'Have you left some?' Alyssae asked when she entered the dining room, where everybody had gathered in the meanwhile.
She laughed and shook her head when she saw the plate on which the pie once laid. Only a few crumbs were left.
'It was good – very good,' Fili announced, 'but we had to clean the table for dinner.'
He pointed at the table, which was filled with bowls stuffed with food, so extensively it surpassed all her expectations.
'Beorn did his best. Where is he?'
The man was so big he was impossible to overlook.
'He went outside,' Balin told her. 'You should just have missed each other. He didn't want us to wait for him tonight.'
Alyssae thought about the orcs who attacked his cattle and expected he wanted to keep an eye on them to be sure the orcs wouldn't show up again.
Thorin took a seat, which was a sign for the others they could start eating. She saw everyone filled their plates eagerly and consumed the food noisily. The wine flew richly and dripped along their beards. Despite the fact that she was getting used to their manners, it still looked very distasteful.
Alyssae cut off some meat. Only when she came home, she would restrict herself to vegetarian meals. They didn't have lembas bread and she had to tar on something else the coming days, since she didn't expect a meal like this once more.
They sat for a long time, but it was very cozy. Alyssae felt a little light in the head and she knew it was better to refuse the wine, but she dropped her sorrow and she felt ever freer. She didn't even care about the food that was thrown.
When most of them were satisfied the surplus was hurled to Bombur, who tried to catch everything in his mouth. Of course someone missed target, by which someone else was hit, causing a real food fight. Thorin didn't join the others, but he burst into laughter when someone else was hit.
Alyssae stared at him. He looked so different when he smiled! He seemed years younger and his laughter was so deep and pure it sometimes caused goose bumps. She wished she saw him more often this way…
After all the plates were licked off by Bombur, the table was emptied very quickly. Bifur raised a song, where after the dishes flied around her head, even though it ended upon a pile in one piece. She decided not to meddle. The dwarves knew what they were doing, but she had never thrown a plate before.
The singing didn't stop when the table was spick-and-span. Dori and Nori brought out their flutes and the others also found objects with which they could bring forth a melody. Alyssae had never heard such a primitive orchestra and it was astounding how her travel companions changed the atmosphere. Fili and Kili climbed on the table, hooked their arms and danced around each other. Ori was also dancing on his own around the table.
'You never had a party like this, do you?' Gloin shoved another mug in her hands.
'No,' Alyssae admitted. 'We're quite stiff, if you look at it that way.'
Before she could take a swing, Kili grabbed her hand. 'You'll be the first elf I've ever danced with! Feel honored.'
'I surely do,' she smiled and she put away her drink.
He pulled her on the table, turned her around and laughed elated. 'Well, elves dance better than I imagined.'
Alyssae hadn't danced with lots of men and certainly not in such a rash way, tipsy and with quixotic music, sung by dwarves. It wasn't easy to dance with someone who was quite smaller than she, but it wasn't something Kili cared about.
'I don't think I'm an ordinary elf.'
His eyes winked. 'Neither do I.'
He clapped his hands and Alyssae joined joyfully. She noticed a mischievous grin on his face and looked at him questioning.
'There is someone else who doesn't want to miss the chance to dance with you.'