Just a little somethin' I whipped up last night :D (Consequently, I am now very sleep-deprived)

Type: One shot

Pairing: Female (Hobbitess!) Reader x Kili Durin

Hope you like!

Ugh, my head is swimming and aching so terribly. I don't really want to move, although I can feel light on my face. Reluctantly, I wrench open my eyes and give a groan as the sun, much too bright and cheerful, shining through the window of this small room. I must have drunk way too much ale and wine last night. I shake my head ruefully at myself as I slowly sit up and steady my whirling vision. "Albe, you lightweight fool of hobbit," I scold myself. It takes me twice as long as a usual morning for me to dress myself, and to do my hair? Pah! I won't waste the hour I'd assume it would take to put it up. Instead, I just brush it well and leave it hanging down my back.

I rub my eyes and splash my face with water to rid my cheeks of their ruddiness. I suppose I'd better face the day. The latch of the bedroom's door seems unnecessarily complicated to my slow-moving mind and I mutter a few curses at it as I step into the narrow hallway of this Laketown inn. Down the stairs and out the door I go, bumping into a fisherman passing by as I step onto the platforms connecting the buildings of the water-built town. "Sorry, sorry," I apologize and he just shrugs and replies, "It's fine." I take a deep breath, smooth down my blouse and begin wandering Laketown in an attempt to find my comrades, the rest of the Company of Thorin Oakenshield, of which I am a proud member.

It takes me only a few minutes before I spot Fili heading into another inn and I call to him with a wave. He turns and seems to startle at me, then speedwalks toward me and pulls me onto an abandoned dock behind the inn as I wonder at the negative expression on his face. "What troubles you this morning, Fili, son of Dis?" His voice is low as he replies, still frowning, "Last night's festivities." I smile breezily. Surely nothing too terrible could have happened. "Did Dwalin drink too much ale? Or Thorin, perhaps?" Fili shakes his head, not even granting me a hint of a smile. My teasing manner fades as a seed of worry grows in my mind.

"Albaline, it was you who was drunk. Very drunk." I sigh and rub my temple with two fingers. "I suspected so... I've got a throbbing headache and I've been greatly craving water ever since I woke." Fili nods gravely, glancing out at the misty lake. "You, well, you became rather... wild. Daring." My cheeks flush. "Oh, by my hairy feet... What did I do?" Although I mostly don't want to know, I understand it's best if I do. Fili opens his mouth to speak, but then closes it, looking away from me again.

"Fili?" "Nothing publicly embarrassing," he starts and I release the breath I hadn't even realized I was holding in. "But..." "But what?" The sense of dread returns. Fili forces himself to meet my gaze, his expression one of dead seriousness. "You left the room with Kili late in the evening and didn't return." My cheeks flame scarlet and my hand flies up to cover my mouth. My heart speeds up and I'm rendered speechless. Was I really that foolish? Fili lays a comforting hand on my arm and shakes his head, able to easily tell what I'm fearfully thinking of. "No, no. Kili- Kili told me everything that happened, all of it fidel." 

I look up at the clouded, grey morning sky and release a shaky sigh, highly relieved. But it seems there's more to the story, as Fili goes on, "I think you should know, as it seems to me you don't remember. Could I tell you what my brother described to me?" I nod twice, clasping my hands tightly in front of me. "You led him to the rooftop balcony of the Reedswept Inn and bade him dance with you. The music was distant, he said, but you danced together anyway. Once the music was done, well..." He trails off, cracking the first smile I've seen on him today, and I inquire as to what happened next. Fili chuckles and gives me a knowing look.

"I wish, although at the same time I don't, that you could have seen Kili then. He seemed to confused, yet so joyful. He told me you laid a kiss on him then, at the music's end. On his lips, to be certain." I let my head drop into my hands, emitting a soft cry of anguish. "Oh, no, no, by the Valar, it wasn't so!" I exclaim, peeking through my fingers up at Fili, but my friend simply shrugs. "I believe Kili told me none but the truth, Albe. I am sorry. I know this wasn't how you wanted him to find out." I take a stiff breath and reply sullenly, "You are entirely correct on that account. Well, you might as well finish the story. So then how did I make a further fool of myself?" Fili shuffles on his feet. "You see, I must admit- the way you ended the evening amuses me." "And how, pray tell?"

Fili chuckles as he responds, his smile a bit too wide for my liking, "Kili thought you were much too ale-influenced for your own good and so carried you down the stairs to your room. He recounted to me that you flirted with him the entire way. My favorite of the remarks he restated was you describing his little beard as 'a sexy outcropping of jaw stubble'." My face burns with embarrassment. "I-I-I cannot-I cannot believe I-" I can't manage to say anything in my ashamed shock. Fili draws me into a quick hug, patting my shoulder as he steps back. He rubs the back of his neck and end the tale, "And then, Kili related to me, you kissed him once more before retreating to your bed to sleep," offering me a wan smile.

