Requested by charsid on tumblr!
Features some background Bard/Thranduil and Elrond/Celebrian.
The Dare
"I'm bored," Fíli announced.
"We've only been here an hour," Kíli said. "You can't be bored already!"
"Do you want another drink, Fíli?" Bofur suggested, lifting his own glass speculatively.
Fíli grunted. "Not really. Let's go do something, we've been at this bar long enough."
"It's Saturday, let's just relax," Kíli said. "Come on Fíli! We don't need to do anything."
He shrugged. "Alright. But I'm still bored."
"You're insufferable." Bofur grinned at him. "Come on, Fíli."
"Let's play a game," Kíli said. "Truth or dare?"
"We're adults, Kí, not high schoolers," Fíli protested.
"What will satisfy you?" Bofur asked. "There's people all around us in this bar—let's play I Spy! I Spy with my little eye, someone with earrings!"
"That guy over there?" Kíli guessed, pointing to a sad-looking man hunched over his drink with morose frown. He small studs in his ears.
Fíli laughed. "Truth or dare would be better than this!"
"Fine, then," Bofur said. "No, it was that lady over there, Kíli." He pointed to a blonde with dangly gold earrings. She was talking animatedly with a tall young man who looked at her like he was in love.
"Aw," Kíli said. "Not even close."
Fíli patted his arm comfortingly. "What were you saying, Bofur?" he asked.
"Right," Bofur began. "Why don't we play a different kind of game? You ought to find this one interesting, Fíli."
"Shoot." Fíli stuck his feet up on the table, tilting his chair backwards with his hands behind his head. "Just so long as it's not some middle school game."
"Okay, so," Bofur said, leaning in. "Fíli, get your feet off the table." He beckoned for Kíli to lean in as well. Grumbling, Fíli joined the little conspiracy circle.
"So," Bofur said again. "Here's how it works: we all agree to play the game, each of us, okay? You all agree?"
"I'd like to know what the game is first," Fíli said.
"No, you gotta agree first," Bofur insisted.
"I don't like the sound of this," he grumbled.
"I'm in," Kíli said with a grin. "I like surprises."
"Come on, Fíli," Bofur wheedled. "You said you were bored."
"Oh, what the hell." Fíli sighed. "Alright, I'll do it."
"Good." Bofur grinned. "The game—well it's more like a dare—is this: the next three people to walk into this bar, we each have to flirt with. I'll go first, then Fíli, then Kíli."
"I regret this decision already," Fíli said with a groan.
"That's not fair, Bofur!" Kíli protested. "You'll flirt with anything on two legs! I'm not—"
"You agreed!" Bofur said. "Look, here someone comes. I'll show you two how it's done."
As the door opened, he puffed up his chest and strode over to greet the newcomer. Fíli groaned, shaking his head. The secondhand embarrassment was too strong already, just watching, and Bofur hadn't even started talking yet.
When he saw who it was, though, he couldn't help but laugh.
"Is that—Thranduil?" Kíli said to his brother in a strangled whisper.
"Oh my God, it is," Fíli whispered back. Thranduil was a recognized businessman, the bitter rival of his and Kíli's Uncle Thorin's own company. This would be...interesting to watch.
"Hello, good sir," Bofur said, sidling up to the much taller Thranduil. "You look mighty fine today."
Thranduil glanced down at scruffy, smiling Bofur, clearly unimpressed. He raised one eyebrow and crossed his arms. "What do you want?"
"You affection, sweetie," Bofur said, winking. "You seem like the kind of man I—"
"I'm afraid you're mistaken," Thranduil said coldly, cutting him off. "Besides—you're out of luck. I came here to meet my boyfriend." He strode past the open-mouthed Bofur and over to the sad-looking man with the anchor tattoo. The man brightened considerably and met Thranduil with a kiss.
Bofur shrugged. "Good day to you, then!" he called over to Thranduil. Fíli laughed, exchanging a glance with his brother.
Bofur walked back over to them. "See? It's easy. It's not like I'm expecting you to marry the person—that guy was clearly taken already—but just give it a short. It's certainly not boring." He grinned at Fíli.
Fíli shook his head. "I can't believe I'm doing this," he groaned as he got to his feet.
"Come on, Fí," Kíli urged. "Look, someone's coming! It's your turn!"
