*waves* hi my lovely readers, long time no see, thank you to everyone who is still around, hello to all the new people. I can happily report that I have 2 more chapters ready so there will be a chapter at least once a month for the next few months, though I should hopefully get some more ready sooner than later. As always, reviews are really appreciated and give me inspiration
Thorin's POV
When Bilbo had said that alphas and omegas were not common, he had expected thirty to forty of them perhaps. Instead, he can see more than one-hundred of them of all ages and sizes. Some bear striking resemblance to each other, others look vastly different. It takes him a few minutes of just standing and absorbing it all before he is ready to actually move.
"All alpha and omegas are welcome to dine here, whether they are bonded or not, as are their families. It's considered a bonding experience for families to eat together, particularly branches that might not get a chance to do so often." His hobbit lightly comments nodding in return to a few who nodded their way, or waving when they were waved at.
They slowly make their way through the throng of people, picking on of the less used buffets to get their food from. He watches as Bilbo grabs a tray, placing his plate, silverware and glass on it from the end of the buffet before carefully moving along the line, using the utensils in each dish to take helpings. With a nod, he does the same, taking his time to make his choices, not sure if there is a limit to how many times he can come up here. He will have to ask once they have sat down.
All around them hobbits are eat, laughing, and visiting with each other. Despite that, it still seems quieter than a gathering of the company.
"Let's sit there," his hobbit suggests, motioning to a table that is mostly empty.
"That's fine," he agrees, nodding once and following his potential husband over to the table in question.
When they get close he realizes that it has benches instead of seats, and smiles, because he had wondered how he was going to fit himself into one of those smaller chairs comfortably for an entire meal. Particularly when he is quite sure that he will be getting grilled by family members soon enough.
"Is there a limit on times to the buffet?" he asks as they sit down.
"Nope, it's eat until full or the foods all gone." Bilbo replies with a shake of his head and a smile, "You'd think with this hoard there would be a lot of times the food run outs, but it is not uncommon for left overs to be taken to elderly members of the community."
He smiles, nodding, when Erebor was at the height of power they used to provide lunch for all dwarves, left overs would be sent to families with children or elders. It is something he plans to do again if Dáin has not already started.
They are roughly half way through their first helping when a pair of elderly hobbits settle beside him on the bench, one on either side.
"Hello Bilbo, dear, who's your companion?" The one on his left inquires with a tilt of zir chin in his direction.
"Yes, dear, who are you?" The one on his right directly asks him.
"Thorin Oakenshield, my aunts, Tillie and Melinda Took. Don't let their age fool you, they are just as spry and intelligent now as when they were fauntlings." His love introduces him, "They've been bonded with children nearly since reaching adulthood, and now have grandchildren and great grandchildren."
"That is quite honorable," he states softly, "Children are a blessing."
Both women nod their heads in agreement.
"That they are," Melinda says softly, a wistful smile curving her lips.
Almost as soon as the moment ends, the questioning begins. What sort of job does he do? Does he have a stable home or is he a wandering dwarf? Does he have family? Is he close to his family? What sort of education does he have? Does he know many languages? Does he have the resources to provide for fauntlings? Does his home have heating and plumbing since it is within a mountain? What does he expect of the relationship? Does he have faith? To whom does he have faith? On and on the questions are asked and not only by the aunts. Other relatives stop in to add a few themselves before moving on.
Bilbo just sits back and enjoys the way his family is converging on him. Twice he tries to excuse himself to get more food, only for some younger hobbits to suddenly appear with new plates for him. His love just chuckles.
By the time the meal is done and all the aunts, uncles, unnts, cousins, and every other relation has finished with him, he feels mildly overwhelmed.
"You were related to all of them?" he asks as they finally leave to head back home.
Home, he realizes, not Bag End. It's home because that's where his Bilbo lives. Wherever his hobbit is, is home. That must be what his parents meant by knowing who his one is.
"Yes, mostly directly and not through marriage, though a few were married and bond related only." Bilbo replies with a nod. "Almost all the oldest families are related to each other by blood within four generations. So we are careful to marry outside of that, to not weaken the line. A lot of us try to pick mates who have alphas or omegas in their family trees, that way the gene is there and can be carried on further. There are less now than there were in past generations, but Elder Rowan has foreseen another influx of the Blessed in the next generation of children."
As they follow the winding path, he realizes the entire community is laid out like a spiral that begins with the Hall, and makes ever widening rings outwards.
"Is your city laid out like a spiral?" he asks, curiously.
"Yes, close to all old hobbit communities are, with the communities Hall being dead middle. The heart of the spiral for the heart of the community." His love responds, "Few realize it. It is part of our symbol, you might have noticed the tree and spirals on items at the Hall and around my smial."
He takes a few minutes to think about it before nodding once.
"I had, now that you mention it," he agrees, "A lot of them are subtle, like the fact your doors are mostly round as are windows and the designs."
"Designed to channel all life energies along the spiral, to allow the positive growth to each person," Bilbo explains with a smile.
"That's good," he remarks, thinking it's something he should consider doing with the mountain. Perhaps he should take notes, the Hall seems to be a place of learning as much as a place of meeting, maybe if he asked someone would be willing to assist him. One thing's for sure, it's part of the emotional backbone of the hobbit community.
I've updated my publishing schedule, I will still update one or two stories on Saturday, Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. The stories that will be updated depend on the day:
Saturday: Gift for John, Choices, Right Decision, Clandesitne, Changes, All the Powers That Be
Monday: Patron, Lost and Found, Baker Street Polyamory, Kingsman Academy, Oral Fixation, Daughter
Wednesday: Seeking, Trial & Error, Healing, Distraction, Learning to Live, Fae Born
Friday: Stillness in Silence, Recruited, Changes Continue, Unexplained, Unusual Relationship, Blessed
Not all my stories can be found on FF, some are on AO3 only
Tumblr about mine & other peoples stories: JaimiStoryTeller
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