Here y'all go! More Fili and Kili brotherhood!

"Sorry, lads," the old ferryman apologized, "She's taken a leak, and I can no' send anyone across. And I surely can't take your animals, to be certain."

"But we must get across!" Fili protested as he dismounted Tusk, "We are the princes of Erebor, and our honored friend, Master Baggins of the Shire!"

The ferryman turned his attention back to the stout lion-haired dwarf before him, crossing his arms as he did so, and looked down upon Fili. He wrinkled his nose which made his wiry grey mustache cant not so very slightly to the side. "Well, then, your majesty," he said with unmasked sarcasm. "Why don't I just ask the boat to patch itself up, real quick-like, so it can bear such noble and mighty dwarves such as yourselves hence across the water?"

Fili couldn't believe the venom laced in the man's voice. If it wasn't for himself and the rest of the Company of Thorin Oakenshield, there wouldn't be a reason to ferry people across the lake at all! "Watch your tone, ferryman-" he began, and he proceeded to engage in a heated conversation with the man while Bilbo and Kili sat quietly behind them.

Bilbo said, "What a shame. It seems as though we are going to miss the celebrations after all."

Kili merely let out a profound sigh as he pulled out one of his many arrows from the quiver on his back. He began to fiddle with its raven-feathered fletching. He knew the argument with the ferryman could take a while, so he made himself comfortable. Fili could argue with a mossy stone for hours and still not be pleased by the outcome. He was a lot like Thorin that way.

"I should have just stayed in the woods." He grumbled, causing Bilbo to raise a stark eyebrow in the youngest prince's direction. After all, that was not a very Durin-like thing to say in the slightest.

After an hour or so, Fili stormed back to Kili and Bilbo to find them a bit off the road and comfortably sitting on an old blanket that was stretched over the hard ground. It seemed as though they had eaten a fine meal without him. Bilbo was lounging comfortably across his pack, sleeping off his meal and Kili was attempting to light his pipe without burning his fingers, and failing, mind you.

Upon seeing his brother, Kili greeted him with an overly enthusiastic, "Well, I take it you lost your pleasant conversation with the boatman?"

"The nerve of some people," Fili grumbled to himself, ignoring his brother's comment as he joined Kili on the blanket and raided Bilbo's lunch he hadn't put away. "He told me to take my royal arse and seat it on an orc's spear! Can you believe it?"

"Unbelievable!" Kili cried. "How could he be so cruel to the spear? I wouldn't wish your arse upon anyone!"

He was rewarded for his clever comment with a boot to the face.

"Yes," Fili replied, trying to hide his pleasure at his perfect aim, "You would find this amusing, wouldn't you? Considering you probably weren't even planning on attending the celebration today anyway." Despite his little brother's lack of sympathy, his interactions with Kili helped his anger cool down.

"Not so!" Kili cried, mocking offense, "How could you think so little of me?"

"It's easy to think little of you, little brother. Just ask your facial hair."

Kili gasped.

"Oh, wait…" Fili went on, enjoying tormenting his brother, "You don't have any." He grinned smugly, all thoughts of the ferryman thrown from his mind. He sat stroking his braids on his face pointedly.

"You are cruel, did you know that?" Kili asked as he put his newly lit pipe to his lips.

"Yes. Yes I do." Fili laughed. "Now give me back my boot!"

He shouldn't have said anything, because his boot was launched back towards him. He forgot Kili had a very good arm. Amazingly, he ducked just in time and the boot went hurling past him. However…

It did slam into a certain napping hobbit's stomach in full dwarven force.

"Oof!" Bilbo wheezed as he was so unpleasantly awoken. "What an Earth?!"

He needn't have bothered for any sort of response, because Kili had fallen over backward in laughter, hugging his sides, and Fili had his fist stuck in his mouth, trying not to die of laughter.

"Oh, well, go on then," Bilbo grumped, nonplussed as he rubbed his mistreated stomach, "It is always interesting going anywhere with the two of you, isn't it? Always causing mischief."

