For the first time in his life, Dori's house wasn't clean. It wasn't as dirty as Nori's arrest record, but there were things on the floor and crumbs that needed sweeping. He didn't seem to notice, however, as he was leafing through a book on the table.
"What did you call me over for?" His leg ached from walking around on it too long. He'd been lucky to only injure his leg; Oin estimated it should've been back to normal in no time. He didn't lose it like Thorin.
"You should know." He got up and walked to the kitchen. "I'll start some tea."
Reluctantly, Nori followed him. "Know what?"
Dori ignored him and got down a kettle.
"What did I do?"
Dori continued to ignore him.
"What in Mahal's name did I do this time?"
His brother turned around, face as red as a beet. "What the hell have you been putting in Ori's head these days? He never bothers to come home any longer, doesn't do his chores, and leaves his books everywhere! I just ask him to come home for tea every day after he's finished working at the library. Is that too much?"
Nori froze. Yes, his eldest and youngest brothers had found this place before the battle to live in. Ori probably just dropped his things in a hurry. There certainly wouldn't have been time for cleaning either.
"He was always such a sweet little boy. Now I have no idea what he's doing. What if he gets hurt?" He frowned. "I've tried to be lenient with him."
"Dori, you know he-"
"He's completely ignoring me!" He ground his teeth together. "Tell me, is he spending more time with you? You swore to stop your illegal acts! What if he gets pulled down in that shit with you?"
Nori clenched his fists together. "He can't be pulled down with me because he's dead!"
The room went silent. Dori looked down at the kettle on the stove.
"So you haven't seen him?" He sighed. "Maybe I should just check the library. You're right, he probably isn't getting into any trouble. Maybe the Erebor library just needs him to work a lot. It is one of the biggest in the world. I just hope the work isn't stressing him out too much. The poor boy..."
Nori opened his mouth to speak, but then closed it. It had been a tragedy. There was never a guarantee that anyone would survive the battle, but did it have to be Ori? Ori, the boy who was younger than even the princes, who didn't even live to see eighty years old? The boy had been too young, too good. He'd been polite to everyone, even elves, and wouldn't have hurt a fly if he could open a window to let it outside. Just when they'd had Erebor, he had died in a war, and a war that could have been prevented at that.
But he was still dead.
"I'll go check the library for you," Nori said.
"You would?" He brightened. "I made some cookies earlier. Would you bring some to him? He probably gets hungry while working?"
"Fine," Nori said.
He ended up sitting through tea with Dori, listening to him talk about his life. When he left, he had a paper sack of chocolate chip cookies in his hands. Once he was away from home, he opened it and took a cookie out. Dori's cookies were the greatest in the world, but for once he couldn't taste anything.
