A/N: Hello readers~! I'm so happy you guys enjoyed the first chapter; I was honestly a bit nervous you'd find it to be too similar to the original and get bored xD So to hear that you all liked it was quite a relief!
It was the smell of bacon that woke Bofur up.
There he was, fast asleep and having a most pleasant dream of drinking hearty dwarven ale in his home back in Erebor when the smell of cooking meats started to overwhelm his senses. But, for the life of him, he was not able to figure out where the smells were coming from! He had gotten up from his stool and looked all over his home—in the kitchen, in the parlor, upstairs in his room, the bathroom even! And still, he could not find the source of that smell!
Suddenly, his stomach rumbled quite loudly and, as he rounded a corner in his home, he suddenly felt like he was falling. As he landed on something hard—thankfully, nothing too hard—he woke up.
Opening his eyes, he found himself looking up at an unfamiliar ceiling. His brows furrowed and he bolted upright, having temporarily forgotten where he was until he looked around. Across from him, Bifur was fast asleep and snoring quietly. Finally remembering that he was staying in an inn, he let out a relieved sigh, allowing himself to flop backwards again.
'That's right,' he thought to himself, 'we're at an inn…and I seem to have fallen out of bed.'
It was then that he realized the source of the smell was coming from somewhere close by. Sniffing the air, he turned his head and found that the scent was quite strong down there on the floor.
'Aha! We must be over the kitchen,' he thought with a small grin. Rolling over, he flicked one of his braids out of the way before pressing his ear to the floor. Through the wood, he was able to hear the faint sizzling of meat and muffled voices. One of them was that of a man, the other, a girl. 'Maybe the inn-owner and that Miss Baylee?' he thought, his brow rising.
"…What are you doing?"
He looked up, more than a little startled to find Bifur's face less than three inches from his. How he had not heard his cousin slip out of bed, he would never know. "Uh…just doin' some mornin' stretching is all," he lied. "Y'know, so I have more room in my belly for breakfast!"
Bifur's brow rose. "Now that I highly doubt" he mused, standing upright.
Bofur stood up as well, brushing himself off. Not that there was any dirt on him to begin with; the floors were very clean. "Of course you doubt me," he said, putting on a mock air of hurt. "You've never done it! You don't know how much more food I can take in because of these stretches I do." He started to pull on his tunic and trousers over his underclothes. "Now, how did you sleep?"
"I slept fairly well," he replied, also starting to get dressed. "You, cousin?"
"Slept rather decently myself," he replied, tying his trousers into place.
Bifur pulled his trousers on and yawned. "I have to admit, these beds are comfier than the ones we have back in Erebor…"
"That they are," he chuckled, sitting down and tugging on his boots. "But, these beds are made from wood and ropes—ours are made out of stone. Even the softest of mattresses can get a bit uncomfortable after a while from laying atop stone." As he glanced over at Bifur, he saw that his cousin already had his boots tugged on and was working on tying up his tunic. "I'd say we might be able to buy a couple of extra mattresses while we're here, but I'm not sure when we'll be going back to Erebor…"
"What would we do with them anyway?" he chuckled, his brow rising. "Use them to sleep on the floor?"
At that, Bofur snorted. "Mahal's beard, no! We'd stack 'em on top of our current mattresses so there'd be extra padding between us and the stone.
Bifur paused, a bit of a contemplative look on his face. "You know…that's actually not that bad of an idea, cousin." Fully dressed now, he went over to the chest of drawers in the corner of the room, where there was a mirror hanging on the wall—an unusual bit of decoration for an inn, but a welcome one. He started to use his fingers to comb through his hair.
"Isn't it? It's one I've had for a few months now, but I never quite got around to making it a reality." Grabbing his hat, Bofur pulled it down over his head; thanks to his hat, he could go a couple of days without needing to comb his hair.
"Well, if we get a shop here, we'll have to move here," Bifur told him. "I don't know about you, but I wouldn't want to make a two hour trip every morning and night from Erebor. And since we'll be living here, that means we'll get man-made beds, which are the kind like these." He motioned towards the beds they had just slept in.
