All rights go to Tolkien, Peter Jackson, and Emily Smith. All I own is my OC.
CHAPTER FOUR
DOING RIDICULOUS THINGS
"You know Gwen, if these are the things I have to do in being friends with you, I might have to rethink the depths of this friendship."
She smirked down at Kili as she tied the strings on the front of her sleeveless, wool under-coat closed. "Having second thoughts, Master Dwarf?"
Kili snorted, moving to close up his other boot. "As much as anyone might, when they're about to jump out a window."
"Don't be a coward," Fili scoffed, leaning on the doorframe. "It's only a few foot drop before you hit the snow."
Kili shot him a sour look as he stood up off the chair. "Says the dwarf who isn't jumping out a window."
"In all fairness," Gwen began. "You did volunteer for this."
"Only to save you from drowning in a snow bank."
"What ever helps you sleep at night." She picked up a heavier leather coat off the bed, shrugging it on, and fumbling with the buttons. "Point is, keep up with that complaining and I might just have to toss you out the window instead of letting you jump."
Kili scoffed, pulling on his gloves. "Dearest Gwen, you don't toss a dwarf."
She arched a brow. "Would you prefer a throw then? Perhaps a chuck?"
"I myself am quite partial to flinging," Fili added.
"A launch might also prove worth the effort," Gwen mused as she pulled a pair of thick leather mittens over her slender hands.
Kili rolled his eyes, and was about to tell them both to sod off, but a weary voice, thick with sleep called from the doorway. "What's this with launching?"
Gwen smiled at the newcomer, who turned out to be none other than Bilbo. "Ah, Master Hobbit. We were discussing in what manner we should put Kili out the window."
"Ah," the hobbit breathed, nodding. He quickly paused, his expression turning to one of confusion and concern. "Do you think that-" His words sputtered out, so with another moment of furrowed-brow thinking, he spoke. "Should we really-" He paused again, his hand dropping from the air, mid-gesture. "Why, exactly, are we putting Kili though a window?"
Gwen shrugged, giving her coats a final tug to settle them in place. "Someone's got to clear the snow away from the door or else you'll all have to go out the window when the time comes for you to be travelling." She stopped then, a frown forming. "On that thought, actually, I don't really think that Bombur would even fit through it."
Kili walked, his footsteps heavy on the wood-plank floor, to the window, reaching for its latch. "We've fit him through smaller spaces, certainly."
The wooden shutters swung open, clear sunlight and a flurry of snowflakes spilling in. With it, came a gust of cold air, that struggled to cut through the many dry, warm layers he was wearing.
"Wait," Bilbo stuttered. "You're not actually planning on jumping out the window, are you? We are on the second floor, if you hadn't noticed."
"It won't be much of a fall, really," Gwen assured him with a dismissive tone. "The snow's blown up against the building quite a bit. The drop shouldn't be more than a few feet."
"But you said you'd be clearing the snow away from the door?" Upon receiving a nod of confirmation, Bilbo continued. "How, exactly, do you intend to do that?"
"Not really sure on that one," Kili replied, as his eyes adjusted to the glaring whiteness of the world outside.
The sky was a blank white sheet, but the snowfall had been growing progressively lighter since that morning. The combined efforts of Balin and the innkeep predicted that it would probably be safe to travel by early the next morning. That was, of course, if the door could open. There was a massive drift of snow up against the front of the building, which quite effectively held the door of the inn closed. When Gwen had been bribed with the idea of a free night's stay by the innkeep to clear a path out, a surge of dwarvish pride had made Kili volunteer to help her. Now, as he peered down at the massive pile of sparkling whiteness, he was having doubts.
"We'll figure it out once we get down there, I suppose," Gwen said dismissively.
"Are you really quite sure this is safe?" The hobbit asked, worry dripping from his words.
"Oh, it's certainly not," Fili chuckled. "But is anything, really?"
As Bilbo sputtered in reply to this, Kili stepped back from the window, looking to Gwen expectantly. "Ladies first, then?"
She snorted, but came up to the window anyways. "You're just afraid." Before he could answer to that, she sprang up, so she was crouched on the window sill. She gained her balance there, holding onto the frame with one hand, and the sill beneath her with the other. Kili could only see her back as she suddenly paused. "I'm beginning to have second thoughts on this, actually."
