Introducing my OC Tullaina, you'll get to see her in a few stories :)
Kíli x OC (platonic)
Summary: Tullaina and Kíli were best friends from day one. Getting into a fight to the death together tends to do that to you. Of course, it wasn't actually to the death, but Kíli kept insisting it had been a close call. This is the story of how their friendship started.
Warnings: bullying, young Kíli (Tullaina and Kíli are 34 and 33 in this one, which is the dwarven equivalent of a young teenager)
*
Kidizbuhâ. Friendship.
What exactly is friendship? What defines it?
It's something Tullaina always wondered about.
According to one of master Balin's many books, it can be described as a state between two or more individuals, a mutual affection that is strictly platonic.
Your best friend is even more than that. They are that one special person who sticks with you no matter what. You talk about anything and everything, have fun together, comfort each other, and you accept one another with all their flaws.
It's almost like finding your One, but without the romantic love.
Tullaina had often dreamed of finding that one true friend...
Born and raised in the mountains of Ered Luin, she had a pretty normal childhood as a pebble. With only a few friends and a loving family, she was as happy as a young girl could be.
When she grew older, her friends' appearance started to change.
They grew wider, more muscular and their facial hair started to grow out. Each of them turned into perfect examples of how a sturdy dwarf or dwarrowdam should look like.
Tullaina however stayed exactly the same. She grew in height, but kept her lanky figure. She filled out the appropriate places, but not as much as her friends or peers. Her freckles became more pronounced and the increase of birthmarks started to raise questions among those so-called 'friends'.
And on top of that, as if she couldn't be ridiculed enough already, she lacked the pride of every Dwarf... facial hair. A fine layer of down hairs where her sideburns should be was all she could grow, and it was barely even visible.
There was no denying that she looked different than your average Dwarrowdam at that age.
And that's when the teasing and bullying began.
One by one, she lost her friends, none of them wanted to be associated with the 'elf child' or khathzith, as they started calling her.
Everywhere she went, she could hear the dreaded word, whispered among the people of the Blue Mountains. And after a while, Tullaina started to believe them. Maybe she wasn't a Dwarf after all?
No matter how many times her parents had tried to convince her she was of full Dwarven descent, a proud Longbeard, she never stopped asking whether what they said about her was true.
Maybe she was a late bloomer, like her mother sometimes said in an attempt to comfort her. When Tullaina's tears had dried up, she usually told her daughter the story about her late auntie Marthosia whose beard only started to grow after she turned 30, and it turned out to be the most glorious beard of them all. The Dwarrows stood in line to ask for her courtship.
And every time Tullaina would simply roll her eyes and thank her mother.
By the time she turned 30, there was still no trace of a beard or proper sideburns. Not that Tullaina had expected anything, but she couldn't deny that there was a tiny sliver of hope left that maybe, maybe she was like auntie Marthosia after all.
Her mother eventually stopped telling the story and Tullaina had given up all hope. She started to isolate herself more, hardly leaving the safety of her home, losing herself in books and her own imagination.
The only time she would leave the house by herself was to visit the mines and bring her father his lunch when he forgot to bring it with him. Which happened a lot more than you would think.
Tullaina suspected her father did this on purpose to get her out of the house more often, but she never said anything about it.
It was on one of those trips that she ran into Kíli for the first time...
*
Tullaina hurried through the small, slippery streets of the mountain city, her shawl wrapped securely around her head and neck, head down and eyes fixed on the ground.
She was on her way back from the mines having delivered her father's lunch, but she'd dawdled when the baker's cat had crossed her path. It wasn't her fault she absolutely had to pet it, right?
So now she was in a hurry to get home. And she would have been there in a matter of minutes, if her ears hadn't picked up the teasing laughter coming out of one of the dead-end side alleys.
On any other day she would have tucked her scarf a little tighter around her, bowed her head a little deeper to avoid any unwanted attention, and definitely walk a little faster.
But it turned out today wasn't like any other day...
There could be many reasons as to why she felt the need to investigate further. Some would call it being adventurous, fate, maybe even Mahal's will if you want. But for Tullaina it was her sense of injustice that drove her to the alley.
There was something familiar about the laughter that made her suspect this wasn't just some friends having fun.
She tiptoed towards the corner of the building and peeked around the corner.
Her curiosity often got the better of her and her mother used to warn (okay fine, she guaranteed it) that it would get her into serious trouble one day. Who knows, maybe her mother was right after all...
