a/n: Big thanks to RozaLove, Shadowsammy, Gracey Lily, Lightan117, Backlinedeyes, midwintersnightdream, Jacque' la Kitsune, NoirDixMois, and KYvonne78 for following and/or favoriting.
Shadowsammy, I hate rest stops, so gross. :)
I thank everyone that's left a review. And all the wonderful comments again. I sit here and save them all up to read them at once. I'm at an overload with giggles at the kindness.
"Now, are you two satisfied?" she asked after they had made one pass up and one pass back to the truck after the hardware store. They looked in each shop window. Most of the shops didn't hold anything of interest for them. But they both had a plastic shopping bag, full of random oddities they'd had to have.
"No," Kili said. "I'm hungry now."
"Kee," Fili said and sighed.
"We'll get lunch," she said as she dropped the bags in the truck.
Lunch was at the bar. It was quiet and there were only two other patrons. The tvs were off and they could hear the food prep in the kitchen clearly. It was somewhat soothing, Holly thought.
The waitress stared at them a moment before she asked them what they would have.
"Ale," Fili said. Kili grinned and nodded.
"I've got Abita, Boddingtons, Pennant, Founders, Brother Thelonious, Speckled Hen, R.J., Rye, and Wells," the waitress recited.
Fili frowned and looked at Holly. Holly shrugged. "Something traditional?" she asked. "Do you have anything like that?"
"Yes," she said and nodded.
Holly looked at Kili who nodded. "Two of those," Holly said to the waitress.
"And will you be drinking anything?" she asked.
"Ah... how about a Coke?" she asked.
"No Coke, Pepsi," the woman replied.
"Lemonade?" she asked and the waitress nodded.
"I'll come back for your order," she said and walked away.
When neither Fili nor Kili picked up their menus Holly spoke, "Do you know what you want to eat?"
"We have a choice?" Fili asked and blinked.
"Yeah," she said. "Pork, beef, fish or chicken."
"Wow," Kili said and opened the menu. He frowned and shut it again.
"What's wrong?" she asked.
"Too many words," he said.
"We can't read... those words," Fili said and bit his lip.
Holly frowned. "But you can read some language?" she asked.
"Aye," Fili said. "Khuzdul. Our language."
Holly nodded. "Okay, well... they have steaks and burgers, chicken wings, ribs-"
"Yes, all of that," Kili said and grinned.
Holly bit her lip. The waitress came back with their drinks and Holly gave her a huge order of enough food to keep five people happy for at least three meals. She knew she would be paying for today's outing for a while.
When they were done, Holly had two drunk dwarves with two full bellies on her hands. She barely made it back to the truck with them where they collapsed in the seat. She buckled them in and drove home. They were oblivious to the trip home.
"What about a ride in the back of the truck?" Kili asked as Holly ushered them into the house.
"Later, after you've digested your lunch," she said.
"Oh, okay," Kili said, looking a little sad.
"I promise," she said.
Kili nodded but didn't say anything more. Fili looked up at her and wondered if she would actually drive them around the farm.
A while later Holly came in to check on them. Their hair was mussed from rolling around on the couch and the floor.
"What are you doing?" she asked as she stood there and blinked down at them.
Both dwarves looked up at her. Kili sat on top of Fili's back as the older brother lay on his stomach on the floor. His arm behind his back. He smiled up at her.
"We were bored," Kili replied and Fili nodded.
"So you're having a wrestling match in my grandmother's living room?" she asked. She wasn't sure why she was surprised. It seemed something they would do.
"Aye," Fili said and Kili grinned.
"I'm winning!" Kili declared.
"You are not," Fili said and bucked his hips back, Kili went flying and landed on the floor as Fili jumped to his feet. He squatted before Kili, hands ready for another attack. Holly thought he growled a bit for effect.
"Okay, okay, you two," Holly said. She had to break that up before they broke something. Coffee table, themselves. She could just see a trip to the hospital. No insurance. No papers. They'd be quarantined and put in an observation facility in area 51 for sure. She shivered.
"Can we go on that ride now?" Kili asked, ignoring Fili for now.
"Sure," Holly said. If they were good enough to wrestle, they could go on a trip around the farm.
