Author's Note: Another chapter yaay! I'm seriously so thankful for everyone who has reviewed, favorited, followed or read this story. Seriously, it just makes me happy :) You are all wonderful! I'm trying to settle into a once a week update while I am off in the UK and then returning and starting a new semester. So expect to hear more about Ariana and Thorin next week!

Chapter Four: Boiling Over

As childish squeals of delight finally left her classroom, Ariana plopped down into her chair. The long awaited arrival of spring combined with the approaching weekend made for an excited bunch of students. She fervently hoped that they would tire themselves on the playground before returning for the second half of the day. Grabbing her lunch, she munched on her sandwich while hurriedly pouring over her plans for the afternoon. Friday afternoons were always fairly easy. Since her students had been particularly good that week, they would go outside for an extra treat at the end of the day. They had only to focus on story time, a short reading lesson and sing a couple songs before the freedom of "Friday Funday".

Half-eaten sandwich abandoned, Ariana reached for another stack of papers. Her eyes flicked over the lesson plan again, ensuring that she had forgotten nothing. Content that everything was in order, she returned to her desk and to the song lyrics before her. If she had to sing the Itsy Bitsy Spider one more time, she would go mad. To save her sanity, her students needed to learn a new song.

Ariana softly whispered the lyrics to herself. Her hands twitched in her lap before lifting and ghosting through the motions that accompanied the words. Knuckled rapped on her door causing Ariana to jump. Startled and embarrassed she turned to see Kate and their grumpy guest standing by the door. A flush crept across her cheeks when stormy eyes met hers. Ariana huffed crossly and diverted her gaze, busying herself by shuffling the papers on her desk.

Kate flounced across the room, leaving Thorin in the doorway. The heavy tread of boots trailed slowly after her as his eyes flittered around the room. Ariana watched his eyes narrow and absorb the colorful decorations. The reactions of visitors to her room always amused her. Very few people understood the layout of the space. They failed to see the play area, or the reading nook, or the charm of her tattered world rug.

Kate continued over to Ariana's desk and leaned over to give her a hug. Thorin disappeared behind a veil of blonde hair as Kate whispered in her ear. "Okay, so I think something is seriously up with his guy. Like he's from a different planet or something."

"Kate," Ariana reprimanded sternly, pulling out of the hug. Her teacher-side took over and explained, "That's not kind."

"No, not like he has mental issues or anything, but he acted like he had never seen a car before! He doesn't like to talk either. My theory is that he was raised in the wilderness for some experiment. Or maybe he has travelled through time from the Dark Ages or whatever."

Ariana rolled her eyes. "He probably just hit his head really hard or something. He'll snap out of it soon enough." Louder this time, she said, "Time for you to go to work little sister. I'll see you later tonight."

Kate, however, couldn't resist one last, whispered joke. "Just don't lose yourself in those dreamy blue eyes, 'kay?" She turned on her heel, walking purposefully toward the door. Deliberately winking over her shoulder, Kate slipped out of the room.

Ariana pursed her lips and bit back a retort. As if she would be losing herself in anything! Huffing, she noticed Thorin regarding her quizzically. Involuntarily, she returned his gaze with a scowl. She would show Kate that she was no silly swooning girl. It would take more than a nice pair of eyes to win her over.

"Welcome to Ms. Ellison's Kindergarten classroom," She said, overdramatically sweeping her arms out in a welcoming gesture. "The kids are at lunch then they have recess. So we have some peace and quiet until they return."

He merely continued his examination of the room. Ariana flushed, this time with anger. The world map rug was obviously more important than good manners, or at least it captured more of his attention.

"Goodness you are just like my kids," Ariana muttered wearily into a hand. Raising her head, she called across the room, the picture of a cross teacher. "Would it kill you to acknowledge that you heard me?"

Leisurely, Thorin pivoted and lifted his head. He stared at her patronizingly, as if appeasing a foolish child. Ariana's jaw clenched. So, he was still insistent on remaining as silent as possible. Well, two can play at that game, she thought wryly.

"I have a few things to get together for the afternoon, so feel free to poke around." A painfully fake smile flashed across her face earning her the slightest of frowns.

