LotR/The Hobbit Drabbles

Of Little Matter (Aragorn)

A shorter tumblr request for Aragorn helping a reader that's afraid of heights. Hope you enjoy it!

hat horse was entirely too big. Most horses were too big, anyway, but this one took the prize. And not in a good way.

Not that you had anything against horses. You had met and loved plenty of horses in your day, but you preferred ponies. Small ones. With stubby legs.

Aragorn chuckled at you as he checked Hasufel's girth, the Riders of Rohan galloping into the distance. "What has you looking like a frightened deer?"

You gulped. "Do the Rohirrim have to ride such tall horses? Certainly stocky ponies would suit such terrain as this far better."

"They take great pride in their mounts," Aragorn said mildly. "They value their speed and endurance above all else, but they certainly like the beauty of the creatures." He patted the horse's neck.

"Come on, you two," Gimli growled. "Let's stop dithering about and find those hobbits already!"

"We must make haste," Legolas intoned, leaping swiftly onto the back of a gray horse, the companion gift from Eomer and the Rohirrim. Aragorn and Legolas helped Gimli up behind the elf, and you waited for Aragorn to help you to mount this tall, huge, very big horse.

Aragorn chuckled at your expression. "Do not fear. He is a well-trained mount, and will carry us safely." He held his hands out, cupped, in front of him, and you took a bracing gulp as you put your foot in them. He hoisted you up on top of the horse and mounted swiftly in front of you.

So far, you had been able to hide your fear of heights from the Fellowship during the journey. For one thing, you were usually at the back of the group, often allowing you time to collect yourself whenever your fear emerged. But recently, Aragorn had taken to studying you at the oddest moments, and now seemed intent on discovering the reason your hands shook as he pulled them forward to hold on to his waist.

"You are afraid of heights, aren't you?" He asked. He made a valiant effort to disguise it, but you could feel the muscles in his back clenching with the effort of keeping his laughter unheard.

You made the mistake of rolling your eyes, and your glance landed on the ground below—very far below you. You gulped and clung tighter to Aragorn. "It is of little matter," you said into the fabric of his shirt.

He reached around and tilted your chin up to look him in the eye. "Don't look down," he said soothingly, his voice almost hypnotic. Your breath slowed as you took in the striking specks of gold in his brown eyes. How had you not noticed them before? "Look straight ahead, at the horizon." Your eyes followed his movement as he pointed to the smoking hill in the distance that the Rohirrim had pointed out before he left. Legolas and Gimli were already making their way there. For an elf, Legolas was not very patient, and had apparently decided to stop waiting around for you and Aragorn.

"I will not let you fall, my dear," Aragorn said as he pulled your arms closer about him and spurred the horse into a swift gallop. You clenched your eyes shut as the rocking motion began. You tried very much to ignore the feeling of careening through the air without the ground beneath your feet. Instead, you concentrated your attention on the sweat-and-leather smell of the man riding in front of you, on the feeling of his lean, muscled torso beneath your grip.

By the time you reached the hill piled high with smoking orc corpses, you had decided that perhaps you could bear riding that gargantuan horse again, as long as Aragorn was riding in front of you.