#dwori

His eyes darted around the group of guards, his colleagues, that surrounded him, half-expecting to catch some mocking glances or snide chuckles among them at their Captain's clear discomfort. Instead, he found that even and every one of his hardened warriors was staring fixedly at the Dwarf approaching from behind him, and their expressions held such a strange mixture of befuddlement to shock to apprehension that the last of Dwalin's courage very nearly escaped him. Instead, he grasped it with all his might and took a deep, steadying breath. After all, he had faced Dragon Fire twice now, had fought in more battles than he cared to count, had endured mine collapses and tunnel cave-ins and rockslides. If he could face all of that, he could face this. Right?

'Amrâl,' he rumbled, pushing what he hoped would be a soothing expression out onto his battle-scarred face to hide his own abject terror. But the sight of Ori, red faced and flustered and oh, so very angry, killed all that remained of his forced bravado.

'Dont you Amrâl me, you beast!' Ori snapped, pulling up short and placing one hand on his hip, glaring up into Dwalin's face with steely defiance. With his other hand, he lifted the tomb he had been carrying tucked under one arm, and waved it in Dwalin's face. 'All I want to hear from you right now is an explanation for this ... This ... Barbarity!'

Confusion broke through Dwalin's despair, and he blinked a few times before he was able to draw his gaze from Ori's wrathful face to be able to focus on the book. It was the book he had asked Ori to find for him on weapon-smithing, a book that contained some ancient, long-forgotten forging styles that Dwalin had been keen to revive. Of course, it had taken his clever lad less than a day to find the requested volume, but no matter how hard he tried, he could not marry this information to the fury emanating from his betrothed's slender form. Finally, he regained enough control over his own face to open his mouth, and he was able to rasp out, 'Zaruk durak thrak, I don't know what y'er so upset about, but -'

'Oh, don't you?' Ori snarled, tucking the book under his arm again and taking his other hand from his hip to poke one long, slender finger into Dwalin's broad, fur-covered chest. 'Then allow me to illuminate the situation for you. You ask me to find you a book - a special book, a book long thought lost, a book of almost irredeemable value. And because I love you with all of my being, I spend hours searching for it for you, and when I do miraculously happen across it, I bring it straight to you rather than categorising it properly. And the first thing you do, you incomprehensible ass, is fold over the bloody pages?!'

Someone behind Dwalin sucked in a sharp, disapproving breath. The Captain shot a venomous glance over his shoulder at the traitor, then turned back to Ori, his voice low and syrupy sweet, the way he knew made Ori purr when they were alone together. It felt wrong to be using it in front of his team but, hey, desperate times ...

'Peace, gorgeous boy,' he murmured, holding his own empty hands up between them, flat and open, a silent request for mercy. Ori didn't budge, so Dwalin turned up the smarm, ducking to bring himself closer to his lover as he continued, 'Yer right, I am a stupid, barbaric oaf, who has clearly no' learned to take care of his possessions properly. Jus' tell me what to do, tell me how to fix this, whatever is needed, it's yours.'

Silence fell between them, and the colour gradually left Ori's cheeks as his gaze turned from irate to wary to thoughtful. Dwalin held his breath - hell, the whole corridor felt impossibly still, as though even the stone were awaiting Ori's answer.

'A new copy,' Ori finally huffed, the last of his anger fading away as he locked eyes with the Captain. 'You are to commission one of our best writers to create a new version, and have it bound with hard facings. At your own expense.'

'Done,' Dwalin blurted, his knees going weak at the realisation of just how lightly he was getting off. But his throat tightened when Ori suddenly stepped forward, so that his slender body was sheltered under Dwalin's hulking form, his lovely face upturned. Too late, Dwalin caught the spark of mischief in the lad's eyes, and it was only the knowledge that his men were still standing right behind him that stopped him from falling to his knees, right there at Ori's feet. Instead, he held, only just able to hear Ori's parting words over the thumping of his own pulse in his ears.

'And tonight, you can spend your time fixing all of the tension and headaches that you've caused me today.'

Ori didn’t even wait for a reply. He turned on his heel and strode away, back towards the Library. Dwalin could only watch him go, his eyes riveted on the slightly self righteous sway to the lad's hips. The gentle sounds of armour clanking as someone shifted uncomfortably behind him finally snapped him out of his reverie, and without even turning he growled, 'If I hear a single peep about this anywhere around the mountain, I will know exactly where it came from, and you will all suffer for it. Are we clear?'