The brothers went back to Ori's small hiding place after they had finished eating and waited for the shorter dwarf, psyched and ready to help Bofur in whatever means necessary. It took a few minutes, but Ori finally arrived with his notes in hand and a set frown on his face.

Fili pushed himself off the tree he had been leaning against and grabbed Ori's notebook, which Ori allowed him to do. Kili looked over his brother's shoulder as the older dwarf started to look for the page with Bofur's notes, all the while the youngest dwarf there breathed in deeply, mentally preparing himself for what he was about to say.

"I've noticed that Bofur has been looking at one particular dwarf with a special kind of longing."

There. He had said it. Maybe now someone would help him with the plan he had in mind.

Both Fili and Kili looked up from the notebook with curious eyes at this and Ori sighed softly. Where all dwarfs this dense?

"What do you mean with longing, Ori? Is Bofur missing someone?" Kili asked, his head cocked to the side.

Honestly, Ori felt like smacking Kili on the forehead. He understood that maybe they weren't as perceptive as he would have liked, but there had to be some ounce of understanding in his thick head.

Luckily, the older of the two picked up on Ori's annoyance and shook his head, "No, it's not that kind of longing, Kili." Then he looked at Ori, eyebrow quirked, "Ori, do you mean Bofur's in love?"

Ori smiled softly as Fili looked at him, blue eyes shining with determination. Kili's eyes widened at the question and he looked from his brother to Ori, really wanting to know the answer.

"Bofur? In love?" He asked, only to received a silent nod from his younger friend. "But... With who?"

Fili quirked an eyebrow and Ori breathed in deeply. "Now, I must remind you to keep an open mind about this whole business. You two wanted to help so please do not freak out once you hear who-"

"Ori could you please hurry up and tell us before Thorin sends someone to fetch us?" Fili interrupted, getting a frown from the younger dwarf.

"Well that was rude!" Ori commented, then shook his head with a sigh, "It's Thorin. I believe Bofur is in love with your uncle."

Both brothers fell into a shocked silence at Ori's words and the scribe couldn't help but wonder if he had done the right thing. They were clearly shocked, for their eyes were wide and didn't seem to be breathing.

Luckily though, just when Ori was about to come up with a lie to calm them down, Kili's face broke into a huge grin.

"That is great news!"

Ori cocked his head to the side, surprised with his words. Fili on the other hand nodded and clasped his hand on Ori's shoulder. "Are you sure it is Thorin?"

The scribe nodded dumbly and Fili nodded. "You are right, brother. Bofur is just the man to quell Thorin's horrible attitude!"

Ori blinked as the brothers started to rejoice and shook his head. These two really were odd. But there was no time to think on it. They would have to come up with a plan before the older members of the company started to become suspicious.

"It's great to know you agree with Thorin, but we must start planning. It is only a matter of time before Dori or Nori think I've been gone for far too long." He interrupted them and both immediately become serious.

"You are right. Dwalin is most probably wondering why he hasn't heard either of us scream for his help just yet." Fili muttered while nodding. "Okay, scribe. What did you have in mind?"

Ori glanced at both brothers and, once seeing both their eyes filled with determination, began to speak, "We will need to gather more information. We cannot go into this blind and only with a small amount of knowledge on the matter. Bofur has stopped eating, but after his family pointed it out, he's at least started to eat more." Ori explained and he had to admit, he never would have expected the siblings to be able to stay quiet and still for so long. "He doesn't take part in his favorite activities and barely tells any more stories."

"That we both noticed." Kili said with an uncharacteristic frown on his face. "We've been missing his stories for quite some time now."

"I know..." Ori muttered then looked up at both with a set gaze. "Now, will you two help me complete this little mission?"

"Of course we will!"

Ori smiled at their enthusiasm and motioned them to come closer. "Okay, first we gather more information. For this we must be extremely stealthy. We must not allow any of the other members of the Company notice who we are looking at, and if caught, we must lie."

They both nodded but Kili raised his hand. "We can easily lie to the older members, like Gloin and Oin, and Bifur, Bombur, and Bofur himself are the kind to take up to any of our pranks. But if we're caught by, say, any of your brothers, what do we do?"

Ori looked at him with a surprised look, not having expected such a... Well... smart question from the older male but still answered. "Well, Dori wouldn't really care if you two were rather stealthy about it. You don't have to worry about him too much, but for Nori, stick with a lie. But, and this is very important, it must be a lie with some truth accompanying it."

Both brothers cocked their heads to the side at this and the youngest dwarf sighed. "What do you mean, Ori?"

These two weren't this dense. They just couldn't be.

"Like, say... When you're uncle would catch you in the middle of a prank. He would ask you if you were up to something, and by saying yes, you'd be lying with the truth. Being honest by telling him that, yes, you were doing something, but you were lying by not telling just what you were doing."

It was a horrible example but it seemed to have done the trick because both siblings' eyes widened and they nodded with slight shock on their faces. "That is a very good trick, Ori. Why did we never think of that before?" Fili asked Kili who was just shaking his head in surprise.

