WARNING: WHAT YOU'RE ABOUT TO READ IS THE CHEESIEST CHEESE IN ALL OF CHEESY WORLD.
Yesss, the one chapter that will make you squeal and b'awww.
I don't have much to say (surprisingly) because I have to leave for work soooooon and shouldn't even have time to post this (not so surprising) ... OH WELL 8D
My priorities are flawless.
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Some more stuff will be posted toniiiight(?) or maybe tomorrow morning
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Happy reading!
Chapter 10: Be our guest
The first thing Mimi's brain registered was warmth.
The kind you would associate with a cozy nest of blankets left near a fireplace so they have extra heat to envelop you with.
Then the second thing her blurry mind noticed was weight.
It was drapedover her, it wasn't uncomfortable, and there was also something soft against her face.
The third thing was the faint smell of smoke, leather, pine trees and soap.
Cracking an eye open, Mimi saw . . . well nothing, her face was smushed against something. When she raised her head a bit she still couldn't see, the room was pitch black because the fire in her fireplace was almost out. Shrugging, she snuggled her face back in the fur against her face . . . It somehow felt familiar, it couldn't be one of the pelts covering her bed that much she knew; they weren't as soft.
She tried to think about what she did differently for her bed to be this abnormally cozier. That's when the events of the previous day all but crashed back to her: the market, the attack, the infirmary and, more importantly, Fili.
Fili who took care of her.
Fili who comforted her.
Fili who fell asleep on her bed.
Fili who was probably still on her be – oh.
Was it weird that she just noticed her "pillow" was breathing? Or the fact that it had a heart beat? Or the fact that it wasn't a pillow at all, even if he did made a good job of it . . . At least he wasn't snoring anymore.
Mimi felt herself blush scarlet when all her observations finally added up; she was currently curled, no scratch that, snuggled against the blond prince, head resting under his chin with her nose buried in his furry collar. In return he was squishing her to him, holding her around her waist and back.
Not good, totally improper. But then, he was still over the pelts while she was under them. It couldn't be very respectable . . . but they were just sleeping and he was much too overdressed with his coat, vest, tunic and all. All the opposite compared to Mimi, who was just in her nightdress. She could feel a headache coming with the arguments in her head playing ping-pong; it couldn't help that she still hadn't eaten anything. For the moment all she could do was shift to raise a hand to her head and rub her temple to calm the tension there.
Sleeping Fili didn't seemed to have appreciated her wriggling about, tightening his hold on her and burying his head in her mane of curls, his nose now brushing against her neck. Needless to say Mimi felt as if she was red from the tip of her toes to the point of her ears.
It had never occurred to her when she let the prince sleep on her bed that the morning could be this awkward; it wasn't helping that her body was still so sleepy and heaving her thoughts, making it hard to process everything lucidly. Her fatigue once again shut off the logical and "proper" part of her brain, favoring instead some more warmth and comfortable sleep; so what if it had to be sponsored by the golden prince?
With that settled, she drifted into dreamland and snuggled deeper in the furs of Fili's collar; there would be a time to be embarrassed by her boldness later.
When she woke up again she was relieved, and yet a bit disappointed, to see Fili was already gone. What had she expected? That he would wait for her to wake up to say good morning and result in what would be an incredibly awkward and embarrassing moment of her life? No, this was better; even though he could have said something, anything, maybe then her heart wouldn't get that strange pinch.
Brushing it aside as another confusion-induced moment brought upon by Fili, she was quick to shut up the part of her brain that kept sulking at the absence by her side.
Someone must have restarted the fireplace, because the room was now bathing in a soft glow of light. As she sat up, she noticed with a smile that Fili left her his coat as an extra blanket. A flash of white also caught Mimi's eye to her bed table; a beautiful white rose lay where the prince's accessories and hair clasp previously were. Oh. The pinch on her heart was quick to turn into a warm flutter, her face splitting in a bright smile when her fingers came in contact with the soft petals, bringing the blossom to her nose.
"Beautiful isn't it? From my very own garden I would guess –"
The voice startled Mimi into a squeal, dropping the bloom on her lap and snapping her head to look at her cousin sitting in an armchair by the fire, staring at her with an amused grin.
"B – Bilbo! W – what are you doing here?" squeaked the smaller hobbit, her face scarlet. How long had he been sitting there?! Was he there earlier when she woke? Did he see her in Fili's arms? She couldn't be sure . . .
