AN: I don't own any of The Hobbit characters I am just taking them out of Tolkien's toy box and playing with them.
Gingerbread houses – Day 3.
Bifur arrived at Bilbo's for his typical afternoon tea and knocked smartly on the door. He huffed slightly as a distant voice called for him to come in and through to the kitchen. Carefully opening the door, he sneezed as a deliciously rich scent filled his nose. Habit had him kicking his boots off, unwinding his scarf from around his neck and hanging it and his leather coat on one of the brass pegs to his left.
On stocking feet he padded through the familiar living room and into a warm, spicy smelling kitchen. He pulled up short at the sight of a heat flushed hobbit with flour in his curls, crimson shirt sleeves rolled up to his elbows and a wide smile stretching his face. Chuckling at his friend's enjoyment of baking Bifur took in the array of glass jars filled with spices, sugar and flour lined up on the table, and the trays of cools something on the benches. Idly he picked up a jar of what he recognised as molasses and leaned against a work surface to be out of Bilbo's way as the smaller male took another loaded tray out of the oven. He grinned when he had the hobbit's attention and placed the jar down to sign his curiosity.
Bilbo winced guiltily, "Sorry Bifur, I lost track of time. I was starting to make gingerbread houses today."
Bifur shook his head in confusion and asked what his friend was talking about.
Letting out a triumphant yell Bilbo straightened from where he had been rummaging in a drawer and place the metal objects he was holding down before he turned to answer. "Gingerbread isn't quite what it sounds like. It is actually a sweet, a dessert if you will, traditionally made during the winter back in the Shire." He sliced a small piece off and handed it to the dwarf. "Nice isn't it?"
Bifur signed ecstatically as he chewed, the spiciness of the ginger melting away to the warmth of cinnamon and then melding with the sweetness of the molasses and sugar.
Bilbo held up a cutter and a thin blade, "Do you want to help me make the houses for your people's kits?" He waggled his eyebrows ad Bifur looked unsure. "Please Bifur, you are so precise at your toy making I wouldn't trust anyone else to help me." He grinned back at the wide smile he got in return, "We can even eat the leftovers for dinner."
They worked in companionable silence as Bilbo whisked up Royal icing to hold the houses together and Bifur cut the shapes they would need. Noticing the smaller male changing the colour of the icing Bifur elbowed him and demanded to be taught how to do it. He had great fun mixing up a selections of jewel colours. He grinned back at Bilbo when the hobbit chuckled at him. "How about we decorate these?"
Tilting his head Bifur looked at the piles of walls and roofs he had just finished cutting and nodded excitedly. He took great delight in icing careful patterns onto the roofs and walls, rummaging through Bilbo's collection of sweets for added details. It was late when he staggered home a small box of delicious gingerbread under one arm and a wide smile on his face.
The next day he happily distracted the children of Erebor as Bilbo handed brightly coloured boxes over to their parents. The Company were not to know something was going on until the dwarf and hobbit staggered into their communal area a carefully balanced something between them. After they had slid it onto the table Bilbo gestured for Bombur's young family to move forward and for Fili, Kili, Ori and Gimli to join them.
Curious the rest of the Company also crowed around. Bifur grinned at Bilbo and with a flourish they carefully removed the red and green cloth from the object it was draped over. 'Oohs' and 'Aahs' filled the room as the company took in the beautifully, and colourfully decorated town in front of them. If Fili, Kili, Ori and Gimli were at first pouting at being included in the children, they soon changed their mind and defended the town with vigour when they tasted the samples Bifur had thought to bring.
Across Erebor children were giggling excitedly as the stared in awe at the miniscule, architectural wonders that they would get to eat if they were good.
If the families without children found paper wrapped parcels outside their doors for several days following then the Company merely whistled innocently and gazed longingly at the town they (bar Fili, Kili and Ori) had not been allowed to touch.
AN: Leave me a review and let me know what you think.
For a view of the Company's gingerbread town look up katelynannyce on and then photos and gingerbread houses. Imagine it is similar to number 1 and that Bifur being the minor genius he is has managed to make it light up somehow.
*Gingerbread has been baked in Europe for centuries. In some places, it was a soft, delicately spiced cake; in others, a crisp, flat cookie, and in others, warm, thick, steamy-dark squares of "bread," sometimes served with a pitcher of lemon sauce or whipped cream. It was sometimes light, sometimes dark, sometimes sweet, sometimes spicy, but it was almost always cut into shapes such as men, women, stars or animals, and colourfully decorated or stamped with a mould and dusted with white sugar to make the impression visible.*
There will be 24 chapters in this collection dedicated to the days of Advent. 1 chapter dedicated for Christmas day. And 12 chapters leading us up to the Twelfth Night and through the Twelve Days of Christmas.
Any and all requests will be taken into account. If I can't fit them in this I will dedicate them to you in one of my other collections of short stories as a Christmas present.