Chapter 10: Matchmaker
They left payment for their room and board on the bar, then walked as quickly and quietly as they could out of town.
There was, as Dori had promised, a fire in town.
Bilbo's legs were short and he had a hard time keeping up with the others as they hurried to leave before there could be any trouble. Nori gave him no slack and kept him moving. Somewhere in the distance, as humans rushed towards the fire, a cry rang out. Bilbo felt his nerves growing more and more tightly wound as their group hurried along. No one seemed to notice them which wasn't at all unexpected, considering the general chaos the fire had created. As it was a town consisting of wooden buildings, the panic created by any uncontrolled fire was very understandable. In the distance, Bilbo saw a great plume of smoke, just darker than the darkening night sky, rising above the rooftops.
"They'll put it out soon enough," Nori was back at Bilbo's side. "We need to go now. Strangers are never looked kindly upon in this sort of situation. Don't run. Just keep walking."
Thorin led the way, as always, but stopped at the edge of the town and waited while the rest of the company passed him by. Bilbo could almost imagine a hobbit mother counting her large brood of children to make sure none of them strayed. As Bilbo passed him by, he felt the bizarre urge to reach out for Thorin. The unreasonable fear that Thorin might be left behind made Bilbo's heart jump. He slowed as he approached Thorin, but Thorin just waved at him to keep moving.
They left the town without incident and started up into the Misty Mountains well before dawn. The night was dark enough that Bilbo had trouble seeing and had to rely on Nori to help him not to stumble as all of the dwarves seemed to have excellent night-vision. They didn't pause even after leaving the city, but stayed on the road that led up into the mountains. The road was crude and narrowed quickly down to a path, but it was clear and well-worn from years of use.
While they walked, Bilbo felt nearly swamped with guilt.
He hadn't meant to make such trouble! It wasn't as if he'd gone out looking for that other dwarf… but he HAD gone looking for thread. He had neglected to tell anyone where he was going – which was sensible enough that any child would have known to do it! – and because he'd been so thoughtless, Dori had killed people and, worst of all calamities, Dori and Thorin were quarreling.
'It's your own fault, Bilbo Baggins,' Bilbo berated himself. 'Shouldn't have just walked away. Whether you meant to make trouble or not, you did it all the same.'
But how was he to have known that dwarves worried so much more than hobbits? Goodness, he'd only been gone a few minutes. Why, there had been one time back home when he'd gone for a walk and been gone for a fortnight and only his neighbor, Hamfast, had noticed. Gone five minutes with dwarves and everyone flew into a panic. But, that hadn't been entirely terrible. After all, hadn't Thorin been so good as to say he would look after Bilbo? Not that Bilbo needed looking after, mind! He was quite capable of taking care of himself and being with the dwarves had only improved that. He felt quite sure that once he returned to the Shire, he'd be able to take on any challenge without flinching! Still… it had given him a very pleased, warm feeling in the pit of his stomach to hear such concern from Thorin, whom he had come to greatly admire. And that was on top of what the rest of the company had earlier said – that each one of them, from Bifur to Balin, thought of Bilbo as family. He couldn't have wished for a better group of people to be with.
No one spoke for a good long while, though Nori did warn Bilbo of obstacles Bilbo couldn't see while keeping a tight hold of his arm. As the night began to give way to daybreak, the pace slowed and everyone was able to catch their breath. Bilbo was utterly exhausted, but he didn't say anything about it. With the coming of the day, Bilbo was able to see that Thorin, of course, marched at the head of the party with Balin at his side. Dori stayed at the very back of the group and didn't move to walk with Thorin as he normally did.
The whole situation was very distressing.
Walking in the middle of the group, Bilbo looked over his shoulder to where Dori walked at the rear and then up to Thorin's stiff back at the front. He wanted so very badly to please Thorin, to show Thorin that he wasn't just another piece of baggage to be carried along. Obviously, causing such trouble hadn't impressed Thorin at all. And Dori didn't even notice Bilbo when he tried to wave at Dori to get his attention. Ignored or simply overlooked, Bilbo let his hand drop back to his side and he turned back around.
