FIC: All That Had Been Fair

[alexs_storybook]

Title: All That had been Fair
Author: Alex
Type: FCG, FCS
Rating: PG
Disclaimer: I do not own nor do I profit from the use of these characters.
Warnings:
Pairing: Bilbo/Kili
Archive: Ao3, Alex’s story Book and OEAM
Author’s Note: Requested pairing = Fili/ any Company member (Dwarf or Hobbit)
Story elements = any of the following: Body Art and/or scars, rite of passage, and if a 'happily ever after' ending doesn't suit the plot, then at least a 'content with life at the moment' ending.
I decided to write about Fili and Bilbo Baggins. The story did turn out to be more bromance than romance but it is a sweet one, in any event and I enjoyed following Mr. Baggins along to Rivendell. I used book canon as much as possible. For example, they stayed in Rivendell two weeks instead of just a day or so.
For Nuinzilien
Summary: Bilbo finds an unexpected friendship blooming in Rivendell.

~~~



*

“In all the days of the Third Age, after the fall of Gil-galad, Master Elrond abode in Imladris, and he gathered there many Elves, and other folk of wisdom and power from among all the kindreds of Middle-earth, and he preserved through many lives of Men the memory of all that had been fair; and the house of Elrond was a refuge for the weary and the oppressed, and a treasury of good counsel and wise lore.
~~ J.R.R. Tolkien, The Silmarillion

*

Bilbo heard them arguing quietly.

“Be quiet! He’s asleep!” Kíli whispered fiercely to his brother.

He lay there perfectly still and kept his eyes closed in case they checked. He’d been awake for a while, enjoying the quiet before the dwarves woke and began their noisy day. They might think they were sneaking toward the Misty Mountains but a herd of oliphants would have made less noise. They snorted and snored, farted and belched, argued and laughed so loudly that he worried for their safety every moment.

Fíli answered his brother. “He sleeps like a log. What have you got to eat in your pack? Mine only has cram left.”

“I still have some dried meat but you’re not getting it. You should be more careful with your food.”

“Careful? I was hungry and I ate it,” Fíli answered.

Kíli just sighed and handed him a piece of dried beef.

They sat munching fairly quietly for a bit until the rest of the dwarves began to stir. Pretty soon the whole company was up and about except for Bilbo, who was still playing possum in his small bedroll.

They had only been journeying a few days and Bilbo regretted leaving home more often than not. Some of the dwarves were actually not so bad, the two youngest among them. He found he rather enjoyed their bickering and arguing. It reminded him of his own relatives, such as they were.

At least, he could avoid his annoying cousins if he were away from the Shire.

“Wake up, little hobbit. We are nearly ready to move along,” Kíli said.

Bilbo did not want to move along. The trolls had showed him how real and how terrifying this world outside the Shire could be. He wanted to be home, warm and comfortable in his favorite chair.

Fíli poked him again. “Gandalf says we are to visit elves. Thorin is really thrilled about that.”

Thorin made no secret that he disliked and mistrusted elves, all of them. Bilbo was excited at the prospect of seeing Rivendell and meeting elves. He had seen them from afar but never met one up close. He suddenly desired to see elves more than anything. He got up and was ready in minutes.

The terrain was rough, full of deep ravines and muddy bogs. Many times, one more step in a certain direction and they’d all have fallen down into a deep gully with a muddy stream at its bottom. Bilbo wondered if Gandalf had any real idea where they were going.

Kíli and Fíli stayed back with Bilbo much of the time, the brothers talking of life at home with their sisters and mother. It occurred to Bilbo that he had never seen a female dwarf but he had heard rumors that they grew beards almost as long as their menfolk.

Fíli grinned. “Do not other womenfolk have beards too? I cannot imagine a woman with no beard! Why, she’d look like a skinny elf!”

Bilbo laughed, though he was uncertain if Fíli was kidding or not.

Kíli asked him. “Don’t your women have beards, Master Baggins?”

“Why no! I can’t - ” He stopped himself, realizing that he might insult the young dwarves. “I would love to see a dwarf woman someday.”

