I don't own any characters or plot, or the song. Really, I own nothing. At all.
FROZEN FIRE
It was a cool, breezy night out on the docks. The closed boathouses, repair shops and other such buildings were cold and dark, the wind rattling across the boarded windows. The briny smell of the sea was thick in the air, along with the sound of lapping water against creaking wood stilts.
It was nights like these when Kili was glad not to be at sea. He loved it, he really did, feeling the power of the sea rock his every step, the familiar groans and complaints of the Erebor playing softly in the back of his thoughts. But out here, it was more quiet, more peaceful than it ever got on the ship.
Kili's serenitywas quite rudely interrupted, his heart leaping to choke out his throat, a yelp jerking from him, as a heavy hand landed on his back, nearly sending him stumbling off the platform, into the inky waves.
Just as his balance gave, though, a hand fisted in the back of his shirt, yanking him back to safety. By the time Kili recovered from the shock of a lifetime, and turned to his attackers, his heart was still thudding. He was, of course, entirely unamused (and somewhat unsurprised) to see that his attacker was none other than Bofur, bent in half guwaffing. Behind him was Fili, who didn't even bother to hide his amusement. Kili rolled his eyes, straightening his vest, and reaching up to smooth his hair. "What'dyou want, bastards?"
"Y'sound like a scairt mouse!" Bofur gasped out, still leaning on his knees in laughter.
"Look like one too," Fili added with a smirk at his own cleverness.
Kili rolled his eyes, glad for the relative darkness of the night hiding his heated cheeks. "I might've drowned, you know."
"That's why I caught ye," Bofur assured him, finally clamping his hat back down onto his head, his eyes still twinkling in mirth.
"Let's be getting along, then," Fili urged them, having already composed himself. He hoisted the shining black of his fiddle case. "I'd quite like to make some money tonight."
"Right on," Bofur assented with a nod, happily ambling down the platform that lead to the tavern.
"You should have brought yours," Fili told his brother as he waited for him to catch up.
"Broken string," Kili admitted with a shrug. "Don't be so dead set on making anything tonight though, Fee," he added, a touch of teasing in his tone. "You won't have me there playing with you, I'm not sure you'll do as well as usual."
"I don't need you!" Fili scoffed, aghast. "I'm the better one, anyway."
Kili snorted. "Oh, aye. You'd be nowhere without me charming the lasses into tolerating your playing."
"Charming?" Fili repeated. "Hardly charming."
"What then?" Kili prodded, smoothing his hair back again, as was his habit. "Seducing, perhaps?"
"Frightening, I'd say."
Kili gave his brother a firm swat on the shoulder. "Bastard."
Fili only chuckled in response.
Now, they were getting closer to the tavern. The building was bursting with warm light, noise of laughter and chatter, and the strum of some instrument floated through the air to their ears. Kili shivered when they walked through the open door, as he realized just how cool it had been outside. He should have brought a jacket.
Luckily, though, the tavern was warm enough, and Bofur was already seated at a table by the door, three brimming pints on the table. "C'mon, lads!"
Kili dropped happily into a seat by the man, dragging a tankard across to himself. "You move fast when there's ale involved."
Bofur grinned, and tipped his hat at Kili. "Surprised you didn't know that one already." He followed that with a long swig of ale.
Fili sat down at the table as well, setting his fiddle case down on the tabletop, unlatching it and lifting the lid. In a moment, he had it rested against his ear to hear, and was carefully tuning the strings up. Kili, meanwhile, sat back in his chair, and took in the rest of the tavern. It was certainly fairly busy. Most of the patrons were crowded up at the bar, or the tables near there, though a few chose to sit closer to the back, where an open door lead to the blackness of outside. Near the bar, a middle-aged gentleman cradled some sort of a lute instrument on his lap and was absently plucking out a tune as he listened to the other patrons chatter. "You might watch out brother," Kili advised Fili with a nod towards the other musician. "You've competition."
Fili followed his gaze with a frown as he tightened his bow. "He seems friendly enough. Shouldn't be too much of an issue."
Kili was saved from responding by the fact that his brother was already stood up from the table, carrying his fiddle and bow, picking his way across the tavern to the lutist. Bofur eyed the drink Fili had left, untouched on the table. "Do you think-"
"Have at it," Kili chuckled, not even needing to hear the rest of the question.
Kili and Bofur sat in contended silence, then, soaking in the atmosphere of the whole place. It wasn't a bad tavern, all in all.
After a bit of speaking, the lutist straightened up, and Fili raised his fiddle up into its playing position. Kili recognized the melody being played as soon as it started. It was a pretty thing, though simple. It was likely that the two instrumentalists were just trying to get used to each other.
