Chapter 9 – Healing, courting, and (attempting) to plan a route.
Thorin was not wounded too badly now, with Gandalf's magic healing his life-threatening wounds, but he still needed to rest and heal for at least a fortnight. Luckily, when he saw how Bilbo reacted to him trying to get up and move, he was appropriately terrified, and promised to behave…as long as Bilbo looked after him. Thorin relished in the disgusted cries from Kili telling him to stop tainting his 'Auntie Bilbo', and simply sat back and watched a disgruntled hobbit chase his youngest nephew around the room with a brush.
"OW! That hurts, Auntie! YEOWCH!"
Bilbo was now smacking Kili lightly with the brush every time he squirmed, or called him Auntie.
"You can call me Uncle, if you like Kili. And of course it hurts, it looks like you haven't brushed it since the night I met you! What have you been doing?" Bilbo was one very exasperated hobbit.
Bec slipped over to sit beside him, and leaned over to whisper in his ear. He slowly started smiling, then turned Kili to look at him.
"Kili, I have it on good authority that you are a fan of apple pie. Is this true?"
Kili nodded, looking at Bilbo suspiciously.
"Well, if you brush your hair every night, and call me Uncle, instead of Auntie, I will make you your very own personal apple pie once a week. No one else will be allowed to touch it, but if you forget to brush your hair, or call me Auntie, your pie will be pushed back 3 hours. How does that sound?"
Bilbo got bowled over by an excited Dwarrow, who was doing his very best imitation of a dwarfling. Eventually Ori had to go and rescue Bilbo, as he couldn't seem to shake the excited Kili.
Bec and Bilbo had put their heads together, as they both wanted to take the next step in their respective courtships, with a Hobbit twist. They were going to cook their best dishes for their intendeds, while Bombur took care of the rest of the company. In deference to Beorn, Bec had pulled the big man aside and explained her bag of never-ending supplies. Once Beorn had realised that no animals in Middle Earth had been killed, he was…not happy, but still allowed the company to use the meat. Bilbo had already planned out his meal, which had five courses. The first course was three miniature pies, with different fillings – pork mince and apple sauce; beef mince and red wine gravy; and chicken mince with a spicy red sauce that he refused to part with. The second course was a pea and ham soup, with a crusty bread roll, while the third was a small tomato, stuffed with bacon, cheese and mince. Fourth was Bilbo's mother's roast chicken, with his father's maple roasted vegetables. Finally, the fifth course was a lovely cake that Bec thought looked exactly like a Queen Victoria sponge. Bec meanwhile, had to sit down and think. She knew so many recipes, but what would her best be, that would also represent who she was as a person? She already knew that there would be as much meat as possible, to honour the dwarrow dietary needs. She kept thinking while looking through her bag for ideas, and came upon something that made her smile like the cat that got the canary.
The company had been getting hungrier and hungrier from the smells coming from the kitchen, and any attempts to see what was being made were violently rebuffed, even Gandalf and Beorn! Finally, Bilbo came out with a small plate that he set in front of Thorin, while Bec did the same in front of Fili. Then they both stepped back, while Bilbo began to speak.
"It is a part of Hobbit courtships that both intended cook for each other, in order to show their love, care and respect, as cooking a five course meal, even for two people takes patience, skill and a level head, as well as excellent timing. Bec has decided to use this tradition as well, as it is similar to a very, very old tradition of her mother's family. For myself, these recipes have been passed down through both sides of my family for generations. My first course is a trio of mince pies with different fillings."
Bec spoke up. "In my original world, there are numerous countries, with very different styles of food, and there are not many family specific meals anymore. That said, some of my meals are from my family, some I have created myself, and one or two are borrowed from other nationalities, but all in this case can be considered original to me, here. My first course is prawns, fried in butter and garlic."
With that, they both whipped the covers off the plates, and stood back while Thorin and Fili examined their meals. Kili tried to reach over to grab a prawn, but was quickly sent away with a wooden spoon on the back of his hand from Bec. Thorin had eaten the spicy pie first, on Bilbo's recommendation, followed by the beef and then the pork. He seemed very happy, although he requested that a less spicy sauce be used next time, until he had built some tolerance.
