Early morning light peeped through the high window with its green-colored curtains. The only sound that broke the silence was the calm breathing of the sleeping dwarf who lay on his stomach. One of his muscular arms hung over the edge of the bed and he snored quietly.

Suddenly a loud knock sounded from the door and made him jump, now wide awake. He grumbled and mumbled while he shuffled to the door, one hand ruffled through his black Mohawk. He pulled the door open as a female voice squeaked,

"Ew! Get dressed!"

Dwalin blushed heavily as he saw Alina in front of the door. She covered her eyes with one hand and he looked down on himself, now aware that he was completely naked. He blushed even more and mumbled an apology. He grabbed his pants and tunic and put it on.

"Alright, I'm dressed," he mumbled and she lowered her hand to look at him.

"That's much better," she said with a cheeky grin and entered the room.

"Uhm—I didn't invite you to come in," he mumbled but she lowered down on the edge of his bed.

"I know, but I thought before we strike roots I simply invite myself," she replied and watched him. Dwalin closed the door and approached the window to pull the curtains aside and opened the window.

"Why are you up that early? The sun's not even properly up in the sky, it's just peeping above the horizon. I had such wonderful dreams," he grumbled and turned to look at her after he inhaled the fresh air.

"You're staying for a while so you can sleep enough on the other days. Today I'd like to show you the early morning life in the hills."

"Oh and I can't do that on any of the other days I'm staying here? It has to be on the first?" he asked but couldn't help and smile a bit.

She crossed her arms in front of her chest. "Don't be a bad-sport! And now go and take a bath. I will wait for you."

Dwalin stood staring at her quite in disbelief and tilted his head a little. "You don't plan to stay in here while I'm in there?" he pointed at the door leading to the bathroom.

She seemed to realize that the situation would be quite improper and got up. "Aye, sorry for being too cheeky. I will wait in the dining hall." And with that she left the room and closed the door behind her.

Dwalin shook his head and chuckled. He grabbed some fresh clothes and entered the bathroom. He poured warm water into the bathtub and undressed to lower into the comforting warmth of the water. He sighed happily and leaned his head back to relax a bit. Alina could wait a little. She deserved it for waking him so rudely that early in the morning. He was just on the edge of drifting to sleep again as the door of the bathroom opened.

"What's that commotion so early in the morning?" a voice spoke up and Dwalin nearly got a second heart-attack within a couple of minutes. He winced and water spilled onto the floor. He turned to see his brother, Balin, standing in the doorway.

"Balin—it's you, thank Mahal. No—wait, why are you in my bathroom?"

Balin chuckled and stepped closer. "I heard voices in your room and suddenly there was silence and I thought maybe something happened."

Dwalin started to rub his skin with a cloth while Balin lowered onto a stool nearby. "Alina caused the commotion. She woke me up just because she wants to show me the 'early morning life'. That girl is insane," Dwalin explained and made a circling gesture with his finger in front of his forehead.

"That girl seems to like you," Balin replied with a cheeky grin and Dwalin stopped moving. His gaze drifted to his elder brother.

"That's nonsense," he mumbled and poured water over his head. Balin got up and filled fresh warm water into a bowl and took a bottle of some hair-oil. "What are you doing?" Dwalin asked confused.

"Just be silent and let me help you," Balin said and started to rub a bit of the oil into his brother's thick, black hair. The oil smelled like fresh fir-tree and a hint of lemon. It was long ago since Balin had done such things for his brother but he had some kind of a feeling that he needed this now. Both of them needed such a warm act of brotherly love and affection and Dwalin leaned back and enjoyed it.

After a while, Balin poured water over Dwalin's head and ruffled through his Mohawk before he stepped away from the tub.

Dwalin got out of the tub and put on his fresh clothes. He wore a dark green tunic with subtle dwarf runes printed on it, black pants, and heavy leather-boots. He checked his full grown beard which covered the lower half of his face in a whiskers kind of way. His beard had also grown up around the ears.

"You look just fine, don't worry," Balin patted his shoulder and chuckled as he saw his brother rolling with the eyes.

"I don't plan to impress anyone," he replied and scrubbed his hair dry. Finally he turned around to look at his brother. They held gaze for a moment until they leaned their foreheads against each other and Dwalin whispered,

"Thank you."

"For washing your hair?" Balin chuckled.

