#Dwarves of erebor | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

mikathemonster · 2 months ago

Text

𝓜𝓮𝓽𝓪𝓵 𝓘𝓷 𝓜𝔂 𝓗𝓮𝓪𝓭, 𝓐 𝓑𝓪𝓼𝓼𝓲𝓼𝓽 𝓘𝓷 𝓜𝔂 𝓑𝓮𝓭!

part one. part two (you are here).

synopsis. when tasked as the newest social media manager for Middle Earth's biggest metal band, the bassist makes it his mission to personally annoy you <3

pairing. Fíli / Gender-Neutral Reader

content. enemies to lovers, metal band! AU, modern tolkien! AU, slightly fem-aligned reader, possible ooc Thorin

song inspiration. "Kiss Me" by Ed Sheeran, "Dragula" by Rob Zombie, "Hysteria" by Muse

wc. 4652

MINORS DO NOT INTERACT.

Two weeks had passed since that wild rainy night, but with how busy you were, it felt like years. Finally finished in Gondor, you had just finished touring in Rohan and were scheduled to arrive in Moria by tomorrow night. Each performance left you all running ragged as this stretch of the tour allowed little time for freedom; the moment the band was offstage, it was time to move to the next city or town. But the hustle and bustle had begun to slowly wear you all down. Even the media content had slowed down; with how often you were moving, the band seemed to barely have free time for press interviews.

The only silver lining of your constant moving was that Fíli was much less interested in pushing your buttons. Lately, his only interests outside of performing had been sleeping and songwriting. Kíli and Gimli had been going out much less, too. Ori seemed less chipper than his usual self. You could even feel yourself becoming more easily irritated as the days dwindled by.

Needless to say, you were all feeling burnt out at the half-way point in the tour.

And that wasn’t all. The storm in Gondor had messed up your travel schedules so badly that you were now sleeping on the bus with the band and Thorin. It wasn’t the worst thing that could’ve happened, but five new roommates for the last five days was definitely giving you more insight on the things you didn’t already know about your friends, both good and bad.

By the first night, you quickly learned that Gimli snored as if he wished to awaken a dragon. You were seriously considering buying headphones to wear at night just to deal with the noise. You also learned that Ori handled his nighttime skincare very seriously. On the other hand, Kíli did not treat his skin with the same regard. And frankly, it was appalling.

“You mean absolutely no moisturizer?” You had asked incredulously. It’s not as if you had expected him to have a crazy skincare routine, but moisturizer was integral! “Like, none at all?”

“Trust me, I’ve already tried to talk some sense into him about it,” Ori sighed. “There’s no use.”

“I don’t like how it feels!” Kíli groaned. “We’ve been over this.”

“Honestly, your skin must feel so dry without it,” you mused. “And all that sweating on stage…”

“I shower too, you know!” He sunk into his bunk bed, running a hand through his hair. Ever the drama queen. “Besides, my skin is as smooth as ever. It’s not dry and all I need to do is wash my face. Sometimes I even put sunscreen on.”

“Sunscreen at night does nothing for you,” Fíli chimed in.

“Thank you!” Ori exclaimed. “And here I’ve been getting treated like I’m crazy.”

“Crazy about things like moisturizer,” Kíli teased.

“And let him be!” You laughed, coming to Ori’s defense. “Besides, isn’t sunscreen bad for you at night?”

“I heard it makes you break out,” Fíli added. Ori nodded in agreement.

“I can’t imagine being alright with sunscreen but refusing something as basic as moisturizer. And what’s crazier is that you don’t even use it.” You were still in shock from this revelation. “I mean, your skin looks good despite–”

“And what’s even crazier is how loud you lot are!” Gimli scolded, opening his bed’s curtain to glare at you all, a sleeping mask strapped to his forehead. “Can a dwarf get any sleep on this bus?”

“Apologies, sleeping beauty,” Fíli joked, relaxing into his own bed. “Looks like the party’s over.”

“Sounds like he could use some moisturizer,” Kíli chimed in.

Ori rolled his eyes. “Kíli, that doesn’t even make sense.”

Conversations like these were becoming much more common between you. It gave you a warm feeling in your chest to feel so included in the group. At this point, you even felt like family. Even your rather cold boss had grown a bit warmer towards you, albeit with much smaller gestures. You could’ve swore you’d seen him smile at one of your jokes once!

Another thing you had learned, aside from Kíli’s deplorable skincare routine, was that Fíli was quite the insomniac. You had woken up a handful of times in the middle of the night to find him sitting on the couch, watching a movie or scrolling on his phone while listening to music. Tonight was one of those such nights.

The route to Moria was full of rough bumps, as the mountain roads were in a desperate need for repaving. You woke up from the turbulence, bleary-eyed as you looked at the time on your phone. It was nearly five in the morning; it would soon be day. You frowned, letting out a defeated groan as you fixed the curtains bordering your bed, hoping you would be able to go back to sleep before the sun rose. Your head returned to your beloved pillow, but the road ahead had other ideas. Minutes passed and each bump or hole in the road only seemed to wake you up more and more until you were quite grumpy and equally parched.

Finally accepting defeat, you crawled out of bed to head for the kitchen. Maybe some water was just what your body needed. Some nice cold water would surely help you go back to sleep. Right?

You tried to keep yourself from tripping in the dimly lit bus, still not used to roaming around whenever the bus was moving. Your tired eyes seemed glued to the floor as you put your entire mental power into not falling on your ass.

“Careful, there,” you heard a soft voice say. You looked up to find Fíli sprawled out on the couch, cushions around him with his phone in hand.

“You should be sleeping, you’ve got a performance tomorrow night,” you said, finally managing to make it to the kitchen.

You opened the fridge, holding on with a death grip as you grabbed yourself a bottle of crisp, cool water.

“You mean tonight? It’s already tomorrow.” He chuckled. “And I could say the same about you.”

“This whole bus is shaking too much,” you said in between sips. “I couldn’t go back to sleep.”

“Ah, I see.” He nodded. He sat up, clearing the couch that was covered in pillows and blankets before patting it down twice with his hand. “Well, feel free if you need company.”

There was tension in the air still lingering between you after his behavior at the hotel. A part of you thought to keep it there, not necessarily eager to bring it up again, even if it was counterproductive to your job. But for some reason, be it sleep deprivation or the desperate rocking of the bus, you found yourself joining him on the couch.

