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fantasyinallforms · 10 months

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Nr 47 for Bagginshield sounds very interesting if it hasn't been done already, please and thank you🫣💖

Ok, so this prompt turned out longer than I originally anticipated. It was also a little bit of a challenge so thank you for sending it!! It's a little angsty but kissing out of spite is an angsty prompt!

~~~~~~~~

He threw the meeting door open to leave the room. His feet could not carry him away fast enough. He wanted to cry. He wanted to scream at the top of his lungs. He heard the door get pushed open behind him and briefly considered slipping on his magic ring.

“Laddie, he didn't mean it like that! You have to know how delicate all of this is!” It wasn't like Balin to trip over his words, so he was sure now that he had not been in on the announcement.

“He meant exactly what he said. He always means exactly what he says. Having me in Erebor is too much of a complication.”

“He didnae say that.” Balin tried to counter. Bilbo stopped and whirled on him.

“He might as well have! When Gandalf announced he was heading back over the mountains and would escort me back home, what did Thorin say?” There was nothing but silence from the old advisor. “What did he say, Balin!” He had long abandoned his willingness to stay calm. He was shaking with rage and hurt beyond words.

“He said that would be for the best.”

“That’s right, he did.” Bilbo walked away, and Balin did not follow. He closed the door of his room and screamed. He screamed so loud he was sure they could hear it in Dale. He had been deluding himself this entire time into thinking there was more. He really could have sworn they had gotten closer. They took meals together and smoked together. Thorin had gone out of his way to make him comfortable, even going so far as to make him a new armchair that put his at home to shame. He thought Thorin might even offer to let him stay. He hoped it with everything he had. The Shire didn't feel like home anymore, not when his heart rested in the mountain, even now as shattered as it was. There were hints the last week of this happening. They had stopped sharing as many meals, and Thorin stopped seeking him out before meetings or in the library. What had he done wrong?

He started to pack his things immediately. He wouldn't stay a moment longer than he needed to. Twenty minutes passed, and there was a knock at the door.

“Leave. I don’t feel like company.” He heard footsteps retreat, and a part of him resented that they didn't even try.

“We need to talk.” Thorin’s voice said clear as day from behind him. Bilbo nearly jumped out of his skin.

“How did you get in here!” He gasped and stumbled back. Thorin surged forward to help him but thought better of it halfway through the reaction.

“Our rooms are connected through a door in the kitchen,” Thorin stated plainly.

“I-I never noticed a door in there.” Bilbo cursed dwarves and their invisible doors but recovered. “What do you want, Thorin.”

“Someone said they heard you scream. I wanted to make sure you were okay. Y-your packing?” Thorin was standing stiff as a board; his words came through gritted teeth.

“Of course, I’m packing. You just offloaded your burden onto the wizard. I won't stay longer than I’m welcome. I’ll stay in Dale tonight, then with the Elves until Gandalf is ready to depart.” Even he knew that mentioning the elves was a low blow. The elvish ambassadors always made it a point to remark on how well taken care of he would be in Eryn Lasgalen and over inquired about his safety in the mountain. Right now, he wanted Thorin to hurt as much as he did.

“If you stay another day, Gloin can prepare some of your share of the treasure for you.” Thorin’s entire being seemed to be shrouded in shadow. His hair hung heavy over his shoulders, and his eyes looked like there were deep circles under them from days without sleep. He had noticed it in the meeting, but now they seemed to sink into his face.

“I don't want a single coin from you! Not one piece of it!” The words carefully and not at all accidentally chosen had the same effect as a slap to the kings face. Bilbo hated himself for hurting Thorin in his pain. He wanted to apologize immediately and leave on better terms, but he had no idea how to at this point, so he didn't. His bag was now packed. He didn't take anything with him that he had accumulated in the last three months except a few mementos from the company, Sting, and the Mithril shirt tucked away at the bottom of his bag. He walked to the door, passing Thorin, and turned to him. This would be the last time he got the chance to do this, then it would be a lifetime of what-ifs. So why not. He walked over to him and yanked him down rather harshly until their lips met. He felt Thorin gasp against him and freeze. His lips felt warm and chapped, and by the lady's green garden, why did he do this? Because all he would ever want was this feeling again. They say love drives you to do crazy things, but so does spite. “I hate you for making me fall in love with you…you…bastard.” The words came out watery and much less harsh than he meant for them to be.

He didn't have the chance to move a single step before Thorin seized him. Ice went through him. He had done it. He had finally, truly set off that electric temper the king was so well known for. He felt his bag pushed off his shoulders as Thorin cradled his back and head. The second kiss was so much more than the first. Thorin held nothing back. He devoured Bilbo’s mouth, plundering it like it was the difference between living and dying. It was not gentle; it was desperate.

“How could you do that to me?” Thorin sounded truly hurt. His eyes were glistening with tears as he struggled to verbalize his thoughts. “I knew you were stubborn, but I did not think you so cruel as to reveal this to me now and try and turn to leave.” Thorin was now holding Bilbo’s head in his hands, his face wild with sorrow.

“You wanted me to leave! You practically pushed me into Gandalf's hands! Don't pretend you love me now after that.” Bilbo took several steps back, and Thorin’s hands fell limply at his side.

“I did that because what other choice did I have? I want you, but I can not have you! The moment I laid hands on you my right to your heart was forfeit by the laws of my people. It is against our law to even ask for it! I can't keep living like this knowing you are so near yet so far away. It’s like torture, Bilbo! How long until someone else catches your eye? I can't watch that happen! Watching you share your private moments… your body… Your love with someone that isn't me. I would rather shore all the hair on my body and cast myself upon my blade.” He meant it. Bilbo could tell he meant every word of it. The way he was standing and the tone of his voice, Thorin Oakenshield was not a dwarf built for lies. Bilbo stagged backward until he bumped into the frame of the bed.

“You… love me? But wait, you said… it’s illegal to be with me?” His brain felt fried. He was trying so hard to make sense of the information laid at his feet. “Wait, but I wronged you as well! I was technically an enemy of Erebor when you… when that happened. Surely that explanation is enough! Did you even think to try and work around this, or was casting me away your first solution!” The confusion had not extinguished his anger, but there was not nearly as much power behind it now.

“I didn't know that you wanted me in any way more than a friend. I had not dared hope, and the part of me that did hoped I wasn't forgiven. Am I forgiven?” Thorin looked so hopeful. The dark circles under his eyes only make the blue of his irises bright with life and pain. All the anger, all the vitriol left him like a tidal wave. He took a step forward, and his legs buckled underneath him. Thorin caught him and cradled him against his chest.

“I forgive you. Of course, I forgive you, you fool.”

______

Fun kissing prompt game to be found here!

also to the Anon who gave me the jealousy prompt. I did not forget you. You gave me my all-time favorite trope and therefore I am incapable of writing less than 1500 words for it.

#bagginshield #the hobbit #thilbo #bilbo baggins #thorin oakenshield #bilbo x thorin #FIAF(me)fics #kissing prompts

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ahufflepuffhobbit · 1 year

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Got a pretty nice, complimentary trope combo for FOTFics January Trope Roulette — Everybody Knows/Mistaken for Couple × Roommate AU ~

Any ship/pairing really; Bagginshield, of course, but I have been into Bofur getting some love (lately I've been reading Bofur/Nori, Bofur/Dwalin, and Bofur/Fíli) ~ whatever strikes inspiration, I know I'll love it

Hope you're having a lovely day, keep on being fantabulous 💙

This was so fun! I've never written for Bofur/Nori before and I thought it was a lot of fun!

~*~*~*~

Erebor had slowly - so slowly - become a bustling metropolis again. Bofur was thrilled to see it. It had nearly two thousand dwarrow in it now, and Thorin and Bilbo as well as the rest of the Company had been kept busy making sure everyone was provided for and mending fences, as well as the rest of the mountain.

Tonight, though, was time for relaxing. One of the lead miners that Bofur worked with when he wasn’t taking care of Company duties had invited him to her birthday party, and Bofur was beyond ready to go. He stepped out into the living room, and glanced towards Nori’s bedroom door. Most of the Company still shared rooms, though there was more space available to them. It was a comfort thing for them. How he had ended up with Nori, he wasn’t sure. Part of him wanted to blame Bilbo. He was the only one besides Bifur and Bombur to know about Bofur’s feelings for the thief turned spy, and Bilbo was certainly in a position to make arrangements…

Nori slipped out of his room with a grin, and Bofur felt the familiar swoop of his stomach when he saw him. He really was ridiculously beautiful. Especially with the deep green jacket he was wearing. Combined with the grey tunic, it highlighted all of Nori’s best features.

“How do I look?” Nori asked. He did a slow spin so that Bofur could look his fill. He appreciated that kindness, but couldn’t let on.

“Oh, don’t preen,” Bofur replied with a shake of his head. “You know you look great. Now, lets go, we’re going to be late.”

Nori shot him a mocking pout. “You’re not even going to let me compliment you?”

Absolutely not. He would not be able to take that. Bofur scoffed and dragged Nori out of their rooms. It only took a moment of silence for Bofur to fill it with chatter about how he knew Zezily, and his guess about the other miners that would be there. He chattered so much that they reached Zezily’s place far quicker than he was anticipating.

They just grabbed a drink and were talking about the Company meeting they would have tomorrow when Zezily found them. “Bofur, I’m so glad that you came!”

They shook hands before Bofur introduced Nori.

“I love that you two matched! You won’t have to worry about someone trying to steal him,” Zezily joked with a grin. Bofur’s heart pounded. What had he done to give the impression that he was with Nori? He was usually so careful to not let anything slip, to be carefree and fun around his roommate so that he would <i>never</i> know that Bofur was in love with him. Sure, they were were mirroring each other with their tunics and jackets, but-

Nori slipped his arm around Bofur’s waist and broke apart every spiraling thought that Bofur was having. He turned to look at the spy, who was wearing a pleased grin as he replied to Zezily. “You like it? Bofur got his tunic a week ago and I loved the color so much, I knew I needed something to go with it. Can’t have him be the only handsome one!” Nori and Zezily let out a laugh while Bofur was trying to understand what in Mahal’s name was happening. Someone who didn’t spend as much time as he did looking at Nori probably wouldn’t notice it, but there was something in Nori’s eyes. He was nervous about something. About them?

Nori squeezed his side gently, and Bofur shot Zezily a smile. A moment later, she had gone off to greet more guests and Nori led him off to the side. Bofur was trying not to concentrate on how he could feel the warmth of Nori’s arm still on his waist and how he was close enough to smell him. All he wanted was to lean into Nori’s side and never leave; he needed to get away before he did something stupid that ruined their friendship.

“Breathe,” Nori chided gently. “Whatever your fool head is thinking, it’s wrong.”

