Imagine requested by AnnikaHevonen ; Imagine a human girl who is trying to teach herself how to braid hair. On the quest she doesn't have a mirror so she can't see what she's doing. Fili and Kili find out and offer to help.

I'm sorry for the long wait!

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She was sitting just outside of camp. Close enough for the dwarves to keep an eye on her but far enough for them to not be sure what she was doing.

That was exactly what she needed.

With an annoyed huff she looked at the 'braid' she held between two fingers. Her brown hair shone in the early morning sun. The braid, however, didn't shine as brightly. Strands of hair were sticking out everywhere and somehow she had turned it into a knot.

This was turning into a hopeless situation. Aurora reached for her comb. Time to get yet another knot out of her hair.

She wondered how many times this had already happened. She had lost count somewhere after braid-try-number-fifty.

How was she ever going to be good at this? There weren't any mirrors that she could use to see her reflection. She was sure that it wouldn't help a lot. Aurora had never been good at figuring out where her hand was supposed to go if she focused on her reflection.

When she thought she was brining her hand forward, it was actually going backward and the other way around. It was confusing.

She put the comb down. Her eyes wandered over to Dori and Nori. Oh how she longed to be able to braid her hair like that. She could easily make an easy, standard braid but theirs were so complicated and beautiful.

Aurora would have asked for help if hair braiding wasn't that important to dwarves. She sighed. All she wanted was to have a beautiful, difficult looking braid in her hair. Was that too much to ask?

"What are you thinking about?" His voice caused her cheeks to heat up. Her eyes widened. She looked up to find him staring at her with an amused smile.

"N-nothing" she stuttered.

Fili looked her over.

"It doesn't look like nothing" Kili said. He appeared from behind his brother. "Why have you been sitting so far away from the company for the last three days?" he asked.

She looked down at her hands. "Well, I like the braids you guys wear" she spoke softly.

Kili smiled down kindly at her. "Thank you very much lass! It takes some time and practice to get your hair to look as nice and flowy like ours." He put a hand behind his head, smiling proudly.

"Aye, it takes a lot of time to learn how to braid" Fili added. He kept his eyes on you. "Is that what you are trying to do here?"

Kili' eyebrows knitted together, he looked at his brother. "What are you talking about? Everyone knows that you can't learn how to do the more difficult braids by practicing on yourself. Especially without a mirror. Right, Aurora?"

Fili didn't say anything. He patiently waited for Aurora to say something.

"Well, I thought-" she started but didn't get a chance to finish.

"Sit down" Fili told his brother, signaling him to sit down on the ground in front of you. He smiled at her. "You can practise on us. We have nothing better to do right now. And like Kili said, you should practice on someone else' hair."

Nothing happened for a few seconds. Kili looked at his brother with wide eyes. "I'm not sure that is proper, Fili. Shouldn't only our consert touch our hair?"

Aurora nodded. "That is what mister Balin explained to me a week ago. That is why I didn't ask any of you to help me."

Fili shrugged nonchalantly. "This is different. We are going to help a friend out. Help her on her quest of hair braiding." He smiled brightly. "That is what princes should do; help their friends out."

Aurora' hart stung at the word 'friends' but she ignored it.

"Are you sure about this, Fili? I don't want to get in trouble with Thorin" Kili asked.

Fili nodded. "Yes, I'm completely sure. Trust me. Just sit down and I will explain how you can make a more intricate braid."

He sat down beside Aurora and Kili, finally giving in, sat down in front of her. Fili guided her hands at first. His skin felt rough against her own but she tried not to focus on it too much.

Giving in a little to his touch was allowed though.

Finally she got the hang of it. Her hands moved guided by his voice. The words went into her ears and helped her hands to find a rhythm. And finally she had created something that could be considert to be a proper, intricate braid.

Fili clapped her on the shoulder. "That looks good. You did a great job!"

She blushed heavily. With a shaky hand she brushed a strand of her own hair out of her face.

"Now you can practice on me" Fili declared. He shoved his brother out of the way to sit down in front of Aurora.

Her body froze. "Wh-what?"

He looked back at her. "Don't worry, you'll do fine. I trust you" he smiled at her. "Besides, Kili is there to help you if you don't know how start or continue." He turned his back to her.

Hesitantly she started with a new braid, now in the golden hair of her secret crush.

Different from his skin, his hair felt incredibly soft in her hands. There were a few knots that she had to untangle before she started. She didn't see, but Fili leaned back against her touch. Kili rolled his eyes behind them.

Sticking out her tongue for complete and utter focus she set to work.

Fingers crossed over one another and silent pleas were made. Kili leaned in a couple of times to give her some pointers.

The braid almost slipped from her fingers near the end but she saved it. Behind her, Kili exhaled a breath he didn't know he was holding. Finally, she was done.

Kili put a hand on her shoulder. "You did a great job."

Fili got up. He looked at his brother as if they were having a secret conversation. Aurora tried to follow but had no idea why they were staring at each other so intensely and so long. She awkwardly waited for them to talk out loud again.

"Now it is time for me to braid your hair" Fili declared.

Once again Aurora couldn't believe her ears. But before she could protest he was already sitting behind her and grabbing a few strands of her hair.

"It will be done in a jiffy" he said.

Kili winked at her. He stood a little further away, removing the braid she had made in his hair. She didn't ask why he did that.

All she could focus on was the touch of Fili. His fingers moving from her hair.

All too soon he was done with his work. "It is done" he whispered into her ear. A shiver ran down her spine.

"We should get back to camp. I think dinner will be ready soon" Kili said after sniffing the air. He left before either you or Fili could comment.

"I think Kili is right. We should probably go back" Fili said. He offered her a hand to help you up.

She took it gladly.

Together they followed Kili back to the camp. When Fili and Aurora entered, the others looked up and suddenly fell silent.

Thorin frowned.

His features softened.

A small smile broke through on his lips.

He stepped forward. Put his hands on Aurora' shoulders.

And put his forehead gently against hers. She stiffened, not sure what was happening.

He pulled back, watching her with a big radiant smile. "I'm so happy that you have expected my nephew' offer of courtship. We shall inform you of your duties later tonight."

And with that he walked away to talk to Balin.

Aurora watched his back with wide eyes. "What did just happen?" She felt an arm encircling her waist.

"Maybe I should have told you about that before putting a courting braid in your hair" Fili spoke softly so that only she could hear. He pecked her on the cheek before following his uncle to talk to him.

Her hand reached for her cheek. A silly grin appeared on her lips.