Smaug was nowhere to be seen and, feeling sweat cold trickle down his spine, Bilbo checked his surroundings again before he took the shortcut through Smaug's previous location to get into one of his better pantries for something eat. It was almost criminal in his mind to have breakfast without the proper selections -his eggs and bacon, and likely toast too, would have to wait until noise could be made- but the hobbit's body needed the nourishment and he was not about to deny it when he could fill himself on what needed no cooking.

"Now let's see..." Bilbo whispered to himself, tapping his chin as his eyes fell on his full larder with pride. "goat cheese, cheddar... oh, I must have some strawberries. And those peaches will go soft before long. Best eat that... butter- where did I leave that loaf of bread? Butter is well and good, but without bread, I might as well live in a hole in the ground."

"On the table." Bilbo nodded and hit his palm off one temple.

"Of course, the bread is on the table." Shaking himself and digging about his larder again, Bilbo sighed, "Baggins, you're losing it. You might as well be as queer as they say... eating breakfast without bacon."

"Oh, surely there could be bacon." Bilbo held the package in his hands, feeling the weight of the meat, and he couldn't dismiss it from his menu no matter the noise.

"Bacon, it is," Bilbo carefully put it on the counter and gave the eggs a longing look. "but the eggs..."

"Oh, it's been millennia since I had those little eggs. Do you have any eagles' eggs?" Bilbo snorted.

"Don't be daft!" Lifting the carton out of his larder, Bilbo nudged the door closed with his heel and licked his lips at the spread he'd picked out. "No respectable hobbit eats an eagle egg omelet. Besides, where would I get eagle eggs round here?" He chuckled to himself, setting the basket on the counter with the bacon, and dusted off his hands.

"It's rather easy." Smaug said off-handedly, circling the table with a ravenous gleam in his eyes. "You just glide on the upper air currents until they go, and dip down like a fisher bird for them. You must be quite careful, though," He met Bilbo's astonished gaze levelly, as though the method for snatching an eagle's eggs from their nest were common knowledge. "They are fragile."

"SMAUG!" Bilbo jumped nearly his height into the air, scrambling back, and barricaded himself in his larder with his back to the door. He didn't see the look of contempt with which the dragon man regarded his panic, or the roll of his golden, diamond-pupilled eyes he made when Bilbo ran for cover.

"...I did believe you were past this point, thief." He said dryly, snuffling a peach with curiosity. "Is this form really so devastatingly fierce? I knew the men of this era were homely, but-"

"You must be crazy!" Bilbo groaned, covering his eyes and pressing the heels of his palms hard into them. "What you look like is not the problem! There is a dragon in hobbit hole, and my sword is still stuck over the fireplace, and I'm tired, and I haven't even had breakfast yet!" Bilbo slumped against the doors, hearing them creak under his weight, but then suddenly they splintered apart and Bilbo tumbled back with a weak cry of fear.

He was going to be eaten- or worse, scorched.

A hand caught Bilbo's collar, keeping him from hitting the floor, and he was surprised to find himself set back on his feet sort of gently. Freezing in place, Bilbo was overwhelmed with curiosity and he tried hard to resist the urge to turn around and see what the dragon was doing. There was a faint splatting noise and something dripped, and Bilbo couldn't resist.

Smaug had gotten into the strawberries and peaches, investigating the soft, furry fruit with one jabbing finger, and the orb of orange flesh he was clutching tightly in one hands dripped all down his arm. He looked up as Bilbo made an amused noise in his throat, seeming almost guilty as he dropped the ruined fruit and reached for another.

"Careful!" Bilbo chided as Smaug's human hand came closer to the fruit. "They're soft now! You can't be rough with them if you want to eat them!"

"Eat them?" Smaug regarded the fruit dubiously. "Do they taste better than they look?" He thrust the little round fruit at Bilbo sourly, dropping it in Bilbo's hands, and watched the hobbit with keen eyes. "Show me how you skin this, little thief. I wish to consume it."

"You don't." Bilbo said casually, examining the peach for any dirty spots before he licked his lips and bit into it. Immediately, sweetly sour juice burst into his mouth, some running down his chin and arm, and Bilbo groaned happily as he chewed. "See?" He managed to speak around the large bite of fruit. "You just eat it." He offered the fruit back, wiping his mouth with the back of one hand, and when Smaug didn't take it as another hobbit would Bilbo froze again with fear.

His eyes shot to the dragon-man's face, seeming indecision painted across the human features, but then dragon eyes met his and the towering man bent down to bite at the fruit offered to him. Bilbo spluttered in embarrassment at the action, not wanting to feed a dragon something he may potentially dislike, but Smaug didn't take a bite at all. His teeth sung in, meeting pit probably, and Bilbo couldn't help but laugh when he jerked back in surprise.

"What sorcery?" He growled, eying the fruit with hate. "Its insides are protected by a hard shell, little thief. And its flesh tastes..."

"It's a peach." Bilbo explained, turning to the drawer for a paring knife and plate. "There's a seed pit inside that you don't eat. You" He quickly cut the flesh from the pit, letting it fall onto the plate, and tossed the pit in the trash with habitual comfort. Licking his fingers, Bilbo picked a chunk and ate it happily, his stomach rumbling at the treat; he pushed the plate toward his guest slowly. "just eat the soft parts."

"If this is another trick..." Smaug warned, his throat glowing briefly as he took a chunk like Bilbo had done and put it in his mouth. "you shall pay."

But luckily for the little hobbit, he didn't pay a cent for his offer of the peach slices. In fact, he was hard-pressed to keep peaches on the plate as Smaug devoured them ravenously and set into the strawberries once Bilbo demonstrated how to eat them without getting the leafy parts. His fruits disappeared quickly into both their stomachs as the sun rose, shining into the kitchen, and Bilbo was soon making bacon and eggs-in-the-baskets for a second course.

"Is it ready yet?" Smaug asked again, licking his chops at the sight of the frying foods as he leaned over Bilbo's little shoulder. His dark curl fell forward, catching Bilbo's attention, and the hobbit started at the comfortable morning routine he'd fallen into, despite the dragon's presence in Bag End. He stared at the dragon-man, his eyes widening more and more, and Smaug stared back. "Little thief, I have come to understand that my man shape is not as homely as I was earlier predisposed to believe, but you are burning my breakfast and I do not approve."