Disclaimer: As always I own nothing but the original characters and the situations all characters find themselves in. Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoy and let me know what you think!

Quality Time Together

Now that their guests were gone and their duties for the night had come to an end, Bilbo was quite happy to take the arm his husband offered him and set off together down the now familiar passageways on their way up to their own quarters. The whole thing had gone off better than they'd both been expecting, the hobbit mused, and that was definitely something to celebrate in his books. Plus he'd gotten to see Hamfast and spend time with him, and he hadn't ended up dead, which was always a good thing when you had people out to kill you constantly the way he apparently did. Though thinking about that would be a definite deterrent to his good mood, so Bilbo did his best not to think about that as instead he asked about Thorin's work schedule for the following day and if there was anything he could help with. There almost never was so far, but Bilbo figured that eventually if he asked Thorin enough times the stubborn dwarf would eventually give in and give him some lesser duties that would take at least a little weight off Thorin's broad and sexy shoulders.

That he was surprised when Thorin stated that there was things he could help him with nearly made Bilbo stumbled in shock, though he quickly clued into the fact that no, Thorin wasn't suddenly turning over a new leaf having finally got it through his dwarf thick skull that Bilbo was capable of being a proper consort. No, Thorin just wanted him at his side as much as possible so that he could personally protect him. Which, when Bilbo thought about it with a smile, was a win win situation. It would mean more time spent with his husband, being safe because no one in their right mind would try to kill him with Thorin right there, AND Thorin would have to let him help a little which meant this was his chance to show him how much help he could be if he let him.

Nuzzling his cheek against Thorin's shoulder, he couldn't kiss the man properly since they were walking with guards both in front and behind them, Bilbo made a sound of agreement with the plan and left it at that.

And yes, listening to Thorin list off what they'd be doing made the whole thing seem about as pleasant as having a tooth pulled, but he was a Baggins, and Thorin hated a great many aspects of his job as well. So really it was only natural that he'd make it sound worse than it actually was. Hopefully.

The list of duties on their schedule took them almost to their destination, the two falling into companionable silence for the last few minutes until they were in Thorin's room alone, after the guards had checked things over to make sure someone wasn't lying in wait in one of the closets or under the bed.

"I can't believe they actually checked under the bed."

Thorin pointed out that it was a decent enough hiding place, especially considering that their enemies had proven to be less than successful in their endeavors.

"I know…but still…" Shaking his head Bilbo couldn't help but smile a little over the whole thing, the search making him feel like he and Thorin were children who'd insisted the guards come to check for monsters before bedtime. The mental image he had of what Thorin must have looked like when he was little was too adorable for words.

His thoughts interrupted when Thorin wrapped his arms around his waist, bringing him close so that they were chest to chest, Bilbo tipping his head up to meet Thorin's gaze with a now much more seductive smile on his face.

"So, Consort, what exactly did you say to Haymatch during your private talk that had him looking like you'd threatened to stab him with your fork?"

"That would be most unsanitary."

"Bilbo."

Not surprised, he'd had a feeling this would be the first question Thorin asked once they were alone, Bilbo smiled as he gave the dwarf his answer. "He implied some things that led to me informing him that if he didn't remember his manners I'd lie to you and tell you that he'd propositioned me and called you impotent. I wouldn't have, obviously, as you'd have killed him for it, but he doesn't have the wits to realize that."

The face Thorin made at him was priceless.

Getting up on tip toes Bilbo kissed Thorin on the cheek, trying and succeeding for the most part not to laugh as he spoke. "I also thought about telling him how superior you are to him in every way, but I didn't want to have to talk with him that long."

Shocked look turning into leer, which had been Bilbo's intention, the hands Thorin had placed on his hips slid down to cup Bilbo's rear in his hands, giving the cheeks a loving squeeze as he asked for a run-down of some of the many ways he was superior to the stupid hobbit.

His consort happy to oblige, Bilbo started with the fact that Thorin was a much better kisser, the hobbit rubbing his lips teasingly over Thorin's for a few quick tastes before sinking into the kiss, murmuring his wholehearted approval when Thorin took over a heartbeat later. He loved the possessiveness of Thorin's kisses, the way there was so often this sense that his husband wanted to eat him alive and was only restraining himself for his sake. Like Thorin could never get enough of his mouth, and wanted to feast on it like he was the hobbit, faced with a banquet after weeks of near starvation.

Bilbo especially liked it when Thorin's hands left his rear for the sole purpose of removing the top layers of his outfit, which the dwarf tossed to the floor without a care before turning his attention to running his hands all over the soft skin he'd just uncovered.

Normally he would have protested the fancy clothes being treated so badly, Bilbo could only imagine how much the finely embroidered and jeweled vest alone costed, but for the moment the hobbit found his thoughts drifting in another direction as Thorin started to nibble on one of his ears, pausing only to ask what else was on his list.