"I was worried about you, last time I saw you seemed a bit . . . unsettled." The older hobbit rose from the armchair with a wince, a crutch helping him make his way to her bed without putting too much weight on his injured leg. Unsettled, that's one way to put it, she supposed.
"Bilbo you shouldn't be moving around!" Quickly throwing blankets and coat aside, Mimi ran in a panic to her cousin to help him sit on her bed, ignoring his comment.
"Oh please, I've had far worse than this and I'm very careful not to bust open the stitches, I'm fine." smiled her cousin, patting her hand.
"Does Thorin know you're here instead of resting in bed as you should be?"
"Of course he doesn't! Good heavens, if it was up to him he would tie me to the mattress and make sure I didn't move from there until it's fully healed; quite a hypocrite considering he's always strutting around with injuries barely even tended. Unfortunately, unlike him I do not have the physical strength to drag him anywhere . . ." sighed Bilbo.
"I don't know, you seem to have an equally effective tactic of your own," giggled the little hobbit, making her cousin smirk.
"I do, don't I?" Bilbo had quickly learned not to shy away from using blackmail or threats against his husband if it meant the pig-headed dwarf needed to see reason. "It would still be less tiring to simply be able to carry him around like he does with me."
"Doesn't it bother you?" grimaced the youngest, recalling the few times a certain blond prince would just pick her up like she was merely a doll.
"At first it irritated me quite a bit, but he only does it to drag me to bed; I'm not always against the idea," winked Bilbo.
Mimi blushed and groaned, hiding her face in her hands. "I did not need to know that!" Her cousin laughed.
"But seriously, Mimi, how are you feeling? Fili told me a little about last night –"
"Oh um well . . . I'm feeling better I suppose, it was mostly shock . . . or so I think . . . so erm . . . you've seen Fili then?"
"Yes, about an hour ago, he was just coming out of your room actually; he restocked your fireplace, left you his coat and the rose," smiled the Halfling. "He was really worried about you yesterday, you have no idea how relieved he was to know you were safe at the castle during the battle"
Marguerite could simply nod, relieved he didn't see anything too compromising, not that they were doing anything aside from mindless cuddling . . . while in bed. There it was: she was blushing, again. The frequency of which her cheeks colored was becoming increasingly alarming.
But Bilbo seemed to interpret the pink on her face as "flattered" rather than "embarrassed" since he simply smiled at her and didn't question it.
"He also had a new hair clasp, truly suits him too. A silver lion framed with gold and silver runes on each side."
"Did he say where he got it?"
"I believe he said it was a gift."
"O – oh, that's um . . . good, I mean that someone gave it and he liked it . . . it's all good."
At that Bilbo looked at her oddly, a small smile etching its way on his lips.
"What did you say you were doing in Dale exactly?"
"Shopping . . . I mean more like browsing, looking for new seeds for the garden, you know browsing, not necessarily buying anything . . ."
"Found anything worth buying in all your browsing?"
"Oh you know me, just little trinkets . . ."
"Uh-huh"
"S – speaking of yesterday, what are o – our casualties?"
Her cousin's face grew grim "It could have been much worse; one of Thranduil's guards was patrolling and spotted the orc troop coming our way. He warned our patrol just in time. A nice lad he was, stayed with us to fight. We were lucky we suffered no deaths so far, but more or less everyone else was injured at some extent and two gravely so; we are not certain yet that they will see the next sunrise."
Again Mimi could simply nod, she knew which ones he was talking about; she had seen them come in: ground meat was her first fleeting thought at the torn flesh of their torso. She shuddered at the memory, feeling a bit nauseous.
"I'm sorry, I shouldn't be talking about this. Now go change and you can help me down to the kitchens, I'm starving. Probably you too, you haven't eaten anything for so long!"
"I am, but I will be cooking lunch – you shouldn't spend energy uselessly – and then after its back to bed!" concluded the younger hobbit.
"Dinner you mean."
"What?"
"You left the infirmary at dawn and slept almost the whole day away. It's now early evening."
"Oh . . . well then I'll cook dinner and then it's back to bed for you!"
