(A/N: So, I know that I have a whole bunch of other stories that I should be working on, because I have left them for a long time…but I haven't had inspiration for them. Instead, I present you this, my first foray into Hobbit fiction. I don't own anything and I never ever will, so let us just keep that in mind. Now, I know that some of you don't like the pairings in the fandom, but I do. So this one is Bilbo/Thorin and Kili/Fili. It isn't obvious, and there is nothing graphic, but it is there, and I won't be criticized. On with the show!)
The Sound of the Deep Ground
Bilbo Baggins was regretting that he had left his safe, warm, dry Hobbit hole for the umpteenth time that day. Past the sores he got from the saddle, the aching pit in his stomach, and the cold that bit into his skin, he hated the way the Dwarves spoke of him as though he were not around. They didn't do it all the time, no, they were typically much nicer to him than he had expected. Just once in a while, he would hear them begin to speak, and know that he was not appreciated. This was one such morning.
"I still do not trust the Hobbit," Thorin spoke, gruff as usual, his dark eyes trained on his eldest heir. Bilbo felt ire and resentment stir in his chest and pushed his pony a little closer so that they might see him and abort the conversation.
"You do not trust easily Uncle, but Bilbo is worthy," Fili responded, he glanced at Bilbo and spared him a smile. It warmed the Hobbit's heart and confused him all at once. Was he not supposed to acknowledge that he was being talked about so openly? Regardless of Fili defending him, shouldn't the other Dwarf point out that Bilbo was within earshot?
"He has yet to prove anything of the sort. For all you know of him he could be plotting to steal the Heart of the Mountain away and present it to those Elves that he seems so enamored with," Thorin spat, eyes cold. Fili cocked his head and frowned deeply. Before he could respond Kili leaned in and gripped his thigh, subtle warning in his eyes. The pair had always seemed strange to Bilbo, too close for brothers grown, and yet they were not strange to the other members of the party.
Instead of speaking, giving voice to his outrage, Bilbo allowed his pony to slow once again, his mind in other places. Fili and Kili dropped back as well, their hands joined across the distance once they were at the back of the group. They noticed Bilbo behind them, but seemed to ignore him at the same time, leaving the Hobbit to sit in confused silence once again.
"Uncle is weary brother, for now I think it best if we avoid speaking of the burglar to him," Kili said gently, thumb swiping across Fili's knuckles.
"It is not my fault that he cannot recognize his own feelings. He claims distrust when it is petty jealousy. If Bilbo were as taken with our Uncle as he is with Elves, there would be no question of trust," Fili said as he tugged Kili closer, their ponies not seeming to be bothered by the proximity.
"You…you believe that Bilbo…he is Uncle's…"
"I do. I have said as much to Gandalf and he agrees with me. Uncle's bullheaded ways will hurt us all in the end. Mother always said that those who do not learn to love will lose their hearts to gold. I fear that we will retake our home at the cost of our family," Fili confided and Bilbo felt his head spin. He wasn't sure what he had been hearing before, but now that he was, it terrified him. It didn't bother him that neither Fili nor Kili had acknowledged his presence for their conversation, he was beyond that. At that moment, he truly needed to speak to Gandalf.
Unfortunately the Wizard was nowhere to be found. Odd how he conveniently vanished when Bilbo felt that he was most needed.
That night, with Gandalf still not around, Bilbo decided to take matters into his own hands. If Thorin did not like him because he seemed too interested in Elves, then he would ask the questions that had been burning away at him since the Dwarves had taken over his home. After all, he had only avoided asking in the first place because Thorin had seemed so unapproachable.
"Yes Burglar?" Thorin asked almost as soon as Bilbo sat near him. The Hobbit swallowed and attempted to calm himself, otherwise Thorin's attitude would have sent him into another fluster. It was well enough that he had managed not to blush, what with the understanding of who he was to Thorin.
"I was hoping…maybe I am a fool for asking. But I was hoping that you might tell me some more of your history? Of the Lonely Mountain before Smaug," Bilbo whispered and watched Thorin's face shift from a mask of disapproval to one of soft contemplation. Part of him was relieved to see the Dwarf King's face go soft; it made the inexplicable attraction that Bilbo had felt for him a little more understandable. Hobbits were not like Dwarves, they did not love only once, and yet, Bilbo was left with the crushing sense that Thorin would always be the only one for him.