Ariana settled down at her desk again, pretending to rifle through her calendar. More than anything, she simply wanted to see what he would do. Observing him would likely provide entertainment. He mockingly dipped his head, the smallest of bows. Straightening, he meandered about the room. Occasionally he would stop and scrutinize something on the wall. Her world map rug seemed to grab his attention for a time, until he noticed the little tables and chairs. She watched as he read the laminated student nameplates, complete with the alphabet, numbers and colors.

His eyes flicked to her and she could see a question forming. "You instruct children?" He asked with a hint of incredulity that instantly set her on the defensive.

"No, I teach pigs how to fly." Her sarcasm fell on unappreciative ears, which disappointed her. "Of course I teach children! Why else do you think that I spend my days at a school?"

His face scrunched. For some reason, this information perplexed him. Struggling to maintain her annoyance, Ariana chose to ignore this. Casting her mind for a physical distraction, her eyes settled on a stack of student artwork. Suddenly stapling paper to the wall seemed incredibly fascinating.

Snatching a stapler, Ariana stomped over to the wall titled "Ms. Ellison's Smartest Artests". The sharp snap of the staples biting into the corkboard mollified her frustration. The task so gripped her that she failed to notice him behind her until she turned around.

Jumping, a polite, "oh, you scared me," escaped her. Then she remembered that her determination to snub him. Promptly, Ariana continued to put crayon renditions of Picasso's works on the wall.

He sniffed, turning his nose up at the drawings. Ariana's eyes widened. How dare he!

"Is there a problem?" She asked, hissing as the stapler stubbornly refused to cooperate.

"I merely doubt the integrity of your qualifications to tutor the children of others."

Ariana rounded on the infuriating man, ready to verbally pommel him into the floor, when the bell rang. Her eyes darted to the door as her charming, exceedingly noisy four and five year olds spilled into the classroom. Twenty-seven sets of eyes found Thorin, widened and the barrage of questions began.

Ariana sighed, steeling herself for what was sure to be a long afternoon.

An eternity could have passed, but Ariana was sure that afternoon would have endured.

Thorin's presence only multiplied the children's excitement and it took a good deal of time before they were capable of focusing. Quickly they began asking questions about their relationships. Before the rumors took an awkward turn, Ariana told them that he was a distant relative who was in town to perform in a play. He had come by to observe her class in between shows, which was why he was still in costume. Of course, her wonderfully gullible children had immediately accepted her fib. She hated lying to them, but it harmed less than the truth. Besides, she barely understood the circumstances of his arrival herself, how could she manage to simplify it for her students.

It took playing the "Ants in My Pants" song twice before the children had danced all their wiggles away. This allowed Ariana to settle them into a story. She pulled out a personal favorite and an instant class request. It told the charmingly simple story of a bear who had lost his hat. The students assisted her in following the bear on his quest to reclaim his beloved hat, eventually finding that a rabbit had stolen it. Luckily, she could recite the book in her sleep since her mind drifted elsewhere. The nagging sensation of being watched itched at her scalp. Thorin had not taken his eyes from her since she began the lesson.

He sat at the back of the room like a solitary cloud, moody and persistent. His staring unnerved her. He just sat there, scrutinizing her surely. Her temper flared. Who was he to judge her? As if he had any right to determine if she was an effective teacher or not. He had probably never even worked with children before; much less teach them to do something useful. It was impossible to determine what exactly occupied his thoughts. It was undeniably negative, but she could not read him. Perhaps this was part of the reason he irritated her so much. Most people were fairly easy to understand, but he remained indecipherable.

It was a relief to finally release her children onto the playground. They shrieked gleefully, starting games of tag and tetherball. Ariana parked herself behind the swings. She gently pushed the backs of her students as they swung back and forth. This was her preferred vantage point as it allowed her to see the entire playground at once. Usually this meant that she could see which students misbehaved and thus respond with gentle, but pointed reprimands. Today, however, it allowed her to watch some of her braver, bolder kids attempt to interact with a certain ill-tempered man.

