On the morning following the Farmer Maggot Mishap, the sun seemed to burst from the sky in an exaggeratedly roseate display of cardinal crimson and fiery orange, which seemed to Georgiana and Bilbo to be an entirely too optimistic act designed (probably by the Durins somehow) to rub in further the horrible disappointment of waking up early enough to witness the grandiose performance.
Normally, Bilbo had the time to awake at his leisure. That time typically being around eight or nine in the morning.
Georgiana, on the other hand, when given the chance could sleep in anytime from ten in the morning to one in the afternoon, depending on how boisterous the night previous had been.
Of course, being a college student meant that Georgie had to deal with her fair share of unpleasing morning activities and so was an eyerub more accustomed to early mornings than her- now grumpy- hobbit friend.
So when Thorin bid the Company rise for the day, almost an hour and a half before that gloriously awful sunrise, Georgie had the better mood of the two. Just by a bit.
As Bilbo chose to steal however many moments of almost rest he could before someone in the Company snatched his bedthings, she did her usual morning ritual, growling a yawn and chuckling at the baby bear sounds she made, stretching as far as she could long ways and wide ways- and apologising fervently when her fingers tickled Bombur and her toes nudged the belt of Bofur (both of which took it all in stride as they had every morning)- and contorting her body into a variorum of the human pretzel shape. If asked, she would probably say the pretzel thing was her favorite part of her morning. Not because it stretched muscles she only rarely used, though that was definitely a benefit, but more because of the weird looks she got from various members of the Company. Most of which were a bit too thick in some places or had trained their bodies into one shape too much to bend like she could.
The day Dori could touch his hand flat to the ground in front of his toes was the day Georgie offered Thorin a free pink paint job for his Royal CHambers in Erebor.
Easy stuff for her- and any other girl back home- but impossible for nearly everyone in the Company. (Though Gandalf and a few of the more "dignified" of the bunch refused to try.)
Normally, she did her little stretches by herself. Today, however, she was joined by an over enthused Kili and a morning-mellowed Fili.
She raised an eyebrow when they came to join her when she first stood up after packing her belongings. How could she not? But in the end, said nothing.
Instead, she found it much more fun to try to teach them some common yoga poses and see if they followed along. A bit mean, maybe, but Georgie was curios to see how much they could follow her.
She started with stretching as tall as she could, raising her hands in the Salutations to the Sun pose. Easy enough, both followed. Kili had a touch of trouble raising his arms all the way at first, but once he dropped some of his archery gear, he managed.
Next, she dove down and touched her palms flat on the ground at her feet, feeling her stiff legs stretch to accommodate the action. It was Fili's turn to have trouble then. He was the only one out of the three who had to worry about impaling himself on one of his hidden knives- Georgie didn't believe he'd be patient enough to sheath all of them like he claimed. Kili snickered.
By now, Georgie felt her face contort into a mimicry of President Obama's "Not Bad" meme face. It dissolved into a smile at the reminder of home and the sight of the Durins keeping up so well. She did lunges next, just to mess with them. She didn't honestly expect them to be able to do leg lunges without ripping their pants or making sore the inside of their legs. But they were trained warriors and would know when to stop.
Amazingly, both brothers had absolutely no trouble spreading their legs and touching their toes as she showed them. Huh. She didn't let herself think about how they were flexible there, chalking it up to youth and trying to keep her head out of the gutter.
Deciding that stretching for too long would be an exercise in stupidity when there was still work to be done and, more importantly, breakfast to be had, she finished her morning ablutions with a few more leg stretches, something quick to pacify her sore back and arms and a last bend over her travel bag to dig out the fruits from the night before to share with the brothers before her.
She didn't think bending over to dig out fruit was so bad, being used to girls in her world doing the same regardless of current company and doing the action herself many times, but she forgot how awkward that action was to her current peers until she faced them again, fruit in hand and mouth open to start talking, only to find Fili and Kili determined not to look at her. Both had slightly pink cheeks and tightly clenched lips, the same expression she sometimes wore when her friends back home made raunchy jokes without realizing.
