Surprise! I actually got another chapter written - a major accomplishment considering the week I've had.

Anyhoo, I have three Rockstar Reviewers for chapter 20: Guest, Robinbird79, and dojoson 41. Thank you for your input! Thanks also to my latest favoriters/followers and everyone who's just reading along.

Guest - I have to disagree, I don't think Dwalin's reaction was overdone at all. You have to keep in mind that he doesn't have the same emotional baggage that Kíli does. The reason Kíli's reaction to Tilda is so perfectly subtle is because he's still hung up on Tauriel and is completely blind to it. Dwalin does not have that problem impeding his emotional/physical reactions. He doesn't yet recognize it for what it is, but is still free to just react whereas Kíli isn't.

Sophia Rose - Thanks for your reviews as well! No, this story is not a "Bagginshield" fic. I do not write slash fiction. I do hope, however, to flesh out their friendship and portray it as brotherly.

21. Guests

It was only when his heart had stopped pounding in his chest that Bilbo took note of the fact that each of his visitors still wore their cloaks and weapons.

"Forgive me being such a terrible host," he said as he abruptly stood from the table. "Why don't you take off those traveling cloaks and make yourselves at home?"

Thorin glanced at Fíli and Kíli and nodded, and they each rose and began to strip off their gear. They followed him to the parlor where he looked around, wondering where to put their things, and it was then he took notice of the traveling packs that had been set down in the foyer, as well as six trunks tied together two apiece.

He blinked. "Those chests look familiar."

"They should," said Kíli. "Those are six of the chests of treasure Glóin and Nori buried in the troll cave."

"Dwalin was sure someone had been there since us last time, as he says there were some missing," added Fíli.

"There were!" Kíli insisted. "Ten chests were buried—"

"I took them."

Bilbo watched their eyes go wide. "Well, actually I made Gandalf take them. He said I should take them, but I told him to use what was in the four chests we dug up to help people."

"That was a generous thing for you to do, Bilbo," Thorin said. "Serving folk other than yourself is proof that you have a kinder soul than most."

Dwalin came in from the kitchen at that moment. Bilbo silently thanked him for the distraction from Thorin's praise.

"Ah, there you are. I do hope you're not intimidating poor Larkspur—not that she's easy to intimidate, that one," he said with a laugh. "A Took through and through, she is."

The dwarf warrior cleared his throat. "I merely asked her to tell me about herself, as we'd not taken the time to get to know any of your kinfolk last time we were here," he said as he removed his own cloak and weapons.

"Ah, speaking of which… How long do you plan to stay?" Bilbo asked, directing his gaze to Thorin.

"Until spring, when the snows are gone," Thorin replied. "If it would not be an inconvenience to you, we would stay here in Bag End—but if you'd rather we didn't, we'll go to the inn."

"Oh no!" Bilbo cried. "You are all more than welcome to stay here, it's just I only have the one guest room with one bed…"

His voice trailed off as an idea came to him. "Well, there is the smoking room—it has no windows and I never use it, always seemed rather silly to have a room just for smoking in when you can smoke anywhere in the house. We'll have to get three more beds on the morrow, but if you all wouldn't mind sharing two to a room, there is plenty for you all here. I would be most glad to have you."

Thorin glanced at Dwalin, then his nephews, before settling his gaze on Bilbo and bowing his head. "Thank you, Master Baggins. You are most kind to shelter us through the rest of winter."

"And hey, Fee and I have shared a room before. It'll be like our childhood all over again!" said a grinning Kíli.

Dwalin snorted. "You haven't left your childhood yet," he grumbled. "Death did not change that."

Bilbo shuddered on hearing the word 'death', then squared his shoulders and showed the four dwarves the two rooms he had available for them to sleep in. Thorin and Dwalin claimed the smoking room, each declaring they didn't mind in the least that they had no windows to look out of.

"It'll be like living in the mountain," Dwalin said with a smile. "My apartment there had no windows, either."

"I can get it cleaned up for you now, while Larkspur's finishing—" Bilbo began, but Thorin cut him off.

"Nonsense. We will do it ourselves for having come upon you uninvited," he said.

"Oh, um, well if you insist."

"Fíli and Kíli will clean their room as well," Thorin added with a firm stare at the younger dwarves. "I expect you to keep it that way—do not return to the slovenliness of your younger years."

Bilbo was hard-pressed to keep from laughing at the innocent "Who, us?" expressions the lads adopted. But then he looked at them all and the laughter burst forth.

