Chapter 15 – Dís to the rescue

The news of Bilbo's confrontation with the assassin travelled through Erebor like wildfire. Those who had seen the scene with their own eyes were quick to tell their friends, who in turn told their friends, and when Bilbo walked through the halls of Erebor in the next few days, there were whispers following him everywhere.

However, while before their eyes had been full of curiosity and sometimes ridicule at his standing, now they were looking at him with respect. The official rumour said that he had been brave enough to stand unarmed against a full grown Man with a sword and came out victorious. A few dwarves were disappointed with the lack of bloodiness of the confrontation, but most were impressed with his courage.

The more perceptive ones made note of the fact that an entire squad of warriors had willingly laid down their weapons at a single command from him – a fact which they were more than happy to point out. And so, unbeknownst to Bilbo, his standing among the dwarves rose considerably.

The hobbit himself remained largely oblivious to the change in mood. He was pleased when the shopkeepers at Erebor's market treated him politely and the ladies in the kitchens smiled at him, but other than that, he paid them little mind. The dwarves had been whispering about him ever since he had come to Erebor and he had long stopped listening to the gossip.

It was an early December morning when he pulled apart the drapes on his balcony window to find the world outside covered in a thin layer of snow. The sight of the snow-covered roofs of Dale reminded him that he was woefully unprepared for the winters here in Erebor. Bilbo had only brought with him his winter cloak and a single jacket – hardly enough to protect him from the harsh northern frosts that were sure to come soon. He decided to address the problem as soon as possible.

"Is there a tailor in Dale?" Bilbo asked his friends at breakfast.

"Why? Do you need clothes?" Fíli asked.

"I just realized today that I'm quite ill-equipped for the winters here and need to buy some warm winter clothes," Bilbo said.

"What's wrong with the tailor here in Erebor?" Glóin asked, narrowing his eyes. Bilbo let his gaze glide over the dwarves at the table.

"No offense to your dwarvish fashion, but I think I would prefer something a little more hobbittish. The fashion in Dale is much closer to what I am used to."

"Why don't you just wear dwarvish clothes?" Kíli asked, frowning. Bilbo gave him a look.

"If you moved to Rivendell, would you start wearing their elvish tunics?" The look of horror on the dwarf's face was answer enough for him. "There you have it. Just because I live here, doesn't mean I have to assimilate with you in every way." He smiled. "I may wear your clothes from time to time for the ceremonial stuff, but try as you might, you won't make a dwarf out of me."

Some of them looked a little disappointed at his proclamation, but they respected him enough not to raise more objections. The meal was nearly over when Kíli leaned over to him in an attempt at discretion.

"Will you need any money for the clothes?"

Bilbo decided there was no need to whisper, since most of the table had heard the question and was now looking at him.

"No, thank you, Kíli. I have more than enough." He saw their sceptical expressions and sighed. "Did you really think that I would come all the way to Erebor to live off the charity of my friends?"

Most of them had the good grace to look ashamed for the thought. Bilbo smiled.

"You may not have noticed, but I was quite wealthy before I met you lot. Giving my share of the dragon's hoard to Bard did nothing to change that fact. I may have left most of my wealth behind in the Shire, but I still have more than enough to satisfy my needs. I may not be as rich as you all are now, but I am far from penniless."

"There's a pretty good tailor near the marketplace in Dale," Bofur answered his question. "I can show you the way, if you like."

Bilbo gave him a smile.

"Thank you, I'll be happy to have your help. You don't mind going with me?"

"Not at all," Bofur exclaimed. "It's the least I can do for you in return for your help." He threw a look at Ori, who grinned and lowered his gaze, blushing. Bilbo gave them both a fond look and nodded in acceptance.

Half an hour later they were both on their way to Dale, their heads turned towards the sky to watch the snowflakes fall. Bilbo was wrapped in the warmest clothes he owned, with a heavy winter cloak draped over his warm jacket.

"To think that I've been here for almost two months already..." he remarked quietly.

"A lot has happened since your arrival," Bofur said. "Your stay here might have been many things, but it certainly wasn't boring."

