Never Back Again // The Hobbit, Fili X OC

Twin guns

The first thing her senses picked up was the chatter going around, along with the crackling of a small fire. The second thing she registered was the stiffness in her neck, though she couldn't bring herself to move out of the otherwise comfortable position just yet. Her waking up later than the rest of the company was so uncommon that it had only happened once before, somewhere during that awful rainstorm. Even more uncommon though was the chance to sleep in, so she was filled with determination to get the most out of a lazy morning.

She lasted a full five minutes before her neck cramped uncomfortably, and with much reluctance she moved and opened her eyes. The morning sun shone so brightly it nearly blinded her and she quickly shut her eyes again. Her next attempt at facing the morning was met with much more success, slowly she opened her eyes, this time allowing them some time to adjust to the light. The sun was already quite high in the sky and she reckoned it wasn't exactly morning anymore. 10 am, she guessed. If they had been on the road they would have already traveled quite a distance.

Stretching her back with a series of satisfying pops, she sat up fully and noted she was still leaning against the same pillar as last night. No wonder her neck hurt so much. Movement in the corner of her eye caught her attention, and with horror she realized what was going on. Next to her, the gap between them no more than a few inches, was Fili. He was still asleep for now, but was starting to stir lightly and it wouldn't be much longer before he opened his eyes.

Navigating dangerous situations was something she was used to. She was good at it, some would even call her trained to do so. She was no stranger to facing off enemies and had no problem putting herself in positions where survival is unlikely as long as it meant defeat for her opponent as well. But this? This was not something she was equipped to deal with. Something that should be so normal suddenly seemed to be the biggest obstacle in her life. The mundane act of falling asleep on someone's shoulder would sooner be the death of her than any of the people out there trying to kill her.

The dwarf beside her shifted again and she understood that he was only seconds away from waking up fully. She had to sort out her mind before she could face him like this, especially with the entire company around. She ignored the fluttering in her stomach and hastily got up to start the perilous journey to the nearest cup of coffee.

Most of the dwarves lounged around idly, some with plates of food on their laps and others sipping from their waterskins. They chatted among themselves, laughing and smiling at stories told and adventures recounted. It was nice to see them so at ease, she decided. Certainly an improvement from being tied up in a troll camp.

As she walked over most conversations turned silent, everyone's eyes on her studying her intensely. Balin smiled at her knowingly, while Kili wagged his eyebrows. Thorin specifically did not take his eyes off her, his brows furrowed and his eyes narrowed in scrutiny. Although interestingly enough his face lacked any signs of genuine anger like she had come to expect of him.

Bofur was the first to break the silence, "Sleep well?" he asked, an unmistakable twinkle of mischief in his eyes.

She grumbled in reply. She did actually sleep really well, but there's no way she would admit that now. It was already embarrassing enough to have everyone's attention on her like this, and confirming or even denying the quality of her sleep would only serve to make everything a lot worse.

Bilbo quickly walked over to her, placing a steaming cup of coffee in her hands. "Here you go miss," he smiled.

Emma hummed in thanks and plopped down near the fire and took a large gulp. It took only a couple days of traveling together for the hobbit to find out how she liked her coffee, and without her even having to ask for it he would hand her a mug every morning without fail.