"Oh, how I have missed you," he said with a grin.

-...-

Bilbo spent much of dinner recounting the last four years. He told them of his return journey from the east and subsequent visits to Rivendell, which he had been making once a year in the fall.

"I stay there the whole month of August. It's so peaceful there," he said. "A small number of Rangers always meets me at the border to the Shire so that I'm not traveling alone, and they always escort me back at the end of my respite. Elrond's sons are really lovely chaps—they remind me of you two, actually, though far more serious."

He hoped that Fíli and Kíli did not take offense at being compared to a couple of elves, and was relieved when they simply grinned.

"Too bad for them," Fíli said.

"Indeed, brother," agreed Kíli. "Who would want to be serious all the time?"

"Elves, apparently."

"Is that why your people look down on you now—because you like to visit with the elves?"

Bilbo glanced sharply at Dwalin to find a scowl on his face. He flicked his eyes to Larkspur where she sat beside him; her cheeks had turned a light crimson.

"I'm sorry, cousin," she said. "This fellow asked me how you'd been getting on, and I didn't think to tell him anything but the truth."

"What is she talking about?" asked Thorin.

When Bilbo didn't immediately answer he looked to Dwalin, who sighed and relayed what Larkspur had told him.

"Is this true?" Thorin asked. "Do your people treat you differently because you left to help us?"

Bilbo sighed. "Look, I believe I told you all before that I am a Baggins of Bag End," he began. "It is not in our nature to do anything more than care for our home and our family and our community."

"But you're also a Took!" Larkspur declared, pounding her fist on the table as she spoke. "Didn't you tell me it was the Took inside you what made you decide to go on your journey—that part of you that wanted to see what all was out there in the wide world beyond the Shire?"

At seeing the confused faces of his new housemates, Bilbo cleared his throat and said, "The Took clan are one of the very few hobbit families that rather seem to crave adventure."

Larkspur sighed. "I'd love to go on an adventure meself. Perhaps nothing so dangerous as confronting a dragon, of course, but at least something that takes me out of the Shire for a while."

"You would leave your family?" Dwalin asked.

"Gladly!" she replied. "Long have I tired of the ridiculousness of my seven brothers, all of whom are older than I. Being the youngest and the only girl has not been a wholly enjoyable experience growing up. I'm sick of being molly-coddled."

Bilbo had to chuckle. "That's why she's taken to coming over here so often," he said. "To escape her father and brothers as I escape my nosy neighbors by going to Rivendell."

"You should take me with you next time you go," Larkspur said.

He shook his head; Larkspur had been pleading with him to go along to see the elves since his first return trip. "I told you before, I can't. Uncle Isembold would never allow it."

She turned in her seat to face him more fully. "Have you ever bothered to ask? Papa was thrilled when I told him about your adventure."

Bilbo rolled his eyes. "Oh yes. Your father was so thrilled I'd gone that he bought my armchair and the ottoman that goes with it during the auction. I had to pay him more than his winning bid to get it back."

"This news disturbs me," Thorin said then. "I would not have come here had I known the difficulties you've faced. I do not wish to create more."

Bilbo waved his words away with a swipe of his hand. "Oh, tosh. Think nothing of it, Thorin. I told you, I have missed you and you are most welcome here in my home. The only reason anyone around here says anything at all is because they're bored—they all need something to gab about because their lives are so routine. Not that there is anything wrong with staying right here at home, of course. That was me once upon a time. But I've now seen the world, or at least a good part of it, and I honestly think every hobbit ought to go on walkabout at least once in his or her life."

"So take me with you when next you go to Rivendell," Larkspur insisted. "Go in the spring when the snow melts instead of waiting until the fall."

He eyed her with a discerning gaze. "Don't bug me about it anymore, and I'll consider asking your father if you can go along when spring comes 'round."

Larkspur's smile was brilliant as she leaned over and kissed his cheek. "Oh, thank you! You won't regret it, Bilbo, I promise you!"

Bilbo only shook his head and steered the conversation away from Rivendell—though keeping Larkspur from asking questions was difficult when the dwarves spoke of their journey west and mentioned they'd had to send Dwalin there to seek Elrond's aid in fixing a broken arm of Fíli's. She was understandably appalled at their having to fight the orcs in the mountains, though she praised their courage in meeting them head-on.

