Fíli and Kíli stared intently at the sight before them.
"What do we do?" Fíli said to Kíli in a loud whisper.
"Give me a moment," Kíli said, thinking quickly. Fíli shifted from one foot to the other and looked behind them nervously. Once again, Kíli had gotten them both in trouble, and once again, Fíli left the solution to his little brother.
"Maybe we could—get some paste—"
"Kíli, it's not broken. It's smashed."
"I know, but maybe—"
"Think of something else!"
Kíli turned to glare at the blond furiously. "Maybe you could help me think for once instead of leaving it for me to figure out!"
"It wasn't my idea, Kee—"
"Yeah, but you went along with it! You got the rope and you turned the bed on its side!"
"Only because you weren't strong enough to do it!"
"It's not my fault!" Kíli protested. "I'm gonna be strong one day—I'm not even 20 years old—"
"Yeah, you just get me to do all the work for your stupid ideas!" said Fíli, his voice rising a little too high. Kíli put a finger to his lips frantically and looked around.
"Stupid ideas!?" Kíli exclaimed in a high whisper. "If they're so stupid, why do you go along with them? Admit it, you thought it'd be cool to pretend Thorin's bed was a cliff—"
"You weren't supposed to fall and smash the headboard!"
"You were supposed to hold the rope!"
Fíli huffed and crossed his arms. "I'm sorry, all right?" he said. "Let's just—figure out how to fix it, okay?"
Kíli twisted up his mouth and stared at the smashed headboard of Thorin's bed. "Well, let's put it back the way it's supposed to be, first of all," he said. "Quietly!"
Wordlessly, Fíli and Kíli worked together to push the bed into its original position. As the feet touched the ground, suddenly there was a loud crack, and then the foot of the bed completely gave way and crashed to the floor. Fíli and Kíli both gasped and stepped back with hands over their mouths. For a long minute, neither of them moved, their minds racing. Then Kíli lowered his hands.
"New idea," he said, his voice barely more than a squeak. "Let's go play in the woods for a while."
"Far away?" Fíli said in a matching squeak.
"As far away as possible," Kíli said. He reached for Fíli's hand and pulled, and Fíli followed.
What Thorin's initial reaction was to finding his bed smashed to pieces, Fíli and Kíli never knew; but they didn't see a lick of gold for months—not until their uncle had himself a brand new bed.
Taking prompts! If you've got an idea you'd like to see for a short 300-500 word fic, review or send me a PM :D