"Do you truly care to know?" Thorin asked, for once looking at Bilbo with kindness and something akin to friendship. Bilbo smiled brightly and nodded eagerly, feeling much like his childhood self. Only he wasn't sitting at the feet of his father or mother, he was sitting beside a Dwarf that had stolen his heart.
"I have wanted to ask for ages," Bilbo admitted and moved to sit closer to Thorin when he was invited.
The Dwarf Lord spoke quietly and softly for hours, telling Bilbo of anything that he cared to know. The world that he spoke of was one that Bilbo found he wouldn't mind calling home. He spoke so long that eventually Bilbo drifted to sleep beneath the arm that had tucked itself around him during the night. No one disturbed them until morning when Gandalf made his way back into their camp.
Bilbo blinked sleep from his eyes and snuggled closer to the warm chest that he was being held against. If Thorin was bothered by this, he said nothing, merely pressing Bilbo closer and drawing his cloak more firmly about the two of them to chase away the morning chill.
"For someone who claims not to trust the Hobbit, you are awfully comfortable with him Uncle," Kili said as they broke camp. Bilbo was still snuggled next to Thorin's side, the Dwarf Lord seemingly intent on remaining just where he was until his Hobbit companion was ready to move.
"I have altered my opinion of our Burglar. It is not your place to wonder about it," Thorin responded, though his voice was less harsh than it had been in days. Kili smiled crookedly and allowed Fili to catch him around the waist in a hug.
"So you admit that you like him. Bilbo is your Kili," Fili said, his face also split with a smile. Bilbo felt his hackles rise once again at being spoken of like he wasn't around, but was entirely disarmed when Kili placed a soft kiss on Fili's lips. Wait…that was what they had meant?
"He is still a Hobbit Fili, I cannot ask that of him," Thorin replied and Bilbo sat up, pulling away from the Dwarf Lord as he did so.
"Would you all just stop that? I am right here! I can hear you just fine! And I will have you know, Thorin Oakenshield, that you can ask anything of me that you please and I will gladly give it," Bilbo said fiercely, his arms crossed over his chest, defiance written on his features. The camp went abruptly silent.
"You…could hear us?" was all that Thorin managed to say at first, bemusement obvious on his face. Bilbo frowned; he wasn't going to be taken in by some joke.
"Of course I can hear you? Do you think me deaf?" Bilbo demanded, only to squeak when he was drawn into Thorin's arms and hugged tightly. He breathed in the scent of Thorin's skin and clothes and tried desperately to stay angry.
"You are a wonder of wonders Bilbo Baggins. Did you not realize that we were speaking differently? We spoke in voices meant only for our kin," Thorin said, practically tugging Bilbo into his lap as he spoke.
"What do you mean? I thought you were just…talking around me," Bilbo said, returning the hug at last and feeling his heart grow calm. There was nothing that he had wanted more than to be in Thorin's arms from the very moment he had seen the dark haired Dwarf.
"No Bilbo, you can hear the sounds of the Deep Ground, the voice that Dwarves use to speak to one another in their own halls. Neither Elves nor Men can hear us when we use it," Fili said, shock evident in his voice.
"This proves that he was meant for you Uncle," Kili added, his eyes shining brightly. Bilbo wasn't sure that he understood what was going on, but he certainly didn't mind the change of atmosphere.
"You said I could ask anything of you Bilbo Baggins," Thorin whispered and Bilbo nodded, "I ask your heart in trade for my own."
"You've had it since the moment you stepped through my front door," Bilbo said, smiling before Thorin kissed him solidly on the lips. It was like nothing that he had ever felt before, and he knew that it was because he and Thorin were connected.
If Gandalf smiled smugly and walked with an extra bounce in his step that day, no one said a word about it.
(A/N: Was it utterly horrible? I mean, it was my first Hobbit fic, and I would like to write more, but I would like to hear from you first.)