Ch 11 Gifts
"I brought you gifts."
Lapis was sitting on Thorin's lap after he had situated her there when he had stopped kissing her, pressing his forehead to hers in effort to calm himself. They had remained in that position, with her straddling his hips and playing with his braids curiously while he merely held onto her, eyes closed.
"Gifts?"
Thorin smiled at her question and ran his lips along the scales at her jaw. "I brought some things for you while you slept, would you like to see them?"
"You mean, like more jewels?"
"Some of them are but more items that I don't believe you to have or seen." He pulled back and looked at her in the eyes.
"Why did you bring me…gifts?" The word was strange rolling off her tongue.
"I missed you, terribly," Thorin whispered as his hands moved from the small of her back to her neck. "And this is how Dwarves treat the One they are to be with the rest of their lives."
She returned his gaze, her fingers still playing with the braids in his hair. "They are your, display?"
He snorted at the memory of how she related to animals. "Sure, in a way."
"What did you bring me?"
The thought of having to let go of his dragon was numbing but Thorin wanted to see what she thought of his gifts. He nudged her to slide to one side and picked up the torch, walking over to his pile of gifts for her. She followed silently behind him, looking around to see any changes other than what he brought. There were none and Lapis stopped in front of the pile he stood to the side of and blinked. There were jewels, and shiny metals, but were mixed in with other items she had indeed never seen. However, some looked familiar. She bent over and picked up something made of similar material to what Thorin wore and held it up using her forefingers and thumbs.
"What is this?"
"A dress."
"For what, what is it supposed to be for?"
"You, to cover you when you are outside." She almost looked disgusted at the thought of wearing clothes and Thorin had to hold back a laugh.
"I don't go out except at night and I see no one." It wasn't heavy, like his jacket she had worn months before, but silky. Still, the thought of covering up stirred something in her stomach that didn't feel natural. "Why would I need one?"
"Because, I want to bring you to Dale. I want you to see the outside world inside of being trapped inside the mountain, only able to leave under the cover of night."
"It doesn't bother me and besides, it keeps me safe."
"How do you know it is safer for you to remain hidden? No one would know you were a dragon unless you told them." He didn't understand, why wouldn't she want to go out during the day?
"Because it is, it would be dangerous."
"But how do you know?" Thorin persisted, "No one could have told you it was dangerous unless you met someone before me."
There was someone, the voice. It told her that Men could be dangerous, that they had weapons, as did dwarves. It had been surprisingly silent on her time with Thorin, except for a few times and it had changed its tone before her hibernation. She opened her mouth to tell him, but was stopped; the feeling almost physical and she raised a hand to her throat.
No. He cannot know, dwarves are not trustworthy. Use him and leave him to the others.
He was looking at her expectantly. "I have only met two children, not long after I was hatched and one of them named me."
"Then please, trust me. Come to Dale with me soon and see what the world can be like."
"Maybe." His plea went against what her ever present voice told her, but her answer seemed to appease him slightly. "What else have you brought me?"
Thorin gave her an odd look before spiking the pointed end of the torch into the earth, so it would stand before separating the gifts. She kneeled down also, watching and listening as he showed and explained what everything was for, taking them from him every time and inspecting the item. Jewelry including necklaces, bracelets, and hair ornaments, a gilded box to hold everything in, tapestries of maps and stories, blankets so soft Lapis had no problem wrapping it around her and relishing in the softness. There was a pair of slippers to go with the dress and Thorin tucked her feet into them while explaining what they were for, helping her stand to test them out. They felt strange on her feet and walking was near impossible, she didn't like the layer between her skin and the earth; it made her walk strange and hobble around terribly.
He felt bad, partially for trying not to laugh at the sight of Lapis looking like a newborn colt and assisted in taking the slippers off her. He led her back to show her the last of her gifts, setting some jars in front of her. Three were creams and one was an oil, Thorin explained their uses while rubbing one of the creams over her arm. Lapis sniffed the air at the sweet scent.
"What is the smell?"
"This one is honeysuckle, the other two are lavender and cinnamon, and the oil is vanilla rose." His hands stopped smoothing the cream over her skin and lifted it, so she could see.
It looked like her skin held a sheen to it now along with the smell and her other hand rubbed her arm. "What are they for again?"
"For women, to keep their skin soft and smelling nice. Not that you need either," Thorin rushed to say when she looked back at him. "But I thought you might like them."
"It will probably be nice when my skin sheds again."
"Your what do what?"
She looked at him oddly, "Shed. Once every five years since I was born, after winter."
"When was the last one?" He wasn't sure if he was intrigued or deterred.
"Three winters ago." Lapis was running her hand up her arm now at the foreign feeling. Something else glittered on the ground that she hadn't seen, "What is that?"
Thorin turned and looked down, "A mirror." He walked over, stooping and picking it up, holding it so his reflection was looking back at him. "I wasn't sure if you had ever seen what you looked like."
"Mirror? Why would it matter how I look? I am me."
"So, you don't know what you look like then?"
"No."
He took the few steps to put himself in front of her, turning them so the light from the fire cast over her before turning it around. Thorin watched as her head tilted and fingers came up to caress the large, reflective glass. Eyes widened as she took in her appearance, though it was only her face she could see. He watched as her eyes traced the path her fingers traced on glass then across her cheeks, so innocent. She really hasn't seen herself all these years, even a reflection in the river. Then again, only going out at night wouldn't help with that.
Now that he was thinking about it now, everything she had said over their time together, "How old are you?"
It took her a moment to answer. "It will be 118 winters now."
Wow, just…incredible. And no one had ever noticed her. It was almost miraculous how she had gotten along all this time without any guidance. Now that he thought of it, she had mentioned back when he had first visited her nest that she had memories, from someone. His eyes ran over her face, taking in the wonder still covering her features. There was no sign of lying on her, or when she talked, so he could easily believe her when she said there was no one else she had met. Most of the time she was almost too naïve.
"Do you still need to go outside tonight?"
Her gold eyes looked up at him briefly, "Yes."
"How much longer until you can go?"
She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, inhaling and exhaling. "They are settling in for the night, I should probably start my way up the tunnel. Sometimes the exit gets blocked by rocks or mud from winter, it might take longer to get out than usual."
A smile pulled at his lips when she looked at herself in the mirror again. Hopefully, this wasn't going to turn her vain. "So, should we leave now?"
"Yes…"
Thorin lowered the mirror and her eyes followed it, "It will be here when you get back."
"I know."
He picked up the lamp he had left there before and sparked it up with the fire from the torch, leaving it in the ground just in case. "Lead the way."
"You don't have to come, I've gone out at night alone plenty of times before."
"I'm not leaving your side unless I have too, like tomorrow morning when I have to be my father's heir again."
She didn't quite understand, "If you insist." Lapis took off down the tunnel that led out the backside of the mountain with Thorin right behind her.
What she had warned him of had happened and it took a bit with him helping her to clear out the entrance. He crawled out after her and looked around at the dead grass with a lightly coating of snow across the ground. "Is it too soon for you to be awake?"
Lapis was stretching when he spoke and turned around in question. "I always wake up the same day, I can handle cold."
After speaking, she turned into a dragon and took off into the sky. With nothing to do since he had no idea what she was doing, Thorin sat on a large boulder nearby and waited. Hopefully he wouldn't be out here that long.
So this chapter was really more of a filler. the next one, things will be happening. If there is anything more M rated than I have written, there will be a warning. Thanks for reading.