Seeing the opportunity, Kili moved swiftly, giving her a solid shove between the shoulder blades. She spilled rather gracelessly from the window frame, and quickly disappeared from sight under the heap of snow. Kili snickered to himself. Though he hadn't seen her face, he was fairly positive that her expression upon being pushed would have been hilarious.
Bilbo quickly appeared at his side, peering down. "Gwen!" He turned to look at Kili, astonished. "You just pushed her!"
"Yes, he did," Fili confirmed, as he too, came over to the window to look over Bilbo's shoulder. "Brilliant job, brother."
"What if she's hurt!?'"
Kili shrugged. "There's plenty of snow to cushion her fall. She'll be fine."
As if in accord with this, Gwen struggled back to the top of the bank, hair a wild mess, practically spitting in fury. "You bloody fool of a dwarf!"
"How is it down there?" Kili called to her, tone mocking.
"Practically balmy!" She snapped back, her balance wavering a bit as she struggled to stand up in the snow. "How about you join me?"
Kili faked considering this. "Well, that certainly is-"
He was suddenly being grabbed under the arms and hoisted out the window. His legs flailed, his foot catching on the sill. He quickly found himself rather upside down, and sliding along the rough wooden panels of the side of the building. Only a few moments had passed, when his face hit the snow. A handful of tiny, icy daggers immediately crowded his nostrils and mouth, as the large pile of fluff beneath him compressed down. He soon was flurrying desperately in the white powder, stinging frost stifling his breath as he thrashed about.
When the world came back into focus, it was far too bright, there was a nasty icy trickle going down his neck, his back felt a bit twisted, and his mouth tasted of blood and snow. He found Gwen guwaffing loudly at him, and could have sworn he heard Fili laughing as well. He tried to wipe the snow off his face in a huff, but was only successful in smearing the cold dampness worse over his eyes. Once he could see a bit better, he looked up to the window. "Very creative, Fili! Just do the exact same thing as I did!"
Though he couldn't see up the side of the building to where his brother was, he could hear his voice, tinged with amusement. "What can I say? You inspired me, brother."
Gwen had finally settled down a bit, and smirked at him. "I'll admit, I liked it quite a bit better when you were the one falling out the window."
Kili rolled his eyes. "You'd say that, wouldn't you?"
She chuckled. "I should think so. Now, let's get to work before we both catch our death of a cold."
"Already have," Kili grumbled under his breath, twitching his nose to stave off a sneeze. A faceful of winter's fury couldn't be good for anyone's health.
"C'mon then, Master Dwarf," She said, jerking her head away from the building. "Let's get ourselves off this drift, then see what we can do."
"Right." He paused then, looking out down the rather steep slope of snow she was asking him to descend. The white fluff was already up to his chest, and his footing wasn't exactly sturdy. If he were to misstep, he could very well find himself drowning in the depth of the snow. "Actually, how are we going to go about this?"
Gwen hadn't begun to move either, and shifted where she was standing. "I was wondering that myself..." She tilted her head a bit, considering the steep, crumbly expanse before her. "It'd be best to spread our weight, I suppose. Shouldn't sink as far down that way."
Kili quirked a brow. "Are you telling me to crawl through this?"
"No, no, that'd be daft," She sighed. She looked to him then, eyes hopeful. "I don't suppose you're still adverse to the concept of tossing?"
"Not a chance," he snorted, before huffing in defeat. "We're just wasting time. Let's just start down, then see what happens."
Gwen shrugged. "Fine by me. But if either of us dies from this, know that it'll have been because of your hastiness."
"Thanks," he shot back, not without an amount of sarcasm. He fought back a bit of a chuckle at that. His mum had always hated it when he or his brother used sarcasm, and if she was there, she would have not hesitated to hit him right upside the head. He would have to be sure to purge his speech of such things before speaking to her again.
Seeing that Gwen was beginning to set off, he turned his attention to the somewhat daunting task before him. He could feel the bit of packed fluff beneath his boots crumble away under his shifting weight, and his heart jolted messily in his chest. He could already tell that this was going to be a somewhat challenging and certainly cold endeavor.
