"Careful," Dwalin said, grabbing hold of Thorin's upper arm to steady him. It wouldn't do to have Thorin topple into the water of Laketown harbour. "Whatever happened to staying sober?"

Thorin scowled. "I'm not drunk. A few cups of ale aren't enough for that."

He shoved Dwalin in the side with his elbow and burst into laughter when Dwalin was thrown off balance far too easily and had to grip the wooden corner of a storage builing for support.

"You're no better. Weaving like marbles over uneven stone."

But Dwalin was far too busy looking back and forth between the looming mountain and the small niche between the harbor buildings.

"Thorin, look! Isn't this…"

Thorin took a closer look, checking the angle at which Erebor was visible between the houses.

"I'm not sure. There were more foothills to be seen and I think there was more space in that corner. I don't think we could fit as comfortably…"

Dwalin snorted. "That's because you are a good deal wider than you were then! And I think that building is newer and blocks the view of the foothills."

Thorin still seemed skeptical. "I don't know. Maybe it was the next warehouse. But I know how we can find out…"

He looked at one of the barrels standing in front of the wall. "It should be behind this, shouldn't it?"

Dwalin nodded and together they moved the barrel away from the wall.

Thorin looked at the carvings and scribbles in the wood and frowned. "It looks like every youth that ever grew up in Laketown left their message here. How are we supposed to find ours?"

Dwalin squinted at the markings in the moonlight. "It was on the third plank from the corner. I could barely get my arms in the right angle to carve, but for some reason, you insisted it had to be that plank."

Thorin chuckled. "We were so drunk then. That one small flask of wine we stole from the feast sufficed…"

Dwalin laughed as well. "Did it ever. You groaned that your head was about to burst during the entire ride back to Erebor and three more days after that. I've never seen such a pitiable sight. Your father didn't let you out of his sight at diplomatic dinners for years after that."

"Well, at least I didn't spend half the night retching, as I seem to recall you doing," Thorin retorted.

"It did spare me the hangover… Look, I think I found it!" Dwalin exclaimed.

Thorin crowded closer. There, barely visible in the moonlight and half-covered by shallower marks, was a crude carving of two dwarves, one waving two axes above his head in triumph and the other wielding a sword in a similar gesture. Above them, a set of runes proclaimed them to be 'Thorin and Dwalin, the greatest warriors to walk the earth since Durin's days'.

"You never were any good at crafts," Thorin said drily.

"And you have never been a poet, or particularly humble. But then, we were both dizzy from the wine and the triumph of escaping our duties for the evening."

Thorin traced his fingers across the carvings and smiled wistfully. "You kissed me for the first time that evening. I had no idea what possessed you to and even less how to react."

Dwalin laughed softly. "I don't know what made me do it either. But the look on your face would have been hilarious if I hadn't been so nervous. I was just about ready to throw myself off the pier in shame."

"Good thing I decided it was worth giving it another try and grabbed you for another kiss before you ran away," Thorin said with a chuckle.

"If only we hadn't both been too embarrassed about that night. We wasted almost a year after that. I don't know how long it would have taken if I hadn't had the courage to kiss you again in the forges after that Durin's Day feast…"

"I was the one who initiated that kiss!" Thorin protested. "I don't know how many times I have to tell you before you'll finally believe me!"

"And I don't know how often I have to tell you that some kind of elvish spell must have muddled your memories of that evening! I'm sure…"

Dwalin made a muffled sound as Thorin silenced him with a kiss and steered him back against the wall. There was a loud thunk as Dwalin's shoulder hit the wooden wall.

"Ow! I told you you'd gotten too wide for this space. And you can't just keep doing this to avoid admitting you were wrong!" Dwalin protested.

"Would you just shut up?" Thorin demanded, leaning in for another kiss.

Dwalin was happy to comply.