Well enough, though, the tavern had soon fallen quieter, listening to the two play. Kili closed his eyes with a sigh, letting his mug rest against his chest and the music danced across his ears, his fingers twitching as if they wanted to play along. He should look for another string for his fiddle as soon as possible. It would be nice to be back to playing, even if it was just back on the ship, for an audience of only his ears.
The tavern burst into somewhat drunken applause as the song came to an end, and Kili opened his eyes again to see Fili beaming as the other instrumentalist's hat was passed around the crowd, gathering coins all along the way. By the time the hat returned, they were trying to decide what would be played next. After a few words, the bartender joined in, jerking his head to the side in indication.
Kili's eyes followed this movement to see a lass tucked into one of the corner front tables. She was sat lazily back into her seat, her feet propped up somewhere, her clever, dark eyes skimming lazily over the tavern scene. A sharp shout from the bartender got her attention well enough, and it was only a moment before she was lazily stretching herself into a standing position, sauntering over to the instrumentalists.
Kili found himself wishing he was standing a bit closer to them, as he couldn't hear a word they said, especially over the buzz that had started up the moment the girl was called over. Luckily, this buzz ended soon, as the lutist strummed out the first few chords of the song. A grin twitched at Kili's lips. He recognized this one. Fili had only learned it recently, and Kili was still practicing the bridge, but it was a fun one. As Fili's fiddle joined in the pulsating melody of the lute, the girl seated herself on the edge of the bar top, her legs swinging a bit with the rhythm, fingers tapping as the melody progressed, the fiddle picking up speed.
A hundred days at sea,
A retch away from misery.
Rummies, and rats, and Tarry Jacks,
My only family.
Kili felt a smile twitch at his lips. This girl wasn't bad. Her voice was warm and low, loud enough for the tavern to hear her, but hushed enough that it bore no harshness against his ears.
The island of salvation,
Is still a scream away.
As the lungs of night blow out the light,
My heart kneels down to pray.
A smile was slowly growing across the girl's rosy lips as a few of the men in the front began to clap along with the music.
Oh Lord, why did you take her?
She meant so much to me.
Now, I'm a wretched soul on a privateer,
Drowning out at sea.
I'm killing and I'm drinking
My blue heart to black,
And I swear oh, Lord, I'll never sin again,
If you bring her back!
Kili had to admit, it was a bit funny hearing such a wee lass as the girl was, singing this song, written for wizened old sailors to sing. The girl wasn't shying form it though. She seemed quite comfortable, leaning back on both of her hands, her feet swinging, a smug smirk on her lips, lethargic as a cat, as her voice filled the room.
Gypsy was a siren,
Dripping with desire.
Her moonless hair, and skin so fair,
As warm as frozen fire.
Her tongue practically caressed these words as they left her lips, and Kili could have sworn her eyes met his for just a second as they scrolled about the room. From there out, Kili hardly paid any attention to the song, instead focusing on this increasingly more fascinating girl. The neckline of her loose tunic had slid low on her shoulders, revealing a measure of pale skin and delicate collarbones, marred only by a single scar near the base of the right side of her neck. Her hair was long and wildly wavy, falling in dark brown and gold curls down to the bar top she sat on. Her slender fingers tapped along with the melody of the song, matching the beat of her boots, kicking back into the bar like a drum.
Kili was startled out of his fascinated daze as her gaze met his again, this time lingering for half a moment, before she moved on. Kili felt a thrill go up his spine, like a shiver, and a smile tugged at his mouth.
Press gang filled this Man-o-War,
To make the black mouthed cannon roar.
Now all my trade is ball and blade,
And blood forever more.
And the sting of salt and spray,
The ocean's howl and squall,
A stumbling wreck, I roam the deck,
At the devil's beck and call...
At the devil's beck and call...
The rest of the tavern joined in for the final round of the chorus, but Kili stayed silent, watching the girl with a smile. She was just...fascinating. Everything about her, it seemed.
Fili launched into the last few reels of the melody, and at last, the last few plucked notes on the lute sang out. The tavern burst into either applause, or another drunken howling of the chorus (Bofur opted to join in that). Kili offhandedly clapped for a moment, but kept his gaze fixed on the girl. He wouldn't be letting her go.
He found himself almost drawn to his feet as she slipped out of the front of the tavern shrugging off comments or catcalls as she went. She made a beeline for the back of the tavern, slipping out of the open door and into the darkness beyond. Kili swore, and redoubled his efforts, trying to shove faster through the crowd that had just gotten to their feet.
