A/N: Hey everybody! So I know this type of story has probably been done to death, but the plot bunnies for this wouldn't leave me alone, so I decided to try my hand at posting this. I'm hoping that my characters will be entertaining enough that everyone will still enjoy this story despite all the other ones out there. I do promise they won't be Mary Sues, and the contrast between modern girls and the dwarves are just too fun not to do. That being said, this is also not a story for anyone who doesn't like swearing, smut, or sexual innuendos, because all those things are going to happen. You've been warned! Also, for the purposes of this story, I'm going to pretend that the movies and books are the same, though my events will probably be a mash-up of both. And I know the movies and books are obviously quite different, but it just makes more sense for the way I'm going to tell the story. Anyway, I hope people actually enjoy this, if not, it's good practice for me if nothing else! Just as an extra note, due to my busy work schedule and other projects I'm working on, updates might be infrequent, but I'll try to do at least once a month. And reviews are always good encouragement ;)!
Disclaimer: I don't own any characters or events you recognize from the Hobbit movies/books, just my OCs!
Chapter One: Tell Me You See That Too
"Lily!" The cry was torn from Alison's mouth as she abruptly awakened, sitting straight up in her panic for her cousin. She blinked in confusion as the sight that met her eyes was not the one she'd expected.
The last thing she remembered was the truck that had run the stop sign, emerging from the side of the highway and slamming into the passenger side of her car, where Lily had been sitting as they drove to the city for a day of shopping. All she could remember hearing was the horrible sound of steel and glass crumbling beneath the onslaught of the truck, of Lily screaming as the side of the car buckled in on her. And yet now, the sight that met her eyes was that of bright sunlight streaming through emerald leaves, dappling the grass in front of her with golden light.
She was sitting on the grass in a forest, not in the mangled remains of a ruined car. And though she felt sore as she shook her limbs out experimentally, she didn't feel any major injuries, just as though she'd had a particularly hard day at the gym. "Well, fuck. Is this heaven or something?"
"Well if it is, you shouldn't be here, potty mouth," an all-too-familiar voice came from her left.
Alison whipped around to see Lily smiling at her from a few feet away, where she also sat on the grass, curly brown hair cascading over her shoulders, brown eyes glinting with mirth. She looked completely normal and unharmed. "Lil!" Alison exclaimed, launching herself across the distance and tackling her cousin to the ground. "You're okay!"
"Get off, Ali!" Lily gasped with laughter, shoving at her, and Alison willingly sat back, her mind humming with relief to see her cousin safe. "Why wouldn't I be okay?"
Alison frowned, studying her cousin, but could see only confusion lining her face. "What do you remember?"
Lily shrugged. "I remember you picking me up from Mom's so we could go shopping, and –" her brow furrowed as she clearly struggled to recall any other details before giving up. "That's it, before I woke up here. And I don't think this is heaven, but I have no idea how we got here. Where's your car?"
Alison shook her head. "I don't know." Not only could she not see the highway or her car anywhere nearby, she couldn't hear the sound of rushing traffic or even of people. There was only the sound of birdsong and the rustling leaves about them. How could they have possibly ended up going from a car accident to being unharmed in the middle of a forest? Even knowing it was terribly cliché, she couldn't help but pinch her arm just in case it was a very realistic dream or a coma or something. She winced in pain. Nope, definitely not a dream. "I guess we'd better look around and try to find the highway or a farm or something."
She got to her feet, shaking back her long red hair and wishing she had a hair-tie on her, but seeing no evidence of her purse or any of her things nearby, she gave up the idea as hopeless, brushing off her jeans with a sigh. She reached a hand down to Lily, pulling her to her feet, frowning as her cousin straightened to her full height. Alison might be the older of the two, but sometime during their teen years Lily had grown taller than her, and now stood a full three inches higher. It seemed somehow wrong to be both the oldest and the shortest, but she shrugged it off. "Come on, let's go."
Having no idea what else to do, Alison simply went straight forward from where they sat, hoping that eventually they'd hit a path or road or something. How big could this place be, after all? Lily followed obediently behind, used as always to the impulsive whims of her cousin.
It felt like forever before they finally did find a dusty trail winding its way through the trees, though it was probably only twenty minutes. Alison looked back and forth along the trail before shrugging. "How about we go left?"