Fili, meanwhile, was trying to determine what a prawn was. Once Bec leaned forward and explained that it was a type of seafood, and very popular in her country, he nodded decisively, and bravely put one in his mouth. His eyes drifted shut as he chewed, making happy noises. Pleased with their success, the pair left to get the next course. Thorin was very happy with his pea and ham soup, while Bec had prepared a Mussaman curry, knowing that it was fairly mild, and she could disguise some well-chosen vegetable in it. The rest of the company moaned at seeing more lovely dishes they couldn't touch, but then Bombur and Beorn's servants came out with a lovely lasagne that he had tried, with a vegetable version for Beorn, in thanks. After that, they were happy enough.
Bec had prepared field mushrooms stuffed with a mix of mince, bacon, cheese and egg, which she also caught Bilbo eyeing off. Both meals were a hit, but poor Thorin and Fili were starting to look a bit stuffed, so Bec put the next course on hold while she introduced the younger company members to twister, and started a game of poker with the older. A happy half hour passed, and then Bilbo and Bec disappeared to put the finishing touches on their mains. Bilbo needed help carrying the platter with the roast dinner on it, while Bec held a jug of gravy for him. Then he and Kili helped Bec to bring out a grilled salmon, which had a hollandaise sauce on it, and steamed beans, broccoli and cauliflower. Bec had also included some very thick cut, lightly spiced wedges. Once again the rest of the company drooled, and Bec finally gave into Kili's whine and Ori's puppy dog eyes, giving them a bowl of wedges and gravy to share.
Finally, the time had come for dessert. Bilbo's came out first, a towering three tier high sponge cake dusted in sugar, with fresh cream and fruit, which Thorin absolutely demolished. Bec was next, with her secret weapon, a Tim tam cheesecake, drizzled in more chocolate. She had found out that Middle Earth didn't appear to have chocolate, for even Bilbo had never tasted any! Luckily, she had a comprehensive stash in her bag before the Valar kidnapped her, along with a full tin of Dutch cocoa that she used for hot chocolate while camping. Knowing how big the Dwarrow's sweet tooth was, she was certain that even had she not been Fili's One, her place would have been assured in Erebor, just to keep the chocolate! Fili stared in wonder, having never seen the like of this dessert before, before cautiously trying a small piece. His eyes widened, and he cut off half the cake, trying to cram it in his mouth at once. When everyone stared at him, Bec brought out small miniature versions she had made with the left over cheesecake mixture. When the commotion had died down, she said that she was labelling the main ingredient a family secret, but that she would happily make chocolate desserts once a week. Of course, she planned on using the chocolate more with Fili, but that would have to wait until they were married. Until then, she fed Fili the last piece with her fingers, wickedly enjoying the desire in his eyes.
After everyone had finished dessert, Bec set up her laptop and was trying to decide what to show the company. She knew she wanted to show them another TV. show, she just couldn't decide which one. Fili noticed her frown, and came to sit beside her.
"What is making you frown so, khalthûna?"
Bec looked across at him, and bit her lip. "I can't decide what show to put on. I've got more than a few that would still probably shock you lot. I'm tossing up between Castle and Xena. Wanna help me decide?"
Fili just smiled. "Anything for you. Why don't you describe them to me?"
"Hmm. Castle is set in my time, in a large city, and is focused on an author who writes crime novels, and the police officer that he shadows to use as inspiration. Xena is set in…well, it starts in Ancient Greece and then moves to Rome…um, my point is, that its closer to the type of life here, and involves a female warrior, trying to atone for evil, and various gods and goddesses. Either one I'd probably be pausing and explaining a fair bit, but they're both pretty good."
"I like the sound of the second one, I think everyone might enjoy something that isn't quite so foreign to them."
Bec rubbed her nose against his, and selected the right episode. Once everyone was settled, she settled back against a post, and Fili put his head in her lap. Dwarrow really were very affectionate in private…well, whenever they weren't around outsiders. Bec started playing with his hair, tugging lightly on his braids. When he looked up at her, she smirked and gently pulled one of his moustache braids, before looking back at the screen. The dwarrow all seemed to love Xena, but were also very fond of Ares. She knew that she would show them the Hercules series after they had finished Xena, they would love it.