By the time he made it to the door, he had worked up a bit of a sweat, and was almost positive that the girl was long gone. His luck seemed to hold though, as his eyes adjusted to the darkness of the night outside. This door wasn't an exit, rather a small outcropping dock, railed on every side, looking out across the dark shimmering of the bay. The girl was the only one out there, leaning against the rail facing out to the bay, the wind playing its fingers through her hair, and tugging at the breezy white fabric of her shirt.
Her back was to him, and she'd made no sign of noticing him there, so Kili smoothed a hand through his hair, tugging open the collar of his shirt to show just enough to make most girls weak-kneed, and sauntered out of the doorway. "Gd'evening."
"Evening," she replied softly, her voice washing warm and low over his ears.
Kili made his way over to her side, leaning onto the rail just a few feet from her, letting a smile fall onto his lips. She glanced up to him for a moment, but quickly returned her gaze to the water, seeming to stifle a smile in return.
"Is it?"
This made her look at him a bit longer, though now it was in confusion. Kili hurried to explain. "Your evening, and it's...goodness, that is."
A soft chuckle shook her frame, but she answered, turning her gaze away from him again. "Aye. Well enough."
"Good," Kili sighed. "That was my brother, you know. The one with the fiddle."
"Oh?" the girl prompted, lifting a brow.
"Aye," Kili confirmed. "I play too, actually. My fiddle's just currently...out of action."
"I see," the girl said with a slow nod.
With no other formalities to exchange, Kili said what he'd meant to say since the moment he'd first thought to speak to her. "That was a pretty shanty you sung in there."
"I'm glad you approve," the girl said flatly, though Kili felt there was some amusement touching her tone. "Don't know how I would have lived without your approval."
"Although," Kili began, ignoring that bit of sarcasm. "Not sure you should be the one singing it."
This got a reaction from her. She stiffened slightly, turning to look up at him, her body finally facing his properly, though she was still draped against the rail. "Excuse me?"
Kili shot her his most charming grin, happy to have finally gotten a bit of a rise out of her. "It's just, if anything, it seems that song would be about you."
She lifted a brow, though a smirk started to play across her lips. "Is that so?"
"Aye," Kili breathed, letting his eyes skim graciously over her lithe form for a moment before leaning a bit closer and continuing. "A siren, dripping with desire..." Kili let those words roll off of his lips, his gaze locking onto hers. He could practically feel her being drawn into him, their breaths mixing and swirling together in the cool, breezy air between them.
"Moonless hair," as he said those words Kili let one of his hands drift up, his fingertips skimming over the hair at her ears. He couldn't help but smirk at the shiver she tried to suppress at his touch. "Skin so fair..."
Before he could trail a touch over the delicately pale skin at her cheek, her hand had darted up from her side, taking a firm grasp to stop his wrist. "Warm as frozen fire," she finished, finality in her tone, edged with something hot and dark despite the fact that she was pushing him away.
Kili let a smirk slide onto his face, as he made no effort to free his wrist from her cool grip, simply using this to edge a tad closer to her. "So? Even the most frozen of fires can be thawed."
Her eyes widened fractionally at that, though she regained her composure in an instant, her gaze not leaving his. "Is that so?"
"They just need another fire," Kili drawled, his voice hardly louder than a breath, filling the space between them with heat.
She dropped his wrist quite suddenly, and it felt almost like a physical loss as her eyes broke from his. Just like that, she was gone. "I ought to go."
"Darling-"
She smiled slightly, almost sadly at him as she stepped away, leaving a rush of cool air in her place. "Good evening, master..."
"Kili," he quickly filled in. "Well, Killian, but-just Kili."
"Good evening, Master Kili," the girl said, sweeping him a gracious nod.
Just before she turned for the door, Kili spoke. "And you?"
She turned back on her heel, raising a brow. "Hmm?"
"By what should I remember you?"
The girl's eyes searched his for a long moment, before she admitted, "Gwen."
Kili sighed. Gwen. "Good night then, Lady Gwen."
"Goodnight, Master Kili."
Pirates though. Alright, technically they weren't really "pirating" at all here, but I think it still counts. Plus, there may be a sequel. Because honestly, pirates are just cool.
The song was "Lovers Wreck" by Gaelic Storm, and it's a ton of fun, so you should go look it up and listen to it. Now. Thanks for faves/follows and reviews! I love all of you in the creepiest way possible!
Don't forget to leave a review if you have any thoughts/ideas/suggestions. I'm up for anything. Until next week!
NEXT CHAPTER:
No Changing Fact
Every scar has a story. Some honorable, some filled with sadness, but some...some are only regret.
Angst/Family - Words: 1,330 - Harsoen, Gwen