Lauren's House
A/N: Disclaimers in first part of story. Basically, I don't own anyone but Lauren and other original characters. As I mentioned in the disclaimers, there were many song lyrics in the first version of this story. While the song lyrics are no longer a part of the story, I do discuss, paraphrase and otherwise use songs as part of the story. This chapter includes a discussion of two songs by Alanis Morisette, 'So-Called Chaos' and 'This Grudge'. I don't have any rights to the songs.
Chapter Eleven - Lauren's House
When Aragorn materialized in the dream world, he shivered from the unexpected cold. He looked around in confusion when he saw his surroundings; he was in a sparsely wooded area covered by a layer of deep snow. After summoning Legolas, they both looked around in confusion.
"Did Lauren not say that she dislikes the cold?" Legolas asked.
"I do remember her making such a statement," Aragorn said.
"Then why is there snow on the ground?" Legolas asked. The cold did not bother him as it did humans, but Legolas had been with Aragorn long enough to know that the temperature here would be considered quite cold, though not dangerously so.
"That is something we will have to ask Lauren," Aragorn said. "When we find her, that is."
Legolas noticed the silence around them. The snow absorbed sounds, but it would not have hidden the sounds of Lauren's music. This time, there was no music to follow.
The silence was making Aragorn nervous. Lauren was almost never without her music. Of course, she could be using that small device which allowed her to be the only one to hear her music.
Legolas looked off to his right. "Do you hear that?" he asked.
Aragorn shook his head. "What is it you hear?"
"I am not sure," Legolas said. "It is a faint sound. It does not sound like footsteps, but like something gliding across the snow." He looked around, trying to follow the sound to the source. "There," he said, pointing to an area hidden by a copse of trees and snow covered bushes.
They started toward the sound, only to stop as a figure became visible. It was surely Lauren, but they could not immediately tell. She was clothed in bright blue, very heavily padded clothes from head to toe. Most of her body was covered with her clothes, a knitted cap was on her head, thick gloves were on her hands, and dark 'sunglasses' covered her eyes. There were two long sticks in her hands that she was using to help push herself along on the objects strapped somehow to her feet. She looked up and saw them standing there. Changing direction slightly, she glided across the snow and came to a stop in front of them.
"Hi," she said, reaching up and pushing her sunglasses to the top of her head, pulling off her cap in the same motion.
"What are you wearing?" Aragorn had to ask her. Her attire reminded him of nothing more than the 'spacesuit' that he had seen on the people who walked on the moon.
She looked down at herself, then back up at Aragorn. "It's a snowsuit. It's a heavily insulated form of clothing that people wear to protect them from the cold. I like going cross-country skiing, but I really don't like the cold. So I dress as warmly as possible."
"Skiing?" Legolas questioned.
Lauren took a moment to explain her skis and ski poles, and the basics about how it worked before she noticed Aragorn shivering. "Oh, I'm sorry," she said. "You must be cold. Why don’t we go back to the ski lodge and get warmed up?"
"Ski lodge?" It was Aragorn who asked the question this time. When Lauren motioned off to Aragorn's left, he turned to look and saw a building that had not been there a moment before. He nodded and gestured for her to lead the way. She pushed herself along with her ski poles while he and Legolas walked the short distance to the building.
Lauren reached the building first and turned to wait for them. Her eyes widened as she realized that Legolas was walking on top of the snow.
"How are you doing that?" she asked curiously.
Legolas looked at her in confusion. He and Aragorn were not doing anything unusual.
"All elves have the ability to walk atop the snow," Aragorn replied, knowing what she was referring to. "Yet another thing that set me apart from my family. When I was a child, I became very frustrated with the fact that my feet always sank down into the snow."
"That would be frustrating," Lauren commented. Her eyes were still on Legolas. "I have to admit that that's a pretty neat trick. It would certainly make winter a lot easier if I didn't have to wade through snow drifts." She quickly released her boots from her skis and gestured for them to follow her into the lodge.
Aragorn and Legolas took in every detail of the room that they found themselves in. The room was large, spacious and had high ceilings. There was a large fireplace in the corner with some soft chairs sitting in front of it. Lauren went over to the seating area and sank down onto a sofa. As she did so, her insulated suit, gloves and snow boots disappeared, leaving her in jeans and a sweater. Aragorn and Legolas took seats near her, amazed at the softness of the seats.
"So where is Arwen tonight?" Lauren asked. "I thought she would be joining us."
Aragorn grimaced, shaking his head in response. "No. She will not be able to join us every night. The Steward of Gondor, a friend who takes the safety of the royal family very seriously, recently discovered that I spend my nights here. He became rather concerned when he was unable to wake any of us this morning. It was many hours beyond our normal time before we awoke. He had called the healers to determine if we had all been poisoned."
Lauren winced and ducked her head slightly. "Oops, I suppose we should have been watching the time a bit better. He wasn't too happy to find out the reason you didn't wake up, was he?"
"No," Aragorn answered. "Though we were able to convince him that you were not a witch and meant us no harm, he did not like the idea of the entire royal family venturing here and possibly getting trapped."
A frown crossed Lauren's face and she gestured with her hand as she spoke. "But we demonstrated the fact that Arwen could leave whenever she wanted to, even if you don't seem to have that ability."
"Yes," Aragorn sighed, raising a hand in a placating gesture. "I did point out that fact to Faramir, but he would have none of it. To spare ourselves any more of a lecture, we agreed that I and Legolas would still visit, but Arwen would stay behind to wake me in the morning. I told her that I would summon her if she was needed, despite Faramir's insistence that she not join us."
"It's too bad that she can't join us," Lauren murmured, sinking back into her chair. "I like Arwen."
"She feels the same about you," Aragorn assured her. "This was not a choice she made easily."
Lauren shrugged half-heartedly and was about to reply when she felt a weight on the back of the sofa. She turned as a small warm body came to rest against her shoulder. She reached up and stroked the ketral that was resting its front paws and head on her shoulder. "Hi, Kip. I wondered where you had disappeared to."
"Kip?" Legolas asked in disbelief.
Lauren looked at him with a small smile. "Well, you never told me his name. I had to have something to call him. And he apparently doesn't like the cold. When I decided to go skiing, he vanished."
"It sounds like you believe he has a will of his own here," Aragorn said, his brow furrowing.
"Oh, I know he's not really here," Lauren said. "It's my own mind filling in details of how the animals I have experience with behave in similar situations. I can't say I minded the company, though. It was nice to have someone to talk to." She rubbed its head and it purred in her ear. She laughed and looked at Aragorn and Legolas. "Are you two ready to see my world now?"
"Yes," Aragorn answered readily. He had been wondering about her world for quite some time. It was not enough merely to hear her describe bits and pieces of her life, he wanted to see it for himself.
Legolas did not look as enthusiastic, however. Lauren knew he was intensely curious about her world, but she had worried him with her comments about not wanting to overwhelm them. "I'll ease you into it, don't worry," she said. She stood up and they followed her lead, rising to their own feet. Kip lay on the sofa, watching them, and Lauren stroked him one last time, knowing he would fade with the scenery.
Lauren did not even need to concentrate to change the scenery this time. The territory was so familiar to her that it simply flowed from her mind to take shape around them.
Aragorn and Legolas looked at the two-story house in front of them. Lauren lived in an old brick farmhouse that admittedly needed a little bit of fixing up, but the exterior looked clean and neat. The house was set back off of the road with a line of trees separating her from the road and any neighbors, so they seemed to be in a secluded area.
Legolas looked at the size of the house. "Do you live here alone? It seems rather large for one person."
Lauren shrugged. "It's my refuge, my escape from the claustrophobic feel of the city. I knew it was more room than I needed, and I'll be paying it off for the next thirty years or so, but as soon as I saw it, I knew it was the house for me. It needs a little fixing up inside, and though I'm not exactly handy when it comes to home repairs, it gives me some physical projects to do. With the stress of my job, it's important to have something totally un-related to work to do in my spare time. Besides, there's a little bit of land included as part of this property, so I can enjoy my own little bit of nature."
"It does seem like a nice place," Aragorn commented. "You said you will be paying for it for thirty years. Is that common?" It seemed like a very long time to be paying for anything.
"Yes," Lauren said. "Most people get money from a bank or lending institution to buy a house, then set up a payment plan to repay the loan. Very few people can afford to buy a home outright. I certainly can't. I make a good living at my job, but I'll never be wealthy working for the government. But I honestly don't know that I'll be living here for the next thirty years. The longest I've lived in any one place before this has been five years. I wanted a place of my own to settle down in, but who knows what the future holds?" She shrugged as she saw the question in their eyes. "If I end up moving somewhere else, I'll just sell the house and use that to pay off the loan. Then I'll start all over again somewhere else."
Aragorn thought her attitude a bit strange, but considering her rather nomadic background, maybe it was not so odd after all.
Lauren gave them a minute or two to look around at the outside of the house and the yard before walking over to the front door. She waved them over to join her. When her keys appeared in her hand, she unlocked the door and the extra deadbolt lock. There were two sets of curious eyes watching as she did this. "Come on in and make yourselves at home," she said. "Mi casa et su casa."
They stepped forward into her living room and looked around in curiosity. Lauren looked in and shook her head in dismay. She hadn't gotten around to cleaning the house lately, and her mind had apparently remembered just how much paper and clutter was lying around. "Wait just a moment," she said. With a thought, the house was much cleaner, all the papers and clutter vanished. "I wish I could take that ability back with me to reality," she commented. "It would save so much time if I could clean the whole house with a thought rather than taking a full day or weekend to get things straightened up." A skittering sound caught her attention and she looked back to Aragorn and Legolas. "Brace yourselves."
Before they could ask what she meant by that comment, a large bundle of fur came galloping into their midst. Lauren braced her legs and kept her balance as a dog used her body to stop its forward momentum. She squatted down and wrapped her arms around the dog, burying her face in the thick fur around its neck. Looking to the side, she laughed softly as she saw an oversize cat stretching to put its paws as high on Legolas' legs as it could reach. "He wants you to pet him," she remarked to Legolas. "That's his way of asking for attention." Legolas reached down and rubbed the ears of the cat that seemed to be trying to climb up his body. Lauren stood up and looked at the men. "I suppose I should introduce you to my own personal zoo. The tiger striped cat is named Mischief, and the dog is named Frosty."
"Mischief?" Legolas asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Trust me, the name fits," Lauren responded wryly.
"What kind of dog is that?" Aragorn asked. "I do not believe I have seen one like him before."
