/ / / Before \ \ \

According to dwarfish custom the rise and fall of two moons before the bonding ceremony the soon to be bonded pair would be taken into the houses of their family and would spend those days cleansing the body and creating a piece of adornment for their intended that would be exchanged in the moments just as the moon shone down into the bonding chamber.

Dwalin and Ori spent the hours before they would need to separate curled together on the couch before their fire. Neither of them was looking forward to being separated for two days though Ori was just glad that when it was over he and Dwalin would be bonded and that feeling of 'mine' that he'd been carrying around for two years would be poured into the item they created together as a newly bonded couple.

A bonding ceremony is held after sundown, when the moon is full and the world is bathed in the same dark light as the heart of a mountain.

Before they settled down onto the couch Dwalin had held Ori in their bed and they had made slow, clinging, love trying to make it last until the next time they would be able to lie together.

Once a pair is bonded they are provided with metal and gems from their family line, together they shall create a piece of art that symbolises their commitment.

Dwalin and Ori held one another close on the couch, Dwalin was running his fingers along the exposed skin of Ori's back, they had pulled on only their smallclothes and Ori curled almost on top of him. They felt, in the way all dwarves could, the passing of time and Dwalin felt it was going much too quickly.

A dwarfish courting ritual will be presided over by the highest member of the Court of Royal Advisors.

Balin was the highest member of the Court of Royal Advisors, though now that Bilbo was Royal Consort, and the hobbit looked very fetching in his circlet of rose gold, he was the highest advisor at court. Balin, as a member, the only living member, of the House of In, could not perform his own brother's ceremony. In joyful celebration of both his own recent bonding and the part that both Dwalin and Ori played in reclaiming the mountain Thorin had decided to preside over the ceremony himself. Dwalin had felt a swell of pride at Thorin's honour; he and Thorin had grown up together, though the King was a little younger, and it felt right to have him be a part of their ceremony since his mission had brought Ori into Dwalin's life. It was more than that though, now that Dwalin knew how Ori had been treated before the company and the journey he wanted to drive home the knowledge that Ori was a person of importance and he was held in high regard by the King Under the Mountain. Dwalin believed that Ori deserved to have a king conduct his bonding ceremony and any other honour that could be placed on his shoulders.

A bonded pair shall create the clothing for their intended to wear on the day of their bonding. No one outside of the bonded pair shall be involved in creating these clothes.

Ori had started creating Dwalin's coat long before his mother appeared in Erebor. He knew that he was going to be bonded with Dwalin regardless of what his mother thought. Ori had sat with Bilbo in the library when they were supposed to be writing and illustrating their book and Bilbo had taught Ori how to embroider with the skill of a hobbit. Ori had gone to Bofur for help spinning some of his treasure into threads of silver and gold so fine that he would be able to embroider the fine coat of thick black fabric he had already made for Dwalin. Ori had spent many hours when he should have been working sewing Dwalin's coat under Bilbo's watchful eye though the hobbit kept his hands well and truly to himself.

Ori loved to knit, he could do it when talking or thinking or anything else but Dwalin had quite a few knitted garments already and Ori wanted him to have something special, something that could then be worn for royal meetings, when Dwalin would stand behind the king as one of his most trusted advisors. The leather pants and soft, cream, cambric shirt Ori had also made had been so simple to finish but the jacket had taken him months to create. The final stitch Ori left until the day he presented the clothing to Dwalin, it was in the cuff of the jacket and Ori knelt before Dwalin to stitch it in. Dwalin had touched the jacket with care, running his fingers along the gold and silver thread twisted into patterns that to Ori's eye covered the history of their relationship. He wouldn't explain it to Dwalin until after their courting ceremony.

Dwalin pulled Ori up and smiled at the work that his chosen had put into his courting clothes. Dwalin didn't say anything but he fully intended to wear something that Ori had knitted for him with the rest of the clothes. He didn't care that it might not suit or that it wasn't something normally worn to a courting ritual Ori had begun their journey with a knitted sweater, and Dwalin had peeled it off Ori the first time they had lain together and Dwalin intended to make it a part of their future as well.

Dwalin had much less skill with material and sewing so the moment he decided to formally bond with Ori…which was about three heartbeats after the first time he kissed the younger dwarf he knew something would have to be done. When they had moved in together Dwalin had gone to his brother, who had smiled kindly and taught him to sew, from scratch. Those first months had been a test of both brothers' patience and the number of times that Dwalin had been forced to unpick or restart his work was more than either brother could count. After a year Dwalin was good enough, just, to sew a very plain pair of pants, a nice blue shirt and a simple black jacket. Dwalin was quite proud of his work but he also expected whatever Ori made to make his efforts look utterly bland. As a result, when Dwalin was finished he set to making gauntlets of gold and silver and then a fine, flexible chainmail of metal that could be worn beneath the plain blue shirt. When the gauntlets were done he sewed them to the jacket and looked at his work. He wished he could do more for Ori but at the very least he had learned to do this for him and put his very best skill into it.

Dwalin knew of many dwarves who let their intended create the clothes for both of them if they had the skills required but Dwalin wanted to do this for Ori. Balin told him that the clothes were spectacular but Dwalin had known his older brother to lie to protect his feelings. In the end none of that mattered since Ori had looked at the clothes and pulled Dwalin in for a long, deep kiss. Perfect, he had called them and Dwalin didn't care if Ori was lying because no one's opinion mattered if Ori was happy with them.