At the end of the dead-end alley she could see three dwarves, at first sight probably not much older than she was. It was almost comical how they were all so different but clearly looking like they were up to no good: you had the short one with flaming red hair, the muscles and then one who was fairly normal at first until he grinned and Tullaina could see he was missing a front tooth. These three dwarves practically screamed trouble.
They were all looking at a boy who was standing in the middle of the trio.
The boy had shoulder length brown hair with no braids. He was taller than the others and had a slender build. He was wearing a simple dark blue tunic and black trousers, and his unruly hair framed a kind face with large brown eyes. No beard.
And that's precisely what they were bullying him about...
Tullaina could hear the insults they were throwing at him, she flinched because she knew them all too well - having heard them many times before - and something in her snapped. Before she realised what she was doing, she called out to them.
"Oi!"
All four heads turned towards her.
Well, that's what you get for calling out to them, she thought. Now what? Quick, say something so they'll know you mean business!
"Leave him alone!"
Oh wow, she thought, almost rolling her eyes at herself. Great choice, that'll make them tremble with fear!
The boys started snickering, excited about the prospect of another victim. One of them grabbed the beardless one by the shoulder and pushed him forward.
The Muscles came up towards Tullaina and it took all her restraint not to take a step back.
"Aww Kíli, look at that, your girl is here to save you!"
"I said, leave him alone," she repeated, trying to look confident by straightening her back and balling her fists at her side, but her voice gave her away. It earned her a chuckle from the dwarf in front of her.
"No, this can't be his girl," he sneered, removing her scarf, "Look at her face, not a hair in sight! It's the same babyface as our dear Kíli. Who would've thought there were more of you khathzith?" (young Elves)
Oh, he should not have said that!
The familiar insult triggered something in her and her hands moved on instinct. She placed her hands on his chest and pushed with all the strength she had.
It took him by surprise, he didn't have the time to brace himself and he fell on his back in the dirt with a grunt. Mistake number one.
One of his companions, the one with the flaming red hair lunged forward and pushed her in turn. Tullaina didn't stand a chance with the force he was using against her lanky figure and immediately fell to the ground. She cried out when her arm scraped against a small rock. Mistake number two.
They started laughing at her, until the one who was holding Kíli cried out in pain.
When Tullaina looked up she saw him clutching his nose with both of his hands, tears springing in his eyes.
Before she could figure out what had happened, Kíli threw himself on the redhead with a loud cry of "Du Bekâr!" and something about not laying your hands on a lady. Or... that he shouldn't have handed him a baby?
It wasn't her fault that it was difficult to understand him with all the shouting and the curses being thrown around. If her mother was near she would've covered her ears. Luckily for Tullaina she wasn't, at least now she could learn a thing or two for future use!
But this actually was the moment she should have decided it was time to go. Mistake number three.
They were all distracted and not paying attention to her whatsoever, the short one was still busy crying over his nose, the redhead was wrestling with Kíli and Muscles just stood by and watched it all happen for some reason. Really, what was stopping her from running?
Her more reasonable side was yelling at her to go home. Let the boys fight it out themselves!
But she couldn't leave this Kíli to himself now, could she? After he so valiantly defended her? No one ever stood up for her before, and here he was literally fighting for her honor.
No, she couldn't leave him...
When Muscles finally noticed Tullaina was still there, he came towards her with a loud roar - or what should've been a roar, it was more a gargle really - and the decision was made for her. She was going to fight.
Well... It seemed her mother was right after all. Her curiosity got her into trouble.
*
One of the last things Dís had expected to see when she opened her door was a pair of young Dwarves, battered and bruised.
Well... half of the duo was her youngest son, so their disheveled state shouldn't come as a big surprise.
"Amad, this is Tullaina," Kíli introduced his new friend with a wide smile, wiping a drop of blood off his chin with the back of his hand like it was the most natural thing to do. His left eye was a little swollen and starting to bruise. And still he was as chipper as ever.
Tullaina waved timidly, getting a bit uncomfortable. She had recognized the dwarrowdam as soon as she opened the door and suddenly it had clicked in her head who Kíli was.
She knew how this might look and the last thing she wanted was to get in more trouble. Typical of her to befriend a prince of all people...
"Nice to meet you, Tullaina."
Dís smiled kindly to let her know she wasn't angry. It seemed to relax Tullaina a little, her shoulders slacked and she returned her smile.