He watched Gwen a moment more, as she inched forward, down the bank and slowly raised a foot, feeling his balance waver. However, the snow around him came up to his chest, and helped him keep upright. He settled his raised foot carefully, experimentally, into the wall of whiteness before him. He gently packed the snow down beneath his boot, until he felt he probably had a stable enough foot hold, before shifting his weight gradually up onto it.
It seemed to hold well enough, so he drew his other foot up, shoving a bit of the snow in front of him away so he could take another slow step forward. He had managed to go a good six feet, and his method was working fairly well. He had come close to losing his balance once or twice, but had managed to correct himself on every occasion. It was then, that he spared a look over at Gwen.
As he could see, she had been moving at a faster pace than him, taking long strides. Sensing his gaze on her, she looked up to him, a bit of a smile lighting her cold-flushed cheeks. "Someone's taking their time."
Kili rolled his eyes, as he meticulously bolstered his next step with a series of sharp pats. "Just being careful."
She snorted indelicately. "So am I, but I might actually get somewhere eventually."
Kili gritted his teeth, and looked back down as he exchanged his weight a step forward. He already didn't feel particularly steady, trying to move much faster could spell disaster. When he was safe, a foot or two forward, he looked back to Gwen to reply. However, he quickly found her gone from his view. He craned his neck to look for where she had gone, and soon caught sight of her, emerging spluttering out of the drift a few feet down. He fought to keep a straight face, as she staggered in place, trying to regain her balance after having fallen through. "What was that about being careful, Gwen?"
"Oh, shut it." She scooped up a chunk of snow and lobbed it at him.
He struggled even more against laughter as the projectile she'd sent for him hit the side of the building, a good half-a-dozen feet away from him. "Are you trying to attack me, or the wall?"
She seemed to set herself in ignoring him, and huffed as she turned away, viciously swatting a few stray locks of hair out of her eyes.
Kili finally gave into the amusement bubbling up in his throat, chuckling to himself as he continued making his slow way down the hill. It was another good five minutes, before he felt something solid below him. Something that felt like stone cobbles. He straightened himself out, smoothing a bit of the snow out of his hair, before giving Gwen a haughty smirk. "See, sometimes it pays not to rush it."
She rolled her eyes at him, giving him a good shove to the shoulder. "Don't you act all smug. There's still time for you to fall in."
He looked up at the bank they were commissioned to clear a path through. That was a lot of snow. He stifled a groan. Cursed dwarvish pride, making him agree to help with this.
Thinking back on it, the moment when the door finally swung open was probably one of the happiest moments of his life. A gush of warm air, laden with the smell of wood smoke, crackled over his skin, beginning to thaw the layer of ice off of him. A sharp voice from behind interrupted his grateful thoughts. "Oi, do me a favor and actually go through the door."
Reminded, then, of Gwen's presence behind him, he stumbled past the threshold, that searing air covering even more of his skin. It hurt a bit, like burning, but it felt so deliciously lovely that he was able to ignore that pain. He really needed to stop making a habit out of nearly freezing to death. The first step to that, of course was getting out of the blasted Misty Mountains. Thus far, they hadn't treated him too well, and he couldn't wait to get back on the road and into a better climate. After, of course, a change of clothes, good dinner, and a warm night's sleep.
"Our mighty heroes return!" That sounded like Fili.
Looking up showed that it was, in fact, Fili, sitting with Dori, Nori, Ori and Bofur. All warm, and dry, and not bloody exhausted. Lucky fools.
"'Twas a long, arduous journey," Gwen explained, in a sort of grand voice.
"Ah, yes," Kili continued as he began to strip away layers of sodden leather and fur. "Twists and turns, trials and tribulations."
"Had to fight off hoards of Wargs," she added.
"There was a lot of snow involved," Kili said, before continuing, with a straight face. "Had to strip down and share body warmth."
For once, the thing she threw, a damp scarf, hit its mark, whipping frostily over the side of his head, filling his mouth with wool.
"I don't think the lady quite approved of that, brother. Might want to reconsider how exactly you remember it," his brother called, tone teasing.
Kili peeled the scarf off of his face, and tossed it to a nearby bench, not wavering in his cheerful voice. "I regret absolutely nothing." He glanced up to see Gwen paused in untying her coat to look at him with a raised brow, so threw her a wink.