After a few episodes, Ori turned around wanting to know if Bec's world still believed in these gods and goddesses. Bec tried her best to explain about Christianity, Hinduism, Judaism, Islam and Buddhism, but she got the feeling that she just confused them more. In the end, she said that many different cultures started out worshipping deities based on nature and human nature, but new religions focusing on one God and patriarchy came along and supplanted them. She added on that she was technically pagan, and until Mahal and Yavanna came for her had believed in a divine male and female presence that she called the Lady and the Lord, but when the Valar were able to take her from her world so easily, she now doubted that there were any divine figures watching over her world. It made her a little sad to think about, all the fighting about religion, but even here there were still wars and hate and violence, just about different things.
To get out of the melancholy mood, Bec introduced the dwarves to Disney, specifically the Lion King and then Aladdin; Bec loudly and proudly sang along to all of the songs, complete with very corny dance moves, that she made Kili do with her. She was laughing breathlessly by then end, and then Kili demanded that she play another movie for them. She thought for a few seconds, and then put on Mulan. The dwarrow all loved it, especially because it made Bec smile happily. She got up again to sing and dance to 'I'll Make a Man out of You', although this time, she dragged Fili up, to jeers from Nori and Bofur about how he should prove to her he was a man. Fili laughed good naturedly, knowing that Dori would stop his brother and One soon. Sure enough, twin yelps were heard, with a furious Dori scolding them afterwards for ruining a lovely moment.
Bec laughed, collapsing onto a smiling Fili. She stuck her nose in his neck, gaining a very high squeal from him.
"Keep your cold nose to yourself, khalthûna!"
She giggled, before telling Ori that all he had to do was close the lid of the laptop, and that they were welcome to explore her laptop even if she wasn't awake, but she wouldn't be held responsible for anything they found. Having been responsible enough, she curled up into Fili's side, and drifted off. She didn't even wake when he picked her up and carried her to the bedrolls, much, much later that night.
When Bec woke the next morning, she just lay there for a few minutes, sending a mental thankyou to Mahal and Yavanna for choosing her. She snuggled in closer to Fili, and thinking he was still asleep, kissed his shoulder.
"As much as I like you doing that, khalthûna, if anyone sees you, we'll both get in trouble." A very sleepy Fili was smiling down at her.
She blushed at being caught, and kissed Fili on the cheek.
"I know, but it's your turn next. Are you going to get the fight with Dwalin over with? I was talking with Balin, and he said that the only times that he has heard of courtship taking more than three months after acceptance was when the pair didn't know each other at all. Apart from a gift from each other, and the fight, there aren't really any other official steps. I know everyone wants to wait until Erebor is won, but I'd really like to be able to be as affectionate as I'd like with you. Plus, I think that Thorin wants you to go first, so he can have an excuse to go all out with me, to gauge how good I actually am, especially after Bilbo and I killed Azog. Hey, that could be considered another courting gift from me, getting rid of someone who wanted to kill you. Yay, me!"
She giggled and snuggled into his hug.
"Are you going to pull any more sneaky tricks on my uncle, dear one? You'll have to wait at least a week, before Bilbo will let him anyway."
"I don't know about sneaky, kundel, but I certainly haven't shown all of my tricks yet. I still have a few left."
They stopped talking after that, just enjoying holding each other, knowing that they would be happy as long as they had each other.
When Bec noticed how much Thorin detested not being able to move, she decided to give him her iPad to play with. She showed him candy crush, and it kept him amused for a few hours. When he threatened to break the 'demon-spawn' machine, she swapped the iPad out for her laptop, and showed him the first season of Supernatural. She had the volume loud, so he could hear it over the noise of the rest of the company, which meant that when Mary screamed, the rest of the company rushed over to see what was wrong. Bec huffed, she really liked this show, especially the early seasons, and they were ruining her enjoyment. She paused the show, and demanded that they sit down, relax and watch while she restarted the episode, or go away, and be quiet. To her surprise, all of the company sat down. Dori noticed confusion and explained that they had all decided to take the next three days very easily, just resting really to regain their lost strength. With how long they would be staying with Beorn, it would be silly not to take time to recover as much as they could, and their skills would not disappear within the span of a fortnight. Bec and the company happily settled down to watch at least the first season.