"He's a Siberian Husky," Lauren explained. "I saw him and just fell in love with those beautiful blue eyes of his. He's really a sweet-tempered animal, and you could tell just by looking in his eyes." She looked over to the sofa and grinned. "And in case you missed her, the Himalayan cat on the sofa is Miss Priss. She's the one who really runs this place. I really do hope someone has remembered to come take care of them." The last line was muttered under her breath.
"Miss Priss?" Aragorn asked with a mischievous glint in his eye as he looked at Legolas. Legolas glared back, and Lauren had the feeling that she was definitely missing an in-joke between the two.
Legolas looked at the fluffy cat on the sofa, which was the smallest of the three animals. She could not have weighed more than a few pounds. The other cat was much larger, at least ten or fifteen pounds, and the dog was many times larger. "The little one rules over the others?"
"Oh, yes," Lauren said with a grin. "She's the leader of the group. I've had her for a long time. When I brought in Frosty and Mischief as very young animals, Miss Priss quickly established the fact that this was her home and they would get along fine as long as they didn't cross her."
"Why did you name her that?" Aragorn asked in curiosity.
"Just watch," Lauren said. She walked over and began petting the cat, running her hand down the animal's back. The cat began purring and leaning into her hand, but the moment Lauren stopped petting her and stepped away, Miss Priss turned around and began giving herself a bath. Lauren laughed. "She loves attention, but she always has to clean herself after someone touches her. It's as if she thinks the person got her dirty."
Aragorn chuckled and looked around the room, noticing many unfamiliar things. There was a sofa and a few chairs, a low table in front of the sofa and several bookcases filled to overflowing with books. Those were the items he recognized. There was a storage unit of some kind across from the sofa with a large black box in the middle and several other boxes of various sizes; many of which were connected by long cords of some kind. Several objects that he assumed were for some kind of lighting were scattered around the room, some tall ones on the floor and shorter ones on tables or bookshelves. He walked over to examine one of the tall objects. As he looked closer, he saw a white bulb made of glass in the center. There was no place that he could see to light a wick to provide light. "What is this?" Aragorn asked Lauren.
"That would be a light bulb in a floor lamp," Lauren explained. She walked over and gestured for Aragorn to stand back while she turned a small knob. The light bulb lit up and shone brighter than Aragorn had been expecting. Lauren pointed to the cord at the base of the lamp. "The lamp is powered by electricity, which I'm not even going to attempt to explain. Just know that electricity powers nearly everything in this house." She walked over to her entertainment center. In the living room, this would hold the majority of items of interest to her guests.
She first pointed to the stereo system on top of the unit and explained that it was a larger version of the radio that they had already seen. Legolas quickly sized up the larger speakers flanking the stereo. He had no desire to find out how loud this version could be. Lauren then pointed to her TV. "You know how I explained that the songs on the radio were recorded elsewhere and sent to the radio?" They nodded. "The television serves a similar purpose, but it sends a visual signal as well as an audible one." She picked up her remote and aimed it at the TV. "These remote controls send a signal to the various devices here and tells them what the user wants to do." She pressed the power button and the TV came on with a burst of sound. Aragorn and Legolas both jumped backwards in surprise.
"Sorry," Lauren said, giggling a little. "I should have given you a bit more warning, I guess."
Aragorn squatted down to get on eye-level with the TV and watched the characters move around the screen in amazement. He reached out to touch them, and came into contact with the glass of the screen. "This is fascinating. Does this show what is occurring at other places and times like the palantir?"
"A palantir?" Lauren asked, not familiar with the word.
"It is a device of the Númenoreans," Aragorn explained. "There were seven of them, and they were used to communicate with people at great distances who also held a palantir. They also have the ability to see events taking place elsewhere."
Lauren thought for a minute. "In a way," she hedged. "It sounds like these palantirs were the first long-distance video-telephone network. But a TV shows only what is being sent from certain stations. They are used for entertainment when people send out recordings of shows or movies. It's like theater in your own home. Actors have a script and act out a specified role. People record these performances and send them to TVs to entertain others. They can be a source of news and let you see what is happening in other places of the world, or in your own city. Most stations have a news program at least twice a day." She took another few minutes to explain how a television worked, to the best of her knowledge, anyway. Aragorn and Legolas looked somewhat stunned by the time she finished.
"So you can see what is happening in other parts of the world?" Aragorn reiterated, trying to compare it to a palantir in his mind.
"As long as someone is there and transmitting a signal that you can pick up, yes," Lauren said. "The news shows tend to show the latest and what they consider most important developments. There won't be a news story on every place in the world every night. Most of what is reported on the news is depressing, actually. They tend to highlight wars, battles, conflicts, corrupt politicians, scandals, murders, crimes, and other depressing subjects. Every now and then there will be an uplifting story on a medical miracle or a lost person being found alive and well, but those stories are very rare."
Legolas and Aragorn exchanged a glance. They were finally getting to see part of Lauren's world, and already it did not seem like a pleasant place. Aragorn was beginning to see why she had not wanted to show them her world. It was a sad thought that in twenty thousand years, the race of man had not outgrown its violent nature.
Aragorn shook his head and looked back to the TV. "It is still amazing that this box connects you to the world in such a way."
Legolas just shook his head and looked away. He did not like the thought of a television at all. If it brought only depressing news into people's homes, he could see no need for such a thing.
Lauren aimed the remote at the TV and turned it off. She had a feeling that if she didn't, Aragorn would end up parked on the couch watching TV like most men she had met. Aragorn jumped a little and looked back at her, then at the device in her hand. "And you say that small device controls the television?" he asked as he stood and examined the remote.
"Yes," she said, handing it over. She pointed to the other remotes near the sofa. There was one for the stereo, one for the VCR, the DVD player, and for the satellite system. She explained briefly what each one was for.
"Do you ever get them confused?" Legolas asked, looking at the many similar looking remotes.
"All the time," Lauren confessed. "You don't know how many times I've tried to control the TV with the stereo remote or vice versa. I realize my mistake very quickly when it doesn't work. I should probably get things set up on universal remote, but those don't always work like they should." She looked around the room, trying to find something new to show them. Her eyes fell on the phone sitting beside the sofa. "Oh, you guys will probably like this one." She picked up the phone to show them. "This is called a telephone. With it, you can talk to anyone else who has a phone, and there are very few people who don't have one. You just have to know the person's associated phone number, punch in the number on these buttons, and you are connected with that person. I couldn't imagine living without a phone, honestly. I haven't lived near my parents for quite some time, but with this, I can talk to them as often as I like." She reached into her purse, which was sitting on the floor near the sofa, and pulled out her cell phone. "There are also smaller versions of these devices that people can take with them wherever they go." She handed it over to Aragorn and gazed wistfully at it. "If only I could actually call someone with that." A chuckle escaped her at the thought. "I can just imagine someone's reaction if they got a call from me while I'm in a coma. They'd surely think someone was playing a trick on them."
Aragorn was studying the small device in his hand. Lauren reached over and flipped it open to show him the buttons. "And with this, you can talk to other people no matter where they might be?"
"As long as they have a cell phone and it's turned on, yeah," Lauren said. She decided not to try to explain cell phone towers and areas of good reception.
Aragorn looked at Legolas. "Can you imagine how much easier things would have been if we had had devices like this during the war? We could have coordinated our efforts with Frodo and Sam and been sure that they were not dead or captured rather than simply trusting that we were not marching to our deaths for no reason."
Lauren knew he was perfectly serious with his comments, but a sudden image burst into her mind, doubling her over with laughter. All she could think of was a small version of a human with hairy feet and pointed ears standing in the fires of Mount Doom with a cell phone pressed to his ear, just like in the Verizon phone commercials, saying 'Can you hear me now? Good.'
Aragorn and Legolas looked at her worriedly, seemingly afraid that she was cracking up. That just made her laugh all the harder. "Sorry," she gasped out. "I just had a really funny thought flash through my mind."
"Can you share it with us?" Aragorn asked in amusement. He did not know what she found so funny, but he was pleased to hear her laugh like that.
"I could, but it kind of deals with a reference that you wouldn't understand." She took a deep breath and got hold of herself. "I will admit that rapid communication is essential in today's military. They have secure phones that enable them to receive and send orders quickly. But things seem to have worked out for the best for you as it was. I don't think you could have changed one thing without other things also changing, perhaps for the worse. Besides, cell phones can be as much of an annoyance as they are a blessing. You don't know how annoying it can be to be out with someone and have them take a call in the middle of a conversation with you. Talk about feeling left out. And it's almost impossible to walk down the street anymore without seeing several people talking on their phones as they walk, drive, shop, or anything else."
Legolas looked as if he were not too thrilled with the idea of cell phones, while Aragorn seemed to love the idea of instant communication. Legolas heard a ticking sound in the otherwise quiet room and looked up to find the source. He saw her clock on the wall. Lauren noticed where his gaze had gone, and not knowing if clocks existed in Middle-earth, explained that it was a device for telling time. She pointed to the numbers glowing on the VCR and said that that was another way to see the time. Holding up her arm, she pointed out the watch on her wrist, saying that it was the first thing she put on in the morning, even before getting dressed for the day.
"I get a little panicked if I don't have a way of knowing what time it is," Lauren said a little self-consciously. "My schedule is usually so packed that I'm afraid I'll miss something if I lose track of time. I think I actually have a clock of some kind in every room but the bathrooms."
Aragorn shrugged. "I have advisors to remind me of important meetings. I do not often forget, but they are there to remind me if I do."
"Well, I have only myself," Lauren pointed out. "So I try to make sure I have every device available to help me keep track of my schedule."
She gestured for them to follow her into the kitchen. The living room was only the beginning of the tour. She showed them the oven, stove, refrigerator and the microwave, explaining what each one was for. They seemed quite impressed that someone could prepare food without needing a fire to cook it with. Legolas looked inside the refrigerator and freezer and was amazed at how cold the temperature was. "What are all these boxes?" he asked as he looked in the freezer.
Lauren looked in to see what he was referring to. "Those are ready made meals called TV dinners," she explained. "All the cooking is already done. The only thing I have to do to get it ready to eat is put it in the microwave for a few minutes to heat it up."
"Ready made meals?" Aragorn was astonished at the thought. "You do not cook your own meals?"
"When I have company, sure, I cook," Lauren said. "I actually like cooking, but it's difficult to cook for just one person. It's much more convenient to just toss something in the microwave. I don't often have the time or energy to spend much time preparing my meals. TV dinners aren't the healthiest or tastiest choice, but they'll do in a pinch."
