Hobbit/The Lord of the Rings Imagines

Bilbo ~ Comfort

How Shiera had ended up on this trip, she still wasn't entirely sure.

Well, she did know, but he wouldn't accept it.

"Don't blame me Shiera," Bilbo said yet again.  "You said you wanted to come along."

"I swear, Bilbo Baggins, if we make it out of this alive, you will never hear the end of it."  Shiera says haughtily, her grip tight on her ponies reigns.

"We're not hearing the end of it now."  Bofur groans from in front of them, but automatically shuts his mouth as Shiera shoots him a furious glare.

"You wanted to come along."  Bilbo insisted.

"No."  Shiera snaps.  "I said it would be good for you to go, not for me to join you."

"Well, you didn't have to run out after me."  Bilbo says as a finality and Shiera had no argument for it.

Most of the Company sighs in relief at the yet of the argument, one that the two had been having for the last several days, and it was exhausting.

Shiera had indeed followed after Bilbo, she wasn't entirely sure what had made her do it, but something seeing Bilbo leaving like that, a concern had come over her, a concern that she would never see him ever again, and so her feet had taken over and she found herself running after him, catching up and joining the Company with him.

And she was now regretting it.

She missed her warm bed and her books, she missed fresh clothes and having clean hair, something she was quick to notice that it didn't seem to bother any of the others.

One thing she was glad of was that they allowed her to cook, not because they saw it as something she should do, but because she insisted and they wanted to try and ease her mood.

It hadn't taken much for the dwarves to realise that she was a feisty hobbit, and it hadn't taken much for them to understand that she wasn't put off by their attitudes towards her.

But they quickly were thankful and treated her a bit more equally when they realised she could cook and that dinner each night had it's own unique flavour, although she wouldn't say how did it.  Bombur was particularly interested as he was the normal cook, but Shiera would give up nothing.

"It is for me to know and you to continue to guess."  She would say happily at the questions, causing Bilbo to just roll his eyes.

Shiera and Bilbo had known each other since they were children, and after a particularly nasty affair involving a particularly nasty hobbit, Shiera lost her family home and Bilbo took her in.  They were an odd couple and many other hobbits questioned their relationship, but they always insisted that they were just friends.

But even now with the Company, the dwarves questioned it as well.  Bilbo and Shiera's interactions were very much like a couple, with the arguments and occasional jokes, they were soon taking bets on what the actual answer was.

Poor Bilbo found himself cornered in Rivendell about it, as he hadn't let Shiera out of his sight since the troll incident, until that moment, where he was retrieving some food for her as she refused to leave her room.

The dwarves had cornered him and practically demanded answers.

Bilbo stared at them, a little stunned at the onslaught of questions.  When they finally fell silent, he frowns at them.

"Of course not.  Shiera and I have been friends a long time."  He looks between them all.  "What on earth would make you think such a thing?"

"The way you two are all the time!"

"There's not way you aren't together."

"Come on Bilbo, you can tell us!"

But Bilbo shakes his head.  "We are not together, now, if you don't mind, Shiera is quite hungry but unwilling to leave her room, so unless any of you are going to get her food, then I suggest you let me move!"  He said it quite angrily, surprising the dwarves who just let him go, watching the hobbit leave with stunned expressions.

The betting then intensified on whether the two would get together by the end of the journey.

Bilbo returned to Shiera with a plate of food to find her sitting numbly on the bed.  He sighs, placing the tray down and sitting next to her, his arm wrapping around her shoulders.

"I'm not cut out for this Bilbo."  She mumbles before he can say anything.  "That...that was terrifying.  I've never thought that I was going to die before, even with...even when..."

She shudders and Bilbo's grip tightened around her.  "It's alright Shiera, it's over now.  We are safe here."

A sniff leaves her, surprising Bilbo as he had never seen her upset before, even with all that had happened.  "They want to go up against a dragon Bilbo.  A dragon!  We barely survived the trolls, how are we meant to fight a dragon?"

"I think they are hoping it is dead."  Bilbo says gently.  "And I am too, but...we will just have to wait."

Shiera starts to tremble, shaking her head.  "I'm not sure I can Bilbo."

He bites his lip, unsure of how to answer.

"Me too."

She looks at him, her eyes shining.  He looks down sheepishly.

"I am just as scared as you Shiera.  I cannot say that I am not concerned about continuing on but...I have a feeling that I must.  This is not easy on us, on you, I know, especially after everything, but I feel it will all turn out alright in the end."  Bilbo breaks eye contact, staring at the bed.

Shiera's arms were thrown around him and the two hobbits almost toppled off the bed, but Bilbo managed to brace them, staring down at her as she held him tightly.

He was equally surprised to find her crying.

"Shiera..."  Slowly, he wrapped his arms around her, drawing her into a tight hug as she openly wept against his chest.  There was little he could say, so they sat in near silence, her sobs breaking the silence.  Bilbo's hand gently rubbed circles against her back, trying to sooth her and calm her down.

Eventually, she quieted and lay curled up against him.

"Thank you Bilbo."

"For what?"

"For always being there."  She mutters and nuzzles into his chest tiredly.  "I know I am not the easiest hobbit to deal with."

"You are easier to deal with than the Sackville-Baggins."

They both chuckle at the shared memories of the Sackville-Baggins, Shiera having just as many run ins with them as Bilbo.  They were most upset, after all, that she lived in Bag End and they didn't.

"They wouldn't try anything why we are away would they?"

"I hope not, but we can hardly worry about that now, can we?"  Absently, his hand went it her hair, gently running through it and tugging at any knots that appeared.

"I guess not."  She sighs.  "Can you stay until I fall asleep Bilbo?"

It was a request that she hadn't made since she first moved in, since nightmares used to plague her and she hadn't wanted to be alone.

"Of course Shiera.  Anything."

Shiera mumbled something sleepily against him that he didn't quite catch but he didn't get a chance to ask her what she said, soft snores now reaching him.  Still stroking her hair, Bilbo smiled and kissed the top of her head lightly, prepared to stay there as long as she needed.