Fíli smiled, almost serious for moment. “I shall come visit you someday, then sir, and bring my wife and little ones to eat some of your fine victuals.”

Bilbo blushed at the compliment, not sure why he felt shy all of a sudden. Shyness was certainly not an attribute that Bilbo normally had.

“I shall welcome you, Fíli, though I am not sure I can feed all of your relatives and their wives and children too!”

The fair hair dwarf grinned. “At least you know why dwarves love gold and gems so much! We eat so much that we need vast amounts of treasure to buy food! We are not such fine gardeners as your folk are!”

Kíli grumped good-naturedly at them both. “If you two stopped talking so much, we might get that treasure before we are old like Balin!”

Balin made a sound far in front of them at the comment.

They traveled until all were becoming a bit bad tempered. They were tired and filthy. And hungry. No one had any meat left. All they had was cram. Thorin was the worst tempered of them all, impatient to reach the Lonely Mountain and reclaim it for his own. Everyone gave him a wide berth, especially Bilbo. Gandalf seemed not to notice at all.

One day they came to another deep crevasse and instead of going around it, Gandalf stopped.

“There it is!” They all looked down and there it was: the home of the elves, Rivendell, the Last Homely House of Elrond. It was far below them, sparkling in the late evening.

Gandalf led them down a long and winding path to the elven refuge of Rivendell far below. The path wound around and around until they crossed a bridge. Halfway across the bridge, Gandalf pointed and they all looked. Rivendell, the hidden city of Lord Elrond, lay before them, with green trees and waterfalls, with stately houses and beautiful gardens. And elves. Elves were everywhere.

Bilbo had to tell himself to breathe. The Shire was a pretty place, with humble dwellings and green hills, surrounded by fields and woods but this, this was something entirely different. It was vast and beautiful. It even smelled beautiful!

Gandalf had dropped back to walk by Bilbo.

“It even smells like elves,” the hobbit said to the smiling wizard.

“I had not thought of it but yes, it does. It does smell of elves.”

Elrond and his people surrounded them as they walked into the open courtyard in front of Elrond’s home. The elves were singing and dancing around when they parted and Lord Elrond himself walked among them.

“My guests! Thorin, son of Thrain, and his kin, Gandalf, and Bilbo Baggins of Bag End. Welcome to the Last Homely House! I offer you comfort from your weariness and food for your bellies.”

Elrond’s people showed them to rooms and drew their baths. Fíli, Kíli and Bilbo shared a large room. They stowed their few belongings and the dwarf brothers began to argue over who got to use the tub first.

“I am the cleanest so I’ll leave the water cleaner for you,” Kíli argued as he began to remove his outer layers of clothing.

The elf who had come with soap and towels bowed and said quietly, “You will all have clean water. Just ring the bell when one of you is done and we shall bring fresh hot water.”

Fíli looked at Bilbo and laughed. “Our ma makes us use the same bath water, says she and our sisters tire of carrying too much water!”

Bilbo had his own small tub at home and a pump that brought water into his kitchen, where he heated it and poured it into his tub. He thought this tub was big enough to swim in. He hoped he didn’t have to bathe in water used by both of his young companions though.

They were all given clean clothes though how the elves managed to find clothes for such small people in a city of elves was beyond Bilbo. Their dirty things were taken away for cleaning and repairs. Bilbo piled up in the huge feather bed and was asleep in no time at all. He knew nothing until Fíli shook him awake sometime later.

“Wake up, little burglar! It is time to eat. I have never eaten elven food, have you?”

Bilbo quickly shook the sleep from his mind and washed his face. He was ready to sit down at the table with elves!

The dinner was sumptuous with meats of every sort and vegetables as well. Bread warmers sat on every table along with bowls of gravy, jams and jellies, fruits, cakes, pies, wines. Bilbo had seen feasts aplenty at home but none could match this!

Much to his surprise, he and his roommates were seated near to Lord Elrond and Gandalf, though all were near enough to talk and to listen to the stories and tales told in the evening by both their host and the wizard. Even Thorin seemed enthralled by their stories.

