Legolas likes to state the obvious. (sonofthranduil) wrote in valarlogs, @ 2014-01-22 19:12:00 |
|
|||
Entry tags: | !complete, legolas, tauriel |
Who:Tauriel and Legolas.
What: Catching up over coffee.
When: December 30.
Where: Baxter Bakery.
Rating: Low.
Status: Complete.
Legolas was actually quite happy to be meeting with Tauriel after so long. True, their friendship, if it could be called that, had been up-and-down and had consisted mostly of the two of them being competitive, but he’d grown fond of her in the later years. Then they’d gone their separate ways, running into each other at odd times before never crossing paths at all. The world had a funny way of working, he thought.
He got to Baxter Bakery a few minutes before ten and glanced around. It was a nice place, he decided. It certainly smelled good. He took a seat near the door to wait, watching the people around him but keeping an eye out for Tauriel.
There was no reason at all to be nervous, but Tauriel was still nervous despite all of that. She'd swallowed butterflies during her morning workout and spent what she considered to be far too much time on her makeup before going out that morning.
She'd felt like she was sitting on pins and needles the entire cab ride, and had been so filled with nervous energy that her fingers had fidgeted endlessly at her sleeves.
But by the time she'd gotten to the Bakery and opened the door to step inside, she'd managed to put all of that behind and put her best face foreward. It was good to see him again, and she was looking forward to catching up with him now that they weren't competing against each other.
Legolas was just as annoyingly gorgeous as he always was. She smiled in his direction and waved a bit.
Once he saw her, because she was unmistakable and he was sort of glad she hadn’t changed much, Legolas stood up. He smiled and waved back even as he walked over to meet her. Though there was a moment where he paused, uncertain if they should hug or if they weren’t exactly at that point together. He opted to just give her another smile.
“Right on time. As always,” he said, looking distantly amused. “I’ve a table over there. You can settle in and I’ll get your coffee for you.” It was the polite thing to do, after all. Well, and maybe it was a touch more than just manners that prompted him to want to, but he wouldn’t say that.
It was a very awkward moment. Tauriel almost made motions to hug him or go through the motions of a very british cheek kiss, but decided against it when he simply smiled at her.
It made the most sense, anyway. What were they, even? Friends, obviously, but somewhat estranged. And the look on Legolas's face as he spoke to her almost made Tauriel rethink her idea of ever trying to get closer and catch up with him. He was being polite, but she could get her own coffee.
Still, it wouldn't do to get off on the wrong foot with him. She desperately wanted to be on the right foot with him for some reason. So she nodded, "Thank you... I don't like to keep you waiting. I'll have one of those sparkling coffees, of course. Vanilla flavored with a bit of cinnamon in."
“I haven’t been here long,” he answered, then put on another bit of a smile in hopes of somehow reassuring her. The thought of wanting to reassure her alarmed even him, because he can’t recall having spent a lot of time worrying about her approval of him. Not until later years, anyway.
“Sparkling. Vanilla.” Legolas nodded as he repeated it, but it was more for the action than anything else. He’d never forget it. He waited to make sure she settled at the table before going to get their orders, and wondered, briefly, he should surprise her with a pastry or ask which she liked or not get one at all. A surprise it would have to be.
The booth was one of the nicer ones in the bakery. Tauriel settled herself in as requested, folding her hands in her lap and then squeezing them together to keep herself from fidgeting with them.
She told herself to look out the window and take in the pretty day or watch the other customers, but her eyes ended up on Legolas at every turn. It was still a surprise when he made his way over with a pastry for her.
"Oh lovely! That one's one of my favorites." Her tone was genuinely happy, and she grinned at him.
In a rare show of expressive emotion, Legolas looked quite pleased. So maybe back at boarding school, when he’d started to take interest in her, he’d noticed she enjoyed eating them at breakfast now and then. Not that he would ever admit it. He took a seat opposite her after setting down the plates and mugs.
