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"Ori, get yer finger outta yer nose!" Nori sighed, his palm rubbing against his face. Little Ori stared up at his big brother with his forefinger wedged up his button nose. The middle child of the Ri brothers groaned when Ori tried to dig deeper for whatever gross treasure he looked for. "I'm not joking; you're disgusting me!"
Ori smiled from behind his band before muttering, "I 'ave a bogey. Need to get it out…"
They stood in the center of the market hall deep within the homesteads of Ered Luin. Dwarves of young and old bustled around him with some young dwarrow girls giving Ori disgusting looks. Nevertheless, many ignored the younger brothers of the Ri trio, and went about their usual day.
"If we want to make this work, you'll need to stop that," Nori explained, shoving Ori's hand away from his face. The little blighter squeaked before using his other hand to uncover the dirty treasure. "By Aulë, Ori, use a handkerchief instead of yer finger!"
"Aye, what's goin' on here?" a gruff voice called from behind. Nori winched at the familiarality of the guard's voice as Ori stared up in awe at Dwalin's imposing figure. In shock – and quite horrified – Nori watched as Ori laced his boogey covered fingers around Dwalin's thick leg. The large dwarrow ignored the boy as he glowered at Nori. "I hope yeh haven't been causing any troubles, Nori. I don't think yer older brother would appreciate yeh getting this little one in yer mess."
"No, no!" Nori lied. "Dori would have my hide if Ori was to get in trouble. Yeh know his temper."
"I seem 'ta see it at least once a week when I'm through with yeh."
It was true that Dori would lose it if he got wind of Nori's original plan. Lovely dwarf ladies loved his baby brother and cooed over him saying his letters in Khuzdul. Typically this left their bags unadvised when little Ori babbled on and on, trying to impress anyone who would listen. At least, that was his plan for the day before the annoying guard Dwalin came to ruin it (as he typically did in Ered Luin).
"Good," Dwalin said, prying the young dwarf off his leg. "It would be a shame if Fíli and Kíli stopped meeting with their little playmate. It wouldn't be good if the king's nephews were to associate with a little felon."
"No more Fí and Kí?" Ori asked, horrified. Tears began forming around his brown eyes, and Nori only groaned. Leave it to Dwalin to bring guilt upon the middle brother. "Fí and Kí are my best fwends!"
Dwalin smirked as he bent down to the youngest Ri brother. "Now, now. I know how much they mean to yeh. As long as yer brother doesn't do anything wrong today, yeh can play with them as much as yeh little heart likes."
Nori frowned when little Ori looked up with him with pleading eyes. "Pwease don't do anything bad! I need Fí and Kí! They're my only fwends…"
With a groan, Nori hoisted Ori up onto his hips and glared at Dwalin. "It's okay, Ori, we're going home right now. It seems that the person I was looking for never showed up."
Dwalin watched the nose picking youngster wave at him as Nori disappeared in the crowd. At least Nori had a soft spot when it came to his youngest brother, he thought with a small smile on his face. The thought of the oddity of the Ri brothers left his mind when he saw a thief steal a piece of loaf from the local baker. "Aye! Get back here yeh thief!"