MASQUERADE

Chapter 3

Fili had spotted the target.

As soon as he had seen that mask he had known instantly that Bilbo Baggins had indeed arrived. That and the fact that said mask wearer was fidgeting with the boots he wore, clearly uncomfortable with the idea of shoes. Fili smiled politely at the dwarves he was conversing with and excused himself, scurrying away through the crowd and leaning over his brother's shoulder to whisper urgently in his ear before dragging said brother away to a corner.

"The target has arrived" Fili said once they were a distance away.

Kili's lip broke into a mischievous grin, pearly white teeth shining in the dim light of the lanterns. "He came!" he hissed excitedly. "I know he said he would but he's actually here, where is he!?"

Fili pointed across the hall to where their mother was, talking animatedly with the hobbit. Balin and Dori were engaged in their own conversation beside them. Fili had to hand it to their burglar; he really knew how to make a mask. It was a sight to behold indeed. He turned back to face his brother and leaned casually against the wall, lifting his lips to Kili's ear to whisper;

"Shall we inform uncle?" he asked softly. He smirked when Kili shuddered.

"Hmmmm" Kili purred. "As good nephews one would suppose that we should, however –"

"We are the best nephews and therefore –"

"We'll let uncle find out for himself" Kili finished, cackling madly.

Kili was soon hailed by a group of archers that had been placed under his command since their arrival at Erebor and Fili nudged his brother. "Go" he said simply. "I shall go talk with Uncle Thorin, keep him distracted and away from our burglar until the speeches"

The younger nodded vigorously and bounded away, greeting his comrades with a rowdy yell and was instantly handed a tankard of ale. Fili watched for a moment as his brother mingled, it was good that he had friends outside of the Company. It meant that Kili could blossom and become the confidant young Prince he ought to be without the pressure of Thorin hanging over him. Fili moved off and ended up being pulled into conversation with Nori and Ori, the younger of the pair looking decidedly nervous without his customary knits.

"Why so jumpy Ori?" Fili asked kindly, he had quite a lot of time for the royal scribe. Ori's kindness and general shy nature were very endearing and Fili had tasked himself with bringing him out of his shell.

"No reason my Prince" Ori squeaked nervously, wringing his hands.

Fili followed the pointed part of Ori's mask to where Dwalin sat with Thorin, the two chatting heartily with some of the royal guards. He smirked knowingly at the young scribe who ducked his head even as Nori burst into laughter.

"You need to hide your affections better little one" Nori chuckled, clapping Ori on the back. "Dori is going to have a litter of wargs if he discovers you have designs on our favourite tattooed dwarf"

Fili snorted, nearly dropping his tankard of ale. "You never spoke truer words my friend" he addressed Nori. "Do not fret" he added, seeing the intensity of Ori's hand increase. "Why not simply approach Dwalin, you may be surprised"

"I could never" Ori hissed, scandalised at the thought. "Mister Dwalin is a member of the royal Durin line and I am a lowly court scribe from a lesser known family"

He received a cuff upside the head and yelped, hands flying up to protect the new lump on his skull. "Watch yourself little one" Nori said sharply. "Dwalin may be royalty but we are not so lowly as you would think, our family is just as fine as his!"

"Besides" Fili said, placing a calming hand on Ori's shoulder. "It should not matter to him what line you have come from, he is no heir to the throne"

"I suppose . . ."

"If he rejects my baby brother based on lineage let me tell you Durin that both myself and Dori will be having a few words with your beloved Dwalin" Nori warned, wagging a finger in Fili's direction.

"Understandable my friend" Fili said smoothly, straightening his back. Brothers protected each other, this he knew well. He smirked at Ori. "Would you like me and Kili to have a chat to Dwalin?" he asked mischievously.

"Oh well I suppose . . ."

"Oh no you won't!" Nori cut in. "I know you and your trickster brother Fili, son of Dis! It is kind of you to offer but Ori needs to do this himself and not have you telling Mister Dwalin some swallow about Ori wanting to jump him in the armoury or some nonsense!"

