Brothers in Arms and in Heart
Kili woke up slowly, feeling groggy and confused. He had no idea where he was or what had happened. The last thing he remembered was Thorin telling him that he couldn't come with them, that he couldn't be a part of reclaiming their home...
And then he thought that... no. That couldn't be possible...
"Kili?"
Kili tried to get his eyes to open, tried to get his body to cooperate with him. His eyelids fluttered uselessly for a few moments before he got a glimpse of daylight.
"Kili!"
He recognised the voice as his brother's. Oh... Right. Fili had stayed with him. Thorin had told him to stay... had told him to leave Kili be. But with the tenacity of themselves as brothers, and as dwarves, Fili had refused and had joined him. And then... Bofur, maybe? Why couldn't he remember what had happened after that?
Slowly, he managed to coax his eyes open. The worried face of his brother swam into view and it took Kili a few times in blinking to make out the worry in Fili's eyes.
"Kili. How are you feeling?" Fili asked.
Kili blinked slowly again, roughly, trying to clear his vision and clear his head. His entire body ached. His leg... The arrow. That had hurt, had hurt worse as they continued to walk... and then the Bard's house (is that where they were now?), where he'd been dizzy and nauseous and all other symptoms that he wouldn't bring voice to.
"What happened...?" he mumbled.
"The arrow that the Orc hit you with... It was poisoned," Kili said, getting to his feet. "And you passed out and started thrashing about. Writhing in pain. Here, have some water."
Fili helped him sit up enough, much to his chagrin, so he could take a drink of water. "Oh... ow." He flopped back down, wincing as small objects dug into his pounding skull. He turned his head slightly, a frown twisting his lips down. "Why am I sleeping on a bag of nuts...?"
Fili raised his eyebrows. "Because you fell off the bed, brother."
"Ugh..." He turned his head away, pushing the bag away weakly. "Get them away."
"You're in no position to be making demands," Fili said.
"I'm not in much of a position to do anything else except make demands," Kili retorted. "But... What day is it?" he murmured, settling his head back onto the cleared table. "Have the others come back...?"
"It's just the day after they left. There was an Orc attack... do you remember?"
"Stinking breath and an excess of grunting?" Kili asked, smiling faintly. "How could I forget?"
"Because you were rolling around on the floor, screaming in pain?" Fili asked, the slightest edge of a brother's teasing slipping into his voice.
"Oi, if it weren't for me, you would have been barrel riding right back to the elves!" Kili protested, shifting uncomfortably on the table.
Suddenly, he realised... remembered. The elves. He could have sworn that he had seen...
"Tauriel..."
"What's that?" Fili asked.
"I thought... no," he murmured. "Nothing, brother. It must have been a dream..."
But it had been so realistic... So potent. Like Tauriel had been right there, in the room with him, holding his hand... It had been so real.
Kili flexed his fingers, curling his fingers into an empty palm.
"Kili?"
Kili looked away from the ceiling and tilted his head towards Fili. "Sorry, what was that?"
Fili frowned. "You never did tell me how you were feeling, Kili."
Kili waved his hand dismissively. "I'll be fine," he muttered. "Although... if you're the one taking care of me, I'm surprised I'm not dead and festering." He grinned weakly up at Fili.
Fili rolled his eyes. "Yeah, just shut your pie hole if you don't want more aches and pains to go with that. You look even worse than usual."
"Oh, shut up." Kili struggled to sit up. Fili was there immediately, gripping his arm. "I want to go back to bed. Laying on a table... What am I? Common pork?"
Fili offered his arm. "Allow me to escort you, my Princess."
Kili shoved his brother's shoulder, but did take his arm. It wasn't as if he could walk on his own right now and, of all the people on this journey, Fili would always be the one he trusted the most. "Shove off," he griped, although fell onto the bed immediately. "You think the others have found the dragon?" he asked, looking up at his brother.
Fili shrugged. "Haven't the faintest."
Kili grunted and rolled onto his side. "You should have gone with them."
"No, I shouldn't. Thorin should have let you go."
Kili sighed. "You still should have gone with them."
"No, I shouldn't have," Fili repeated. "We're brothers. My place will always be by your side."
Kili rolled his eyes. "Oh, nice. I'll remind you that when you're bemoaning that the Company won't give you your share of gold."
Fili grinned. "Hey, they'll give you extra to make up for the injuries sustained to your bum leg due to the journey and I'll just knick it off of you."
"I do not have a bum leg," Kili retorted. "It's just temporarily out of order."
Fili snorted. "Yeah, right."
Kili sighed in contentedness as he settled down against the blankets and pillow. "I wonder how they fare..."
No more than had he said this, the entire house began to shake. Fili's gaze snapped towards the window and Kili struggled to prop himself up, dust cascading down from the ceiling.
"It's coming from the mountain!"
Kili looked up at Fili, raising his eyebrows.
"I think they found the dragon," Fili said.
"I think they found the dragon," Kili echoed.
They looked away from each other and back to the window, dissolving into silence that was not wholly comfortable.
No matter what was happening, come riches or raining fire, they'd stand by each other throughout it. They would forever be a part of Thorin and Company... whether in person or spirit, it hardly mattered now.
These boys are difficult to write. xD I love them greatly but they're difficult to write. I would love to see this moment in the third movie, though. Not that I think they'll have time after everything else they have yet to do. But that's why I write. :p
I do not own The Hobbit. Thank you!