Ann hopped off Fili's back and groaned. "I'm hungry."

Kili sighed and knocked on the door.

"Really? What about the bread I bought you in town?" Fili smirked amusedly at her.

"I already ate those, a while back, and I'm huungryy." Ann placed the back of her hand against her forehead and pretended to swoon. "I might starve to death."

"There'll be food at the meeting, and lots of it." Fili grinned.

The door opened and a confused looking short person stepped into view. "Oh no."

"Fili."

"And Kili.

"At your service." They bowed together leaving Ann and Jane to fend for themselves.

"I'm Ann Marie."

"I'm Mary Jane."

"Nice to meet you." Ann high fived Jane and smiled.

"You must be Mr. Boggins." Kili said.

"Nope, you can't come in, you've come to the wrong house, there's to be no dwarf party here." He hurried to shut the door, but Ann giving an undignified scoff jammed the door open with her foot and propped it open.

"Nope. Your answer isn't accepted. I was promised food, and I'm not leaving without it." To prove her point Ann sat in the doorway.

"Has it been canceled?" Kili asked.

"Doesn't matter I'm still not going to leave." Ann said from the doorway.

"No nothing has been canceled, and please do stand up, it's disconcerting to have a lady sitting on my doorstep."

Ann stood up, stretched, set her pack down in the hall and started to wonder about the house.

"Be careful with these." Fili unloaded his knives and various weapons onto Boggins.

"Where is the bathroom?" Jane asked politely. "And don't mind those guys, and of course Ann. They mean well. Do you want any help?"

Boggins looked flustered. "No, it's quite alright."

"Just unexpected, I know the feeling." Jane smiled warmly. "The bathroom then?"

"Fourth room on the right, Jane was it?"

"Yeah, and thanks." Jane strolled away.

"Hey look at this. The pantry! Food!" Ann grinned and looked around on the shelves.

"Excuse me miss. Who're you, an what is your business in this establishment?" A dwarf with white hair and a surprisingly long beard stepped out from behind a shelf with a taller darker haired dwarf behind him.

"Oh hullo, I'm a friend." Ann waved. "HEY FILI!" Fili hurried into the pantry, which was cramped with four people now in it. "Do you know these people?"

"Oh these are my relatives." Fili said nonchalantly.

"Well where's the food?" Ann crossed her arms. "You think I'm going to wait for the throng to arrive?"

"What did you tell her of our meeting?" The dark haired dwarf said threateningly.

"Nothing, which was annoying." Ann faced the shelves and started rummaging around the food. "But he's nice."

"How did you meet her?" The dark haired dwarf continued as if Ann wasn't even there.

"Excuse me." Shadows gathered in Ann's eyes. "I don't care if you're his uncle or whatever, but you will acknowledge me as a person, bub. I hungry, and there's no more biscuits left! What the hell? You're being rude! You didn't introduce yourself, and haven't expected the common courtesies that are expected! Really now, it's not okay." Ann exhaled loudly and grabbed something off the shelf.

"Hello, my name is Ann." She folded her arms and glared at Fili, who seemed to wilt under her gaze. "And Fili here had better find me some rum."

Fili scurried off and Ann directed her gaze to the to dwarves who looked slightly surprised.

"My name is Balin." The white haired dwarf said at last. "And this is my brother Dwalin."

"At your service." Dwalin said gruffly.

"Well then. Now that's done, I'm going to walk around and figure out why you all are here." Ann nodded at Balin.

"Lass, that'll be covered soon enough." Balin spoke. "We must wait till our head comes to convene but we will answer your questions if you answer ours."

"Fair enough." Ann turned and walked away, passing Fili who was walking into the pantry with two tankards.

"Perfect!" Ann laughed and grabbed one. "Come sit with me."

They didn't sit for long. They were joined by more, introduced by Fili who names Ann forgot the instant they were spoken. They moved tables, and Jane needed help with preparing the food. So Ann recruited dwarves to help. It was a switching game of follow the leader between Fili and Ann.

Soon they were laughing and joking around. Fili was carting food out of the pantry and Kili was in the kitchen, supposedly he made a mean pork chop.

"Stop, nope, you can't have those, no wait!" Poor old Boggins.

"Mr. Boggins, how do you expect us to feast without food?" Ann groaned.

"It's Bilbo if you please, and no one told me about a feast!"