Bofur did as he was instructed and forced himself to meet Nori’s eyes. He could still play this off probably. “I-”

“Nope,” Nori cut in. “I get to talk now, alright?” Nori stood in front of him, shielding him from the rest of the party, and Bofur did know what else to do besides let Nori talk. “I don’t want to dance around this anymore. I thought maybe when I got us to live together it would become clear, but-”

“You did that? I thought Bilbo…” Mahal, he was an idiot. Of course Nori had arranged it. Nori could do anything.

Nori shot him a pleased grin, as though he knew exactly what Bofur was thinking. “I wanted some time with you. Just you. And I can tell you’re still not getting it, because you think you don’t deserve to get everything you want - which is wrong, by the by - so… I want to court you, Bofur son of Bafur.”

The sounds of the party disappeared. All he could hear was Nori’s words repeating in his brain, trying to find the joke. Surely, it wasn’t that easy? But Nori was holding a bead out to him and that nervous look was back in his eyes.

“You’re serious?”

“Rather a cruel prank, don’t you think? Of course I’m serious. Will you give me an answer?”

Well! Bofur didn’t know what else to do but press their foreheads together as he put his hand in Nori’s, the bead held between their hands. He heard Nori let out a shaky sigh of relief. He wanted nothing more than to kiss Nori, but he didn’t want to do it in front of all these people. “We should go home,” Bofur whispered. “So you can put that shiny bead in my hair."

"I know a shortcut," Nori breathed. Bofur's heart thudded in his chest as he saw the rest of his life full of intimate moments like this but also exploring and jokes and <i>happiness</i>.

~*~*~*~

Send me a trope combination and pairing!

#january trope roulette #my fic stuff #bofur x nori #fotfics

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diminuel · 1 year

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I finished rewatching The Hobbit trilogy (well, I stopped watching when Thorin and co went into Azog’s trap because I don’t need that kind of nonsense).

I really want to draw some flowing hair...!

But first I will reblog some (old) Hobbit stuff. If anyone wants to talk to me about The Hobbit or Destiel AUs of it then please do, I still crave more even though I spent so much time reading and rereading fanfic. All the blogs I visited in the past are pretty much gone so I don’t know where I’m getting new content from yet. Do I need new content? I don’t know. I just need to patch up my Bagginshield heart ;w;

#Effi stuff

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lordoftherazzles · 1 year

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Random Writer Anon!!

When you get this answer one of the questions (or all if you really want!) then pass it on to 5 writer friends! 🥰If you have more than one WIP, pick at random! We want you to talk about your works, and celebrate with you! ❤️🧡💛💚💙💜

Don’t worry if you don’t know how to answer these questions, I’ll be back with more next Sunday. 😉

What are you most excited to write with this WIP?

How has this WIP changed since the “daydream/brainstorm” stage?

Who is your favorite character in this WIP and why?

Oh!! This is so wonderful!! I love the idea, Anon!! <3 And I thank you (and a handful of others) for dropping into my inbox! :) I'm going to answer all of these with different fics, so let's get going!!

Let's talk about....Bookbinder//Songwriter!

What are you most excited to write with this WIP?

OKAY!! So I have a great answer for this one. The next chapter I think I am going to touch base on a little flashback, to truly flesh out and highlight just how Bilbo and Thorin met. If you recall in chapter one, and even in one of the later chapters (...7 I think??) it's known that Thorin struggled HARD to ask Bilbo out, or do anything, because he's a big goob, and we love him. I want to show off exactly what happened - was it love at first sight? Did someone say something silly in embarrassment? We're going to find out, and I am so excited to do it! Also, there are some conflicts on the horizon, and I'm sure many of you who are familiar with the fic can guess as to what. If not, I'll leave you with this little hint: it doesn't hurt to be wary when those who abandoned you suddenly come out of nowhere with "good intentions". Success of others makes people do anything to get a hold of it.

How has this WIP changed since the “daydream / brainstorm” stage?

So this started out as a request, probably for a one-shot at the time, and it terrified me. Brainstorming it was....agonizing lol just as it was scary. This is my first modern au style fic, and it was so intimidating. Initially I was just going to do this as a few one-shot highlights, and then after the....second chapter??? I think??? I decided to just make it a full fic - it's one of those that could go on forever, I think, and it's evolved so much since the start - just as I've evolved with it. I've learned to love modern aus, and what started out as a scary experience and what I felt was an "underrated" fic, has become one of my favorites, and a fan favorite to many.

Who is your favorite character in this WIP and why?

This is a terribly hard question. I think the obvious answer(s) is Bilbo and Thorin, respectively, as they ARE the main characters of the story, my blorbos, the ones I put into any universe and dote on whenever I can. I could sit here and ramble for ages about why I love this version of them, but I think I can convey that the best in the fic itself. So for a non-bagginshield answer.... Radagast - While he's not been in the fic a lot, he's like the uncle/grandpa figure in Dis and Thorin's life, especially since they've lost their brother, father, and their grandfather Thror disowned them. He's a supportive adult who is typically on their side, and while sticking true to his portrayal in the movie, he's quirky and odd, and I love him to bits. He also has a pet raccoon that lives in the trash cans behind the bar??? AWESOME. He's been rooting for the Durin family, and I feel like can provide a safe space for them, as well as advice when needed. Is it good advice? That remains to be seen. Nori - The mischievous little gremlin, and Dwalin's significant other, as well as bass player for Durin's Desolation. He's SUCH a fun and cheeky character to play with, but he has a wonderful heart in his chest too. He's a fantastic partner for Dwalin, and while yes, he gets on the nerves of everyone ever, he genuinely cares about those around him. He gives me a great excuse to put some silliness into the chapters whenever he is around. Sometimes you just gotta be silly, dirty, and annoying, I guess lol

Thank you so much for this ask!! I'm so glad I got to babble about this fic a little bit!!

#raz answers #anon asks #bagginshield #fic: bookbinder//songwriter #thank you for the ask!!

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asqueerasmagnusbane · 1 year

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I wrote down this funny little idea i had a while ago thinking I may eventually write something with it but I know I probably won’t so there no reason for me to hoard the fic idea (if someone knows if this is already a thing let me know!)

Bagginshield modern!au where Bilbo is ftm, newly on T, just got top surgery and got the advise to start working on building muscle to further improve his self image/gender dysphoria.

So Bilbo starts hitting the gym and meets gym rat Thorin who kinda bullies him without entirely meaning to (even though he insults him upon first meeting in canon I truly don’t think he’d be the asshole to bully people who are just starting out in the gym. Maybe Bilbo coincidentally starts working out in January, oblivious to how that is So Not a good idea and that the gyms are going to be packed, gets nervous and doesn’t come back for weeks but catches an off-hand complaint from Thorin who is fairly frustrated by how difficult it is to have a nice work out when none of the machines are free and nobody knows how to use them properly.)

Like,, this sounds dumb but some of the language/encouragement that weightlifters use confused me when I first gave the sport a try. Stuff like when I would add more weight for the next round the Experienced Dudes would go “light weight, baby!!!” And I’d be like “??? Huh??” Thinking “goddamn it this is heavy for me don’t rub it in.”

Thorin, all stoic, hates talking to people at the gym notices the small, chubby guy who looks like the only reason he can stand being here is sheer stubbornness and even that is wearing thin and he noticed how quickly he left the first time he came in and the gyms were packed and something tells him this guy needs encouragement and even though he’s only been in here one other time that he knows of (it’s not like he lives here) he actually technically outlasted all the annoying “New Year, new me!”people so he goes ahead and makes the “lightweight!” comment, but in the most deadpan voice ever that Bilbo thinks he’s being insulted and is FUMING but powers through his set, glares at him and leaves. Thorin just assumes his workout was done and that his encouragement helped because he just hammered out those last sets. He doesn’t think much of him shooting daggers at him because we all make weird faces when we lift.

Idk how this progresses from here, idk what kicks it up a notch to make Thorin start taking a shine to Bilbo and start admiring/ respecting him even more, but Bilbo goes on thinking Thorin is antagonizing him. When Bilbo just finishes with a particular exercise and wipes down the equipment Thorin comes over and asks for a spot for the exact same exercise, thinking he’s showing his respect. Bilbo of course doesn’t know that Thorin normally hates talking to people at the gym and that any other opportunity for a “gym bro” friendship he’s had he chose to just politely brush off. HOWEVER, when he approaches Bilbo to spot him Bilbo just thinks he’s trying to show him up because obviously Thorin needs to use triple the weight Bilbo just used.

When it happens again for an exercise you’re not actually supposed to use a lot of weight for, Bilbo starts thinking he’s just being passive aggressive about correcting his form and he starts looking in the mirror more to watch himself closely and thinks ACTUALLY his form is “perfectly fine, thank you, if you have something to say why not have the decency to say it outright.”

Thorin goes on thinking he’s made himself a gym buddy who he actually likes (without actually saying more than five words at a time to the poor guy) and Bilbo is just silently FUMING the whole time.

Eventually Thorin gets to know Bilbo and has a few “oh I fucked up” moments. Maybe they actually start talking for once in the locker room.

One more aside: I don’t want Bilbo to get skinny or shredded lol. Essentially I just want him to stay chubby and I want him to be like “oh im stronger now and I have such a healthy appetite. I can move around all of my furniture with such ease.” Basically just him getting the enjoyment of lifting weights, getting stronger, enjoying his own cooking and topping the pretty muscly boy.

#bagginshield #thilbo

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sehnsuchts-trunken · 2 years

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Back with another headcanons request! So, we’ve talked about the hobbit before, and I was wondering about some of your Bagginshield (hoping I got that right bc this is gonna be embarrassing otherwise) headcanons?

to be completely honest with you, i haven't really thought much about it. that may be just because my friend and i are shipping them more for fun than anything though (listen, it is hella funny to watch the films with a straight face and whenever we have a thorin/bilbo scene that inherently has homoerotic subtext, which you cannot possibly convince me is an accident, going "gay.") (disclaimer i'm now afraid i must add lol before this gets weird, both of us are queer so that's 100% humour)

but nevertheless i think i might have created some universe in my brain where they're happy and together and no one's dead or scarred for life. so i'll gladly dive into that and share some stuff that happens there :)

- They spend winter and spring at the castle and summer and autumn in the Shire. Fight me on this if you want. Thorin leaves his throne to Fili for six months (what began as “training because once I die you’ll have to do it anyways so better start now” has developed into “oh uncle’s gone? well guess i’m gonna have to rule the kingdom again”) and Bilbo makes sure that Lobelia does not break into his home while he’s gone.

