Author's note: There is a (very obvious) reference in here to another favourite story of mine. I hope at least someone gets it. I will be very disappointed, and just incredibly shocked if no one does.

Hope you enjoy.

The fourth day of rain was most miserable of all. The rain was falling harder and faster than it had in the few days previous, and the morale of the group was at its lowest point yet. The ponies were walking, one after another, in thick mud. No one in the company wanted to be the first to speak, so it remained a quiet trip throughout the day. Bofur was upset to realize that, not only was it a quiet day (which he definitely did not enjoy), his pipe would not keep its light.

"Mister Gandalf, can't you do something about this deluge?" Dori asked, finally breaking silence of the company. Really, it was a question that had popped up in everyone's mind. In fact, Bofur had thought about asking more than once since the rain had started.

"It is raining, Master Dwarf, and it will continue to rain until the rain is done," was Gandalf's response. The sass coming from that wizard, Bofur thought to himself, is utterly ridiculous. "If you wish to change the weather of the world, you should find yourself another wizard."

"Are there any?" Bilbo actually sounded curious. A simple "what?" from Gandalf prompted Bilbo to continue speaking. "Other wizards?"

"There are five of us." From what Bofur could see, not a single dwarf was excited about the sound of multiple wizards. One wizard was difficult to deal with, and despite the short length of their journey so far had proven that wizards were unpredictable and not the easiest beings to trust. Thorin, Bofur knew, would only have his mood worsened by the new knowledge of more than one wizard. For Thorin's sake, I'm hoping Gandalf is the only wizard we meet on this quest. "The greatest of our order is Sauroman," Gandalf continued," the White. Then there are the two blueses." Pause. "You know, I've quite forgotten their names."

"And who is the fifth?" Mahal, Bilbo, stop asking these questions. No one is up for it.

"That would be Radagast, the brown."

"Is he a great wizard, or is he more like you?" If Gandalf is the sassmaster, Bilbo would be his tiny sass apprentice. I don't even think he knows how the question sounded to everyone else.

"I think he's a very great wizard," Gandalf's tone was free from any possible offence taken from Bilbo's question. "In his own way. He's a gentle soul, who prefers the company of animals to others. He keeps a watchful eye over the vast forest lands to the east. And a good thing, too, for always evil will look to find a foothold in this world."

Bofur did not like the sound of that, but a sharp poke in his side brought his attention away from the train of thought the old wizard's words put in his mind. Looking at what could have caused the slight discomfort, he was startled to, once again, find Nori beside him. The dwarf smiled gently, conscious of the rest of the group's unhappy faces. "If the wizard did anything to raise spirits in the group, I'm not sure. How are you fairing, Bofur?" he whispered. Bofur didn't know what it was about Nori's question that made his day seem so much brighter, but he was suddenly overwhelmed by the warmth he felt.

"All is well, Master Nori," Bofur replied in the same rough whisper. "A bit of rain won't dampen my spirits, just my clothes." Nori nodded as a low laugh rumbled from within him.

"I suspect your clothes will be a little more than damp, Master Bofur." Bofur let out a chuckle of his own.

"Aye, you're probably right at that." But then a thought occurred to him. "Say, are we not close enough to drop the 'Master' now?" Nori's expression and posture both visibly brightened. "We are adventuring together, you know. I imagine we'll all see each other at our worst." And just like that, Nori was back to looking down. Maybe his happier expression had just been in Bofur's own imagination.

The next day, by some sort of miracle, the rain had stopped and the sun had come out. By mid-afternoon, the entire company was nearly dry. They travelled a great distance in the heat of the sun, which was a huge improvement over the past few slow-moving days. Coming along a farm house in the evening, the company thought they had a good chance at finding some nearly comfortable sleep. Thorin, knowing the group needed the rest and seeing that they had done a good deal of travelling already for the day, announced that it would be a nice place to set up camp for the night. However, just after Thorin had announced which jobs the dwarves would take care of for the evening, Gandalf yelled out to him.

"I think it would be wiser to move on," he shouted to the group, although Thorin took it as directed to him. Bofur watched as Thorin stepped over to the wizard, engaging in a heated conversation. Even as great as he is, Gandalf will never win this argument against the stubbornness of Thorin Oakenshield. And Bofur was right in his assumption, for not more than a few minutes later, Gandalf was storming off, complaining of having spent too much time with the dwarves already.

