A/N: This chapter's mood was heavily influenced by the song "Fair Game" by Sia.

"This is our little secret, Myrtle, you must tell no one" Bilbo said as he gave an apple to his poney. What he failed to notice was that Katniss was just behind him.

"You are spoiling it, Bilbo..."

"I refuse taking advice on this matter from the woman who is completely refusing to name her own pony,"

"What do you mean? Pony is a perfectly fine name for a pony..." Katniss said with fake ultrage as they walked back to the camp.

"That is hardly true, Katniss"

"Giving names to animals is the first step to get yourself attached to them. Trust me, I have seen this happening before..."

There was a scream far away and Katniss rushed to get an arrow on her bow.

"What is that?" Bilbo asked.

"Orcs," Kili answered.

Thorin who was sleeping woke up immediately after hearing the word 'orcs'. There was a second scream and Katniss saw herself walking towards the edge of the cliff ready to shoot if it was needed.

"Throat-cutters. There'll be dozens of them out there. The lowlands are crawling with them." Fili said obviously teasing Bilbo.

"They strike in the wee small hours, when everyone's asleep. Quick and quiet; no screams. Just lots of blood." Kili completed.

When the two brothers start laughing Katniss grunted in annoyance and was ready to tell them off, only that Thorin beat her on it.

"You think that's funny? You think a night raid by orcs is a joke?"

"We didn't mean anything by it," Kili said

"No, you obviously didn't. You two can be such bullies, posing as mighty dwarrow warriors! But you have no idea what fighting a real battle is like." Katniss ranted at them, to Thorin's surprise.

"She is right. You know nothing of the world." Thorin spat at them before he joined Katniss at the edge of the cliff.

Balin went over to tranquillize both Princes.

"Don't mind him, laddie. Thorin has more cause than most to hate orcs. After the dragon took the Lonely Mountain, King Thror tried to reclaim the ancient dwarf kingdom of Moria. But our enemy had got there first.

Katniss, who was just beside Thorin, noticed that the Dwarven king's posture was tensing up. She started to wonder if she would finally learn some details about the nightmares that he had claimed to still seldomly haunt him.

"Moria had been taken by legions of Orcs led by the most vile of all their race: Azog, the Defiler. The giant Gundabad Orc had sworn to wipe out the line of Durin. He began by beheading the King."

Thorin was closing his fits, and Katniss decided to give him a hug to express her sympathy to his tale. She turned her back to the cliff and hugged Thorin, who immediately hugged her back.

"Thrain, Thorin's father, was driven mad by grief. He went missing, taken prisoner or killed, we did not know. We were leaderless. Defeat and death were upon us."

Thorin was hugging her very tightly now. Katniss could really feel through his embrace how much that had affected the leader of their company.

"That is when I saw him: a young dwarf prince facing down the Pale Orc. He stood alone against this terrible foe, his armour rent…wielding nothing but an oaken branch as a shield"

Thorin's eyes were closed and she just knew that he was remembering, relieving every single detail from the battle that Balin was describing. Katniss narrowed the gap between their foreheads, making them touch, giving him all the support that she knew that he needed.

"Azog, the Defiler, learned that day that the line of Durin would not be so easily broken. Our forces rallied and drove the orcs back. Our enemy had been defeated. But there was no feast, no song, that night, for our dead were beyond the count of grief. We few had survived."

She knew that pain well enough. She could be a victor, she could win battles for the rebels, but no matter what, the grief and loss was always higher. There were no real winners at war, a bitter truth that she unfortunately knew well enough by now. Katniss stroked Thorin's cheeks, rubbing her hands on his beard in the process. He raised his hand to hold hers.

"And I thought to myself then, there is one who I could follow. There is one I could call King."

Katniss' eyes were wide open when she noticed all the dwarves looking at Thorin in awe. He noticed her attention was on something behind him and he turned his back to her, so he could also see his entire Company awake and staring at him with admiration. Thorin walked back to the fire where his men were standing.

"But the pale orc? What happened to him?" Bilbo asked.

