"I've been looking everywhere for you, my sweet."

Kíli opened his eyes to see Tauriel standing at the entrance to the pavilion where he had been dozing.

"I've been to the stables and the training arena," his wife continued. "I even walked downriver in case you'd gone swimming."

"Mmm, sorry," he murmured, his attention momentarily caught by the way the sun behind her turned her hair to fire and outlined her figure against the glow of her light summer gown.

"I thought surely you must be making the most of this beautiful day, but here I find you slumbering it away." There was a lightness to her tone, so Kíli knew she only scolded him in jest.

"Not slumbering. Napping," he corrected.

"Is there a difference?"

"Heaps."

Tauriel seated herself at the foot of the broad cushioned bench where he had sprawled. "Can it be, Master Dwarf, that you do not get enough sleep at night?" she asked. There was something saucy in the glint of her eye, the curl of her lip. "I thought your kind was hardy enough to toil much and sleep little."

Kíli clapped a hand to his heart. "You wound me! I've no complaints about how I spend my nights." He winked at her. "But sometimes a nap is just so nice." He resettled himself against the cushions and laid a bare foot in her lap. "'Specially when it's warm and the bees are buzzing and all those little sun dapples dance on your eyelids. D'you know what I mean?" Kíli gestured to the maple bows tossing lightly between them and the sun.

She smiled warmly at him, though when she spoke, her tone was almost confessional. "When I need to regain my strength during the day, I do so with my eyes open."

"You mean your elvish waking sleep thing?" He knew she used this skill when she wished to rest without sacrificing alertness.

"Yes. It is more efficient than finding a bed in the midst of the day."

Kíli rose up on his elbows to stare at her. "You really mean you never nap?"

"Only when I am injured," Tauriel said. "Then it is the simplest way to rest." From the soft quirk to her lip, Kíli could tell she was amused by his astonishment.

"Tauriel!" He gaped, half to delight her and half because he still could not believe her. "You're six and a half centuries old. And you've never napped, just for fun? Maker's hammer!" And he flopped back down on the cushions.

She laughed, her voice cool and sweet as one of the many streams tumbling through Rivendell's gardens. "Perhaps you had better teach me, hadhodeg." She lifted his foot from her lap and stretched out on the cushions beside him. "Do you think you could?"

"Oh, I think so," Kíli said with slow thoughtfulness. He combed his fingers through her hair. "Especially if you pay close attention."

"I will," Tauriel said, nestling against him. "Very close." She straightened his collar, her hand coming to rest over his heart.

"Perfect." He drew in a deep breath and let it out slowly. "Now just close your eyes."

Tauriel giggled softly against his shoulder. "It still feels so strange to deliberately sleep during the day."

"Shh… Don't think of it as sleeping. Think of it as floating away on sunlight."

"That does sound pleasant."

"Mm-hm. Now just listen to the leaves. And the bees."

"Yes, Master Dwarf," she sighed.

Kíli smiled. He had never known anyone else who could tease him even while admiring him as an authority on things unknown to her.

He let his awareness drift, borne by the interwoven murmurings of a summer's day: the rustle of leaves, the chime of crickets, birdcalls, and the distant rush of falling water.

Tauriel's hand stirred, her fingertips tracing lazy, aimless patterns against him. As he drowsed, Kíli imagined her mapping the flight of bees on his shirt. But the bees kept up their humming, even when her fingers stilled.

Kíli lifted heavy eyelids once to check on her. Tauriel's own eyes were closed, and the set of her brows and lips relaxed. He felt a deep flicker of amusement at the thought that this was her first proper nap. Wasn't she wonderful?

Then with a single light snore, he followed her into sunlit dreams.


Author's note:

Outdoor naps are one of my favorite things.

In chapter 19 of Spring After Winter and Sun on the Leaves, I mentioned that Tauriel doesn't usually nap unless it's to join Kíli. I wanted to come back to that idea, so here it is as a mini fic.

And yes, I am still writing my main fic! Writing intrigue and action and politics is hard for me, and for some reason I put an awful lot of it in this novel. More is coming, though, and I mean to finish it!