Fic Rec Fridays 2019 - part 20

Words Unspoken (8355 words) by Roselightfairy
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: The Lord of the Rings - J. R. R. Tolkien
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Gimli (Son of Glóin)/Legolas Greenleaf
Characters: Gimli (Son of Glóin), Legolas Greenleaf, Aragorn | Estel, Gandalf | Mithrandir, The Fellowship of the Ring, Elrond Peredhel
Additional Tags: Secret Relationship, Established Relationship, Missing Moments, bookverse, POV Outsider, Light Angst, Fluff, Attempt at Humor, slight AU

Summary:

Based on a prompt by TAFKAB formerly in the 2000GigolasFics collection. Legolas and Gimli have secretly been in a relationship since a chance meeting in Mirkwood several years before, but don’t dare to let their families or companions know about it, for fear of being forced apart. After all this time, they’ve become very good actors – but maybe not good enough to last through a journey with seven companions who are quickly catching on – or their deepening fondness for one another.

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First off, the original prompt was like precision-targeted to suit my fancy, and I absolutely adore what Roselightfairy has done with it.

Though the premise is geared for humour, this piece has so much more to recommend it. (Read: it gave me ALL THE FEELS.)

I mean, the two principal players do an excellent, enthusiastic job of keeping their relationship undercover to begin with, and various other Fellowship members either have no idea it's all an act, or have half an idea, and it's hilarious... but then there's the one unspoken thing between them, and that, my friends, breaks my heart no little bit. But in a good way, if you know what I mean.

Last but not least, I love how seamlessly this piece fits into the empty places of canon; the tags say ‘slight AU’, but you really need to squint to spot it.