Chapter Text
"A fox and three hares. There you go."
Kíli tossed the three smaller game on the table and pointed at the dead fox on the ground. He grinned triumphantly. "Beat that, brother."
Fíli raised an eyebrow. He sat back and looked around himself without a care in the world, a pipe in his hand. In the background, in the middle of the clearing where they were camped for the night, Bombur was heard giving a cheer, and Dwalin and Óin muttering content praises.
"A buck!" called out Bombur, "Blessed be Aulë! It's a feast!"
Kíli's smile fell.
"Looks like I in fact did beat you," Fíli's hand fluttered like he wanted to pat himself on the shoulder. Opposite him, his brother gaped, closed his mouth, and then angrily stomped his feet into the dry forest soil scattered with autumn leaves beneath him.
"You cheated. You must have cheated! A buck, Fíli, with a sword?! That thing was probably already dead when you found it!"
Fíli shrugged. "I can be quiet when I want to be. It didn't know what hit him until it did. Fair is fair, brother. A bet's a bet. Hand it over."
Kíli huffed. "Come and take it."
Fíli shrugged his shoulders, amusement apparent. "Don't mind if I do."
"There we go again," Ori muttered to Dori, while Fíli got up from where he was seated, smothered the fire of his pipe and strode to Kíli's bedroll. Kíli latched onto his back and whined, "It's not fair!"
"Oh, yes it is," said Fíli and continued on like the weight of his brother was nothing. Like the consistent pounding of a fist against his shoulder and back were but pats. "You decided the terms yourself. Don't be such a sore loser."
"What is going on?" came Thorin's gruff voice.
Ori cringed, and Dori looked on with too much curiosity.
Fíli and Kíli halted.
"Kíli lost a wager. His bedroll's mine for the night."
"Only because you cheated!"
"Did you?" asked Thorin.
"No."
Kíli huffed. He kept quiet and looked down.
"Kíli, off your brother's back. How old are you now?"
"... Too old for this, uncle."
"I thought so."
With that, Thorin nodded. He turned to leave, but then stopped and turned once again to tell Fíli with something akin to pride, "Excellent work on the buck, by the way."
"And the fox and the hares," Kíli quietly tried.
"And those," Thorin said. "Now if only you could hunt without turning it into a competition like you two do with everything, we could enjoy the meal to the best of our extent as well."
"Apologies, uncle," Fíli and Kíli spoke in unison. That seemed to do it. Thorin nodded, pleased, and left for the campfire and the wizard waiting patiently there. Gandalf leaned on his staff. If the knowing smile on his lips were directed and Fíli and Kíli, well, then they kept quiet and returned him just a small obnoxious one behind their uncle's back and it would be their little secret henceforth.
Kíli refrained from commenting when Fíli took his bedroll and dragged it on top of his own. Two bedrolls was a luxury if any, on the rocky ground where protruding branches and cobbles could turn a good night's rest into a nightly hell, even on a single bedroll. For Kíli, it was going to be a long night indeed.
He sat down next to Fíli while the elder arranged his now royal sleeping accommodations. "How about another wager?" he said. "You know, settle the score. You can't seriously want me to sleep on the ground, do you?"
"You would have been content to have me sleep on the floor if you won," Fíli returned.
Kíli shrugged and nodded in admittance, a grin plastered on his face. "But your back is used to a lot more. You would have done fine. Mine is delicate."
The laughter that rung from Fíli at that, turned the heads of several dwarves.
"-'s the matter?" asked Dwalin.
"Kíli says he has a delicate backside."
Dwalin chortled. "I bet he has."
Only then did Kíli understand how his brother had read his words. He'd be damned if he lost to his brother once again though, so he straightened his back, punched his brother in the shoulder for good measure, and piped up, "I do. You wouldn't know, with your calluses and welts."
"Oooh," crooned Dwalin, "The boy has you there."
Fíli looked up, unimpressed. "The only reason 'the boy' says so, is because he wants me to prove him wrong. I'm not undressing for that."
"Pity," Kíli picked at a loose scab on his leather boots, "There's such a nice evening chill. It would be good for you. Cool you down. Get some sense back into you."
"Dwalin," called Ori over, "Are you sure you want to be part of that particular conversation?"
Dwalin thought about that, but didn't budge. "Nah, I'm not too worried I am actually part of it," he called back.
True enough, Fíli was already firing his own sharp remark back at Fíli.
"I believe you're the one who's heated up here, brother."
"Oh, I wish I was. It would make sleeping on the floor without a blanket tonight a lot easier. You're heartless."
"That pains my heart," the elder clutched at his chest mockingly.
"You have none." Kíli pouted. He was on the losing side and he knew it. His meagre comeback was weak enough to topple with a single well-aimed blow.
"Then why would I have to cool down if there is no pulse within me to heat me up?"
And so Fíli toppled it. Dwalin laughed heartily at that, while Ori and Dori from their distance groaned and, likewise, did Kíli. "Fine," he said, "I will extract myself from this conversation to keep at least some of my dignity."
"Dignity, brother?" Fíli sat back, "What is that strange thing you speak of?"
The thump on his already bruising shoulder made him wince, before Kíli pounced on him and pushed him over.
Ori and Dori stiffened when the leader of their company sat down next to them on the log. Ori mutely offered him his pipe. Thorin ignored it. He sighed. "What am I to do with them?" he said, "They never listen. Brothers."
Ori opened his mouth to speak up, but Dori jabbed him quickly before he could. "Ow!" cried out Ori, to which his brother instantly glared at him. "What'd you do that for?!"
Thorin frowned at them. He took a drag from the pipe and offered it back, before getting up again.
There was no point telling him that what they were looking at had nothing to do with being brothers, and everything with them being Fíli and Kíli.
*****
"... What? Who?"
"Hush," came the hissing reply.
"Kíli?"
It was pitch dark outside. With the new moon in the sky, the stars gave off too little light for anyone to be recognisable, and the fire was too far away to give any decent light as well - obscured as it was behind the rock where Fíli had put his two comfortable bedrolls. "What are you doing?"
"You may have my bedroll for the night, but nobody said anything about not being able to sleep on you."
"... Kíli, get off of me."
"No."
Kíli rearranged himself stubbornly, jostling himself flat on top of Fíli. When his brother put his hands firmly on his waist to dislodge him, he whined.
"Come on, please. I can't sleep like this, Fíli. I really tired."
"Could you be quiet? Some of us are trying to sleep here." Gloin.
"Sorry," Kíli had the decency to reply. "Fíli, please..."
The blond was really too tired for this. His hands pulled Kíli off him, to much complaining and pleading noises - and groans from, surprisingly, more dwarves than Gloin alone - and rolled onto his side.
Kíli squirmed into the space left and quieted.
Fíli at last allowed his eyes to when it seemed like the squirming and meddling with his sleep had stopped, and replaced with a steady rhythmic breathing.
"You're the best brother," he thought he could hear whispered quietly enough for only him to hear.