"Are you sure that's the right way?" Lily asked doubtfully.
"Nope," Alison replied cheerfully before turning left and heading down the trail. Given they had no idea where they were, she didn't think it mattered much which way they went. Both ends of the trail had to lead somewhere, right? Lily sighed behind her, but the sound of her footsteps crushing a twig on the path indicated she was still following.
It was probably another twenty minutes before a person came in view around a bend in the trail several hundred yards ahead. Alison squinted. Now that looked like a wizard's hat – and a wizard's robe – and a wizard's staff. In fact, as near as she could tell from this distance, it looked like a ridiculously good cosplay of Gandalf the Grey. She halted dead in her tracks, Lily nearly running into her before she managed to sidestep and come up next to her. "Please tell me you see that too," Alison muttered.
"You mean Gandalf down there? Yeah, I see him," Lily answered. One of the things that made the two of them so close, besides their age and the fact that their mothers were sisters, was that they both liked the same things. In other words, they were both big geeks, fascinated with fantasy and sci-fi and horror books and shows, and they had both regularly been to the Comic Expo in the city in the last few years. Tolkien's works and the movies made from them numbered among their favourites, so it wasn't hard for them to recognize the costume.
Although, damn was it a good costume, Alison thought as the wizard drew closer. It would easily have won first place at the Expo's costume contest, for as the man drew close enough for her to see him better, she could tell that the long grey hair and beard were not fake at all. In fact, he looked terrifyingly like Ian McKellen as Gandalf in the movies. "Okay, what the fuck, Lil? That seriously looks like the real deal – like Sir Ian is just strolling down a forest path dressed as Gandalf," she whispered to her cousin.
She glanced over at Lily, who was frowning as she squinted at the man in question. "Yeah, it does," she whispered back, "but that's impossible. I mean, we're in rural Canada, not England. There's no way he'd be wandering around here. Must just be a look-alike."
By this point, the wizard was only about twenty feet away, and he called out cheerfully, "At last, my dears, you have arrived! I am pleased to see that it worked so well!"
Shit, he even sounded like the real deal, Alison thought in alarm. This was seriously freaky stuff! And what was he talking about? It sounded like he'd been expecting them. He stopped a few feet away, beaming at them in a friendly old man manner, looking even more like he'd stepped right off the set of the Hobbit movies into their lives. "Um, what are you talking about?" she asked at last when he said nothing further. "And who are you?"
"Of course, how rude of me. It seems I have completely forgotten my manners!" The wizard swept them a courtly bow before straightening up. "I am Gandalf the Grey."
Alison snorted. "Yeah right, dude. Good one. It's a terrific costume, I'll grant you, but you do know the Expo was last month, right? And not in the middle of the forest?"
"I am afraid I have no idea what you are referring to," 'Gandalf' replied pleasantly. "Though I do realize that finding yourself here must come as quite a shock, Miss Alison, Miss Lilith."
Lily gasped and Alison paled. How did he know their names? Even if he'd been listening in on their conversation somehow when they woke up, or following them around, no one called Lily by her full name anymore, and hadn't in years. "Okay, just who the hell are you?" she snarled, planting her hands on her hips. "Have you been spying on us or something?"
"Well, in a manner of speaking, I suppose I have," the wizard replied, "though not, I think, in the way you fear. What is the last thing you remember?"
"We – we were in Ali's car," Lily stammered, sounding as though she were in shock, "and that's all I can remember. We must have blacked out or something and ended up out in the woods, but it – it doesn't really make sense . . ."
She should be dead. Lily should be dead. Even if Alison had somehow survived that car crash, she knew there was no way that Lily should have. She'd been trying very hard not to think about it, trying to convince herself that the car crash was the weird dream and they'd forgotten that they'd gone hiking or something, but she couldn't shake the memory of the truck flying at them. Of Lily screaming, or the car crumbling. Lily obviously didn't remember it, and if she didn't, Alison didn't want her to, but she couldn't forget, and it had all been far too realistic. But then, how were they here? And where was here?
The wizard nodded gently, almost as if he could read the thoughts flashing through Alison's mind. "And you, Miss Alison? What can you recall?"
