Hello lovelies! I'm back! I don't think you expected such a story out of me, at least in this genre with this pairing. Those who are already following me I hope I don't disappoint. I just wanted more time spent on this couple. I hope I do a good job of portraying them. Happy reading! Good to be sort of back to writing! Wooo!

XXOXXO

After Tauriel left the steps next to his cell, Kili laid down on the cold stone that served as a bed and brought his token up to his face, looking up at it in the dim light of the small space around him. The stone caught what little light it could to put a shine upon the smooth stone. He found himself surprised that he had enjoyed the she-elf's company and how he had talked so candidly with her after having known her for such a short time. Her manner was unlike the other elves of the elven city. She was haughty, much like other elves, and seemed to have some manner of secret that he associated with elvenkind.

His uncle would not have spoken to her like he had. Thorin hated elves and he had good reason to. Kili also had a good reason to dislike elves, and for the most part, the dark haired dwarf wasn't fond of them. Kili placed the stone back into his clothes and closed his eyes. If they were going to be delayed, there was no use being tired for when they got out of the sylvan city. Someone else would think of a plan, for now he would rest.

Xx0xx

The next day consisted of armed guards patrolling the prison cells and the voices of agitated dwarves coming up with plans of escape and being shot down by his other companions.

"You know, you could lie to the elf, Thorin." Oin commented.

"No."

"Well…"

"No." Thorin's voice brooked no argument and the dwarves let out a collective sigh.

"We are going to be stuck here forever."

Kili couldn't tell whose voice that was but he was tired of staring out of bars and pacing back and forth in his tiny cell. He was tired of talking in hushed voices and watching snobby elves pass by his cell, looking at him like something unsavory that had been stuck to their boots. He wanted to take a swing at every single one he saw.

Food was brought in the morning; or rather what he guessed was morning. It was a meal consisting of bread, water and a small piece of cheese. At least they weren't exactly starving them, but it was close. He was chewing on the last bit of his cheese when a shadow fell over his cell and a familiar presence made him look up to find red hair framing the she-elf that he had spoken to last night. She gave him a quiet perusal before stepping away from his cell onto the next.

Kili resisted the urge to call out for her to come back watching as the one bit of entertainment he might have had disappeared from his sight. Of course she would go, I mean, he was a dwarven prisoner and she was, from what he had gathered, Captain of the guard. She had better things to do than talk to the fallen prince who was her prisoner. Kili went back to chewing on the barely edible cheese and his mind set to work attempting to figure out a plan to get out of here, because he was going to die of boredom long before they starved him to death.

Xx0xx

Tauriel made her way back to the dwarven prisoners, relieving her subordinate of guard duty as she took up her evening post. Elves did not require much sleep, but the tedious job of guard duty exhausted one as much as a day of border patrols for a different reason. She proceeded to walk among the cells once again as she had the day before, taking a head count of them. The fallen king, Thorin looked at her with contempt as she passed his cell. Thranduil would not release them without getting what he desired, and he always got what he wanted eventually. She thought back to their earlier encounter. No lowly Sylvan elf would ever marry, let alone court a prince. Although it had bothered the she-elf, it was not less than what she expected from him. Rank means everything.

As she passed by another cell she was coming upon his cell, the dark haired dwarf, the one she had called tall for his kin and a bit more handsome as well, but she wouldn't ever say that out loud. She stopped in front of his cell again, as she has in the morning and took him in once again. He was tall, and fair for a dwarf and had barely a beard to speak of. He must be rather young in the way of his kin. He looked young, but one could never tell. She herself was over 600 years old, which was a blink of an eye compared to some of her race.

He looked up at her and a grin pulled at the corner of his lip, and she spied a twinkle in his eye. She was about to turn away when curiosity overcame her, "What are you staring at?"

"You." The blunt answer caught her off guard. Elves were rarely blunt about anything and the manner of the dwarf had surprised her.

"And why would you be doing that?"

"You are a fair sight better than the three walls of this tiny room and the stone across the way."

"I thought you dwarves liked stone."

"We do, make no mistake, but we also like gold, silver, iron, gems, and that stone across from us has no form, no inherent beauty to it. It needs to be shaped, chiseled, given form. " He explained, waving across the way.

"Beauty?" Tauriel questioned. "Stone lives, but metal such as cold iron I have found has no life within, it is cold and feels nothing, only to be used as a weapon to destroy life."

Kili chuckled, thinking that this conversation seemed to mirror the one that they had the previous night, "No, metal is warm, bright, and can be shaped into beautiful works of art, even the coldest metal will shine, much like your stars. Any stone, gem, metal or the like can be shaped into a thing of wonder and beauty."

Tauriel too, observed the similarities between the last night and tonight now. "Iron and starlight is such a lofty goal for such short men."

"Master smiths can shape stars into metal, so that it glows like none other." Kili ignored the quip about dwarvish height.

"You assume that starlight can be harnessed into cold steel?"

"You assume it can't?" Kili asked her with another half-grin. "How very elven of you to think that dwarves can't do such things with the stars."

"Making assumptions about my race are you?" She arched a brow at him.

"Observations." Kili held up his hands in surrender, "Just an observation my lady."

"Well you can keep your observations to yourself." She chided him and couldn't help but return the young dwarf's gesture. She smothered the grin before it could take over much of her mouth as it the corner of it twitched. She turned away from him and completed her round before taking up residence at the entrance of the hall. One of the other dwarves, a blonde with a short beard, was staring at her with suspion. She ignored his stare and took a deep breath, settling in for the long night ahead.

Above her, the elven prince watch with wary eyes, looking down at Kili with disapproval and contempt as he spied the dwarf sitting at the bars watching Tauriel for a time. The dark hair disappeared from the gate of his cell as he retreated back a few minutes later. He would have to watch them carefully. Very carefully.

XXOXXO

Well, that was something my brain wanted to get out desperately. The Dwarves were elvish prisoners for a lot more nights than just one that they portrayed in the movie. And I think that the romance, although sweet was a little unrealistic. One night with someone wouldn't be enough. So here's a lot of fluff and some more relationship building. They needed to have spent a little more time on them in the movies because that relationship had a lot of potential. So. I expect this to be only a few chapters long but who knows where my muses will take me.

Thank you for your readership and it is great to be back. Tell me what you think!