Thalia rubbed the sleep from her blue eyes as she woke up, she looked around confused for a moment before she remembered what had happened the night before.
Thalia sighed sitting up and brushed her good hand through her hair, she doubted that they would be seeing Cornelia any time soon; the dark haired demi-god needed to learn to control her temper.
“Morning,” Thalia greeted spotting that Bombur and Bofur were already awake, the rest of the company seemed to be sound asleep while only Thorin and Balin were missing.
Thalia looked around wondering where they could be, she knew that Balin would want to check her injury but she was in no hurry to be poked and prodded by anyone right now.
“Morning lass,” Bofur replied softly so that they didn’t wake anyone else up, it had been a long trip and they all deserved a decent rest; he looked at Thalia concerned as he eyed her arm as she got to her feet and continued to stretch.
A silence fell over the three as Thalia wondered what today would bring, she ignored the burning in her arm knowing that she’d attempt to heal herself in a few days when she had her strength back.
“How are you feeling?” Bofur asked as she moved towards them, he knew that Thorin and Balin were concerned about in wound and it didn’t take much to guess that it was infected.
Thalia offered Bofur a warm smile, she didn’t want anyone worrying about her; she had been injured enough back home to know that this was nothing compared to her worst injuries and nightmares.
However before she got a chance to ease the dwarf’s mind, Beorn appeared carrying a small jar of something in his arms.
“Come with me Daughter of Poseidon,” the shape-charger said making Bofur and Bombur look alarmed, they didn’t know yet if they could trust Beorn and they had promised to keep an eye on Thalia.
Thalia watched him curiously for a moment before she pushed herself to her feet, she didn’t know what he had but something inside of her told her that it was something good and would help her.
Bofur shook his head and whispered for Thalia to come back, he frowned wondering why the blonde would follow someone that she didn’t know; the last thing anyone wanted was something happening to her.
Thalia followed Beorn out of the main room and into a small side room away from prying eyes, she quickly glanced around the room curious as to what he wanted.
Beorn closed the door behind him as he looked at Thalia, he had been given this gift by Paloma who had told him that he would know what to do with it when the time came.
“I have a gift for you,” Beorn said showing Thalia the jar filled with strange golden-brown cubes; he had been told by Paloma that while he couldn’t eat any without severe consequences another demi-god would come and would need it.
Thalia opened her mouth confused at Beorn gave her the jar, she felt a tug of recognition making her wonder what it was; she had seen it somewhere before and it reminded her of the sweets that her grandmother used to give her as a child when she was hurt.
“Paloma said that they are called Ambrosia, the food of the Gods,” Beorn said watching Thalia curious about what she would do with it, he knew that they didn’t have a lot of time before the dwarves would come looking for her.
The shape-charger had to admit that he was a little disappointed in the fact that Gandalf hadn’t treated her wound earlier himself; it was bound to be painful now.
Carefully opening the jar, Thalia couldn’t help but smile of the found memory of her grandmother singing to her when she had been younger; the blonde ignored the panicked calls of Thorin and Balin lifting one of the cubes of Ambrosia out of the jar.
Beorn watched her curiously remembering that Paloma had said that the golden-brown cubes had tasted like apple pie to her, she had told him so much about her world when she had stayed with him that he found it fascinating that Thalia was now staying with him as well.
Popping a small piece Ambrosia into her mouth, the blonde hummed as the strange taste of white chocolate chip fudge cookies that she used to bake with her grandmother.
Thalia felt a strange tingling in her injured arm as she tried another piece, she set the jar down so that she wasn’t tempted to eat it all as Beorn tilted his head curiously.
“What does it taste like?” Beorn asked as he also ignored the worried calls of the dwarves, his interest laid with Thalia and she was the only reason that he allowed them to stay in his home.
Thalia licked her lips as her arm continued to tingle, she opened her mouth to speak when Thorin burst into the room clutching orcrist in his hands furiously.
Thalia blinked surprised as the dwarf king stalked forward glaring at the shape-charger, he didn’t know what was going on here but he was far from happy.
“What is going on here?” Thorin snarled as Balin hurried inside to check on the blonde, she looked at him confused as Beorn stared at the dwarf king as if he had just told him the weather instead of snapping at him.
Thalia slapped Balin’s hands away as she got to her feet and approached Thorin wondering what had gotten him so upset; she hadn’t gone far and she was quite safe.
“Beorn was showing me something that he got from Paloma,” Thalia said resting a hand on Thorin’s arm making him lower his sword, she smiled at him wondering what had brought this on.
