Author's Note: I understand this story is off to a short start, but I hope this chapter picks it up a bit. I really enjoy developing Bluebell. She's a really interesting character for me amongst my other creations.

Bluebell wasn't necessarily angry with Bilbo personally, though she was slightly frustrated that an all knowing wizard chose him over her for such a journey that she had been dying to go on for many, many years. Not to mention her brother refused to go, so no adventures would happen under that roof, whether it be the Hobbit that wants it or the Hobbit that doesn't. Either way, Bilbo could tell Bluebell was pointedly avoiding him the entire day, which was hard considering they lived in the same house.

"Bell," he said finally, his tone quite tired. "You can stop brooding in the corner and come make yourself a plate of this salmon I made. Honestly, I don't know why you're so cross about this. He wasn't talking about a simple trip to Bree and back, this journey would take months and months. How could I guarantee my return to you if something would've happened?"

"I'm not mad because of that," Bluebell huffily denied, begrudgingly walking up to grab one of the platters Bilbo offered, placing one of the only two salmon on her plate as well as the vegetables he had cooked. The brandy lay forgotten on the highest shelf in the pantry where Bilbo know she could not get it. He also hid the stool he used to put it up there. "I'm mad because...I just don't understand how you're more needed for an adventure over me! I mean, please, you want to stay here. You don't want to see the world out there. I do! But I can't because my mind isn't equipped enough? I haven't the foggiest idea what that even means!"

"It means," Bilbo began, his brotherly tone very much heightened as he handed her a fork from their cutlery cabinet, "that you're far too young to be going anywhere. Your mind isn't halfway full with the information full grown Hobbits have. Now stop all this adventure nonsense and sit. We could discuss much more important matters." He nodded firmly as if that settled the matter before going to take his seat at the long dining table that could probably seat about twenty Hobbits. The Baggins had been the most hospitable when their parents were still alive.

Bluebell followed him, sitting across from him with her plate, gripping her fork in her right hand. She had never felt more hurt or angry, but the worst part was she didn't know who to be more hurt and angry about. Should she feel such a rage toward Gandalf, the man who thought her unworthy of adventures and favored her brother who loathed them? Or should she be furious with Bilbo who denied it altogether, standing firm with his rule of no adventures at all? Bluebell settled with she could just be equally angry at the both of them.

Jamming her fork into the salmon, deciding cutting it would be far too much of a hassle, she lifted the entire fish to her mouth and bit a chunk of it, purposely smacking just to irritate Bilbo who paused in his ritual of drizzling some nice lemon juice over his meal to give her a tiny scowl. However, he had no time to scold her, for suddenly their front door had been knocked upon three times, startling both of them. Bluebell was so surprised she didn't even notice her fish falling from her fork and splattering over her vegetables.

It was quite odd for guests to arrive so late. It made Bluebell wonder if there were some type of emergency. Bilbo got up, wiping his hands on his handkerchief, before walking toward the front door, Bluebell right behind him, curious to who disturbed their nice dinner, if one could call it nice at all.

Bilbo unlocked and opened the door, placing a hand over his hip sternly as if to chastise who interrupted his dinner before his supper, but he paused, having to do a double take. Even Bluebell was quite shocked. The outside of their home completely disappeared, overshadowed by the massive dwarf that stood there, towering over the two of them.

He was bald with complicated tattoos on his head. His ears were covered in jewelry and his beard was massive, bushy black and adorned in small beads that must've meant something to his kind. His clothes were not clothes at all, but armor, as if he had just returned from some kind of battle, but he hadn't a trace of any struggle or blood on him. Perhaps he was going to war instead, but he decided to make a pit stop for whatever reason at the Baggins home?

"Dwalin," the dwarf grunted, suddenly bowing. "At your service...es."

"Er..." Bilbo trailed off, staring at him dumbly. He could not be blamed. Of all beings to be on that doorstep, a dwarf was probably last on the list. Bluebell smiled kindly, however, quite excited to see such a foreign face there in front of her. She put a hand out as she said importantly, "Bilbo and Bluebell Baggins, at yours." She didn't seem bothered that he didn't belong there, in the Shire, on their Welcome mat which was probably overrun in mud that was traced on the massive dwarf's boots.

