Chapter 8
The following seven days the company was whispering in the halls and little work got done, until it was finally time for the tasks.
"Thought we could take it in turns, do you want to go first Thorin?" Bilbo asked.
"Better get this over with." Thorin said and Ris jumped up and down.
"Me first! Me first!" She said and Bilbo smiled.
"Alright sweetheart, what do you have in mind?"
"You've got to walk down to the river in your underwear juggling two blue balls and drinking hot brandy at each of the checkpoints." She said and innocently handed him two blue wooden balls. "And don't drop em, or else you gotta start back at the last checkpoint.
"But its the middle of winter."
"That's why your not going into the river, I talked Ki and Ris down from that."
"Thank you Fili." Thorin gritted and stripped to his long underwear, he was shivering within moments as he started to juggle the two blue balls. Bilbo was bent double laughing at the special he made and the company was trying to hide their own laughter, rather unsuccessfully. He took the elevator down to each landing and waited for Thorin with the Princes and Princess, as the rest of Erebor watched around the elevator.
"So what have you got planned for me."
"Wouldn't you like to know." Ris said and Bilbo smiled, ruffling his daughter's hair gently. By the end of Thorin's walk he was blue all over, shivering and staggering, he had only dropped the balls twice. He glared good-naturedly at his nephews as he put on warm clothing.
"Now Bilbo has to make a necklace with wirework and crimping, like the one I made in my gem class." Ris said and held up a necklace that Bilbo had no idea of how to make and Bilbo started crying.
"What's wrong, making a necklace is easy compared to that."
"But I don't know how to." Bilbo wailed and Thorin stared at him.
"You don't know wire work, but you've seen me help Ris with her projects before."
"Its different when your doing it." Bilbo sniffed.
"Its a lot easier than beading, I know I can't help Papa, but I could decide to make a necklace at the same time." Ris said and Bilbo nodded.
"We all can do that." Thorin assured Bilbo and Bilbo felt better.
"Alright lets go to the gem stall, do we need wire?"
"I've got lots of wire, crimps and clasps in my room." Ris said and Bilbo smiled.
"Alright then." Bilbo said and walked into the market, he didn't really know where to start, or what to do, as Fili handed him a pouch of gold.
"Get some clothes and things for the baby too, if you have the time."
"Thanks Fili." Bilbo said and strode off, he walked among the bead sellers, until he found one selling stone beads of multiple colors with silver inlay. "How long does it take to make one of these?"
"A few minutes, I do them myself." The store clerk said and Bilbo smiled, picking out the ones he wanted and grinning when he found the rune that had been carved into his door so many years ago.
"What has this mean?" He asked the merchant and the merchant smiled.
"You mean does, not has. It means one in khudzul, its usually meant to signify places of meeting, or can be used as a means of counting."
"And fourteen?"
"That will be this one." He said and Bilbo smiled, a plan starting to form in his head.
"And is there a rune for always?"
"That one."
"And love?"
"This one."
"And how about B?" Bilbo asked and was shown the right rune. "T and R?" He was shown two more runes. "I need two runes of a dragon, one of a troll, one of a goblin, one of an elf, one of a barrel, one of a dead dragon and one of a wizard."
"Are you making a necklace for your task?" The merchant asked and Bilbo nodded. "Then I am honored that you chose my humble shop." He said with a jovial smile, as Bilbo put to memory what runes meant what. He watched fascinated as the man melted and attached the silver to the stones.
"How do you get it to be the right shape and engrave it?"
"I shape it and then draw on the shaving." The merchant replied and Bilbo nodded. "I've been doing this for seventy years now, it will be quite beautiful when its finished.
"Thank you." Bilbo said and smiled, cocking his head and bowing.
""You don't bow to me, I bow to you."
"There's no nobility among hobbits, that might be necessary for my future husband and daughter, but I'm not about to pretend I'm better than anyone, just because of who I love." Bilbo said with a tight smile and the merchant nodded.
"Well I thank you, for your heartfelt thanks, its a honor to be at your service. What do you plan to do with this once its finished?"
"I'm not really sure, I suppose give it to one of the boys for safe keeping until Ris is responsible enough to not loose it."
"So the product from the task always goes to the assigner of the task?"
