Kili spent a very pleasant day with Ori, the shy young wolf proving to be good company. Tactful, educated, interesting and kind. They did most of the work with the books, while the upstairs bathroom renovation party was clearly like cats and dogs.
"You're doing it all wrong!" Nori kept bossing around the two vampires. "That way the ceiling will crack in no time!"
"We actually know what we're doing!" Bofur yelled back.
"We've been doing this longer than you can even begin to imagine." Dwalin added his bit.
"You might screw around other houses, but you're not fucking up the house of my best friend!" Nori yelled back firmly.
"Well our best friend also lives here now and he doesn't seem to doubt our skills!" Bofur yelled back.
"Stand back and let us do our work!" Dwalin told the wolf firmly.
"Nori…" Fili yelled from downstairs.
"What?" Nori glanced down at him.
"Let them work, if the house collapses we'll admit you were right…" Fili told him firmly.
"If they screw up they'll be here longer…" Nori grumbled.
"They won't screw up…" Fili told him with a sly smile.
"Fine, your house your mess!" Nori yelled at him and went back to observing the two hard working vampires.
"Maybe you could go downstairs and help Kili with the books and furniture?" Bofur taunted the wolf when he came back up. "It's not like you are of any use here…"
"Shut the fuck up…" Nori hissed.
"That's the problem he never shuts up…" Dwalin murmured trying to gauge the tension between Bofur and Nori.
"We have to get rid of these fucking tiles today, and Dwalin has to fix the plumbing today!" Bofur told him. "So either you get your delicate wolfy hands dirty, or you should get out of our way!"
"Step aside and watch the pro work!" Nori told him with a mean smirk.
"Be my guest!" Bofur replied in a mocking overly polite tone.
"I better get lunch ready…" Kili glanced upstairs hearing the fight go on for hours.
"What are you going to cook?" Ori asked with a grin.
"I was thinking about macaroni and cheese." Kili told him.
"Do you mind if I help you?" Ori asked pleadingly. "I always wanted to learn how to cook…"
"With pleasure!" Kili honestly smiled at him.
When lunch was ready Nori was pissed off they called him to eat, while the two vampires continued to work. Even when eating he would glance upstairs as if listening to what the two were doing or talking.
"So what are you planning to do now?" Ori asked Kili shyly.
"We're going to help Fili clean out the basement." Kili told him with a smile. "We need to set up some shelves so we can move all the things from the pantry downstairs. There is lots of useless furniture and stuff there."
"What are you planning to do with the furniture?" Ori asked curiously.
"My friend will take some of it, he loves old things. But we were thinking about giving away the rest, it's not like we need it…" Kili told him with a smile. He could easily tell Ori was unusually interested in the furniture and it's further fate. "Would you have any suggestions?" He asked gently.
"I always wanted to try woodwork and renovation." Ori told him pleadingly.
"Fine, once we sort out the things we don't need you can chose something for your experiment." Kili told him with a smile.
"I won't be able to pay you much…" The shy bookworm noticed.
"Who said anything about money…" Kili gently petted the boy on the arm.
"You sure?" The young wolf wasn't sure.
"He's sure!" Fili replied with a grin.
"You don't mind?" Ori kept asking.
"If you talk with him, it's as if you talk with me…" Fili told the wolf. "We're connected!" He reminded the boy as they began taking out of things from the basement.
After dinner, with which Ori helped a lot despite the first shock of realizing the fridge was half full of blood bags.
"What were you expecting?" Kili gently chuckled.
"I thought you could only feed off living people…" Ori told him surprised.
"Nah that's just an old legend, blood bags are bearable. I'm on an all-Fili-diet now, but they need it. Otherwise they would start hunting around and I'd have to kill them." Kili joked.
"So Fili is really enough for you?" The boy asked curiously.
"Yup!" Kili admitted mixing the stew. "Any more vampire questions?" Kili asked with a grin.
"What happens if you happen to eat normal food?" Ori asked curiously as everyone was getting seated at the table, including the three vampires.
"Normal food?" Dwalin laughed.
"Normal food?" Bofur mocked Dwalin.
"What's so fucking funny?" Nori hissed evilly.
"We do that like once in a century…" Kili admitted.
"You do what?" Fili asked with a grin.
"I cook like a hundred dishes and then we sit down and binge on it…" Kili slowly told him.
"And then what?" Ori sensed the tension.
"Then we almost die and throw up for weeks." Dwalin replied.
"But it's still worth it…" Bofur lit a cigarette.
"Stop that!" Nori hissed.
"We can't eat, we can't drink, we can't do drugs…" Bofur mocked him. "But we do enjoy smoking and fucking, so what do you prefer right at this moment?"
Nori's face became red as his hair, and he finally spat "Go and fuck yourself!"
"Why do you guys keep telling me that? Fucking myself is just so not fun!" Bofur passed the cigarette to Dwalin, and lit another one.
"That's all you'll ever get…" Nori sniggered.
Kili, Fili and Ori just glanced from one another.
"Great Irish stew." Ori gently told Kili trying to change the topic.
"Thank you!" The vampire calmly replied.
"So when are these two getting lost and the shift changes?" Dwalin asked Fili.
"At eight." Fili told him calmly.
"Great!" Bofur smiled widely.
"Don't be too happy we're coming back tomorrow morning." Nori brutally informed him.
"Twelve hours without you is already a dream come true!" Bofur told the wolf with a coy smile.
When did their insults become this personal? Kili asked Fili.
I have no idea… His lover replied.
I hope you don't mind Ori hanging around? Fili whispered to him.
Nah, he's the first nice wolf… Kili replied.
The first? Fili asked suspiciously.
You're technically not a wolf yet… Kili noticed.
His presence means less sex during the day… Fili noticed.
But more work done… Kili replied with a grin.
They didn't notice all the other people at the table became suddenly silent and were glaring at them.
"Do they often do that?" Nori finally whispered to the two vampires.
"This is nothing… Wait till they start sneaking around and having sex all over the place…" Bofur whispered back to him.
"You two are really telepaths?" Ori glared at the vampire and wolf.
"We said we are…" Fili reminded him.
"But you can only read each other's minds?" Ori wanted to know.
"No, we could read anyone's mind if we wanted to." Kili told him.
Ori's face dropped with uneasiness.
"Don't worry, we don't really brainwash our friends." Kili reassured him.
"That's still damn uncomfortable." Nori noticed.
"We've had that the last five hundred years, and we still can't get used to it." Dwalin noticed.
Nori and Ori glared back at them. "How long?"
"We're both over half a century old." Dwalin replied.
"Kili is the oldest, he's over six hundred." Bofur added.
"Unbelievable!" Ori gasped. "You must still remember the middle ages?" He asked in a tense voice. "There is like a billion things I have to ask you!"
"You'll have two weeks a month for the next half a year for that." Nori dryly noticed.
"You'll have eternity of friendship to ask all the questions you might have." Fili added in a sudden spur of intuition.
"That's just fantastic!" Ori launched himself and hugged Kili with emotion. His brother was clearly disturbed with his action, but there was nothing he could do to stop him.
The doorbell rang, and Bofur sprang to open it.
"The night shift?" He laughed at the black haired boy and the red haired boy.
"No sleeping!" Nori hissed at the brothers as they were passing him in the doorway.
"Get lost puppy!" Bofur bid him goodbye with spite. "Ask for a substitution so you won't have to come here tomorrow and bother us with your sour face!"
"You wish!" Nori hissed back.
"I actually do!" Bofur insisted.
"Nori your shift is over." Borin gently told him. They had been friends for years, and he knew just how railed up Nori could become.