Chapter Text
Part Two
“It’s only me, Kili,” Legolas called. “What are you doing down there?”
“Hiding.”
Kili scooted out from under the bed, brushing a thin layer of dust off his clothes. He was dressed only in his breeches and a loose white undershirt, his hair undone except for his normal braids. He looked almost exactly as he had when they had been together in the Blue Mountains. Kili met his gaze and closed most of the distance between them.
“I’ve seen your Uncle.”
“And?” Kili asked anxiously.
“He is well,” Legolas assured him. “You don’t need to hide. No one is going to come in here.”
“No one?” Kili said doubtfully.
Legolas cupped his cheek and rubbed his thumb along his jaw. “No one. I’ve been something of a recluse since my last adventure with Mithrandir. Everyone is well used my need for private space.”
Kili wound his hands into the tunic Legolas wore, “But you’ve been well?”
Legolas nodded slowly, “Well enough. And you?”
“Yeah. Me too.”
Legolas tilted his a little because he could hear the lie in his voice and see it clearly on his face. “Kili?”
Kili shook his head, “Six years, Greenleaf. Six years and I thought about you every day. At times I thought I would go mad from it. It was like someone punched me in the throat and could barely catch my breath. Did you… were you…”
“Did I what?”
Kili’s grip tightened, “Do you still think of me as you once did?”
“Kili,” Legolas choked on the words, “Do you…”
“My feelings for you are unchanged,” he whispered. “Can you tell me the same?”
“My feelings for you will never change,” Legolas replied. “I should have…. Kili, I thought you knew. Elfkind love only once.”
Kili’s mouth opened in surprise.
“I thought you knew,” Legolas repeated, “I never meant to leave you with any doubt of my feelings. I love you.”
“I love you too,” Kili echoed, still wide eyed. “Dwarves, we have… we call them Ones. We don’t always find them, but I knew when I first met you. There was something in your voice when you invited me to join your campfire and then when I saw your face…your eyes… I just knew.”
At some point while Kili was speaking, Legolas lost his ability to focus on the conversation. He managed to catch more or less what Kili was trying to say, but the reality of the Dwarf standing before him was like a slap across the face. Kili was standing directly in front of him, practically touching him, and Legolas was dizzy and overwhelmed.
Kili wrapped his hands around his elbows, concern spreading across his features, “Are you okay?”
“I’m not… I feel…” His knees wobbled, but Kili held him up easily.
“You feel what?”
“In my heart, I had begun to accept that I would never see you again,” Legolas admitted. “There was no hint of you in my dreams, and I lost hope.”
“Greenleaf…” Kili whispered.
“In such circumstances, Elves have two options.”
“Oh?”
“To- to sever the bond,” Legolas shuddered as he spoke the words, “And to deaden our hearts, but live on.”
“And the other?”
“For those of us unlucky enough to be… to be rejected, but unable or unwilling to sever,” Legolas whispered, “We fade. We waste and we fade away until there is nothing left.”
“But you did not sever the bond and I did not reject you,” Kili replied.
“Yet I still thought I would never see you again and that has…. There are consequences.”
Kili pressed his lips tightly together, “Are you fading?”
“No,” Legolas replied, “I have decades still before I would fade from separation. But six years, Kili,” he replied, “Six years and I felt your absence like an open wound.”
“Greenleaf…”
“No,” Legolas said, “I only tell you this so you understand that seeing you again…having you here. It’s overwhelming because we were parted for so long. It’s like… It’s like an endorphin rush. I feel a little out of control.”
Kili intertwined their hands and pressed himself firmly against Legolas, “Then be out of control.”
Legolas kissed him, briefly managing something gentle, before lifting Kili and turning to deposit him on the bed without breaking the kiss. He paused only to divest the Dwarf of the assorted knives still hidden on his body before he got them both out of their clothing like it was some kind of race. Kili used his weight to shift them, pinning Legolas to the bed as he buried his hands in his hair and kissed him until they were both breathless.