No mention was made of their journey to the Lonely Mountain, which was fine with Bilbo. He could have stayed in Rivendell forever.

It was late when their banquet was done and Bilbo followed Fíli and Kíli to their room. Bilbo was tired and ready for sleep but his companions were wide awake.

“Have you ever seen so much food?” Fíli asked.

“Even Ma doesn’t have that much on the table!” Kíli answered. “How about you, Bilbo?”

“Maybe when the whole town has a festival in the village square but never so many meats! And jams and gravy! I love gravy!” Bilbo had eaten all he could but wished he could eat a little more. Such food!

“I should like to wander about,” Kíli announced as Bilbo removed his shoes and was preparing to don the white nightshirt that had been left for him on the edge of the bed.

“As would I,” Fíli agreed.

“I am going to bed. Do not wake me when you return,” he told them as they slipped out the door.

Sunlight in the window woke Bilbo but he couldn’t move. On one side, a dwarf’s back was pressed to his side and an arm was thrown across this chest from the other side. He tried to wiggle out but there was no moving so he lay there and thought a bit instead.

He missed home terribly but this place, Rivendell, was as wonderful a place as he ever imagined. He could smell flowers and perhaps a hint of something else…

Food! He smelled breakfast cooking. He decided that he had to get up and see what was being served. After some thought, he moved the arm that lay across him. That seemed to be the best plan, but as soon as he did, it flopped back across him, trapping him again.

He lay there for a few more minutes before the tried again. The arm belonged to Fíli and this time when he moved it, the dwarf woke up.

“What?” Fíli sat up straight in the bed.

“I, uh, wanted to go to breakfast and your arm was over me. I just wanted to move it.”

The young dwarf smiled. “Food would be nice. Let’s let Kíli sleep. More for us that way. Eh?”

The two got dressed and hurried to the banquet room where Elrond sat with Gandalf and Balin.

“Good morning, Bilbo, Fíli. I was wondering when the smell of food would wake you.”

Bilbo smiled. “The smell of food will always awaken a hobbit.”

“Dwarves, too, I see,” Gandalf said.

“Nope. It was Bilbo who woke me so he could come and eat.”

Elrond poured them both a cup of tea and bid them help themselves from the platters just beginning to be brought out from the kitchen. The other dwarves began to trickle in along with Elrond’s advisors and his own family. Kíli had not yet made an appearance.

Fíli leaned close and whispered to Bilbo, “Should I go get Kíli?”

“Let him sleep. More for us!” Bombur boomed as he sat down on Fíli’s other side.

When the room was full, Elrond welcomed all and bade them eat and enjoy and even though dwarves have no love for elves, Thorin’s company ate as if they’d never eaten food before. The wizard and the hobbit ate their share as well.

After the fine breakfast, Gandalf and Thorin retired with Lord Elrond to his study to discuss their journey to the Lonely Mountain. Bilbo and Fíli went out to one of the many courtyards and gardens.

Fíli picked a summer apple up from the ground and polished it on his shirt before taking a bite. Bilbo did the same.

“So, who is older? You or Kíli?”

“I am. I guess that makes me Uncle Thorin’s heir.”

“Do any of you really think that thirteen dwarves, a wizard and a hobbit can defeat a dragon?”

“Thorin says we can so we will,” Fíli shrugged. “What do you do when you’re not burglaring, Mr. Baggins?”

Bilbo laughed. “I am simply Bilbo and I am a hobbit. We – we eat and cook and smoke. We raise food and tell stories. We are a very unremarkable folk.”

Fíli grinned. “You are quite remarkable, I expect, Bilbo. If not, why would Gandalf have insisted you come along?”

“I’ve been asking myself that very question,” Bilbo said as he finished his apple and looked around before dropping the core to the ground.

The two wandered down to the training grounds where the young elves were training with bows and with swords. Bilbo was amazed at their skill. He felt ill equipped for any fighting they might do.

“Grab a sword from over there and let’s practice,” Fíli said to Bilbo.

