Chapter Text
Prompt 16. Uhm, excuse me, but why is that bunny on a leash?
It was one of those windy, overcast days that transformed the Gulf of Lune from gentle swells to choppy knives. Fíli loved evenings like this – the wind in his hair, little swirls of white sand, not feeling like he was boiling alive in the suits he wore for teaching at the college – but he knew Kíli hated them. Kíli was much more a delicate creature than Fíli, though no one would ever believe it.
Of course, Kíli didn’t have glasses to protect his eyes, like Fíli did. Poor Kíli, he still couldn’t decide whether Fíli’s new eyewear was a turn-on or something he should use to tease Fíli incessantly about getting old.
Speaking of Kíli, Fíli was running late meeting him for their daily walk along the beach, and he hadn’t even had the time to change out of his work clothes and into something more appropriate for the sand and waves. He wasn’t willing to miss their walk, though, so he rushed down the stone walkways, stopping just long enough to tug off his dress shoes and socks and roll up his Kíli-approved (your arse is absolute perfection in those) pants before stepping onto the sand and letting his toes dig in a bit.
Ahhhh.
Nothing relaxed him after a long day of panicking grad students faster than the feel of sand under his soles and the scent of salt water in the air. And, of course, the low sound of his brother’s voice, as Kíli talked to one of his many passing admirers.
Fíli used to feel jealous over the amount of attention his handsome, engaging Kíli got. Nowadays, he mostly just felt smug.
It was a pair of women this time, elvish-blooded by the look of them, both slender and fair and a bit taller than Kíli, who was tall for a dwarf-blood but not so much for your average pureblood or elvin. Kíli chatted cheerfully, waving one hand as he explained something. The other hand he kept still, which was odd – standing still wasn’t one of Kíli’s skills unless he was working – but all was explained when there was a puff of sand and a thump beside him.
Dammit, Fíli thought, and he heaved a sigh.
“Uhm, excuse me, but why,” the fairer of the women asked, looking politely confused, “is that bunny on a leash?”
Because without it she’ll run away, Fíli thought.
“Because without it she’ll run away,” Kíli said, in a voice that silently added obviously.
Clearly these women had no concept of the number of miles Fíli and Kíli had run the first time Kíli brought Dot to the beach. The cursed furball was fast and incredibly determined and a lot less likely to end up tripping and flat on her face in the surf, than Fíli and Kíli were.
Fíli still had nightmares.
“And because she’s evil incarnate,” Fíli said as he came to a stop beside the love of his life. Kíli looked at him and immediately broke into a huge smile that melted every last scrap of tension in Fíli’s chest.
It always did, that smile. That smile was worth everything – was the reason he gave up (gained) everything and ran away from home to make a new one.
“She is not,” Kíli argued, leaning in and stealing a kiss. “Dot is a precious angel.”
Fíli raised an eyebrow. “That is a blatant lie.”
They all looked down at the bunny in question.
Danger Dorothy, Defender of Worlds, was a rangy excuse for a rabbit. She was medium-sized, brownish, caught somewhere between long haired and just fluffy. And she was bouncing determinedly at the edge of her leash, evil back legs churning the sand as she attempted to rip Kíli’s arm out of the socket in her bid for freedom. Unfortunately for Dot, Kíli’s modeling career meant he had to stay in good shape. She may have been a supervillain (powers: eating wallpaper, pooping everywhere, back feet knockouts), but she wasn’t strong enough to escape her halter and leash.
“Well, maybe not an angel, but we love her.” Kili eyeballed Fíli, daring him to say otherwise. Fili kept his mouth shut. Disparaging either of “their” beloved pets was the fastest route to the sofa in existence. The bunnies were, in fact, Kíli’s. Instead of correcting Kíli (and maybe Kíli was right. …Maybe), Fíli took his hand, lifted it, and kissed the sensitive inside of the wrist as Kíli’s female interrogators twittered at the cuteness of it all.
“Shall we?” he asked, motioning down the beach.
“We shall,” Kíli agreed with a grin, bowed to the ladies, and took Fíli’s hand. The brothers - not that anyone here knew that, not that they told - started off in the direction of the exclusive private homes on the southern shore.
Dot, in her usual stubborn, refusing-to-do-what-you-want fashion, kicked sand all over Kíli’s expensive work trousers, as she attempted to hop away in the opposite direction.
“However will we get our exercise, now that she’s leashed?” Fíli teased. It was a relief, really. Chasing Dot day after day hadn’t been his idea of relaxation.
Dot gave up and flopped in the sand, sulking. Kíli cooed softly as he knelt to pick her up.
“We’ll find other ways,” he answered, peeking from under his dark brows, his lips curved into a promise.
Fíli cleared his throat.
That had not been subtle.
But it was a very good sign that he was going to get laid tonight.
Excellent.
Kíli straightened, cuddled his little angel close-
And took a super strong kick to the chin for his troubles.
Fíli laughed so hard he nearly fell down, Dot leapt for freedom (stopped mid leap by the new halter), and Kíli glowered until Fíli tugged him close and kissed it away.