A Price To Pay- The Hobbit & LoTR

Chapter 4

"-sie... Lassie. Lassie!" A stern voice and shaking hands brought Raewyn out of the land of faraway dreams and wonderful visions.

Her eyes cracked open, her gaze heavy and bleary as she tried to notice which brute had dared to waken her.

Some hairy creature with long floppy ears that stuck outward from its head stood over her.

Her head tilted. She had never seen a beast like that before. She blinked a couple of times, honestly trying to will her eyes to focus and the bright morning rays to stop blinding her.

Oh, It wasn't some mutilated creature standing above her, but Bofur wearing that funny hat. Her eyes narrowed before she turned away to put the rising sun at her back, pulling her blanket over her head.

'Mmmh~" she sighed, melting back into the ground as she felt sleep's dark calm begin to claim her once more—

"Oi! Lassie!"

The fragile peace sleep had given her vanished at the dwarf's voice, which she was beginning to deem annoying. She cracked just one eye open to find the male in question, and when she did she willed ire to reflect in her eyes, silently promising the dwarf a very painful death should he keep trying to rouse her.

Yet the dwarf didn't back down. No, he just stood there above her with his painfully-too-early-in-the-morning cheerful smile and mischievous brown eyes.

Her eye narrowed farther, letting a low growl slip from her lips, rattling her throat and chest. The sound was most definitely not that of a human, yet even she could tell the growl was half hearted. If Bofur's somehow growing smile were anything to go off of, he knew it too.

"Oh come on, you cranky, lil' lass." His hat's ear-like flaps bounced as he tilted his head playfully with every word. "I figured you'd have liked some breakfast before Bombor ate it all."

Her growl cut off. Breakfast?

She lifted her nose slightly to inhale deeply. The heavenly perfume of eggs and potatoes frying in butter, sautéed with fresh onions, tomatoes, and seasonings. Yet it was the smell of frying bacon that made her sit up rigidly like a hound on a scent, the blanket falling from her shoulders to pool in her lap.

Bofur leaned back with a boisterous laugh, and before Raewynn could gather her bearings, he hooked his surprisingly strong hands under her arms and heaved. He wasn't tall enough to set her on her feet, which left her falling into him until she properly got her feet under her.

Raewynn genuinely couldn't hold back her bark of laughter despite her earlier annoyance. He let her go and she shook out her limbs, stretching with a high pitched purr of sorts before her arms fell to her side. She looked down at Bofur with a notched eyebrow and hint of a grin. "I suppose I should thank you, Master Bofur."

The dwarf waved his hand dismissively with a chuckle. "Oh! Just call me Bofur, lassie. There's no need for that "Master" business." His smile turned mischievous, "Unless you're into it." He finished with a wink.

Raewynn's jaw slackened a little and she blinked at him, but she quickly gathered herself and batted the dwarf's hat off with a smirk and an upturned eyebrow. Bofur gave a loud stomach laugh before bending down to pick up his hat and putting it in its rightful place.

Raewynn took a look at her surroundings, noting the lack of being inside a Hobbit hearth anymore, but rather she seemed to have fallen asleep against the gate of the hobbit's home. A jolt of pain hit her head and some memories came back to her, mainly Bilbo passing out cold and flopping to the ground. She couldn't remember much afterwards, why do I drink wine when I know I'll wake up like this, she wined to herself.