Legolas was busy looking through her cupboards, and found her candy stash. He gave her a quizzical expression, and she grinned back at him. "Go ahead and have some. But toss me a peanut butter cup, if you would, please." Since that was one of the candies that she had introduced them to yesterday, Legolas knew which one she wanted, and he tossed one to her. They each took a piece of candy and munched on it as Lauren moved to the sink.
"This is one of the great advances of the modern age," she said. "Indoor plumbing." She turned the handle, and water came pouring out of the faucet.
Aragorn and Legolas looked quite impressed with this. "No more hauling water out of the well," Aragorn remarked.
"No, not in most places," Lauren agreed. "And even better is the hot water heater." She turned on the hot water and played with the temperature until the water was hot, but not too hot. "Test it," she said to them. They each stuck their hand under the flow of water and looked back at Lauren.
"How is it being heated?" Aragorn asked, examining the area surrounding the sink.
"Well, there's a device called a hot water heater that takes cold water, heats it, then pumps it into the pipes when it is needed. This way, no one has to wash up with cold water or heat water using any other method before using it," Lauren explained.
"You can take a hot bath without having to first take the time to heat the water?" Legolas asked, quite impressed with the very thought of such a thing. That was one invention he could certainly appreciate.
"Yeah," Lauren said. "Come on, I'll show you." She led them to the bathroom next. It was not large, so they were somewhat crowded, but Lauren pulled back the shower curtain and showed them the bathtub with the hot and cold faucets. "If you want a hot bath, you just put the plug in the drain and fill it with hot water," she said. "You have to watch the temperature closely to make sure you don't get it too hot, though."
"What is that?" Aragorn asked, pointing to the shower head.
"That enables people to wash while standing up," Lauren explained. "The water is pumped up to the shower head to rain down on the person standing below it. It's actually much more efficient and saves water over taking a bath. Not to mention being a bit more sanitary."
Aragorn was now looking at the array of bottles stored below the shower head. "And these?" he asked.
"Those are shower gels, which is a form of soap for washing up, shampoo and conditioner for washing your hair, and an in-shower moisturizer for keeping the skin from getting overly dry."
Looking at the large number of bottles arrayed there, Aragorn looked back in surprise at Legolas. "She seems even more concerned with keeping clean than you."
"Indeed," Legolas said, his lips quirking with humor. "I begin to wonder if she is related to you. You never seemed to be concerned with your personal cleanliness at all."
"Prissy elf," Aragorn muttered.
"Filthy human," Legolas retorted easily.
Lauren couldn't help laughing at their banter. These comments had the feel of a very long running joke between them. She finally figured out why Aragorn found the name of her cat so amusing. She felt she had to defend herself though. "It may look like I have a lot of bottles in there, but I don't use them all in every shower. There are a variety of different scents in the shower gels. I choose whichever one I am in the mood for that day. I'm pretty sure my shower regimen is nothing unusual when compared to other women. I don't think men in general take nearly as much time or effort as women, though."
Aragorn nodded and looked around. His eyes caught on the toilet and he looked up at her in question.
"It's a flush toilet," Lauren explained. "Another thing I could not live without. I couldn't imagine having to deal with outhouses or chamber pots."
Lauren's comments made it clear what the toilet was used for, so they moved on to other things. Legolas had found her medicine cabinet and was staring at the many bottles, tubes and other objects stored inside. Lauren had to take a few minutes and describe which items were cosmetics, which were for ailments like headaches, upset stomachs and the like. Aragorn found these of much more interest than the cosmetics. He wanted to know what herbs were in the pills and Lauren explained that the pills were made up of chemicals, not usually from any particular herb, though many did have their origins in plants and herbs. As she was discussing the medicines with Aragorn, she decided that before she woke up, she would have to show Aragorn the state of modern medicine. She had to point out her facial wash, toothbrush and toothpaste, and hear more comments about her habits of cleanliness.
They finally ran out of things to question her about in the medicine cabinet, and Lauren moved on with the tour. She showed them the utility room briefly and pointed out the clothes washer and dryer.
"It seems that your life is one of ease," Aragorn said. "You do not have to cook your own meals, you have machines to wash your dishes and your clothes, and remote controls to control your forms of entertainment. What work do you have to do in your home?"
"I'm still responsible for cleaning the place, and keeping it in good repair," Lauren said. "That's more of a job than you might think. And you're hardly one to talk. You both grew up in a life of privilege. Did you ever have any household chores when you were young? And by household I mean cooking, laundry, cleaning, taking out the trash or even tending to the grounds?"
They looked at each other, then back to her. "No," Legolas admitted with a strange look at Lauren. She seemed to think that he and Aragorn had lived their childhoods with no responsibilities, something which could not be further from the truth. "Both of us were raised as warriors. From an early age we were taught to protect our homes and people."
"OK, yeah, that's important, I'll admit." Lauren deflated a bit, realizing that yes, their lives were likely much more difficult than her life could ever be. She had many modern conveniences and luxuries that had not been available to Aragorn and Legolas. However, she did not want them to think she did nothing but lounge around the house all day and eat candy. "But while my life is probably pretty easy compared to yours, please don't think that I live a life of ease. I have so little time of my own that it's rare for me to be able to keep up with everything that needs to be done here. This house is rather old, and there are several rooms that still need a lot of work. I'm doing what I can to fix it up, but I don't have time to do as much as I'd like."
"What is it that takes up all your time?" Aragorn asked. Lauren's comments had him curious. Honestly, he did think her life was much easier than he or anyone of his world could imagine, and he wondered what it was about her life that she found so time-consuming and difficult.
"Work," Lauren answered shortly. She led them into her office and sat behind the desk, turning the computer on. "This is called a computer," she said. "I have a bit of a love-hate relationship with it. I have several forms of entertainment available to me through this device. Games, stories, and a very fast form of communication are all here at my fingertips. I told you that I'm a computer programmer. What that means is that I work on a computer all day long. I have yet to meet a programmer who works a normal forty-hour a week job, and I'm no exception to that. I work long hours, hammering away at problems, coding and de-bugging code. I have numerous projects going at any one time and people always wanting to know the status of their particular project. I have deadlines and meetings and so much stress at work that relaxation is becoming a foreign concept." Aragorn could see her growing tenser with each word.
As she spoke, the radio on her desk came on, and 'So-Called Chaos' by Alanis Morissette began playing. Lauren relaxed back into her chair as she listened. "And as you can see, I'm not the only one with problems like those."
At her words, Aragorn and Legolas listened to the words of the song. The words did deal with much the same topics that Lauren had just been complaining about; deadlines, meetings, and the many responsibilities faced by people in the workplace here. Aragorn's eyebrows rose when he heard a line about wanting to run naked through the streets. With all of the responsibilities he had faced throughout his life, that was not an impulse he had ever had.
As the song continued, Lauren commented. "I've often felt that way. Oh, not that I want to go running naked through the streets, but that I wish I could just fly away from it all. I guess I found a way after all, though I can't say much for the method." She sighed and looked into the worried expressions of her friends. "I don't want you two to get the wrong impression. I do like my job, most of the time. I love finding the solution to a problem and that feeling of euphoria when a stubborn program finally runs flawlessly. I just wish there weren't all this other stuff thrown in as part of the package. Oh well, I really shouldn't complain. All in all, I have a pretty good life. I just don't have as much free time as I might like." She shook away the thought and motioned for them to come closer. Pulling up some of the games on her computer, she showed them some of the fun things that she could do on her computer.
They quickly grew bored with the computer, so Lauren shut it down and completed the tour, taking them upstairs and showing them the guest bedroom, the upstairs bathroom and the extra room that held the animal's beds, toys and other objects, finishing in her bedroom.
They roamed around her room, looking at the pictures of friends and family that she had placed around the room. "Is this your family?" Aragorn asked, picking up a picture frame. Legolas came over to look as Lauren answered yes. Legolas could see that her father had a strong resemblance to Aragorn. Many of their facial features were similar, though her father had very short brown hair shot through with grey and green eyes. The man who must surely be her older brother also had brown hair and green eyes, while her younger brother had blond hair and brown eyes, like their mother.
Lauren watched them examine her family photo. "I told you I was the only one in my family with Aragorn's coloring. My father got his coloring from his mother. I took after his father."
"You have a lovely family," Aragorn commented, easily finding familiar features in all of them, except for her mother, of course.
"Thank you," Lauren said with a smile. "I happen to like them."
Aragorn put the picture down, and Legolas picked up another, staring at it in confusion. The picture showed Lauren and about five other people dressed up in what was apparently formal attire, but the head of one of the people was cut out of the picture. "Lauren, where is this man's head?"
Lauren flushed slightly. "I cut it out. I didn't want to see him, but it was a good picture of me and the others, so I just removed his face."
"Why would you do that?" Aragorn asked, seeing that the man in the photo had an arm draped around Lauren's waist.
"He's my ex," Lauren said. At their blank looks, she went on to explain. "My ex-boyfriend. We dated for a couple of years. We broke up, and I didn't want anything else to do with him."
Aragorn frowned at the bitter tone of her voice. She was obviously still hurting from something that had happened between them, but trying to hide it. "Why are you no longer together?" he asked.
She frowned at him. "Because every word from his mouth was a lie." She crossed her arms over her chest defensively.
Aragorn's brows rose, and he glanced at Legolas, who was looking a bit concerned. "How so?"
Her frown deepened. She didn't normally talk about this with anyone. She knew that if she made it clear that she did not want to discuss it, Aragorn and Legolas would let it drop out of consideration for her feelings. But she suddenly realized that she didn't mind talking about it. It wasn't as if she was ever going to meet Aragorn and Legolas in reality, and besides, she felt comfortable talking with them. She didn’t worry that they would judge her or reveal her secrets. She trusted them, strange a thought as that was. Maybe it would even help her to discuss it, to say out loud what she very rarely did. She had held onto this for far too long as it was. It was time to talk about it, to try to let it go.
"He…" she paused, trying to figure out how to say what she wanted to say. "Oh, this is going to be hard. I've only told a couple of my closest friends why we broke up. I never even told my parents the real reason."
"Why not?" Legolas asked softly, trying to put her more at ease.
"Because I was ashamed," she said softly, sinking down to sit on the edge of her bed.
"Why would you be ashamed?" Aragorn asked gently, sitting down beside her as Legolas sat on her other side.
"I trusted him," she explained, looking at the floor. "I never even saw what a lying snake he was."
"What did he lie about?" Aragorn asked, trying to get to the heart of the matter.