"Jump him in the armoury hey? That's not a bad suggestion thanks Nori!"

"Don't you even think about it oh Prince!"

-x-

Bilbo was sipping delicately from a cup of wine that Dori had bought him when Dis was called away by some other women. He waved away her apologies, he was more than content to sit idle and watch the moving mass of masked dwarves. It was quite enjoyable actually, trying to guess who was hiding under each mask. So far he was having no luck. Dori and Balin had been gone for a few moments and Bilbo had gotten up to stretch out his side, it was aching in a terrible fashion. A humming from the nearby table caught his attention and he turned, that tune was stuck fast in his head – a tune that had been song in his tiny hobbit hole back in the Shire.

He turned and saw two dwarves seated at the table, humming together, and the larger one chewing heartedly on a leg of chicken. A long red braid hung beneath his mask. Bombur had chosen the bear mask for this occasion. Bilbo had to smile there. Odd it was that Bombur, sweet, gentle Bombur had chosen the bear. Yet, having seen Beorn in bear form when he was content reminded him a lot of the rotund dwarf. Come between Bombur and his meal however and there was bound to be trouble. Just like a bear and its honey.

Beside Bombur and humming merrily was a thin, ragged dwarf wearing a black and white mask that was decorated with fur. Around the holes for eyes there was yellow paint and a long, elongated snout. Bilbo had to think for a moment until he realised that this dwarf was wearing a badger mask. And, judging by the words he could not understand pouring from this dwarf's mouth it had to be Bifur. Ah! And there was that chunk of axe in his head too.

"Bifur and Bombur my good fellows!" Bilbo greeted heartily, trudging over to their table. When the dwarves looked up at him in confusion he hurried on. "It's me, Bilbo!"

Bombur laid down his chicken and wiped his hands quickly on his front, shaking his hand afterwards. "Bilbo!" he crowed and turned to Bifur. "Cousin! Bilbo is here!"

Bifur's reaction was one that Bilbo had not expected when the dwarf got eagerly to his feet and crushed the hobbit into him for a welcoming hug and started chattering away happily in Khuzdul. Once Bilbo was set down on his feet again, with a few well thought curses for having his wound jostled about, he joined them at their table.

"I enjoy your masks friends" Bilbo said, sipping from his wine.

"Oh thank you! Yours is quite nice too!" Bombur said cheerfully, tilting his head when Bifur spoke rapidly in Khuzdul. "My cousin asks how long it took you to craft such a fine mask? As a toymaker he is fond of fine craftsmanship – he made mine you see"

"Oh I had a bit of help from Beorn" Bilbo said, facing Bifur. He felt it was polite to look at the person to whom you spoke. Many assumed that because Bifur could not speak Westron he could not understand it, this was a mistake of course but it was hurtful to the wild looking dwarf nonetheless. "Your work is much finer than ours Bifur, it looks as if you have hand sewn the fur to the mask"

Bifur nodded happily and began humming away to that ridiculous kitchen song that Kili and Fili had started all those weeks ago in his hole back in the Shire. Bilbo smiled fondly at him and turned back to Bombur.

"I thought your wife and children would be here tonight Bombur" he said.

"Ah well you see I have quite a large brood Mister Baggins and we require a whole caravan to ourselves" Bombur explained genially. "They should be here by the end of the week. Shame they couldn't be here for this smashing party – my precious darlings would have loved to dress up!"

Bilbo smiled. "How many children do you have?" he asked.

"Oh only fifteen"

Bilbo choked on his recent swallow of wine and Bifur thumped him on the back. He stared incredulously at Bombur. "Did you say fifteen?" he asked hoarsely.

"But of course, although my beloved wife is drawing the line there" Bombur said, going back to his meal as though nothing out of the ordinary had happened.

"Fifteen children, my goodness that is a lot!"

Bifur said something in Khuzdul and chuckled. Bilbo did not understand the dark haired dwarf but Bombur looked a bit miffed. "Cousin! That is no such talk to be having in front of our delicate, innocent little hobbit!"

