Dwarves were not known as great thinkers, natural politicians or particularly fine orators. Although, to be sure, some had these qualities they were not held in remarkably high esteem by their peers. No, dwarves were loud, bawdy, hearty creatures, blessed by the Valar with uncommon strength, stamina, ferocity and courage. They were creatures of habit and kept to the old ways, considering them far and away above the new-fangled notions of men.
Dwarves had a particularly gifted sense of smell and it guided them above all the other bodily senses, aiding them in hunting, guiding them through dark underground passageways and drawing them to a mate. Because of this heightened sense of smell, they were usually also gifted with larger than average-size noses. Such prominent proboscises, however, were not considered ugly, quite the contrary. They were considered lovely in the eyes of other dwarves.
Kili, however, was not so blessed. Where his shockingly handsome big brother, Fili, had been given a lovely large nose that sloped from an axe-handle wide bridge down to the slightly rounded bulbous tip, Kili did not fair so well. In truth, Kili's nose resembled those of the race of men and elves, slender like the rest of his body, sloping straight down to a gently upturned tip that was neither large nor bulbous.
It not only worried Kili that the look of his nose was positively un-dwarflike, but also that perhaps his sense of smell was not as good as it ought to be. So, every day from the time he was a tiny dwarfling, his brother, Fili, would work with him to help strengthen his sense of smell. The brothers would go out into the woods and Fili would hide a random flower that he had picked. He would then lead Kili to the vicinity of the flower and blindfold him, instructing him to find it using only his sense of smell.
Kili would stand there a moment, never liking the blindfold and feeling rather closed in by the darkness. He would whimper a bit until Fili came close to comfort him, pressing their foreheads together. "Try, little one. Try to find the flower," Fili would whisper.
"But how, Fee?" Kili would whine in the way that Fili adored so.
"Just follow your nose," Fili would answer and gently tap the tip of Kili's little nose.
His answer was always the same. And when he tried to pull away from his little dark-haired brother, Kili would pull him back close and whisper to Fili, "But all I smell is you, Fee."
Years went by and Kili did eventually gain a sense of smell to be proud of, though he never gained the large, dwarven nose that Fili had. He could navigate in the dark as well as Fili, find anything that his brother hid for him and locate all the sweets their mother thought she had hidden oh so well.
Both princes had learned from the time of their youth that dwarves loved, truly loved, only once in their lives. They learned that Mahal had fashioned for each of his children one perfect love to complete them and that, as in all other areas of their lives, a dwarf's nose would lead him to his One with a scent that called to him and only him.
Both Fili and Kili wanted that experience, as did every other dwarf they knew. They wanted to lose themselves in the perfection of another, to be surrounded by the most luscious, breath-taking scent imaginable, to smell their One beneath them as the scent of their coupling rose in the night to fill the room and permeate the furs and linens of their bed.
They had never spoken of it to each other, but each knew the other thought about it constantly. They had shared the same room and the same bed for as long as they could remember. No dwarf in the whole of the kingdom ever saw one without the other. They came as a pair, or not at all. In truth, the day each met his One would be a bittersweet day for them, their mother thought, for it would separate at last that which she had thought inseparable.
Fili had been waiting some five years since coming of age for Mahal to waft that sweetest of fragrances under his nose. He was an adult dwarf and by now most dwarves that were going to find their One had done so.
They were now upon the eve of Kili's coming of age celebration. The brothers had both bathed and dressed with care that day. Kili had accepted his brother's gift to him, an exquisite silver clasp to tame his wild dark locks that resembled the clasp that Kili had made and given to Fili five years before, a clasp that the golden brother wore with pride every day of his life.
The brothers were as truly stunning to behold this night as they were when they had sat side-by-side at the banquet celebration in honor of Fili five years before. Kili, the guest of honor tonight, hearkened back to Fili's celebratory banquet when he came of age. Kili was too sad that night play their smelling game. He just knew that Fili would recognize the scent of his One and be taken from him at long last.
When Fili pulled him into a brotherly embrace, resting their foreheads together, he asked the younger to name the herbs that a dwarven lass who just walked by had used in her hair. "But how, Fee?" Kili choked out, so afraid that there were tears in his eyes as well as his voice.
"By just following your nose, little one," Fili answered as he always did, tapping Kili's upturned nose as he always did.
It was the game they played. It was their special game. And it stirred an ache within Kili to know that their time to play it was soon to come to an end. "But all I can smell is you, Fee," Kili had whispered, as he always did.
Fili had smiled at him then, a heart-wrenchingly beautiful smile, a smile that was only ever for his precious baby brother. He had ruffled Kili's hair and kissed him on his 'cute little nose' as Fili had named it so long ago. Kili had forced a smile for his brother, after all it had been Fili's special day.
But tonight was for Kili. The brother's again sat side-by-side, laughing though it was poignant and nostalgic laughter that never quite reached their eyes. Each brother was lost in his own thoughts as the night ebbed on. Kili wondering how much longer he would have his brother by his side and Fili was too disturbed to notice Kili's melancholia.
As each well-wisher came and went and the night drew to a close, Kili took notice of Fili's seeming discomfort. He noticed that his brother had barely touched his food, had not touched his cup all evening and only half-heartedly spoke as their friends and relatives passed by. Kili recognized the instability in his brother for what it was at long last. Somewhere among the well-wishers at some point tonight, Fili had, at long last, scented his One and he just couldn't bring himself to tell Kili about it. Probably, Kili thought, his brother didn't want to take anything away from the younger's celebration. Finding your One was, after all, the most sacred, most celebrated occurrence in all of Middle-earth dwarfdom.
The realization that he had lost his brother tonight hit Kili like the falling of a mountain into the sea. He looked at Fili with such hurt and anguish on his face that the elder could scarce meet his gaze. There was only one thing that Kili wanted to do, one last thing before he was parted from his brother forever. Kili turned to face Fili and brought their foreheads together as they had done countless times since childhood.
"Are you not going to ask me to find a flower, Fee, or perhaps some herb in a lass' hair?" Kili spoke softly as his heart broke apart. How would he live without his golden half by his side? How would he breathe in and breathe out every moment of every day? He was nothing and Fili was everything. It had always been thus.
"But how, Kee?" Fili asked, all too aware of the reversal of their roles in this game they had played seemingly longer than they could remember. No longer would he guide his brother. No longer would he lead.
"By just following your nose," Kili sobbed openly, placing a tiny kiss upon Fili's nose, not caring who was around them to witness the tears that were falling unfettered now down his cheeks. The music had stopped but the brothers took no notice. The celebration had gone quiet now as all eyes turned to watch them.
Fili gently shook his head back and forth. He took Kili's hands in his own, gripping them tightly. No, he would not lead Kili. They would walk hand-in-hand together with each other from this day forth.
Fili placed a sweet, loving kiss to Kili's lips this time, instead of his nose as the whole world, it seemed, held its breath. "But all I can smell is you," Fili sighed as he smiled behind the kiss, "only you my brother…(kiss)…my Kili…(kiss)…my One."