"That should do the trick!" Bilbo stood back and appraised you, clapping his hands in satisfaction.

"Are you sure? It does not feel at all suitable..." You smoothed the trousers in your legs and winced. You had never worn pants before.

"But of course!" Bilbo insisted. "They'll do properly while you help the dwarves with, er, looking for that stone. And they seem to fit well."

You surveyed your new attire, the ivory tunic bright in the dingy light of the store room, the pants that hugged your legs a dull blue, tucked nicely into your boots. You were relieved that the tunic fell past your hips; the pants were a little tight on your rear end. "I'll just have to get used to them," you said.

"Hurry up, lass," Bofur called through the door. "You're on first shift, Fili says."

"Here I come!" You called, stepping into the light of the kitchen.

"You look a proper company member now," Balin said, hands on his hips as he looked you over.

You smiled. "Thank you."

Before you returned to the gold-filled hall, you asked Ori if he would watch the Rhosgobels until your shift was over. He gladly agreed, saying he had knitting to do, since he left his best scarf in Laketown. You warned him not to bring wooden knitting needles in with the rabbits; they wouldn't last long in the presence of those curious teeth.

You entered the hall strewn with gold, following Balin, Bofur, Bombur, and Gloin. Fili met the group at the base of a pile of gold. His eyes followed you strangely as he gave orders, dividing the group in pairs to cover sections of the hall. You were with Balin on the North wall, sorting through the smallest of the monstrous heaps of treasure. Balin started conversation to pass the time. At first it was light, Balin wanted to get to know the newest member of the company, and you liked the old dwarf well enough to answer honestly. After a lull in conversation, you glanced up at the balcony where Thorin watched the search with hooded eyes.

"What will happen," you asked Balin, turning away from the king, "now that you have reclaimed Erebor? Will the other dwarves get to come home?"

Balin shook his head as he tossed aside a golden chalice. "Not yet. We have claimed it, but we will soon be called to defend it. There are many who covet this treasure." He gestured dismissively to the twinkling hall. "And Azog is not the least of them. No," he sighed, "our work is not done yet."

After a sufficiently awkward pause, Balin began singing, catching the eyes of the other dwarves.

We search the hall for Arkenstone

We sift through piles of gold,

And when we find the Arkenstone,

We'll be happy to go home, home!

Gloin took up the next verse, shouting more than singing:

When we find the Arkenstone,

We'll have a hearty drink!

For once we've polished Arkenstone,

We won't go home alone, 'lone!

Bofur contributed the next verse with a jaunty leer:

Once we've hung up Arkenstone

All Middle-Earth will sing!

For dams who love the Arkenstone,

Will come running right back home, home!

The singing made the work a little lighter, and you laughed as the dwarves continued their song. Thanks to Bofur's verse, the song turned more suggestive the longer it went on, and Kili seemed to enjoy it heartily. It made you blush, but they were so happy you didn't have the heart to be too upset by it. Even Fili made up a verse, sending a wink your way as he sang. It felt so good to laugh, especially after all the troubles of the past few days. You had never seen Fili so lighthearted, either, and his carefree laugh echoed in your ribs louder than it echoed in the gold-filled hall.

The merriment ended abruptly when Thorin shouted from the balcony. "Enough of that racket! Your minds should be on finding the Arkenstone! Your song will not bring it waltzing to you." He finished with a huff and a flip of his fur-lined robes.

The work continued in silence, until finally Fili called for a shift change, to your relief. Standing upright for the first time in hours, you winced as the muscles in your lower back complained. Your knees ached from your time kneeling in piles of cold gold, and the skin on your hands was red. You were not used to handling metal so much, nor were you used to this sort of activity. You tried to think of it as gardening, searching for a bulb planted long ago and since forgotten. But no matter how you tried, you could never make the gold sifting through your hands feel like the clean dirt of the forest. It didn't help that at every moment, you felt the dark, hungry gaze of the king following the progress of the search from the balcony overhead.

All you wanted to do was curl up on your lumpy excuse for a mattress and sleep, to give your aching body a break. At least until your next shift. But your stomach had other ideas.

"Oi, you got a bear in there, Y/N?" Bofur laughed at your growling stomach.

"The problem is that I've got nothing in there," you said, remembering the discarded muffin from that morning. "I'm starved."

Bofur elbowed you with a smirk. "Let's see if Bilbo's got something edible ready."

"Aye," said Gloin as he bumbled up next to you. "I could do with a hearty meal."

"Me, too," Bombur added from behind.

Bofur snorted. "We'd better hurry," Bofur whispered conspiratorially in your ear, too loudly for him to be in earnest, "or the great lug won't leave anything for us!"

He was off like a shot, racing down the hall to the kitchen. You laughed and darted after him, forgetting the aches in a moment of laughter as Bombur rumbled after you, shouting, "I heard that!"

Bilbo had prepared a decent meal of baked potatoes and a hearty stew. They warmed your belly with each bite, soothing the pangs of hunger and relaxing you until you felt you could fall asleep just sitting at the table. You took your leave of the dwarves, finding your way back to your room. You opened the door expecting that the rabbits had left you a serious mess to clean up before you rested. Instead, you found them clustered peacefully around the fire, all but two wearing darling little sweaters.

Ori stood, knitting needles in hand. A half-made sweater dangled from his needles as he blushed, stammering, "I can explain-- they looked so cold, and I had so much yarn... And they fit!"

You laughed gleefully. "Ori, they're wonderful! I've never been so pleasantly surprised!" Ori's blush deepened. "They'll stay properly warm now, even if there's no fire," you observed, kneeling as Cricket, donned in a well-fitting sweater, hopped up. "It's brilliant! And absolutely charming!"

"What's all this?" Fili asked. You had not even heard him walk up.

You turned around, beaming, and gestured to the fashionably-attired Rhosgobels. "Look at the wonderful thing Ori has done!"

Fili assessed the rabbits, smiling softly. "They look warmer, at least."

Ori had fallen silent, consumed with embarrassment from your high praise. Fili looked at him sternly after he had inspected the Rhosgobels to your satisfaction. "It's your shift in the great hall," Fili said brusquely, and Ori bobbed his head before dashing out the door, away from Fili's hard brow.

"Why were you so cross with him?" You asked as Fili lingered in the doorway, studying Ori's handiwork.

Fili's blue eyes darted to yours. "It is of little consequence. Your next shift is in twelve hours. Rest well before then." With that, he closed your door. You could hear his determined stride as he walked down the hall, away from you. You were perplexed by his odd behavior, but too besotted by the Rhosgobels and their new sweaters to give it too much thought.

A/N: I know the song wasn't super great, but it served the purpose, I think. On a better note, the next chapter is from Fili's POV (and it's double-update day, so you get to read it now)! As always, thanks for reading! If you enjoyed this chapter, please give it a vote!
--RA