"He lied when he said he loved me," she whispered. She straightened her back and spoke in a louder voice. She was determined to get the full tale out now and started in on her story. "We met in graduate school. Both of us were working on getting our computer programming degrees and we seemed to have a lot in common. We started hanging out as friends, then it developed into something more. I wasn't looking for a forever relationship at that time, because in school, your future is pretty uncertain. As a student, you're only planning on spending a few years there, then getting a job and moving away. I wasn't looking for a long-term relationship, I really wasn't. But with him, I began to hope. I thought he could be the one that I was supposed to spend my life with. I had never given my heart to anyone before, but with him, I did. We were a couple for quite awhile. Long enough for me to start thinking he might ask me to marry him. Well, hoping, anyway. I was so stupid, I never even noticed a few details that I really should have paid attention to." She shook her head at her own stupidity as she stopped speaking.
"What do you think you should have noticed?" Legolas asked. He had seen the self-deprecating look in her eyes, and wanted to help take that look away from her.
Looking back up at Legolas, Lauren answered matter-of-factly. "The fact that every time he traveled home to visit his family, he never invited me to go with him. And he rarely liked coming home to visit my family." She sighed. "It just never occurred to me that there was a reason he didn't want me to meet his family. I found out one night though when I went over to his apartment to see him. It was a spur of the moment urge. We didn't have plans, and he certainly wasn't expecting me to show up."
"What happened?" Aragorn asked, beginning to see where her story might be going.
"A woman answered his door. I was startled, but I knew he had a sister, so I introduced myself as a friend and asked who she was. She told me she was his fiancée, just up to visit for a few days. They had been engaged for years, and were just waiting for him to finish school before they got married."
There was a look of anger on Aragorn's and Legolas' faces. Lauren just nodded and continued her story, now that the worst was out. "I made some excuse and left before I had to see him. That creep had just been using me to keep himself company while he was away at school. He had always intended to marry his high-school sweetheart. I confronted him a few days later and we had it out. He didn’t think he had done anything wrong. Since he had never promised me forever, he didn't think he was cheating on me. I pointed out that he had promised the other woman forever, so he was cheating on her. He actually had the nerve to tell me that that was her problem, and he didn't see why I was so mad about it. I hauled back and decked him at that point. My father and brother taught me the proper way to throw a punch, so I made sure it hurt. Let him explain to her why he had a black eye." Lauren had gotten worked up during the telling, and had to stop to take a deep breath and calm herself down. "I guess he's pretty lucky that I don't carry weapons around like you two do," she finally said wryly.
Aragorn was glad to see a flash of her usual humor, but was still horrified by her tale. If it had been possible, he would have hunted this man down and had a serious talk with him about the proper way to treat a lady. The very thought that someone had treated his granddaughter, his friend in that manner enraged him.
Lauren looked at the expression on his face. "And that is exactly why I didn't tell my family. Can you imagine how my father would have felt if he knew someone had hurt his little girl like that? No, for their sakes, I couldn't tell my family. The last thing I needed was for one of them to hunt him down and do something we might all regret. You see, he was too embarrassed to bring charges of assault against me, but if one of my brothers had punched him, they might have been facing legal charges. I couldn't let that happen, so I dealt with it myself."
"What did you do then?" Legolas asked.
"What was there to do?" Lauren shrugged. "I cried and moved on. This happened shortly before graduation, so I just avoided him until graduation, got a job and moved very far away. I suppose I'm glad it happened when it did. It would have been much worse if I had tried to get a job close to him, thinking that we had a future together. This way, I was free to start my life fresh."
"And did you?" Aragorn asked. "You still seem very upset by this." He was concerned that in many ways, she still lived with the hurt and shame she felt.
"Wouldn't you be?" she asked with a raised eyebrow. She sighed. "I've tried to move on, but it's difficult. I moved around so much in my life that I don't easily trust new people. I trusted him with my heart, and look what happened. It's taking time to forgive him for that. I still don't trust men easily. I have several male friends, but if they ever indicate they might want to be something more, I pull away. I'm always trying to figure out their motives, what they're hiding. I just can't bring myself to take the chance and trust any man like that again." Her expression darkened as she spoke, putting into words something she had not thought through so clearly before.
Aragorn frowned. "You trust us, do you not?"
"Of course," Lauren answered instantly, her expression clearing. "But you two are different."
"How so?" Aragorn asked, a contemplative look in his eyes as he watched her.
Lauren's face showed her incredulity. "How are you not different than anyone I've ever met?" She decided she should try to explain why she trusted them so easily. "OK, I can't explain it, but I just felt this connection to you the moment we met," she said to Aragorn. "I think it's the family thing. But another reason that I can trust you is that I never saw either of you as a romantic prospect."
"You didn't?" Aragorn asked, looking at Legolas and remembering her initial reaction to seeing the elf.
"No, I didn't," she said firmly. "I'll readily admit to being attracted to Legolas, I don't see how I could avoid that, but no, I never thought anything would come of it."
Legolas turned slightly pink at her frank admission. "Why not?" he asked in curiosity.
She looked sideways at him. "Several reasons. First, I'd have to be insane to fall in love with someone I met in a dream and will never meet in reality. You'd hardly want me pining after a dream once I wake up, I hope."
Legolas shook his head. "No, I would not wish that on anyone. But you did suggest that I come to find you in your time. As an immortal, that is a possibility."
Lauren shook her head. She couldn't deny the fact that her heart leapt a little at the thought of actually getting to meet Legolas in person, but she couldn't let him think she had meant the suggestion seriously. "That brings me to my second point. You're way too old for me."
Aragorn burst out laughing at her comment. That was something he had never thought to hear her say.
Lauren turned slightly pink herself. "That didn't come out right. What I meant was that as a mortal, I could never get romantically involved with an immortal being. It wouldn't be fair to the immortal, setting him up to lose the one he loved, and quite honestly, I want someone I can grow old with. You see, immortals don't exist in my world. People would notice if someone didn't seem to age over a few decades. An immortal would have to move from place to place every so often to keep people from being suspicious. I wouldn't want to have to live that kind of life."
"You seem to have put a lot of thought into this," Aragorn said, thinking that her thoughts belied her statement that she had never thought of a future for her and Legolas.
"Well, immortality may not exist in reality, but that doesn't mean it doesn’t exist in fantasy," Lauren said. "There was a television show a while back that had an immortal human as the main character. He was very good looking, by the way. He was one of a very few immortals that lived their lives in secrecy. He fell in love with several mortal women over the centuries, and inevitably had to watch them die. I often wondered why he kept putting himself in that position. So, I've had a long time to think about the topic. I thought at the time that if immortals were real and the man I loved revealed a secret like that, I'd be able to tell him that it didn't matter, that love would conquer all. I've re-thought things a bit since then. I'm not so naïve anymore."
Aragorn thought it a bit sad that she no longer thought love was the most important thing in a relationship. He said as much.
"I sometimes wish I still did believe that. I grew up reading fairy tales where love would guarantee a happy ending. Then I saw what the real world was like. You don't know how many people who thought they would spend their whole lives together end up only being with that person for a few years. So many marriages end in divorce that some people go into a marriage thinking that if it doesn't work out, they can just get a divorce. They see it as an escape route if things don't turn out like they want. I think some people just give up too easily. No one works at staying together anymore. I've come to believe that the people in my society are in love with the idea of love but don't want to put in the time and effort to make it work."
"Divorce?" Aragorn asked. "It sounds like you are saying that people do not marry for life anymore." The very thought confused him. Wasn't that what marriage was, the pledging to spend the rest of your life with one person?
"That's what it seems like at times," she said before shaking her head. "I know that the forever type of love does still exist, all I have to do is look at my parents to know that. But they almost seem to be the exception rather than the rule. I still hope for the happily ever after ending, but I'm beginning to think it's just not in the cards for me."
"You are letting this man destroy your ability to trust," Legolas said. "If you let him control your life, you will never find the 'happy ending' you wish for. You are the only one who can change the way you approach life and love. You must take a chance and let others close, or you will spend the rest of your life alone." He spoke earnestly, trying to get Lauren to see that she had put a wall up to protect herself and keep out all others. Such a wall might protect her, but if none could scale that wall, she would live a very lonely life, and he did not wish such a life for her.
"I know," Lauren sighed. "But I'm finding it a bit hard to forgive him and open myself up to that kind of pain again."
Another song by Alanis Morissette called 'This Grudge' drifted from the radio on her bedside table. Lauren listened to the lyrics, then sank back to lie on her bed and think.
Aragorn had noticed how in this world, Lauren's music was often a clue to what emotions and thoughts were going through her head. He had learned early on to pay attention to what the songs were saying. This song dealt with a woman who had been hurt in a relationship, and had held on to the hatred and pain for a very long time. The woman had apparently decided that it was time to lay the grudge to rest, that the only one being hurt by it was her, and it was time to free herself of this load of pain she had carried for so long and forgive the both of them. Aragorn kept quiet and allowed Lauren to realize what she was telling herself with the choice of songs.
Lauren lay still for a long moment, staring up at her bedroom ceiling. Aragorn and Legolas sat still, not knowing what else to say. "OK, you win," she said softly. "You're right," she said as she sat up between them once more. "I can't let this one bad experience ruin my ability to trust. I may be missing out on the love of my life by not taking any chances. It's just too bad guys like you two don't seem to exist any more." She stood up, followed by Aragorn and Legolas. "Enough of this morose topic. I didn't bring you both here to bring you down with my problems." In a surprising and impromptu movement, Lauren reached over and hugged Aragorn. "Thank you," she whispered to him.
Aragorn hugged her back. "You're welcome." He wished he could take away her pain with a hug as he did whenever Eldarion scraped his knee and came to him for comfort. He stroked her hair gently and let his hands fall away as she drew back.
She glanced sideways at Legolas, seeming to want to hug him as well, but feeling a bit more uncomfortable without the family tie between them. "Oh, why not," she muttered to herself and hugged him before she could talk herself out of it. "Thank you for being my friend," she said to him. "And for telling me the truth about myself."
Legolas smiled at Aragorn over the top of her head as he returned her hug. "Thank you for trusting us enough to call us friends. And I am of the firm opinion that friends must always tell each other the truth. Even when they may not want to hear it."
Aragorn smiled back at Legolas. He could remember the many times Legolas had given him the kick he needed to stop feeling sorry for himself during their friendship. Legolas was always good at that. Aragorn was pleased that Lauren felt comfortable enough with the both of them to hug them. This was the first time she had ever tried to touch either of them in affection. He chose to take it as a good sign that she was trying to let go of the past that haunted her.
Lauren pulled away from Legolas' arms. "OK, now it's really time to find something else to do. You guys have seen the whole house. Do you want to explore here a little more or go find something new to see?"
