Chapter Text
“As the light reflects off of the stone it creates a spectrum of colors, but only if it is in this shape, a prism.”
Bilbo stared up in wonder at Elrond, the snow owl elf looked at him with kindness. His eyes left the owl-elf as he watched the colors dance around the room, it was beautiful. His ears were perked up and his tail was nearly wagging, it would have been very embarrassing if Elrond's feathers weren't also puffed up in joy.
The two had been talking for hours, mostly because the dwarrows couldn't leave yet, not til the moon was in the perfect alignment to read the hidden ruins. The elves had welcomed them with open arms, their heads and wings showing nothing but respect and joy. The dwarrows on the other hand had been furious; hissing, ears pulled back, and tails fluffed up in rage. Even the ever kind Balin had hissed at the elves and puffed up, it was very frightful for him to see the usually calm Dire wolves angry.
It was a painful reminder that his carnivorous friends were just that, carnivores. Hobbits, unlike dwarrows, were mainly herbivores. While men would be just about anything, but it mostly varied by region. Elves were always birds, graceful and pretty. Unlike orcs, who were just orc, the living creatures of Middle Earth; Men, Elves, Dwarrows, and Hobbits were all part animal. It was that animal part that determined a lot of their personalities most of the time.
Being a sheep, Bilbo was timid, he didn't like danger and even his best friend Hamfest, who was a sheepdog, sent his instincts in a tizzy. He didn't really care that there were no other sheep or heard animals that weren't dogs around his area of the Shire, at lest he didn't care til a wizard and 13 dwarrows re-awoken his flock instincts. He was perfectly fine til they showed up and sent him in a mild panic when Fili and Kili almost killed themselves on a beer barrel. The two leopards had sent Bilbo into a protective fit, he embarrassingly acted like they were his lambs.
And the song, reminding him that he was without a flock. It reminded him that no matter how hard he pretended he was alone, vulnerable. Reminding him in his dreams that night that he was the only sheep in that part of the shire.
Shaking the thoughts away with a stern reminder that he was with the elves, looking at one of the greatest light shows of his life. Elrond had been nothing, but polite and kind to him. The elf was accompanied by the constant instinctual whisper about how Elrond would make a good head of the flock. He shock those away, he was fine for now, he didn't need a flock, not yet.
Shaking away Elrond's worries with a smile, Bilbo didn't want the elf to worry, after all Elrond was under the impression that the dwarrows were his flock mates. After consoling his friend the two talked for hours, their voices light with laughter and amusement. It was shattered by the two being called for dinner.
Dinner, like always was fantastic, but awkward. It was ten times worse when Elrond and him walking into the room together, at the same time. The company was on their feet in a second, Thorin's roar echoing throughout the dinning hall, Dwalins growl reverberated in Bilbo's bones, and Bifurs snarls left Bilbo's knees shaking.
His ears and tail flopped down with a whimper, he didn't mean to make them so mad. He just wanted to spend sometime with Elrond and learn something new. Gripping the prism to his chest tightly, the little sheep ran out the room as Thorin's voice rang out, “Burglar, what are you doing with the elf?”
Hiding under one of the beds in the guest room seemed like such a good idea, it was a tight fit and no one ever came here. Sniffling into his jacket he thought about the black tigers roar of rage and the hisses of disapproval. The company was so mad at him, they wouldn't want him anymore. Thorin already didn't want him, but now the whole company didn't want him. His flock didn't want him.
Tears ran down his face, even his Took relatives didn't really want him, he was always teased about how small his horns were. Even now as a fully matured adult, his horns were hidden by his hair. He didn't fit in with the squirrels or the pigs, and the dog thought it was funny to chase him. He was alone, no one wanted him.
Someone must have heard his sobbing because a voice softly called out, “Mister Baggins?”
Scuttling backwards as the light was obstructed by a head, Bilbo was surprised to see it was Ori. The youngest fox, looking to be a mix between a Arctic fox and a Red fox. Ori's ears were pulled back and his tail was between his legs. He couldn't make it under the bed, but he tried, he wiggled around til he was stuck and his arms still couldn't reach their lamb.
Grunting when he couldn't move anymore Ori sagged and waited for his brothers to find him. Til then he had to console their little burglar lamb. Speaking softly he called out, his nose scrunched up with the smell of tears, “Mister Baggins, please come out.”
Ori watched as Bilbo shook his head, the foxes eyebrows rounded up in confusion, “Why not? It's dirty under here and you might get sick from all this dust.”
No one could blame him for being worried, their smallest member was curled up in a ball hiding under a bed. He may have been small by fox standers, but their lamb was tiny. Ori could lift Bilbo with one arm, it sent them all into a tizzy at the thought of their burglar being harmed. With that thought Ori suddenly snarled, “Did the elf hurt you, if he hurt you, I swear I'll... I'll rip off his wings.”
