-Protector Without Honor- (Thorin Oakenshield Fanfic)

Chapter 3: Evening Party for the Dwarves

At night in the Shire, Hobbit house...

Bilbo was finishing making dinner with the help of Kóna, who had just finished her bath. She was dressed in her hunting gear but not without her weapons and came in time to cook more food with Bilbo. This left him confused about why she had made more food for dinner, to which she stayed quiet and shrugged: "Ah, alright then." 

Both were about to eat when they were interrupted by a loud knock on the door. Kóna was the first to get there, ahead of Bilbo, who followed her and opened his door to find an older man outside. He was much older, with white hair and a long beard, and was only about an inch taller than her. 

"Dwalin, he bowed, "At your service." 

Bilbo was the first to tie his robe around him and spoke: "Bilbo Baggins, at yours." 

"Kóna Light, at your service." She responded without feeling awkward, already getting the hang of it since she used a motionless expression to react coldly as she had usually done in her many missions as a mercenary: 

"Do we know each other?" Bilbo asked the male dwarf, who stared into his soul and said, "No." 

He enters the center of the room and removes his fur coat, asking, "Which way, laddie? Is it down here?" 

"Is what down where?" Bilbo asked, slightly confused by the dwarf's question. 

"Supper." He continued: "He said there'd be food and lots of it." He threw his fur coat at Bilbo, and the dwarf man named Dwalin looked around to find some food, to which, luckily, Kóna spoke: "I get the feeling you were coming. And please, help yourself." 

She motions the guest to the kitchen. "Thank you, lass!" He shouted loudly before eating Bilbo's dinner.

"Wait. Wait a moment, Kóna. Did you know?" The Hobbit's only answer from the mercenary was a silent shrug. 

Later, Bilbo sat behind Dwalin while Kóna made some homemade root beer as if it were a typical Saturday night. In reality, she tried to understand what she was doing until Kóna finally realized what this place was, Causing her almost to drop the cup; if it weren't for Kóna's reflexes, it would have shattered to the floor: 'Of course, how can I be so blind? This is the Hobbit: The Unexpected Journey from the book I read. If I recall correctly, I read it at the bar because the bartender insisted I read a book. And now that I know which chapter I'm in...' 

Kóna shook it off and finished serving to Dwalin, herself, and Bilbo, 'Might as well enjoy the show.' After ending her thoughts, she was interrupted by saying: "What's this?" 

"It's homemade root beer, like ale only without liquor." 

"Whatever it is, this is a delicious drink! Got anymore?" She nodded and poured more before she sat down to eat her dinner; Bilbo handed biscuits to Dwalin as he watched him gobble up the food. Kóna got up and gave dinner to the poor hobbit, sighed in relief by eating some portions of it.

Then, there was another knock on the door again. 

Bilbo was about to get up, but Kóna raised her hand for him to stay and eat; he obliged and watched her walk to open the door, only this time, it was revealed to be another old man with a white beard and a bit shorter: "Balin, at your service." he greeted with a bow and a smile: 'He sounds nice. Reminds me of my dad.' She commented in her thoughts, returning one as well, as this man had a much more friendly demeanor than Dwalin and introduced herself while shaking his hand. 

She was surprised that a dwarf named Balin gave her that look of fondness and respect when she shook his hand: 

"Am I late?" he asked as he entered the house. Bilbo, on the other hand, comes in to check. He couldn't help but be slightly confused by this question as he could see Kóna left to serve and place more food on the table before she secretly left to make some drinks so that she didn't get involved with the story much as she was aware of what would happen next.