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The ambush. The battle. The fall. Here, in Helmsdeep, it should be safe enough from enemies. This allows the grief to catch up to them. Even still... this is the first time since the river they lost the Hobbits at they could bathe. And here the water is hot and the basin is deep and wide. Normally, he and Aragorn would help each other during these times of turmoil, where they had few else. They would disrobe together and wash the grime from each other's hair and braid it back together again.
Now... Aragorn... he would not be able to wash his hair clear again. He would not hear the way he would softly exhale when Legolas brushed out his hair and finally got to the scalp. He was frozen, in the door of the bathrooms, unable to move forward without his friend.
Legolas did not know how long he had been standing there by the time Gimli stumbled in. "Ah, elf! Good, it's been too long since I last bathed alone and after a battle like that, I wouldn't turn my nose up to company!" He said while pulling off his tunic clumsily.
It struck Legolas suddenly that Gimli would in fact be the only company he would welcome, and he rushed to lock the door. Room secured, he took a few deep breaths, attempting to regain composure before he turned and faced Gimli. Gimli had taken off his helmet and was working on detangling his braid, cursing under his breath about the jewelry he couldn't get out.
This finally stirred him to movement, moving forward to remove it for him. He batted his hands away. "Here," he murmured. "Let me."
Gimli tensed, or was perhaps still tense from battle. Legolas eased the metal cuffs from his braid, fingers gentle in his hair. "Have... have you done this before?" Gimli's voice was rougher than usual, register more deep and it broke a bit as a result.
Legolas hummed, kneeling to reach the ends of his hair better so he could start taking the braid out. His fingers brushed the skin just below his shoulder blades as he undid the tie holding the plait together. "Yes. Aragorn..." He cleared his throat around the wave of grief welling up in him. "We would do this for each other when... we were at loose ends like this," he murmured thickly. Gimli's hair was unlike anything he had felt before. It was coarse, pulling into tiny little curls, small enough to simply look straight and frizzy. "The texture of your hair... must make it easier to hold these braids."
"And not only that. If you're willing to oblige further, it's ah... rather difficult to get the battle debris all washed out and gone." He was speaking slower than usual. Legolas worried Gimli didn't trust him at his back like this, but they had had each other's back this entire time. After everything, he will assume all discomforts must be due to grief. Even the way he kept clenching and releasing his fist.
Legolas simply nodded "I would be honored." As he loosened the braid, he tugged apart clumps of blood and viscera, mostly leaving those matted in the hair until he could wash it through. It was tangled besides, and after running soap through it he would need to use oil to pull a brush through it. Still, he stayed gentle, tugging at strands. Finally, the last of his long braid fell loose and Legolas ran his hand through it once, getting caught on a tangle. "Well. We'll wash those out." He stood again. Now that he wasn't busy, he could see that Gimli had been trying to untie one of his beard braids, the other already mostly undone. "Did you want help with that one too?"
"I can manage, I can manage, damnable thing always gets tangled in my beard is all," he grumbled, tugging on it more.
Legolas winced and kneeled once more. "Here, that's... let me." He deftly began to detangle the hair tie.
Gimli scowled. "I'm not some pretty elven princess, you know. I can take my own braids out!" But his heart wasn't really in it, not yelling in his regular fashion.
He opened his mouth to retort back, looking up from his work. And then he stopped. Because Gimli was... his mouth was parted slightly, half ready to respond. His eyes were widening, like he just realized how close they were too, his pupils eating up his brown eyes—deep, like the of an intersection of a tree. He'd never been this close. His eyes skittered across his face, taking in the blush deepening Gimli's cheeks. "I never noticed. You have little freckles." His voice came out in a whisper.
Gimli swallowed "Aye. All this time in the sun," he whispered back. A pause. "I saw you and Strider, last time. Braiding each other's hair. I thought he had... But did you ever ?" his voice strained a little. Like he didn't want to be asking.
Legolas hesitated, surprised. It hadn't occurred to him how it could be seem from the outside. He shook his head "Together? No, no. His heart lies with Arwen, whether Elrond likes it or not. ...Laid, I suppose, that Elrond actually, hah, he... will get what he has wanted... this... whole time." He swallowed and pulled the hair tie out before turning away "I'm sorry." He choked it out, a tear falling hot down his face. He scrubbed at his eyes furiously "I didn't mean..." his voice teared off into a whine, panting as he tried to calm himself.
Thick fingers grasped at the base of his half braid, pulling at the tie clumsily. Legolas stiffened, but Gimli shushed him softly "Turnabout is fair play isn't it?" He murmured, pulling apart his tight braid. The gore tangled it a bit, staining his fair hair a horrible pinkish, he knew but it didn't stop the dwarf. "Your hair's like silk... must be easy to manage. It's a wonder it braids at all, fine as it is." His breath stirred Legolas' hair, and he shivered, wiping at the remnants of his tears.
"Oh, ah. Yes. I have a cream to add texture. It makes it easier." He whispered, pulling at one of his side braids desperate for something to do. His voice was unsteady. Everything felt wrong, and he kept expecting Aragorn to come in. But he wouldn't. Knowing they were alone like this, and would continue to be... charged the air in an unusual way. Even with the Sindar Elves, intimacy meant a life-long bond. Legolas had never catered too much to convention, being here at all should be enough to show that. But this was a line he hadn't had cause to cross. Here with Gimli, he might have cause now.
Gimli finished undoing the back braid and ran his fingers through his hair, seemingly unaware of the havoc he was setting loose in Legolas. He shuddered, still pulling apart his left braid. Gimli started in on his right braid, moving around him to see properly. Legolas swallowed and blinked a few times to try and keep a normal disposition. He wasn't gentle, really, and the small braid seemed to be frustrating him a bit, judging by the curses he was grumbling. Legolas managed a smile. "You could give up, you know." His tone was too sincere to come off as teasing, really, but he didn't really have it in him to care as he finished taking out the braid he was working on.
The dwarf scoffed softly anyways "What, and let you win?" This startled a laugh from Legolas, surprised by the normalcy of it all. "But I can be a fair sight gentler, if you need."
He hummed "No, you're alright. It doesn't hurt." He didn't want to set a precedent, in any case. He closed his eyes, letting his thick fingers work at his hair. His technique could use work- instead of unraveling the plait he was pulling at either side, loosening all under that contact, and tightening everything above it. Legolas couldn't bring himself to care, with the Hobbits still missing, Aragorn gone, and the precarious situation they've found themselves in, this seemed such a small thing to let bother him. Aside from all that, the way Gimli's blunt nails scraped against his scalp just a bit as he grabbed more hair felt oddly grounding. At least Gimli was still here. As strange as their friendship has been, at least they still had this.
Gimli tugged the last bit loose and ran his fingers through it again "There you are. All taken care of." His voice was soft and gentle, taking on an unusually tender tone.
Legolas met his eyes from behind the hair Gimli was playing with. "Thank you. This way we might be able to get in while the water is still hot."
He forced himself to pull away and stand, pulling off his boots and disrobing. He'd been wearing the same clothes for so long, and while Elves didn't really sweat as much as a human or dwarf, Legolas had always been on the heavier side of that spectrum and knew he needed a wash desperately. He was folding his clothes when he heard a splash behind him as Gimli jumped in. "Get in, elf, the water is fine!"
Legolas couldn't help the small smile on his face. He climbed in after him and moaned as the hot water soaked his skin. "Yes, it is, isn't it? After everything, we must remember these small pleasures."