Probably only about two more chapters to go, guys!
Yes, I understand some of you are confused about this whole multi-universe thing, but all will be revealed in the final chapter!
Bilbo sat on a cot with his head hanging low. His eyes fixed, unseeing at the floor as his brain tried to numbly process what Thorin had just told him. The dwarf had left to (begrudgingly) meet with the Elven King who arrived at lake town to discuss their 'plans' on how to deal with the dragon.
...Smaug had used him.
Bilbo bit his lips and screwed his eyes closed.
...It had all been nothing but a Great Game. How silly of him to have thought that perhaps the dragon had cared. Why, why should he ever care for Bilbo? He was just a halfling, after all, nothing to compare with the magnificent beast.
Bilbo let out a sigh and got up to make himself some tea.
Thorin had told him about it all. How the dragon appeared in his human form, offered Bilbo back to Thorin in exchange for him and his...treasure to be left alone!
Bilbo yanked the cupboard door opened a little harder than necessary.
...And Thorin! Deceitful Thorin used a loophole in their negotiation, and was going to join hands with the elves and the men of Lake town to takeover the mountain before the evening of the day after the next! He had known dwarves to be tricksy, but for such foul play to come from the King of Erebor himself. Bilbo had never been so disappointed.
He reached for a pouch containing the tea-leaves and loosened up the strings.
And Smaug...
It was not sadness that he felt, nor was it hurt. He wasn't to expect much humanity from a dragon anyway. It was rather... betrayal, perhaps, that was gnawing at him at the moment.
Yes, he felt betrayed.
He dug his hand into the pouch, and Bilbo's finger caught a small strip of parchment in the knitted bag; the Hobbit's brows furrowed as his deft fingers pulled it out.
In the lamp light, the little strip torn from a parchment read:
'Enter through the main entrance. Come at once if convenient' - SM.
P.S. 'If inconvenient, come anyway,' - SM.
For a moment, he stood rooted on the spot, stunned.
Smaug...
Then, in the blink of an eye, Bilbo all but snorted to himself as he casted the bit of paper into the fire. Did that bastard REALLY expect him to go find him after all that had happened? Oh how cocky! - He slammed the cupboard door shut. - The beast probably thought the sun and the moon went round and round himself! Bilbo would bet three of his silver spoons that that was as modest as he got!
He bit his lips as he stared at the little piece of parchment curling into a burnt strip of brown in the fire. The flames mockingly danced in his eyes, as the ring in his waistcoat pocket throbbed.
'You're a Took, Mr. Baggins,' it teased, 'You are made to be an adventurer...'
For a moment, Bilbo stood still, but then relented.
"Yes..."
'Any good?'
He furrowed his brows again as he took out the golden ring and gazed at it's smooth and beautiful texture. At that moment, the Baggins in him seemed to have fled, and Bilbo sneered back at it.
"Very good!"
'Seen lots of injuries then?' It cooed, 'Violent beings.'
The images of the incident with the trolls, the ill treatment of the elves, and most of all, the orcs and the wargs and Azog who nearly took all their lives came rushing back into his mind.
"Well, yes..."
'Bit of trouble, too, I bet?'
True...
"Of course, yes", Bilbo sighed, resigned. He did not want any more trouble, thank you very much. Hands coming up to rub his face, he replied as the Baggins in him returned, "Enough for a lifetime." Far too much.
The ring went silent for a moment, and in that heart beat, Bilbo nearly regretted his response, but it was then when the voice sounded again.
'Want to see some more?'
And he'd be DAMNED if he didn't see the end of this!
Bilbo gnashed his teeth in anger and slipped the ring onto his finger.
"Oh, God, yes!"
When Smaug flew him back to Thorin's camp, his clothes were left behind, and so now Bilbo was wearing nothing but a pair of worn trousers, and his mithril mail. It was cold outside and his teeth were chattering, so when the hobbit finally reached the entrance to Smaug's secret lair beyond the chamber filled with gold, he could not help but relish in its warmth.
The room still looked the same way it did. Golden, lavish, lit with hundreds of candles, and its every surface decorated with blood red rose petals. The master of the room stood with his back to him when Bilbo entered, but with the clink of the shutting door, he turned around slowly.
Smaug was as strikingly handsome as the last time Bilbo saw him, and despite the anger that was bubbling within his chest, he could not find it in his heart to tear his gaze off the being's exquisite face and marble white skin that was showing from under the collar of his top.
The dragon greeted him with his seductive smile that Bilbo had come to hate, and cocked his head to the side as he took note of Bilbo's clothing.
"Are you really going to keep that?" His deep voice resounded, as he gestured to the mithril mail Bilbo was wearing.
Without thinking, the hobbit caught himself haughtily replying.
"Thorin likes it."
Smaug shook his head, his dark brown curls tousling as he smiled a winning smile.
"...No he doesn't," he looked Bilbo in the eye mockingly, "and you know it."
Bilbo swore and struggled to yank the hateful piece of armor off his body.
"Apparently, nobody likes it!" He said heatedly, "Now, if you would, I request you return me my clothes."
He thought Smaug was going to object, pull more tricks off his sleeves perhaps, but what he did not expect was the tall man shrugging, bending down to grab his garments that lay neatly folded on a stool nearby, and tossing them back to him.
