As the day passed, the sun moved, and the Old Forest and Barrow-Downs slowly fell behind them, Poppy disappeared as was becoming routine. She was finding it slightly harder to keep up now that the ponies were on flat, easy ground, but she'd manage. Some exercise never hurt a soul.

She'd known it was going to be a long trek to the Lonely Mountain when she set off running behind Bilbo. From as much fuss as they were making, her two feet apparently hadn't. Huffing a sigh down at them, she had to smile at her feet. They'd gone softer than she'd realized. They'd toughen up again.

Pushing her hair back from her face, she made her protesting feet jog her out of the underbrush toward her companions who were moving on at a comfortable walk. Many a pony turned its head to greet her with a whicker when she approached. She had fallen into step beside Bifur and his dark-coated pony when she saw Kili turn around and give her a sideways grin before looking forward and nudging his brother.

Frowning, wondering if he'd finally noticed his pipe was gone, she watched as Fili subsequently turned as well. There was a twinkle in his eye that she didn't quite trust. Seeing her suspicion, he grinned back at her and gave a wink, making her stomach heat up immediately. A similar smile spread across her face without her telling it to whatsoever. Bifur let out a quiet bark of a chuckle at the exchange.

Blushing, she gave her friend a look though it only made them both laugh quietly.

The two quiet souls were only given a few moments of peace before Kili declared loudly, turning on his pony to look at her, "Poppy, you're looking lovely today! Wouldn't you say, Fili?" The two brothers exchanged a look with one another.

"Oh aye, lovely is indeed the word for it. I'd say she's the loveliest of the group."

"Quite right you are, brother. She is quite lovely. You're lovely, Poppy!"

She saw their eyes flicker toward Bilbo for a split second before resting back on her, like everyone else's. Her cousin was looking toward the sky in irritation after letting out a deep sigh. Clapping his brother on the arm, Fili nodded, "I really can't think of a better word for it, can you Kili?"

"No, I really can't, Fili. I do believe lovely is most apt. What do you think, Bilbo?"

The hobbit had since buried his face in his hands and given out another loud sigh of irritation. Completely and utterly confused by what had just happened and undeniably red at the inane amount of times she'd been called lovely, she questioned warily, "Bilbo, what did you do?"

She was answered with a strangled noise that suspiciously sounded like Bilbo was attempting to drown himself without any water as the dwarves all laughed heartily. Glancing up to Bifur for some sort of help, she only saw her friend huffing with laughter as well. "Bilbo…?"

There was an element of warning in her voice that he recognized and the hobbit groaned once more. "There…It…These two are impossible!" Crossing his arms and staring at Myrtle's mane as if it were the most interesting thing he had ever seen, Bilbo refused to say more.

Poppy couldn't help but smile at that. Raising an eyebrow in a way reminiscent of how Fili always looked at her, she asked resignedly, "What did you two do to him now?"

Attempting to sound as remorseful as possible, though the effect was negated by his bright grin, the darker brother explained, "Yesterday, we were all riding along as thick as thieves, or burglars rather, asking him a simple question about his lovely cousin, and Bilbo all but told us we couldn't talk to you."

Face assuming a flat expression, she replied disbelievingly, "Really…"

Snorting, Fili added, "Oh aye. We were threatened with having out beards ripped out by hand should we do more than call you lovely."

"No, it was our braids, brother."

"Indeed, I guess beards would be only going halfway, wouldn't it." He grinned back at Poppy as his little brother punched him harshly in the shoulder for the teasing.

Reining in her growing smile and keeping her voice nonchalantly flat, she shrugged, "Beards or braids are both better than what he did last time. Would you mind telling that story of why Griffo and Gruffo Bracegirdle run at the mere sight of me, Bilbo,? Because as flattered as I am that I am but lovely, I'm going to leave you fine gentlemen now before I gain any more adjectives."

Grinning wryly up at her cousin and the two brothers, she patted Bifur's leg in a goodbye and then loped back off the road, leaving Bofur, Bombur, and even Oin and Balin in hysterics. Gandalf in particular was chuckling with gusto up front where he rode with a stony Thorin. Fili watched her leave with a smile.

"Well," Dori commented, "the lass is in a particularly good mood today. Is she usually this animated, Mr. Baggins?"

"I do wonder what could have brought it on," Gandalf called back before Bilbo could speak, incurring a look from Fili that the dwarf worked quickly to hide before Kili noticed.

Groaning again as Fili and Kili trapped him on either side with their ponies, Bilbo replied without commenting on Gandalf's thoughts, "Not quite, no. She usually isn't. Not for a long time at least. Oh, what do you two want now?!"

