"Bofur, I really hope you aren't actually aware of your habit of eavesdropping, first with Bilbo and Thorin and now my brothers and me. Because if you were already aware of it, then indulging in it becomes even more disrespectful." Nori, as far as Bofur could tell, was trying incredibly hard to remain in a composed state. He was doing a fairly good job, until he stepped close enough to be only inches from Bofur's face, and continued speaking in a terribly threatening voice. "How much did you hear?"
Bofur thought about it. Really, he had two options: either tell him the truth about hearing confessions of love and pain, or try to diffuse the bomb that was Nori without detonating it. What's life without excitement?
"I heard enough to know that your brother is wrong, both of them, really," he paused, taking a moment to think about his next move. He nodded to himself and continued, "Yep, they're both wrong." Bofur's voice was much more timid than usual, not as comfortable as he'd like, being this close to the dwarf he had thought of as a friend. Even Bofur's semi-permanent smile had disappeared, not a trace of happiness left on his face. Nori's eyes focused in on Bofur's own, in a glare so hard Bofur was half surprised he didn't break under it.
"And what, Master Bofur, could you possibly mean by that?" Nori hissed. Bofur raised his hands in defence, stepping a half step away from the other dwarf.
"Ori is wrong in thinking Dwalin doesn't want him, for starters." Bofur stopped, to gage Nori's reaction. The other dwarf didn't back away like he had hoped, but his shoulders dropped, as did at least some of his defence. "I've been watching everyone here, Master Nori, because I know that when we reclaim Erebor, Bombur, Bifur, and I will fall back into our places in the lowest classes of dwarves. I'm not as stupid as people think. We'll have gold, plenty of it, but we won't have respect. We won't have nobility." His eyes were growing wet, knowing that the very reason he was on the journey with his family was so that they would at least be noticed among the other dwarves. He looked back up Nori, straight into his eyes."I know Dwalin loves little Ori, I've seen it. The way Dwalin looks at him, Nori, he cares for the lad. I've never seen so much love between two people. I didn't know it could exist in such a strong way."
"Then wh-" Bofur interrupted the 'why?' that he was sure was about to slip from Nori's mouth. He lifted his hands to grab at the other's knit-covered ones. Bofur felt a warmth overtake him, though he wasn't sure if it was the hand-holding itself, or the thought that it was Ori who had knit the mitts Nori was currently wearing.
"Dwalin is scared, Nori. Like I said, everyone on this quest is of nobility. He would want to court Ori. He would want the permission of his brothers, but he doesn't think he'd have it." He caught Nori as the slightly taller dwarf (I'm sure it's just his hair, thought Bofur.) looked down at their tightly-wound hands. Clearly, Bofur had managed to get the other to calm down, hopefully forgetting the previous trouble Bofur had found himself in. "Plus, Ori is young, and fragile, and Dwalin wouldn't want to taint him, or hurt him, in any way. And to him, the only way to be sure to avoid all that is to try and forget, to not act on his real feelings."
"And what was Dori wrong about then?" Nori asked, still looking down at the hands between them both. "You said both of them were wrong, so what about Dori? How was he not right?" Bofur let one of Nori's hands go, only to bring it to the other's chin and lift it, bringing their eyes to meet. After a small head tilt and a small, genuine smile, Bofur let go of Nori altogether just to bring him into a tight hug.
"I never heard who it was you love, Nori, but there's no doubt in my mind he would be able to find it in himself to love you back," Bofur said as quietly as possible. He pulled back, but only an arm's length, as he kept his hands on Nori's shoulders. The other dwarf looked absolutely shocked, but no longer angry or even upset, which was an improvement in Bofur's eyes. "You're great, Nori. You've got an excellent sense of humour, you're loyal, mostly honest, and an amazing friend. I can only hope he'll make you as happy as you would make him."
I am so sorry for all this bullshit. So, so sorry. They were supposed to be all happy and together by the end of this, but Bofur refused to cooperate.