Chapter 4
Orange and brown leaves were dancing on the wind, the whisper of their silent song echoing in the twilight. Darkness would soon come and envelope their lively colours, putting them to sleep until the new sun rises.
Kili was in his room, silently watching the fading red light on the horizon through branches of trees. Far far away was the West where the sun sets, where the grey seas lie and the ending of the world is near.
Only light, save from that of the sun, came from his lit cigarette. He inhaled the burning smoke deeply and knew he would regret one day his enjoying of a good leaf. But the real question was, could a true Son of Durin even dream of dying of lung cancer further along the way, in old age and surrounded by family? Half of his family met their end on the edge of a blade or the pierce of a bullet.
Would he dare to hope he would live so long that the actual carcinogenic shit from cigarette-smoke would kill him?
When the inhaled smoke started burning his lungs with increased ferocity, he coughed and remembered to breathe.
His breathing patterns wouldn't even be questionable if he wasn't thinking of such stupidities.
But again, he had more on his mind than he wanted. He had more on his mind than he could handle at the moment.
Sigrid was being threatened. By that orcish scum Bolg.
Whispers reached him about some increased activity in the North.
Legolas shared with Fili his father's information about recent activity in Southern Mirkwood.
And in the middle of all of that, Thorin suspected Mordor was waking up again.
Son of a bitch. All fronts were waking up. Well, not exactly all. Those evil folk they've been dealing with for as long as anyone could remember were all linked somehow to Mordor. Smaug, Azog, Bolg, all of their alive and dead spawns were only small figurines led by a greater master.
He rolled his head on his shoulders, stretching the muscles of his neck. This shit was getting serious.
He turned on his heel and headed towards the living-room. Sig was curled up in a chair in the corner, a large pile of papers stacked on the table in front of her.
Shit, medieval art history, they had a test in a couple of days. Mind those people who thought taking art classes meant only senseless drabbling.
Fili was on the sofa, a picture of peace and serenity, a beer in his hand and a cigarette in the other. His bare feet were crossed on the small table in front of the sofa. The game was on, so naturally, Gimli was sitting next to him, angry as hell because the team he had a bet on was obviously losing. And Ori, poor Ori was nowhere to be seen.
He approached Sigrid and took a place on a chair next to hers. She lifted her eyes and smiled when she met his gaze. He brought a hand around her shoulders and pulled her closer, bumping his forehead against her curls. She was out of her depth, he felt it, but she was too grateful to say a word against anything concerning their new living arrangement.
"You should've told me, Sig." He whispered softly in her hair. The said matter was not mentioned between them at all, not since Fili told him what had really happened. During dinner they didn't speak of it and Kili simply didn't want to press. She sighed sadly and leaned in closer.
"You would've come and get your sorry arse killed." She murmured.
"Damn right I would." Kili laughed.
A fist punched his ribs not so lightly and he winced.
"Idiot." The lady murmured, but with a hint of humour.
He ruffled her hair and she slapped the back of his head.
"Here's the Sigrid we all know and love." Kili laughed. Sigrid blushed and smiled, and blushed even more when her eyes met Fili's, who turned his head and winked at her.
You're both idiots, Kili thought. He could see where all that was slowly leading. He could read his brother's mind like a book. Only he hoped his best friend, actually more of a sister than a best friend, would not get hurt. But he decided not to interfere for now. Nothing was happening, after all. Of course, he surely would kick Fili's arse in advance, just in case.
Ori choose that moment to join them, carrying a tray with beer bottles for everyone.
"Ori, my love, my sunshine!" Gimli cried and bumped his forehead against Ori's when he got his beer.
After a while, when everyone got their share of fermented goods, Ori joined the two of them at the table. He started talking with Sigrid and blushing beet red in the process. Kili smiled widely. One just had to love Ori. He was like a precious little brother to all of them.
He looked around and saw his happy little family. In that hour, all was well. Never mind the darkness threatening to overrun them. When they were together, all was well.
The pale morning sky was free of clouds, but the wind raged mercilessly. Kili and Sigrid arrived a bit early and the uni was still mostly empty. Everyone rushed to get off the windy yard. He parked his Harley in the usual place and took off his helmet. Both himself and Sigrid were wearing heavy leather jackets with the unmistakable MC sigil at the back. Fili almost tripped over his feet to offer Sig his jacket as fast as he could. Kili almost bit through his tongue while trying not to laugh out loud.
Now they were in the yard, Sigrid still a bit blushed (damn that girl and her crush). Following the others' example, they decided to get inside as fast as they could.
The hallway was considerably warmer than the ninth circle of hell outside. Kili screamed internally for being so damn happy only the day before about autumn weather. He should've remembered he lived in godforsaken Dale. Not that Erebor was any better.
At this time of year, every place surrounding the Lonely Mountain was at its mercy. Meteorologists from all over Middle-Earth agreed- the weather around the Lonely Mountain had a will of its own. On days like these, he would gladly move to those damn trees on the south. He nearly stopped in his tracks. South. Trees. Mirkwood. Legolas. Tauriel.
Damn.
A weird warmth spread through him as soon as her name entered his mind. Probably because the name itself was shortly followed by a face. And those eyes, eyes greener than any emerald he had ever seen.
Damn.
Kid. Snap out of it. You're screwed.
And screwed he was. There she was, in front of him. All of the sudden. He stopped dead in his tracks and Sigrid bumped into him. Her hand was tangled around his bicep, they usually walked that way around. But now, Kili wanted nothing more than to show Sig ten feet away.
