Thorsdays were ballet days. Montagne Solitaire Danse Académie taught many kinds of dancing styles, Tango, Modern Jazz, Salsa, Cha-Cha. But Dwalin hardly enjoyed those dances, they were too monkey-ish for his taste, had no real order! But ballet, with those pliés and relevés and all those other words that made you get spit all over your chin, that was a real dance! And, also, the professor was a very gorgeous man.

He had long, slim arms and legs that he moved gracefuly to the beat of the music, being one with it. He had soft pale skin that glistened with sweat at the end of the day. He had light brown hair with a tinge of red that made his skin glow much more, and wide brown eyes that made you warm inside. Professor Ori was beautiful in every sense of the word, and Dwalin set himself the task of going every Thorsday to see him dance.

"You should take a picture, they last longer"

Dwalin turned to look at the man next to him.

He was tall and had long dark hair he had in a ponytail, and his sole presence seemed to suck every other in the room. He was smirking at Dwalin.

"What?" Dwalin grunted irritated.

"Well, if you keep on staring like that, you are gonna burn a hole through him."

Dwalin turned away again.

"Why don't you talk to him?"

"Why don't you shut up?"

"Hoho, as you wish man, I'm not the one looking like a total creepster" The man smirked again and turned to look at the little children learning the demi-pointe.

What did he want him to do? Had he looked properly at Dwalin? He had tattoos on his bald head and a very long beard, and he mostly wore leather clothing and huge combat boots.

Oh.

Well, he must look really creepy of course, now that he thought of it, just sitting there staring at Professor Ori and not moving at all. But he couldn't just talk to him. Ori was a nice cute man, with rosy cheeks and gentle eyes, and Dwalin was, well, Dwalin, with grunts and a gruff look and and hard stares. Though, he was sort of growing restless. He had been sitting, along with all the parents waiting for their kids, just looking, and while he enjoyed just looking at Professor Ori dance, he had done that for far too long. It had been enough those first Thorsdays, but now, all he wanted was to take the smaller man into his arms and have a wild dance with him in a more private place. He really liked Ori, not just the physical part, but also how he lit up his always irritated mood with his smiles even if they were not directed at him, and his voice, sweet and tender, when he laughed, it rang inside of Dwalin's chest and his heart danced with happiness. He should probably speak to him, but, he knew he'd scare the boy away.

"I-don't know how to"

The man next to him turned to look at him."What?"

Dwalin rolled his eyes"I don't know how to talk to him. I wouldn't know what to say. And I think I would scare him"

The man frowned. "Why do you think you'll scare him?"

"Well, look at me, I'm not the image of someone a ballet dancer would just talk to"

"Hmph, I don't think Professor Ori is so shallow to pay any mind to images, and I don't think you are scary, really. Plus, you didn't think about that when you first came in and sat yourself where the kids' mothers are supposed to"

Dwalin's eyes went wide as he turned to look at the people around him. And sure, many mothers were standing around him, some shifting their weight after an hour of standing up, some sneaking dirty glances towards him. He had never thought about them, he always just went in and sat, too absorbed with the graceful moves of Ori to notice anything else. He immediately stood up and walked behind the bench he'd been occupying.

The man laughed heartily and went to stand next to him. "They will sure appreciate that"

"I didn't know!"

"That much is obvious" Dwalin grunted. This man was just teasing him. "You know, I don't think someone who is scared of a person would spend so much time looking at him" he said, smiling towards Professor Ori.

Dwalin stared at him confused, and then followed his gaze. Professor Ori was sure glancing their way, and when Dwalin's eyes rested on his, he blushed and turned away.

Oh.

Had that really happened? It had never happen before! Dwalin could start giggling like a teenager at what he had just seen. Though, the man had said Ori spent much time staring at him. Bit Dwalin had never seen Professor Ori even sneak a look towards him, and it wasn't like he could miss that, he never stopped looking at the beautiful man teaching little kids!