Oops. Best not to even mention anything. Ignore it. Make a mental note to avoid the Bend-n-Snap in the future. Good going, George. Don't laugh. Don't laugh. Don't Laugh-
Instead, Georgie composed herself, scolding herself for having a dirty head- maybe the Durins were thinking about another member of the Company! She didn't need to be so conscious of herself all the time, y'know!- and said, "G'morning, you two! Thanks for the morning stretch! It was a lot more fun with, y'know, other people joining in. We should try to get Bilbo over here tomorrow morning!"
Kili was the first to address her, "Indeed! It was nice to release some tension so early in the morning. Reminds me of other pleasant morning experiences. Wouldn't you say, Brother?"
He was ignored, though Georgie's curiosity was spiked. She wondered if Kili was talking about a possible Walk-of-Shame or if they both pranked somebody early in the morning. Eh. Either way, it got Fili looking funny. (His face scrunched up like he was annoyed, but wanting to laugh at the shared memory all the same.)
"In any case, we both decided that since you are already accustomed to stretching your muscles- though it seems they almost get no other work. A pity.- we would allow these morning exercises to start your new training regimen." Fili smiled, then asked with mocking worry, "You haven't forgotten about your training, have you?"
"Nope!", Georgie answered brightly. She was American, for Freedom's sake! Made of sterner stuff, she was! Not about to let these chuckleheads know how much she was dreading this, certainly.
She grinned a Cheshire grin, giggling at her rejoinder, "In fact, I have some tokens of our little misadventure last night to share with you both for breakfast!"
She let the brothers "pick their poison", Fili going with the Peach, Kili with the apple and taking the pear for herself. God, she loved pears! (Unknowingly, she had been moving the hand holding the pear closer and closer to herself as the boys chose their breakfast, something they would giggle about later.)
She said a quick prayer for her food and they chatted a bit as they sat and ate about what she would eventually learn how to do if her training went as well as it could.
"Hopefully, if you're a quick learner- quite unlike Kili ever was- you'll know how to disarm a lazy opponent by the end of the month! Or, at the very least, you should be able to handle yourself decently using a bit of creativity and your fists and feet.", explained Fili with growing excitement as Georgie nodded along with her bottom lip in her mouth and a slow-growing grin.
Kili added his bit in, "By the time my slower-than-stone brother is finished teaching you how to wrestle-" He got a swift foot in the thigh for that one. "-you'll already be more than capable of hiding yourself from trouble and maybe even hiding supplies or other people! I'll have you trained up so quickly, I could start working with Bilbo all before Fili teaches you how to throw a proper punch!"
She had to laugh at that. A laugh which grew louder when the groggy Bilbo snapped his head around to face them at the sound of his name paired with "working". He waddled gingerly over to them on tired feet, carrying his breakfast of stew before trying to politely plop down beside her.
"I didn't mean to overhear, but what is this I heard about 'working with Bilbo', exactly?", the middle-aged hobbit inquired, trying to shoo the nerves from his half-awake voice.
"Oh, nothing much, Bilbo. Nothing to worry about! Only-", Georgie shushed her voice to a menacing whisper. "-we'll be training with Fili and Kili from now on. Thorin, our most majestic leader, said we needed to be prepared for skirmishes if they come up. In the very least, just enough so we'll both know how to handle ourselves out here in the Wilds of the world."
Bilbo didn't pale or flinch or squirm like she hoped he would, like all three of the Troublesome Trio had hoped he would. Instead, he raised a brow at her antics and calmly sipped his stew.
"I suppose that makes sense", he began. "I wouldn't want to become a burden to the rest of the Company and I'm sure you don't either."
Why did he have to go and remind her of his status as a grown-ass hobbit now? "Can't you give us a little shudder of despair? It's not like this is going to be a walk in the park!", Georgie muttered before her traitorous mouth could catch itself.
Bilbo gave her a look.
My God, that's the same look Thorin gave me last night!, Georgie thought in shock.
Then, to her further shock, but also delight, Bilbo rolled his eyes and gave a grossly exaggerated shudder of fear.
The Troublesome Trio burst into laughter at the same time after seeing that! Kili's laugh was a bit like a young child's, light-hearted, but deep enough to tell you he really had passed puberty.
Fili's laugh was deeper and richer, like listening to a men's choir singing a really well-harmonized measure but with varying speeds. Georgie, Bilbo smiled to see, laughed in a way entirely unbecoming of any Proper lady of the Shire- starting with deep barks that jerked out of her throat like one would expect from the yipping dogs she so feared and growing to resemble some of Bilbo's conkers mates back home, quick giggles that rose in pitch the longer they went.
