"But what if she doesn't like purple?"

"Kili..."

"No, I'm serious! Oh damn I'll have to change I can't go out looking like this she'll think I'm a total idiot!"

"We're literally going out any minut-"

"She's going to look so flawless and Princey be all sparkly and perfect as well oh god this was a mistake why do I have to be here?"

This kind of behaviour from the princes of Erebor had been going on like this for the best part of an hour, and frankly, Fili had had enough. This was an important diplomatic meeting between the woodland realm and The Mountain kingdom and Kili risked seriously messing it up because he had that a certain fiery haired elf maiden would be present.

"Kili." He turned to his brother, grasping him firmly by the shoulders. "You could show up with your hair a mess, mud in your face and in a tattered sack and she would still look at you like you were the most precious gem in all the land so please pull yourself together okay?" He have his shoulder a reassuring squeeze. "Just listen to uncle and stay quiet okay? You've got this."

Kili let out a breath he didn't know he's been holding and nodded. "You're right. Of course you are. Okay, okay, I'm calm, I'm good, let's do this."

The meeting went without a hitch. It mostly consisted of Thranduil and Thorin arguing, Legolas looking like he had eaten a sour grape, Fili managing to eventually calm the situation and get the treaty signed, and Kili and Tauriel trying to hide the longing glances and secret smiles. They didn't do this very well but luckily only Fili wasn't distracted enough to notice them.

When the meeting was over, the elves left for their guest quarters in Dale (Mahal forbid they should stay in the mountain) and Fili let out a sigh of relief, thinking the whole debacle to be over.

Far from it.

As it turns out, Tauriel had managed to pass Kili a note, asking him to meet her at midnight, between Dale and Erebor. So that meant that Kili had to go laden with gifts for his elf maiden. Obviously.

Three hours into their search for the perfect gift, Kili flopped onto a pile of gold coins and put his head in his hands. "This is HOPELESS" he whined.

Fili sat down next to him, nudging his shoulder. "Hopeless is a bit dramatic! Y'just need to think about this from a different angle..."

Kili looked up and sighed. "I'm no good at that Fí... All I want to do is find the perfect gift that she will love and keep forever but that's so hard! What do you get a girl who is already perfect?!"

"Well," Fili was struck with an idea, "What does she like?"

"Aside from killing orcs and giant spiders? I guess her favourite thing is to walk under the stars... She loves stars... And she gets this adorable glint in her eye when she describes them and then she blushes and the tips of her ears god pink and it's just adora-"

He was cut off by Fili whacking him over the head with a silver plate. "OW!" He moaned, rubbing his head and pouting a little. "Fí that hurt!"

"Well you were getting off topic!" The older dwarf responded, getting to his feet. "But I think I know exactly what Tauriel would like as a gift! Come on, up you get!"

-

"Oh Kili it's beautiful!" Tauriel gushed as she knelt to let him clasp the opal pendant round her neck.

"I thought you'd like it! Because when the light hits it just right, it looks like you've got a star round y'neck! So even when y'stuck in that forest, you've always got some starlight with ya!" He beamed, admiring the way the trinket sat perfectly on her smooth skin, and how that dreamy twinkle had entered her eyes again. She grinned and planted a small kiss on his forehead.

"I simply adore it!" She grinned, and now it was his turn to blush, which garnered a giggle from the she-elf.

Fili watched all this from a secluded area, a few feet from the pair. He couldn't help but laugh to himself. He knew that Tauriel would love the necklace, if what Kili had described was indeed the truth, and had carefully instructed him what to say, so that he wouldn't mess it up. His brothers heart was in the right place, but sometimes he just needed that extra push, and Fili was glad that he was around to do that for him. The grin on Kilis face as he and Tauriel discussed whatever it was they talked about during these illicit meetings was worth it. Taking one last look at the happy pair he smiled, and turned back towards the mountain. Kili could take it from here.