I am so sorry for not updating sooner! You probably all think I've given up on this story but I haven't! At first I had lost my manuscript! It was horrible D: When I id find it I just couldn't get around to typing it up. I hope you all enjoy this next chapter. This first half has been more funny and lighthearted but I can't wait to type up an action scene! Thank you so much for following my story. It honestly makes my day when I get messages saying someone's favorite/followed/ or reviewed my story! You are all the best!
The dwarves were watching me intently as I rummaged through my bag.
"I suppose there're a few things in here that might be interesting to you," I mumbled while searching around. I didn't want to show them the coolest things first so I decided to start small. I let out an "aha!" and pulled out my plastic glasses case. I didn't know if they had anything similar to glasses here but I figured if they did they would definitely not look like the pair I had. I opened the case and pulled out the glasses. They were oval, large rimmed made with black plastic. The dwarves looked at the thin arrangement of wires and glass with interest. I then proceeded to unfold the metal frames and lift them onto my face.
The dwarves watched as I balanced the object on my nose and ears. I must have looked positively silly to them because they burst into fits of boisterous laughter. I smiled and adjusted the glasses on my nose.
"Why are you carrying such a random thing around with you?" laughed Fili, catching his breath. I waited until the group's laughter had quieted before I explained to them.
"These are glasses," I stated, "They are made for people with bad eyesight. The glass is specially made to fix whatever problems a person might have with their vision." I pulled the frames off my face and handed them to Ori who quickly fumbled them on. The dwarves burst into laughter again as Ori's face scrunched up and he went cross-eyed trying to focus through the lenses.
"Well, these don't help me see at all!" Ori stated in confusion as he pulled them from his face and passed them to the next dwarf, "They work quite the opposite, if you ask me." He pointed. I laughed again.
"They're not made for everyone's eyesight, it won't work for you unless your eyes don't see as well." I explained, trying to help them understand this new technology. Suddenly there was a shout from the back and everyone jumped, hands on hilts and turned to see Gloin, glasses on face, peering around in wonder. His mouth was hung open in awe.
"I have never seen since this day!" he exclaimed happily, looking from face to face with wonder. I looked at him with amusement, what an odd coincidence that he had the same eyesight as me. I smiled as he spun, arms outstretched, grinning wildly.
"The world has never been so clear and beautiful!" he shouted joyfully. I giggled with delight as the other dwarves huddled around him and listened to him explain the new magic he'd discovered.
"If you would like, you can keep them." I offered politely, "I hardly use them anyway, I think you'll enjoy them more than me," I stated. His eyes bulged with surprise underneath the prescription lenses.
"I don't know why you wouldn't want to keep these on at all times, these are a priceless gift!" He began taking the frames off when I held up my hands.
"I would be very happy if you were to have them instead of me. You will definitely appreciate them more! You are free to keep them." I smiled as he stood there in shock. He smiled at me with all the joy in the world.
"If you are so willing to give me such a gift then I will not be one to turn it down. Thank you," He grinned as he pushed the glasses back onto his nose.
And thus a dwarf in the company gained a pair of spectacles.
"Have you got anything else in that bag of yours?" asked Ori hopefully. I grinned, knowing just the thing for him. I pulled out my pink mechanical pencil and handed it to him.
"That is called a mechanical pencil," I grinned. Ori stared at it in wonder, holding it in both hands delicately.
"What does it do?" he asked innocently. I lightly grabbed the pencil back from him and demonstrated how it worked.
"It'll never get dull but there is only a certain amount of lead in it and when that's gone it won't work anymore." I handed it back to him. He stared at the pencil with joy and tried it out. He clicked the button, as I'd instructed, and a small bit of lead came out the tip. He nearly squealed with joy. He quickly pulled out his notebook and placed the tip of the lead onto the paper. The dwarves watched as he stroked the lead across the page. He smiled back at me vibrantly.
"You can keep the too Ori, I hope you like it!" He did, it was obvious by his enthusiastic scribbling.
I felt absolutely giddy at making putting these dwarves in such a state of awe. I laughed as I glanced back to Gloin, who was still dancing around with his arms outstretched, enjoying his new vision. And I glanced happily and Ori, who was now aside from the group doodling away. The rest of the company closed in looking at me with eager eyes. Even Thorin was standing close by observing the events.
I felt like the Wizard of OZ, handing out wonderful gifts to everyone, and that I did. (Luckily I was a bit of a purse packrat so I had a little something to give to everyone.) To Dori I gave my umbrella. When I explained its use he growled a triumphant "YES!" then yelled across the group shouting "She's a better weather wizard than you'll ever be" at the disgruntled wizard who simply ignored him and continued to watch what was going on more closely.
Oin came up and I handed him a tin of mints (I figured it might be a sensory overload for him but it was something) I gave Bombur my small container of Advil. I told him what it did and how to use them. He smiled in wonder and thanked me. I gave my roll of chapstick to Nori (after wiping off the top layer) and a few cents from my wallet. I started to hand something to Dwalin but he turned away saying there wasn't anything he'd need from me. I rolled my eyes (while he wasn't looking!) and pulled out my styling, dark lensed shield sunglasses. I held them out to him. He didn't turn around.
"Just try these," I urged, "I really think they'd suit you." I egged. He turned toward me a bit and I waved the sunglasses at him. When he saw that I wasn't giving up until he took them he sighed and pulled them from my hand. He'd seen the other glasses before so he knew how to put them on. He pushed them onto his face in slight annoyance. I quickly grabbed my makeup mirror to show him the final product. It was pretty stinkin' awesome if you ask me. He glanced in the mirror for a second then turned away with a grunt. It was obvious he liked them; he didn't take them off.