She scoffed, shaking her head and resuming her work. "You're a fool."
"Pretty lasses tend to make me act like that anyways," he shot back, remembering fondly the days of his youth when all it would take was the wink he just gave her to render a lass speechless. Was he losing his touch, or had Gwen suffered head damage as a child?
"Congratulations, Bofur," she said. "You're stunning looks have rendered Kili dumb."
Bofur chuckled good naturedly, while Kili rolled his eyes. "Always knew he had an eye on me."
"I do remember the ones with hats and braids getting your attention when we were young," Fili sighed. "Should have seen this coming sooner."
"It was inevitable, really," Bofur said matter-of-factly. "I am the prettiest."
Gwen snorted. "Best not let Thorin hear you saying that. None could be quite as majestic as him."
Most of his outer layers gathered in his arms, Kili interrupted. "I'm going to go dry off some. Care to join me, Gwen?"
She frowned for a moment, before leaning down to Fili. "What might it mean if I'm actually considering that offer?"
A smile quirked at the dwarf's lips. "Perhaps his incessant efforts to charm you are actually having some effect." Fili followed this up with a look to his brother that Kili couldn't quite interpret.
Ignoring his brother's look, he treated Gwen to his most charming grin. Her eyes searched his for a moment, before her gaze fell and she shook her head. "Must be the cold addling my brain."
Kili rolled his eyes. "Of course. Blame it on that." He jerked his head towards the stairs. "Now come along, M'lady. I'll walk you to your room."
She chuckled, but made her way to his side, glancing over at him as they crossed the room to the stairs. "How chivalrous of you."
Kili flicked a look over her, eyeing the damp shirt clinging to the curves of her figure. "Of course, if you'll need some help getting that wet clothes off you, I'd be willing to help with that as well."
"Ah," she sighed. "There goes that chivalry."
Kili chuckled. "You know I mean well."
A fond half-smile touched at her lips. "Yes. I do know."
They went the rest of the way in silence, until they reached Gwen's door. As she fiddled with her key, Kili spoke. "Might I come by later?"
"If you want," she replied distractedly, trying to fit the key into the lock with cold-numbed, chapped fingers. "Just knock."
"Lovely."
The door swung open, and Gwen disappeared, slamming it shut behind her. Kili felt an involuntary shiver go through him. Cold, wet clothing was downright nasty.
Once he had changed into a dry set of clothing in his room, he found himself back at Gwen's door. She called through the wood to him after a moment of him knocking. "Kili?"
"Aye."
There was another pause, then the door came open, a still cold-flushed Gwen on the other side. Her clothes were dry now, though her hair hung down her back in a mess of damp, dark curls. She offered him a faint smile, before retreating further into the room. It was a simple set up, much like Kili's, only with the addition of a small stool in the far corner. Gwen seated herself on the edge of the bed, plucking a comb off of the slightly rumpled blankets. "I never really did thank you."
Kili sat on the stool. To his humiliation, his toes were barely able to touch the ground. This inn needed to get ahold of some dwarf and hobbit appropriate furnishings. "Thank me for what?"
"Helping me clear that drift out," she replied as she brought the mass of her hair over one shoulder, beginning to work at it with the comb. "I could've done it on my own, of course, but I suppose the company was appreciated."
Kili snorted. "It would've taken you two days to do that on your own."
She yanked fairly savagely through a knot in her hair, rolling her eyes. "But anyway, despite all your flirting and everything, I...suppose you're not too bad."
A large smile worked its way onto Kili's face, as he watched her attack her hair with the comb, a definite pink flush washing her cheeks. After a moment, she glanced up at him, only to scoff faintly and roll her eyes, that blush intensifying. This was something Kili could get used to.
In the silence that followed, Kili found his eyes wandering over the rest of her. She wore the white shirt from the previous day, and breeches, though she lacked a pair of boots. This exposed most of her calves and her delicate ankles. His mother would faint. Kili, however, just found this fascinating. Her skin was pale and smooth looking, stretched taught over the fine musculature of her leg. Her ankles had a sort of slenderness about them, one he'd never seen, even in the finest of dwarven lass. Even her feet had been left bare. She was...so very different.
