A/N: And some comfort for poor Bella.
Disclaimer: Still own nothing, but I really wish I had a can of beer right now. Alas, I have none.
Seven
The bedroom had been dark when he entered; the only light being the moon shining through the windows, bathing the room in gentle silver light. Closing the door quietly behind himself, he walked to the bed; Bella laid there; her back facing the entrance, her body taut. Quickly, Ori sid behind her, wrapping his arms around the stiff body of his wife, leaning in to press his face against the side of her neck. Bella gradually relaxed in his embrace, turning her head slightly to nuzzle her cheek against his hair.
"I'm sorry that my kin is such a bunch of idiots," Ori whispered, and Bella immediately tensed in his arms again. He pressed on. "I probably should try to excuse their behaviour, but what they did can't be easily excused."
"It hurt so much to see them disrespect everything that is hobbit," Bella said after moment of silence; her voice hoarse after she cried not that long ago. "I know that we hobbits can't expect the Tall Folk to respect us, but..."
"Like hell you can't expect!" exploded Ori, startling his wife, so she turned fully in his arms, facing him. Her eyes were red and puffy, and she obviously still needed to blow her nose properly, but to Ori, she was still just as beautiful as ever. "You, Bella," he continued, "are one of the most accepting people I've ever met. You hobbits," he stressed, "are one of the most accepting people I've met - so open, and hospitable and always respectful. So what that the rest of the wold calls you 'small folk', or even 'halflings' - not a single one of you is half of anything worthwhile, and there is nothing small about the size of your hearts. It's not your fault that the rest of the world is so dense in seeing your worth, Bella."
"Ori," Bella whispered, tears once again welling in her eyes. Wordlessly, Ori pressed his wife to him, cradling her in his arms, whispering soft words in her hair as she cried. Tomorrow, they will deal with their guests, but right now, they were wrapped in their own bubble of security and warmth.
-o.O.o-
Next day, Bella and Ori got up before everyone else, quietly preparing breakfast (even if Bella grimaced at how poor it seemed, compared to the usual fare for hobbit breakfasts) and when the table was set, Bella quickly kissed Ori goodbye and left to see her family to balance herself again; seeing her nieces and nephews always cheered the woman up, as the fauntlings welcomed her presence readily, eager to hear the new tales she prepared for them.
Ori sat in the kitchen, preparing the tea and coffee, thinking about what he'll do when the rest of the dwarves would wake up. Part of him wanted nothing but to kick them all out of Bag End, but the more rational part of him cautioned him not to do that, as this would only serve to mortify his wife further - throwing out your guests, rowdy and bad mannered they might be, would be sign of bad manners.
So, he would not just kick them out. But, he thought with a small smirk, nothing was stopping him from - what was the phrase the Men in Bree were so fond of using? - tear them all a new one.
His brothers certainly were very, very wary of the way he greeted them all with a wide smile, already knowing that their youngest brother had been most dangerous when he was smiling. Even the Ur family looked uneasy at the sight of his smile; however, the nobles certainly were in for a surprise, when they were told that they have a lot to make up for to his wife, with only Bifur being off the hook - Bella told him that he actually smacked several of the most rowdy dwarves and growled at them; but since she didn't speak neither iglishmek, nor khuzdul, she was unable to tell her husband what exactly he told them.
He made no secrets about how much they will have to make up with not only Bella, but with her family as well. If Bella had been upset, her family will notice and search for the reason of her being so - which definitely wouldn't be long investigation, given how attuned to each other hobbits tended to be to their family. And then whole hell would break through, he was sure of it.
But first - he told them with a sweet smile - a lesson of hobbit etiquette for dummies.
A/N: By the way, thank you, dear Guest for your review - I'm glad that you are enjoying the fic, and that you took the time to let me know. Same goes to everyone who reviewed to any part of this story, even the dissatisfied Guest - I like discussing things, and am a bit disappointed that I can't do it, since some people leave me no means of contact D: Anyway, every review makes me feel very energic - and energic!Neferit is very-inspired!Neferit, just so you know :P
A/N2: Oh, and before I forget - you folks remember the dissatisfied guest from before, who told me that genderbending was getting old? I think this will be funny to you as well as it was to me. You see, I spent several weeks by helping to tag the Hobbit Kink Meme over at LJ (not much last few days, since I have several last exams I still need to take and several essays I need to write), but I was tagging prompts and with genderbending becoming old I nearly ROFLed under my table, since one of the prompts specifically asked for genderbending, since there is not enough of that around. Go figure!