Said nibbling made it hard for him to think, but since he really had liked his husband's hands where they'd been earlier Bilbo reached down to grab the hands Thorin was currently running over his now bare back and brought them back to his bottom.

"I love your hands." Bilbo told him, feeling too good to even blush over what he was saying as he rubbed the pads of his fingers overtop of Thorin's hands. "Your fingers are so strong and callused, and they feel so very good when they touch me. I love when you touch me. No one's ever touched me the way you do."

"No one else will ever touch you like this but me." Thorin ordered harshly, his fingers digging into the meat of Bilbo's ass for emphasis.

Threading his fingers into Thorin's hair now that he was sure that his husband's hands were going to stay where he wanted them, Bilbo gave the strands a light tug, knowing how much his king liked that as he nodded in absolute agreement. He didn't want anyone but Thorin. Couldn't imagine anyone even coming close.

"Say it. That you're mine alone."

"Only yours." Bilbo met Thorin's eyes, cuddling as much of his body against Thorin's as possible as he revealed in the desire he saw in the other man's brilliant, burning blue eyes. No one had looked at him like this before he'd met Thorin, and as far as he was concerned it could stay that way. As long as his husband desired him this much all was right in his world.

"Yes. You're mine." And to punctuate that fact Thorin moved his hands, the dwarf ignoring Bilbo's sound of protest to yank down the back of the hobbit's trousers so that the top half of the creamy globes were visible to him. Then Thorin's fingers went back to kneading the lightly freckled skin while Bilbo gasped in pleasure and squirmed against him eagerly for more.

Whispering Thorin's name over and over again, Bilbo did his best to make it clear to his dwarf that he knew exactly who was touching him. Who he wanted to never stop touching him.

Loving it when Thorin scooped him up in his arms, obviously eager to get him to their bed, Bilbo angled his head so that he could nuzzle his face against Thorin's. "I love how strong you are too." He told him, too drunk on his desire to care that he wouldn't normally be so vocal about such things. "Take off your clothes, I want to touch you too."

"I want your pretty hands on me as well, Little One." Thorin informed him, setting him down on top of their bedding before going to work removing his own clothing while Bilbo quickly did away with what he was still wearing as well, joining Thorin in being very annoyed that fancy clothes were so much harder to get out of than their regular ones.

But finally they managed to strip down to their skins, Bilbo lifting his arms up beseechingly as Thorin joined him on the bed, loving the heavy weight that settled on top of him, pressing him down and surrounding him perfectly. And while a lifetime of proper hobbit manners kept him from verbalizing what else he loved about Thorin, Bilbo slid both hands between them to wrap his pretty hands around Thorin's erection to stroke the already hard length resting against Thorin's stomach, pressing open mouth kisses against the muscled shoulder above him too.

Pleased when Thorin groaned harshly in response, and loving the way Thorin sounded when he said again how much he loved Bilbo's talented fingers, Bilbo's own pleasure increased with every sound the dwarf made as he continued to stroke him, knowing just how his husband liked it. Thorin wasn't as vocal as he was in the throes, or as vocal as he himself had become since Thorin had taken him to bed to be more precise, but Bilbo loved the fact that Thorin wasn't shy about letting him know when he pleased him. Loved to watch the dwarf's muscles bunch and flex, get all slippery with both their sweat, which he lapped up now with quick swipes of his tongue.

A few words that Bilbo was pretty sure were curses, then Thorin mumbled something about his wicked little tongue before his wrists were being grabbed and then pinned above his head, Thorin settling his weight more firmly between Bilbo's thighs, spreading them further.

Shivering when Thorin ordered him to keep his hands where they were, as if he would ever disobey when Thorin used his growly, sexy voice, Bilbo nodded as he watched Thorin shift up to a kneeling position, the hobbit prepared to submit completely to Thorin's touch.

Taking in the view, he'd never get tired of looking at Thorin in all his naked glory, Bilbo's eyes hungrily ran over the scarred and beautifully sculpted chest he'd come to know so well, the light dusting of hair there, which always felt so lovely against his cheeks making his fingers itch to touch. But he kept his hands where they were, Bilbo's gaze going still lower as he felt Thorin's fingers wrap around his own erection, keening with pleasure at both the sight and sensations. And then Thorin was shifting over, adding his own length so that they were both in Thorin's grip as he stroked their erections together, the sight of that too much for a poor hobbit to bear.

Closing his eyes and arching his body that much more in offering, Bilbo had to struggle to open his eyes again when Thorin told him to, his husband ordering him to look at him. But he managed it somehow for Thorin, holding the other man's gaze as the pleasure built up and up until he was coming, and therefore blind to the world, and utterly safe and content in Thorin's arms.

