“Trick or – AAAHHHHH!”

“Wait!” Thorin shouted after the squealing fauntlings. “Come back!” It was no use. Yet another group of little ones had run off without taking any candy. Was it because he was a Dwarf? Or had he decorated the smial insufficiently? Whatever the reason, he couldn’t help feeling let down. Trick-or-treat night was not at all what Bilbo had promised.

He sighed and scratched the edge of his forehead where the paint had begun to itch. And after I dressed up, too.

“What’s wrong? Is the candy insufficient?” Bilbo came up beside him and squinted into the sunset, a hand over his eyes. “Ungrateful little trolls! I spent hours making those sweeties last night. Have you ever heard of anything so -” He turned to Thorin, his face indignant, and stopped short with a scream to rattle the windows. “AAAHHHHH!”

“What? What? Are you all right, Bilbo?” Thorin grabbed his husband by the shoulders, which didn’t help the screaming situation. “Why is everyone screaming at me tonight?” Surely it wasn’t possible that Hobbiton had decided to have a collective apoplexy without notifying him. Perhaps if he shouted for a raven and sent word to Oin…

Bilbo shook in his grasp. “Y-you…you…” His breath came in goldfish-like gulps. Right, so not collective after all. “You…” He pointed at Thorin’s face. “What is that on your face?”

“Food?” He had had pumpkin tarts earlier.

“No, not that, you ridiculous sausage!” The color was beginning to come back into Bilbo’s face. “What in the name of all the Valar do you think you’re playing at, painting your face up like that? You nearly scared my heart out of my chest!”

“But it’s only a bit of paint,” Thorin protested. He wasn’t even very good at it. Nori was much better at costuming than he was. “I’m an Orc demon from that story I told you. You said it was clever.”

Bilbo shook his head. “The story. I said the story was clever, not painting yourself up to look like something out of everyone’s nightmares. No wonder those poor faunts have been running. How many angry parents do you think we’ll have to deal with later tonight?”

“I didn’t know Hobbit children scared that easily,” Thorin admitted, feeling more than a little downtrodden. He looked down at his feet, which even after all these months he hadn’t been able to start leaving bare yet. “I’m so sorry, Bilbo. I’ve ruined everyone else’s Beggar’s Night. Can you forgive me?”

Bilbo stared at him, lips pursed, and then melted into a friendlier expression with a sigh and a squeeze to Thorin’s middle. “I suppose,” he said, giving that irritated huff of his. “Just go wash your face and we’ll start again. But just in case…” He shook a finger at Thorin in warning. “I’m holding the sweets bowl this time. You’re not to be trusted.”

Thorin snorted. “Yes, my dearest,” he said, and kissed Bilbo’s cheek before he turned to go to the washroom, leaving Bilbo to splutter behind him.

---

Thanks to my amazing wife, @wikdsushi, for the idea on how to fill this. 😀 Hope you like it, @emsiecat!