"He does look at you, man, you are just too occupied undressing him with your eyes to notice" Said the man as if guessing his thoughts and Dwalin gasped indignantly!

He did not undress the ballet professor with his eyes! Though, of course, he'd love to do it with his hands, as well. The man gave a hearty laugh, which earned many dirty looks from the mothers around them.

"It's ok man, well, not for the little kids who sometimes see them as well, anyways, but if you like him, you can't be blamed really. Though, youshould talk to him, otherwise you'll have a stroke one day"

Yes, Dwalin knew he should. And he wanted to, but he wasn't good with words or feelings, or rejection.

"What should I say?"

"Just ask him out. Say hi, smile, and ask him to have dinner with you. I know it's hard, and that it sounds as stupid as you will feel whe you do it, but it works, trust me, it worked for me" At this, the man turned to look, with puppy dog eyes full of love and of so much caramel it really looked weird in his arrogant face, at a short man with curly honey hair who was signing thumbs up to a blonde and a brunette pair of kids in the class.

This surprised Dwalin, and it gave him a little courage, because the man looked just as a guy you shouldn't mess with as Dwalin, and the small man he was looking at seemed as kind as Ori.

"You know, three weeks from now, the academy will hold its annual recital, it's a big important night for all the professors, you could ask him then and still have three weeks to think of something nice to do"

It was a good idea, also Dwalin would have time man up in those three weeks. "I'm Dwalin Fundinson, at your service" he outstretched his hand and the other man took it firmy and shook it. "Thorin Oakenshield, at yours, friend"

- The

The three next weeks were wrecking for Dwalin. When he just went to stare at Ori, he had no objective but the simple act of looking at the man, but now he was going to take another step and talk to him, and not only that, he was going to ask him out. It was scaring him to no end, because he knew what he was like, he knew who he was, and he considered Ori deserved someone better and more like him than Dwalin, but he wasn't going without a fight, he could get nervous, but he was no coward.

"Have you thought of a place to take Professor Ori, Dwalin?" asked Bilbo from behind the breakfast table in his and Thorin's house.

The Thorsday Thorin had first spoken to him, he and Bilbo had invited Dwalin to have dinner with them and Thorin's little nephews Fili and Kili after the class. Ever since then, him an Thorin found out they liked mostly the same things, they had similar ideas, and they had the same kind of humour, so they became very good friends. Bilbo was a lovely fellow and he loved Thorin deeply, and also reprimanded him if Thorin behaved poorly or with bad manners, to which Dwalin laughed at first, but when a stern glance had been directed to him, he understood why Thorin's smile faded the moment his husband's eyes were on him.

"Do you loves Professor Ori, Unca Dwalin?" asked small Kili with a chocolate milk moustache.

"Professor Ori likes you, Uncla Dwalin, he said" said blonde Fili, cleaning the chocolate off his brother's mouth.

Dwalin chuckled at that and and tried to hide his blush and the nervous tickles he felt in his stomach. "I don't even know which kind of places he likes"

"Oh, well, I think you should take him for a coffee,you know, The Pendulum is a very nice cozy place and I think Professor Ori will like it, that is, until you know him better!" said Bilbo, taking a now snoring Kili in his arms and taking him to his room.

"Fili is right, Ori likes you, and he will enjoy that place because it's you who'll go with him, but only you can make him enjoy the date" said Thorin wisely, caressing Fili's hair while the little boy was dozing on his shoulder.

"Vher's Kee?"

"He's gone to sleep little one, you should go too" At this, Fili nodded and hoped down his chair and stumbled towards the room he shared with his brother.

"Where did you take Bilbo on your first date?"

"I took him to a juice bar" and surprisingly enough, Thorin blushed "I didn't know where to take him, I knew nothing of him either, and didn't want to make a fool of myself, though I think with my decision I did just that. I didn't reckon he'd like to go for a burger and a beer to Moy's, which i love, so the only place I could think of was Carmen's Juicy House, and he liked it I think, but he really was enchanted by me" Thorin smirked at his lover when he came back from putting the boys in their beds and Bilbo glared sweetly at Thorin.

