LotR/The Hobbit Drabbles

The Best Audience (Kili)

Based on the imagine "Imagine coming to the reclaimed Erebor as a new court musician and Kili falling in love with you."

What an opportunity! You were sure it was the luckiest thing that had ever happened to you. Well, it was lucky for all the dwarves, to be sure, but still! You had been singled out by King Thorin, and had received a special request to travel to Erebor to be the new court musician.

All right, that was not exactly true. Your troupe, a talented group of dwarves armed with lute, viol, voice, and dancing skills that would spark laughter, if not impress a crowd. You were a talented lute player, and your voice wasn't half-bad, either. This was a big opportunity for you, as well as for the rest of your troupe. Apparently King Thorin had heard your troupe performing during his time in the Blue Mountains, and now that Erebor was reclaimed and established, he wanted musicians for his court. He had always had a keen ear for music, and if the stories were true, he played the lute quite well himself. It was no surprise, then, that he wanted musicians. The only surprise was that he had chosen you and your motley crew.

The journey to Erebor was long and arduous, but completely worth it. Erebor, even in the midst of rebuilding after Smaug and the battles, was as impressive as the stories said. Even more impressive, even. To think that this place was to be your home for the rest of your days.

You had been born in the Blue Mountains, one of the few dwarf children to have been born out of sight of the Lonely Mountain. Your parents had always pined to come back to this place, but they were gone now. It had not been Mahal's will for them to return, apparently, but Mahal seemed to be more gracious to you. You would have a steady job, good pay, and excellent meals when you weren't practicing or playing for the court. King Thorin's welcome for your troupe was spectacular; food on every table in sight, rich clothing to replace the rags you had worn all your life, and beard jewelry so grand that it made your carefully-coiffed beard feel painfully plain. The King held a ball on your second night there, giving you and your troupe the highest praise and asking you to play the whole ball. He had even set off time for each musician to perform a solo!

While this was highly generous of him, it gave your nerves a reason to go off like bottle-rockets. Never had you performed in such a grand space before, let alone wearing a gown that was so ostentatious. And to play a solo was a great honor, but to have so many eyes—and ears—on just you made you want to hide beneath a rock. You loved to perform, and you knew you were a good musician, but you couldn't help but admit to a bit of stage fright in the sight of such an important occasion. Your future might be at stake if you did not do well.

But you took deep breath after deep breath, playing as well as you practiced during the group numbers. When the time came for your solo, you steeled your nerves, set your shoulders, and played your favorite ballad. A lovely song it was, too: the heart-breaking story of a shepherd girl and her star-crossed romance with a fisherman. They came from two different worlds, and their love was not fated to prosper, but it had lasted even beyond their death. The ballad ended with the shepherd girl's ghost wandering the seashore in search of her love, and the fisherman combing the countryside for the girl, though they never met again.

You had always been fond of the sad stories. Especially the ones in minor keys.

It was easy to slip into your performance, and you had sung this song many times before. So your mind wandered while you sang, as it often did when you knew a song well, and your eyes caught those of a dark-haired dwarf sitting in the front row, elbows propped on his knees as he leaned forward, apparently rapt with your song. Your heart leaped a little in your chest at his focused attention, but you let your eyes wander away again.