Bofur was really starting to worry about the boys. Not only had they locked him inside a closet for solid thirty minutes to lie to their uncle, but they were also lying wholeheartedly to their uncle and mother.

The boys had begun going back to school as soon as Monday hit and Bofur found himself with a new challenge that very week. Their friends.

Ori he had been acquainted with before and so wasn't too concerned when he entered the apartment Tuesday afternoon followed by Fili and Kili. But he was surprised when he found a much taller and lankier young lad entering behind the siblings, who was then followed by a woman about as tall as him.

"Bofur!" Kili exclaimed, throwing his arms up to bring the elder man into a tight hug. "Oh, you're wearing the maid outfit we bought you!"

Bofur's cheeks flared up in embarrassment when he saw all eyes turn to him, clearly Kili's words having caught their attention. He wasn't wearing anything kinky in any way, it was just a 'butler' suit Fili had bought for him a few days ago to wear as a uniform whenever he was working. But Kili's words weren't exactly helping him all that much.

"We brought friends!" Kili announced, making a grand flair while motioning to the newcomers.

Fili pointed at Ori, "You know Ori. But these two," He motioned to the two Bofur didn't know. "Are Legolas and Tauriel."

The blonde man nodded at Bofur while the woman waved at him in a slightly nervous manner.

"We told them how good your food was and invited them over to taste some of it." Kili explained the question Bofur had not asked yet.

"If you need any help, I would be more than glad to. I know this most probably is catching you by surprise." Tauriel stepped forward, raising her hand to motion towards herself.

Bofur blinked at her, wondering why the woman felt the need to be so nice, all the while Kili continued holding him. He really had grown accustomed to the boys extremely personal ways so he wasn't too bothered by the long touches anymore. As long as the boys kept their hands to themselves when they needed to, Bofur was okay.

But right now was one of those times when Bofur wished Kili wasn't so comfortable with hugging him.

"Lad, could you please let go of me?" Bofur asked Kili who only shook his head.

"I'm comfortable here, Mr. Funny Guy." Kili told him.

Fili rolled his eyes at his brothers antics and walked towards them, grabbing at the back of the younger's neck. Kili hissed and immediately reacted, letting go of Bofur and bringing his shoulders up to try to avoid Fili's hand on his neck.

"You should know better than to bother the man that's going to make our food, brother." Fili told Kili, who was squeaking and looked rather funny all tensed up.

The brothers friends smiled at their antics, and Bofur did as well, then looked at the woman. "Well, if you want to help, I don't see anything too bad with that."

Tauriel smiled somewhat shyly at him while nodding. "Come on. You'll be on chopping duty." Bofur told her, leading her towards the kitchen in the apartment.

"Come on, Fili, let go of your brother." Ori told the older male, somewhat bothered by Kili's whines and squeaks.

The blonde looked at him with a quirked eyebrow, breathed out and released his younger brother. Kili threw himself at the floor and curled up, rocking slightly.

"Evil hands tried to take my life away..." Kili whispered, eyes wide in fear. "Evil hands are evil..."

Fili rolled his eyes at the younger's reactions, but upon noticing Legolas' confused gaze he explained, "Kili doesn't like people touching his neck. When we were kids he was stupid enough to get in a fight with a much bigger boy that choked him. I was there to stop it, of course, but he was traumatized."

"And you use that trauma against him now?" Legolas asked, clearly unimpressed with the younger male's actions.

Fili shrugged while Legolas crossed his arms. "Trauma upon trauma helps him. And if getting his neck squeezed softly will stop him from sexually harassing Bofur at every turn, then maybe I will do it."

Ori rolled his eyes but he was already used to Fili's eccentric ways so he wasn't too shocked by his words. "You said we'd be able to play some video games."

At the mention of these words Kili jumped up with a broad smile. "Let's play Smash Bros. I call Captain Fabulous!" He exclaimed, grabbing Ori's wrist to pull him towards the couch.

Fili rolled his own eyes at his brother but turned to Legolas with soft smirk. "Besides, Kili is Kili. He doesn't really let much get him down."

Legolas' frown let the other blonde know he really wasn't impressed with anything that had happened.

"Dwalin? What are you doing here?" Thorin asked as he saw his best friend in the doorway to his office, frown in place.

The bald man was wearing his Security uniform and seemed as threatening as ever, but Thorin wasn't too bothered by this. He had known Dwalin since childhood and knew the man wasn't as scary as he seemed.

"Have the boys been acting strangely?"

Thorin quirked an eyebrow at the odd question and cleared his throat, straightening up in his chair. He had been working on yet another case but it wasn't too important. It was a simple case of he said-she said, and it wouldn't bee too hard to win. So he thought he could take a small break to listen to his best friend.

