Chapter Two: Dining with Dwarves

Although the thought that dropped into her head was on a vastly different page then the conversation she was currently having, Nemea paused midway through her sentence to watch Bilbo vault over a fence and start tumbling down the hill. Her expression was frozen in worry for a few seconds before laughter bubbled its way back to her ears, and she turned to Belladonna and shrugged.

"You hobbits remind me of rabbits."

Bungo, who was well aware that Nemea hunted rabbits for them year round, sat up quite fast and let a handful of letters slip from his grip.

"And just what does that mean?" he asked crossly, huffing indignantly.

Nemea instantly imagined Bungo as a giant dark brown bunny, wiggling his tiny pink nose at her in disgust. She played with the image of him stamping his foot on the ground, making animated gestures with his short arms before shuffling off. Nemea actually wondered what the Shire would look like if it was populated by fat bunnies with impeccable manners and tailored waistcoats; she fancied that all hobbits should've been born with fluffy white tails. Feeling the elder hobbit's accusatory gaze on her still, Nemea shook herself out of her amused daydream and put her hands up in the air.

"I meant no offense, Bungo. You both are quick, quite round – " Belladonna snorted as Bungo stared down at his stomach with a slight frown. "And cute, I confess to say. One would not think that hobbits and rabbits are so quick and silent, it is strange that you are so peaceful when you'd make excellent hunters."

The look of horror that passed over Bungo's face was a pleasure to watch as Bilbo climbed back over the fence and tackled into Nemea's side, wrapping his tiny arms around her waist and nuzzling his face into her fur shirt. The women looked down at the curly-haired boy with soft smiles as Belladonna reached behind her back and grabbed an apple from the small tree behind her. It had been planted on the day of Bilbo's birth but it hadn't grown very much in his two years. Hobbits age twice as fast as Men and Dwarves, so he would've been four compared to their children. Bilbo snatched the fruit from his mother's hand and climbed onto Nemea's shoulders, his other hand fisting around her hair.

"Wun, Nim, wun!" the child demanded and Nemea looked to Belladonna for permission.

"It's fine but no trips to Buckland, for goodness sake!"

Nemea rose to her feet slowly, balancing the child on her shoulders before grabbing his ankles and jumping over the fence and whipping down the path. Bilbo had tossed his apple core to the wind and grabbed onto her hair with renewed vigor; using her hair like reins, he flicked the strands he held and Nemea ran faster. She didn't mind that his one hand was sticky and that it smelled of apples, his infectious laugher was all she really needed to go on. Nemea had no children of her own but she had grown up around children all her life, her younger cousins and some of the children from other families. The Shire was even better, there were hobbit children everywhere; multitudes of little girls and boys with round, cheery faces and ridiculously curly hair, tripping over their too large feet while creating crowns of daisies and plaiting buttercups into tiny braids. Very much like rabbits, Nemea thought smugly, hobbit women do not waste any time.

Hamfast Gamgee was pushing a wheelbarrow full of carrots and lettuce and he looked up just in time to see Nemea running towards him, letting out a shout of terror. He ducked down behind the wheelbarrow as the golden-haired woman leapt over him and skidded around the corner. They were a blur of yellow and white. The rest of the hobbit children tried to catch up to them and Bilbo smiled widely as Nemea left them in the dust. They stopped once in the market where Bilbo skipped in between the vendors and happened upon a small wooden carving of a lion, when asked how he came by it, the hobbit child only grinned. Nemea rolled her eyes with an easy smile.

"Perhaps your mother will let you paint it when we go home."

"Go home, Nim, go home now."

"Of course, little master


Nemea was drifting in and out of consciousness by the time the sun set below The Hill, and when she heard heavy footsteps in the house, she was quick to open her eyes. Surveying the darkness of her room and staring down the hall, she realized that her door had been shut and that muffled the conversation taking place. Sitting up and adjusting her necklace so it wasn't strangling her, Nemea tiptoed down the hall and squeezed her way out of the door; someone had shoved a crate in front of it. Still sleepy and not caring what was in the crate in the first place, she scented the air and puzzled over the smell of coal, dried earth, and sweat.

"Very good, this. Anymore?" a deep voice asked from the kitchen.

"What? Oh, uh, yes, yes."

Nemea moved around the food stored in the pantry and walked into the kitchen where Bilbo grabbed a plate of biscuits and set it down before a surly-looking dwarf, quietly stealing one for himself.

"Dining with dwarves now? What happened to the wizard?"