Bilbo chuckled a bit to himself behind the rim of his bowl of stew and was about to make a quip about how usually only children laughed as readily as those three, but was rudely interrupted by Thorin ordering the Company to move out for the day. He sighed, he would have other opportunities to show his clever tongue later, he supposed.
It was another hard day of walking for the Company.
The first week, they made their way past Bree. They followed the path from Bag End to Budgeford, though Thorin- with all of his directional wisdom (and yes, Bilbo was thinking sarcastically now)- had lead the Company the long way, Over Hill and through Bindbole Wood, near Brockenborings and through the Bridgefields (where the Troublesome Trio terrorized that poor lad, Farmer Maggot. Bilbo was quite displeased with Georgiana when she told him about that!) and finally down to Budgeford, where they would follow the path across the water.
Bilbo had been so flustered that first day of travelling, looking for Georgiana to show up that he didn't even notice they had gone the long way until his young charge had met them in the middle of Bindbole wood!
After they had passed Bree, taking the path just North of the Barrowdowns and the Old Forest, they went around the small lake just outside of Bree and journeyed into the Midgewater Marshes to get to the Weather Hills quicker, and Bilbo theorized much stealthier, than following the path that lead South of the Marshes.
If he had to hazard a guess, Bilbo would say they were somewhere near the far East end of the Weathered Hills, now.
According to Gandalf, today's walk would hopefully get them all to one of the hills overlooking some part of the Midgewater Pass. Wizards could be so frustratingly vague. Honestly, if he didn't know, he could have just said so!
At least Georgiana seemed to be enjoying herself. She had hopped off of her shared pony with Fili and had elected to walk a bit. Though, she wasn't doing as much walking as she was flittering about the horses and chatting with whomsoever she passed. Her conversations included both Dwarf and horse in some instances and in others, she had elected to speak only to one (pony or rider). She spoke with everyone, or tried to in the case of several of the dwarves- much to Bilbo and Gandalf's disapproval, indiscriminately. Even those dwarves who couldn't be bothered to give her more conversation than a few curt replies and grumpy nods received plenty of chatter from the girl.
At one point in the day, Georgiana even harassed- er, conversed with- Gandalf! Bilbo was happy to note that although nobody else in the Company could understand half of what they talked about.
( And honestly, what in the hills was all that nonsense talk about legalizing marijuana?! From how they spoke, it was as if they were discussing common South Farthing leaf, but if that were the case, then why were they both working themselves into such a row with each other? Surely this marijuana was not such a large concern that Gandalf should turn terse and unfriendly! Nor should Georgiana have worked herself up to such a degree that she barely withheld from shouting herself blue in the face! It was unbecoming of a young woman, especially if the young woman were under his care!
Bilbo was genuinely quite shocked, though not displeased, that they had each refrained from denigrating the other with petty insults and name calling for as long as they had. Though the name calling and petty insulting was only the long expected result of both parties speaking over the other with different arguments and then complaining when they each went equally unheard.
He may have to have a small chat with his young charge later about why it was a bad idea to call a powerful and lauded wizard a toad-sired crumb of a person with necrotic mush for brains.
Even if it was the most entertaining thing that happened all day.
He knew her little snit had impressed each dwarf to some degree when even Thorin Oakenshield, majestic as he was, couldn't tear his horrified and enthralled eyes away from the harmless debate. Bilbo was proud of Georgiana for that, if nothing else, though he was a bit more than a bit put out that some of her points made him want to quit his Old Toby for a spell.)
Ah, but she was a queer little thing, wasn't she?
But Bilbo supposed having such a...spirited charge would help him loosen up a bit. Georgiana seemed to think he was a bit too much of a stick-in-the-mud.
Bilbo scowled just thinking about it. He knew how to have fun, dash it all!
But Georgiana had assured him there was hope, yet, for the would-be Burglar! And so he had been doing his best to lighten up a bit when he could.
For example, (and he was quite pleased with himself when he pointed it out to Georgiana) he hadn't made nearly as much fuss as he could have about the dwarves and their brass manners!
