Work Text:
Bilbo sighed heavily and pushed sodden curls out of his face. What had begun as a light shower had turned into a torrential downpour, and the hobbit felt miserable. He was really regretting agreeing to this adventure.
First there was Thorin "Too Majestic For You" Oakenshield glaring when he thought Bilbo wasn't looking, then there was having to ride a damned pony (never mind that he was allergic to the blasted creatures) and now it was raining. Fantastic.
The Company was riding in glum silence, the only sounds were the rhythmic thud of the ponies hooves and the rain hammering against the trees.
The silence was abruptly broken by a loud sneeze. The Company jumped, startled and turned to look at the source of the noise.
Bilbo sniffled and reflexively reached for his pocket-handkerchief, before remembering he left it at home. He was in the middle of considering whether or not he should actually use the piece of material Bofur had flung at him, before looking up and realising the entire company was staring at him.
He sniffed again, a cold bolt of anxiety running through him, was there something on his face? Why in the world were they all staring at him? "What is it?" he asked, feeling slightly nervous as he did so.
"What was that noise?" Fili was giving him the oddest of looks. "Oh it was nothing, I just sneezed" Bilbo shrugged, then winced as the movement aggravated his tired muscles.
"Why would you be sneezing?" Ori piped up from in front of him "It's not dusty or anything here"
"I think I'm coming down with a cold or something, probably from the weather or-" Bilbo cut himself off with another sneeze. Nori snickered and Dori elbowed him in the ribs. "Stop laughing you dolt" he hissed "Don't you know that being ill can lead to death? It's not funny!"
Nori raised an intricately braided eyebrow, "Look me straight in the eye and tell me that noise isn't hilarious" "I think it's kind of adorable" Kili cut in. Dori huffed, exasperated with them both. "You do know I can hear you speaking?" Bilbo was starting to feel tired and his head felt stuffy. A slight flush stained his face after Kili's "adorable" comment, but he put that down to not feeling well.
At that Dori picked a spot in front of him to stare at, Nori copying him after another jab from Dori's elbow.
They continued riding until they reached a clearing, bordered by trees and a steep rock face. Thorin stopped suddenly, "We make camp here" Bilbo slid off his pony awkwardly, grateful for the chance to sit down and rest.
He coughed into his sleeve, trying his best to be discreet. Their reactions to his sneezing were unnerving enough. It was times like this that he really missed handkerchiefs.
" Mister Baggins?"
Bilbo jumped slightly, startled, before he realised it was only Nori. He turned to face the dwarrow, and saw he was holding a square of material.
"I'm beginning to see the use of pocket handkerchiefs" Nori grinned.