Life is Precious

AN: I actually have a legitimate reason for being a day late this time. Our dryer went out, so I spent a good three hours yesterday out of the house and wasn't able to completely finish these.

Anyway, this is the last chapter before another one of the interludes. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own The Hobbit or Lord of the Rings.

Chapter Fifteen:

"Is it normal for human girls to learn these things?" Smaug's latest question made her sigh. It wasn't that it was a particularly hard or embarrassing thing to talk about. In fact, she was quite proud of the things she was taught, and that was in no small part due to how useful they now were with her stuck fending for herself—and how they seemed to impress the dragon, who she doubted was impressed by much.

No, she was more annoyed by how he had suddenly been asking questions nonstop, about what she was doing and why, about her life in Edoras, about human culture in general. At first, the conversation had been a nice change of pace. She'd not had the chance to have a civilized conversation with anyone since their escape from Edoras. Yes, that Smaug was the one initiating it was a bit strange, suspicious even, but she was still glad to use her vocal chords for something other than shouting at him.

A few days after their little 'talk' before sleep, this had started. The first day was nice, a different change of pace, as said before. The second day was a bit more tiring, but the annoyance had really showed its head until the third day, which was today. It was just past noon, and already the constant questions were getting on her nerves.

Of course, whenever she looked to Smaug, he seemed genuinely curious, as if he sought understanding. There was no mischief or malice to be seen. He wasn't doing this to purposefully annoy her. Rather, he genuinely wanted to know. That fact was one she needed to keep reminding herself. Maybe he had taken her words that night to heart, and the promise he made was sincere.

But this was getting to be a bit annoying.

She stopped what she was currently doing, which was making arrows—or trying to, anyway. In fact, she had no idea what she was doing. Fletching wasn't something she'd ever been taught, not even by her grandfather. However, she was bit bored right now since there wasn't anything pressing to tend to. Her clothes, the only real project she'd been focused on, were done. Smaug handled the hunting, and she'd already cooked her portions for the next couple of days and let the dragon eat the rest. There was plenty of firewood for now, and chopping wood was getting a bit dull now that most of her anger was spent. It simply wasn't as cathartic as it used to be.

So...why not try experimenting with something new?

She didn't have a bow and had no idea where to even start with making one. That process might be a bit too complex for her right now, but surely arrows were easier to make? So far, she was finding that, no, making arrows wasn't easy. Still, it was good to experiment and try new things. Maybe, in time, she could make her own arrows. And perhaps, she could scavenge a bow from the orcs. At the very least, it would leave her with a weapon to defend herself. She wasn't sure her dagger or axe would be very effective in her hands, especially since the latter was getting quite dull. She'd have to sharpen it or find a new one. She had no whetstone and wasn't sure what type of stone a whetstone even was...

But she knew the basic concept. Drag the hard stone down the weapon's blade to make it sharper. Would dragon scales work? They were certainly hard, and considering she was living with a dragon, she had quite the abundance of them.

It was another thing to experiment with, she supposed.

"Are you ignoring me again?" Smaug snapped. These last few days, he'd taken to laying right next to her as she did her chores, most likely so he didn't have to shout across the area to be heard. A small part of her hoped it was because he was trying to be comforting or protective, but she knew that was far less likely.

His accusation was enough to snap her out of her thoughts again. "No, I'm not ignoring you. I was just thinking."

She glanced to her side, where his head lay, and noticed him studying her skeptically. "I don't believe my question should be that difficult to answer."

No, it wasn't. But... "About that. Can you maybe cool it with the questions for a bit? It's getting annoying."

He physically recoiled at her request, lifting his head off the ground to fully glare at her. Genuine shock seemed to mix with an underlying anger. "You wished me to have a better understanding of you, and here I am, trying to do just that, and you find it annoying!?" He growled at her. "Make up your mind! Do you wish me to seek understanding, or do you wish me to leave you alone? I cannot do both!"

She frowned at him. "Well—" What she was about to say made her cut herself off. Her frown, which was initially from displeasure at his tone and question, quickly turned to a more thoughtful one. She was about to say that humans didn't tend to like one-sided conversations or constant questions, and that he should know better than to constantly pester her when she was trying to work.

But that was completely wrong. He actually didn't know better. He was a dragon, and she should treat him as such, not as a human. And he hadn't actually asked about human conversational habits or anything like that. "Well, what?" he snarled.

"It's just that us humans don't really like long, one-sided conversations. At first, I enjoyed talking with you, but now it's started to get dull and annoying. We don't really like when people ask us a lot of questions back-to-back, either," she tried to explain. How exactly was she going to explain conversation skills to a dragon?

