It was warm in the bed. He felt like he was floating on something soft and fluffy, completely weightless. Gimli rolled onto his side and buried his face further into the pillow. Opening his eyes would only risk the onset of the headache he could feel teasing at him.

The pillow smelt a little strange, but he had slept in so many strange places since leaving Erebor. This was only notable for being an actual bed.

The mattress shifted beneath him and he realised he wasn't alone in the bed. That was worth opening his eyes for.

Gimli cracked his eyelids open a fraction, then when the assault of light didn't set off his headache, opened them a little more.

His bed companion turned out to be Legolas, who was staring at Gimli with a bewildered expression.

Memories from the previous night began to surface. Aragorn's wedding, many pints of ale and the wine that Legolas had delightedly declared was his father's preferred variety from Dorwinion. That explained the threatening hangover. The fact that he was naked in bed with an Elf was explained by the realisation that apparently Gimli's drunken hindbrain had taken upon itself to confess his feelings to Legolas.

Under other circumstances he might have been mortified at the memory, but it had turned out Legolas had a confession of his own to make.

"Good morning," said Gimli, propping himself up on his elbows. "You look terrible. Do Elves get hangovers?"

Legolas just stared at him. Gimli supposed as a romantic morning-after greeting it left something to be desired.

"We were drunk last night," said Legolas, before Gimli could ready an apology.

Gimli gave him a long, hard look. "Do not fear that my words were any less heartfelt for having been at the behest of several pints of very fine ale."

Legolas winced and settled back into bed next to him. "No, no, that's not what I mean." He kissed Gimli on the cheek. "I also meant every word, it is just... if I had been less drunk, I wouldn't have..." He stopped again.

"Just spit it out, lad."

It was another long moment before Legolas responded. "How do Dwarves see the act of sex?"

"This Dwarf thinks it was a most enjoyable experience he would like to repeat as soon as possible," said Gimli.

Legolas buried his face in his hands. "Please, this is important."

"Well, we don't believe it should happen without love, but beyond that we have little care to peek behind the closed doors of consenting adults." He took a guess at what might be causing such a strange reaction. "Do not tell me that Elves believe you should wait until marriage, as some Men do."

Legolas's laughter, usually bright and merry as the tinkling of bells, now had an edge of hysteria. "No. No, for Elves, sex is the marriage act."

Gimli raised his eyebrows. "It is also common for the couple after a Dwarf wedding."

"I mean that even if there were no wedding, it would be an act of marriage." Legolas was now speaking into the pillow, somewhere in the vicinity of Gimli's right ear.

It took him a moment to untangle that statement. "You are saying that in the eyes of the Elves, we are now married."

Legolas muttered something unintelligible into the pillow, and Gimli let his hand drift up to play with Legolas's hair. It slipped through his fingers easily, soft and fine, and he began to idly braid it. The headache was teasing at him again. "If you are worried I might object to being married to you, that is not the case. Dwarves do not give their heart away more than once."

Legolas rolled over onto his side again, disrupting Gimli's half-finished braid. "I didn't know that."

He shrugged. "Why should you? But as for Dwarves, we do not consider ourselves to be married until we have spoken the words to each other gifted us by our Maker. It is a promise, same as any work of crafting is not complete until it has been dedicated to the Maker."

Legolas looked blank.

"Elves do not do that? I know you acknowledge our Maker, although you give him a different name."

Legolas shook his head. "We do not. But we have a similar custom of blessing the marriage." Legolas spoke a stream of liquid syllables, of which Gimli could only make out a single name - Eru Ilúvatar. "By rights I should have said that last night," Legolas added, shoulders slumping. "Will you say your own words now?"

Gimli snorted. "I don't know them, I've never been married. Our parents - or any married person we love and trust - are supposed to teach us before the wedding."

Legolas sighed. "Then it will be some time before we can be married in your eyes."

"Not until we return to the North." He felt the distance from his kin keenly at that moment. He and Legolas had long been the sole representatives of their races among Men, but Legolas had now been joined by other Elves, whilst Gimli remained alone.