The next couple hours until nightfall were much less exciting to the majority of the dwarves. Bombur was in the process of cooking a delicious looking something over the fire. If Bofur were honest with himself, he hadn't been paying much attention. He was mainly sitting in the warmth of the fire as he watched Thorin send little looks Bilbo's way. There's something on that dwarf's mind, and I can only imagine what it is.

He continued to watch for another while, until it seemed like everyone was busying themselves with something else. It was then that Thorin stood from his spot at the back of the group, and walked over to the small hobbit. After feeling a, probably heavier than intended, tap on his shoulder, Bilbo looked surprised to see Thorin standing over him, rolling his head over his shoulder as if to signal that he wanted a word. Bofur was the shocked one when the hobbit, who had been so angry with the dwarf in recent times, actually stood and followed the dwarf just out of sight.

Out of sight does not mean out of earshot, thought Bofur as he stepped closer to the pair without being seen, curiosity taking over him quickly. He was just on the other side of a small tree and a few bushes, he could only barely hear the hushed whispers of the two.

"It has come to my attention, hobbit, that you are upset with me," Thorin started. "I understand completely."

"Do you? Do you really? Because these stares you send my way - and do not, for one second, think I didn't see them again tonight!- tell me much differently."

"Aye, and I feel like it would benefit the group if we were on better terms. I apologize for any offence, Master hobbit." While Thorin almost sounded sincere in his apology, it was clear by a scoff that Bilbo did not see him as such.

"If you mean no offence, you can always call me by my actual name, Master dwarf." It was the angriest Bofur had ever heard Bilbo, but the little burglar did not stomp away as he had other nights. "If you mean no offence, it would be nicer to just leave me be. I don't think you know how even to treat a person politely. You glare and command and never once give appreciation. And this isn't even towards myself, Mister Thorin, but the rest of the company, as well." Thinking about Bilbo's words, Bofur realized that he was only speaking the truth, despite his hurtful tone of voice. "These dwarves bravely gave up everything to accompany you on your quest, and you're lucky to have every one of them. It's no wonder no one else will help you when you're so, ... so mean!"

Knowing what was coming next, Bofur moved just quickly enough to the rest of the group before Bilbo's body stepped around the trees and back into view of the company. He halted in his movements and a deep red blush travelled up his neck to the tips of his pointed ears as he came to the sudden realization that everyone had heard the end of his outburst. No one in the company moved, but everyone watched, all eyes on the burglar. Bofur knew it would be a good idea to give the hobbit a distraction and so he called him over, asking him to bring bowls of supper to the brothers guarding the ponies. The hobbit did as he was asked and took the bowls into the trees, Bofur making sure to whisper his thanks before he did so. Everyone left remaining at the camp, excluding Thorin, who sat with his arms crossed and an expression of confusion and regret on his worn-out face, resumed any conversations that might have been taking place before the interruption.

Three dwarves in particular caught Bofur's interest (which he really didn't expect anything to, not after the argument only minutes ago). Nori, who Bofur always watched out for at camp, hoping the other dwarf would come talk to him, had his eyes fixed on something on the side of camp opposite him, and it just so happened that this 'something' was Ori and Dwalin's close contact. Ori was sitting particularly close to the older dwarf, leaning in as they engaged in deep conversation. His small hand would sometimes come up to brush against various parts of Dwalin as they talked, such as his arm or shoulder, as his eyes looked into the other's. As Ori's hand came to rest midway up on Dwalin's thigh, Bofur shifted his gaze quickly to see Nori's own eyes fill with a burning hot anger, but shifted it back in time to see Ori's eyes flicker to Dwalin's lips before pressing himself into the older dwarf.

Bofur wanted to laugh at the squeal that came from the unsuspecting older dwarf as the youngest member of the company kissed him, hard and rough. He never got the chance, however, as a shout sounding an awful lot like Fili could be heard from within the trees.

"Trolls! Trolls in the forest! Thought you ought to know." The fairest dwarf was out of breath, clearly having just run quite a distance. It only took a second for everyone to gather their weapons an follow Fili back into the trees, running as fast as their dwarves legs would allow.