Katun looked up from her blade sharpening when she heard his approach. He looked tired but when they made eye contact, even from a distance, he offered her a nod. As he drew closer, though, Katun couldn't help the smile that tugged at her lips. It was strange, although it really shouldn't seem so, how she'd come to associate the sight of Bard and his children with security and almost a sense of "home." She knew her feelings had grown and compounded because of the attack on Laketown, as well as having to come together to solve the dilemma regarding the dwarves. And it wasn't that she didn't still seek answers to who she was or where she came from; her nights were still haunted with near memories and echoes of conversations she must've had at some point. But with the current crisis, Katun was almost relieved to have something else to focus on for it seemed a byproduct of her singular focus on survival more memories were solidifying in her mind—though these memories still contained strange dress, mannerisms, and technology that didn't seem to coalesce at all with her current surroundings.

"They're off exploring still." Katun offered in answer to Bard's quick glances around the quiet courtyard.

The children were off in the city with Fili and Kili, still exploring and gathering supplies as most of the other children or noncombatants were doing. Of course the dwarf brothers were fighters, not nursemaids, but Katun hadn't really had to ask them pointedly to keep an eye on the children. They'd volunteered for the position. Ever since the jailbreak, the brothers seemed intent upon keeping close to Bard's children. Namely, Fili to Sigrid and Kili to his brother. Tauriel was still inside the house the family had chosen to reside in, nursing Edwin, whose health was steadily returning under her doting. Katun had taken it upon herself to sharpen and polish the blades the children and she had found in their days' worth of exploring and in the hours that had passed since Bard's departure, she'd created quite a pile beside her workbench, set up in a courtyard adjacent to the family house.

"Did they say when they will return?" Bard asked as he dropped into a crouch near to her side, his eyes on the pile of weapons she'd already polished and sharpened.

"When I reassured them that I would do the cooking and not Tauriel, they promised to be back before the next change of the guard." Katun glanced towards the darkening sky. That would be sooner than she'd prepared for. She'd been so intent upon getting the weapons ready for the armory that she'd lost track of time. Their hungry bellies wouldn't be as forgiving as Bard's smile seemed to be. "They don't seem to appreciate the gruel she makes for Edwin near as much as Edwin does."

Bard chuckled. His eyes were distant and from the grim set of his jaw Katun surmised that the meeting with the dwarves at Erebor had not gone well. Folding the polishing rag and setting aside the blade, Katun reached out and poked Bard's cheek, near where the knot of his jaw bulged out whenever he clenched it. Bard's stance relaxed in direct response to her touch and he turned a tired gaze towards her. Katun patted the bench beside her and waited until Bard heaved himself onto it before she spoke again.

"Did they refuse you?" Bard took a deep breath and as he slowly let it out he nodded. "Did they refuse Thranduil's claim as well?" Bard's nod was even more emphatic. "So then what happens next?"

Bard reached up and undid the string that held his hair away from his face. He replied to her as he took to scratching his hands through his hair, a sign of frustration no doubt, "Once all the representatives are gathered in the meeting tent at the city center we'll decide the next course of action. I've no doubt that Thranduil will want to lay siege to Erebor and, with his army, he might stand a chance for it. But I fear what the Laketown representatives will want…"

Katun reached out and laid a hand on Bard's forearm. He peered up at her through the mess of tresses and she smiled, "May I?" At his questioning look she pointed to his hair. "I vaguely remember helping to dress my brother's hair for some sort of battle ceremony and in my memory it was of a similar length to your own."

Bard continued to stare at her a moment longer before he gave a near shrug and sat up straighter. Katun stood up and stepped behind the bench. She paused for a breath, studying the top of Bard's head and taking note of the silver streaks mixed in with the dark brown, before she finally reached out and began to comb her fingers through it. His hair was soft, thick as well, and she could feel the natural waves of his hair when the ends of it tried to wrap around her fingers whenever she paused in her movements. As she worked at his hair, undoing the tangles his earlier ministrations had caused, she realized that doing this to a near-stranger, despite what they'd gone through this was still a fact, was entirely different than doing it to a sibling. Not to mention the cultural differences that most assuredly contrasted between Bard's and her own—though she still couldn't quite remember all her culture. But from the way Bard's shoulders dropped down a few moments after she'd begun, and the evening out of his breathing, it seemed that he wasn't about to be bothered with such notions of whether or not this was appropriate. Katun smiled to herself and took her cues from Bard's more relaxed manner, growing bolder with her combing to also massage a bit at his temples.

