Author's Note: thanks to all who reviewed or favorited :)
About the promo stuff: I'm inferring most of this, but since the lego sets show Legolas and Tauriel saving the dwarves, I assume that that's how it will run in the film. Sadly...
The next morning, I was awoken by a surprisingly polite tapping on the bars of my lovely little cell. I blinked stupidly for a few moments, then looked up to see Tauriel standing there in the passage, holding a platter of food.
"Good morning," I said, sleepily, while levering myself into a sitting position "No need to stand on ceremony - pull up a patch of floor, and sit yourself down. To what do I owe this honor?"
Tauriel didn't smile - not that I'd been expecting her to, but she unlocked the door and stepped inside, all the while watching me warily. That wasn't really necessary, though. I didn't intend to try anything - what would be the point?
"Here," she said, holding the food out "I thought you might want this."
I took the platter with what I considered a gracious nod, and examined the meal tentatively. Well, it was mainly greens, but there was a bit of meat, and it was in general better stuff than I'd gotten before.
"I take it this is a reward?" I asked, eyeing a couple of leaves of what might be lettuce with apprehension.
"To encourage you, and to show you that by giving me information, you are doing the best thing," said Tauriel, and she almost managed to make it sound true.
"Right," I said, looking longingly at the piece of meat, but conquering my greed "Take all this, then, and give it to my b - to the dwarf you've got locked up just down there. I'm not hungry."
Well, it turns out that elves aren't unshockable at all, and Tauriel's face registered definite surprise.
Hmmm...
"Are you sure?" she asked, taking the platter back, almost reluctantly.
"Absolutely sure," I said, while my stomach rumbled in a traitorous fashion "But while we're on the subject of my friend, there's something I need to ask you."
Tauriel nodded, and looked at me expectantly, while I tried to steel myself to speak. The previous night, after his confession, Kili had, ignoring my violent yells of disbelief, asked me for a further favor.
"Can you chop off a bit of your hair and give it to him?" I asked, and then winced.
Yes, it sounded even stupider when I said it out loud...
"What?" Tauriel said, and for once her voice wasn't fair and musical, it was full of confusion.
"He's - and you must understand that it's torture for me to say this - he's in love with you."
Tauriel's mouth fell open and she gawped at me. I hadn't even known that elves were capable of true gawping, but she managed it.
"In love?" she repeated.
"Yes," I said, grimly "So - what about a bit of your hair?"
"No!" she snapped, her hands flying to her hair as if to make sure that it was all still there "No! He must be mad."
"It's definitely a possibility."
"Well, you can tell your friend that he can just," began Tauriel, before stopping herself, and taking a deep, calming breath "Your companion's mind has evidently been affected by his imprisonment. I suggest that you drop the subject."
Very elaborately phrased, but the message was clearly 'If you don't shut up about this, I'll cut your arms off, dwarf-scum.'
"Fair enough," I said, more than willing to drop the subject, but also keen to find out more about the fates of the other dwarves "I've been meaning to ask - do you sing? I'll bet that you have a very fine voice."
Alright, fine, it was about as obvious as flattery can get, but Tauriel actually seemed complemented, and even smiled a little.
"I am told that I have a talent for music," she said, before her face turned hard and cold again "But what would a dwarf know of that?"
This last comment was so wonderfully ridiculous that I couldn't stop myself from chuckling a little.
"Have you actually met any dwarves before?" I asked, grinning "No one can match us when it comes to singing, or playing music."
Tauriel fell back on her elvish talent for being taciturn, and merely raised her eyebrows in a way that said 'Go on.'
"Listen," I said, casting about for a good song, and finally settling on one of Bofur's favorites "There is an inn; a merry old inn/Beneath an old grey hill..."
It wasn't much of a performance, and I wished that I had my fiddle there with me, or even a drum or something, to round it off, but Tauriel looked a little less stern.
"Who taught you that?" she asked, and I could tell from her sudden look of concentration that she was making note of the words.
"My friend, Bofur," I said "And before you ask, he's not the one who's professing undying love for you, though I'm sure you've got him somewhere down here."
"The one with the flute?"
"Yes," I said, a bit surprised "You didn't take it off him, did you?"
"Of course we did," said Tauriel, shrugging slightly "We were told to take everything from you before we locked you all up."
"You took away his flute?" I said, practically lost for words "Bofur's flute? Do you know how long he's had it for? Anyway, what was he going to do with it? Pick the lock on the door?"
Tauriel had the decency to look a little embarrassed, but she shook her head.
"Orders are orders. I'm sorry," she said, and she actually sounded just a bit sorry, too.
"That's nonsense!" I exclaimed, forgetting to be polite "Give it back to him. Please."
"I will see what I can do," said Tauriel, after a slight pause "If you tell me your name, that is."
I hesitated for a moment, trying to decide what was the best thing to say. Fili was not my true 'inner name' of course, but it was what I was known by, and if any of the elves discovered that I was Thorin Oakenshield's nephew and heir, things might get...
...a tad complicated.
"My name is Gisli," I said, picking a name at random "Son of Leif. At your service."
"I doubt that I'll need it," said Tauriel, but the corners of her mouth twitched a little.
She turned and pushed the cell door open, stepping out, quickly, swinging it prudently shut behind her.
"I will see that your musical friend gets his flute back," she said, looking back at me through the bars "And that your...ill-advisedly amorous friend gets his breakfast."
And then, with uncanny speed, she was gone. I sat still for a moment, running through our conversation in my mind, and then put my head in my hands.
Kili's abnormal feelings for Tauriel, and Tauriel's all around odd elfishness...
I was starting to very seriously consider an escape attempt.