The Three Women Of Durin

I'm Not From Here

The sound of laughter died at an alarming rate and Rosie felt her cheeks flush and her gut to clench. They were there right in front of her, just like in the movie. She flicked her eyes over everyone briefly, they seemed...more? Bombur seemed more round in the middle and radiated a happy mood, Dawlin seemed thicker in every sense of the word and she would not even get into how mouth-watering Fili and Kili looked, both of which were currently giving her the most god-awful stare. The uncomfortable silence lay thick in the air. That is until Bifur began signing something to his brothers, Bombur eventually spoke up.

"He says he found her and her friends in the woods, covered in shattered glass and broken metal," Bombur said, staring at his cousin with his eyebrows furrowed in concentration. Rosie began to feel sick again.

"Friends?" A thick accent spoke, she tried to see who spoke but there were so many dwarves before her she could not exactly pin point the voice. Bifur began signing again to Bombur who again spoke for him.

"Yes, there are two others, they're resting in the other room," Bombur continued, "Unconscious," He added. There was a pause of silence as Rosie silently awaited their reaction. What followed next was probably the last thing she expected. All of the dwarves suddenly leapt to their feet and turned to Rosie, trying to get through the room behind her. They pushed each other over, and clumsily clambered over chairs, all of them trying to be the first to get there.

Rosie's immediate reaction was to get the hell out of the way and this meant that she ended up throwing herself against the nearest wall and automatically curled into a little ball, trying not to get squashed. She pushed herself further into the wall as the outburst of noise continued to go past her and eventually into the opposing room where it died out quickly. Slowly, when she was sure everyone had gone away, she unfurled herself from her spot, clumsily clambering to her feet with little grace. When she was up she turned back to the dining room and found herself face to face with a dwarf, around her height, with a beautiful mane of white beard. Staring at him for a moment she struggled to come up with something to say, but he seemed to take matters into his own hand, bowing down low in front of her, one arm wrapped around his front, his other wrapped around his back.

"Balin, at your service milady," he said sweetly, his old voice humming from deep within his chest. Rosie gave a curt little nod in response, not trusting herself to open her mouth, for she already knew who he was. Turning around, Balin led Rosie back into the dining room and to the table where he pulled up three new chairs and sat her down in one. "You look awfully pale miss, would you like some tea?" He asked softly, smiling with a happy glint in his eye. From within, Rosie felt her heart warm to this dwarf, he had been the nicest thing so far in middle earth. Rosie tentatively looked down at the cup of tea he was holding out to her and willed herself to take it, however, her hands appeared to be ignoring her brain and reaching for something else on the table.

"No...thank you," Rosie managed to splutter out as she grabbed the pitcher of ale with a little too much force and with shaking hands tried to pour herself a glass.

"Here, let me," Balin said in his soft voice. Taking the pitcher from Rosie's shaking hands and pouring the glass for her.

"Thank you," Rosie managed to whisper, unsure if he even heard her.

"That's a funny accent you have, milady," Balin said, handing her the glass.

"Hmm, mmm," Rosie hummed quietly, bringing the glass to her lips. The ale was strong. Stronger than any she had sipped before, but right here, right now, Rosie had never felt like she needed something more. Rosie gulped down the majority of her glass and eventually all of it with more haste than necessary. She enjoyed the feeling of it hitting the back of her throat and burning on the way down, spreading a warmth in her stomach that was very much needed. Forgetting Balin was there for a moment, Rosie reached again for the pitcher and poured herself another glass, and another, and another. When she was finally contempt she pushed both the glass and pitcher away from her and briefly closed her eyes, focusing on the feelings that were now flowing through her, however, Balin gently called her back to reality.