Bofur nodded in agreement. "Aye, we won't have t' worry much about extra padding here," he chuckled. As his cousin walked away from the mirror, he turned and headed for the door. Leading them out of their room and down the short hallway, they found the smells of breakfast cooking to be even stronger. They were able to smell the warm, yeasty scent of bread baking and could hear the sound of eggs sizzling away.
Walking over to the railing, the two dwarves stood on their tiptoes as they peered over it and down into the common room below. Dori, Nori, and Ori were already awake and sitting at the same table as the night before. Only two humans were in the room, one of them being Demelza and the other being the young lad from the stables.
"Well, looks like they haven't started without us," Bofur murmured more to himself than to Bifur.
"We best hurry before that changes," Bifur agreed. He then nodded his head at the stairs and the two hurried over to them. If anyone had seen them coming down, they would have thought them children if it weren't for their beards.
Nori looked up from filling his pipe as the two approached. "There are the two sleepyheads," he said with a chuckle.
"It's about time! We were starting to wonder if you two were ever going t' wake up or if we were going t' have to send Ori up there to wake you," Dori grinned as they sat down. He took a drink from something in a small, clay cup –tea, Bofur supposed, since it was steaming- before leaning back in his seat. "I already ordered our meal," he told them. "Fried eggs, sausage, bacon, biscuits—the usual."
Starting to comb his fingers through his beard, Bifur gave him a small nod. "Thank you."
Bofur yawned again, leaning back a little bit on his stool. Admittedly, he could have slept another hour or so, but that was probably the beer from last night talking. Hearing a laugh come from the kitchen, he looked up to see Baylee coming towards them with two trays heaped with food. As she walked towards them, he noticed that she didn't seem to have any problem carrying the platters, as heavy as they must have been.
"I see the other two masters are up now," she chuckled. Standing on one foot while the other tugged over a stool, she set one of the platters down atop it before starting to dole out the dishes on the other. "Would either o' ya like some tea or cider with your breakfast?" She set a large plate of eggs, bacon, and toast in front of Dori while another plate of scrambled eggs, sausage, ham, and biscuits was set in front of Nori. Ori got himself a large bowl of porridge, a smaller bowl of honey, and a small pitcher of cream put in front of him along with a little plate of two fried eggs.
"Tea for me, please," Bofur said with a smile. He watched as she switched over to the other tray now and brought over a plate of sausages, biscuits, gravy, and ham. "Ooh, that looks and smells mighty delicious," he grinned when it was placed in front of him.
"I'll have some cider, please," Bifur said. He, too, grinned as a plate was placed in front of him. His had bacon, fried eggs, biscuits, gravy, and a slice of ham.
She nodded in understanding before moving to collect the other empty tray. "And what of you, Masters Ri? Do any of you need refills yet?"
Dori, who had been in the middle of finishing his tea, nodded. "Yes, please, Miss Baylee—and, actually, if you'd be so kind, could we have a teapot brought out?"
"Aye, of course," she smiled. "Would you like the same tea or a different blend?"
"The same, please. It's quite delicious. Do you happen to know the name of the blend?"
She shook her head. "Not off the top o' my head, no, but I can easily find out for you."
"That would be lovely, thank you." As he moved to start eating his eggs, she walked off.
Entering the kitchen, she went over to the stove grate to see if the jar of tea was still there. To her luck, it was.
Galiene glanced over at her as she stirred some porridge around; her brow rose slightly as she saw the younger woman slowly mouthing the words on the label. "What're you doin', lass?" she asked.
"Master Dori was wanting to know what kind o' tea this is," she replied, her brows furrowed in concentration. She leaned over, pointing at one of the words on the label. "I know these say 'rainy' and 'day', but what does this one say?"
"That says 'chamomile'." She watched as Baylee frowned; she knew Baylee had always had issues with reading and it was a bit of a sore spot for her. "Aye, it looks like it should be said 'ch-amomile', but that's Westron for ya."
Baylee's nose scrunched up slightly and her cheeks flushed a bit. "That's a dumb way of spelling it," she murmured. Shaking her head, she went to grab a teapot so she could fill it with hot water.
