Nori expects Briar to be upset with her story, although she leaves the part about Glorfindel confronting her about her return from her telling of it, but she often forgets that Briar's anger is not like the anger of dwarves. It is not loud and brash, quickly expressed even if it is not as rapidly forgotten. Briar's anger simmers below the surface, building quietly and often seeming to dissipate with little more than a pinched expression and a sour look in the direction of the offender. She rarely loses her temper and when she does Nori's experience is that it happens over a long period of time with a great deal of poking and prodding. She watches the play of emotions over Briar's face and body as she speaks, sees the way that the hobbit clings to Kíli, who eventually pulls her up to sit in his lap and that is likely as much for his own comfort as it is for hers.

Horror and grief flicker over Briar's face with the kind of rapidity that most of her companions would miss, but Nori is accustomed to watching the hobbits and seeing the quieter way that they express themselves when it is not a moment of joy. Hobbits express joy loudly, and as a people they are naturally joyous and take a great deal of pleasure in all the little things in life. In fact, hobbits look for the pleasures in life to such a degree that the idea of any discomfort is repulsive to them in far greater measure than it seems to be in the other races. As far as Nori knows dwarves, elves and Men all seem to accept that discomforts will occur in their lives and it makes the times of comfort and plenty all the better. This Briar has only learnt that on the most minor level, like her future self she will come to understand the extremes of discomfort that can occur when on long journeys during the quest. Assuming she has not been changed so much by her friendship with Nori that the wizard passes her by as not entertaining enough anyway.

You never know with wizards.

"One good thing came out of it, anyway," Nori concludes. "I woke up and this idiot proposed as soon as he saw me."

Nori and Dwalin have not spoken much about their plan for when they will actually get married. In part because they both know that there will likely be more than one argument about living arrangements, announcements and timing, but also because they want to wait until all the important people have been told about their intentions before they begin to plan. Nori already knows that she wants to be married to Dwalin some time in the next five years, although long engagement periods are not unusual for dwarves, but she has no set timeline. It will likely come up this winter, there are plenty of secluded corners that Nori knows of in the Shire where the two of them will be able to go to discuss things. None of this needs to be said to Briar, however, who's worried face shifts instantly into a blinding smile.

"Congratulations!" She cries, leaping from her spot on Kíli's lap to fling her arms around the thief. "I'll have to plan a party before you leave," the hobbit continues. "It will be nice to be able to celebrate again, and to have something so wonderful to celebrate at that."

Dwalin looks a little bit like he wants to dig into the floor and hide, he has never liked being the centre of attention so a large party in their honour is his idea of a nightmare, but he does not immediately object and Nori is silently grateful for that. Besides, they will not have such a thing at home, engagements are celebrated quietly, it is the weddings that are lavish. Which is something that Nori is simultaneously looking forward to and dreading. She has no problem being the centre of attention, sometimes the best place to hide is in plain sight, but she has never liked her personal business being the subject of gossip. Probably one of the reasons that she and Dwalin get along so well.

The six of them chat for a little while, drying out in front of the fire while they tell Briar about their time in Rivendell and on the road to the Shire. Hela is quiet, understandably given the recent loss of her father, and Fíli stays close to her while watching the way that Kíli and Briar interact in much the same way that Nori knows Dwalin must be. Fíli has to know some of what Kíli's feelings for Briar must be, because Nori has never known the younger prince to keep any secrets from his older brother. Not that she blames Fílli for being curious, it has been about seven years since he saw the hobbit lass last and Briar has changed a great deal during that time.

Nori is quite proud of that.

Eventually, as the sun is beginning to set, Briar gets up from her perch on Kíli's lap, where she had returned after giving her congratulations to Nori and Dwalin, and states that she needs to start dinner for the six of them. It is no small task to ready a meal for five dwarves, as well as a hobbit, and so Nori decides that she should go in and drops a quick peck on Dwalin's head, comfortable enough among those she knows so well to give that small sign of affection where her people usually hide such little gestures away from outsiders, then makes her way into the familiar kitchen.

"You alright?" The thief asks when she hears soft sniffles from Briar.

"I am," Briar turns, using a lacy handkerchief to dab at her cheeks. "A bit overwhelmed, this is the largest number of people I've had come to visit for a long time. Mother would have…"

"I know," Nori smiles. "I'm sorry I didn't get to see her before the end."

"She understood," Briar shakes her head, "and Kíli was here. That helped. There have been rumours, though, about me and him.

"With that greeting?" Nori huffs. "I'm hardly surprised."

Briar flushes, turning her face away slightly and looking out of the kitchen window thoughtfully.

"Does Hela know?" She asks abruptly. "About Kíli's trade. Does she know that he's Cadan sometimes?"

"No," Nori shakes her head, "there hasn't been a reason to tell her."

"We might need to," Briar says, slightly hesitantly. "The rest of the Shire know him as Cadan, and if you're staying here for the winter she's eventually going to meet someone who uses that name. And they'll ask about his accent too."

Nori swears softly. That is something that she should have thought about and she can hardly believe that she let that detail slip her mind on their way in. It is time, she realises, to find out just how serious Fíli is about Hela, and she suspects that he will not open up to her no matter how insistently she asks. It will have to be done, however, because Hela is the only one of their little group who does not know what Kíli's true calling is and that will be a problem. They will not be staying in this smial for the entire winter, after all.

"I'll sort it," Nori promises. "What can I do to help?"

