Work Text:
You were exhausted.
You’d been sitting in this position for hours now but the sky outside the great windows of the library of Erebor was so dark you couldn’t really tell how much time had passed. No matter how much you stared, the papers in front of you still remained the same.
You had been lucky to be invited to Erebor to help rebuild its once great libraries after its reclamation. When Balin had mentioned in passing his need for extra hands in the library and archives Bilbo had thought of you: that young Hobbit back in Hobbiton who always had her nose in a book but whose mind roved far beyond the confines of the Shire.
And now you’re here. You’re almost done with this write-up for Balin, just a few more paragraphs and it would finally be finished.
A few seats away from you lounged Fíli, your friend having refused to leave you to your late night toil alone. Though he busied himself with a book of his own, he could have gone to bed long ago–and likely should have as he had duties in the morning.
You at last turned to him. “Are you sure that I can’t convince you to leave me to my work?” you sighed.
“Nope,” he said, determined, “not unless you finally wrap up your work and retire for the night. You know Balin doesn’t even need that for another week and you’re so close to being done, just leave it for the morning.” But you refused, turning away to continue writing and so Fíli returned to his book.
More time passed and eventually Fíli noticed the distinct lack of quill scratching and as he turned around, he found you peacefully asleep with your cheek on your page. He sighed with a small smile on his face and went to move you before the ink left a mark on your face.
After Fíli had put away your work, he lifted you in his arms and began to walk back to his chambers. Though he did know where your rooms in the palace were, Fíli did not have the key and did not want to search your sleeping form just to get in. Waking you was not an option either as this sleep would do you good.
As he walked, Fíli couldn’t help but admire you in this unguarded state. All of the tension of the stress you’d been carrying fell away in sleep. It let him see you in a way he hadn’t before, the gentleness beneath the hard edge you wore. He wanted to see more of it…
Dismissing that train of though, Fíli reached his chamber door and, making sure not to jostle you too much, brought you into his rooms. Gently laying you on his bed he crept around his room, looking for his old bedroll from his days on the road. He was careful not to wake you, thinking it a miracle you hadn’t woken in his arms on the way here. Though with the amount you’d been overworking yourself it was no surprise, your body clearly needed to rest.
After setting up his bedroll at the foot of his bed and changing into his sleep clothes, Fíli went over to you to make sure you were comfortable. After a quick glance he determined that your clothes were comfortable enough and it would not do you any harm to sleep in them.
As Fíli tucked you under the warm covers of his bed he could have sworn he heard you let out a sigh of contentment in your sleep. He stopped for only a second to admire your soft figure in his bed and your hair spread out across his pillow (Mahal your hair would be the death of him) before he went to his bedroll to try to get at least a little sleep before morning.
—
You woke a few hours later to find yourself in a strange and unfamiliar room, though the large comfortable bed you were in briefly assuaged your fears. Surely no one who meant you any real harm would kidnap you just to place you in such a lovely bed. That meant only one thing…
“Fíli!” you whisper shouted into the dark, for it could only be the crown prince who had moved you from the library. At the foot of the bed you hear a voice groggily saying your name and as you squint you can see Fíli’s rising from the floor.
“Fíli?” you say once more, just to be sure.
“Yes it’s me,” Fíli replies, the sleep still present in his voice, “you fell asleep in the library and I knew you’d be cross all day if you woke up with a knot in your neck. My bed was the next best thing, I hope it’s all right.”
Though you’d been in his rooms before briefly, they looked much different in the darkness and no one could blame you for being startled at waking up in a different location than you last found yourself in.
“All right? Fíli, your bed is so comfortable I might have to sleep here every night,” you said jokingly, “but why are you on the floor? You have much more important work to do tomorrow, I can take the floor.”
“What?” Fíli said, aghast, “There’s no way I’m letting you sleep on the floor, you need the rest. You were so tired you fell asleep while writing, remember?”
“Okay, I conceded, not my best moment,” you reply, “but then why don’t we just share the bed, we’re both of age and we’re friends, this doesn’t have to be weird.”
Fíli still seemed hesitant, his Uncle’s lessons on propriety running through his head.
“Fíli, come on, we’re both tired so please just get in,” you plead, wanting to go back to sleep, “you’ll survive sleeping next to me for one night.”
As Fíli finally let in and climbed into bed next to you, he seriously wondered whether he would survive this.
—
When morning light at last shone through the windows, into the Fíli’s room, you stirred awake. You felt comfortable and warm, and when you tried to roll over you found Fíli’s arm thrown over your middle, holding you to him. It seemed that even in his sleep he couldn’t stay away from you.
You paused then, basking in the warm light and admiring how it danced across the skin of the golden prince. This was such a calm moment, you’d never before had the chance to admire Fíli like this and damn it if you weren’t going to take every advantage of it.
As Fíli finally began to stir you extracted yourself from his arms, not wanting him to feel awkward. You sat up and yawned, that was the best sleep you’d had in a long time.