"There you are," a voice purrs as soon as Nori has made her way into the dark dining room of the house. "Knew you wouldn't be far behind if the lad was home."
"Hello, Guard," she smirks. "Fancy seeing you here."
"Took your time," he replies, moving closer to her, close enough that she can feel his breath on her cheek as he looks down at her.
"Had a few things to sort out," She shrugs, pressing up a little so that her lips are almost brushing his. "Which reminds me…" her voice is a purr and she feels him lean closer still. She could lose herself in him for a moment, there would be no harm and it has been months since she felt the touch of another. Judging by the impatient growl he gives as he tugs her in and begins to kiss her senseless it has been equally as long for him. They could stay like this, she would be happy to stay like this, but there are other things that she needs to do. Other considerations. Like who told Dís where to find her home. "Could do that all day," she breathes when she manages to pull away.
"Nothing stopping you," Dwalin groans.
"There's plenty to stop me," Nori disagrees, "and for once I need to be a bit sensible about it. Need to find a place to stay after Dori chucked me out. Any idea how Dís found out where I lived?"
"You think I'd be stupid enough to tell her?" Dwalin asks, face pinching into a frown. "I know what she's capable of when riled and I went there to look for the two of you on my own. I made sure of it."
"How did you know where to find me?" It is a question she should have asked long before now, but in the moment of finding him outside her home nearly two years ago she had been too tired and too off balance from finding him there, and it had not come up again since.
"I asked around after your brother. I listen to the lad when he talks," Dwalin tells her. "His ma does as well, not that you would know it with how she carries on sometimes. She either managed to work it out from him, or she asked around for Dori same as I did." Nori swears softly. "How bad?"
"Dori chucked me out," Nori reminds him. "And another source tells me that she tore the place apart. Certainly looked like he'd redecorated from what little I saw before he told me to leave. It doesn't make sense from what I know of her." She admits.
"Dís has been… different since you started training Kíli," Dwalin withdraws a little, obviously realising that their reunion will have to be put on hold for a moment. "It doesn't help when he puts on displays like he did out there just now," he arches an eyebrow and Nori shrugs. That display was not too far from the way that Kíli had behaved upon returning home in her first life. "She's losing him, and she knows it."
"He's growing up," Nori disagrees, "that isn't loss, it's life."
"Alright," Dwalin agrees. "But for whatever reason she doesn't see it that way. I'm thinking she and Thorin had plans for him that I wasn't brought into. Probably because they knew I'd disagree. I see the value in what he's training to be, even if there are bits of it that I don't agree with it's clearly what the two of you were made for so I don't judge."
"There are plenty of thieves who aren't called by craft," Nori admits, "if it makes you feel better."
"Does a bit," Dwalin nods, "regardless, if you want to know what's got Dís' beard in knots I suggest you talk to her about it. I've never been all that good at working out what's going on in her's and Thorin's heads."
"I suspect you're better at it than you think," Nori mutters. "Still, I think it's time the princess and I had a little chat about how much she gets to interfere with my teaching."
"Might be better to wait until she's had a few days with the lad home," Dwalin cautions.
"No," Nori snorts. "This is definitely something that we need to have out now. I don't appreciate coming home to find that I don't have one, and if she thinks she's the only one who gives a shit about what happens to that boy I will be happy to show her otherwise."
There is a moment, then Dwalin is kissing her again and pressing her against the wall behind her.
"Do you have any idea how hard it is going to be for me to pretend that I don't give a shit about what happens to you out there?" He demands softly.
"Got some idea," she breathes. "Ready?"
"Lead the way," he gestures.
It does not take long to find Dís, her sons, and Thorin. The four are gathered in a well furnished sitting room while Dís angrily lectures her youngest son with her back to the door. Kíli is staring at her defiantly, his lips twisted sullenly behind his beard. On the one hand, he deserves the reprimand. Nori knows that as difficult as the relationship between them has become since she started to train the lad, Dís still cares about what happens to her son. On the other, however, Kíli is only four years from being considered of age and it is not uncommon for dwarves of his age who have no craft, or no recognised craft at least, to rebel and come and go as they please because there is no fulfilment holding them in place.
As Nori told Dwalin, not every thief takes on the role because they are called to it and she has had ample encounters with the craftless in her line of work to know how many of them think and feel. It baffles her that Dís never looked into it all for herself. That said, in her last life Nori had dragged Kíli back into town dirty and road worn, and had clipped him about the back of the head when he had attempted to greet his mother in the same way that this Kíli had only an hour or so before. Actually, in her last life Nori and Dís had mostly gotten along quite well, if one ignored the arguments that regularly broke out about Kíli's craft. Perhaps that is why Dís' actions this time have made Nori so furious. She and Dwalin watch for a few moments longer, listening as Dís rants and as Kíli's shoulders begin to hunch in even though his face remains sullen and scowling. Beside him Fíli seems to be working himself up into a fine temper. Generally, the elder boy is fairly easy tempered, settled and difficult to rile up in contrast to his quick tempered brother. Except, it seems, where Kíli is concerned. In both of her lives Nori has only seen Fíli lose his temper a handful of times and almost all of those have involved some perceived injustice against his younger sibling.