I step back and lean against the nearest post on the dock, sinking down until I'm seated on the mottled wooden planks. "I'm as brainless as a sack of potatoes," I remark balefully, my head drooping into my hands again as I pull my knees up to my chest. Fili leans down and pats my shoulder pityingly. "I am sure it will turn out alright. Just talk to him, Albe." I shake my head ruefully. "But how could I, now?" Fili pauses and I add dryly, "Do not joke with that." There's silence. I look up after a considerable pause. Fili is gone, leaving me with the ghost of a comforting pat on my shoulder and the gaps of my memory mostly filled in. I give a long groan and lay my head on my knees.

Think, Albe, think. How best can you approach- and profusely apologize to- Kili with the least embarrassment for both parties? I could pretend to still not remember anything of last eve? I could straight-out apologize and hope he doesn't hate me? I give a defeated sigh and my thoughts are suddenly interrupted by the twittering call of a bird. I raise my chin to see a little brown-speckled swallow looking down at me with a curious gaze from its perch on a dock post a short distance away. "Hello there." It tilts its head back and forth at me a few times before apparently deciding I'm no threat. It flutters down to land on my outstretched arm, its small talons scraping against my bare skin. "Did you see what happened last night, from up in the twilight sky? Or were you sound asleep, across the water, at home in a cozy nest at the mountain's foot?"

The swallow gives a noncommittal chirp and surveys the area. Its beady black eyes shine smartly in the morning light. "You know, out of my regrets of then, little one, I do believe the greatest one was my loss of the memory. I can't even remember what it felt like to kiss him. I wish I did, I really do wish." Someone coughs to my right as I brush the salty, stinging tears from my cheeks. Without even looking, I'm fairly certain who it is. And there's probably no doubt he heard me. I scramble to my feet and the swallow pipes a note of annoyance at its perch of my arm falling, then away into the lifting mist above the lake. It's difficult to meet his gaze, but I force myself to, my hands clenched in a nervous clutch behind my back. 

"Kili, I am so, so sorry- I was-I was not acting properly, I-I swear it won't happen again-" I give pause at his suddenly crestfallen expression, confused. Why doesn't he seem upset? Anger, sadness, embarrassment, these I could understand- but disappointment? Kili shakes his head, slowly at first, then more fervently as he steps closer, laying his hands gently on my arms. "No please- please don't." I blink twice, completely baffled. "W-what?" I manage to stutter out, my cheeks flushing a deep pink as he takes another step closer. "Don't apologize, please," he says again, and the pleading look on his face convinces me to nod, though I can't seem to think of a reply.

He's relieved now, I think, though the reason why still escapes me. A long silence begins, but I can tell he's trying to decide how to phrase what's on his mind and so I remain patient, heart beating quick and loud in my chest. My hands fall from behind my back and slip into his gentle grip. My heart flutters at how nicely our hands fit together like this. Kili glances down at our entwined fingers and finally speaks up. "You gave me hope." "Whatever do you mean?" My mouth feels so dry, and swallowing doesn't help at all, so my voice comes out quiet and cracked. If my cheeks weren't already the reddest of crimsons, I'm sure they would be after that now. "Last night," Kili says, a small smile growing on his face, "you gave me hope. Hope that you feel for me as I feel for you."

My heart just about stops for a beat as I, stunned again into silence, stare into his beautiful dark hazel eyes. 

"I love you, Albaline Woodrow. More than anything."

I'm still stricken speechless for a long few seconds before I reply to his heartfelt confession with my own, "I love you too, Kili, just as much as you love me- if not more." His nervous expression turns into a wide smile and he picks me up, twirling me around in a circle before putting me down and drawing me closer. "I overheard you speaking with your sparrow friend earlier..." he teases and I give a sigh of mock exasperation. "Oh dear." "You really don't remember?" "Not a thing, but Fili has mostly filled in what happened. To be completely honest, I am half-glad I don't remember and half-disappointed of the same." "Well, I'll just have to make sure you don't forget this time." His kiss takes my breath away and sends my heart a-skipping and mind a-reeling. 

When he pulls away, I think it's ended too soon and lean back in, heart racing, as I wrap my arms around his neck and his hands move to rest on the small of my back. Once the second kiss has again left me breathless and over-the-moon, Kili sends me a teasing smile. At this point, I don't really care what he's smirking about. He loves me! He somehow loved the mess of a drunken hobbit I was last night and confoundingly manages to love me still the morning after. "Did my brother tell to you of how flirtatious you were last evening?" I give a muffled grumble, leaning into his shoulder. "Possibly." "I distinctly remember you admiring my beard." I raise my head with a blush on my cheeks and a very small smile.

"I'm never going to hear the end of this, am I?"

"Certainly not."