"No indeed," Bilbo laughed. "This is the most excitement I've had in five years. I don't regret leaving the Shire in the slightest."

"I'm glad to hear it," Bofur smiled at him. "You should have come here long ago."

"I couldn't," Bilbo reminded him. "I was banished, remember?"

Bofur made a face.

"Ah, yes, Thorin's famous fit of idiocy. It's too bad none of us knew about it. If we did, we would have knocked some sense into him ages ago."

Bilbo couldn't help but grin.

"You might have tried, but I doubt it would work on Thorin. He can awfully stubborn. In fact, I bet that if you tried that, it would have made him even more resistant to the idea of inviting me back here."

Bofur sighed.

"You're probably right. Still, it's too bad that you had to stay away for so long." His face cleared up as he remembered something. He gave Bilbo a side-eye. "Has Ori told you yet that you will be the one of officiate our wedding? I wonder what Thorin will say to that when he finally finds out."

"Thorin knows already," Bilbo informed him. "In fact, he was the one who told me about the custom. He was with me when Ori came to tell me about your courtship."

"Was he?" Bofur's eyebrows climbed up. "What did he say?"

"He doesn't mind. I think he is rather amused by the whole idea."

"Hm." Bofur looked thoughtful. He took a careful look around to make sure nobody was listening to them before he leaned closer to Bilbo. "There are a few who think that Thorin hates performing weddings. It's just a rumour, mind you, but some say that he once tried to propose to someone and was rejected, which is why he it makes him grumpy to see others who managed to court successfully." He shot a look back at Erebor's gates. "I wonder who it was. I think it must have happened back in the Blue Mountains, because nobody would dare to refuse him now, when he is the king of Erebor."

Bilbo wasn't quick enough to hide his reaction to that bit of information. Bofur took one look at his face and came to stop in the middle of the stairs, his jaw falling open in surprise.

"That was you? You were the one who refused him, weren't you?" He was looking at Bilbo like he was seeing for the first time ever, the pieces of the puzzle clicking into place in his mind. "When did that happen?"

Bilbo sighed.

"Right after the battle. He called me into his tent, where he started rambling utter nonsense about wanting to marry me. He hadn't even apologised for the scene at the wall at that point, so of course I refused him. He didn't take it well."

"So that's why he banished you," Bofur looked rather pleased with his finding. "I always found the whole banishment business rather suspect." He gave Bilbo a look. "Oh, everything makes so much more sense now."

"Can you keep the information to yourself, please?" Bilbo asked. "The whole business is terribly embarrassing for the both of us. There are enough rumours about me floating around already – there's no need to add any more."

"Of course," Bofur hastened to reassure him. "I'll keep it secret." Still, he couldn't help but grin in amusement all the way to Dale.

"It's not funny," Bilbo jabbed him with an elbow. Bofur tried to school his expression into something more serious but failed miserably. Bilbo decided to let him be.

The whispers started the moment the two of them entered the gates. Bilbo gave the curious people on the streets a resigned look.

"I guess my days of living in anonymity are over for good?" Bilbo said to Bofur. The dwarf nodded.

"You are the only hobbit in Erebor. Of course you would be noticed, but I don't think that is why they are looking at you. Bard's speech at the memorial made an impression on many."

Bilbo sighed.

"I wish he hadn't done that. I think he did it as a revenge for the toast I made in his honour at the celebrations in Erebor."

Bofur gave him a look, but didn't say anything. They arrived to the tailor's shop without any incidents and Bilbo was gratified to find the shop devoid of customers.

"Excuse me," he called. A tall thin man emerged from the room in the back.

"Yes?"

"I would like to purchase some winter clothes, if you are willing to make them for me," Bilbo said. The man's face lit up.

"You are Mister Bagins, aren't you? The hobbit? I heard about you. What sort of clothes do you need?"

They spent over an hour going over measurements and clothing styles while Bofur sat on a stool in the corner, whittling a small wooden figurine. The tailor looked impressed with Bilbo's knowledge of fabrics and fashion and was happy to customize the clothes to his specifications. The breaking point came during the payment.