"You give yourself too much credit , Thorin, the juice was so sweet my mind was fuzzy by all the sugar!"

"Yeah, you keep saying that, love" Thorin smiled that smile that made him look really vulnerable and that somehow made Bilbo stick to him as if he was an iron piece and Thorin was a magnet. They crashed their lips together and Dwalin turned away.

He hated this moments his new friends had, he felt like and intruder to such an intimate moment. While Thorin and Bilbo exchanged saliva and loving words, Dwalin couldn't help to let his mind wander off to Ori. He really wished Fili was right and his ballet teacher really liked Dwalin, and that he would say yes and enjoy their date as much as Bilbo had enjoyed his with Thorin. He wished Ori and him could have these kind of momets the other two had. He let his imagination carry on a bit, and thought of double dates with Bilbo and Thorin, and barbecues on sundays, and annual ballet recitals with flowers for Ori at the end. He thought of warm nights cuddling and arms to hold him after a hard day. Dwalin felt scared too. He had never had these kind of thoughts before, he never needed to, and that scared him because a simple "no" from the object of his affections could crash his world. Also, he didn't really know Ori. What if he wasn't really what Dwalin wanted?

"Dwalin?"

"Hmm?"

"Are you ok?" Bilbo and Thorin were looking at him concerned, and Dwalin let go of the breath he'd been holding without knowing it. He also felt his cheeks wet an he was so open and vulnerable infront of his friends.

"Don't worry, my friend, whatever happen, we will be here" Thorin said, holding his lover tight and smiling warmly at Dwalin, and the gruff man really appreciated his friends at that moment.

The day of the recital came finally. Thorin had helped him pick clothes five times because he wouldn't stop sweating. When he managed to remain dry, they went out and picked up Bilbo and the kids and drove to the polyforum where the recital would take place. It was full of little children in coulourful costumes and yelling mothers already, and also of bored looking fathers all crammed up inside of the lobby away from their hysterical wives. Bilbo went to the noisy side of the lobby with Fili and Kili dressed as dwarven warriors and disappeared through the doors where the dancers were getting ready for their act.

"Come on, let's get our seats" Thorin signaled towards a wide fancy entrance.

Bilbo had asked for an extra ticket for Uncle Dwalin, who loved the little terrors Fili and Kili and wanted to see them dance. Even if he was no real Uncle for the kids, he did love them already and enjoyed their clumsy dance moves. They sat themselves at the seats numbered 11,12,13 and waited for everyone else to settle. A few minutes later Bilbo came to sit with them looking shaken.

"Had to fight a woman who wanted Fili's mirror, I told her her kid was ugly anyway, she wouldn't need it"

Thorin and Dwalin laughed. Well nobody tried to take something from Bilbo's nephews and lived to tell the story!

Dwalin was sweating again after a while. Ori was nowhere to be seen ad he was getting anxious! Did he dress up for nothing? Would the ballet teacher even come? Thorin and Bilbo kept reasuring him that Ori would never leave his students alone in such an important day! After what felt like hours, and the most painful ones, the recital host was presenting the teachers of the different dancing styles, and Ori was standin next to the salsa professor, looking nervous and cute as ever.