A few of her most conniving boys had quickly noticed his sword. Subsequently, they had gravitated to him like flies to honey. They practically drooled with big eyes glued on the weapon. This drew a small smile from Ariana, unable to contain her amusement. Thorin appeared to be somewhat pleased as well, letting the boys touch the hilt. To her relief, he refused to unsheathe it. At least he had some sense, even if he was just humoring them to fill his ego.

From where they stood by the monkey bars, she could hear the children launching into their numerous questions that had not been answered by her meager explanation of his presence. Surprisingly, most of these questions received answers. Rarely did her questions receive such unguarded responses. More often than not, he graced her with not response at all.

"How old are you?" The class jokester asked.

"I am one hundred and eight," was the prompt response.

Ariana frowned and so did her students. The kids were quick to supply unnecessary information related to their own ages, saying, "Well I'm five and a half!" "I'm almost six!" "My birthday is in September!"

Ariana, on the other hand, fumed silently. She could not stand people who patronized kids. They were delightfully innocent at this age and it irked her when their trusting natures were abused. She has lost count of the number of times parents told their children outlandish stories, shadowing the truth. The delicate line between simplifying reality and altering it blurred for most adults. Often this stemmed from a belief that hiding a child from the world will maintain their naivety, thus justifying the innocent lies. Ariana, however, firmly believed that lying would only teach distrust. She much preferred teaching children truth and equipping them to navigate the complexities of the world.

The ring of the last bell of the day floated from the school building. Ariana called to her class, instructing them to line up. She walked to the edge of the playground, just before the tallest slide. Her line leaders already stood at attention, proud of their role and taking it quite seriously. The other students filtered towards the line, preparing to go to the buses.

As the last children wandered over, Thorin came to stand beside Ariana. Turning, she led her students along the sidewalk, making for the parking lot. In her first year of college, Ariana had perfected the art of walking backwards. She had worked as a tour guide and thankfully the skill continued to prove useful. As she walked, eyes on her class, her irritation continued to boil at the heavy clomping to her left. As much as she tried, a question blurted out of her rebellious mouth.

"Why did you lie to the kids about your age?"

He merely lifted an eyebrow at her, silently demanding further explanation.

"There was no point in lying, especially since they have no concept of age beyond adult and child. You really shouldn't tease them with such seriousness. They'll believe almost anything you say."

"The average life expectancy of a dwarf is two-hundred and fifty years," he told her bluntly. "It is not uncommon for a healthy dwarf to live to be three-hundred."

"Riiiight. If you're a hundred and eight, then I've got to be what? At least, eighty." The taunting comment was unnecessary, but the fault was his for making it far too easy.

He snorted. He actually snorted at her! "Hardly. Humans are far more fleeting. By dwarf standards, you would be the same age as the children you teach."

"I am not a child," she hissed. "And I am perfectly capable of performing my duties as a teacher."

Just then, a student at the back of the line screamed, shrilly. Ariana sighed. Thank God it's Friday.

Ariana decided that Thorin's moodiness was infectious. A frown had worked its way across her face over the afternoon and by the time dinner finished it had solidified. The drive home and time spent preparing dinner had been purposefully taciturn. Thorin seemed to be content with the silence and for the first time, Ariana agreed with him. She had resolved to give the horrid man a rather excellent silent treatment. Then she remembered his comment about her age and decided that she wanted to be anything but childish. To avoid complete silence, she hummed and sang softly, a happy medium of noise, but devoid of communication.

Clearing empty soup bowls off the table, Ariana shuffled them to the sink. As she washed up, she began to consider what to do for the rest of the evening. Kate shift at the restaurant wouldn't be done until later, but it was much too early to go to bed. Seeing as it was a Friday night, Ariana determined that a movie would do her good.

Drying her hands, Ariana noticed Thorin resumed his observation of her. Resisting yet another eye roll, she deemed it acceptable to break the silence for a bit.

"Kate will be at work till later, so I think I'll pop in a movie. You're welcome to watch too if you like." Ariana didn't bother waiting for a response, knowing that there wouldn't likely be one.

