Absolutely loved this idea from NarniaTolkienNerd, who is awesome! Thank you so much!
Brynn is 19, Kili is 24, Fili is 25
Birthdays were big in the Durin household. They always had been, always would be. Before they had reclaimed Erebor, they were generally small big parties, if that made sense. Now that they were once again rulers of a kingdom, they could have feasts and balls and a huge hullabaloo. And they took full advantage of that. Anything they could do, they would, and they would do it as big as possible.
Such was the case with Filis 25 birthday. Because it was such an important number, Brynn and Kili decided it called for a surprise party. What better way to celebrate than that? And, of course, they would plan it. No one else would do their dear brothers twenty fifth birthday justice, and that was the truth.
They started planning a whole month in advance, and it was a good thing. They hadn't really realized just how much they had to do.
"Should we do a theme?" Kili asked at their first meeting.
They sat in Brynns walk-in closet, leaning against opposite walls with their legs beside the others. Kili claimed that this was their 'thinking closet' and that it would give them inspiration. Brynn went along with it because it sounded reasonable to her. If you had one space designated for creativity, your brain should jump into creative mode every time you went there, shouldn't it? And, besides that, it gave them a little hideaway so Fili wouldn't find them. Hopefully.
"A theme would be neat." Brynn nodded. "What theme?"
Kili obviously wasn't prepared for a follow up question. "I didn't think that far ahead."
"Useless." Brynn mock scolded. "Well, what about a theme of our quest?"
Kili shook his head. "It's been too overdone."
"No one has done a theme of our company reclaiming Erebor before, Kili, I refuse to believe it."
"No, I mean the quest was so worked up. That's what everyone thinks of when they hear of us. To do that as a theme would seem cliche."
"You seem cliche." Brynn grumbled.
"I'm right! Admit it."
"Yes, yes, you're right. Give me an idea, it's your turn."
"Why do we have to take turns?"
"So that you are forced to participate in the thinking of an idea part!"
"I am thinking!"
"So give me something."
Kili would be the first to admit that he had thought of just pretending to think and let Brynn do the figuring out part. She had caught him though, just as he should have expected her to. She knew him too well.
"Alright." Kili said. "A battle theme."
"Too gory!" Brynn exclaimed. "Can you imagine? Blood red dyed punch, finger shaped sandwiches, and bloody speared helmets as centrepieces. Awful!"
"Well, at least you've got ideas for it."
"We can't do that, Fili would kill us."
"But can you imagine his face?"
Brynn smirked mischievously. "It would be funny. But Uncle Thorin and mama would never allow it, so we have to keep going."
They say in silence for awhile, Brynn drawing doodles on a sheet of parchment while she thought. Kili started laughing.
"We could have wooden skulls hanging from the ceiling." He said through his giggles. "And make Fili a throne made of wooden bones."
Brynn grinned. "And have dwarves lie in random places in the middle of the floor pretending to be dead."
"Yes!" Kili laughed. "Are you writing this down?"
"No! We can't use that!"
"You have to at least write it down, Bree."
"Fine. But keep thinking."
Brynn took a piece of parchment and labeled it the theme, then started writing down their ideas.
The rest of their planning pretty much went the same way, with them thinking of ridiculous themes they would never be allowed to do and going on tangents with their ideas.
Hours later
Brynn was lying on her back with her legs up the wall, idly tapping the bottom end of her quill on the tip of her nose. Kili was on his stomach, face flat on the floor.
"I. Hate. Themes." Brynn growled.
"Me too." Kili agreed.
"You know... Fili would never know we tried to do a theme."
Kili looked up and crawled over to where Brynn was lying, his head over hers. "I love you."
"I haven't done anything." But Brynns eyes were sparkling.
"You've implied, my darling, and I love it. Just normal decorations?"
"But in big scale." Brynn nodded.
"The biggest."
Oooooooooooooooooooo
Brynn and Kili had gotten the decorations in order, and servants had started preparations. They would help later, but at the minute they had more important things to do. Like making Filis birthday present. That was an adventure in itself. Of course, they'd get him something that was very nice and that he would like, but they also wanted to get him something sentimental and silly. And that was when Brynn decided they should make him a painting. Kili pointed out that neither of them could actually paint, but Brynn said that would make it better. And even better, if they painted with their fingers. Childish, Kili said, but brilliant.
