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Fili doesn't bother prying Kili's hands from his tunic sleeves as they amble into the cave, shivering with the rain and nervous energy.
He is less touchy than his brother, at least in public, always eager to brush fingers or noses, to worm a knee between Kili's thighs and an arm around his waist as they drifted off to sleep, but only when they were alone, away from the eyes of their company.
But tonight he welcomes the hands, white and cramped with tension, caught in his sleeve, pinching slightly at his elbow in the need to be close, to reassure them both that they were together here in the cave, and not still separated by the storm giants, not thrashed against the mountainside, and even Thorin, no publicly affectionate in the slightest, did not stray from his nephews, staying a few steps behind them even when ordering Bofur to take the first watch, when shooting down an effort for fire.
Fili can feel Kili just millimeters behind him, the younger's chest pressed to his back as they walked to a corner of the cave, and Kili refused to let go of him even long enough to shed their sopping cloaks and spread the bedrolls on the cave's floor. Fili tells himself he can feel Kili's heart through the hand at his elbow, pounding in tandem with his own, and the intimacy of it in their dark corner of the cave.
No one says anything, no looks exchanged between the elder dwarves who thought it improper for the brothers to be so close, as Fili laid down and Kili lay with him, wrapping himself around the elder like a cocoon, a vice of warmth and protection and a reminder that they were still there.
Kili hasn't spoken since the scream of his brother's name on the mountainside, and he doesn't speak now, burying his face in Fili's neck from behind and breathing him in, slowly loosening the cramped white grip on Fili's elbow to wind around his waist, tight and breathless, scooting closer until there was nothing but skin and cloth between them.
Fili closes his eyes, feels Kili's eyelashes flutter against his throat and shivers as his hands find Kili's around his waist.
He closes his eyes, and the rest of the company, the rest of the world, fades away, and he is left with his brother's breathing.