"Come now, Master Baggins! The day is not dreary! Shall we not go out?"

The old wizard, though only trying to coax him from his mood, was beginning to annoy him.

Bilbo Baggins sighed and went about finishing the task of cleaning up the kitchen as breakfast had just been finished and really, deep down, he just wanted to be alone.

"I've got to put these dishes away after all," Bilbo argued from where he was, "Maybe later, alright?"

Gandalf the grey sighed and slouched in the chair he sat in; the poor hobbit had been a mess in the months upon his arrival home and the wise Istari knew exactly why.

Though they'd exchanged many letters over the months and even though Gandalf had employed various and helpful fowl to make sure their correspondences reached each other safely, it was obvious that it did little to ease the ache in the hobbits heart.

Indeed, He'd gained very little of the weight he'd lost during the quest to Erebor, and Bilbo seemed to be finding little and little comfort in his books and maps as the days continued on without Bofur the dwarf to keep him company.

The hobbit was in a distressed state, though he hid it well, and Gandalf was growing quite tired of it.

Bofur, from what Bilbo had relayed to him, had written in his last letter that things were going quite well in Erebor and the dwarf predicted that soon he would fulfill his promise and finally make his home with the hobbit in his ancestral home.

That had been two months ago and Bilbo's last letter out had yet to be answered; It pained the wizard to watch the hobbit's eyes grow deeply sad after he checked the mail or watched quietly suffering as flocks of thrushes or raven flew over his smial without stopping.

Suddenly, as he listened to Bilbo busy about the kitchen, a clever idea came to Gandalf's mind and he hummed gleefully at his cleverness.

"What's funny?"

Gandalf, looking up in surprise, found Bilbo standing before him and drying his hands on dish towel.

"Oh! Eh, well…I just realized it will be your birthday soon!" Gandalf explained with a smile. "Your…fifty-fourth birthday, correct?"

Bilbo cocked and eyebrow: "Fifty-third!" He corrected, "Still young by hobbit standards and…"

Bilbo's eyes became distant and he shook his shoulders before asking: "Has anything come?"

Gandalf, knowing what he was asking for and why, shook his head slowly, hating to see the disappointment, once again, line the hobbits delicate features.

"Well…maybe tomorrow, eh? Even with your feathered friends as couriers, I dare say, it does take a while."

Gandalf offered a smile and a nod before Bilbo once again departed to take up another house cleaning task; with what had just occurred, Gandalf decided that his plan was worth putting into action.

"Bilbo, I think I'll take a walk!" The old wizard announced, not waiting for the hobbit to reply, and dashed out the front door of Bag End.

Though it had taken a while for his bird call to be answered, Gandalf wasn't surprised when a Raven came and perched upon the wizards shoulder.

"G'day to you, Mr. Gandalf!" the large, black bird offered cheerfully, "How can I help you today?"

Gandalf chuckled and answered thus: "A message needs to be delivered to Bofur the dwarf, as you know; um…it is an invitation, rather, and one that I doubt he will turn down. Let him know that Gwahir, hopefully, will be there in two months and…two weeks from this very day. Off you go!"

The raven flapped its large wings, cackling as he did. "Another little tweet to the dwarf?" He chirped, "As you order it, so shall it be, but eh…why not send message to Gwahir so that he might deliver it instead of I?"

Gandalf smiled and shrugged the bird from his shoulder. Watching him fly around him casually, He replied: "I don't think Bofur was too fond of being carried from a burning tree by one of Gwahir's soldiers without being warned before hand. Also…I can't seem to find a moth right now. But I shall and so I bid you a good day and a safe journey Master Raven!"

Nori chucked the dagger; watching it land securely of with a thud in the plank of wood; smirking when Bofur barked and jumped back with a start.

"Damn it Nori!" the dwarf cursed, "I wish ye would stop doin that!"

The other dwarf sighed and slunk in his chair; "I wish," He confessed, "You would pull that big head of yours out of your arse and stop being so bloody boring!"

Bofur sighed and pulled the dagger from the plank; inspecting the hole, he shrugged as he flung it back at Nori whom caught with ease.

"Sorry," Bofur offered dryly and not without a sarcastic droll, "I've got a lot on me mind."

"Oh, I think it's just one thing," Nori argued calmly, "Or rather, one curly haired hobbit, eh?"

Bofur chuckled then, his thumbs in his belt, he offered an amused smile to his old friend. "Since when do ye nose yer way into affairs of the heart?" He asked, setting about building the shelves he'd promised Bombur's wife yesterday, "That doesn't seem very… 'Nori' like."

Nori, now cleaning his nails with the dagger he'd flung earlier, snorted and retorted: "Ever since you started moping around, being nothing but a bore to me, and pining for that sweet Halfling of yours. You know, even Bombur's worried about you."

Bofur scoffed but couldn't help but blush. "He nor you have any reason to worry…it won't be long now. Then ye can find someone else to entertain ye, oh! And to practice that knife throwing thing ye do!"

Nori shrugged; "Didn't say I wouldn't miss you," He joked, "Why don't I tag along?"

"Oh so ye can have me around to make sure ye have got someone to bail out of jail?" Bofur asked, and the two broke into laughter.

"Here! I haven't gotten pinched in months!" Nori protested jokingly.

"Not 'ere ye 'aven't! Yet!" Bofur pointed out happily, "But I say, give it time!"

Suddenly, a shriek came from one of the rooms at the back of the home Bofur, Bombur, and sometimes Nori had been working on for some months and instantly the two long-time friends hurried toward the room in quick sprints.

Bombur's wife, Sela, pointed angrily at the open window and spat: "Can't you use a regular post!"

With that she bounded from the room, again threatening to have Bombur throw the two of them out into the streets if the madness of birds didn't cease.

There was no letter held in the raven's talons yet still, Bofur approached and held out his arm and instantly the bird took his roost on the dwarf's muscled forearm.

"G'day and sorry about that," sung the raven pleasantly, "I forget she's not partial to us suddenly stopping by!"

Bofur waved his free hand: "Stress of settling in," He explained, "That an 'er husband grows fatter by the hour. 'Ave ye any message then?"

The raven bowed and said: "Yes in fact. Gandalf sends word that in two months time, two weeks from the day he sent me, and he would like you to be prepared to depart for the Shire. You may expect Master Gwahir to come and fetch you then."

"Oh thank heavens!" Nori said with a clap of his hands, "No more boring Bofur!"

Bofur's heart was racing as the prospect of finally being reunited with the one he loved filled his mind with wild ideas.

"Thank you," Bofur said, "I will be more 'n ready."

The raven chirped his farewell and departed; leaving the two dwarves to wonder about what had just happened.

"Why such a date?" Nori wondered, "Wouldn't that mean you'd arrive~"

"His birthday," Bofur concluded, "I think I'm meant to be a birthday present."