- Adding onto that, Bilbo - of course - shares his chambers with Thorin when they’re in the castle, but hell does that not mean he doesn’t have his own. Because he does. Thing is, they’re not used for sleeping, dressing or whatever you do in your room usually. Nope, Bilbo’s are filled with the plants he loves and tea and all kinds of lovely pastries, there’s a kitchen for him to bake in and a balcony to watch the sunset on. Thorin makes sure that he does not have to do anything else but keep the plants alive and eat everything before it rots.

- They regularly have the others over. Of course they all see each other often enough in the castle, but while Thorin and Bilbo are gone over summer and autumn, well, they don’t, and after all that’s half a year. So they invite their dwarven friends and family and celebrate that day that Dwalin stood in front of a little home far away from where he came from, and that day that a little hobbit opened his freshly painted door to see said dwarf and begin an adventure he neither knew of nor particularly wanted to go on.

- Thorin absolutely adores the Shire by the way. You should see the way his face lights up as butterflies land on his fingers, as he plucks another set of flowers for Bilbo’s windowsill or as young hobbits climb onto his shoulders and laugh when he shakes them and teaches them all kinds of Dwarven songs. Everyone adores him, almost as much as he adores this place. He can absolutely understand why Bilbo did not want to leave at first, and to be very honest, he always goes away with a heavy heart too, no matter how happy he is to return to the mountain and no matter how often he reminds himself he’ll come back the next year.

- And oh, don’t even get me started on their wedding. It was perfect. It was the most perfect wedding you’ve ever seen. Bilbo had beads braided into his hair, so many that whichever way he turned he shone, and he looked simply ethereal. Thorin was wearing a flower crown that his nephews had made for him, wonderfully intricate and so skilfully made that seriously, everyone doubted it had been just his nephews that had made it (sure, they may just have forgotten to mention that Tauriel had helped. but they did do a lot of the work!). They had chosen the most lovely spot in autumn; all around them were trees and brown leaves, but the sun was shining and barely a cloud was seen. Picture golden sunlight falling onto black hair, braided beautifully and carefully backwards, a crown of daisies adorning it, as Thorin danced with Bilbo hours later, watching the sunset and the stars come out, and the moon and dawn the next morning. I’m convinced that all of middle earth was present - the dwarves were certainly, Bard and his children, his boyfriend (though much to Thorin’s dismay - at least it would’ve been had he noticed anything but Bilbo that day), Gandalf and Elrond and even some hobbits from the shire that Bilbo himself had invited. God, it was perfect.

- Their honeymoon to Rivendell must’ve been an adventure in itself lol. Given that Thorin was not too happy about the idea but Bilbo more than just certain that he would not spend it “just in the castle like every other day, oh my”, they had had some arguments about it - in the past, that was, because no matter how often I’m capable of mentioning that Thorin was literally mentally g o n e for anything that wasn’t Bilbo, it won’t be enough to actually get it across and tell you just how little he cared where the fuck he was going with his husband.

- The day Frodo’s parents drowned was the day Thorin realised that there was no question whether they’d be adopting him, no discussion or argument or even two seconds of shared eye contact to make sure that they’d come to the same conclusion. I don’t even want to say there was any understanding, any communication at all. There was no “what will you do” or “what should we do”. There was simply this little, young, orphaned boy, and there were the two of them, and suddenly they were three and the little, young, orphaned boy was theirs. Of course Thorin had thought about being a father; of course he’d thought about having children. But once Fili had seen the light of the world, the second that Thorin had held this young dwarf in his arms, he had known that he’d found his heir. And despite all the love he later was to hold for Frodo, despite all that, not for one moment would he have given away Fili’s throne. Both Bilbo and - a significantly older - Frodo understood, certainly, and no one had raised the young hobbit as a prince either, and after all suddenly becoming royalty (regardless of whether you get a crown or not) is pretty neat.

alright that’s it rn, hope you liked some of these in the end!

#thorin oakenshield #thorin #thorin oakenshield headcanons #thorin headcanons #bilbo baggins #bilbo baggins headcanons #bilbo headcanons #the hobbit #the hobbit headcanons #hobbit #hobbit headcanons #bagginshield #bagginshield headcanons

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tossawary · 3 years

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Because my brain does NOT stop even when I’m grounded, today my brain told me, “Hey, I figured out how to make a Hobbit Fusion AU work.” And I was like, “Great! We’re working, though.” And my brain was like, “I’ve figured out how to make it a Pre-Canon Canon Divergence AU for Moshang.”

And I was like, “...I’m listening.”

The Hobbit is another one of my Comfort Media and it got brought up when I was asking about that, but I was feeling kind of “eh” about mixing Tolkien mythology with SVSSS. I mean, the mental picture of Dwarf Mobei-Jun is extremely funny and Shang Qinghua would make a great hobbit! But that interpretation felt a little too direct for my AU tastes.

So, hm, now I have another potential Big Bang contender. My love for The Hobbit is very, VERY strong and looking at my current outline, I have to be like, “Yeah, this could be 50,000 words, no problem.”

It’s a very good outline!

After saving Mobei-Jun, Shang Qinghua bailed A.S.A.P. because he honestly thought Mobei-Jun was going to kill him. He psyched himself out of sticking around before Mobei-Jun woke up. Mobei-Jun didn’t get enough information to track Shang Qinghua down.

Shang Qinghua (who isn’t SQH because he isn’t the Peak Lord) decides that he can’t fucking take it anymore and bails from Cang Qiong Mountain Sect too. The System objects, but also falls into line when Airplane shrieks at it. Airplane is going to go become a humble merchant and inventor and there’s nothing anyone can do to stop him!

It turns out that Shang Qinghua’s presence or help was actually crucial to stop some Emperor of the Abyss from taking over the Ice Palace and the Northern Desert. Airplane is like, “Oh, yeah, I remember… offhandedly writing something about that happening in the past off-screen?” It was one of those things that he just threw in there because it sounded really cool, and it gave Mobei-Jun another reason to “owe” Shang Qinghua and not kill him immediately, but he never got to elaborate on it because he was too busy writing stallion novel bullshit.

So, borrowing the lore from my “Horns” one-shot, an extremely powerful Emperor of the Abyss escaped the Eternal Abyss. This is some devouring horror being from the depths of the abyss, which ate everything in its vicinity in the abyss itself and crawled into the Demon Realm to eat more things. The Emperor of the Abyss was attracted to Mobei-Jun’s father. They fought. Mobei-Jun’s father should have won, but didn’t, because he was too fucked up (thanks to his own hedonism or something) to fight properly. What an asshole.

Mobei-Jun’s father was killed and devoured by the Emperor of the Abyss, which has made it… exponentially powerful. It’s now… basically a calamity. The desolation that it leaves in its wake across the Northern Desert is unspeakable. Mobei-Jun and his family, their allied clans, and pretty much all demons in the Northern Desert have had to flee.

Mobei-Jun is currently essentially a “guest” of the Sha Clan. He’s homeless. He’s lost the power of his ancestors. He’s a “king” without a kingdom. It’s humiliating. He needs to kill the abyssal creature to retrieve: his title, his ancestors’ power, and his kingdom.

While working for other demon clans to support his family and people, Mobei-Jun crosses paths with Airplane. Airplane has become a relatively successful merchant and inventor, and he calls himself Shang Houhua. He lives a very comfortable life and does his best to ignore anything resembling the plot. He’s pretty successful at ignoring the plot.

Mobei-Jun is never in a good mood these days, but he’s especially pissed off to see that human who abandoned him all those years ago. Airplane tries to argue that Mobei-Jun told him to fuck off, but Mobei-Jun is too angry. Airplane makes lots of offers in an effort to get Mobei-Jun to spare his life, one of which ends up being a claim that he can help Mobei-Jun kill the Emperor of the Abyss and make him a king again. Mobei-Jun pauses, now even more pissed off than before, and Airplane just starts babbling desperately to save his own skin.

Mobei-Jun was already forming a company to take on a Quest for the Northern Desert - in the hopes of slaying the Emperor of the Abyss and retaking his homeland. Part of the issue has been that forming the company is difficult. Mobei-Jun wants people who are loyal to HIM and ONLY to him. He won’t owe anyone else anything or promise them pieces of his homeland.

(Airplane is like, “Bro, I don’t know if you can afford to be so picky, but okay.”)

So Mobei-Jun is like… “I still want to kill you, but fine, you can come on our quest and help us.”

So Airplane ends up on the Quest for the Northern Desert, led by his very angry future murderer the “king without a kingdom” Mobei-Jun, to fight the calamitous Emperor of the Abyss who killed Mobei-Jun’s father. Fuck.

Some details beyond this opening premise:

Airplane and Mobei-Jun fall in love over the course of the quest, obviously. They have their own hijinks like each chapter of The Hobbit (equivalents to the trolls, to Rivendell, to Goblintown, to Beorn, to Mirkwood, and to Laketown, etc.).

Oh, damn, I just realized that making a pre-fall Tianlang-Jun and Zhuzhi-Lang the Beorn equivalents would be so fucking funny.

The Emperor of the Abyss is a horrifying Smaug equivalent. It can totally talk because Airplane having a conversation with a draconian horror sounds incredible. I would love to have Airplane outwit the Emperor of the Abyss in some fashion.

Mobei-Jun and Airplane somehow manage to successfully kill the Emperor of the Abyss together. Like, together. Probably using some plot device whipped up or some clever plan devised by Airplane on his feet. Mobei-Jun trusts Airplane at a crucial moment and it all works out. Airplane actually gets Mobei-Jun his kingdom back.

I’m tempted to just skip over the Ring and not having a Ring equivalent. BUT if I made this into a longfic instead of a one-shot, I would have a Ring equivalent (if it was a one-shot, I would ditch the Ring equivalent). I think I would make Xin Mo the One Ring equivalent. During the Goblintown equivalent event, Airplane falls either into the Eternal Abyss or into Bing-Ge’s dimension, where he proceeds to successfully take up Xin Mo because he knows the trick and portal himself out of the Eternal Abyss, or he proceeds to outwit Bing-Ge in some fashion and uses the Xin Mo sword to portal himself back to the right dimension.

So then Airplane is stuck with this super powerful sword that he doesn’t want to use again because he KNOWS that it will fuck him up. He KNOWS that it will FUCK HIM UP. So Airplane has to go through the rest of the quest ignoring the temptation of the Xin Mo sword that he is absolutely not supposed to have and can’t possibly let anyone else have.

(Oh, man, imagining the influence of Xin Mo giving Airplane extra horny thoughts about Mobei-Jun on the rest of the quest is very funny. Like, Airplane was already hot for Mobei-Jun, but now it’s worse and he might never have a normal thought ever again.)

Bagginshield Movie Hug when Airplane turns up again, for sure. Mobei-Jun thought he was dead. Mobei-Jun smiles and everything, until he remembers to frown again.

