Hobbit/The Lord of the Rings Imagines

Dwalin ~ Grumpy

I rolled my eyes as Dwalin once again huffed and stormed away from me.

"There goes Grumpy again." I said loudly.

Most of the Company groaned, but a few, including Fili and Kili snickered away, they knew the nickname was well earned and why I used it.

He always seemed to get grumpier around me, despite having known the warrior all my life. He was only a few years older, but somehow I had still managed to make better friends with the brothers than with Dwalin and Thorin.

Which meant the brothers knew how I felt about Dwalin. Despite his outward expression to me, I still felt very fond of the bald dwarf. I had no control of it, and while I denied it for a long time, I eventually realised that it wasn't going to go away.

And boy did I receive hell when the brothers found out.

They had learned to be subtle about it now, especially in his company all the time on this quest to reclaim our homeland. It didn't they weren't painfully obvious about it at times.

Which is what we'd just finished arguing about.

He accused me of putting Fili and Kili up to bothering him all day, and while I'd certainly done this before, I hadn't dared to do so on this trip, something that I had gladly told him.

The argument had continued until he walked away in a fowl mood and I hadn't been able to help myself.

"A word lass?" Balin had approached me without me realised.

I sighed, knowing that he was forever the protective older brother. "Of course Balin."

I followed him and the Company was quick to look away.

Balin stopped and faced me with a stern look.

I sighed again. "What Balin? You can hardly blame me when he acts like that."

"Did you put the lads up to it?"

"Of course not. Honestly, I only explained it four million times to him." I was exasperated, I couldn't believe that he was asking as well.

He looks at me, gauging whether I was telling the truth. "Well...what were the lads up to then?"

"You would have to ask them that." I said, annoyed. "They do not need my influence to be trouble makers."

Balin sighs and nods. "Yes, this is true." But his look is still stern. "You know that comment hurts him?"

I raised an eyebrow. "What comment?"

"About being grumpy."

"Well I wouldn't if he wasn't all the time." I folded my arms defensively. "And it's always worse with me."

Balin gives me a strange look. "You realise he is like that because of you?"

"Yeah because I annoy him."

"No lass..." He sighs. "He has to tell you himself, I cannot do it for him."

"Do what?" I asked stupidly.

But Balin was already walking away. "When he's got the nerve, he'll tell you."

I snort. "Yeah, right, like Grumpy will tell me anything."

"And I would recommend not saying that to him."

Like that was going to happen when he was always in such a mood.

I followed Balin back to camp, where Dwalin was sitting, glaring into the fire.

I sat with the brothers and we talked away happily through dinner. This only seemed to sour Dwalin's mood.