Dwalin reluctantly took her hand, shaking her entire arm before he stepped in, nearly running into poor Bilbo had Bluebell not yanked him out of the way in time. Bilbo still stared at him, only shaking his head at the sound of the door closing. He quickly shuffled himself in front of Bluebell, as if to shield her as he asked, "I would hate to be so rude, M-Mister Dwalin, sir, but...can I ask what you're doing in our home? Are you lost?"

"No," Dwalin grumbled, looking around the walkway before he turned to look at the siblings. "So! Where will it be?"

"Where will what be?" Bilbo replied, confused.

"The food! He said there'd be plenty! Ah," Dwalin nodded in satisfaction as he peered into the kitchen, probably seeing Bilbo and Bluebell's forgotten food sitting on top and mistaking it for his. Bilbo quickly chased after him, "What? Who said that? I beg your pardon, good sir, but I'm still at a loss of what exactly is going on here!"

"You'd do well to calm yourself, lad, I'm not up for a game of charades," Dwalin spoke, sitting himself down at the dining table and pulling Bilbo's plate towards himself, taking up the salmon in his giant hand and taking a savage bite out of it. Bluebell snickered from her perch of peeking around the corner, for some reason finding the situation hilarious. Bilbo whipped around to look at her, gesturing towards Dwalin and seemed to trying to talk, but his mouth could no longer form words.

"Oh, c'mon, this makes dinner so much more fun!" Bluebell giggled, finally stepping in. "A dwarf barges into a respectable Hobbit's humble abode! Sounds like a bad joke! Got a punchline?" She finally burst into fits of laughter, doubling over and grabbing her stomach. Dwalin watched her calmly, his face expressionless as he continued to eat Bilbo's meal. Bilbo, however, seemed angered.

"Bell, this is not a -"

He was interrupted by another knock, stifling Bluebell from her laughter as she looked over her shoulder toward the front door, this time going to open it herself, Bilbo right behind her mumbling about strangers and fish. But he couldn't rant on any longer because he seemed to be put at a loss of words again, staring down at yet another dwarf standing there and smiling up at the pair. This one was much smaller than the first, even inches lower than Bluebell's inferior height. He bore a white beard that mirrored the snow that would fall in winter with eyes as kind as their grandfather's.

"Balin," he greeted, his voice tired as he bowed, "At your service."

"Bilbo Baggins at yours," Bilbo mumbled incoherently while Bluebell bowed back, smiling, "Bluebell, Master Balin." Balin smiled and walked in, not at all surprised to see the two of them on the other side of the door. Bluebell often prided herself on her observing skills. This meant they were here with a purpose, Balin and Dwalin were. However, Bilbo didn't seem to want to get to know that purpose, now distressed that two whole dwarves were under his roof. Slamming the door, Bilbo quickly followed Balin toward the kitchens where he found Dwalin attempting to force his massive hand into Bilbo's cookie jar.

"Ah, it's been a very long time, brother," Balin greeted Dwalin, a smile in his tone. Dwalin turned to him, surprised before returning the grin, dropping the cookie jar unceremoniously on the ground, ignoring the shatter and the whimper Bilbo gave at watching it happen. Bluebell grinned. For some sickening reason, she felt Bilbo deserved this. After all, he refused a fun adventure she could have gone on instead. Serves him right.

"By my beard, you have grown wider and shorter since last we met," Dwalin chuckled, embracing the smaller dwarf, who shook his head fondly, "Wider, not shorter. Sharp enough for the both of us." Both elicited tiny laughter as they hugged each other before smashing their foreheads together, making the Baggins siblings jump in surprise. Bluebell supposed this must be how dwarves greeted each other.

Bilbo began to babble, however, interrupting the reunion of the siblings as the two of them shuffled off toward the pantry, seeing as Dwalin had now finished off both Bilbo and Bluebell's plates. While her brother disappeared off to try and get the two of them to leave, Bluebell grinned and took up the two empty plates, taking them to the sink. She didn't know why she was so nonchalant about all of this.

Perhaps because she enjoyed the chaos of something like this. Everything about Bluebell was disorder and unordinary. Having two dwarves in her home was just that, and Bluebell loved that. She loved the fun of all of this. She enjoyed seeing her brother so frazzled. It humored her.