"Well, Fili and Kili have always been rather strange. You've known them since they were children."

Dwalin sighed and nodded at this, then turned around to look at the office behind him. What he saw seemed to make him comfortable but he still entered the room and closed the door behind him.

Thorin was not the kind to worry easily but seeing his best friend acting in such an odd manner was letting him know this was yet another normal episode of his nephews stupidity.

"Is everything alright?"

Dwalin sat down in front of his desk and passed a hand over his scalp. "Well, yes, but... You know how Ori is a good friend of the lads? And how Nori worries over his brother so he sometimes stalks them?"

"Yes. I don't agree with Nori's methods, of course, but having him around helps reign in the boys at times." Thorin noted and Dwalin frowned grimly.

"He tells me all three of them are in on something."

Thorin quirked an eyebrow at his friend and pursed his lips slightly. He had known his nephews were clearly hiding something with the way they acted when he last visited them but he never thought Ori would be in on it. He had always thought Dwalin's young yet mature boyfriend would be much too serious to ever allow the brothers to drag him down with them.

"And Ori's been rather jumpy whenever I mention the lads around him." Dwalin sighed, shaking his head.

When he had first met Ori he had fallen in love instantly. The psychology student had been trying to order some coffee at a shop Dwalin just happened to be in but some jerk decided to cut the line and push him out of the line. And instead of fighting him, Ori had just huffed and gotten up, making his way to the back of the line.

Dwalin of course hadn't liked that so he shoved the cutter out of the line and gotten him thrown out of the shop. Then he had gotten Ori and paid for his drink and the rest of it was history. He'd known that Ori was too young for him, but the young man didn't really seem to mind. And Fili and Kili accepting him as their friend the minute they met him had made almost all of Dwalin's worries vanish.

But now that he saw Ori lying whenever talking about the Durin family, Dwalin was becoming worried. It wasn't that he didn't trust Ori, but he worried for him. And he had known Fili and Kili for their whole lives so he knew in just how much trouble they would get themselves into before they called on their mother or uncle to help.

Thorin frowned at this, "Now that you mention it, when I went to visit them they were rather jumpy. Even lied about the three plates on the counter..."

Dwalin quirked an eyebrow at this, clearly not knowing what his friend meant, but Thorin just waved him off. "All you must know is that Kili tells me he now has a girlfriend."

This shocked hi friend for Dwalin's eyebrows shot up and his eyes went wide. "Kili? That lad can't even talk to a girl without sticking his foot in his mouth!"

Thorin smirked while nodding. "You know... I believe it is time we played these kids in the manner they believe they are playing us."

"Boys, it's not like I didn't mind you having your friends over," Bofur said as soon as the door closed behind Ori, finally leaving the brothers alone with Bofur. "But next time, how about you tell me when they're coming? I could have at least saved myself from the awkwardness that came when Kili pointed out my uniform."

"But you look so adorable in it, Bofur!" Kili whined, hugging him once more.

Fili rolled his eyes at Kili's antics, "We're sorry for that, Bofur. We'll tell you next time, how about that?"

"That's good." Bofur sighed and hugged Kili back. "Now would you let go of me, lad? I'm going to head over and take a shower before I go to sleep."

Kili smiled broadly at him now, "How about I join you?"

Bofur's face lit up like a Christmas tree at the suggestive tone and he spluttered for an answer. Fili only shook his head at them with a small smile and looked over at the house phone as it began to rang. He walked over to it and answered, ignoring Bofur's pleas and Kili's crude words.

"Hello?"

"Fili, how are you my boy?"

"Nori?" Fili asked, pursing his lips slightly. "I'm good... And you?"

"Oh, you know how it is in my business. Hey, I was wondering, can I stay over tonight? Dwalin's kind of kicked me out of his apartment and I need a place to stay."

Fili frowned as he turned to the other two men in the room, who had become silent with the turn in his mood. "Um... I don't see much of-"

"Thank you, lad!" Nori cut in before Fili could deny him. "I'll be over in an hour or two. And don't worry about it, I won't be staying for more than a week. You know how persuasive Ori can be when he wants."

With that Nori hung up on Fili and the blonde started to freak out internally.

"Kili, make a bag and throw Bofur's stuff in there. We have to hide him again!"

Bofur gasped as Kili grabbed him by the wrist and pulled him into their shared room, leaving Fili out in the living room alone. The blonde rubbed at his temples for a second or two before dialing a new number on his telephone. It ran two times before the person on the other line picked up.

"Hello? There's no time to explain. Can you help Kili and I hide Bofur for a while?"

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