"And how am I to know you better if I cannot ask questions?" he retorted. Then, he huffed and narrowed his gaze at her. His anger seemed to have diminished somewhat, though he was still clearly annoyed. "And I would not say our conversation was one-sided. I asked questions, and you answered them. I did not keep blathering on while forcing you to listen."

"It's one-sided because, as you said, you asked all the questions, and I had to answer all of them. I haven't asked any of my own." He just stared at her as if she was making this up. "And questions aren't the only way to get to know someone better. You can just say something that comes to mind, and then I'll respond, and then you respond to my response. That's how a natural conversation goes. It's not just a bunch of disjointed questions that just barely relate to each other." Again, he just stared at her skeptically, which made her sigh in mild frustration. "Why don't you give it a try? Think of something random you have a comment about."

Smaug was silent for a solid minute before he sighed heavily in exasperation. She hadn't phrased her request as an order, so this was of his own volition. And though he seemed to think this whole thing was a farce, she was actually glad that he was putting some effort in. Not without some grumbling, of course. "I do not understand the purpose of this exercise."

Whether that was his random comment, or if he was just pointing that out, she didn't know. It was good enough for her purposes, though. "I'm trying to teach you about civilized conversation, so we can communicate more naturally in the future."

"Civilized conversation?" He scoffed. "As if I have any desire, or need, to speak with anyone other than you..." He genuinely did sound a bit offended. "No other mortal is worth my time."

"What about an elf? They're not mortal," she pointed out.

"A technicality," he easily dismissed. They may be more interesting than men or..." he trailed off with a hateful hiss, "...Dwarves, but in the end, all of them are the same. They are all enemies. All prey to hunt and play with before I devour them." He chuckled evilly at her disquiet. "What use does a monster such as me have for civilized conversation?" He huffed. "Besides...I know how to hold a conversation...though it has been a while since I last needed to."

"I'm not sure shouting threats and insults at someone counts as conversation, of any kind," she teased, and he just looked away with a huff, though she could see the hint of a smirk pulling at his mouth.

However, that smirk turned into a frown. "Come to think of it, most conversations I had with other dragons weren't much different." He suddenly grimaced in utter disgust and sneered at her in contempt. "To think I am being tamed by a human girl." Without warning, he began to stand and storm away, his footsteps shaking the very earth. She watched him go, though she had to duck under a careless swing of his thick tail. "I have lost my desire to speak with you," he claimed, and she didn't even try to argue as he went into their cave to brood.

A disappointed sigh escaped her. Not that she cared he'd left her alone. She'd wanted peace and quiet for a while now. No, she was more disappointed that he'd left the moment he realized he was showing a softer side to her. He was humoring her, trying to heed her requests to make her happy. It seemed, upon realizing that, he decided to close himself off again.

It was a shame, too. That little exchange was probably the most normal, natural conversation she'd had with the dragon where neither of them were shouting at or annoyed with the other. She had to remember that this situation was as difficult for him as it was for her, perhaps even more so. Humans, in general, were much more adaptable then dragons. A human's mindset could be challenged, their views and personalities changed through time or debate or personal situations. Dragons, however...

Smaug's was an angry, violent species. She doubted he'd ever felt any positive emotions such as joy or love. Or those times he had, they had probably been twisted into something dark, such as his 'love' for stolen gold or his 'joy' at slaughtering innocents.

Maybe it was stupid and naïve to think this way, but she sort of felt sorry for him and his narrow-minded existence. His desire to be feared completely overshadowed any thought of love or friendship. Whatever 'civilized' interactions he had with others was probably only because there was something beneficial from it, like a business arrangement. Even now, this...whatever this was between him and her, was only because the bond tying them together was practically forcing him to. He was stuck with her, and she had already demonstrated what she would do when he acted out.

That...actually made her kind of sad. She hoped his attempts to understand her were sincere and not some effort made simply because he was afraid of her. Unfortunately, by her reckoning, the latter was more likely than the former, even if he would never admit it.

Distracted by her thoughts as she was, she thought it best to put her fletching attempts to the side for now. There was more chance of her cutting herself in her current state than doing anything useful.

Deciding that a break was a good idea, she stood up, stretched a bit, and looked around. To her surprise, she noticed a small bird in one of the shrubs a short distance from her. It definitely hadn't been there before when Smaug was out here. All animals tended to keep their distance from this area now, and according to Smaug, his daily hunting trips were forcing the animals further away. She hadn't seen a bird in weeks...until now.