Fíli sighed and got up from his chair. As the woman walked inside, he quickly crossed over to her. Might as well get this over with, he thought.
This was not someone he recognized. The lady was rather beautiful, he noticed. She had long blonde hair and striking blue eyes. She was very tall. (Maybe she was related to Thranduil, they had similar characteristics. But as she looked right past him without a flicker of recognition he rather doubted it.)
She was also way too old for him. At least Thranduil and Bofur had been within the same age range, with Bofur being in his thirties and Thranduil only a bit older than that. This woman was middle-aged, and here was, in his early twenties.
"Hey," he said, feeling incredibly awkward. He was not a good flirt. "You look gorgeous."
The woman looked down at him in amusement. "Why thank you, dear. But I must say...you're a little young for me. My daughter might find you more interesting."
Fíli flushed. "I'm sorry," he said, backing away. "I mean—it was—"
"No worries," she said, patting his shoulder with a smirk. She walked over to the young blonde from earlier, the one Bofur had used in his short-lived game of I Spy. "Celebrían, dear, I know you're having fun with your boyfriend, but your father and I have been planning this lunch for a while. Don't make us reschedule."
Fíli watched in amazement as the girl nodded, suddenly obedient. "Bye, Elrond," she said with a sigh to the tall young man. He waved at her and nodded to her mother.
"Bye, Celebrían," he said. "It's nice to see you, Ms. Galadriel."
The woman—Galadriel—nodded to him. "Yes. I'll see you at dinner on Tuesday?"
"Of course, ma'am," the man said.
Galadriel and her daughter walked back over to the bar's exit and entrance. Celebrían waved goodbye to her boyfriend one more time, and didn't notice her mother winking at Fíli as the two of them left.
Fíli blushed, but he laughed at himself along with Bofur and Kíli when he got back to the table.
"Could you have been any more awkward?" Kíli said between giggles.
"I'd like to see you try," Fíli retorted. "It's your turn next, remember."
"I'm prepared," Kíli said. "I looked up pick up lines and everything."
"Just hope your person isn't an old guy or something," Bofur said. "Maybe yours won't already be taken!"
"This will be great," Fíli said. "Look—they're here!"
Tauriel had had a very long day. Work had been stressful, she'd nearly lost her keys, and to top it off, she'd just found out that her friend Legolas had something come up and he'd been forced to cancel lunch with her tomorrow. Now, after she'd finally got off work, she had decided to drop in to a local bar for a drink. She needed one.
What she did not need—or expect—was to be instantly accosted by an (admittedly attractive) stranger the moment she walked into the bar. He was a bit shorter than her, rather chubby, and very cute. He walked straight up to her with a cheeky but endearing smile on his face, and before she had a chance to greet him, he said quickly, "Hey baby, was your father a thief? Because someone stole the stars from the sky and put them in your eyes!"
Shocked by his forwardness, Tauriel looked him for a moment, then burst into laughter. At a table nearby, she saw a blond man and a mustachioed one, both watching intently, laughing along with her.
The stranger hesitated. "Oh—you liked that, huh?" he said, seemingly surprised. He scratched his head. "Well! Um...well frankly, I didn't expect to get this far..."
"Thank you for your...compliment, I suppose," Tauriel said after she had recovered from her amusement. "You're rather cute yourself."
The man blushed. He was cute when he was flustered, Tauriel had to admit, though she was still a little wary of strangers. "Oh! Well—hey, I wasn't joking. Your eyes really are dazzling, and you're beautiful all around."
Tauriel laughed again. "Well, this sure changed my day," she said. "I'm Tauriel Gaelen."
"Kíli Durin." He grinned and stuck out his hand. "Want to have a drink with me?"
"Sure, why not?" Tauriel agreed. "My trip here has already gone so differently than I expected, changing it up a bit doesn't seem too odd." This stranger, Kíli, was more polite than most men she met in bars. This conversation ought to be interesting.
As he pulled up a chair for her, she noticed the two men at the other table guffawing with each other.
"Don't mind my brother and my friend," Kíli said as they sat down. "They're just laughing because they couldn't get this far."
"Oh?" she said.
"Yeah. See, Bofur—my friend, the one with the mustache—he had us all do this dare, to flirt with a stranger, and let me just say..."
As he continued, Tauriel smiled. There seemed to be a story behind all this, and he was cute when he told it. Maybe her day wouldn't turn out to be so bad after all.