Getting to Know the Dwarves
Daniel opened the round front door to Bag End and upon seeing who it was, he was a bit surprised at who he was looking at.
It was a Dwarf as he expected but it wasn't a male Dwarf, it was actually a female Dwarf. And a tall one as well, possibly the tallest he can think of. She was wearing a cloak over a fur coat underneath. Unlike a typical Dwarf, she was bald and had worded tattoos on her face, right above her right eyebrow and on her temple. Daniel stood there, floored by her appearance and can't help but be drawn to her.
"Dalin, at your service." She said as she bowed in respect. Her voice had the accent that a standard Dwarf would have and it seemed to fit her.
"Daniel Baggins, at yours. Well, come on in and hang your cloak." Daniel greeted and gestured to her to enter his home. She did as told and hanged her cloak on the rack next to the door, which revealed her furs properly. Dalin had her furs reach up to her upper arms, which revealed that she was muscular and had some scars here and there on her arms.
"Alright, just follow me to the dining area." He then said to her and they both walked to the dining room and pantry.
"You should be thankful that Gandalf informed me ahead of time how many visitors I'm expecting." Daniel said as he pointed to the pantry. Dalin looked at the table and grabbed a plate to fill it with food.
"Aye, it would've been awkward." Dalin agreed with a chuckle just as she filled up her plate and walked to the table and sat to eat some of the food.
"Just so you know, I am able to fight with weaponry." Daniel informed her and she looked at him in surprise because from what she knew about Hobbits, they are a timid folk and don't go seeking out adventure and danger.
"Is that so, lad?" She asked him as he smirked.
"Yeah. I can use a sword well, and my archery skills can make an Elf be jealous." He further explained and that made her look at this Hobbit differently. He may actually be able to hold his own against Orcs; of course, she didn't know he had fought against Orcs before.
The doorbell rang interrupting the little conversation they had.
"I'll get it." Daniel said and made his way to the door and opened it to see a Dwarf around his height, a bit portly and wore maroon clothing. He had white, greyish hair and a long beard that reached his belly. He looked kind and gentle to Daniel.
"Balin, at your service." The Dwarf greeted the Hobbit cheerfully, bowing with his arms out. He must be related to Dalin, considering how similar the names are.
"Good evening. You must be related to Dalin, correct?" Daniel asked him as he let the Dwarf in.
"Aye, lad. She's me sister. She's arrived already? Hope I'm not late." Balin said as they walked to the dining room.
"She's the first to arrive, and you're early actually." Daniel informed him as they turned to the table and saw Dalin eating still.
"Oh, ha, ha! Evening, sister." Balin cheered upon seeing her. Dalin in turn, saw her older brother and smiled as she got up.
"By my bald head, you are shorter than I remember the last time we met." Dalin quipped walking up to Balin.
"Wider, not shorter. Sharp enough for both of us." Balin retorted. It made Daniel smile seeing siblings greet each other after not seeing each other for who knows how long. The two then grabbed each other by the shoulders and gave a mighty headbutt, shocking Daniel that he jumped a bit.
"Is this normal for Dwarves?" Daniel asked the two.
"Aye lad. It's a way of showing affection between our folk." Balin answered for them. They then went into the pantry and grabbed some food to put on the table, and grabbed a couple of barrels of ale, of which Daniel helped.
"Are there other pairs of siblings in the group?" He asked the Dwarves, being curious and such.
"Aye. And there's cousins as well." Dalin answered as she was filling a mug full of ale.
And then the doorbell rang for the third time. Daniel jogged and opened the door and saw a pair of Dwarves standing there. The one on the left had long blonde hair with braids in it, as well as his beard. The one on the right looked fairly normal with his long brown hair being normal and was growing facial hair.
"Fili." The one on the left said.
"And Kili." The one on the right said. And with their names being similar, they had to be brothers.
"At your service." They both greeted in unison as they bowed.
"You must be Mr. Boggins." Kili deduced. This made Daniel snort at how he mispronounced his surname.
"It's Mr. Baggins. And if you actually want to eat some food, you better remember that next time." Daniel warned and that made the Dwarf nod.
"Anyway, come on in, hang your cloaks and weapons, and join Dalin and Balin as they've arrived." Daniel then said. The brothers hanged their cloaks on the rack, like Dalin did and their weapons as well.
"It's nice, this place. Did you do it yourself?" Kili wondered as he looked around Bag End.
"Been in my family for a long time actually." Daniel answered.
"Oi, you two, give us a hand!" Dalin called out to the two from the dining room.
"Alright, Dalin, don't worry." Fili reassured as they entered and grabbed some food and catched up with Dalin and Balin.
Right at the moment Daniel looked at his guests, the doorbell rang once again. He sighed and practically ran to the door.
"This may take all night." Daniel muttered to himself, thinking of how many times he'll have to get to the door and greet the Dwarves. But when he opened the door, expecting a pair or just the one Dwarf, instead, there were 8 Dwarves stacked on top of each other falling on the floor when Daniel opened the door. They were all complaining and moaning at each other and then Daniel looked up to see the familiar figure of Gandalf by the door, with his head blocked out due to him being the height of a human.
The wizard himself leaned down to look at the Dwarves and then his eyes met Daniel's and the two smiled.