His eyes felt hot and itchy. His throat felt closed up.
Bilbo pulled out the handkerchief Bofur had lent him back when the whole journey had begun. It was stained, but they were old marks and the fabric itself was clean. He wiped his face with it. He would put that handkerchief into the quilt he would make.
"Here? What's this?" Nori, of course, was still at Bilbo's side and he frowned when he noticed Bilbo's upset.
"Allergies," Bilbo promptly answered. "Must be allergies." He wiped his face again and took a few deep breaths to get a hold of himself. "You don't have to walk with me." If he was going to have some childish fit of self-pity just because he'd gone and done something stupid, he'd rather do it alone, thank you very much. If he'd still been in the Shire and felt overwhelmed by something, he'd have just gone home and locked the door until he could control himself. Under the circumstances, he didn't think anyone would look kindly upon him slipping away for a little privacy, but he just wasn't used to dealing with such a shameful show of emotion in public. He looked over his shoulder, again, at Dori.
Nori's braided eyebrows rose. "Allergies? Didn't even know you had them except for the pony allergy. Well, Oin will have something for that if it gets too bad." He gave Bilbo a sharp-eyed look. "You sure it's allergies that got your eyes watering?."
"Yes. I'm sure. Of course I'm sure." Bilbo felt sick from guilt and lingering fear that the stranger dwarf might have really killed Thorin and Fili and Kili and gone on to kill that very nice Ms. Dis and if he had, it would have been Bilbo's fault. After all, he was the one who'd gotten that dwarf's attention in the first place. "I'm fine, Nori. Just fine." The last thing he wanted was to be even more the center of attention. He looked over his shoulder at Dori, again. "You don't think Dori was hurt, do you? When he… ummm… started the fire?"
"You mean when he murdered the little sack of bird droppings and his road apple friends? Naw, Dori's alright. He's real good at what he does."
The group kept walking, though everyone was tired from a sleepless night. The day rose bright and cheery with a crisp breeze. The road leading up into the Misty Mountains wasn't terribly steep, though Balin and Oin both promised that would change soon enough, and as much as he'd grown fond of the ponies during the earlier part of their journey, he did so prefer walking as he could feel the living earth under his feet and it made him feel stronger.
Bilbo waited for either Thorin or Dori to make some attempt to talk to the other, but neither did. Bilbo's worry for them grew with every step he took. The little spool of thread in his pocket felt unbearably heavy.
While they walked, Bilbo's thoughts drifted back to the awful moments of the journey. They'd lost the ponies because he couldn't steal them back from the trolls properly. They'd been chased by the horrible orcs and Bilbo had been much too slow to run as fast as everyone else and he was sure that he had slowed them all down. He'd been far too friendly with the elves at Rivendell for Thorin's taste. No matter how he looked at it, Bilbo had to decide that Gandalf had been altogether wrong – the dwarves would have been better off on their quest with an unlucky thirteen companions rather than having Bilbo tag along.
Bilbo tried to turn his mind to something else, but the first thing that sprang to mind wasn't a pleasant distraction. Rather, he began to think of what he had to do once he returned to the Shire. He still had to figure out a way to keep his uncle from ransacking Bag End in an attempt to find a will that didn't exist. No doubt that when he found nothing, Bilbo's uncle would find some other excuse to rummage around in Bilbo's belongings. Bilbo didn't dare to think of the other possibility. If his uncle DID find something… if Bilbo's mother HAD left a will and Bilbo had simply never found it… what then?
A hand landed on Bilbo's and he looked up to find Nori looking at him.
"Right," Nori said. "I'm gonna go have a word with Dori. I'll be back in a bit."
Nori hadn't gone five steps away when Fili took his place at Bilbo side. "Hello. Is Nori smothering you, yet?" His moustache wiggled when he smiled.
