HoM11

Roni would have been lying to herself if she didn't admit she always knew the Dwarf's relative position and sensed his mood at any given moment.

Throughout her life Roni tried not to lie, not to others, and especially not to herself. She didn't lack the ability to and she sometimes did lie. Those were in a sense hobbit appropriate little, "white" lies and more often, truth avoidance, that guarded one's peace of mind, and occasionally their tushie from granny's merry array of swishy willow and birch switches. She practiced this abstinence not only because she avoided any kind of conflict like the plague, but because she was a rubbish liar. And yet, another oxymoron of her pretty oxymoronical life was that on rare occasions she did it well enough to almost get away with anything. But this only happened when the straits were dire and the cause was indubitably just. As mentioned above.

After being greeted very cordially in Rivendell, with only one little good-natured, teasing, and pretty nonsensical song, disturbingly full of personal details - Roni suspected Gandalf of oversharing - the Company was assigned lodgings, which the dwarfs exchanged for camping in a grove with some kind of elven foley, echoing on its columns the foliage and vines that were growing about. They were urged to give their garments to be aired and cleaned and politely urged to do the same with their persons. Again the dwarfs refused the offered amenities and opted for skinny dipping and general frolicking in one of the cascading fountains near their "camp."

That is when Roni was caught unprepared when she returned from her visit to the warm spring near by. Above bubbling waters and steam or the spring a wooden structure was erected. It afforded one with decent amount of privacy. There, she was given scented soap and clean woven towels and a soft robe. She was left alone to enjoy privacy and the returned feeling of normalcy after such a long time of having anything but. Even the question of being clean again and not sporting "Eau de Trollette pour femme" anymore, took back seat compared to the peace and quiet she was afforded there.

Now, being knocked so rudely from the almost nirvana like state she was in, on her way back to her fellow companions, she wished she was not lulled into lowering her guard and not treading carefully, expecting the unexpected behind each corner. Apparently, even elven dwellings couldn't protect one from some shocks.

Thanking to her inattentiveness, she now had one more picture etched in her mind; of an ill used water feature, this time. Several of the sights, she just knew were destined to stay in the "Disturbing, unsettling and troublesome images and memorabilia of the journey there and back again," selection of records her brain insisted on keeping in excruciating detail, and never ever leave it again.

In the few instants that she stood frozen and eyes the size of saucers, she noticed wide shoulders and muscled arms leaning on the edge of the fountain, and a cascade of dark locks shining wet. An ear cuff would have told her the owner's identity , had she had any need for it. Her view was obstructed by a pair of muscular legs, covered in light dew of fair hair and with a tattooed rune above the right ankle, that Roni recognised from seeing it often on each and every piece of blade Fili diligently and constantly kept cleaning. They confidently strolled into the view and stopped, back turned to her, and her eyes were drawn up, up to a pair of firm, rounded… Oh, my, Roni you better scamper! The order blasted through Roni's gray matter and her command center sounded the alarm.

Turning, with the oversized robe billowing after her, she left the scene and once again tried to overlap the image with a more soothing sites of surrounding natural and elven made beauties.

Thorin found himself relaxing with his pipe in hand, wet tresses splayed over his shoulders and once again his thoughts turned to the company's burglar. He was not at ease in this elvish dwelling, but Gandalf claimed that only in this place they can get the hidden information on his grandfather's map, and he was appreciative of the opportunity to rest and plan and prepare for the crossing over of the mountains. He knew it would be a challenge. And he had no doubts as to his kin following him through it all, not even why the Wizard would go with them, but he was puzzled somewhat by what motivated Miss Bryony.

Contemplating approaching the elven lord with the request to keep her here, until she could be delivered back to her home safely, he discovered that he was loath to do so and decided against it.

His own motivations for this never came under his consideration. The decision once made, he relaxed and watched her sitting between Kili, with whom she seemed to have a very animated discussion, and Fili, who looked content just listening, while occupying his hands with whittling a piece of wood.

His eyebrow went up when he saw Kili take and hold her hand.

"And what do you deduce, Master Seer?"

Roni felt a bit awkward with Kili placing her hand in his larger one and continuing his sharade of predicting a great fortune for her and "seeing" a tall, dark stranger crossing her path. He moved to sit on his hunches before her.

"He will fall on his knees before you," Kili continued in a ridiculous pitched voice, drawing last syllables out (so that the "you" sounded more like a "youhoo-o"), presumably to represent the a seer's prophetic trance, tracing the lines on her upturned palm with his large finger and caressing her hand with his thumb. She caught a whiff of some herbal soap coming from his still dump locks.

"Just as you will be smitten with his ragged good looks and irresistible charm and sharp wit, my dear girl," finished Kili with over dramatic sigh and sandwiching her hand between his two. Some 'hmpf' like noise came from her other side and she glanced at Fili, but he seemed to still be focused on his whittling.

Feeling somewhat embarrassed, she snatched her hand away.

"I am no silly wench to be swept of my feet just like that, old man." She managed a fake haughty tone. Kili's eyes danced with merriment and he again regarded her with that "knowing" smirk of his. Roni continued in the same aloof and fake stern tone, "Stop this nonsensical behaviour, sir. I demand my person be treated with more respect. Why, I could be your, well not grandmother… I could be your aunt!" Kili's eyebrows disappeared beneath his bangs and his grin could not have gotten much bigger.

"Yes, you certainly could." There was no laughter in Fili's voice as his eyes calmly studied her.

Roni prayed for the earth to open beneath her and swallow her whole.