"I will," Dis assured him. "First, I must speak with your uncle."

"Yes indeed," Hyacinth agreed. She glanced at the sky, judging the clouds. "I suppose we'll also figure out how watertight a mountain is. The rain is moving in quickly."

Kili nodded. Thorin led the way into the mountain. From there, people broke off into groups, and he looked at the two hobbits for a moment before he nodded. "I believe we should all head to the royal apartments for now," he said, indicating the girls as well.

Amaryllis grinned at that. Oh this would be exciting.

"We'll follow you," Dis said, nodding to him.

"This should be interesting," Hyacinth murmured to her sister.

Thorin led the way back to the area they'd cleaned up and called the royal apartments, at least for now. He opened the door into the receiving room, ushering everyone inside.

Amaryllis nodded, looking around with undisguised curiosity.

Dis glanced around appraisingly at the rooms. Considering what the state of the place must have been, the fact that they had been able to clean and furnish even this much was very impressive.

Hyacinth was right there with her sister, looking around with curiosity and interest. Everything was fine and fancy, but there was a homey touch to everything that made it all seem comfortable.

Thorin ushered Dis over to a seat and was about to start explaining everything when Bilbo bustled in with a tray of tea.

"I thought we might need this," he said, setting the tray down on a low table. Then he froze when he was tackled.

In her defense, Amaryllis had at least waited until the tea tray was safely out of the way to tackle Uncle Bilbo, grinning like a looney Took the whole time.

"Uncle Bilbo!"

Hyacinth wasn't far behind her sister, though she made sure that the tea tray wasn't bumped.

None of the dwarves knew how to react. Fili looked at his brother and then at his mother and uncle, completely baffled.

Thorin looked equally bewildered, but Dis just smiled knowingly.

"Apparently they're cousins," she murmured to the rest of her family. "The girls call him Uncle, though. They told me a great deal about him on the journey here. They came to find him and see how he was doing, and why he hasn't returned home yet."

"Hattie, Lottie, where did you come from?" Bilbo asked once he managed to get the girls properly sitting again. "How on earth did you make it out all this way from the Shire."

"You never came home," Hyacinth said, already reaching to pour some tea. "So we decided to come and find you and figure out why."

"I thought hobbits didn't leave their village?" Fili murmured. "That Bilbo was a special case?"

Bilbo sighed. "That is a long story, and one you could have discovered from a letter, for goodness sake. You didn't need to risk traveling out here."

"We traveled with the dwarves, so it wasn't a risk," Amaryllis pointed out.

"I thought so as well," Thorin murmured, watching them.

"Oh yes, a letter," Hyacinth said, giving Bilbo a bit of a Look. "Just like the letters you sent home?" She grinned a bit. "Besides, nobody thinks twice about a Took taking off for a while. Much less two of them."

Bilbo muttered something about Tooks that was doubtless uncomplimentary but also quite fond. Then he sighed.

"Well, you're here now, and I'm not sending you home again immediately. You may as well stay for a while."

"Of course they should," Dis agreed before Thorin could even think of objecting. "They'll stay with us, in these quarters. If memory serves right, we've got plenty of room here."

"You might be a Baggins by name, Uncle Bilbo, but you're still half a Took as well," Hyacinth pointed out shamelessly, grinning.

Thorin gave his sister a bit of a wounded look, silently saying 'this is MY mountain.'

"Of course," he said aloud. "I would not dream of sending away the kin of any of our company, least of all kin of Bilbo. Suitable rooms will be prepared."

Bilbo just sighed long-sufferingly. But he didn't disagree.

"We can share, we don't mind," Amaryllis told Thorin with a bit of a grin.

Dis just smiled pleasantly at her brother.

A while later, the girls had finally been settled into their rooms, and the two converged on Bilbo.

"Okay," Hyacinth said as she poured them all some tea. She handed her sister and Bilbo each a cup. "Now, tell us your story, Uncle Bilbo. What's keeping you here?"

Bilbo was quiet for a moment. "Well," he said slowly, "a few things, I suppose. For one, they needed my help around here. For another..." He smiled a little. "Well, Thorin, actually."

"Thorin?" Hyacinth's eyebrows went up. Well, this was promising to be a good one. "Oh do tell, Uncle."

"I went and fell in love with the sod," Bilbo told them with a little laugh. "I can hardly believe it myself, even now. And..." He looked faintly wondrous, like he still couldn't believe it himself. "He wants me to be his Consort?"

"No," Hyacinth said in disbelief, grinning. This was excellent gossip. "The rest of the family will never believe this."

Bilbo snorted. "No, they won't," he agreed. "They probably won't believe one bit of all that has happened."

"Could you imagine Great Grandmother Omelia knowing that there are dwarves in the family now?" Hyacinth said, grinning. "She would make that face that she does, you know the one, when she disapproves but can't disapprove out loud."

"Oh I know the face," Bilbo said with a grin. "I'm pretty sure she would disapprove out loud, too."

"She wouldn't dare," Hyacinth said, grinning. "She's not a Took by blood, only by marriage, and she knows better than to criticize the rest of us for our eccentricities."

"That might not stop her this time," Bilbo said with a little shrug. "Of course, I won't much care if I don't see her again."

"Well, considering it's obvious you're going to stay here," Hyacinth said. She grinned a bit. "So. Consort to a dwarf king."