Don't ask me to tell her. Don't ask me to tell her how I failed to protect her. She'd been the one driving, as she always did because Lily had never learned how, and if they'd crashed, it was her fault. It was her fault that Lily should be dead. She didn't want to answer, but under that kindly blue-eyed gaze that was boring into her, she didn't feel as though she could lie. "There was a crash – a truck hit us. That's the last thing I can remember," she muttered.
"Indeed," the wizard nodded. "That was when I brought the two of you here – with some assistance, of course. Such a task is quite beyond my power alone."
"Wait." Lily clutched Alison's arm so tightly that she winced as Lily blurted out, "Are you saying we – we died or something? Or we were going to, and you – you're really Gandalf and you brought us to – are we in Middle Earth?!" Her voice had risen to a near shriek at the end, causing Alison to wince again.
"Of course we're not in Middle Earth and he's not really Gandalf. Don't be . . . ridiculous . . ." Alison trailed off as she saw that the wizard in question was smiling and nodding.
"I am afraid your cousin is quite correct, Miss Alison. You see, I needed help with an upcoming quest, for the visions I saw of the possible future did not contain the outcomes I had hoped for. After much consultation with those wiser than I, I discovered two people that I believed could provide the aid I sought." Alison's head was whirling and buzzing as Gandalf – was this really Gandalf?! – continued on, "It would destroy the balance of the worlds if I was to transport someone here whose fates lay elsewhere, so I required the aid of those who no longer had a fate to change. And of the possible people I could bring, the most hopeful outcome appeared to lie with the two of you. And so, I have brought the both of you here, in the hopes that you will agree to aid me on this venture."
Alison suddenly felt very faint, as though she might tumble to the ground at any moment, and Lily's grip on her arm had only grown tighter. "You mean – are you saying – that we were dead? And you could only bring dead people here to help?" This was ridiculous, she thought helplessly. This was definitely a dream, or a coma or something, and she'd just not pinched herself hard enough earlier.
"Not precisely," Gandalf said with another kindly smile, seeming to notice how much in shock they both were. "You were about to die, and I brought you here in the moments before your death. With the help of the Lady Galadriel and others, I was able to heal you both of the wounds your body had suffered, as well as give you forms more fitting to your new fates on Middle Earth."
Forms more fitting . . .? It took Alison a moment to realize what he was talking about. It hadn't really crossed her mind before, because she didn't know how tall Gandalf was supposed to be, or really if this man was Gandalf, but he was nearly a full two feet taller than her. Had she shrunk somehow? She hadn't noticed before now, as Lily was still the few inches taller than her that she'd always been. "What – what forms?" she managed, even as she told herself this couldn't be happening.
"Why, my dear, I have made you and Miss Lilith half of the race of Dwarves, and half of the race of Men. Were you solely of the race of Men, Thorin would have been far too suspicious of you, and if you were solely of the race of Dwarves, I feared it would be too much of a shock for you both. This appeared to be the best solution for all involved." Gandalf seemed quite proud of himself, giving a little thump of his staff on the dusty trail as if to emphasize his point.
"Thorin . . . this can't be happening, this can't be happening . . . " Lily was babbling next to Alison, who was similarly frozen in disbelief.
If she could possibly believe anything that was going on, then Gandalf had brought them to Middle Earth to help the dwarves re-take Erebor, or else there would have been no reason to refer to Thorin or to make them half-Dwarf. Yet none of it could be possible. She'd finally cracked and gone crazy. Or it was a coma dream. People dreamt up crazy things in comas, didn't they? "There's no way," she said firmly to Gandalf. "There's just no way this can be real. It's got to be some fucked-up dream I'm having."
"Ali," Lily hissed, squeezing her arm again. "Don't swear!"
Gandalf just smiled, seemingly not offended by her language, if indeed he even understood what she'd meant. "Well then, Miss Alison, if this is indeed all a dream, should you not enjoy it while you can?"
Alison paused, studying the smiling wizard. She hadn't really thought of it that way, but he had a point. If it was a dream, why not enjoy herself? She'd always wanted to go on an adventure, after all, and if she continued along with the dream, she'd get to meet bloody Thorin Oakenshield and his company before she woke up. "You know what, Gandalf? You're right. What the hell. What do you think, Lily?"
