Chapter Text
The dwarves, hobbit, and wizard descended the Carrock, as Gandalf claimed the rock they were standing on was named.
At the base of the Carrock, they discovered a small cave near a stream, and this is where the Company (including the wizard who had to duck down to fit at all) sat the few belongings they managed to hold onto before they headed off to the stream to bathe.
Bilbo had been about to follow the others when Dwalin stopped him. The dwarf hadn’t let his small husband out of his sight since he reappeared after escaping the goblin tunnels, and he hadn’t let Bilbo go too far away.
“I don’ want ta lose ya again,” Dwalin had answered when Bilbo asked about it on the way to the cave, and Bilbo had smiled, squeezing Dwalin’s hand.
Now, the hobbit looked at the hand his dwarf had on his shoulder before looking up. “Dwalin?”
“There’s a bend in the river a ways up,” Dwalin said, pointing further down the river. “We could go there…”
“Is there any particular reason why we can’t simply go with the others?” Bilbo asked, pointing to where the others were stripping out of their dirty clothes and jumping into the river.
Dwalin didn’t answer, looking away, but Bilbo could see a faint flush on his cheeks.
“Dwalin?”
Now that Bilbo thought about it, he and Dwalin had always bathed alone. They would go while the rest of the Company was busy, and were always fully clothed and on their way back to camp before anyone else went to bathe. Dwalin had also kept his back to Bilbo, preserving the hobbit’s modesty as well as his own.
Bilbo hadn’t paid attention before, but now he found it slightly suspicious.
“Is there a particular reason that you wish to go elsewhere?” Bilbo asked. If Dwalin’s behavior hadn’t been above reproach thus far, Bilbo would have thought that his husband was going to try something. And although that thought sent a pleasant shiver through him, he was determined that they wouldn’t do anything of that sort until they had some privacy. Adventures or not, he was still a proper gentlehobbit in some respects.
Dwalin muttered something, too low for the hobbit to hear, and when Bilbo simply looked at his husband, he repeated, with a darkening blush, “I don’ wan’ the others ta see ya.”
“See me?” Bilbo repeated dumbly, before the full meaning of his husband’s words caught on and he blushed. Dwalin was now redder than Bilbo’s prize tomatoes, and despite his embarrassment he found the sight endearing. Dwalin was trying to protect his modesty.
“No one has the right ta see ya like that without permission,” Dwalin grunted, startled when his smaller husband yanked him down for a kiss.
“For acting like a gentledwarf,” Bilbo said when he pulled back, turning to rummage in his pack for clean(ish) clothes. “Now, where are we going?”
The two bathed relatively quickly, neither looking at the other. Dwalin had told himself he would wait until his hobbit was ready, and seeing him in naught but what the Creator blessed him with was not conducive to that plan. Bilbo had similar thoughts, although his roved around the fact that anyone could come by and see them and so it wouldn’t be proper to throw himself at Dwalin. No, not proper at all.
As they were walking back to the others, Bilbo thought of something he had been puzzling over. “Why did I have to marry to come on this quest?”
It had bothered him since he eavesdropped on the dwarves’ conversation that first night, but he hadn’t been comfortable enough with Dwalin to bring it up then. About the time he had decided he would ask Dwalin about it, they had to deal with goblins and orcs, so it was natural that it slipped his mind.
“Ye needed family with ya on the quest,” Dwalin answered, looking down at his smaller husband. “Family can always be relied on ta watch yer back. Friends are all well and good, but no one will watch out for ya like family will. It’s been a law for as far back as anyone could say that ya have ta always journey with family, and since ya didn’ have any, ya needed ta marry so ya would have family.”
Bilbo blinked. “That’s…interesting. And the laws still applied to me, even though I’m a hobbit?”
Dwalin nodded. “Yes. Anyone setting out on this type of journey needs family with them, whether they are dwarves or not. Anyone who travels with our kind are told this.”
Bilbo just nodded, following his husband back into the cave, where the others were already setting up camp and making food. Which meal it was, Bilbo wasn’t sure, as they had skipped a few running for their lives from goblins and orcs. Not to mention Gollum, the thought of whom made Bilbo shudder.
His hand absentmindedly went to his pocket, where he had tucked the ring he got from the creature, and he remembered his thoughts.
“Gandalf,” he said, getting the attention of the wizard and the Company. “I found this ring when I got lost in the mountain. A strange creature had it.” He held out the little gold ring, noticing how the wizard’s eyes widened at the sight of it.
“Throw it in the fire Mr. Baggins,” Gandalf said, watching as the hobbit did as he was bid. After a few moments, writing appeared on the ring, and Gandalf knew what had been found. He used a spare branch to fish it out of the fire, setting it on the ground by Bilbo’s feet. “Wear it as little as possible Bilbo,” Gandalf cautioned.
“What is it?” the hobbit asked, staring with some trepidation at the small golden ring.
“That remains to be seen,” Gandalf said evasively. “However, I believe that, after this quest has been completed, it would be wise of you to accompany me to Rivendell. Lord Elrond will be able to confirm my suspicions.”
Bilbo nodded, bending down and picking up the ring with his handkerchief and tucking it in his pocket. Gandalf’s word’s confused him, and he could tell Dwalin was worried, but right now there was nothing they could do. They had a quest to finish, and Bilbo had a feeling that invisibility would be an asset sometime soon.