I’m feeling like I don’t want Airplane to use Xin Mo to help defeat the Emperor of the Abyss, but it makes sense if he does. Him not using it doesn’t make much sense. I do like the idea of Airplane dealing the killing blow and Mobei-Jun’s pride being hurt by Airplane being the one to kill it. I also like the idea of Mobei-Jun being a little smitten by Airplane just… loyally handing him his kingdom and restoring the power of his ancestors. I also really like the idea of Airplane just… not having some super powerful plot device up his sleeve on the quest.

Like, instead of Airplane’s Author God knowledge totally setting him up to deal with this thing no problem, Airplane had NO FUCKING PLAN when he set out with Mobei-Jun. He was talking completely out of his ass when he said he knew how to help Mobei-Jun. That this all worked out at all is almost completely due to luck and improvisation.

That feels MUCH more true to both Shang Qinghua and to Bilbo Baggins. Lucky lads of fast-talking, complaining, lying, not knowing what the fuck is really going on, thirsting after kings with tragic backstories, and somehow not dying despite winging it all the time.

Instead of goldsickness, Mobei-Jun is forced to deal with some side-effects of consuming the Emperor of the Abyss to regain the power of his ancestors. (Demon cannibalism rituals. Yeah.) He starts acting really scary and out-of-character and forceful, until Airplane loses his nerve and runs away. Maybe under the influence of the late Emperor of the Abyss, Mobei-Jun actually tries to kill him? I could see Mobei-Jun trying to kill Airplane for the Xin Mo sword which dealt the finishing blow on the Emperor of the Abyss.

(I need a better name for this thing. If I can’t come up with something that actually sounds good, I might just call it “The Calamity”, but that’s giving me BOTW vibes so I don’t like it. Maybe I’d call it “The Desolation” or something? Ehhhh, I don’t really like that either.)

I want to have a Battle of the Five Armies equivalent, if only so Tianlang-Jun and Zhuzhi-Lang can swoop in as benevolent helpers as the Beorn equivalents. Currently, I’m seeing three options. 1) The orc army equivalent are neighboring demon lords who want to strike while the new Mobei-Jun is getting established. 2) The orc army equivalent is Linguang-Jun trying to kill his nephew and take power at the last minute. 3) The orc army equivalent is Bing-Ge here with an army and he’s pissed off and wants his sword back.

On one hand, 1 and 2 would be SO MUCH EASIER to pull off. I could be really lazy about the whole thing. On the other hand, 3 would be much fresher (more surprising and links back to the Xin Mo element), more challenging and the idea of pre-fall Tianlang-Jun facing off with Bing-Ge delights me. Kick his ass, Tianlang-Jun!

(Su Xiyan gets involved? My brain says YES. Kick his ass, Su Xiyan!)

Also, I was sad about there being no Fili and Kili equivalents, because Mobei-Jun has no friends, and I’ll have to make up a company pretty much from scratch. (Sha Hualing is too young and Luo Binghe hasn’t been born yet.) BUT then I was like, “Where’s Linguang-Jun in all this?” And I would absolutely have Linguang-Jun be a part of Mobei-Jun’s Company. Instead of nephews, Mobei-Jun has a sketchy uncle who might be trying to kill him. Keeping Linguang-Jun out of it might be easier, but actually doing some character-building with him sounds fun and challenging, and I’d rather limit the number of OCs if possible.

Mobei-Jun manages to shake off the goldsickness equivalent somehow, probably through “the power of love” (and/or straight-up “dual cultivation” with Airplane?). Moshang makes up while Mobei-Jun is apparently mortally wounded from fighting Bing-Ge and Airplane thinks this is all his fault. But Mobei-Jun doesn’t die! It’s all good!

It’d be pretty funny if there was a “Returning to the Shire” equivalent where Airplane leaves because he thinks Mobei-Jun hates him now and never wants to see him again. So then Mobei-Jun has to track his man down like, “Get back here and marry me. (Also I am so sorry for trying to kill you. Please forgive me. I hate myself so much for that.)”

And they all live happily ever after!

Holy shit, this wasn’t in Proud Immortal Demon Way.

#svsss hobbit fusion au #tossawary updates #tossawary svsss #moshang #mobei jun #shang qinghua #comfort media fusion aus #fic ideas

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dickwheelie · 3 years

Note

oooh jmart in 2 for the fluff prompts please? 👉👈

#2 - watching the other wake up

thanks lane and thanks to @coulson-is-an-avenger for requesting #2 as well!!

the setup/setting for this fic is heavily inspired by this lovely piece by @bagginshield, so thank you for the inspo!!

___________

Jon had been watching the handsome man inside the submarine for what felt like hours now. He had come across the vessel a few times before on his hunting route, but had never bothered to look inside until, earlier that day, he noticed the warm glow of lamplight streaming from one of the porthole windows.

The small submarines the humans sometimes sent down into the deep, dark waters Jon called home were harmless enough, but none had ever been manned before. Upon seeing an actual human inside, fast asleep on a small bunk in what must have been a minuscule bedroom, Jon had quickly debated whether it would be best to flee or get a closer look.

For better or worse, Jon had never been able to repress his curiosity.

So there he was, long after it would have been appropriate to swim away, staring through the porthole at the sleeping human. He appeared to be a man, fat, with frizzy hair that stuck up around his head as though he were the one submerged in water. And of course it did not escape Jon's notice that he was rather handsome.

The man lay haphazardly across his too-small bunk, one arm under his pillow and the other dangling over the side, as though he'd collapsed, exhausted, into slumber. Jon imagined he'd been working himself to the bone, doing . . . whatever it was humans in submarines did all day. Important things, he assumed. The poor man was all alone near the bottom of the sea, and he had so much on his shoulders. He deserved his rest.

He certainly wasn't going to wake up anytime soon, at least, and so Jon kept watching him, taking notice of little, lovely things about him: the adorable way his mouth hung open slightly as he snored, how tightly he hugged his pillow, the way his shirt was riding up just slightly on his midriff, his big, brown eyes making contact with Jon's--

Wait.

Jon felt his own eyes go wide as the man immediately sat up, his hair mussed on one side and pillow indents on his cheek, staring dumbfounded through the window at Jon.

With a twist of his tail, Jon propelled himself away from the porthole and swam out of sight of the window, embarrassed and cursing himself for not leaving the man be. He was about to get himself as far away from the submarine as possible, when he heard a muffled shout from inside.

"Wait! Don't--ow, shit--Come back!"

Jon paused, and looped back around, swimming up to the porthole again. The man had gotten out of bed and was rubbing his foot, but his expression cleared into a smile when he saw Jon appear at the window again.

"Don't come back?" Jon said, hoping his voice would carry through the thick glass. "Or do? It was a little unclear."

"Oh, uh, I meant come back." The man approached the window almost cautiously, though he didn't seem afraid of Jon. Just . . . curious. "Which you did! So. Thank you. Um." The man did a little wave. "Hello."

". . . Hello," said Jon. He'd never spoken to a human directly before; it was a little nervewracking, and the fact that he was such a handsome one too . . .

"I'm Martin," said the man. He seemed friendly enough, and he was giving Jon a wondrous sort of smile that was making Jon blush slightly. "I'm, um, sorry for taking up your spot here. They sent me down here a few days ago to help out with field research."

"Jon," said Jon. "I'm sorry for staring at you while you slept."

Martin stared at him blankly for a moment, then burst into surprised laughter. Even muffled, the sound was lovely. "That's . . . that's okay," Martin said, once he'd recovered. "I guess deep-sea mer don't get to see humans very often. I must be a pretty odd sight."

"You are," Jon said truthfully. "But that isn't why I was staring. You're just . . ." He lowered his eyes, still a little embarrassed. "You're very handsome. I, ah, I couldn't help but notice."

Martin's cheeks darkened and he bit his lip. "O-Oh," he stuttered. "Well, that's, um . . . that's very kind of you to say." He looked up at Jon through his lashes, and Jon couldn't bring himself to look away from those big brown eyes. "You're very lovely, too."

Jon's tail curled. He wasn't entirely sure what to do with himself. Martin was so charming. Instead of saying anything remotely charming in return, he said, "Humans usually ascribe mer with a heightened standard of beauty. Especially humans who are unfamiliar with our kind."

Martin smiled easily at him. "I do marine research. I've seen plenty of mer. Believe me, you top them all."

Jon had to duck away from the window again to compose himself. This was not at all how he had expected this encounter to go, with a lovely man smiling at him, saying all sorts of ridiculous, sweet things . . .

"I--I should let you get back to your work," Jon said, already moving away from the window, but Martin's voice pulled him back.

"Will you come back and visit?" Martin's expression was so open and eager that Jon felt his heart tremble.

"Yes," he said at once, realizing at the same moment that he was just as eager. "Yes, I . . . I can come back tomorrow?"

"Please," said Martin. "I'd love to talk to you again."

"Then, I'll . . . I'll see you tomorrow," Jon said with a nod, and then, with a flick of his tail, he fled. He spent the rest of the day making up for the lost time on his hunting, but he did so distractedly, thinking of a man with brown eyes and frizzy hair and already planning what he would say to him when he saw him tomorrow.

#tma #the magnus archives #jonmartin #martin blackwood #jonathan sims #gwyneth writes #lemondoddle #coulson-is-an-avenger

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scary-grace · 2 years

Note

two for the price of one: 9, 17, 18 for the fic ask, and barduil spooky scary skeletons 1 (aka the infamous 1977 that i'm Dying to know more about) for the wip ask!

thank you for the asks!

first, the fic ask:

9: answered here!

17: Favorite fic that is not written by you?

I couldn’t pick a single favorite! But a couple of them are in silent screams / in wildest dreams by @lonelyheartsmotel, when the spring runs dry by northerntrash, and a bagginshield Pacific Rim AU called I Sang In My Chains Like The Sea. Also a big fan of your fic the year of what now.

18: Have you ever written a personal experience into your fic?

The road trip in ‘seeking a friend’ is similar to one my best friend and I took in February 2020, when COVID hadn’t quite reared its head in the U.S. yet. I’m also a burn survivor (although I came by mine differently than Thranduil comes by his) so including that in fics where Thranduil’s injuries aren’t from another source is always important to me!