She turned to her cousin, who appeared to still be wide-eyed with shock, though she finally let go of Alison's arm. "I think if this was really a dream, it wouldn't be so real, and we wouldn't both be here," Lily muttered. "But either way, we don't know where we are, so what choice do we have?"
Alison chose to ignore Lily's logical answer, because nothing about this was logical, and instead grinned and nodded. "Okay, Gandalf, we're in. Lead the way!"
The wizard beamed at them. "Excellent. Then we must head back this way, for I believe it is best if you wait in the home of a friend of mine for the others to arrive. I presume that you have heard of Mr. Bilbo Baggins?"
Alison scrambled to keep up with Gandalf's long legs as he strode back down the path the way he'd come, and Lily followed along beside her as she nodded in answer. "Uh, Gandalf, if you know who we are, you know that we know everything that happens, right? And not just now, but later –"
Gandalf cut her off abruptly, his expression suddenly grave. "I do indeed. And I must ask that you keep this information to yourself, both of you. You must not tell anyone, not even myself, for the repercussions could be dire if you were to reveal too much. Or, should the wrong people discover the information you hold regarding the fate of Middle Earth, it could become disastrous for all involved."
Alison nodded. It made sense to keep everything they knew a secret, for if someone like Sauron or Saruman found out what she and Lily knew about the fate of the Ring or the War of the Ring, it could change everything. That is, if any of this was real, which of course it wasn't, she told herself. Still, best to play along if she wanted her coma dream to go nicely.
"Um, excuse me, Gandalf," Lily began quietly, "but you said you brought us here because you didn't like the outcome you saw. Doesn't that mean you already know what's going to happen?"
"I do not know everything, Miss Lilith," Gandalf answered gravely. "I have seen only a few visions of the possible outcomes, of the things that will be if we are unable to prevent them. I know only that even if this quest succeeds, the line of Durin may be wiped out, and I do not wish that to happen."
"So you want us to save them," Alison said bluntly. "Thorin and his nephews, I mean. That's why we're here?" Dreaming that we're here, she reminded herself firmly.
"Precisely. It is my hope that all of them might be saved," Gandalf hesitated slightly, glancing down at them with an unreadable expression before going on, "but if that is not possible, then I would ask that you save at least one of them, so that the line of Durin does not end entirely."
"To do that, we're going to have to go along on the quest to Erebor," Alison pointed out.
"And Thorin won't want us to come," Lily added. "I mean, we don't know how to fight."
Gandalf smiled serenely. "Then we shall have to convince him of your worth in other matters. Do not worry about Thorin Oakenshield. I shall convince him of the necessity of bringing you along. After all, Bilbo is no more a fighter than either of you."
He had a point there, Alison realized. Bilbo didn't know the first thing about fighting, and really at this point, didn't have a lot of skills to bring to the table. Whereas she had already thought of a couple of possible ways she could convince Thorin they could help. One was horribly cliché, of course, but she was still pretty positive it could work, and suddenly she couldn't wait to get to the Shire and meet the company of Thorin Oakenshield. Dream or no, this promised to be a lot of fun.
"I told you, Gandalf, I am not going on an adventure!" Bilbo had answered the perfectly round, green door of his hobbit hole, taken one look at Gandalf, and shaken his head vigorously.
Alison was holding in her internal fangirl squeal. Just as the Shire had looked precisely as it did in the movies, a gorgeous place overflowing with gardens, flowers, trees and hobbit holes, so too did Bilbo look the same; a riotous mass of golden curls above his rather cute face, annoyed as it looked now, wearing a white shirt tucked into tan pants with suspenders, his large hairy feet sticking out below. Kudos to Peter Jackson, really, she thought, because every detail was perfect so far.
"Actually, Bilbo, I have not come about that," Gandalf replied, sounding slightly annoyed. He stepped aside, gesturing to Alison and Lily who stood behind him; Alison waved slightly at Bilbo, who now just looked confused. "This is Miss Alison and Miss Lily Evans. They are friends of mine who are very far from home, and on their way here, were set upon by bandits. They only just managed to escape with their lives and the clothes on their backs, and now have no possessions or anywhere to stay. I had hoped that you might allow them to stay with you for a few days until I have found them somewhere else to go."