They now stood before a big canvas, paints lined up in front of them. They had found a small empty room to use so they wouldn't be found and they didn't have to worry about mess. They were in simple clothes, and their hair was tied back out of their faces.
"Okay. Me, Fili, you." Brynn pointed out the spots they would go.
"You should do me and I'll do you. We'll both do Fili."
They switched places. It was much harder than they expected, trying to make it look at least somewhat good. Brynns head was weirdly shaped and Kilis eyes were uneven. When they both came together to make Fili, it became even worse. His hair had a streak of blue in it (they never did figure out where that came from) and his nose was too large (though Kili jokingly said it was accurate). All in all though, it wasn't so bad, at least for the look they had been trying to get.
They stepped back to get a better look, hands in the air in front of them to avoid getting paint anywhere.
"Definitely present worthy." Brynn was nodding her head in approval.
Kili nodded, not as convinced. "It's just boring, Bree."
"Boring?"
"Yeah. It's just poorly drawn images of us."
"Hey!" Brynn cried. "I'm quite impressed with my drawing of you."
Kili laughed. "You know what I mean."
Brynn looked at their picture, thinking. "What if we did little pictures around the edge to make a border? Anything we want. Flowers, swords, things that don't go together."
"Okay! Good idea. I'm going to draw his first love."
"That's cruel!" Brynn scorned, whacking him in the face - not hard enough to hurt him - with her hand. Only after did she realize that said hand was covered in paint, and now so was Kilis face.
Kili stood there, deadpanned. "I didn't mean his first actual love, I meant his first crush."
Brynn fought hard not to laugh. "You mean Darphy? The weird one that liked to burn pipe-weed behind her fathers pottery shop?"
Kili nodded, blinking his paint covered eyelids. "Though in Filis defence, we didn't know she was like that till later."
"Sorry. Continue."
"Oh no." Kili replied, shaking his head with a mischievous smile. "You're not getting away with it that easily."
Brynn backed away, hands up. "No way. Leave me alone!"
"Not a chance! Revenge, darling!"
Brynn found herself against a wall. She tried to keep Kili at bay, but he pinned her arms and soon he was too close for her to get a good kick in. He smeared his hand across her cheek, leaving a weird mix of blue, pink, and green. He let go of her.
"We're even." He said, wariness in his eyes.
"No we are not!" Brynn exclaimed. "You got way more on me than I did on you!"
And this resulted in an all out paint war. One of them flipped over their canvas at some point to protect it from ruin. They threw, smeared, and poured the paint on each other, before eventually they realized they had two hours to finish their painting, clean off, and run to a meeting. They quickly drew little doodles around the edge of the canvas. Once it was finished, they had to sneak it into Brynns room. They took extra long doing that because they had to go a round about way to avoid Fili, who had inconveniently decided to walk the hall they needed to go down. Once they got it safely in Brynns closet, Kili left to go bathe in his own room and Brynn quickly called three maids to help her fill her tub.
Brynn and Kili ended up being late to their meeting. It took a long time to warm up water over a fire and fill a tub with it. In fact, they both had rather cold baths because they settled on slightly warmed water instead of hot. Even still, they had missed streaks of paint in their hair, speckles and splotches on their skin, and underneath their fingernails seemed permanently stained. Either Fili and Thorin didn't notice, or they decided not to say anything. Kili and Brynn were certain they just didn't notice. Hopefully.
Ooooooooooooooooooooooo
The guest list was easy. At first they made one with everyone that should be invited; basically, everyone that could be slightly offended if they weren't. But after they read through the list a second time, and they grumbled and complained about several people (sometimes seven or ten in a row) they decided only to invite the people that Fili would want invited. That shortened the list quite a bit, and it was filled with much more pleasant people. With the list finished, they could start planning food prep with their main cooks. What neither of them realized was that they weren't good at planning food for large numbers.
They sat at a table with the cooks, Brynn and Kili looking over their guest list, the cooks ready with parchment and ink.
"Alright. Main food." Brynn said. "Fili likes mutton."
"Yes he does. That's his favourite. So that'll be the main course." Kili said, watching in amusement as the cooks scribbled everything they said down. "And maybe some roasted cheese." They wrote that down too
Brynn knew his game. She kicked him under the table, then turned to the cooks. "He's kidding. We won't kid anymore."