At that, Galiene laughed. "Aye, I'll agree to that, lass. Like I said, though, that's Westron for ya. We may be fluent in speaking it, but reading it and seeing how the words are spelled is an entirely different matter." She looked back down at the porridge before adding some sugar and salt into it. "This porridge is for you, by the way. So once you're done tendin' to the dwarves, it's time for you t' take a break. Your auntie will be in soon enough to handle the other guests."
"Understood," she chuckled, adding some tea leaves into the pot. She put it on a tray along with an extra tea cup as well as a tea strainer. Then, going to the oven, she peeked into it, but was confused when she saw nothing in there.
"The scones are in the large basket, stayin' warm," Galiene told her.
"Thank you," she smiled. Grabbing a plate, she went over to the basket and heaped it with scones. The plate, too, joined the tray along with a dish of clotted cream and jam. Lifting it up, she headed out into the common room. While crossing the room, she glanced around. There weren't too many guests sitting at the tables just yet, but the ones who were there had already been tended to.
"Here ya go, lads," she chirped, approaching the table of dwarves. "Cider, tea, an' scones."
As they watched the plate of scones get set down, Bofur and Bifur perked. "Ooh, it's been a while since we've had a good scone," Bofur grinned.
"I take it you were feelin' a bit fancy, Dori?" joked Bifur.
"I'll have you know, it was me who was feelin' fancy," Nori chuckled. "But I was feelin' nice an' fancy, so I ordered enough for all o' us. But I get first pick!"
Chuckling, Baylee set down the teapot as well as the strainer, jam, and clotted cream. "Before I forget, Master Dori, the name o' the tea is 'Rainy Day Chamomile'. We get it through the Lightfoot family, actually." She watched as Nori reached over, grabbing two scones.
"Ooh, that's good to know. Thank you again, Miss Baylee," Dori smiled.
She returned the smile. "Is there anything else I can get ya?" When the dwarves declined, she told them to give a holler if they thought of anything and returned to the kitchen. The second she stepped in, the tray was taken from her hands only to be replaced with a warm bowl of porridge. As she was spun around and sent back out to the common room, she had just enough time to see that it was Demelza who had handed her the bowl and spun her around.
"Off you go lass—time t' finally get some breakfast in your belly."
"Th-thank you, auntie," she stammered, more than a little surprised by what just happened. With little choice left to her, she moved to go sit at a small, two-person table near the window. Stirring her porridge around, she smiled when she saw that Galiene had added in a bit of jam to give it more flavor. She lifted a spoonful from the bowl and gently blew on it to help it cool down.
Distracted by her breakfast, she failed to notice the figure approaching her—an impressive feat, given his size. So when he sat down across from her and set his own bowl of porridge and a mug of tea down, Baylee squeaked in surprise.
"Papa, don't startle me like that," she scolded.
He quietly laughed, his brow rising. "Sorry, lass. I didn't mean to startle you. Though, normally, it's you who sneaks up on me." He slid the mug of tea towards her. "For you, by the way. Your auntie forgot to hand it off to ya."
"Thank you." After taking another bite of porridge, she lifted the mug and sniffed it; it was a different tea than the Rainy Day Chamomile and it had hints of lemon to it. Smiling, she took a small sip, not wanting to burn herself.
"Did you have any plans for the day?" Warren asked after she set the mug down. He shoved a large spoonful of porridge into his mouth.
"Aside from doin' the usual wandering around the inn? Not really, no. Why?"
Reaching into his pocket, Warren pulled out a rather full coin purse. "First, I need ya to go to Bert's an' place our usual order. He'll be paid on delivery, o' course." He dropped the coin purse on the table in front of his daughter, not surprised by the loud 'plunk' sound it made. "After that, I need ya t' go to the seamstress' and get fitted for some new clothes."
At that, her brows furrowed. "What's wrong with what I've got now?" she asked.
"'Lee, most of your clothes are damn near close to being threadbare," he told her, his brow rising once more. "And it doesn't help you keep wearing the same three overdresses. I'm actually surprised Primrose hasn't dragged you off to get fitted herself…"
Her cheeks began to grow warm and she poked her spoon around in her bowl. "She's tried," she admitted, "but she tried to take me to her seamstress who I can't afford. Or, rather, couldn't afford at the time."
