Chapter Text
Fili woke up to see his room bright. He rolled over, grabbing his watch from the bedside table and groaned softly at the time. Nonetheless, he lounged for a bit longer (at this point it was so late a few more minutes wouldn’t make a difference) then reluctantly threw his duvet off and padded downstairs.
The sound of clattering led him to the kitchen, where Bilbo was putting away plates in the dishwasher. He turned and smiled, seeing Fili standing sleepily in the doorway.
“Morning.”
“Morning,” Fili yawned, leaning down automatically to help but Bilbo swatted his hands away gently.
“I’m alright, you get your breakfast. I’ve already put the toast on for you”
“You’re the best,” Fili mumbled happily, opening the fridge and pulling out the strawberry jam.
“Don’t ask me why I’m doing it. You’re well old enough to do it all yourself,” Bilbo chuckled and Fili hummed in agreement.
The toaster popped, Fili flipping the slices quickly onto his plate, hissing softly as he almost burned himself.
Bilbo put the last of the glasses away and joined him at the breakfast bar, cradling a china mug of brewing tea in his hands as Fili layered jam on his toast.
“Busy day?” he asked over his the edge of his cup.
“Not much. Gotta do more work on my thesis.”
“Ah, of course. You work so hard.”
“I’ve got to.” Fili took a huge bite, relishing in the fruity sweetness that exploded along his tongue. Nothing ever beat homemade strawberry jam. “I’ve got a draft due a week Monday. And my supervisor will break my balls if it’s late again.”
Bilbo chuckled. “Still. Can’t hurt to have a lie-in once in a while.”
“I did. This morning.” Fili glanced guiltily at the clock. “I meant to be up at eight, and I only got out of bed at ten. I’m just so tired.”
“It’s Saturday,” Bilbo told him gently. “Give yourself a break.”
“I guess.” Fili wiped his sticky fingers on his trackies, smiling apologetically at Bilbo when his eyes narrowed disapprovingly. “Where’s dad?”
“Thorin’s… picking up Kili.”
“Oh.” Fili had almost forgotten. “Right.”
“He wasn’t due til later but he wanted to be early. As usual.” Bilbo rolled his eyes fondly, but it didn’t conceal the tiny layer of concern that had settled behind them.
“Typical dad,” Fili muttered.
A silence fell, broken only by the sound of crunching as Fili munched his toast. Automatically, Bilbo stood up and began filling the dishwasher again.
“I’ll do that, dad.”
This time Bilbo let him, leaning back against the breakfast bar with a sigh as Fili stacked last night’s plates, dropping his jammy knife into the cutlery box with the rest of the dirty forks and spoons. He glanced up at Bilbo, who was looking pensive.
“Penny for your thoughts,” Fili quipped. That seemed to pull Bilbo out of his reverie.
“I was looking at some photos, actually.” He ruffled some papers on the counter, a few shiny squares slipping out. “Here. Look.”
Fili took the polaroid Bilbo handed him. A miniature version of himself stared out, except that his hair, now a golden brown honey-colour, was paler, almost white. It was bunched back in a short ponytail, Thorin and Bilbo’s attempt to tame it, but judging by its messiness he wasn’t pleased about it. A tiny boy stood next to him in a stripy sweater two sizes too big, a mass of black curls overflowing into his eyes. About a head shorter, they were practically opposites, the only similarity they shared being the sheer volume of hair they each had.
“Did we get along?”
“I suppose. As well as any cousins who only see each other once a year do.”
Fili squinted at the photo. “Is this Richmond park?”
“Yes, sometime in spring. We took you to see the deer. It was so muddy, you both got filthy.”
“This was the last time we saw each other. It was years ago.”
“More than ten,” Bilbo agreed. He filed away the rest of the photos in a small red box and shut the lid. He hesitated. “Thorin will be back soon. We were really hoping if you wouldn’t mind - taking some time off today. To help him settle in.”
“Of course,” Fili agreed immediately. “No problem.”
“Thank you.” Bilbo gave a small smile, which wavered. “I hope he likes chicken. I’ve made a roast tonight, he was such a fussy eater when he was little.”
“Everyone likes roast chicken,” Fili told him. “Especially when you make it.”
“I hope you’re right. Anyway. Have you got plans this week?”
“Not really.”
“Aren’t you going to go and see that nice girl? She was very pretty.”
“Dad,” Fili groaned.
“What?” Bilbo’s eyes widened innocently.
“Shut up,” Fili mumbled.
They liked to joke about it being ‘genetic’.
“I don’t have time to date. I’ve got too much bloody work.”
Bilbo laughed. “You need more friends. Loser.”
“I’m not a loser!” Fili protested. “I’m just busy.”
“Too busy for a girlfriend? There’s one I haven’t heard before.” Bilbo winked cheekily before Fili could reply, his retort getting lost even as he opened his mouth. Instead, he grinned.
“Very funny.”
“I know right.” Bilbo ruffled his hair. “Anyway. Best be off, you’re not the only one with things to do!”
“Laundry doesn’t count.”
The sound of Bilbo’s chuckles followed him as he headed upstairs to shower.