Legolas woke in the morning before Kili after a sleep than was dreamless and restful. He felt better than he had in ages, calm centered and happy. Shifting, he pressed a lingering kiss to Kili’s cheek and smiled to himself when it failed to disturb his sleep. Kili made a noise and shifted, burrowing closer to Legolas and disappearing almost entirely beneath the blankets. Kili did not wake during the time Legolas slipped out of the room, but the scent of fresh rolls and fruit for breakfast caught his attention and his eyes opened when Legolas returned.
“That breakfast?”
Kili sat up when Legolas nodded, happily accepting the fruit and roll the elf offered. He kissed Legolas on the cheek, his eyes bright, and hunted for his trousers. Legolas watched him with a sedate smile, allowing himself one further moment to think of nothing beyond Kili. His expression sobered when Kili finished putting his trousers.
“We need to talk.”
“We do,” Kili agreed.
“Right. I have an idea about how to free your kin, but it’s not without its risks.”
Kili frowned, “Right. Of course.”
Legolas tilted his head, “Did you have another topic of discussion that we need to address.”
“Yes,” Kili said bluntly, “I want you to come with us when we escape.”
“Go with you to Erebor?” Legolas asked in surprise. He hesitated briefly, before shaking his head. “Mithrandir was very clear that I needed to stay here. He said you would need an ally to pass through Mirkwood and that I would be unable to conceal my identify from your kin on such a quest.”
“Well, you’re going to help us pass through Mirkwood. You might as well join us at that point.” He sighed heavily and sat on the edge of the bed, “Though we’re going to need to think of a gentle way to break it to my Uncle.”
“I spoke to your Uncle yesterday.”
“So you said.”
Legolas was quiet for a moment, “He knew my name.”
“You told him your name?” Kili demanded.
“I didn’t tell him,” Legolas corrected. “He knew. He always knew who I was.”
Kili was stunned into silence briefly, his eyes wide and his mouth open in shock, “Holy hell. Was he upset?”
“He was mostly upset that we thought him unaware,” Legolas admitted. “He said he did not disapprove. He said that your happiness was important to him and that he would not stand in the way.”
Kili inhaled sharply. Standing, he turned to face Legolas and dropped to his knees. He yanked one of the metal beads from his hair with such force that it had to hurt, but his wide eyed expression never changed as he offered the bead to Legolas. Legolas stared at Kili for a long moment, unsure what exactly he was doing, but he gingerly accepted the bead. Kili exhaled the breath he’d held since kneeling and closed Legolas’ fist around the metal bead, turn his hand to press a kiss against his wrist.
“Kili…”
“We give a token,” he whispered hoarsely, “We give a token as a promise. You left days before I completed this and I wore because I had nothing of you except the bow you made me.”
“Elves do not give such tokens,” Legolas admitted, “But I am honored to accept it from you.”
“Will you wear it?” Kili asked quietly.
“I would only…”
“Only what?”
“I daresay my father will known the significance of such a bead.”
Kili smiled, “I’ll tuck it up into a braid. No one will be able to see it.”
“Then I will wear it,” he promised.
Kili stood so abruptly he nearly collided with Legolas. He maneuvered Legolas into the nearest chair and chose a small chunk of hair that could easily be concealed and braided it slowly. He whispered in Khuzdul as he worked, but before he was finished he switched back into Westron. “I promise to be faithful and truthful. I promise to cherish, comfort and love you. I promise myself to you, my One, for all of time.” Kili settled the bead in his hair, braiding the rest that remained loose to hide the ornament and pressed a kiss to the top of his head.
“Kili…”
Kili sat on the edge of the bed and took Legolas’ hand, “It isn’t officially done like that, but I wanted to say the words.”
“So by the traditions of your people we are….”
“Pledged,” Kili filled in.
“Betrothed?”