"Yes." Bilbo said and the merchant smiled.
"And the family has to pronounce it satisfactory?" He asked and again Bilbo nodded.
"Why?"
"Because this might be cheaper for my daughter's intended and looks like a great deal of fun to boot. I'll get a kick out of having the lad scurry all over Erebor to please me and my relatives, is seven tasks traditional?"
"Not at all, the intendeds assigns the number and picks their champions."
"So my daughter would have to do tasks as well?"
"Well yes, but usually girls and submissive have an easier time of it than dominant boys."
"So your a submissive?"
"That's a personal question and I have no intention of answering. Though I am pregnant and you can draw your own conclusions from that." He added and the dwarf grinned.
"Well you certainly know how to speak like the nobility."
"My family did away with the nobility years ago, but that didn't stop them from still being made Thrain for life. I was trained in the possibility that I might one day become Thrain, but even before the company showed up I had no interest in the position."
"So they are like hobbit kings?"
"Yes somewhat, but whatever they choose to do, has to go through the high, middle and low councils." Bilbo said.
"Sounds entirely too confusing."
"It often does to people who aren't familiar with Hobbit governance." Bilbo said and smiled. "Admittedly some of your ways are mysterious still to me, for example why is giving your family a blow to the head considered a warm welcome?" He asked and the merchant laughed.
"Almost finished, its three silvers for each of the engraved stones, I assumed that you wanted more Azurite and Onyx."
"If you mean the blue and the black ones, yes that's it exactly."
"Alright all told that's five gold, seven silvers." He said and Bilbo paid him.
"Keep the change for your work."
"Much appreciated, but I'll have enough business coming in for a while without. In future don't give extra to a dwarf we find it insulting, you can haggle down though and most do." He said and Bilbo nodded, taking back the silver pieces.
"It was nice talking with you." He said and smiled, before going and buying some simple long silver pieces with hooks on one end, like his daughter used. He then found a nice amount of wood, he had become a passable carver in the years since having his daughter and loosing most of his social status. He also bought some simple blue, black and green stones to inlay the wood and wood varnish. He decided that he would make two sets and Thorin could choose between them. He then found the section for infants and tested some of the clothing.
"Lisia makes the best baby clothes." The merchant said and Bilbo smiled.
"Thank you and I'll be sure to get some there, but they are going to need every day clothes too and underclothing. Your material is made from cotton?"
"Lambs wool and cotton blended, I find it makes a softer weave." She said and Bilbo nodded, making sure the shirts were sturdy, before buying twenty of them in a range of colors and sizes.
"Why do you only have seven colors?"
"For the seven first born sons and the seven guilds." She said and Bilbo nodded. He paid for the baby clothes, before walking to the stall she had pointed out. He smiled at all the adorable little outfits, before getting three baby coats.
"These should last through winter?"
"Take a size up for each, babies like a bit of space my lord." The merchant said and Bilbo nodded.
"Your clothing is very cute, I'll be back after the baby is born and I know if its a little boy or girl." Bilbo said and paid for the warm suits, he already had a blanket made for the baby. Still he found some fur that would look good on the back of it and bought it to stitch on later. He also bought a few soft cuddly toys, he'd have to see if anything from the nursery was still salvageable before buying anything else.
He smiled as he walked back to the elevator and rode up to his rooms. He laughed when he saw Thorin asleep under a pile of blankets on their couch. "You get everything?" Fili asked and set down his book.
"Enough for now." Bilbo said and sat cross-legged pulling out one of the many wire kits Ris had taken to collecting. He had gotten quite a few clasps in order to practice with plain beads.
"Close but its more like this, you loop it then wrap the wire around the looped hole, then add another bead and stick the wire around the hole before wrapping it." He said and Bilbo practiced with the plain beads and copper until he could make them correctly. He then moved back into his room and locked the door, where he worked for the rest of the day, stopping only for food and into the night, when he couldn't see strait, he hid his supplies and crawled into bed next to Thorin, falling asleep quickly.
He woke as Thorin tried to leave the bed quietly the next day and groaned as Thorin sneezed. "I've got a cold."
"Take some of the blue bottle on the shelf." Bilbo said. "It should clear you up right quick."
"Why didn't you use your herb lore on the journey?"