"Bilbo, friend…"

"Buddy. Fili, I'd even call him our buddy." Bilbo sent Kili a scathing glare as the dwarf wrapped a friendly arm around his shoulders.

Fili nodded, "Yes, Bilbo, buddy, would you mind sharing this wonderful story with us?"

"Aye," Bofur encouraged with his easy smile, "a story will make the ride go faster, Bilbo. She did say to."

"Oh fine." Groaning, Bilbo managed to push Kili off before he began, "About two years ago, Poppy had just…come to live with me. She was out somewhere, the baker's I think, and I was outside in my garden. Everything was fine and normal and beautiful. My flowers were just coming up and my vegetables beginning to take hold. Nothing in the world could've gone wrong and then suddenly she sprints through the front gate like she was being chased by wolves. She had her staff in hand like she was about to hit someone over the head with it should they come close enough. I went to ask her what was wrong, but then these two doddering….blockheads run right up behind her, grinning like two children who stole the pie! They ruined my gate, stomped all over my new daylilies, and scared the daylights out of her."

Bilbo's voice had grown increasingly louder and it reached a pinnacle when he continued, "Poppy is standing there beside me shaking like a blooming leaf, though to be honest I'm not sure if it was fear or anger,because they had just quite literally chased her all the blooming way home and those idiot brothers have the nerve to both drop on one knee and ask for her hand! At the same time! They even said the same words, like their intention was to share her or something! That is not how things are done in the Shire. It is not."

Silence had descended at that, an odd tugging occurring in many a dwarf's chest.

"Well, what happened?" Kili asked, his voice rather stony.

Having collected himself somewhat, though still quite red in the face, Bilbo coughed a few times in an attempt to appear more respectable, "Well, I-I…" He suddenly began to laugh, "I chased them both down the lane with my garden shovel."

It took a second for the image of their burglar furiously running down the road waving a shovel at two attempted suitors to sink in. When it did, Poppy could hear the laughter all the way from where she walked. Frowning after they had all regained the ability to breathe, Kili took a good look at his brother's face. There was a tightness there along with amusement. It was small, only visible in the little line between his wheat blonde eyebrows that revealed his emotions to those who knew to look for it: Kili knew to look.

Looking down from his brother's oddly pained face to the hobbit beside him, the younger queried, "But why did they ask?"

"Indeed," Dori added pensively. "Don't take offense for the lass, but she doesn't seem the type to have a number of beaus running about."

Bilbo shook his head, "No, she's not. They didn't ask because they liked her. I don't think she remembered their names, actually. Poppy was…" he trailed off, trying to figure out the best word. She had just returned and the stories about her had abounded, saying everything from her being a singing nighttime performer in Bree to having been blessed by elves. He'd never been sure which of the two had prompted the brothers to chase her home…

"A novelty?" Fili suggested, glancing down at Bilbo.

The hobbit frowned momentarily at the blonde dwarf beside him. He knew. Bilbo hadn't the faintest idea when or why, but Poppy had told him at least part of things. He nodded slowly as he noticed the tense silence around them, "Yes, a novelty."

Abruptly adopting a smile, Fili looked forward again, "I'd say we dodged an arrow this time, Kili. Master Baggins is far too scary an opponent."

Smiling broadly, Kili nodded, "Lovely Poppy will stay lest we suffer the same fate."

Rolling his eyes, the hobbit laughed, "You two have the ability to be far too eloquent for your own good."

"You have no idea, Master Baggins." From the front of the company, Thorin had looked back with a small, proud smile on his face for his nephews. For that one moment, Bilbo could actually see happiness in the dwarf king. "You have no idea."

"Have we moved on from talking about me?" Poppy whispered hopefully, catching up with the group about an hour before sunset. Looking down with a smile, Bifur huffed the affirmative. She let out a clearly relieved sigh. While she still seemed in a happy mood, the feisty streak from before had gone dormant. She was quiet Poppy again and she was okay with that.

At her appearance, the dwarves toward the rear riding with Bifur all greeted her more warmly than before. Nori gave her a small nod and a quick wink. Dori ceremoniously bowed his head in his regal fashion. Ori began positively bouncing, searching and fumbling through his saddle bag to find his notebook. Oin gave what she assumed was a wave with his odd little ear trumpet. Bofur smiled widely and declared, "Well good afternoon, lass!"