"Mr. Bilbo, we are having a feast with eleven dwarves, two girls, and a really tall wizard guy named Gandalf, and of course our star host, you!"

"Thank you for such a long notice." Bilbo chuckled dryly.

"You're very welcome! Now come, join in with the festivities, it's going to be great." Ann grinned and walked toward the kitchen, where she bumped into Gandalf.

"Come, we need to talk." He gripped her jacket- "Hey what're you-" and dragged her outside, where Jane was already sitting on a porch chair.

"How did you get here?" Gandalf blew a smoke ring on his pipe.

"Well we don't really-" Jane began, twiddling her fingers nervously.

"I think we might've died." Ann deadpanned. "Because the one forger's wife gave me this." Ann took the necklace out from under her shirt revealing the thirteen vials. "She said something about death traveling."

"That we shall see." Gandalf said vaguely. "That necklace is to keep you anchored to a certain realm. These powders will keep you anchored to Middle Earth."

"Did you bring us here?" Jane questioned. "Regular people can't death walk, can they?"

"Only mages can." Gandalf nodded.

"Well that's great." Ann stuck her jaw out. "Come out Fili."

Fili walked out of the bush, with a guilty frown on his face.

"Swear on your honor that you will tell noone that I wish not them to know." Ann crossed her arms.

"I swear."

"Alright then help us figure out how to get us to come with you." Ann laughed. "Trust fall!" Ann through herself back at Fili, who caught her at the last moment, his reflexes almost failing.

"What was that?" Fili set Ann straight up. "You could've hurt yourself."

"But I trusted you to catch me, like I'm going to trust you from now on."

Jane started laughing. "She's going to do that randomly from now on."

"Great." Fili muttered good naturedly.

They walked back into the house, where the dwarves were just sitting down to eat.

"Here mister Gandalf." A dwarf with braided white hair handed him a glass of wine. "It's got a fruity bouquet."

They started eating and laughing. No one but Dwalin had a problem with the Dunmall twins being there.

"So how did you meet up with those two?" Dwalin glared at Ann.

"Oh, so Fili and Kili come out of nowhere and shove me and Jane into the river, almost drowning us." Fili started choking. Ann barely paused.

"That's not how it happened." Fili choked out. Kili kind of just sat there looking amused.

"You're right." Ann nodded in his direction. "Then they captured us and forced us to listen to their horrible jokes. Like why was the bakers business toast? Because his bakery burnt down."

A few guffaws were heard around the table, and Fili continued to choke, and Kili burst out laughing.

Ann grinned "So my twin and I-"

"Wait, you are twins?" A red headed dwarf asked.

"Yeah. Same mum and all." Jane nodded.

There were mumbles about good luck and someone asked when they were born.

"June thirteenth, under the blessing of the Gemini zodiac, am I wrong?" Gandalf leaned forward.

"No, you're right, how did you know though?" Jane said keeping her words flat and guarded.

"It's a sign of great luck!" Fili burst out. "You are a good luck charm, meant to see our quest succeed!"

There was cheering around the table.

"What happened after they kidnapped you lass?" Balin asked amusedly.

"They forced us to eat their horrible food." Jane added. "Kili's days were the worst.

Aye's were heard around the table.

"Then they tried to ditch us." Ann shrugged. "But we came here to exact our revenge."

"What'll that revenge be?" Someone said good naturedly.

"To put up with us the entire journey." Ann laughed.

Then Ann let the others talk, and listened while scarfing down food as fast as she could.

When all the food was gone (all except the ale of course!) The group stood up and started throwing the plates glasses and silverware around.

The dwarves still at the table began pounding on it with their knives and fists.

"Hey, stop that!" Bilbo came barging in carrying a doily. "You'll blunt them."

"Ooh d'hear that lads? He says we'll blunt the knives." The one that Ann thought was Bofur said.

Fili pulled her to the side of the sink next to Jane and Kili.

And with that they started singing.

"Blunt the knives, bend the forks

Smash the bottles and burn the corks

Chip the glasses and crack the plates

That's what Bilbo Baggins hates!

Cut the cloth and tread on the fat

Leave the bones on the bedroom mat

Pour the milk on the pantry floor

Splash the wine on every door

Dump the crocks in a boiling bowl

Pound them up with a thumping pole

When you've finished, if any are whole

Send them down the hall to roll

...

That's what Bilbo Baggins hates!"

