When Bofur first set his eyes on Bilbo, he was done for. Even without a beard, his kind nature, cute face, soft body, and copper curls pulled Bofur's heart. He never spoke of his desires, not knowing how. But he'd been sure that perhaps they could be together. They formed a close friendship, and Bofur did his best to protect Bilbo when he could.
He could protect him orcs but he could not protect him from the dwarf king.
Every dwarf knew what Thorin was like. If Bilbo was mining deeper to find an affectionate, caring Thorin then he was just going to keep digging until the mine collapsed and trapped him inside. There was no caring Thorin. Even in Erebor he had been gruff, hardened by his grandfather's madness and the responsibility he had as the right man of Thror. But Bilbo was not a dwarf.
And sometimes-
Sometimes when Thorin was too loud and Bilbo screaming (though Bofur could no longer tell whether it was because of pleasure or pain, though he was sure it was the latter), and they were just a bit too close to camp for comfort, Bofur would wish that he had made his move.
But then again, what would it matter? Bilbo had already been too far gone. He'd pined after the dwarf king after everything that he'd done to him. Even after he insulted him he saved his life.
Sometimes he wanted to ask Bilbo if the hug had hurt him. Even in affection, dwarves could be rough.
But Bofur did not stop him. Thorin would surely hate him, perhaps even punish him, for trying to take his halfling. Already, he looked at Bofur with anger in his eyes. Bofur tried to mask his affection as friendship, but as the days passed it became harder and harder to show Bilbo that he cared. Even handing him a bowl of soup could be seen as wanting to take Bilbo from him.
And yet some part of him was sure that he could handle the dwarf king. Thorin could hate him all he wanted, but once Bofur got his gold he would leave for Ered Lindon and never return to Erebor. From there, the dwarf king could do as he pleased.
As of now though, it would be better to face the dwarf king than let Bilbo be alone. He rubbed ointments into Bilbo's back while listening to Bilbo gush about what he and Thorin did. He blocked out most of it and shivered whenever Bilbo described some of the more of the greusome parts, the parts he couldn't allow himself to not hear. Didn't Bilbo realize what the dwarf king was actually doing to him? Was he really so in love with Thorin that he would forgive him of such terrible things?
Sometimes he wanted to talk to Bilbo, to talk to him until Bilbo finally relented and left Thorin. Then he would talk to Bilbo himself, convince him of how much better he was, how he would treat Bilbo like the precious creature that he actually was. And Bilbo would be his and only his
But he couldn't shake off the idea that no matter how gentle he would be when they had sex and how affectionate he would be with him outisde of the bathroom (he wanted soft kisses, warm hugs, to be allowed simply to hold his small hand), that he would be just as bad as Thorin, even if he was better at hiding it.