“Trying to take away my ammo?” You joked as you approached him, gesturing to all the pillows he was now hoarding away from you.

“I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again,” he chuckled. “You’ve got one hell of a throw.”

You sat down, snatching one of the plush cushions from him anyways. You took another drink of your water, the cool temperature making you wish you were back in bed, covered in blankets.

“What are you up to this late?” You peered over to see what was on his phone, but he quickly turned its screen away from you.

“Nosy, aren’t we?” He raised a brow.

“Secretive, aren’t we?” You threw back.

“Touché,” he smiled. “But still, it’s not for anyone else’s eyes yet.”

You sighed. “So I can’t know what you’re doing every night when you’re up so late?”

“Y/N, if you think of me late at night, there’s easier ways to admit that,” Fíli smirked, sitting up.

A beat passed between you after he spoke; you could tell he felt awkward after saying that, his wit beating his rational judgement.

“As if.” You scoffed, and you hoped it was enough to let him know that you weren’t going to take it against him. “Seriously, what is it?”

“A song I’m working on,” he answered, opening his phone back up but closing out the app he was hiding from you. “It’s just got a melody right now; I’ve been working on the lyrics. But it’s not ready yet.”

You took another sip of your water, now feeling sleep slowly come back to you as you yawned.

“I haven’t even shown the boys.” He admitted quietly.

“Not even Ori?” You asked.

Fíli nodded, setting his phone down after checking the time. “Not even him. It’s a bit… personal.”

You hummed in acknowledgement, not wanting to press any more. He didn’t seem ready to share and you knew better than to let your curiosity get the better of you.

“It’s something a lot different than what we normally do.” He added quietly.

“Don’t tell me that you’re suddenly writing ska music,” you joked, attempting to lighten the air.

“No, no, of course not,” he laughed. “Not that there’s anything wrong with ska.”

“Eh, I’m not the biggest fan,” you shrugged your shoulders.

Fíli raised an eyebrow. “Yeah? What’s wrong with ska?”

“It’s just not my thing,” you smiled and shrugged.

“Then what music do you like?” He turned to face you more directly, setting his phone down. “Other than ours, of course.”

“Bold of you to assume I like your music,” you teased, bringing the water to your lips once more.

He brought a hand to his chest, feigning hurt. “You wound me. I would hope you like it considering where you are right now.”

He gestured to the tour bus with a fake shocked expression and you had to stop yourself from laughing too loudly.

“I like it enough.”

“Then what do you listen to when you’re not listening to us all day?”

You drew in a breath, thinking. “Honestly? I don’t have time to listen to much anymore, I guess. Between your concerts and my editing, I’m kind of only ever listening to you guys.”

You didn’t catch it, but a slight frown fell on Fíli’s features.

“But I love power ballads,” you answered, a smile on your face. “I grew up listening to them a lot as a kid.”

Fíli returned your smile. “That’s cute.”

A lull of silence brushed over you two, smiling to yourselves in the dark. You could feel yourself drifting to sleep, the bumps in the road becoming more hypnotizing than annoying now.

“What did you do before this?” Fíli asked. “You know, before my uncle hired you.”

“Hm?” You looked at him, waking up a little. “Oh, I was an intern for my professor’s company. He had me manage their website and Facebook while I was there.”

“Really? That seems wildly different than what you’re doing here,” he said.

“It was,” you agreed. “But it got me this job, so I can’t complain too much. It was nice to start out with something familiar after college.”

“This is familiar?”

“A little,” you nodded. “I’m still managing your band’s Facebook, you know. But now I do a lot more. A lot more.”

You emphasised the last part, looking away for a moment as you dwelled in your own reverie. It was hard to believe that you were here at all. Your portfolio spoke for itself, along with your work ethic, but you had never thought you’d actually be here today.

“Do you miss it?”

“You’re asking a lot of questions,” you said, coming back to reality as you looked over to the blond bassist. “Sounds like you’re the nosy one now.”

Fíli chuckled softly, shaking his head. “I just feel like I don’t know you as well as the others.”

“Maybe because you’re never around? It seems like you always run off whenever you have free time.” You raised a brow. “I thought I made that clear at the pool the other day.”

“You’re right,” he nodded, silent for a moment.

You frowned, now worried that you shouldn’t have mentioned the pool again. The incident.

“I wanted to apologize for my behavior that day.”

“You don’t need to do that,” you shook your head. “It’s behind us, even you said so.”

But you felt a tinge of relief at hearing him say it out loud.

“I know,” he drew in a sigh, now turning his gaze to the window. “But I think about it here and there and I feel bad for misreading the situation. It doesn’t usually happen to me.”

You laughed to yourself. “So I wounded your ego; is that what you’re saying?”

“What? Not at all,” he said, shaking his head as he looked at you again. “I just feel like I crossed a line back then and I want to assure you that I don’t intend to do so again.”

You fell silent, taking in his words as the earnest gleam in his eyes seemed to sway you. He was being genuine; it wasn’t something you weren’t used to seeing from him.

You turned away now, looking out the window to see the black sky just beginning to dye itself blue. The sun would be rising soon.

“Thank you,” you said, a yawn briefly interrupting you. “I really appreciate that.”

Fíli picked his phone back up, raising his eyebrows at the dimly lit screen. “It’s already past five. Where did the time go?”

“I think it’s time to pause your songwriting and get some sleep,” another yawn escaped you. “And that definitely includes me.”

Suddenly the couch felt lighter, Fíli’s weight leaving it as he stood up and wrapped a blanket around your shoulders.

“Come on, then let’s get you back in there,” he said as he took your drink out of your hands and helped you up. “Can’t have our media manager on an empty battery, now can we?”

You groaned at the thought, letting him pull you off of the couch. “Thorin would kill me.”

Fíli couldn’t help his laugh. “My uncle? If anything, he’d kill me for keeping you up. My brother and I have been pushing his buttons since we were born.”

“You always push my buttons, you know,” you chuckled softly.

“Yeah, that’s fair,” he frowned.

“Maybe that’s because my buttons are easy to push,” you offered.

He smiled, helping you back to your bed. “Maybe I like pushing your buttons.”

You clambered into your bed, eagerly welcomed back by your fluffy blanket and pillow. You closed your eyes, mumbling out one last “Good night, Fíli.”

