"We really didn't mean to uncle Thorin."

"It was supposed to be for Dwalin, we swear."

I groaned slightly at their excuses, "You shouldn't have meant anything like that for anyone." I muttered angrily. Turns out having a basket of fish dumped on your head, being knocked unconscious, being badly bruised, having your nephews each grab a leg and drag back you to the house, and having to listen to them talk about how sorry they are, can put you in a pretty foul mood. Who would've thunk it?

"It won't happen again, we promise."

"Yeah."

I looked down at my nephews and pointed to a pile of firewood by the door, "Take it outside and cover it."

"Yes sir." The boys moved to do their chores when a knock came at the door. With a deep breath I stood from my position at the bathroom sink, where I had washed my cuts and cooled my burning bruises, and went to the front of the house. I pulled open the door and, seeing who it was, slammed it right back in the visitors face.

"Thorin, this is not about the other night and work, it's about your nephews." Meornin. Bastard.

"Thorin, you let us in now or for Mauls sake I will let Meornin break this door down."

I chuckled, and spoke back to the familiar voice, "Angry are we?"

"Agitated."

"For whatever reason?"

"My sons didn't come home last night."

I pulled open the door and looked straight at Meornin, "You leave. Now."

As he walked away I looked at a pretty face. Brown eyes, blonde hair, strong, smart. My sister was a natural born queen. Especially with the way she worried.

Dis' eyes grew wide when she saw the bruise on my cheek and she gasped, "Good Lord Thorin, what happened?"

"Your sons." I said plainly, like it was the obvious answer.

She stared at me for a second, before crying out, "Boys, you come now!"

Fili and Kili slowly came into sight at the end of the hall. They both looked frightened. I chuckled, 'Good' I thought. Dis was a sweet woman, but when angered she could be downright scary, and with fire in her eyes she immediately began the interrogation.

"What happened to your uncle's face?"

"We hit his head."

"You did what?"

"With a basket. It was an accident."

"Why in hell on earth would you hit your uncle with a basket?!"

"Well technically we dropped it on him so…"

"It doesn't matter how he got hurt, it matters that he did, now what happened?" Fili, being the oldest, was silent as his mother's eyes bore holes into his chest.

"We were trying to hit Master Dwalin because he makes so much noise on the mountain when he gets upset, so we hung a basket of fish over the clearing entrance and waited for him so we could drop it on his head….." Fili's voice faded, and Kili picked up the story, "But instead uncle came looking for us, since we left before he woke up, and when he came into the clearing-!"

"-We kinda dropped it on his head." Fili finished for him.

Dis stared at her two sons in disbelief for a good solid minute and a half before she broke from her trance, "Alright," Her voice now quiet and far away, "Continue with the chores Thorin gave you."

The boys shuffled down the hall, and Dis turned to me, "Why didn't they come home last night?"

"They were chasing my livestock. They wanted to take one up the mountain this morning for bow practice, and I said no. So with nothing to do they devised this little scheme." I pointed at my bruised and cut face, and surprisingly, my sister started to laugh.

"What's so funny?" I asked bemused.

"Thorin….my boys are becoming teenagers!" With that outburst Dis started to cry. She reached for me and I hugged her back. I'd wondered how long it would be until she accepted the fact that her boys had grown.

"Oh Thorin, what am I going to do? Fili will be a man soon, and Kili is only five years behind him." She sniffled and looked up at me.

"Dis, they're going to grow up sooner or later, and you know that, and either way, whether it happens sooner or later it is still going to be painful. Might as well get it over with now." I said this while resting my chin on her head.

We stood silent for a few moments. Dis looked up at me, "Did you get the food I sent?"

"Are you kidding? I wouldn't miss your cooking if it meant walking through freezing rain in nothing but my trousers!" I said exclaimed, and that was the truth.

Dis smiled, "Late breakfast?"

"Sounds good."

An hour later we were all enjoying a nice breakfast together in my somewhat presentable dining room. We were all actually having a good time, even though no one was even really eating the food, and that of course meant Dis was looking at me to be a good influence. In my defense, Fili threw the first chunk of egg at my head thank you very much. So me and the boys were covered from head to toe in food receiving a legendary scolding from Dis. Didn't last long, Kili threw a biscuit at her head and she joined the fight.

I'm all about growing up, but sometimes I hate maturity.