Within three episodes, Bec was regretting introducing Supernatural to Middle Earth. All of the dwarrow agreed that John was right to seek revenge, but they were very loud in their anger at how he raised his children. They loved Dean and Sam, but had divided on the issues dividing the brothers. Unsurprisingly, all of the elder brothers within the company sided with Dean, but Bilbo, Nori and Bifur, along with the younger brothers had sided with Sam. There had been a vert loud argument, before Bec had sat them down, and explained that just like here, some family members were too similar to get along well, which was the case with John and Sam, and there were many options in her world besides fighting. Once the dwarrow had thought about it for a while, they agreed that they could understand the other points of view. It helped when Bec pointed out that Sam had been sheltered from his father's life as much as possible, and thus didn't have as much of an understanding as Dean. The dwarrow were all still predominantly siding with one brother or the other, but now they kept their comments confined to the screen. As an elder sibling herself, Bec had always sided with Dean anyway, and had many times thought over how the family had splintered, and seen how it could have applied to any family. With this crisis averted, Bec happily snuggled into Fili, enjoying watching her new family and friends get frustrated over the same situations that she had. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed Bofur and Gloin with their heads together. She knew they were getting closer to figuring out a gun prototype, she just hoped they didn't blow a hand off actually attempting to make one. Now that she thought of it though, she should talk to them about making nail and scrap metal bombs for her when they took Erebor. Combined with the speed of her bike, zipping through the orc ranks and leaving a few behind seemed like a very solid plan, especially since she now had a silent engine. They wouldn't hear anything before it was too late. Resolving to talk to them before they left, she turned her attention back to Fili and the screen.
Later, she pulled the elusive wizard aside, and after assuring him that she knew what he needed to do in Mirkwood, also told him that he needed to either spell something before hand to get rid of the dragon's curse, or hurry after he had finished to get their before the Men did. Gandalf looked shocked for a second, but Bec then told him that she would negate all the other factors, and the curse was the only remaining risk to the company getting goldsickness, as all dwarrow were prone to it. Gandalf agreed, and four days later gave her bag containing gold dust. All she needed to do, he told her, was after the dragon was defeated, get to the highest point within the treasury, and scatter the gold dust as far as she could. It would immediately work to weaken and dampen the dragon affected gold, until Gandalf himself could arrive. Failing that, she was to block the door going in, and not let any of the dwarrow in until after he got there. Happier now that there was a proper plan, Bec thanked him, and wandered away to limber up. Fili had already beaten Dwalin, and the other fights had been successful as well. It was now only her fight against Thorin that impeded her courtship, and she would not let it stand for long.
Thorin, while still looking more than a bit pale, had been pronounced in fine health by Oin that morning. As Bec's remaining 'tricks' required a fair amount of flexibility, she needed to stretch a bit more than usual, as she had not attempted some of them in some time, and never before with any kind of weapon. Finally, she deemed herself ready, and stepped into the makeshift sparring ring. An amused Beorn watched on with the company, wanting to see what the hissing cat could do.
"Thorin, Uncle to my intended, and Head of his Family, I come before you to prove my worth in battle. I will be his Shield in times of Strife, and his Sword when he cannot defend himself. I will protect him always, to the best of my abilities, using all that I am."
Thorin smiled, very faintly, before replying.
"Daughter of Dwalin, to prove your worth, you shall best me in battle, to show that you can protect my heir better than myself. Come at me with all you have."
With that said, there was a beat of silence. Bec took a deep breath, and settled into a defensive stance, waiting for Thorin to make the first move. As he took a step towards her, he raised his sword slightly, and Bec spun, striking backwards towards his stomach with the butt of her staff. He parried, trying to flick her staff away. Bec let him, and when he was distracted watching it, stepped forward and punched him twice in the diaphragm. He coughed, and doubled over, while swinging his sword out to ward her off. She bent back, more than parallel to the ground, and then managed a backflip to get away. When she landed, she heard the gasps from the dwarrow, as being a very inflexible race, they would not have been able to attempt the move. Bec picked up her staff, and watched Thorin warily, the end of the staff planted firmly in the dirt. As Thorin charged her, she changed her grip, and using the leverage from her staff, planted both feet into the charging King's chest. She landed on top of him with a quiet oof, trying to pin him down. When he bucked her off, she knew that he wouldn't yield while she was using her staff. With a grin, she used him to flip off of, earning a groan from him, and more gasps. She threw her staff away, and drew the dagger that Fili had given her. When Thorin looked approving, she knew she had made the right choice. This time, Bec charged Thorin, dropping to slide beneath his sword and behind him. She popped up, and put her dagger to his throat. "Yield."
