I'm not sure what I was expecting exactly inside the little hill, but it was surprisingly homey. 'It was a hobbit hole. And that meant, comfort.' The words drifted back into my head. Right. Well, it was the epitome of comfort. Sturdy, comfortable furniture filled the warm simple rooms. The smell of food drifted through the circular halls. I had to admit, the Baggins guy had class.
"Set her down there is fine." He pointed to a sofa by the currently cold fireplace. I dropped Miley unceremoniously into the seat and exhaled.
"I think she should be up in a few hours." I said to myself unhappily. Baggins coughed slightly from behind me.
"You, um, you seem to know my name, but I don't believe we've met." He said at last.
"Oh… right." I licked my lips slightly. I had a feeling M wasn't going to cut it. "I'm…" my mind went blank. "Gilgamesh… but you can call me Gil." He nodded.
"Bilbo Baggins, as you know." He held out his hand to shake mine, but I backed up immediately.
"Whoa! Whoa… no touching. No." I wagged my finger at him. He took a few steps back in confusion.
"Look," he started. "I know you don't trust me, but I would never…" his voice trailed off as I grabbed a poker from the fire and pointed it at him.
"Okay, you must be at least this far from us at all times." I told him.
"You can't be serious." He looked at me. I nudged the poker a little closer to him. He sighed and rolled his eyes. "All right. All right!" he repeated a bit louder as I poked him again. He took a few steps back. "If it makes you comfortable." He sighed again. "Well, a least let me get a pillow for your… sister?"
"Friend." I corrected. "Do we look anything alike?" he shook his head slightly.
"You two just seemed close, so I thought you might be related." He muttered to himself as he walked over to another chair and grabbed a small cushion. Baggins started towards Miley with it, but I sprang in front of him, poker at arms length. He froze, then sighed, and handed the cushion to me. Or tried to anyway. But with a fire poker of distance between us, we couldn't reach.
"This is ridiculous." He said at last, arm falling to his side.
"But necessary." I scolded. "Here, just set it down where you are." He did so. I walked towards it, the poker ushering him backwards at the distance. I reached the pillow at last, bent down, picked it up, and walked backwards. Keeping an eye on Baggins the entire time. "You're not going to jump me as soon as I turn around, right?" I asked testily. He sighed loudly.
"Look, I was going to go smoke my pipe outside for a bit before you lot showed up, so how about I go and do that, and you can see to your friend without having to be paranoid the entire time." The hobbit suggested. I nodded slowly. He grabbed his pipe from the table and walked past me, giving me a wide birth as my poker followed hi movements. At last, he was out the door and shut it behind him. I sighed in relief and dropped the poker back in its stand.
"Hopefully, this won't be one of those books that's all men." I mumbled to myself tiredly. Turning my attentions now to Miley, I put the cushion beneath her head and found a blanket to spread over her. She looked much more comfortable, though still pale. I knew there was nothing to be done but wait for her to get over it, so I wandered about the room curiously. Besides the fireplace and sofa, there were a few more chairs. On the far side of the room, however, was a large desk covered in old papers and books. No wonder Miley wanted to come here. I made my way over to it and scanned over the large map on the center. The words 'Middle Earth' were in the bottom corner in fancy script. Detailed rivers and mountain ranges and forests dotted the map. The left side was ocean, but the other three sides lead to more land. My eyes read through a couple of the names on the parchment: Mordor, Bree, Gondor, Esgorath, Gap of Rohan, Aunduin River, Hobbiton. Hobbiton was probably where we were… I mean, it was a hobbit hole after all. I guess Baggins was hobbit then. My fingers picked up an old dust tome. I turned to the first page and began reading. The book itself was boring, but it was so nice to be able to read for once without getting sucked into some strange world.
