"We have a deal then?" Nori hushed while Thorin closed down the forge. With three children present he could do no more work unless he wanted to risk their rambunctious antics.

Thorin nodded. "Yes. As long as you keep yourself quiet about Fili I shall take care of Dori and Ori."

"And?" Nori's eyes narrowed, he wanted the king to finish.

"You will gain the same privileges as Bofur, same deal."

The thief nodded with a pleased look. "I won't let you forget it."

Thorin took off his leather apron and put it up on a hook. "It is time for you to have faith in me now. I keep my word, in which you have."

Nori looked down at his little brother who was in the middle of looking at Fili's hand trying to understand why his nails looked funny. He was surprised he was taking this so well. Fili, a skin walker, a shapeshifter. In his travels from home he had heard of only a few, men said they were cursed, elves never spoke of them, and a wondering gray wizard said it was a very old magic that could be either a blessing or a curse. He had liked the wizard, he was a gentle bloke that had a smile that could charm the silver off of someone's quick tongue. In fact that very wizard was someone he could prod for more information. He had just struck a deal of his life time. A king to guarantee food and shelter to his brothers and when they could buy the whole of the Blue Mountains and make Ered Luin into more than just a settlement but an actual home then him and his family would be sitting pretty with the ownership of land and a proper place to live, not some ramshackle of a shed. All he had to do was help Thorin learn how to teach Fili how to keep his abilities under control.

A hand clasped him on the shoulder. He folded his arms, "Would you believe that I've seen far worse things?"

Thorin was quiet, thankful that Nori was answering his unspoken question. Nori really was taking this quite well. It had unnerved him a little but Nori was a strange one that even in dwarven terms held the oddest stories of experience.

"Turning into a cat is nothing compared to a goblin giving birth." He wrinkled his nose. "And even then, there are worse things to witness. Far darker things."

"I will never ask you to regail that story, rest assured of that." Thorin offered a tiny smile that showed more in his eyes than his lips. "But your ease in accepting this situation is... welcomed."

"Ori get your fingers out of his mouth." Nori nearly snapped when Ori was pushing back Fili's lips to see if his teeth were any different. He sighed when Ori looked at him and keeping their gazes locked very definitely shoved two fingers into Fili's mouth causing Kili to laugh and Fili to jerk his head, still like an animal not liking his tongue touched.

"Enough, leave Fili alone. Fili put your hands in your pockets, Kili stay close, we're going home." Thorin ordered as he pulled his cloak on.

"NO!" Fili and Kili cried suddenly grabbing onto Ori.

"We just got our brother back." Fili nearly whined. His bottom lip pushed out into a pout that he had no doubt learned from watching Kili.

"Yeah! Can we stay with Ori?" Kili asked, still a little meek after have been spanked earlier.

"Brother?" Thorin raised a brow.

"He's our brother." Kili insisted while Fili just rubbed his face against Ori's, picking up Ori like a cat with a kitten.

The king sighed, he would need to explain how family structures worked at some point. Right at the moment he felt a bit ragged from the strain of having to explain to someone of Fili's "condition". If he was honest with himself he had been prepared to kill Nori if the dwarf showed any sign of breaking the confidence he placed in him. The thought of it twisted his stomach but he would do anything to protect the children... even if it meant murder and he hated that thought. It made him feel ashamed and sick that he would even contemplate such a cold act. Especially against someone he had known since their settlement had started to build over twenty years ago.

Because of his dark thoughts Thorin had come to a decision that he would talk with Balin as to what to do with. The stress of leaving the children, the possibility of Dis finding them... it was driving him mad and he would not have himself hurt a good friend over paranoia.

"Buy you a meal if you pay to replace my jacket and bracers." Nori offered his voice cutting through Thorin's thoughts.

"Fair enough." Thorin nodded. "Best to let the children interact for a while."

After that day Thorin made sure that the children were not left alone. He did have a good heated conversations with Toffle and Bombur as he had entrusted them to watch over Fili and Kili during the day only to have Bombur leave quickly for work and Toffle neglect the boys when her own started their own version of a revolution. Thorin shouldered the blame, knowing he should have gotten someone more reliable considering Toffle with so many children already and Bombur who was on a rocky job that called either laid him off at a moment's notice or called to work harder than ever. It was discussed and decided that even though it pushed back their plans of purchasing the whole of the Blue Mountains Bofur and Thorin decided it would be best to bring Dori into the circle and inform him of the rules of keeping Dis in the dark as to where their little family was living.

It was a good arrangement. It lasted them into the summer of the next year, making sure that the curious kids got to have more interaction with Ori, who they insisted was their little brother still, and somewhat get along with some of Bombur's children though fists have been exchanged by Kili and Ori when a few called Fili a coward because he would not wrestle or act out on more violent activities. When they would get out of their skirmishes they didn't care if they got yelled at or even spanked. They would find Fili and hug him close. Kili would pet Fili's hair and tell him he was a good kitty. Ori would elaborate how stupid the other kids were for being mean to Fili because Fili was just doing what his daddy told him. The blond was under strict instructions to leave a fight behind by Thorin. He was never allowed to fight, not until his udâd was able to properly teach him how to control himself. But it was so hard to not growl and hiss when he could hear the fighting outside. He clawed the walls and shouted in rage until Kili and Ori were safe inside and he could make sure they were not hurt badly. That, of course, lead to Thorin having to tell Bofur about Fili's abilities. Bofur didn't come home for a week, when he did it was like nothing happened. He scooped up Fili and Kili. Encouraged them to play with his braids while Thorin eyed him warily. Bofur explained that it was a scary thought, but Fili was still just a lad. He had a good heart, and that's all that mattered.

Then something horrible happened.

Their door was hammered on. The late afternoon sun drying up the late spring mud. Thorin opened the door to find a huffing Nori.

"What is it?" He demanded.

"Bifur," Nori huffed. "His caravan was attacked." He swallowed before coughing having run a good distance after his pony's heart gave out. "Get Bofur."

"Where is Bifur?"

"B-Bree."