Bilbo winced and turned to look at her, his posture was stiff and anxious like that of a mouse and Nemea smirked as he scurried towards her and took her arm.

"I wasn't expecting him." Bilbo angrily jerked a finger at the dwarf who gave Nemea a glare.

She raised one hand and flexed her fingers, cracking the knuckles there and glancing at her nails which were sharpened to a point. The dwarf narrowed his eyes and Nemea watched his hand slide down below the table to grab a knife from his boot. The doorbell rang and Nemea shooed her hobbit away, coming into the kitchen completely to stare at the dwarf. He was broad-shouldered with a bald head covered in tattoos and a long moustache; his hands were marked with runes and symbols as well. He rose from his seat and sheathed his dagger, walking to the other side of the room while keeping his eyes on her. He stuck his hand into a jar of cookies. A brief, fleeting smile was on his face and Nemea chuckled and bowed her head, no longer sensing a threat as another dwarf entered the room. Substantially older and considerably friendlier, she watched the two brothers (they addressed each other as such) greet one another by smashing their hands together. The white-haired dwarf then turned to Nemea with a bow.

"Balin, at your service, Miss."

"Nemea, at yours, Master Dwarf. I didn't get your brother's name."

"Dwalin." He told her shortly and Nemea grinned, revealing her teeth and canines proudly.

She liked these two very much; Balin for his charm and Dwalin for his bluntness. Bilbo returned to the kitchen after hanging up Balin's cloak just in time to follow the dwarves as they headed towards his pantry. As they examined the food in storage and poured themselves each an ale, and as Bilbo tried to convince them that they had found the wrong house, the doorbell rang a third time. Bilbo turned around and moaned. Nemea rolled her eyes at him and patted his head affectionately.

"Hush, I'll get it."

Bilbo mumbled a "thank you" and trailed after the dwarves into the dining room. Nemea continued through the kitchen and the parlour to face the entrance to the hobbit hole and bent her knees slightly to reach the doorknob. She opened the door and faced two young dwarves who smiled widely at her.

"Fili – " said the blond one.

"And Kili – " added the dark-haired one.

"At your service." They said together and bowed. Kili, the younger of the two judging by his lack of facial hair, looked anxiously at his partner before taking a hesitant step forward to peer in to the house.

"This wouldn't happen to be Mr. Boggins house, would it?"

"Mr. Baggins lives here. Do you belong to a Balin and Dwalin?"

As if hearing their names, the two dwarves appeared with Bilbo at their heels. Nemea stepped away from the door and allowed the boys to enter the house, simultaneously making Bilbo angrier and the dwarves happier. Dwalin caught Kili around the neck and scrubbed the boy's head with his knuckles, dragging him deep into the house as Fili strut forward and dumped his weapons into Bilbo's arms. The hobbit looked outside to check for more dwarves before shutting it with his feet despite his Baggins nature, and as if realizing that fact, he gave Nemea the fiercest look he could muster.

"Why did you let them in?"

Nemea put her hand on Bilbo's shoulder and guided him down the hall; the dwarves had pulled the table out into the hallway and shifted a cabinet off to the side so that someone could sit comfortably at one end. Bilbo cringed at each squeal and screech the wood made against the floor and whimpered as they started rummaging around for forks and knives and spoons.

"Your father asked me to be welcoming and polite in his absence. I am merely fulfilling a dying man's wish." She said with a shrug of her shoulders, jogging to the dwarves as they needed to pull the table back some more and muttering about some "great big oaf".

"You're doing this on purpose! I can hear you smirking, Nim!" the woman moved in beside Dwalin and the dwarf looked at her skeptically before they lifted their end of the table up and pulled it out without causing too much noise.

"Nonsense, Little One, you cannot hear me smirking no more than I can see smoke coming out of your ears. Now be a good boy and man the door."

Growling at her, Bilbo thrust all of Fili's things onto the floor as a series of knocking and bell ringing summoned him away from his inevitable tantrum. Hearing the door open and the sound of several more bodies, Nemea walked into the pantry and bumped into Balin, wondering just how much food was required in the first place.

"Are you his wife or his mother, miss?" Fili asked from behind her, spying a barrel of ale tucked in between the wall and the pantry.

Nemea watched them as they tried to find a proper way of lifting it out and she hopped on top of it and put her back against the wall, pushing the end of it with her feet and sending the barrel into their waiting arms. Fili and Kili each took a side as Nemea grabbed the back end and they carried it to a spot just outside of the dining room and set it down. Dwalin tossed them a couple tankards and the boys started filling them. Smirking as ale spilled onto the floor and picturing Bilbo's distress already, Nemea reached over Fili and grabbed a stein for herself.