"Master Dwarf?" Gwen's voice caught him a bit off guard, and his eyes snapped back up to her face, a bit of a guilty feeling welling up in him. He pushed that feeling down, trying to ignore the new heat in his cheeks. It's not like he had been leering at her in any sort of an inappropriate way, he was simply admiring the differences between their races. A much-suppressed voice in him spoke up: then why are you blushing?
"Yes, Gwen?'
"Are you travelling with Gandalf the Gray?"
A bit startled by the question, Kili answered honestly. "We were."
She paused, sighing deeply, eyes focused on something that wasn't there. Her attention suddenly snapped back up to Kili. "This is a dangerous quest you're taking on."
Kili frowned. "How do you know what quest we've taken on?"
"You're a band of thirteen dwarves lead by Thorin Oakenshield travelling right before Durin's Day with a fairly well renowned wizard. It's not too tricky to put together."
"Fine," Kili huffed. Perhaps it was a bit more obvious than he thought. "I'm just a bit surprised you'd know that much about the Lonely Mountain and the quest."
She raised a brow, resuming her combing. "I haven't been living under a rock."
"I know, I know. But still, you weren't even born when Smaug attacked." He did the mental calculations quickly. "Neither were your parents, likely."
She faltered for a moment, but shrugged. "I make an effort to know what's happening in the land."
"Now that you know what we're up to," Kili began, "What are you doing in these mountains all alone?"
"Just visiting some friends."
Kili raised a brow. "At this time of the year?"
"Rather be a bit south for the winter."
She had a point. Still... "I just can't quite believe that you're travelling all alone."
"Have I not proved myself more than capable in a fight?"
Kili rolled his eyes. She was still hanging onto that sparring match. "In sparring, perhaps. But you'd be dinner, faced against half a dozen hungry wargs."
"Which is the reason I avoid hungry wargs."
"And if you can't avoid them?"
The question hung heavy in the air for a few moments, before Gwen replied, "Then, I suppose the wargs eat well."
She followed this with a dry chuckle, though Kili found no humor in the idea. "Gwen..."
Her eyes snapped up to his, and she set her comb down in her lap as she spoke. "Kili, your concern is heartwarming. However, I haven't gotten eaten yet, and I don't think I will any time soon. So it's best you forget about it and move on with your life." Not giving Kili the chance to reply, she continued. "I'd think you're in more danger than I am, trying to face that dragon. Worry about yourself before you worry about a stranger on the trail."
There wasn't much he could say to that. Maybe it was a bit silly, getting himself all worked up over Gwen's dangerous habits. If she said she could take care of herself, then he hadn't much of a choice but to take her word for it. An idea tickled at the back of his mind though, and he found that he had to voice it, at least this once. "When we leave tomorrow, you could come with us. You said it yourself, it's not safe to be alone out on these mountains." Maybe those weren't her exact words, but the point still remained true. "Travel with us, just until we've cleared the mountains. You don't have to be part of the company, it just...I think it would be wise."
There was a long silence, as Gwen stared at her hands, likely thinking hard. She finally looked up, a bit of a bitter smile on her lips. "Thorin's not much fond of me."
That was, of course, true. But Thorin wasn't particularly fond of anyone. Besides, it seemed most of the others didn't mind her company too much. "Doesn't matter, really. You wouldn't actually be part of the company, you'd just happen to travel the same way at the same time as us."
Her smile widened. "That...can't really argue with that, I suppose."
Kili's heart lifted. "So you'll come with us?"
"How about you check with your uncle? I don't want to be a day away from here, caught in a blizzard if he decides to boot me out."
Ah...that was something he didn't want to do...one glance at Gwen, eyes glinting deep with a glimmer of hope, erased this doubt. "I'll ask."
Asking, was of course, much easier said than done. The look on Thorin's face when he proposed the idea was...well, not much of a change from his usual stern expression. However, he had scanned Kili's face so thoroughly, the young dwarf had almost began to feel guilty, though for what, he wasn't sure. He took the grunt his uncle replied with as a yes, and tried to hurry away, before Thorin stopped him. "Kili?"
He winced, but turned. "Yes, uncle?"