"They don't even want handkerchiefs!", he had exclaimed to her in that first week, utterly confused by these people. He went on to ask her how anyone could go for so long without missing their pocket kerchiefs or their soaps or their little home luxuries. She laughed a sad, pitying laugh at that. Then she explained to the bewildered hobbit that, "Bilbo, they probably don't miss those things because they're used to worrying about bigger problems."
Bilbo could understand that big things were important (He thought it was a pretty big deal when he had to track down his missing silverware from a certain thieving Sackville-Baggins, after all.), but he thought big things were only as important as the little, daily concerns allowed room for.
When Bilbo still failed to understand, she put it much more simply, barely refraining from huffing the words through a glower at his density, "Bilbo, if you had the choice between worrying about a handkerchief and some fancy soaps or whether or not your children would be fed that week, would you still think home luxuries were all that important?"
Suffice to say, Bilbo got the message after that.
It would be no exaggeration to say that Bilbo Baggins was trying his best for this Company of rowdy, cheerfully unpolished dwarves.
None back home would've been able to say he wasn't holding his tongue admirably when Bombur belched long and loudly into Oin's ear trumpet to amuse his cousins after dinner one night.
Or that he hadn't shown immense restraint when he turned his cheek from the more bawdy and ribald jokes Georgie had been making to the youngest two Durins, both of whom nearly choked on the double blow of shock and appreciation that erupted from their throats in the instant after her punchline. They proceeded to parry with two more jokes of equally poor taste and poorer class. Bilbo couldn't help but think about the heart attack his dear cousin, Lobellia Sackville-Baggins, would have had should she have heard what Georgie had to say about a man and a Donkey!
Bilbo even smiled good-naturedly when Thorin grunted at him instead of-Yavanna forfend- talking to him after Bilbo garnered the nerve to sup with the surly king. Bilbo had been more than put out when the king barely acknowledged him after he gave the dwarf his supper that night.
But Bilbo had to draw the line somewhere.
That line was drawn for him by the previously thought about surly leader of their Company after everyone had settled down after dinner.
And to think, it all began so amiably.
Here he had been, just minding his own business and sneaking an apple to his irate- but improving- pony, Myrtle when he heard something it.
Bilbo could have sworn it was the howl of a wolf, keening in the distance.
Having his nerves frayed from withholding all of the lectures he could have made at the expense of the dwarves for the past few days, he allowed himself to honestly show his fear, especially having remembered the wolves from the Fell Winter. He looked to the first dwarves he could find awake, who happened to be Fili and Kili.
(Absently, the startled gentlehobbit noted that Georgiana was curled into her blanket fast asleep between the brothers. He mentally sighed. Anywhere else besides a quest, and he would've called such familiarity vastly improper, but he didn't think she would've paid him any mind even had he voiced his opinion. "It's cold out and they're both warm, Bilbo!", she would have argued. "You can't honestly expect me to care about being proper when they're both squishy and warm, can you?", she'd have asked with round, childish eyes. She probably would've said something to rub in her victory when she realised, too. Maybe with a grin she would turn her own argument, "Besides, for as warm as they are naturally, you and I are the only ones with blankets. I'll keep this end of the Durin line warm, you get the Big Dog in my place, will ya?" And just like that she would have won that argument through sheer embarrassment alone. Bilbo did wonder why she kept insinuating things between himself and Thorin, though he supposed he never minded much when she giggled so freely after each teasing remark. As long as she never joked in front of Thorin, Bilbo didn't mind. Much.)
Bilbo thought all of this in a strangely layered way. Had he his full faculties about him, he might've been impressed that he had imagined an entire conversation in the span of four seconds under frightened thoughts of the creatures that lurked out there in the dark.
But Bilbo did not have his full faculties about him and so his mind rushed on to more distressing thoughts than the propriety of his charge.
"What was that? Was that a wolf? A-are there wolves out here!?", he rasped in fear, earnestly hoping the answer was no.
Kili answered him first, for once appearing serious and answering simply, "Orcs."
"Orcs?", Bilbo gasped, voice a tremor of disbelief.
"Aye, that's what you keep hearing, Master Boggins. Orcs.", Kili spoke with such firm purpose that Bilbo didn't even notice the usual slip-up of his name.