Everything was cleaned perfectly and put away nicely. The look on Bilbo's face was priceless.

Ann laughed, this was fun! Leaning against Fili, she realized that traveling with the dwarves might not be too hard.

Then, there were three hard resounding knocks on the door, as if the person knocking realized those inside might not hear him over the festivities.

The room fell silent, and at last Gandalf said "He is here."

"Who's here?" Ann faced Fili, who looked like he was excited and dreading the person at the door.

"My uncle."

Fili's uncle was tall for a dwarf, and therefore taller than Ann and Jane (sadly).

"Gandalf." He entered the house. "I thought you said this place was easy to find, I wouldn't have found it at all if the mark on the door wasn't there."

"What mark? There's no mark on my door." Bilbo crossed his arms and looked at Gandalf.

There was a semi-awkward silence. "There is a mark on your door, I put it there myself. Bilbo Baggins allow me to introduce you to Thorin Oakenshield, head of this company."

Ann would've sworn Thorin smirked. "So this is our Hobbit. Have you any skill with a blade?"

"Pardon?" Ann sighed. She knew Thorin's type, they would walk over anyone and everyone who doesn't adhere to their will.

"Axe or sword, what's your weapon of choice?" Ann's blood began to boil.

"I have some skill at conkers, if you must know. But I fail to see what that's relevant."

"I thought as much." Thorin said to the rest of the group. "He looks more like a grocer than a burglar.

"And you look more like a vagabond than a king trying to reclaim his throne." Jane stepped in front of Thorin.

A pregnant silence filled the room.

"You can do that to people when you're in your own home Thorin Oakenshield, but right now you're in his." Ann stepped next to Jane. "He is your host, and you will treat him as such." Her voice rang with authority.

"And who might you be? Which cat dragged you in?" Thorin frowned at them.

"I'm Jane and this is Ann."

"And I think that Fili and Kili think of themselves as hounds not cats." Ann nodded. "But in the meantime, you have business to discuss, do you not?"

Thorin sat down and ate, while the rest of the company talked to him.

"What news from Ered Luin?" Someone said.

Fili eased into the chair beside Ann. "You shouldn't have done that." He whispered fearfully. "There's no force here that could make him bring you with him now."

"Jane will clever us into it." Ann's complete trust in Jane astounded Fili.

"Alright then." Fili settled down.

Gandalf was spreading out a map. "Far to the East over Ranges and Rivers beyond woodland and wasteland, lies a single solitary peak."

"The lonely mountain. "Bilbo said softly leaning over Gandalf's shoulder to read the map.

"Aye, Oin has read the portents, and the portents say it's time!"

"Ravens are returning to the mountain, as it is foretold. When the birds of yore return to Erebor, the reign of the beast will end." Oin said knowledgeably.

"What beast?" Bilbo said shakily.

"Ah, that would be reference to Smaug the terrible, chiefest and greatest calamity of our age. Airborne, teeth like razors. claws like meat hooks, extremely fond of precious metals-"

"Uh, yes, I know what a dragon is." Bilbo stuck his thumbs into his his trouser pockets.

"I'm not afraid! I'll give him a taste of dwarvish righ-"

"Sit down!"

"The task would be difficult with an army ahead of us. But we number just thirteen."

"Excuse me seventeen, or are you just counting dwarves?" Ann muttered.

"And we aren't the thirteen brightest nor best."

"Who are you callin dim?"

"You want a piece of me?"

"Watch it!"

It's amusing really, to see a group of dwarves break out yelling and cursing at each other.

"We may be few in number." Fili stood up and pounded his fist on the table. "But we are fighters, down to the very last dwarf."

"And we have the wizard Gandalf! He'll have killed hundreds of dragons in his time!" Kili shouted enthusiastically. Everyone turned to stare at Gandalf.

"Oh well know, I wouldn't say that, I-" Gandalf looked awkward, being put on the spot.

"How many then?"

"What?"

"Yeah, give us a number!"

"Hm."

"Quiet!" Thorin bellowed. "If we have read the signs, do you not think that others will have read them too?" He pounded his fist on the table, though the room was already silent. "Rumours have begun to spread. The dragon Smaug has not been seen for 60 years. Eyes look east to the Mountain, assessing, wondering, weighing the risk. Perhaps the vast wealth of our people now lies unprotected. Do we sit back while others claim what is rightfully ours? Or do we seize this chance to take back Erebor?"