The silence dragged out terribly, Thorin's face unreadable. Finally it was broken, with a deep sigh and shaking of head from Thorin. "Just go."
Kili had practically run away.
Despite any discomfort from that conversation, Kili found he was able to forget it when he told Gwen that Thorin was fine with her tagging along. Her eyes lit up immediately, and she barely fought back a wide smile. Her eyes avoided his then, as a faint flush going up her cheeks. "That's...that's good."
Clearly, she was a bit more excited than she let on, as she immediately suggested Kili let Fili know the news. Fili had been happy, but had given Kili that look that he didn't understand, and found entirely annoying.
That evening, he once again found himself surrounded by friends and food, and he was perhaps a little too happy to see that the creepy blonde man was nowhere to be seen. Even so, he was sure to keep Gwen in sight most of the evening, just as a precautionary measure. It seemed, after so long of sitting around talking, most of the dwarves had exhausted their vault of stories, and so they moved onto old fairy tales, told to an intensely focused Gwen. Some details were added here and there, of course, to make it a bit more interesting, but Gwen seemed fascinated by it all the same. Dwalin had taken the floor, spinning a fairly gruesome tale, involving a fight with a bear and some nasty scarring. He was just getting to the good (disgusting) part, when Kili felt someone hit his shoulder. He turned to see Gwen had thrown herself into the chair beside him. Her cheeks were a tad flushed, a bit of a glint lighting up her eyes. "Evening, Master Dwarf."
Kili welcomed her with a smile. "Evening, Lady Gwen."
She burst out in...were those giggles? "Lady? I think we both know I'm not much of a lady."
He elbowed her lightly. "You're my lady then."
Her eyes widened in surprise, and she looked at him, alarmed for a moment. Just as quick, she snapped her gaze to the floor, her brow furrowing as she fiddled silently with the edge of her mug.
That was...odd. Sure, his statement was a bit flirtatious, but...why had she reacted that way?
Kili watched her for a moment, as she stared, eyes glazed over, at the leg of a table. He reached up, to place a hand on her shoulder, and she immediately flinched away from his touch, her eyes going up to his. Odd again. He spoke carefully. "Gwen, are you alright?"
Her eyes flicked nervously to the side. "Well enough."
He hesitated. "You're acting..." Ah. The facts suddenly clicked in his mind, as his eyes found the mug of amber liquid gripped in her hands. "...drunk."
Her nose wrinkled at the suggestion. "Tipsy, if anything."
Kili chuckled, shaking his head. More than tipsy, it seemed. "Now who's done this?"
"Did it myself, I should think," she retorted, almost defensively. "Shouldn't think anyone but myself could drink me to tipsy."
"You have a point." He motioned to the half-full mug gripped tightly in her hands. "Who gave you that then?"
"Ah," she started a bit, and took a gulp from the drink before continuing. "That would be Fili." When Kili didn't reply instantly, she elaborated. "Blonde dwarf? Only comes up to my chest? Bit of a silly moustache? Blue-"
"I know who he is," Kili reminded her gently, fighting back laughter. "He's actually my brother."
"Of course he is," Gwen sniffed, seeming a bit offended. "Do you think I'm daft?"
"Certainly not, love." Drunks were amusing. Especially drunk Gwen, it seemed.
She smiled at that endearment, looking away shyly, as if to hide the deep red that crept across her face. "Love? That's funny."
Kili lifted a brow. "Is it?"
"Makes you do ridiculous things sometimes..." she seemed to drift off as she said that, perhaps reliving an old memory as she scratched at a spot on the side of her mug.
That certainly got Kili's attention. Part of him wanted to ask, to see if her seemingly loosened tongue would explain that, but his dwarven honor wouldn't let him take advantage of her inebriated state. Perhaps he'd bring it up when she was a tad bit more...sober. With a sigh, he shoved that curiosity aside, changing the subject. "How much have you had to drink, exactly?"
Gwen looked back at him in surprise, before her brow furrowed. Just as quickly, she was mouthing words to herself, seeming to be counting on her fingers. Kili watched, amused, until she came back up, proudly holding up four fingers of one hand, announcing, "Three."
Kili bemusedly eyed her four fingers for a moment, before speaking. "This is your fourth then?'