"No. No, no, no," Bilbo said when the man informed him that he would be happy to make his clothes for free. "Absolutely not. I have more than enough money to pay for the clothes I ordered and I would hate it if you thought that I came to Dale to get stuff for free."

The tailor looked unhappy.

"You have done so much for this city. We all thought that the city should repay back at least some of what you have given us."

"No." Bilbo shook his head resolutely. "The gold I gave to Bard was a gift. I had no use for it five years ago and I still don't need it today." His expression softened when he saw the tailor's disappointment. "Sir, I know how much work it takes to make the clothes that I ordered from you. I would feel terrible if you had to work for free. Please let me pay for my order."

The tailor sighed.

"Very well. You are as bad a King Bard in this. I make clothes for him, too, and he always insists on paying the full price, even though I would be more than happy to make his clothes for free, just for the sheer prestige."

The price he told Bilbo was still lower than it should have been, but Bilbo didn't want to argue with him anymore. Instead of counting out the money, he simply placed a small money bag on the counter and left the shop, satisfied with the knowledge that the contents of the bag should be more than enough to cover all the tailor's expenses.

As soon as he reached the marketplace, he was ambushed from all sides by a crowd of enthusiastic well-wishers, who all wanted to express their thanks for his gift to the city. It made him feel highly awkward and even though all the people meant well, he couldn't help but feel a bit smothered by all the attention.

Bilbo refused all their offers of favours and gifts, only accepting a small bouquet of dried lavender from one of the little girls. One of the children even tried to give him a golden paper crown. He couldn't help but ask: "Why are you giving me this? I'm not a king."

The child's mother gave him a look.

"You may not be, but you're as good and generous as one. Please, accept it."

Her little boy made pleading eyes at him for long enough until Bilbo allowed him to place the paper crown on his head. A cheer went up through the crowd at that and Bilbo couldn't help but smile a little, shaking his head in exasperation.

"Please, no more gifts!" he cried when more well-wishers came forth. "I just came here today to buy some clothes. Thank you for all your gifts and best-wishes, but I really must be going, if I want to be on time for lunch."

They reluctantly let him go, but a few of the children followed him all the way to the gates of Dale, waving goodbye when he left the city. Bofur hadn't said a word the whole time, but looked like he was having a lot of fun watching Bilbo's predicament. Every time the dwarf's eyes slid towards the paper crown on Bilbo's head, his lips twitched.

"Go ahead, laugh at me if you want," Bilbo told him, resigned. The dwarf chuckled all the way to Erebor, much to Bilbo's chagrin.

Since they had no shopping bags and lunch was already underway when they arrived to the entrance hall, they decided to head straight for the dining hall. Bilbo took care to remove the crown at the first sign of Erebor's gates, but he still didn't manage to avoid the inevitable teasing.

"How was your shopping trip?" Balin asked them when they both sat down at the table.

Bilbo frowned at the question, but Bofur grinned and pulled the paper crown out of Bilbo's jacket pocket. He carefully straightened it out and put it on Bilbo's head, ignoring the hobbit's glare.

"The citizens of Dale have decided to crown Bilbo their new king," Bofur announced gleefully. Bilbo promptly reached up and removed the crown from his head, stuffing it back into his pocket with a scowl.

"I'm never going to Dale again," he muttered, turning back to his leg of pork. He didn't have to look up to know that all the dwarves were now staring at him. He decided to ignore them all.

"Oh, this should be interesting," he heard Kíli say with far too much enthusiasm.

Bofur was all too eager to recount their visit to the city of Dale, taking special care to describe all the praises the people had heaped on the hobbit. Through it all Bilbo just sat there and ate, scowling at his plate, until he couldn't stand it any longer.

"Oh, for Valar's sake, I'm not replacing Bard, or any other king for that matter," he burst out when Bofur finished, which caused the dwarves around him to start snickering. He gave them a weak glare. "The people of Dale have all gone mad. I think I'm going to avoid the city for the next ten years until they forget about me."