Balin shared a look with Dwalin knowing that Thalia would certainly make a wonderful Queen when they reclaimed Erebor, she had already calmed Thorin down enough that their leader hadn’t done anything stupid.
“To help with her arm,” Beorn said knowing that Thalia wouldn’t need those bandages anymore, he watched at Thorin looked at Thalia as if trying to see if she confirmed his take.
Thalia nodded her head as she finally allow Balin to check her arm, she watched as he carefully pulled back the bandages to reveal that the mark that the white warg had given her was now gone.
Thorin stared in wonder as he remembered how bad the injury had been, he had been there when Balin had first treated her and his stomach hadn’t settled completely until it was covered.
“Thank you,” Thorin said gratefully turning to look at Beorn, he didn’t know how else to express the gratitude that he felt at having Thalia well again.
Balin snorted as he completely removed the bandage from the blonde’s arm since there was no reason for her to wear it now; he had never heard Thorin apologise in his life.
“You are welcome of Thráin, son of Thrór… I would never lay a hand of harm on your woman,” Beorn said looking between the couple, he smiled glad to see that the darkness that threatened this world hadn’t done so completely yet.
Thalia opened her mouth in protest as Thorin smiled at his words, the blonde had no idea what Beorn was talking about since she certainly wasn’t Thorin’s woman in any shape or form.
***
The rest of the day was spent with the company relaxing and enjoying themselves, while several members disappeared on a hunting trip; Thalia had been slight confused when she had heard Thorin announce his plan earlier that afternoon and several of the other dwarves had cheered at his words.
Laughter filled the quiet air as Bofur, Fíli and Kíli told tales and stories that had Thalia feeling at ease with herself; she was surprised how much better she felt after having the Ambrosia.
Thalia laughed softly as Fíli recounted a story from when he was very much younger, she had to admit that she did feel a little sorry for Fíli and Kíli’s mother; she wasn’t sure how Dís had coped with the two when they had been children.
“They’re back,” Ori said excited spotting Dwalin walked towards them from the forest, he clapped his hands wondering what had been brought back from their hunt.
Thalia raised an eyebrow at the two dwarf princes that were grinning at her, she had a feeling that they knew something that they clearly didn’t.
Thorin grinned as he spotted Thalia, he couldn’t help but feel proud of himself for what had had caught; this was only the start of the gifts that he would bestow on her.
The first was a kill that he had made for her, so that she could see that he would be able to provide her with not only food but protection; to do so Thorin had tracked down the best creature he could to show his worth.
“I have a gift for you,” the dwarf king said to Thalia stopping in front of her, he smiled at her curious gaze before he had Nori and Gloin reveal his kill.
Thalia blinked confused as she looked at the creature before her, it sort of reminded her of a mountain lion only twice the size and it looked a lot more hairy.
“Thank you... I think, what is it?” Thalia asked wondering what was going on, the blonde was acutely aware of the fact that most of the company where watching her with interest.
Thalia could even see that Thorin even seemed excited to see how she would react, the blonde wondered briefly if this was some dwarfish custom that she had yet to be warned about; she had never seen anything like this before.
“It’s a Felidae, they are very difficult to kill,” Thorin said proudly looking at Thalia expectantly, he knew that he had done well especially since he had refused the help of the other members when it came to killing it.
Thalia opened her mouth confused on what she was meant to say, it was clear that Thorin wished that she was impressed with his kill but other than that she just didn’t know.
“Well it’s very nice… are we having it for dinner?” Thalia said glancing around the group, she didn’t know why they were smiling at her in a certain way; she looked back at Thorin who seemed a little disappointed with how she was reacting to his kill.
Thalia wasn’t sure how he had expected her to react but she felt a little guilty that she hadn’t been able to make him happy, she chewed on her lip as Gandalf chuckled amused at the situation.
“I shall prepare if for dinner,” Bombur said realising that Thorin was a little underwhelmed by Thalia’s response, everyone had been sure that she would be thrilled by him bringing her back a kill.
Thorin nodded his head stiffly walking briskly past Thalia, he knew that his next gift was going to have to be something perfect and he wasn’t going to mess this up.
Thalia watched him go as she wondered what that had been about, she glanced at Bombur as he collected the body of the Felidae that lay beside her; she still didn’t know what that was all about.
Thalia was just thankful that she wasn’t the only one that looked confused as Bilbo sat down next to her, his face shared the same confusion as hers did as the company slowly returned to having fun again.
They had no clue that Thorin was actually trying to court Thalia and their knowledge of dwarf traditions was next to none; the pair sat quietly discussing the odd occurrence that had just happened.