The cooks scratched out the roasted cheese.
"But we should have two main courses right?" Brynn questioned uncertainly, looking at the cooks to see their reaction.
"Two is definitely a good idea." A cook nodded.
"Fili likes turkey." Kili suggested.
"Good idea. Mutton and turkey." Brynn said again to make sure the cooks got it down.
"And how many of each?"
Brynn and Kili blanked. They looked at each other, holding a silent conversation with their eyes and expressions.
"I-isn't that your job?" Kili asked. "I mean, to decide numbers?"
"We really have no idea." Brynn said. "But here's our guest list." She pushed the list over to the cooks, and they took it, hiding their amusement poorly.
"Drinks?" One of the cooks asked.
"Ale." Brynn and Kili answered at the same time, very confidently.
"Wine." Added Brynn.
"Punch." Added Kili.
"And water." They both finished.
That was the quickest they figured anything out. They went through each course, debating which of each was Filis favourite. Soups, salads, breads... The list went on and on. By the time they got to dessert, an hour later, Brynn and Kili were hyper with ideas, and were stock straight in their chairs, hands gesturing wildly as they tried to explain what they wanted from the cooks.
"It needs to be a huge cake." Brynn said, eyes wide. "The biggest you've ever made! The base needs to be at least... What, Kili, four feet across?" She turned to her brother.
Kili nodded. "Yes, m'am. Maybe even five. Yes, do five! Five is a good solid number. Just see what you can do, yeah?" He asked the cooks. "Five if possible, four if not."
"And as many tiers as you can stack on top!" Brynn added, leaning across the table and pointing to where the cook had written only three. "Three will never do."
"How do you wish it to be decorated?" A cook asked, looking at them tiredly. You couldn't blame them; it was hard to keep up with their energy. "Flowers?"
"No chance!" Kili and Brynn exclaimed at the same time, making the cooks jump.
"Not flowers!" Brynn said. "Something strong. Something elegant. Something majestic!"
"Mm. Mm-hm." Kili nodded in agreement. "Majestic."
"Majestic... Cake." The cook said unbelievingly.
"Anything can be majestic if you try hard enough." Kili said wisely.
"Well, that's all we need." A cook said, obviously eager to leave.
"Thank you all very much!" Brynn called to them as they left. She turned to Kili. "I think that went very well."
"As do I, darling."
Ooooooooooooooooooooooo
The day of the party had arrived. In order for all the guests to arrive and for all the decorations to be put up without Fili noticing, his siblings took him to Dale for the day whilst Thorin and Dis supervised the preparations.
The trio visited Bard and his children, where they had homemade cookies and Fili got to open some presents the family had bought for him. Brynn and Kili blessed Bard and his children for being able to keep a secret. Nobody came even close to mentioning the party.
Then they went shopping. Brynn ended up buying a new outfit for the party (she told Fili it was just for the next special occasion). It was very simple. Brown leather trousers covered by a coat that was long in the back so she could get away without wearing a dress. Kili bought new boots and Fili didn't want to buy anything because he didn't want to something that someone had gotten him as a gift. Somehow Brynn and Kili managed to draw the trip out to take all day. When they got back to Erebor they took Fili to the huge ballroom, telling him that Thorin had asked them to check for a large rodent that had escaped from the mines. He was sceptical, but believed them.
Brynn and Kili pushed open the double doors, revealing the brightly lit room filled with decorations. People shouted 'surprise' at the top of their lungs, laughing at the look of shock on Filis face as he took it all in. He broke out into a smile and hugged both his siblings, one arm around each of them.
"You pulled this off?" He asked, looking around at everything.
"We did indeed!" Brynn said, kissing him on the cheek. "Happy birthday, big brother!"
"How did you do this? You two are the worst at planning anything!"
Kili hit him on the back of the head. "We're not that bad, obviously. Now come, the people want to greet you!"
Once Fili had exchanged greetings with nearly half the people, the feast started. When everyone was seated and the first course was served - Fili greatly approved of the mutton and turkey - Brynn got up on the stage.
"Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the celebration of my dear brother, Prince Fili of Erebor!" She exclaimed, shouting to be heard through the entire room.
The people cheered, some raising their glasses to the prince.