as for 1977:

I’ve talked a little bit about it here and here, so I think I’ll post a snippet! Some context: Although writing Bard and Thranduil’s dialogue and interactions is one of my favorite things to do, I keep putting myself in fics where they either can’t talk out loud, can’t talk honestly, or can’t talk face to face, and the nature of the slow burn in this case meant I had to figure out a workaround. 1977!Thranduil was not exactly a social butterfly pre-personal cataclysm, but by somewhere around page 65, he’s beginning to get curious about Bard. Unfortunately he can’t communicate that normally, so he tries like this:

He’s partway up the stairs when it occurs to him that even though the cookies are placed rather obviously next to the grocery list and the envelope, Bard might not realize they’re for him, and leave them behind. He might leave them behind anyway, but if Thranduil identifies them as being for him, at least he’ll know it was done on purpose. He hurries back downstairs, grabs another piece of paper, and scribbles a note. Or at least he tries to scribble – he’s agonizing too much over every word to move quickly.

Bard,

Thank you for your assistance in multiple matters the other night. I hope these meet with your approval.

No, that’s not right – he’s offering thanks, not submitting a report at work. And should he be referring to Bard by his first name? Bard did say that Mr. Bowman was his father when they first spoke on the phone, but addressing him by his first name only feels odd. Odd, but the formal title would be against his wishes, and wrong trumps odd every time. Thranduil crumples it up and tries again on a new piece of paper.

Bard,

Thank you for your assistance in multiple matters the other night. I took the liberty of making some cookies for you and your family.

That’s better. Now, what to say next? Or should he leave it there? That is the pertinent information, is it not? He said thank you, and it is implicit that the cookies are part of the thank-you. Nothing else is required. That doesn’t mean Thranduil has nothing else to say. For one wild second Thranduil considers writing exactly what’s going through his head: I want to say more than what I’ve already said, but I don’t want to get it wrong. If he writes that, he’ll sound like an idiot. It’s possible that he already sounds like an idiot and just hasn’t realized it yet. Likely he’ll realize it once he’s already upstairs, and it’s too late to change anything about it. Thranduil racks his brain and comes up empty. Two degrees from Harvard and he’s stymied over a thank-you note. This is a nightmare.

#asks #1977 #this also got really long i'm sorry #bard the bowman #Thranduil #barduil

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inthememetime · 3 years

Note

This seems really cool

Line: “If you could disregard their words as easily as you disregard my own, we need not be having this discussion.”

Fandom: The Hobbit

Emoji: 🤬

Pairing: I'm not sure if you're into writing x reader fics, so feel free to completely ignore this part if you aren't and write with whatever characters you see fit, but maybe a kili x reader?

Thank you for the ask!

Pairing: KílixReader, implied Bagginshield (it's literally 1 sentence though)

Summary: Gender & ethnicity neutral human reader (hereafter referred to as You or Y/N) and Kíli are very much in love. Before retaking Erebor, no one batted an eye at Kíli, a hunter and jeweler, marrying the human bastard child of a prostitute. Now that he's in line for a throne, however, Dain, his daughters, and several of his other cousins have been harassing you to get you to leave. The arrival of his mother, who you haven't met yet, instigates an argument that might end your relationship.

Rating: PG or PG-13.

"Please tell me you're joking, (YN)." Kíli's eyes are oddly hard; they're red rimmed, and you feel awful for making him cry, but they're cold now. Angry. You'd known he was a hunter, but you'd never felt quite so hunted.

"I'm not. We've talked about this before, and me leaving- it's just the best way." You've made this argument before. It's been no secret that Kíli's family wants him to marry a dwarrow or dwarrowdam of high rank, and a human born of a prostitute and no father is neither.

"The best way for what?"

You huff and toss a rolled up tunic at him. "Do we have to go over this again? Can't we just-"

His gaze still hasn't moved or softened. "Humor me." And that isn't a request from the dwarf who caught your attention by making you laugh, but an order from a prince.

You sit down and manage to tear your face from his. If you look at him now, your leaving will be pushed back just another day. And another. And eventually you'll grow old, he will not, and you fear it. You fear a life filled with wondering if this will be the last time you argue. If this will be the last time he tries to get you to stay.

The entire time the two of you have been together, about half his family has been supportive while the other half- who firmly believed that species shouldn't mix- have done nothing but harass you and make you miserable. And now his mother will finally be coming with the last caravan from the Blue Mountains. You've met enough mothers you know she'll hate you too.

"There are expectations of you, as a prince. You have to marry someone who can give you full blooded heirs, someone who can rule beside you if the worst happens. And I-"

You feel your throat constricting, and you force your next words through a throat that feels as if it's filled with cold porridge. "I just want you to be happy. And I can't give that to you. Even if I could, I've got what- 60, 70 years left if I'm lucky? When I die, you won't even be middle-aged for your people, but you'll be alone."

He gives a heavy sigh. "If you could disregard their words as easily as you disregard my own, we need not be having this discussion."

"I don't disregard any of them." You return.

"We only love once, we dwarrow. It's how we're built. So I have two options, really. Look at me."

You don't want to, but Kíli tugs on your shoulder gently, and you've never really been able to refuse him anything.

"Here are my options. My first, and the one you seem to enjoy the most for some strange reason, is to say my goodbye, watch you leave, lose the 60 or 70 years we might have, and probably start hating my family for driving you away. There won't be any children in this scenario, pure blooded or not. No marriage. Just being alone."

You open your mouth to object, but he taps your lips just once with a finger in warning. "No, you've said your piece a hundred times. I'm saying mine now, and you'll listen."

He moves his hand away when you nod. "Now here's option two- actually, there's three now that I think of it. Option two is we get married. They don't have to like it. We're both adults in our respective species, so by dwarrow law, they can like it or leave us alone. The very worst thing they can do is say I'm not fit to rule; my brother's already courting a 'dam, so I wouldn't anyway. No great loss there. We enjoy our time together, anyway."

"And option three is me leaving the mountain with you. I'm no great shakes at smithing, but if we go to a big enough city, I'm very good at jewelry. We go, hide from my family until you die, and then I decide whether to come back or not."

You feel sick, somehow, with the third one. Pulling your dwarf away from his family and his mountains feels somehow very wrong.

"I don't know, I-"

"Think about it." He says, more gently this time. "I've already told my family those options too." You look at him in shock. "Yes, yes, I did, don't look so surprised. Fí is fine with it- said he voted for option two and mum jumped down his throat about how it wasn't a joking matter."

"And- and the rest?" You ask, not daring to hope for anything.

"Uncle Thorin recommended a few cities that were nicer to dwarrow than most- I'm pretty sure he's making a list. He also said that he's the king, not my cousins, and if he needs to make it an order for Dain and his daughters to leave me be, he will." He shook his head. "Amad, apparently, has asked for a list of the kin involved, and Balin's trying to make sure she doesn't get it to avoid a 'diplomatic incident.'"

Despite your tears, his frankly terrible imitation of Balin's dry tones make you laugh a little.

"So think about it. And know that if Amad has anything to do with it, my cousins will be banished, dead, or both. After all, my uncle married a hobbit, who's to say I can't marry a human?"

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sunnyrosewritesstuff · 2 years

Text

This is my gift I made for @toasterpapa for @gatesofsummerexchange. This was my first time participating, and I really enjoyed it. 😁 Fi asked for some Fili and Kili shenanigan's, and me being me, I had to add some feelings to it as well. 🤣 In all seriousness, I do hope you enjoy your gift!!

Rating: G

Characters/Pairings: Fili & Kili, Fili & Bilbo, Fili & Thorin, minor established Bagginshield

Summary: Fili and Kili have been a little much lately. Their latest escapade: damaging the newly rebuilt Upper Markets that were scheduled to be unveiled to the public that night. However, uncovering Mahal’s Anvil seems to be the answer to all their problems...until it turns their hobbit uncle to stone.

Words: 6930

Feel free to read this story on AO3 using this link.

It had taken some time for the hobbit to adjust to life inside the mountain. Living out of the reach of the sun amongst carven stone. Each day dedicated to getting the broken kingdom back towards the glowing gem it once was. However, Bilbo really felt he had come to flourish in his role as Consort, which came with the best perk of being married to the love of his life. Thorin seemed to be more at ease letting Bilbo handle the public relations aspect of his job while he focused on the more physical tasks. Many of their newly returned citizens were immediately shocked by their King dressed in a simple tunic and trousers, digging out tunnels and toiling away in the forges for the necessary building materials. It had done well to win Thorin the public’s opinion.

On the flip side, any that had a single reservation about a non-dwarven Consort were immediately silenced or had changed their opinions after Bilbo took it upon himself to see every dwarf fed, clothed, housed, and needs completely met upon arrival. His strength lay in talking to people, hearing their concerns, and meeting with dwarves in higher positions to do something about it.

Favor for royals had never been higher. Princess Dis even stepped into the role of Master of the Council which saved her brother a lot of headaches. Other members of the Company had also seamlessly assumed jobs and responsibilities that earned them respect and prestige. And then there were the princes.

Bilbo had thought they would have grown out of a lot of their shenanigans by now. Especially after that horrid battle before the mountain where he feared he was going to lose them all. However, almost as if the need to rebel now outweighed their common sense, Fili and Kili were more childish than ever.

There was the “werewolf hunting” incident that Tauriel assured them was nothing more than a lone, rather large warg. Still put the entire kingdom on edge for weeks. The time they managed to almost put out the fires in the great forges when they caused an overflow in the river dam. And Bilbo wasn’t even going to get into the stampede of rams through the Great Hall. He loved his nephews to death. But he had almost come to dread them coming around with sheepish grins and their innocent…

“Say, Uncle Bilbo?”

The hobbit just barely resisted the urge to bang his head into his planner.

“What have you two done now?” He groaned.

“I take offense at that. We don’t always bother you just because we’ve managed to get ourselves into a…predicament.” Fili said.

“Yeah, sometimes we just want to visit our favorite hobbity uncle.” Kili agreed with a much too wide grin.

“Really, because the last time you visited, I had to help you clear rats out of the pantries. Or would you rather me go back all the way to the troll incident?”

“You really ought to give that one a rest. It all worked out fine in the end.” Fili scoffed.

“We were almost eaten and I was covered in troll snot.”

“Almost being the key word.” Kili pointed out.

Bilbo did hit his hands to his face that time as he slowly rubbed circles around his eyes.

“You two are grown dwarves, when are you going to act like it?” Bilbo complained.

He almost missed the sour and bitter looks that stole across the princes’ faces at that. However, it was gone far before Bilbo even had a chance to comment. The sheepish and mischievous smirks the duo were known for returning in full force. Bilbo made a mental note that they all, Thorin and Dis included, needed to have a sitdown soon.

“Fine, I’ll play along. Why are you here?”

“Well you know how Uncle Thorin gave us that super important job of decorating the Upper Markets for the grand opening tonight?” Fili asked, his words dripping in honey.

“We may have encountered a slight problem.” Kili hissed in false sympathy.

Words Bilbo was uncomfortably familiar with at this point.

“Lead the way.” He ordered with a sigh.