He was not remiss to the dark look that descended over Dwalin's features when she paid special attention to one or the other of the younger two dwarves. Bilbo wondered what that was all about—was he not the one who'd sought her out for information earlier? Was he not pleased when she began asking question after question about dwarves and their culture?

Larkspur stayed through supper, but afterward he sent her on home. He figured Thorin and the others would be relieved to have her gone, but Fíli and Kíli surprised him by launching into a discussion of how refreshing it had been to speak with someone seeking knowledge of their people out of genuine curiosity and a desire to learn. They'd been happy to talk with her and both said they wouldn't mind spending more time with her while they were there.

Dwalin glared at them both behind their backs, then stormed off toward his and Thorin's room. Bilbo and Thorin both watched him go, then looked to each other with expressions of confusion on their faces. Fíli and Kíli soon retired to their room as well, arguing good-naturedly as to who was going to sleep in the bed.

That left Bilbo alone with Thorin, and they sat in a companionable silence smoking their pipes by the fireplace in the parlor. He could not help, as he'd done all evening, his gaze drifting to the dwarf's strong, chiseled features. Looking at him felt like a dream of his had come to life.

"I can almost hear the grinding of gears in your mind," Thorin said, and Bilbo noted his eyes held amusement in their depths along with a heavy dose of concern.

Feeling the heat of embarrassment color his cheeks, Bilbo cleared his throat and looked toward the fire as he puffed on his pipe.

"Forgive me," he said after a moment. "I'm still getting used to the fact that you are real and not a figment of my imagination."

"In a way I know how you feel, except for me it has been coming to terms with how much the world has changed in our absence."

"Such as Bard becoming a king when you have to give it up?" Thorin nodded. "Yes, I can see how that would rather stun you. And now he's married to Tauriel, of all people. Can't imagine that was easy for Kíli to hear of."

Thorin grimaced but it passed quickly. "No, it was not. Though even if… Even if their feelings for one another were genuine, I do not believe a relationship between them would have lasted long."

"Whyever not—just because she's an elf?" Bilbo shook his head. "Tauriel married Bard, and I gather from what Dwalin said that no one in Dale, Erebor, or Mirkwood gives two figs that they're not the same species. Love is love, Thorin. Plain and simple."

The smile Thorin offered him was placating. "I am afraid it is not so simple as that. In our society and hers they would have been outcasts—too many centuries of bad blood exists between our peoples."

"Then maybe it's time to start washing all that away. Or would have been, had the Necromancer not interfered," Bilbo suggested.

A light scoff emitted from his companion before he said, "I do not think the world is ready for such a pairing."

Bilbo studied him a moment before he asked, "The world, Thorin… or you?"

Thorin sighed. "Both."

Silence settled between them again for a few minutes, and then Bilbo was startled when Thorin suddenly surged to his feet. He looked up at him with confusion as the dwarf reached into an inner pocket of his overshirt and stepped toward him.

"I nearly forgot that I brought you something," he said.

Bilbo eyed the closed hand he held out. "Um, that really wasn't necessary, Thorin. For goodness' sake, your being alive again—the lads being alive again—is gift enough for me."

Thorin smiled. "Be that as it may, I wished you to have it."

With a sigh, Bilbo held up his hand. He was both surprised and humbled when Thorin dropped an acorn into his palm.

"Bard told me what became of the acorn you picked up in Beorn's garden," he said. "More than that, he showed me. I have seen the young tree that came of it—I was asked to tell you that the promise was being fulfilled."

Tears stung the backs of his eyes as Bilbo looked at the acorn in his hand. It was gratifying to learn that the other had indeed grown and was doing well, as he'd often wondered about it.

"That one also comes from Beorn's garden," Thorin went on. "When Bard showed me the tree and told me what inspired you to plant it, I found I could not pass the skinchanger's homestead without retrieving you another."

"This is… Wow. How incredibly thoughtful of you," Bilbo said, lifting his head to smile at him as he curled his hand around the oak nut. "Thank you, Thorin."

Thorin nodded. "You are most welcome, Bilbo." He then offered a brief smile before bidding him good night.

"Goodnight," Bilbo said in return, and watched as Thorin turned away and went into the hall toward the smoking room.

He remained in the parlor until his pipe was empty, and when it was Bilbo stood with a sigh. He placed the acorn on the mantel and banked the fire before walking tiredly to his own bedroom. Though he felt worn out from the emotional evening, sleep was long in coming to him.