"Yes." She seemed to take notice of her fingers then, a frown twisting her mouth as she reached up with her other hand, pushing one of the fingers held up back down. As soon as she let go, it came back up, to her annoyance. Her scowl intensified, as she shook the hand out all together, before simply returning it to its place, gripping her mug.
This was only after three and a half drinks? Mahal, she was a lightweight. He'd have to make sure she didn't drink herself into a coma.
A song started up, and Kili turned back to the center to see that the inkeep had brought out his lute instrument again, and was playing along to a rather raunchy sounding duet between Bofur and Nori. Gwen's attention turned to this, giggling to herself as words and phrases drifted through the warm air of the inn towards them. She had a nice laugh. As nice as a silly, drunken giggle could be, anyway.
He was interrupted from his musings by Fili, dropping into the chair next to him. "Brother!"
Kili could already smell the ale on him. "Not you too."
Fili frowned. "That's not how you're supposed to greet someone."
Kili snuck a glance to Gwen to see if she was listening. She was swinging her feet, with her mug clutched to her chest, attention fixed on the song. "You got Gwen drunk."
The blonde dwarf snorted in laughter. "Aye, I did, didn't I?"
"Why?" Kili sighed.
"Wasn't entirely me," he defended. "She was the one wanting to drink."
"And you should have seen she was such a lightweight and made her slow down a bit."
Fili smirked, looking past Kili to Gwen. "She's is quite the lightweight. Turned ditzy after her first pint." Kili opened his mouth to speak, but his brother continued. "The loosened her tongue a bit, though. Got to hear some interesting things."
"Brother-" Kili began in a warning tone.
"Ah, don't get your knickers in a twist," Fili huffed dismissively. "It wasn't anything bad. All I got was that she's a bit more thrilled than she was letting on about getting to tag along with us. Mentioned she was sick of being lonely."
Kili found himself glancing back at Gwen. She swayed slightly in her seat to whatever song was playing, a wide, contented smile plastered over her face. This smile seemed a bit infectious, as Kili turned back to his brother. "That's good."
Fili stared at him for a long moment, shaking his head slowly. "Sometimes I can't even bloody believe you, Kee."
Kili frowned, sitting back in his seat a bit. "What's that supposed to mean?"
Fili stared for a bit longer, before shaking his head, tipping back a gulp of his drink. "Always have had a strange taste in women."
A loud uproar from his companions, followed by the beginning of a familiar, fast-paced tune broke out, keeping the conversation from continuing. Kili knew this song all too well. It was a jig, one meant to be played with two fiddles. He and his brother had practiced together on it for many hours. Now, as the tune was plucked out on the lute and accompanied by someone's flute, Kili found his fingers almost instinctively picking out the fingerings to play along. A part of him much wished he had been able to bring his fiddle along on the quest after all.
Suddenly, he was being pushed up to his feet and shoved into the middle of the throng of dancing dwarves that had formed. They all knew the dance for this one, and soon enough, he found himself stamping and spinning about with the rest of his companions. It was a bit nice, to lose himself in the feeling of warmth, a full stomach, and a good tune. He had just tripped over Oin, who was, understandably a few beats behind the rest of them, when he was met with a faceful of brown curls. He jerked back, to see Bofur had gotten Gwen to join them. It was a bit obvious that she didn't know the dance, but she seemed happy enough skipping and spinning from dwarf to dwarf, laughing and smiling like a giddy twenty year old. He found himself distracted, watching her grab onto Gloin, pushing the reluctant dwarf into spinning, hand in hand, in a circle with her. When she skipped, giggling gleefully, from him, she had managed to get a bit of a fond smile to appear on his lips.
Gwen looked lost for a moment, but quickly found Kili's eyes. It only took her half a chorus to reach him, whereupon she quite actually snatched him out of his slight stupor, grabbing up his hands in hers. Her hands were warm, and maybe a bit sweaty in his, but so slight, he felt he might crush them if he held too tightly. Her slender fingers locked with his as she towed him further into the throng, dragging him into a circular skipping movement, as she had with Gloin. It was quite amusing to watch the sort of dancing she was doing. She hardly moved with the rhythm of the song at all, steps erratic and unpredictable, but her face, flushed with happiness and exhilaration, made up for a lack of any actual skill. A sweet, warm smell seemed to follow every sweep of her hair through the air between them, and as his pulse sped up, a giddy sort of excitement filling him, Kili found himself grinning like a fool.
