Evangeline was right. Her uncle did show and he did have to run to catch up, but he came. He came with a large pack on his back and his contract waving in his hand.
"I signed it! Stop! I signed it!" He stopped and one of the dwarves grabbed the contract, giving her uncle a chance to breathe.
"And you..." A finger was pointed at her as he huffed and puffed.
"You left without me?!" Evangeline felt a blush, creep up her face, and a small amount of embarrassment. She had left without him and she did feel bad, but she wasn't going to pass up this opportunity.
"Like you say uncle, a hobbit is never late. And I didn't want to be late." Evangeline gave her uncle a cheeky grin and paired it with a causal shrug of her shoulder. She was right and he knew it, but it didn't stop the annoyed look he sent her.
"Everything seems in order. Welcome to the company of Thorin Oakenshield." The white haired dwarf gave Bilbo a smile and a wink before their attention was drawn to Thorin.
"Give him a pony." Before bilbo could even protest, Kili piped up with a smirk on his face directed at Evangeline.
"The little female hobbit has the last one that's not carrying a load. She'll have to share with someone." Evangeline felt a distinct pair of blue eyes on her, just for a moment before she turned away.
"I can share with my niece. I'll share. Or I'll walk." The thought of sharing a pony with Fili didn't escape her mind. And she knew she would enjoy it.
His strong arms wrapped around her as they shared a pony. There would be no doubt that they'd have to talk and get to know each other. And that made her blush even more.
"Neither one of you really knows how to ride. I don't think you should share. But I'm sure Fili wouldn't mind." A choking-cough could be heard from Evangeline's mouth. She didn't actually expect Kili to say Fili, even though she hoped he would, especially out loud.
"Fine. Make it quick." There was a moment of shuffling as Evangeline got off her horse, stumbling in the process and walked to Fili's. She looked up at him and took a deep breath, her eyes slightly widened.
She will have never been this close to a male before. She will have never had a male pressed against her for a long period of time. She was as new to this as she was to riding a pony.
"Umm..." She blinked and licked her lips nervously. She could see a faint reddening of Fili's neck and was glad she wasn't alone.
"Here let me help you..." A pair of hands on her waist made her jump and by instinct, her elbow jerked back and made contact with a body.
"I am so sorry!" She covered her mouth with a hand and turned. Kili was standing behind her with a pained look on his face.
"Got him good, lass!" Evangeline apologized again and turned her attention back to Fili. He held out his hand and she placed her hand in his, with a good tug she was yanked up. She swung her leg over the pony, celebrating her victory.
"You okay? Not too cramped?" She sat rigid when she heard Fili's deep voice in her ear.
"N-no. I'm fine. I'm sorry about elbowing your brother though." She leaned over to her right and looked back. Kili was back on his horse, talking to Bilbo. He didn't look her anymore and he didn't look upset. He made eye contact with her and shot her a wink.
"I don't think you did permanent damage. Although I'll think twice before crossing you, feisty hobbit." She rolled her eyes and gave him a light smack on his shoulder.
"You should think twice. I'm dangerous. I'm a hobbit not to be messed with." Fili laughed behind her and she felt the rumble of his chest on her back.
"Clearly, Kili's stomach knows that."
"I still feel bad."
When Thorin had finally told them to stop, and that they would rest for the night, Evangeline felt relived. Sitting on a horse for most of the day, even with good company made her feel stiff. Her legs and back and even bum had all hurt and she needed to stretch.
"Feeling little sore up there? Was Fili too hard on you?" Evangeline rolled her eyes and shifted in the saddle, waiting for Fili to dismount before she did. She searched for her words, or rather the eighth words, before giving up and changing the subject altogether.
"How's your stomach Kili? Still in pain?" The dark haired brother winced and backed off a few inches.
"You win this round, little hobbit." A wink and a flirty smile, was sent her way. Evangeline was quickly learning that Kili was a natural flirt and he didn't mean anything by it. It was his habit and personality. He was a charming dwarf.
"Ready to get down?" She hadn't even noticed that Fili had dismounted until he was standing beside their horse, looking up at her.
"Yes please. I need to stretch." With one quick motion, and his hands on her waist, she was pulled from the horse and set on her own two feet.
"Thanks Fili." Without thinking, she pressed a kiss to his cheek and skipped off to find her uncle amongst the dwarves.