And if your eyes hadn’t been closed, you would’ve seen the lingering smile Fíli had on his face as he had said good-night back.

Finally rested and off of the bus, you were more than happy to have finally made it to Moria. Moria served as the beginning of the end of the tour. You were all staying for two weeks to put on eight shows, lodging provided by Thorin’s long time friend, Balin. After this, you would all be back on the road until you had reached Hobbiton for the final three performances.

You were more than grateful to be back in hotels with fresh linens, a comfort you had almost forgotten while on the tour bus. But the boys were arguably more excited than you, as a bunch of their friends lived in the city. You had overheard their plans to throw a huge party at one of the hotel’s many ballrooms. Ori had family here in the Mines of Moria who couldn’t seem to stop gushing over him whenever he brought them over to meet his band mates. Kíli and Fíli had already invited all of their local friends to come to tonight’s show and afterparty. Even Gimli had chimed in to help. Being in a familiar city seemed to be doing numbers for the group and you were more than happy to have a break from being their roommate.

“We can invite my cousins! Dori would love the wine,” Ori shouted.

“Yes! And we should get kegs so me and Nori can do our keg stand tricks!” Kíli added.

“Make that three, I think my father and uncle will be coming in, too,” Gimli chimed in.

“Easy, easy! We still have to get all the supplies before we start inviting everyone all willy-nilly,” Balin spoke, laughing at the youngsters. He was an older dwarf, even older than Thorin, with a cheeky glint in his eye that you appreciated.

You smiled at his comment, enjoying the mood around you as everyone’s spirits felt so much lighter in a familiar city. You had seen how beat the boys were after their last few performances, so the fact that they were up to planning and holding a huge party after their opening night here made you relieved to see they were having fun again.

“I’ll handle the invitations to our friends and family,” Thorin said. “Balin can help with the decorations here while you four get ready for your performance tonight.”

“Ooh, we should make it have a theme! I love themed parties!” Ori grinned.

“A theme?” Gimlí grunted. “I don’t want to bother with picking an outfit.”

“That’s true,” Kíli agreed. “We’re already going to be tired from the show…”

“Come on,” Fíli finally spoke up, getting off of his phone to pay attention. “A theme would be fun! What did you have in mind?”

Ori waved his hands about excitedly while practically jumping in his seat. “A metal masquerade!”

“A metal masquerade?” You raised a brow. “How does that work?”

“Just like a regular masquerade, but obviously metal. You know, lots of black of course. Our fans would love it too, I’m sure!” Ori explained.

You sat back, opening your phone to write down some notes. “We could make it a theme for the concert too, then. That way the fans could join in.”

“Aye, like we did in Gondor for Durin’s Day?” Gimli asked.

“Exactly!” Ori answered.

“That’s not half bad,” Kíli smirked. “I’m sure my fans would love to see how nice I clean up.”

“I might do some makeup,” Ori thought out loud. “Ooh! I could make my mask just made of makeup instead of a real one!”

“Now that sounds like a plan,” Fíli put his hand to Ori’s shoulder. “The ladies go crazy for the makeup, trust me.”

“Eyeliner is a lady killer!” Kíli chimed in, now on the other side of Ori. “I saw it on TikTok.”

“Y/N, do you think you could make that work in the next hour?” Thorin looked at you, gesturing to your phone. “I worry it’s too soon to tack on a theme for the concert…”

“Don’t worry!” Ori grinned. “Our fans are dedicated enough!”

You stood up, putting your phone away so you could make a beeline for your hotel room. “If I start right now, then I can get it up and posted in about an hour or two?”

“Then off you go!” Balin shooed you away with a laugh. “It’s going to be quite a busy night!”

“I can’t wait!” Ori cheered.

And busy the night was, indeed! And already quite the success. After retiring to your room to post about the dress code, Thorin had come over to introduce you to Threl, who would be your assistant until your final show in the Shire.

“He’s more than accomplished, and I trust he won’t disappoint.” Thorin had praised. “He’ll also be handling most of your videography while you’re here, so you can give more attention to everything else. I can’t have my band’s social media manager running out on me now that we’re at our most busy.”

Threl was around the same age as Kíli and Fíli, with deep almond skin and dark reddish-brown hair, which was tied up in a bun to keep out of his face. He held a hand towards you, a grin on his face.

“I’m here for whatever you may need,” he said, his voice like honey. “Thorin’s kept me up to speed.”

You smiled and shook his hand, excited to get to work with him. “Well, hopefully that list isn’t too long.”

Luckily, you had managed to get the outfit theme announcement out in time and thousands of fans arrived with masks on and gorgeous outfits put together. Honestly, you were a little jealous of some of their closets! It also made for great video content for Threl to capture, who was traveling across the stage whenever he needed a new angle.

He was just as capable as Thorin had advertised him as. Right from the start, Threl had no issue taking your directions as you showed him your past posts for inspiration. He had already seen half of them, too, making sure to study up on what you were expecting before even meeting you. He was skilled with his camera and even quicker than you were, managing to keep out of the way while snagging some of the best angles you’d seen yet! And with him out there doing half of the work, you now had a lot more time on your hands. Truly, you wished you had gotten an assistant sooner with how easy this was making your job!

You were in awe at how put together everything was. The concert was arguably one of their best; they were performing to a sold out crowd, with energy and control you’d never seen from them at previous performances. A part of you wondered if the party helped to fuel as incentive, but in your heart, you knew the key was being in such a familiar city that they could also call home. They were at their best when surrounded by the people and places they loved; you had seen it in Mirkwood from Kíli and Gimli. But now, in the great dwarven mining town of Moria, all four of the band were truly alive. Even Thorin Oakenshield, a dwarf you had come to recognize as curt, to-the-point and a little grumpy for your tastes, was grinning ear to ear with his friends backstage.

And for a moment, you could tell where Fíli got his smile from.

The music was pounding as you walked further backstage to the green room, wanting to catch up on some editing now that you finally had the chance. You could hear the crowd screaming and the pyrotechnics being triggered before you shut the door, taking a seat in an armchair as you readied your laptop. A smile spread on your face at the familiar sound of the adoring audience.

This was definitely the highlight of your career so far.