"Aye, well…Prim's family has always made sure to get the best o' the best," he chuckled. "But, they have more of a reputation to uphold than other families. An' we have a reputation to uphold as well—which is why I'm bringing this up. I don't need people t' think I'm a miser who doesn't give his daughter spending money to buy herself candies and clothes like Mannus Stover."
She snorted. "No one other than the old Master o' Laketown could be as bad as him, papa. Poor Adela hasn't had a new dress in a longer span o' time than me!" Shaking her head, she ate some more of her breakfast. "Speakin' of Prim an' her family, though…Masters Ri were wondering if they could talk t' you about who in town would be good to look into becomin' business partners with."
He nodded in understanding. "Alright. After we're all done eating, I'll go talk to them." Taking a bite of porridge, he looked out the window only to chuckle. "Well, speak o' the devil…"
"Hm?" She looked out of the window as well to see a young woman approaching the inn. She was dressed in fine clothes and had her dark brown hair pulled back in a braid. Glancing back at her father, her brow rose and she chuckled. "You sent for her, didn't you?"
Warren tried his best to feign an expression of innocence. "Hm? No, never—it's just pure coincidence that she's here!"
"Mhm…I'm sure o' that," she chuckled. Turning in her seat, she was just in time to see the door open and the woman walk in. "Mornin', Prim."
"Good morning Baylee, Mister Braddock," the young woman said, wearing a smile. She brought a chair over so she could sit at the table as well.
"I see papa roped you into takin' me dress shopping." Baylee scooted over a bit so she had more room.
At that, Primrose somewhat pouted. "I'll have you know, no roping was needed." Before sitting down, she took care to tuck her dress beneath her. "He merely suggested I accompany you and I agreed."
Laughing, Baylee cocked her brow. "O' course you did…you've been trying to get me into a dress shop for ages." She took a drink of her tea.
"And rightfully so! Look at the state o' this, Baylee." She lifted the sleeve of her overdress; what had once been a plentiful amount of fur lining the hem was now sparse and missing clumps. "It is most definitely time t' invest in some new clothes." Shaking her head, she crossed her arms over her chest and crossed her legs as well.
Her brow remaining raised, she looked across the table at Warren. "Ya do realize I'm goin' to be gone most o' the day now, right?" she asked him.
"Why do you think I gave you so much coin?" he snorted. He then looked at Prim, point his spoon at her matter-of-factly. "Be sure t' get her fitted for at least two nice dresses."
"Just how nice are you wanting them?" Primrose questioned, her head tilting slightly.
"One should be good enough to attend festivals an' parties in," he answered, "while the other should be audience-with-the-king worthy."
With a grin on her lips, Primrose nodded. "Understood, Mister Braddock."
Baylee looked at her father in a bored fashion. "Da'…Bard doesn't care if we're dressed in fine silks or if we're wearin' our everyday clothes," she told him. "Or have ya forgotten that he was our best friend growin' up?"
"Ya never know, Baylee," Primrose chuckled. "There are other kings in Middle Earth—one of them is just an hour and a half away, as a matter of fact."
"Still! When am I ever goin' to meet any o' them? I'm not exactly a member o' Bard's court." She then paused, thinking for a moment. "…Does he even have a proper court set up yet?"
At that, Warren and Primrose also fell quiet, their expressions turning contemplative as they thought the question over.
"So, the map says that this should be the right place…"
"Really?" Bifur looked up at the building before them and then up and down the street. "This is a really good location—why would a building, especially one of this size, not be bought up yet?"
Bofur shrugged, rolling up the map of Dale's available real estate before tucking it into his belt. "Hard t' say. Maybe the building's in worse condition than all the others an' no one wants t' fix it up? Or maybe it's just so big, no one can really afford it?"
Bifur's brow rose as he looked at his cousin. "The former is more likely the case." Sighing, he stepped forward and tried the door handle. To his surprise, it was unlocked—but as he pushed to open the door, it fell from its hinges and landed on the ground with a dull, rotten-sounding 'thwump'. In his hand, he still held the handle.
