Hidderknerkness

Hidden Darkness
By: CheysuDiscDisclaimer: I own nothing.
Warning: MPREG
A/N: Special thanks to EtheLeA for letting me use one of her ideas. And thanks to Sarah and Dawn for teaching me a bit about pregnancy.
________________________________________

Aragorn knocked quietly, waiting a moment before pushing the door open and entering Legolas’ room. The sight he sto stopped him in his tracks and he stood gaping at the elf and dwarf. ‘Gimli had better not have tired him out further,’ he thought, studying how Legolas and Gimli seemed to be wrapped around each other. He then realized what he had just thought. ‘By the Valar, Thranduil is going to kill them!’

He shook his head and thanked every deity he could think of that Legolas’ father wasn’t here to see his son in bed with a dwarf. He sighed, walking over to the bed and gently shaking Gimli awake.

Gimli groaned quietly and opened his eyes so he could glare at whoever was shaking him. “I was not asleep,” he whispered, absent-mindedly twirling a lock of Legolas’ hair around his finger.

The man cocked an eyebrow at the action. “Then why didn’t you answer when I knocked?” he asked, keeping his voice low.

Gimli sighed and glanced at the still sleeping elf in his arms. “I didn’t want to wake him by moving or yelling.”

Aragorn frowned, mildly surprised that all their talking hadn’t disturbed Legolas but wasn’t concerned; the elf was suffering from exhaustion. ‘I wouldn’t be surprised if sounding the horn of Gondor directly in his ear wouldn’t wake him.’

He shook his head, dismissing the thought. “We need to wake him anyways,” he said, no longer whispering. “I need to examine him and he needs to eat.” He frowned at the elf’s pale features and moved closer, laying his hand on Legolas’ cheek. “He seems cold,” he said, concerned.

Gimli nodded. “He was shivering earlier when he woke. And he seemed a bit confused.” He stroked Legolas’ hair and gently shook the elf awake.

Aragorn frowned. “Confused?” he asked, watching as Legolas moved and began to wake. “How so?”

Gimli sat up, moving Legolas so the elf’s head was on the pillow. “He didn’t remember what had happened,” he said, smiling at Legolas who was now blinking tiredly up at him. He was worried about how long it was taking the elf to wake up; he was used to Legolas waking at the slightest noise and he had just slept through a conversation.

Legolas scowled up at them once he was aware enough to realize that they were talking about him. “I’m fine,” he said, his voice hoarse.

Gimli snorted. “Sure you are, you crazy elf,” he said shaking his head and helping Legolas sit up. Legolas leaned heavily against and winced, rubbing his stomach.

Aragorn cocked an eyebrow, noticing the action. “Is your stomach bothering you, Legolas?”

Legolas paled even more and forced himself to move his hand away. “No,” he said, a bit too qui. “I. “I… It’s just… I’m a bit hungry,” he said finally, hoping they would believe him.

Aragorn and Gimli looked at each other, confused, before returning their attention to the suddenly nervous elf. “I asked the servants to send up some food, don’t worry,” Aragorn said, frowning slightly. “Is there anything wrong, Legolas? Do you feel unwell?”

Legolas shook his head and began playing with Gimli’s beard, braiding a few strands together. After he had added have a dozen braids to the dwarf’s thick beard, he finally looked up at Aragorn. “I’m fine,” he said again, hoping they would believe him this time.

Aragorn almost laughed when he saw what Legolas had done but stopped himself just in time, remembering what had happened the last time he laughed at the dwarf. He had no desire to repeat that experience… ever.

The dwarf scowled at Aragorn but refrained from voicing his displeasure at the braids or at the man‘s amusement. There was no need to upset Legolas over the state of Gimli’s beard.