She quickly grabbed her rose and Fili's coat before going to change. Upon entering the bathroom she was surprised to find everything was cleaned. No more basin filled with filthy water or stained clothes and the bloody dress was nowhere in sight. It couldn't be Bilbo, he was in no condition of cleaning and he didn't even know about any of it. It was most likely Fili, her cousin did say heonly justcame out of her room about an hour ago. Could he really have done all of that? If so, she truly was touched.
She slipped on a cream colored dress with a green vest – she was going to avoid maroon for a while – and, once brushed, weaved the white bloom into her hair. She looked at the prince's coat debating whether to leave it in the room or to bring it with them; the kitchen was the warmest room in the castle after the forge so she wouldn't necessarily need it. But they still had to walk there and with Bilbo injured it would take a bit longer in the chilly corridors. It wouldn't hurt to hold on to it for a little while more, especially since she had the permission to wear it for once.
Once out of the bathroom cozy in the royal coat, Mimi grabbed a hold of Bilbo and together they made their way to the kitchens. The walk was slow, but they got around. Nearing the kitchens, the two Halflings were greeted by a surprising sight: Thorin was walking in their direction with Balin by his side and – an elf? The great king looked like he wanted to skin the stranger alive; he must be from Mirkwood, since Thorin had learned over time to tolerate the elves from Rivendell. The tall blond was probably also the guard Bilbo talked about.
Thorin was the dwarf she was the less familiar with, mused Mimi, with him having to run a kingdom and all, but she still found herself liking him. Behind the intimidating dwarf was . . . well, an equally intimidating dwarf really, but at least now she saw his softer side once in a while. Like when he gave her mini lessons on how to use the harp once or twice after he caught her plucking aimlessly at the strings, or the way his eyes softened when he looked at Bilbo. A bit like now . . . even though now there was also a hint of "By Mahal, come and save me from this plague" look added with it. That and the brief surprised look at seeing her in his nephew's coat.
"Ah my lad, you have a perfect timing! May I officially introduce you Amras Melwasúl, newly made representative of Thranduil. And this is Bilbo Baggins, consort of the king and his young cousin Marguerite Baggins," introduced Balin.
"I believe we had already met briefly yesterday, Master Baggins, but it is nonetheless my greatest pleasure to make yours and your cousin's acquaintance," replied the tall blond elf cheerily with a face splitting smile. It caught the two Halflings off their guard, considering most Mirkwood elfish folk looked pinched and haughty.
"Indeed we have, we owe you so much, your warning and intervention helped us keep many of our warriors alive."
Mimi saw Thorin wince and Balin twitch and had to bite her lip to hold in a giggle. It was no secret dwarves disliked elves and hated those from Mirkwood even more: to be in debt to "one of the worst kind" and to have Bilbo so joyful and friendly must be a torture. Even though it lessened with years spent by Bilbo's side, the shorter man tried to make him understand he couldn't condemn a whole race for the actions of one.
"I am most certain their skills had more to do with it, my help was truly minimal."
Ouch, he was humble too. Marguerite had to fake a cough to hide her laughter at Thorin's incredulous look, accidently bringing the general attention to herself.
"Are you alright miss Marguerite?" asked the elf politely. His smile was kind.
"O – oh erm yes, it's nothing I assure you and 'Mimi' will do just fine."
"I'm reassured," smiled the blond. "I do not wish to be rude, but may I say Miss Marguerite that you look as lovely as the bloom decorating your beautiful honey curls"
"Well, that's huh, very kind of you, t – thank you and it's n – not rude at all, but please call me 'Mimi,'" she blushed. Mimi didn't quite have the nerve to return the compliment to Amras who looked quite handsome himself . . . but then, she still had to encounter an elf that was ugly.
"Very well, we'll be on our way now. We still need to show our guest to his room." Gently cut in the wise white dwarf, probably wanting to get rid of the overly enthusiastic elf.
"You will be staying with us? Don't Thranduil's representatives normally go back to Mirkwood after the meetings, did your king change his mind?"
"A valid question, the choice is actually personal and I find that I would be more useful at a call away than a mile. I must say I was actually quite curious about Erebor; I had only heard stories of its magnificence. True it is a bit squarer and less detailed than what I'm used to, but the architecture is impressive in and of itself." complimented Amras with a genuine happy smile.
"In which room will you be staying then?" piped in Mimi, trying to divert the subject when a dark look crossed the king's eyes at the back-handed compliment.