“I’m glad. And I hope you enjoy it, even though you feel you shouldn’t.”
It was amazing that he'd even remembered her talk about the pastries in their little internet exchange. Tauriel never expected Legolas to remember much about her. Maybe the competition they'd had between them or what her level of skill was at, but not the other things she'd said.
It was all she could do not to tear into the pastry like a starving woman. She was blushing a bit as she tore off a piece of it, "I can't believe you'd even think of it, that's really very sweet of you. I'll have to enjoy it, now, no matter what."
She punctuated her sentence by popping the piece of pastry in her mouth. It really was delicious, and she couldn't help but roll her eyes a bit at the taste.
“I have my moments,” he told her. His own pastry looked divine, but his curiosity over the lattes was greater than that, so Legolas took up his mug and peered at the drink for a moment before taking a sip. He hadn’t really been sure what to expect, but it wan’t that bad. It was … Interesting.
“You do stunt work now?” Legolas asked, over another sip of his latte. “What’s that like?”
The sparkles in the milk tended to make the coffee taste a little sweeter, Tauriel thought, but she hadn't noticed a difference aside from the way it shimmered in the mug. She nodded a bit at him as she chewed, then took a sip of her own coffee before answering him.
"It's all very exciting. And of course, it's hard work. You know all of those fancy fighting scenes in the movies... well, the stunts we're preparing for now have me learning them, too. Since there are stunts that are part of it. It all has to flow very nicely, the audience can't suspect you're not the actress they think you are."
He listened with a nearly unblinking gaze while he continued to sip at his latte. It was growing on him, really, and the pastry was very good. Legolas imagined that Tauriel was probably very good at what she did; she’d always had a determination about her that was very admirable.
Unfortunately, he didn’t watch movies very much, but he had at least an understanding of what she meant as he recalled fight scenes from what he had seen.
“Have you been doing it long?”
"Not that long, no. When I first came here I was actually doing... much less interesting work."
Tauriel ducked her head a bit at the mention of that work, since it was work that she knew Legolas would think was far below him and she didn't really want to hear him say so. Or lose some of his respect. She added, quickly, "Just long enough to get something more in my field of course. A stunt coordinator caught my reflexes one day and asked me some questions. Before I knew it I was getting an agent!"
It felt like she was rambling, and she tore off another piece of her pastry. Hopefully if she was chewing she'd stop speaking like a nervous teenager.
Legolas peered at her, as if catching on to the fact that whatever she did before was embarrassing or less than appealing. He very nearly asked, getting ready to quietly judge her, but caught himself. Be nice, he reminded himself, you’re not at school making idle challenges anymore. They could be perfectly civilized.
“Seems like a stroke of luck.” Though from what Legolas understood, the entire industry that was Hollywood was all based on luck. Right place, right time, that sort of thing. “No more archery for you anymore?”
"Oh no, the fencing skills are more put to use of course, but I still keep practice. There are ranges here in Orange County and I try to get in a practice at least five days a week. Though..."
Well, if she was honest, she didn't always get in the practice she'd need to stay on his level. This was the area they'd been the most competitive in and though she didn't want to admit it, she thought it might be important to be honest and let him have that, "... I'm no Olympic Champion in the making, no. I dare say you'd give me a run for it now."
Well, he had to crack a smile. He almost even very nearly laughed, but he hid it behind a sip of his coffee. “Well, Tauriel, as much as it pains me to say it, I think I’ve always given you a run for it.” It was said in jest. Mostly.
“Probably in fencing, too,” he added, as a teasing afterthought.
And there it was. That thing he did, where he made her want to want to slap him. Tauriel's eyebrows shot up, and she decided to take a long sip off of her coffee while taking in his expression. His beautiful, beautiful, completely arrogant expression.
It was a miracle she didn't throw her coffee right at his face. But he was one of her only allies in this town and they'd been trying so hard to stay on good terms with each other.
