Across the campsite, Thorin and Bilbo had an audience they were oblivious to. Ever since Thorin had stood to cross the camp, the others had watched carefully. They hadn't been particularly surprised when Thorin began to braid the hobbit's hair: that had happened before and as far as apologies went it was not unprecedented. Even when Thorin had kissed Bilbo they hadn't been too enthused, though Dwalin had begun to look at them with a smug expression on his face. Even when Fíli rose and moved towards the rest of the company to give his uncle and Bilbo some privacy they weren't entirely convinced, even though Fíli assured them that they were discussing courting. It was only when Bilbo rose up on his knees and pressed his lips against Thorin's that the company broke into cheers and grumbles as they dug into their bags to pay Dwalin.
"There are many definitions of 'coupling',"' Bofur complained as he handed over his gold. "This is only one of them. We never did specify which one we meant when we started the bet."
"Do you want to be the one that stalks them until Thorin decides to bed the hobbit?" Dwalin asked, soliciting a blush from a few members of the company as he continued. "Would impassioned moans be enough proof or would you need to see them in the act itself? To see the sweat sheening their skin as hands and lips roam. Or to see the look on Bilbo's face as Thorin—"
"Just pay up lad," Balin said glaring at his brother to silence him. "He'll only get worse." Balin was no prude, but the images that his brother was painting of his friend and his King were rather graphic and unnecessary. And something about thinking about Bilbo in such a position seemed obscene. Though he did have to admit that he was a bit impressed. Dwalin was not known for his skill with words and that had almost been poetic . . . well until the end anyway.
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At the sound of the others cheering, Bilbo pulled away breaking the kiss. As he suddenly remembered that they had an audience, he could feel the blood flow into his face and knew that he had to be to color of a ripe tomato. This was beyond embarrassing. He gave them a nervous grin and small wave to acknowledge their congratulations, surprised to realize that Fíli was among them. He didn't remember hearing him move. He looked for Kíli, knowing that he would be near his brother, and was surprised when he didn't see him.
A quiet snore to his left drew his attention and he glanced over to see Kíli fast asleep on Thorin's shoulder, the log book clutched limply in his hands. Thorin smiled down at him before taking the book from his hands with his left hand and setting it on the log beside him.
"Poor lad's had a rough couple of days," Thorin said, his voice gentle and his eyes softer than Bilbo had ever seen them. "We all have. Will you get his bedroll out?" Bilbo nodded and dug quickly into Kíli's pack to retrieve it before unrolling it and wondering how Thorin would wake his sleeping nephew. He hoped it wouldn't be too roughly. For all his joking, Kíli really was a rather pleasant fellow.
It turned out that Thorin had no intention of waking Kíli at all. Instead, he turned his own body so that he could slide his arm under his nephew's knees and gently lifted him before standing and carrying him to where Bilbo had laid out his bedding. He knelt and gently placed the still-sleeping Kíli on the bedroll before removing his own coat to cover him.
"He's almost too big for me to do this," Thorin said with a fond smile as he stroked Kíli's black bangs back from his eyes. He didn't understand it but for some reason he was feeling sentimental. "I remember when he was born, such a tiny thing. I could hold him in one hand. He is much bigger now, but still little more than a dwarfling."
"He's older than me," Bilbo said still surprised at the truth contained in his words. Kíli behaved like a tween, not someone who was nearly a hundred years old and should be well into maturity. It was almost incomprehensible to him that Kíli could be his elder.
"Please, never remind me of that fact again," Thorin replied with a pained expression on his face. He had almost forgotten that the hobbit was only fifty. He still felt shock and a little self-loathing at the reminder that he was in love with someone who was younger than his nephews—who he still viewed as children. What did it say about him that he loved someone who was younger than a child?
"Surely it's not that young," Bilbo replied a little affronted at Thorin's tone. It was almost as if he had told the dwarf that his grandmother had been a dragon. "Ori can't be more than—"
"Ori is 135," Thorin replied tersely. "Fifty-three years older than Fíli and fifty-eight years older than Kíli."
