We were moving too fast to take a nap on horseback, even as a passenger. But as we began to move through more woodland around the forest edge we slowed down enough for me to relax and shut my eyes a little. When we eventually slowed to a walk I let myself lean forward against Legolas’ back, my forehead resting tiredly against the back of his nape…
And his whole body suddenly tensed, then slowly relaxed.
For a moment I was sure I was imagining it, but then Arod took a small jump over a fallen log and my brow brushed against the sliver of bare skin where his neck met his collar.
He shivered. Not a sensual one, but a squirming one. Like a child trying desperately to hold in a burst of inappropriate laughter. I blinked.
“Legolas…” I asked slowly, quietly enough to be sure the others riding a few feet ahead and behind couldn’t hear. “Are you ticklish?”
He turned his head slightly to acknowledge he’d heard me, but thinned his lips against an answer. At least not until a wisp of my messily tied hair got caught on a breeze and brushed the back of his ear. He squirmed again, and I saw his cheeks beginning to turn very slightly pink.
“Oh stars, you are!”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about, mîr nín,” he whispered back a little too quickly. But I could hear the suppressed mirth in his voice.
“No?” I asked, poking him in the back of the shoulder. “What was that then?”
“Merely a trick of the light through the trees,” he answered serenely.
“A trick of the light?”
“Indeed.”
“Hmm.”
Compos Mentis Chapter 22: The White Wizard's Final Foretelling
FF.net | AO3
Someone sent me a message recently asking very politely if I might have a little preview of the next RB chapter up my sleeve, and if I did, would I mind sharing it for Christmas? Well, I do, and I am. So here we are. <3
Sorry to say I don't have a fully chapter finished yet thanks to 2024 absolutely taking me out at the knees with burnout. Long story short in the past twelve months I moved twice (alone), changed teams at work, changed line managers, reconnected with several old friends, atteneded a new friend's wedding, a game I've been waiting 10 years for finally got released, and I bought my own home (also alone). So... yeah, not much time for writing.
All that said, despite the long ass time, this fic still isn't abandoned (and I doubt I ever will abandon it) -- but for the moment real life health and much needed rest must take first pirotity. In the meantime, I really hope you enjoy this little preview of the next chapter, and you have a Merry Christmas.