"Those are used for helping to see in bright sunlight. You don't really need to wear them at night." I informed him. He just grunted again and left them where they were. I tried to contain a smile as I moved on to the next dwarf. I handed Bofur a pack of gum, which he examined closely before taking a whiff of it.
"My gosh, lass, that is a strong smelling little thing." He said, taken aback. I showed him how to open the pack and get a stick of gum out of the little wrappers. I held it between my fingers for everyone to see.
"Well, do ya' eat it?" asked Bofur, ultimately confuse by everything. I smiled at him.
"Not exactly, you're supposed to keep it in your mouth and chew it. You don't swallow it, it makes your breath smell really good and it cleans your teeth. It also tastes really good. Who wants to try it?" I asked, ripping off small pieces (only enough to get a little taste of it) for everyone. Everyone called out, wanting to try whatever strange food I'd brought from wherever I'd come. I divided a single stick amongst everyone. Even Gandalf grabbed a piece and put it in his mouth carefully. The reactions were absolutely hilarious, to say the least, some of the dwarves spit it out after a second, surprised by the strangeness of the mint flavor. Others enjoyed the intense flavor and chewed the gum happily. One dwarf (Dori. Cough, cough) accidentally swallowed his piece and came to me quite worried about it. Gandalf took his piece out of his mouth to examine it more carefully.
"This is an odd thing, it does not break down like normal food," he squished it between his fingers then pulled them apart watching as the gum stuck and stretched. A small gust of wind blew his beard into the sticky strands and stuck. He tried to pull it out of the gum but to no avail. I jumped up a little panicked (Seriously, I can't be the one to ruin his glorious beard!) Maybe gum wasn't the best idea for a bunch of bearded dwarfs.
"Oh dear, I'm sorry, I forgot to mention how sticky it is! I think we may have to cut it out of your beard. " I bit my lip holding back a laugh and came over trying to get as much green stuff out of his marvelous beard as I could. There was only a small amount left that he was able to trim out easily.
Bofur was thoroughly happy with his gift and took a whole stick out for himself. He chewed it joyfully, smiling all the time. Truth be told it didn't look odd seeing him chewing it, it fit his character quite well.
I only had a few things left in my bag, most of which were electronics. I had no idea how the dwarves would react to something like that. The electronics were even more advanced than my car and there were things about Grandpa that I couldn't explain to them. I sighed; the batteries would die eventually so it didn't really matter.
I called Bifur over and pulled out my cell phone. I flipped it open causing the light to flash on. Bifur shouted in surprise and the other dwarves stared in amazement as I flipped the screen towards them showing off the moving screen saver. Gandalf reached toward the phone, touching the screen gently.
"This is like no magic I have ever seen," he whispered deeply. I watched everyone's faces as they took in the moving image on the screen.
"This is my cell phone," I informed the entranced company, "Pretty much all you can do on it now is look through pictures and play snake," I finished, handing it to Bifur who stared at the screen until it went black. I pushed on of the buttons for him, lighting the screen up again. The dwarves stared in shock as Bifur walked away with the device. Gandalf looked back at me with unconcealed wonder.
"You, my dear, are a long, long way from home…" he studied me carefully. I sighed, pushing my hair from my face.
"Yes, very far away," I thought of home, with the paved roads and sidewalks, the buildings that reached into the clouds, the electricity spanning nations. I looked back at Bifur, who was entranced by a simple phone light, "You have no idea," I finished forlornly. The statement had me thinking again about how it was I had got here. I was in a fictional world, why had I been transported to anywhere let alone Middle Earth? A gentle hand on my shoulder interrupted my worried musings. Gandalf smiled sadly at me. I shook myself out of my perplexed mood.
"It's all fine, I'm sure I'll figure out what kind of mess I've gotten myself into," I smiled up at him reassuringly, "Now, where was I?" I began searching through my bag with new found vigor. I noticed my waterproof work watch and pulled it out with an "aha!" I looked through the crowd in front of me. Finding the dwarf I wanted I gestured for him to come forward. Balin made his way over to where I was sitting.
"You don't need to get me anything, lass…" he began. I held the watch up to him in response.
"I want to give you something. I like giving gifts and you all seem so amused by the things I've got. It makes me happy to see you all so awestruck. You find these things much more amusing than I do," I said placing the watch in his hand.
"That's how we tell time where I'm from. It's also a stopwatch; you can time how long things take to the second! It also lights up with that button there," I showed him a few buttons so he knew how it all worked.
I gave Kili my deck of playing cards. He opened the box and dumped the contents all over the ground. The other dwarves helped him pick them all up, looking at the unique art on the fronts and backs of each.
"What are all these for?" Kili asked, while stuffing the thin papers back into their box.
"It's a game," I summed up, "I'll show how to play it later," I finished. He smiled happily and put the deck in a pocket. I then pulled my camera from its case and handed it to Fili. "This can take photos, I'll show you how it works sometime tonight." He looked slightly confused at the thing but smiled when he said I'd show him how to use it.
I handed Bilbo, who was still standing next to me, my travel sized bottle of hand sanitizer.
"That will be your best friend while traveling." I told him matter-of-factly, "It kills almost every germ you may get on your hands so you can clean you hands even if you don't have water. You only need a small dab," Bilbo immediately took the bottle from me and opened the lid letting a small amount fall into the palm of his hand. He rubbed it around furiously then held his hands up in the air with a sigh of relief.
"Honestly, thank you so much," he said, like some great burden had finally been lifted from him. His honest thankfulness for the small gift was so cute I just had to laugh while saying "Your welcome".
I noticed Thorin standing amongst the dwarves looking unamused.
"Your next," I motioned for him. He hesitated before finally giving in to curiosity and made his way over.
I hope you liked this chapter! Let me know if it seems a little slow. Thank you for your support and patience. And yes:
Dwalin wears his sunglasses at night.
He's cool like that.