)

As it turned out it was quite easy to find out who had put the dangerous herbs in Bilbo's room the next day, the culprit admitted it straight off when the staff and anyone with access to the consort's rooms were questioned. The problem was, unfortunately, that everyone was in agreement that the maid honestly hadn't been aware that she was bringing something harmful into the consort's bedroom. The 'potpourri' had been in a bag on top of the pile of laundry left on the consort's bed when she'd gone in to straightened things up. She'd been surprised to see the clothes just sitting there, they should have been put away as soon as they'd been brought up, but being the helpful sort she'd done that chore and then followed the instructions of putting the stuff in the bowl provided and setting it beside the hobbit's bed.

Yes she'd thought the herb thing odd, but had assumed it was simply a hobbit thing. Thorin and Bilbo believed her when she swore that she would never have done it if she'd known the stuff would hurt him, and because they believed her Thorin decided to let her keep her job while Bilbo comforted her, since she was very upset about the whole thing once she'd realized what she'd unknowing done.

The matter of the washed laundry proved to be a dead end as well. No one was able to tell them who had removed Bilbo's washed clothes ahead of time, before they could be brought up along with the rest of the royal family's clothes as per usual. To make matters worse the laundry room was just too easy to gain access to. Anyone could come in, especially when the room was unoccupied with no one around to notice.

So as planned Bilbo started going to meetings and such with Thorin, which the other dwarves didn't like so much until they realized that their king behaved a lot better when his consort was around. Or at least he seemed more aware of his surroundings and them, which was better than his usual sullen, 'I don't want to be here' routines. Yes their king did listen, but the smarter of the dwarves soon figured out that if they made the effort to insure that the consort knew what they were talking about, they were pretty much guaranteed that a lot more work got done because said consort wanted to be part of the discussions when he could. And if the consort didn't understand or disagree he had no problems saying so, though the halfling did so politely unless he felt the need to raise his voice a little. And an angry hobbit was an adorable hobbit, which in turn made the dwarves more inclined to pay him the attention actually due him his title.

For his part Thorin was torn between being smug and happy that taking Bilbo to his meetings was promoting good relations between his husband and the more influential of his subjects, and wanting to beat to death the ones who now saw how desirable Bilbo was, even without a beard. His lover was intelligent, articulate, adorably charming, and possessed a lush little body that Thorin had caught more than one of his men eyeing before he caught sight of the look his king was giving him.

That Bilbo seemed oblivious to the looks he occasionally got pleased Thorin though, especially since Bilbo had taken to holding his hand sometimes when they sat side by side, absently playing with his fingers and then blushing so prettily when he realized what he was doing.

Another habit Bilbo had was occasionally writing something down on the parchment he brought in with him, though the words and the way Bilbo wrote them out often made no sense to Thorin. They looked like two side by side lists really, with the one side being words Thorin recognized, but the other list a complete mystery to him.

His curiosity eventually getting the best of him after observing this for a couple of days, Thorin asked what language the words he didn't recognize were in, his travels having exposed him to the majority of their regions dialects.

"Oh, those aren't actual words. At least not the way you mean." Bilbo smiled at him sheepishly. "Those 'words', they're the sounds of your words, at least to my ears. I don't know how to write in your language, obviously. These lists are my way of learning your language, though in some cases I'm guessing about the actual meaning of them. I put stars beside the ones I'm not sure about, I thought I'd ask you or Ori to confirm if I'm right or not once I have a decent amount to do all at once. I don't trust our nephews, they'd find it terribly hilarious to get me to say inappropriate things."

Yes, yes they would, Thorin silently agreed, asking if he could see one of the lists now that he understood the nature of it. And yes he could see how, when spoken outloud in the way it was written, the nonsense became a word or short sentence in his tongue that he recognized, or could at least guess at. In most cases the words written beside it as possible translations were correct too, which both impressed and pleased him.

Picking up the quill Bilbo had been using Thorin used it to make a few corrections or supply the correct meaning after pronouncing the word or words properly, to make sure he was interpreting what Bilbo meant correctly.

Then he picked up another paper in Bilbo's pile of notes, raising an eyebrow over the fact that the top of the page was labeled 'Endearments', with sounded out words underneath with basically nothing beside to translate them.

Bilbo flushed when he held it up for the hobbit to see. "Uhm…you say those things…sometimes. But only when we're alone and…I'm hoping when I learn more I can guess…what you're saying."

Amused by Bilbo's squirming, not to mention finding it a little arousing, Thorin stole a quick kiss before he turned his attention to the list, his own cheeks heating a bit when he realized that he'd apparently been saying a number of things in the throes without realizing it. And while some of them were indeed regular terms of endearment, a number of them were also decidedly sexual in nature and a translation would probably have his little hobbit keeling over with shock.

Looking at Bilbo's wide eyed curiosity, Thorin schooled his features and patted the halfling's curls. "We'll discuss this list later."