summary: Kili Durin loves stars. He wants to tell you why.
ship: kili x reader
word count: 1k
genre: fluff/angst
a/n: just ignore the comment he made in the movie about stars feeling lonely okay I forgot about it while writing this okay good thank you 😁 ofc I fell in love with another long haired brunette
“Oh! Oh! That one looks like the outline of a mince pie!” Kili exclaimed, face scrunching up in a fit of giggles. You squinted, and then shook your head with a grin.
The younger of the Durin brothers had always been fascinated by the stars. Whether it be on his scheduled night watches or marching to the next place he’ll call his temporary home, you would always catch a glimpse of the dwarf marveling at the stars above. On several occasions, you watched him stumble over his own feet because he took his eyes off the walking path for too long.
One night, curiosity and longing got the better of you and you decided to ask why.
“Why on Earth do you stare up at the sky so much, dwarf?” You inquired, shuffling closer to Kili so their arms grazed each other as they walked side by side.
Kili faux scoffed at the dwarf comment and half dramatically put a hand to his chest. His gaze then settled on the rocky path before him, making sure to not embarrass himself by tripping again. “I suppose … it just amazes me. The sky puts on display billions of twinkling balls of light every night, almost like they’re guarding us as we rest. It’s part of the reason why I take the night watch, really. Someone needs to admire their beauty as they do us.”
Ever since getting to know Kili on your journey to Erebor, you had always admired Kili’s boyish wonder about everyday life. Even when everyone was exhausted and they had to find another spiky cave to sleep in for shelter, he’d always find a way to make the glass half full or crack a joke to get the company to laugh. They still had a flower Kili had gifted you with a flirty bow a couple days ago when their path went through a meadow of sweet smelling Elanor flowers, just to get you to smile after a tiring day. He always tried to remind the company, his brother, and you, to see the good things in life, no matter how bleak things may seem in the current moment.
You didn’t even realize they had tears building up in their eyes until the dwarf had finished sharing his wide-eyed thoughts. It blinked them away and mirrored Kili by looking at the ground, refusing to make it known how much his worldview affected them.
“You really do never cease to fascinate me.”
—
‘No. Please no. It was going to be me. It should have been me.’ That was all that was going through your dazed brain whenever Kili had knocked you out of Bolg’s clutches. You slid to the edge of the icy mountain cliff and lay there helplessly as Kili went toe to toe with the orc. It was an unfair battle and a fruitless effort, deep down both of you knew that.
When Kili tried to get another blow on the creature, Bolg’s fist slammed the direct center of Kili’s face, dazing him enough to make him lose his focus so Bolg could now hold his throat in a vice grip. In the blink of an eye, Bolg brought down his spear into Kili’s chest, making a sickening squelch. A choked noise of agony ripped from your throat as Kili’s limp body was dropped to the cold ground. Your arm weakly reached out to your wounded soldier.
Bolg stepped over to you and spoke Orkish over your sobbing. "Killing you would not make a difference." With that, he stomped down the mountain. You only knew that because they felt the vibrations of his footsteps. You had not taken their eyes off of Kili. And despite the heaviness of his eyelids, Kili hadn’t taken his eyes off you.
You forced themselves to rip away your gaze from the dwarf to see if Bolg finally left, and once they made sure he was out of sight, you bolted to Kili’s side as fast as your beaten and battered body could muster. The pain didn’t matter right now. Nothing else mattered except Kili. A sentiment you had said to yourself a lot over their journey, but none as definitive as this.
Hastily, you put your hand under his head. Partially so he could look at you better, but also you were desperate to provide him with any form of comfort. His face was bruised and bloody and definitely not your cheery confidant. Your other hand reached for his. How weakly he grabbed your hand in response caused another wave of salty tears to break free.
“Hey, hey, hey… Look at me. Look at me. You’re going to be fine. I-I’ll go get help. I’ll find Thorin, yes, I’ll find Thorin and then everything will b-” You shut your mouth completely as you felt Kili squeeze their hand a little harder this time and made a noise sounding like coherent words. “You… want to know the other reason I like stars?”
You were bewildered. You had no idea why or how he could be thinking about something as trivial as that right now, but you played along. You nodded, almost imperceivably.
KIli blinked away a wave of tiredness and focused on you as much as he could. “They look like your eyes.” As slow as can be, he reached his free hand up to your face and, with a feather light touch, brushed his knuckles against your cheek. “Glad I get to look at the stars one more time.” A ghost of a smile appeared on his face, ever trying to get them to do the same.
Your eyes blur and stung with tears. Your chest pounded from the sheer volume of their sobbing. Everything hurt. But you refused to take their eyes off of Kili’s.
You figured the least that they could do was give him a galaxy to admire as he faded.
Since Pirates of the Caribbean has been released 21 years ago and Sparrabeth has been one of my first OTPs, I thought I share some moments between Jack and Elizabeth, which made me fall for them so hard I still haven't recovered:
