Fili rose early in the morning despite the fact that he had slept very little last night. It was not that he wasn't used to uncomfortable sleeping arrangements, but they were usually shared with Kili.
So waking up, or let alone sleep without the other was no option for him anymore. After all, he was a man, with certain needs. And he had a right of his nightly cuddles!
In order to end his misery the blond headed for the only sanctuary left, the kitchen with the coffee maker. He fulfilled the ancient dance of getting coffee without any mistakes. Which included cursing, stumbling, bumping into things, grumbling, spilling hot liquid and a little more of the cursing.
Eventually Fili was placed with a cup in hand at the breakfast table and bit by bit, some other members of the pack joined him.
"SNEAK ATTACK!" it suddenly blared.
"You do know it's not so sneaky if you yell..." Fili pointed out after he dodged little Gimli's failed attempt to jump on his back. But his cousin just shook his head and smiled goofily at him. Most likely thinking of another silly way to annoy him.
After a careful consideration, Fili thought that 'Little' Gimli was not so little anymore. He must have missed one or two growth spurts, while he was away. His cousin was now 13 years and he already started to fill out in a promising way, at least that's how Gloin put it. However, what Gimli achieved in size he lacked in brain or in maturity. It all depends how you wanna look at it. Nonetheless Gimli was still the loud, chatty nitwit Fili knew and loved.
The total opposite of him was Ori. Even though he was older, the lad was much more composed and had a shy nature. He possessed this incredibly calm aura of wisdom no 15-year-old should be allowed to have. In some states he was sure it was illegal.
Now both boys were eying Fili expectant. Admittedly they had a good reason therefore. Lately it was rare to see Fili. After he finally returned home the blond had spend his entire time with a stranger in his room and neglected his duty as favorite playmate and partner in crime.
Till this day Gimli and Ori had managed to quill their curiosity about the man Fili brought with him, primarily cause they hadn't had the chance to bug him about it. Today they made sure to correct their mistake.
"Tell me! Tell me! Tell me!" Gimli repeated over and over again.
"Tell you what?" Fili played along.
"About the new guy. Where did you find him? What's his name? Is he your mate? Was it love on first sight? Does he look good?"
Where did those lovey-dovey questions come from, Fili thought briefly. Mum must have shown them the old photo albums again, in which love was translated with smashing heads in for the desired person. He wondered what was worse, that or the time when Dwalin let them play with his collections of spiked maces. At least there you know what you're up to...
„And why did you sleep on the couch? Aren't couples supposed to share a bed?"
"That I also like to now?" Bofur cut in with a chuckle, while sitting down next to Balin. He had just arrived in the little kitchen and it already got interesting.
"Answer! Answer! Answer!" Gimli urged.
"Okay, okay! Jeez. Lets see" Fili took a deep breath, „Forlond, Kili," he generously ignored the snickering at the similarity of their names, "Yes, don't know, yes and cause I didn't want to get strangled in my sleep."
On the last statement Gimli's eyes went wide in awe. „Is he that strong?" he marveled.
Fili laughed at that and ruffled the lads hair. „He is stronger than strong. He is amazing!"
„Can we see him? Can we? Can we?" Gimli jumped exited up and down.
„Seriously on what kind of stuff are you?"
„Sugar~" Gimli sing-songed more than happy, and started to run circles around the table to emphasized his point. It didn't look like he would stop anytime soon.
By now anarchy hold the kitchen in its merciless grip. And the dream of a peaceful morning was long gone. Fili felt a headache coming up.
Suddenly the door opened and Dori stepped in. He ignored the chaos like a pro and pushed his way through the youngsters.
„I am getting tea," he proclaimed like it was the achievement of the year. Than he turned around and vanished in a very suspicious fashion.
„What was that about?"
The only response were puzzled shrugs and the world moved on.
Fili used the momentary silence to play his trump card, „Aren't you supposed to be at school?"
„It's Saturday."
Just his luck, he thought bitter.
As Gimli ran towards stairs, where Fili's room was located, the blond jumped up to stop him. He was only half-joking now. But before anyone could take action Gloin catched the little rascal by his neck and brought him back to the kitchen.
„Not so fast."
He gave Fili an apologizing look and continued.
„You can't see Kili."
„Why not?"
„He is sick and has to rest," Fili elaborated. And he doesn't need another reason to leave, he mentally added. Slowly the unrestful night began to take its toll on him.
„Oh..." Gimli said disappointed.
„Uhm... Fili?" Ori tugged at his sleeve.
„What now?" that came out harsher than meant so he gave it another shot, „Sorry, what is it?" Fili tried to sound nicer.
„Uhm...no, it's all right..."
„No, no, just ask!" Fili encouraged him. He wanted to make up for his rudeness.
„Did you and Kili... did you... you know ... did you already..."
The unfinished question hung in the air like a guillotine over his head.
Ori flushed first and as Fili realized what the lad had meant he flushed too. Honestly at this point everyone flushed.
„Er well.."
Everyone beside Gimli. Gloin had thoughtfully covered his ears, not wanting to spoil his son's innocence, but also not wanting to miss anything himself.
„Did you kiss?" Ori finally summoned enough courage to finish the question.
And Fili relaxed. He let out the breath he was holding.
„Yes. Yes we did kiss." Fili said.
The others seemed not very impressed by that so he added, „A lot. And with tongue."
Which in turn made Ori blush even harder.
A/N:
yay another chapter and thank you so much for all your great reviews!It really keeps me going.
If you find any mistakes, something that doesn't make sense, sounds weird or if you have some questions or plot ideas please let me know! I want to improve my writing and am open for any help I can get ;)
next time it will be a flashback chapter again... of first kisses.
Reviews are awesome! And so are you.