At first, he is both confused and frustrated. He knows he put that jacket right there. Only yesterday!

Secondly, he is outraged. How dare  – that little sneak-thief! How incredibly RUDE!

But Laerophen is, remember, not very confrontational. He gets stiff and awkward and super formal when he has to front up to anything. So every time he tries to draw himself up and speak out about his annoyance, Gimizh does something innocently charming (gives him a cookie, grabbing his hands to swing him into a dance, folds him into his latest imagination-game) and the momentum for his outrage is lost. 

Eventually he’s a little helplessly confused. It’s not as bad as he first imagined – he gets his things back, after all – but how in Elbereth’s name can he broach the topic? It’s been weeks!

Gimris shakes her head when she sees his predicament. “It’s all right, everyone’s in the same cart,” she says, resigned. “And he’s been spoken to about this, more times than anyone can ever imagine. He simply doesn’t see anything wrong with it yet. He’ll get there as he gets older. And don’t worry, Mum and I make sure everything’s laundered before he goes creeping back.”

Upon that last sentence, Laerophen’s face is a picture.

(Frerinith is at the stage where he… isn’t actually all that enamoured of clothes. The challenge is keeping them ON HIM. It’s not uncommon to have a toddler doing a nuddy-run down the public corridors of Erebor!)