Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Author Notes: Part Twenty-Five in the 'Violet Nights' series.

A TARTAN MATTER OF TIME (AND PERSPECTIVE)

Bilbo wasn't panicking but he was moving quickly. The message from his mother had been brief – there was no need for him to worry but his dad had broken his leg while pottering about Bag End nursery. Bilbo had immediately left Elladan and Elrohir in charge of Violet Nights and had dashed a message off to Thorin as he'd left for the hospital. The Durins would worry if they couldn't find Bilbo and some of them counted themselves as friends of Bungo Baggins too so they'd want to know what'd happened.

The lady at the front desk directed Bilbo and he soon found his mother, chatting amiably to a couple of the hospital porters. She was dressed for the cold weather; her tartan skirt was heavy but flattering, paired with a cream-coloured blouse. Her hair pins complimented the tartan. When she turned to smile and hug her son, Bilbo saw the disquiet in her eyes. His mother wasn't given to worrying but she'd always hated feeling helpless.

"Darling, did you run all the way here?" Belladonna shook her head as the porters drifted away. "Honestly, he's fine. It wasn't even a bad break; they're just wrapping everything up now."

"How long's he going to be off his feet?"

"Oh, quite a while. Like the rest of him, his bones aren't as young as they used to be. But we'll get him out into the fresh air as soon as possible, he'll wilt indoors."

That was true. Bungo had lived with his hands in the dirt for decades, come rain or shine or English summer. Any long-term indoor recuperation was actually likely to set his recovery back. Bilbo felt something in him ease as he quickly thumbed a message to Bifur for passing on to the others – his Dad was being seen to already.

Bilbo was about to ask just how long his dad's hospital stay was likely to be when a doctor appeared, still wearing scrubs. Her facial features were strong and her gaze was direct when she introduced herself as Dr Tomlinson.

"We've successfully reset the leg; it was a good clean break. He'll need to stay here for a few days before we can think about moving him but as long as he stays off his feet, he should be fine."

Belladonna smiled and shook the doctor's hand. "As long as he watches his step too."

The doctor smiled back, "That would be a good idea. You can see him shortly; one of our nurses will come and get you."

She looked at Belladonna and Bilbo for a moment more before nodding and walking briskly away. Bilbo watched her leave, something both tensing and lurching inside of him. Oh God, not here. It couldn't be happening here.

"Was she-?"

"It's good, isn't it? Having friends in important places." Belladonna retrieved her own mobile phone from her handbag. "Now I doubt anyone's told Dis what's happened and she and Elrond will be waiting for me."

"Mum," Bilbo's tone was a sharp but he barrelled onward regardless, his voice quietening instinctively. "What do you mean, friends?"

Belladonna looked surprised now and then gently amused, "She's Oin's wife, darling. I thought that was obvious. She couldn't say anything of course but she shook my hand just like Oin, Dwalin and Balin do."

Bilbo gaped for a moment and then sat down suddenly, all of the air and tension running out of him just as quickly as it'd arrived. Oin's wife. Oin was married? He wore a wedding ring but he never mentioned a wife. Bilbo had assumed that he was widowed, like Balin. So was Oin's wife someone who stayed away for her own sake or for Oin's? In case of Smaug?

And why had Bilbo assumed the very worst at so little provocation?

Belladonna sat beside him and took hold of his hand, "She's called Neve, she and Oin have been legally separated for years."

"Because of Smaug."

"Because of their jobs. Apparently there wasn't room in their marriage for both a doctor and a surgeon. They're still friends; they're just not husband and wife. Well, they are but not as they once were. It works very well for them."

That probably made sense and Bilbo would have taken it in his stride most days, as he usually did when the Durins dropped another improbable life choice into his lap, but today Bilbo closed his eyes and leaned back against the wall. He felt completely drained, and every moment of the past few months. First, one of his suppliers had decided to stop doing business with him. No matter how much Bilbo had tried to change their minds, they'd been adamant about refusing to trade with him anymore. Then there'd been the few days when Violet Nights had been very empty of customers and Bilbo had been worried that maybe Smaug had somehow contrived to put him out of business. That'd been difficult to say the least.

Also, there'd been endless Durin speculation about just why Dis had stopped dating Elladan and Elrohir. She insisted that it'd been amicable and as Bilbo had seen her enjoying someone else's company not long after, he fully believed her but her family and friends worried of course and wanted quite keenly to blame the twins so they'd treated the brothers even worse than usual. Elladan and Elrohir hadn't been bothered by the Durins' behaviour at all but Bilbo had been furious and had turfed the Durins out of his café until they'd decided to demonstrate better manners. A week or so later, they had. Dis had messaged Bilbo to say that she'd need a box of those cock-shaped shortbread biscuits please; apparently she'd been fighting her family at her end as well. Bilbo had quite happily fulfilled her request and had also given her a batch of brandy snaps, one of his new recipes, for Dis to try before anyone else.