-x-

Bofur was tuning his flute when he noticed just how thirsty he was. Luckily the band master had called for a break and Bofur scurried off towards the ale drums, seeking a nice tankard to wet his parched throat. He sat back content for a moment, he had rather hoped Bilbo would be here tonight. The fellow was very enjoyable company indeed. He looked up when the ginger haired Nori slid into place beside him with a content sigh.

"Taking a rest eh?" Nori asked, staring straight ahead at the group of dwarven woman chattering.

Bofur swallowed the strange feeling that erupted into the pit of his stomach and ignored where Nori was staring. "Aye, just for a few moments! We don't want the man of the night to be without music for too long" he said merrily, sculling from his tankard.

Nori chuckled. "No indeed we do not" he agreed. "I say Bombur was in a right tizzy earlier"

"Oh?" Bofur attempted to keep his tone even, Bombur was his brother and he wasn't sure he liked Nori's tone.

"All worked up over some muddy footprints in his kitchen!" Nori chortled, clutching at his sides. From where Bofur was sitting he couldn't quite make out Nori's mask except for one rounded ear. "Took me forever to calm him down, I say the big fellow's going to go to an early grave if he's not careful"

Bofur bristled, he knew Bombur was an emotional fellow and got worried rather quickly but the same could be said for Nori's tiny little brother Ori. However Bofur held his tongue, Nori rarely thought before he spoke. The spy and sometime thief was following the women appreciatively with his gaze. Bofur could never understand how Nori just sat there and ogled them. No shame at all. He finished his tankard of ale and grimaced, furthermore why did it bother him so what Nori thought of his brother or how he openly stared at the women?

"Say Bofur, old chap do you think the lovely Hattie's still single? She's a lovely lass and quite a nice chest on her too" Nori was saying. "I can appreciate a good chest on a woman you know" he added. "Bofur?"

The tinkerer ignored Nori and got to his feet, slamming down the tankard. "I have to get back to playing" he said shortly. "I would thank you to treat our women folk with respect too, Nori!" he snapped, adjusting his mask. "Please excuse me and do not speak about my brother like that again!"

As Bofur stalked away he could feel the heat of Nori's gaze upon his back and he studiously kept walking. Let him stare and be confused! He had no right to be so crude about his brother or those women! Honestly, Bofur ground back on his molars, some dwarves needed lessons in manners.

"I say Bofur, is that dwarf bothering you?" the violin player, a dusty haired dwarf called Huran, asked. He put a comforting hand over Bofur's shaking one that had grabbed his flute. "Do you need me to sort him out?"

"What?" Bofur asked absently. "Oh no, it's quite alright Huran but thank you for your kind offer. He's a friend"

"Hmph! A kind dwarf such as yourself should never wear such an angry look; he's not a very good friend if you want my opinion"

Bofur smiled. "Well thank you friend" he said. "Now, a little music?"

As the band struck up a merry tune Bofur tried his very best to ignore the burning gaze that followed him from where Nori sat.

-x-

Bifur shook his head in Nori's direction. The dwarf clearly had little idea of how to approach his cousin. Bofur was not a dwarf to joke at the expense of others nor would he be accepting to openly staring at the fine looking folk. Honestly, Nori had no hope of winning over Bofur if this was how he intended to do it. Bifur stroked his beard thoughtfully, tuning out Bombur and Bilbo's chatter, and trained his gaze on his cousin.

Bofur looked about ready to blow a vein until the violinist, Huran, spoke kindly to him. Bifur scowled. He didn't like Huran. Huran flirted with a lot of men. Not good enough for Bofur in his opinion. But was Nori good enough for Bofur? Bifur rather thought they were better marched, they were both cheerful, Nori simply needed some advice about how to go about wooing his cousin.

Well thank goodness Bifur was on the job or no one in Erebor would be getting together at all! Honestly did he have to fix everything in this place?