Chapter Eight: Blushes of the Sewer Rat

At first everyone was fairly shy with Dawn during the long days of travel to the Brandywine Bridge, but gradually they seemed to grow accustomed to her.

Dawn became rather fond of chatting with Dori and Ori when Gandalf was in a less sociable mood. She learned loads of helpful herb-lore from Dori. Chats with Ori were more stilted; it took her a long time just to get him talking in the first place. He seemed to be very young, even compared to Fili and Kili, who would constantly ride up beside her in unison, flanking her pony. Ori's shyness lessened gradually, and a few times he'd even let her play with his slingshot near camp, if they stopped earlier that particular day for some reason. Buffy didn't seem to, or anybody else really, but Dawn liked Ori. One time she had been commenting on how everything here was so new to her and exciting and Ori had said, 'New for me too..." in his quiet-Ori voice.

She'd learned soon enough from asking Gandalf and Dori questions, that dwarves lived way longer than people. Still, she felt that Ori was probably about her age, more in his aura than his appearance necessarily. Dwarves were very different.

Fili and Kili were not however, shy like Ori. Kili would try to impress her by sharing various knowledge he possessed of the world that she did not, and coming up with compliments to flatter her with most days. 'Wow Dawn, you're getting really good at cooking meat. You'll replace old Bombur here soon', 'Did your hair get longer while you slept? It looks so beautiful this morning.' and 'Girls as pretty as you shouldn't hide behind big cloaks like that, it's just selfish.' Were just a few of the many lines he used on her. At first Dawn blushed and felt bashful, but as time wore on she either laughed, rolled her eyes or said 'thanks' in varying tones to suit the comment.

Fili's approach was different. He asked her lots of questions about herself, which nobody else really did except Bofur now and then. Fili also loved learning about the simplest things from her life, like school, scrapbooks, the concept of television and cars. Dawn discovered she really had to start from scratch to explain most subjects. Like to explain cars, she had to talk about engines, which led into the segway of how everyone knew different 'crafts', and so he would have to ask someone else. Fili was more somber and reserved than his brother, but no less attentive. He often offered to help her on and off her pony and with various other chores, playing it off as being because his race was much stronger than all the others, so it really was no trouble.

She had started to notice many times when Fili, Kili or both were laughing with her, listening intently to her terrible descriptions, telling her of battles, jewels, mines and creepy legends, or generally enjoying her company, Thorin would suddenly have some imperative task for them to complete. On a particularly memorable occasion, Thorin had demanded they check on the ponies no less than six times. Everyone kept their traps shut, but it was peculiar.

She didn't necessarily hold Thorin's words against him, but she had barely spoken to him since the inn, all the same. Of all the members of the company, he was by far the most intimidating to approach or speak to. Gandalf seemed to have no trouble, nor did many of the older dwarves, but heck if Dawn was going to stroll on over and ask how it was hanging.

He clearly disapproved of his nephews spending time with her, which Dawn couldn't help but take rather personally. She may not be a dwarf, but she didn't see what was so wrong with her. If anything, they were a bad influence over her, not vice versa.

One day the group settled down early, about halfway between the Brandywine and Bree (so she was told). The land was quite beautiful, with majestic trees, gnarled ones, and majestically gnarled ones. She had been helping Bombur with dinner, her hobbit tummy rumbling for its supper, and Kili had come to sit nearby. For a long time he just watched her, what he was thinking Dawn didn't know, and she wasn't sure she wanted to.

"Do you ever think about what you'll do once we've taken back the Lonely Mountain?" This was often the fashion with Kili, to be without a doubt of his or the group's success.

Dawn had rarely thought about it; she'd just assumed she could go back to the Shire make sure Dandy was alright, she hadn't really thought about a long term plan... "Sometimes, I don't know really. I figure I'll go back to the Shire...I don't really have a long term plan yet. You?" As she stirred the stew, Dawn saw Thorin checking his pony's hooves not far off.

"Oh well, I mean Fili and I want to live in Erebor of course. I'm sort of hoping I might have someone special by then..." Kili looked playful as usual, but there was also a seriousness in his eyes that wasn't often so intense.

Dawn wanted to be sure she hadn't mistaken his meaning, though she wouldn't be sure how to respond anyway, when Thorin interrupted their moment.

"Kili! Didn't I tell you to scout for water? Be off with you!" Thorin was standing before them, no longer looking after his pony, who Dawn had named in her own head 'Sugarplum', because he was similar in shape and very sweet. Dawn's own pony was called Morgana, after one of her favorite characters from legend; in this world it seemed fitting.