After the introduction Dís switched into full mother hen mode and ushered the two inside, so she could take care of their injuries and hopefully get some answers to the many questions that flooded her mind. For one, who Tullaina was. As far as she knew, she hadn't seen the girl before. And Dis took pride in knowing everyone in Ered Luin.
But getting the information out of these two turned out to be a lot harder than Dís had initially thought.
She told them to sit down at the dinner table while she got everything she needed to clean their wounds.
At first sight it was only Kíli's busted lip that needed attention, their bruises would heal on their own.
When the only daughter of Thraín asked her youngest how he and his new friend got their bruises and Kíli his busted lip, he only shrugged his shoulders.
Kíli clearly didn't want to talk about it.
And that worried her, because if there was one thing Kíli liked to do, it was talking her ears off about what he had done or discovered while out with Fíli or by himself.
She guessed he probably stood up for Tullaina and had valiantly defended or even rescued her, in which case Dís wouldn't hear the end of it.
So the silence of her youngest was rather alarming, to say the least.
In the end, it was Tullaina who reluctantly explained to her that she stumbled upon Kíli and a couple of other young Dwarves, who felt the need to mock the young prince.
Dís' eyes widened and her hand that was cleaning the dried blood around his mouth, froze midair. The cut on his lip had finally stopped bleeding, and it looked a lot worse than it actually was.
"Kíli, that is still no reason to start a fight! And certainly not in the presence of a lady."
Kíli straightened his back at the scolding of his mother, but didn't contradict her.
"He didn't start the fight, Lady Dís, I did," Tullaina answered before Kíli could stop her.
The large Dwarrowdam frowned, and she absentmindedly started stroking her beard. She was happy Kíli seemed to have made a friend who was not Fíli, but if she turned out to be a troublemaker...
Her sons definitely didn't need help in that department.
"Now why did you do that, nadanê?" she asked her. (my child)
"Amad, please just let it go," Kíli said before Tullaina had the chance to explain.
"I wasn't asking you, Kíli."
Tullaina hesitated. What if lady Dís blamed her for his injuries, or getting him into the fight in the first place?
Her new friend obviously didn't want his mother to know about the bullying and she understood that better than anyone. Tullaina herself had kept a lot from her mother, the things she had to go through, all the insults, the name calling, the laughter...
But she also knew her new friend needed someone he could talk to. When it gets too bad, you need to vent, let everything out. And since she wasn't sure she'd be welcome again in Lady Dís' house after today, it might be better to tell his mother what had happened.
"They were teasing and bullying him about stuff they used to bully me for as well," she finally caved.
"And what might that be?"
"Our lack of dwarven features," Tullaina answered, as she lowered her eyes. "I've been bullied and made fun of for years because I don't have a proper beard, and don't look like most other dwarrowdams... So you see, my Lady, I couldn't just stand there and watch. But they would not listen! So I pushed one of them and started the fight."
"I see," Dis hummed, before she placed her hands on Kili's and Tullaina's knees. "You did what you felt was right, and that is very admirable. Nadanê, never let anyone make you feel inferior. No matter what you look like, what you have or do not have. It's what's inside that matters. You're both courageous, headstrong and maybe a little reckless too, but that's alright. That sounds like a true dwarf to me."
Tullaina smiled in return.
It wasn't a lot different from what her own mother would say when she tried to comfort her, but somehow when Lady Dis said it, it added more weight to it.
"Now tell me about the fight?" Dis smiled, trying to lighten the mood.
Kíli's head shot up and his eyes sparkled, and Dis knew that look all too well. Now she was going to hear every single detail about their little adventure.
"So I found myself surrounded by, I don't know, ten, maybe twelve other dwarves-"
"Three. There were three Dwarves, Kíli," Tullaina interrupted with a straight face.
"It's not like I was counting them!" he said to Tullaina, before he turned to his mother again. "I was too busy fighting for my life!"
"I bet you were," Dís chuckled.
Kíli explained how he was trying to find a way out so he could run home, but they wouldn't let him.
"And then Tullaina showed up and she came to help me, Amad. She gave the biggest one a shove, can you believe?! But then one of the other dwarves pushed her to the ground! You and uncle always told me I should treat all dwarrowdams with respect, right? But I don't think his parents told him, because why would he do that? Anyway, then Tullaina hurt her arm," Kíli paused his rambling and grabbed Tullaina's arm to show the scratch she got when she fell, but she immediately pulled her arm free and muttered something like 'i'm fine, it's nothing'. Dís made a mental note to clean it later.
