"Good morning, Adad!" Aurelia greeted cheerfully as she entered their small tailoring shop. The elderly dwarf returned her smile from where he sat at his workbench, crowded with bolts of fabric and sewing pins.

"Good morning, my dear." He said warmly, waving her over. "Come, give me a hand with this cloak. These needles are being downright buggers this morning." Vlin lamented. His shaking hands were having trouble pinning the hem of the fabric he was currently working on.

"Adad, I told you to wait for me!" She gently admonished, hurrying over to accept the pins from him and righting the ones he had already placed. "What else needs done this morning?" She asked through her teeth, where she held some of the pins, taking them one by one and pinning the fabric up by a quarter-inch. Vlin leaned towards an open book on the bench in front of him, squinting to read the orders for the day.

She looked around their shop, seeing half-finished jobs from yesterday strewn about. She'd have to hire an assistant seamstress soon. Vlin was finding it more and more difficult to keep up with the workload. He had once been reknowned as the best seamster in Erebor, before Smaug's coming. Dwarves had come from far and wide to be outfitted by him. He had even been appointed royal tailor of Erebor, dressing the whole royal family in the finest garments. In his old age he was still better than most, though his hands and sight were slowly failing him. Aurelia had been studying under him since she was a dwarfling, learning his technique and inheriting his eye for detail. When the company had reclaimed the Lonely Mountain, they had made haste to return to Erebor as soon as they could. Now, a scant six months after they had made their journey home, the shop was booming with orders. Vlin's declining health meant that they could only accept a limited amount of orders a week, but that served to only make the shop appear more exclusive.

"Hmm, well we have to hem this cloak, to be ready by midday... I'll be finishing off a few orders for tomorrow." He gestured to the half-finished pile next to him. "We also have a customer coming in for measurements and fitting just after lunchtime.." Vlin trailed off, tapping the page for a moment in thought. "I think that's all for today."

"That"- she pulled the last needle from between her teeth and pinned the fabric down carefully -"doesn't seem like much?" Aurelia questioned, eyeing her handiwork. "I'll help you with those after I've attended to our customer later."

"Well, let's just see what the day brings, Nathith. I have a feeling you shall be very busy indeed." Her father answered vaguely, smiling at her as he moved on to his next task, picking up his large shears to cut some fabric for tomorrow's orders.

"If you say so, Adad." She replied bemusedly.

Well, if that was all she was getting from him, she'd just have to wait and see. With their customer base - a city full of miners, blacksmiths, and their families, how exciting could this days' work really be? She picked up her needle and thread, starting a simple hem stitch on the woolen cloak. Humming to pass the time, the day crawled by slowly, and she was stuck at her workbench all morning aside from getting up to gather materials, or replace a candle when it burnt low enough to limit the light in the room.

A few hours and a handful of pinpricks later, it was finally midday. Aurelia had just managed the finishing touches on the cloak before it was collected, embroiding her family sigil on the inside of the hem of the cloak, as was common practice in her craft. It was with a sigh of relief that she put down the needle, brushing her cramped fingers on her skirts as she stood up to stretch. She flexed her hands, encouraging the blood to flow through them properly again as she moved about the room.

"Adad, I'm going to Bombur's to get some lunch. Do you want anything?" She asked, gathering her coin purse and brushing an errant strand of dark hair behind her ears. She would redo her braid when she finished her lunch; for the moment, all she wanted to do was help herself to a large serving of Bombur's famous stew.

"Yes please. Whatever is on the menu today is fine." He said, deeply engrossed in his work. Aurelia nodded to herself, gathering her shawl to wrap around herself. Though the colder months had passed and it was now late spring, Erebor seemed to have a constant chill in the air. It was still prone to draughts of wind after the structural damage caused by Smaug, something the stone carvers were working hard to fix by winter.

"I won't be long." She said, stepping out into the cooler air. It was a short walk up the corridor to reach Bombur's dining hall, close enough to the shop that the walk didn't cut into her lunch hour by much at all.

Aurelia entered the small dining hall, closing the door firmly behind her to keep the draught out. She waved to the bairns playing in the back corner of the shop, and they waved back happily before resuming their game. "Aurelia! It's lovely to see you my dear! Will it be the usual?" Bombur's wife, Dovora greeted her.

"Yes please Dovora." She replied, walking up to the counter with her coin purse in hand. "How are the wee ones?" She nodded to Dovora's swollen belly. Bombur and Dovora had been blessed with fourteen children so far, and Dovora was heavily pregnant with twins, according to Oin.

Dovora groaned, rubbing her bump. "The wee bairns are kicking up a storm today. Oin thinks it should be naught but a month before we'll be meeting them." She turned to putter about the small kitchen, gathering two wooden bowls and heaping them with the rabbit stew. She waddled back to the counter, setting the bowls down with a smile, though the strain on her face was obvious.

"You poor thing. Let me know if you need anything. I can always take your young ones for a while and get them out of your hair. You'll be needing all the rest you can get." Aurelia popped a handful of coins in the dish on the counter, leaving a generous tip. Between Bombur's share of the company treasure and his booming dining hall, they were not low on coin by any means, but bairns had a way of using up gold quickly.

"Oh, aye. Thank you my dear. I may take you up on that offer yet. Bombur is starting to put the pressure on me to lounge about some more, and I have half a mind to take him up on it." Dovora said with a cheeky wink.

"Any time. I mean it!" She asserted, gathering her bowls and making her way back to the shop. Most pregnant dwarrodam would not work at all, but Dovora was a stubborn woman, and quite used to being pregnant. As she'd Been heard to say many a time, 'if I stopped living my life every time I was pregnant, I would be sitting on my arse all my life!'.