Bilbo was taken back by the snarl and threat, Ori wasn't violent. The lad had been nothing but sweet and shy. Shaking his head again, he swallowed his tears and spoke with a voice scratchy from crying, “No, Lord Elrond has been nothing but kind to me.”
“Then please come out,” Ori whined, his whine was a high pitch cry, “Please, everyone's worried about you.”
He could stay here til every one calmed down and didn't want him, or he could face the music and have everyone still need him. Biting his lip Bilbo nodded and slowly crawled forward, only to scuttle back a few times when Ori would suddenly reach for him. After a few minutes of awkwardly dancing around, Ori finally grabbed him by the arm and pulled them both out from under the bed.
The young fox not noticing how he shrank away from the fox's preening. Ori just fussed with getting the dust off of him and making sure that he wasn't injured. Before taking his hand and pulling him out of the guest room that they never used. He fallowed as Ori lead him back to the dinning room, they were greeted by Thorin's low growl.
“-You hurt our lamb, I swear I will rip off your wings and use them as feather dusters.”
“I have him!” Ori broke Thorin's rant with a smile, “He's unharmed, just a little dusty.”
Thorin rounded on the two, his voice low with anger and worry, “What were you thinking running off like that?”
Bilbo shook at the snarl, he really wanted to leave, but Ori wouldn't let him. So here he was, a little sheep facing down a black tiger, two dire wolves, two porcupines, two leopards, a badger, two minks, and three foxes. The odds were very much against him, he couldn't help but give a small whimper.
When Elrond tried to move forward to help his friend he was stopped by the two dire wolves. The oldest, whom looked to be very kind and calm snarled at him, while the youngest, who's knuckle dusters were to be quite feared snapped a set of sharp teeth at him. Eying the two with with caution, only to glance at his friend for a second he gave a defeated sigh and stepped back. He watched in amusement though when one of the the porcupines began to fuss about the lamb and start to put some allergy salve on Bilbo's nose.
Oin growled under his breath, like his brother his quills were up in anger. The elf had the nerve to try to take away their little lamb. Then the elf sent their little lamb sprinting away to get dust every where, it was a miracle that Bilbo could even see. After smothering their little lamb's nose in ointment, he gave the company his nod of approval, their burglar would be fine.
Nori wasn't convinced, he saw how their lamb shrunk back from everyone, even though the hobbit was smiling and Thorin was grooming the little thing, he knew something was wrong. He did snort when Thorin began to strait out groom Bilbo, like one would a cub. Their lamb was young, but not that young. Watching as Thorin declared that the company wasn't going to eat dinner and that no elf was to touch their lamb, Nori nodded in agreement, he would deal with it latter.
Right now, he had to make sure that the elf understood just how serious they were.
Bilbo shrunk back from the attention as soon as he could, the dwarrows didn't give him a moment of space. He did however, like that Thorin finally approved of him, and that Bofur's pranks had died down a level. The mink was nice, but a little cruel in pranking him. Bombur, the large mink, didn't gain to many brownie points by sitting on him either.
The whole company had been mothering him, Dori, the half Red and Grey fox was the worst. He couldn't go anywhere without the foxes stalking him, Dori would mother and preen him and Ori would preen and look for approval. Nori, now Nori he hadn't seen since the confrontation in the dinning hall, but he had seen the look the dwarf had. That look, with hood set eyes and twisted grin, had Bilbo shivering.
Shaking his head, he decided it was best to just not ask, it was better to just watch Ori knit. He watched as Ori hummed and knitted on, the patter was simple, a seeded stitch. He watched lalled into a trance; knit, purl, knit, purl, knit...
Resting his head on Dori's shoulder, he hummed along with Ori. The foxes weren't so bad, they treated him like a flock. That was nice, it was nice to have a flock. Ori had hissed at any elf that came near, one had challenged the fox only to be beaten down by Dwalin, the wolf snarling at the elf for touching Ori's sleeve.
Dwalin was nice to have by too, the wolf's tail thumped contently against Ori's, Bilbo giggled, the two were cute. Ori would stutter and Dwalin would only slightly back off before invading the younger's space again. It was like watching an intricate dance. Dwalin would push, Ori would pull back, Dwalin would pull back only slightly, then he would push again. The two fallowing a never ending pattern.
Bilbo sighed, it would be nice to have that. He didn't know how long he had his flock, and he would be alone if he ever returned to the Shire. No one would be waiting there for him, and that was fine, it was odd for that one farm dog to continue chasing him.
Humming he didn't notice when Nori returned, not til the dwarf was leaning over him and Dori. Looking up both Dori and Bilbo gave a startled call, Dori's voice gaining the attention of everyone, “Mahal, what happened to you?”