At this the dwarves started cheering.

"You forget the front gate is sealed, there is no way into the mountain." Balin said silencing the room again.

"That, my friend Balin, isn't entirely true." Gandalf twiddled a key between his fingers.

"How came you by this?" Thorin asked his fingers twitching, as if he was struggling not to snatch it right out Gandalf's hands.

"It was given to me for safekeeping by your father Thrain, for safekeeping. It is now yours." gandalf barely held the key out to Thorin, when it was snatched out of his fingers by Thorin.

"If there's a key there must be a door." Fili said in awe.

"Great observation Fili." Ann deadpanned.

"Dwarf doors are impossible to see when closed." Gandalf took a breath on his pipe."The answer lies in the map, but I have not the skill to find it. There are those who can, but the task that lies ahead requires stealth and no small amount of luck. But if we are clever and careful. It can be done."

"That's why we need a burglar too!" Someone said.

"A pretty good one too, I reckon." Bilbo rocked back on his heals and stuck his thumbs in his belt loops.

"And are you?" Gloin asked.

"Am I what?" Bilbo's eyebrows furrowed.

"He's an expert!" Someone called amidst loud cheering.

"M-me? No, no, no, no, no, no! I've never stolen a thing in my life." Bilbo looked skittish.

"I'm afraid I'm going to have to agree with Mister Baggins." Balin sighed. "He's hardly burglar material."

"Aye the wild is no place for those who can't fight or fend for themselves." Dwalin nodded.

Ann sighed as a squabble broke out in between the dwarves.

Shadows crawled across the room toward Gandalf. "Enough! If I say Bilbob is a burglar, then a burglar he is." The room was dead silent, and Ori looked like he was going to cry.

"Hobbits are remarkably light on their feet. In fact, they can pass unseen by most if they choose. And while the dragon is accustomed to the smell of dwarf, the scent of hobbit is all but unknown to him, which gives us a distinct advantage. You asked me to find the fourteenth member of this company, and I have chosen Mr. Baggins. There's a lot more to him than appearances suggest, and he's got a great deal more to offer than any of you know, including himself. You must trust me on this."

"Did you know that in our language that four has a second meaning." Firelight flickered onto Jane's face.

"What is it?" Thorin sat back.

"Death by the most gruesome way possible. One that is reserved for traitors, oath breakers. One that doesn't even show itself in your nightmares." Ann's face twisted into a smile.

"Well that's great." Kili muttered. "I guess we're all going to die then."

Then ensued a nervous chatter, in which people tried to figure out the pros and cons of having fourteen.

"Hold on a minute. You said it had been sixty years, what if the door collapsed? Or would smaug know about it? Would he expect us and have ruined the entrance?" Ann leaned forward. "How more importantly are you going to get there? If I've even one clue about what goes on here, I know that the path to Erebor is just as dangerous as the dragon."

"That's why we'll have to bring you as advisors." Fili nodded as if the matter had been settled. "We'll have sixteen, a number of great luck."

"And they're both very knowledgeable." Kili added.

"A fine addition they'll make." Gandalf too nodded.

"Fine we'll do it your way." Thorin ground his teeth together. "We are taking the grocer and the two girls."

"What?" Bilbo, who had been silent jumped forward.

"Give him the contract."

"Please." Bilbo was handed a long scroll of parchment and was pushed out into the hallway.

"It's just the usual summery, out of pocket expenses, remuneration, funeral arrangements, so forth."

"Funeral arrangements?" Looking a bit queasy, Bilbo began to read the contract.

"I cannot guarantee their safety." Thorin muttered to Gandalf.

"But you won't need to. I can defend myself." Ann stood up and stood next to Thorin, whose height seem to have no effect on Ann.

"I see no weapons upon you." Thorin crossed his arms and looked down on her.

"I only need my razor sharp wit." Anna lifted her chin. "The rest I can acquire on the way."

"You have gold?" Thorin was starting to smirk.

"I have more valuable things." Anna nodded.

"An example if you would?"

"Knowledge." Ann tapped her forehead.

"Prove it." Thorin grinned at her. Ann however, didn't cower under his gaze.

"Jane get the things." Ann grinned.

Jane's chair scraped back agonizingly slowly. "On it."

Jane went to the kitchen and carried two bowls back out. One was full of white salt like grains, and a whitish liquid.