"Is it really so bad?" Fíli asked. Bilbo sighed.

"It's not bad, just terribly embarrassing. I can't even buy a scarf without ten people trying to thank me." He shook his head. "Everything was much easier before the memorial, when nobody paid any attention to me. But Bard had to go and make that ridiculous announcement and now nobody will leave me alone. Why they have to make such fuss over a bit of gold, I have no idea."

He saw the dwarves exchange amused glances, but he quickly stopped paying attention to them, returning to his meal.

Confound Bard and his conviction that Bilbo's gift hadn't been properly appreciated, Bilbo thought as he walked back to his quarters, the paper crown still in his pocket. He had no need for all this fuss.

°O°O°O°

The package with his clothes arrived a week later, carried by the tailor's young apprentice. Bilbo gave the lad a silver coin for his troubles and the boy went away, looking far more enthusiastic than a simple delivery would warrant. Bilbo carried the burly package to the bedroom where he put it on the bed to unwrap it. He was very pleased to find that all the clothes looked exactly as he had wanted them and all appeared to be the right size.

He was almost ready to just leave the pile where it was and sort through the clothes more closely later, when he noticed a flat wrapped parcel buried under all the other clothes. Bilbo drew it out, curious. What could it be? He tugged at the strings tied around the paper and pulled the wrappings apart to discover a beautiful winter coat made out of snow-white fur. He ran a gentle hand over the soft fur, feeling puzzled. He didn't recall ordering anything like this from the tailor.

Before he could ponder the mystery of the coat any further, there was a loud knock on this door. He laid the garment back on the bed and went to answer the door. To his surprise he discovered Dís standing on the other side. The dwarf woman didn't wait for him to invite her in, simply walked inside, where she kept giving him a pointed look until he remembered to close the door behind her.

Bilbo closed the door, feeling completely out of his element. Why was she here? Dís rarely talked to him and never visited his quarters. To have her visit him so suddenly was certainly unexpected. Luckily for Bilbo, he didn't have to wait long to discover the reason for her visit.

"I've had enough of this," she began in a firm voice, deepening Bilbo's confusion.

"I beg you pardon?" Bilbo asked. She spun around to face him.

"I have watched you dance around each other for months now and I have run out of patience. Either reject him, or start courting properly, but this half-arsed masquerade you two are playing is starting to get really annoying."

Dís put her hands on her hips, staring Bilbo down. Bilbo felt utterly lost. He blinked a few times, trying to make some sense of her words.

"I am sorry, what? What are you talking about?"

"You and Thorin, of course," she said like it was obvious. When she saw his ongoing bafflement, her stern gaze softened a bit. She blew out a small breath and shook her head in disbelief. "If you were someone else, I would think you were just leading him on and playing dumb about it, but you are far too honest for that. I'm now forced to believe that my sons were right in their assessment after all. You really have no idea what I'm talking about, do you?"

Bilbo shook his head. Dís ran a hand through her hair, deliberating her next move. Finally she turned her piercing gaze back on Bilbo, making him feel like she was staring into his very soul.

"Very well," she said. "I have no bet placed in the pool, so I might as well tell you, because you are utterly hopeless and Mahal knows that my brother is much too honourable to break traditions for something as insignificant as his own happiness:

"Thorin loves you."

She gave Bilbo a few seconds for the piece of information to sink in before she continued.

"He has been in love with you for months, which is part of the reason why he's been so insufferable to be around. Since you arrived, he has been trying to court you subtly, but apparently that subtlety was completely lost on you. He is almost ready to give up, because he is convinced that you do not return his regard."

Bilbo let out a breath of disbelief, sitting down into one of his armchairs when the full force of what he'd been told finally caught up to him.

"He loves me?" He gave her a bewildered look. "Why did nobody tell me? I had absolutely no idea. I thought he was just being friendly to compensate for the way he had treated me in the past."

Dís shook her head in exasperation over his reaction.

"Honestly, you men are all so clueless. Thorin is a fool in love, and unless I am much mistaken, he couldn't be more wrong about you."