He was eyeing the whole crowd and he spotted, much to his delight, the tall gruff man that was always at the academy on Thorsdays. He had noticed his presence since the first day he had entered the school, looking as if he had had some kind of life revelation, and he would sit down on the parents' bench and look at Ori the whole class. Ori felt flattered because the man always looked enraptured with him. At first, Ori thought he might be some kind of talent hunter, but as he didn't offer a handshake nor a card, he put that idea out of his head sadly. Then, next Thorsday, the man came back and sat down to look at Ori again. Ori blushed and tried to give his class as always, but he found himself stumbling and misspelling and he had to excuse himself with all the stern mothers at the end of the class. He looked for the man, but he was gone. The man kept coming every Thorsday and Ori grew acostumed to his presence. Every class he noticed a new thing about the man. His tattoos were very flashy and really the first thing you noticed about him, but Ori had the time to see beyong them. For example, his thunderous eyes that hid a mischievieous glint and a gentler look. Or his mouth, a fine line most of the time, but there were moments when the corners of it twisted ever so slightly into a smile. His strong hands that looked like they could protect fiercely, and maybe stroke and caress tenderly Ori's skin. Ori blushed when he had these kind of thoughts, but the man was wildly gorgeous, his beauty so uncommon that Ori found himself staring from the furthest corner of the studio while his students stumbled on the tip of their feet. Ori wondered why the man had never talked to him, why did he just sit there an stared. Maybe Ori could give a sign to the man that he wanted him to talk to Ori? But every time Ori looked for him when the class ended, he was gone.

So seeing him here, sitting next to Fili and Kili's lovely uncles, Ori couldn't help the thrilled smile that spread through his face. Parents always stayed for a while when the recital ended, to boast their kids to other parents or to congratulate teachers, and this would be the opportunity to finally talk to the man, and who knew, maybe ask him to get a cup of coffee with him.

It was a slow quiet torture for Dwalin. Group after group came out in different extravagant costumes and made two acts per group. They thanked the crowd and the next group came out. Thorin wa snoring next to him, and even Bilbo, who at first kept glaring at his husband was now dozing on Thorin's shoulder. Cha cha group ended with and exagerated bow and finally, ballet came out. Bilbo and Thorin woke with a start and Dwalin arranged himself on his seat. The act was about a group of dwarves who wanted to take their mountain back from a dragon, with the help of a creature called a hobbit, which Thorin and Dwalin found unnecessary, but Bilbo liked very much, and a Wizard. Fili and Kili were part of the Dwarven party, and while the other girls and boys followed their steps and the music, the brothers jumped when they saw the kids who played the dragon and quickly ran to defend their friends from the beast. This earned several laughs from other parents, but mostly dirty glares from the mothers of their classmates. Thorin, Dwalin, and Bilbo laughed and clapped proudly. The small boys were adorable, Fili roaring and swishing his wooden sword and Kili blowing imaginary arrows with his toy bow.

Ori would have been irritated at the change of plans on his act when the two boys ran towards his scared looking students holding a foamy dragon head, but they were so earnestly decided to kill the dragon that Ori could just join the cheers. His students bowed once the enemy was defeated (which meant Ori had to take Fili and Kili out by the wrists, the two boys screaming threats even as they walked out) and went out.

"DID YEW LOOKS AT DAT PROFESSOR ORI!?"

"WE KILLEWD THE DRAGON!"

The two brothers were frantic and bouncing.

"I did see boys, you were very good at it!"

They both giggled.

"But we is sorry becuz we didn't danced liek you wanted"

"Yes, we lovez you professor, and ballet too" They blinked innocently at Ori and the ballet teacher smiled warmly.

"Don't worry boys, you can always do it next year!"

"Or we cans do it when Unca Dwalin asks you out!"

"Yez he likez you, Professor Ori!"

Uncle Dwalin? Ori was sure the boy's uncle was named Thorin. And he was sure he was married to that lovely man called Bilbo who sometimes baked banana muffins for the class. So who was Uncle Dwalin, that might like Ori? While Fili and Kili left to retell their fight to the salsa kids, Ori tried hard to remember any man that had gone to any class with Thorin and Bilbo, but he couldn't think of anyone. The two men always came to the academy by themselves, except for the last four Thorsdays, in which the handsome man had been coming with them instead of alone, and oh... Ori blushed, deep and hot and hope rised in his belly, and he suddenly felt very nervous. He ran to the small mirrors meant for the kids to arrange their costume and tried to comb his hair and to check his clothes out. He had to look good! The man, Dwalin, liked him and he had to look good for when he came to ask him out. He giggled and felt ridiculous, but the thought made him really happy.

