notanightlight:

And another ficlet done! The structure of this prompt made it interesting one to fit into the narrative. As always, better formatting (and editing) can be found on my AO3, here: http://archiveofourown.org/works/3626280/chapters/17986780

It really was such a simple thing to be causing such trouble. Just a little band of gold. Perfectly crafted, of course, but rather plain to look at. No flashy stones, just a subtle inscription that was only visible if it caught the light just right.

Just one ring.

Of course, it was more than just a ring. It was the weight of it. The meaning of it.

It was going to given Fili and Kili stress dreams for weeks.

“We’ve gotta get it to him somehow,” Kili said, pulling at his hair. The strain in his voice was just barely audible over the general racket of the kitchen.

“I know that,” Fili replied, staring out the kitchen window into the dining room, “but how? They’re almost done with their entrées!”

“Shit, shit, shit, shit!” Kili exclaimed, starting to pace. “What are we gonna do? We’re going to mess everything up and then Gimli is going to hate us forever! Why did he trust us with this?”

Fili grabbed his brother, giving him a good shake to keep him from spiraling further into panic.

“We can do this. As long as Legolas somehow gets the ring, we’re good. We’ll figure something out.”

Kili took a deep, controlled breath.

“Right, just got to get the ring to Legolas. Ok, what if we baked it in a cake?”

“Brilliant!” Fili agreed with a grin. “We’ve got enough time to bake it into a small cake, and then we’ll give it to Legolas for desert. And when he cuts into it, he’ll find the ring and then Gimli can pop the question!”

“Oh, no!” Came Bombur’s voice, loud in the way it only ever got in the kitchen. He brandished a spatula at the two in an effectively threatening manner. “You are not putting any foreign objects in my deserts! I’m not having any customer crack their teeth on my food, and especially not Gimli’s sweetheart.”

Fili and Kíli cringed in unison at the image.

“Ok, good point, Chef. Not in the food,” Fili agreed. “Too easy for it to go wrong, and then Uncle Thorin and Bilbo would fire us.”

Kili cocked his head in a thoughtful manner.

“Though to be fair, it’s a ring, so he couldn’t really choke to death on it.”

“Not the point,” Fili hissed, giving his brother a shove.

The two stiffened, as the sound of a polite little “ahem” behind them. The turned to see Bilbo looking elegant as he always did when it was his night to run the front. His suit tailored and pressed to perfection and not a single, greying hair out of place. He was looking up at them with patiently amused, a small tray with one of the restaurant’s cloth napkins draped over it in one hand.

“If I may,” he said, gesturing at the ring.

Fili and Kili shuffled to the side so Bilbo could pick up the ring, carefully placing it on his tray. With a nod, he glided from the kitchen toward Gimli and Legolas’s table. Fili and Kili watched with rapt attention from where they had crowded into the kitchen door.

Bilbo paused at the table.

“Gentlemen, I believe we have a personally selected special tonight,” he said, presenting the tray to Legolas with a bow, “with our compliments.”

Legolas stared at the ring in shock.

“What? Gimli—”

His hand flew to his mouth as Gimli slid it of his seat and down to one knee.

“Legolas, I have never been happier than when I’m with you. You challenge me to reach new heights and take me on new adventures everyday. I can think of no better way to spend the rest of my life, than next to you. Please, will you do me the honor of marrying me and spending the rest of our days together?”

Without hesitation, Legolas threw himself into Gimli’s arms, chanting “yes, yes, yes!” as he hugged him. Gimli flashed a thumbs-up behind Legolas’s back in the kitchen’s general direction.

Bilbo set the tray, ring and all, onto their table with a grin.

“I’ll just leave this here then, and see about getting you two some desert,” he said, practically unnoticed by the couple, still embracing on the restaurant floor.

Fili gave Kili’s shoulder a squeeze, grinning from ear to ear.

“See? Mission accomplished.”

“Yeah, we should have just trusted Bilbo to be the ring bearer in the first place.”

END.