The battle is over and the men and dwarves have wholeheartedly thrown themselves into rebuilding. Yule is fast approaching, and contrary to everything Bilbo expected in the wake of such desolation, it looks to be a grand celebration after all. Hobbits take strength from simple comforts of a warm home and a full table, good company and cheer enough to keep the long cold of winter at bay, and with all this in abundance Bilbo begins to heal from the long perilous months on the road. He slowly realizes he has more reasons to stay in Erebor then to leave it come spring.
When Thorin grudgingly decided to visit his sister and her family in the Shire, he expected to find a slow, sleepy town out in the country.
He had not expected that the seemingly peaceful Shire covered a dark secret. And he had certainly not expected to develop feelings for a small, curly-haired man. Nor for the same man to somehow be deeply connected to a series of strange and frightening disappearances.