AN: I used the formula for dwarf age conversion (very helpful, I highly recommend it) and have the following ages:

Fíli is 35 in dwarf years which translates to about 17. Kíli is 30 in dwarf years which is about 15. Doubling the age only works for adolescent dwarf years so please look up the formula for any age past 40. This would make Thorin 148 technically, which is 46ish, but that's not really relevant due to that lack of aging for dwarves in those years.

Update: 3/8/2016 – I'm back…ish! I understand it's been a long time since I've posted a new chapter, and I really apologize. It's been a busy semester for me, so writing has unfortunately taken a back seat. I will be writing new material, but I first wanted to edit this, so please enjoy my improved writing and a new chapter is on its way!

Fíli, son of Dís, heir of Thorin Oakenshield, son of Thráin, son of Thrór, the last King under the Mountain, was not a dwarf for awkward situations, especially during supper. What should've have been a nice time for him to talk to his mother and uncle was spent with their identical blue eyes shifting to the front door every minute or so.

There was complete silence. This was the third night in a row that his brother Kíli was coming home late.

Dís, his mother, would let his Uncle Thorin do most of the punishing, mostly because it bothered him more. Thorin glanced once more and his younger sister could not handle the silence. "For Mahal's sake, Thorin, he's still a child. Sometimes, he loses track of time."

Thorin dropped his wooden spoon into his bowl and raised an eyebrow. "This is acceptable to you?" he asked and motioned to Fíli. "I do not remember Fíli acting the same way at that age."

Please leave me out of this, Fíli thought grimly. He didn't like being compared to his brother, even when Kíli wasn't around. They were different, and there was nothing wrong with that, but he knew his little brother hated the comparisons, and he wasn't going to do that to him when he wasn't even here to defend himself.

"Fíli has never been late, not one night, Dís."

"I do not particularly enjoy it either," she snapped back. "But it's not something for which to punish him so harshly. Kíli takes after his father, therefore it is not him that I blame for being irresponsible."

"Yes, he is his father's son," Thorin pointed out. "That is why I worry."

Fíli saw his mother's cheeks flush red momentarily. Hardly a dent had been made in her stew, but she stood up and left the table anyway. "I'm tired," she stated. "Fíli?"

"Yes?"

"Would you wake me when Kíli comes home?"

Fíli smiled. "Of course." He really wished that his mother hadn't left the table so soon. He hated being alone with his uncle when he was in one of his moods. However, he knew that retreating to his room would only make matters worse. He knew it was only a matter of when, not if, before Thorin would start to complain about-

"What are we going to do with your brother?"

Fíli sighed and listened to the rain outside the window. It was getting heavier and his annoyance at Kíli was slowly changing to worry. "I've never known what to do with him. You should not fret over it, Uncle. Kíli is wild by nature." That was the truth.

Fíli enjoyed being a child, of course, but his brother enjoyed it to the point of staying a child. Every time he came home late or did something extremely unintelligent, it wasn't out of open defiance, it was because he really had no grip on consequences.

However, from a very early age Fíli felt the pressures of being the heir to his uncle. It was apparent that Thorin was not going to have children of his own, and when Fíli had turned 20, his uncle began talking to him about Erebor. He talked about it to his brother, of course, but there was always something different in his tone of voice when he talked to his eldest nephew about their lost home.

"He's growing lazy," Thorin commented quietly as he pushed his finished bowl aside.

"Growing lazy?" Fíli asked with a laugh, hoping his uncle would join in. He didn't.

"I am very thankful that you heed the word of me and your mother, that you do not deliberately try to put us into an early grave."

"I can talk to him when he gets home," Fíli offered, but Thorin shook his head.

"No, I will speak to him. This kind of behavior has to stop." Not soon after that, the door opened and Fíli was relieved to see his little brother step through, trailing rain and mud in with him. Kíli was soaking wet and usually would've walked through the door while rapidly spitting out some sort of excuse as to why he was late, but he just walked past the table and barely made eye contact with either of them.

That was strange. "Kíli?" Fíli asked out of concern, but Thorin stood in his youngest nephew's way with dissatisfied arms crossed.

"Where have you been?" he asked sternly, but patiently.

Kíli dropped his outside cloak carelessly on the floor and didn't get the hint as he avoided Thorin and headed toward his room. "Sorry," he muttered. "The rain...didn't know how late it was."

"Mmhmm," his uncle replied. "You're not going to bed yet. You're going to tell me the truth."

"Tired," Kíli said sluggishly, completely ignoring Thorin. Fíli stood and began to walk over.

"I don't care if you're tired," Thorin said. "I want an explanation."

"Tired..." the young dwarf repeated and kept walking. Thorin caught him by the wrist.

"Do not walk away from-"

"Tired." Without another word, Kíli collapsed, but before a head injury occurred, Thorin caught him.

"Kíli!" they exclaimed in unison, and Fíli rushed over. Thorin knelt down with Kíli and rested his nephew's head on one of his knees. A hurried hand touched his forehead and cheeks and came back soaked in rain water and sweat.

"He's burning up," Thorin mumbled. "Dís!" he called, and she appeared quite suddenly due to her brother's unusually frantic yelp.

"What's wro-? Kíli!" She covered her mouth in horror at the sight of her youngest. "What happened?"

"He just collapsed," Thorin said helplessly. "He's so warm...I don't know-"

"Get him in bed," she finished Thorin's thought.

Fíli's room was the nearest and his uncle pushed open the door with his foot and laid his little brother on the bed. "What's wrong with him?" Fíli asked and looked desperately to his mother.

"I can't say, darling. Go fetch a cloth and a bowl of cold water."

Fíli didn't need to be told twice and he returned in seconds. His mother grabbed the cloth soaked in chilled water and placed it on Kíli's forehead in an attempt to get him to wake. "Kíli, honey? It's Mother. You're safe. Can you wake up, sweetheart? Wake up, Kíli."

Thorin placed a hand on Fíli's shoulder. Slowly, Kíli's eyes flitted open and they darted around the room in confusion.

"Mother?" he croaked.

"Right here," she said with a forced smile. Kíli spotted Thorin because he was taller than Fíli, but he had a hard time locating his big brother.

"Where's Fíli?"

Fíli gripped one of his brother's warm, clammy hands to show him that he was still there. "I'm here," he said firmly.

"He has some kind of fever," Dís said. "A bad one. Fíli, listen to me. I need you to run and find Óin. He'll know more about this than me. Thorin, go with him."

"What if you need help-?" he began, but Dís cut him off.

"Go with Fíli! I can handle it for now."

Thorin pulled on Fíli's arm with determination. "C'mon!"

"Where are you going?" Kíli called out in a daze.

"Don't worry, brother," Fíli replied. "Mother's here, we'll be right back. Just hold on."

Not bothering to put on any kind of outdoor cloak to shield himself from the driving rain, Fíli burst out of their house with his uncle to find Óin.

Kíli will be just fine, he told himself. He has to be.

Thanks for reading! More updated chapters and new material to come!