"So I had to defend her honor! Fíli will be so proud of me when he hears about it, I punched that atnuzab right on the nose!" (prick)
"Then how did you get your lip cut and your eye so bruised?" his mother asked him, already knowing the answer, but playing along. It was better to let him continue his story, but it was Tullaina who cut in.
"It turned out the atnuzab knew how to hit back," she grinned.
"And that's when the fight really took off," Kíli continued enthusiastically, a wide smile on his face.
While Dís took care of Tullaina's arm, he explained everything in detail, waving his arms in excitement, while the girl filled in the blanks or corrected him, which happened surprisingly often.
Dís chuckled every time it happened. It was refreshing to see Kíli being reprimanded for not telling the truth or exaggerating by someone his own age. Who knows, maybe Tullaina will turn out to be a positive influence on her son and his vivid imagination?
"And then he ran off, crying about his bloody nose," Kíli cackled, holding on to Tullaina's shoulder to keep himself up since he was laughing so hard.
"Which I believe you gave him?" Dís commented.
"I did," he said proudly, wiping a tear away. "A true warrior I was!"
"Or tried to at least, did you forget you tripped over your own feet? Twice?" Tullaina laughed, recalling both times she had to help him up before the bullies could get to him.
"I was creating a diversion!"
Tullaina raised an eyebrow at that in disbelief, but decided to let it slide.
Dís shook her head at their friendly banter and left for the kitchen, taking the bowl and the dirty rags with her.
Tullaina watched her leave and smiled to herself. Isn't it strange how one hastily made decision had changed her entire day? It had been ages since she laughed this much, it was amazing how quickly she felt comfortable in Kíli's company. Was this what true friendship felt like?
When she looked back at Kíli, she caught him already staring at her.
"What?" she asked with a frown.
"Thank you," he said. "You came to help me and I'll never forget that."
Tullaina felt her face flush at how sincere he was, his big brown eyes looking at her intently.
"Don't mention it," she grinned, playing with her fingers in her lap.
They sat side by side in a comfortable silence for a few minutes, their hands tucked away under their thighs before Tullaina spoke up again.
"You know, I need to thank you too," she said, bumping her shoulder against Kíli's.
"Me? What for?"
"Defending my honor."
Kíli gave her a broad smile and puffed out his chest. "It was the right thing to do. And I would do it again in a heartbeat." He placed his hand on his heart to emphasize his words.
Tullaina believed him. Kíli seemed that kind of person who would rather follow his heart than his head, someone who would act on impulse before thinking about the possible consequences.
"Besides, friends take care of each other right?" he continued, pushing himself off the table.
Dís returned from the kitchen with two slices of cake in her hand.
"I believe you've more than deserved this," she smiled. "A good fight works up quite an appetite."
The two new friends eagerly accepted the treat, and while they were eating Dís watched them carefully. She had noticed how these two interacted with each other; as if they had been lifelong friends, even though they met mere moments ago.
Yes, this wouldn't be the last time she saw Tullaina. Dís was sure of it.
That reminded her of something...
"How come I haven't seen you around, Tullaina?"
"I like to stay home, inside, where it's safe," the girl looked down in embarrassment and whispered. "There... there are no bullies there."
"Then why were you even out there in the first place?" Kíli wondered.
"Kíli!" Dís chided him. She gave him a stern look but he didn't even falter and looked at her expectantly.
Tullaina chuckled. She kind of liked Kíli's cheekiness and lack of filter when he spoke. It was a nice change from the usual harsh words and sneers she had to hear from others.
"It's fine. My adad works in the mines and I sometimes bring him his lunch," she explained to Kíli.
"He does? I know where that is!" he said enthusiastically. "You know what? Next time you have to go there, I'll go with you!"
"That's a great idea, Kíli," Dís agreed, she couldn't be happier that her youngest had found a new friend. He was starting to get lonely now Fíli spent more time with Thorin. Tullaina might be exactly what he needed to stay out of trouble.
But Tullaina shook her head. "No, I can't ask that of you! I'm-I'm sure you have much more important things to do."
"Nonsense," Dís waved her concern away. "You're always welcome here, Tullaina."
When Tullaina said her goodbyes - her mother will be worried sick by now - she had to promise Dís to come back the next day.
Kíli caught her off guard a bit when he hugged her, squeezing a lot harder than she expected him to.
"See you tomorrow," he said, and then his eyes lit up and a face-splitting grin appeared.
"What?"
"I can't wait for you to meet my brother!"