"We will now make an explosion." Ann took the liquid, and haphazardly dumped it into the grains.

It immediately began to froth and foam, white bubbles bursting out and spilling onto the table.

"But wait we can do the other thing with the-"

"No I think we're good." Fili looked at them with brows raised.

"It's science, not magic. Like how water when exposed to heat bubbles, vinegar and baking soda do the same thing."

"Oh. Alright." Thorin nodded.

"You don't know what we're talking about do you?" Jane chuckled at

Thorin.

"Laceration, evisceration, incineration?" Bilbo said disbelievingly.

"Aye, Smaug will melt the flesh right off yeh." Bofur said nonchalantly.

"Huh." Bilbo was a little pale and breathless.

"You all right laddie?" Balin asked.

"Think giant furnace, with wings." Bofur shrugged.

"Air, I, I need air."

"Flash of light, searing pain, then poof, you're a pile of ash."

"Hmmmm, nope." Bilbo fell onto the floor.

"I don't believe it." Ann laughed. "He fainted."

"He's a fine fellow.: Gandalf said. "Gets queer funny fits, but is as fierce as a dragon in a pinch."

"Where will we depart from?" Jane asked. "And when?"

"Tomorrow, eleven at the green dragon inn." Thorin looked to where Kili and Oin where picking up Bilbo and carrying the Hobbit to his drawing room. "If our burglar is punctual."

"Ten gold says he won't show up." Fili sighed.

"Twenty gold says he will." Ann challenged.

"Aye." Balin nodded "I will take that bet."

"As will I." Fili nodded.

"Five gold says he won't even wake up until morn." Dwalin chuckled darkly.

"Double or nothing." Jane smirked.

"Taken." Dwalin nodded and turned to Thorin.

"I do believe that Bilbo has just woken up." Jane grinned.

"How would you know?" Kili asked sardonically. "You haven't been in there at all."

"Check." Ann grinned.

Kili hurried to check the room and came back with a pale face. "How'd you do that?"

"Pay up." Three sacks of coins were thrown across the room at An and Jane.

"I do believe that you just swindled my men." Thorin watched them from across the table.

"How so?" Ann shrugged. "Dwalin's the one that put it on the table."

Thorin narrowed his eyes and took a sip of his ale.

"Well, I'm going to see what's going on with Bilbo. Care to come with me Fili?" Ann stood up and paused in the doorway.

Fili stood and followed her out into the hallway.

"Listen."

"You've been sitting quietly for far too long." Gandalf's gruff voice was muffled through the door. "Tell me; when did doilies and your mother's dishes become so important to you? I remember a young Hobbit who always was running off in search of elves and the woods, who'd stay out late, come home after dark, trailing mud and twigs and fireflies. A young Hobbit who would have liked nothing better than to find out what was beyond the borders of the Shire. The world is not in your books and maps; it's out there."

"I can't just go running off into the blue on some adventure," Bilbo however sounded unsure. "I am a Baggins of Bag End."

"You are also a Took. Did you know that your great-great-great-great-uncle, Bullroarer Took, was so large he could ride a real horse?" Gandalf just sounded amused.

"Yes." Ann could just imagine Bilbo crossing his arms and sulking like a child.

"Well he could." Gandalf was using his 'I'm wise so I'm better than you voice. "In the Battle of Green Fields, he charged the goblin ranks. He swung his club so hard it knocked the Goblin King's head clean off, and it sailed a hundred yards through the air and went down a rabbit hole. And thus the battle was won, and the game of golf invented at the same time."

"I do believe that you just made that up." Bilbo chuckled.

"You'll have a tale or two to tell of your own to tell when you come back."

"Can you promise that I will come back?" Bilbo's voice was soft.

"No, and when you do, you won't be the same." Gandalf sounded helpless.

"That's what I thought. Sorry, Gandalf I can't take that risk and sign this. You've got the wrong Hobbit."

"It appears we have lost our Hobbit." Balin said. Ann and Fili turned around, startled to see that the rest of the company had joined them.

"I would wait till tomorrow to say that." Jane nodded.

"Probably for the best, the odds were always against us." The group filtered away, some to get more ale, others to get their stuff.

"What are we? Miners, tinkers-"

"Come on. Balin and Uncle need to talk." Fili tugged the confused Ann away from the two, and they walked into the entrance way.

"What are we doing here?" Ann said looking confused.