Leaning forward, Bofur poked his head past his arm, both brows raised in surprise as he looked at the fallen door. "Well, that's one way o' getting into the place," he said.
"I don't like it." Tossing the handle onto the floor, Bifur hesitantly stepped inside. "If the door's rotten enough that it falls off the hinges and leaves behind its handle, then that's a bad sign."
"Oh, come now—let's not be judgmental until we've gotten a full look at the place." He, too, stepped inside the building and started to wander about. "For all we know, the door was just a fluke!" The first room was decently sized, but not quite big enough to hold a storefront. As he approached the far wall, he gave it a hard rap with knuckles. He heard no signs of weakness so he continued to knock along the wall at various heights. Across the room, he could hear Bifur doing the same to the other wall. "At any rate, it's better than the last building we looked at—that had far too much work that needed done."
Bifur nodded in agreement. "Aye, it did…the whole thing needed gutted and rebuilt." Finding his wall suitable, he went into the hallway to find a staircase leading to a second floor as well as three more rooms.
"Four rooms an' a kitchen in total for the downstairs, eh?" Bofur had joined him in the hall. "If we take out this wall here," he patted the wall behind them, "then we could combine these two rooms into a store front." He walked over to the room on their right. "This could be a work room or a storage room." Stepping in, he gave its walls the same test of knocking at various points. "The walls sound good in here, too." Turning around, he found that his cousin had disappeared.
"The kitchen is decently sized," Bifur called. "I daresay it's large enough to be a kitchen and a workroom." He went over to the hearth and poked his head under the chimney. It was hard to tell if the flue was shut or open—it was pitch black up there. "We'll also need to get a chimneysweep." Pulling his head out of the flue, he looked around and saw three separate doorways. From where he stood, he could only tell where one of them led to thanks to its door being gone: The pantry.
"Aye, and definitely a woodworker or two," Bofur agreed. "If we do get this building, we'll need t' put in a couple of windows on the front wall so the wee ones can see inside. An' I know for a fact you know how t' make toys, not window frames." He chuckled as he approached the staircase.
Giving it a cautionary kick, he winced—the first step, at least, seemed to be as strong as ever. He gave the banister a shake; rather, he tried to give it a shake. Finding it solid as well, he risked climbing his way to the second floor.
"The staircase is as good as ever!" he called down. As he looked around, he found the upstairs separated into three rooms and another staircase that led up to a door. "Huh," he said more to himself than to his cousin. "The map says this one's only two stories…"
Rather than going to inspect the other rooms, he instead went over to the second staircase. Upon giving it the same tests, he found it to be as sturdy as the first. His brow rising, he started up it.
"Let's see where you lead to…Maybe an attic? Or maybe a secret passageway connecting you to other buildings…" Opening the door, however, revealed something much more mundane: A covered rooftop balcony. "Oh, well now isn't this nice?" he chirped.
"What's nice?"
Turning around, he looked down only to find Bifur coming up the first set of stairs. "We've got ourselves a rooftop deck," he laughed. "Covered, too!" Stepping outside, he walked over to the railing; it was somewhat hazardous, though. Many of the tiles covering the floor were cracked and broken from the years of being exposed to the elements. He gently knocked on one of the supports for the room and frowned. "We'll definitely need to replace this."
"Well now, isn't this a pretty view?" Bifur appeared beside him, a smile on his lips as he looked out over the city. "We can even see home from here." He gestured out past Dale to the gates of Erebor. Five years ago, they had been ruined and destroyed. Now, however, they were almost entirely repaired and looked as if they had never been ravaged by a dragon. "I suppose that's the perk to building atop hills, though."
"We can also see the inn from here, too," Bofur grinned. He had to stand on tiptoe to point over the edge at the Full Tankard. "Not too far away. If we buy this one, we'll be just ten or fifteen minutes from good food and beer."
Bifur then pointed past him, further up the street to where the road opened into a wide area where colorful sheets were strung up, shielding vendors of all sorts from the elements. "Even less than that if we just want a quick bite. The market's right there." His brow rose as Bofur kept his hand from getting too close to the roof support.
