"You'll be watching the Hobbit's house until he returns."
Fili and Kili bit their insides of their cheeks to stop themselves bursting into helpless peals of laughter and Ovila gaped at Thorin in utter horror. Thorin looked completely serious, flint eyes resting gravely on the girl, and she spluttered something that sounded dangerously close to a very rude word in Khuzdul. She managed to swallow the rest of her words, but her hazel eyes burned at what she no doubt took as an insult and her fingers tapped against the hilt of her axe, though she made no move to draw it.
"I trust you are up to this task, but, if you feel unable, you can stay behind," Thorin continued smoothly and Ovila's eyes blazed, but she shook her head and she folded her arms over her stomach.
"Of course I'm up for the task, Master Thorin, but is the Hobbit's home in danger of being raided during his absence?" Ovila managed in her most polite voice and she was damn sure that she heard Gandalf chuckle behind Thorin. "It's not, is it?"
"Bag End is an extremely wealthy and valuable home filled with valuable items that many in the Shire would love to own," Gandalf stated calmly and Ovila repressed the urge to smack him in the head with her axe. "You simply have to beat off the vultures that may circle Bag End."
Ovila snarled something that was not fit for public and Thorin just looked back at her calmly. "Are you denying a direct order from your superior?" he asked coolly and she tensed sharply, spine straightening, jaw tightening.
"No, Master Thorin, of course not," Ovila answered in a quiet, stiff voice and her hands fell to her hips as her shoulders slumped in defeat. "I will guard the Hobbit's home with all of my strength."
Thorin nodded approvingly and the Dwarves went back to the task of preparing their ponies for the journey and no one spoke. All expressions were solemn for the quest they were set to embark on and there was insult still glittering deeply in Ovila's hazel eyes. She said nothing, though, kept her mouth firmly shut and mounted her trusty pony after Thorin had his. She, Kili, and Fili were collecting supplies on the way through and Thorin had a meeting with the other dwarf lords before he met them at Bag End. The others were leaving a little later in the day, as they had no errands to run and Ovila watched Gandalf gallop off with a frown on her face.
It was all Gandalf's fault, Ovila was firmly sticking to that belief as she followed Fili and Kili from Belegost and looked back at her home sadly. She'd left numerous times in the past, but this time she had a heavy feeling in her stomach and she fingered the hilt of her axe. It'd take a few days to get to Hobbiton and she hoped to be feeling a little more at ease by then, even if she very much doubted the sick feeling in her stomach would disappear by then, if at all. She sighed and nudged her pony to catch up with Fili and Kili, who'd managed to pull away from her slightly. Kili flashed her a bright grin and, instead of soothing her as it had so many times before, it made her anxious, because she could lose him and she didn't know if she could live with that.
"Stop looking so solemn," Kili laughed and Ovila glanced at him. "We're going on an adventure, just like you always wanted."
"I wanted to fight bandits, not dragons," Ovila shot back, but she forced herself to smile and Kili grinned widely in return. "And what of this Hobbit? We have only Gandalf's word that we can trust him."
"Thorin trusts Gandalf, so we trust his judgement," Fili stated quietly, but firmly, ever the leader of their little troop, and Ovila sighed. "Just think about it, while you're cooped up in the Hobbit's house, you can plan your wedding," he grinned and laughed when she threw him a filthy look.
They rode with laughter and teasing and smiles, as they always did, but Ovila couldn't get rid of this fear that this was the last time that they would do this all together and she knew she should have confidence, but she was scared. She couldn't tell Kili, because he'd just tell her not to worry and try to laugh her fears away of the fears of a female. So, she kept it all bottled up and if she held onto him maybe slightly too tight that night, curled beneath a fur blanket in front of the fire, he didn't say anything and held her just as tightly.
"We're late because you disappeared in Bree!"
"We're late because you refused to get up this morning!"
"I was tired! And achy! And - and shut up!"
"It's because you're as stubborn as an old goat!"
"You take that back! I am not an old goat!"
"You're as stubborn as one!"
