A/N Hey guys, sorry for another short chapter, but I promise they'll start getting longer as the battle stuff happens, and possibly longer still with all the rebuilding and stuff that'll happen after that, where a lot more of the big plot will start coming out. Anyway, hope you all enjoy!
No one reemerged from the treasury for hours, and even when some did, it was only to offer the rest of the Company, who'd arrived from Laketown, some time to rest, and, of course, to learn what had happened in their absence, given that obviously no one had told them what was happening when they arrived. In case of any confusion as to why I knew that, all of them immediately attempted to draw weapons, even the obviously still injured Kili, who gave me not even a moment to speak before he started talking.
"Balin, why is there a strange man in our entryway cuddling with our hobbit?" He said it with an unfamiliar blandness, eyebrows raised, arrow knocked in a small, feeble looking bow. Fili propped him up with one arm and brandished a sword with the other. I'd have thought that perhaps Bofur and Oin would have more sense, but they too were waving weapons around, if not as… passionately as the two younger ones. I sighed.
Smaug snorted, leaning forward, animal golden eyes swirling dangerously as he opened his mouth and let his tongue flicker over carnivore teeth. All the dwarves but Balin took a half-step back, breath seeming to stop in their throats, then looked to be preparing to charge before I stood and got between them.
"Settle, settle. This is Smaug, but we've struck a bargain—he'll do us no harm." Fili and Kili gaped, whilst Bofur's arm lowered slightly. Oin, on the other hand, was rather more eloquent.
"Aye, lad, so he says. I expect a bit of dwarven steel through his heart would make that a little more certain." Smaug snarled, and I was under no delusions as to precisely how much he wished to show them how bad an idea that would've been. I cleared my throat, turning to glance at him, and he settled some, though obviously unwillingly.
"I assure you, there is no need; Thorin himself agreed to his terms, and he'll be a great help once you all start rebuilding, I'm sure." Oin looked bothered, but Thorin's name settled him enough that he put his weapon away—he trusted Thorin's judgement, after all, as Balin did. The other three, however, would obviously be faintly more difficult to convince, and I wished for a moment that they'd been present as well for whatever fight Thorin and the others had had outside the mountain before the deal was made.
"And how'd the beast get Thorin to agree to its 'deal?'" Bofur asked, not even the faintest hint of teasing in his voice, and that, admittedly, unnerved me quite a bit. After all, even when he'd been teasing me about incineration back at the beginning of our journey there had been a note of humor to his tone, though I hadn't noticed it at the time, but this… this was different, and that worried me some. I forced a smile.
"Neither side wanted more bloodshed, Bofur, that I'm sure you understand." He swallowed stiffly, like it hurt, and finally managed a smile of his own, nodding and lowering his own weapon as well.
"I do indeed. Getting so far just to get incinerated would be a sorry thing, wouldn't it?" I chuckled, nodding lightly.
"Indeed; that was the part of the contract I was most dreading." I glanced at Smaug, who looked painfully confused, then back at the boys, who still seemed wary, both still holding their weapons up and sparing glares to Bofur and Oin and Balin, as if they were somehow consigning me to fiery death by doing as I asked. They were both certainly Thorin's nephews, none could ever possibly doubt that.
"Bilbo," Kili began, before Smaug heaved a heavy sigh and shook his head.
"Stop being so foolish. I am not going to hurt the hobbit—I've been out here with him for hours already, and as you can see, no harm has befallen him. One would think if I wanted to kill him, or any of you, for that matter, I'd have already done it."
Of course he couldn't stay quiet. Why in the world would I dare think that, perhaps, the dragon would allow me to deal with the very skilled dwarves pointing sharp objects at it? Really, that was just the silliest thing! Really why even try talking at all? Surely just letting them brawl until they managed to kill each other would just work so much better.
"Shut up, dragon," Fili bit, Kili nodding in agreement, and for a moment I desperately wanted to hit all of them.
"I dare say that there's much that might go more smoothly if you're all quiet for a moment." For once, at least, they listened, and I nodded to myself, half-proud. The Bilbo Baggins I'd been before probably would've fainted at the mere thought of telling two dwarf princes and a dragon to be quiet while he spoke. Oddly, I felt more than a little like a schoolteacher. "Good. Now, Fili, Kili, Smaug is a guest for now; he agreed to leave the mountain to you all after two months, under the condition that I remain those two months as well. There is, of course, a catch, and though he's not revealed that to us as yet, he's sworn that it will bring none of us harm, and I'm inclined to trust him. I did not know this upon leaving for our quest, but I've met him once before. If you're curious to hear the rest, come here and sit quietly and I'll tell it. If you aren't, come here anyway and put those weapons away—all of you look bone tired and you'll be of no use to anyone that way."
It was silent for a few more moments, but then that wasn't precisely unexpected; what was unexpected, though, was when they actually listened, shuffling around and settling in a half-circle around the place where I'd been sitting, still staying as far from Smaug as they could. Balin grinned at me, inclining his head.
"It seems you have this situation well in hand, Bilbo. I'll tell Thorin; the rest of us ought to be out in another hour or two, alright? Then we'll have a good dinner and get some rest for morning. Perhaps then we'll be able to start planning the rebuilding." I smiled, pleased that I didn't seem to be the only one with a good outlook on the coming days, and settled back where I'd been, raising an eyebrow at the dwarves seated around me, who gestured for me to speak.
With that, I fell into the story of that night so many years ago, making certain to go into excruciating detail about the parts that embarrassed Smaug, like the treacherous garden stones and the deadly hobbit woman cleaning his wounds. The pouty glare I got for it was certainly worth it for making the other dwarves less frightened of him, and perhaps more willing to accept that he seemed to want to make peace with them, however unsteadily.
The others settled around us too when they returned, and when we ate it was with merry songs I hadn't heard in a while. Even Smaug seemed vaguely amused at their more bawdy tunes, though he feigned annoyance most of the night and leaned determinedly against my side, sometimes prodding at me and mumbling in my ear until I agreed to lead them in a quieter song. I imagine I laughed more that night than I had in months. Given how the rest of the quest had gone, I suppose I should have expected the elven army that appeared outside the very next morning, sudden as morning mist and more than twice as deadly.