"Lying with the truth, that is pure genius, Ori!"

This caused the scribe to smack his forehead, 'Oh, great. Now I've given them yet another weapon in their ongoing war of stupidity against the Company. Now they'll be using this whenever anyone asks them anything.'

"Moving on..." Ori groaned, but Kili raised his hand once more. "Yes... Kili?"

Kili lowered his hand with a soft smile, noting that he was most probably getting on Ori's nerves. "Um... What if we get caught by Dwalin or Balin? They are rather perceptive and know us both better than anyone."

Fili looked at his brother with a quirked brown and smacked him happily on the back, "Oh, brother! These questions coming out of you are too smart for you! Stop thinking so hard or else you might strain something!"

Kili glared at his brother but Fili turned to Ori before the younger could do anything. "But that is something rather simple to answer: we just stay quiet. They can't break us and we have mastered silence in the years we've known them."

The younger of the two nodded at the logic but still opened his mouth, "Well, what if the burglar or Thorin himself caught us?"

Even if the questions were interrupting his plan, Ori had to admit he was amazed with how seriously both brothers were taking the situation. Just them asking questions- even if it was basically the same thing over and over again- let him know they cared about what they were doing.

He thought on this question for a while, both brothers looking at him attentively, then shrugged. "Just come up with a quick lie to the Hobbit, he is easily enough flustered... But your uncle..."

All three shuddered at the idea of getting caught by Thorin himself and Fili shook his head. "Let's steer clear of Thorin, yeah?"

They all agreed with this then Ori began to speak. "As I already said, first we gather information. But do not allow yourselves to be caught by any of the Company, especially not Thorin, Nori, Dwalin, or Balin."

Both brothers nodded at the command but they all quieted down once they heard footsteps coming their way. They all tensed up and were ready to fight with any kind of enemy that could jump at them, but straightened up when they noticed it was just Nori coming over.

"You three troublemakers have been gone for long enough." He said, crossing his arms.

Ori looked down at the floor as he slowly moved his notebook behind his back all the while Fili and Kili looked away from the elder dwarf, beginning to whistle to try and look innocent.

Nori quirked an eyebrow at their clearly suspicious actions, "Now what are you planning to do? Steal all of Bombur's soup?"

The eldest was unsure just why the younger dwarfs were acting in such a suspicious manner- Ori didn't dare look up at him while both princes continued to try and look innocent- but he did know they must be up to no good to be behaving like this. So he crossed his arms and glared down at them.

"I really hope you were not planning on doing anything too stupid. Even if you are the youngest and most trusted member, Ori, hanging around these two will not help your case if something does go wrong."

Ori looked up at his brother, suddenly feeling like he should stick his tongue out at him in a rather immature manner, but restrained himself and shrugged. "We were just talking, Nori. Kili and Fili had a pretty good idea for a prank but I managed to talk them out of it."

Nori glanced at both princes, making them jump and start nodding violently. "Is this true, lads?"

"Of course it is! We were just plotting here for something rather good- maybe good for the whole company- but Ori here talked us through all the downsides it would bring. So we have decided to not do it until we get to a much safer place where Kili and I can hide much easier without getting lost." Fili explained rapidly, Kili nodding beside him.

"Yes, exactly! Somewhere nice and wide where we may have some kind of ally that would help us hide from the wrath that would must undoubtedly be unleashed on us by Dwalin and Thorin!" Kili continued, looking at his brother with a nervous smile.

And while they spoke in a 'convincing' manner, Ori was silently shaking his head.

"So now we're going to head back to camp and go to sleep before Dwalin suddenly springs up on us and starts keeping an eye out on us! Come, brother." Fili announced, grabbing his brother by the arm and proceeding to drag him back towards their camp.

Both Ori and Nori looked after them as they left, then the elder of the two turned to his brother. "They really planning something?" He asked in an unimpressed voice.

"Yep." Ori nodded simply, knowing better than to run his mouth.

With Nori- he had learned over the years- it was better to give short and precise answers that were clear to the point instead of trying to weave up complex lies. He was cunning enough to catch you in them and make you feel horrible for even trying to lie to him.

"And you expect me to believe you stopped them from being idiots? They are Fili and Kili."

Ori sighed and moved his head softly from side to side. "Idiots with hearts in the right place, brother. It's naught but a harmless prank that would bring smiles to must of us. But, as they said, they shall wait to get to more friendlier grounds than the forest."

Nori's eyes were scrutinizing his brother, trying to find any kind of deception. But Ori had either gotten extremely better at lying or he was telling the truth. And his brother was really not the kind to lie, so Nori smiled broadly and clicked his tongue.

"It's a good thing you're there for them, Ori. Imagine how they would be if they didn't have your reason to calm them every time they want to do something like this?"

Ori smiled at him and shrugged once more. "I believe I should not dwell on that. It would be a sad fate if I left them alone now."

Nori chuckled at his brother and walked towards him, wrapping an arm over his shoulders. "Let's go back. I'm sure Dori's already begun to think of a speech to reprimand you for having friends."