"Wooooo!" Kili said from the payload area of the truck. Holly could hear him clearly from the small open back window. She looked over her shoulder at the two as they faced backwards to see where they had been. Their hair going wild in the wind.
Kili turned and rushed forward to the front of the payload section. Fili followed. They couldn't see over the cab, so Fili boosted himself up with one foot on the side of the truck. Kili nodded and did the same and they hung over the top of the cab, more woops and laughs could be heard. Holly was glad they were having so much fun.
But then Fili's face was at the back window. "Can we get up top?" he asked, a grin on his face.
"Ah, sure, if you hold on and promise not to fall," she said looking back at him over her shoulder.
"Aye, we promise," he said and grinned. He withdrew and said something to Kili. And soon they were both on top. Holly could see their feet hanging down.
But then one of them slid down the windshield and fell with a thunk onto the hood of the truck. Kili looked back at her and laughed. He motioned for Fili and soon they were both sitting on the hood.
By the time they arrived back at the house, both brothers had laid back against the windshield, breathless with glee. Holding their stomachs over their joyous ride through the farm.
Exhausted and exhilarated, they slid tumbling from the hood of the truck. Tears in their eyes from laughing so hard. Holly lured them back in the house with the promise of dinner.
"What are we having?" Kili asked as they entered the kitchen. Mary was cooking for the lot of them. It seemed to Holly, that her aunt didn't mind having hungry guests. She wondered if her aunt led a secret life of restaurant chef in New York all those years she had been separated from the family.
"Chicken, roast potatoes, green beans, stuffing," Mary said over her shoulder. "And chocolate cake for dessert."
Holly didn't miss the brothers' exchanged look at the mention of dessert. She bit her lip and wondered what that was about.
After dinner was cleared from the table, Aunt Mary brought the cake and small plates to the table. Holly didn't miss Fili and Kili both eyeing the shiny chocolate ganache frosting. She chuckled and exchanged a smile with her aunt.
"You don't get dessert much," Mary observed.
"No," Kili said around a mouthful of cake.
"Nor chocolate," Fili said. Kili nodded his agreement.
"It's a good thing most of those candy bars we bought today are chocolate," Holly said and smirked.
"They are?" Kili asked, eyes wide. Holly nodded. Kili grinned.
Fili smiled and went back to his cake. One thing he hoped when Uncle reclaimed Erebor was to open up merchant trading with the eastern tribes of men once again.
That night when it was time for bed, they made no pretense of not sharing the bed. They all piled in together, with Kili curled up in a ball at the foot on Fili's side. Fili under the covers next to Holly. And Holly not really finding it all that odd to have two men in her bed. Albeit, little fuzzy men, one of which could melt her with a smile and the other who was just a charmer and would melt someone else's heart one day.
"Goodnight," Holly whispered to Fili.
Fili grinned in the darkness. "Thank you for today."
"You're welcome," she said. Fili had thanked her multiple times already, as had Kili.
Fili scooted a little closer to her and kissed her quickly. "Goodnight." He moved away slightly so they weren't crowding each other, he watched as Holly fell asleep. It was some time later that Fili fell asleep to the rhythmic sound of Holly's and Kili's breathing.
"Where's your aunt?" Kili asked out of the side of his mouth the next morning at breakfast. Holly made the same thing again since they seemed to like it. The only thing different was the lack of orange juice. Which Kili had noticed first thing, but he hadn't commented on.
Holly thought Kili himself was the culprit as the container had been more than half full the morning before. It was sitting empty in the refrigerator when Holly went to pour their morning glasses of it.
Instead of saying anything, she sliced a couple of oranges and set them on a plate for them all.
Kili probably thought she didn't notice, but she had seen him pick the seeds out and slip them into his pocket.
"Oh, she's upstairs," Holly said. "Probably sleeping late. She'll be down before we leave."
After breakfast was over and the kitchen cleaned, they took turns in the bathroom again. Holly had asked if they'd wanted to bathe, and had to practically twist their arms to get them to do it.
Holly went in first but only because the brothers insisted she go first. It was her bathroom, after all. But of course Holly protested that it wasn't. But they still made her go first.
