Chapter 12 Ladies and Gents. A break from the problems of the world, and an evening filled with familial affection and peace. Enjoy :-)
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It was Afteryule and the winter was as harsh as gets in the Shire. Even though it was only time for tea, the windows in Bag End showed nothing but endless darkness behind their glass, filled at every inch with the garlands and designs of frost's artwork. Intricate patterns that spidered all over the windowpane and helped to contains small amounts glittering snow in the corners of metalwork made the light reflecting from the lamps and the fireplace shine all the more brighter and warmer.
This was not the first winter that Bilbo has seen and it was most certainly not the harshest. But in quite a few years it was the most comfortable that he has been in the accursed season.
The hobbit sat in front of the fireplace in his favorite armchair, covered in Thorin's knitted blanket, with an old tome on his lap, bathing in the warmth provided by the fire. The dwarfs little side table was moved closer to his own seat, and a mug of warn spicy wine stood on it, accompanied by a plateful of tiny sugar cookies that he had made earlier today with Fili's help.
The sun-kissed dwarf had to both their surprise a talent for baking, that had never before seen the light of day, and Bilbo was only happy to show him the wonders of making sugary treats. Fili picked up quickly on the small intricacies of the process, and on their second batch had completely taken over the process, only needing Bilbo's help in the general sense of mixing the batter, and prepping the ingredients. Kili on the other hand was banned from the process entirely…
The younger dwarf had, after 5 minutes in front of the stove, managed to resolve a perfectly fine piece of chicken into a smoldering piece of coal, and Bilbo didn't even know that his oven knew how to roar out flames, harsher then those of Thorin's forge. But, apparently it could under Kili's tender care, and Fili was forced to run outside with a bucket, get snow, and then dump it all over his slightly singed brother and whatever remained of the dinner.
The brothers were forced to clean up the mess, and Kili was forever banned from cooking in Bilbo's kitchen.
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Fili and Kili have for a while now taken over the majority of the cleaning in their home. Kili was feeling guilty over the fact that they were freeloading, and Fili was in agreement with his brother. If they couldn't repay their Aunt with treasures, they would do so with labor.
And so Fili was now charged with the tasks of cleaning the floors and windows, while Kili took over the dusting and polishing of the furniture. Both dwarves were taller then the hobbit and were able to reach places that often evaded him.
It seemed that having two tall helpers was beneficial to the state of his hobbit hole, thought Bilbo, as he observed the speed at which everything was done. He was truly very appreciative over the brother's initiative, and left only the laundry and cooking duties to himself. Which was fine for everyone as the dwarfs did not want to touch the laundry, and were not able to cook.
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So this cold day, with the sun already set behind the hills, Bilbo was sitting in his armchair, enjoying the smells of clean that waffed through his home, the softness of the knitted blanket, and the weight of the old book. As he sat there quietly, a noise attracted his attention. Not a minute later two snow covered dwarfs fell into the room laughing.
"Auntie! The path in front of the door is swept and Fili made a fence to hold off the majority of the snow away from the doors" reported Kili as he tried to shrug off his white clamped coat.
"Aye, I can't say that it will hold all of the snow off, but at least we'll be able to open the door come morning" agreed Fili getting out of his own wet clothes.
Bilbo smiled and thanked the dwarfs, getting up from his chair. Quickly both of them were down to their underclothes, sitting in front of the fire, cuddles under some blankets. They turned their eyes at Bilbo who just returned from the cleaning room, where he was hanging their garments to dry, and was now carrying a small tray. A bottle of spiced warm wine, and cookies, poppy seed rolls with custard cream, and a bowl of sugared sour cream made its way on the floor next to the brothers, who gleefully dug in.
Settling back into his chair the hobbit looked over the picture in front of him, and felt a peaceful mood settle over him. It felt quite a bit like it did when he was a young hobbit, and his parents sat in this very room, with him on the floor, reading one of his mother's healing book, as she knitted something, and explained to him the properties of herbs and plants, and his father puffed his pipe, a book on his lap. The thought brought a smile to his face, and an idea to his mind.