"Naturally." Fili answered, seeing as Kili couldn't. Laughter still held him captive.

"Oh, stop it! Will you?" Bilbo scolded, "It really isn't funny. I was dreaming of those Eagles again and now you've gone and ruined it." He stood and began packing up his food. He saw Fili with one of his biscuits and snatched it away from the dwarf prince.

"Oh, Bilbo…" Kili breathed, calming down, "It, it …really was funny."

"Fili," Bilbo addressed, "Did you negotiate anything with the ferryman?"

"No, afraid not," Fili replied, frowning a bit. "I suppose we need to find another way across." He stood up then, retrieved his boot and looked towards the water. "If only Bard and his barge were here. He'd give us a lift."

"Oh, Durin, no!" Kili adamantly disagreed, "I will not ride across that lake in a barrel full of stinking fish ever again for as long as I live!"

"Kili," his brother groaned. "You forget that we wouldn't be going across as fugitives this time. That means no fish."

Kili just stared at him, "Oh. Yeah, right." Then his face brightened as an idea suddenly sprung at him, "Oh, Fili! We could ride barrels across like we did in Mirkwood!" He patted Fili's arm in excitement, "Remember? It was so much fun!" The Durin prince paused, his face turning serious in a split second as he added slowly, "Or, I suppose it would've been if I hadn't been stuck with that shaft." His smiled returned in an instant, "But that is beside the point. What do ya think?"

Bilbo smiled helplessly and shrugged when Fili looked to him in exasperation. "Oh? It might have been a good idea, but where do you suppose we'd get a current from? That is the only way it had worked in Mirkwood." He playfully hit his little brother in the back of the head, but Kili was not finished yet.

"I wonder if the Eagles could give us a lift."

"Ha!" Fili laughed, "I wouldn't bet your bow on it, brother."

"Well," Kili crossed his arms in irritation, "If you are so willing to brush off my ideas, then what might your royal arse suggest?" Kili smiled devilishly.

Fili only shook his head, trying to ignore Kili's reference to the ferryman. "Honestly, I'm not quite sure."

Bilbo looked over at the ponies and Fili's war pig, a gift from Dain after the Battle, "Well, did you at least find out when the ship should be repaired?"

"Yes," Fili replied, happy for an actual productive question for once, "Though the ferryman said he could get it patched up by the end of the day, he told me it would be too dark to navigate the water by the time he would be ready to send us over."

"So," Bilbo nodded, "we need a place to stay then, to feed the ponies and your monster pig over there, and to get a proper meal in for ourselves. But where to go?"

"Oh, I know!" Kili interjected much to Fili's horror.

"No, Kili, we really don't want to know. And we aren't considering lodging in a troll cave somewhere if that is what you were going to say."

Kili looked offended, "Why would you think I was going to say that? That's stupid."

"Apologies, then." Fili sighed. He waved a hand, signaling Kili to continue, "Please, brother, by all means, enlighten us."

"What I was going to suggest is, why don't we just go to the elves?"

If Fili were drinking something just then, he surely would have choked on it. "You can't be serious. I take it back, a troll cave sounds heavenly."

"For you, maybe!" Bilbo squeaked. "Anything would go for you barbarians. But Fili, Kili is right." Those words were odd to hear, even to Bilbo. "Yes, he is right. Relations with Thorin and Thranduil haven't been all bad lately, so I've heard. He should grant us entrance. They have fine food, and we could contact Thorin with one of their birds. Not to mention the fact that they have exquisite stables."

"How do you know they have stables and birds?" Fili asked, amazed.

"You forget. I was not held prisoner there like you were." Bilbo smugly straightened his coat, "I had a great deal of time about the place as I looked for a way for the likes of you to get out safely."

"Fine! Fine," Fili huffed, defeated and lacking better options, "To the elves we shall go then."

Thorin was going to murder him.

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