Fili couldn't help grin at the sight of her slightly damp with stringy hair coming from the bathroom. She had her comb in her hand, still working the tangles out. But she was dressed. She wore those tight blue trousers and a short shirt that wasn't anything like a tunic. He rather liked it, but knew it wasn't appropriate for her to wear. But he held his tongue.
He knew she would wear her hair down, as she always did. No braids, no clips, no beads. Just tucked back behind her ears and hanging loosely down her back.
Fili had gone in next, thinking he wanted to be in there after her, not wanting his brother to have the scent of her shower in his nose. Again he played with the shower curtain and stood under the spray for a time until he remembered that he should be washing. He ran the soap over his hair, it was high time he washed it. And he wanted to look good for Holly at some point in his life. Now was as good a time as any to do that.
Fili exited the bathroom looking like a wet rat. Holly giggled at him and smiled. While Kili rushed off to make use of the shower, Holly pulled Fili to her and backed up to the bed. She sat far back and pulled him onto the bed to sit between her legs.
He turned around and looked at her. "What are you about?" he asked.
She turned him back to face away from her. "I'm going to comb your hair," she said. "You look like a wet lion. I know you have it in you to look presentable."
Fili chuffed. "Presentable," he repeated as she began her ministrations on his tangled mass.
"I'll try not to hurt you, but I can't promise anything," she said.
"Take your time," he said and smiled.
"I never do this," she said. "I mean... I do my own hair, but I've never combed anyone else's before."
"Why me?" he asked, curious.
"Why not?" she asked and lifted the back of his hair and kissed his neck. Fili shivered and chuffed. "You took out your braids."
"Yes," he said and nodded. "I'll put them back in when you're done."
"Oh," she said and continued working on his hair.
She was done combing the mass by the time Kili came from the bathroom. He too looked like a drowned animal. He grinned at them with the towel over his shoulders.
"You need this," Holly held the comb out to him.
Kili's eyes went wide and he looked at Fili who nodded slightly. Kili took the comb and sat on the bed with them.
Holly ran her fingers through Fili's hair, eliciting a small moan from him. Holly giggled and bit her lip. She separated the top of his hair and started to braid it in the back.
Kili frowned and looked at her. Holly caught the look and paused in braiding. "Do you mind if I braid your hair, Fili?" she asked.
Fili was rather on the stunned side and was speechless when he felt Holly begin the first braid. For a woman to braid a man's hair was a familial sign. Close kin and spouses braided each other's hair. Mothers, fathers, sons, daughters, wives, husbands. Never anyone outside of the family.
"I- no, I don't mind," he said finally finding his voice. He dug in his pocket for his clip and beads. He looked at Kili and smirked as he set the items down on the bed.
Holly chuffed and picked up the clip and put it at the top of the braid, then continued on with the braid and slid the bead on the end.
The bead wasn't a round cylinder as she thought it should be, and she frowned. "How... wha-"
"Pinch it closed," Kili said as he made a pinching motion with thumb and index finger. Holly nodded and squeezed the thin metal together enclosing the hair in the tube and preventing the bead from sliding off.
"Okay, now turn to the side," she said and waited until he turned. One leg hung off the side of the bed and the other he slid under her thigh. He rested his hand on her knee. His stomach flipped over. So did Holly's.
She cleared her throat and Fili looked at her. "Where... where do I put the next braid?" she asked as she touched his hair, separating strands for braiding.
"Like this," Fili said and indicated one braid going back from his temple. He began parting the hair and braiding it back gathering little bits of it as he went. Holly couldn't help but notice his hand was shaking.
Without a word, Holly took over the braid. Then did the next one in silence. After that she did the two on the other side.
At some point, Kili had left the room. He'd moved Holly's packed bags downstairs too. Holly thought it was just to get himself out of the room since the two people on the bed were becoming a strange pretzel and he didn't want to be any part of it. Holly couldn't blame him, though. She hated watching couples.
Couples. Couple. Couple? Were they? She wasn't sure what she and Fili could be called. But perhaps couple would be the most appropriate.