"Giving you this." Fili handed Ann a small dagger about twice the size of her hand.

"What? Why?"

"If my companions find you bladeless they will think you weak." Fili curled Ann's hand around the hilt.

"No wrong why, why as in, why do you care so much?" Ann looked into his eyes, as if the meaning would be hidden there.

And it wasn't, as always. All Ann saw was green speckled with grey.

"Simply following my heart." Fili turned and gave one last grin back at her before going back into the kitchen, where they were now talking about the route they would take.

Ann imitated her brain exploding with vivid hand gestures. "Thanks for being so clear and reliable everyone, you know how I love those cryptic answers."

Ann stood there a moment and thought about how they were going to get the clothes and such for their journey, obviously the cargo shorts and tee's weren't going to cut it.

Jane popped in the threshold. "Ann we need you in here, there isn't anyone arguing with Thorin."

Ann shook her head, and followed Jane through the hall and into the living room, where the dwarves (Fili and Kili) had cleared away the tables and now there was only a few seats left, six to be precise, seven if you fit two on the loveseat.

Thorin was standing, leaning on the mantle. Fili and Kili were both leaning against the wall. Jane made a beeline for them, and stood next to Kili, while Ann held back a bit. Both Fili and Kili were smoking, and both had (compared to everyone but Thorin at least) exceedingly ornate pipes, Fili's a little more ornate, with bronze thingamajigs, and a word spelled in dwarvish engraved along the top.

Ann strode over to them and leaned against Fili. They stayed there for a moment. Then Thorin started to hum. Soon everyone was humming the same toon, even Fili.

Then came the singing.

Far over the misty mountains cold

To dungeons deep and caverns old

We must away ere break of day

To find our long-forgotten gold

Usually Ann would be pretty creeped out if a bunch of men started singing, but as these are dwarves, and she could feel the vibrations through Fili's chainmail, she was actually quite entranced.

The pines were roaring on the height

The winds were moaning in the night

The fire was red, it flaming spread

The trees like torches blazed with light

Then they stopped singing, and Ann was broken out of her trance, though she didn't stop leaning against Fili.

"D'you really think he's going to give up on an adventure?" Fili puffed out a ring that went under the leg of a chair. "I can't imagine not going."

"It's the opportunity of a lifetime." Ann nodded. "I wouldn't miss it for the world."

"Kili and I almost did." Ann leaned away from him to look up at his face.

"What do you mean?"

"We had quite a time convincing everyone to let us go. Me being the heir and all, and us being so young, our mother almost forbid us to go."

"Aye that's right laddie." Bofur grinned. "You younglings barely know how to swing a sword."

"Care to test that?" Fili raised an eyebrow quizzically, smirking slightly.

"How young are you?" Ann grinned, knowing that she had just defused a bomb. .

"Eighty two and a quarter."Fili looked at her quizzically. "And how old are you and Jane?"

"How old do you think we are?" Jane crossed her arms. "You have to guess."

"And we're not going to make this easy, you have to be within three numbers." Ann grinned.

"Without going over." Jane was doing her 'not quite smile.'

"Seventy four." Kili nodded.

"Eighty." Bofur shook his head.

"No, humans age faster she's sixty." Fili looked as if he had just won the lottery.

"Aye, but she's in her fifties." Balin contributed.

"Seventies." Dwalin grunted. "She's tricking all of you."

There were numerous more shouts of numbers, but none of them came within a decade of their age.

"Would you care to bet on it?" Jane grinned.

"Yes, my final answer is fifty nine." Kili nodded.

"No, sixty eight." Fili smirked.

"All of you were wrong" Ann informed them. "The closest guess was twenty years off."

"So you're a hundred?" Bofur gasped, he had guessed eighty.

"No, we're twenty four." Jane grinned.

There was moaning and claims of 'not fair!' and 'how were we supposed to know?' But what surprised Ann the most is that multiple coin sacks were tossed around, and while Jane and Ann got the majority of them, Balin was tossed some, and the only person who didn't get anything was Bofur.

After the chatter had died down, and the ale was gone. (There were many groans and exclamations that were uttered, well, rather loudly as this was said) The dwarves started to gather their stuff and walk into random rooms.

"Hey look, this one's got a bath!" Gloin (or maybe it was Oin) shouted, and Bilbo came rushing.

"That's my room, thank you, and I would appreciate it if you wouldn't touch anything!"

