Fic Rec Fridays 2020 - part 19

Small Comfort (3461 words) by Roselightfairy
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: The Lord of the Rings - J. R. R. Tolkien
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Relationships: Gimli (Son of Glóin) & Legolas Greenleaf
Characters: Gimli (Son of Glóin), Legolas Greenleaf
Additional Tags: Sleep Deprivation, missing moment, Enemies to Friends, kind of, elf sleep, Grief/Mourning, Memories of Battle
Summary:

Legolas has not slept in over a month; has not even so much as dreamed in days. The horrors of their travel through Moria feel like a hallucination – or a nightmare – and now that they have arrived in Lothlórien, he knows there is nothing else for it but to slip away to rest.

Grief-stricken by the loss of his kin and the ruin of Khazad-dûm, Gimli too excuses himself from the Fellowship as soon as he can manage, seeking solitude. But when he stumbles upon one of his companions fast asleep in the forest, he cannot justify leaving him without a guard.

---

There’s always room for one more story about what pushed these two from barely civil to bosom friends under the eaves of Lothlórien.

This particular gap-filler is an engaging, atmospheric little tale built on an intriguing piece of headcanon - or imaginative interpretation - that’s been floating around the fandom for a while, layered with solid character insight and sprinkled with moments of unexpected humour.

Here, shared grief and shared trust are laid out as the cornerstones of a great friendship, and that is no small comfort in any sort of dark times.