"Hello, Gandalf." Daniel greeted him and the wizard greeted him back before they helped the Dwarves up. He saw that they were of different ages and sizes, one was absurdly huge and fat, and another had an axe blade embedded in his head, which shocked him a bit.
After being introduced to them he led them to the pantry and table and all of them were busy gathering the food and ale.
"So, what's wrong with Bifur? How come he only speaks in Khuzdul?" Daniel asked the Dwarf named Oin, one of the older members of the group about the Dwarf with the axe in his head.
"That injury struck him at a part of the brain that makes him only able to speak in Khuzdul." Oin explained as Bifur walked past them with a bottle of wine. Oin is a bit deaf, meaning he'd have to use a hearing aid which was a pipe.
Then the fattest Dwarf, named Bombur, walked out of the pantry with three lots of cheese, which made Daniel's eyes widen.
"How much does he eat a day?" Daniel asked aloud, for any of the Dwarves to answer.
"Let's just say he can eat a whole buffet and still be hungry." The Dwarf, Bofur told him. This made Daniel mutter 'yikes', as he never knew anyone that can eat that much food. He stood there watching them all and Gandalf stopped right by him and he counted down all the Dwarves that were there.
"There are 12 here, Gandalf. Where's the 13th?" Daniel said to Gandalf, who counted them all when they first arrived.
"He is late, is all. He travelled north to a meeting of our kin, he will come." Dalin informed them, as she leaned on a frame, drinking some ale.
"Mr. Gandalf, a little glass of red wine as requested. It's got a fruity bouquet." The Dwarf, Dori said to the wizard, handing him said glass. Daniel liked Dori upon greeting him.
"Ah, cheers." Gandalf said and then took a sip and upon tasting it, he had to admit, it did indeed have a fruity bouquet.
Once all the Dwarves got all the food ale they wanted, they all gathered around the table, tightly of course, partly because \Gandalf sat with them and ate, drank and conversed like a standard Dwarf feast.
"Bombur, catch." Bofur called out from one end of the table and threw a hard boiled egg at said Dwarf who was at the other end. Bombur catches the egg with his mouth and everyone cheered, even Daniel who sat with them and ate. He was seated next to Dalin, who asked if he wanted to join.
Kili, who was filling mugs with ale to refill, stood on the table and handed the mugs to whoever needed a refill.
"Watch this." Dalin whispered to Daniel right before she took her ale and poured it into Oin's hearing aid which got everyone laughing so hard that they were close to shedding tears, especially Daniel when Oin ranted.
"That had to be the funniest thing I've witnessed in my life!" Daniel announced to the Dwarves and they cheered at that and Dalin felt more pleased than she should knowing that she made the Hobbit laugh.
Then all of them chugged their ales and proceeded to burp, with the Dwarf, Ori making the loudest one which they applauded.
When they all finished their meals, they all broke off and hanged around Bag End, drinking ale.
"I gotta say, this is my first time meeting Dwarves. I wished I was one of you." Daniel confessed to Dalin and Bofur as they were hanging around in the kitchen.
"Really? Why is that?" Bofur asked the Hobbit, surprised that he'd say such a thing.
"Well, I'm not a standard Hobbit and being in the Shire can be a bit boring. You lot being here has made this the most fun I've had in a long time." Daniel explained. Dalin and Bofur were intrigued and felt good, knowing that they've spiced up his life right now.
"Excuse me, I'm sorry to interrupt, but what should I do with my plate?" Ori asked Daniel kindly.
"Here you go, Ori, give it to me." Fili said, then grabbed his plate and threw it at Bombur, and then all the other Dwarves did the same thing with bowls, forks, knives, etc…. Some of the Dwarves used the knives and forks to make a musical beat.
"Hey! Careful, I don't want my family to get mad at me, thinking I blunted the knives." Daniel told them all. Gandalf, who was there, felt sorry for the Hobbit, knowing that he didn't want to get into trouble with his family.
"Ohhh… d'hear that, lads and lass? He says we'll blunt the knives." Bofur explained to the Dwarves. Of course, this segwayed to them all doing a song.
Blunt the knives and bend the forks
Smash the bottles and burn the corks
Chip the glasses and crack the plates
That's what Daniel Baggins hates
Cut the cloth and thread on the fat
Leave the bones on the bedroom mat
Pour the milk on the pantry floor
Splash the wine on every door
Dump the crocks in a boiling bowl
Pound them up with a thumping pole when you're finished, if any are whole
Send them down the hall to roll
That's what Daniel Baggins hates
The whole time, they were singing the song, they were all actually gathering them all up and cleaning them, so once the song was done, everyone was in the kitchen and Daniel had his jaw dropped when he saw the clean pile of plates, bowls and the like. All the Dwarves laughed at his reaction and Gandalf smiled, seeing the results. Daniel was starting to like these Dwarves more and more.
But then, a loud knock was heard by the door, making everyone dead quiet. All of them looked to the door. Gandalf and the company knew who it was, but Daniel didn't really know.
"He is here." Gandalf broke the silence, looking at Daniel. It must be the 13th Dwarf.
Dalin is of course, a female version of Dwalin. And the look is inspired by Karen Gillan when she was bald for playing Nebula for the first Guardians of the Galaxy film.