"I've lived here since Bilbo was young; I suppose I am a little motherly towards him."

With that same thought in mind, Nemea paused to watch one dwarf meander his way through the throng of bodies to find himself a place at the table which was quickly filling up with food, two others sat on either side of him and Nemea guessed that they were all related. The eldest of them, a proper dwarf with grey hair and an intricate braid hanging under his chin, managed to grab a few plates of food for the youngest. The dwarf on his other side sported something like a star-shaped hairdo and she watched as he stuffed his fork into his pocket, once he noticed Nemea staring he put it back on the table. The golden-haired lady sat in the corner of the room to allow the dwarves enough space to talk and reacquaint themselves with each other. She nudged Fili's chair and asked for names.

"The group of three is Dori, Ori, and Nori. Ori is a little older than Kili here." Fili wrapped his arms around his brother's neck and pulled him into an affectionate headlock.

"There's Oin and Gloin beside them," a large dwarf sat down at the head of the table near them. "That's Bombur. Bofur's on the other side, Bifur should be around somewhere; he's got an axe in his head so you can't miss him but he doesn't speak a word of Common."

Nemea nodded slowly, she had a decent memory for names and she mouthed each dwarf's name as she looked at them. Everyone had by now gathered around the table, including the wizard Gandalf who looked over and met Nemea's eyes, he smiled warmly at her and Nemea leaned back as Fili stabbed his fork into the air and caught a sausage sent to him by Dwalin. The meal continued on in that fashion, loud laughter, a casual food fight, and a few stories to set the mood. By talking with Fili and Kili, she learned that almost all of the dwarves were to some extent related to each other and that their uncle was missing still, this little gathering was something like a family reunion.

Nemea soon drifted away from lights of the house and moved outside, a familiar pain had started up in her heart. It had been a long time since she had attended any parties, longer still since having a proper romp with her own kin. Nemea closed her eyes and crossed her arms over her chest, shaking her head and growling. Leave it alone, she told herself, there is nothing for you back there.

Her ears which were not as sharp as an Elf's, picked up the sound of heavy footsteps in the distance. A dark figure moved about the hobbit holes and she could hear him muttering, the wind carrying his voice on the air. He appeared to be looking for something specific and he stopped suddenly and looked up, staring right at her. Moving her hair out of her face and pushing it over one shoulder, Nemea raised her hand and waved. She did not expect a return gesture but when the figure raised his hand and shook it at her, she felt herself smile and nodded her head. Bilbo's voice grew louder and Nemea guessed that she ought to return before the poor thing had a heart attack.

Stepping back inside and hearing the sound of the silverware being beaten against the table and feet being stomped against the floor, Nemea walked down the hall and peered into the kitchen to see the dwarf Bifur commanding the sink; in fact, most of the dwarves were helping clean up as they sang a song to tease the hobbit. She eventually landed back in the dining room and found Bilbo standing in between Fili, Nori, and Ori. The song ended with a loud proclamation of "That's what Bilbo Baggins hates!" and the dwarves all turned to each other to laugh. Nemea placed her arms on Bilbo's shoulders and kissed the top of his head, smiling up at Gandalf as he gestured to the stack of cleaned dishware.

There were three loud knocks on the door. Everyone went quiet. Gandalf stared at the door and nodded to himself.

"He is here." The old wizard moved to the door and Bilbo followed after him somewhat angrily, Nemea trailed after him and stood behind the dwarves. The door swung open and the man behind it gave Gandalf a funny look.

"Gandalf," he said with a slight smile. "I thought you said this place would be easy to find. I lost my way, twice. Wouldn't have found it at all if it hadn't been for that mark on the door." He pulled off his cloak and turned to smile at his nephews; Kili stepped forth and grabbed the cloak to hang it amongst the other ones. Bilbo shook his head and attempted to get a look at the door but Gandalf closed it.

"Mark? There is no mark, that door was painted a week ago."

"There is a mark, I put there myself." The wizard interrupted gently as Thorin turned to face the hobbit. "Bilbo Baggins, allow me to introduce the leader of our company, Thorin Oakenshield."

Nemea got a very uneasy feeling in her stomach as Thorin examined the hobbit, even more so as he questioned Bilbo of his choice of weapon. Nemea knew him to have quite the arm when it came to rock throwing as he could hit a bird flying through the air or one of his cousins running off with a freshly baked pie, and the more she thought about it the more she remembered receiving many a rock to the head for sleeping outside when the little hobbit demanded she sleep with him. Luckily, thunder storms no longer frightened him because there would be no way that they'd both fit in his bed now.