Aragorn and Legolas looked at each other. "I think I would like to see more of your world than just your house," Aragorn answered.
"Very well, then, we'll head out and do some more exploring," Lauren said brightly. She turned and walked out of the room, leaving them to follow.
Chapter Eleven - Lauren's House
When Aragorn materialized in the dream world, he shivered from the unexpected cold. He looked around in confusion when he saw his surroundings; he was in a sparsely wooded area covered by a layer of deep snow. After summoning Legolas, they both looked around in confusion.
"Did Lauren not say that she dislikes the cold?" Legolas asked.
"I do remember her making such a statement," Aragorn said.
"Then why is there snow on the ground?" Legolas asked. The cold did not bother him as it did humans, but Legolas had been with Aragorn long enough to know that the temperature here would be considered quite cold, though not dangerously so.
"That is something we will have to ask Lauren," Aragorn said. "When we find her, that is."
Legolas noticed the silence around them. The snow absorbed sounds, but it would not have hidden the sounds of Lauren's music. This time, there was no music to follow.
The silence was making Aragorn nervous. Lauren was almost never without her music. Of course, she could be using that small device which allowed her to be the only one to hear her music.
Legolas looked off to his right. "Do you hear that?" he asked.
Aragorn shook his head. "What is it you hear?"
"I am not sure," Legolas said. "It is a faint sound. It does not sound like footsteps, but like something gliding across the snow." He looked around, trying to follow the sound to the source. "There," he said, pointing to an area hidden by a copse of trees and snow covered bushes.
They started toward the sound, only to stop as a figure became visible. It was surely Lauren, but they could not immediately tell. She was clothed in bright blue, very heavily padded clothes from head to toe. Most of her body was covered with her clothes, a knitted cap was on her head, thick gloves were on her hands, and dark 'sunglasses' covered her eyes. There were two long sticks in her hands that she was using to help push herself along on the objects strapped somehow to her feet. She looked up and saw them standing there. Changing direction slightly, she glided across the snow and came to a stop in front of them.
"Hi," she said, reaching up and pushing her sunglasses to the top of her head, pulling off her cap in the same motion.
"What are you wearing?" Aragorn had to ask her. Her attire reminded him of nothing more than the 'spacesuit' that he had seen on the people who walked on the moon.
She looked down at herself, then back up at Aragorn. "It's a snowsuit. It's a heavily insulated form of clothing that people wear to protect them from the cold. I like going cross-country skiing, but I really don't like the cold. So I dress as warmly as possible."
"Skiing?" Legolas questioned.
Lauren took a moment to explain her skis and ski poles, and the basics about how it worked before she noticed Aragorn shivering. "Oh, I'm sorry," she said. "You must be cold. Why don’t we go back to the ski lodge and get warmed up?"
"Ski lodge?" It was Aragorn who asked the question this time. When Lauren motioned off to Aragorn's left, he turned to look and saw a building that had not been there a moment before. He nodded and gestured for her to lead the way. She pushed herself along with her ski poles while he and Legolas walked the short distance to the building.
Lauren reached the building first and turned to wait for them. Her eyes widened as she realized that Legolas was walking on top of the snow.
"How are you doing that?" she asked curiously.
Legolas looked at her in confusion. He and Aragorn were not doing anything unusual.
"All elves have the ability to walk atop the snow," Aragorn replied, knowing what she was referring to. "Yet another thing that set me apart from my family. When I was a child, I became very frustrated with the fact that my feet always sank down into the snow."
"That would be frustrating," Lauren commented. Her eyes were still on Legolas. "I have to admit that that's a pretty neat trick. It would certainly make winter a lot easier if I didn't have to wade through snow drifts." She quickly released her boots from her skis and gestured for them to follow her into the lodge.
Aragorn and Legolas took in every detail of the room that they found themselves in. The room was large, spacious and had high ceilings. There was a large fireplace in the corner with some soft chairs sitting in front of it. Lauren went over to the seating area and sank down onto a sofa. As she did so, her insulated suit, gloves and snow boots disappeared, leaving her in jeans and a sweater. Aragorn and Legolas took seats near her, amazed at the softness of the seats.
"So where is Arwen tonight?" Lauren asked. "I thought she would be joining us."
Aragorn grimaced, shaking his head in response. "No. She will not be able to join us every night. The Steward of Gondor, a friend who takes the safety of the royal family very seriously, recently discovered that I spend my nights here. He became rather concerned when he was unable to wake any of us this morning. It was many hours beyond our normal time before we awoke. He had called the healers to determine if we had all been poisoned."
Lauren winced and ducked her head slightly. "Oops, I suppose we should have been watching the time a bit better. He wasn't too happy to find out the reason you didn't wake up, was he?"
"No," Aragorn answered. "Though we were able to convince him that you were not a witch and meant us no harm, he did not like the idea of the entire royal family venturing here and possibly getting trapped."
A frown crossed Lauren's face and she gestured with her hand as she spoke. "But we demonstrated the fact that Arwen could leave whenever she wanted to, even if you don't seem to have that ability."
"Yes," Aragorn sighed, raising a hand in a placating gesture. "I did point out that fact to Faramir, but he would have none of it. To spare ourselves any more of a lecture, we agreed that I and Legolas would still visit, but Arwen would stay behind to wake me in the morning. I told her that I would summon her if she was needed, despite Faramir's insistence that she not join us."
"It's too bad that she can't join us," Lauren murmured, sinking back into her chair. "I like Arwen."
"She feels the same about you," Aragorn assured her. "This was not a choice she made easily."
Lauren shrugged half-heartedly and was about to reply when she felt a weight on the back of the sofa. She turned as a small warm body came to rest against her shoulder. She reached up and stroked the ketral that was resting its front paws and head on her shoulder. "Hi, Kip. I wondered where you had disappeared to."
"Kip?" Legolas asked in disbelief.
Lauren looked at him with a small smile. "Well, you never told me his name. I had to have something to call him. And he apparently doesn't like the cold. When I decided to go skiing, he vanished."
"It sounds like you believe he has a will of his own here," Aragorn said, his brow furrowing.
"Oh, I know he's not really here," Lauren said. "It's my own mind filling in details of how the animals I have experience with behave in similar situations. I can't say I minded the company, though. It was nice to have someone to talk to." She rubbed its head and it purred in her ear. She laughed and looked at Aragorn and Legolas. "Are you two ready to see my world now?"
"Yes," Aragorn answered readily. He had been wondering about her world for quite some time. It was not enough merely to hear her describe bits and pieces of her life, he wanted to see it for himself.
Legolas did not look as enthusiastic, however. Lauren knew he was intensely curious about her world, but she had worried him with her comments about not wanting to overwhelm them. "I'll ease you into it, don't worry," she said. She stood up and they followed her lead, rising to their own feet. Kip lay on the sofa, watching them, and Lauren stroked him one last time, knowing he would fade with the scenery.
Lauren did not even need to concentrate to change the scenery this time. The territory was so familiar to her that it simply flowed from her mind to take shape around them.
Aragorn and Legolas looked at the two-story house in front of them. Lauren lived in an old brick farmhouse that admittedly needed a little bit of fixing up, but the exterior looked clean and neat. The house was set back off of the road with a line of trees separating her from the road and any neighbors, so they seemed to be in a secluded area.
Legolas looked at the size of the house. "Do you live here alone? It seems rather large for one person."
Lauren shrugged. "It's my refuge, my escape from the claustrophobic feel of the city. I knew it was more room than I needed, and I'll be paying it off for the next thirty years or so, but as soon as I saw it, I knew it was the house for me. It needs a little fixing up inside, and though I'm not exactly handy when it comes to home repairs, it gives me some physical projects to do. With the stress of my job, it's important to have something totally un-related to work to do in my spare time. Besides, there's a little bit of land included as part of this property, so I can enjoy my own little bit of nature."
"It does seem like a nice place," Aragorn commented. "You said you will be paying for it for thirty years. Is that common?" It seemed like a very long time to be paying for anything.
"Yes," Lauren said. "Most people get money from a bank or lending institution to buy a house, then set up a payment plan to repay the loan. Very few people can afford to buy a home outright. I certainly can't. I make a good living at my job, but I'll never be wealthy working for the government. But I honestly don't know that I'll be living here for the next thirty years. The longest I've lived in any one place before this has been five years. I wanted a place of my own to settle down in, but who knows what the future holds?" She shrugged as she saw the question in their eyes. "If I end up moving somewhere else, I'll just sell the house and use that to pay off the loan. Then I'll start all over again somewhere else."
Aragorn thought her attitude a bit strange, but considering her rather nomadic background, maybe it was not so odd after all.
Lauren gave them a minute or two to look around at the outside of the house and the yard before walking over to the front door. She waved them over to join her. When her keys appeared in her hand, she unlocked the door and the extra deadbolt lock. There were two sets of curious eyes watching as she did this. "Come on in and make yourselves at home," she said. "Mi casa et su casa."
They stepped forward into her living room and looked around in curiosity. Lauren looked in and shook her head in dismay. She hadn't gotten around to cleaning the house lately, and her mind had apparently remembered just how much paper and clutter was lying around. "Wait just a moment," she said. With a thought, the house was much cleaner, all the papers and clutter vanished. "I wish I could take that ability back with me to reality," she commented. "It would save so much time if I could clean the whole house with a thought rather than taking a full day or weekend to get things straightened up." A skittering sound caught her attention and she looked back to Aragorn and Legolas. "Brace yourselves."
Before they could ask what she meant by that comment, a large bundle of fur came galloping into their midst. Lauren braced her legs and kept her balance as a dog used her body to stop its forward momentum. She squatted down and wrapped her arms around the dog, burying her face in the thick fur around its neck. Looking to the side, she laughed softly as she saw an oversize cat stretching to put its paws as high on Legolas' legs as it could reach. "He wants you to pet him," she remarked to Legolas. "That's his way of asking for attention." Legolas reached down and rubbed the ears of the cat that seemed to be trying to climb up his body. Lauren stood up and looked at the men. "I suppose I should introduce you to my own personal zoo. The tiger striped cat is named Mischief, and the dog is named Frosty."
"Mischief?" Legolas asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Trust me, the name fits," Lauren responded wryly.
"What kind of dog is that?" Aragorn asked. "I do not believe I have seen one like him before."
"He's a Siberian Husky," Lauren explained. "I saw him and just fell in love with those beautiful blue eyes of his. He's really a sweet-tempered animal, and you could tell just by looking in his eyes." She looked over to the sofa and grinned. "And in case you missed her, the Himalayan cat on the sofa is Miss Priss. She's the one who really runs this place. I really do hope someone has remembered to come take care of them." The last line was muttered under her breath.