"That's bleu cheese! It's supposed to look like that!" she heard Bilbo's retched cry from the pantry. Tossing her head back, Bluebell heaved a great laugh. Yes, this was all just what she wanted.

Another knock came to the door and she was sure she heard her brother's loud cry at the sound of it. Shaking her head, Bluebell turned and went to answer it, turning the brass doorknob and heaving the massive door opened, this time seeing two much younger dwarves, both quite handsome may she add. One was blond, his beard and moustache twisted into complicated braids, while he, too, wore armor like Dwalin. The other was a brunette, not baring a longer beard since it was just stubble; his hair was half up-half down and his clothes mirrored the blond's.

"Fili!" piped the blond.

"And Kili," said the other, just before they both bowed and said together, "At your service!" Bluebell bowed back, smiling amusedly. This entire situation just seemed to be getting better and better. The one called Kili dipped back up and smiled at her, "You must be Mr. Boggins!"

Fili was quick to hit him upside the head. "That's a lass, you twit! Sorry about my brother; he was dropped on his head as a dwarfling." Smiling, he walked in with Kili following, rubbing the back of his head with a sour grimace. Bluebell snickered, shutting the door behind them before watching as they gathered what looked to be weapons in Fili's arms.

"I suppose you are Mr. Baggins' wife?" he asked, carefully dumping them into her reluctant awaiting arms. She flushed and quickly shook her head, "No! I'm his sister!" Fili nodded, looking around, Kili already peeking into the kitchen.

"Nice place, this," he commented. "You do it yourself? Has a bit of a feminine touch to it." Bluebell shook her head as she moved to dump the weapons onto Bilbo's armchair, before following the two as they wandered into the kitchen, both like curious fauntlings. Bluebell found it delightfully adorable.

"Nah, this place was dropped from generations," Bluebell stated, moving slightly in front of them as she peeked over to the walkway that led to the pantry. She saw Bilbo still struggling with Dwalin and Balin from inside. "You're actually the third duo here. The two dwarves, Dwalin and Balin are here."

Kili and Fili nodded, still lookig around before approaching Bilbo, both bowing again. "Hullo, Mr. Boggins! We've met your sister already. Fili and Kili, at your service." Bilbo looked at them, appalled, backing up several steps and tripping over their umbrella rack, nearly falling had it not been for Fili grasping his wrist and yanking him upright.

"Kili! Fili!" Dwalin barked from inside the pantry. "Great! Come and help us, we need to make room for the others and set out the food, there's plenty with these Hobbits." Kili and Fili smiled, obliging rather quickly while Bluebell went to her brother, trying to keep her smile at bay, but that was proven hard since he was looking at her so frazzled. She hasn't seen him so put off since Lobelia and Otho came over for second breakfast.

"Oh, c'mon, Bilbo! At this point you just have to roll with it! It's not as if they're attacking us or anything!" Bluebell assured, patting his shoulder. "Besides, I think they're rather funny. I haven't had this much fun since Lobelia walked into that pothole!" Bilbo shook his head, rubbing at his temples with his thumb and index finger.

"I just want to know exactly what they're doing here," he snapped quietly. "I have made no indication that I want dwarves in my home! This doesn't make any sense! If I can't get them to leave any time soon, they're going to destroy the pantry and leave us with nothing but scraps!"

"You're a glass half empty kind of guy, aren't you?" Bluebell asked, rolling her eyes. "Hey! Let me help with that!" Abandoning her brother, she went to help Fili with some of the meat they had bought earlier. Grabbing an armful, she followed the dwarves into the kitchen and watched as Balin applied heat to the stove before he began ushering for Kili, Fili, and even herself to hand him certain ingredients for whatever food he was going to make.

"Bell! This isn't - you're not-" Bilbo's sputters fell on deaf ears as Bluebell ran around, clearing the pantry and aiding Balin with whatever he needed just before the door was knocked on again. "I swear, you're going to be the death of me." Grumbling, Bilbo rushed to answer the door again, whipping it open triumphantly and crying out as an entire pile of dwarves tumbled at his feet, all crying out and yelling at each other. Bluebell watched on in amusement until she heard Bilbo utter one word.

"Gandalf."