Thorin seemed to think Bilbo was too soft on them. Allowing them to use Bilbo to help clean up their messes. Bilbo just saw it as an opportunity to make them do the job themselves instead of another poor dwarf. However, he did have to admit. It wasn’t quite the determinant he had hoped it would be, but Thorin’s idea of giving them stupid tasks so they couldn’t mess anything major up wasn’t exactly helping either.

Until this point they had only been making use of the Lower Markets. Back in the day the Lower Markets were for foreign trade where the men of Dale and elves of Mirkwood would bring and sell their wares. The Upper Markets were set up with personal forges and gem cutting stations. Bilbo had learned that the entire metal and gem making process was something of a spectacle to dwarves, and finally having it cleaned up enough to open it up would go a long way to getting their culture back in Erebor. Plus, Bilbo was looking forward to watching his husband shape melt with the sleeves rolled up over his stout forearms, and the heat causing sweat to glean on his skin…

“Here we are!” Fili announced, shaking Bilbo from his daydream.

Bilbo looked up only to cry out in aghast. There were loose rocks everywhere. And the nice, new marbled floor was cracked in places where some of the larger stones hit. Banners haphazardly held to the columns by arrows and knives painted a clear picture of what happened. Bilbo’s idiotic nephews were messing around in their task and caused a rock slide.

“You just…I can’t…what were you even thinking?!” He swore.

Kili opened his mouth to answer, and Bilbo held up his hand.

“Nope!” He denied, not wanting to hear excuses.

“In our defense, it was an ingenious idea on our part…until we hit an unstable mark.” Fili went ahead and argued.

Bilbo whirled around on them, blood pounding in his ears, making it hard for him to hold back this time.

“LOOK AT THIS!” He demanded. “And I’m not even talking about the rocks right now. Look at the banners! Is that something you think the people of Erebor can be proud of?!”

Fili and Kili both looked up and stared at their sloppy work even as one string of flags began to droop. The expression in their eyes was guarded and unreadable which was unusual for them. Eventually they gave half-hearted shrugs.

“We’re sorry, Uncle Bilbo.” They declared in unison with the most monotone voice Bilbo had ever heard.

The hobbit resisted heaving a large sigh. He merely shook his head.

“I just don’t understand this selfish behavior of late. I really don’t.” He murmured.

Kili immediately dropped his head like a kicked puppy, but Fili bristled at the insult.

“I don’t think the hobbit that only holds power from marrying our uncle gets to pass that kind of judgment.” He spat.

Kili flinched, his eyes wide at Fili’s biting remark. And even the golden prince himself looked shocked at the bitter words spoken. Something sharp lodged itself in his heart, and Bilbo couldn’t bring himself to say anything for a long moment.

“Bilbo, I’m…” Fili attempted to apologize, but Bilbo wasn’t having it.

“You two start piling the bigger pieces over there. I’ll find a broom.” He declared before he marched back down the hall.

Just in time before the first tear slipped down his cheek.

***

“That was…unnecessary.” Kili admitted as he and Fili worked.

“I don’t like when people talk down to me.” Fili tried to defend with no bite. “I get enough of it from Thorin. I don’t need it from his Consort.”

“Bilbo.” Kili corrected with a hard look. “Bilbo, our friend and also our uncle. You hurt his feelings, Fi.”

“I’ll…make it up to him later.” He grumbled.

Kili shook his head, grateful not for the first time, that Tauriel was visiting Legolas this week. Fili had been in a funk for awhile now. He had tried to help distract his brother in the best way he knew how, but even he could see that there was a line that they seemed to be flirting with lately. Bilbo has always been their friend even before he was their uncle, and probably one of their last true allies. He didn’t deserve Fili’s ire.

Kili went to grab another rock to add to the growing pile when he spied something metallic below. It wasn’t completely out of the ordinary. After all, Erebor was the city where gold ran like veins through the stone. However, this was iron. Shaped iron to be precise. He grabbed another medium sized boulder and another as he worked to unveil the object. When it finally started to take shape in his mind was when he decided to call his brother over.

“Fi! What do you think this is?”

Fili let the rock he was carrying drop as he slowly moved closer, a furrow between his brow. He was standing beside Kili now, helping to shift more rock out of the way when at last, they could identify it.

“An anvil?” Kili questioned.

Fili shrugged. “Not that unusual for the Upper Markets at least.”

“Yeah, but clear over here?” Kili scoffed. “Besides, Smaug wouldn’t have buried it in this pillar like this. No, this was built around it.”

“What are you saying?” Fili raised an eyebrow. “That some dwarf hid an anvil like it’s…”

Fili and Kili’s eyebrows rose skyward at the same time before they declared in unison:

“IT’S MAHAL’S ANVIL!”

Legend had it that when Mahal sent his first creations out into the world, he left them his hammer and anvil. The hammer, supposedly lost amongst the other treasures of Khazad-dûm, was said to have the power to level mountains with a single strike. It was without a doubt the most destructive force in their world. In contrast, the anvil was supposed to heal any ailment, any structure, and any stone with a single strike. However, only the most worthy of dwarves could hear its powerful ring. It had long been the brothers’ dream to go out on their own someday and find both. Honestly, it was almost a little disappointing how easy finding the anvil was. Discounting the fact that they first had to get Erebor back from a dragon, it was a bit underwhelming to have it just randomly buried in the walls of the Upper Market.

“Do you know what this means?” Fili exclaimed.

“We can rub in Thorin’s smug face all the times he teased us for still believing in fairy stories.” Kili smirked.

“Well that goes without saying.” Fili grinned. “But more specifically, he can’t get mad at us about this any longer.”

Fili gestured around the still ruined room around them. Kili fought to hide his grimace, wanting to remain upbeat for his brother. His eyes slid over to the hobbit who was slowly sweeping away debris with his back to them.

“I don’t know. It still looks pretty bad, and I don’t think Bilbo’s going to let us off easy this time.”

“Don’t you remember the stories though? Mahal’s anvil can heal any structure…We can use the anvil to fix it! What if we can use it to fix all of Erebor?!”

Any reservations Kili had were wiped away in his budding enthusiasm.

“We can most ASSUREDLY use the anvil to fix everything! After all, who’s more worthy than a son of Durin?”

“Exactly, Nadad (brother)!” Fili encouraged. “Quick! Do you have a hammer?”

Kili felt around on his person, but came up empty. Fili also was patting himself down in all his knife hiding places, but the younger could tell from his frustrated expression that he wasn’t finding one. That’s when it hit him. They were in the Upper Markets. There were forge stands all around them. Surely one of them had to have a hammer.

“Be right back.” He mumbled as he already started to walk away.

Kili tried to keep his steps light and even despite knowing their hobbity uncle would surely catch him with his ears. However, he never once turned, even as Kili snuck a hammer out of one of the drawers lining the stand. It was as he turned back to Fili that he heard the sniffle, and he knew why Bilbo didn’t notice him. Kili stopped in his tracks as he looked over his shoulder at his uncle with a frown. The hobbit’s shoulders were drawn tight, but he could see the subtle shaking that came with silent sobs.

He opened his mouth to call out to him when Fili gave a low whistle. He looked over to see his brother animatedly waving him back over. Kili could feel his heart ripping in two as he tried to decide on what to do before eventually releasing a soft sigh and running back over to Fili’s side. They would fix things with Bilbo as soon as they used the magic anvil to fix their first mess. With great reluctance, Kili passed the hammer over to Fili, and the excitement radiating from his face made it all worth it.

“Go on then.” Kili cheered, almost bouncing in his excitement.

“Alright.” Fili chuckled. “Give me a moment here. It’s almost a little disappointing to not have a warhammer. It feels wrong to hit it with this little forge hammer.”

“It’s a forge anvil.” Kili pointed out, shrugging.

Fili shrugged back as he raised his arm ready to bring it down on the solid iron surface. However, just before he could, Kili held up both his hands.

“Wait!”

“What?”

“It’s still in the pillar. So when it starts to heal itself back…”

“Good call.”

Fili set the hammer in his belt as they each took an end and carried the anvil out into the open a bit more. Satisfied, Fili took position once again.

“Alright. Now. Let it ring!”

The hammer collided with the anvil sending a shockwave that sent Fili and Kili flying backwards. Kili landed in their pile of rocks, and Fili landed against the pillar where they unearthed the anvil to begin with.

“Did you hear a ring?” Kili coughed as he slowly righted himself.

“I think my ears are ringing, but no I didn’t hear anything.” Fili groaned his response, rubbing the back of his neck.

They both looked around the space only to fall in disappointment. Nothing had been fixed. It was still the same after the rockslide.

“Maybe we were wrong.” Kili finally admitted. “Maybe it wasn’t Mahal’s anvil.”

“Yeah, because normal anvils send us flying after a single strike.” Fili pointed out, staring at it bitterly. “Clearly we weren’t worthy.”

“Well…let’s not give up.” Kili smiled weakly. “We could have Thorin try…”

A scowl formed on Fili’s face at their uncle’s name, and Kili quickly felt the need to backtrack.

“Or Bilbo! Who’s more worthy than our little hobbit?” Kili gasped.

It was the perfect opportunity to heal the rift anyways.

“Hey Bilbo…!” He called out.

However, as he turned around, he noticed Bilbo was standing there awfully stiff. Kili winced. Or maybe they were in more trouble.

“Bilbo, we’re sorry.” Fili hummed half-heartedly. “We won’t mess with it anymore.”

Still, the little hobbit refused to turn or even acknowledge them. Kili raised an eyebrow at Fili who shrugged. Dusting themselves off, they decided to make their way over to him. Bilbo was notorious for his silent moods after all, but who could resist Fili and Kili? Especially when they turned on the pouting faces.

The closer they got though, the more they realized something was truly wrong. Closing in on the last few feet in a run, Kili almost couldn’t believe what he was seeing. He stood there, blinking and blinking again as the blood drained away from his face. However, no matter how many times he tried to will the image away, it never changed. Bilbo. Their friend, their uncle, had been turned to stone.

***

Fili was doing his best not to panic even as a vice squeezed around his heart. By Mahal, what had he done? His fingers lightly traced the tear tracks that had been solidified as well, making him feel that much worse. What had he done?!

“Thorin’s going to actually murder us this time.” Kili gaped, his voice barely more than a whisper.

Fili hadn’t even thought that far, but Kili was right. This wasn’t just their usual pranks and mischief. They turned his husband to stone.

I just don’t understand this selfish behavior of late.

I don’t think the hobbit that only holds power from marrying our uncle gets to pass that kind of judgment.