"Miss Priss?" Aragorn asked with a mischievous glint in his eye as he looked at Legolas. Legolas glared back, and Lauren had the feeling that she was definitely missing an in-joke between the two.
Legolas looked at the fluffy cat on the sofa, which was the smallest of the three animals. She could not have weighed more than a few pounds. The other cat was much larger, at least ten or fifteen pounds, and the dog was many times larger. "The little one rules over the others?"
"Oh, yes," Lauren said with a grin. "She's the leader of the group. I've had her for a long time. When I brought in Frosty and Mischief as very young animals, Miss Priss quickly established the fact that this was her home and they would get along fine as long as they didn't cross her."
"Why did you name her that?" Aragorn asked in curiosity.
"Just watch," Lauren said. She walked over and began petting the cat, running her hand down the animal's back. The cat began purring and leaning into her hand, but the moment Lauren stopped petting her and stepped away, Miss Priss turned around and began giving herself a bath. Lauren laughed. "She loves attention, but she always has to clean herself after someone touches her. It's as if she thinks the person got her dirty."
Aragorn chuckled and looked around the room, noticing many unfamiliar things. There was a sofa and a few chairs, a low table in front of the sofa and several bookcases filled to overflowing with books. Those were the items he recognized. There was a storage unit of some kind across from the sofa with a large black box in the middle and several other boxes of various sizes; many of which were connected by long cords of some kind. Several objects that he assumed were for some kind of lighting were scattered around the room, some tall ones on the floor and shorter ones on tables or bookshelves. He walked over to examine one of the tall objects. As he looked closer, he saw a white bulb made of glass in the center. There was no place that he could see to light a wick to provide light. "What is this?" Aragorn asked Lauren.
"That would be a light bulb in a floor lamp," Lauren explained. She walked over and gestured for Aragorn to stand back while she turned a small knob. The light bulb lit up and shone brighter than Aragorn had been expecting. Lauren pointed to the cord at the base of the lamp. "The lamp is powered by electricity, which I'm not even going to attempt to explain. Just know that electricity powers nearly everything in this house." She walked over to her entertainment center. In the living room, this would hold the majority of items of interest to her guests.
She first pointed to the stereo system on top of the unit and explained that it was a larger version of the radio that they had already seen. Legolas quickly sized up the larger speakers flanking the stereo. He had no desire to find out how loud this version could be. Lauren then pointed to her TV. "You know how I explained that the songs on the radio were recorded elsewhere and sent to the radio?" They nodded. "The television serves a similar purpose, but it sends a visual signal as well as an audible one." She picked up her remote and aimed it at the TV. "These remote controls send a signal to the various devices here and tells them what the user wants to do." She pressed the power button and the TV came on with a burst of sound. Aragorn and Legolas both jumped backwards in surprise.
"Sorry," Lauren said, giggling a little. "I should have given you a bit more warning, I guess."
Aragorn squatted down to get on eye-level with the TV and watched the characters move around the screen in amazement. He reached out to touch them, and came into contact with the glass of the screen. "This is fascinating. Does this show what is occurring at other places and times like the palantir?"
"A palantir?" Lauren asked, not familiar with the word.
"It is a device of the Númenoreans," Aragorn explained. "There were seven of them, and they were used to communicate with people at great distances who also held a palantir. They also have the ability to see events taking place elsewhere."
Lauren thought for a minute. "In a way," she hedged. "It sounds like these palantirs were the first long-distance video-telephone network. But a TV shows only what is being sent from certain stations. They are used for entertainment when people send out recordings of shows or movies. It's like theater in your own home. Actors have a script and act out a specified role. People record these performances and send them to TVs to entertain others. They can be a source of news and let you see what is happening in other places of the world, or in your own city. Most stations have a news program at least twice a day." She took another few minutes to explain how a television worked, to the best of her knowledge, anyway. Aragorn and Legolas looked somewhat stunned by the time she finished.
"So you can see what is happening in other parts of the world?" Aragorn reiterated, trying to compare it to a palantir in his mind.
"As long as someone is there and transmitting a signal that you can pick up, yes," Lauren said. "The news shows tend to show the latest and what they consider most important developments. There won't be a news story on every place in the world every night. Most of what is reported on the news is depressing, actually. They tend to highlight wars, battles, conflicts, corrupt politicians, scandals, murders, crimes, and other depressing subjects. Every now and then there will be an uplifting story on a medical miracle or a lost person being found alive and well, but those stories are very rare."
Legolas and Aragorn exchanged a glance. They were finally getting to see part of Lauren's world, and already it did not seem like a pleasant place. Aragorn was beginning to see why she had not wanted to show them her world. It was a sad thought that in twenty thousand years, the race of man had not outgrown its violent nature.
Aragorn shook his head and looked back to the TV. "It is still amazing that this box connects you to the world in such a way."
Legolas just shook his head and looked away. He did not like the thought of a television at all. If it brought only depressing news into people's homes, he could see no need for such a thing.
Lauren aimed the remote at the TV and turned it off. She had a feeling that if she didn't, Aragorn would end up parked on the couch watching TV like most men she had met. Aragorn jumped a little and looked back at her, then at the device in her hand. "And you say that small device controls the television?" he asked as he stood and examined the remote.
"Yes," she said, handing it over. She pointed to the other remotes near the sofa. There was one for the stereo, one for the VCR, the DVD player, and for the satellite system. She explained briefly what each one was for.
"Do you ever get them confused?" Legolas asked, looking at the many similar looking remotes.
"All the time," Lauren confessed. "You don't know how many times I've tried to control the TV with the stereo remote or vice versa. I realize my mistake very quickly when it doesn't work. I should probably get things set up on universal remote, but those don't always work like they should." She looked around the room, trying to find something new to show them. Her eyes fell on the phone sitting beside the sofa. "Oh, you guys will probably like this one." She picked up the phone to show them. "This is called a telephone. With it, you can talk to anyone else who has a phone, and there are very few people who don't have one. You just have to know the person's associated phone number, punch in the number on these buttons, and you are connected with that person. I couldn't imagine living without a phone, honestly. I haven't lived near my parents for quite some time, but with this, I can talk to them as often as I like." She reached into her purse, which was sitting on the floor near the sofa, and pulled out her cell phone. "There are also smaller versions of these devices that people can take with them wherever they go." She handed it over to Aragorn and gazed wistfully at it. "If only I could actually call someone with that." A chuckle escaped her at the thought. "I can just imagine someone's reaction if they got a call from me while I'm in a coma. They'd surely think someone was playing a trick on them."
Aragorn was studying the small device in his hand. Lauren reached over and flipped it open to show him the buttons. "And with this, you can talk to other people no matter where they might be?"
"As long as they have a cell phone and it's turned on, yeah," Lauren said. She decided not to try to explain cell phone towers and areas of good reception.
Aragorn looked at Legolas. "Can you imagine how much easier things would have been if we had had devices like this during the war? We could have coordinated our efforts with Frodo and Sam and been sure that they were not dead or captured rather than simply trusting that we were not marching to our deaths for no reason."
Lauren knew he was perfectly serious with his comments, but a sudden image burst into her mind, doubling her over with laughter. All she could think of was a small version of a human with hairy feet and pointed ears standing in the fires of Mount Doom with a cell phone pressed to his ear, just like in the Verizon phone commercials, saying 'Can you hear me now? Good.'
Aragorn and Legolas looked at her worriedly, seemingly afraid that she was cracking up. That just made her laugh all the harder. "Sorry," she gasped out. "I just had a really funny thought flash through my mind."
"Can you share it with us?" Aragorn asked in amusement. He did not know what she found so funny, but he was pleased to hear her laugh like that.
"I could, but it kind of deals with a reference that you wouldn't understand." She took a deep breath and got hold of herself. "I will admit that rapid communication is essential in today's military. They have secure phones that enable them to receive and send orders quickly. But things seem to have worked out for the best for you as it was. I don't think you could have changed one thing without other things also changing, perhaps for the worse. Besides, cell phones can be as much of an annoyance as they are a blessing. You don't know how annoying it can be to be out with someone and have them take a call in the middle of a conversation with you. Talk about feeling left out. And it's almost impossible to walk down the street anymore without seeing several people talking on their phones as they walk, drive, shop, or anything else."
Legolas looked as if he were not too thrilled with the idea of cell phones, while Aragorn seemed to love the idea of instant communication. Legolas heard a ticking sound in the otherwise quiet room and looked up to find the source. He saw her clock on the wall. Lauren noticed where his gaze had gone, and not knowing if clocks existed in Middle-earth, explained that it was a device for telling time. She pointed to the numbers glowing on the VCR and said that that was another way to see the time. Holding up her arm, she pointed out the watch on her wrist, saying that it was the first thing she put on in the morning, even before getting dressed for the day.
"I get a little panicked if I don't have a way of knowing what time it is," Lauren said a little self-consciously. "My schedule is usually so packed that I'm afraid I'll miss something if I lose track of time. I think I actually have a clock of some kind in every room but the bathrooms."
Aragorn shrugged. "I have advisors to remind me of important meetings. I do not often forget, but they are there to remind me if I do."
"Well, I have only myself," Lauren pointed out. "So I try to make sure I have every device available to help me keep track of my schedule."
She gestured for them to follow her into the kitchen. The living room was only the beginning of the tour. She showed them the oven, stove, refrigerator and the microwave, explaining what each one was for. They seemed quite impressed that someone could prepare food without needing a fire to cook it with. Legolas looked inside the refrigerator and freezer and was amazed at how cold the temperature was. "What are all these boxes?" he asked as he looked in the freezer.
Lauren looked in to see what he was referring to. "Those are ready made meals called TV dinners," she explained. "All the cooking is already done. The only thing I have to do to get it ready to eat is put it in the microwave for a few minutes to heat it up."
"Ready made meals?" Aragorn was astonished at the thought. "You do not cook your own meals?"
"When I have company, sure, I cook," Lauren said. "I actually like cooking, but it's difficult to cook for just one person. It's much more convenient to just toss something in the microwave. I don't often have the time or energy to spend much time preparing my meals. TV dinners aren't the healthiest or tastiest choice, but they'll do in a pinch."
Legolas was busy looking through her cupboards, and found her candy stash. He gave her a quizzical expression, and she grinned back at him. "Go ahead and have some. But toss me a peanut butter cup, if you would, please." Since that was one of the candies that she had introduced them to yesterday, Legolas knew which one she wanted, and he tossed one to her. They each took a piece of candy and munched on it as Lauren moved to the sink.