Much to their surprise, there were several small swords, probably for very young trainees. They each took up one and they began to spar. Bilbo had no knowledge or skill with the sword but Fíli was a different story. He was quite adept and would have been deadly if he’d been serious. He encouraged Bilbo by instructing him how to hold his sword and how to meet the thrusts from his sword.

Fíli began to push him back farther and farther until Bilbo began to grow alarmed. Just as his back hit a post, Fíli dropped his sword and bowed deeply to the hobbit.

“Well done, Mr. Baggins, though you do need a little more work.”

Bilbo managed to still the pounding of his heart and step away from the post. “I thought I was done for there for a moment.”

“Bilbo! I’d never hurt you! You’re the only lively member of this group except for my brother. Everyone else is so serious!” He clapped the hobbit on the back.

Never one to miss a chance to eat, Bilbo was ready to head back to the house in case there were elevenses. Fíli followed him.

Evening found two well fed dwarves and one well fed hobbit all tucked into their big feather bed again. Bilbo asked to sleep on the side this time since he did tend to wake before his companions. After several minutes of bickering in which Bilbo couldn’t tell if the brothers were fighting to sleep beside him or not, Fíli finally ended up in the middle and Kíli on the far side.

Bilbo smiled when Fíli threw an arm over him just before he went to sleep.

The new day brought more talks between Thorin, Gandalf and Elrond so the rest of the party was free to explore Rivendell. Being dwarves, most of them went to the elven forge where the sons of Elrond showed them some of the finest swords in Middle Earth. The dwarves were certain that they could do better but were impressed nonetheless.

Bilbo found himself in the orchard again. He loved gardens and trees and especially trees that produced food. He climbed up one particularly tall tree and leaned back on a forked branch. He could live here in Rivendell forever, he thought. He closed his eyes.

“Bilbo! Are you ready for another swordsmanship lesson?”

It was Fíli, standing beneath the tree and looking up at Bilbo.

He really preferred to sit up in the tree, but he liked Fíli too much to hurt his feelings. He climbed down and they went to the practice field. His fighting was a little better than it had been the day before but he did manage to get a rather nasty cut on his shin when he fell and somehow cut himself with his own sword.

Fíli picked him up as if he were a child and frantically asked where the healers were. A young elf showed him the way. He ran into the small cottage as if Bilbo were mortally wounded,

“Will he be all right?” He asked the healer before she had time to check his wound.

“Fíli, I am fine. It’s just a cut. See?” Bilbo uncovered the cut. Fíli turned a pale color and sat abruptly.

The healer looked at the terrified dwarf. “I will clean and bandage the cut and he will be fine. You can wait in the other room. There is some tea in the kettle and some honey cakes wrapped in the warmer.”

But the dwarf stayed. He watched every second of the doctor’s work and he insisted on carrying Bilbo back to the house when he was done.

“Fíli, I am fine.” Bilbo hopped up from the bed, where he’d been deposited. “What I really want is some lunch.”

“Then I will bring it to you.”

“No. We shall go together. It’s a cut and a small one at that.”

Fíli didn’t look convinced, but Bilbo refused to be waited on or babied any more. They ate plenty of food and wandered over the house with its many hallways and large rooms. They eventually wandered into the room that held the Shards of Narsil.

“It must have taken a mighty blow to break such a sword,” Fíli said.

“I have heard stories of the Battle of the Last Alliance,” Bilbo said, remembering tales of great bravery.

“There will be great tales told of our bravery after we kill that dragon and reclaim our mountain!” Fíli declared with all the confidence of the young.

“I rather hope we can do it without much bloodshed,” Bilbo answered.

Fíli ruffled his hair. “Kíli and I will protect you, little burglar!”

After their exploring was done, they found that it was time to have some lunch. Kíli was there already.

“Where have you been?” Fíli asked his sibling.

“I went to the forge and then Lindir took me to visit the luthier who makes all the musical instruments that they play here. Where did you go?”

“We have been practicing for the coming journey. I am teaching Master Baggins swordsmanship.”

Kíli raised a brow. “You?”

“Yes, and don’t say a word. I am better than you are with a sword,” Fíli said with a smile. “Why don’t you join us tomorrow?”