Gimli was not sure how best to say "I accidentally married an Elf, can you teach me how to make it official?". His father would have been surprised enough at the news of Gimli's friendship with Legolas. It was all well and good for Bilbo Baggins to befriend the Elves - and even live with them - but for a Dwarf to do so would be a great scandal.

Perhaps he should write first.

Distantly, Gimli could hear the bells of the city ringing out the hour. "We cannot spend all day abed," he said, struggling into a sitting position.

Legolas's hand tightened on his wrist. "We cannot— It is more than just a custom. When Elves... marry, a bond forms between them. A bond that is visible for all with the knowledge to see it."

Gimli processed that. "So we're married, and anybody who is familiar enough with Elves will be able to tell." It was a strange thought, but a pleasing one. He found himself quite selfishly glad that none could take Legolas away from him now.

"And there are many Elves in Minas Tirith today. Lady Galadriel and Lord Elrond are here, not to mention Glorfindel—"

Gimli shrugged. "They will know soon enough, regardless, and we can hardly hide in your room until they leave."

"It would be impolite to distract attention from the couple on the occasion of their wedding."

That much he could acknowledge. Still, he worried at the look of dismay in Legolas's eyes - he who had not even flinched at walking the Paths of the Dead.

"I am not ashamed of this," said Legolas fiercely. "But I am embarrassed that my eagerness has left us in this position. It will be obvious to all that our union was not planned." He looked so forlorn that Gimli was compelled to lean over and kiss his nose.

"What's done is done. All we can do is face it. Perhaps they will be so focussed on Aragorn and Arwen that they will barely look at us."

Legolas laughed softly. "If only I could believe that. But I would still wish to lie here a while longer with you."

"Then you will let me braid your hair," said Gimli.

"Does that hold some meaning to Dwarves?" asked Legolas, obediently rolling onto his other side.

"Only that it is common for intimate couples to braid each other's hair, once they leave the homes of their family," he said. "It is much easier than doing it yourself." He divided Legolas's hair and began work. The fineness of Legolas's hair meant that it was much harder to force it to hold its shape, and he had to restart several times.

His thoughts kept drifting back to the first thing Legolas had said. If I had been less drunk, I wouldn't have… Would Legolas have turned him down? Pretended not to have heard, or gently escorted Gimli to bed, alone?

Legolas spoke quietly into the silence. "If I had been less drunk I would not have let things progress so quickly. Or I would have explained better what the act would mean."

Gimli paused, his fingers still buried in Legolas's hair. "I didn't say anything."

"I can sense your feelings a little. It should work both ways, since we are married, but I do not know how it manifests for Dwarves."

Gimli shook his head. "Elves are strange folk, indeed."

"But I hope it is a strangeness you are amenable to now," said Legolas lightly.

"Aye. Yet if I had been less drunk I would never have said anything of my true feelings," he admitted.

Legolas rolled back over to face him, his brows furrowed. "But you said Dwarves do not fall in love more than once."

"And I was convinced that an Elf could never love a Dwarf beyond that love of friendship, so I said nothing." He had known he would have plenty to occupy himself with the construction of the colony in Aglarond. None would even comment if he chose never to marry.

"I was determined to make my feelings known to you before we departed for the North," said Legolas. "I had not yet decided on the hour."

"Then you are once again more courageous than I," sighed Gimli. "Although it is not I who refuses to leave his bedroom and face his friends."

"You are mocking me," Legolas accused him.

"Is it forbidden for an Elf's husband to mock him?"

Legolas made a rude noise. "And it is not my friends I am concerned about. There are those who are legends even among the Elves—"

Someone knocked on the door, and Legolas fell silent.

"Legolas? Legolas, are you there? It's Pippin." Gimli wasn't sure, but he thought Pippin's tone spoke of great urgency.

"I'm here, Pippin. Just a moment," Legolas called back. He slipped out of bed with far more grace than the action really deserved, given he was still naked, and began picking up the clothing that decorated the floor.