"We'll need to replace the roof," he explained. "The wood's fairly damaged, but what can you expected after a couple o' centuries o' being exposed to the elements? Frankly, I'm surprised it's even still standin' after the first attack by Smaug…" He then chuckled, looking up at the roof. "Hm. Almost looks like a bell used t' hang here."
"Given the size, this may have been some sort of school," Bifur suggested. "There's no furniture or anythin' left to really tell us its story."
He nodded slowly in agreement. "Aye, that's true…Shall we go back down an' check out the second floor's rooms?"
"I did already. They're good sized and in fairly good condition. We could each have our own bedroom with a spare for guests or storage. We'll also need to replace the windows, but that's a given."
"Have you found the privy yet?"
Bifur shook his head. "Not yet, but my guess is it's one o' the two doors in the kitchen." Turning, he made to head back down the stairs. "I have to admit, I'm glad this building is proving me wrong so far."
Bofur chuckled as he followed him. "I can't blame ya for doubting it. The last three we went to were in such bad shape, it'd be better t' just tear them down and start anew. But this one has potential. Strong potential."
As they headed down to the first floor and into the kitchen again, they each headed to one of the unopened doors. Bifur's brows rose in surprise as he found a small, walled-in garden area behind his door. It was severely overgrown and would need a lot of work to get it back into shape, but it was a nice bit of space that could be very pretty once tamed.
"Found the privy," Bofur called from his door. "Huh. This…is a fancy privy."
"How so?" He headed back in, but left the door open. Stepping into the privy, he couldn't help but laugh. "A bathtub an' a toilet in the same room?" he questioned. He watched, amused, as his cousin climbed into the copper tub. It had turned turquoise with age, but that could be polished away.
Bofur grinned, looking very much like a child as he sat in the tub. "This could actually be a nice treat!" he chirped. "Better than bathin' in wooden basins."
"Not as good as the hot springs in Erebor, though." He walked over and peered into the tub. "It's a nice depth. Like you said, it could be a nice treat, especially after a busy day." He then went over to the toilet, giving its wooden foundation a small kick. "Hm. Might need to replace this, but that shouldn't be too bad."
As he turned around, he was just in time to see Bofur's foot get caught on the rim of the tub as he climbed out. A curse left his mouth and he tumbled to the floor, landing on his back. "Good thing you wear that hat of yours, cousin, so it can cushion your noggin whenever you fall." Going over to him, he offered him a hand up.
Taking it, Bofur grunted as he was pulled to his feet. "We'll need t' make a step or two for getting in and out of it," he said. He straightened his hat as he looked at the tub. "Or…hm. We could lower it into the floor a few inches…"
"I think it'd just be easier to cut a few inches off o' the top and curl it back over, honestly."
"…Aye, that actually sounds much easier."
Baylee wasn't used to being still for so long.
She was standing on a raised pedestal in a seamstress' shop, both Primrose and the shop's owner, a willowy woman with knee-length silver hair named Eidel, were pacing around her. The latter of the two had a measuring tape in hand that she frequently held up to Baylee's body only to then announce a number. Off to the side, one of her apprentices wrote the number down for her.
"…We should most definitely stick to yellows, greens, and light blues," Primrose was saying. "Reds would look too harsh on her an' purples would simply wash her out."
"I wholeheartedly agree," Eidel said with a nod. "I've some lovely yellow fabrics that I just got in from Gondor not long ago—they'll look very pretty on her."
Her brow rising slightly, Baylee continued to do her best to stay still. "I was hopin' for something with some brown in it, too," she said, her voice a little on the shy side.
At that, Eidel's eyes lit up. "Ooh, yes!" she grinned. Reaching up, she lightly tilted Baylee's head up so that the light caught the color of her eyes better. "Some deep, rich browns would really make the color o' these lovely eyes o' yours 'pop', don't you think, Primrose?"
The brunette nodded, smiling as well. "Most definitely. But warmer browns, I think, would be best." Her brow rose slightly as she watched some color appear on her friend's cheeks. She knew Baylee wasn't a fan of being the center of attention, least of all when she was literally placed on a pedestal to be observed. "How many more measurements will ya need?"
