"I'm going on an adventure!" Bilbo shouts excitedly as he zooms past his confused neighbor.
"Come on Lassie, get up." She groans tiredly. Kili chuckles. "I know I know, I didn't want to get up either. But I'll tell you what Uncle told us. 'Get up now or forfeit breakfast.'" She huffs in amusement at his imitation of Thorin and opens her eyes. Fili is sitting on the floor, his arms resting on his knees, while Kili sits behind him braiding his hair. It usually goes this way. Kili loves to braid his family's hair and does a wonderful job of it, but hates doing his own hair. Fili's good at it, but isn't exactly gentle, and Kili's scalp is sensitive. Their cousin Tari is the only one in their family with gentle enough hands to braid his hair. So, in the absence of Tari, Kili simply ties his hair back with an iron pin.
She yawns and stretches, nearly knocking over a table with her foot. Fili laughs. So she scoots over and plops her head into his lap, eliciting a jump and a groan.
"I would appreciate it if you could postpone the moving around 'till I am finished," says Kili, mildly frustrated. Fili mumbles an apology, giving Emery a glare. She grins and lolls her tongue. His expression cracks and fails to hold, and he scratches the spot just under her left ear that makes her foot involuntarily tap. Both brothers chuckle, as well as Ori and Oin, who are still in the room. The smell of bacon finds her nose, and she gets to her feet, much to the relief of Fili's legs.
An hour later, breakfast has been eaten and the dwarves are riding their ponies out of the Shire. Emery walks beside her boys as they discuss with the others whether Bilbo will follow.
"Nah, he's a decent fellow but he's no fighter."
"I don't know, he seemed ready to throw me to the wargs when I tossed that first plate."
"Your own mother would throw you to the wargs for that."
"Are you implying my mother isn't a fighter?"
"...fair enough. I wouldn't want to cross the princess on her worst day. Mister Baggins, on the other hand..."
"You know what, Glóin? Five pieces says he'll turn up."
"I'll take that wager, laddie." Ori and Bofur are the only dwarves besides Fili to bet on Bilbo catching up to them. While Gandalf is placing his wager, Fili speaks to Kili in a low tone.
"Anything new?" Fili says, and Kili gives him a confused look. "With the Dreams. You were humming in your sleep last night, so I know you had one. I was just wondering if she's sung any new songs," he explains. Kili shakes his head.
"No, still the same ones as before. No less beautiful, though." He smiles wistfully. Emery bumps his arm playfully with her snout. "Nope, still not telling." She groans and bumps him again. He chuckles. "No chance, Lassie."
"It's no use," says Fili. "If I can't get him to divulge the lyrics, no one can." She huffs and shakes her head, causing them both to laugh.
The One Dreams were a strange concept that baffled her when she first heard of them. Some male dwarves begin having them in their adolescence. These Dreams give hints or signs about their Ones. They aren't necessary to have one, but they're very helpful guides. For some, it's as direct as her showing up in the Dream to tell him her name. That's how it was for Bombur. Sometimes it's far more vague. Thorin only Dreamt of a jar of buttons. Those buttons ended up sitting on a shelf in the tailor shop Tama's father owned. Fili had both bad luck and good luck. Bad luck in that his Dreams only showed a little toy soldier; good luck in that his One, Rel, happened to be handing many of those little figurines out to the smaller children during a festival several years ago. She's currently in Ered Luin, with an engagement bead clasped proudly in her hair. Fili wears a matching one opposite his family braid.
Kili started having his One Dreams only a decade ago. He was so excited when he realized what they were...he'd had horrible self-esteem issues in the past. He was teased his entire life by children and even adults for being "ugly" by Dwarvish standards. His skin was too smooth, his hair too soft, his nose too small, his beard too thin, and as he grew older people said he was too tall. Often he would hear "elf" come from their lips as an insult. More than once as a child he came home crying. Most dwarves aren't so cruel, but the few that are made themselves very well known. Kili worried that the lack of Dreams meant he would never have a One, for who would willingly attach themselves to someone as ugly as him without the prompting of a Dream? When he finally had them, it was like the sky had been lifted from his shoulders. No insults to his appearance could touch him, because they no longer mattered. There would be someone who could look past that and see him, not his looks. His step gained a spring, his shoulders straightened, and he stood taller. Only Fili and Emery had truly understood what he went through, and both were ecstatic for him and relieved that his confidence had grown.
Kili won't tell anyone the details of his Dreams, to him they're too personal. Anyone but Fili, Tari, and Emery that is. He never sees his One in his Dreams, only hears her singing. Some familiar songs, some strange songs, but he never tells them how they go. Their only hints are the melodies he hums in his sleep when he dreams of her, but he can't carry a tune to save his life so they can never make them out.
"Wait! Wait!" a familiar voice shouts behind them. The Company stop their ponies and turn to look behind them, seeing a certain hobbit running towards them, a traveling pack slung over his shoulders. An unused one, by the looks of it. As he approaches the group and slows, he holds up the contract.
"I signed it," he says, and hands it to Balin. The dwarf takes his eyeglass and inspects the paper, then folds it up.
"Everything appears to be in order," he says with a smile as he hands it back to Bilbo. "Welcome, Master Baggins, to the Company of Thorin Oakenshield."