It wasn't going to be a few days, actually, for Gandalf had confided to them on the way here that the dwarves were arriving tonight. However, he didn't want Bilbo to know that, and had sworn them to secrecy, saying that Bilbo was unlikely to let the dwarves in if he knew what they had come for. Gandalf had also, along the way, decided on the bandit story to explain why they had absolutely nothing with them, and they had decided on several other aspects of their story as well. Alison just hoped that everybody - well Thorin mainly - actually bought their story.
"Please, Mr. Baggins?" Lily asked when Bilbo didn't reply right away. "We'd be really grateful, and we'll try not to be much trouble."
"We'll help with whatever we can," Alison added, giving him her best pleading look. "Cooking or cleaning or whatever you need."
Bilbo's face softened and he nodded. "Of course you can stay. I would not turn away anyone that truly needs help."
"Thank you." Alison smiled at him gratefully, already feeling a little guilty knowing they would have to lie to Bilbo, but it was for the best for everyone.
"Yes, most generous of you, Bilbo." Gandalf beamed at the hobbit, seemingly over his annoyance with him already. "I shall take my leave now, and I will return for the two of you when I have found somewhere for you to go." He nodded at the two of them, casting a wink their way before heading back down the path, leaving them with Bilbo.
Bilbo ushered them into his house, closing the door behind them, and Alison and Lily immediately set about praising the hobbit hole as he took them on a tour of it. It was partly a calculated move, because they both knew how much Bilbo loved his home, but it wasn't hard to be sincere in their praise. It was a wonderful, cozy and homey place, warm and inviting with the sunny yellow of its walls and the rich tones of its wood furniture. It wasn't hard for them to be friendly to Bilbo, either, for when he led them into his impressive library, the girls quickly bonded with Bilbo over their mutual love of reading. What surprised Alison the most as they spent the afternoon chatting with Bilbo was how funny and sassy he could be here in the comfort of his home, away from Gandalf and the dwarves; it was an aspect of his character she hadn't known much about, but she really liked it.
When the sun began to go down, they helped Bilbo make a meal of fish, potatoes and other vegetables, though Lily urged him to make more than the three fish and handful of rolls he'd originally planned on making. "We might be hungrier than we expect," she explained hastily when Bilbo asked her why. "No harm in having leftovers, right?"
Bilbo promptly agreed, taking the explanation at face value, and Lily looked guiltily at Alison, who shrugged. It couldn't be helped.
The three of them had just sat down at the little table before the fireplace and begun to eat when the doorbell rang. "Now who could that be?" Bilbo stood up, looking curiously at the two of them. Alison shrugged in answer, and Lily kept her eyes fixed on her plate. "Perhaps Gandalf has come back with some news for you already?"
"Maybe," Alison agreed, though she knew perfectly well who it was at the door. Bilbo went out into the entryway to answer the door, and they soon heard the deep voice of Dwalin announcing himself.
"Should we go help?" Lily muttered as they heard Bilbo answering in confusion.
"Nope." Alison cut off another bite of fish. "I don't know about you, but I'm going to finish this food before Dwalin tries to steal it."
As if on cue, they heard Dwalin say, "He said there'd be food and lots of it," and he entered the room, stopping short for a minute when he saw them. He looked briefly confused before shrugging and evidently deciding to ignore them, sitting down in the spot Bilbo had vacated as the poor hobbit followed him, cloak in hand, stammering, "He – he said? Who said?"
Dwalin ignored him, digging into the plate of food Bilbo had made up for himself, and Bilbo looked at Alison and Lily, clearly confused as to what he should do. "Do you know him?" Bilbo asked helplessly.
They both shook their heads at him, which was technically the truth, Alison justified to herself. They only knew of Dwalin, they'd never actually met him. And, she thought, stealing a glance at the bald, tattooed dwarf as he noisily devoured the food on his plate, he was even more intimidating in person than she would have expected. Bilbo looked on in mild horror as Dwalin finished off the entire plate and asked for more, which the hobbit reluctantly handed over, both the extra two pieces of fish they'd made and the entire basket of rolls, though not before keeping a couple of rolls for himself.