"This is one of the great advances of the modern age," she said. "Indoor plumbing." She turned the handle, and water came pouring out of the faucet.
Aragorn and Legolas looked quite impressed with this. "No more hauling water out of the well," Aragorn remarked.
"No, not in most places," Lauren agreed. "And even better is the hot water heater." She turned on the hot water and played with the temperature until the water was hot, but not too hot. "Test it," she said to them. They each stuck their hand under the flow of water and looked back at Lauren.
"How is it being heated?" Aragorn asked, examining the area surrounding the sink.
"Well, there's a device called a hot water heater that takes cold water, heats it, then pumps it into the pipes when it is needed. This way, no one has to wash up with cold water or heat water using any other method before using it," Lauren explained.
"You can take a hot bath without having to first take the time to heat the water?" Legolas asked, quite impressed with the very thought of such a thing. That was one invention he could certainly appreciate.
"Yeah," Lauren said. "Come on, I'll show you." She led them to the bathroom next. It was not large, so they were somewhat crowded, but Lauren pulled back the shower curtain and showed them the bathtub with the hot and cold faucets. "If you want a hot bath, you just put the plug in the drain and fill it with hot water," she said. "You have to watch the temperature closely to make sure you don't get it too hot, though."
"What is that?" Aragorn asked, pointing to the shower head.
"That enables people to wash while standing up," Lauren explained. "The water is pumped up to the shower head to rain down on the person standing below it. It's actually much more efficient and saves water over taking a bath. Not to mention being a bit more sanitary."
Aragorn was now looking at the array of bottles stored below the shower head. "And these?" he asked.
"Those are shower gels, which is a form of soap for washing up, shampoo and conditioner for washing your hair, and an in-shower moisturizer for keeping the skin from getting overly dry."
Looking at the large number of bottles arrayed there, Aragorn looked back in surprise at Legolas. "She seems even more concerned with keeping clean than you."
"Indeed," Legolas said, his lips quirking with humor. "I begin to wonder if she is related to you. You never seemed to be concerned with your personal cleanliness at all."
"Prissy elf," Aragorn muttered.
"Filthy human," Legolas retorted easily.
Lauren couldn't help laughing at their banter. These comments had the feel of a very long running joke between them. She finally figured out why Aragorn found the name of her cat so amusing. She felt she had to defend herself though. "It may look like I have a lot of bottles in there, but I don't use them all in every shower. There are a variety of different scents in the shower gels. I choose whichever one I am in the mood for that day. I'm pretty sure my shower regimen is nothing unusual when compared to other women. I don't think men in general take nearly as much time or effort as women, though."
Aragorn nodded and looked around. His eyes caught on the toilet and he looked up at her in question.
"It's a flush toilet," Lauren explained. "Another thing I could not live without. I couldn't imagine having to deal with outhouses or chamber pots."
Lauren's comments made it clear what the toilet was used for, so they moved on to other things. Legolas had found her medicine cabinet and was staring at the many bottles, tubes and other objects stored inside. Lauren had to take a few minutes and describe which items were cosmetics, which were for ailments like headaches, upset stomachs and the like. Aragorn found these of much more interest than the cosmetics. He wanted to know what herbs were in the pills and Lauren explained that the pills were made up of chemicals, not usually from any particular herb, though many did have their origins in plants and herbs. As she was discussing the medicines with Aragorn, she decided that before she woke up, she would have to show Aragorn the state of modern medicine. She had to point out her facial wash, toothbrush and toothpaste, and hear more comments about her habits of cleanliness.
They finally ran out of things to question her about in the medicine cabinet, and Lauren moved on with the tour. She showed them the utility room briefly and pointed out the clothes washer and dryer.
"It seems that your life is one of ease," Aragorn said. "You do not have to cook your own meals, you have machines to wash your dishes and your clothes, and remote controls to control your forms of entertainment. What work do you have to do in your home?"
"I'm still responsible for cleaning the place, and keeping it in good repair," Lauren said. "That's more of a job than you might think. And you're hardly one to talk. You both grew up in a life of privilege. Did you ever have any household chores when you were young? And by household I mean cooking, laundry, cleaning, taking out the trash or even tending to the grounds?"
They looked at each other, then back to her. "No," Legolas admitted with a strange look at Lauren. She seemed to think that he and Aragorn had lived their childhoods with no responsibilities, something which could not be further from the truth. "Both of us were raised as warriors. From an early age we were taught to protect our homes and people."
"OK, yeah, that's important, I'll admit." Lauren deflated a bit, realizing that yes, their lives were likely much more difficult than her life could ever be. She had many modern conveniences and luxuries that had not been available to Aragorn and Legolas. However, she did not want them to think she did nothing but lounge around the house all day and eat candy. "But while my life is probably pretty easy compared to yours, please don't think that I live a life of ease. I have so little time of my own that it's rare for me to be able to keep up with everything that needs to be done here. This house is rather old, and there are several rooms that still need a lot of work. I'm doing what I can to fix it up, but I don't have time to do as much as I'd like."
"What is it that takes up all your time?" Aragorn asked. Lauren's comments had him curious. Honestly, he did think her life was much easier than he or anyone of his world could imagine, and he wondered what it was about her life that she found so time-consuming and difficult.
"Work," Lauren answered shortly. She led them into her office and sat behind the desk, turning the computer on. "This is called a computer," she said. "I have a bit of a love-hate relationship with it. I have several forms of entertainment available to me through this device. Games, stories, and a very fast form of communication are all here at my fingertips. I told you that I'm a computer programmer. What that means is that I work on a computer all day long. I have yet to meet a programmer who works a normal forty-hour a week job, and I'm no exception to that. I work long hours, hammering away at problems, coding and de-bugging code. I have numerous projects going at any one time and people always wanting to know the status of their particular project. I have deadlines and meetings and so much stress at work that relaxation is becoming a foreign concept." Aragorn could see her growing tenser with each word.
As she spoke, the radio on her desk came on, and 'So-Called Chaos' by Alanis Morissette began playing. Lauren relaxed back into her chair as she listened. "And as you can see, I'm not the only one with problems like those."
At her words, Aragorn and Legolas listened to the words of the song. The words did deal with much the same topics that Lauren had just been complaining about; deadlines, meetings, and the many responsibilities faced by people in the workplace here. Aragorn's eyebrows rose when he heard a line about wanting to run naked through the streets. With all of the responsibilities he had faced throughout his life, that was not an impulse he had ever had.
As the song continued, Lauren commented. "I've often felt that way. Oh, not that I want to go running naked through the streets, but that I wish I could just fly away from it all. I guess I found a way after all, though I can't say much for the method." She sighed and looked into the worried expressions of her friends. "I don't want you two to get the wrong impression. I do like my job, most of the time. I love finding the solution to a problem and that feeling of euphoria when a stubborn program finally runs flawlessly. I just wish there weren't all this other stuff thrown in as part of the package. Oh well, I really shouldn't complain. All in all, I have a pretty good life. I just don't have as much free time as I might like." She shook away the thought and motioned for them to come closer. Pulling up some of the games on her computer, she showed them some of the fun things that she could do on her computer.
They quickly grew bored with the computer, so Lauren shut it down and completed the tour, taking them upstairs and showing them the guest bedroom, the upstairs bathroom and the extra room that held the animal's beds, toys and other objects, finishing in her bedroom.
They roamed around her room, looking at the pictures of friends and family that she had placed around the room. "Is this your family?" Aragorn asked, picking up a picture frame. Legolas came over to look as Lauren answered yes. Legolas could see that her father had a strong resemblance to Aragorn. Many of their facial features were similar, though her father had very short brown hair shot through with grey and green eyes. The man who must surely be her older brother also had brown hair and green eyes, while her younger brother had blond hair and brown eyes, like their mother.
Lauren watched them examine her family photo. "I told you I was the only one in my family with Aragorn's coloring. My father got his coloring from his mother. I took after his father."
"You have a lovely family," Aragorn commented, easily finding familiar features in all of them, except for her mother, of course.
"Thank you," Lauren said with a smile. "I happen to like them."
Aragorn put the picture down, and Legolas picked up another, staring at it in confusion. The picture showed Lauren and about five other people dressed up in what was apparently formal attire, but the head of one of the people was cut out of the picture. "Lauren, where is this man's head?"
Lauren flushed slightly. "I cut it out. I didn't want to see him, but it was a good picture of me and the others, so I just removed his face."
"Why would you do that?" Aragorn asked, seeing that the man in the photo had an arm draped around Lauren's waist.
"He's my ex," Lauren said. At their blank looks, she went on to explain. "My ex-boyfriend. We dated for a couple of years. We broke up, and I didn't want anything else to do with him."
Aragorn frowned at the bitter tone of her voice. She was obviously still hurting from something that had happened between them, but trying to hide it. "Why are you no longer together?" he asked.
She frowned at him. "Because every word from his mouth was a lie." She crossed her arms over her chest defensively.
Aragorn's brows rose, and he glanced at Legolas, who was looking a bit concerned. "How so?"
Her frown deepened. She didn't normally talk about this with anyone. She knew that if she made it clear that she did not want to discuss it, Aragorn and Legolas would let it drop out of consideration for her feelings. But she suddenly realized that she didn't mind talking about it. It wasn't as if she was ever going to meet Aragorn and Legolas in reality, and besides, she felt comfortable talking with them. She didn’t worry that they would judge her or reveal her secrets. She trusted them, strange a thought as that was. Maybe it would even help her to discuss it, to say out loud what she very rarely did. She had held onto this for far too long as it was. It was time to talk about it, to try to let it go.
"He…" she paused, trying to figure out how to say what she wanted to say. "Oh, this is going to be hard. I've only told a couple of my closest friends why we broke up. I never even told my parents the real reason."
"Why not?" Legolas asked softly, trying to put her more at ease.
"Because I was ashamed," she said softly, sinking down to sit on the edge of her bed.
"Why would you be ashamed?" Aragorn asked gently, sitting down beside her as Legolas sat on her other side.
"I trusted him," she explained, looking at the floor. "I never even saw what a lying snake he was."
"What did he lie about?" Aragorn asked, trying to get to the heart of the matter.