Hearing the audience roar over Ori’s vocals was enough to make you beam with pride and excitement. You still couldn’t believe you were here sometimes. Fresh out of college and serving as the media manager for one of Middle Earth’s most famous metal bands? If you had been told this a year ago, you would have laughed. But it was becoming so surreal, so familiar now, that it was beginning to feel like home.

There was still about two hours left of the concert when Thorin walked in, coming to take a water bottle from the stash in the corner. He looked over at you, grabbing a second water bottle that he placed on the coffee table as he took a seat next to you.

“How is everything going?” He asked, prompting you to look up at him as he nodded towards your laptop.

“Really well,” you acknowledged with a smile. “It really helps having Threl out there while I can work on this.”

“I’m glad to hear that,” he nodded. “I’m sorry we weren’t able to accommodate you with him earlier in the tour.”

“It’s fine, I managed,” you wave him off. “I’m just glad he’s here now.”

“You did much more than manage, I can assure you,” he shook his head. “The fans and outreach speak for themselves.”

“Honestly, they do half of my job for me,” you joked. “All I do is give them fan-cams.”

“You’ve been doing an impeccable job,” he said, his deep voice humming with approval. “You should know that.”

You fell silent, not used to such outward praise from your boss. You smiled at him, closing your laptop and taking a sip from the water he had fetched for you.

“Thank you, that really means a lot, Thorin.”

Thorin Oakenshield, a dwarf you had come to recognize as your no-nonsense boss, was never the typical employer or band manager you had expected. He had a slight temper, and sometimes he wasn’t great at explaining what he needed from people, but he cared deeply. About the band, about its members, and even about you. He knew when to reprimand his nephews or correct the band’s schedule, and he was always very thoughtful about it.

Which meant that if he was sitting here, telling you just how good you were doing at your job, then he meant every word of it.

“In the past, we haven’t had many in your position who were able to keep up with the workload.” He took a sip of his water. “But you’ve truly outshone them.”

You grinned, basking in the praise. “I do my best.”

And it was true. After all, the band’s social media was your biggest portfolio credit yet. With over five hundred thousand followers, to boot.

“And I can see that in your work,” Thorin agreed, his voice softening. “So when this is over, I want us to have a discussion about hiring you full time, regardless of tours.”

You immediately sat up straighter, almost dropping your laptop in shock. “Really?”

“You’ve already proven yourself more than enough,” he nodded. “And I see the way the boys are around you. Even from just doing your job, you help them work better in theirs. That’s the kind of people we need in this industry.”

He stood up, brushing off his pants. “Now isn’t the time or place, but I suggest you consider it as an option before the tour ends. I know that may not be enough time, with only a month left, but we can talk more once we’re back in Erebor.”

You nodded, trying your best to find the words while containing your excitement. “Yes! Yes, of course. I look forward to it, sir.”

And with another nod, Thorin took his water bottle and headed for the door. But before leaving, he turned back to you.

“Will you be at the afterparty?” He asked, his voice a bit louder now. It was probably harder to hear near the door.

You checked your phone, looking at the time. “I haven’t decided yet. There’s still a lot to post before tonight’s over. And I have no clue how much footage Threl has for me to go through.”

Thorin hummed in acknowledgement, looking down at the ground for a moment before returning your gaze. He held up his phone, checking something.

“I’ll send Threl back here with the footage he’s got, then. Use that for tonight’s show. After that, I encourage you to take the night off and join us at the ballroom.” Thorin cleared his throat. “Be sure to let Threl know too; he’s more than welcome.”

“Of course, sir.” You nodded, opening your laptop back up before pausing. “Wait, I don’t think I have anything to wear on theme…”

“I can send Balin to take care of that,” he reassured, now typing something on his phone before giving his attention back to you. “For now, just focus on your work.”

“Yes, sir. Thank you,” you smiled at him, trying your best to hold back your excitement until he left.

Finally the door shut, and you couldn’t contain it anymore, letting out a mixture of a scream and a laugh as Thorin’s words hovered in your mind. One that, unbeknownst to you, Thorin could hear even through the door.

31 notes · View notes

mikathemonster · 2 months ago

Text

𝓜𝓮𝓽𝓪𝓵 𝓘𝓷 𝓜𝔂 𝓗𝓮𝓪𝓭, 𝓐 𝓑𝓪𝓼𝓼𝓲𝓼𝓽 𝓘𝓷 𝓜𝔂 𝓑𝓮𝓭!

THIS IS PART ONE OF AN ONGOING SERIES.

synopsis. when tasked as the newest social media manager for Middle Earth's biggest metal band, the bassist makes it his mission to personally piss you off <3

pairing. Fíli / Gender-Neutral Reader

content. enemies to lovers, metal band! AU, modern tolkien! AU, slightly fem-aligned reader, possible ooc Thorin

song inspiration. "Untouched" by the Veronicas, "I Don't Wanna Be Me" by Type O Negative, "Again" by Flyleaf

wc. 5791

MINORS DO NOT INTERACT.

Most people would be delighted to have a job this huge just two years out of college. Hell, your previous classmates would probably kill to be in your position. But being the social media manager of one of Middle-Earth’s most famous metal bands wasn’t the dream you originally thought it would be. Sure, Durin’s Doom was known for the craziest fan base that’s kept them popular for the last few years they’ve been active, but everyone knew that their social media advertising was severely lacking compared to their rivals. When they did manage to post videos of their concerts, they would quickly go viral – known for their flashy pyrotechnics and rather attractive band members. This in turn would attract new fans of various demographics, but none of their previous social media managers would last long enough to ride that wave.

This is where you came in. On the cusp of their two-year anniversary from their first sold-out show, their manager hired you – fresh out of college, bright-eyed and eager to prove yourself – to run a full blown marketing campaign for Durin's Doom.

Within your first few months with the band, Thorin Oakenshield, the band’s manager, had told you right off the bat that you would be going on their Mithril Memoirs tour for the next five months. Named after their newest album, it was their biggest tour yet: a total of 62 shows starting in Erebor and stretching from Gondor to Moria and ending with some smaller sets in the Shire. Featuring music from their new album as well as some of their cult classics, each concert was easily almost three hours long – many were already sold out.

“We need to make their content more personal,” he had explained while smoothing back his long black hair. You could see faint streaks of silver in it, probably from age as well as stress.

“Now, you’re all at the height of your career,” Thorin added. “It’s the first time they’re going on a tour of this size.”