/ / / \ \ \

Ori had not slept. He had laid in bed listening to his brothers snore and he had thought about what would be coming the following evening. He wasn't nervous, he wasn't stressed or worried, but he desperately wanted to see Dwalin and he wished for the time to speed up and get him to the courting chamber. Ori climbed from this bed when he knew the sun was up and set himself to making a large breakfast. He wasn't sure what type of cook Balin was, though he knew how bad Dwalin was, and he wondered if he should get one of his siblings to take a few plates to Dwalin.

"You don't need to feed him," Nori said quietly from the doorway of the kitchen. He rubbed sleep from his eyes and watched his little brother.

Ori smiled at him and Nori knew he had not slept. "I want to; would you take them some food?"

Nori shook his head, he did not understand what Ori saw in Dwalin but he could not ignore the fact that the great, warrior dwarf did obviously make his brother very happy.

"I will take him some food," Nori agreed with a sigh. "If you will make me one of those omelettes."

Ori smiled at him brightly, his dimples deep and reassuring. "Missed them have you?"

Nori nodded. "So very much, little brother."

"There will be one here waiting for you as soon as you return from delivering these plates to Balin and Dwalin."

Nori nodded and left to make his deliveries. Balin opened the door and accepted the plates with a smile and thank you. When Nori returned to Dori's chamber Ori presenting him with a plate full of omelette.

"I do miss living with you little brother."

"I…" Ori blushed.

"You don't have to miss me," Nori said softly. "I can see how much he cares for you so I am happy for you. I saw him defend you against those dwarves who were horrible to you, he didn't have to and yet I saw him scare them with the same ferociousness that he went after orcs."

"I do miss you," Ori said. "But I'm happy with Dwalin and he would have felt the need to defend me, that's who he is."

Nori tipped his head at Ori but didn't say anything else while they both listened to Dori wake and stretch in the other room. They were familiar sounds of age and Dori that made Ori grin at his brother.

"Good thing I made an extra omelette," Ori said.

"Rather," Dori said walking into the kitchen. "I have missed your omelettes."

"Let's sit," Ori said. "I need a distraction, time is moving too slowly."

"Are in that much of a rush?" Dori asked.

"Yes," Ori smiled. "I really am. Is mother coming for breakfast?"

"She said lunch," Dori said. "She said that she is slow to get going in the morning now."

"She just wants a lie in," Nori said with a smile.

The three brothers sat in silence eating.

"You are so calm," Dori said looking at his youngest brother.

"Why would I be nervous," Ori asked. "I've been living with him for years, I have been in love with him for longer and I know I have made the right choice."

Nori and Dori exchanged a look and then smiled at their brother.

/ / / \ \ \

Balin sat back and looked at his brother. Dwalin had bathed already and for the last fifteen minutes, since he had emerged from the bathroom, he had been walking around the room in his smallclothes looking for his 'good' beard comb.

Balin had never seen his brother so nervous. Surely the tattooed dwarf had been nervous in his life but Balin could so easily see it at the moment. Dwalin had barely bothered to pick at his breakfast, delivered by Nori, and Balin had happily eaten it for him when he had tasted Ori's cooking.

Dwalin had woken looking tired and once he had stopped pretending that he would eat he had disappeared into the bathroom. Balin had checked on him twice worried at how long it was taking. Dwalin was still alive but he had sounded more and more stressed each time.

Balin wondered if Dwalin even had a good beard comb but he helped his brother look regardless.

"Dwalin," Balin asked when Dwalin finally found the comb he wanted – the first he had picked up, and was busy combing his beard with fierce focus. "Why are you nervous?"

Dwalin turned to look at his brother fiercely. "I'm not nervous, Ori will be there."

"Of course he will," Balin said with certainty.

Dwalin nodded firmly once and went back to combing his beard. Balin watched him comb and braid and then pull his plaits out and start again. Balin smiled into his tea while Dwalin set a square of hot metal against his shirt. Dwalin dressed in his leather pants and then opened a great chest of knitted garments and started to try them on. The red jumper Balin remembered Dwalin wearing as the first sign of this relationship was sitting on the bed while Dwalin went through all of the other garments. In the end Dwalin put everything away and pulled on his pressed shirt and then the red jumper that Ori had made for him.

"It is a good idea for you to wear that," Balin said with a smile. "I knew something was going on the first time I saw you wearing that."

Dwalin smoothed his hands down the soft wool. "Ori never intended to court me."

"What?" Balin sat forward and looked at his brother honestly surprised.

"He gave me the jumper as a thank you for saving him in the battle, for fighting at his side rather than trying to stop him fighting."

"As his brothers would have done, so you…"

"I gave him a courting gift, hoping that my feelings were returned."

Balin beamed at his brother. "You cared for him already."

"Yes," Dwalin said sitting in front of Balin. "He was captivating, he is captivating."

Balin leaned forward and grabbed his brother's hands. "I cannot tell you how pleased I am to know that. I worried once that you would never find love. To know that you instigated everything makes me even more pleased about this evening."

"Why?"

Balin smiled and looked at his nervous brother. "Because you took such a large risk with your heart and I am so pleased that everything we have lost in our lives did not make you scared to do so."

"I do not scare easily."

Balin could see the sorrow pass over Dwalin's face as he thought of their parents, and their brothers and sister all lost to war or Smaug. "They shall be watching us from the next life."

Dwalin nodded and stood from Balin's side.

Balin continued to sit and watch his brother prepare for his bonding with an overpowering air of nervousness.

/ / /

Right, so this kind of got away from me and will now be in three parts, before, during and after (After will be posted in Right In This Moment since it'll be smutty). This was going to be the last chapter but now the next chapter is. Enjoy and let me know what you think.