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As Blaine searched the crowd in the gaming hall for Thorin’s advisor, she made her way over to the bar. With a pint securely in hand, she located Balin and headed towards the bench where he sat with Dori.
She quickly slowed her approach, though, as she listened to their enthusiastic discussion.
Dori tossed his hands in the air. “And how am I supposed to play Noddy without my best set of cards?”
“I suspect your brother can supply you with an adequate set for tonight.”
“Cards, Balin, we need cards. My cards.”
Balin glared at his companion from beneath his eyebrows. “That was definitely not on the list of things to fetch that you left for me.”
“I cannot understand how you could have forgotten such a simple thing!”
“I understand many things, but at the moment you are not one of them.”
“If you would simply hush long enough to actually hear the words being spoken to you, then I am certain you would.”
Blaine listened to the two white-haired dwarves bickering, her eyebrows steadily climbing towards her hairline. Behind her, she heard Nori’s derisive snort as he passed by to the main gaming table, muttering something about kissing and getting it over with already.
Stifling her own mirth, the forester maintained an air of congeniality as she asked the pair, “Just how long have you known each other?”
Balin started to answer but Dori waved him silent. “Oh, it feels like forever, my dear. Close friends like him are treasured jewels.”
“Friends?”
Dori raised an eyebrow at her. “It must be obvious.”
“So, a long time as friends?”
Balin finally found a gap in Dori’s ambitious presentation and chimed in, “Since we first arrived in Ered Luin.”
The young woman gave Dori a thoughtful glance. “I’ve heard my parents bicker like this. They were head over heels for each other.”
Dori flicked a hand in dismissal. “Please, any two people together long enough will natter at each other until they are ready to bind and gag each other.”
Blaine was grinning now. “If you say so.”
“Of course I do!”
Balin watched the forester as she grabbed her mug, winked at him, and strolled away. The little smile on his face grew as he turned his gaze to Dori.
“She has the right of it, you know.”
Dori huffed, “The right of what?”
“You, me, the history between us.”
“History? I am hardly a dusty tome on the shelf in the Great Library. My dear dwarf, what have you been drinking?” Dori’s eyes twinkled, though.