"Oh, shut up you two!" Fili snapped impatiently and Kili and Ovila glared at each other, before huffing and turning away from one another. "Are you two going to sulk all night?" Fili sighed, stuck in the middle, as always, and they didn't answer. "This is the last night you two are going to see each other until we reclaim Erebor, will you truly spend it bickering over something so trivial?" he asked tiredly and they just stomped on ahead.
Fili rolled his eyes at them and he knew that Ovila's temper was running high because she had to stay behind in Bag End and he knew that Kili was in a sour mood because Ovila was in one. They were so incredibly frustrating sometimes that Fili just wanted to smack their heads together, but he refrained as they stopped in front of a round, green door that had the mark on the bottom. Ovila knocked, three, sharp, impatient raps, and Fili rolled his eyes at her as she turned her face away from Kili. Fili was damn sure he spied a love bite on the slim line of her neck through her numerous braids, so she couldn't really be that mad with Kili and they'd be embarrassingly in love and sappy within a few hours, Fili was sure, or he'd give his sword to the Hobbit, who'd just swung open the door.
"Fili-"
"And Kili-"
"At your service!" the brothers finished in unison with deep bows and Ovila smirked slightly at them.
"Ovila, also at your service, Mister Baggins," she stated and gave her own bow. "Is that Mister Dwalin I hear? I told you that they'd beat us here!" she swung to Kili and punched him in the chest. "We left first!"
"Technically, Gandalf left first."
"Oh! You're impossible!"
Poor Mister Baggins could only blink as Ovila stepped past him into the house and swept her cloak from her shoulders. She threw it onto the hook and hung her axes up with considerably more care, stroking a finger over the blade of one. Kili hurried in after her and, after a few moments of quiet bickering, they ended up smiling slightly at each other. Her smile vanished, though, when he shoved his bow and quiver at the poor Hobbit and Fili dropped his swords and knives into Mister Baggins' arms with a warning to be careful with them, because they'd just been sharpened.
"Kili, you're stomping mud everywhere," Ovila sighed and he began scraping the mud off on a wooden box.
"This is a lovely place; you do it yourself?" Kili directed at the Hobbit, who squawked when he saw what Kili was doing.
"Stop that! That's my mother's glory box!" Mister Baggins cried and Ovila elbowed Kili to make him stop.
"Sorry, he ignored his own mother's attempts to teach him manners," she smirked and Kili grinned at her. "All the pretty words and manners went to Fili," she continued and made her way down the hall.
"Hey!" Kili argued, barrelling after her, and Ovila was already greeting Dwalin and helping him drag another table into the dining room. "Mister Dwalin!" Kili beamed and Dwalin grinned at him.
"Kili lad! You taking care of my favourite girl?" Dwalin grinned and Ovila laughed. "Why haven't you made an honest lad of him yet, girl?"
"We're waiting until Erebor," Ovila answered and gave a shrug. "Then I'll be stuck with him forever."
"You're stuck with me anyway," Kili winked and Ovila laughed again as the doorbell rang. "That's everyone else."
"NO! Nobody's home! Go away! I've got enough Dwarves in my house! Go away!" Mister Baggins shouted as he swirled down the hall and the Dwarves glanced at each other, before continuing to get food, crockery, and cutlery to lay on the table.
They worked quickly and, as the others rushed in, Ovila immediately leaped up to drag Ori into helping her get the best food. She nibbled on bits and pieces as she laid the things on the table and she only grinned wickedly when Gloin scolded her, deliberately showing off the piece of cheese held between her teeth. The others laughed delightedly and they managed to squash in around the table. Ovila was sat between Kili and Fili, unsurprisingly, and Fili threw a slice of ham at her when she leaned across him to grab the tomatoes. She yelped, swatting at her nose where the ham had stuck, and the others howled with laughter at her. She nudged Kili, but there was a good natured smile on her lips and he surprised her with a lingering kiss that made her want to melt.
"OI! We're trying to eat! Enough of that!" Bofur bellowed and the couple were bombarded with small pieces of food. "When are you finally going to get married then? We've been waiting since you were wee babes!" Bofur cried and Ovila looked at Kili.