"Mahal's sake, Ma," he bursts out within moments of Nori opening the door to the room, "will you give it a rest?" She sees Dís pause. "He's home, isn't that what's important? If I'd known that this was the reception waiting for me I wouldn't have bothered in his place."
"You are more responsible than your brother," Dís disagrees, "even your recent behaviour can be allowed to slide since you went with your brother rather than let him continue south alone."
"I wasn't alone, Ma," Kíli objects, "and I knew what I was doing."
"You are sixty-six," Dís snarls, "you have no idea what the world is really like outside of these mountains."
"I'm not a child! Stop treating me like one!"
"I will when you stop behaving like one!" His mother snaps back. Dwalin clears his throat and steps forward.
"Look who I found," he says, wrapping a gentle hand around her arm, although to the casual observer it looks like a firm grip.
"I can see myself in," Nori grumbles, pulling her arm loose. "Only came to check that the lad made it back alright."
"You!" Dís snarls, spinning and leaping towards Nori. The thief side steps, aware of Dís' fighting style from the life she spent working for Thorin and knowing this makes it easy for her to predict what the princess will do and pin her to the floor with her arm twisted behind her back.
"Play nice," she tells the other 'dam. "I came because that boy is my responsibility as long as I'm training him. But since I have your attention," she glances up for a moment to see Fíli and Kíli holding Thorin back. "Stay out of this," she tells him. "Your sister wants to mess around in my world and stick her nose into my teaching methods, she gets to see how we solve problems." To her surprise, Thorin pauses.
"Dwalin…" he says.
"I'm staying clear," Dwalin shakes his head. "I saw how it turned out for the last idiot who crossed her."
"He didn't learn from the experience," Nori informs him. "He won't be causing anyone a problem again, now." Dís, who had been shifting beneath her as though trying to break free, stills abruptly. "I'm hoping Lady Dís will. I do not appreciate returning home to find that I have no home because she decided to tear it apart."
"Your brother was compensated," Dís argues.
"Yes, because compensation was going to undo the damage done to his heart upon seeing the home our mother raised us in ripped to pieces," Nori sneers. "Perhaps if it was simply my place of residence, left broken but available to me, I might feel more forgiving. But you have not simply robbed me of a home, princess. You have robbed your son of a safe place to retreat and hide when he is doing more work establishing his carefully crafted cover. Which just draws attention where we don't want it, frankly."
"You should never have taken him," Dís insists.
"And as I've been trying to tell you, Ma," Fíli is the one who cuts in this time, "she didn't take him, he decided to leave and Nori went with him. Just like I decided to stay in Bree to see if he would turn up there and Dwalin chose to remain by my side." He sighs. "Let her up, Nori, the fact that she did this and kept it from us before we left shows that she knows her shame."
The thief looks at the prince, seeing him stand taller and in far more mature and regal a manner than she usually sees on him. In fact she has only seen him like this a handful of times and never in this lifetime.
"Very well, my prince," she nods and stands, though she watches the other 'dam warily. Dís is not the sort to take such an outcome to their altercation in good humour, Nori knows that, but the thief could not let the actions of the princess pass either. There is a brief moment where it looks like Dís might reach for a knife, but Dwalin shifts closer still to Nori and the princess subsides.
"Taking her side?" She asks the guard.
"Don't see a reason not to," he replies. "She's looking out for the lad and from what I saw on the road she's been doing a good job on him." He scowls at Dís. "She's teaching him to be what he needs to be, way I see it that means we're going to have to get used to him coming and going as he pleases. Might as well establish that pattern now. You aren't the only one who wants to make sure those boys are safe, Dís."
"Have you no opinion to express on this, brother?" Dís demands of Thorin, although Nori doubts she expects much of a reply.
"We long ago agreed, sister, that in matters concerning your sons you would be the one to reprimand them," Thorin shrugs. "While I agree you have every right to be upset with both of your sons for their decisions this last summer, I am less ignorant of the reasons that his mentor might have chosen to permit such an action. As you agreed with her, we wanted Kíli as anonymous in his role as possible. What better way to build anonymity than ensure most of his training happens far from here?" Dís scowls at him. "And what faster way to destroy that than by creating a scene in his mentor's home? As I pointed out at the time. I know this is not the protective role that you envisioned for him, it is not the role I had hoped to have him take on either, but it is what it is and has already proven to be far more useful than either of us could have imagined. Do not forget that without Nori's teachings Fíli would be dead already. I agreed with you and their father that I would not interfere with your raising of them in any capacity other than preparing Fíli as my heir. As far as I am concerned, this circumstance falls under that condition. It is for the protection of my heir, and it is down to my Wolf to choose who she would train as her replacement when the time comes. You do not have my permission to interfere with that."
A.N: Well, I didn't think I would manage to get this up tonight but stuff happened and I've achieved as much as I can for tonight. I cannot believe how many years have passed since I brought my little girl into the world. It's insane how quickly she's grown up. And wow, I can't believe how upset everyone is with Dis. I mean, I can, but I can't.