Chapter One
Bilbo sat at the wheels kicking it with his foot, as a ball of clay spun in between his fingers. He liked making things and making them as realistic as possible, already he'd become well known throughout all of Middle Earth for his skills as a potter. He smiled as he worked, fashioning the clay underneath his hands, until he created a box of what would look like mined amethyst to the casual observer, inside a ring would be put and so he wanted to be particularly careful with this order. He smiled to himself as he finished making the piece and wrote down the particulars on a piece of parchment, of all his clients dwarves were the most demanding, though why they wanted him to create fake rocks was beyond him. He stretched and wiped off his hands on his apron, before standing. Going over to the sink he washed his hands and then filled a mug full of water. Mug in hand he got out his pipe and sat on the stoop outside the small shed he had built in back of his garden. He sighed puffing on his pipe, enjoying the early spring air, when the bell that was hooked to his house rang and he sighed, putting out his pipe and going to the door.
He stared in bewilderment at the dwarf he found on his doorstep; he'd never seen so much pointlessly expensive clothes in his lifetime. The dwarf was dressed in an ermine cape, with a ruby clasp. He stared at Bilbo and Bilbo returned the stare in shocked disbelief. "Who are you and why have you come?" Bilbo demanded.
"How dare you address me in such a manner?"
"It's you that's come to my house Mister Dwarf, I dare as I please, if you wish to order something you could send a servant."
"I need to judge the quality of your work for myself."
"My work speaks for itself, but very well, follow me." Bilbo said and the dwarf nodded, Bilbo took him through the side entrance to the studio and several kilns. "The finished work is stored in that shed, before I give it to the merchants to give to my clients." Bilbo said and the dwarf nodded, Bilbo took out the key, pausing before opening the door. "If you break anything, you'll pay twice what I charged those I made these pieces for, because I'll have to make it twice over."
"I will not break anything." The dwarf said and Bilbo nodded. He opened the door and smiled at the gasps of the guards and the dwarf who was clearly their leader.
"You have made treasures the likes of which..." The dwarf stared at the rocks and Bilbo shrugged.
"I like to make natural things, I also make tiny dioramas of hobbit homes and sculpt certain parts of the Shire. I once went to Rivendell and I made several pieces there, afterwards I got the opportunity to go to the Blue Mountains with a trading caravan. Some of the art I saw there interested me and I decided to try to make similar things out of clay. Through a lot of trial and error I figured out what glazes to use and how to fashion my works so they might appear lifelike."
"I am Dain Son of Nain." Dain said and Bilbo smiled.
"It's nice to meet you, I suppose in the dwarven tradition I would introduce myself as sister son to Isengrim III Thain of the Shire. So forgive me if I don't bow to you, first off you're a lord, not a king, secondly Hobbits don't stand on such hogwash formalities. If we did, we'd have to decide the degree to which we would need to bow and scrape to our own relatives, everyone is related to everyone in the Shire, some closer than others, some more distantly. I'm closer than most to the old line, but I have no interest in sitting on the council listening to boring talk about boring things that must be done on a very important timeline. The problem is that everyone believes that their timeline and what they want to get done is more important than anyone else's desires and so we wind up talking over the price of wheat in Buckland or all matter of interesting and important topics such as those."
"You reject your duty to your line?"
"No, I sit at council once a week, its part of being a respectable and responsible hobbit and I've been doing it since I was five years old. People might actually start to listen to me, once I reach eighty, everyone shouts over one another, except for the old timers. Mostly I just get drunk with the cousins I'm of age with and don't find too objectionable. At any rate if you had any respect for nobility my family and our line would cure you of that right quick." Bilbo said and laughed at the look on the dwarf's face. "You came to my house for a purpose yes?"
"Indeed I did, I'm seeking someone to make a believable copy of the Arkenstone."
"I've heard of the Arkenstone, but I've also heard that it never leaves the throne room. I might also enquire after your purpose in wishing to create such a copy. I have only your word that you are who you say you are and you could easily buy some mercenaries to pose as royal guards if you have enough money to dress the way you do. Forgive my bluntness but how am I to know that you are who you say you are and that indeed your motives are pure?"
"You will have to trust me and travel with me, if you accept the commission. I could just as easily take you by force."
"Aye that you could and you would be at war with Gondor, the Shire and the Rangers no doubt." Bilbo said and grinned. "Say what you will of my line, but we don't take kindly to having members of our line being kidnapped, terrible nasty business makes you late for dinner. At any rate you can't force a master craftsman to do the caliber of work that you are asking for, such attention to craft needs to be freely given, or not given at all."