Tauriel met his eyes and immediately saw Sigrid standing there, who was obviously irritated because she couldn't see why Kili stopped so suddenly as if he ran into a brick wall. Then she followed his gaze and found the reason why and bit her lip. Kili Durin, damn you. She thought, fighting really hard to suppress the growing smile.
Kili stood still for a second longer before he broke into a grin.
"Tauriel." He said warmly, his voice only slightly giving away his surprise. "Hi."
She smiled for a second, then looked briefly to the floor. Her eyes met his again and she greeted him back while the slightest blush warmed her cheeks.
Kili's grin grew even wider and Sigrid was seriously worried about the state his facial muscles. She slapped lightly his shoulder twice and left towards the classroom. Kili realized she was deliberately giving them space, and was once again eternally grateful for her existence and their everlasting friendship.
He came closer to Tauriel and her blush intensified.
Dammit, woman. That rosy colour on her prominent cheekbones was definitely driving him crazy.
"It turns out it's not that hard to run into you after all." He said softly.
Tauriel chuckled. "Yes, of all the times you could have..."
"I saw you for the first time standing at my door. Curious, indeed."
Tauriel smiled. "Who knows how many times you've seen me and haven't noticed."
His eyes widened and the words left his mouth before he could think them over. "I could never forget a beauty like you, believe me..."
Tauriel had to break their eye-contact and look down. She was certain her cheeks were as red as the colour red goes because her whole face was warm. She met his gaze again and felt something akin to those damn butterflies in her stomach. He really was remarkably handsome. Even in his heavy leather biker jacket and his hair pulled in a bun, a few wild curly strands framing his face. Even snuggled close to another girl... Who was she? What was she to him? Who...
But the way he was looking at her and that damn smile of his scared away any thoughts of the beautiful blonde at his side. He was so...
And again, she felt like an idiot because she shouldn't feel like that. She simply shouldn't. Not after... not after all that had happened. Or... or should she? Could she?
Could she still lead a normal life? Could she still look at a hot guy and want something with him, something more?
Damn, those weren't the right questions to ask oneself in the middle of the hallway when the said hot guy was standing right in front of you, clearly realizing something was off.
She quickly smiled a small smile and apologized.
"I'm terribly sorry, but I have to hurry. My class is on the whole different side and I'll be late if..." Great, now she couldn't even look him in the eyes for so long.
He smiled nevertheless, her "weird" behaviour obviously not bothering him, not in the slightest.
"Yes, of course." He shifted his weight. "Look, I was wondering..."
Before the words could even leave his mouth, angry face with damn blond hair wandered into his mind. Legolas. He'd kill him. Surely.
He specifically forbade him from seeing her.
But what the hell, she had not left his mind from the moment he first saw her. There was an undeniable connection between them, something he didn't, couldn't understand, and something he quite willingly didn't want to understand.
Arda was full of magic, the land crafted by the gods so long ago still bore signs of its magical and mythical history. And he was a Son of Durin. One of the oldest families in Middle-Earth, one said to be a descendant of the dwarves of the First Ages, thousands and thousands of years ago.
Why was he telling that to himself? Because they had an old family saying.
We are stone.
As their dwarven ancestors who died out more than a few thousand years ago, they too were descended from stone itself. The legends and myths told of the creation of the first Seven Fathers of dwarves, one of them being Durin whose name they still bore.
Despite not being dwarves, but humans, they were still of a shorter stature. And they still had their Mountain, their gems and gold. Their blood still ran as hot as a dwarven forge.
We are stone.
Why did it matter? Because his blood boiled. His heart ached. And when a true Son of Durin wants something with all his heart, there was no rule, no barrier to stop him.
And even more, he could take that bloody elf twig in a fight, sure he could.
"Would you like to grab a drink sometime later?"
Only seconds passed to Tauriel, but for him... it seemed like reliving half the fucking history of Arda at once.
She finally smiled. "Yes." She barely breathed out the word.
Those butterflies in her stomach made her want to run like an idiot three times around the uni, but she was frozen still. Could it really be happening? He? Kili Durin was asking her to... grab a drink? His grin nearly melted her insides.
He, on the other hand, felt just the same. And while he was ordering himself to digest those fucking butterflies before puking them out, he asked if she wanted to meet him at the same place, lunchtime.
"Of course. Lunchtime..." She smiled. At that point, she was seriously worried she'd be the first person to truly spontaneously self-combust. Well, at least the uni'd get some credit, what the hell.
He nodded and said bye, and then he walked in the opposite direction without initiating any kind of a physical contact. She almost started bleeding internally when she realized she was actually disappointed.
What the fuck?
She wanted him to... To what? Touch her hand? Kiss her on the cheek? What?
Her face was that of literal horror when she realized that she actually wanted him to grab her and kiss her senseless.
There was a hot pang in her chest that turned into a growing hole, and suddenly she had trouble catching her breath. She struggled for a few seconds, leaning on the wall in the process.
When she finally recovered from the first and thankfully mild panic attach she had in years, she was forever grateful that the hallway was truly nearly empty.
And then she reminded herself to better catch her breath and run towards the damn classroom, or she'd be late.
AN: My dear readers and followers, here it is! A new chapter after such lenghty absence! I'm sorry for not uploading sooner, but I had a lot of work to do!
Anyway, I hope you like this chapter and I'd be forever grateful if you left a review!
Thank you!
Cheers!