Bilbo glared distrustingly at the consulting dragon as he put on his clothes, and when he finished tying the sash around his waist, he began again.
"Well, what is it you called me out here for?"
Smaug only shrugged.
"I was bored."
Immediately, Bilbo was at his side, and before the beast knew what was happening, the hobbit's little fist had collided hard with his jaw.
"That was for what you've done!"
"...I never would have expected this to come from a Baggins."
"I'm a TOOK, and I have bad days! And how dare you-HOW DARE YOU?"
With all his strength, he pushed off the dragon and leant on a divan, breathing heavily.
"How could you do that?" Bilbo whispered as he glanced up to look Smaug in the eye, "How?"
"It had to be done."
"Don't you have an ounce of shame? Or perhaps sentiment?"
"Sentiment," The man shook his head and sneered, "Sentiment is a chemical defect found in the losing side."
"You sold me to Thorin."
"Were you ever mine to sell?"
Bilbo opened his mouth to protest, but went silent. Smaug's golden eyes pierced through him as the detective slowly paced towards Bilbo.
"I got Thorin Oakenshield to cower before me, swear never to return to his homeland again," Smaug mused, wicked satisfaction flickering in his beautiful eyes, "Don't you think that was clever, how I did that?"
"I don't CARE how you did it, Smaug," Bilbo retorted, "I want to know why."
When no reply came from the dragon, Bilbo sighed and continued.
"Thorin plans on opening a war with you."
What the hobbit did not expect was Smaug's reply.
"Yes, I was anticipating that," the dragon said easily and shrugged at Bilbo's bewilderment, "Which is why I had also planned on encountering them and securing you for myself on the day."
Oh...
So... he really was not going to abandon Bilbo after all?
Oh, so he planned on cheating as well after all!
"It is what you want, isn't it?" Smaug smirked as he bent down to trail a finger down Bilbo's face, "To be by my side..."
Bilbo slapped him hard in the face.
"Fu-*cough!"
Walking in the cold air outside seemed to have taken its toll on him, and Bilbo coughed hard, but would not stop as he glared back into the pair of golden eyes.
"You betrayed my trust!" He yelled, "You resent Thorin but you are nothing different from him, so deceitful, so predictable."
He knew immediately that he ought to not have said what he just did, for Bilbo saw anger - intense anger flaring in Smaug's golden eyes as the candlelight within the room all went out, leaving only a pair of glaring ember staring back at him.
"You will regret your words," -Smaug's voice had changed, it boomed up into the growl of the gigantic beast once more, "Halfling!"
Bilbo immediately spun on his heels and ran out into the great hall.
He had only gotten as far as a breath away into the hall piled with gold when a pillar behind him collapsed with an exploding crash as the scaly beast rammed into it. With a deafening roar, Smaug chased him and Bilbo dug beneath crates of golden armor. In only a second, another pillar came down, and in his mind, the hobbit feared for a minute that the wrath of the dragon may cause the entirety of Erebor to collapse. For now, however, he was concentrated on saving his own neck.
Using his small frame and speed to his advantage, Bilbo evaded the scorching flames that the great dragon trailed after him. He dug into piles of coin and emerged on the other side, scrambled beneath stone ledges to avoid the bright, orange flames. He tripped on crystal jars, sending its content tumbling down the mountains of gold. He darted forward, about to reach a doorframe, when suddenly the back of his tunic was caught by a massive claw, and he was pinned to the floor. Bilbo let out a yelp as he crashed down onto the hard stone tile, the heat from the beast's body burning his back. He gritted his teeth and closed his eyes, knowing that that moment was going to be his last-
What the hobbit did not expect, however, was to hear a small rumble of laugher, and to feel a hot breath running down the back of his neck. Not a trail of scorching flames, mind you, just a regular, human breath. He craned his neck back to look up at his captor, and immediately his eyes went wide.
Smaug in his human form was towering over him, and the seductive grin that the beautiful man was sending him was threatening to stop his heart.
Bilbo gasped as he got flipped over.
The tall man had him pinned to the floor. His long fingers planted on the tiles on either side of his head, and his knees locked Bilbo's hips in place. The hobbit let out a whimper.
"You have missed this..." Smaug lowered his head to purred into Bilbo's ear. He planted a gentle kiss on the hobbit's cheek.
"Admit it. The thrill of the chase, the blood pumping through your veins. Just the two of us against the rest of the world!"
At the sound of his words, Bilbo could not help but let out a gentle gasp as he finally understood what the phrase had meant. Oh, Smaug was right... He was right all along. Bilbo thought numbly. He had wanted this, this excitement to course through his veins again!
Desire flooded him.
The dragon-man's hands trailed down small body and Bilbo groaned, throwing his head back. Smaug chuckled and lay his hands on bilbo feet, stroking at the thick hair that grew there, and Bilbo swore he could just die at that moment, when suddenly-
"This is not really my area..."
He heard the dragon whisper, and immediately Bilbo raised his head, only to see Smaug brandishing a small blade, and was trailing it down the sole of his foot with a pensive look on his face.
"But I like my hobbits clean shaven..."