"Indeed you speak the truth and you know much about our culture for an outsider."
"I may not be dwarrow, but who said anything about not being related to them?" Bilbo said and grinned. "My Great Grandfather was a dwarf on my Father's side, while my Great Great Great Grandmother was a dwarf on my mothers. One was a Firebeard and the other a Broadbeam, though we don't grow beards on our faces, we grow our beards on our feet." Bilbo said and grinned. "I think you'll find that I don't owe you any allegiance Sir Dwarf, now if you are simply going to threaten me and try to coerce me into making the King's Jewel for you, I will wish you a good morning." Bilbo said and Dain looked shocked at Bilbo, as did the guards and Bilbo smiled.
"You are part dwarven?" Dain demanded and Bilbo nodded.
"I have the copper hair of my Great Great Great Grandmother and my eyes are the same of my Great Grandfather. Both sides of my family laughed at my birth and my Grandfather said that I'd be trouble, considering the bother he'd had raising my mother." Bilbo laughed, his copper eyes shining brightly as he tossed back his hair in mirth.
"You don't have a beard, but you have a lot of hair on your feet and your hair is long?"
"I decided that I liked the dwarven style of keeping it long and using beads to tame it, its that or I crop it entirely too short for anyone other than a lad of six." Bilbo said and grinned. "I take out my beads when I work in the studio though of course." He smiled at the dwarves. "As for the beard, I found it to be too much trouble to keep once I came back from the Blue Mountains. You wouldn't believe the amount of clay that got trapped in their, its bad enough getting it out of my hair."
"You deliberately disfigure yourself?" One of the guards demanded and Bilbo smiled.
"I'm not a dwarf, I don't consider it to be disfiguration, I'd be looked at far strangely if I tried to walk around with a beard and hair full of clay. Its hard enough to get the stuff out of my hair, beard hair hurts when its scrubbed and you need to scrub it to get the clay out."
"But it must hurt far more to shave!" Someone said and Bilbo frowned.
"It hurts far more to keep it and clean it, I shave every two weeks, once the stubble gets hard to manage." Bilbo said. "Not that I didn't curse a blue streak at first, when my Mother taught me how to shave, but otherwise it would be down to my knees by now." Bilbo said and the dwarves appeared shocked. "I didn't shave in respect for the traditions of my traveling companions and by the time I got to the Blue Mountains it covered my face, by the time I got back to the Shire half a year later, it was down to my chest. I shaved the next day and didn't miss the loss of it, I understand that its about honor and tradition as well as honoring your ancestors, I respect that, but don't expect me to follow traditions that aren't my own."
"Who were your Grandparents?"
"My Great Grandfather was a Merchant my Great Great Great Grandmother ran away from the Blue Mountains when she was seventy eight and promised to a man twice her age who she didn't love. I tracked down her Great Nephew in the Blue Mountains and determined that he was not worth approaching about our mutual ancestry. All my other kin on that side were likewise very... shall we put it diplomatically and say Lordly specimens and I determined there and then not to mention our family tree to such people. I am proud of my birthright and more proud of the respectability I have earned in my forty years."
"You are forty?"
"Yes, though lifespan differ, I'm more like eighty than forty as far as my maturity is considered." Bilbo said and shrugged.
"Your work has been admired for over ten years, to get to be so good at such a young age..." Dain said and Bilbo shook his head.
"I'm not an untried youth, my mother and father were each other's One, my Father became ill in the winter of 2914, it was a hard winter and even though we were and are well to do, we ran out of the medicine we needed to care for him. Mother and I decided to go to Bywater for Father's medicine. On the way wolves, Mother tried to fight them off, attacked us but she determined that fighting wasn't for me from an early age and the rest of her family respected that decision. I had therefore nothing to arm myself with, but my slingshot. Mother told me to get into a tree that she would be right behind me and unthinkingly I followed her instructions, believing she was telling the truth. She was ripped apart by the wolves as I watched, helpless to do anything but throw stones and listen to her screams, she told me until her last breath to stay in the tree and I like a coward obeyed. I watched her die and by the time the Bounders had rescued me, Father had joined her, where they went I do not know, but that day I decided to learn how to fight. I am not an untried youth, though I've never seen more than a skirmish, don't treat me as such."
"You were orphaned at twenty four?"