Her gaze on Bilbo suddenly sharpened, making him freeze like a rabbit stalked by a wolf.

"I will only ask this once, so I want you to give me an honest answer: Do you love my brother? If you do not, you should end this charade once and for all before he goes and makes a fool of himself in public."

It took all of Bilbo's willpower to continue holding her gaze.

"I like him," he admitted finally, "very much. I am not sure if I am in love with him yet, but I'm well on my way there. I tried not to get my hopes up too much, because I believed that he would never be interested in me after the rejection."

"You really are a pair of idiots." Dís appeared torn between exasperation and amusement. "I think you deserve each other, since you are both equally clueless. If I hadn't decided to have this conversation with you, you would have both continued to mope around Erebor for the next twenty years."

"But he never said anything!" Bilbo protested. "He never told me that he's interested in me. How was I supposed to know?"

"He never said anything to you, because he couldn't," Dís explained. "In our customs, it is forbidden to continue pursuing someone after they had already rejected you. The only reason why nobody was scandalised by his behaviour is because nobody knew that you had already refused a proposal from him in the first place."

"I had no idea about any of this," Bilbo said. "I even asked Bofur about dwarven courting customs, but he told me that there has to be a declaration of intent for the courting to start."

Dís grimaced.

"Thorin was trying to find a way around the tradition and was hoping that he could make you like him enough to approach him yourself. I see now that the only thing he managed to accomplish was to confuse you." She pinned him with the gaze again. "You really do like him then? You won't change your mind in the future?"

"No." Bilbo gave a decisive shake of his head. "No, I'm pretty sure that I will not change my mind. It took me a long time to start liking him, but now that I do, I don't plan to ever stop. I have spent long weeks convinced that I would never have anything with him, so to hear you say that he loves me is more than I have ever hoped for."

Bilbo stood up.

"Since you are already here, you might as well tell me what you think about my birthday gift for him."

He went to one of the nearby cupboards and took out the large pile of folded fabric that he had been working on for the last three weeks. He laid it on the table and gestured for Dís to take a look at it.

"I am planning to give this to Thorin. Do you think he will like it?"

Dís grasped the edges of fabric with her hands and shook it out, her eyes widening when she saw the embroidery on the cloak.

"This must have taken a lot of work."

Bilbo nodded.

"Almost a month. It's still not finished, but the rest of the work shouldn't take more than a few days. Do you think it's appropriate?"

"This is a kingly gift," she said, laying the fabric carefully over an armchair, so that she could run a careful hand over the golden patterns. "How did you know the right size?"

"I convinced Kíli to let me take his measurements," Bilbo admitted. "He and Thorin are close enough in size for a cloak."

"Oh?" Dís raised an eyebrow. "And how did you convince my son to keep secret about this?"

"I bribed him with apple pies," Bilbo said with a smile. "He doesn't know that I'm making a cloak, only that I wanted to sew something. He probably has some idea that I'm making something for Thorin, but he likes Thorin too much to spoil the surprise for him."

"So he does," Dís said quietly. He turned her gaze back on him. "You surprise me. You didn't know that my brother likes you, and yet you were willing to make this for him. How would you justify giving him something like this?"

Bilbo lowered his gaze to the cloak before him.

"I had planned to approach him eventually and confess everything, with the full expectation that he would refuse me. Hearing this from you gives me hope that it may go well after all."

"I would go to him as soon as possible, if I were you," she told him. "He's been driving me spare for days now. The sooner you two get together, the better."

She smiled suddenly, a genuine smile that lit up her eyes from the inside. Bilbo felt his breath catch when he saw it. No wonder Dís has so many admirers, he thought in wonder, any man would fall over his own feet for a smile like that. He smiled back.

"I am glad you like him," she said. "My brother may have many faults, the chief of them being his pride and stubbornness, but has a good heart, even if it may not seem like it sometimes. I had long hoped that he would find someone he could love, but nobody had ever caught his eye. You seem to be the only exception. I had wondered at his taste at first, but now I see that he has chosen well." Her eyes narrowed. "If you hurt him..."