"Eh?" Bilbo glanced behind him to where Nori was talking quietly to Dori. "No. No, not at all. Nori's been very pleasant company."
Fili nodded, thoughtfully. "Nori's a good sort. I just thought I'd keep you company and give you someone else to talk to for a bit." Fili had the same air of confidence that surrounded Thorin. Fili was, Bilbo had been reliably assured by several dwarves during their travels together, a fine specimen of a dwarf. He wasn't terribly tall like Kili and Thorin and, especially, Dwalin, but he was sturdy and had a very handsome braided moustache. The idea of face full of hair still struck Bilbo has a touch odd, but the longer he associated with Dwarves, the more he found himself wondering what he might look like with facial hair. He'd often tried to imagine himself with Fili's lovely moustache or Bombur's remarkable muttonchops.
As quickly as he could, Bilbo pushed his thoughts away from Bombur. It was entirely improper to be sporting such a crush as Bombur was very happily married. Very, very improper and not respectable and… and… gosh, Bombur was handsome.
"Are you feeling alright, Bilbo? You look a bit flushed."
"Fine! I'm fine. Nothing's wrong at all." Bad enough that he had the crush at all, Bilbo certainly didn't want anyone knowing about it! He frantically thought of something to turn the conversation to. "It was nice of you to come over to chat; I thought Nori was going to be my walking companion until we reached your mountain."
Fili laughed. "So he IS starting to smother you! I think Nori's trying hard to get to know you. He's very enthusiastic. You know about my Uncle Frerin? Well, since he died, it was like Nori lost part of himself. Luckily, he survived. He started training, again, we all thought that he'd just stay with Dori and help in his work to protect Thorin, but now that he's found you I guess he might be a little clingy for a while. He doesn't mean any harm, but if he gets too pushy, talk to Dori or Ori and they'll make him back off to give you room to breathe."
The idea of telling Nori to go away made a cold chill run down Bilbo's spine. He'd been alone for so long. Now that he knew all the dwarves wanted to be his friends (even if Thorin was forever grumpy at Bilbo), Bilbo couldn't stomach asking any of them to keep away from him. He'd never realized how lonely he was until he'd had his dwarves around all the time.
"Nori told me," Bilbo said. "About him being my… um… Dark Hands. Dori told me a bit about all that stuff, too. It seems very important." He remembered sitting on the stairs of the inn after running away from a most confusing conversation with his dwarves in which he'd gone and lost his temper – again – just before his dwarves went and said such very kind things to him. The dwarves' overtures of friendship had been so warm and sincere. He'd had to leave the room before he'd went and got emotional in front of everyone.
Nori had unexpectedly turned up sat on the stairs next to him, and told Bilbo bluntly, that they were connected and always would be. He would be Bilbo's Dark Hands and do any dark deed that needed to be done in order to ensure Bilbo's safety and health. Never mind that Bilbo really didn't need any dark deeds done.
Fili responded to Bilbo with, "The Dark Hands are very important. When Thorin rules Erebor and all the people return Dori will not only be his husband, but he'll also make sure anything Thorin needs will get done. Anyone who threatens him or who plots against his rule or threatens the kingdom will have to deal with Dori."
"Like that dwarf back at the town?" Bilbo jerked his thumb over his shoulder towards the town that was many hours behind them.
"Just like that. It's sort of like having a supremely devoted bodyguard. He's been trained to serve Uncle Thorin since he was a very small child. Ori will serve Kili the same way as soon as his training is complete and Nori will do the same for you."
Though he didn't say it, Bilbo thought the whole thing rather silly. After all, Nori would be staying in Erebor with his people while Bilbo would have to go back to the Shire. Though it was only temporary, Bilbo was pleased by Nori's companionship. Nori was fun and told very amusing stories, some that made Bilbo laugh, some that made him blush, and some that made him laugh AND blush and he had to wonder if he'd ever dare to repeat them among hobbits. It would hurt quite a bit when Nori realized he shouldn't waste his time with Bilbo and went off to find a real dwarf to serve.