"It's just I wasn't expecting any more company," Bilbo tried after handing over the food, but was interrupted by the doorbell again.
Dwalin looked at him coolly. "That'll be the door."
Alison started eating a little faster, wanting to be done before the other dwarves got there and took all the food. The fact that it tasted so real was a little unnerving for her, however. She'd still been trying to operate on the assumption that this was all merely a fantastic dream, but she couldn't recall any dream she'd had where she'd actually tasted food. She pushed the thought down firmly; if she was somehow wrong about these crazy circumstances of theirs being a dream, she wasn't nearly ready to deal with the implications of that thought.
Balin, the elderly white-haired dwarf, soon entered the kitchen, joyfully greeting Dwalin, who'd already finished the extra food Bilbo had given him and was demolishing the contents of the cookie jar. The crack of their heads made Alison wince in sympathy as she finally finished her food and looked over to Lily, who was watching Bilbo with guilt as the hobbit followed the dwarves over to the pantry, trying to convince them they were in the wrong place.
"Man, Ali, I feel so bad," Lily hissed. "We should do something to help Bilbo."
"Like what?" Alison asked reasonably. They couldn't very well kick the dwarves out, and they'd promised Gandalf they wouldn't tell Bilbo what they were doing here. Besides, it wasn't like Bilbo was in danger or anything. "He'll live."
"Well, yes, but –" Lily was cut off by the doorbell ringing again, and Alison grinned as she remembered who was coming next.
She hopped out of her seat, pulling Lily to her feet. "Come on, Lil, I want to see these two." Lily sighed, but she followed Alison without protest.
Alison halted at the door into the entry hall, Lily next to her, just as Bilbo opened the door to reveal Thorin's nephews. "Thank you, Jesus," Alison muttered as she got her first look at them. She'd expected them to be good-looking, given that everyone she'd met so far had matched their movie counterparts, but if anything, Fili and Kili were even hotter in person, much to her delight.
Lily sighed, obviously recognizing the look on Alison's face. "Down, girl," she whispered.
"Why? Gandalf said we should enjoy ourselves, and that, Lil, is fun," Alison said, pointing to the brothers as they bowed in unison to Bilbo. Not to mention bloody sex on a stick, she thought to herself, taking in Fili's confident smirk just before Bilbo tried to close the door on the brothers.
"No, it's a bad idea," Lily retorted, but when Alison merely smiled serenely at her, Lily tossed up her hands in defeat. "Kili, then?"
"No, I think Fili actually," Alison mused, watching as the brothers shoved their way past Bilbo. She glanced over at Lily, who looked surprised, and Alison could only shrug in response. It was true, she normally preferred dark-haired guys without facial hair, or stubble at most, which fit Kili perfectly, but for some reason, Fili kept drawing her attention.
His wild mane of golden hair and braided moustache and beard were pretty much the opposite of what she would have said she preferred prior to now, but damn if he wasn't gorgeous as he swaggered in, dropping his swords in Bilbo's arms and proceeding to pull out daggers from pretty much everywhere. Yes, Alison decided, she was going to find out where he hid every single one of those. "You can have Kili," she whispered to her cousin.
"I don't want –" Lily's hissed denial was interrupted by Kili himself, as the sharp-eyed archer finally spotted them in the doorway as he was admiring Bilbo's house. His face erupted in a grin as he called over his shoulder, "Brother!" before darting over to the two girls.
"Kili, at your service," he declared, bowing low before them, straightening up quickly and winking at Lily, much to Alison's amusement as her cousin blushed. "Are you relatives of Mr. Boggins?"
"Baggins," Lily corrected automatically. "His name is Bilbo Baggins."
"And no," Alison supplied as Fili promptly joined his brother, giving her a once-over with his startlingly blue eyes that she thoroughly enjoyed as she smiled back at him, doing the same. "We're friends of Gandalf, and Bilbo is kindly letting us stay here for a few days."
"We did not expect to see such lovely ladies at this meeting, did we, Kee?" Fili asked, though his eyes had not left Alison yet.
"No, brother, we did not, but I cannot say I am unhappy about our sudden good fortune," Kili answered, smiling at a still-blushing Lily.