Feeling an unexpected warmth in her chest at their gentle acceptance, she smiled back at them all. She didn't have a chance to do much else before Ori was beside her, "Poppy, do you mind if I ask you some things? There was so much in your forest and I took notes on everything! Could you help me identify these?"

Giggling lightly at his excitement and how he referred to it as 'her forest', she nodded, "Sure. What do you have?"

His quick, excited speech and her calm murmurs of reply were the only real sounds until Thorin declared a few miles later, "We'll stop here for the night!"

Preparing herself for what she knew would come, Poppy fell quiet as the company made its way off the road to a small little dell. When the others had all dismounted, she clucked to the ponies and the faithful steeds followed her toward the stream. Little had been done aside from lighting the fire before Thorin was behind her, looming in the intimidating way he had. She didn't even need to see it to feel herself shrink. She sighed even as she heard him take in his breath to speak.

"Go home, girl."

For a long second, she considered just not answering at all. What would it matter what words came out of her mouth? He'd keep asking and she'd keep saying no. He wasn't her king. She owed him no answers. He had certainly done nothing as of yet to have earned any from her. Plus, one does not usually converse with someone that unnerves her.

But even as the thoughts entered her head, she knew she would answer. If unobtrusive and cooperative she wished to be, creating a rift by disrespecting her new friends' king—and perhaps more importantly, uncle—was not going to work. As the others began to pause, the tension growing, she replied without turning about to look at him, "No thank you, sir."

As he continued to glare obvious holes into her back, she tried to keep her hands from trembling as she removed Daisy's tack, the pony completely oblivious to the tension about her.

"You're just going to get yourself killed, girl." There was just a tiny hint of concern hidden beneath the layers of irritation, anger, indifference, and exasperation. Had Fili not suggested his uncle's motive, she wouldn't have caught it at all. The dwarf king was not as completely a block of stone as he wished to be, though she wasn't about to go up and hug him for it: he still intimidated the daylights out of her. Still, she could see a glimpse of why Fili loved him so much.

Glancing back over her shoulder through her hair, she gently offered, "Then you will no longer need to worry about being rid of me, Master Thorin." Turning back to her work, she ended their little interlude and, with a quiet groan of irritation, the king made his way back to the fire. Poppy caught a grin on Gandalf's face hidden as he sat down near to her, his pipe in hand.

Reaching subtly down to feel the pipe still in her pocket, a small smile formed on her face as well. Kili would notice soon.

Calling happily and boisterously from the fire, Bofur asked, "Have you got anything for Bombur today, lass?" Grinning at his brother he added, "He's likely to try to squeeze the life out of you again if you do."

Letting out a giggle as the others all laughed at the bright, cheery, round expression on the cook's face, she shook her head, "I'm sorry. I didn't find anything."

"Oh, he's liable to hug you anyway, lass," Bofur added, sending her an encouraging smile beneath his crazy, adorable hat.

Bifur was soon beside her, dropping his things to the ground to get comfortable for the night. Poppy was quickly done with her work and the ponies were grazing contentedly before Bombur had their dinner fully simmering. Letting out a silent sigh at finally being done for the day, she lay down beside Bifur and propped her feet up on her pack, resting the tired extremities. She felt Bilbo come and sit beside her after she'd closed her eyes, intending to take a short nap.

"Oh no! No! Where is it?!" She did her very, very best to keep the smile from her face as Kili worriedly began rummaging through his possessions with growing panic. "No, where is it?! Fili, where is my pipe?!"

She peeked one eye open and looked back, finding Fill's eye. Grin growing as hers did, the dwarf suddenly winked at her, ignoring the slight swell of his stomach at her smile. Bilbo caught the exchange with a growing frown. Bifur simply huffed with laughter, pulling his belongings closer to him. Leaning further back against his pack, the elder brother suggested, "Perhaps the squirrels took it."

Grin not leaving, his eyes shifted toward Poppy. Aghast look of betrayal on his face, Kili swung to see her lying on the grass, holding his pipe in the air. A high giggle escaping her, she was on her feet and weaving through ponies before Kili had even started chasing her, though it didn't take him long to be kicking through everyone's things to get to her. Hair flying behind her and smacking some surprised ponies in the face, she called laughingly, "You look lovely this evening, Kili."

"POPPY!"

A/N: Hello there! So, here's some more. It's a bit of fun before they really get too far into their adventure. Everyone's becoming friends, except for Thorin because he's cranky, which is all just lovely. :) I absolutely love hearing from you guys. You have such good thoughts and the encouragement really kicks my muse into gear. So, thanks so much for reading, leave a review if you could, and I hope you enjoyed! More to come Thursday. :)