"The one right next to yours lass, I hope you do not mind?" asked the older dwarf with an apologetic smile. Bilbo had moved into Thorin's quarters after their wedding, leaving his room to be an additional bedroom for guests. Mimi guessed they choose it because it was the furthest away from Thorin, a bit rude, but kind of necessary if they didn't want the elf to get a new breathing hole by the end of the week.
"Of course not, I would be delighted to have our guest as my new neighbour. I could show you around the castle later if you wish?" proposed the young hobbit to their honorary guest.
"It would be an honor my lady."
Mimi saw the instant look of relief on the dwarves' faces when they realised they wouldn't need to play guide to the elf. She barely held in the urge to roll her eyes and instead smiled brightly at Amras who was mirroring a similar expression.
"Wonderful, now that it's settled you gentlemen will have to excuse us, my leg is throbbing and I very much wish for food," interrupted Bilbo, getting a bit cranky with the occasional pain cursing through his limb.
"Ah yes, do go ahead, the young lass must also be famished." As if on cue Marguerite's stomach let out the most embarrassing growl, making the hobbit lass blush crimson and stutter an apology. Well, at least it helped lighten up the mood as the others looked at her with amusement.
As the two groups parted, Mimi couldn't help but wave enthusiastically at Amras which he didn't hesitate to reciprocate. She liked him; he was jollier than most elves.
"Something tells me I'll have the pleasure of an infamous rant on elves from His Majesty tonight," sighed Bilbo once they were out of earshot.
"I would say the look on Thorin's face when Amras complimented the skills of his people should make it a little worth it," snickered Mimi.
The older Halfling had to chuckle at that. "Maybe just a little," amended the older hobbit.
They chatted merrily down to the kitchens, Bilbo using Marguerite as a second crutch to help keep his weight off his leg. The healer told him it should heal just fine, but the slash had done its damage and he might get a slight limp out of it. He tried not to think of it as he was seated on a chair once in the kitchens and let out a relieved sigh.
"I'm never moving from this chair ever again. I should have someone constantly with me with a chair in hand so I may sit anywhere and at anytime."
"Perhaps a chair with wheels big enough so you can push yourself around," laughed Marguerite. She traded Fili's coat for an apron and started to take out the food to make some good, warm stew.
"Haha, don't be silly! That would be ridiculous. Now, what are you making us? Hand me those, I can peel them for you," said Bilbo pointing at the potatoes. "Don't give me that look, it's my leg that's injured, not my arms or hands, I'll need a small knife too."
A while over an hour later, they were both seated in front of their third and final helping of stew. The two cousins were finally resting with full stomachs, happy and content.
"Hand me your bowl, I'll clean it up" said Bilbo after a few minutes of silence, already reaching for it.
"Oh no you don't, you shouldn't be moving about too much."
"It's just cleaning up a few dishes, plus you cooked, it's only proper that I clean." Bilbo snatched the bowl from her hands and hopped to the sink before Marguerite could offer anymore protests.
"You're incorrigible, how come when you cook it's a blasphemy if I try to help clean afterwards, but whenever I do, it's suddenly rude to refuse any of your help?"
"I love you too."
"You should stop hanging around Kili and Fili so much, you're starting to sound like them," laughed Mimi.
"How is that a bad thing?" cut in Fili as he entered the kitchen, his eyes quickly latching onto the smaller hobbit, a big smile stretching on his face at the sight of the rose in her hair.
"I'd say we're quite charming," added Kili, following right behind his older brother.
"When you're not wreaking havoc across the mountain," teased Mimi, beating down the blush she felt creeping up her neck at the older prince's happy grin. She loved it when he smiled because of her, it was like sun rays slipping through clouds; his eyes would twinkle like stars and there would be the cutest dimples at the corners of his mouth.
"You make us sound so horrible my love," laughed Fili, pecking Marguerite's cheek and barely avoided getting swatted by her wooden spoon.
"You should leave the hatchets behind and take on that spoon of yours instead!" laughed Kili.
"Don't make me give you a taste of it," joked the smaller hobbit, pointing the spoon at the youngest prince.
"Better be careful brother, our kitten has claws," smirked the eldest heir, face dropping in an innocent look the moment she turned to glare at him for the new pet name.
"Don't take it too harshly, it could be worse."
"Yah, Bilbo here was known as 'chubby bunny' for a good while," Kili oh so kindly pointed out.