"When we get to Erebor, when we're home," Kili promised, stroking a hand over her cheek, and she leaned into the touch with a slight smile. "Then we'll shock the world by actually doing the right thing and getting married."
"Or we could run into the wild and live as unmarried savages forever," Ovila teased, nose wrinkling, but she was smiling and Kili laughed and stole another kiss. "Stop that, I want food," she swatted him away and the others roared their approval and kindly threw more food at them. "You lot are too kind, really," she said dryly, picking a cherry tomato from the inside of her tunic, and she tossed it into her mouth.
"We try, lassie," Balin winked and Bifur threw another tomato at her.
"Stop it!" Ovila commanded and Ori threw a chip at her. "Ori!" she protested and he grinned at her. "I don't think you should be allowed to be friends with Fili and Kili if this is how you behave," she sniffed and Dori nodded his agreement. "I don't even like chips."
"Since when? You ate a whole platter down The Ladle just last week!" Fili accused and Ovila kindly jabbed him in the ribs for that remark.
The shouting and laughter continued with Kili and Ovila being the butt of most jokes thanks to their relationship and they took it all good-naturedly enough. They were used to it and Fili just rolled his eyes when they did their 'staring-into-each-other's-eyes' thing with those sappy grins on their faces. He was honestly surprised they didn't make stupid excuses and slink off somewhere, as was their habit in recent weeks, and he was always left to cover for them. They didn't leave, though, they just sat a little closer and he saw their hands were linked beneath the table.
Tankards of ale were passed around and, despite her wrinkled nose, Ovila took the tankard and gulped it down with the others. It was the only time there was silence at a Dwarven gathering: when food or drink was being stuffed into their mouths. The tankards were banged down onto the table and a few let out slight belches, but all were blown out of the water by Ori letting out the loudest burp that Ovila had ever heard him give. There was a beat of silence, then howls and roars of approval echoed through the smial and Ovila applauded her best friend with a roar of congratulations. Ori grinned proudly, sitting back down, and Dori scolded him with a disapproving frown.
The meal was finished with a song about the things that Bilbo Baggins hates and Ovila chose to sit out, ducking beneath flying crockery. She smiled at the sight of Kili acting like a complete fool and he gripped his pipe in one hand and tossed the crockery with the other. He winked at her when she caught his eye and she shook her head with amusement, laughing. Her laughter was silenced, though, when he snagged her hand in his and pulled her from the small, circular themed home. She looked at him curiously as the laughter and singing from inside reached them through the walls and he grinned back at her, fearless and unrepentant. If Thorin were here, he'd be most disapproving of them being alone and unsupervised, not that they'd ever cared before.
"The reason I was late in Bree is because I got you something," Kili admitted and Ovila's eyebrows raised slightly. He fumbled in his pocket, ears turning red, and she waited with surprising patience for him to get on with it. "It's like a promise," he said, ears turning redder, and he finally withdrew what he was looking for.
A delicately strung together necklace of silver and pearls gleamed in the moonlight, obviously not made by dwarves because it wasn't the usual, thick dark metals that the dwarves preferred, and it was beautiful. Ovila's hand lifted, fingers carefully tracing over the fragile looking jewellery, and her hazel eyes grew round in amazement. Her mouth half opened, as though to say something, but the words never quite reached her tongue. She smiled, hand closing over Kili's, over the necklace, and she pressed her mouth to his. He responded immediately, his free hand moving to cup the side of her neck, thumb gently touching the underside of her chin, and he could feel her smile in the kiss.
"A promise to come back to you," Kili finished and Ovila's smile dimmed slightly. "We're going to get married and we'll always be together," he said surely and she hid her sadness with another kiss, before she turned to let him fasten the necklace around her neck.
"Thank you, it's beautiful," she murmured, touching the accessory with the tips of her fingers. "You didn't have to."
"I know, but I wanted to," Kili shrugged, bashful, and Ovila placed her hand in his, trying to make sure he didn't see how scared she was. "I love you, 'Vila," he whispered and her smile wasn't sad now.
"I love you too," she promised. "So much."