notanightlight:

Sometimes it seemed like there wasn’t enough time to think during the day, much less relax.

Gimli had almost forgotten what it was like to not have a deadline hanging over his head. He was grateful for the internship at Narvi Architects, especially when it would lead to a full time job in only a year’s time, but being low man on the totem pole meant the least pleasant jobs. It had been after ten at the earliest when he’d been able to leave the firm every day of the last two weeks.

By the time he got home most nights all he really had the energy to do was flop in bed. Sometimes he would wake up when Legolas slipped into bed after his shift tending bar at the Greenwood Tavern, but more often than not he only woke briefly when the alarm went off the next morning and he wished Legolas a good day. Then he would curl up around the still warm pillow, and fall asleep for the crucial half an hour before his own alarm went off. It always hurt to pry himself away from the strange lingering scent that came from someone sleeping there who worked days in a bakery and nights at a bar.

It was tough to see so little of each other everyday while trying to still keep their spirits up at work. Gimli couldn’t fault Legolas for working two jobs. He knew he was saving up to open a bakery of his own someday. It wasn’t like Gimli was much better, seeing as he spent most of his weekends working on designs from his laptop. At least they still made a point to grab lunch with each other at least three times a week.

So when Gimli unexpectedly found both Legolas and himself with a day off one Tuesday, he was quite understandably at a loss with what to do. It felt a bit like his brain was trying to reboot and readjust to the idea of free time. Thankfully, Legolas appeared to have a plan.

Gimli woke up to the smell of baking bread instead of a blaring alarm and shuffled into the kitchen to find his boyfriend singing as he pulled a loaf of bread out of the oven, rolls already cooling on baking racks.

Legolas greeted him with a peck on the cheek and instructions to go get cleaned up while he finished in the kitchen.

After a relaxing shower Gimli shrugged on one of his favorite t-shirts and met Legolas in the kitchen. Legolas handed him a breakfast roll and finished packing slices of bread into his drawstring backpack before dragging Gimli outside.

There at the bottom of the stairs were the old bicycles from their college days.

The day that followed felt almost dreamlike in quality.

They biked to the market place and filled up Legolas’s backpack with cheeses, meats, and produce the kind of quality they just couldn’t get in the groceries. After that they went through the arts district, stopping to take silly photos with some statues outside the art museum and check out some of the smaller shops and galleries. Gimli even bought a new set of drafting pencils.

Afterwards they simply biked down whatever street looked interesting. They ran into a few friends at the corner of Lake ave. and High st. And stopped to listen to some street performers on East Bree st.

Finally they came to a park overlooking the lake and stopped to rest and have a bite to eat. As they sat munching on sandwiches made courtesy of their finds in the market and Legolas’s bread (his great aunt Galadriel’s recipe, Gimli recognized) and watching the sailboats on the lake Gimli couldn’t imagine a more perfect day.

“We should find time for this more often,” Gimli said.

Legolas turned to give him a smile.

“What,” he asked, “Bike riding on a Tuesday?”

“Exactly,” Gimli replied, finishing his sandwich, “Why not?”

Legolas chuckled to himself and flopped down onto his back.

“You know what? I think that’s a great idea.”

It wasn’t easy to manage, but they found a way to set aside at least one Tuesday a month for a bike ride around the city. And the best memories of their toughest year were made coasting down the streets on their bikes.

End.

(Thank you for the prompt! If you have any 5 word prompts let me know!)