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It's been a few months since the final battle, or as the men call it. The battle of the five armies. Winter has finally arrived, Erebor has closed its gates for the winter to preserve heat inside the mountain. Thankfully most of the damage that smaug did was to the treasury; only the rest of the rooms have just been left neglected which led to them being easy to fix. Now our hobbit has stayed in Erebor with his dwarrow.
This is his first winter with them
Now looking back bilbo knows he probably should've warned the company that his hair would turn white during the winter but frankly he didn't think about it.
So when he noticed in the mirror one morning that his roots were white he didn't think about it.
Now hobbits are in tune with nature this is obvious but they also handle the winter like most animals do. Like hares and foxes their hair turns white, now hobbits also hibernate but bilbo doesnt have to worry about that this year.
Now the first dwarf to realize bilbos hair color is obviously thorin, since they are married.
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Thorin’s POV
Me and Bilbo are in bed early in the morning just holding one another. My head is resting on top of bilbos.
Mahal i love his cooper curls i open my eyes to gaze open them and i see….white? White hair?
I don't remember bilbo having white hair. It's just in his roots but they definitely weren't there the other day.
Is he injured? Is he sick?! I know he's middle aged for hobbits but i dont think white hair grows this fast!?!
Okay game plan get bilbo to oin
We get out of bed and head down to the company's dining room for breakfast.
We sit in our normal seats. I look around the table to see if anyone else has noticed bilbos hair but they're all acting like this is normal.
Dwalin leans over towards me “I can hear you thinking, cousin. What is it?”
I look over at Bilbo “look at Bilbos hair”
He looks confused until he does it and his eyes widen “..... white?” i nod “white…well his roots are”
Dwalin bumps into balin to get his attention
“Hey!-” “shush look at the hobbits hair”
Dwalin looks over and just like his brother his eyes go wide “by mahal… what? He shouldn't have white hair this young”
Thorin turns to his cousins “maybe its a hobbit thing but just to be sure get Oin”
Balin nods and turns to Oin who is sitting right next to him, Oin catches a roll that is being thrown just as Balin taps his shoulder. Oin turns to look at balin “huh?”
“Look at our hobbits hair” “what?” Oin raises his ear horn, balin sighs “look at bilbos hair”
Oin looks over “......da fuck?”
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Balins POV
After breakfast Oin and me catch up to Bilbo
“Hey Bilbo!” he turns around holding his books “yes?”
Oin takes over the conversation with the lie we came up with so he doesn't get suspicious.
“I need to do a check up on ya’ “ he raises an eyebrow at us “why? I feel healthy” I make a mental note of that just in case. If he feels healthy maybe this is just some hobbit thing that we don't need to worry about.
I speak up this time “since we don't know that much about hobbits we want you to come with us for a general check up and to answer some basic questions”
Bilbo stares at us for a while before shrugging “Alright mister Balin, mister Oin. led the way”
I sigh in relief as we take him to the medical ward
He sits on the cot and puts his books to the side. Oin starts doing the check up as I stand off to the side to watch.
He seems paler than before as well, not as tan with a bit less freckles. He looks kinda tired with bags under his eyes. But the most obvious thing is the white hair.
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Oin’s POV
I take off the lads jacket to do a quick check of his body, it all seems normal enough, he's gained weight but from what we've been told that's normal for hobbits….he might actually be a bit underweight but ill have to ask about that. No rapid aging seems to be going on at least. I test his reflexes and look at his eyes and such. And all seems the same as they were during the journey just a few months ago. It seems the only things concerning is the white hair, the sleepiness and the pale skin. Maybe he's sick???
I take a few steps back “okay laddie, lets start with some basic questions” i look over at balin to make sure hes writing this down
“First, what is the normal weight and height for hobbits?”
Bilbo taps his fingers on his books for a few seconds “most hobbits don't get over 4ft tall and i dont know the precise weight but i would say maybe…130-230 pounds???”
I nod as I think of the next question “okay, I know hobbits eat a lot but how many meals would you typically eat each day?” “around 7 with snacks inbetween”
I look over at balin “tell bombur to prepare more food” i interrupt bilbo before he can most doubtfully complain….stupid selfless hobbit … “okay…and the …hair?”
Bilbo tilts his head and his ears flicker “what?”
Balin speaks up “why is your hair white, laddie?”
His eyes spark with realization “ohhhh, ya during the winter hobbits hair will turn white to better blend in with the grass and hills we live in. It's perfectly normal”
Both me and balin sigh in relief hearing this
I pat bilbo on the back “you scared us there lad!” balin nods “thorin is freaking the fuck out”
Bilbo snickers into his hand “oh dear….i best go tell him then” balin nods “that would be for the best”
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Thorin’s POV
I'm pacing back and forth in mine and Bilbo's room waiting to hear back from Balin and Oin. dwalin is standing by the door leaning against it “thorin stop fucking pacing around, your making me dizzy.. Im sure hes fine”
I pull in my hair “but you don't KNOW that he is!” i hear him sigh “your right i dont know for sure but its bilbo and he will always somehow get through it. It's impossible to kill that hobbit”
I hear the door open and I quickly look over to see Bilbo, Balin and Oin. Bilbo quickly rushes over and…it looks like he's trying not to laugh. He gets to me and cups my face “my love…why didn't you just ask me why my hair was turning white?”
I blank for a moment trying to figure out why I didn't. I hear dwalin start loudly laughing “you dumbass!!”
Bilbo just shakes his head at dwalin. I look down at him “um…. I didn't think about it?” he sighs with a small smile “my love… A hobbit's hair turns white during the winter. It's normal and there's no need to worry”
Dwalin speaks up “hey….what if…we don't tell the others and see how long it takes for them to notice it? “
I watch my love turn to dwalin with that evil smirk of his. I love “YES!”
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3rd person POV
Over the next few days bilbos hair turns more and more white. And yet…some-fucking-how no one notices intill over half of bilbos hair is white. Bifur is the next one to notice and he just picks up a strand of bilbos hair, looks at the hair then to Bilbo then back to the hair. Looking very concerned, thankfully after it's explained to him he relaxes and makes flower crowns to give bilbos head some of its color back.
The next person to notice is gloin…well technically gimli was the first to notice and points it out to his father. Gloin precedes to go on a concerned rant until bilbo hits him upside the head so he can get a word in and explain
Nori casually mentions that he knew the entire time and has a few bets going round about it. To which gloin grumply passes him a small bag of coins
Bofur and bombur notice at the same time once bilbos hair is entirely white, their all in the royal kitchen cooking with bofur singing. He mentions bilbos copper hair and freezes once he realizes bilbos hair is in fact not copper right now. They both silently freak out until bilbo calms them down and explains.
Dori apparently noticed a week before he said anything and has been freaking out the entire time, going to the library to see if any of the books say anything about hobbits …they dont… he eventually starts hovering around bilbo until he finally asks about it. Ori overhears this and writes this down after nodding at bilbo. Ori also has noticed a few days ago and was copying his older brother must less obvious
Fili and kili are the last ones to notice. They're outside in the snowy mountain sneaking off from paper work. When they trip over bilbo sitting in the snow reading a book. The hobbit rubs his head and yells at the two young dwarfs. Fili is the first to notice of the two and stares at bilbos hair. In his offence fili hasnt been hanging out with bilbo much recently and hasn't seen him in a few days. Kili on the other hand has been talking to bilbo everyday and doesn't notice until fili elbows him and points at it.
When spring comes around bilbos hair turns back to his normal hair color much to the pleasure of the dwarrow