"Aye," Dwalin replied with a cheeky grin and they stepped away from each other.

"Alright, now go. You should not let a lady wait. Especially that lady," Balin chuckled and patted his brother's back before he turned to leave the bathroom and headed to his own room again.

Dwalin checked himself in the mirror again and finally left the room as well.


"What took you so long?" Alina got up once Dwalin entered the dining hall. No one else seemed to be up yet.

"You said I should take a bath," he replied cheekily.

"Yes, but I didn't mean that you should take the whole morning for it. I thought you're more the catlick type of dwarf."

"Is that an insult, my Lady?"

"Not the slightest and don't 'mylady' me, alright? Now come on before we miss the sunrise. It's truly beautiful in this area."

"And what about breakfast? I'm hungry," he protested but she pushed him towards the door. At least, she tried with much effort. Finally he sighed and moved, followed her out of the hall and down through the corridors until they stepped out of the fortress.

The sky was colored in a faint shade of pink, spotted with some fluffy grey clouds. A chill wind was running over their skins and Dwalin wished he would have brought his cape but he did not dare to say anything and so he followed her along a cobblestone path leading up until they finally reached a rock outcropping just above the valley and the river below.

"And now?" he asked uncertain and Alina chuckled.

"Now we will sit down and watch the sun rise," she replied and placed the bag down which she was carrying. Dwalin had already begun to wonder what was in the bag and now he saw her revealing a dark-brown woolen blanket which she placed onto the ground. Then she revealed three small logs and made a fire. Finally she pulled out a basket which was filled with all kinds of delicacies.

"Still in the mood to complain about my idea of coming up here?" she asked and watched him with a triumphant smile. He simply blinked at her, uncertain what to reply.

She didn't wait for a reply and lowered down on the blanket and started to place the breakfast on two plates. She took a pot and filled it with water and made it boil over the fire and poured tea into two cups.

"What are you? A wizard? How do you get all those things into your bag?" he asked curiously now and Alina giggled.

"It's simple. I know how to calculate and that's helpful for packing a bag efficiently. Haven't you learned such things in Erebor?" she teased him a bit while she stuffed a piece of bread into her mouth.

"I'm not a Prince. I'm a warrior and don't need such knowledge," he replied and tasted a piece of sausage which was very good.

"I just thought that being best friend with the Prince means you have some privileges," she said and took a sip of tea.

He chuckled, "Well I am from the House of Durin and have privileges, but mathematics and academic things never catched my interest."

She shrugged and replied bluntly, "You don't look quite academic at all so it doesn't surprise me."

"Though I could lift you up with one arm and throw you into the river," he said with a cheeky grin which she replied. He could not deny that he enjoyed her company.

The higher the sun rose, the more did Alina's copper colored hair shine and her honey-colored eyes fascinated him in a new kind of way. He cleared his throat and said,

"It's truly a stunning sight up here."

"Told you so," she replied and lowered down onto her back, her hands crossed under her head. Dwalin looked down at her and she patted on the blanket. "Don't be so shy," she said and finally he lowered down next to her.

They fell silent for a while until she pointed up at the sky. "Look! A raven!"

"You're so academic but can't make out a thrush from a raven?" he chuckled which grew to a loud laugh as he saw her playful scowl. "Come on, you have to admit that's funny!"

She pinched his arm but couldn't prevent to giggle quietly and blush a bit. "I said I can calculate and not that I have knowledge about birds. Does it matter at all? I mean—a thrush is rather rare up here."

"Well, it's heading south towards Erebor I'd say," he replied and smiled. Alina watched him carefully.

"You don't like to be here, right?" she whispered a lot more serious now.

He preferred not to look at her as he replied, "I like it here but—it's not home, you know?"

"Aye, I understand that. But a warrior is away from home often, you know?"

"And yet home is where the heart is," he replied calmly and fell silent again.

"Well, sometimes the heart wanders and settles in another place," she whispered and blushed heavily as she was aware how that must have sounded to him. She got up and began to clean the blanket and put the dishes into the basket.

"What's wrong?" Dwalin asked as he sensed her nervous behavior. She stopped in motion and looked at him with a smile.

"I thought we should go back and join with Lailah, Thorin and your brother. Let's see what they're up to."

He chuckled and helped her to pack her bag and together they walked silently back into the fortress.


A/N: I hope you like this little "Dwalina" based chapter :)