The tall man invited himself in, swiftly pushing past Bilbo, who was still in a daze over the many people he had in his kitchen. He completely ignored the smaller man, moving right along to the hall. "Gandalf! What's going on!?" Bilbo fumed and pouted. He expected not to see the old man for at least a few weeks, as was the usual amount of time he would be gone.

Gandalf just stared inside the kitchen as dishes clicked, heels thumped on the ground, and chairs creaked. Snapping out of his trance, Bilbo sprinted to see what had become of his dining area. A table cloth, of which he did not remember previously placing, lay over the table, now with the leaflets added to fit all fourteen of them. Food just filled the whole table. Bilbo couldn't imagine he had enough to actually fill the table before he saw his fridge and pantry were emptied.

Bilbo huffed, "I will not have you waltz into my house and take all of my food!" Twenty eight hands suddenly ceased their activity, and fourteen heads turned to stare at the poor, beardless man. Bilbo felt a chill. The first to break the silence was Oin. "WHAT!?" Everyone save for Thorin broke out into laughter. Glasses chinked and food was handed around.

The outraged host waved for Gandalf's attention. "If you could be so kind as to come over here and tell me what is going on?" The old man stood from his seat, allowing Bilbo to lead them back into the hall. "What do you mean what is going on? You were looking to fill those rooms, were you not? I have brought my friends here to fill them!"

Bilbo's jaw dropped. "I thought you said you were going to be busy!? Why are you here, with them!?" Bilbo could not keep himself from pacing and pulling at his curls. "I will be busy. These fine gentlemen will be moving in somewhere nearby, and the last place they stayed in kicked them all out just a couple nights ago. It was a race for them to pack up before the cops were called on them!"

This did not satisfy the short man, especially when a thought passed through his head, "Why are they not staying in your home? You have a nice spacious house!" Gandalf coughed, "My house? Don't be silly! I would never let more than two of these men, disregarding Fili and Kili, in MY house at a time!"

He chuckled at the look that washed over Bilbo's face. "And you've allowed them ALL into my house!?" Gandalf looked down to shield the smile coming over his face, "Well, I believe you were the one to let them all into your house, Mr. Baggins."

Bilbo peered into the room once more. Already, half the food over the table was devoured or had disappeared. He became intrigued with the way they interacted with each other. Accustomed to the gentle, well-mannered nature of his relatives, he was shocked to watch the display in front of him.

At the end of the table that was quite visible to him sat Bombur. Bofur pounded on the table cracking jokes with a crooked smile on his face. Bifur swung his fist around, making incomprehensible noise in Dwalin's direction as the scary looking man guffawed into his turkey leg. Gloin talked to Oin, making him blush, while across from them sat Dori, hands clasped over Ori's ears while Nori sat boredly staring at the items hung on the walls. The calm old man, Balin ate with a smile on his face. Thorin sat on the opposite end, obscuring Bilbo's view of Fili, but could see the livid look on Kili's face as he shouted across the table.

Bilbo relaxed as they no longer looked like they were destroying his home. He looked up to Gandalf, "How long will they be here?" Gandalf stared off into space until he stated, "Well, you never said it was a limited offer on the rooms…." At this point, Bilbo realized something. "How did you even find out about this?" Gandalf replied, reclining in a nearby chair, "Your nephew, Frodo, informed me, and I knew that this would be the perfect place to keep them."

He shook his head trying to make sense of it all. 'The point of this WAS to meet new people anyway…I just didn't think it would be this many at once!' He looked over the group once more. Some like Bofur, Fili, Kili, and Ori looked over at him and gave a smile, to which he smiled back. "I guess I could take them…."

Gandalf stood, "Great, because otherwise, they'd be out in my front lawn." Bilbo gave an exasperated sigh. "I'm going to trust you can handle these guys. They really aren't that bad, they just may seem a tad intimidating at first. I will return first thing in the morning."

Before Bilbo could protest, the old man walked out, shutting the door. Bilbo sheepishly strolled over to the kitchen, where he took the empty seat that had been prepared for Gandalf. He sat in between Kili and Oin. He looked at every plate, once full of food, but turned to nothing but scraps in less than ten minutes. The plates sat in front of everyone else were filled enough so that an avalanche could form on every one. He picked his fork at the bones to scavenge for little bits, giving up.

Suddenly he felt everyone's stare on him. He looked up, finding his feeling to be correct. He gulped and put his head back down. Bofur stood suddenly, a piece of ham in his fingers, tossing it onto Bilbo's plate. A few others followed suit, tossing various items onto his plate until his was equally as overflowing as everyone else's.

'Wow,' was all he could think. He gave an impish smile to them and a small thank you, and then they returned to their meal. Bilbo's eyes momentarily came across Thorin's plate. He had definitely finished, waiting for everyone else to finish as well. As he looked up from the plate to his face he found the man to be staring directly at him. Bilbo blushed, turning back to his own plate. 'Mind your own business Bilbo!"

As their meal was finished, Dwalin, Bifur, and Nori did the dishes. The other ten guests sat at the table working out who would be in which room.

"I HAVE to be with FILI!" called Kili, to which his brother nodded. Dori insisted that he stay close to Ori and Nori as to keep them out of trouble. Nori scoffed while Dwalin and Bifur laughed at him. Thorin sat at the head of the table silent, staring down at the table. Bilbo left them to their affairs as he went off to take a shower.

"Thorin? What about you?" Balin asked the seemingly distressed man. He shrugged answering, "I guess Fili and Kili are my responsibility…" 'Our host is quite peculiar. I can't believe he caught me staring and said nothing of it….but I suppose- "Will you need any help with anything?" Bilbo had walked in in his sweats and tee-shirt.

Thorin shook his head, "That won't be necessary. You've done enough for us already." Bilbo swallowed the lump in his throat, muttering an 'alright' and returning to his room.

'A very peculiar man indeed…'