Thorin x Reader

"I've seen the way you look at him, you know." Bofur almost whispered, leaning towards you in a conspiratory manner.

You looked at the dwarf in astonishment and then furrowed your brow. Here you had thought that Bofur was one of the more tolerable amongst the rag-tag group of dwarven men, and now he was...teasing you? Or was he about to try and give you romantic advice? You scoffed at the idea, and looked away, saying, "I have no idea what you're talking about." You looked at the night sky, the stars looking more beautiful than you had ever seen during your nights wandering the outskirts of the Shire, restless for an adventure such as this. Being Bilbo's cousin turned out to have at least one perk; you had been visiting him when he was visited by the group of dwarves, and the Took inside you demanded that you be allowed to go with them. You had actually been considered as a replacement for Bilbo when he declined the offer, but of course the next morning you had both set off to find the team of dwarves and Gandalf.

"No need to be shy about it, girl. It happens to the best of us." Bofur said, breaking through your thoughts, then sighing wistfully. "In fact, I think it may have happened to the leader of our company, as well."

Your eyes widened and you blushed at the implication, causing Bofur to laugh and pat your shoulder.

"We might be more comfortable living underground, but that doesn't mean we're blind like moles are. You're a very fetching lass, and Thorin noticed that the first night you met."

Your face flushed even hotter as you remembered the awkward encounter. You had been so miffed about the dwarves' seemingly non-existant table manners and the fact that they had practically cleaned out your cousin's larder that you had been horrible company that night, glaring every which way at the dwarves collected in Bilbo's dining room. When the door was knocked upon once more, and everyone had grown silent, you announced loudly that you would get it yourself. Huffing and puffing you had opened the door, a deadly glare set upon your face in preparation for whatever foul manner of dwarf was waiting on the other side, but when you saw Thorin for the first time you blanched, unable to properly enunciate a greeting. Bilbo had gently removed you from the doorway so as to greet the dwarf himself, and the rest of the night you spent standing in the corner, avoiding looking at Thorin. You weren't able to tell how he looked at you that night, as you were so set on avoiding his glances. But you had noticed a strange look upon his face when the company was in Rivendell, and he had returned from the meeting with Elrond. The other dwarves had fallen asleep or were at least resting their eyes, and for a moment you thought Thorin might sit next to you and strike up a conversation, but then he had turned and sat next to...Bofur.

"Wait a minute. Is that what you two talked about when we were at Rivendell?" you asked, looking at Bofur with a stern expression - or at least trying to. Your mouth couldn't seem to close at the moment.

"Don't look too hopeful!" Bofur laughed, then seeing your glare he coughed and amended his statement, "Thorin did ask me something about you, yes."

"Well? What was it?"

"He asked me if you hated him. Well, he asked if you hated dwarves, and of course I told him no, though in truth I wasn't so sure about that. But I knew he meant more by his question than he was willing to let on, and since I saw the way you had looked at him so doe-eyed and innocently hoping for his attention-"

At this point you smacked Bofur lightly on his shoulder, glaring at him but also smiling at his exaggeration.

"I told him, 'She might not like dwarves too much but I don't think she hates you nearly as much as the rest of us.'"

"That's pretty much true. Present company excluded, of course. Unless you're just teasing me with all of this." you said, looking at Bofur questioningly.

"Me? Tease? Of course not! Actually...I think our leader just wandered off into the woods. Perhaps you'd like to go speak to him? His nephews seem to have riled him up again, and though he claims to like being alone when he's upset, I really don't think that's true for anyone."

You looked toward the center of the campsite and saw that Thorin had indeed wandered off, and that Fili and Kili were both looking a bit downtrodden. Sighing, you stood up reluctantly, and began walking in the direction of the nearby woods. You stepped on a twig after immersing yourself in the trees, and you heard the metallic shink of a sword unsheathing.

"Who's there?" Thorin called out, then turning around and seeing it was you - with your hands raised up in a gesture of peace - sheathed his sword and sighed. "What is it, lass?"

"I figured you might like some company that won't give you a headache." you shrugged, walking closer to the dwarf but looking off to the side, trying to look nonchalant. Thorin only looked towards the horizon, walking up to a tree and placing a hand on the trunk.

When he didn't say anything for longer than you deemed appropriate, you raised an eyebrow and stared at the dwarf, saying, "Wow. I knew you weren't a very sociable person but I thought you at least had manners."

Thorin's head whipped in your direction, and he let out a confused, "Hm?" before realizing that he indeed had not spoken a word to you for several minutes (during which you were content to stare at him). "Apologies," he finally spoke, "but my mind is elsewhere."

"That I can see very clearly." you remarked, walking up and leaning against the tree opposite of him. You were surprised by how calm and collected you sounded, even though your heart had begun racing like a rabbit.

Thorin grunted, and said, "At least that much you can see."

"What's that supposed to mean?" You stood straight and placed your hands on your hips. You might like Thorin but you weren't about to put up with any of his mightier-than-thou crap. You immediately regretted your decision, because Thorin pushed off of the tree he was leaning on and stalked over to you, placing a hand on the tree behind you on one side of your face and forcing you to back up against the tree again. So much for standing your ground. You looked down at your feet, not wanting to upset Thorin further by glaring at him like you wanted to, but then you felt his other hand under your chin, forcing you to look him in the eyes. He...wasn't angry. He almost looked...anxious?

"Lass, do you...do I scare you?" he asked, expression changing into one of concern, searching your eyes with his own.

"Wha-- do you s-scare me? No! Wh-why would you think that?"

"You're always looking at me with wide eyes, and you just started stuttering." Thorin dropped his hand from your face, but you latched onto his wrist and held it close.

"I'm not afraid of you, I'm...I'm afraid you don't like me."

"What?" Thorin's jaw dropped momentarily, but he quickly collected himself. "And here I was thinking you were the one who didn't like me." He smiled at you and you nearly melted on the spot.

Sliding your hand from his wrist to tangle your fingers with his, you managed a small smile despite the fact that you felt like fainting. "Bofur mentioned you had asked if I hated dwarves...and though I may have disliked you and your company at the start, I think you've changed my mind."

"And for that, I am glad." Thorin said, moving his free hand to brush some stray hair out of your face. You flushed at the contact, fluttering your eyelids and not quite knowing where to look until he placed his hand on your face, caressing your cheek slowly, and you looked up and locked eyes with him. "A bit surpised, but glad."

"Surprised? But...you're Thorin Oakenshield."

"Exactly. I must look like an oaf and a bully to most people, but what's not to like about you? You're headstrong, witty, and beautiful to boot. I'd be a fool not to l-...care about you."

Your jaw dropped, because you had never considered yourself any of those things - though people had told you - and to hear them from Thorin was almost too much to handle. You let your fingers loose from Thorin's and placed your hand firmly on the side of his face, looking into his eyes as you told him that he was definitely not an oaf, or a bully. "You're committed to a noble cause, you care about your family greatly, and you aren't too bad-looking yourself."

Then Thorin did something that you found exceptionally rare - he grinned, an expression not unlike his nephews usually wore. "Oh? Is that supposed to tell me something, lass?"

You again let your jaw hang loose, then rolling your eyes, slid your hand from Thorin's face to the back of his neck, pulling him closer to you. "Actions speak louder than words, hm?"

"That they do."

So without further ado, you pressed your lips against Thorin's, eager to prove your affection to the heir of Durin.