Endotherm {Thorin/Hobbit}

||Chapter 2||

||Chapter 2||

<|Third Age 2974|>

If you asked Endor Baggins what the most annoying thing is, she'd tell you tightening the straps to her backpack. No matter how hard she tugged and tried, she could never get the weight on her back to balance evenly and tightly. Instead, one strap was always tighter, boring into her shoulder with each step she took. Oh yes, this is her biggest pet peeve, especially since she can never fix it herself.

So there she sat, within the home of her Uncle Bilbo, tugging on her straps in the endless battle against the fabric. She grunted and heaved with each pull, as if lugging the world's heaviest boulder. But to her, this occurrence was a boulder, as it would bug her shoulders for the entirety of the day. Endor can tell you right now that sleeping was tenfold more uncomfortable when your backpack is unbalanced on the day prior. Apparently, it throws out the back.

That's how Bilbo found her after compiling the last of his junk and travel baggage. Each tug brought one more wrinkle to her brow, a nerve strung up on each temple. Bilbo is tempted to laugh, really, but he knows what laughing at a pet peeve can do. Unknown to most, messing with his mother's glory box was Bilbo's greatest pet peeve, and one that Endor endlessly laughed at. And though he almost chooses to laugh just in retribution of her own infliction of pain, he decides to act like the proper adult here. Endor will always be the child.

"Are you ready?" he asks her, half-expecting her head to whip up in surprise. Rather, she attempts one final pull of the strap, setting the weight, once again, more towards her right shoulder. Huffing angrily, she throws the straps down to look at her humoured uncle, his eyebrow raised in hidden laughter. It only makes her more annoyed, but she will not behave childishly like he does. Bilbo will always be the child.

"Yes," she responds easily, pointing her thumb behind her back to where her travel clothes await her wearing. "I've only grabbed the locket, but it is all I need." On most occasions of travel, Endor leaves the jewelry piece at home in order to keep it safe. But with Bilbo gone from Bag-End, the last thing she needs is the Sacksville-Bagginses stealing her antiquity.

"Then, let's be off. Gwaihir will not be happy about our tardiness," Bilbo says, gesturing for her to exit the front door by the wave of his hand. She leads the way out, letting Bilbo lock the door behind them on this version of their journey. After the ransacking of Bag End on his first trip to Erebor, Bilbo learned to keep security in the Shire. The hobbits are thieving scoundrels to all Baggins kin.

"The leader of the eagles?" Endor asks, holding open the garden gate for Bilbo's exit and closing it behind him. Taking a quick skip, she catches up to Bilbo's hurried pace. It seems that he is attempting to make up for lost time, though fast-walking is today's mode of transportation. Endor wishes to run the rest of the way, feeling energized and wishing to avoid the hobbits, but she remembers how silly Bilbo looks when he runs. That visual would hurt her reputation even further.

"Yes, and a great companion of Gandalf. He is the one to always send them, after all," Bilbo remarks, pointing a finger upward in his typical expression that emphasizes his point. Indeed, Endor vaguely remembers hearing this before: the Grey Wizard sends Gwaihir to pick up Bilbo on the third Monday of spring every two years. Now, how ever does the old man remember to do this? This date also tends to coincide with the meeting of the Istari in Rivendell.

"I can see that being helpful," Endor remarks, wishing she has such an immediate form of transportation. To think of the places she could travel is practically incomprehensible, from Rhun to Haradwaith. It is almost a spectacular dream, but a possible reality.