"But I— Kili didn't believe his uncle could have picked a worse time, but the look in Thorin's eyes said he'd best not argue. He would have to find a way to talk to Dawn when his uncle wasn't nearby...his brother either. He gave Dawn a brief apologetic look before he hastened to obey Thorin.

Dawn had not been expecting any talk of actually 'dating', or whatever people did in this world, least of all from Kili. She had to admit the appearance of the dwarves now seemed quite natural to her, and obviously if she never got out of this world...she had to date somebody, right?

Thorin was watching her continuous stirring and Dawn realized that Bombur had gone off to another part of camp, so that they were relatively alone.

"I wish you wouldn't encourage them." Thorin said without malice.

"Is that why you are always trying to keep them away from me? You think I lead them on? They're just my friends."

Thorin sat down where Kili had been, turning a silver ring around on his finger. "I do not think it is intentional, but Kili especially, interprets your friendliness as... 'romantic inclination' if you like. It seems to me that your sister and yourself come from a place where close friendships with young males is not thought necessarily of any significance. Dwarves devote themselves to only one spouse and do not waste time on anyone they do not think could be this person. My nephews are young and understand very little of any other culture but their own; they think you...fancy them."

Just the fact that Thorin was voluntarily speaking kindly to her in more than five words right now, was blowing Dawn's mind. "Oh...I don't want to lead anyone on, I just...I mean, I do like them. I hadn't really thought about whether or not I 'fancy' either of them." This moment actually wasn't as unbearably awkward as Dawn would have thought it would be.

"The point is, right now isn't a good time to be forging romantic connections in any case. It distracts young minds from duty, and more importantly, danger."

"Oh, I think it's a bad idea too, but, I would hate to lose friends. That's been happening a lot lately..."

Thorin didn't miss Dawn's glance in her napping sister's direction. "Just be sure not to give false hope. I would not ask you to turn away friends."

Dawn smiled at him, deciding his insult of long ago could be forgiven. "Are you married...If I may ask?"

Thorin had not been expecting such a personal question, yet she asked it casually enough, taste-testing the stew as she awaited his reply. She was gradually becoming very useful in camp. She had a desire to learn that was admirable in her situation.

"I have never been married. Other matters have always seemed more pressing." He didn't know why he was explaining his choices to her.

"That kind of surprises me." Dawn said, deciding she could add more salt. "You seem like someone who would be married to me."

Thorin couldn't help but be curious as to why she thought so. "Oh?"

"Yeah. You're responsible, good-looking and royalty, you know? Also, you have manners and a really nice voice." Dawn said all this fairly quickly and then felt kind of embarrassed for some reason. Maybe it was because she had the epiphany that she found Thorin attractive, which was so...awkward.

Thorin felt rather embarrassed himself. He wasn't sure how to respond to that. "I see. It is...kind of you to say so." Had he ever been more at a loss for words?

Dawn could see he was uncomfortable, but couldn't really remedy that since she was blushing, and she felt jittery and really stupid all of a sudden. She just shrugged, because anything she said would only make it weirder.

Thorin found himself further perplexed by Dawn's pink cheeks and suddenly shy demeanor. This was just the kind of situation he tried to avoid. That she had been admitting any attraction on her part would be preposterous to assume, but it irked him that her flattery somehow reminded him of all the times he had unthinkingly watched her brush her hair or pet her pony affectionately. He had seen her once playing with Ori's slingshot, and recalled the gleeful look in her eye. He found her very beautiful, but she was so young and strange and she wasn't a dwarf. He had admired many women, but this girl had bewitched him more than most. Of course he couldn't do anything about it, but he couldn't help but feel somehow happier because she thought those things about him.

Thorin quickly found an excuse to go elsewhere and Dawn didn't feel as relieved as she had hoped. It felt more like she had opened another pesky can of worms that may lead anywhere.

They were only a few days out of Bree when Buffy decided to approach her sister. She had only kept up the lack of interaction so long because she kind of wanted to see if Dawn and Thorin were right. Dawn seemed isolated at first, but now she seemed even to be on good terms with the dwarf Prince...maybe even on better terms with him than many of the others.

Buffy had nearly said something yesterday when she had seen Thorin help Dawn pick up spilled apples. It wasn't that he was being helpful; it was that Dawn acted as if he had just bought her a cozy Hobbit hole with unlimited food and a library of books, thanking him multiple times, as if she had forgotten that she said it. Their hands had accidentally touched and were not un-touching for at least three seconds. Thorin rarely helped others with stuff like that. Granted, he had been the only one very near, but still. Buffy didn't like it. Bilbo had distracted her from her unnoticed staring with a comment about her 'being too snoopy again'.