"He slunk back into the hole whence he came. That filth died of his wounds long ago." and with that said, Thorin went back to the cliff where Katniss was still standing and observing him from afar.

They all watched as their leader and their heroine sat down together on the cliff. Thorin started smoking his pipe while Katniss rested her head on his shoulders.

"Do you know if she has kissed him yet, Master Balin?" Fili asked.

"Not that I am aware of, Laddie. Which means that she probably didn't. I am sure that your Uncle would be boasting about it if that was the case."

"But she clearly returns the affection?" Fili said, turning his head towards the couple "We are all witnesses. She is always the one who makes the first move."

"Aye, the way she is behaving you would think she returns the feelings, yes. I told Thorin that perhaps she might be waiting for him to make the first move, unaware that this is not our way…"

"We should tell her!" Kili urged.

"I already offered to go over these things with her, alongside the stories of our people that I'm covering. But your Uncle doesn't want us meddling with it, so let them be."

"Why?"

" He said she might need some time to heal from the horrors she has lived. I don't think that is a bad thing. Your Uncle still has many years ahead of him and she is still pretty young. They shall have a whole lifetime together if that is her choice..."

"I wish she would share these horrors she has gone through with us as well."

"I am sure she will when she feels ready, Laddie. At least she shared them with your Uncle. It is not good to keep these things bottled up. Have you noticed that her nightmares are not as frequent now?"

Katniss Everdeen wanted to kiss Thorin Oakenshield.

Desperately.

And she had no idea how to deal with that new urge that burst inside her chest on that day they went fishing together at the marshes.

That feeling had been growing every day, and it felt so different from anything she had felt for Gale or Peeta. That scared her. It scared her because she felt like she was no longer in control of her own thoughts and actions. And she hated that sense of helplessness that came along with it.

As soon as she realised her own desire, she considered staying away from him and let that feeling die out. Only to give up that plan almost immediately. Because somehow, without her even realizing, Katniss Everdeen was already in too deep. And now the mere idea of being unable to spend her evenings leaning her head on Thorin's shoulders while she confessed her troubled past to him, terrified her.

Thorin Oakenshield terrified her. He was not a lovesick boy from District Twelve that she could easily dismiss or ignore. He was a man, well, a dwarf, who was almost two hundred years old, and she knew that she could not toy with his feelings and go unpunished. Not that she had done that on purpose with Peeta and Gale. But she knew that if she was somehow careless with Thorin's heart she would have to answer twelve dwarves warriors for her crimes.

Thorin terrified her. Because she could not tell if he returned her feelings or not. Thorin was unsailed waters. She was unable to read him. And despite feeling that they shared some sort of connection, Katniss was unsure if he felt the same thing she did, or if he felt something else entirely. Sometimes she believed he was just being kind to a scared little girl who had a couple of nightmares. But the rest of the time she could almost feel the desire emanating from him as well, emulating her own hunger like looking in a mirror.

And what she was for him, after all? A member of his company? A troubled girl from a distant future? His kin? Or something else? Not knowing it was making her lose her mind. Wherever it was, she knew that she could not bear to lose whatever it was they had together. Not after everything she had gone through.

And still, what about Peeta? What about Gale? Didn't she have feelings for them too? At least she thought she did. Snow clearly came to believe that she loved Peets as well, if the monstrosity he made with the boy was anything to judge it by. But… what kind of love was that? She did not know. Not that it mattered now with Peeta so distant from her reach anyway.

The only thing she knew was that it felt very different from whatever it was she was having with Thorin. At least, she had no recollection of losing her sleep trying to picture how Peeta's or Gale's lips would feel when pressed against hers. She had never felt her skin burn and send electric shocks through her body when they touched her.

He terrified her. She was unable to push him away because she relied on his presence so much right now. At the same time that Thorin was the only thing helping her to feel safe and sane, her growing feelings for him was also what scared her the most. It scared her to think about what would happen if he decided that he no longer wanted to spend their evenings together now that she was done telling him her story.