“The shorter videos seem to do well online, that’s enough for me,” Kíli chimed in, a grin on his scruffy face as he relaxed into the futon in Thorin’s office. His short brown hair was pulled back away from his face, other than his bangs.

He was the lead guitarist of the band and one of Thorin’s nephews. He was fun to hang around, but you didn’t always care for how carefree he could be.

“Well, I’m not just here for content like that,” you sighed. “There’s more to managing a brand than making TikToks and t-shirts.” As if you had gone through four years of study just to make Instagram Reels; you would sooner turn in your degree.

“I never understood that app anyways,” Gimli grumbled. The drummer was just the youngest of the band and yet you swore sometimes that he had the soul of your cynical grandfather; he even had the long beard to match. “I always keep swiping and pushing unnecessary buttons.”

“Perhaps more fan cams would help?” Ori suggested, completely negating the fact that you had tried to steer them off of video content. He was the second youngest, with short brown hair and a short beard to match. He was also the vocalist of the band. “The fans always love using them for their edits online.”

“I’ve seen those!” Kíli beamed. “They can’t get enough of us! Ori, did you see the one where they were shipping Gimli and–”

“Enough,” Thorin’s voice boomed, shutting them down. “All of you. We’re trying something new. Thanks to all of the interviews you’ve all elected to skip out on as of late, your fans and even investors feel disconnected with you.”

“I thought they liked our mysteriousness,” Kíli grumbled.

His uncle shot him a glare, which seemed to shut him up for now. “Those touch-starved fans of yours who make edits of you late in the night won’t be satiated with just a young face, Kíli.”

Kíli’s expression sank. You held back a smile that tugged at the corners of your lips.

“Do you have something to add, Y/N?” Fíli finally spoke, much to your chagrin. The blonde bassist and backup singer loved trying to get on your nerves. You had learned quickly to not be fooled by his charming braided beard or charismatic smile. Unlike his brother, he was more tightly wound. But that didn’t mean he wasn’t just as mischievous.

Your smile dropped. “Only that I agree, is all. Thorin has a point.”

Thorin sighed. “All of you, quiet. Y/N, I have put you in charge of the new campaign I’ve begun setting in motion.”

The plan in question? Video content, of course. Your worst enemy.

Surely, there was nothing wrong with video content as a concept. Editing footage could be quite fun if you had the time on your hands. But the time needed to complete such a task was usually double your usual output, meaning you were usually isolated for hours just to get the job done.

In truth, your real passion was in the networking of your job. Outreach coordination with new sponsors to create social media campaigns had always been your strongest suit. You loved the conversation and mingling; being able to talk about what you were doing was what made it exciting. It was what kept you motivated. And it didn’t stop at just sponsors. You loved to read the comments people would leave on a post you had spent so much time on. It was what made your job so special.

According to Thorin, your job while traveling with the band was to make a documentary-style post with the members every week of their tour. Ideally, he wanted you to capture content showing the journey of the band as a means of telling their story to their fans. Through this, their fans could see exclusive behind-the-scenes content and build an even better relationship to their favorite heavy metal dwarves. And not to mention the fact that it would totally boost ticket sales.

Besides, it wasn’t as if you were totally alone on the project. Once in Moria, you’d be having an assistant help you out, a dwarf by the name of Threl. You were relieved to hear you’d have some help, but you were still worried you wouldn’t be able to handle this big of a project on your own.

It wasn’t a lack of confidence; you knew your work ethic was nothing to scoff about. You were determined and very eager to show your worth. But this was nothing compared to your past jobs, which were much smaller than a five month tour with Erebor’s most famous metal band.

And oh, what a nightmare it was!

The first month had actually been fairly easy. At first, it wasn’t so hard; weekly content was always a better deadline than daily content. Ori was always willing to help film as the vocalist, even going so far as to tease some unreleased music in some of the videos. Every now and then, you’d even livestream from inside the tour bus, showcasing the layout or sitting on the couch while eating dinner. It wasn’t ideal, but it was the easiest way to wrangle Kíli and Gimli for content. They were always trying to sneak off, getting into all sorts of trouble. You hadn’t seen either of them for a whole weekend while the tour stretched through Mirkwood; it drove you insane. But you were lucky to be assured by Ori, who told you that both of their elven partners lived there.

While it was still irksome for them to shirk their responsibilities, a part of you had been relieved to hear their reasons. Besides, you had some solace seeing that Thorin wasn’t entirely pissed off at their absence.

“They do this every time we travel here,” Ori explained. “Long distance love is like that.”

You smiled, pausing from editing the tour footage. “It must be lovely to pass through for them, then. Spending time doing romantic things for the ones they love.”

“It is, Kíli always makes Tauriel a gift basket before he sees her here,” Ori smiled softly. “It’s so romantic, though I know she’s just excited to see him at all. She plans out the entire day for them when he’s in town, doing all sorts of fun activities.”

“Among other things,” Fíli interjected with a smirk.

Ori frowned. “Come on, you don’t need to tell any secrets here–”

“Oh, I can certainly tell you what they’re doing,” Fíli retorted. “It’s no secret, that’s for certain.”

“Fíli, seriously.” Ori rolled his eyes.

“I’m just saying, they don’t seem eager to be back in these bus beds,” Fíli couldn’t keep the grin off of his face.

“We get it,” you intervened, an unamused stare directed towards the bassist. “You guys have sex. Seriously guys, we’re not kids here. And I don’t want to hear about your… escapades.”

“They’re no escapades of mine!” Ori cried as he pointed a finger at his bandmate, appalled that you would even rope them in together. “He’s the one always bringing someone over in the wee hours of the night!”

“Well, some secrets don’t need to be aired out, do they?” Fíli returned, clearly caught off guard.

“Easy for you to say, huh?” You raised a brow, scoffing. “Sitting there as if you weren’t about to air out your brother’s laundry.”

“That’s the brother tax!” Fíli raised both arms in a shocked surrender. “He does it to me all the time, telling everyone my secrets!”

“What secret? I can hear you plain as day!” Ori replied.

“Well excuse me for not putting on a noise machine! Didn’t realize you didn’t own any earbuds.”

“Seriously, who even wants to do that in these bus beds? They can barely fit us!”

“Bold of you to assume that we use the beds.”

