Thorin Oakenshield is not known for his smile. In fact, he's known for the opposite. He is a dwarf king, noble to a fault, stoic and solemn. Some may even say brooding. So it was quite a surprise that his smile came about from a very unlikely source. He was a relatively new father, of sorts. Thrain was almost three, and it was unexpected how good of a father Thorin would make. Most of the dwarves thought he would never get married, much less for love, so him being such a good father came at a surprise. Of course, watching after his nephews Kili and Fili prepared him for it, somewhat, but a child compared to grown men, no matter how rambunctious or troublesome, was still more to deal with.
A tug on his beard drew him from his thoughts. He looked down, to find his son sitting on his lap, with a maniacal look in his eyes. He was troublesome, no doubt getting it from the influence of his relatives. He smiled, his front teeth missing, and tugged again. He fought off the ever ancroaching smile his son seemed to want to draw out of him. Thorin put his hands on Thrains. "Thrain, you mustn't do that. You are a prince of Dwarves, conduct yourself accordingly." He let go, after looking him in the eye and shaking his head no, thinking he had resolved said problem. They were seated in their home, with family and friends surrounding them, and yet Thorin was still wary of letting his guard down. His wife, Mallory Oakenshield, was across the room, standing next to her long time companion, Sara Durin, and her husband, Kili. She smiled at him, noticing Thrains hands move ever closer to his fathers beard. He was momentarily distracted by his wife, which gave Thrain just enough time to grasp the ends and tug, harder than a three year-old should be able to. His head was yanked down with it, and he had to brace himself on the arms of his chair.
"Thra-". "How come mommy doesn't have beard like aunt Dis?", Thorin was cut off by his sons strange question, and looked inquisitively down at him. "And how come she's taller than you?". "Well, you and I both know your mother isn't dwarfish, correct?", Thorin craned his neck to look his son in the eye. He nodded vigorously. "So, humans are taller than dwarves." He looked away, again misassuming that his son and his converstion had come to a close. Another tug at his beard told him otherwise. "But Aunty Sara is shorter than cousin Fili. And she's human...I think", Thorin looked again at his son, and wondered where this train of thought came from. Fair enough, noone knew without a shadow of a doubt what Sara was, save for Mallory and maybe Kili, but for his son to acknowledge that made him worry about the influence she had on his son. He'd have to remember to talk to Mallory about that later...
"You haven't answered my question, daddy." He thought for a moment.
"Well, the answer is quite simple. Sara is just a short person.", He smiled down at his son, realizing that it was no use trying to hide it.
"Well, I'll be damned", Mallory said, approaching them," It seems my husband is capable of smiling, after all."
"It would appear so", Thorin said,"Remind me, later, to ask of what species Sara is. It seems our son wishes to know."
"Oh, daddy, I have one more question. Do you have nightmares?".
"What?"
"Nightmares. I hear you toss and turn at night all the time, and call for mommy.". His sons innocently phrased question sends everyone into fits of laughter, save for Thrain, who doesn't understand what's so funny, and Thorin and Mallory, who's faces both reflect the same emotion, with blush-stained cheeks.
