The Undecided Title Of Sara Miller *Hobbit Fanfiction* (Thorin/OC)

Chapter 19: Wandering

In which there is wandering and baking.

Sara woke to a pounding on her door. She rolled over and pulled the pillows over her throbbing head, but the knocking did not cease.

"Stop pounding and come in already," she called weekly. The door opened and footsteps seemed to thunder across the floor and she could see from beneath her pillow as a tray was placed on the small table beside her head. She turned her face up to her visitor. Balin smiled down at her.

"Hello lass," he greeted softly. "How's yer head?"

She moaned. "I feel like I headbutted a semi truck," she said but when she saw his obvious confusion she amended, "It hurts a lot."

"I reckon it does," chuckled Balin. "Bifur says you claim to have drunk only on one other occasion, and it did not end well for ya."

"That's one way of putting it. What happened last night?" she asked, now trying to sit up and instantly regretting it for the throbbing behind her eyes increased tenfold with movement.

"It seems that Fili and Kili, with the aid of Bofur got ya to eat many of the sweet cakes which were doused in elvish wine. Not knowing of yer finite tolerance the others didn't think to stop ya until Bifur noticed."

"That sounds just like them," she growled into her pillow. "I should have suspected them trying something like this."

"I would not worry too much about it lass," said Balin, his eyes glittering with mirth. "Between their new titles and the extensive workout that Thorin put them through early this morning, I doubt they will try it again anytime soon."

"Titles?" asked Sara dubiously.

"Let's just say that while intoxicated ya christened them some new names the others are not likely to let them forget anytime soon"

"What else did I do last night?" she asked dreading the answer.

"Nothing to be ashamed of lass," said Balin "When Dwalin found what the boys had done he made them bring ya back here to sleep it off." Sara breathed a sigh of relief, but at the back of her mind she felt she was forgetting something... something to do with… but that was ridiculous. She shook her head to dispel the thought and instantly regretted it. Balin must have seen her grimace.

"Here lass, drink this." He held out of glass to her. "Oin suspected ya would have a dragon of a headache." He helped her to sit and she took it from him sniffing at the contents and gagged. "Aye, it's not the most friendly of concoctions, but according to Oin, it will clear away any hangover, though we have never had the chance to test it in the case of elvish wine." Sara sipped cautiously at the mixture, but when it proved to be as vile as it smelled she tipped back her head and swallowed it down as quickly as possible. It was thick and slid down her throat like a slug. She shuddered in revulsion before handing the glass back to Balin. "Yer not the only one to need one of these today," he said. "Most of the company required the same and we have not yet found Bofur." He placed the tray full of food on her lap. They talked for some time as she ate and he left with the tray when she had finished. Slowly she got out of bed with the thought of a bath, but when she reached the tub she found a dirty towel crumpled at the bottom. Vague and blurry memories of last night begin to swim to the surface of her mind and while in the bath she let her mind wander in an attempt to sort out just what had happened after fili had returned her to her room. Sara swore she could remember seeing Thorin's face though she could not think why that should be. She also seemed to remember the faint smell of pipe tobacco. Sara had smelled it several times in camp on the evenings when Thorin had joined the others who were smoking pipes and there was also another scent that she could not quite place.