours until we catch up with the orcs." "I understand, but we must rest." "Rest!?" Gimli shouted. "With the orcs within our grasp?" He shifted his gaze from Aragon to Legolas and back again. "You're not unwell are ya lad?" Aragon raised an eyebrow and smirked. "No, not unwell. But, hungry. And, I think I twisted my knee going over the last hill. You don't mind if we stop for a few moments, do you?" Legolas looked confused. He had known the ranger for a long time, but he'd never seen him stop for a twisted knee before. However, he also knew Aragon well enough to know he wouldn't stop for no reason either. "Alright," he said as he put his pack on the ground and went through it for the lambas bread. "Bah!" the dwarf complained, though inwardly he was thankful. He was having great difficulty keeping up, and even more so as he felt his chest tighten with each breath. He was starting to ache too. Far more than he should have been. He felt the tightness in his chest start to spread to his back, and he tried to stretch it without looking like he was stretching. Legolas broke off three pieces of lambas bread and watched as Aragon sat down, favoring his left knee. He winced as he saw his friend buckle under his own weight. "Do you need me to wrap that?" he asked, mildly. "No, I'll be fine, thank you," he said as he took his piece of lambas bread. Legolas walked behind him and slowly caressed his cheek. "You'll tell me, if you need to stop - whenever you need - won't you?" he whispered, in elvish. Aragon nodded. "Of course." Legolas continued on to where Gimli was still standing. "And you, my love?" he asked, offering Gimli a piece of bread. "Keep it. I am not hungry," Gimli said strongly, though inside he felt another sneeze begin to build. Legolas cocked his head and looked at him worriedly. "You are not well." It wasn't a question. "I'm fine. It's Aragon who is unwell. Don't fuss over me." Legolas didn't believe it for a second, but he wouldn't argue the matter either. Gimli could be stubborn, and down right belligerent, when he was well, but he was always hungry. A lack of appetite was his tell tale sign of illness. But, if he didn't want to admit it, Legolas would let him have his pride. Besides, they didn't have the time for the type of fussing that Legolas wanted to give him. He squeezed Gimli's shoulder. "I'll go scout ahead. Catch up as you can," he said, gathered his things and moved forward. Gimli smiled, and almost melted into Legolas' touch as he squeezed his shoulder. He felt the tension just about melt away. No sooner was Legolas out of sight than the sneeze exploded out of him. "Yih-HetCHEH!" Gimli blew his nose and groaned. He was feeling worse, but he knew he couldn't complain. "Bless," Aragon said sympathetically. "Don't you think you should tell Legolas. He's going to find out eventually." "Aye. But, he worries.too..t - heh-toomuch-heh-EE-atCHA!!" Gimli tried to blow his nose, but it wouldn't release. He sniffed, frustrated. "Maybe you need some worrying." "No! Not now, lad. We have two hobbits to catch, and we can't be waiting for my cold to go away. Come, or we'll lose them completely." And, with that, Gimli started running after the elf. He felt his breathing get tight again, and he couldn't move as well as he could only moments before. Aragon waited a few moments to catch up. His knee was fine, and he was certain Legolas hadn't believed him for a second. But, that didn't mean he had to make the dwarf feel worse that he did already. However, within minutes he had made up the slack and left Gimli pulling up the rear. In order to buy some time, he put his ear to the ground. "Their pace is quickening. They must have caught our scent." Gimli finally caught up. Panting, he fell to one knee. He couldn't move faster than he had been. In fact, he wasn't sure he could move as quickly as he had been. "Well then we must hurry as well," Legolas stated as he threw Gimli a worried glance. But, he didn't say no, so Legolas ran ahead. "Stop!" Aragon shouted. "But, I can just about see them," Legolas called back. "No, Gimli cannot. And I will not push him." "Bah!" the dwarf cried, clearly embarrassed. "I'll b-b-befine Yeh-heh-ATCH!" He tried to push himself up from the ground, but found him quite incapable of it. "Gimli!" Legolas exclaimed, rushing past Aragon to help him up. "Ahh, I'm fine, lad. No worries. Yeh-ATCH! ETCH! HATCH!" The three sneezes came in quick succession, and almost knocked him backwards with their force. "That settles it. What with Aragon's knee and your cold, we'd best make camp here for the night." "But, we'll lose the orcs. And, I've had a taste killing some, ever since they took our little friends" Gimli rebuttled. "We won't lose them. They too will be resting for the night, and we'll catch up with them in the morning." He was lying, and Aragon knew it. Gimli would have too, had he been feeling better. But, as he was, he was grateful to hear that they wouldn't lose too much time, and unpacked his bedroll, to make camp for the night. "Aragon, would you mind coming with me to fetch some wood?" Legolas asked. "Don't worry, love, we won't be away long." Gimli nodded and pulled out his already sodden handkerchief. He was feeling worse by the second, and hardly minded that they left him alone. Once out of earshot, Legolas started speaking in Elvish. "Your leg?" "A ploy." "And Gimli?" "Sick only since today." "We'll have to make up the time at first light." "I know. But, if he's not well enough to travel?" "It's not an option." Legolas had been thinking on this since he'd noticed Gimli was ill. But, he couldn't think of any other way to handle the situation. They certainly couldn't leave him alone. "If he is well enough, we'll wait until we find the hobbits, and then take a good long rest. We can all use it." Aragon nodded, and went off to find firewood. Legolas went back to the camp. Gimli was shivering in his bedroll, tired, but not yet asleep. "How are you feeling?" "Tired." "Sick?" "Hardly. It's just a sniffle. Dwarfs don't get s-si-SI-Eh- HA-CHOO! *sniff* sick." Legolas looked at him sympathetically. "Of course not. I should have known." Slowly, he lowered himself into Gimli's bedroll. "What are you doin' lad? I'll keep you up all night." Legolas smiled. "But, I like when you keep me up all night." He wrapped his arms around the dwarf protectively. Blushing Gimli said, "It's really not that bad. Nothing a night's rest won't cure." Coming back with the firewood Aragon smiled. "Then you get rest. I'll take first watch. Legolas, you make sure he rests." "I'll keep him in bed," Legolas answered. "Oh, I've no doubt about that. But make sure he sleeps. After all, I consider being ill as one of the great pleasures of life, provided one is not too ill." "And I am not too ill," Gimli stated, coughing slightly. The corners of Aragons' mouth twitched. "And you try to get some sleep too." And with that he set the fire ablaze, and kept watch, as the oddly matched pair slept warm and comfortable in each other's arms. | |||||
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