Legolas, oblivious to his friends’ moods, returned his attention to Gimli’s beard, adding more braids. ‘Please leave,’ he thought, not wanting them to find out why he was acting so strange. He wanted no one to know his secret, Gimli least of all. ‘I shouldn’t have had so much to drink,’ he thought, thinking back to the night the fellowship had celebrated Sauron’s fall.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

3 months ago

Legolas hid in a dark corner, trying to escape notice. He hated these kinds of parties; smoke wafting through the room, loud singing and crashes, and flashes of light from the corner where Gandalf was trying to impress the younger men and women with small firework butterflies.

Legolas had long since lost sight of Gimli, the one who had convinced him to attend the party. The dwarf had disappeared nearly the moment they had arrived. Legolas would have left immediately but Aragorn had seen him and had pulled him onto the dance floor. Luckily, Arwen chose that moment to arrive had Aragorn’s attention had switch from him to the lady.

Legolas sighed, rubbing his forehead. All the smoke and loud noises had given him a pounding headache. He wanted very badly to leave but to do so, he’d have to cross the room and inevitably draw attention to himself. It seemed that every human, be it male or female, were fascinated by elves. Arwen only escaped their attentions because she was the King’s betrothed; unfortunately Legolas had no such protection.

He winced as a man fell to the floor in front of him. He pushed himself as far into the shadows as he could, waiting for the drunk human to get up and leave. After a few moments, he realized that the man had passed out; so Legolas moved away from his corner hoping to be out of sight before others came to drag the man to bed.

Legolas wove through the crowd, keeping his head down and not looking anyone in the eye. He walked towards the wine barrels; hopefully another cup or two would help dull his headache.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Legolas winced as he woke the next morning. ‘I really shouldn’t have thatthat ninth cup of wine,’ he thought, closing his eyes and turning away from the sunlight that fell on his face. ‘Wait a minute. The sun doesn’t hit my bed,’ he thought, sitting up. He winced as he felt a deep ache in his lower body but dismissed the feeling as he gazed around the room. ‘Why am I in Gimli’s bed?’

Sudden movement to his left drew his attention to the dwarf that slept beside him. The very naked dwarf. ‘Why is he naked?’ he thought, shocked. He had seen Gimli naked before while bathing in a river, that wasn’t what shocked him. What surprised him was that he was in bed with a naked dwarf and he didn’t remember how he got there.

Legolas felt a breeze come through the open window and hit his skin. He hesitated a moment, then looked down. ‘I’m naked and in bed with a naked dwarf.’

He paled, suddenly realizing what the ache meant. ’No, no, no!’ He slid out of bed, careful not to wake Gimli; he really didn’t want to explain this. He search frantically for his clothes, finding them scattered about the room. He pulled them on quickly and glanced around the room, making sure he had everything.

He left them room in a hurry, still trying to convince himself that he hadn’t slept with his best friend.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Now

Fortunately, Gimli hadn’t remembered that night; or at least he pretended not to. Legolas had spent the next few months doing everything he could to avoid the dwarf, which was why he worked so hard on the gardens. Although, it wasn’t until a few weeks ago that he had really started to push himself to the limit. ’Which is why I passed out,’ he told himself, seeing how worried his friends were. ’Well,’ he thought, placing a hand on his stomach. ’One of the reason.’

Aragorn frowned when he noticed the way Legolas’ attention drifted. ’He seems to have problems concentrating,’ he thought, adding it to his mental list of Legolas’ symptoms. He saw Legolas start to rub his stomach again. “The food should be here in a few minutes,” he said, moving to sit on the chair next to the bed.

Gimli was relieved that Legolas had stopped braiding his beard but was slightly worried about the way Legolas was acting. And not just today, the elf had been acting strange ever since the celebration a few months ago. ’Something must have happened at the party, that started all this. But what?’ He tried to think of anything that might have caused it but most of that night was a complete blank. All he knew was that he must have had a good time, judging by the size of the hangover he had the next morning. ’I’ll have to ask Aragorn later.’
_______________________________

A/N: Uh oh. Heehee.