Hi :) So.. how's it going out there? I apologize if things are getting boring for you.

New chapter now...

The sky was grey and dark clouds started to gather just as the sun was setting. But he was here, at the safe-house, waiting for his guest to arrive.

The dwarf wrung his hands together and tried to ward off both the chill and his lack of patience. His eyes flitted around each wandering face he saw; he was looking for someone. He tried with all his might not to look so suspicious - Stonehelm had only given him a vague description of the Man... but to a dwarf, all Men seemed to look the same.

He turned his head sharply at the sound of heavy boots creaking the wooden porch. A tall figure clambered up to him - still a good stranger's distance away.

The man nodded curtly, his brow seemed to hold a perpetual frown.

"Merogo," Brilin grunted. He took a step back just for good measure. He fished in his pocket and pulled out a sack of gold, dropping it into the man's waiting hand. "My master sends his thanks and hopes you have a pleasant journey home." It actually killed a little piece of Brilin to be this nice.

The man frowned at the dwarf's tight and awkwardly strained voice. He narrowed his eyes thoughtfully at the shorter being. "You don't look the type for niceties."

"I'm not. My master."

Merogo snorted. He tucked the money safely in his pocket before looking at Brilin again. "Well, neither 'm I. Thank ya. It's just..." His calm demeanor seemed to falter, and he looked nervous. "There was a little problem."

Brilin's good smile disappeared. "What?" he asked abruptly. "What do you mean? It's not done?"

"Oh, it's done," the man replied with easy assurance. He looked around again before motioning Brilin into the safe-house. "Why don't we go inside and talk about this."

Inside the library, Ori - sitting in front of a table scattered with scrolls - stared blankly at the bookshelf across the room. The quill, which he had intended on using in restoring the old writings, still sat in his hand, unmoving and clean of ink. He had come down into the library with the basic intent of drowning out the rest of the world and immersing himself in his work. But he just couldn't get his mind off of his brother.

He had been in an unfamiliar blank state since Dori told him of Nori's death.

Ori could barely recall how the day before he received that news, Nori might still have been alive. Sure, Nori wasn't the mother hen of the trio of brothers but he did care for Ori deeply. He protected him and was the only brother to accept Ori's relationship with Dwalin.

Speaking of Dwalin...

It still disgusted him to think that the dwarf he loved had kept probably the most important news from him. Dori had to be the one to tell him. Not Dwalin. Not the one dwarf he could vent and cry to. It had to be his older brother who never sees Ori for who he is and has never approved of Dwalin as being anything more than a warrior.

Ori sniffed.

Perhaps Dwalin still believed he was too weak to take such news. Therefore, he kept it from him. That had to be the only explanation.

Of course, the man tried to explain that he had no idea of Nori's death until an hour before returning home. Ori didn't believe him and wouldn't speak to him until he knew how much it hurt to be lied to. That, and Dwalin didn't understand the pain of finding out news like this without the tenderness of a partner to help you heal.

He'd hardly spoken to Dwalin since then - ducking around every corner, getting up and ready before he did, and locking himself away in the library.

Ori jerked out of his thoughts as the library door closed with a bang and echoes shot through the large corridor. In his haste to appear to act casual, he tipped the open bottle of ink - damaging all the scrolls he had been trying to work on. "Aule!" he cursed quietly. He stood quickly and righted the bottle.

The sound of familiar boots caught his ears and his attempts at sopping up the ink became more erratic. He dabbed violently at the papers. His vision blurred with tears of frustration as he tried harder. He suddenly became very angry with himself for being so stupid and careless and angry with Dwalin for disturbing him at this hour.

The footsteps stopped at the end of the aisle, and Ori ground his teeth at the suffocating and annoying silence that followed. Then Dwalin spoke softly, "Hey."

Ori didn't answer him - his hands closing around the scrolls and tightening into fists, crumpling the paper. Rage bubbled up in his gut and he was suddenly on edge. He didn't look at the other. His eyes were glassy and focused on the bookshelf across the room.

"What happened?" Dwalin asked with slight concern. He stepped forward. "Ye've got ink on yer jumper."

"You startled me," Ori said carefully, his voice tight.

"Oh, I'm sorry," Dwalin apologized. He shuffled his feet - Ori cringing angrily at the sound it made. "I just wanted to see how ye were doin'?"

Ori didn't look at him as he spoke. "As you can see, I'm perfectly fine, Dwalin. I do not need you to babysit me. I am just fine!" He looked up suddenly, his brown eyes wild but hard.

