The Company gathered around the piles of photographs, passing them around and being careful not to get any food on them (which I had never seen them do with anything else, so I knew they were serious). They leaned and squinted and laughed and wept over all the photos. They saw me as a soot-streaked firefighter, a hair-frazzled volunteer, a sweat-gleaming teacher. They saw me with my family, with friends, with children. They saw more and more, and I had to explain in a raised voice about what each picture depicted.
It didn't help that I cracked out the booze.
"Oliphaunts? You—you're with an oliphaunt, Valeria!" Bilbo squawked out the happiest laugh I ever heard from him.
"Elephant, technically. They're a little smaller. But just as cool? Fuck yes!"
"What's all this getup?" Gloin waved the photo around.
"Firefighting gear. Keeps us protected from some of the heat."
"Mahal, that's a lot of children!" Dwalin crowed. "And you all look like you're sick!"
"It's a class of children. I had another teacher helping me. That girl right there—yeah, we taught them English together in Thailand. Thailand's hot, so that's why we're all sweaty."
"Is this you as a babe?" Fili inquired, leaning in to shove a photo in my face.
"Ha! Yeah, that's me, and that little demon with cake on her face in the background wearing the Elmo sweater is Elena."
"Ria! Ria! What are these clothes you wear?" Kili shoved another photo in my face.
"Uh, my karate—no, taekwondo clothes. You wear them when you practice the techniques. By the way, when can I kick your ass again? And when is Tauriel going to come?"
Between all the explanations and laughter and eating, the dwarves filled me in on some of the highlights during the battle in Dale that happened while Fili, Kili, Tauriel, and I fucked around on Ravenhill. Thorin, for one, saved Legolas right in front of Thranduil, Bilbo jumped off a building and did a kill-shot with Sting to a troll's head, Bard and his men shot down an entire squadron of orcs within the span of a few seconds, the Ironhill dwarves demolished a pack of wargs, Gandalf squared up with an Uruk captain and chopped his head clean off, and—much to the raucous amusement of the dwarves—the woodland elves took the brunt of the bloody waterfall of a downpour when that one were-worm bit off the head of the other.
Which brought us to the Easterlings.
Most of the forces had retreated to their borders, but a small bulk remained. They waited for me, most likely. Their leader, a woman named Amelie who carried the fury of a star in her own palm, was with them. Thorin sent word that I returned, and we would convene at her camp tomorrow afternoon.
It wasn't terrifying at all that she wanted to see me.
Luckily, I had great distractions. Bilbo almost fainted when he saw how many books I brought, and Fili told me that the books meant for his mother would undoubtedly make her love me. There was talk of wedding arrangements—which Dis had to approve of before the king himself could, though Thorin gave the engagement his wholehearted blessing. With a wry smirk, he then muttered something in Fili's ear that left his nephew blushing.
Gandalf examined the old wooden cross with intrigue. Bombur meticulously smelled all the spices in their jars with an array of faces and head jerks that expressed his displeasure or curiosity or excitement. Nori and Dwalin cracked into the tequila with great vigor and surprise, and they told Kili that it was barely stronger than water to get him to pound back a drink, then laughed their asses off when Kili coughed and wheezed from its burn. While Bilbo came in first for gushing over the books, Ori was a close second with Balin in third. Ori fawned over the neat typography and thin paper, and Balin itched to work his way through some history texts. Oin even flipped through an anatomy textbook with an occasional hearty laugh and a mutter under his breath. Bofur fiddled over one of those wooden 3D puzzles with Bifur and Gloin unhelpfully giving their input. Dori mmmed and ahhhed at all my hair and body products. Thorin didn't shrug off the Broncos blanket I threw over his shoulders as he examined my photos, even though he did call it an eyesore that would make his ancestors weep.
YOU ARE READING
Renacida || Fili x MGIME OC ||
Fanfiction[Fili x OC] Bilbo finds kinship with her. They're both so very far from home. He doesn't realize just how far away she is. [available under the same name on ao3]