However, Thorin did not push her away when she offered him some comfort as Balin narrated the Battle of Azanulbizar. Once again he welcomed her hugs and embraces, though this time instead of being comforted, she was the one smoothing him for a change. They sat together, her head on his shoulders, fiddling with Finnick's old rope while the dwarrow king observed her and smoked his pipe. After a while, Thorin started teaching her some different knots, as well as trying to learn some of the ones he saw her doing.

"I'm sorry about your father and grandfather, Thorin. It must have been an awful thing to watch." she allowed herself to say after considering if she should say anything for a long time.

He nodded.

"Witnessing my younger brother's death was the worst part of that war for me," he confessed and Katniss could feel that hitting home, as the image of witnessing Prim dying in front of her eyes came to her mind. No. She would rather die. That is exactly why she had volunteered.

"Would you like to talk about your brother?" she asked unsure if he would want to do that or not.

"Frerin. He was so young when he fell, only forty-eight years old. He had a heart of gold. I have always been more reserved, the quiet one, but Frerin... he was the soul of every party. I see a lot of him in my nephews." he took a break where he took a sip from his private whisky pouch leather bag. "He wanted to forge a sword to a Dam he wished to officially court after the war. Despite them being considered too young for courting in our race, their love was already very strong. Having to inform Frerin's One about his demise was one of the hardest things I had ever done."

She gave a gentle squeeze on his hand before she removed the golden locket that was hidden around her neck and showed it to him.

"What is this? A courting gift?" he asked as he ran his fingers through the Mockingjay symbol - her symbol. Katniss felt her face burn in embarrassment.

"Not exactly. More like a farewell gift as well as a weapon that Peeta used to disarm me during our second Hunger Games."

Thorin was puzzled by her gesture and she felt the need to explain it.

"I told you that I had no intentions of leaving the arena alive, didn't I? Well, neither did him. We both were determined to make the other one be the winner. So Peeta gave me this inside the arena to make me see why I should be the one to live…" and with that, she opened the locket revealing three pictures inside it.

Thorin would never admit it, but he was in awe with the fine details present on the small three portraits inside her locket. They were so perfect that it did look as if they were done by magic.

"That is my mother, and this is my sister Prim. She is the sweetest little thing you're going to lay eyes on tonight. Did I tell you that I took her with me on a hunt once and she wanted to heal the game!?"

Thorin chuckled after hearing that.

"Your sister sounds too innocent for this world, Katniss. What about the lad? You did not mention having a brother. Or is that Peeta?" he asked as he tried to ignore the pang of jealousy that came along with it.

"Gale." she simply answered making Thorin raise his eyebrow in surprise. "Peeta's way to let me know that he gave me his blessing to go on another relationship."

That made Thorin feel stunned and even more jealous.

"Did you and Gale…?"

"No. Well, yes, you know that we kissed, but nothing came out from it. I never had a chance to truly choose between the two of them. Not that Peeta would want me now, anyway."

Thorin nodded as he felt his blood boil with jealousy. Yes, she had told him how the Capitol had used their knowledge to change the boy's mind. Hijacked, she had said. Bewitched, was what he believed to be more likely.

Katniss Everdeen was an alluring woman, and it was no surprise to him that she had already had two suitors despite her young age. Three, if he counted himself as well. Everything about her was intoxicating. He wished he could claim her right now. Place his bead on her hair and mark her his for once and for all. If only she would give him consent that was what she wanted him to do...

"It is getting late…" she said as she stood up, almost fearing what could happen if she allowed herself to stay there much longer.

"Katniss…" Thorin whispered her name, making her shiver. He stood up as well, and he had almost summoned up the courage to ask her something when she gave him a gentle squeeze on his arms and whispered.

"Good night, Thorin." she was about to turn her back to him, but he grasped her hand and placed a gentle kiss on its back before he allowed her to leave.

"Good night, Miss Everdeen." he said with a flirtatious glint on his eyes that made her blush furiously as she hastily went back to her sleeping mat.

Even though she hoped that nobody would notice how flushed she was with that simple gesture, Fíli, Kíli and even Balin were smirking and throwing her some knowing glances as she quickly tucked herself under her cloak without saying a single word.