Bilbo glanced back at Nori, still talking to Dori, and saw how stern and unhappy Dori looked.
"Fili, do you think Thorin and Dori will stay angry for long?"
"Oh," Fili gave waved away Bilbo's concerns. "They'll be just fine."
"That's what Balin said," Bilbo groused, convinced that he was the only one in the group taking the crisis seriously enough. The gravity of the situation was clearly lost on everyone else. "But," Bilbo protested. "It will be a terrible tragedy if they never make up. They're so perfect together and I'm sure they won't ever be happy if they don't make peace. They'll regret the argument and be miserable forever!"
Fili looked surprised at Bilbo's outburst. "No need for fretting. Look, we're all a little worried, but they'll sort it out. Didn't your parents ever have a spat?"
"They didn't have much of a chance. Mother traveled so often; she was hardly ever home. Father didn't fight with anyone; he could talk his way around any conflict and still get what he wanted." Bilbo sighed a little. "I wish I was smart enough to do that."
Fili put an arm over Bilbo's shoulder and pulled him close to give him a sort of one-armed side hug. "You're plenty smart, Bil."
It was nearly midday when Thorin finally called a halt to their hike. Everyone was tired and needed a rest. The area they settled in was a small clear area beside the path. It wasn't well-concealed, but the grass was soft and there was a small river nearby for drinking water. Everyone sat and several fell right to sleep.
"How are you holding up?" Nori, who'd long since taken his place back at Bilbo's side, asked.
Bilbo replied, "I'm alright." He liked Nori. For all Nori's vulgar jokes and lazy manner of speech and the wicked sparkle in his eyes just before some clever quip flew out of his mouth, Bilbo liked him.
"Don't you be tellin' me lies, boyo," Nori scolded. "You've been mopey since we left that village. Still upset by that dog's ear that went and put his paws all over you? Or is it that Thorin went off at you for wandering?" He shook a finger at Bilbo. "And it's a good thing he did, 'cause if he hadn't, I would have and Dori might have, too, and he's got a sharp tongue when he gets in a mood."
Bilbo shook his head. "It's not that. Thorin was right to worry, I suppose. I'd get worried if someone just disappeared, too. And I know the rest of you don't like that other dwarf, but, honestly, hair doesn't mean that much to hobbits. I didn't like him touching me, but it wasn't painful or anything. It's just," Bilbo looked at Thorin, then at Dori. Both dwarves stood on opposite sides of the clearing, carefully ignoring the other. "I don't like arguing."
Nori snorted and rolled his eyes. "Don't get yourself worked up. Those two have pride enough to fill the oceans. I'm shocked they haven't bickered before now. Between you and me, living with the two of them… ugg! Two love-struck doves, that's what they are – always cooing at each other. It's sweet enough to give you rotten teeth! All the time making eyes and giving each other these little smiles like they think no one will notice." He leaned in close and whispered to Bilbo, "They're both well old enough to know better, but I keep finding them trying to hold hands when no one is looking! It's like having to mind a couple of youngsters with their first crush! Completely indecent!"
Bilbo had a very hard time imagining Thorin or Dori being indecent. "Is holding hands very bad? In the Shire people do it all the time."
"It's not bad, exactly," Nori explained. "It's just not done. And believe me, before they were formally betrothed, they did plenty of hand holding along with things I really shouldn't tell you about."
Bofur strolled up then, his fingers laced behind his head, and gave Nori a teasing look. "Whispering such things to our hobbit? Whatever will Dori say?"
"He'll be too busy making up with Thorin by the end of the day to care about anything I say."
"The end of the day? You're sure about that?"
"Those two can't keep away from each other; it's sickening, but they'll make up sooner rather than later." He pointed to an empty spot near where Ori and Kili were setting up their sleeping spot. Fili had already set his bedroll in place and had started helping Gloin to build a fire. "You put your stuff there, Bilbo. I'm going to grab my bags and I'll be right over." He wandered off with Bofur.