“It is comparable, I suppose.” He laughed suddenly, “Did you think I’d gone and married you, just like that?”
Legolas returned his smile, “I did wonder. Elves don’t have betrothals. Many of us don’t even have weddings. We love only once and the promises we trade are done in private.”
“So Elves don’t marry?”
“Unions are blessed after a pair cements the bond between them.”
“And is our bond cemented?” Kili asked.
“Nearly,” Legolas admitted. “I’m barely able to prevent it.”
“Why must you?” Kili inquired. “Let it cement. When we defeat the Dragon and retake Erebor…” he paused briefly. “We’ll find a way.”
“Everyone would know. If the bond settled between us, there would be no hiding this from my people.”
“And for now at least, none of them can know,” Kili replied. “So, will you come with us?”
Though he was sorely tempted, Legolas still hesitated. “I do not think I will be able to depart with you.”
“But-”
“I cannot give my father any cause to believe I’ve been kidnapped.”
Kili nodded slowly.
“But once you are gone… it’s possible I may be able to catch up to you.” Legolas paused briefly and took a step closer, “I’ll do my best to catch up.”
Kili smiled and Legolas leaned down to kiss him, but a knock at the door cut off them motion. Kili shifted to hide behind the door as Legolas opened it. At first he saw no one, but when he looked down there was a creature far too small to be a Dwarf, let alone an elf.
“Erm. Are you by any chance Greenleaf?”
Out of the corner of his eye Legolas caught sight of Kili waving his arms enthusiastically. Tugging the newcomer in, Legolas pushed the door shut, but kept his body in front of Kili.
“Who are you?”
Kili tugged sharply on Legolas’ arm, “I know him. He’s a friend. He’s part of the quest.”
“Surely he is no Dwarf.”
“I’m a Hobbit, thank you very much,” he interrupted. “Bilbo Baggins,” he introduced himself with a short bow.
“Bilbo Baggins?" Legolas repeated. "Your name is known to me."
Bilbo nodded, "Yes. You were with Stridor. Greenleaf, I believe he called you."
"Yes. My given name is Legolas."
Bilbo frowned a little, but Kili nodded quickly, “Bilbo, how did you get out of the dungeons?”
“I was never in them,” Bilbo corrected. “But I found Thorin and he told me you were hiding with your Elven paramour and I should find you. I thought perhaps the paramour part was a joke, but apparently not….”
Kili reddened a little at Bilbo’s expression and hastily threw his shirt on.
“I cannot imagine how such a thing came out,” he said slowly, but with a smile slowly spreading across his features, “But I’m impressed by your daring if only because it must have given Thorin fits at some point no matter how calm he is about it now and I have to admit I find that an amusing thought.”
“Whatever angst he had over the situation he kept well from my view,” Kili admitted. “Though I do recall several unusually angry disagreements between Throin and my mother during the time you were with us,” he looked to Greenleaf.
“You stayed with the Dwarves for a time?” Bilbo asked in surprise.
“Greenleaf taught me use of a bow,” Kili admitted. “That is how we met.”
“And how exactly did a Hobbit come to be part of the quest to reclaim Erebor?” Legolas asked.
“Same way a Dwarf came to have an Elven instructor,” Kili replied. “Gandalf. Bilbo is our burglar. He’s going to help us get past the dragon.”
Legolas stared down at the Hobbit for a moment, “I suppose the tallfolk don’t think much of your ability to get past a dragon.”
“Tallfolk don’t think much of halfling ability to do anything beyond garden, I suppose,” Bilbo admitted. “We are half of what a proper creature ought to be before we are anything else.”
“But there is more to you than meets the eye, I think.”
“I’ve spent an entire day wandering about your kingdom and not a single Elf has seen me,” Bilbo commented.
“Fili and I think that Hobbits can become invisible,” Kili confided.
Bilbo rolled his eyes, “So. What are we going to do about this?”