Bilbo couldn't be sure but he was becoming increasingly convinced that one of his semi-regular customers was interested in the Durins, interested as in eavesdropping and perhaps more. It could just be interest in the attractive loud family who frequently trooped into Violet Nights often questionably dressed or it could be something a lot sourer.

And...

And Bilbo hated how his worldview was changing.

Belladonna was squeezing his hands. She wasn't pushing for answers yet but she would start very soon so Bilbo forced himself to speak. His every word felt loud in the otherwise silent corridor.

"I hate that I saw a conspiracy. I know it's good to be aware but I can't spend every minute looking over my shoulder or thinking the worst of people at the drop of a hat."

God, it sounded stupid when he put it like that but Bilbo didn't take it back. It was how he felt. Almost all the Durins wouldn't understand – it was how they'd lived for so long now. Thorin knew though; at one point he'd tried to push Bilbo away because he hadn't wanted Bilbo hurt by Smaug or by the Durins, because Thorin had known that knowing his family would hurt Bilbo. Bilbo didn't want to make Thorin feel guiltier than he already did. He'd talk to Thorin about it though; Bilbo had no intention of being hypocrite.

"You've always been pragmatic," Belladonna reminded him. "And no one's asking you to be Thorin, least of all him. Anyway you can't walk through life with your eyes closed, none of us can, and you knew what you were getting into."

Bilbo shook his head, "But you didn't and now-."

"And now your father has broken his leg, not thanks to any terrible scheme but because of a misplaced rake and his old bones. Even if you hadn't met Thorin, your father still would have fallen over and someone else would have been causing a racket in your café. Now I have friends to cancel dinner with, charming young men who would like to walk me to my car and a lot of very interesting conversation to catch up on."

"You'd have other friends."

"But not these ones." Belladonna's eyes were smiling especially. "And like you, I happen to know they're worth the trouble."

She leaned against Bilbo's shoulder though as she messaged Kili or Fili to thank them for their offer of a lift home. Bilbo wrapped an arm around her, concentrating on absorbing his mother's solid vital presence. He wasn't going to send her away or try to persuade her to find other friends. Like she'd said, he wasn't Thorin. He was going to take a long hard look at his own perspective though because at the moment he sometimes didn't like who he was and he doubted that a relationship with Thorin would last if Bilbo became too much like his boyfriend.

He'd tell Thorin about his perspective shift and what he needed to do. He wouldn't tell Bifur to stop texting him alerts though, those were useful. He wouldn't necessarily drop his guard but he would adapt it into a more comfortable positive stance. Bofur and Bifur's attitudes were different, as were Balin and Dwalin's. Not everybody dealt with Smaug's threats and presence in the exact same way. Bilbo had managed when a couple of Smaug's employees had searched Violet Nights for Oin and Gloin; he'd successfully managed in his own way ever since. He just had to remember that and get back to it at times like this.

God help him, but sometimes he actually had to be more like his mother. That'd make his Dad laugh. Bilbo looked forward to telling him.

Bilbo was going to go back to the café and make his Dad an Earl Grey cake and start looking out some books to keep his Dad occupied during the more confining parts of his recovery. He'd leave Bifur to keep an eye on the hospital's visitors and Bifur and Florella could both make sure that Bag End ticked over nicely in Bungo's absence, they'd both been spending a bit of time there recently. Bilbo would also ask for a message to be sent out to the Durins that his Dad should only be very sparsely visited. Nori could probably find a way in, Dori and Ori did volunteering for a few organisations in the city, maybe they could volunteer at the hospital for a few days. Because Bilbo's Dad would appreciate visitors and the Durins would want to do that for him despite the risks because that was what they did for those that mattered to them.

Bilbo was going to ask Oin to thank Neve for him and at some point soon Bilbo was going to talk to Thorin. Then Bilbo was going to call Brin and Fal and see if Millie was free to join them and they were all going to go out and get thoroughly pissed.

"So..." Belladonna continued to lean against him but her tone was one that told Bilbo to prepare for trouble. "I hear you're thinking of getting a tattoo. The right one could really suit you, you know. Have you seen the one on Beorn's calf?"

Belladonna continued chatting. Bilbo rested against the wall again, this time for an entirely different reason. He was profoundly, silently, glad about that.

-the end