One of Tauriel's favorite things, in these few weeks since she had been married, was waking to Kíli beside her each day. Some mornings she found him sleeping composed and serene, a dreamer no artist would have objected to painting just as he was; other days she couldn't help but laugh at his disheveled hair and comical, oblivious face. Yet either way, he was irresistible.
Today, however, Tauriel opened her eyes to find herself facing only a mound of blankets—blankets that had surely not been on the bed last night. Beneath them, all that was visible of Kíli was a tumble of loose dark hair spilling over the pillow.
Had he taken a chill in the night? But it was midsummer, and the night had been warm. Besides, Kíli had been perfectly well when they had gone to bed.
Just to be sure she slid a hand beneath the covers and pressed it to his chest. His skin was hot and damp: could he really have a fever? She knew little about the ailments of mortals. Gently but firmly she pulled the heavy blankets away from his shoulders.
Kíli moaned unhappily, and reaching blindly, pulled the covers back up over his face.
"My love, what's wrong?" Tauriel said.
He mumbled something incoherent.
"Kíli!" She laid a hand on his cheek. "Tell me, how do you feel?"
"Mmm?" His eyes opened at last; then he reached and pulled her to him. Her body warmed from the contact, sweat pricking over her skin.
"Kíli, you're afire. You should have told me you had a fever."
"Thought it was obvious…"
"I didn't know!" Truly concerned now, she tried to extricate herself from his embrace. "Let me get you some medicine." She didn't think she had any fever bane, rarely needing it herself, but she would find something in her herb chest to soothe him.
"Ah, there's only one cure for what's burning me." He nuzzled against her throat, his kisses a ticklish blend of scratchy whiskers and teasing lips.
"Kíli," she said through a laugh. She could see now there was nothing ailing him. "I thought you meant it!"
"I do. Maker, there's an utterly ravishing elleth in bed with me. If I weren't a bit feverish, then you might have cause for concern."
"I see." Tauriel smiled and leaned down to kiss him. "But that doesn't explain what all these extra blankets are for." She shoved them off the bed so she could lie more comfortably at Kíli's side. "You dwarves are naturally so warm-bodied that I thought you must be ill to need them."
"Sorry; were you too hot? The truth is, I don't know how you can sleep with just this wispy little sheet over you." He picked at the fine linen sheet and airy crocheted blanket that were all that had covered Tauriel's bed since they'd arrived in her treetop home. "Don't you feel all…wrong? I can't tell where my arms and legs are when there's nothing holding them down. It's so much more snug with a nice heavy blanket."
Tauriel giggled. "It must be because you're a dwarf. You need to burrow."
"Maybe!"
"Don't you get too warm in the summer, sleeping like that?"
"Not under a mountain. But I don't mind being a little warm. It's better than feeling all exposed and unprotected." His brows narrowed into a serious look. "Anything can attack you through just a sheet, you know. Thick blankets are much safer."
"Really."
He rolled his eyes. "Every dwarfling knows that. Monsters can't get through blankets."
She threw her head back and laughed.
"Don't tell me that as an elfling, you never spent a night huddled under your blankets because of a scary story?" he asked.
Tauriel shook her head. "I didn't have anyone to tell me scary stories," she said, wistful.
"No? Well, I know quite a few. I'll tell you one some night, when we're around a campfire all alone. Maybe the one about the haunted mines. Or the werewolf of Emyn Uial." He grinned. "No, the owl-bear!"
"The what?"
"It was a monster Nori made up to scare us. Worked, too."
She smiled.
"You should have heard him in the woods behind the forge, bellowing whoo whoo into an old metal drum. It was terrifying."
"Oh dear!"
"I'm pretty sure Mum gave him a round scolding the next morning. At any rate, it never happened again. But once was enough. Fí and I were scared to run errands to the forge at night for months."
"I wish I could have seen you and your brother as dwarflings. I'm sure you were darling," Tauriel said.
"But could you have loved me now if you'd seen me as a bairn? You'd think me far too young for you."
"Oh yes, I'd still love you." She combed her fingers through the soft hair at his temple. "You're very lovable, Kíli."
"Well…" A sly smile crossed Kíli's lips. "I do know how to get you a dwarfling who looks just like me."
"Do you?"
"Yes. It starts like this." He put his hands about her face and drew her down for a slow, full kiss. "Shall I go on?"
"Mmm." She folded her arms about his neck. "Please do."
Author's note:
Owlbears are my favorite D&D monster.
It's my headcanon that Kíli likes to sleep with lots of blankets, no matter the weather. Here's the story of how Tauriel learns about this particular quirk.
This is a little warmup fic, and I hope to get back to my main fic soon! I started teaching at university this fall, and that's going to keep me super busy but I have missed working on my fanfic and want to get back to it. If you're still out there following me, I'd love to hear from you because you give me inspiration to keep writing!