"Thank you Kili, I truly needed to be reminded," huffed Bilbo, flicking a piece of potato at the young dwarve's head, smirking as his projectile hit the target.
"Bilbo don't throw food, Kili leave Bilbo alone and Fili hands where I can see them." scolded Marguerite, not liking the look of mischief on the latter's face.
The prince lifted his hands in surrender. "I didn't do anything."
"You were about to, you had that look," smirked the little hobbit.
"You have no proof," said Fili with a smirk to match her own.
"I know you, that's enough proof for anyone."
"Come closer and I'll give you a better one."
Meanwhile on the other side of the table Bilbo and Kili were sharing an incredulous look.
"Are they flirting?"
"It would seem like it," grinned the youngest heir.
The two concerned were now throwing questions about themselves back and forth in a mini battle of "who knows who better."
"What's my favorite desert?" challenged the blond prince.
"Apple pie with just a bit of cinnamon sprinkled on it. What's my favorite berry?"
"You don't have one, and you especially hate blueberries. My favorite flower?"
"You don't care for flowers, you're a dwarve."
"I care for one."
It was horribly cheesy and she had been expecting an answer of the sort, but it didn't seem to matter, her breath hitched all the same and her heart skipped a beat.
''I think we should leave'' whispered Bilbo to Kili, feeling the mood of the room shift, but the younger prince was too busy watching the pair with the excitement of a 5 years old.
"Are you nuts, this is too interesaaah Bilbo that hurts!" Kili glared while rubbing the spot on his arm where Bilbo had oh so lightly punched him.
"Just because I'm temporarily crippled doesn't mean I won't be able to drag you out if I must, now come on and help me." warned the older hobbit, taking his crutch back and leaning on Kili to step out of the kitchen.
He felt the next moment might be an important step in the two's relationship. At first he wasn't sure about the idea of Fili with his cousin, but as time went on he truly thought the two would be good for each other. Mimi was more carefree where the prince calmed down a bit . . . or at least his focus was concentrated in one place, leaving the rest of the mountain alone.
"Oh . . . and erm, which o – one would that b – be?" Mimi cursed herself, what took her to ask that? His answer was so obvious, but then why did she want him to say it? Was it to confirm her doubt? Or make sure she wasn't just imagining things?
He could actually like a flower; it didn't have to be her, she wasn't even a plant to begin with. It didn't help that her green eyes were deeply rooted in his blue ones . . . that just happened to be closer than she remembered. Darn it, she was suppose to be the sneaky one, even though she had to admit Fili was one of the quietest dwarrows she'd ever known, he had a sort of feline grace to him. It was fascinating to see him move sometimes, especially when he trained.
Not that she watched him train that often . . . maybe once or twice . . . and perhaps there was also a few other times too, but it was purely educational. Dwalin did say watching others train would help. So what if her primary subject was a certain blond prince? He just so happened to be the one there when she decided to go observe.
The soft touch of his thumb on her cheek was quick to bring her back from her thoughts. Oh crud she did it again...
"Welcome back my love," drawled Fili, a lazy grin plastered on his face which she could see from a little too close.
"I didn't go anywhere."
"And yet you did, Marguerite"
"Mimi, you know that."
"The answer to your question."
"My quest – ah. That's um . . . good, but um, I'm n – not a flower"
"You're my flower," the prince whispered tenderly.
"Oh um . . . well . . ." Oh for Valinor's sake – speechlessness, that was new and her stomach definitely shouldn't feel like doing summersaults. What was wrong with her? She was nervous but then not . . . apprehensive perhaps? But for what? Biting her lip had always been a tic she wanted to get rid of but when it dragged the attention of Fili's eyes to her lips, she truly couldn't remember why.
His thumb had stopped its motion and his other palm came to settle on the other side of her face, holding her head gently.
She should say something . . .
His eyes were now a dark blue, like still water at night.
Anything . . .
"I'm going to kiss you"
She had kind of guessed that, why wasn't she saying something?
He was so close now and leaning in oh so torturously slowly, like he was scared she was going to bolt at any moment. Probably because she did felt like bolting at any moment, yet her brain and feet were rooted on the spot.
There's still time to walk away. Why wasn't she?
She really could, but somehow she knew it would sever something between them, something too important to jeopardize.
Why wasn't she walking away?
The last coherent thing that went through her mind as his lips touched hers was her answer, and it truly was a simple one: because she didn't want to . . .
