Gimli's attitude towards the vampires was cold, but his wit and sense of humor kept the atmosphere light and merry. The work went much faster with him and Nori actually helping, before lunch they finished the downstairs bedroom, and before dinner they did the living room.
"Good that the weather is nice." Kili commented setting their dining room table in the garden outside. Most of the furniture was out because of the painting. It looked a bit ridiculous to have the bed, wardrobe, table chairs, sofas and everything else in the garden.
"We'll finish today with the ground floor." Dwalin dryly told him.
"And tomorrow with the first floor." Bofur added.
"And the day after tomorrow outside the house." Nori added with a grin.
"Are you planning to do anything else?" Narvi asked curiously.
"Isolating the roof is the last step." Bofur told him with a smile. "But that will take a day, no more."
"Then you're painting my mum's house." Fili told them.
"We are?" Bofur's eyebrows went up.
"We are." Dwalin confirmed.
"Sounds great." Bofur glanced at Nori. Nori glanced back at him with an all-meaning smile.
"Hey what are you two doing here!" Fili yelled at Borin and Farin who showed up unexpectedly. The new night shift Telchar and Flori were already sitting on the sofa eating dinner.
"And we'd skip a free dinner?" Borin laughed.
"The best free dinner in town!" Farin agreed and grabbed a plate and began serving himself what he wanted.
"You're always welcome!" Kili laughed, in fact Nori, Dori and Ori were now constant guests for dinner. Having four more wolves over did not bother the chef at all.
"You've got a nice party over here!" Dis surprised them arriving with more food. "Bombur's wife called me saying you're having a open garden party."
'We're not…" Fili gasped surprised with the idea.
"Oh I'm just joking!" She placed the food on the table. "Can't your mother just drop by unexpected?'
"You can!" Kili kissed her on the cheek with a smile. "You're always welcome!"
"I was thinking of actually having a big birthday party. It's your birthday in four weeks." Dis gently reminded them.
"A big party?" Fili gasped. "How big?"
"Like introducing Kili to all our friends big." Dis clarified.
"Can I invite some people too?" Kili was clearly very enthusiastic.
"Why not!" Dis smiled.
"We should do it a bit before my birthday." Fili sadly noticed. "It's not like I want to go wolf in the middle of my own party."
"Three weeks from now sounds safe enough." Kili noticed.
"Who's car is that?" Ori asked curiously seeing a beautiful red Volvo drive in.
"Bilbo?" Kili asked in a whisper.
"I would never miss a party like this." The short blond man yelled from the car.
"Bilbo!" Kili ran towards him and pulled him into his arms.
"If I'd known you'd miss me this much I would drop by earlier!" Bilbo gently laughed pulling the vampire into his arms.
"Come on I have to introduce you to everyone!" Kili pulled the human along.
The wolves were surprised with the warm welcome this human got, but everyone greeted him with kindness.
"So how is the renovation going?" Bilbo asked curiously, and Kili immediately pulled him into the house to show him around.
Call Thorin and tell him Bilbo is here. Fili whispered to Kili. I have a feeling he has no idea, and they had some kind of a fight.
I know. Kili replied.
"Dwalin do you mind if we give Bilbo your room for now?" Kili asked him with a hesitant smile.
"It's not like I sleep there anyway." Dwalin murmured.
Kili found a moment when Bilbo was busy talking with Bofur, and he darted into the house to get his phone.
"Kili?" He could immediately tell the immense worry in Thorin's voice.
"He's here with me." Kili slowly said trying to focus on the undertones' in Thorin's message.
"Keep an eye on him for me." Thorin spoke in his dominant voice.
"I will." Kili admitted. "What happened?"
"Let's say we have different views about immortality." Thorn cut it short.
"So he demanded you change him, and you refused…" Kili noticed.
"Don't you even dare…" Thorin threatened.
"I would never do that." Kili admitted. "But I think you're making a huge mistake by rejecting him like this."
"It's my decision to make." Thorin spoke with coldness in his voice.
"Just don't do anything stupid." Kili told him. "I'll keep him safe and sound with me."
"How are the wolves?" Thorin asked in a grim voice.
"They're actually nice." Kili spoke in a low tone so that no one could hear him.
"What are you trying to hide form me?" Thorin immediately caught the uneasiness in Kili's voice.
"Bofur found his mate. And so did Dwalin." Kili continued whispering.
"So you mean I might lose two of my best men?" Thorin was clearly irritated.