"Say Fili, Kili…" started the hobbit a bit unsure of himself. What if they wouldn't want to have anything to do with what he had in mind? And would just scuff at his offer…
"What is it Auntie?" easily said Fili, as he munched on his poppy seed roll.
"I was just wondering if… well, if you two would like to learn a bit about herbs and plants, and what they can be used for…"replied the hobbit as he looked away from the dwarfs and towards the bunches of plants hanging on the walls, some ready for use, some still drying, and some that still needed work to be done on them, in order for the full potential to be reached.
"We'd love to!" answered Kili, as he shuffled closer to his Auntie's chair and stared up at the hobbit with curious eyes. Following his brother's example Fili di the same.
"Would these be the kind of herbs that you use in order to heal others then?" Asked the fair-haired dwarf.
"Yes, exactly these, and others, used for different things, ailments and hurts" nodded Bilbo with enthusiasm. "Here, look at this here book" said he pulling out a big tome from under the armchair. It was the length of a man's forearm, and the thickness of two regular books. The cover was aged leather, with metal bindings at the corners, and a clasp to hold it closed. "It was passed down to me by my mother, and she received it from her grandfather. It's a treasure of my family, the Took side at least, and she was lucky enough to have gained it as inheritance." Said Bilbo, as he glided his hand over the old book.
"She just brought it home, after leaving for two days in order to attend a funeral of her grandfather, an old Took fellow. She carried it by herself all the way from Tookbank, put it down and told me that starting that day my education will get a lot better and a lot harder." Here the hobbit smiles as he looked off into the distance "I spend days pouring over this here beasty. I would copy passages, and then go out into the hills and the woods, and try to find the plants mentioned in here, and when I did, if I did, then I would try to make the remedies they were used for. Let's just say that it took a while before your Auntie was able to make even a simple burn salve. And that's considered to be the easiest thing to make in the whole book! With only 10 ingredients too." Finished the hobbit as he looked down at the dwarfs sitting at his feet. Both of them had fascinated expressions, and Kili was in the process of slowly curling up into his by now familiar fluffy egg cocoon.
"Well how long did it take you to go through the whole thing?" asked Fili with interest as he eyed the book with trepidation.
"Hmm, well I was a diligent student; my mother was a great teacher, and the hills around us are filled with plants. I think it took me a few weeks to read through the book, and at least a decade to learn all of the recipes in it." Pondered Bilbo as he recalled his endless evenings spend over the yellowed parchment of the pages.
"Here, take a look" said the hobbit as he opened one of the market pages. The whole book was filled with pieces of fabric of different colors stuck between certain pages, some colors repeating here and there, others being completely different form the rest. The page that was opened in front of them was market with a red tag, and situated on it were drawing of a few stages of grinding, mixing, and watering a red colored powder, and ten a very accurate drawing of a salve with the same color being applied to a loosely bandages arm. The drawing was made on a newer piece of parchment, and tucked between the pages.
"Who drew this?" asked Kili as he peered at the drawing, interested in the bold strokes of the charcoal on the page.
"It was your uncle actually" smiled Bilbo "He saw this book, and I showed him some pages. Told him that it was used in healing him as well. He then asked which balms and creams were used exactly, and after I showed him, did little illustrations for all of them. I think there are about ten here in total. Some for burns, others for fever, brakes, pulled muscles, and other hurts as well. He was very enthusiastic about it, and it took him about a month worth of evening in order to be satisfied." Finished the male, as he tweaked his fingers over the different bookmarks.
It was then that the brothers noticed that a few of them had a little tune for "T" on the top of then, drawn with ink, and settled with wax, in hope of further preservation.
Fili glanced at his brother, seeing that he also notice the little runes.
"Go on then Auntie" Kili prompted "teach us dwarfs the art of healing so that we may be of use other then sweeping your floors and dusting your books!" said he with a wild gesture of his arms, that send the blanket off his shoulders and onto the floor.