Once finding him, she sat on the ground beside him and stretched out her legs. She leaned forward and grabbed her boots with her hands and groaned. She felt sore and achy after the first 3 hours of riding and no matter how much shifting she did, it didn't help.
"I think I have an allergy to horses." Her uncle looked uncomfortable and homesick already. He was rubbing his nose, not with his handkerchief, but with a piece of cloth from his shirt.
"I'm sure you'll be fine uncle. Besides you should get used to it. We have a long way to go." She didn't know how long they would be gone, or just how far they were going. But she knew it would be a long way; or she figured it would.
She also knew she would miss home, just as her uncle would. She knew that she would pine for the comforts of their hobbit house. The warm fireplace and the warm bed. The library full of books she had not yet read, and the company of her neighbours. All except a few.
"I know we have a long way and I still don't understand why Gandalf chose us. We are not burglars! We are hobbits!"
"Gandalf said himself uncle, Hobbits are light on their feet. And we are. We are sneaky by nature, well sometimes. And we'll be helpful." In slaying a dragon. That's what they were going to do. And as part of the company, you were going to be tagging along.
"We can't slay a dragon! I've never even seen a dragon!" Evangeline placed her arms behind her and leaned back, her eyes wandering from her uncle to the sky. It wasn't quite dark yet, but the sun was starting to go down.
"Neither have I, uncle. But they need their homeland. We need to help. I couldn't imagine having a homeland and not being able to live there. Could you imagine being forced from the shire and not being able to go back?" Even though they could go back, a dragon was standing in their way.
"We are not dwarves! We have a home!"
Fili still couldn't believe that she had kissed his cheek. He wasn't expecting her to do that, and when she had, he went into a mild state of shock. The way her lips felt on his skin, made him want to feel more. He wanted to feel her lips on his, but t was too soon.
"You're still watching her, Fee?" He ignored her brother and kept his blue eyes on her. She was sitting on her bedroll, legs crossed as she talked to her uncle. In between the pair of them, sat an open book. She had briefly read it before getting into a discussion with her uncle and now the book was long forgotten.
"Goodnight uncle." He continued to watch as her uncle lay down on his bedroll and turned over, his back facing Evangeline.
She didn't go to bed however. She picked up her book and set it in her lap, her eyes following the words on the page and her lips moving silently to the words. He tried to see what she was reading when she lifted the book slightly to brush hair out of her face, but couldn't quite make out the title.
"Water ya ready lass?" Bofur sat beside her, a pouch of gold in one hand and his pipe in the other. She turned and smiled at him and held the book up.
" it's a bunch of fables and fairytales. Well not just fairytales and fables, there's also a few legends in here. I like it. It's one of my favourite books. My mother used to read it to me. This was actually hers passed down from her mother. It might seem silly, but it's a family tradition in my family to pass books down. We love to tell stories. So one day, I'll pass this book down to my daughter. Or son. Whenever that happens." Fili felt a surge of want hit him.
Evangeline, the beautiful hobbit, was so sweet. And innocent. She had such a good heart. She was beautiful yes, but it went beyond that. She was also funny and witty and smart. She could hold her own against Kili, and Kili usually made females weak in the knees.
"Us dwarves have our own tradition of passing beads down. The hair of a dwarrowmaid is braided and then a bead is placed in her hair as a sign of courtship. The beads are passed down." She nodded and closed the book and set it beside her.
"That sounds beautiful. What a lovely tradition." He turned his attention away from their conversation and focused on getting his pipe lit.
"What was that?" The sound of screeching from down in the lowlands met his ears and he shared a look with Kili before smirking.
"Orcs." Fili tried to hide the smirk on his face.
"Orcs?"
"Throatcutters. There'll be dozens of them out there. The lowlands are crawling with them."
"They strike in the wee small hours when everyone is asleep. No screams. Just lots of blood." They shared a smirk and then a laugh. His eyes wandered to Evangeline, feeling guilty as her eyes widened and her hands shook.
He felt like an ass as she lay down on her bedroll and pulled her blanket up to her chin and turned away from them. He felt bad as he watched her lay there, shaking slightly.
He felt like an ass for scaring the one he was smitten with.
New chapter! This is extra long to make up for the short one yesterday!
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