[open] concerning hobbits

[harthad_uluithiad]

WHO: Samwise Gamgee and EVERYONE HE CAN FIND
WHAT: Sam's arrived at Skyhold and is exploring! Also asking questions. All the questions.
WHEN: After arriving from the Fallow Mire
WHERE: Skyhold
NOTES: Feel free to meet Sam in any part of Skyhold! He'll be all over.

He'd tried to stick close to who he'd already started privately thinking of as his new friends - the other Sam and the wizard Twisted Fate. He'd even glimpsed, once or twice, the Man who'd pulled him out of the Mire in the first place, and saved him from being drownded. But the road from the Fallow Mire had been long, and Sam had spent much of it on his own, tucked away in small corners of wagons or sitting astride horses alongside dwarves, being too short to walk and have a hope of keeping up.

And when they'd arrived at last, he'd found himself suddenly left completely to his own devices.

Skyhold. He rolls the word around in his mind, staring up, up at the battlements and the clouds beyond. It's a good enough name for the place, he supposes, being up in the mountains as it is. And there's something in it that appeals to him - it's not quite Elvish, not quite Rivendell or Lothlórien, but it's a bit more fanciful than Hobbiton or Bywater, he thinks. As for the place itself, he finds himself a bit overwhelmed - not only with the size (which is enormous in its own right, apart from everything in it being built proportionate to Big People), but with the ceaseless activity and the seemingly endless places to explore and get lost in.

He finds the kitchen first, hobbit-senses guiding him true, but after he's snacked his fill he finds himself wanting to explore more, and he steps carefully down the stairs into the yard. There are folk of all shapes and sizes everywhere (though nobody he recognizes), and he takes a deep breath before walking forward, not quite sure where he's going.

There are Elves here; he knows that much. If nothing else, perhaps the Elves will know more about what's happened and why he's come here. Perhaps they'll at least know Gandalf's name.

Comments

[eolasemah]

This was the most commonly asked question, and Sina couldn't help but smile in morbid amusement at hearing it again. Her smile faded, however, and she shrugged. "It comes and goes," she replied, hoping to prevent him worrying further.
"I... didn't. I came too close to a rift, and it flew out at me." She touched it again, with a look of uncertainty. "Perhaps it... was a piece of the same material that pierced all your hands. It seems to act similarly."

[harthad_uluithiad]

"Oh," Sam said quietly. He stared at the shard for a moment more, still worried despite her attempts to stop him, and then realized just where he was staring, and turned his face away with a blush.

"I'm sorry," he said, though he didn't specify what for. "Have you gone to see the healers? There's a Wizard among them who helped me - took nearly all the pain away altogether, just like that!" He held out his own palm as evidence.

[eolasemah]

It took Sina a moment to realize what he was blushing about, and it caused her to mirror him. She ducked her head shyly, but didn't seem to take any offense, even as she covered the shard back up.

"A wizard?" she asked uncertainly, adjusting her scarf the way she liked it, "I... I mean I am a healer, and there are several others, but there's only so much we can do." She smiled dully. "Adelaide is the best at it. I think she's been doing it the longest."

[harthad_uluithiad]

Sam looked crestfallen again at hearing that she'd already tried his idea and it hadn't worked. If even Elves and Wizards couldn't help...

"I do wish Master Elrond was here," he said, full of regret. "He helped Mr. Frodo so, when we all feared him lost after the Black Riders got him with a knife. He'd know what to do!"

[eolasemah]

Sina was able to assume that Master Elrond was a healer of some kind, and was intrigued by the conversation's turn. "Who's Mr. Frodo?" she asked quietly, "...was he all right, in the end?"

[harthad_uluithiad]

"It's not the end yet, I'm afraid," said Sam regretfully. It still gnawed at him, the thought of Frodo out there all alone, or anyhow without his Sam. "Mr. Frodo is my master - or he was, before we were separated so. But he wasn't lost to the Black Riders or their cruel steel, and he shan't fall to them now."

[eolasemah]

There were several questions Sina had on this topic, and her nervous stare communicated that they weren't necessarily cheerful ones.
"...your master," she repeated, begging clarification.

[harthad_uluithiad]

Sam didn't provide it, at least not in the way she was probably wanting.

"Yes; at least since Mr. Bilbo went away," he explained unhelpfully. "I was his gardener, and went to do for him when he went away to Crickhollow from Bag End, though of course we didn't stay there long enough for any of us to do anything much at all."