"Throat-cutters, they are. There'll be dozens of them out there.", Fili supplied with steely warning. "The lowlands are crawling with them", he drawled.
Bilbo was so busy fretting that he didn't catch the sly look the brothers shared over his shoulder. He also missed Thorin waking at the mention of orcs. Thorin did not miss the sight of his nephews giggling.
To say Thorin was not happy would be an understatement.
An enormous understatement. "You think that's funny?", Thorin rumbled with a noticeable fierceness growing under his tone. "You think a night raid by orcs is a joke?", he snarled. None could mistake the fury of his words, while the more observant of the Company heard the disappointment Thorin tried to hide. Bilbo was among the latter.
Bilbo guessed the lads heard it as well, for Kili, kind lad he was, tried to explain to Thorin in his sad, sorry voice, "We didn't mean anything by it."
"No, you didn't."
Thorin leveled a sharp look at the boys, one that was hard and cold and spoke of every awful thing an orc had ever forced Thorin or any other dwarf to live through. Unlike the mildly amused and disapproving glares their uncle had thrown at them the day before and on many occasions previous, this look held a certain terrible grief to it. If Thorin's face held all the anger and disbelief and disappointment in his nephews, which was more than enough to pound at their pride, then his eyes temporarily shattered their hearts with the force of the memories of all the dwarrow and dwarrowdams their people had lost to the ruthlessness violence of orcs.
"You know nothing of the world."
Fili and Kili could no longer bare to look their uncle in the eye and so dropped theirs as one.
Thorin scoffed at their naivete and had to turn away, lest he say something he would regret later.
By that point, everyone in the camp had awoken due to the noise and were all desperate to avoid looking toward the heirs of Durin.
Except, Bilbo noted, Georgiana. Georgiana, he supposed, was in an awkward spot, stuck lying between both of the humiliated Durins.
But if she felt any of that awkwardness, she never let it show. Instead, she sat up, fixed her blanket to cover both of the brothers and herself comfortably.
It had been tucked around her by the boys after she had fallen asleep, whenever she would wake, she would adjust it to cover all three of them. It was the trio's nightly game since Georgiana began resting with the lads.
Once she had covered both lads with the blanket, she patted the outer thigh of each (the blanket only covered their legs since they were all sitting up by that point) and squeezed the hands closest to her. Fili and Kili looked down at their clasped hands with a touch of bewilderment, but squeezed her hands back in gratitude while Balin began to tell Thorin's tale.
After making sure the lads would be alright, and with Georgiana Bilbo felt sure they always would be, he turned to listen to Balin's retelling, completely enraptured.
Later, Thorin had so politely assured Bilbo of the Defiler's distance (Georgiana had already told Thorin he was alive and hunting him weeks ago. Now that Bilbo knew why, he understood why his charge was so hell-bent on protecting the jovial Durin heirs and their somber uncle.) and ordered everyone back to bed.
As Bilbo laid to sleep that night, strangely closer to the would-be king than he had ever slept before, he pondered the day's events and wondered when things would change- for the relatively easy journey they embarked on now would most definitely change into something more gruesome at some point soon, Bilbo wasn't fool enough to believe otherwise- and how Georgiana, the Company, the Durins and himself would change with it.
The camp was filled with the gentle night ruckus to which Bilbo had grown accustomed. Georgiana singing softly accompanied by the loud snores of Gloin and Oin, the mutters from Bifur, the sleepy chuckling of Bofur and the rustling from nearly everyone. Bilbo wondered if any of the dwarves knew how active they were in sleep. Probably not, these dwarves were most oblivious to small things.
You can't have the world see you like this, and you can't stay for more than a night. That you'll be close where you are and that I will be missed, but still I can't turn out the lights.
Bilbo laid back and covered up after a few attempts to get more comfortable, which failed thanks, and stared up at the stars. They were the same stars he knew from the Shire. He knew that. But he had never paid the Shire stars much heed after he reached his majority, there had always been something more pressing to see to (usually his books and armchair).
I don't wanna live in Limbo, Baby. I don't wanna come home to an empty bed.
Bilbo could relate. He didn't care to admit, but he had been lonely before Georgiana dropped into his life.
Said I'm so tired of the quiet, Baby. And I'm too young to play dead. (Had that been how Bilbo lived before this madness? He shuddered when he came to the answer: yes.)
