The Light that Wakes [Bagginshield]

Walk in the Sun

A couple of weeks into the new year, Bilbo's life had settled into the closest thing to comfort that he had known since leaving home almost 2 years before. It wasn't like being back home, but his days followed a similar path one after another, with no major challenges. It was a welcome change.

It did not mean, however, that he had made no new discoveries. On the contrary, every day that he spent on his appointed task of bringing the Royal Library of Erebor back to its former glory came with something he had not known before about the Dwarves and about Middle Earth in general. It was the kind of novelty that he was accustomed to and that he had always enjoyed delving into. It was the safe kind of novelty that he could enjoy from a distance because it lived only in "papers from the past," as Thorin liked to say. Ori always read out loud the titles of the documents and books that they handled, and sometimes, he went into detail about some of them, those that looked more interesting than others.

In fact, he had not seen much of Ori the previous day, as the young dwarf had been called into Thorin's chambers to take notes and draft some documents of the present. This had been happening more and more often lately, as plans for restoring Erebor were gaining detail under Thorin's increasingly involved supervision. It had not happened before, however, for Ori to be shunning his library duties for an entire day. Bilbo did not hold that against him, of course, as he knew how important it was to turn Erebor into a real home again, but he did hope that Ori would join him again the next day, at least for half the time.

His hope was rewarded quickly when Ori walked into the library that morning, a short while after Bilbo had sat down at his table, where a stack of books was waiting for him from the previous day.

"Good morning to you, Bilbo," said Ori, nodding his head and smiling, but looking a little tired.

"Good morning," said Bilbo and tried to make up for Ori's tired smile by putting more brightness into his own.

"I am sorry I did not return yesterday," said Ori, as he sat down in front of Bilbo. "Thorin needed me for the entire day almost, and then I wanted to put some of my notes in order."

"No need to apologise," replied Bilbo. "I understand."

Ori took a deep breath and let it out in a great sigh of relief that looked a little too great for it to be brought on only by Bilbo's understanding. The hobbit frowned a bit at this, hoping that he would get an explanation.

"Thorin was not in the best of moods yesterday," said Ori, his voice lowering almost to a whisper even though he was alone with Bilbo in the room. "I think he's had about enough of being locked up in the dark."

Bilbo had to admit that he had not gained the same impression of Thorin when he had seen him the previous evening, at least not a very strong impression that his day had been marked by a particularly foul mood. In truth, over the past two weeks, he only saw Thorin at the beginning and at the end of the day, and by the time he got to him in the evening, he was already too exhausted to show any real signs of anger or frustration. There was a definite sense of him having reached the last bits of his patience, but it was never spewed out in a blaze of fury. It was more of an afterthought that diminished his voice and slowed his gestures. What Thorin's mood required of Bilbo was only tenderness, and that was what he gave.

"Yes, he has," replied Bilbo. "He's been in there for a long time. It's not exactly what he is used to from what I've learned about him."

Ori broke into as much of a smirk as he was able to produce. "No, not exactly. With that in mind, I suppose his mood could be a lot worse."

They both laughed and resumed their work. They continued until around noon, when Dwarves usually ate lunch. Bilbo had joined Ori in the past few days, but today he decided to pay Thorin a visit even if it meant interrupting some important meeting over lunch.