A definite disappointment filled him when she suddenly dropped his hands, squirming through the others to reach a nervous looking Bilbo. He was kept from dwelling on this too long, as Bofur snatched him up, laughing, and quite obviously uproariously drunk.
Kili wasn't quite sure how long they danced about for, but he was certainly grateful to drop down onto a bench, nursing a refreshing mug of ale. It seemed they were all calming down a bit, as the flute player had dropped out, the lute instrument gone quiet. A heavy figure sat next to him, and Kili looked to see Dwalin, to his astonishment, with a smile on his face. It was only a slight smile, that could very well be mistaken for a scowl if one hadn't seen Dwalin really scowling, but it certainly threw Kili for a bit of a loop. Perhaps there is some sort of magic in rest, food, drink, and a good dance.
The sound of the lute began to fill the air around him again, this time slow, in a low, steady chord progression. The room quieted a bit, when a clear, soft voice began to fill the room.
The leaves are falling from the trees,
Farewell for now, warm summer breeze.
Kili craned his neck, and wasn't entirely surprised to see it was Gwen singing. She sat next to the innkeep, on a stool by the fire, a warm sort of expression written across her face as she sang.
Weather has been good this year,
And now the winter will soon be here.
She didn't have a perfect singing voice. Her lower notes were perhaps a bit off pitch, but her higher tones had a pretty sort of clarity that filled the space of the common room well. Her words came out crisply pronounced, touched with a lilt of an accent Kili had heard from somewhere before. He soon found himself lost a bit, in the soft thoughtfulness of the song, his muscles relaxing one by one.
The nights are drawing in to shorter days,
I hear the old folk and the country people say,
Don't fear the dark, nature has it all in hand,
Time to reflect and renew the tired land.
It was sort of as if the merrily crackling fire had come to fill Kili, as satisfaction washed through him. He longed to keep ahold of this feeling, to have a touch of it on those long nights on the road, sleeping on the cold ground.
So, we'll stoke the fire, and light the lamp,
Turn our backs in from the damp,
Settle down beneath the starry sky,
Endure the winter passing by.
Kili wondered for a moment if he'd be able to convince Gwen to teach him this song. It would never sound quite the same, without the sound of a blizzard raging outside, the crackle of hearth fire, and the sweet, small tone of her voice, but it would certainly be a pretty tune for him to play on winter nights back at home with his mother.
As the song continued, her voice got a bit stronger, rising above the storm outside, and the mutter of dwarves. When she got to the chorus another time, the innkeep joined in her singing, picking out a quiet harmony. After she had sung through the next verse, another voice joined in the chorus. It was either Bofur or Balin, singing along with her, missing a word here and there, but putting in the effort. Soon enough, another voice joined, Ori perhaps. It wasn't long till most of the dwarves were singing along with Gwen, who was almost beaming as she led them. It was lovely, seeing someone so genuinely happy as she seemed to be in that moment. A glance around the room showed Bifur passed out on a table, Oin holding his trumpet to his ear in an effort to hear what was going on, Bilbo happily smoking in the corner, and the others (save Dwalin, of course) adding to the quiet melody filling the air. Kili noticed Thorin, leaning against bar, a slight scowl on his face. He seemed to be watching Gwen's actions carefully, perhaps a bit calculating. At least it wasn't outright distaste...Kili found himself very much hoping that Thorin wouldn't act so...gruff to Gwen as she travelled with them. It would likely make her a bit unhappy, and Kili made the decision then, that he'd quite like to keep the girl as happy as she seemed to be in that moment for as long as he could.
And there was Chapter Four! I hope you enjoyed it. The song wasn't mine, it's called Winter Song, and it's by Emily Smith. I strongly recommend you look it up. It's a beautiful song.
The faves/reveiws/follows were brilliant, as always. I love you guys. That said, I would be really happy to hear what you thought of this chapter. Grammar issues? Favorite line? Hypothesis about where the story's going? Or, you could just say hi! (I may be just a little bit lonely) Hope you all have a fantastic week!
Next Chapter: The World Ahead