"Just a couple more." As she spoke, she wrapped the tape around the widest part of Baylee's hips before reading off yet another number. Crouching down, she then placed one end of the tape at the top of her hip while the other measured down to her ankle. After relaying the number to her assistant, she said, "As Miss Lightfoot already knows, I take as many measurements as possible t' ensure my customers get the best fit possible. Some may think I'm bein' a touch excessive, but my customers rarely ever need something altered when it comes time t' do the final fittings." A mischievous twinkle came to her blue eyes.
"Which is, exactly, why you're the best in Dale," Primrose smiled. She watched as the woman took one last measurement before going over to her assistant.
"You flatter me, Miss Lightfoot. And…yes, that was the last one needed," she told them. "Feel free t' come down now, Miss Braddock."
A quiet, relieve sigh left her mouth as she hopped down to the floor. Brushing some hair from her face, Baylee looked over at Primrose, who had already gone over at a stack of various rolled up fabrics. Shaking her head, she chuckled to herself and walked over.
"Already deciding on what I'll be wearing?" she joked.
"Not entirely. Although…" She slightly pulled one of the rolls out—a rich, buttery yellow velvet with subtle embossing—and pulled Baylee over to stand beside it. "This would be so pretty on you!"
Looking at the fabric, she ran her fingers over it. "Hm. Maybe…It feels a bit thick an' heavy, though. I'm not really a fan o' my clothes being heavy."
Primrose stared at her in shock; most women she knew would jump at the chance for having a dress made of such lovely material! "But think of how wonderfully it would twirl about your ankles as you danced!"
Her brow rising, she playfully rolled her eyes. "I'll think about it," she chuckled. "But there are hundreds o' other fabrics to look through first." Looking past Primrose, she saw Eidel coming over.
"Oh, heavens no, dears," she said, taking both younger women by the shoulders and guiding them away. "Those are heavier fabrics—they're much better for cooler temperatures. With spring and summer coming, you'll want t' be wearing breezy cottons and flowing linens!"
The three women spent nearly an entire hour picking out fabrics while discussing the fits and shapes of the future garments. For this, Baylee was glad to have Primrose there with her because, while she enjoyed wearing nicer clothes, she knew next to nothing about the language used to create them. Primrose, on the other hand, was fluent and helped her friend out whenever something confusing was said.
"Now it'll be just a couple o' weeks for the clothes to get made and then we'll be able to see you try them all on," Primrose grinned as they walked through the market. "You'll have to be sure t' send word to me on that day—I don't want to miss you playing dress up."
"It's less o' playin' dress up as it is making sure everything fits," Baylee chuckled. She brushed some hair from her face and looked around. She still had some money left over—Eidel told her she required half payment upfront and half at the time of pickup—and her stomach was feeling quite empty. "You hungry?" She started to walk towards a vendor selling hand pies.
At that Primrose's cheeks flushed slightly. "Starving, actually. I didn't get much of a breakfast."
Baylee looked up and over her shoulder at her friend, a scolding look on her face. 'An' why is that?" she demanded.
"I may have slept in an' found myself running late," she replied with an innocent smile.
"How many pies do ya want?" She pulled the coin purse out as they approached the vendor.
"Oh, that's alright, Baylee. I've my own money—"
"How many pies do ya want?" she repeated, her voice a bit firm.
Know that she wasn't going to back down, Primrose relented with a small chuckle. "Two chicken ones, please." It was a familiar scenario for them both; whoever pulled out their money purse first almost always made the other let them pay.
"An' I'll have one chicken and one apple spice, please," Baylee told the woman.
Nodding, the woman used a pair of tongs to pick up the pies, wrapping each one up in a bit of paper. "Here you go, dearies—careful, they came out of the oven not but ten minutes ago!" She smiled as she exchanged the pies for the coin.
"Thank you, Missus Townsend," the two chorused before walking off again.
Taking a small nibble from the corner of one of her pies, Primrose glanced over at Baylee. "So…when I arrived at the Tankard earlier, I happened t' notice a group of dwarves at one of your tables." She started to blow air into the hole she had made, hoping it would help cool the pastry down more.