Modern jazz finally finished and then all of the groups with their respective teachers went out on stage for the final bow. Ori saw everything blurry by his anxiousness and beckoned his kids out with their parents. He received many complaints about Fili and Kili, but he shook them off, they're kids, really, and they're here to have fun.

"Professor Ori!" Bilbo's voice was much welcomed, and Ori turned with a wide smile. "Hello Mister Bilbo!"

"Oh, Ori I'm so sorry these two ruined the whole act!" Bilbo said souding serious but smiling.

"We said we is sorry alweady, Unca Bilbo!"

"Yez Professor Ori said it waz ok!"

"It is, Mister Bilbo, they shouldn't mind. Oh, hello Mister Thorin"

"Hello Professor Ori" the tall man nodded towards him with an amused smile at his tiny nephews.

The man called Dwalin was nowhere to be seen, and Ori felt very disappointed. Kids oftenly said things that weten't true, of course, but Ori at least would have wanted Dwalin to stay so Ori could ask the damn man out himself. He was about to say good bye to Bilbo and Thorin and their nephews and disappear from the ocean of people, when Thorin spoke to him.

"Professor Ori, would you please meet us at the entrance as soon as you finish saying goodbye to your students? There's someone we want you to meet. " Thorin still had his amused smile and Bilbo had a very wide one.

They took in their arms one brother each and made their way to the exit. Ori's hopes came back and he wanted all the other parents to go away already. When he was free from grips and yells, he combed his hair once more and went out.

"Unca Dwalin did you likes us dancing?"

"Did we fighted good?"

"You did marvellous boys!" Dwalin smiled at the boys and bounced them in his arms.

"Ori is coming out after he says bye,Dwalin" Bilbo smiled encouragingly at him and took Fili in his arms.

"Would you like us to wait, my friend?" asked Thorin, catching Kili in mid air as the little boy jumped from Dwalin to Thorin.

"It's ok, I can do this, don't worry" Dwalin smiled reasuringly, though it was more to himself than to his friends.

Bilbo and Thorin both nodded and said bye to Dwalin, making him promise he would call them later. Fili and Kili said bye as well and wished him good luck with excited smiles. The little family left and Dwalin's throat had a knot so huge he couldn't swallow nor breathe properly. He didn't wait for long, a few families came out before Ori did. Dwalin straightened up and arranged his suit as Ori walked towards him smiling nervously.

"Umm, hello"

"Hello Professor Ori" That somehow made Ori's blood boil and his skin burn. "Errr, my-I'm-Dwalin, it's my name, I've been in your dancing academy for the past months, watching you dance and teach, and I have never liked ballet, let alone any kind of dance, but I have never seen such a beautiful person dancing it either." Damn, Thorin said just "Hi and smile" but Dwalin was so nervous, and he didn't know what to do with himself, so talking was the only thing he could think of.

Ori blushed and turned to look down. "I know you've been there, I've seen you as well!"

"Oh, well, then, I guess, I-I'm really sorry for sitting there, I was told that I looked like a complete creepster. My, intention was not to scare you, Professor."

"You didn't scare me at all! You did make me a little nervous at first, but that was only because of the way you looked at me. And I wondered, every class, why didn't you talk to me, I even thought of doing it myself, but every time the class ended, you were gone"

"Yes, well, I never considered talking to you, I thought watching was enough, then I realised it wasn't and that I would love to actually get to know you and take you out on a date. But I didn't know how to talk to you, I still don't, and I feel like and idiot doing it, I didn't know if you would like me, for how I look, for how different we look"

Ori frowned. He was never one to care about appearances, though he thought since he first looked at Dwalin that the man was handsome, but nothing more. "I like how you look, Mister Dwalin, I don't mind how different we might seem." he said seriously.