"Yes I was, that's why I don't appreciate people judging me for how many years I lived, rather than my accomplishments. I've worked hard for the past ten years, apprenticing myself to my Uncles and to my cousin who's an accomplished potter though they work mainly with vessel forms. After I had learned all I could from them, I went to Rivendell for six months and to the Blue Mountains. What was most amusing to me was the more dwarven I looked in the Blue Mountains, the more people would greet me with Khudzul or ask questions of me, which I had no way of replying to. Other than to say that I was in fact a hobbit of dwarven decent and please could they address their questions in common."
"So people talked to you in Khudzul, looking at you I can't believe you passed for dwarven." Dain said and Bilbo smiled.
"Can't you, I dressed in dwarven fashion while I was there, even wearing leather shoes, as the stone was too cold for bare feet alone." Bilbo said and smiled. "I assure you with a hood covering my ears I make a fairly convincing dwarf for those that don't know any better. It was amusing to me to go to the markets and listen to everyone bartering in Khudzul, it sounded like gibberish until I understood the pattern through how much gold was exchanged. I know greetings and numbers, it's a interesting language to attempt to speak."
"You learned some of the forbidden tongue?"
"That I did and its not as though you never speak it, for a forbidden tongue its fairly easy to learn if you have the knack for languages. You can pretty much figure out the meaning of words after a while of speaking them. At any rate we aren't discussing my abysmal knowledge of Khudzul, we are discussing the commission you ask of me." Bilbo stated. "First off I'll have to talk to the other royals to ensure this is what they want as well."
"The younger royals all wish for it and as for Thrain he wishes for nothing but more gold, the Arkenstone does nothing to help his desires." Dain said and Bilbo nodded.
"I had heard rumors of such, but if we are caught by the king..."
"Then we are caught, you will be paid handsomely for your part in this, but know that you may well risk your life in this pursuit."
"Can't you dispose him?"
"Most on the council would prefer a biddable mad king, to a king that is sane and does what he desires rather than what the council does."
"I see, I will go to Erebor at least but I make no promises beyond that."
"As is only fair, the journey itself, we will pay you two thousand gold for, another two thousand to study the Arkenstone and a further two thousand upon delivery of the copy."
"That is a most fair offer, right now I'm only agreeing to go to Erebor, the rest will perhaps come in time." Bilbo said and the others nodded. "However I will not go without my friends, I have only your word that you are who you say you are. It should take them three weeks at most to arrive."
"Three week?" Dain demanded.
"Either I go with them, or I do not go at all." Bilbo said and Dain nodded.
"It is clear I have no choice, send your letter to your friends."
"Good we have an accord." Bilbo said and smiled. "As we are doing business you are welcome to stay in my home while we wait for my friends."
"Your hospitality is welcome."
"I expect to give and receive guest right, you can lock your weapons in the weapons cupboard just inside my house for the duration of your stay, no one will harm you in the Shire." Bilbo said and again Dain frowned, before he nodded. Bilbo showed them to the weapon cupboard, before going to his study and writing a letter to his friends in the Blue Mountains. They would come, because Bilbo would come if they asked it of him, he would do anything they asked of him and he knew that the family Ur and Ri would do the same for him. He had become friends with Bombur first the fat dwarf loved cooking as much as hobbits did and when Bilbo had time off his apprenticeship he'd either spend it in the scribe hall or the kitchens. He loved cooking and learning dwarven cooking had been a revelation, he in return had taught Bombur how to cook hobbit fair. Bombur had introduced him to his family and Bilbo had gotten on with them at once, even Bifur was funny and great company. As for Ori he'd met the apprentice scribe in the scribe hall and they had talked about Aule and Yavannah's love discovering that what each had been told was similar but different. They continued to discuss many things, from politics, to history to theology and eventually Ori had invited him over to his house for supper and Bilbo had accepted. Ori's brothers were very different from one another, Dori was a traditionalist and very concerned with appearances and tradition, Nori was the opposite a handsome young rogue who would do anything and everything if he thought he could get away with it. Bilbo had liked them both from the first time they met each other.
He wrote his letters to both families before sending them with two separate ravens that had followed him back from the Blue Mountains and insisted that they should be at his service. He had reluctantly agreed and saw to their needs when they weren't delivering letters for him. He smiled as they flew off, as Dain stared at the birds in no small amount of shock.
"You have ravens?"
"As is my birthright." Bilbo said.
"We are in service to this fledgling, not you our reasons are ours." One of the ravens said and glared at Dain. "We serve, but that service is not blind, takes your questions elsewhere greedy one." The other raven laughed at that.