“Alright, that’s enough!” You stood up, picking up your laptop with you. Suddenly the tour bus’s couch didn’t seem as comfortable as it had just been. You would just have to edit the footage elsewhere.

“Pack it up, guys. Y/N said the party’s over.” Fíli joked, much to Ori’s dismay.

You made your way to the passenger seat of the bus, eager to leave the boys behind. At least you hadn’t slept in the tour bus with them; you could still be thankful for the hotels. All you had to do was keep making videos and not wonder about what happens on the bus after you’re done filming.

Thankfully, you were already seeing results. Thousands of fans would join the livestreams and even more loved the weekly videos. Thorin was pleased with your work; you were already proving yourself rather quickly. Besides, even if the band members were a little too exuberant for you, it didn’t stop you from enjoying the free concerts from backstage. It made you feel like a kid again to hear the loud music and see the flashy pyrotechnics, only this time you had the grown-up job to go along with it.

By the second month, even the band members were starting to enjoy the process a little more. Kíli adored the attention he got when he brought the camera on stage to film and his fans loved being included even more. Sometimes you could never find your camera because Ori and him had stolen it to go film some sort of lunch mukbang in between concerts. Even Gimli had started pitching in, albeit by only doing Q&A videos, claiming that he couldn’t stand the other stuff. Noticing how much they had taken to the videos, Thorin had even purchased another camera specifically for the band to use. You were more than grateful for the eager help.

But conversations like the previous were the reason you were living a partial nightmare lately. You had gotten to know the band members and their odd quirks and you always knew how to deal with them. You’d even feel inclined to call them your friends. But for some reason, the bassist knew how to push every single button you had. With no hesitation.

Fíli was always a wild card. Both of Thorin’s nephews were wild and impulsive, but you could usually predict whatever Kíli was scheming; you knew his tells by now. Plus, he usually worked in pairs, so it was always easier to track him down. His brother on the other hand? If he wasn’t sneaking in some pretty groupie into the tour bus late at night, then he was out partying with the band or locked away song-writing. And while it was abysmal, you were fine with the routine, so long as you were out of it. But lately, he wanted to entertain a new objective: getting under your skin in any way he could.

You had already thought him annoying in these first two months of tour; with his witty remarks and sarcastic drawl, he seemed like every other egotistical musician you had met. And sure, when he and his brother teamed up, the pranks were funny; even you could admit that. But as the third month began, he had decided it was his personal mission to drive you insane. And you were starting to lose it.

There you were, in a hotel Thorin had booked at the last minute due to the bus breaking down. Hit by torrential rain storms while touring through Gondor, the band had to cancel two of their three tour dates there just for the sake of safety. To say Thorin was stressed was an understatement; along with issuing refunds for the lost concerts, service also had to be done to the bus, and there was no telling how long that would take. Thus, Thorin had gotten everyone three hotel rooms, all right next to each other. One for the band, one for yourself and one for Thorin. You hoped that the soft bed would help a little of his stress, but there was no telling for the grumpy older dwarf.

But despite having to cancel two of their concerts, the morale of the band was better than ever. So used to sleeping in the bunk beds of the bus, this hotel was like a paradise to them. Sure, they were devastated that they wouldn’t be able to perform, especially Kíli and Ori. But like kids in a candy store, the young dwarves wasted no time in enjoying their break from the cramped bus. Kíli and Gimli had already started having drinking competitions in the hotel bar. Ori was making use of their expansive spa services. And as per usual, Fíli was nowhere to be seen.

But none of that mattered to you now, because you were too busy making full use of the indoor pool.

You sunk your body into the warm waters, glad that you had packed a bathing suit at all. You were worried it had been for nothing, since your past hotels hadn’t had anything more than a small gym. But this? This was perfect. A sigh escaped your lips, even more grateful that the pool was heated. There was nothing more relaxing than a midnight swim, and while it was still early in the night, you had every intention of staying as long as you were allowed.

Your body felt light as air as you floated on your back, letting yourself drift wherever the water chose to take you. It was a large pool, and empty too, so you were eager to make use of the space. You closed your eyes, steadying your breathing so you’d stay afloat, half tempted to grab a lounge float and take a long-needed nap in the waters. Even without a float, you could feel yourself drifting away in an almost meditative space. It was bliss. The water hugged you like a warm hug and you felt light as ever. You couldn’t remember the last time you felt this light or this relaxed. You made a mental note to recommend this to Thorin; maybe this would help him to relax from his own stress.

In this tranquil moment of yours, nothing mattered. Not the band. Not your job. And certainly not your–

“You drowning over there, love?”

Immediately your head shot up to see who had interrupted your pool-induced peace, but the sudden motion only made you lose your perfect floating posture. Arms flailed in the water and cheeks felt hot from embarrassment, as you steadied yourself back to standing upright. You must have looked like a dying fish.

You looked over at the intruder, embarrassment now turning to annoyance as you rolled your eyes and loudly groaned. Lo and behold, a whopping twenty feet away at the other edge of the pool was none other than Fíli, the famed bassist of Durin’s Doom. You didn’t even care about him seeing your obvious annoyance.

Constant teasing and mockery was his usual modus operandi, which meant that tranquil state you had been in was far, far away now.

“You probably wish I was,” you retorted. “I was enjoying myself, you know.”

“And I was enjoying the view,” he responded just as quickly. Sharp-witted, he was.

“I could file that as harassment, you know.” You scoffed.

You shrank into the water, eyeing up his cargo shorts and loose fitting tank top. “Nice swimsuit.”

“Well I didn’t exactly pack for a vacation, now did I?” He sat down at the edge, bringing his feet into the water now.

“I suppose not,” you said, hands running through your hair to get it out of your face. It seemed you were stuck with sharing the water with him. “Enjoying the pool?”

“I should be asking you that.” His eyes seemed to burn into you. “By the way, lovely swimsuit.”

You scoffed. “Very original.”

“What? I mean it.” He grinned. “What’s wrong with a little harmless flirting?”

You stood there, stunned. For a second you wondered if your ears had gotten waterlogged. You even felt your eye twitch.

“It just seems a little out of place for you–”

“Oh come on,” he waved, dismissing your thought. “It comes naturally when I see someone as stunning as yourself.”

Okay, now you were certainly confused.

“Is this another strategy of yours to annoy me?” You asked. “Because I’m not just some fan, here. I know your antics by now.”