Dinner is a simple thing, although Briar had apparently spent a day baking and she has a good store of meat pies in her pantry which are quickly reheated along with some boiled potatoes and winter vegetables on the side. Dwalin, Fíli and Hela will likely leave the vegetables to one side, they had not much cared for a great deal of the Rivendell cuisine either, but Nori knows that she and Kíli will eat it all happily. She almost prefers the hobbit diet to the one that she has in the mountains. Dwarves are not natural farmers, although there are some who are called to it the same as there are others who are called to animal husbandry, leather making, thieving and so on, but farming is a necessity in any race that wishes to have basics such as bread and meat.

Dinner is followed by more tea for Briar and Hela, and more ale for the others, the conversation more relaxed than before the meal, especially when the two lads pull out their fiddles to play a few gentle tunes. Briar slips out for a while when the lads start playing, brushing a gentle hand over Kíli's shoulder in what seems to be a habit formed while he had been staying with her the year before. He hardly pauses in his playing, though he turns his dark eyes on her for a moment, but Nori watches the comfort of their interaction with interest.

The hobbit reappears a short time later, settling next to the thief as the two boys continue to play.

"I've set the bedrooms up," she tells Nori. "There's three spare now but a couple of you are going to have to share I'm afraid."

"We'll work it out," Nori assures her.

They listen to the two boys play for a little longer until Hela yawns widely. It has been a long journey, and the lass is still dealing with her own grief, and so it is decided that they should all retire for the night. Briar goes to lock up and check all of the doors and Nori takes the task of assigning the three spare rooms to their various occupants. Not that she believes for a second that certain people will stay where they are told to.

Hela is given one on her own, Dwalin is ushered to the same room which has been Nori's every time she has visited, and the two boys are taken to the room that turns out to be Briar's childhood room; Briar has obviously moved into the master bedroom as would be her right after the death of her mother. Nori follows the pair inside and closes the door behind her, her expression of light cordiality fading into seriousness.

"How serious are you about Hela?" She asks Fíli.

Both lads stare at her in surprise, then Kíli's face morphs into the dawning understanding of what the problem might be.

"Enough," Fíli hedges. "Why?"

"You told her about your brother?" Nori pushes. "About me?"

"Told her what?" Fíli shakes his head, still looking genuinely confused.

"About our real jobs, Fee," Kíli prompts. "Wolf and Shadow."

"Uncle said to keep all that quiet," Fíli reminds his brother. "Only the king, his heir and his guard captain are supposed to know who the Wolf is."

"Briar knows," Nori says after taking a deep breath, "and the hobbits here know Kíli as Cadan. They'll address him that way, and Briar pointed out that they would notice the missing accent too."

Kíli swears.

"That's what I said," Nori tells him. "Are you serious enough about Hela that we take the risk of telling her? I don't want to tell her if you aren't certain that this courtship is going to go to betrothal and marriage."

"I'm certain," Fíli says without taking even a moment to think. "I probably would have asked her before now, but I didn't want to give Ma another reason to have an apoplexy. She has enough of those these days and none of us want to deal with another one if we don't have to."

Dwarf courtships typically last between five and ten years. Royal courtships are expected to last the longest, perhaps so that the couple can be certain that they will be able to handle the expectations of royalty together. As time passes over the course of the courtship the one marrying into the family will be taught all that they might need to know of their role as the betrothed of an heir or monarch. Once they are betrothed, something which would again last roughly five years, the one marrying into the family would again be taught all that they would need to know about their new role in life. The average dwarf can afford to cut corners, miss steps and generally carry on in whatever manner they choose to because their choices very rarely make any material impact upon their people as a whole. The leading families, on the other hand, are ever under the observation of others and frequently watched for even the smallest misstep. They have to be careful or risk coming under unwanted scrutiny.

"Good idea," Nori mutters, with a raise of her eyebrow in Kíli's direction.

"Briar already knows that Mother will pitch the most spectacular of hissy fits when she finds out about her," the lad mumbles. "But if we're lucky," he adds with a grin, "she'll blame you."

"What else would be new?" The thief sighs. "To our original topic," she shakes her head, "we need to tell Hela what to expect. I can handle it, make sure that I tell her that it was under my orders that you two kept your mouths shut."

"I'll tell her," Fíli says. "It's my duty to do it."

"Not everything is about duty, lad," Nori reminds him.

"No," Fíli agrees, "but this time it should be me." He takes a deep breath. "In the morning," he finishes.

"As long as you don't leave it too long," Nori shrugs. "And don't go trying to be sneaky later either," she smirks. "We all know you pair are going to end up in beds that aren't the ones given to you, might as well own it."

Kíli grins.

"Well, if we're owning it," he says and breezes past her, pausing for a moment to knock his head briefly against hers. "Night, Aunt, Fee," he adds as he slips out of the door.

"I am a terrible influence," Nori declares gleefully before following the lad from the room.

A.N: And that's the end of my buffer. Real life has been getting in the way of writing (not to mention Nori going off on a tangent) but I'm hoping to keep up with my twice a week posting schedule all that same. Sometimes I write better and faster when I know I have a deadline to meet. Not to mention the heat. I know other places get hotter, but when sunrise is around 5am and sunset is pushing 8 pm that's a lot of time for the sun to be in a clear sky belting us with heat. Particularly when we're used to it being about 10 degrees cooler and a little bit overcast. Which is supposed to happen on Saturday in time for torrential rain, which will also draw complaints because I am British. It's what we do. It might also make it easier for me to write, which would be lovely.