Haha, she was brave and all the others weren't! Or maybe they weren't brave, but she really didn't care. It didn't matter to Lobelia - she was curious, gosh darn it, and she wanted to know whether or not the rumors were true. If they weren't true, she either wanted to stop contributing to them because there were better things to talk about in regards to "Mad Baggins", or she wanted to go gossip about someone else. Either way, she would hopefully have a perfectly acceptable answer by the end of this.

Good. That sounded utterly perfect.

With one more huff to bolster herself, the fauntling reached up to rap neatly on Mad Baggins's door. Hardbottle was not exactly super duper close, so if she was going to do this, she was going to do this now. Besides, then she could tell all the other kids that she had gotten the TRUTH out of him, the truth and nothing but the truth!! and then they could leave this topic alone and do something fun. Like climbing trees or something more interesting.

Lobelia nodded and rocked back on her heels, waiting eagerly for Mr. Mad Baggins to open the door. Yep, she could do this. Dressed in her neat pink dress, hair pulled back, she even looked nice - there was no dirt on her dress today, no sirree! True, he may have heard of her, and it wasn't like they had never met before, but... Well, they were only cousins by marriage, and given his mom was one of twelve... Nope, they really didn't know each other at all!

In which case, you make a good first impression, or try - you never know when you want to be on someone's good side.

Tagging: Bilbo Baggins

It was a very pleasant morning for Bilbo Baggins. He woke up to find the sun shining brilliantly through Bag End’s small windows, and rays of light reached everywhere in the house. He got up all energetic and revitalized. Last night he had read himself to sleep by examining the family trees that his mother left him - they were not as interesting as maps, but then he’ll have to do with them - for Bilbo did not like leaving any material unread in his hobbit-hole. He himself wasn’t on the family tree, because he wasn’t even born when the lineage was drawn. As he was scrutinizing them, the memories of his parents hopped back into his mind, and Bilbo remembered himself as a child, going about, excited by everything.

But the lineages of Hobbits were far too intricate - Bilbo was sound asleep before he even reached the tenth of her mother’s cousins. There were some hobbits who could count all of their cousins, brothers and sisters - and Bilbo was certainly none of them. He was good with names though, and after the quick sweep last night, he was sure that he knew three quarters of the names in the family tree. However, he was bad at matching them to faces. Some of these hobbits he had never even met before, and considering how floppy his reputation had become, Bilbo thought he didn’t have a chance at all.

He took his morning tea - three biscuits plus freshly-boiled camomile tea. Afterwards Bilbo stepped into his study. And promptly, he found himself with nothing to do.

Bilbo hardly went outdoors these days. He couldn’t care less about the strange gazes the other hobbits gave him, but it was still kind of lonely without all the visitors and friends he used to have when he was still considered “a decent, good hobbit who never went on any adventures”. He found Bag-End more soothing for him, but still he went on camps in the Eastfarthing woods sometimes - those camps that reminded him of the good days of his adventure.

He heard a knock on the door. Bilbo chuckled lightly - he was thinking about visitors, and here it was. ”Coming!” He shouted, almost too excitingly. Bilbo was a person who absolutely adore company, and after a few days of solitude - he needed guests.

He hurriedly went for the door. As Bilbo twisted the wooden handle, his round door squeaked out to the wonderful sunshine outside. And Bilbo found himself standing face to face to a young hobbit girl.

Bilbo used to know all the lads and lasses around Hobbiton, but he hadn’t known this one before. It may partly because from Bilbo’s perspective, this little girl was at an awkward period where she wasn’t quite a little lass, but not grown up yet either. At first Bilbo stood there perplexed for a moment, trying to determine if it was any children’s tricks or plays (he’ve had those before), but then after a few moments of silence he started wringing his hands.

”Right.” He said with a smile, ”Hello there. I’m Bilbo Baggins - is there anything I can do for you, child?