"Nor am I," Fili agreed, before sweeping Alison a deep bow. "Fili, at your service."
Oh, I certainly hope so. "I'm Alison," she replied, sticking her hand out for him to shake. She didn't think a bow would be appropriate, and she certainly wasn't going to curtsey in jeans and a t-shirt. "It's nice to meet you."
She shouldn't have been surprised at what Fili did next, but she was, mostly because it was just so . . . cliché. And yet, she couldn't deny that when he took her hand gently in his own and brought it to his lips, that it gave her full-on butterflies and tingles, especially when he let his lips linger for a long moment, his eyes hot on hers. Yes, she was most definitely going to enjoy this, though the very realistic feel of his rough hand and warm lips gave her even more doubts that this was a dream. She would have to talk to Gandalf later, but for now, she refused to spoil her fun with thoughts of reality, she decided as Fili straightened up, slowly releasing her hand.
"The pleasure is all mine," he told her, his voice a deep rumble that only increased her tingles.
"We'll see," she replied, her tone laden with suggestion, and his eyebrows shot up before he grinned, his blue eyes twinkling with enjoyment.
He was just opening his mouth to say something in reply when Dwalin's voice boomed out from the pantry. "Fili! Kili! Stop flirting with the lasses and come give us a hand!"
"Mr. Dwalin!" Kili exclaimed, looking torn as he glanced between Lily and Dwalin, who stood in the doorway of the pantry now, arms crossed as he stared at the brothers. Kili glanced back at Lily, saying quickly, "It was a pleasure to meet you," before he scurried over to Dwalin, who wrapped a burly arm around his shoulders, pulling him over to the dining room.
Fili had glanced over his shoulder, and now looked back at Alison regretfully. "I am afraid I must go help my brother and Dwalin, Miss Alison."
"Just Alison, please," she replied with an internal sigh. Fun later, it would seem. "And don't worry about it, we'll talk later."
"Aye, lass, we will," he promised, giving her one more heated look that she returned before he followed after Kili.
"What is going on?" Bilbo lamented, placing Fili's weapons down on the glory box Kili would have wiped his feet on had he not spotted Lily first, Alison thought with a wry grin.
"It'll be all right, Bilbo," Lily told him quietly, placing a comforting hand on his shoulder, though she still looked red-faced.
"Yeah Bilbo, don't worry so much," Alison added, feeling a bit guilty again at the distressed look on Bilbo's face, while she had just enjoyed the hell out of herself.
"How am I meant to not worry?" Bilbo exclaimed. "Dwarves keep invading my home – and what are they doing with that table?!"
Alison glanced behind her, following Bilbo's gaze to where Fili and Kili were helping Dwalin and Balin move a large table into another room, showing an impressive display of muscles. Now if only he was shirtless. "Well, it kind of looks like they're getting ready for more people," she offered reluctantly; she could practically see the steam coming out of Bilbo's ears.
"More?" Bilbo cried. "Just how many more could there be?"
The doorbell rang as if in answer, and Bilbo stormed towards the door, shouting as he went, "No, there's nobody home! Go away and bother somebody else!"
"Oh, there's only about eight more," Lily muttered as Bilbo reached the door, before she turned to Alison and hissed, "Kili kissed my hand!"
"Did he now?" Alison grinned at her. "I was a bit busy myself and missed it. What did you do?"
"I don't know!" Lily moaned, burying her face in her hands. "I can't even remember, but it was probably really embarrassing! I've never had a guy kiss my hand before!"
"Can't say I have either," Alison mused. "Though I can see why it became a cliché, because damn."
"No! No damn!" Lily exclaimed, looking slightly panicked. "You must have realized by now this isn't a dream, and it would be a seriously bad idea to get involved with them – with him!" she corrected hastily, making Alison smile to herself. She doesn't want Kili, huh?
"Now Lil, calm down," Alison said soothingly, wrapping an arm around her shoulders. "I never said I was getting involved, I said I was going to enjoy myself. Big difference. But you're right, we definitely need to talk to Gandalf."
As if on cue, there was a thud as Bilbo opened the door and the other dwarves, minus Thorin, tumbled into the room, with Gandalf standing behind them. "Gandalf," Bilbo said with a sigh.