[eolasemah]

Sina watched him as he spoke, still trying to wrap her mind around how he could be so flippant on the subject of his own subjugation. "...I didn't know dwarves were taken as slaves," she said hesitantly, but her tone quickly changed to sympathy. "I'm sorry. At least you're here now."

[harthad_uluithiad]

For a moment, all Sam could do was stare in abject, helpless confusion. He couldn't even register what she was trying to say, or why she was talking about dwarves all of a sudden. Dwarves - or anyone - taken as slaves was awful, certain enough, but what did that have to do with Mr. Frodo, or Crickhollow, or any of the rest?

And then it all clicked, and his eyes and mouth opened wide.

"I didn't - that's not - that's not it at all!" he stammered, torn halfway between horror and indignation. He crossed his arms over his chest, temporarily unable to speak, so offended was he on Frodo and Bilbo's behalf. Not only for the assumption that he and the Gaffer weren't fairly paid, but also because she seemed to think that he'd be glad to be rid of his beloved master.

"Mr. Bilbo and Mr. Frodo both were never anything but kindly and fair, I'll have you know," he says stoutly. His jaw juts out in defiance. "And there's nothing I'd like better than to be back there now, where I belong, at Mr. Frodo's side."

[eolasemah]

Sina hadn't expected this reaction, though, to be fair, she wasn't certain what she had expected. She drew back uneasily when he expressed such offense, her eyes darting around as she tried to imagine what she could have said. Perhaps he was just that deeply indoctrinated.

"I'm sorry," she said helplessly, otherwise at a loss for words.

[harthad_uluithiad]

Sam looked at her a moment longer, and then sighed, shoulders dropping as the defiance went out of him. She hadn't meant any offense, after all. And, he realized now, he hadn't done a very good job at explaining himself.

"We were never slaves," he said, finally, his tone gentler. Even the word itself was distasteful, and he wrinkled his nose a bit as he said it. "Mr. Bilbo was my old gaffer's employer, and then mine; and Mr. Frodo took over Bag End when Mr. Bilbo left to stay with the Elves."

Something else occurred to him, and he added, "And we're not dwarves. We're hobbits."

[eolasemah]

Realization began to dawn on Sina, and she flushed a brilliant red, cupping her hand over her mouth as if to shut herself up. "Oh," she mumbled. So Master was just... a title, not an actual master. Like Keeper.
She seemed almost paralyzed by her embarrassment, hunching her shoulders with an awkward little smile. "I'm sorry," she said quietly.

[harthad_uluithiad]

Sam blinked, surprised and uncertain. He wasn't used to being the one to make others blush in embarrassment; usually it was the other way around.

"It's all right," he said, kindly now. He fidgeted a bit, not sure how to go about comforting her, or if he should even try. What if he made her feel worse? But he could hardly say nothing, either, and leave her to feel such shame. "It was just a misunderstanding. Anyhow it seems that no one here knows what a hobbit is, nor anything about us. Nearly everyone I've spoken to has called me dwarf." He gave her a tiny, tentative smile, cocking his head to peer at her as she half-hid her face.

[eolasemah]

Sina was busy staring at the ground between them, but gradually lifted her gaze to meet his again when he accepted her apology. Despite the gaffe, she smiled again, this time far more sheepishly.
"I didn't know what a hobbit was," she confessed, "I'm sorry for that too."

[harthad_uluithiad]

Sam shook his head, though he returned her smile, relieved to see her feeling a bit better. "You don't need to apologize for that," he said. "Or if you do, then half of Skyhold owes me an apology by now, for they've all done the same thing. I suppose I shouldn't be surprised. How could anyone know what a thing is when they've never seen it before?"

"But now you have seen a hobbit," he continued. "And the only one you'll ever meet, like as not; so you'd better take a good look while you can!" He spread his arms, showing off a bit; it wasn't something he did often, but it would worth it, if he could get her to smile again.

[eolasemah]

At first, Sina was surprised by how insistently he spoke, but she quickly came to see how good-natured his words were. Her smile broke into a grin again, even a light laugh at his display. She clasped her hands around her skinny knees, rocking back a bit in her amusement.
"It's quite a privilege," she cheerfully remarked, "and one I shall not forget."

[harthad_uluithiad]

Now it was Sam's turn to blush. He dropped his arms and fell back to his knees beside her, but he was smiling all the same.

"A - a privilege to meet you too," he managed to say, before words failed him altogether and he fell silent, smiling shyly.