Elves really were strange in shape, Gimli thought, tracing the lines of Legolas's body with his eyes. But it was not a displeasing form, he admitted, as Legolas bent to pick up an item from the floor.

Legolas threw an undershirt at Gimli and pulled on a tunic of his own. Gimli dressed accordingly.

Legolas threw open the door, although the angle of it meant Gimli couldn't see who was standing on the other side.

"I think Gimli has gone missing," said Pippin. "I went by his room, but it's empty and the bed hasn't been slept in."

Legolas turned back to give Gimli a guilty look, which Gimli took as permission to speak up. "I'm here, lad." He wondered what Pippin would make of him, dressed only in an undershirt with his hair and beard undoubtedly a wild mess.

Pippin's eyes widened to see him, but his face quickly turned to a delighted grin. "I wanted to ask you to teach me that very fine drinking song you were singing last night. It'll be a great hit in the Shire."

"Then you're lucky you didn't wake me after a night of drinking for that."

"I was worried you might have fallen off a ledge or something when I saw your room was empty," Pippin continued. "Especially because nobody remembered seeing you after midnight."

Gimli snorted. "How many people did you ask? Is the entire city looking for me now?"

"Just Eowyn, Merry and Faramir," said Pippin helpfully. He paused. "Except I don't know how many people they've told."

"All right, lad, I can see I'm going to need to come with you to clear this up." He glanced back at Legolas, whose cheeks were looking distinctly flushed.

Another set of footsteps come to an end at the door. "I see the crisis has already been resolved," said Aragorn.

"Stri— I mean, King Elessar," said Pippin, stepping aside to let Aragorn through. "I didn't ask anyone to disturb you!"

"And I remained undisturbed, until I took it upon myself to ask Merry who he was looking for so urgently." Aragorn smiled. "I knew Legolas wouldn't have let Gimli fall off a terrace, even as drunk as you both were, so I thought this would be the place to look."

"Well, I beat you here," said Pippin, puffing up his chest.

"And yet it was not the first place you looked," Aragorn pointed out. "I think you had best go tell everyone our Dwarf companion has been found, had you not?"

Pippin nodded and scurried away, calling back apologies over his shoulder.

Aragorn closed the door behind him and cocked his head to one side, regarding them thoughtfully for some time before he elected to speak. He congratulated Legolas in Elvish and Legolas, still blushing, returned the words in kind.

Gimli rubbed his temples. The words were still nonsense to him, but somehow he found he understood the meaning now.

"I am surprised, but very happy for you both," said Aragorn, switching back to Westron.

"I am glad," Legolas replied. "Although I must apologise for the poor timing."

"With so many things changing in these strange times, nobody could fault you for acting on impulse. And I am not so arrogant as to seize all happiness for myself on this occasion."

"Aye, it would be a fool who accused you of selfishness," said Gimli, finally managing to find his words. And to think the Lady had complimented him on his silver tongue! "And I congratulate you, as well."

"Thank you," said Aragorn. "Are you planning to return to the North now?"

Legolas shook his head. "I would dearly love to return to my home and see what horrors the armies of the Dark Lord have wrought, yet with his defeat the urgency is reduced."

"We will remain with you and journey North with the Hobbits," said Gimli. "Besides, Legolas promised that he would visit the Glittering Caves in Rohan with me."

Legolas mock-frowned at him. "Do not forget that you promised you would visit Fangorn in kind."

Aragorn laughed. "I know that Frodo is eager to depart for Rivendell, and from there the Shire. I would not count on your respite being of too great a length."

"Time enough to come up with the words to explain," said Gimli cheerfully. "I would rather not dwell on the matter until the time is closer. A marriage should be a joyful thing."

"That it should," said Aragorn.

Someone rapped on the door. "It's Pippin again," said Pippin cheerfully. "And I've brought Merry and Frodo and Sam."

Aragorn did not quite roll his eyes, but he looked amused as he walked over to open the door.