"Really?" Bilbo asked in surprise. He would never have guessed that. Ori was so timid, almost hobbit-like. "I thought that he was the youngest of the dwarves."
"I almost didn't bring Kíli because of his age," Thorin replied gruffly. "I would never have accepted someone younger."
"So . . ." Bilbo said as he shifted uncomfortably. He was younger than Kíli, but he was not to remind Thorin of that. Knowing this, he searched for another topic. "Balin is the oldest, then?"
"No," Thorin snorted in response and shook his head with a slight smile crossing his lips. Balin's white hair made him look much older than he actually was. Served him right too, mocking the slow development of others. "Balin is not the oldest."
"Oin then?" Bilbo asked. At this, Thorin laughed outright and Bilbo felt a smile cross his face and crease his eye. He really loved it when Thorin laughed. It was such a rare sound . . . unless Kíli and Fíli drugged him.
"No," Thorin replied once he felt that he could trust his voice. He was enjoying this, and felt himself strangely flattered that Bilbo had not guessed the correct answer yet. He knew that he didn't show his age clearly but he figured that he cantankerous personality would give it away.
"Dori?" There was no way that it wasn't Dori. He was the last member of the Company that gave any real appearance of age in his behavior or appearance.
"Not Dori," Thorin said with another laugh. He understood what Bilbo was thinking, and it made sense. That didn't make it any less wrong, but he could see where the hobbit had come up with his answers. Thorin found that he was finding this guessing game endlessly amusing.
"Not Bifur?" Bilbo asked again, his tone showing his incredulity. His tone and his face were both confused and shocked at the same time. It was the strangest expression Thorin had ever seen in his life.
"No," Thorin agreed with another smile. "Bifur is not the oldest." At his words, Bilbo felt understanding dawn, as well as disbelief. There was no way it was possible. But the remainder of the dwarves were too young to be the oldest. The only other dwarf that even hinted at age, through the few grey hairs on his head was . . . Thorin.
"It's not you, is it?" Bilbo asked, realizing that the thought was ludicrous but knowing that Thorin was the only possibility left. And once he was down to no other possibilities, the truth, while shocking, was apparent.
Thorin nodded solemnly before looking down and stroking Kíli's hair once more. He had known that Bilbo would eventually figure it out once the topic of ages came up. He could only hope that Bilbo would not ask how old he actually was. There were already too many differences between them, too many gaps both in status and in culture. His knew that his age would be one too many and this would end before it had ever begun. He should have known better than to hope.
"How old?" Bilbo asked in a strangled sort of voice. He had done some quick calculations and knew that if Thorin was older than Dori—who Bilbo had heard was twenty-five years older than Ori—then he had to be more than 160. It was difficult for Bilbo to fathom, as hobbits only lived to be about a hundred.
"Do you truly wish to know?" Thorin asked, his eyes sad and his smile gone once more. Bilbo nodded and Thorin sighed. "I am 195 years old. I was twenty-three when the dragon Smaug descended on Erebor. And younger than Fíli and Kíli, only a little older than you, during the Battle of Azanulbizar."
"How old were you when you became King?" Bilbo asked suddenly. He had been under the impression that Thorin became king at the battle, but if Fíli and Kíli were still children that could not have been the case. They would not have made a child take the throne. He focused on little things like that rather than the fact that the dwarf he was in love with was almost four times his age.
"I was 104," Thorin replied with a sad smile. Bilbo seemed shocked, but not overly so and he wasn't backing away in disgust. It was a good sign. Perhaps this would not be the final straw. Bilbo nodded sagely at the information.
"So . . . 195, eh?" Bilbo asked with a smile. "You look good. How long do dwarves live anyway?"
Thorin nodded in acknowledgement of Bilbo's compliment and then sighed. "That is a difficult question to answer," Thorin replied. "We tend to average about 250 years of age. But different lines live to different ages and some dwarves have been known to live much longer."
"What about your line?" Bilbo asked innocently. He didn't realized just how painful his question would be for the other. "How long do they tend to live?"