Bilbo wished he had Nori's optimism about Thorin and Dori. He had been silently watching them all the day while they'd been traveling and he saw no sign at all that there would be any reconciliation. They didn't speak or even look at one another. If they'd been hobbits, one of the community elders would have stepped in to help smooth over the hurt feelings so a promising relationship might be saved. But the elder that Thorin and Dori seemed most likely to listen to, Balin, seemed no more concerned about the situation than Nori. Balin chuckled over the two of them as if he were watching two little children having a scuffle over some toy. In fact, no one seemed concerned except Bilbo.
Bilbo narrowed his eyes. If no one else could see the danger of letting hurt feelings fester, he certain could! Thorin and Dori were the perfect match and to have such a couple ruined because of Bilbo's foolishness was not something he could allow.
Determined, Bilbo stood up from where he'd laid out his bedroll and he went to where Thorin, all stern and brooding, sat with his back resting against a tree and his pipe in his hand. Bilbo knew what had to be done and while he wasn't a proper matchmaker, he was determined to mend what he'd broken. So he stood there and waited politely until Thorin roused himself from his thoughts and looked up at Bilbo. When those implacable eyes landed on him, Bilbo felt his nerve dry up like a daisy in a drought.
He suddenly couldn't bring himself to speak with the unexpected fear that Thorin would get angry at him. It wasn't really Bilbo's business, after all, and if Thorin and Dori's families weren't getting involved, then it would surely be horribly rude for Bilbo to stick his oar in the water. So rude that Thorin might yell at him.
"Bilbo? Did you need something?" Thorin didn't sound angry.
"I… ah… yes. You see…" Where had all his words gone? His father would surely have been frowning in disappointment to see Bilbo floundering so pitifully. He steeled himself and said, "I'm really very sorry."
That eyebrow of Thorin's went up, as it always did when he was puzzled or surprised or just wanted to point out how very silly he thought someone was being.
Bilbo was fairly certain Thorin thought he was silly, and he hoped he wasn't making too much of a spectacle of himself, but he pressed on regardless. "I'm very, very sorry that I didn't tell anyone where I was going back at the town. It was quite wrong of me. It was thoughtless to have caused you all such worry. And I won't ever do it, again. I'll never disappear without tell you where I'm going." Just for good measure, to let Thorin know how seriously he took it, Bilbo added, "You have my word as a Baggins of Bag End."
Thorin inhaled from his pipe and let out a long breath of smoke. Then he motioned with his pipe to the ground next to him. "Sit."
Obediently, Bilbo sat. He really didn't want Thorin to be angry.
Thorin took another puff of his pipe, then rested his hand holding the pipe on his knee while he said, "Thank you for the apology. I expect you to remember your promise and not wander off alone."
"I won't forget," Bilbo nodded his head, quickly.
"Good. All is forgiven."
Bilbo blinked with surprise. That had been a lot easier than he'd expected.
Bilbo looked across the camp. Everyone had settled quickly. With no ponies to care for, there was much less work to do. A small fire had been started and lunch, a modest helping of dried mutton was passed out to everyone. Almost everyone seemed in reasonably good spirits. Ori and Nori sat on either side of Dori, whispering to him while he worked at some knitting, but Fili and Kili were horsing around, some game that involved a good deal of shoving. Considering they were on a quest to find and or kill a dragon and hopefully stay alive, morale was high.
"I wish you had told me your age long before this point," Thorin grumbled.
The change of topic startled Bilbo. He blinked and looked at Thorin with his head turned just to the side, like a curious bird. "Why? What has my age to do with anything? I have been wanting to ask – why did everyone get strange when I mentioned my age back at the inn?"
Thorin shrugged. "We hadn't guessed it."
"But-"
"Here, lad." Bofur was suddenly with them and squatted down in front of Bilbo. "A little toy for you." He held out a tiny carved wooden pony. It was small, but remarkably detailed.
