The matter of Bilbo's age and his resistance to talking to everyone about the issue is dropped in favor of discussion of the map that Thorin carried. The sky had darkened and the stars were twinkling as the moon shone down on the travelers and their host.
Bilbo was fairly excited to be included in these proceedings, but he was also confused. He glanced around the room, noting that only he, Gandalf, Thorin, and Balin were in the room out of the many that formed the company. Why am I here? he wondered, but he chose not to think too hard on the subject.
He was also disappointed to leave Poldo behind at the door. The elf had assured him that business of the dwarves did not concern him in the slightest and that he was perfectly happy to stay behind. Bilbo did take this with a grain of salt, as one of the elder elves had been glaring at Poldo while he was talking, but he had accepted the excuse. Elrond obviously wanted to keep the proceedings as low key as he possibly could.
Thorin, on the other hand, was still very much upset at practically everything that was happening. He had been forced by Balin to drop Bilbo's age so that they could talk about the map, but he didn't have any desire to talk about the map with the dirty elves anyway!
Balin sighed, clearly understanding Thorin's thought process after years of stopping him from absolutely decimating interspecies relations. He desperately hoped that he could salvage something, anything really, from the meeting without destroying their chance at connections for the future.
Gandalf was just looking smug, as he often was. He was doing absolutely nothing to quell Thorin's internal tirade and looked blissfully content to continue to puff out smoke circles.
Exasperation only began to show on his face when Thorin decided to open his mouth.
"Our business does not belong to the elves!" he exploded, choosing to ignore the multitude of elves littering the room who grimaced at his voice.
"For goodness sake." Gandalf sighed. "Save me from the foolishness of dwarves." He held out one long, pale arm toward Thorin, palm up. "Give me the map."
Thorin took that moment to act as childishly as he possibly could. He hid the map behind his back and said, "What map? You have no proof of a map."
Balin finally stepped in. "Thorin no."
Thorin yes, Bilbo silently thought as he watched the transaction with glee.
Unfortunately for Bilbo's enjoyment, Thorin relented. "Fine," he grumbled, pulling out the map and handing it over. Gandalf promptly handed the map to Elrond, who had to stop himself from doing a double take at its contents.
"Erebor…" He paused, shaking his head. "What is your interest in this map?"
"Purely academic I assure you." Gandalf's smile grew slightly sinister, which perhaps turned Elrond off from further questioning the topic, though he was clearly skeptical. "As you well know," Gandalf continued. "These sorts of artifacts can contain hidden text."
His skepticism increased drastically to the point that everyone, even Bilbo who was notoriously bad at reading social cues, could see it clearly written across his face.
"You still read ancient dwarvish, do you not?" Gandalf questioned, an unreadable glint in his eyes.
Elrond sighed. "What do you take me for, some sort of peasant who can't read the language of dwarves?" He sent a pointed glance that Thorin, who clenched his fists at the jab, only held back by Balin's hand on his shoulder. "Of course I can still read ancient dwarvish."
Bilbo was simply continuing to watch the battle of wits with much interest.
Elrond turned his attention to the map, carefully studying every part. "Cirth ithil." he muttered.
"Moon runes, of course!" Gandalf followed suit, muttering the words almost too softly for Bilbo's hobbit ears to catch, but catch the words he did and he was immensely curious.
"Yes, indeed," Elrond continued, staring at the map. "It's so clear now."
"What are moon runes?" Bilbo piped up, gaining many incredulous stares from around the room, namely from its elven inhabitants.
"Moon runes are runes that can only be read by the light of a moon of the same shape and season as it was when they were written," Elrond said, as though this was common knowledge. Then again, it likely was in fact common knowledge amongst the elves.
Bilbo shrank back, again wondering why in the world he was there. It wasn't like he was being helpful in the slightest.
"Well, can you read them?" Thorin asked gruffly, unwilling to admit that he needed help, but desperately needing it at the same time.
"Fate is with you, Thorin, for the same moon that shone when these runes were first written shines now." He placed the map on a stone slab that coincidentally fell directly in the path of the moon's light.
"Wow, what luck," Bilbo mumbled, far too quietly for anyone or anything, save a dragon, to hear.
"Stand by the grey stone when the thrush knocks, and the setting sun with the last light of Durin's Day will shine upon the keyhole."
Elrond straightened up, looking accusingly at Gandalf, who ignored his stare and instead began speaking. "This is not good news. The summer is quickly passing and Durin's Day will soon be upon us."
"We have time," Balin said, placing a comforting hand on Thorin's shoulder. Bilbo walked over next to the dwarves, standing in solidarity with them and forgetting his previous resentment.
"So that is your purpose. You plan to enter the mountain." The words were spoken plainly, but the hint of accusation was there plain as day.
"And what of it?" Thorin's gaze and tone grew steely and he clearly meant the words as confrontational.
"There are some who would not deem it wise," Elrond said, raising his hands placatingly.
"Like you?" Bilbo surprised even himself when he opened his mouth and spoke. "It's not like you can stop us." The small hobbit spun on his heel and left the room, running into Poldo on the way out.
Despite what he may tell you, he was most certainly eavesdropping.
Thorin grabbed the map, nodded sharply in Elrond's direction, and followed their burglar. Balin tried to offer up a quick apology for both Thorin and Bilbo's behaviors before following suit.
When Elrond stared at Gandalf, hoping to gain some sort of explanation for the hostile behaviour, Gandalf just shrugged.