The separation had shown Buffy some things. For one, Dawn was coping really well with the change and making friends easily. Buffy saw now that whether she wanted Dawn safe or not, she had kind of wanted her out of her life for longer. Buffy was full of guilt, and really, she missed her baby sister. Enough with being aloof. She couldn't stand this ludicrous situation.

"Hey." The Slayer said, sitting beside her sister on the log.

"Hey." Dawn said back, secretly hoping they could make up, their distance was eating away at the seventeen-year-old more and more as time passed. Buffy barely spoke to her.

Buffy didn't speak for a moment, not sure how to proceed. What did you say to someone you had wronged just because you had to be right?

"I've been a jerk, Dawn. I shouldn't have shut you out. It's so hard for me to apologize sometimes. I love you though twerp, and I'm sorry."

"I might forgive you, if you answer three questions for me."

"Shoot." Buffy said, although, she was starting to worry.

"One, why didn't you talk to me for so long? Two, do you like Bilbo? And three, well, actually...I'll ask you that question later..." Dawn gazed around them warily.

"One, I needed to figure out my own feelings before I could try to understand yours. See? Doesn't that sound grownup? Two, none of your business and...maybe. Big maybe. Three, is this about Oaken-face?"

Dawn's blush told Buffy she was probably right.

"How did you know?" Dawn whispered, making sure no one was paying attention.

"Dawn, even when I'm upset you're my sister. I've watched you like a hawk. Do you want me to beat him up and tell him to stop creeping you out?"

"What? No! Thorin does not 'creep me out'. No, I...nevermind. It doesn't really matter."

Buffy stared at her sister, she had hoped she was mistaken, but alas, no. "Dawn, what was your question?"

"It's nothing. No biggie. I should really go help with dinner..." Dawn barely escaped, but her sister didn't pursue, literally or figuratively. She couldn't imagine what might have possessed her to ask Buffy if she thought Thorin was attractive. It wasn't like they could just giggle about it like normal sisters. Buffy hated Thorin and thinking he was handsome would only make Dawn a bad and/or stupid person in Buffy's eyes. Life never seemed to get any less complicated.

Dawn was absolutely soaking, and felt for sewer rats for the first time in her life. Morgana, poor gorgeous pony, looked as cold and uncomfortable as she felt. Sugarplum had come to stand by Morgana; they were a sight, Dawn had a silent chuckle.

"Sugarplum, you'll get all sticky now won't you?" Dawn said in an almost sickening voice one might take on when talking to an infant. Dawn heard a chuckle and looked up from the kissing the pony's slick nose.

One of the dwarves was leaning against a tree very near, but she couldn't tell who because it was dim and his head was up. She assumed maybe Kili or Bofur; they liked to laugh at her.

"Hey! He's shaped like one. And he is by far the most affectionate."

Dawn patted the ponies and went to lean against the tree with the dwarf who was spying on her.

They stood in silence for some time before Dawn made conversation.

"These Lone-lands are starting to depress me...I miss the people and their weird songs. Have you seen Oin and Gloin trying to start the fire? It's chaotic. I won't go near them."

No response, this guy was totally messing with her, had to be Kili; catching a glint of gold, Dawn gulped, Thorin...He still didn't know that she knew though...She'd get him back for his sneakiness.

"It's weird how Thorin isn't married...maybe it's because he creeps on teenage girls..." Dawn was feeling very pesky and couldn't resist teasing the man she was sometimes afraid to make direct eye contact with.

This comment elicited a scoffing noise from kingly dwarf. Thorin strode into view and a half smile curved lips. "As astonishing as it may be to you Miss Summers, I have more pressing concerns than what you discuss with...Sugarplum..."

Dawn shrugged at this statement but she was smiling. "Sugarplum would disagree."

"As any self-respecting pony ought to." Thorin doubted that a pony named Sugarplum had much self-respect however. Sharing a brief glance with the young girl Thorin realized the hobbit was once again distracting him from what was relevant; her presence may end up being a dire mistake...

At the moment though, he had to agree with Dawn on one thing, Oin and Gloin's fire situation was seeming extremely futile and he was beginning to have an ominous feeling in general...something that made the hairs on the back of his neck prick up and his gut churn with apprehension. Thorin gently took Sugarplum's reins from Dawn, who looked cheery and yet uncertain of something.

The rain poured down, unrelenting, and Sugarplum was starting to act skittish, throwing her head around now and then, re-positioning her feet and behaving in a way that suggested she sensed more than an ominous feeling...

Author's Note: Yes it has been a very very long time...what can I say? Life and writer's block happens. Thank you so much for the faves, follows and reviews...they really help me keep coming back to have fun with the world of Tolkien. :) Just consider this chapter an early Holiday gift. ;)