Bilbo hastened to reassure her, raising his hands in front of him like a shield.

"You will make mincemeat out of me, I know. I have seen you with a sword and have only the utmost respect for your fighting abilities."

She nodded.

"Good. Then we understand each other."

"We do." He gave her a heart-felt smile. "Thank you for doing this. I really appreciate it."

"Don't disappoint me," her gaze still had the appearance of sternness, but there was warmth in it as well when she looked at him. "If you do this well, I will be happy to welcome you into the family."

She made her way to the door, but paused with her hand on the handle.

"By the way, everyone thinks that you two have been courting for weeks." And with that she turned and strode out of the door, leaving Bilbo gaping after her.

Weeks?

He returned to his bedroom, where the mysterious fur coat still lay on the bed where he had left it. Bilbo lifted it slowly, taking in all the details. As the folds of the fabric parted, a small piece of parchment fell out. Bilbo laid down the coat and reached for the note, his heart picking up beat when he saw the familiar spiky writing.

I hope you will find this coat to your liking.

Yours,

Thorin

Well, Bilbo thought, a wide smile spreading on his face, he would have probably figured this out on his own sooner or later anyway.

°O°O°O°

"So, what's the bet?" Bilbo asked Fíli and Kíli when they came for a visit after lunch.

They both looked at him with identical looks of horror, which they promptly tried to smooth out into cool nonchalance. Fíli was a little more successful in his attempt than Kíli, but neither of them quite managed to cover their surprise at Bilbo's sudden knowledge. They both looked like they had been caught with their hand in a cookie jar. It amused Bilbo to no end.

That's what they get for trying to keep important things from me, he thought as he watched them squirm in their armchairs. Bilbo had decided to put off his confrontation with Thorin for a bit longer and gather some information instead. He had been left in the dark for long enough. If he was to make an offer to Thorin, he should have as much advantage at his side as he could. Information was a powerful weapon, if one knew how to wield it.

Since neither of them appeared willing to be the first to betray the secret, he tried again.

"I know that there i's a bet about me and Thorin that apparently everyone except for me knew about. So, spill. What is it?" When the silence continued, he gave them a hurt look. "I thought you were my friends, but now I'm having my doubts."

His tactic, however underhanded, worked like a charm. Kíli wiggled in his seat a bit, before he burst out, carefully not looking at his brother:

"We wanted to tell you, but couldn't, because we would have lost the bet if we told you anything."

Bilbo raised an eyebrow. Kíli grinned.

"Besides, we were having too much fun watching you two dance around each other to spoil it."

"We almost lost the bet anyway," Fíli gave his brother a half-hearted glare, "because Kíli here decided that it would be hilarious to meddle in your affairs."

"I only tried to make Thorin a little jealous, Kíli protested."Instead, I nearly caused him to give up on you, because he thought I was being serious," Kíli made a face.

"So, what is the bet?" Bilbo said, sitting down into one of the free armchairs. "Since I already know about its existence, I believe you can tell me."

The brothers exchanged a look, before Fíli gave Kíli a nod. The dark haired dwarf turned back to Bilbo.

"Well, since you already know about the bet, I suppose this doesn't really count." He took a breath. "Everyone is betting on when you and Thorin will start courting. A few companions have already lost the bet because they thought that you would be together already." He gave Bilbo a grin. "You two have made some people so frustrated, you have no idea."

"No, I don't." Bilbo sat back in his chair, trying to digest the information. "Are you telling me that everybody is waiting for me to ask him?"

They both nodded.

"Well, technically everybody's been waiting for him to ask you, but since he can't, then yes - everybody's been waiting for you to ask him," Fíli answered.

"Goodness," Bilbo said in deadpan. "Not only do I have the citizens of Dale following me around like puppies, now I also find out that half of Erebor has been betting on the state of my love life." He shook his head in exasperation. "Shire had nothing on this."

"I imagine not," Fíli smiled. Bilbo remembered something.

"Your mother mentioned something about everyone thinking that we have been courting for weeks." He gave them a look of alarm. "That's not true, is it?"