It was Dwalin's turn to be startled. "Ori, I didn't mean to make ye upset. I-"

"You always mean to make me upset," Ori sneered. "That's why you kept my brother's death from me!" His hands released the crumpled paper but not before he threw some of it across the room. "You didn't want the burden of me crying so you left it to Dori."

"Ori, listen. I told ye I didn't find out until Bofur told me," he tried. He had been repeating this story for the past several days. "Ori, I would've told ye the minute I found out but yer damn brother just had to beat me to it."

"Dori was right," he sniffed. "You'll only hurt me." He turned away. "Get out. I can't deal with this."

"Ori-"

"GET OUT!" he shouted painfully.

Dwalin blinked and felt his heart leap into his throat. He retreated from the aisle and the library. He knew Ori was coping with Nori's death as best as he could, but he was shutting him out. "He doesn't mean it. He doesn't mean it," he repeated to himself quietly.

He avoided Ori for the rest of the day and into the night.

Later that night, when the Company was gathered in Thorin's chambers, Dwalin sat aside and picked at his splintered axe handle. He glanced every so often at his One brokenly sitting on the other side of the room. He ached to comfort him, but he knew that could not be an option.

Dori, however, noticed the bridge between the two and took up his opportunity. He happily strode up to Ori who was slouched on the floor. He had his knees up to his chest and a blank look to his features.

He stopped in front of his little brother - a wide smile on his face. Ori looked away from it. "Bofur tells me you and Dwalin had a falling out," he spoke. He couldn't hide the twinge of pride in his voice. "Is that true?"

Ori didn't reply. He pulled his legs closer to his chest and rested his head on his knees.

"Oh, my lad. I cannot tell you how proud I am of you," Dori beamed. He bent to hug the dwarf but Ori shied away from him. The silver-haired dwarf frowned. "Ori?"

"Leave me alone," Ori said before mumbling, "I don't wanna talk about it." He stared at Dori's unmoving boots. "Please."

The older dwarf eventually nodded. "Alright, lad. Alright."

Dwalin's fingers purposely snapped off a portion of wood as he watched the scene before him. His eyes hardened when Dori looked his way, his lip curling in disgust. The only thing that made him content in that moment was the way Dori flinched at his gaze.

In the short hallway outside the chambers where not much traffic was passing through, the tall dwarf folded his arms and leaned against the wall, scrutinizing the blond in front of him. He chuckled with great amusement.

"You know, you don't have to like what the people say," he smiled a little too toothily. "But you have to admit it's true. You do not have as much experience in something like this as you would like."

Fili sucked his teeth and glared levelly at the other. "Not many sudden kings do. But they learn how to lead."

Stonehelm let out a short laugh. "Well, you are not King. And Thorin doesn't seem to be returning any time soon. I, on the other hand," he continued, pressing his palm to his chest. A thin-lipped smile colored his features. " - have served under my father for most of my life. I know how to run a functioning and productive kingdom. I think the people were right by their collective decision to appoint me as a candidate for replacing Thorin."

Fili gave a weak smile. "I'm glad you see it that way, but we still abide by the laws. We're not so barbaric as you lot in the Hills. The throne can only be fully relinquished if the king and all remaining heirs are dead."

"Considering what you've all been through, I'd say it almost came to that point," he mused carelessly.

"If I didn't know better, I'd say you were disappointed about that," Fili jabbed.

"Hardly," he scoffed. "It's my father that is next in line should anything else happen to your family, including your mother."

"Even if my mother were the last one standing, she wouldn't be able to rule."

"But she could produce more heirs," the dwarf pointed out. "Then the kingdom would fall into a situation like Gondor until the little brat can rule. My father - the perpetual steward, never king."

Fili clenched his jaw. "It's not going to happen. Your father becoming King of Erebor - it's not going to happen. Thorin is going to return and you and your kin are going to leave."

"You seem so sure about that," the other smiled.

"The throne is not a prize," Fili growled. "Of course I'm sure about it."

His smile grew to a wide one. He clapped his hand on Fili's shoulder. "Oh, but my cousin, it is the best prize indeed."

The blond's face remained stoic - though inside, he tried not to feel threatened as the other whistled off down the hall.

Fili found himself in his mother's arms the second he entered the chambers. He didn't move a muscle and waited until she let him go. "What's this?" he tried to ask without sounding strange.

"Kili's opened his eyes," she replied. Her voice had gone soft as if in the hours that followed this event, she had spent most of them weeping for joy. "The medicine is finally working."

He smiled. "That's wonderful, Mother. We still have reason to hope."

"We do," she nodded. She reached for his hand. "Come see him. Some of his color is returning."

Kili's gone live! :) And I also assure you I would never break up Ori and Dwalin either. I'm not that mean xP