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The journey, however repetitive and boring it could be, did offer some enjoyment for you. Most of this enjoyment sourced from the young Prince Kili.
In the three months since the journey had begun, you and the Prince had developed a habit of stargazing each night, just after dinner, but before first watch. It never failed to brighten even the most dull of times. You would both make up new patterns and constellations in the sky, and your favorite so far was ‘Thorin’s Stompy Boot’, which had a base in the Lyre and built into… well the name is pretty self explanatory.
However, the dullness of the journey vanished in the span of one night, and it was rather difficult to fit in the time to stargaze. Between the three trolls who almost ate the whole company, the strange brown wizard who appeared to be on an overconsumption of… magic mushrooms, the incredibly tiring and terrifying chase by wargs and orcs, and arriving in the valley of the elves, it had been next to impossible to spend time with Kili to look at the stars.
Today was the third night in Rivendell, and while you thought it to be the most peaceful and safe place in all of Middle Earth, Thorin thought otherwise, and warned against falling into a state of security. On this particular night, Balin, Bilbo, Gandalf, and the King himself had gone off somewhere, and Thorin had left strict orders for the company to stick together and not stray away. These orders, of course, were ignored.
Bombur had left for the kitchens quite some time ago, ‘for provisions’, and it did not appear that he would be back anytime soon. Ori (with the help of Nori), had snuck off into one of the elven libraries, and you expected him to be there for quite some time. Bifur had left almost the second after Thorin, and there was no sign of him anywhere. Not that you were worried. Fili and Kili had disappeared as well, and there wasn’t a clue of where they had gone off too. Dwalin, ever the loyal warrior, stood watch over camp, on the lookout for spying elves.
You were by the fire, fiddling with the straps on your boot. The blasted buckle kept coming loose, and you were determined to fix it before departing from this beautiful valley. Unfortunately, several grueling minutes later, you had sighed and resolved to ask Bifur for help when he returned from wherever he was.
“Having trouble, my lady?” You looked up to see that Fili and Kili had returned, and the younger of the two had apparently been watching you fight a losing battle with your boot straps.
“Aye, my prince. But I reckon Bifur can aid me when he returns.”
“And why Bifur?” He asked, “Am I not handy enough to aid you in your time of need?”
“Ha. I think not, as you struggle with even buckling your own boots in the morning.”
Kili laughed and came to sit down beside you, taking the boot from your hand and eyeing the trouble.
“You know,” He said, “all you have to do is straighten out the metal here, and it would be fine. Also might be a good idea to get the rust gone.”
“I know that much,” You replied, reaching for your boot back. But Kili pulled away, now grasping the buckle in his hand.
“I could fix it now, if you’d like.” he offered, eyes still glued to the boot strap.
“It’s alright Kili–”
But the prince had already started working the metal with his bare hands, twisting the iron back into place by dwarven strength alone. Once he was satisfied, he fiddled with it, making sure it worked properly.
“There you go (Y/N), should be good as new, except the rust. We’ll get that cleaned up on the ‘morrow.” He said, handing you back your boot.
“Thanks, I owe you.”
“Nonsense, it was nothing,” he replied, “But how about we take it for a test walk? Just to make sure it’s back to normal?” without waiting for a reply, he stood and offered his hand. You grinned and quickly got your boots on before taking his hand and getting up.
“Oi, where are you two going?” Dwalin called.
“Not far, we’ll be back shortly!” Kili said, quickly grasping your hand and hurrying along before Dwalin could object.
The two of you walked for quite some time, much farther than Dwalin would approve of, but it was nice to finally spend some time with Kili. You talked of the chaotic ventures of the past few days, and Kili joked that it had been the only exciting thing to happen so far.
“I mean, we’re going to a mountain with a dragon. You’d think there would be more of a thrill, wouldn’t you?
“You speak too much Kili. Getting shoved into sacks by trolls was enough excitement to last a lifetime. The orc pack was just terrifying. I’m perfectly content with the journey to continue on as normal from here on out, without any more surprises happening.”
“Oh, come now (Y/N), where’s the fun in that? As I recall, you were saying that the routine of the journey was incredibly boring just last week.”
