Tolkien reader inserts/one shots

Gold Never Matter Much(Legolas x reader)

Most of your life, you had been wary of people. You'd learned magic at an early age. Your best spell? The power to create gold. Obviously, for some, this made you a commodity that they wanted to exploit. Because of that, you stayed away from strangers until your magic was needed, That was when you met Legolas.

Unlike the others in the Fellowship, you hadn't exactly volunteered. That combined with your distrust created a gap between you and the rest of the Fellowship. It wasn't their fault by any means. You just had trouble trusting others. You were nice enough, you guessed, but you didn't go out of your way to make conversation with them.

That didn't seem to matter to the hobbits. They loved to sit with you and chat about anything and everything, even if you didn't react much. Still, they were slowly getting you to open up a little at a time. They were a friendly sort of people. Even Frodo who bore the weight of the One Ring. It was difficult to remain sullen around them for very long. However, it wasn't the four merry hobbits that truly made you feel like you belonged. It was the elf. Legolas.

Legolas didn't push you to interact. He wasn't put off when you didn't immediately engage in conversation with him. He didn't even ask much about your magic. He was simply...there. It didn't take long for his presence to become comforting. Never once did he ask you to use your magic. In fact, a few weeks into the journey, you realized that you had only had to use your magic in battle. No one asked you to do anything for them even though you were certain they were curious. After that, you found it even easier to begin opening up a bit more.

One evening after you'd made camp, Legolas approached you. He gave you a smile. "It is good to see you engaging a bit more, Y/N." You laughed through your nose at that. "I have reason to. We cannot complete this quest if we cannot get along, correct?" Legolas nodded and sank down next to you.

"I am curious as to why it has taken you much longer than the rest of us," he admitted. You frowned a bit. Legolas saw this and immediately told you that you didn't have to tell him if you didn't wish to. You sat there, brows pinched together and your mind racing for a while. To his credit, Legolas waited patiently for you to decide if you were going to answer him. You cast a glance over to the rest of the Fellowship to be certain they were otherwise occupied.

When you were sure the others weren't listening, you began your tale. Legolas listened intently, his icy blue eyes never leaving your face. You talked for what seemed like hours even though it was probably only a few minutes. You let him know exactly why you were the way you were.

"So you see, all anyone ever wanted me for was that one spell. When Lord Elrond approached me I worried. I didn't want to be used for the spell." Legolas nodded, but didn't interrupt as you finished your tale. You took a deep breath when you were finally done talking and looked to Legolas.

"You were afraid. I wish you would have told us. We could have saved time. You would not been required to tell us about that one spell. We never would have known. Even if you had chosen to tell us, you would have been reassured that gold doesn't matter much. Not here in this time."

You stared at him for a moment. You had been so focused on the negative, it never even crossed your mind that at least a few of them had grown up with access to gold. They didn't need your power to create it. Your other spells were more useful to them.

"Are you feeling better, Mellon?" Legolas asked you after a moment. You gave him the first genuine smile you'd felt since the beginning of the journey. He saw you as a friend. No one had ever seen you as a friend before. "I am. Thank you, Legolas." He smiled at you and rose. He began walking away before turning back to you.

"Are you coming?" It was then that you noticed the others had turned their focus to you and Legolas sitting apart from them. Your gaze bounced between them and Legolas. You knew it would take a while for you to completely open up to the others, but maybe there wasn't any harm in trying. With that in mind, you stood and made your way back over to the others.

It was awkward at first, but after a few days, you found yourself relaxing a bit. And after a few weeks, you began seeing these people as friends. By the time your journey was done, they were your family. You were still closest with Legolas, but the others were your brothers. They meant so much to you, but none more than the elf who first reached out. The elf who made you see that not everyone was going to use you for your powers. The elf that you ended up traveling with for years after peace was returned to Middle Earth.