"Threat it more like – you go two more wolves." Kili told him. "Bofur has made his move, but Dwalin is still contemplating."
"I'll pick Bilbo up in a few days. Make sure nothing happens to him." Thorin hung up.
You'd better warn Frerin more vampires are coming to visit. Kili told him using their bond.
I bet he's going to be thrilled. Fili noticed with worry.
The next day Fili went to see Frerin in the morning, there were too many things going on, and the pack leader would be pissed not to be informed and aware.
"A beer?" Frerin proposed not looking at Fili, but at the view at the back of his house.
"With pleasure." Fili admitted.
"You know where the fridge is." Frerin told him.
As Fili came back and sat down Frerin was silent a longer while.
"Since you're here I'd like you to explain how it happened that one of the vampires is feeding off one of my wolves." Frerin spoke in a cold tone.
"They mated." Fili gave him the truth.
"Bloody fucking fantastic!" Frerin gasped.
"He gave it willingly." Fili made him realized. "We didn't break any rules."
"That's the only reason why the pack hasn't intervened." Frerin spoke with spite. "Are all those vampires planning to fuck my wolves?"
"I'm pretty sure not all of them." Fili admitted.
"Tell me what your powers tell you." Frerin demanded.
"We'll get two more mixed couples." Fili admitted what his instincts were prompting.
"Just fucking great!" Frerin complained. "If I knew allowing you to live with your vampire would have such consequences I would have never agreed."
"It's not like you have a choice now." Fili told him calmly.
"How is your relationship going with your bloodsucker?" Frerin asked.
"Peachy. We're very happy." Fili admitted. The pack leader sighed deeply.
"Anything else I should know about?" Frerin asked.
"We might get a visit from the vampire leader at the end of the week. I bet you'd like to meet him when he arrives." Fili spoke in a light tone.
"Why would he come here?" Frerin was curious, he glanced at Fili for the first time.
"His human mate arrived yesterday night, so he'll be picking him up." Fili explained.
"Human mate? Don't you mean his food ran away." Frerin joked.
"It's complicated, but since he's coming it might be nice to arrange a meeting between both of you." Fili told him.
"What's he like?" Frerin asked after a moment of silence.
"He's calm, solid, solemn." Fili tried to describe. "And proud and stubborn at the same time."
"Just great…" Frerin sniggered. "This whole thing just still seems all wrong to me."
"It's going to work for the benefit of the tribe, in time." Fili told him.
"Is that what you're hoping for, or your powers speaking?" Frerin asked grimly.
"Both." Fili slowly got up and began walking home leaving the brooding old pack leader in the wildern-
"Wait till you see what I brought for your new house!" Bilbo ran back to his car after breakfast pulling Kili and Ori along.
"What is that?" Ori gasped seeing Bilbo opening the back door and pulling out a big marine painting. "Isn't that Jan van Goyen? The Dutch landscape painter?"
"That's one of the names Kili used in the past. Later he was known as Charles Brooking." Bilbo told the surprised young wolf. "He didn't tell you?"
"You're joking!" Ori gasped.
"No, I'm serious. He painted under several different names, I've seen quite a lot of his paintings." Bilbo calmly told the boy. "I brought this one since it's one of his favorites, and well it matches the style of the house."
"You're the best Bilbo!" Kili pulled him into a hug.
"What a beautiful painting! Where will you hang it?" Nori noticed them carry the painting in.
"Over the fireplace!" Kili demanded.
"So is Kili your real name, or a name you chose?" Ori suddenly realized.
"My real name, that's what my family called me." Kili explained. "I've lived under many names, but my friends always would use my real name."
"So we're friends?" The young wolf spoke with happiness and enthusiasm.
"Of course we are!" Kili hugged him warmly.
"Where are you guys?" Dis yelled from the doorstep.
"Living room." Kili yelled back.
"Since you've got all these people over I decided to come and help out with lunch." Dis told them with a smile. "Beautiful painting." She noticed.
"Why thank you!" Kili smiled at her.
"This place is becoming too sweet to bear!" Nori noticed. "I'm going back to work." He ran up the stairs.
The next few days were crazy, Bilbo and Dis spent a lot of time together, cooking with Kili helping moving everything in and out of the house. The group of wolves staying or helping around was growing, Gimli and Narvi, Ori and Nori, even Borin and Farin also tried to show up as much as possible and help out. The night shift Telchar and Flori, often stayed longer if they had the time.