The rain started just the day after that, and it darkened the company's mood. Katniss was glad to find out that Cinna's Mockingjay costume was fully waterproof. However, as she now had to use her cloak during the day to cover her face from the storm, it meant that during the evenings she couldn't any longer use that to cover herself. Not that it would have been much help anyway, as the majority of their belongings, even their food, had gotten soaking wet because of the unremitting rain.

During the first raining night, Thorin went over to where the place she had claimed as her own and offered to help her to stay warm that night. It took all her willpower to politely refuse his offer, but she did it nonetheless and Thorin did not push on the subject. Though she did notice that both his nephews started being a more present force in her life since that happened. If they were doing that on their own volition or were merely following Thorin's orders, it was unclear to her.

Unable to light a fire and keep it going most of the days during that foul weather week, the company ended up having to eat some of their provisions that did not require to be cooked. That included some fruit, vegetables and nuts that they found on the way. After she saw Kíli passing over the jerky beef he had got from her at the beginning of their journey, she decided to do the same thing with her share the following day.

All the dwarrow men gave Katniss a funny look when they saw her eating some raw dandelions. They were growing in abundance near the cave where they were staying on that rare evening where they managed to light a fire. She offered some to the dwarrow men who were sitting nearby her, but they vehemently refused her offer, making her shrug and carry on chewing on her yellow flowers.

"You should offer them to Uncle, though…" Fíli suggested making her blush. The last time she allowed herself to be near Thorin was still vivid in her mind "he misses your company, you know…"

"I agree." Kíli said with a grin "You should do that and seize the opportunity and ask Uncle to help you to fix your hair. You are looking like a wet kitten."

Katniss was blushing fiercely when she sneaked a peak to the front of the cave, where Thorin was sitting. His eyes twinkled in a hungry way when they met hers and he gave her an inviting smile, which in her opinion was an indication that he had heard exactly what his nephews had said to her. That only made her blush even harder. That moment she knew that if it was her on the cave entrance, she would have runned away without thinking twice.

"Is this your way to tell me that Thorin is a hairstylist in his free time?" Katniss asked them as she tried to ignore her own flushed state while she loosened what was left of her braid.

The entire company chuckled after hearing her comment. The cave was tall, but it wasn't very large after all.

"I don't have the habit of going around braiding the hair of young maidens, if that is what you are inferring, Miss Everdeen." Thorin said seriously "though, it would give me great pleasure and I would be extremely honoured, if one day you decide to allow me to do your hair, Katniss."

There was a dead silence where the entire company held their breaths. Thorin had basically not only done a love confession, but also stated that he had every single intention to court her seriously if that was her wish. Obviously all that meaning was lost on Katniss. Though she could sense a change in the atmosphere of the company, with many dwarrow, specially Fíli and Kíli throwing her some pleading looks.

"Sure. Why not?" she said, making the stereo silence to be replaced by frenetic Iglishmêk conversations between all the dwarrow men.

She grabbed her own comb from her shoulder bag before she stood up and made her way to the cave's entrance where Thorin was eagerly waiting for her. She sat down in front of where he was, her back turned to him. She turned her head around to face him.

"You are not going to make me look like a stupid poodle, are you?"

"I don't know what a poodle is, but I was planning on doing a traditional dwarrow braid that my mother used to wear. Unless you prefer me to do it in your usual style?" Thorin asked her with much more confidence than he was actually feeling.

He had obviously braided both his mother's and his sister's hair many times throughout his life. But he had never done it for a lass that he wanted to court before.

"Whatever you do, remember I am an archer, so nothing very high. The last thing we need is for my arrows to get stuck on my hair, right?"

He nodded and took her comb from her hands. She turned her back to him again, and that was when she noticed that the entire company had decided to squeeze themselves inside the cave, as if they wanted to give them a false illusion of privacy. Somehow Katniss thought that she actually preferred the Capitol's cameras. At least cameras did not stare back with Kili's goofy smile.