Ann didn't want to be rude, and just claim a room like everyone else was, but she also didn't want to be stuck with the horrible room.

"Jane what should we do?" Ann whispered, watching as all the dwarves rushed around her with their arms full of three things- weapons, clothes, or provisions.

"We go walk around, the best rooms are on the left." Jane whispered.

"You know how?" Ann rolled her eyes and reluctantly followed as Jane started strolling around.

"That's where the windows are." Jane grinned, clearly pleased that she had figured out this tidbit.

"Well then." Ann and Jane had come to the end of the hall.

"This is the last room huh?" Ann leaned against the doorframe while Jane stood awkwardly in the hall.

"I guess so?" Jane shadowed Ann and leaned over her shoulder.

"How fitting that these two should share it." Ann grinned.

"I call couch."

"Dang it." Ann muttered.

"Wait, you two don't have a room?" Fili was in a undershirt and trousers.

"Take this room." Kili (who was fully dressed) grabbed his stuff and made to go out of the room.

"Nope." Jane stood a little taller.

"Plus Jane and I already called couch." Ann said. Jane went and stood by Kili, both preparing to see their siblings but heads.

"No, Kili and I will take the couch and floor, you two will sleep in here."

"He tried to tell her what to do." Jane grimaced.

"Is that a bad idea?" Kili looked at her innocently.

"Yeah, now she's just going to do the opposite." Jane smiled.

"So either you two sleep in here, or no one does." Ann crossed her arms and looked up at Fili defiantly.

"Well, I'm not sleeping in that bed." Fili crossed his arms.

"I already called the couch, so good luck sleeping on the floor."

"I actually called couch." Jane intervened.

"Quiet child. I'm your elder, I get the couch." Ann didn't break Fili's gaze.

"First one there gets it." Fili was smirking.

"GO!" Ann and Fili raced out the door, shoving Jane and Kili out of the way.

They raced through the hall, and Fili was ahead.

"Bofur, come out into the hall!" Ann shouted.

Bofur strode into the hallway, and Fili had to stop to avoid running into him.

"What the-" Bofur sputtered

"Can't talk." Fili sprinted after Ann.

Ann and Fili went through the doorway into Bilbo's livingroom. The couch was right there, behind the coffee table with a stack of covers on it.

Ann leaped over the coffee table, clearing the covers, while Fili dove for it and knocked them all onto the floor.

They both hit the couch at the same time, and flipped it over onto it's back.

"I touched it first." They chorused.

"No I did." Ann frowned at Fili.

"I think not." Fili frowned back.

"Balin, who touched it first?" Ann turned to the white haired dwarf that was chuckling into his pipe.

"Lass, it was a close one, but, t'was a draw." Balin chuckled.

"Why are you laughing?" Fili crossed his arms. Both Ann and Fili were looking betrayed.

"You two remind me of a time when I was younger and full of love." Balin chuckled and strode out of the room.

"I think what he meant was you two bumbling fools knocked over my couch!" Bilbo walked in, gripping his hair and pulling it.

Ann and Fili both smiled sheepishly and stood up, and soon had the couch righted.

"Sorry Mr. Boggins." Fili muttered.

"Well, atleast it isn't broken." Ann shrugged.

"But it might have been!" Bilbo huffed. "I can't wait until morning." he muttered under his breath.

And with that, Ann shoved Fili off the couch, where he fell into an unceremonious heap.

Jane came through the door, and promptly without a word pushed Ann onto the floor, and Fili.

"Hah, now you have to sleep on the bed." Fili said triumphantly.

"Or sleep on the floor." Ann rolled off of Fili and took a cover off the top of a stack that was strewn all over the floor. She tossed it onto the floor, then grabbed another one, and laid down, draping it over herself.

Jane sighed as Fili too picked up a cover and laid on the ground.

Kili walked in and grinned. "I'll give you the bed, and I can sleep on the couch." He suggested looking at Jane.

"Alright then." Jane smiled stood up and grabbed a cover, and proceed to the end of the hall.

"Really?" Ann sat up. "You traitor!"

"Well, you can't really blame her can you" Kili shrugged putting covers on the couch.

"Yeah I can." Ann layed back down. "That backstabber can face my wrath tomorrow!" Ann shouted. "After breakfast!"

Fili chuckled, and with that they fell into silence, and eventually, sleep.