"He'd swallow all the seed given half a chance, be careful in dealing with him."
"He's family though and better a seed swallower, than a hoarder of shiny things."
"You are wiser than most, except for the old raven keeper. Never understood why they accept some younglings but not others."
"I thank you for that." Bilbo said and smiled. "Fly true."
"You are of the royal line?" Dain demanded and Bilbo laughed.
"A distant relation at best, I can understand the ravens though, I like the ravens." Bilbo said. "I doubt that I will like anyone else of my mother's line, but the ravens are nice. Still family is family."
"You aren't Balris' Great Great Great Grandson are you?"
"I am." Bilbo said. "I doubt I could hide it from you much longer, considering the ravens, so there's no point in denying it." Bilbo said and shrugged.
"You are my cousin?" Dain demanded and Bilbo nodded.
"That I am and you have many other cousins in the Shire, I'm just the most dwarven of them." Bilbo said with a grin. "Balris had three children and they had ten children, who in turn had forty seven children, who in turn had eighty one and I have twenty little cousins, we are given to big families. It is part of the mother's blessing to us, no hobbit suffers much in the birthing bed."
"How many are still alive?"
"Fifty three, though my cousin is going to have another baby soon." Bilbo said. "None have the same interest in dwarven traditions and most are content to stay in the Shire, you are welcome to come drinking with me tonight cousin."
"Drinking?"
"Of course its my cousin Alidin Proudfoot's birthday, I can bring as many guests as I like and its bound to be a lively affair, knowing Alidin, he's turning thirty three and reaching manhood, so it will be doubly boisterous." Bilbo said with a grin.
"If you do not find our presence objectionable, we would be glad to come."
"I must insist that you leave your weapons here however."
"Alright." Dain said and started taking off his weapons as the guard did the same; Bilbo directed them to the closet, before washing his hands and face in the sink and taking off his apron. He then set to making the cake as the dwarves watched amazed. He decided that three eleven-layer cakes should be enough and that chocolate, strawberry and vanilla would do. He made them over the next six hours, concentrating on baking them just right. He grinned, as there was a knock at the door and dusted off his waistcoat before answering it.
"Bilbo! Well met cousin, have you made the cakes?"
"I just finished them, not my finest work but I had a lot of orders to fulfill and I wanted them to be fresh." Bilbo said and took his three cousins into the kitchens.
"These are very fine indeed, oh you have dwarven friends visiting?"
"Aye that I do, this is Dain of Durin's line and his guards..." Bilbo frowned. "How impolite of me, I forgot to ask your names."
"I'm Dwalin, of the Line of Durin and this is Orin a recognized bastard and Lorin his twin." Dwalin said and both bowed.
"Nice to meet you all, can we go now Bilbo, I don't want to miss the cask opening."
"Aldergrim, you never did have any patients, but yes we can go." Bilbo said and laughed. "Let me just dunk my head under the sink and we will be off." Bilbo said and put his head under the faucet, running the flour out of his hair, before taking out his beads and braiding back his hair.
"Why you insist on doing that is beyond me." Aldergrim said. "Now we are going to be late."
"No we won't be, he said six o clock and its only half five now." Bilbo said and smiled at his cousin, together they walked to the party tree and Bilbo let his cousins set down the cakes.
"These look wonderful Bilbo."
"How does it feel to be a man cousin?" Bilbo asked and Alidin laughed.
"I'm hardly a man cousin and you know it." He said and Bilbo laughed as well.
"An adult then." Bilbo said and Alidin grinned.
"If the rest of my life will be like today, very fine indeed." Aildin said and Bilbo laughed.
"So have you decided on what to apprentice yourself to?"
"I'm going to take up carpentry though I doubt I'll be half as good at it, as you are at sculpting."
"I thank you cousin." Bilbo said and grinned. "May you have joy of your chosen craft, though I will be sad to not have your help wedging anymore."
"As I will be glad not to wedge." Alidin said and Bilbo laughed.
"Indeed, I believe you have made the correct choice, I'll be gone from the Shire for at least eight months, possibly longer."
"Indeed, I will miss you cousin, but I'm not surprised. In fact I got you a present I thought you might enjoy, I found several books that belonged to Balris at the hall and I thought that if any of us would need to know Khudzul it would be you. Though the cover is different than what's inside.
"Thank you cousin." Bilbo said and grinned. "A most generous and appropriate gift."
"Indeed I thought so." Alidin said and smiled. "It goes without saying how much I appreciated your gift on your birthday."