Bilbo laughed as he started to explain properties of this or that herb, patiently waiting for them to understand and answering questions. As they all settled into a peaceful conversation, he glanced at the little book marks, some market with a dwarvish "T" and felt a strange pull in his chest.
He glanced at Kili, never stopping his words, and carrying on answering their questions; and saw another dwarf in his place. With the same wild hair, darker then his nephew's, longer and with more braids, but never the less oh so similar. He looked in Fili's eyes, and saw Thorin's glancing at him, as he sat on a chair in his kitchen, hunched slightly over his drawing while Bilbo cooked, and bustled about the space, filling the house with aromas of upcoming dinner. He looked at the two at his feet, and couldn't help but wish that there were three, sitting all together in the living room of Bag End.
Thorin with another burn from the day at the forge, that Bilbo would bandage, and grumble at the dwarf to be careful later. And the boys would be there as well, crafting their wonderful items, the tiny instruments so tiny and delicate in their hands. And Bilbo would settle down in his chair, and talk to all of them, tell them of the nonsense gossip of the Shire: who got married, who had another child, what travelers pulled through the market.
And when he woke up he would be greeted not only by the snores of the two brothers coming from their room at the end of the hall, but by a light rumbling coming from a room next to his, as Thorin was up, and getting ready for work.
And in his head Bilbo Baggins suddenly imagined a crystal clear picture of what life would be like with Thorin and the brothers if they were to stay in Hobbiton altogether. And he couldn't find any fault in that picture.
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In the caves of the Blue Mountains a dwarf sat on his bed, back for the day, sitting heavily on a thin mattress in his room. His mind was far away, as it traveled over the ridges of the Mountains, and the rivers and hills that separated him from the land of the hobbits and the one hobbit hole that had become so very familiar to him in the months he had stayed there.
Thorin's fingers slowly swept a few dust flakes off the piece of paper on his lap. Smudged lines of charcoal, covered in wax in hopes of making the drawing live longer stared at him from it. A smiling face, caught in an unexpected turn, a hand raised to wipe a stray curl it, simple lines making the contours of a body, and a bit settling into the surroundings of a kitchen. Bilbo didn't know that Thorin draw things other then illustrations for his book.
He had a small chest filled with drawings similar to this one. Candid sketches of the hobbit that had made his journey back to the Mountains both easier and harder. Just like they had made his life in them both difficult and easy. For after experiencing the life in Bag End with the young hobbit Thorin was beginning to feel conflicted. And now it appeared that his nephews were also charmed by the welcoming face, and had been adopted into the family.
In the letters they had send to their mother along with coin and small trinkets, Thorin was able to grasp the affection both of them experienced at the hand of the hobbit, and the protectiveness they exhibited on his behalf.
Fili wrote about the dwarf that had intended to fondle his friend and Thorin growled as he read about the incident. At that moment he was even happier that his nephews had heeded his veiled suggestion, and decided to make Hobbiton their first stop on their way to traveling around. It had gotten them a full bellied winter, warm home, affection and company. And it gave Thorin peace of mind, to know that both his nephews and friend were safe together, away from hunger, pain and dangers of the world.
Come spring he would journey back to Hobbiton, and talk to Bilbo again. It would be good for him, Thorin thought. Maybe he will even bring Dis along. It would be only proper after all. The hobbit already knew the majority of his family, and Thorin knew his, so it was just a reasonable occasion to introduce his sister to his friend. And if she approved of the hobbit, which considering her happy smiles as she read the letters, filled with praise towards their Auntie, she did; well, all the better for Thorin.
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Chapter 12
Here you go, a little bit of family fluff, and Auntie Bilbo passing on his knowledge, just like family knowledge should be. And Thorin making plans to further their relationship and even introduce the rst of his family to Bilbo. :p
Thank you all so much for the wonderful reviews and the favorites and follows! You all make me extremely happy. To answer an interesting question that popped up in one of the reviews though: no. There will not be mpreg in this story. As much as I like a good mpreg story, I don't really think it will fit in mine, and I don't want to make it too farfetched. So sorry, but no Thilbo dwobbits crawling around Shire and Erebor with tiny little bears.
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