“Depends on if it’s working or not,” he said. “What a joy it is to be known.”

You rolled your eyes. Of course he was just being annoying. Honestly, it felt a little relieving to know he didn’t mean it. He was your boss’s nephew and you were not willing to risk this job when you had put so much work into it already.

“Don’t you have someone else to be pestering right now?” You asked.

“Where else should I be?”

“Maybe somewhere that doesn’t require a swimsuit,” you scoffed, swimming over to the steps of the pool so you could sit.

Fíli laughed at your remark. “Well excuse me for being reasonable with my packed wardrobe. Clearly you packed more accordingly.”

“That’s the beauty of staying in hotels instead of a metal band’s tour bus,” you remarked, and you couldn’t help the laugh that followed. For a moment, you would actually consider this interaction nice.

“And here I thought you were just having a bunch of one-night stands.”

You did a double take at his words. “Right, because you’re certainly one to talk. I’d say I have a little more self-worth than that.”

“Don’t disrespect the hustle, now.” He countered.

“Oh, is that what it is? I’m not sure if Ori would agree. Should we ask him?”

“Are we flirting right now?”

You laughed, you couldn’t help it. Maybe it was the pool, but at this moment he wasn’t entirely annoying. Witty, sure. Annoying? Eh, you could handle it.

“As flattering as that may be,” you said, climbing out of the pool. “I think you’ve misread flirting for me just doing my job.”

You started wringing your hair out, water clinging to your body as you reached for your towel.

“I didn’t realize witty banter was in the job description,” he joked.

“It’s not,” you nodded. “But it does come with the employee. Banter and I are a package deal. Call that the Y/N tax.”

He laughed, and you couldn’t help but smile at yourself.

“Is that right? So I misread you filming me a lot more often lately? Is that correct?” He raised a brow, his smile now turning into something more unreadable.

“You’re joking, right?” You raised a brow, unsure if he was still messing with you or not. “Are you talking about the montage we’re making?

“I’m serious,” he nodded. “This whole time I thought you were trying to tell me something.”

Your eyes widened and you had to bite your tongue from mouthing off. He genuinely thought that you filming B-Roll of him was your way of flirting? As if this was some shoddy romantic comedy. And even if it were, you certainly knew to be more forward than that.

“Fíli, I can assure you that the only reason I may have been capturing more content of you is simply because you’re the member with the least amount of footage.” You turned to face him, stepping closer as you tried to clear the air. The warmth of the water was starting to get to you; you could feel your cheeks burning. “We’re making fan cam montages for each of the members right now, all from the shows we just did in Minas Tirith. I just made sure to capture more of you since you’re so hard to track down half of the time.”

“I was brought on this tour by your uncle to produce results.” You did your best to come off as firm and poised. You wanted there to be no room for misunderstanding between you two. “There was no ulterior motive. I’m sorry if I gave that impression.”

He sat there for a moment, silent as he understood. Then he nodded, looking down at his feet before meeting your eyes again. You could only watch in silence, baffled by his behavior. You hoped he understood; the last thing you needed was any miscommunication with something like this.

“Right then,” he slapped his hands on his thighs, nodding to himself. “My mistake.”

He looked to you, offering his hand as his usual smirk returned to his face. A silent ask to help him up from the pool.

You sighed, reluctantly crossing over to him, your free arm reaching out to help as your other hand kept your towel in place. “Alright then, let’s just–”

And before you could even realize what had happened, SPLASH!

Water filled your nose and your arms flailed about as you panicked to get your footing on the pool floor. You were lucky you were in the shallow end as you managed to quickly recover and stand in the water. But much to your dismay, your towel was now soaking in the warm waters with you. It had been a personal towel, too. The only one you had packed.

Fíli couldn’t control himself from laughing, his eyes crinkling like old paper at the sight of his little prank. Perhaps that had been his plan all along, to reel you in with some accusation of flirting all so he could act like a child and push you into the pool. You wouldn’t put it past him. Him and his brother were always down for childish antics. The bar was never too low for the likes of them.

“Are you serious?!” You shouted, now visibly upset. “Is that your new thing? Making me think my job’s on the line so you can just drown me? Is that what we’re doing here?”

He stood up now, still roaring with laughter. “Drown you? You were doing that very well by yourself earlier! What would you need my help for?”

He was practically wheezing now. “You should have seen the look on your face!”

The thought crossed your mind to drown him yourself. It would’ve been easy with your height difference anyways. But that would mean losing your job as well as a few morals, and so the idea left your head just as quickly as it had come.

But gods, it pissed you off to see him laughing so hard at your expense. And your towel’s expense!

“Well that’s just great,” you muttered, losing your patience with the bassist. You collected the sogging wet towel from the pool, now much heavier with the weight of the water, and gave it your best shot as you threw it at him.

THWACK! Right into his smug little face, the weight of the wet fabric pushed him back until he stumbled forward, falling into the water like a buoy.

You laughed to yourself, surprised it had been so effective and feeling a little bit of satisfaction as you waded over back to the stairs. Though, it seemed you would have to walk back to your hotel room sopping wet. Because for some god forsaken reason, this hotel didn’t offer complimentary towels.

You didn’t even want to go near him right now to retrieve the towel. It would be too tempting to just drown the dwarf.

You crawled out of the pool, wringing your hair once more as you watched the blonde resurface, towel now in his calloused hands.

“And for the record,” you called out, hoping his ears were dry enough to hear you. “If you weren’t so impossible to track down, I wouldn’t have to record you all the time. Seriously, I can never find you unless you’re onstage. It’s either you’re performing or you’re out at the pub or you’re teasing Ori or you’ve got some girl on the bus couch!”

You stormed off, heading straight for the door before turning around and giving your last piece of mind. “I can’t even look at those couches the same anymore!”

Slamming the door behind you, all you could think about was how much you desperately needed a shower and a warm bed.

Hours later, after a cold walk to your room followed by a warm shower, you were just about to tuck in for the night before Ori had already come knocking on your door asking for help to bring Kíli and Gimli to bed. According to the poor nervous vocalist, Kíli and Gimli had gotten piss drunk while playing a handful of drinking games. The games didn’t stop until one of the players conceded one way or another, and in this case, both players had conceded by blacking out and passing out.

“I came down from my massage to find them both slobbering and slurring their words,” he explained with a panicked tone. “I don’t know what else to do! Thorin will kill us if he finds out!”

