It was gonna be a snowdog up until Powow used some of his comfy socks...
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Characters: @linasofia x Thorin, @laurfilijames x Fíli, me x Ori
Words: 1.6 k
Warnings: mention of violence and a tad of blood
“Are you alright?”
For a second, I almost believed that Thorin was about to do a headcount as the policemen ushered us one by one out of the big doors, scanning every person suspiciously.
They had not found the person responsible for this act of random vandalism, but they also looked more annoyed than alarmed; they were probably convinced that it had been one of our own students who had tried to ‘liven up’ the party by setting the trash on fire.
Personally, I was also much more irritated and preoccupied with what Thranduil had told me than with someone relishing in burning waste; the overwhelming sensation that I was part of the problem rather than of the solution started to weigh on me.
“We better go home,” Thorin declared, which would have been so much more impressive if his painted-on whiskers did not twitch as he spoke authoritatively; it kind of ruined the air of gravitas and I could not help imagining his tail swishing from side to side impatiently.
“Well, saddle up and off we go,” Lo chuckled and pinched Fí’s ass shamelessly.
“Jia’s man could fly her home?” Tova joked tiredly which got an equally exhausted eyeroll out of me, for the fun and jokes in reference to the costuming were overshadowed by a general sense of dread; something was wrong, and we could all feel it in our bones.
As soon as the door fell into the lock behind us, Tova nodded discreetly toward her room and gave Thorin a long, serious look that let him know that she wanted to talk to us in private.
“Alright, spit it out,” Lo was untying the sexy knot in her shirt, buttoning it up carefully instead and changing the whole vibe of her appearance by that simple modification; suddenly, she looked painfully young, lost in her boyfriend’s button-up.
“Az was never like that…” Tova started, but she interrupted herself, “wait, yes, maybe he was just like that, but I didn’t see it because I just didn’t care enough. We were young and I didn’t worry overmuch about boys at that time.”
“He hates them,” I interjected tonelessly; I had seen enough cold hate and I had suffered enough blazing anger to recognise the signs. That man wanted to wreak havoc and – if he had been the one to set the fires – I was well afraid that this was not the extent of his petty and destructive endeavours.
“He sure does,” Lo nodded, hugging the shirt and its consoling scent closer to her chest, “and how do we feel about that? Isn’t it funny that only this afternoon we’ve joked about the men bringing drama into our lives and – in the end – it might be us who end up being responsible for the worst things to ever happen to them?”
Tova cocked her head; she had been so engulfed in her own share of blame and guilt that she had almost forgotten that it had transpired that Jia’s family might have supported the man who was responsible for Thorin’s people’s fall from grace.
“Sometimes,” I whispered, “I feel like my life is written and played out by some evil puppeteer that hovers above everything, and I am but another puppet dancing on a string.”
How was it possible that we had been so inexorably drawn to these men? Sure, we came from the same region but from different backgrounds; I was almost certain that I had never met or even seen any of them before going to college, and it made no sense that our lives seemed to be entangled with theirs to this point without our knowledge.
“Jia,” Tova’s hands settled slowly but heavily on my shoulders as she forced me to look at her, “do you want out?”
It was such a simple question.
“This is the moment, maybe the last one, where you can walk away without really picking sides,” she went on softly.
“Would you walk away?” I asked back in the same calm tone and then, turning to Lo, I asked her the same question.
“Hell no, I’ll get Fí back what he’s owed…if all else fails, I’ll marry the man without a prenup,” Lo shrugged; she was fearless in more ways than I could count. She did not doubt her own mind or her own strength.
“I cannot, Jia, if I thought for one second that Az would leave Thorin alone if I left, I might, but I know that he won’t,” Tova smiled wistfully, “so I’m in this for better or for worse. Unlike you, I have nothing to lose and everything to gain.”
“Unlike me? Have you seen my father? Have you seen fucking Ori in his silly costume? I will pummel both but not in the same way, if you get my meaning. No, I’m all the way in,” I said resolutely, and we shook on it.