Purposefully, she walked into the living room, stopping before the sparse collection of DVDs. Fingers dancing in front of the titles, she decided an episode of Pride and Prejudice, Colin Firth and a cup of tea would be perfect. She pushed the disk into the player, turned on the TV then flittered back into the kitchen to put some water on to boil. The obnoxiously loud commercials began playing, making Ariana wince. Kate had obviously watched something last, since only she turned the volume that loud.

It was only when Ariana heard a huge crash did she realize that Thorin was no longer in the kitchen. He had followed her into the living room and remained there.

Ariana ran into the other room as she heard a second crash. "What is going on in here?" She asked as she rounded the corner.

Thorin froze, sword unsheathed, extended from his shoulder and poised at the TV. His face relaxed from a snarl, to an undoubtedly confused frown. Ariana turned her attention to the TV and gasped. Two huge gashes were cut into the screen as if someone had chopped at it. Her eyes darted back to the perpetrator, narrowing dangerously.

"What the hell do you think you are doing?" She yelled, starting forward and pointing at the TV. "D-did you really just attack my TV?"

Thorin's expression changed from puzzled to defensive, but he did lower his sword. "The box has been enchanted. There was some type of spell on it…"

"Like hell there was!" Ariana cut him off, fists clenching. "I mean what is your problem?! The TV isn't magical, its just electricity! A very expensive electrical box!"

Thorin continued to glare at her, no remorse or even understanding crossing his features. "I only thought to protect myself and you from the witchcraft that was placed on the box." His inadequate explanation only fueled her fury.

"You do you think you are?" Ariana exploded, jabbing a finger into his shoulder. She didn't care that he still held the sword in his hand; her anger overpowered her caution. "You come in here acting all high and mighty. Judging me for being a teacher, protecting me from my 'enchanted' TV, just moping around, glaring and you won't even give a proper thank you to the person who saved your life!" She gave him a shove for good measure.

His eyes blazed, remaining stationary despite her attempt to move him. He simply clenched his jaw, refusing to respond to her barbs. Ariana glowered up at him, their toes nearly touching. Stormy blue eyes met golden brown, a tempest against an inferno. A beat passed, and Ariana knew that he would remain immovable.

"Ugh!" She threw up her hands in frustration. "That's it, I'm going to bed." She turned on her heel, flicking her hair in his face before stomped back to her room. To further emphasize her exasperation, she slammed the door behind her.

For the next hour, Ariana pouted. She knew that it was immature of her, but she couldn't help herself. Turning up her music, she flopped onto her bed. Then, she pondered what she would say to Thorin when he apologized. She entertained herself by playing out scenario after scenario; in each one, she immerged the victor of the little fight.

By the time the hour had passed, Ariana's patience was dwindling. Chewing her lip, she glanced at the clock compulsively. Kate wouldn't be home for another hour yet. She rolled herself up with a sigh. Shuffling to the door, she turned the knob as quietly as she could. She cracked the door and peered out, seeing little except for the light coming from the living room. She tiptoed down the hall. Hopefully, he would be fast asleep and she could just check on him.

Creeping round the corner, Ariana found only pieces of the destroyed TV and the usual clutter in the room. Her brow furrowed. Where had he gone? No longer attempting stealth, she flitted into the kitchen, then the bathroom, hallway and Kate's room. She even looked in her room again for good measure. Standing dumbly in the middle of her apartment, Ariana finally put the pieces together, her stomach growing heavy at the conclusion.

Thorin was gone.

Author's Note:

You may have noticed I changed the ages of the dwarves. In the book, Thorin is supposedly 195 at the time of the journey, which makes him the oldest member of the company. Supposedly, dwarves averagely live to be 250, so I guessed a really old dwarf would be 300. Just like humans averagely live to be 82 (or so I've heard) but there are a few who live much longer than that.

I modified the ages to mirror the movies more than the book, although I made Thorin a bit younger. I felt this fit his pride and occasional rashness. Of course, it all doesn't work out perfectly (with the ages of his nephews and whatnot), but that is the beauty of fanfiction.

As always, I'd love to hear your thoughts! Much love! xx