…….
Fili heard the car pull in about half an hour later. He glanced outside, from his window he could just see the tail end of Thorin’s slate-grey Volkswagen. He put down his pen and went downstairs, where Bilbo was waiting in the hall, wringing his hands nervously.
“They’ve arrived,” he said unnecessarily, stealing a glance at the front door. “I don’t know if we should… well-“
“It’ll be fine dad,” Fili assured him, placing a hand reassuringly on his shoulder.
Bilbo looked up at him and gave a brief smile. “Yes. I know - thanks. I’ll just go and put the kettle on.”
Fili followed him into the kitchen. Over the hum of the kettle bubbling to life and the light chinks of china as Bilbo fiddled with teacups, he heard the door open and close, low voices, and the sound of two people moving down the hall.
Bilbo turned as two people appeared in the doorway, smile fixed on his face. “Hello Kili. Welcome, it’s good to see you.”
“Hi Uncle Bilbo,” Kili replied in a voice that sounded like he’d been instructed to be polite. He didn’t go in for a hug, but stuffed his hands even deeper into his coat pockets.
“Sorry we’re late,” Thorin told him, moving past Kili to drop a kiss on Bilbo’s cheek in greeting. “We stopped for a bite to eat on the way, Kili said he didn’t have any breakfast.”
“Oh my,” Bilbo turned wide eyes on him. “Well, I’ve just put the kettle on, would you like a cup of tea?”
“I’m fine thanks,” the boy replied.
“Really, tea, we could do coffee if you like?”
“I’m fine,” he repeated, shifting on his feet and glancing around. His eye fell on Fili.
“You remember your cousin, Fili,” Thorin said gently. Fili raised his hand in a half wave.
“Hey.”
“Hi.”
Neither of them elaborated.
“Could you show Kili where his room is?” Bilbo prompted and Thorin immediately moved across the room to grab Kili’s case.
“It’s fine, I can get it-” But Thorin was already halfway down the hall, Kili following a metre or so behind him. Bilbo flapped his hands, eyebrows raised expectantly, and Fili, taking the hint, followed.
He hopped up the steps, two at a time, swinging round the bannister at the top and followed the sound of Thorins’ voice to the second room on the right, relegated as Kili’s new bedroom.
“…the house is a bit small, this used to be my study so sorry it’s not quite bedroom-y yet. We’ve ordered a proper wardrobe, it’s arriving tomorrow.”
Kili just nodded.
“Uuh.” Thorin appeared to be racking his brains for anything else he needed to say. “We’ve enrolled you in the local school down the road. It’s called Pemberton, Fili went there too.”
“It’s nice,” Fili offered.
“Yes.” Thorin reached up to scratch the back of his neck, something Fili knew he did when he couldn’t think of anything to say and felt awkward. “Anyway, Fili’s probably the best person to tell you about it. I’ll leave you two to get reacquainted. I mean, get to know each other,” he half babbled the last words and brushed past Fili out of the room.
A small silence fell as they heard his heavy footsteps clunking down the stairs. Fili smiled, trying to look friendly. Kili appraised him.
“So whose are you?”
“What do you mean?” Fili asked, a little thrown by the question.
“Whose are you? I would have said Bilbo’s, cos you’ve not got the dark hair, but you’ve got Thorin’s eyes for sure.”
“I’m adopted,” Fili told him.
Kili didn’t reply, just grunted and jerked his chin in understanding. He drummed his fingers on the hem of his coat. “So the school. Is it really nice?” he asked casually.
“Yeah, it’s great.” Fili leaned against the door frame, and crossed his arms. “I was there the whole of middle and high school. I had a blast.”
Kili hummed. “What do you do now then?”
“I’m at uni.”
“Where, here?”
“Yup.”
“Brainy,” Kili commented. Fili inclined his head. “When do you graduate?”
“Actually…” Fili mumbled. “I already did. Last year. I’m doing my masters now.”
Kili’s eyes narrowed.
“My mum always said we were only four years apart.”
“We are. I left school early,” he explained.
Kili raised his eyebrows. “Damn. You are brainy.”
Fili shrugged. “Not really.”
Kili let out a breath that made the tendrils of hair on his forehead jump and shiver. He sat down on the edge of the bed, and his eye caught on the photograph on the bedside table.
“Bilbo found it this morning. Thought it might be nice to take a trip down memory lane,” Fili said, as Kili stared at the two children frozen on the small square.
“Where the hell was this?” Kili sounded almost angry, Fili wasn’t sure why.
“Richmond Park, I think.”
“I don’t remember,” Kili said dismissively. He held the photo up to Fili. “What was I, like three?”
“Maybe four.” Fili took the photo and looked at it. “You were pretty tiny.”
Kili sighed again, drumming his fingers on the duvet. “I think I’m gonna unpack.”
“Sure.” Fili pushed off the doorway and stood there awkwardly for a second. “I’ll - leave you to it.”
“Thanks.” Kili closed the door behind him as Fili made his way back to his room. He dropped the photo on his desk and stared at it, marvelling at time.