“Time to tell them then,” Tova grinned, knowing what a fuss Thorin would kick up.
“So, gents,” Thorin tore off his fake ears and tossed them on the kitchen counter, “what are we making of this?”
“If that asshole touches one hair on their heads, I will tear him to shreds,” Fíli said with a nonchalant grin that was razor-sharp under the surface layer of good-humoured jest.
“It’s funny you say that, because Jia – yes, Jia of all people – said something very similar,” Ori commented with an uncomfortable rolling of his shoulders; he had seen that the woman he loved more than anyone was even beginning to understand had been dead serious when she had threatened to inflict physical violence upon that pale stranger.
Thorin cocked his head from one side to the other pensively, his feline make-up fitting the movement excessively well, before nodding: “Yes, I believe they would.”
He wouldn’t put it past them anyhow; they had seen their fair share of misery and were at least as possessive as their chosen men.
“I am afraid Tova holds herself responsible for that piece of shit,” he opened up about his main worry.
“She’s not his mother; she couldn’t have aborted him and spared us all the trouble,” Fíli replied carelessly, but he knew what Thorin meant, “she’s not, none of them are.”
He knew that both Jia and Lo struggled with what Thranduil had told Jia; it was a discussion they sooner or later would have to have…and he was not sure what he was going to tell them.
Did he hate the kind of people their families were? Yes sure.
Did he love them – personally – more than the sun and the rain that made the flowers grow? Just as certainly.
“Should we…forfeit the game?” Thorin asked seriously; as a fair captain, he had to give them the chance to walk away from a potentially dangerous situation.
“I have to admit that I find the idea of Lo body-tackling that asshole kind of hot,” Fíli joked, but upon seeing Ori’s panicked face, he mellowed and shrugged: “It’s as you want; I am not afraid of him.”
“I am not afraid of him either…I just wonder what it will do to the girls,” Thorin snorted, hurt in his pride.
“I am afraid of what the girls will do to him,” Ori interjected, only half-jokingly, “Jia is on a crusade, I am afraid.”
“Okay, Ori, tell me how do you do it? What is it about you that makes completely gentle, polite, and well-bred people go rabid if they so much as suspect that someone is threatening you?” Fíli laughed, thinking of Dori and his absurd protectiveness when it came to his youngest brother.
“I am dainty,” Ori replied mockingly, but – deep down inside – he had to agree with Fí when it came to the fact that it was all kinds of touching to know that these A-students, these prim and proper young ladies would brawl if it came down to it to defend them.
“We really should forfeit the game,” Thorin muttered; he knew that it was the best way to prevent and avoid the inexorable fight that would break out as soon as they faced that man on the court, but his pride stung like an open wound when he but thought about tucking his tail between his legs and run.
“We really should,” Fíli agreed but the same pugnacious light shone in his eyes; they were just not the kind of people to turn away from a challenge, especially if they knew that they were in the right and the other party was in the wrong.
Before they could agree on anything though, they were called by the girls and – just as they were about to move towards the still closed door of the bedroom – a loud bang resounded, and fast steps retreated from their front door.
“Fíli, the girls,” Thorin barked, freezing where he stood, cat-costume forgotten.
Fíli ran towards the door and slipped through it as it was opened from the inside.
“Stay,” he commanded, “Thorin and Ori will check what that was.” He picked up the hammer Lo had dropped onto the bed and held it so tightly in his hand that his knuckles turned white with tension.
“No, I want to know,” Tova protested, gasping when Fíli barred her way with one outstretched arm.
“I will keep you safe,” he growled, “I’m sorry but neither one of the other two would ever forgive me if I let you out of here before they made sure that everything is clear.”
“Something could happen to them,” I begged but his eyes were hard and intransigent as he nodded; he was aware of that but that was a risk they were willing to take.
“Fí, keep the women inside while…we take care of this,” came Thorin’s voice – strained and weirdly muted – from just outside the door.
When we were finally allowed to leave the room, the portier was standing in the hallway, right next to a bucket full of bloodied water, holding a black plastic bag with an expression of utter disgust on his face.