"I'm not sure," Thorin replied shaking his head sadly. "None of us have lived long enough to die of old age for the past few generations. In fact, we tend to die rather gruesome deaths." With those words, Thorin's eyes took on a haunted expression as he remembered the deaths of his brother and grandfather. He had not seen his father die, but he would wager all the gold in Erebor that it had not been a pleasant death.
"I'm sorry," Bilbo said gently placing his hand on Thorin's. He hadn't meant to hurt him and it was clear that his question had done just that.
"We'll break that streak," Bilbo promised suddenly, knowing that it was a promise he could not necessarily keep. "You, Fíli, Kíli. All three of you will die of old age. I'll see to it." Thorin smiled sadly. He knew that it was a promise the hobbit could not keep as well and it amused him that he would attempt it.
"What of you?" Thorin asked changing the subject from the potential deaths of him and his kin. "How long do hobbits live?"
"About a hundred years," Bilbo replied with a smile. "It's funny," Bilbo said suddenly his smile shifting to a wry one as his mind had done the math once more.
"What is funny?" Thorin asked. He could find nothing amusing about the conversation they had just had. Death was not amusing, even if it was one of a peaceful passing in old age.
"Despite the gap in our ages, we will both grow old at about the same time," Bilbo answered with a bright smile. Thorin thought about it and realized that Bilbo was correct. They would reach the end of their lifespans at approximately the same time. Unless fate was abnormally cruel and took either of them before their time or unless Thorin was one of the rare dwarves that lived to an unnatural age. The first of which was a very real possibility and the second . . . well, Thorin and fate were not the best of friends and anything was possible.
Rather than air his troubling thoughts, the King gave Bilbo a small smile and a nod. For a time they sat in silence, Thorin brooding about unpleasant possibilities and going over all the potentially gruesome ways he, his nephews and potentially Bilbo could die on this quest while absentmindedly stroking Kíli's hair. The thought that he might outlive any of them was almost more than he could bear.
Bilbo watched him unabashedly. He found that Thorin brooding was no less attractive than Thorin was when he smiled. It was just a different kind of attractive. More mysterious almost. And even though he had rarely imagined what Thorin would have been like with a young Fíli and Kíli, Bilbo could now see that he would have been good with them. Despite his sternness, he truly cared for the boys. Eventually Bilbo felt his eyes begin to droop and his head begin to list.
The third time this happened, he nearly fell over and gave a small startled squeak. Thorin looked up at the sound and could see that Bilbo was almost asleep where he sat. He smiled at the hobbit before standing and retrieving both their bedding before unrolling it next to Kíli's.
"Come, Bilbo," Thorin said offering the hobbit his hand. "I think it best that you lie down before you fall over, don't you?" Bilbo smiled up at him, his eyes and face soft with the sleep that had already begun to settle over him.
"I think," Bilbo said with a wry smile, his Tookish streak taking over at the idea that the King was coddling him," that I am old enough to decide when it is time for me to go to bed, Thorin. I haven't had a bedtime in more than twenty years."
"Fine," Thorin replied knowing that the hobbit was being irritating on purpose. "In that case, I am tired and would appreciate it if you would keep me company. Is that more agreeable?"
"I think I can agree to that," Bilbo said stifling a yawn with his hand. "After all, we can't have our leader falling asleep on the road."
"No," Thorin replied with a small laugh. "We can't have that. Come." Thorin laid himself down on his back and patted the spot beside him in invitation. Bilbo lay on his own bedding, a bit away from the King. They may have been discussing courtship earlier, but Bilbo still wasn't sure how Thorin would feel about him invading his personal space without invitation. Even Fíli and Kíli rarely did and they were his nephews!
"That wasn't what I meant by 'keep me company'," Thorin whispered in the darkness before wrapping his arm around Bilbo and sliding him—bedding and all—closer so that Bilbo was now snuggled up against his side. "That's better." Thorin mumbled. If Bilbo hadn't known better, he would have sworn that the King kissed the top of his head before he whispered. "Good night, burglar."
"Good night, Thorin," Bilbo replied quietly. It only took a moment for the warmth radiating from the dwarf next to him and the steady heartbeat beneath his cheek to lull him into sleep. Despite what he had thought previously, it was the best night of sleep he had ever had.
