Chapter Text
There was more gold in the dragon's horde than Bilbo thought existed in all of Middle Earth. The mass of it rose before him like the rolling hills of the Shire, gold coins gleaming even in the dim light of his lone torch. There was no doubt that the torchlight drew attention to him, but he lacked the stone sense of the dwarrow, and he'd lost his way more than once.
'If I get out of here alive, I'm going to have a few words with whoever designed these corridors,' Bilbo had thought crossly to himself. He was no architect, but even he could see that having a maze instead of proper paths was not the way to go, no sir!
Bilbo felt strangely reluctant to go forward, having reached the edge of the gilded landscape. It felt vaguely disrespectful. He took a careful step forward, and was certain that just the gold under his feet could buy every smial in Hobbiton.
Two more steps forward, and now Bilbo was standing on what could surely purchase all of West Farthing. How many steps until he could afford the entire Shire, he wondered.
He couldn't stop thinking about it, giddiness laced with a touch of fear. A handful of these coins would feed the Gamgees for a decade. He thought of the mathoms and the mathom house, and the gifts that went round and round the neighborhood. He thought of Lobelia Sackville-Baggins, and her eternal quest for his silver spoons.
Was this gold madness? Was he going gold mad? Gazing out into the treasure as far as the eye could see, he felt a bit lightheaded. Surely, if he were going gold mad, he would know, wouldn't he? He didn’t exactly know what the sickness would entail, but just from the name, gold mad, well, that did not sound pleasant at all.
Was it like poppy seed? The excess would cause one to lose all their sense? Oh, but he didn't want to own all of this! Even the fourteenth share in his contract, a weight settled on his chest at the very notion.
'Bother these dwarrow and their blasted gold, anyway!' Bilbo fumed. Whatever it was he'd expected, it certainly wasn't this!
How was he supposed to find the Arkenstone in this mess? Nevermind that he wasn't entirely sure what he was looking for, even if he'd known the gem like the back of his hand, there was no way to find it by himself in this mountain of treasure.
Bilbo considered the gold under his feet, wiggling his toes. He was thinking so hard that he didn't notice the movement under the gold until it was too late.