“Ori, it’s almost one in the morning,” you frowned at the young vocalist. “Are they really that drunk already?”

“I know and I’m so sorry to bother,” he said. “But I wouldn’t have come asking if I didn’t have any other option. Plus, you’re our friend.”

“If they’re already out, why not leave them there? Let them soak in their own consequences?” Despite your annoyed tone, you were already putting on some shoes to come with him.

“Thorin would kill us even more if we did that,” he frowned. “The press would have our heads.”

You rolled your eyes; in your opinion, you didn’t think that a dwarven metal band caught plastered would read as much of a headline. It would be like saying water was wet, or a fork was found in a kitchen. But Ori’s panicked state was enough to make you want to help the poor fellow.

“Where is Thorin, then? Or Fíli?” You asked, wondering how no one else seemed available to help.

“Thorin’s asleep and I couldn’t find Fíli in the room,” he frowned. “Please help me, Y/N. I’ll do whatever you want for the next week when we’re not performing, I swear!”

Fìli, nowhere to be found? Again, a fork was found in a kitchen. You weren’t even surprised anymore; it wasn’t like you were eager to see his smug face, anyways.

“Alright, alright,” you waved. “There’s no need for all of that now. Let’s just get these two in bed. You can thank me later.”

You followed him down to the hotel bar, where a very displeased bartender greeted you with a glare. You did your best to apologize and close their tabs, adding in a generous tip while Ori attempted to wake them both up.

“Come on, we’ve got to get you in bed,” he pleaded.

“Bed? I’m already in bed,” Kíli giggled to himself amongst his incoherent babbling.

“Alright, come on, boys,” you sighed as you joined them.

“Should we try one at a time or both at once?” Ori asked.

You looked over at Gimli, who was curled up on a hotel lobby couch. For now, Kíli was being the most disruptive. You wrapped his arm around you, motioning for Ori to help out as you tried getting the poor dwarf on his feet.

“Best we start with him, I think,” you grunted, having to hold up most of his weight.

An hour later, you had successfully dragged two very drunk dwarves out of the hotel bar, into the elevator and all the way down the corridor to their shared room at the end of the hall. Kíli had been lucid enough to get up and walk, but his definition of walking was quickly discovered to just be hanging on to you two. Gimli, on the other hand, only needed the incentive of another beer to get him to go to bed. Fortunately, he passed out in his bed before he could realize you two were duping him. Unfortunately, he had thrown up all over your feet on the way up.

Ori was doing his best to take care of a half-lucid Kíli, helping him drink some water and get into bed while you vigorously scrubbed your feet in their bathtub. You considered it karma; if they were going to throw up on you, the least you could do was wash it off in their bathroom.

“That’s it, then,” Ori whispered as he came into the bathroom to wash his own hands. “We did it.”

“Albeit with some casualties,” you gestured to your feet. “I’m never doing that again.”

Ori gave a worried laugh. “Again, I’m so sorry about that. I tried to get him to a trash can–”

“Yeah, like he was going to go for that,” you groaned. “He kept thinking it was a big glass of water.”

“He gets really stubborn like that when he’s drinking,” Ori explained. “You should see him on Elven wine.”

You sighed. “Well, at least we got the job done. We make quite the team, it seems.”

“One that I hope we don’t have to break out again anytime soon. Again, I can’t thank you enough for your help. I genuinely don’t know what I would have done without you.”

You laughed at Ori’s remark, sharing the sentiment. “It’s fine; it’s over with now. Are they both asleep?”

“Kíli might moan and groan a bit more, but Gimli’s out cold. Either way, it’s enough work for tonight. And I’d feel awful if you had to help out any more than you already have.” He gave you a sheepish smile, thanking you again for your efforts at almost three in the morning.

“What are friends for?” You gave a weak laugh, drying your feet off as you gave a fist bump to the vocalist. “At least you all don’t perform until tomorrow night.”

“Yeah, just our luck; they’ll both be complaining all day about their hangovers,” he sighed. “Good night, Y/N.”

“Goodnight, Ori,” you smiled, giving him a hug before quietly leaving their room and finally returning to yours.

You shut your door behind you, a huge sigh of relief leaving your lips as the promise of your warm bed now seemed ever closer. A part of you was tempted to just sink into your bed, but you knew that your entire body probably needed a scrub after deadlifting drunken dwarves. Tonight seemed full of obstacles.

Knock! Knock! Knock!

Never mind. Apparently your obstacle was another late-night visitor. You groaned, ripping open the door without even bothering to look through the peephole.

“Ori, I thought you said they were asleep…” You shook your head, caught off guard by the person in front of you. “You’re not Ori.”

There stood Fíli, eyes heavy with sleep and your towel, now dry, clutched in his left hand. He was in different clothes than when you had seen him last, ditching the wet cargo shorts for some rather comfy-looking flannel pants and a white tank top.

“Oh, they’re surely asleep,” he confirmed. “And in my bed, no less. I just came from there.”

“Sorry, I thought you were Ori,” you frowned. “We just finished putting them to bed… Wait, where have you been? We were looking for you earlier when we had to drag your brother from the bar.”

“I’ve been in the laundromat. I had to ask some of the staff for help, so it took a while.”

He handed the towel over to you, its fibers still very warm, as if it had just been taken out of the dryer. “I came back to return this. I figured you might want it back.”

You took it with curious eyes, now feeling a little embarrassed for hitting him with it earlier. “You went through the trouble of washing and drying it?”

“Consider it my apology for hitting on you earlier.” He said. “You’ve got one hell of a throw, by the way. I’m lucky I fell into the pool and not the concrete.”

Now you felt your cheeks flush, embarrassed of your lack of patience earlier.

“Right, I’m sorry about that,” you swallowed your pride as you apologized. The last thing you needed was any incident that could make you lose this job. “I just want to make it clear that I have no ill will against you–”

“It’s behind us, don’t worry. It’s not like I’m a tattling child who will tell my uncle,” he reassured. “We’re adults.”

You let a small breath of relief pass your lips.

And for a moment, you two just stood there. It was a bit awkward, but at least the air between you had been cleared.

“Well, it’s late,” he muttered.

You nodded. “Right. Good night then, Fíli. And thank you for my towel, that was kind of you.”

“Goodnight, Y/N.”