Thorin, too, found the sleeping arrangements quite agreeable and quickly decided that he could get used to sleeping with a hobbit in his arms and his nephews on the other side. For the first time in ages, he felt what could almost be described as contentment wash through him. For now, he was happy.
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There we are all, a new chapter. Figured I would give you at least one more happy one before we get more drama from Mirkwood and misunderstandings. I hope you enjoyed it. And a little note on the ages. The only ages that are known for sure were Fíli, Kíli, Thorin and Balin (for the purposes of this story though other dwarf ages are known as well). But in the book, it says that Fíli and Kíli are the youngest by more than fifty years and that Balin is the second oldest (after Thorin) so I did a little creative math and some flat out BS to get the ages I needed for this. I hope you don't mind too much :)
As always, thank you to everyone who took the time to read this or to add it to your favorites or alerts.
And a special thank you to:
Chalithra: Yep . . . men . . . *sigh* can't live with them and can't actually hit them upside the head with a cast-iron skillet without going to jail . . . I'm glad that you enjoyed that chapter and hope that you enjoy this one as well.
SherlockedinErebor: Hmm. . . I hadn't seen it that way, but I could see how it could be taken that way. I hadn't intended it to be a Fíli/Kíli moment but I suppose that it could have been :) Even though I occasionally tip-toe into that paring it's not one that I actively ship. I hope you enjoyed this chapter :)
Keske: Thank you! I try to keep things interesting ;)
Trekkergurl: As one of my gay friends from high school told me when I dropped by his apartment unexpectedly and he took me out for coffee instead because it was a mess, "I may be gay but I am still a man." Men are still men no matter their sexual orientation :) I'm glad that you enjoyed that chapter and hope you enjoyed this one as well.
Arkenshield: Is that a good thing? Lol. I hope so. At any rate, I hope you liked this chapter :)
Katyushha: I'm glad that you loved it! And of course I am! And don't worry, this is my happy ending AU. In the end—no matter what I put them and you through—there will be a happy ending on this one. I hope you enjoyed this chapter :)
Guest: I'm sorry that it wasn't soon but hope that it was worth it anyway. Thank you for your review.
The Alien Queen: Thank you! and don't worry, there will be much more fluff. For some reason, I enjoy writing fluff with these two. And there will be more than enough angst most likely (I also enjoy writing angst) I will keep writing and hope that it remains good. I also hope that you enjoyed this chapter :)
Lythande188: I'm glad that you enjoyed it! And thank you so much! I am glad that you feel that it was nicely written. I love hearing that I did a good job! I hope you enjoyed this chapter and don't worry there will be much more to come ;)
ZaraZabuza: Yep :) I couldn't hold out for too much longer ;) and there will be a few more kisses (and a few apologies) in the coming chapters. I hope you enjoyed this one.
ILOVEHULK: Thank you so much! I'm glad that you loved it and hope to continue to out-do myself :). And sorry it wasn't particularly soon but hope it was worth the wait.
Stardust585: Without a little interference those two NEVER would have figured it out. And I'm glad that you liked my choice of Fíli. I thought that it would be a good touch. And thank you! I'm glad that you enjoyed their talk. It actually worked out better (even if it did make me rename and re-summarize one of my one-shots) and they may have it out in the open, but I don't think they will completely see eye-to-eye about what being a couple means *cough* overly possessive Thorin*cough* and yep . . .obstacles will abound and yep, any relationship that can come through what I intend to put them through intact has the makings of greatness. I hope you enjoyed this chapter. And thank you so much for your kind words!
Brightleaf: Eh, it was going to happen eventually. I couldn't leave it up in the air forever, could I? and about the Arkenstone . . . it'll come up . . . sort of . . . I already have that part written out and you'll just have to see what I did with it when we get there ;) I hope you enjoyed this chapter.
Well, that's all for now folks! I hope you enjoyed it and would love to hear what you thought (even if you hated it) so please leave me a review if you have time and/or feel so inclined.
Stickdonkeys.