"Oh," Bilbo took the little pony with reverence. To call such a work of art a mere toy just showed how very skilled Bofur was. "It's wonderful! When did you have time to make it?"
"While we were walking. I thought it'd be nice for you to have a little something. You like it?"
"It's… it's just perfect!" He would NOT be sending that to Michel Delving to be added to the Mathom-House with the unwanted gifts. "I'll put it right on the mantle when I go home!" He could just imagine the looks he would get if he were to go around showing off a one-of-a-kind dwarven crafted art piece. If he ever got any visitors, they would surely be very impressed. "I wish I had something so nice to give you."
Kili laughed brightly when he and Fili sat roughly down by Bilbo. Kili elbowed Bilbo. "It's nice, but I liked your troll, too. You should have shown that to everyone before we left your home. Bofur here, he's a master carver, so he'd have really appreciated it." To Bilbo's mortification, Kili looked at Bofur and enthusiastically told him, "Bilbo carved a great statue! It was almost as tall as me and had huge, long ears flopping down onto its shoulders and big eyes and long arms that dragged on the ground."
Bilbo flushed and ducked his head when everyone in the camp turned to look at Kili's boisterous description.
"You're an artist?" Bofur smiled so gently, as he always did. "I'd like to see your work."
"Oh no!" Bilbo protested, suddenly embarrassed and ashamed that Bofur should think any such thing. "I'm not an artist. Not really. I just… I had an idea to try and it wasn't very good but Kili saw it when he was helping me get firewood and… and I'm not an artist." Though he had felt a remarkable satisfaction when he'd been working on it, it certainly wasn't real art. "It wasn't even right. I'd never seen a troll; I'd only ever read about them in books, so it didn't look anything like a real troll."
But Bofur kept smiling. "Still, I'd like to see it." Then, his smile dropped away and he looked down at the ground between his feet. He seemed somehow nervous which was not all like Bofur. He said, in a worrisomely serious tone, "If you like, and you haven't any previous obligations, I could teach you."
The whole group went absolutely silent.
It was a kind offer, but Bilbo just couldn't imagine taking up Bofur's time like that. "Oh… you don't have to. That's quite alright."
Surprisingly, Thorin cleared his throat. "Bofur is an excellent master of his craft. You will find no better."
"Don't press him," Bofur quietly protested. "If he doesn't want to…"
"Oh, but I do!" Bilbo chided himself at the rude outburst. "I just… I'm probably not going to be any good and when I get home, I won't be able to use what you teach me, anyway. My statue… that was just for fun. I'm not allowed to work."
Thorin cough and pounded a fist on his chest to clear his lungs. His pipe smoke must have got to him, Bilbo guessed. Thorin raised an eyebrow at Bilbo. "You're not… allowed to work?"
"No. I'm a gentlehobbit and we're not expected to work. My grandmother nearly had a fit when I was little and asked if I could be a tailor when I grew up." That, Bilbo remembered, had led to a long lecture on why hobbits of his social status didn't do common work - they were meant to manage their lands and the people who worked the lands. "There's no law saying I can't work, of course, but if I tried to set up shop and sell wooden carvings I'd made, half my family would drop dead from shock."
"So," Dwalin wrinkled his nose, so completely baffled by the whole idea that he broke his usual silence. "They'd rather you have idle? Just… sitting around doing nothing?"
"I don't do 'nothing'," Bilbo tried to explain. "I have my garden and my home to take care of."
Thorin grunted. "You may learn as you please while you are in my company."
Bilbo's heart swelled. "Really?" He looked from Thorin to Bofur, "You'd really take the time to teach me?"
"Only if you'd take the time to learn from me." Bofur's eyes began to slowly return to their usual brightness.
"It would be a waste of your time." Bilbo admitted, reluctantly. "I'm probably not going to be any good at it. My troll really was horrible."
Bofur kept smiling. "It's my time to waste. Just you think about it." He stood up and walked back to where his family sat.
