I do not own the Hobbit, blah, blah, blah. You know the drill.

Here's a one shot just about some family (and young Kili) fluff. It was a prompt from my sister, so yeah. It's short, but enjoy. Oh, and by the way, Kili is around 1-2 in human years which I sort of worked out to be around 7-8. If my maths is wrong, please inform me.

"He may just be a late walker, Dis," Thorin stated reasonably as he tried to balance his youngest nephew in one arm. Dis peered at the brunette who had his face buried in his uncle's arm, worry clearly lining her face.

"Have you ever heard of such a thing?" she asked, looking back up to her brother. Thorin resisted the urge to rub a hand over his face. He made to speak but was interrupted by the small dwarfling in his arms.

"Fee," the youth cried in demand, reaching his short arms out to his blonde brother. Fili smiled back at his sibling.

"Hey Kee," he said, gesturing to where the two boys' toys were piled up, "Want to come and play?"

"Fee," Kili demanded again, "Play." What he wanted his uncle to do was clearly obvious. Thorin, however, was in no mood to comply. This had to stop. Now.

"Alright then," he said, setting the young boy on the ground, holding him upright around the middle so that the child was standing on his own two feet, "But first you must walk over there." Kili pouted.

"Carry," he cried, trying to turn so he could latch onto Thorin, but his uncle held the lad's hips firmly in place.

"You are getting far too old to be carried everywhere," he said sternly, "Now I will let go and you will attempt to walk to your brother." He, along with Fili and Dis, held his breath as he let go of the toddler. The boy remained standing for a split second before falling backwards and landing on his rump, hard.

The brunette's eyes began to fill with tears.

"Come on then," said Thorin, giving in if only to stop the tears before they started. He hefted up his seven year old nephew and allowed the lad to cling onto the front of his tunic, only one or two tears slipping free of his watery eyes.

Truth be told, he was concerned for the youth. If he could not even stand, there was no way he would be able to walk or run or do anything that was required of a warrior. Nor would he be able to function as a child properly either. And that in itself would be heartbreaking. Both he and his brother were princes, heirs to nothing but a bedtime story and a dwindling amount of displaced subjects. He should not have to lose his childhood too.

The exiled king made his way over to his oldest heir, the blonde's brother in his arms smiling and chatting away to his sibling, already recovered from the brief episode before. Placing the boy on the ground next to Fili, Thorin shot the eldest a meaningful look; make sure you keep an eye on him. The youth nodded in understanding. Thorin made his way back to his sister.

"What if he never walks?" Dis asked in a hoarse whisper, still fretting about her son's lack of mobility, "We cannot keep carrying forever, certainly not when he's Fili's age, and especially not when he's an adult." Thorin looked at where the two boys were playing sitting down.

"Give him some more time," was all he said. He could not force the boy to walk. He would not force they boy to do anything; he was family.

A knock on the door startled him out of his deep thoughts and Thorin looked up at his sister before walking over to greet whoever was calling.

"Ah, Thorin," Dwalin said as a way of greeting, "I am here to ask about the new system for housing the dwarves still seeking residence in these mountains." Thorin gave his friend a scrutinising look.

"What did you do to your brother?" he asked, one dark bushy eyebrow raised in anticipation. Dwalin pulled a face of pure innocence.

"I only acknowledged that he was not getting any younger these days."

"And I bet that was not the way you put it when you acknowledged the point," Thorin stated. Dwalin held up his hands in defence.

"It's not my fault that he cannot take a mere suggestion that he is getting old," he cried. Thorin rolled his eyes and turned back into the house.

"Wait here while I fetch what Balin needs," was all he said.

Thorin exited the room, found the few rolls of parchment, and returned to his friend, presenting the dwarf with the documents.

"There, and maybe next time you can learn to keep you tongue under control," he said in good humour. Dwalin ignored him and turned to face the dwarf's two nephews.

"And how are the lads?"

A short silence filled the room. Fili looked up from what he was doing and, upon seeing the newcomer, got up and wandered over, shyly saying hello from behind his uncle's leg.

"They're fine health wise," Thorin said slowly. Dwalin gave him a look.

"But?" he asked.

"But Kili still cannot walk," Dis finished up with a deep sigh.

Dwalin frowned.

"But he c-" he began only to be cut off by a gigantic crash behind them and the short cry of 'Kili' as Fili swung round. The three dwarfish adults swung round too, to see what had transpired and two out of the three viewed the scene with a look of utter shock.

There was little Kili, legging it as fast as he could - which was fast for a dwarfling his age - away from what could now be determined as the remains of a bowl that had been previously holding several pressed flowers.

Thorin's mouth hit the ground as did the mouth of his sister beside him.

"W…what?" was all he could manage, the spluttering words doing nothing to help maintain his dignity. Dwalin was doubled over laughing.

"As I was saying, mister Kili there does not just have the ability to walk, he can run." This last word was said with as much emphasis as the snorting warrior could manage.

Fili ignored all this commotion and gave a delighted squeal, giving chase after his brother as the smaller dwarfling shot around the room in frantic circles, obviously startled by having knocked off the bowl. What was laughable was the fact the brunette seemed to be able to outpace his brother who was five years older than him.

"How long have you known he could walk?" Thorin heard his sister ask as a sudden thought hit her. The dark haired dwarf tore his eyes away from the sight before him to hear his friend's response. Dwalin stopped laughing and, if anything, seemed to look a bit flustered.

"A while," he said sheepishly. Dis glared at him.

"And why did you not think to mention this beforehand?" she asked coolly, her voice dangerous. Thorin suddenly felt very sympathetic towards his friend.

"It, uh, slipped my mind," the tall dwarf managed to get out, turning a deep, embarrassed red under the gaze of the dwarfish woman in front of him, "And besides, he seemed to like the attention."

"Dwalin, run," was all Thorin said in the brief silence that followed. The burly warrior took one look at Dis and all but bolted from the house. The two remaining dwarves turned back to Fili and Kili who were now playing tag. Both seemed to be enjoying the game extremely well. Thorin shook his head.

"All I can say is that he conned us good," he breathed out, still in awe of the fact that his nephew did not actually need to be carried, hadn't for some time. Dis grimaced.

"If you think he's bad now, wait until he is older," she said bluntly. The purest white in all of Middle-Earth would have been black compared to the brilliant shade that Thorin's face turned at the thought.

So, did you find it even remotely funny? Please review.