Aurelia managed to get through the door with her hands full, and started her way back. She liked to think of this journey as 'running the gauntlet', and she was getting quite adept at it, too. She dodged people in the pathway, hugging the bowls close to her. Sidestep here, back step there, and she had almost reached the shop when she was unexpectedly bumped in to from behind. She lurched forward into a dark-haired dwarf, managing to spill the hot stew all down his back, knocking him over. He yelped with the shock, and she fell with him, unable to catch herself or right her feet under her. The now empty bowls clattered to the ground loudly. The dwarf responsible for knocking them over hurried off, shouting an apology behind him and quickly blending in with the crowd.

"Oh my goodness! I'm so sorry." Aurelia apologised as she pushed herself up to a standing position. She offered him her hand, helping him up. She noticed the dark-haired dwarf's clothes were soaked and steaming as he came to a stand in front of her. He stood just a few inches taller than her, and was stunningly handsome, even with the irritated look on his face. She released his hand, taking a step back to more respectable distance, feeling a twinge in her ankle as she did so. Her injury was minor compared to the current situation at hand. Judging from his clothing, he was of noble birth, and she had basically assaulted him with boiling stew - even if it wasn't her intention.

"Are you okay?" Aurelia asked, hoping his irritation wasn't directed at her, though she wouldn't blame him if it were. She moved to pick up the bowls at his feet, but he beat her to it, gathering them up in his calloused hands.

"I'm fine, my lady. Your apology is not necessary, that oaf should have been paying better attention to where he was going." He glared after the dwarf. "Are you unharmed?" He asked, looking her over whilst pulling at his tunic in discomfort. She took in his wrecked clothing, soaked and covered in chunks of vegetable.

"Oh, no. I'm fine. Please, let me replace your tunic. It's really the least I could do." She said.

"That's not necessary, really. I was actually on my way to the tailor's anyway." He gestured to Aurelia's shop.

"What luck! This is my shop just ahead, I should have something that will fit you, on the house of course." She gestured to the shop, and when he nodded, started leading the way. He followed with a smile.

"If you insist." He said cheekily, quickening his pace to catch up to her. "It was lucky I was headed here anyway. I have an appointment for a fitting." He explained as they approached the shop.

"Ahh, yes. My Adad mentioned an appointment this afternoon. It will be me taking your measurements, I'm afraid. My Adad doesn't possess much of as steady hand anymore. I promise my hands are steadier than my feet were just now."

Kili chuckled at that. "I'm sure they are. So, you're Vlin's daughter? I've heard a lot about your Adad. My Uncle tells me he used to be his tailor before Smaug claimed the mountain?" He questioned politely. She nodded.

"Oh, where are my manners? I'm Aurelia, daughter of Vlin." She introduced herself, with a small curtsy.

"Kili, son of Dis." He replied, with a slight bow of his head. Wonderful. She had just spilled her lunch down the back of a royal Prince! Nephew of King Thorin, no less! She was thankful at his easygoing disposition, or she was sure she would be absolutely mortified at their meeting. Gathering herself, she kept a steady head, hoping she had not outwardly revealed her surprise. She was sure he was sick of the recognition; she would be. They reached the door, and he held it open for her. She glanced around the shop to find her Adad absent. That meddling old man was going to get a talking to later. She could have done with a bit of warning that their customer was royalty.

"It's nice to meet you, Kili, son of Dis." Aurelia replied, entering the empty shop and placing the bowls in the small sink. They were no use now; she would return them to Bombur later. Her stomach growled hungrily, and she sheepishly turned back around to face Kili, embarrassed.

"I'm sorry about your lunch." Kili said sympathetically. "I can go back and get you some more if you'd like?" He offered, gesturing towards the door.

"Nonsense, it can wait. Let's get you some clean clothes first." She tapped her chin in thought, walking over to the chest underneath the window, where they kept a few basic items in the most common sizes. She produced a royal blue tunic that looked like it would be a decent fit, handing it to Kili. He shrugged his shirts off without hesitation, turning to place the sopping clothes in the sink. Aurelia gasped when she noticed his back was bright red.

"Easily offended, my lady?" Kili smirked as he turned back to her, flexing subtly.

"Hardly." She replied, impressed in the steadiness of her voice. "Your back is covered in blisters!" She fussed, coming closer to inspect them. "Damn that bloody stew!"

"It's nothing, I've really had much worse." He assured her, but stood still so she could look. The blisters were thankfully small, but covered half of his back. She took him by the shoulder and parked him on a fitting stool. He smiled bemusedly at her mother henning, but didn't seem to mind the attention one bit.

"This needs attending to. At least let me apply a salve." She said firmly, pulling a small jar out of her workstation drawer. "Oin gave me this when I cut my finger using the fabric shears. It should do the trick nicely." Gathering a dollop of the cream, she gently rubbed it into his back gently, feeling the hard muscles under her fingers. She felt as though she was taking advantage of the Prince by enjoying these small, necessary caresses. She hurried it along, lest he think she was enjoying this as much as she actually was. "All done." She announced, moving to wipe her hands on a fabric cutoff.

"Thank you healer Aurelia. Will I survive?" He jested, shrugging the new tunic on.

"Just barely." She deadpanned. "Okay, let's get these measurements done."

"Sounds like a good plan. Then when we are finished here, I can take you for a meal to make up for your missed lunch." He offered, beaming at her.

"That sounds wonderful."