"He lied when he said he loved me," she whispered. She straightened her back and spoke in a louder voice. She was determined to get the full tale out now and started in on her story. "We met in graduate school. Both of us were working on getting our computer programming degrees and we seemed to have a lot in common. We started hanging out as friends, then it developed into something more. I wasn't looking for a forever relationship at that time, because in school, your future is pretty uncertain. As a student, you're only planning on spending a few years there, then getting a job and moving away. I wasn't looking for a long-term relationship, I really wasn't. But with him, I began to hope. I thought he could be the one that I was supposed to spend my life with. I had never given my heart to anyone before, but with him, I did. We were a couple for quite awhile. Long enough for me to start thinking he might ask me to marry him. Well, hoping, anyway. I was so stupid, I never even noticed a few details that I really should have paid attention to." She shook her head at her own stupidity as she stopped speaking.
"What do you think you should have noticed?" Legolas asked. He had seen the self-deprecating look in her eyes, and wanted to help take that look away from her.
Looking back up at Legolas, Lauren answered matter-of-factly. "The fact that every time he traveled home to visit his family, he never invited me to go with him. And he rarely liked coming home to visit my family." She sighed. "It just never occurred to me that there was a reason he didn't want me to meet his family. I found out one night though when I went over to his apartment to see him. It was a spur of the moment urge. We didn't have plans, and he certainly wasn't expecting me to show up."
"What happened?" Aragorn asked, beginning to see where her story might be going.
"A woman answered his door. I was startled, but I knew he had a sister, so I introduced myself as a friend and asked who she was. She told me she was his fiancée, just up to visit for a few days. They had been engaged for years, and were just waiting for him to finish school before they got married."
There was a look of anger on Aragorn's and Legolas' faces. Lauren just nodded and continued her story, now that the worst was out. "I made some excuse and left before I had to see him. That creep had just been using me to keep himself company while he was away at school. He had always intended to marry his high-school sweetheart. I confronted him a few days later and we had it out. He didn’t think he had done anything wrong. Since he had never promised me forever, he didn't think he was cheating on me. I pointed out that he had promised the other woman forever, so he was cheating on her. He actually had the nerve to tell me that that was her problem, and he didn't see why I was so mad about it. I hauled back and decked him at that point. My father and brother taught me the proper way to throw a punch, so I made sure it hurt. Let him explain to her why he had a black eye." Lauren had gotten worked up during the telling, and had to stop to take a deep breath and calm herself down. "I guess he's pretty lucky that I don't carry weapons around like you two do," she finally said wryly.
Aragorn was glad to see a flash of her usual humor, but was still horrified by her tale. If it had been possible, he would have hunted this man down and had a serious talk with him about the proper way to treat a lady. The very thought that someone had treated his granddaughter, his friend in that manner enraged him.
Lauren looked at the expression on his face. "And that is exactly why I didn't tell my family. Can you imagine how my father would have felt if he knew someone had hurt his little girl like that? No, for their sakes, I couldn't tell my family. The last thing I needed was for one of them to hunt him down and do something we might all regret. You see, he was too embarrassed to bring charges of assault against me, but if one of my brothers had punched him, they might have been facing legal charges. I couldn't let that happen, so I dealt with it myself."
"What did you do then?" Legolas asked.
"What was there to do?" Lauren shrugged. "I cried and moved on. This happened shortly before graduation, so I just avoided him until graduation, got a job and moved very far away. I suppose I'm glad it happened when it did. It would have been much worse if I had tried to get a job close to him, thinking that we had a future together. This way, I was free to start my life fresh."
"And did you?" Aragorn asked. "You still seem very upset by this." He was concerned that in many ways, she still lived with the hurt and shame she felt.
"Wouldn't you be?" she asked with a raised eyebrow. She sighed. "I've tried to move on, but it's difficult. I moved around so much in my life that I don't easily trust new people. I trusted him with my heart, and look what happened. It's taking time to forgive him for that. I still don't trust men easily. I have several male friends, but if they ever indicate they might want to be something more, I pull away. I'm always trying to figure out their motives, what they're hiding. I just can't bring myself to take the chance and trust any man like that again." Her expression darkened as she spoke, putting into words something she had not thought through so clearly before.
Aragorn frowned. "You trust us, do you not?"
"Of course," Lauren answered instantly, her expression clearing. "But you two are different."
"How so?" Aragorn asked, a contemplative look in his eyes as he watched her.
Lauren's face showed her incredulity. "How are you not different than anyone I've ever met?" She decided she should try to explain why she trusted them so easily. "OK, I can't explain it, but I just felt this connection to you the moment we met," she said to Aragorn. "I think it's the family thing. But another reason that I can trust you is that I never saw either of you as a romantic prospect."
"You didn't?" Aragorn asked, looking at Legolas and remembering her initial reaction to seeing the elf.
"No, I didn't," she said firmly. "I'll readily admit to being attracted to Legolas, I don't see how I could avoid that, but no, I never thought anything would come of it."
Legolas turned slightly pink at her frank admission. "Why not?" he asked in curiosity.
She looked sideways at him. "Several reasons. First, I'd have to be insane to fall in love with someone I met in a dream and will never meet in reality. You'd hardly want me pining after a dream once I wake up, I hope."
Legolas shook his head. "No, I would not wish that on anyone. But you did suggest that I come to find you in your time. As an immortal, that is a possibility."
Lauren shook her head. She couldn't deny the fact that her heart leapt a little at the thought of actually getting to meet Legolas in person, but she couldn't let him think she had meant the suggestion seriously. "That brings me to my second point. You're way too old for me."
Aragorn burst out laughing at her comment. That was something he had never thought to hear her say.
Lauren turned slightly pink herself. "That didn't come out right. What I meant was that as a mortal, I could never get romantically involved with an immortal being. It wouldn't be fair to the immortal, setting him up to lose the one he loved, and quite honestly, I want someone I can grow old with. You see, immortals don't exist in my world. People would notice if someone didn't seem to age over a few decades. An immortal would have to move from place to place every so often to keep people from being suspicious. I wouldn't want to have to live that kind of life."
"You seem to have put a lot of thought into this," Aragorn said, thinking that her thoughts belied her statement that she had never thought of a future for her and Legolas.
"Well, immortality may not exist in reality, but that doesn't mean it doesn’t exist in fantasy," Lauren said. "There was a television show a while back that had an immortal human as the main character. He was very good looking, by the way. He was one of a very few immortals that lived their lives in secrecy. He fell in love with several mortal women over the centuries, and inevitably had to watch them die. I often wondered why he kept putting himself in that position. So, I've had a long time to think about the topic. I thought at the time that if immortals were real and the man I loved revealed a secret like that, I'd be able to tell him that it didn't matter, that love would conquer all. I've re-thought things a bit since then. I'm not so naïve anymore."
Aragorn thought it a bit sad that she no longer thought love was the most important thing in a relationship. He said as much.
"I sometimes wish I still did believe that. I grew up reading fairy tales where love would guarantee a happy ending. Then I saw what the real world was like. You don't know how many people who thought they would spend their whole lives together end up only being with that person for a few years. So many marriages end in divorce that some people go into a marriage thinking that if it doesn't work out, they can just get a divorce. They see it as an escape route if things don't turn out like they want. I think some people just give up too easily. No one works at staying together anymore. I've come to believe that the people in my society are in love with the idea of love but don't want to put in the time and effort to make it work."
"Divorce?" Aragorn asked. "It sounds like you are saying that people do not marry for life anymore." The very thought confused him. Wasn't that what marriage was, the pledging to spend the rest of your life with one person?
"That's what it seems like at times," she said before shaking her head. "I know that the forever type of love does still exist, all I have to do is look at my parents to know that. But they almost seem to be the exception rather than the rule. I still hope for the happily ever after ending, but I'm beginning to think it's just not in the cards for me."
"You are letting this man destroy your ability to trust," Legolas said. "If you let him control your life, you will never find the 'happy ending' you wish for. You are the only one who can change the way you approach life and love. You must take a chance and let others close, or you will spend the rest of your life alone." He spoke earnestly, trying to get Lauren to see that she had put a wall up to protect herself and keep out all others. Such a wall might protect her, but if none could scale that wall, she would live a very lonely life, and he did not wish such a life for her.
"I know," Lauren sighed. "But I'm finding it a bit hard to forgive him and open myself up to that kind of pain again."
Another song by Alanis Morissette called 'This Grudge' drifted from the radio on her bedside table. Lauren listened to the lyrics, then sank back to lie on her bed and think.
Aragorn had noticed how in this world, Lauren's music was often a clue to what emotions and thoughts were going through her head. He had learned early on to pay attention to what the songs were saying. This song dealt with a woman who had been hurt in a relationship, and had held on to the hatred and pain for a very long time. The woman had apparently decided that it was time to lay the grudge to rest, that the only one being hurt by it was her, and it was time to free herself of this load of pain she had carried for so long and forgive the both of them. Aragorn kept quiet and allowed Lauren to realize what she was telling herself with the choice of songs.
Lauren lay still for a long moment, staring up at her bedroom ceiling. Aragorn and Legolas sat still, not knowing what else to say. "OK, you win," she said softly. "You're right," she said as she sat up between them once more. "I can't let this one bad experience ruin my ability to trust. I may be missing out on the love of my life by not taking any chances. It's just too bad guys like you two don't seem to exist any more." She stood up, followed by Aragorn and Legolas. "Enough of this morose topic. I didn't bring you both here to bring you down with my problems." In a surprising and impromptu movement, Lauren reached over and hugged Aragorn. "Thank you," she whispered to him.
Aragorn hugged her back. "You're welcome." He wished he could take away her pain with a hug as he did whenever Eldarion scraped his knee and came to him for comfort. He stroked her hair gently and let his hands fall away as she drew back.
She glanced sideways at Legolas, seeming to want to hug him as well, but feeling a bit more uncomfortable without the family tie between them. "Oh, why not," she muttered to herself and hugged him before she could talk herself out of it. "Thank you for being my friend," she said to him. "And for telling me the truth about myself."
Legolas smiled at Aragorn over the top of her head as he returned her hug. "Thank you for trusting us enough to call us friends. And I am of the firm opinion that friends must always tell each other the truth. Even when they may not want to hear it."
Aragorn smiled back at Legolas. He could remember the many times Legolas had given him the kick he needed to stop feeling sorry for himself during their friendship. Legolas was always good at that. Aragorn was pleased that Lauren felt comfortable enough with the both of them to hug them. This was the first time she had ever tried to touch either of them in affection. He chose to take it as a good sign that she was trying to let go of the past that haunted her.
Lauren pulled away from Legolas' arms. "OK, now it's really time to find something else to do. You guys have seen the whole house. Do you want to explore here a little more or go find something new to see?"
Aragorn and Legolas looked at each other. "I think I would like to see more of your world than just your house," Aragorn answered.
"Very well, then, we'll head out and do some more exploring," Lauren said brightly. She turned and walked out of the room, leaving them to follow.
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