"Because all the herbs I know tend to grow in the Shire, we got these by raven remember?" Bilbo asked and Thorin frowned before nodding. Bilbo smiled at him and kissed his cheek before grabbing his box and going next door. He finished the necklace and went to breakfast. "I have completed my task, a necklace like Princess's Ris' detailing the story of our love, from the moment we met from the moment we are living right now." Bilbo said and smiled at the company, as he took out the necklace and presented it to Fili, Kili and Ris. "I trust that this meets with your approval."
"Its pretty Papa." Ris said. "Look there's me and me again right?"
"Yes Ris, that's you." Bilbo said with a smile. "And here's your sibling." Fili and Kili hadn't said anything yet and he looked anxiously at the boys. "it does meet with your approval doesn't it?"
"Bilbo we never expected you to do anything like this, its amazing and you used the plainer stones, so Thorin could look at it too."
"I did, it belongs to all three of you now, but if you want to give it to Ris, please wait until she's older."
"We'll hang it in the halls of history, if neither of you objects." Fili said and Ris grinned, before nodding, as Kili did the same.
"That's a great idea, but can I see it first?" Dis asked and the necklace was passed around, Bilbo blushed at the praise his friends gave him.
"Please tell me you have some place I can be dry and warm, Bofur, Bombur." Thorin said and Bombur smiled.
"For your next challenge, you will have to defeat me in a pie eating contest."
"My stomach will burst before I do."
"That's why I'm going to be eating five pies, before you have one, to make the odds a bit more even. As for you Bilbo your task will be to bake the pies, with the help of the Princess Ris." Ris grinned.
"I get to help Papa make pies?"
"Thirty should suffice."
"Alright, thirty pies, but is it alright if I have a bit of a nap first?"
"Since when has there been a time limit to this, of course take as long as you need, I'm always hungry. Bombur said and Thorin groaned, the rest of the company and Bilbo burst into laughter. Bilbo went back to bed and slept with Thorin for several more hours, as Thorin said he was tired too.
He then went into the kitchens, which had gotten together a wide variety of fruit, some of which was puzzling to Bilbo. Ris was hopping with excitement, wearing a huge apron. "Alright Ris, you remember how to make pie crust right?" Bilbo asked and watched as she made the crust for the pie and he did the same in his own bowl, until they had seven pie pans filled. "Now what sounds good to you?"
"Apple pie!" Ris said and Bilbo smiled, peeling coring and cutting the apples, before adding cinnamon and sugar to the bowl and filling several pies and putting more pie crust on top. "Smells yummy."
"Ris its not even cooked yet, don't stick your fingers into the bowl until we're done, we've got another batch yet." Bilbo said and made a second batch of apple pies, before going on to making five blueberry and five strawberry.
"Make lemon pie Papa." Ris said and Bilbo smiled, making lemon meringue took longer than the other pies, but he was quite proud of his recipe. He decided that while he was making it, the rest might as well be lemon. The first batch came out and he put in the second and then the third.
"Lets make seven more." Bilbo said and Ris clapped her hands.
"I want blueberry and chocolate and seed cakes."
"Cakes aren't pie, but we can still make them." Bilbo said, enjoying the time with his daughter and off his feet. He made ten more pies and five large seed cakes before ringing a bell, which set off a chain reaction that surprised Bilbo. People swarmed from all around and put the pies and cakes on the high table. "Save some chocolate for me please, Daddy, Uncle Bombur."
"Bilbo I told you to only make thirty, didn't I?"
"Ris likes her pie don't, you Ris and it was so much fun, wasn't it my girl?"
"Yeah! I got to choose the flavors."
"You did a good job, you passed your challenge, and so you want some chocolate left, what else Ris?"
"Blackberry, but I'll only have a piece of both right Papa?"
"Yes, remember the blackberry incident?" Bilbo said and Ris nodded. "That's why you shouldn't eat pie unless you can hold it in."
"Is Daddy gonna loose his pie like I lost mine?" Ris asked and the table laughed.
"I will try not to, the hammers be upon you Bombur son of Boldur."
"And upon you Thorin son of Thrain."