"You should consider his offer." Thorin took another puff on his pipe. "A good teacher could change your world." He chuckled. "The smith who made the hinge on your front door could have used a better teacher. One was fine, but one of them was a real mess. Whoever made it ought to be ashamed of themselves."
"Really? Ah… which hinge? The top or bottom one?"
"Bottom."
Bilbo's heart sank. Thorin didn't sound like he was making a jibe at Bilbo's expense and there was no way he could have known that Bilbo had made that hinge. It had been another experiment, just trying something new. He'd been so proud of his hinge, but learning from books could only get one so far. Well… he just wouldn't try blacksmithing, again.
It was hard to get his mind back on task, but Bilbo had approached Thorin with a plan in mind and as Thorin didn't seem angry, anymore, Bilbo gathered up his courage and asked, "If you've forgiven me, can you stop being angry with Dori, too?"
Thorin sighed. "Bilbo…"
"Because I'm sure he didn't do anything all that bad. It's Dori! He doesn't do bad things! I know he said he killed some people, but if they wanted to kill your whole family, I think they must have deserved it, don't you?"
"I'm not angry that he killed; I'm angry that he went against my wishes and didn't bother to consult me about it. He must think very little of me to just disregard me in such a way." Thorin's shoulders slumped with clear grief. "It's nothing for you to worry over, Bilbo. I'll talk to Dori – later."
Bilbo had absolutely no idea what to say in the face of Thorin's pain. His words completely deserted him.
Abruptly, Bilbo hopped to his feet and scurried over to Dori. "Dori," Bilbo, emboldened by how things had gone with Thorin, sat next to Dori without hesitation. "Do you have a minute?"
"I have several." He gave Bilbo a fond smile. He rolled his head and stretched his back before he waved his brothers away to give them at least a little privacy.
"So," Bilbo folded his hands on his lap. He tried to think of the right words. Tried to decide what the correct question would be that wouldn't cause any offense or pain as it had with Thorin. He struggled with it for several minutes before he opened his mouth and said, "Are you mad at me? About the… you know… you had to kill those people because I…"
"I didn't kill them because of anything you did." Dori's face had gone all soft and sympathetic. "I killed them because it needed to be done. Even if you'd decided to stay back at your home in the Shire, I would have still ended up killing them as they threatened Thorin."
"Really?" It was a vast relief to have that off his shoulders. "Umm… I wanted to ask if you're going to make-up with Thorin. I know you're both cross with each other, but you haven't spoke to each other all day. You're both being very childish; all this could be cleared up with an apology or two."
Dori burst out with a laugh. "Well, looks like I've been told off! Thank you for the concern, but hurt feelings are all the worse when it's done by a person you love and, sometimes, it's better to have a little time apart to work through those hurt feelings."
Bilbo looked up at the clouds. He thought of how often his family members had made comments about him getting married and starting a family. His own grandfather had been starting to make noises about getting the local matchmaker involved. It was all immensely distressing. Though Bilbo had had several crushes on people in the past and he was currently trying to erase the one he had on Bombur, nothing had ever developed into actual love. The idea of getting married and having someone working his kitchen, puttering in his garden, and sleeping in his bed… eww! "Is being in love nice?"
"Oh, you'll find out when you fall for someone." Dori's smile turned sweet and thoughtful. "It may be slow to happen, but some day you'll find someone special and you'll find that you think about them all the time and worry for them and…" He let out a sigh. "Yes, falling in love feels very nice. But, sometimes people upset one another without meaning to, even if they are deeply in love. Excuse me, Bilbo. I need to speak to Thorin."
Dori stood up and strutted across the campsite. He sat wordlessly next to Thorin and nudged him in the ribs with his elbow. Thorin nudged back. They exchanged cautious glances from the corners of their eyes before they both smiled and leaned against each other, all forgiven.
Pleased at how well that had worked out, Bilbo smiled.
To be continued…