She counted to ten while she sipped, then finally set the cup down, "I think I've got a few trophies back in my flat. Enough to assure me that I was skilled enough in my day. That's good enough for me."
“Oh, without question,” he agreed, giving a bit of a nod. There was still something of a smile lingering at the corner of his lips. “I was only saying that I’m more skilled, that’s all.” Legolas took another bite of his pastry while he let Tauriel cool down, knowing he’d dug at just the right nerve without being too obnoxious.
“Maybe we can go to the range together. I might be taking a hiatus, but it won’t do to get completely out of practice.”
It took the entire rest of Tauriel's pastry to calm her down. But she finally did get to the point where she could speak civilly again, and she nodded her head, "Alright. I think I could stand to be humiliated a few times at least."
“You shouldn’t sell yourself short. You won’t be that bad,” Legolas told her. Unless she’d really let herself slip, but that seemed unlikely. “Tell me what else is news in your life.”
The encouragement had Tauriel smiling brightly again. She nodded her head, then tapped a finger against her lip as she tried to think up what else in her life might qualify as news, "I was actually living in Los Angeles for a while before I moved here. The snow was a shock. I've gone sledding for the first time, and that was fun. There are apparently odd occurrences here aside from that, but no one will fill me in as to what. Though dreams do get mentioned fairly often."
Legolas tilted his head a bit. “Yes, I’ve been warned about the strangeness. And I have seen talk about dreams on the network. I’m not certain what to think of it all, really. Overactive imagination, perhaps. One person appears to read too much into things, so they all do.” He shook his head. “You haven’t had any such dreams, have you?”
Tauriel shook her head, "No, I haven't. Not yet. Everyone takes it as a matter of course, though, so I feel like it's only a matter of time."
Which was absolutely ridiculous, when you thought about it. No amount of logic could really be applied to the situation, though, and she shrugged one of her shoulders, "There doesn't really seem to be an explanation for any of it. I'm probably a little more fascinated by everything than I should be, but it's not like these sorts of things happened in England."
He had to turn his lips up in an amused smile. She was right. Nothing ever happened in England, which was a large part of his reasoning to leave it for a while. Legolas took a thoughtful sip of his coffee. “I’ll admit that I’m even a touch curious about it all.”
"Even you, eh?" Tauriel joked, with a bit of a smirk. She was finally starting to feel more at ease in his presence, which was a huge relief, "I thought you were the type to avoid anything too adventurous."
“I’d hardly have left home and come all the way out here if I didn’t want to have an adventure.” More or less. Legolas stays mostly to himself, as is old habit, but it’s still a big leap. His father had been quietly unimpressed at his son’s desire to travel away from familiar settings, but it was bound to happen. “I think strange dreams that seem to happen county wide are impossible to not wonder about. It’s vaguely fascinating.”
"Of course I'm glad that you decided to go on a bit of an adventure and journey here." Tauriel nodded her head. She was probably more grateful to have a familiar face around than she wanted to admit. Isabela'd been nice enough to recruit her but was often busy with her own schedule, and the few other acquaintances she'd made were all also busy.
She spun her cup around in her hands a bit, "I do wonder what it is we'll end up dreaming about. It seems inevitable, after all!"
“Maybe,” Legolas said He finished his latte and set down the cup, folding his hands on the table. “I’ll believe it all when it happens to me, if it happens to me.”
Tauriel spun her own empty cup in her hands a bit, while nodding her head in reply. It felt good to catch up with him, but their coffees had both been emptied and it felt like their topics of conversation had been exhausted for the moment.
"We'll just have to wait and see, I suppose. There really isn't much else we can do." She finally replied, while lifting her empty cup off the table. She jiggled it in the air a bit, and smiled, "I've really enjoyed this, we should do it again. I've got to be off now, but I think I'll get a refill on my way out. Would you like one, as well?"
“Me too,” he agreed, surprised a little that he actually meant it. It had been nice. Maybe the two of them have more or less moved on from their teenage years. “A refill would be great, thank you.”