"Its a super serious pie contest." Bilbo told Ris as Bombur ate five of the pies and Thorin started in , going at it with the narrow-minded determination Bilbo loved and hated about him. People whistled and cheered for their king and it made Bilbo sad that no one was cheering for Bombur, so he started.
"One would think that you would want Bombur to win." Bofur said and Bilbo laughed.
"Of course I want Thorin to win, but it is traditional for the family to cheer for their champion."
"I ember the Proudfeet Maywhether wedding, Uncle Alistair said its not a good wedding, without at least one brawl."
"I'm liking hobbits more and more, Go Bombur clean his clock!" Bofur shouted and the rest of the company joined in, which only doubled Thorin's determination, finally Bombur threw in his napkin.
"I declare you the winner of this contest." He said and everyone cheered as a practically green Thorin grinned.
"You could have gone easier on me, brother in battle."
"That wouldn't have been nearly as fun and I let you..." Bombur paused to let out a tremendous burp that made Ris giggle.
"You didn't say excuse me." She said after a moment.
"To dwarves belching at a meal is a complement." Bombur said and Ris nodded.
'That doesn't mean that you can't get away with not having good manners."
"It is good manners for us Bilbo." Thorin pointed out.
"Yes well, I want her to have some traditions from my heritage and race!"
"Why they rejected me, they hated me, why should I want anything to do with them?" Ris asked.
"Oh baby, they didn't hate you."
"Really why did they call me mean names and hurt me if they didn't hate me."
"They hurt you?" Thorin demanded.
"A boy hit me a few times, but I told on him and he got into trouble. They didn't like you either Papa, why do you always defend them and pretend to be like them."
"They are my people Ris, before I met Thorin they were the only race I ever knew. Hobbits are actually more inclusive then dwarves, although they do have a tendency to reject what doesn't align with their idea of normal and I'm sorry for that."
"We include you." Bombur said.
"Yes, now you do, but you didn't at first, you would always talk in Khudzul about me. I might not have known the language, but I can recognize my own name. Is it too much to ask that my daughter grow up with at least a modicum of hobbit respectability?"
"What precisely is respectability?" Thorin asked.
"Its boring." is replied and Bilbo burst into tears.
"Ris say sorry to your Papa." Thorin said.
"Sorry Papa, but it is, its not fun like fighting, or stone work, or the stories or games my teachers play with me."
"It might not be fun, but soon your lessons won't only be fun, or entertaining. We cannot go through life doing things only for our own amusement."
"Why?"
"Because sometimes the things that are not fun, are also the things most worthwhile." Thorin said and Ris nodded, before hugging Bilbo.
"I'm sorry Daddy." She said and Bilbo smiled.
"Its alright little one, it just hurts me a bit that you're not interested in the things I love and think are important."
"That's silly you don't like fighting, or gem crafting, but it doesn't hurt me." Ris said.
"Actually making that necklace was fun." Bilbo said and smiled at his daughter. "Maybe we could learn together."
"Like we learn the tongue together Papa?" She asked and Bilbo smiled, he had his own tutor and they took things at a different pace than with Ris' lessons, but he liked practicing with his daughter and he liked the sounds of the dwarven language.
"Yes exactly like that, but your still going to learn to be nice to people you don't like and practice your hobbit manners.
"Oh okay, Varlis showed me some musical instruments today and she said I got to choose one."
"How exciting, so what did you pick, or have you chosen?"
"I want to play the harp and the flute like you and Daddy."
"That sounds like fun, but pick which one you like best, Daddy and I won't be insulted if its not ours."
"Wait you play the flute, how come you never told us that?"
"Because I took it up after our adventure, I liked the sound of it and wanted to learn to play one."
"Did you bring it with you?"
"No actually I didn't bring a lot of stuff, but I left the house with my cousins and I don't think they would mind if I got a few things."
"I'll send a raven in the spring, just write what you want." Thorin said and Bilbo smiled.
"Alright." Bilbo said and helped himself to several pieces of pie, including two blackberry pieces and two chocolate. He smiled as he ate with his daughter, the little girl talking happily about her lessons. He then felt incredibly sleepy and smiled at Thorin and the company. "Is it alright if I leave a bit early?" He asked and they nodded, he left the high table and walked to the rooms they both shared, getting into bed and falling asleep within moments.