"Well..." Fíli started.

"Mum was here?" Kíli spoke over him. Bilbo nodded.

"She came here before lunch to knock some sense into me. Her visit was very illuminating."

"I can believe that," Kíli muttered.

"Back to your original question," Fíli said. "I am afraid she was right about the rumour. There is indeed a pretty big part of the population that is convinced that you and Thorin have been courting for a while." He made an apologetic face.

"But how?" Bilbo was baffled. "Why would they think that? There was never any announcement, official or not."

"You really have no idea?" Kíli asked. "The announcement is always more of a formality than anything. Even without it there were plenty of things that rumour-hungry gossips could draw their inspiration from."

"Such as?" Bilbo raised an eyebrow.

"Do you need a list?" Kíli gave him a look. When Bilbo nodded, he sighed. "Very well. To start, when you came here, he took you on a tour of the mountain. Plenty of people saw you together back then, which started the speculations in the first place. The news of your banishment killed the rumours for a bit, but after you gave him the tapestry they started up stronger than ever."

"Then he asked you for a dance," Fíli said. At Bilbo's questioning look, he elaborated. "Uncle never dances with anyone. The weaving loom he gave you became a small public secret. Then you had to go and give him that chain with diamonds."

"That was a trade!" Bilbo protested. "He gave me money for it."

"The people who saw you didn't see it that way," Kíli told him. "Bofur saw the whole thing and he confirmed that it hadn't looked like a trade to him, either."

"And then you convinced him to play the harp for you." Fíli sighed. "Thorin hasn't touched a harp since you left. Even a blind orc with a cane would be able to put two and two together after that." He gave Bilbo a look. "We watched you two circle around each other for weeks. You are both really utterly hopeless at this. It's no wonder mum ran out of patience and went to sort you out. Dwalin was almost ready to lock you in a room together."

"Dwalin has been-" Bilbo got a laughing fit, finding the idea that even Dwalin was apparently interested in his private life too ridiculous to comprehend.

"Believe me, I know," Fíli made a sympathetic face. Bilbo tried to get his mirth under control.

"Well, when you put it like this, it really sounds like we are both incredibly dense when it comes to this."

"You are," Kíli nodded gleefully. "It was quite entertaining to watch at first, but got frustrating really quickly."

"What are you going to do now?" Fíli asked.

"I am going to talk to Thorin," Bilbo said. "I would have arrived at this point eventually anyway, your mother just helped to speed the process up a bit. I just wanted to talk to you beforehand to confirm if the rumours are true."

"They are." Fíli nodded. "Thorin is incredibly lucky that you like him even after all the things he has put you through, or this would be a huge embarrassment for him. The local dwarves are expecting an announcement any day and have been growing increasingly confused by Thorin's silence."

Bilbo sat back, shaking his head.

"I had no idea about any of this."

"I think it was better this way," Kíli said. He gave Bilbo a searching look. "You are going to start courting, right?"

Bilbo smiled.

"Yes. If everything goes well with Thorin, there should be an announcement soon. At least, that's what I'm hoping for," he added. "There is always the possibility that Thorin will turn me down." He stood up, silencing their protests with a look. "Will you wish me luck?"

"Of course," they both said. Kíli jumped from his chair and gave Bilbo an enthusiastic hug.

"Good luck."

Fíli stepped forward to do the same.

"We will keep our fingers crossed for you," he said when he pulled back. "Not that you will need it. Uncle will trip over his own feet the moment he sees you."

Bilbo still had his doubts, but left them to their conviction. He decided that he would go to Thorin after dinner. If he were to be rejected, it was better if nobody saw his walk of shame back to his rooms. Since there was still plenty of time until the evening, he made some tea and hosted the dwarves for the rest of the afternoon.

He listened to their chatter and chuckled at their jokes, but inwardly couldn't help but count every minute.

Evening couldn't come fast enough.

To be continued...

AN: Thank you all for the support you continue to give me. I am so happy that you like the story :)

Only two chapters to go now before the story is finished. Yay!

The next chapter will be posted on October 10.