Fili’s breathing quickened as the grip on his heart tightened. What if what he said was the last thing he would ever get to say to Bilbo?! He didn’t mean it! Honestly, he didn’t! There was a roaring coming from somewhere! WHY COULDN’T EVERYONE BE QUIET AND LET HIM THINK?!!

“Fili? FILI!”

“WHAT?”

Kili flinched at his harsh tone, and Fili immediately came back to himself.

“What do we do, Fili?” He asked quietly.

Fili ran his hands down his face, pulling on his mustache slightly. Right. They needed a plan, and that was his job. He came up with the plans. But how did you bring someone back from stone?!

“We…need advice.” He finally admitted. “But discreetly. We don’t need to alert anyone else just yet. You take Balin, and I’ll ask Ori.”

Kili nodded enthusiastically. “And what about Bilbo?”

Fili looked back at the stone hobbit with his hunched shoulders and pinched expression. Fili closed his eyes against the image.

“He should be fine. But we’ll stop by his rooms and pick up a cloak to cover him up. The important thing is no one else has to know about this. We’ll figure out how to fix it, and everything will be fine. Okay?”

“Okay.” Kili nodded.

“Okay.” A third voice agreed breathlessly.

Fili and Kili whipped their heads around to see Gimli standing there, pale as a ghost. Not that either of them had much room to talk. Fili wasn’t really thinking as he sprinted over to the younger dwarf, shoving him up against the wall behind him. Gimli hardly reacted, his wide eyes still glued to Bilbo.

“What are you doing here?” Fili hissed.

“Your mom sent me to remind you that they plan to open the markets in two hours. Why is the Consort stone?!”

“We found Mahal’s anvil.” Kili piped up from behind him.

Fili didn’t think it was possible for Gimli’s jaw to drop any lower, but he was somehow proven wrong.

“That’s so cool! Did you strike it?! What was it like?”

“Yes, we struck it and it TURNED BILBO TO STONE!” Fili screamed, shaking Gimli in the process.

“Okay, okay.” Kili interjected, stepping between the two. “This will be good. Gimli can keep a lookout while we go find a cure.”

Fili looked back at his brother before looking over at the ginger dwarf who was nodding enthusiastically. It wasn’t a terrible suggestion, but Fili would feel better about it if Gimli didn’t keep trying to sneak awed looks at the anvil and Bilbo. Fili looked back at Kili, who was now nodding as well.

“Fine!” Fili growled. “Keep Bilbo safe, and don’t let anyone but us back in here. Also don’t you dare touch that anvil. We don’t need anyone else turning to stone around here.”

Gimli slapped his fist against his heart. “You can count on me!”

Fili had to accept that as good enough. “We have less than two hours. Learn what you can and meet back here. We can’t let Uncle come down here and see Bilbo like this.”

Gimli whistled. “I didn’t even think about that. You two are dead where you stand if the King finds out about this.”

“Thanks Gimli.” Kili grumbled.

Fili could feel the beginning of a rather large headache taking shape at this point. He could only hope Ori would actually provide him some useful information, and he knew exactly where the former scribe would be.

***

“Sorry, can’t help you.” Ori shrugged as he continued to stack his books on the shelf.

Fili felt like white hot metal about to explode at any second.

“What do you mean you can’t help me?” He demanded, trying to hide his aggravation. “You’re the HEAD LIBRARIAN! You’re the only person who could possibly know about Mahal’s Anvil.”

Ori stopped just long enough to fix Fili with a raised eyebrow and a twisted scowl.

“You’re talking about an object that most dwarves don’t even believe exist!” He complained. “Of the maybe five books in here even on that subject, I doubt even one of them goes in detail about the powers or the anvil or how did you phrase it again? How to ‘undo an act made by someone unworthy’? What’s that even supposed to mean?”

“Well…” Fili fidgeted. “What if someone hit the anvil and it didn’t ring and it didn’t heal? What if it did something else?”

“Like what…?” Ori questioned slowly in the same suspicious voice that Fili knew he had to have learned from Dori.

This was where Fili was hitting some dangerous territory. If he was too specific, Ori would know something was up. Not that he wasn’t already cluing in on that as it was.

“Well, I just mean, the Hammer had the ability to crush stone with a single swing, correct? Isn’t it possible the Anvil could…turn people to stone?”

Ori put a finger to his chin, his need to debate a hypothetical issue stronger than his suspicions.

“I suppose.” He finally shrugged. “After all, Mahal was said to have crafted his children from stone. It’s entirely possible that part of the ‘healing’ of the anvil would be to return dwarves back to the stone they came from.”

“So they wouldn’t be dead?” Fili sighed, the relief almost physically bringing him to his knees.

“No…I wouldn’t say so. Probably just a comatose state.”

“And how would such a process be reversed?”

“I don’t know, Fili. Do I look like Mahal to you?! Why are we playing hypothetical about a magic anvil anyways?”

“Just…curious I suppose.” Fili sighed. “Do you mind if I look through those books you were talking about anyways?”

“In the mythology section.” Ori sighed, pointing to the left as he went back to his task. “You’re not going to find anything though.”

Fili rolled his eyes as moved in that direction, pulling said books off the shelf. However, after forty stressful minutes of skimming the old legends, he had to admit defeat. Ori was right. There was nothing there even remotely useful. It was time for him to go back and hope Kili got something more from Balin.

His hopes were dashed as he saw Kili and Gimli using a green shawl to try and hide as much of Bilbo’s stony vestige as possible.

“Gimli! You’re supposed to be keeping watch!” Fili complained.

“I was!” He defended. “And then Kili asked me to hide Bilbo as much as we can.”

“No luck?” Fili asked grimly.

“No…” Kili admitted, still engrossed in his task. “I had to ask Balin what would happen if a non-dwarf was turned to stone by Mahal’s Anvil, and he got pretty suspicious after that. Higher, Gimli! I can still see his ear!”

“That’s just great!” Fili complained. “Now what are we going to do?”

“Gimli and I figured, if we cover Bilbo up, everyone will just think he’s feeling under the weather.”

Fili sputtered trying to find words for how ridiculously idiotic an idea that was. For one thing, that wouldn’t explain his inability to talk or move! Never mind when Thorin, sop that he was, decided to pick Bilbo up and carry him back to their rooms…actually, how heavy was Bilbo now that he was stone? Nevermind, it wasn’t important. What was important was they had just under an hour to figure out a way to fix this, and they were no closer to an answer than they were earlier.

“There, what do you think?” Kili asked as he and Gimli stood back.

The shawl just barely covered Bilbo’s head and face before falling down to lay on his arms still holding the broom. Otherwise, from the waist down, he was still very clearly and obviously stone.

“I think we’re so dead.” Fili grimaced.

“THERE YOU TWO ARE!”

The three of them jumped with a small squeak as Kili quickly moved to stand in front of Bilbo, blocking him from Dwalin’s view. Fili shot Gimli a look that the younger could only return helplessly. Nervously, he spun around to face the guards’ Captain as he stormed in with his usual fierce scowl.

“Are you knuckleheads done yet? Thorin’s ready to have people start streaming in here…”

Fili really had to fight hard not to hang his head like a misbehaving pebble as Dwalin trailed off, his eyes moving to the mess behind them.

“He’s going to kill you.” He assessed. “This wasn’t even a hard task! How could you have possibly messed this one up?”

Fili frowned. “It was drudge work. It wasn’t even a real task!”

“Yeah! And look what you did!” Dwalin continued, confirming Fili’s suspicions. “Do you know how long it took the masons to replace the marble on this floor the first time? And just what are you two hiding over there?!”

Gimli and Kili both flinched as they tried even harder to hide Bilbo from Dwalin’s line of sight which only seemed to make him more suspicious.

“It’s…um…it’s…”

Words would not come forth no matter how much he tried to summon them, not that they seemed like they were going to stop Dwalin in the slightest.

“Bilbo is sick!” Kili interjected, giving one last ditch effort.

Dwalin blinked over at him before he looked down at the clearly stone hobbit feet. Fili could feel his stomach plummeting as Dwalin’s jaw dropped, ripping the shawl away. Curses and prayers fell from his lips with ease, growing more heated the longer he looked upon Bilbo.

“What in Mahal’s Great Forge did you do?” He demanded, his eyes still glued to the frozen hobbit.

“I-It was an accident…” Fili tried to explain.

“What. Did. You. ACTUALLY JUST DO?!” Dwalin roared, finally turning around on the three of them, fire burning in his eyes.

“They did.” Gimli immediately denied, pointing at Fili and Kili.

Fili shot the younger dwarf a glare before turning back to Dwalin who seemed to be only a couple of seconds from decking them and then dragging them back to Thorin by their bootstraps. A vivid threat he had used on them many times before.

“So…it all started when Fili bet me I couldn’t hit that pillar…” Kili began.

It didn’t take long after that for Fili to cave, and both were explaining in great detail how they caused the rockslide and went to go find Bilbo. How when they were cleaning up, they happened upon Mahal’s Anvil and decided to try and make it ring. Kili had stared at Fili when he glossed over his fight with Bilbo, but didn’t speak a word about it. Dwalin remained unnaturally quiet through the whole story, even as they finished with trying to find out how to change him back with no results. Dwalin turned back to Bilbo, his eyes softening as he took in the hobbit’s miserable expression.

“Do you think it pained him?” He asked softly.

Fili flinched, but he didn’t answer. He couldn’t. He didn’t want to even begin thinking about that.

“What should we do?” Kili asked tentatively. “To fix him, I mean.”

Dwalin closed his eyes, his chin dropped to his chest, and his arms crossed tight. Even though it held the baring of annoyance, it was a sight that filled Fili with hope. This was his ‘commander poise’ and the tactical brilliance to follow would surely reveal a path he had previously overlooked. After a few more seconds, Dwalin looked up and squared his shoulders determinedly.

“Maybe you just didn’t hit it hard enough.”

Fili’s jaw dropped as Dwalin started to make his way over to the anvil, pulling out his warhammer in the process.

“Just didn’t hit it hard enough?” Fili questioned, over Gimli’s excited cheering. “That’s your solution?! Last time, we turned our uncle to stone. Do you really want to try this?”

“You said it’s supposed to ring right? How are you supposed to get a good ring using a dinky forge hammer anyways?”

“It’s a forge anvil.” Kili defended once again.

“Might as well give it a shot. What’s the worst that can happen?” Dwalin demanded.

“WE COULD ALL TURN TO STONE!”

The older dwarf shrugged as he hefted his hammer high. “Worth a try.”

In one fluid motion, he brought the hammer down hard on the iron surface creating a faint, flat ‘clang’. Fili’s hopes rose thinking he might have actually done it. Not even a second had passed before Dwalin went flying clear across the room, and the wave of pressure hit into the rest of them as well.