“That was before the trolls, Kili. And you best be cautious, a dragon, however far off, is not something to treat as a mere adventure. It’s going to be very dangerous.”
Kili sighed and reluctantly nodded.
“I know, but still–” The young prince stopped quite suddenly and looked around.
“Kili?” you asked.
“There’s a place Fili and I found, I’m just trying to remember if we already passed it or not…” He looked around again, before backtracking a few steps. Then he seemed to remember, and looked up for a moment.
“Alright, follow me, it’s a bit off the path, but it’s worth it. Promise.”
Despite the warnings in your mind, you followed Kili up a rocky slope, occasionally needing his assistance with some of the trickier parts. You climbed a good fifteen minutes before he stopped and turned sideways. Before setting off, he looked back at you and grabbed your hand.
“It can be a bit slippery from here on, so be careful.”
Now you could see what you supposed his destination was. A rocky ledge stood a few meters away, high above the rest of the valley. The Prince led you along the entire way.
Eventually, you reached the ledge and were able to gaze around. It was stunning, to say the least. Rivendell looked even more beautiful at night than it did during the day, with lanterns and candles glowing about the houses and courtyards. Moonlight reflected off of fountains and roofs, and filtered through leaves to create patterns on the ground below. The faint sound of elven flutes and harps rang throughout the air, blending beautifully with waterfalls around the valley, and you soon realized that the waterfalls were instruments in the song too.
You also realized that Kili had not released his hold on your hand, but you weren’t going to bring that up in fear that he might stop.
“Nice view, is it not?” he asked.
“That’s a bit of an understatement.”
He flashed you a smile before taking a seat on the stone, pulling you down to sit beside him.
“I figured this would be a lovely place for stargazing, Gimlelul.”
You felt like you should know what that word meant, but it had been long since you had had to converse in dwarvish beyond simple phrases. But the young prince continued on before you could give it much thought.
“The stars seem so much brighter here, don’t they? And much more numerous.”
You nodded in agreement. “They do indeed. It’s almost impossible to pick out a single star with how many there are.”
“Sounds like a challenge,” Kili replied, a smirk spreading across his face.
“I don’t think so. Too many stars to find a constellation.”
“Well, how about something easy then. What about the brightest star? Find that.”
You turned your gaze upwards, searching in vain for the North Star. The longer you looked up, the brighter all the stars seemed. After a few minutes of straining your eyes, you groaned and turned to Kili.
“It’s impossible. My eyes hurt from staring at the stars.”
Kili grinned.
“You admit defeat?”
“If only to save my poor eyes.”
“Well, you really are bad at this aren’t you? The brightest star is the easiest thing to find, see?”
Frustrated, you turned your gaze back to the heavens and searched again.
“You can’t possibly pick out the North Star from here, Kili. There’s just far too many of them.”
“Who said anything about the North Star? I asked for the brightest star.”
“The North Star is the brightest Star, you idiot! That’s the most basic knowledge anyone can have!”
“Ah, but you’re wrong. While the North Star is the brightest star in the sky, the brightest star in existence is sitting right in front of me.”
You blinked at him for a moment, before groaning.
“Oh come on Kili,”
“No, I’m serious! You are the brightest star in the whole of Middle Earth.”
You gave him a look, but smiled all the same.
“That’s… ridiculous.”
“You don’t like it? It seemed fitting for you. You know, I can see starlight in your eyes all the time? Doesn’t matter what time of day, there’s always stars that glitter in your eyes. It’s incredibly distracting.”
At this point, what could a person do but get flustered, as a prince said all these lovely things to them.
“Kili, what are you saying, exactly?”
“Is it not obvious, Gimlelul?”
There was that word again. The meaning seemed to be right on the tip of your tongue, yet you couldn’t place it. Suddenly, Kili drew much nearer, and placed a kiss on your temple.
“Men Iananubukhs me,” He whispered. “My brightest star.”
‘Oh’, you thought. ‘Right. That’s what it means.’
The two of you spent much of the night up on the ledge, Only coming down when the stars started disappearing to make way for the sun.