The front door opened suddenly and Baggins came rushing back in, looking quite alarmed. He slammed the front door, panting, then after a second thought, locked it as well. I shut the book and hurried over to retrieve the poker again. I walked over cautiously as the hobbit put his ear to the door. I faint scratching sound reached my ears. Baggins sprung up and hurried to the window trying to see the outside of the door. I yelped involuntarily as a huge eye appeared on the other side, magnified by the shape of the glass. Bilbo too jumped in surprise and rushed away from the window to hide behind the corner. The large blue eye twitched slightly, fixed itself on me briefly and disappeared. Bilbo quietly snuck over to the next window and looked out of it. I moved behind him and we watched as a tall gray robed man walked down the path away from the house, humming contentedly to himself. Bilbo sighed in relief, but jumped in surprise as he turned around to see me right by his shoulder. I jumped too and immediately raised the poker in between us.
"Who was that?" I asked, still watching the tall man disappear behind a hill.
"I don't know." Bilbo admitted. "Called himself Gandalf. A wizard that used to come around these parts."
"A wizard?" I scoffed. "Just what exactly are you smoking in that pipe?" He glared at me slightly, but immediately dropped the glare and smiled.
"Yes a wizard." He said, walking into the kitchen. I let the poker hang down.
"What did he want?" I called into the kitchen where the hobbit was busily moving around.
"He offered to let me go on an adventure with him." He chuckled slightly. "Can you believe it? An adventure!"
"Did you agree to go?" I asked, getting the feeling that this 'adventure' would turn out to be the rest of the book.
"Of course I didn't!" Bilbo snickered. "No respectable hobbit would even dream of going on an adventure! Nasty, disturbing, wet things. Make you late for dinner!" this dude had his priorities straight. "And that's exactly what I told him!" Bilbo finished, somewhat proudly. "Tea?"
"Oh, no thanks." I nodded my head. "I really hate the stuff. But maybe a cup for my friend here, she practically breathes it." He hummed slightly in response and got out another teacup and saucer.
"One lump or two?" he called.
"Of what?" I replied in confusion.
"Sugar. Does she like one lump or two?" Bilbo's head poked back into the room.
"Oh… um, two I guess?" I had no idea. He nodded and disappeared back into the kitchen. I looked around lamely and sat down in an empty chair. Man was it comfy. Bilbo came in a few seconds later, balancing a cup of tea deftly in each hand. He sat down one on the little table next to Miley and sat down with the other cup in the chair opposite us. He sipped quietly for a moment.
"You sure I can't get you anything?" he asked at last.
"And give you a chance to drug me? No way!" I snorted. He just shrugged and continued sipping.
"So, where are you two headed?" Bilbo said, again trying to start conversation. I just shrugged. "That far?" I snickered at the sarcasm in his tone. He could be funny!
"We're just kind of wandering from no where." I explained quickly. Bilbo nodded, excepting the vague explanation. I was thankful. The same thing hadn't worked so well for me in the past. Ender's Game. Those people were a stickler for details!
"Well," Bilbo said. "You're welcome to stay as long as you like! Hobbits always enjoy company." He glanced at me before adding. "And I'm sure you could find other hobbit willing to take you in that you'd feel safer with." He eyed the poker still in my hands.
"You don't seem to bad." I shrugged. He thanked me and finished his tea. Miley's proceeded to get cold.
"Are you sure she's alright?" Bilbo asked me, as he got up to take the now empty teacup to the sink.
"Yeah, she'll be fine by tonight." I hope. To be honest, I was a little worried about how long Miley had been out of it. But I guess she was older than when I first hopped, so the shock hit her worse. I had gotten used to it by now.
"Well, I was meaning to go shopping later today." Bilbo said, coming back into the room. "And no time like the present! You're welcome to join me if you'd like. But I get the feeling you'd rather keep an eye on her."
"Yeah, she'd never forgive me if she woke up and I was gone." He nodded in understanding. "But thanks for the offer."
"While I'm there, would you like me to fetch some clothes for the two of you?" he suggested. "You might draw unwanted attention in such… outlandish garb."
I laughed. "Buddy, you have no idea."
:( not much happened in this chapter. But don't worry! Dwarves are coming soon!
Reviews are always super appreciated!