“BILBO!” Kili gasped.

Fili pushed himself up far enough to see the stone structure rock back and forth before tipping backwards. Horror kept him frozen and mute. Luckily, Gimli dove under the falling statue just in time. Fili rose to his feet ready to congratulate his friend on his quick thinking, when there was a loud ‘crack’.

“No. No, no, no, no, no!” He started chanting as he ran over to Bilbo’s side.

“It’s alright.” Gimli grunted. “It was just the broom.”

Sure enough the wooden handle was splintered in two. Fili was not satisfied until he and Kili had Bilbo standing upright and inspecting every surface inch on the hobbit. Once it was clear there was no danger, did he release a sigh of relief.

“I’m fine. Don’t worry about me.” Dwalin wheezed as he slowly got to his feet again.

“I tried to warn you.” Fili pointed out.

“Hey! You did heal the floor though…sort of.”

Everyone looked over where Kili was standing to see that the marble had pieced itself back together leaving only the spiderweb effect from where it was impacted. The brothers shared a look at this.

“Maybe all we need to do IS hit it harder!” Kili gasped.

“If we go get one of the really large forge hammers…” Fili agreed.

“Nope. Not doing that again.” Dwalin grunted as he limped over to them. “Besides, your uncle will be here shortly. He can decide what’s to be done about this.”

Fili couldn’t even believe what he was hearing.

“Tell Thorin?! NO! That should be the absolute last thing we do. In fact, Gimli, since you’re supposed to be keeping. Watch. You should distract Thorin to buy us some time if he gets too close. It won’t be any hardship for us to loosen a few bolts, and then we can…”

“And then you can what?”

And just like that…Fili was dead. He couldn’t even bring himself to turn around even as Kili and Gimli straightened up a bit further.

“King Thorin is here.” Gimli announced.

“Keep watch. That’s all I asked. What was so hard about that?” Fili moaned before deciding it was time to face the executioner’s block.

Thorin had a face when he was truly mad. Bilbo hadn’t believed Fili and Kili at first thinking he had seen the worst Thorin Oakenshield could bear on the quest. Then he had tried to throw the hobbit from the ramparts under the influence of the gold sickness, and Bilbo never doubted them again. His eyes went wide making the white all the more prominent, and a little half-smirk formed from the twitch in his jaw muscle from where it was straining. It was a look Fili had only seen twice before, and even then this was the first time it had ever been aimed solely at him. It succeeded in immediately making Fili feel half his age as his eyes dropped in deference.

“You know, when I heard reports of a rock slide in this general area, I thought surely not. Surely, my nephew, my supposed heir, had more common sense than that.” Thorin began, his voice tight in the effort to remain calm.

“Thorin…” Kili attempted to defend.

“Atkât (Silence).” He spat. “Then, rather than coming to me, your King, about what I hoped to be incidental and in no way directly your fault. I hear that you went to anyone BUT me. To my Consort, to Balin, to Ori, spouting off about Mahal’s Anvil of all things! And you wonder why I can’t trust you with more responsibilities. Why I give you tasks below your station and below your abilities. If I CAN’T TRUST YOU TO…”

There was no sound beyond the heavy pounding of his heart for several seconds, and Fili didn’t understand right away what had stopped Thorin in mid-sentence. But the uncertainty was short lived, and the moment Fili realized what happened, his eyes were up and locking desperately on his uncle’s who just realized there was a member of the group frozen in stone. Thorin’s eyebrows pulled together as his lips twisted around the word ‘no’ soundlessly. His steps slow as if he could prolong the truth before him.

“What is this?” Thorin whispered, the vulnerable edge to his voice threatening to undo Fili completely.

His hand shook as it reached out to caress Bilbo’s cold cheek, jarring him completely.

“I ASKED WHAT IS THIS?!” Thorin roared.

They all flinched back a step. Even Dwalin watched grimly, unable to utter a word as a sob seemed to choke out of Thorin. A sound so heartbreaking and raw that Fili knew he would rather endure Thorin’s rage a hundred times over than have to hear that sound ever again.

“Kili and I found Mahal’s Anvil.” Fili began, his voice somehow so loud and not loud enough.

Thorin’s back was to Fili, so he had no idea if his uncle even heard him as he continued.

“We thought if we struck it…it would fix things from before the rockslide. But then…”

“You turned him to stone.” Thorin accused, his voice cold.

“It wasn’t on purpose…”

“You turned Bilbo TO STONE!” Thorin snapped, pinning Fili under a hate filled gaze. “My Consort…my markhel (shield of all shields), amrâlimê (my love)...”

There was a dam burst inside Fili, and he knew he couldn’t hold back any longer as a lone tear tracked its way completely to his mustache before it was joined by more.

“I don’t know what to do.” He admitted, brokenly.

Thorin only stood there, staring back wide eyed, and the flood took control.

“I don’t know what you want me TO DO!”

Fili let his breathing ground him knowing if he was going to say this, he wanted to be heard.

“When we talked of taking back Erebor, years ago back in Ered Luin…I was supposed to be ruling at your side. I knew what you wanted of me, what you expected of me as a Crown Prince. Then you married Bilbo, and honestly I couldn’t be happier for you, Uncle. I truly couldn’t. But he slipped into my place. Do you understand? Everyone else has a place. Amad, Dwalin, even Kili heads the hunters so he can spend more time with his elf.”

Fili could see his brother flinch, but he didn’t move his gaze away from Thorin. Who seemed to have fallen into a neutral expression to keep Fili from reading his emotions.

“I don’t know what to do.” He repeated again with a helpless shrug. “Just like I don’t know how to fix Bilbo. But…I know a good place to start.”

Fili pulled out a knife, and before anyone could stop him, he cut the braid declaring him a prince of Erebor. Kili released a whine, but Fili ignored it as he stepped forward to press it into Thorin’s hand.

“My behavior today was dishonorable. Those tears on your Consort’s face? They are because of me. I spoke words to hurt him out of anger. I don’t deserve to be a prince anymore.”

Thorin was staring down at the blonde braid in his hand when Kili stepped forward. With one swift movement, he cut his braid as well and placed it on top of Fili’s. Fili looked at him askance as Kili leveled Thorin with a straight face.

“I could have done something. I could have alerted Bilbo. I came close, but in the end, I did nothing. If Fili doesn’t deserve his title, neither do I.”

Thorin looked down at the braids, lost to his thoughts. Fili noticed Gimli starting to step forward, but Dwalin’s hand on his shoulder stopped him from interrupting. When he turned his attention back to Thorin, his uncle was piercing him with an icy glare. The braids clutched tightly in his fist.

“If I made you feel like your place in Erebor had to be earned, either of you, then I have failed as your uncle and king and it is no one’s but my own braid I should hold.”

That was all the warning they had before Fili and Kili were wrapped up in a massive bear hug. Fili didn’t even hesitate as he buried his head into Thorin’s shoulder, gripping him back just as tight. The dwarf that helped raise him alongside his Amad, and he was crying into his surcoat like he was twenty again. Assurances and apologies were mumbled in his ear, and Fili held them close, letting them burrow into his heart. It was at that moment, the sharp perfect ‘ting’ of metal striking an anvil sounded, and a gasp was released from behind them.

All at once, they spun around to see Bilbo, wonderful, perfectly hobbity Bilbo, looking around in confusion with tears still tracking down his face.

“Thorin?” He sniffed. “What’s going on…?”

Fili didn’t give his uncle the chance as he launched himself at the hobbit with a cry, pulling the smaller male into a bone crushing hug.

“I’m sorry, Bilbo. I’m so sorry.” He mumbled.

“Fili? Oh my dear boy, it’s okay. There’s nothing to forgive. Don’t cry.”

Fili wanted to laugh at Bilbo’s kind words if for nothing else than it was so Bilbo to be crying himself and trying to soothe him.

“I knew you were too soft on them.” Thorin laughed as well before pulling Bilbo just far enough out of Fili’s reach to plant a firm kiss on his lips.

After that, the four of them moved into one giant group hug that they ended up pulling Dwalin and Gimli into as well, laughing all the way.

“My word! I’m not quite sure what it is that I missed, but I can’t say I’m displeased with the result.” Bilbo remarked with a grin.

“Fi! Do you know what this means?” Kili asked, almost bouncing in excitement.

He raised an eyebrow waiting for Kili to enlighten him.

“You must be worthy now!”

Fili’s jaw dropped. That was right! No one had struck the anvil so it must have accepted Fili’s first swing as worthy after he fixed things with Thorin.

“We should try it again.” He stated, wanting to see the miracle of Mahal’s Anvil firsthand.

Before he or Kili could race over there, Thorin stopped them both by latching onto the collars of their tunics.

“Perhaps…that’s enough for today?” He pleaded. “I still don’t know how I feel about this magic anvil business without you two bringing the mountain down around our ears with it.”

“But Fili’s worthy now.” Kili tried to argue.

It was Thorin’s pained expression that had Fili taking pity on him.

“Come on, Kili, Gimli. Let’s get this thing down to the treasury. We can decide what to do with it afterwards.”

“You know it’s not Mahal’s Anvil, right?” Gimli asked as they hoisted it up.

“What?!” Kili demanded.

“It’s says ‘Property of Narvi’ right there on the side of it.”

“Wait. The Narvi of Khazad-dûm. How do you think it got here?”

“Why is it magic?” Fili questioned.

“What else do you think it can do?” Kili continued to list.

Dwalin, Thorin, and Bilbo could only shake their heads as they watched them carry the anvil off.

“They’re your heirs.” Bilbo reminded.

Thorin’s hand tightened on the braids still in his hand, his other slung around Bilbo’s waist.

“I know.” He sighed. “And I’m going to do better about making sure they realize it too. I need to stop treating them like children, and let them grow into the princes I know they can be.”

Bilbo looked up at Thorin sharply. “Seriously? What did I miss?”

Thorin shrugged helplessly. “I don’t even know if I can explain it myself.”

“I don’t know what they were going on about.” Dwalin complained. “It was clearly my swing that finally got the stupid thing working again.”

Thorin raised an eyebrow. “Clearly.”

“Well whatever it was,” Bilbo sighed. “If it keeps me from having to hear ‘say, Uncle Bilbo’ again, then I dare say the worst is behind us.”

Thorin and Dwalin had just enough time to give the hobbit an unimpressed, flat look. And trio of ‘WE’RE SORRY’ was issued right before hundreds of angry screeching bats filled the chamber.

#gos2022 #sunny's works #durin family feels #minor Bagginshield #I mean...it's me #a healthy blend of humor and angst #durins are dramatic

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