When the braiding was over, Fili sighed. He was sorely tempted to ask if she'd like a braid. But doing that would put a lot more meaning behind it than he intended. Even if Holly didn't know, the others would. He didn't think he was ready for the questions and he certainly didn't know how to explain any of it to Holly.
Their leaving was uneventful to say the least. Holly said goodbye to her aunt. She'd said goodbye to her grandmother a couple of days before. And Holly was assured that her grandmother would be coming back home, with Mary there to help until Holly came back.
Since there wasn't much love between the two women, the goodbye was short. The three gathered Holly's bags and left without much fuss. Over the rock, Mary did not stay to watch them go.
"Should we wait here?" Holly asked once they were over the top.
"Hmmm, I think we should walk back and meet them," Fili said.
"I want to know if I'm at camp with the others, or if I'm here," Kili said and grinned.
Fili chuckled and shook his head.
"What if we shouldn't have gone over?" Kili said, expressing regrets now that the deed was done.
"Why did you go over, anyway?" Holly asked looking over at the two as they walked.
"Kili wanted to see what was there," Fili said and shrugged as he took Holly's hand in his.
"Well..." Kili said and had the decency to blush.
"Not exactly?" Holly asked, eyebrow raised.
"Aye, not exactly," Kili confirmed. "They thought you were taking too long to send her off." He looked at Fili.
"So they sent you to fetch me back," Fili said.
"Yes," Kili said. "But then... I thought I'd like to go over and see..." He shrugged.
"More like they wanted to make sure Fili hadn't gone to see for himself," Holly said. "And sent you to make sure. And if he had, they were sure you'd go over too and bring him back."
The two dwarves nodded agreement.
It wasn't long after that when they saw the first riders of the group. Gandalf and Thorin.
Holly couldn't help but notice as soon as they came in sight, Fili let go of her hand. Her heart sank a little and then Fili looked up at her, regret on his face over that simple act.
Gandalf greeted them first with a cheery 'good morning' while Thorin only nodded in their general direction.
"Is he always like that?" Holly whispered to Fili as he hefted Holly's dufflebag up onto one of the pack ponies and secured it.
"He's just worried," he answered, defending his uncle.
"Let's be on our way," Thorin said as he urged his pony forward. Kili had fetched the two ponies from two of the other dwarves and brought them around.
"Not much of a greeting," Holly said as she eyed Thorin's back as it got further away from them.
"Don't expect too much," Fili said and took her hand. "Come, let's mount up."
Bilbo hung back. "Are you all well?" he asked as he tried to keep the pony from joining the others. He had little luck, but managed to turn the pony in a circle.
"Yes, we are well," Kili answered as he mounted up. He passed them and pulled on Bilbo's pony's reins for the mount to join him.
Kili and Bilbo chatted amicably.
Fili took the reins of his pony and rearranged the pack on the back of his pony to the front and laid down a small blanket behind the saddle. The others had passed them on the road and Fili kept an eye on them all. He looked back at her and motioned for her to come. Holly chuckled and gave him a leg up again.
"I think I can do this," she mumbled as she found the stirrup with her foot. By pushing up and leaning in front of Fili, she could swing her right leg behind him in one swift motion and landed behind him on the pony.
Fili chuckled and took control of the pony and urged it forward as soon as Holly was settled.
They rode in silence for a while. Then Holly rested her chin on Fili's shoulder. "What if this doesn't work?" she whispered.
"What if what doesn't work?" he turned his head slightly to ask.
"Me coming with you," she said. "What if... we repeat the day again and my being here hasn't affected anything?"
"I- I hadn't thought about that," Fili admitted. "And I didn't think to ask Gandalf."
"Hmmm," she said.
"When we stop, we'll ask," he said. "Okay?"
"Okay," she said. "But I was thinking..."
"About?" he asked, still looking back at her from the corner of his eye.
"If this doesn't work... you can come live with me," she bit her lip. She was hesitant to even mention that possibility, even to Fili. Mentioning it to Fili alone and not the others as a group, she felt she was inviting him to live in sin with her. Which it would be, yes, but not what the invitation had been about.
Fili chuffed and grinned. "A brilliant idea," he said. Holly kissed his cheek. Fili blushed and chuffed again before turning to watch the road ahead.