Author's Note: Sorry if you got two update notices, but I forgot something important and needed to delete the chapter to fix it. Also, thank you to reviewers, and readers.
Lastly, I am sorry this is so short. I intended it for it to be longer but it made more sense to split what I had written into two, because of how the chapter ends and the next begins. I will try to update as soon as possible.
It must have been only seconds after Bilbo's outburst that two bodies poked out from behind a grouping of trees and bushes, the pair being none other than Kili and Fili, the nephews of Thorin and among the youngest in the company. It didn't surprise Bofur that the two had not been present at the time of the argument between Bilbo and Thorin, as everyone had expected it to be a pleasantly quiet day, and Bofur knew that the couple had been itching to find some time to themselves. Their current dishevelled state provided proof that they had found just that and were doing Aulë knows what.
"Was that Bilbo doing all the shouting?" asked Fili, as he pulled his overcoat back up onto his shoulders. Kili, the younger brother, was standing beside his brother pulling a twig out of his dark, tangled hair. He looked disinterested in what had taken place only a moment before, and looked at his brother as if pleading to return to their own activities. "I would have thought you'd need to be bigger to hold all that anger, Mister Baggins." Fili chuckled at himself, but no one else looked amused. Bilbo was practically shooting daggers at the fair-haired dwarf, and Thorin looked on at the hobbit with the most worried expression Bofur thought he'd ever seen.
"Well, that sure is enough." It was Gandalf who had chosen to break the silence. "We'll never make it anywhere on this journey if we don't head out now." Thorin, glad someone was able to take control of the situation (Bofur knew that Thorin only would have made it worse had he said anything), nodded once.
"Right. Fili, Kili, get out of the bushes, gather your things and everyone get on your ponies." With the king's deep voice booming throughout the camp, everyone snapped out of the shocked trance they were in and rushed about. It was in mere minutes that the ponies were again prepared for travel. Excited to leave the camp and, hopefully, the drama, Thorin's company was off.
And then it rained, for four days straight.
On one of those days, whether it was morning or afternoon was a mystery to him, as it was dark constantly, Bofur noticed two things in particular. One of those things was Ori, who had been inching closer to Dwalin for what must have been hours. It was almost as if he younger dwarf had not taken his eyes off the older, because every time Bofur glanced between the two, Ori's gaze was still focused on Dwalin. Eventually the scribe was riding in perfect step beside his very obvious crush, and, from what Bofur could hear, had asked about why Dwalin had chosen the names he had for his axes. Dwalin looked pleased to be able to have something to talk about with the younger dwarf.
The second of Bofur's observations was that Nori had been in much higher spirits in the past day or two. On the fourth day of rain, Nori rode up to stay in step beside him. Neither of the two said a word, but a smile warm enough for Bofur to practically feel it through the biting chill of the rain and wind was plastered across the other's face. Seeing this, Bofur let a silly grin slide across his own features, although both smiles were gone a moment or two later, at the unexpected sound of an angered Dori.
"Ori, keep up!" Dori was shouting from closer to the front of the row of ponies. "We don't need you getting lost! Hurry, hurry. Get up here!" Even though Ori did not want to move any nearer to his eldest brother, made obvious by his eye roll and sudden hunched posture, he did as he was commanded. Or, rather, he would have, had a large hand not come down to grab at his own.
"He'll be alright here, Mister Dori," Dwalin said, keeping his eyes on the smiling scribe. "I won't let him get lost." Bofur was surprised, to say the least, about Dwalin's actions. Everyone in the company knew that Dori and Nori were not the most fond of the warrior, as he has arrested the middle brother on more than one occasion before the journey began. Bofur was even more shocked, however, when he heard what he thought to be "Oh, but I will get lost, Mister Dwalin, if I could have the privilege to look into your eyes any longer," whispered from the mouth of Ori. If anyone were to look at the back of the pack of dwarves, they would have seen Dwalin, Bofur, Ori, and Nori all red as tomatoes.