Katniss had just decided that it was probably best to focus her attention on the rain falling outside when she felt Thorin's muscly legs hugging her hips from behind. She was caught so off guard by that, she could not help but let a moan of pleasure escape her lips as she felt Thorin's pelvis touch her back. Their trousers and garments being the only thing that was separating their skin now, though she could still feel him, slowly getting harder from behind her, which only aroused her even more.

It was only then that she realised how intimate this whole hair braiding affair was going to be like, and she saw herself wishing that she had declined his offer. When she said yes, she had imagined Thorin jokingly pretending to be something like Flavius or even Cinna. But what was happening was nothing like that, though she knew that it was probably too late for her to back down now.

Besides, Thorin was already running his large and skilful fingers through her scalp, as he applied some product on her hair and that felt beyond nice. So nice that she let another moan of pleasure escape from her lips for the second time that evening. Hearing the noises she made was what was needed for the bulge inside Thorin's trousers to grow even harder. That was how Katniss saw herself having to bring her hands to her mouth to stop another moan from occurring. This made Thorin stop whatever he was doing and whisper inside her ears making her shiver.

"Do not hold back, Amrâlimê. I want to hear you sing."

"You know exactly what you are doing!" she turned her head to face him feeling affronted.

"Quiet!" he commanded as he forced her to turn back with a single movement from his experienced hands.

Katniss was about to turn back to protest when he started to massage her shoulders and hum a song on her ear, which made her decide not to resist and even allowed another sigh of delight to leave her lips. She had exchanged kisses with Peeta and Gale many times, but what she was sharing with Thorin was by far the most erotic thing she had ever done in her life.

Soon enough, Thorin's clever fingers started to slowly work on her braid. Katniss saw herself in such a state, triggered by all the sensuality of that dwarrow tradition, that she no longer seemed to care about the company's audience. She even found herself rubbing her back on his body on purpose, as if they were in the middle of a mating dance, and she no longer tried to restrain her moans. She even saw herself enjoying hearing some few grunts of pleasure escaping Thorin's mouth when she instinctively started doing some circular movements with her hips against his crotch.

Once he finished styling her hair, he gave her a gentle kiss on the nape of her head, before he turned her over so she could face him. She immediately felt her face burn again, as the realisation of what they had just done suddenly hit her. He gave her an encouraging smile, as she tried to avoid looking at him in the eyes.

"You are gorgeous, Amrâlimê. I hope you will give me a chance to do that and many other things with you again."

"Thorin… I…" she could almost feel a magnetic force pulling her to his arms. Oh, how she wanted to bury herself inside his arms and kiss him like it would be no tomorrow! But her mind was quickly drifting away from the moment they had shared and going over to Peeta, Gale, Prim.

"Shhh… do not hold back from me, Mizim." he said as he positioned her lips in front of his and patiently waited for her initiative.

"Thorin… I… I am not sure if I can…" she whispered just loud enough for him to hear it.

Thorin sighed, but he nodded in agreement. He placed a gentle fraternal kiss on her forehead instead and brought her over to an embrace which she gladly accepted.

"We will do this your way and at your pace. There is no need to rush, Amrâlimê"

She clung on his hug and laid her head on his bulky chest.

"Please wake me up when dinner is ready?" She asked before she allowed herself to close her eyes.

Slowly the company started to come out from the corner where they had been trying to make themselves as invisible as possible to give their King and his One some privacy. Thorin had to admit that they had done a great job on that, as he saw himself forgetting about their presence a couple of times.

Hair braiding was usually an activity shared privately by couples that were already officially courting for some time and it was considered a way for them to start getting comfortable with each other before the exchange of their marriage vows. The fact that Katniss was yet to give him permission to officially pursue her, but had already allowed him to brush and braid her hair was bound to be considered a tad scandalous by his kin.

Even though they were still avoiding making any noise, the company was going wild on their silent Iglishmêk conversations. Thorin was suddenly glad that Katniss was unable to witness or understand Dori gesturing how backwards and improper it was that Katniss would allow Thorin to do her hair, but would deny him a kiss. Or how Nori asked Kili to pay up the four silvers he owned him for betting that Thorin would make Katniss his Queen that very night. Thorin grunted and decided to focus his attention on the rain outside instead.