Work Text:
This is a collection of short H/C ficlets (they were supposed to be drabbles but I'm terrible at writing short things) from various fandoms. I asked on one of my LiveJournals for one word for each letter of the alphabet, as well as a fandom and/or pairing. Here's what my friends gave me to work with:
A- Allergy- Angel/Collins (RENT)
B- Brothers- Bill & Charlie (Harry Potter)
C- Chicken Soup- Don & Charlie (Numb3rs)
D- Denial- Hornblower & Bush (Horatio Hornblower)
E- Exhaustion- Ro & Dan (Lord of the Rings)
F- Fever- Legolas/Gimli (Lord of the Rings)
G- Galu- Thranduil & a very young/small Legolas (Lord of the Rings)
H- Honor- Duncan (Highlander)
I- Indecision- Claire/Charlie (LOST)
J- Jetlag- Wolverine/Nightcrawler (X-Men)
K- Kite- Remus/Sirius (Harry Potter)
L- Lonely- Tatsumi/Watari & Tatsumi/Tsuzuki (Yami No Matsuei)
M- Midnight- Cedric/Oliver (Harry Potter)
N- Naughty- Percy/Oliver (Harry Potter)
O- Oblique- Willow/Spike (Buffy the Vampire Slayer)
P- Pain- Obi/Qui (Star Wars)
Q- Quiet- Legolas/Elrohir (Lord of the Rings)
R- Rain- Sirius/Remus (Harry Potter)
S- Sleep- Legolas/Aragorn (Lord of the Rings)
T- Torn- Daniel & Jack (Stargate SG-1)
U- Understanding- James/Lily (Harry Potter)
V- Veritaserum- Snape/Dumbledore (Harry Potter)
W- Whipped- Nagi/Omi & others (Weiß Kreuz)
X- Xebec- Horatio/Archie (Horatio Hornblower)
Y- Yearning- Legolas/Gimli (Lord of the Rings)
Z- Zealous- Snape/Filch (Harry Potter)
The ABC Series 19: S is for Sleep
by Kate of Kintail
Legolas rolled over onto his other side with a sigh. He closed his eyes, waiting patiently for something which did not come. So he rolled onto his back. "Estel?" he whispered. When there was no response, Legolas propped himself up on his elbows and looked over at the man sleeping in bed beside him. Aragorn was in a deep sleep, his breaths slow and steady. Legolas tried to match them, but that made him feel light-headed. So he sat up against the pillows and the exquisitely-carved headboard. "Estel?" he tried again, but Aragorn did not stir. "Ranger?" Still nothing. Legolas rubbed at his nose and then, more loudly, "Aragorn?"
The man came awake at once with a start. He had only to glance at one of the windows to see that it was still night. And he had only to look to Legolas to understand why he was wake in the middle of the night. "What's amiss?" he asked, blinking at Legolas and then rubbing his tired eyes.
"I am sorry. Did I wake you?" the elf asked, trying to sound innocent. Normally he would have felt terrible about depriving the man of sleep, but Aragorn *had* given instructions for Legolas to wake him if something were wrong. "I cannot sleep," Legolas declared. "Elves simply do not need as much sleep. I have had my two hours and cannot force myself to enjoy more. Yet I know I must because you said I should."
Aragorn nodded. "Nothing will help your head cold as much as sleep will."
Legolas sighed. "Then I am beyond helping." He coughed into his sleeve and rubbed his finger alongside his nose. A few pitiful sniffles met Aragorn's ears.
Aragorn reached up and pushed Legolas flat back on the bed. "Nothing is beyond you. I will help you get to sleep." His sensibilities as a healer had kicked in, as had his caring for the elf he was fortunate enough to share his bed with.
Having expected that answer but looking grateful just the same, "Tell me, what is it men customarily do to fall asleep?"
"Well," Aragorn thought, wishing he weren't so tired and could do a better job in that department. "I suppose... counting dragons is a common method."
"Counting dragons?" Legolas repeated with confusion. "But there aren't any dragons around here." He looked around the room, as though expecting a whole heard to appear before his eyes.
Aragorn laughed. "No, you imagine them. Imagine dragons flying over a village."
"Why would I want to imagine such a thing? Would a terrible image like that not keep me awake instead of put me to sleep?"
On his way to a sigh, Aragorn instead gave a powerfully strong yawn. He thought longingly of sleep, but shook it off. "All right, let us try something else." Aragorn looked down at Legolas, lying on his back. "Close your eyes," he instructed. "Now, starting all the way down in your toes, I want you to tighten your muscles and then relax them. First your toes... then your ankles... work your way up... your lower legs... tightening and relaxing... your upper legs..." he proceeded to walk Legolas through it. "And now that you're up to your face, one last time, tensing and relaxing. Until you're so relaxed... you fall... right... to sleep..."
He looked at the elf carefully. Legolas' chest rose and fell so slowly and his eyes were still closed. Silent and nearly motionless, Legolas finally looked at peace. Aragorn sighed with relief.
Then Legolas opened his eyes. "And then?" he asked, sounding not the least bit sleepy.
Aragorn groaned and buried his face in his pillow. The thick feather pillow felt so comfortable below his head, and he longed to fall back to sleep now. But his obligation to Legolas was too strong, and the sound of sniffles and coughs made his heart go out to his suffering lover. He lifted his head and sighed. "All right. I have something else we might try. Lord Elrond taught me an herbal mixture that can help induce sleep. I will sneak down to the kitchens and brew some."
Aragorn pulled himself up and swung his legs over the side of the bed. He sat there a moment as another violent yawn took hold of him. He covered his mouth with one hand and rubbed his other hand up and down his thigh. Then he slapped his own cheek and shook his head, trying to shake off the urge to sleep. He could do this. He stood, forcing his eyes to be wide as he looked down at Legolas. "I will not be ten minutes," he promised. Coughing, Legolas only nodded in acknowledgement. Aragorn picked up his robe on the way out of his chamber and had it on a few steps down the dimly-lit corridor.
As it turned out, it took exactly nine minutes from beginning to end. He was forced to go down to the storeroom for one herb that was not kept in the kitchen, and he had to light several lamps around the kitchen to give him enough light to measure ingredients by. But it reached a boil in no time and he poured a generous helping of it into a goblet. He neglected clean-up, feeling badly about that decision as he headed back to his room. But sleep was what was important here and now, and he could apologize in the morning for the mess.
"Legolas?" he called upon his return. He closed the door to his chambers behind him and it took a few long moments for his eyes adjusted to the darkness. "Prince Greenleaf?" he inquired, when his first prompt went unanswered. But what his eyes finally saw was the elf, lying on his stomach, fast asleep.
Aragorn sighed. He was now fully awake and the morning was still quite far away. There was only one thing then to be done. Aragorn dropped his robe and, rather than crawl over the bed to his side, he walked all the way around the bed. Aragorn climbed up onto the bed as carefully as he possibly could, fearing too much movement might wake Legolas. And, though the movement did register with the elf, the only result was that Legolas began snoring, lightly, through a stuffed-up nose. Aragorn rolled his eyes at the noise which was sure to help keep him even wider awake.
Aragorn tucked himself into bed beside Legolas, then gulped down most of the drink he had prepared. He closed his eyes, curling his toes then relaxing them. "One dragon... two dragons... three dragons... four dragons..."
end