"And how displeased your mother was with me the next day, now I can take you to The Green Dragon, without causing the wrath of dear Iris." Bilbo said and Alidin laughed.
"I would be delighted." Alidin said and filled up a flagon. "Shall we drink to the last of our decade becoming a adult?"
"Indeed we shall cousin! Lets all drink together! Isengrin Orifrin come here!" His other cousin said and Bilbo laughed, he loved his cousins that he was of age with, even though none were like him, they were very amusing to be around.
"No fair I wanna go too."
"You are too little Drogo and it's a Took celebration." Someone said.
"Strange ones the Tooks." Bilbo agreed and everyone laughed, he drank several pints with his cousins as the dwarrows stared at the festivities. As kegs of ail were opened all around them.
"Music!" Alidin cried out and instruments were produced all around them, Alidin laughed and sat at the table banging his mug in time as Bilbo laughed as well.
"So much ale on an empty belly cousin?" Bilbo asked matching Alidin mug for mug. "You wouldn't wish to miss the festivities like Dory Proudfoot and his cousins." Bilbo said and Alidin laughed.
"Indeed not Bilbo we should eat as well." Alidin said and plates were passed to Alidin and his cousins as everyone knew everyone in the Shire and their tastes, Bilbo was pleased to find a roast and mashed potatoes put in front of them, as well as the plate piled high with fried chicken baby honey carrot, cheesy pasta and pesto broccoli.
"You have strange tastes cousin." Alidin teased.
"And you could eat this entire pig yourself." Bilbo teased back and Alidin laughed before returning to his plate full of meet and stabbing it with his knife. Bilbo laughed as well throwing an arm around his cousin, as the oldest of his generation he'd always preferred the younger ones to his elders. Three had been born in his year, but only the Tooks would play with him, as they were the only ones that enjoyed the same rough games that Bilbo did as a child. That had lead to him making his own adventures up in the woods more often than not, when his mother wasn't visiting her kin. He had taken Aliden under his wing from the moment he'd met the child, they grew closer than ever after his parents had died and Aliden and Drogo were the closest things to little brothers Bilbo would ever have the pleasure of having.
"Aye that I could cousin." Alidin said and Bilbo laughed tearing into his chicken and gulping down his ale. He did wish it wasn't a tradition to have those who were declared chosen siblings to drink as much as the one who was becoming an adult.
"Perhaps we should pace ourselves a bit."
"Where's the fun in that?" Aldergrim asked.
"Plenty fun in not getting so sick that you pass out." Bilbo said and Alidin frowned.
"Are we close?"
"Fairly, I'd scale back the drinking, unless you wish to be carted home in a...in a...carty thingy." Bilbo said and all his cousins laughed.
"If Bilbo has lost his words, its a sign that you are too full of ale cousins." Bellanora Took said and everyone laughed.
"Yes I..." Bilbo frowned again and words suddenly popped into his head. "Imrigî binakhfâd cousins."
"You always speak Khudzul when your drunk Cousin Bilbo." Bellanora said and laughed. "And you never tell us what you mean."
"Sasakhabîn abnâmul cousin my little cousin a hobbit grown."
"Eat some more meat Bilbo and drink some water." Someone else suggested and Bilbo laughed doing both as the dwarves stared at Bilbo in shock. "Was a good thing you said."
"I think, not sure, said a lot in...drinking places." Bilbo said and grinned.
"It was good, but not something someone would say to their cousin." Dain said and Bilbo raised an eyebrow.
"He nice looks." Bilbo frowned and shrugged. "I no speak." He then continued to eat, as the ale slowly left his system, it hit his cousins slightly more slowly, Bilbo couldn't hold his drink as well as they could for some reason. So by the time he was able to think slightly clearer headed they were swaying in their chairs.
"We should always drink with cousin Bilbo." Aldergrim said. "You are the best Bilbo, the best big cousin ever."
"Thank you Aldergrim." Bilbo said and laughed as Aldergrim drunkenly put an arm around him, Bilbo set his arm around Aldergrim as well and laughingly leaned forward and backward.
"Stop that, the world is spinning." Alidin protested and Bilbo laughed again, before setting his cousins to rights.
"If you're going to be sick don't do it at table." Bilbo said and his cousin nodded, Bilbo continued to eat his fill, and his cousins ate as well when they looked a little less green. Bilbo smiled as Alidin pushed away his plate and drunkenly got to his feet.
"Dance with me cousins, like Uncle Algir taught us."