Legolas sat himself on the end of the bed, not close enough for Gimli to touch. Gimli wished he'd been able to acquire some more clothing before this influx of guests.

The Hobbits trundled into the room, all smiles and high energy. Even Frodo had regained some of the colour in his cheeks.

"Frodo says we owe you congratulations," said Merry.

Frodo looked embarrassed. "At least, that's what I understand of the ways of the Elves."

"We're very happy for you and we wish you a bountiful harvest and a full pantry for the rest of your lives together. Or that's what we'd say in Hobbiton," Sam mumbled.

"And I said we should offer our services for planning the party," said Pippin.

"It was a very fine wedding, and no mistake," said Merry, nodding at Aragorn. "But we think you two deserve a Hobbit party."

Get up here, Gimli thought very firmly in Legolas's direction. To his surprise Legolas obeyed, rising from the bed and settling himself next to Gimli.

"You are very generous, and I thank you all for you kind words," Legolas began, curling his legs up underneath himself with effortless grace.

"Only, we weren't planning to have a party, lads," finished Gimli. He reached for Legolas's hand and held it firmly.

The Hobbits fell into shocked silence.

Merry was the first to recover his tongue. "You have to have a party."

"Even if you elope you throw a party when you get back," said Pippin. "It's only polite."

"One would think that would defeat the purpose of eloping," murmured Aragorn.

Gimli cleared his throat. "I would not wish to have a— what do you call this party?"

"A post-marriage celebration," said Merry.

"I would not wish to have it without either of our families there," said Gimli. "And both of us have none here."

The Hobbits looked crestfallen.

"The Fellowship is like a family," said Sam, at last. When the attention of the room turned to him, he blushed and looked at his toes. "I just mean we could have a party just for us."

"And Gandalf," said Frodo. "He's part of the Fellowship too."

"Indeed he is," said Aragorn. "Although he has yet to join us today."

At that, the door swung open and Gandalf entered. At their looks, he broke into a wide smile. "A little bird told me that congratulations were in order."

"I think you were standing outside the door, waiting for us to say your name," accused Frodo, laughing.

"A wizard always knows when he is being talked about," said Gandalf.

"We're throwing them a party," explained Pippin. "You're invited too."

"Then you had best talk to the kitchen staff about arranging some food," said Gandalf. "Although I might suggest giving them a few days to prepare this time."

Aragorn just smiled at the implied rebuke. "And with that in mind, I should return to my wife and my people," he said. "Unfortunately, a new King has many responsibilities, and he is not relieved of them simply because he was married the previous night." He turned back to them. "I really am happy for you both." He murmured a few words to Legolas in Elvish, then took his leave of them.

"Now, the rest of you be off too," said Gandalf. "I would talk with Legolas and Gimli alone."

The Hobbits chorused another series of congratulations and filed out of the room, Pippin calling back a promise to let them approve the menu first.

Gandalf closed the door behind them and turned back to regard Legolas and Gimli with a knowing gaze.

"When I advised you both to lay aside old grievances and become friends this was not my intention," said Gandalf, at last. "But although I am not so skilled at knowing the future as I was before, I feel it is for the better, all the same."

"I will not apologise for surprising you, if that is what you wish," said Gimli. "But I am thankful to have your blessing."

"Much that has happened this last year has surprised me," replied Gandalf. "And I am thankful for it." He turned to Legolas. "I have no more to say on this topic, so you need not look so concerned, my young Elven friend."

Legolas burst into startled laughter. "It is a relief to be considered young again. I too am grateful for your blessing, Mithrandir."

Gandalf nodded to them both, and departed in a swirl of white robes.

Legolas closed the door after Gandalf and leant back against it. "Aragorn said he would see to it that no others came to disturb our door until the evening bells."

"A considerate lad like that will make a fine king," said Gimli.

Legolas gave the door one last look and paced back to once again join him on the bed. "Were you serious, earlier, when you said that you would like to repeat the experience as soon as possible?"

He thought Legolas knew the answer anyway, but Gimli made certain to demonstrate as definitively as possible.