Nori just shrugged his shoulders, but the Grey fox's twisted smirk said it all. He was slightly ruffled, his braids a bit loose, and their was a feather or two on his clothes. Sitting down next to the startled lamb, he gave Bilbo a small smile. He took in the wide eyes that were neither green nor blue, “How are you feeling?”
“Well,” Bilbo blinked back at the fox, purposely ignoring the furred tail that brushed over his hip.
“That's good,” Nori stated as he began to pick under his nails with one of his many trusted knives. It was cute really, how the little lamb shook in his grip, he understood how the elf might have felt.
“Nori?” Bilbo waited til Nori hummed in confirmation, “Why are there feathers on your clothes?”
Not bothering to glance up Nori spoke so that only Bilbo could hear him, Dori had moved to try to run off Dwalin. “I saw a problem and I made sure that said problem never happened again.”
“Excuse me?”
“The elf,” Nori seethed, “will know better than to hurt you ever again.”
“Those aren't, oh by the green lady,” Bilbo blanched as he looked around at the company, looking at anything that wasn't Nori. “Please tell me you didn't.”
Nori finally looked at the whimpering lamb, the little things ears were limp and Bilbo's tail was tucked under the hobbit. Glancing to make sure that no one was watching, after he was satisfied that everyone was minding their own business he elaborated. “I didn't hurt the elf too much, I just pulled a few feathers when he thought he was safe to make a point. He's not dead or bleeding in his room if that's what you're worried about.”
He ended his statement with a small kiss to the lamb cheek, pulling back he watched with a grin as the lamb sputtered. He didn't know it the redness was from embarrassment or from anger, but it looked good on Bilbo's face either way.
After slowly gaining his whits, Bilbo wanted nothing more than to slap the smug look off of the fox's face. Narrowing his eyes he hissed at Nori, “You better apologies before we leave.”
He didn't say anything about the kiss, he didn't know if it was a grooming thing like with Thorin or not. Deciding it wasn't worth it, he looked away from Nori to watch the company slowly turn in for the night. Everyone was curling up on the many cushions and pillows on the floor. The fire was still burning bright thanks to Gloin's enthusiasm, it was warm and he was so tired and ready for the day to be over with.
It was time for sleep, Bilbo mussed as he moved to get up, only to be pulled back into Nori's side. The fox giving a hiss at his next attempt to move away. Huffing he decided it was just better to not fight the dwarf, obviously Nori was being protective, seeing him as nothing more than a little lamb. As Fili and Kili so lovingly dubbed him, when the two first saw him opening up his door they had confused him for being a child, then proceeded to try to mother him til they almost killed them selves over beer.
Grumbling he turned over to use Nori as a pillow, “I'm not a child.”
Nori chuckled as the lamb's horns butted against his side playfully, “I know.” Grinning madly he leaned down over the yawning lamb, “I'm very glad for that.”
The little lamb may not have known, but Bilbo would very soon, he was more than pleased with how their courting had gone so far. Usually he couldn't stand being near someone for more than a day, but their little lamb, he could spend years upon years with Bilbo. The hobbit had passed the courting time of three weeks, had accepted his gifts, and understood that he was the alpha.
Nuzzling the curls near Bilbo's temple with his nose, he inhaled the lamb's unique sent. Kissing the lambs temple he relished the squeak that he got for his efforts. Grinning as Bilbo tried to pull away he captured the hobbit's lips in a chaste kiss.
With his face aflame, Bilbo released a squeak, “Nori!”
Curling over his hobbit so the lamb couldn't escape Nori hummed in recognition. Curling his tail under the hobbit's head, he spoke into the hobbit's ear, “We'll speak of this in the morning, til then sleep.”
The hobbit huffed and head butted Nori's chin, but resigned to being trapped under the fox's warm body. Chuckling Nori looked around one more time to make sure it was safe, Dori was still hissing at Dwalin, cornering the large dire wolf. Only Thorin was awake, the black tiger's tail batted the floor with a mix of annoyance and joy.
Throin nodded when Nori made eye contact with him, he knew better than to get between his spy master and said spy master's goal. Turning back to watch the balcony and door, he looked over his territory, it wasn't complete yet, but it was full. Sending an elf that walked by the door a vicious growl, he would protect his territory, all of it. Every single dwarf and hobbit in it was his, and he dared any elf to try to take it from him.
Giving a startled hiss when Bofur's head laid on his hip, he gave his mate a swat in the face with his tail. Bofur may have been right about their lamb, but that didn't mean that he was going to give his mink a kiss in front of the whole company, honor be damned.
Bofur just laughed before settling in for the night, he knew everything would turn out fine. He also knew that his king owed him a lovely little peck before the whole company, with that thought he drifted off with hopes for the future.