"A high step?" Bilbo asked and Alidin nodded and Bilbo grinned, he liked high step dwarven dances and he had been shocked to discover that Uncle Algir must have gone to a dwarven settlement in his youth. He laughed as the music played and took both his cousin's hands as they did a traditional step dance. "Side!" Bilbo called out and his cousins laughed, before calling out their own switches. Several other Tooks joined in the dancing. "Let me teach you one." Bilbo said and did a simple warrior dance that he had learned while he was away, his cousins laughed as he taught them the steps and Bilbo grinned at them. They did five more dances in the dwarven style. "I think the rest of the Shire might like to dance cousin."
"Indeed you are right cousin, table dances!" Alidin cried out and Bilbo laughed and grabbed his cousin's hands running for the nearest table, which he danced upon with his cousin clapping along in time to the music. Alidin then stared at Arianna Bolger and Bilbo smiled.
"She's a fine lass, a year older than you, I made her coming of age gift for her mother." Bilbo said and smiled. "Come cousin." He added and grinned taking Alidin by the hand and leading him over to Arianna, Arianna looked surprised to see Bilbo who smiled at her.
"Hello Miss Bolger, I would like to introduce my cousin Alidin."
"A pleasure." Arianna said and Bilbo grinned.
"Would you...Would you..."
"Once my cousin finds his tongue I believe he would be interested in securing a dance." Bilbo said and both his cousin and Arianna blushed.
"I would be delighted, that's a fine suit you are wearing."
"Thank you." Alidin said and Arianna took him by the hand as couples dancing started, Bilbo found his way back to the table and sat down watching his cousin with a smile. He hoped it worked out with them, he liked weddings and enjoyed his little cousins even more.
"So is this a typical hobbit gathering?"
"Pretty much." Bilbo said and grinned. "Plenty of food and dancing, though the little ones have the most fun gatherings. Its amusing to let a five year old decide what we're going to do for that day, or night." Bilbo said looking fondly at his baby cousins. He went over to his cousins that had three children and smiled at the parents. "I'll watch them for a bit, if you'd like to dance."
"Thank you Bilbo, they should go to sleep soon." His cousin Alderfrin said and took his partner Boris out onto the dance area.
"Now little ones how about a story?" Bilbo asked and soon had a lap full of sleeping children. He smiled fondly stroking their hair as they slept, the baby had the same hair he did and was a boisterous child. He found his eyes closing and he smiled leaning back against the bench and closing his eyes.
He woke to cheers and rubbed at his eyes as he saw his cousin cut the cakes finally. The children didn't stir worn out from food and dancing. He smiled as Alderfrin returned and chuckled.
"Your hair is escaping your braids again cousin and I do believe my children have drooled all over you."
"I was merely resting my eyes."
"Oh aye and snoring." His cousin said and laughed. "Should I help you to bed old man, along with my babes?"
"No but I could help you carry them."
"I would appreciate that, as would Boris, I'm leaving a bit early, but he wants to stay."
"I'm fine with that." Bilbo said and smiled at his cousin, he passed his cousin the oldest and slowly stood with the baby and the toddler in his arms. He had sobered as he had slept and walked with his cousin back to his house. He tucked the children into bed and turned to Alderfrin. "My mother used to use water to help make the braiding go easier, otherwise the hair tangles."
"Thank you cousin, she screams if I try to braid it when she's awake."
"Of course and bribes never hurt when I was small." Bilbo said and with a wink he left the house laughing before breaking into a run back to the party tree. He was in time to have a piece of cake and he laughed when he saw that his dwarven guests had all drunk too much. All three of them were snoring against a tree, goblets of ale beside them. Bilbo went over and shook one's shoulder. "Ibkin." He said and his cousin's only response was to snore. Bilbo laughed before he got his wagon and horse and brought it to the party tree. His cousins helped him load those that had too much to drink into the wagon and Bilbo and four others settled them into their beds and put chamber pots by them for the morning. Bilbo then returned to the gathering and danced and ate pie and cake, he also took several more loads of people who had gotten to far into their cups back home.
He drank some more after sobering and smiled at his cousin who was talking animatedly with Arianna, as their relatives watched, he'd most likely miss their courting. If he were lucky he'd be back in time for their wedding or failing that the birth of their first child. He wondered suddenly if he would always be alone himself, if there were anyone for him in Middle Earth. He frowned, before taking another slice of cake and another pint of ale and proceeded to drown his sorrows, his thoughts becoming increasingly maudlin with each tankard, until he passed out.