"They've eaten everything! How am I going to feed him?" Bilbo muttered as the dwarves returned to the table, Nemea snorted and put her hands on Bilbo's shoulders. She guided him back to the kitchen just as Bombur sneaked (using that word loosely, mind you), out with a plate of cookies. The woman pointed to the pot over the hearth that had surprisingly been left untouched, the lid rattled and steam filtered out from the top, Bilbo gave Nemea a glare.

"That was for us only." He pouted.

"And I am no longer hungry; he seems much tamer than the others."

"I'll agree with you there but only because I'm tired." Bilbo jerked a finger at her and Nemea rolled her eyes, waiting with him as he stirred the pot and added some chopped potatoes and cubed rabbit meat.

"They're from the snares," the hobbit said suddenly. "I've been practicing."

"Good, this journey may require such skills." Bilbo laughed and pulled a bowl from the cupboard and dipped a spoon into his soup to taste it. He then moved to the window and plucked a few leaves from his basil plant and dropped them inside the pot, stirring it again and humming to himself.

"Maybe I'll just have you hunt for me, hm?"

"I knew you wanted to go."

The lights were dimmed and Bilbo prepared the last dwarf's meal. Everyone's eyes were on Thorin, and Gandalf gave the two non-dwarves a smile as Bilbo slid the bowl of soup in front of him. The dwarf prince didn't say "thank you" or anything and Bilbo fought against the irritated sigh that he so wanted to expel. Nemea patted his shoulder and they stayed in the hall behind the company as the dwarves questioned their leader on a few things. Nemea found herself watching Bilbo as he interacted with the dwarves; being curious about their quest one second and then brushing it off as uninteresting the next.

"Yes, I know what a dragon is."

Nemea looked up from the ground as Bilbo addressed the dwarves, he put his hands on his hips and she looked over at Gandalf who chuckled under his breath.

"I'm not afraid, I'm up for it. I'll give him a taste of Dwarfish iron right up his jacksie!"

The dwarves cheered and Nemea stood up to stand across from Gandalf, hovering over Bilbo as she did so. She stared around the table and at Ori, he blushed furiously when he saw her staring at him and she tipped her head in greeting. She knew well enough that Balin and Dwalin had seen battle yet she was uncertain of the others. Bifur didn't get an axe in his head while he was chopping down trees, and Thorin didn't command his friends' attention by being a prince alone. They fought and they had lost. When Nemea looked at Ori, she doubted that Dori let him see battle; Nori looked more like a thief than a warrior. Nemea then looked to Bofur and Bombur; neither looked like seasoned veterans. They must've had some training, any dwarf she had ever met could fight. Fili and Kili were most likely trained, and from eavesdropping around, Gloin and Oin had fought alongside Thorin during the Battle of Azanulbizar.

"No! I haven't stolen a thing in my life!"

Nemea snorted and shoved Bilbo playfully, having half-listened to the conversation about sneaking into the Lonely Mountain. She listened more intently when Thorin had to yell to draw his companions back to the matter at hand.

"Liar. Who was it that stole Mrs. Gamgee's pies? Did you not steal one of Gandalf's fireworks that one year, I think – " Nemea reached behind the wall and felt one of the china cabinets scattered throughout the house. She pushed it away from the wall and pulled out a brightly coloured pole and handed it to Gandalf who was laughing as he examined it.

"There it is. I'd say you're qualified." She finished with a smirk.

"I'm not so sure, lassie, seems to me your Mr. Baggins may have a point." Balin said but he smiled at Nemea and Bilbo as Gandalf pushed the firecracker into one of his impossibly long sleeves.

"Aye, the Wild is no place for gentlefolk who can neither fight nor defend themselves." Nemea cast Dwalin a dirty look as Fili piped in with a "he's fine!" and then the whole congregation of dwarves minus Thorin started to argue with one another. Thorin shook his head and Nemea watched as the shadows of the room started climbing over the walls and the lights began to go out one by one, Gandalf stood up and his voice became loud and deep like thunder. The dwarves dropped into their seats and fell silent, some truly afraid while others were simply surprised. Thorin for his part remained where he was and gave Gandalf a tired look when he sat back down.

"And I'd like to add that you, my dear, would be most beneficial to this quest."

"I will not ask a woman to join us."

"Good, for I do not need asking." Nemea said smartly, attracting the attention of just about every person in the room.