"I could talk for hours about how amazing Fili is, because there are that many things to prove it, but I'm sure you don't want to listen to me that long. I'd just like to say, happy birthday, brother. I love you so much, and I hope you have a good year ahead of you. As part of your splendid evening, Kili and I have hired traveling performers to give you a show. I've seen them practicing, and if their full show is even half as good as that, we'll all be very entertained. So, without any more boring speeches, I'm pleased to show you-" Brynn broke off as Kili ran up to her.
He grabbed her arm, lowering his head to her ear. "I've lost the performers."
"What?" Brynn exclaimed, looking over the crowd at confused faces.
"Shhh!" Kili hissed. "I've got Gimli looking for them now."
"They're expecting a performance!" Brynn cried, panic setting in. If they messed up even one thing it would prove what Fili had said - they weren't very good at planning.
"They'll get one!" Kili insisted, trying to keep her calm. "Until they're found, you and I can do some music and singing."
Brynn stared at her brother in unbelief. How he had managed to lose an entire performing group was beyond her. There were eleven of them, if not more. How do you lose eleven people? But, she reasoned, if anyone could lose them, it would be Kili.
"Fine." She agreed. "You have our fiddles?"
Kili pointed off the platform, where two fiddles were propped up against a chair.
"Okay. Let's play." Brynn said. This wouldn't be so bad.
Kili left the platform to get their fiddles.
Brynn turned to the guests. "Ladies and gentlemen, as this is our brothers one and only twenty fifth birthday, we've decided that we want to play a couple songs for him. And then we will have our performing group."
The guests clapped as Kili joined Brynn and handed her her fiddle before taking a large and dramatic bow. Brynn smiled at him. They would be able to sell this as a planned thing quite well.
"What song?" She asked in a whisper, adjusting her hold on her fiddle with her chin.
"The one we made where the Misty Mountain song goes into that ballad."
Brynn nodded. She loved that one.
They started to play. The first verse of the song they each played the melody in low notes, slowly and beautifully. On the second verse, Brynn switched to a high harmony, and sent chills across the audience. Once that verse ended, they trailed off before launching into a fast paced tune that was different, but still reminiscent of the Misty Mountain song. When they ended they were startled at how loud the applause was. That only got them in a better mood, and they made a much better show. They danced some as they played their next few songs, which was an impressive feat while playing the fiddle. When they decided to sing, they got the band to play for them. Thank the heavens they could both actually carry a tune, or they would have lost the audience for sure. They sang classic tavern songs to make the people laugh. They were in their sixth song all together when they saw Gimli appear in the back of the room with the performers.
"Ladies and gentlemen, that was our show." Kili smiled, breathing hard. Dancing as well as singing took a lot out of you. He wrapped his arm around Brynns shoulder. "I hope you enjoyed it."
That statement was met with loud cheers and more applause.
"Well, as much as we'd love to hog the stage, our performers will take over now." Brynn said, waving over the group. "I promise you just as much entertainment, if not more! So, I'd like to welcome The Travellers!"
Brynn and Kili left the stage.
"You'd think they could've picked a better name." Kili mumbled quietly to his sister.
"Hush, they might hear." Brynn scorned.
The siblings went and found their seats on either side of Fili to rush through their main course that most were nearly finished. It was slightly cold, but they didn't mind. They could have mutton any day, they couldn't always save Filis birthday party.
Fili leaned over to Brynn. "That wasn't planned, was it?" He asked, watching as the performers made their introductions.
Brynn flushed. How did he know? How did he always know? She was annoyed.
"You covered it up quite nicely." Fili smiled. "I could barely tell. Thank you for tonight, Brynn."
Brynn finally smiled at him. "You're welcome, Fili."
They both gasped as a performer started to do tricks with fire, even going as far as to put a burning pole in his mouth.
Between the performance, the food, the dancing, and the gifts, it was one of the best parties they'd ever thrown. Fili opened his families gifts in their living room after the party to have a little private time. He nearly died of laughter when he saw Kili and Brynns painting.
I loved writing this! The reason I chose Fili to have his birthday is because I wanted the planning to be a struggle and Brynn and Kili are so adorably clumsy (especially together). I really like how this turned out, and I hope you guys do too! Let me know by leaving a review. :)
If you have any ideas for a one shot, send it my way!