So c'mon Summer go out with grace, lay down for the season and down for the rain. (it returned to the chorus after that.)
Bilbo looked all around him, seeing the blooming trees and the soft, green grasses surrounding their clearing. The rich browns of the earth, which sang to him as Georgiana sang. Maybe that was what dwarves felt when mining?
I can hear your footsteps at the front door, I can feel your heart rest upon your poor soul.
He looked over at the Fearless Leader, just a quick glance to reassure himself that everything would be alright, at least tonight.
He was unexpectedly met with the wintry blue gaze of a very much awake Thorin Oakenshield. (But it don't really matter, you'll be home come November.)
Bilbo would neither confirm nor deny if he jumped a bit from his place on the ground, if Thorin said otherwise he would deny it! (I can see trouble from here, said I can see trouble from here. And I think I'm gonna break soon... it again jumped to the chorus.)
But Thorin was a kind dwarf. He politely ignored Bilbo's startle, and the moments it took him to regain his breath, simply waited for the hobbit.
Waited for what, Thorin didn't know. But it felt right to wait at the moment, the burglar looked like he had questions, which Thorin was mentally preparing himself for.
He was not prepared when the first thing Bilbo did was chuckle.
"You, Master Dwarf, are a frightening thing sometimes!", Bilbo whispered lowly when he finished chuckling. (You can't have the world see you like this and you can't stay for more than a night.)
Thorin was surprised to find Gandalf's claim from weeks ago to be somewhat accurate. He had to strain his ears to hear the smaller man and his ear was only a foot away from the burglar's mouth! It was like holding a conversation with the draft coming in through a window! (But you'll be close where you are, and that I will be missed... Thorin half wondered at the strange lyrics.)
Thorin was unsure how to respond to that, so he went with his generic response. He scowled.
Hoping to avoid disturbing the Company, Thorin attempted to whisper as lowly as the halfling, though he didn't quite accomplish it. Where Thorin's usual speaking voice was, to Bilbo and Georgiana, comparable to low rumbling thunder or boulders shifting position, his "whispering" voice was a much stranger sound. If Bilbo had to put an image to the sound, he would say it was like hearing eggs rolling in a shallow basket, just enough rumble to notice.
In any case, Thorin's egg-rolling voice replied defensively, "Perhaps I am not so frightening as you are easily frightened, Halfling!"
Luckily, living for a month with Georgiana trained Bilbo a bit in the ways of the Proud when their pride is wounded. He took no offense, simply raising a brow, "Perhaps." Bilbo continued with no small amount of kindness, "But, the way I figure it, anyone who can lead an army, fend off Azog the Defiler and lead a quest to reclaim a mountain from a dashed dragon can sleep comfortably in the knowledge of their frightening qualities. If not frightening, than formidable surely! May we agree you are quite formidable, Master Oakenshield?", Bilbo asked with a twinkle in his eyes.
Thorin smiled a small, contented smile at the hobbit's clever kindness and in agreement of the descriptor, "Sleep well, Burglar."
"I believe I shall, thanks. I have quite a formidable warrior resting nearby, who can protect me until I learn to protect myself. Though, he has a tendency toward a grumpier disposition, now that I think about it…", Bilbo teased sleepily.
Thorin grinned as Bilbo had never seen before and tossed a small pebble at Bilbo's forehead after shaking his own in humor. "Go to sleep, Baggins."
"Yes, Your Highness.", Bilbo yawned out, already half asleep. He had stayed awake much longer than he thought he would have. (I can hear your footsteps at the front door, I can feel your heart rest upon your poor soul)
Thorin turned his head away from the sleeping Burglar and toward the stars. They were wild and bright and glittered like mithril, comforting Thorin with the memories of trade, craft and family. He reflected for as long as he could hold thought about all of the duties tied to the title the burglar had bandied out.
He sighed. He should follow the burglar into sleep, he would need to be awake for third watch in a few short hours. (But it don't really matter. You'll be home come November.)
Thorin smiled as he fell asleep. You'll be home come November.
Song at the end is Come November by Thriving Ivory. Check it out, it's fantastic! The whole band is basically one big Fandoms theme playlist. It's amazing! Alternate song would have been Summertime by Ella Fitzgerald.
