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Glad that she was somehow able to appease the eager hobbit, Tilionwen walked on towards the dancing area with Astilwen at her tail. She was quite relieved that her stomach was not really as full as she thought it was, as the dull pain that had been bothering her started to subside. But she did not want to risk moving too much yet and end up throwing up - in sight of a lot of people, too - so she did as she told Astilwen she would and swayed from side to side, standing in place.
To her surprise the hobbit began to mimic her, so exaggeratedly that Tilionwen was afraid she would fall on her side to the ground. She tried to ignore her at first, yet she was unsuccessful. Astilwen looked completely ridiculous, truth be told. Tilionwen was about to tell her exactly that when she heard laughter from some way off the dance floor. She froze, and so did the words in her throat.
Her mind slipped back to those dreadful days of scorn, of ridicule, and of shame and fear. Her eyes darted to Astilwen, then to the ground, and back and forth. She knew only too well how horrible it was to be laughed at, and right now her new friend is probably finding it out for herself - only she did not seem to care. And why not? Tilionwen froze again.
Astilwen was mocking her. Perhaps in an attempt to get her to dance, but she did not really care about the reason.
An odd mix of annoyance and mirth welled up inside Tilionwen which manifested itself in an amused glare, and she held the hobbit's hands to make her stop swaying. With a look of innocence in her eyes Astilwen flashed a grin of triumph. Tilionwen narrowed her eyes further, then laughed. She thought thankfully that the swaying seemed to aid digestion somehow; her stomach felt less bloated than it did before.
"Goodness, Astilwen, must you always have things your way?" The hobbit replied with another innocent smile.
A few moments of awkward movements, steps on Astilwen's foot, and the hobbit's forgiving responses later, Tilionwen was dancing like she had been doing it her whole life, casting a few grateful glances at her little friend as she went.
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