Seeing that it had been spotted, it quickly took to the air, flying south. "That was weird..." she muttered.

She put the little bird out of her mind, though, and continued the rest of the day as normal. It wasn't until the sun had almost set that she entered the cave where Smaug was since she'd wanted him to have some space after earlier. A short exchange followed. "Do dragons shed their scales?"

"I am not a snake," he hissed.

"It was just a question." Her raised hands seemed to mollify him, and then she'd asked another question. "But do they ever fall off?"

"I thought constant questions annoyed you," he snipped, which made her huff.

"It was two questions! Not three-days' worth!" He continued ignoring her, which made her huff again. "I'm only asking because I had a thought, but fine...be that way."

He didn't respond.

That night, she'd slept on one of the spare furs next to her fire, using a rolled up piece of leather as a pillow. Smaug had said nothing, but through cracked eyes, she watched him steal glances at her 'sleeping' form, occasionally. He probably knew she wasn't actually asleep, but he still seemed to have an internal conflict. After about twenty minutes of her laying there, and him softly growling every time he glanced at her, he finally growled louder, which actually started her enough to let the ruse fall as her eyes went wide.

He actually refused to even glance in her direction now, yet he spoke, nonetheless. "Will you not take your normal spot?" Despite the ridiculousness of it—He was actually asking her to sleep on his face!—she stood and crossed her arms.

"I thought you were angry at me for 'taming' you," she snarked back at him, which made him snarl and glare at her, though she was no longer afraid of his mean looks.

The two continued to glare at each other, woman against dragon, but again, he was the first to look away with a soft snarl. "Fine...be that way." His parroting of her words made her raise a brow, especially when he turned his head away and closed his eyes.

With a shrug, she laid down again, and she was almost asleep when an even louder growl startled her back awake. This time, since she had been half asleep, her heart actually did skip a beat as she bolted upright. It didn't take her long to notice him glaring at her fully, his snout a mere foot from her. "What!? What is your problem!?"

He growled but averted his gaze from her. "I cannot sleep without you there."

She blinked at his admission, but then confusion took hold. "I'm sure you were sleeping fine before I showed up."

He huffed again, and then growled, though she had a sense that he was more angry at himself than at her. "You are mine," he growled possessively, which made her recoil in shock and a bit of discomfort. "The only thing I have left. I must know you are safe. ...This helps."

After a moment, she gave him the side eye. "I thought you said that dragons stay alert even when asleep, so shouldn't you know I'm safe even if I'm not sleeping on your face?" He remained suspiciously silent. A teasing smirk played at her mouth as she decided to tease him a little. "Or maybe you like that I sleep on your face?" That made him growl and glare at her again, but still, he remained silent. She crossed her arms. "I'm not moving until you tell me the truth." That wasn't a demand, either. What he said next would be his own choice.

He growled, baring his teeth at her brazen demand, but then, after about ten seconds, he looked away with a frustrated huff, little puffs of smoke coming from his nostrils. "Fine..." He huffed again and moved his head forward to gently bump her. "I like when you sleep on my face. It...relaxes me."

She giggled at him. Who would've thought it? Smaug the Terrible liked when she, a little human girl, slept on his face! It was almost too absurd to believe, and she'd just heard the words right from the dragon's mouth! "You know something?" She rubbed the spot between his nostrils a few times as she smiled. "It relaxes me, too."

Smaug's pleased rumble immediately cut off when she leaned forward and hugged as much of his muzzle as she could. Her left cheek rested atop his snout, and she sighed in contentment. Sometimes...just sometimes...she really liked this dragon. It was beginning to grow difficult to think that the Smaug she'd known these past few weeks was the same dragon who indirectly murdered her family. That thought still weighed heavily on her, and it was the only thing that made her smile fall in this moment as she pulled away.

His eyes were closed. His face was the picture of contentment. When he noticed her absence, his eyes opened, and again, she could see the possessiveness in them. She supposed that was as close to love as she would ever get from a dragon. He cared about her enough to claim as his own now instead of barely tolerating her presence. For now, it was enough.

Maybe, in the future, she could get him to actually say those three little words. Wouldn't that be something? She grinned to herself as she settled upon Smaug's snout in her usual position. To think a dragon could ever truly admit love to another being...

It would be a miracle and make no mistake.

However, if these last few weeks were any indication, even dragons could change.

AN: Looks like Earyth and Smaug are finally starting to get along. A little bit, at least.

As I said before, next chapter is an interlude. There's a hint in this chapter as to what it'll be about, and it shouldn't be too hard to spot.

Until Next Time

AdmiralCole22