"You know my name?"

"Oh, hehe yes, young Fili and Kili said it to me inside"

"Looks like I'm not the only creepster here" Dwalin smiled amused.

"Oh I'm not! They said it to me, I didn't ask!"

Dwalin chuckled "Yes, sure"

Ori puffed, but smiled along with the taller man. "And, well?"

"Oh, y-yes!Errr, W-would you l-like to go-o to g-grab a cup o-of c-coffee?"

Ori giggled at the bad ass looking man stuttering and blushing. "I would love to, mister Dwalin"

A year later.

"Come on, my flower, we're going late!"

"I'm coming, I can't find my shoe!"

Dwaling smirked. It was his fault really, that they were late and that his Ori was missing one shoe. They both had been ready an hour ago, they had had a little time to spare, and Dwalin was never able to resist his lover's figure in a tight suit.

"Here" he said, while giving a nervous looking Ori his missing shoe.

"Oh, thank you"

They went out of their flat and into their car towards the polyforum.

"You think Fili and Kili will actually dance this time?"

"I don't know, maybe, they did keep telling me they would, but they are kids, they want to have fun first, and they are lovely, so I really don't mind" Ori smiled fondly.

He did like those boys a lot, and after getting to know them better for a year, and their uncles as well, he had grown attached to them. They arrived and it was packed already, with mothers and kids on one side, and fathers on the other.

"Dwalin! Ori!" Thorin greeted them from the fathers side.

"Hello Mister Thorin." Ori said nervously, the man was really imponent and made everything seem small and insignificant next to him, except when Bilbo was there, and Ori was always amused at how such a small man could tame such a big man only with a look.

Ori left to the backstage get his students ready.

"Are you ready, friend?"

Dwalin just nodded and they went inside to look for their seats. Bilbo arrived a few minutes later, red in the face and hair tousled. Thorin lifted an eyebrow at his panting husband.

"A woman tried to show me how to be a good parent! Her own kid was chewing an eye brush!"

The recital started, but for Dwalin it went in a fuzz until the ballet children went out with their Elven and Men costumes, this time it was about a war where the last alliance of men and elves would try to defeat the Dark Lord Sauron. Fili and Kili tried really hard to follow the choreography this time, but heroism called again and they HAD to defend their fellow warriors!

Two more acts and finally it was over, and Dwalin's stomach was in his throat. He stood up while the host was calling the teachers and their students to the stage for the last bow and walked like a robot towards it. Ori looked at him confused but Dwalin gave no explanation, he just climbed up, breathed deeply and bent on one knee. Ori's eyes went so wide it looked as if they would pop out and several of the other professors gasped.

"Ori, I wanted this to be somewhere very important for you. You are the most important person in my life. You make me feel alive every day and would never ask for anything else in this life or in other. Would you make me the happiest man on Earth and marry me?" his heart was out with that proposal.

He knew it had been Ori's from the moment the man had first kissed him after their very first date, outside the small cafe "Miguelito", in which the waiters and waitresses danced ballet when they asked for your order. Ori had been very surprised about Dwalin knowing of such a place, and the taller man smirked, he would have to really thank his older brother Balin later.

"OH MY- Y-YES!" Ori had known that answer since that very day as well, and the burning happiness he felt was too overwhelming, making him brake into tears of pure joy!

The man holding him, the one he loved unendingly was crying too and holding him so tight as if his life depended on it. The claps and cheers around them went unoticed, they had only ears for each other.

Every Thorsday was ballet day, and Dwalin went to the Montagne Solitaire Danse Académie without missing even one class. He stood behind the parents' bench to see the most beautiful man on Earth dance and teach, and when the class ended, the man, his husband, went to his arms and kissed him sweetly.

"I love you, my flower" said Dwalin

"I love you back, my gem" answered Ori.

Le Fin