Chuckling, Thorin threw Orcrist down. "I thought I had seen all your tricks, champion, but that reminded me of the warrior from the program last night. I am surprised you didn't use the same war cry."
Bec grinned. "Oh, that I'm saving for a real battle, along with a few other tricks. Those tricks however, are deadly ones, so not really appropriate to use here."
All of a sudden, Bec was grabbed and lifted into the air by a joyous Fili. Just before he took her out of earshot, Bec yelled to Thorin. "We need to discuss the route to Erebor when I come back, I think I have a way to help!"
That was all she could get out before she was around the barn, and being lowered to the floor.
"I know I shouldn't khalthûna, but just this once, I am going to kiss you properly, because you surely deserve it after defeating my Uncle."
With that, Fili tightened his grip on her neck, and gave her the sweetest kiss she had ever known. When he made to move away, she used her leverage on his shoulders to hold him tight. She nipped his bottom lip, and smiled when he groaned, crushing her against him. When she licked his lip, to soothe the sting, he kissed her passionately, tongue dancing with hers. Knowing that if he continued she wouldn't stop him, and not wanting him to dishonour his traditions, she changed the kiss back to gentle and sweet, finally pulling back, and resting her forehead on his, and looking lovingly into his eyes. Seeing them blown wide in desire gave her a thrill, that she could cause such a reaction in the attractive dwarrow, and she smiled at him, still panting a little.
"I do love you, darling kundel, more than I ever thought possible. I am so glad that I was the one chosen by your God. I guess he and Yavanna are my God and Goddess, they answered all of my prayers."
With a hint of his devilish smirk, Fili replied, "I will love you, even in the Halls of Waiting, khalthûna, and I will love you beyond the rebuilding of Arda, in all of my incarnations. I will forever thank Mahal and Yavanna for blessing me with you as the other half of my soul."
Just as Bec started to get teary-eyed, and lean in again, a voice came from the front of the barn.
"Uncle sent me to make sure you weren't doing anything you shouldn't. Is it safe to come around, Nadad?"
Fili sighed, and walked back around the front. When Kili saw them, he smiled.
"You might want to fix your braids, Nadad, they have mysteriously become very messy." He walked off, sniggering, while Bec started re-braiding and finger combing Fili's hair.
When Bec sat down with Thorin that night, they discussed using the old forest road through Mirkwood. It would mean that they would come out further from Erebor, but with the Eagles help they could afford the delay. The old forest road was more of a 500m or so gap that had been carved through the forest, so the company would be able to see trouble coming. They would not have a river to stop at until they reached the end, but the forest's influence was also nearly non-existent in this gap. It would also pay heed to their newly worked out story that they were travelling back to the Iron Hills for a wedding, as their path would not appear to go anywhere near Erebor. Plus having a young dam in their party would hopefully make the elves leave them alone. In addition, taking the old forest road should only take them three or four days at most. Bec knew that with Sauron in Dol Goldur all of the orcs and goblins would be there, and the road would be clear, especially since the elves did not care for it. While the marshes may be a problem, a private talk with Beorn had assured her that they were not too big, and as long as they followed the river down, instead of trying to cross, they would be fine. Once they were past the forest, Bec intended them to bypass Laketown and Dale completely, as they did not need to supplies, and get a small camp set up near the door, ready to go.
With everything organised, they spent the last week resting, with even more weight lifted once Beorn offered ponies, as long as they let them go either at the edge of the river, or the first sign of a fight. Since Bec knew that Beorn would follow them to make sure, she happily agreed, sighing in relief, and hoping that things would go as planned. Even with the ponies, walking back down to Erebor would put them back on the original time-line, with no room for any mistakes.