The Past That Blinds (1 of 3)

We all start talking, joking and laughing as food is still being placed on the table, I take a drink from the mug of ale in my left hand while I grab a bread roll from Oin as he passes with a plate of them and with the same hand I start pointing to each dwarf as I see them. “Oin, Gloin, Balin, Dwalin, Bifur, Bofur, Bombur, Dori, Nori, Ori.” I say as they walk in and out of the room bringing food in from the pantry placing it on the table. “And Fili and Kili. I’ve already met” I finish saying pointing to the two still stood at the keg of ale. I bite into the bread roll. They all cheer because I’ve actually remembered their names without any confusion. I take another drink from my mug as I too laugh a little.
“So lass, what is your name?” Balin asks
“Chase” I say after swallowing the food in my mouth. I see his facial expression change for a second. He must have seen me notice because he soon smiled again.

We’ve all now sat down to eat and food is being thrown everywhere. Dwarves are laughing and talking amongst themselves reaching into the bowls and plates of food on the table, taking what they want. I’m sat between Oin and Gandalf I get passed a plate of food and pass it onto Gandalf who hands it to the next dwarf.
“Bombur catch” Bofur says across the table before throwing some food - seemingly a hard boiled egg - through the air, which Bombur catches in his mouth causing cheers from all, some of the company bashing the table with their fists in merriment. I notice that behind Bofur the hobbit doesn’t look happy as he fidgets where he’s stood before turning to look at his now empty pantry.
“Who wants an ale?” Fili asks now walking over the table with a mug in each hand.
“Here you go” He says handing one to myself.
Dwalin pours ale down Oin’s hearing pipe and everyone laughs as Oin blows the liquid out of the pipe that makes a wheezing noise causing more laughing.
“And on the count of three” I hear someone say as everyone put their mugs together. “One… Two… Three” They all go silent and chug down their ale, spilling it down the side of their faces and down their beards as they do so. They stop drinking and look around silently until someone burps causing everyone to laugh. Then Ori stands up and burps for longer causing more laughter.
“Chase, you and I” Fili says sitting back down after filling his ale, starting a game of who can drink the fastest
“And I” Kili says sitting down after also filling his mug.
I look at my drink and then at them with a playful smile on my face. They just look at me with smiles, waiting for my answer.
“Alright, let’s do it” I say and everyone cheers.
“Ready, One… Two… Three” Bofur counts down.
All three of us drink at the same speed and slam our mugs down on the table at the same time, we look at each other equally matched and we all burst into laughter. I turn to Gandalf.
“Wasn’t your plan to stop this kind of behaviour from me?” I ask with a smile. He just smiles back amused.
The table is almost clean of food, some dwarves have gotten up and are wandering around Bilbo’s house. I sit sideways on my chair, legs hanging over one of the arms, leaning on the other drinking another ale. Gandalf gets up and walks into the kitchen. I get up and walk towards the hallway and I lean against the wall in the archway when I see Gandalf and the hobbit walk out from the kitchen.
“-They’ve pillaged the pantry, I’m not even going to tell you what they’ve done in the bathroom, they’ve all but destroyed the plumbing” The hobbit says stopping walking, turning to face Gandalf. I can’t help but chuckle at his plumbing comment. “I don’t understand what they’re doing in my house” he says sounding frustrated. Ori walks past me with his plate in hand and goes right over to Bilbo.
“Excuse me, but what should I do with my plate” Ori asks the hobbit just looks backwards and forwards between him and the plate unsure what to say. “Here you go Ori, give it to me.” Fili says walking through a doorway taking the plate and looking towards the kitchen where Kili has just appeared smoking a pipe, behind Gandalf, he throws the plate to Kili causing the wizard to have to suddenly move to one side. The dwarf catches it and throws it into the kitchen followed by more plates being thrown from the table somehow missing me.
“Excuse me, that’s my mother’s west farthing bottle, it’s over one hundred years old” The hobbit says worrying the dwarves are going to break something I stand in the hallway out of the way of the flying plates but where I can see everything going on, grinning in amusement.
The dwarves at the table start tapping cutlery on the remaining lot of plates on the table and each other’s knives and forks as if dueling.
“And can you not do that, you’ll blunt them” Bilbo says
Now all the dwarves at the table are stomping their feet on the floor in unison,
“Ohh, D’ya hear that lads, he says we’ll blunt the knives” Bofur says as the dwarves continue to duel and throw plates.

“Blunt the knives, bend the forks” Kili starts singing, catching my attention.
“Smash the bottles and burn the corks” Fili also sings, getting thrown yet another plate, flipping it on his elbow into the air over his head and onto his other elbow, then up into the air before catching it in his hand and throwing it to Kili.
“Chip the glasses and crack the plates!” The rest of the dwarves join in singing
“That's what Bilbo Baggins hates” They bang on the table with the cutlery.
“Cut the cloth and tread on the fat, leave the bones on the bedroom mat” They start throwing lots of dishes to Ori which piles up into a tower of plates and bowls. I finish my ale and put my now empty mug on the top of the tower as Ori takes them into the dining room walking past me.
“Pour the milk on the pantry floor. Splash the wine on every door” Dwalin head butts a bowl to Nori who taps it with his head, then lets it drop and kicks it off to the side with his ankle.
“Dump the crocks in a boiling bawl, pound them up with a thumping pole, and when you've finished, if any are whole, send them down the hall to roll” They all sing while dancing around clearing the table of plates and Bombur eats any leftover food. Plates are being slid and rolled down the table to Balin who - using another plate tosses them over his shoulder and Kili dances around catching one after the other. Gandalf blows a smoke ring and plates fly through it and he chuckles. Bofur plays his flute, elbowing a couple of plates to another dwarf who catches them. A few plates are thrown in my direction, I catch one and Kili appears behind me catching the other two, he throws one to Fili and I throw mine up in the air for him to catch, he spins around throwing the other plate in the same direction as the previous one then catches the one I threw before dancing off, pulling me with him throwing the plate to Fili. All the bowls and plates now stacked up on the kitchen table, clean, and in one piece not a single item broken and everyone has a mug of ale.
“That's what Bilbo Baggins hates” They stop singing and start laughing, a few mentioning the look of surprise on the hobbit's face seeing that nothing was broken.