"If you're not careful," Bard's voice had changed in timbre, to a lower quality that made Katun's insides squirm a bit, "I may ask you to dress my hair every day."

Katun laughed and shook her head, ceasing the massage and taking to plaiting it as she'd originally intended, "Can't say that I'd mind much really. I find doing things with my hands to be relaxing and helps me remember things more readily. In fact," she paused a moment to nod towards the pile of blades, not caring that Bard couldn't see her motion, "while I was polishing those I remembered a few more things."

"What did you remember?" Glancing down over the top of his head Katun saw that Bard's eyes were closed and his face relaxed into a neutral expression. She was pleased to know that she'd been the cause of this.

"I remembered that I come from a small tribe of people called the Hopi whose lifestyles are not the norm. We believe in Maasaw, the Creator Being of the world, and our traditions of being connected to nature are vaguely similar to what I've learned of the elves in this world. I also remembered that I am skilled with medicinal matters, which we all discovered with Edwin's injury, and that I seem to have an affinity for numbers as well." Katun smiled down at her work. She'd created three plaits, two coming from Bard's temples and one across the crown of his head, and worked to connect them in the back with his string. She'd left some of his hair loose, finding the effect of plaints with unbound hair to be most attractive on him. "I also remembered some things that don't make it seem likely that I'm even from this world." She let go of his hair once she had it secured but didn't move away right away. "Machines not powered by man or beast that could go beneath the water and fly in the sky like a bird. That could move through mountains and across the land at speeds much faster than anything I've seen here. It was most disturbing really, to see those things in my mind but not see them here."

Katun's mind was brought back from the disquieting images she'd had earlier when she felt Bard's warm hand reach up and take hold of hers. It was then that she realized she'd let her hands rest on his shoulders when she'd finished her plait work. She blushed but didn't pull away from his touch.

"I must ask, Katun, if it is so important that you remember all these details." Katun looked down at Bard as he turned on the bench in order to look at her more directly. "I know you can't control what details you remember and which ones you don't, but I wonder if it is possible to focus more on the ones that give you a sense of identity and to set aside the ones that befuddle. Don't waste your time pondering things that don't seem to match what you see here and instead focus on the ones connected to your character development and history."

Bard squeezed her hand and his smile was soft and reassuring. Not for the first time Katun felt herself drawn towards the kindness she saw in his eyes and she marveled at how one could feel so at ease, so comforted and supported, by a man practically unknown. She was interrupted in thought and deed by the sounds of the children, talking animatedly with one another. Katun was the first to draw away from Bard, almost immediately missing the feeling of his larger hand holding hers. When the children came around the corner and saw them the looks on their faces made it clear that they suspected something had just transpired between her and Bard. Not giving them an opportunity to guess, namely not allowing Tilda to blurt out whatever was about to spring to mind, Katun excused herself and hurried inside to ready the evening meal.

"I like your hair Da," Tilda grinned mischievously at Bard once they came closer.

Bard raised his eyebrows at his youngest as if to challenge her mischief. She unashamedly kept her grin upon her face, though he saw the momentary bravado in his son and eldest daughter melt under his feigned look of judgement. One of the dwarf brothers, Fili, moved forward past the children.

"What did my kin say?" His arms were full of more supplies they'd found and upon closer study Bard saw that all of his children and the other dwarf were equally laden with various items they'd found. Mostly weapons but it looked like a few articles of clothing, some baskets full of various items, and other such things. They'd taken seriously his directive to find things of use in his absence.

Bard shook his head, "It does not seem that your kin are inclined to fulfill their agreement without further convincing." He stood and looked down at them. "After our meal, I will meet with King Thranduil and the other representatives of Laketown to discuss what we will in answer to your kin's denial."

Kili growled something under his breath in his native language and at Bard's questioning look Fili spoke up in explanation, "He was just mentioning something about our aunt's son."

Bard nodded and gestured for the others to precede him into the house.

"Bard!"

Bard stopped from following and turned to see Braga hurrying into their courtyard. "You must come quick." The man was out of breath.

"What is it?"

"The king's son, Legolas I think is his name, has just arrived with news of an army of orcs." Braga turned and started back the way he came. "Quickly!" He disappeared from sight.

Bard looked back to his children, to the dwarf brothers, and then into the doorway of the house to Katun. He shook his head and turned away. It seemed chaos couldn't wait until after his dinner.