Memories
Nori was disappointed by their burglar. He thought that a fellow thief would be... Well more like him. Not this soft, fussy, Dori-like without the super-strengh creature. Yes, disappointed was the right word to express what Nori felt. He didn't know why he expected something at all, usually he knew better than that. That disappointment was why the dwarf didn't approach the hobbit for a while. But at Rivendell, he started getting curious. He wondered why he had followed them, why he hadn't given up, long story short, his head was full of questions. Nori had thought long and hard about it and decided that Bilbo would be grateful if he started training him in the thievery craft. And lucky him, Nori was a master at his craft.
That's why one day, Bilbo came stomping in front of the thief, his face thunderous and muscles tense. "Master Nori you wouldn't have seen my pipe somewhere, would you now?" He hissed, obviously angered while Nori gave him the most innocent look he could muster. " The pretty pipe you were smoking with yesterday? No can't say I did." Bilbo stared at him for a moment, wary, before he fell on the floor next to the thief, exhausted. He sighed loudly and dejectedly, and surprisingly Nori felt the first strings of guilt tighten in his chest. "It was my fathers you know. I started using it after his death as a remembering. It meant the world to him, it was my mothers courting gift to him, while he gave her Bag-End. It was supposed to be a jolly house, full of kids and happiness. My mother was pregnant 7 seven times. 3 times before me and 3 times after me. She miscarried all those times. I was the only that survived more than a month."
He trailed off and the silence was just too much. The pipe in Nori's pocket was suddenly so heavier, so so heavier. Guilt was churning his stomach unpleasantly and he was thinking about how he would give the pipe back. But mostly, he felt glad, not because he had stolen an important heirloom from their burglar, but because he had his brothers. Sure it was hard when his mother died, but he has never truly been alone. His brothers were always there for him, even if he did bad things, even if he finished in prison more than a few times, his brothers never turned their backs on him. And for that, he felt glad and grateful. "I don't even know why I'm telling you all this. I'm sorry to have disturbed you and I'm really sorry and embarrassed about accusing you for my pipe. I guess I lost it somewhere along the way..." With that Bilbo dragged his feet to his bedroll, his usual leap in the steps gone.
With every step he took further, Nori felt his idea of giving it directly back died in his mind. He sighed, sometimes he really was a coward. But he knew all too well the importance of heirlooms, his fist silently clenching his favourite dagger. It was his first dagger, given to him by his mother as she said he had to protect his brothers until the death. It was the moment his mother first considered him a man and not a child. He never let go of the dagger since then, not once. It was at his side even when he slept. He shook his head softly as memories of older times flooded him. He would slip it back stealthily when the hobbit slept. He had to give it back, and he would. So that night, he took the first watch and waited for Bilbo to fall asleep which took a lot of time. Once he was sure the hobbit would not wake, he silently crept to his pack, the pipe clenched tightly in his hand. Nori felt the adrenaline grow when the burglar stirred in his bedroll, but fortunately, he didn't awake. Sighing in relief when he finally put the pipe where it belonged, with Bilbo, the thief got back to his watch place and continued guarding his asleep friends.
In the morning, the hobbit woke him up. "Hey Nori! Wake up, it's breakfast time! Come on lazy ass." Nori rubbed the sleepiness out of his eyes. " Well isn't that a great way to be awoken?" He said, friendly sarcasm dripping from his words. He only got a brilliant smile in return and softly shook his head. He would never understand how some people could be so lively so soon in the morning. Eating his meal in silence, he watched as Bilbo gloated to Gloin about his newly retrieved pipe, who seemed quite uncomfortable in the listening place. Sighing, Nori slumped a little on himself, feeling his muscles relax. Everything was right, Bilbo's extra bright smile proved it. But it didn't mean that he would teach the youngling how to properly steal. For now, he just relaxed, letting the cheerfulness of his friends, family and comrades wash over him like soothing music.
Next: Dwalin