"...thanks."

AAAAnd here comes more art for this year’s HobbitBigBang <3

These are for the first chapter of @bubbysbub‘s wonderful “That Which Begets Affection”

Business pulls Bilbo to the town of Scary, but it is the journey home that changes everything for Bilbo. Family, it seems, comes in many forms, and quite possibly in the form of a scarred, silent shade of a Dwarrow Bilbo finds in a ditch.

Family, though, is a tricky thing, and there's fun to be had when they come looking for their kin.

It’s an absolutely lovely read and I adore it to bits (*˘︶˘*)

"Oh, you've got to see this childhood photo I've got."

"I think about the concept often. It doesn't bother me. I could sit here forever and say it was my choice, or I could say it was fate, and either way, I’d still be sitting, y’know? I would always choose this life. I think if I knew for a fact I didn't have free will, I'd freak out a little. But if I didn't have free will, I don't think I'd be able to freak out. Isn't that funny?"

Tibbo yanks the book from Furlo.

“No. I've had enough of all of this. Whatever thing is messing with us, it's clearly evil! I'm taking matters into my own paws.”

“Tibbo, don't!”

It is far too late. Tibbo lights a match.

“You're scared of me, right? That's why you all avoid me, don't act like it's not true! Well,” It smiles. “good.”

“Tibbo, I don't, I'm not—”

“You? YOU? You have no right to FUCKING TALK to me! Where were you when everyone left me? You were scared of me then, right?”

“You… you cut me off.”

“Shut the fuck up.”

The book goes up in flames. They seem to consume Tibbo as well.

“This won't stop anything.”

“Isn't this a little… extreme?

“Et tu, Blombo? And here I thought you actually liked me.”

“I do, but just… you're not acting yourself.”

“Not acting myself? I'm Tibbo fucking Pinkflame! I'm the rebel, remember? Loyal to none? This is just what I do.”

“Tibbo…”

“I fuck shit up, I burn shit down! I ruin relationships, THIS is my role!”

“Tibs, you're scaring me.”

Tibbo says nothing. Breathes heavily. And runs.

But they don't even need to knock on Furlo's door. It's already outside, talking (arguing?) with Tibbo. And in his paws—

“Furlo? You stole my book?”

“Told you it wasn't me.”

It's not yours, Grilbo. Can't a crittel examine an artifact in peace?”

“You couldn't have just asked. You know I would've given it to you.”

“I needed it. You wouldn't understand. It cared about me.”

“...it's a book, Furlo. It doesn't— it can’t…”

“Not the book, whoever sent it. It knows me, it knows us. So it can’t help but care.”

“What? Do you know something?”

“Me? That's your job, silly.”

“You don't… sound well.”

“Sorry. It's odd, isn't it? The fact that I'm the first one?”

“What the hell is up with you?”

Veevee, hearing the commotion, approaches.

“Tibbo? Furlo? What's going on?”

“See? Tibbo gets it.”

“I do not fucking ‘get it!’”

Furlo just smiles. “Binbus, you've been awful quiet.”

“You're freaking me out.”

“... sorry. I just think the contents of the book don't matter. If we were meant to see them, they would've been in Crittish.”

“If we weren't meant to see them, they wouldn't have been encoded with a basic substitution cipher.”

“If an entity knows us, and if it’s above us, why would you force it down to our level? The book's not important, it's served its purpose.”

“You were all for reading it earlier! Why are you so against it now?”

“Wait. What makes you think there's an entity?”

“To answer both questions: I just had a feeling. Can't you feel it?”

“And you had to steal the book about it? I thought you—”

“Sorry.”

“Can you give it back?”

“Not yet. I'm waiting for—”

"Oh! Hello, everyone! Tibbo."

"What's your problem with me, Grils?"

"Me? I could ask you the same thing, ‘Tibs’."

"Hey, you know what you did."

"Do I? Anyway, what brings the entire town to my door?"

"We found this, uh, glowing journal? Nobody can read it, but one of the voices in our collective heads could decode it just fine. We're hoping you might be able to figure out the rest."

"Let me see that."

Grilbo flips through the pages for a few minutes.

"First of all, this thing's not glowing? Second, where did you get this?"

"Does it matter—"

"Y'know the big tree in Talewave Park? It was in there."

"This is… I think I need to work on decoding this."

"Do you think you can?"

"I have to, right? That's why everyone came to see me."

"I mean yes, but—"

"Blee, Binbus, can you stay and help with this? This is big. Could be big."

"Of course."