"Come Kili, let's go take back Erebor!" Fili proclaimed loudly
"Can me be the one who slay Smaug this time Fiyi?" Kili whined
"Ok Kili but that means I get to be brave Uncle Thorin then" Fili agreed
"Yay!" Kili squealed, charging up the stairs, his pretend sword poised in an upward position.
There was a knock at the door. It was strange, who would be visiting at this time in the evening.
Both boys scrambled to the front door. Dis chuckled at they're eager faces as she opened the door to find Thorin.
"Fili!"
"An' Kiyi!"
"At your service!"
Both boys darted in to their uncle's outstretched arms.
Thorin embraced both his nephews and greeted Dis.
"What have you been up to?" Thorin asked the boys cheerfully
"We've been slaying Smaug!" Fili answered proudly
"Oh have you? Can I join in, I could be Smaug." Thorin chuckled
"Yaaaaaaaayyy" Kili laughed
"Unci, you haves to hides then me an' Fiyi come and finds you" Kili explained
Thorin acknowledged before proceeding to climb the stairs, desperately thinking of a good place to disappear behind.
Carefully positioning himself behind the bedroom door, Thorin crouched down low and awaited his nephew's arrival.
Fili began to count
"One"
"Two"
"TEN!" Kili interrupted loudly, scrambling up the stairs, giggling to himself. Fili stifled a chuckle and followed.
The two naïve brothers stalked in to the bedroom where Thorin pounced on them, startling them and bundling them up in his arms. Kili wriggled out of his grasp and stabbed Thorin with his pretend sword again and again.
"I slays Smaug" he giggled, jumping up and down on Thorin's torso.
Thorin laughed.
"Yes Kili, yes you did"
"Again!" Kili shouted
"Maybe tomorrow, you have tired Unci out!" Thorin smiled down at his nephew.
Dis stifled a sigh of amusement as she walked in to the room.
"C'mon boys, time for bed" she announced
"Whys?" Kili frowned, far too lively for sleeping
"Cos, my big boy is starting his first day at school tomorrow" Dis cooed
"Yays" Kili squealed, jumping in to bed and willing himself to fall asleep quickly. He could finally be all grown up like Fili and go to school. He was aware of his mother and his uncle bidding him goodnight before he was overcome by sleep.
The next morning Kili was awake early.
"Fiyi" Kili shook him, unsuccessfully attempting to wake him from his dreams
"Ge'off" Fili mumbled in his sleep, unwilling to awaken just yet.
Thorin stumbled in to the room, rubbing sleep out of his eyes and standing, dazed, for a moment whilst his eyes adjusted to the light. Kili's eyes lit up on seeing his uncle.
"Unci!" Kili greeted him eagerly.
"G'morning Kili" Thorin replied, lifting the small boy up on to his shoulders.
"Ready for breakfast? I think your mothers cooked you some delicious bacon" Thorin smiled
Kili's eyes lit up considerably. Bacon was his favourite. Thorin struggled to supress a sigh of amusement at his nephew's excited expression. Thorin gently lifted Kili off his shoulders before standing him on his feet and going to sit at the table. Kili toddled over to greet Dis.
"Mornin' ma" he chuckled, ensuring that his presence was known.
Dis spun round to greet Kili with a kiss. Kili backed away, uttering noises of disgust and using his hand to wipe the remains of the kiss from his forehead.
"Where's your lazy brother" she giggled
"Bed" Kili replied, laughing and bolting up the stairs to retrieve his older brother.
"Fiyi, FIYI! It's wakey-upy time. Ma cooks yummy bacons"
Fili supressed a groan of annoyance as Kili tugged the duvet away from his grasp. Reluctantly, he slipped out of bed, stumbling a little as Kili practically dragged him down the stairs, singing about bacon.
"Bacon is yummy, bacon is yummy, and bacon is yummmmmmmy!" Kili's last note was more of a screech and Fili found himself covering his ears in an attempt to block out the racket.
"Morning ma, morning uncle" Fili mumbled, still in a half dreaming state.
"G'morning Fee" Thorin replied, tucking in to his bacon along with Kili.
"Bacon is yummy, bacon is yummy, and bacon is…" Kili began
"That's nice Kili, why don't you go and get ready for school or else we will be late" Dis suggested after hearing Kili's first rendition of the song.
"Ok ma" Kili sing-songed, disappearing out of the door.
Fili and Thorin chuckled
Finally, the two brothers where ready for school and Dis was herding them out of the door in a hurry.
"Can me go on Unci's pony" Kili enquired, looking up at his uncle and pulling an adorable face.
"Why not?" Thorin concluded after a while, lifting the small boy on to his pony.
"C'mon Fili, you can fit too" Thorin gestured for Fili to climb on the pony. Fili kissed his mother goodbye before clambering up on to the pony with a little help from his uncle.
As they approached the school, they could see all the young elves and dwarves running around in the playground. Kili was ecstatic, he had never seen so many other halflings to play with before. He didn't really know life outside the grounds of his house apart from down in the village, where nothing really amused him.
Kili's ecstatic expression changed suddenly to a solemn, teary-eyed glance towards his uncle. Thorin noticed and wondered what had made the little boy so upset, so suddenly.
"Hey Kee, what's wrong?" Thorin whispered to his nephew
"It's just, me wishes Dada was here" Kili sniffled.
"Now Kili, you and I know that Dada is very proud of you" Thorin convinced Kili.
"And I want you to be a big, brave boy for him" he added
"Ok Unci" Kili's voice full of determination.
"That's my boy!" Thorin complimented with a chuckle
"Oh, and Fili, look after your brother" Thorin reminded the older, blonde haired brother.
Fili acknowledged before taking Kili by the hand and leading him through the gates, to the school which towered before the duo.