"Aye, they're stayin' for a couple of weeks. Three o' them are lookin' for some business partners around town. Da' and recommended your family." Breaking the corner off of her chicken pie, she blew on it a couple of times before popping it into her mouth.
She nodded. "I thought so. The one with star-shaped hair looked familiar."
"So ya have seen them before?" She took a bite of her pie only to start fanning her mouth. "Ah, hot-hot-hot! So yummy but so hot!"
Primrose laughed, her brow rising. "She told us to be careful, Baylee! It's your own fault if you've got a blistered tongue now." Shaking her head, she continued to blow into hers. "But yes, I've seen them before. I don't know much about them, since it's Rosalina an' Rosemary who help father with the business, but they seem nice enough. The youngest one is quite shy."
After managing to chew and swallow the bite of pie without serious injury, Baylee smiled. "Aye, he is a bit shy, but Ori's quite sweet once he starts t' open up."
"His name is Ori?"
"Aye. He's Ori, the star-haired one is Nori, an' Dori is the eldest with silver braids."
"What about the other two who were at the table?"
"Bifur an' Bofur. Bofur's the one with the hat."
"Are they also in Dale to do business?"
"O' sorts. They're location scoutin' so they can open a toy shop here." Taking the proper precautions this time, she blew many times on the corner of her pie before taking a bite. It was still hot, but much more bearable this time.
Primrose made a sound of acknowledgement as she finally took a bite of her pie. After swallowing, she glanced down at Baylee. "A toy shop would be a lovely addition t' the town! Dale used to be known all over for its toys, after all. And there are so many young children these days…they could do with some quality toys."
"Why do ya ask?" She looked up at her friend, a brow raised. "Not goin' to be spreading rumors around with your gossip sessions, are ya?" she teased. The two women stopped walking, choosing to instead sit atop a short wall while they ate.
"I'll have you know, proper ladies do not spread rumors or have gossip sessions," she replied with an indignant pout. "I merely wanted t' know because it's not often that we get that many dwarves here in town outside o' festivals. They're usually comin' here by themselves or in pairs. Which, if you think about it, is a bit odd, considering how close we are to Erebor…"
"We're not the only ones still rebuilding," Baylee reminded her. "Dale got razed by a dragon, but Erebor housed the dragon for many, many years. Think o' all the damage that happened inside o' there." She started to blow on her pie again.
She nodded slowly, glancing past the buildings and towards the Lonely Mountain. "That is true," she murmured. "What do ya think it's like in there?" she then asked. "Do you think it's dark an' scary like a normal cave?"
At that, Baylee couldn't help but laugh. "It's nothing like that, Prim. It's actually quite the opposite."
"How do you know?"
"Two years ago, da' and I went to Erebor t' buy Will some new carving tools," she explained. "While there was still a lot of damage that was bein' repaired, the place was actually quite pretty. Everything's carved out o' green marble…An' there aren't many ceilings, so a combination o' light from the outside and from hundreds and hundred o' lamps lights up the place. You could see the reds an' the golds an' the whites all throughout the marble. It's very lovely."
Primrose looked rather impressed. "I would have never expected it to be green marble…Actually, I wouldn't have expected it t' be marble at all. I would have thought it'd all be plain, grey stone."
She shook her head, chuckling. "Nah. If ya get the chance, you should really go see it. Like I said, it's really quite lovely."
"Hm. Perhaps someday I will," she murmured. "Speaking o' Will, though, has there been any word about when he should be back?"
"No, sadly," she sighed. "We're hopin' they just ran into a bit o' wagon trouble or some bad weather and that's what's takin' them so long to get back." Taking another bite, she, too, looked out towards Erebor, though her gaze turned a little bit more to the south, to the eastern horizon. Another sigh left her mouth. "Somethin' tells me he's doing fine, though." Looking back at Primrose, she then smiled reassuringly. "An' you got t' remember: Will's always been the slowpoke out of the two of us. If anyone could drag out returnin' from Dorwinion, it'd be that lad."