To pass the time on long rides, Bilbo starts absent-mindedly braiding Myrtles mane. He does it almost subconsciously and is completely unaware of all the dwarf eyes keenly watching him.
Because they're good braids, some of them quite complicated and no one can understand just how he knows how to do that.
The only conclusion they could come to is that the hobbit must have a paramour back in The Shire, some long-haired lass who he spoils with pretty love-braids.
Thorins temper had been truly foul after Balin had proposed the theory out loud.
After weeks of Thorin sulking, it was ever curious: Ori, who finally asked where Bilbo had learned such intrecate braid work.
Bilbo then flushed and embaressedly explained that he'd learned it from competitive pie decorating.