Thus the days in Rivendell passed until there were only a few more days until they left the safety of the elven kingdom and went back into the dark and dangerous world to seek Thorin’s kingdom under the mountain.

Bilbo found his way to the library one day and asked for some paper and a quill, which the library elf was glad to bring him. He found himself writing silly little ditties about the dwarves and drawing little pictures of them. When he was done, he began to doodle a dragon. Though small, his drawing was of a fierce fire breathing creature. He couldn’t know yet but it looked just like Smaug.

He didn’t hear Fíli approaching and was startled when the dwarf spoke.

“That’s a great drawing of ol’ Smaug! Do you think you could draw one on me?”

“On you?” Bilbo wasn’t sure why anyone would want to have a picture of a dragon drawn on themselves.

“Yes. Don’t your people have tattoos?” Fíli rolled up his sleeve.

“I have heard of them but never seen one,”

“Well, the very basic idea is you draw a picture in your skin with a needle dipped in ink.”

Bilbo winced. “That sounds painful.”

“It is a little but then it gets better. I want to make a dragon on my arm to remember this quest and to remember you. If you draw it on my arm, then Balin will ink it into my skin and I will forever be reminded of our heroic journey.”

Bilbo was surprised that he thought this was a fine idea. A permanent souvenir of his trip and of his friend.

“Will he do one on me too?”

“We can ask.”

Bilbo drew a dragon on Fíli’s arm and then one on his own, below his elbow, which was the only place he could draw it well enough. After they washed the first try off and Bilbo did them once more and with much better results, they went in search of Balin.

Balin was in the kitchen, watching the cook and asking her how she made this dish and that. He apparently liked elven food too.

“I thought you’d be with Uncle Thorin,” Fíli said to him as they walked into the kitchen.

“He is still arguing with Elrond and Gandalf. I did not want to listen yet another day so I began to explore and here I am.”

“We have come to ask a favor,” Bilbo said to him.

Balin looked askance at them. “Sounds like trouble to me.”

They both held out their arms and showed him their little dragon drawings.

“We want these made into tattoos,” Fíli told him.

“Tattoos? Your uncle will not like it.”

“I am old enough to go to battle and so is Bilbo.”

“I have no ink.”

“I have some,” Bilbo chimed in

“I have no needle.”

“We took care of that too, Balin,” Bilbo said and held up a sharp needle from his own pocket.

Balin made a rude sound or two but in the end, he agreed. He allowed that they should do it now before the drawings became faded. They went to the room Bilbo shared with Fíli and Kíli.

“Wash them and then Bilbo can redraw them,” Balin told them as he held the sharp needle over a candle he’d lit.

When the drawings were done, Balin asked who wanted to go first. Bilbo volunteered, afraid he might chicken out if he watched Fíli get his.

It didn’t hurt nearly as bad as he’d feared and it made him smile when Balin complimented him on how brave he was for a hobbit. It might not have been much of a compliment, but Bilbo appreciated the intent.

Fíli grunted and groaned a bit but Bilbo thought that was for his benefit. When they were done, both admired the tiny little Smaug who breathed fire on both their arms. They agreed not to tell the others for now and Balin readily agreed as well.

As they went to their room to get ready for dinner, Fíli said, “I expect Balin isn’t telling because he doesn’t want to listen to Uncle Thorin rake him over the coals. Thorin likes to be in charge of everything and never wants any of us to think for ourselves.”

Bilbo had never felt that Thorin wanted him along but Gandalf insisted he would be of great use to them. He had to admit to himself that he was more than a little afraid of Thorin so he wasn’t anxious for the leader to find out about the tattoos either.

At dinner, Bilbo sat between Fíli and Kíli. He found Fíli smiling at him several times. He nervously smiled back, not even noticing that Gandalf took note of them and made a satisfied sound under his breath.

That night, when the trio went to bed, Fíli snuggled up to Bilbo’s back, putting his arm around him and pulling him close. Just before he drifted off to sleep, Bilbo thought he felt the young dwarf’s lips touch the back of his neck in a kiss. He fell asleep with a smile on his face.

~end~