I never knew daylight could be so violent

[burgling]

"I come from under the hill, and under the hills and over the hills my paths led. And through the air. I am he that can walk unseen. I am the clue-finder, the web-cutter, the stinging fly. I was chosen for the lucky number. I am he that buries his friends alive and drowns them and draws them alive again from the water. I came from the end of the bag and no bag went over me. I am the friend of bears and the guest of eagles. I am the Ringwinner and Luckweaver. I am the Barrel-rider."

Bilbo had been starting to find himself quite pleased with his riddles, as pleased as a Tookish hobbit can be when facing down a dragon of swirling gold eyes and dark red, blood like skin. His heart aches where it rests under the Ring. The whispering ring. The ring that catches the gaze of Smaug who smiles -- for all dragons can smile, though it is a rare occurrence -- and tilts his head on his pile of gold.

"I was to say that some of those don't sound so credible," he scoffs playfully. "But these last sound better. Don't let your imagination run away with you." No dragon can resist riddled talk, after all, but it is not riddles that Smaug wants now.

The Ring whispers to him and promises him more than any gold found in Erebor if he waits. If he breathes his magic like fire into the halfling's heart, there will be no way to stop him from having all the gold in Middle Earth from now until the end of all time.

And this is exactly what Smaug does, for one does not ignore a ring of power, not clever dragons at least who were there before their forging, and who sang their songs before such things could be known.

Bilbo sinks into himself, into the golden eye, slips between the hollow of the ring, and when the hobbit returns to the group of thirteen, he is no longer their lucky number. His eyes burn gold.

Comments

[kinginexile]

"You are worthy a hundred times over without a piercing, my hobbit, all that you have done to help me reclaim Erebor..." But still, Thorin regards Bilbo's words and nods.

"Just know that this shall cement you as more than just any friend by my side, Bilbo." They've still not entirely come out publicly, the company had known, but anyone else it was still kept secret. Though if any were so blind to not see how fond Thorin was of the hobbit then it was their fault for not realizing. Fingers touch at Bilbo's hair next, behind his ear.

"Tea and biscuits... and would you allow me to braid your hair as well? Then no one would be uncertain of your worth to me." Bilbo would wear his beads as well and he would be a very special hobbit indeed.

[burgling]

This is perfection. Nothing Bilbo could ever hope for himself could equate to the way that this is happening. It's amazing, truly amazing, how deeply in love with him the dwarf could be. Bilbo's smile turns into a smirk, hidden still against the king's throat.

"If you braid my hair, that means your intentions are beyond courting me, Thorin Oakenshield. Is that what you want?"

He knows without being told how important this is. Thorin may assume that Gloin had been speaking about courtship with his wife. Perhaps Bofur spoke of the failed courtship he'd had just before coming to be part of the Erebor fellowship.

Smaug knows, however. The Ring knows. Both are so terribly pleased.

"Will I wear the beads of your house or will you have my own designed?" Dwarven marriages are strange things with many, many steps and many more customs than that.

Bilbo draws back now to gaze into Thorin's eyes as the dwarf softens within him.

[kinginexile]

"I would not ask it if I was not serious." Thorin assures him, he's more than pleased that Bilbo realizes what he's asking of him. That he does not seem at all displeased by the idea of it.

He assumes that Bilbo had heard of it from the others, if not asked about it on his own, curious hobbit he is. The idea of that only makes Thorin smile.

"Both, if you are fine with it." He would like a part of him to always be with Bilbo, but the halfling deserved his own design, after all he'd done. One hand rests along the small of Bilbo's back as he draws back some, the other coming up to cup one of the halfling's cheeks.

He loves you. He loves you so very much, Bilbo. It would tear him apart to lose you.

"So you are all right with this?"

[burgling]

"I knew it would be like this from the moment you stepped into my home," Bilbo says, cheek cupped in Thorin's hand, eyes bright and clear. "I knew despite the protests and the hardships and the constant fear of being eaten before my own next meal that I would never wish for a moment to be apart from you." There's no lie here, not from Bilbo. The Ring has other plans, but the emotion inside of the halfling has never once been more true.

Love. Oh, he loves. He loves, despite being forever stunted. That's why taking him over has been so easy. So devilishly easy.

"Bag End was never my home. I never felt there as I've felt with you. I've no reason to return, unless you are with me. The piercings, the braids, tea--" He has to smile at that. It's just very hard to smile genuinely when he sees the look in Thorin's eyes and wants to cackle giddily. "They're outward signs of what we know ourselves to be. I'm yours. You're mine. Always."

[kinginexile]

Thorin frowns ever so slightly at some of the things he says, unsure.

"From the moment... but Bag End was your home, you thought of it throughout our journey, missed it, wanted to go back." Still, as much as those words linger on something that should bother him, he does smile a little with Bilbo.

"This dwarf is happy to be yours and pleased that you are his."

[burgling]

"I hadn't seen the world. And then I'd only see the terrible and the horrible. But now-- I could never stay happy there in the solitude Thorin. You've been to battle. You must know what it's like."

Bilbo takes the time to dress himself, though he will smell like the dwarf all evening until he finds a quiet moment to bathe. If he even chooses to. He likes the idea of letting the others know what he's been doing.

Getting dressed can not come at a better time as Thorin's surviving heir has decided to come from his sick bed to pay call to his uncle.

Bilbo will make himself scarce for this. He has some exploring to do.

[kinginexile]

Thorin will soon present Bilbo with beads he's made for him. One that is of his own, another that he's had made especially for the halfling, both symbolize just how important he is to the king. Everyone will know now, especially with Thorin also braiding his hair. Bilbo is not just any hobbit who is a friend of their king. He his is one.

Plans for a wedding are soon set in motion and while most try to show good face about it all, it's clear enough most are not pleased by this. Thorin cannot wed this hobbit, it's... it's insane really. He should find a queen, that is what kings do is it not? More importantly a dwarven queen. There are some who've made it clear they're not at all impressed by this turn of events, Balin and Dwalin have already come to Thorin, and while they like Bilbo all the same it isn't proper to continue this way. Balin tries to be kind about it, Dwalin is not so much. Even Fili, who loves his uncle very much and had grown very attached to the hobbit during their journey, tries to ask Thorin if he's so sure that this is the right thing to do.

It is after much of this that Thorin has drink in hand and angrily simmers in his chambers, Bilbo is welcome to join him or not, and he will most likely notice the king's displeasure if he ventures in.