"You're not fond of your elven people."
It was a statement, not a question. Thorin looked over at the young dwarven woman who had ridden up beside him, bearing the weight of arduous travel well. He believed her now, that she had seen much hardship in her life and that she was no spoiled child as he'd originally believed… not that he'd ever tell her so.
"No," he replied in a dark voice, "I'm not."
"Because of what happened at Erebor," Sereda nodded. "I know. Gandalf told me of what happened to your people," he looked at her and was momentarily stunned by the genuine regret in her grey eyes, "I'm very sorry."
He nodded solemnly, "I hear your people are not doing very well themselves."
"No, we're not."
"For what it's worth…" which probably isn't much, "you have my sympathies."
"Thank you, Thorin," she returned gratefully. "I am curious though, about your elves."
"I can't possibly imagine why," he said dryly.
"Well… what are they like?" she pressed lightly, not wanting to annoy him now that they'd finally found some common ground. Sereda hated to be at odds with her travelling companions – namely the people who would be watching over her back in battle – which was why she liked to establish a sense of camaraderie. She'd befriended Morrigan and Sten, despite not fully understanding them initially. The words "kadan" and "sister" came to mind, and it made her smile a little. It had been worth every second breaking through their rough exteriors in the end.
Though something… different drew her to Thorin than it did with Morrigan and Sten. She just wasn't sure what yet, which was partly the reason she was trying to converse with him now, despite their rocky introduction.
"Ethereal," he said bitterly, sounding like he would rather be talking about anything else in the world, "graceful. But arrogant, cruel, and narcissistic; they sit in their domains of luxury and comfort and care nothing for the suffering of anyone who isn't an elf."
He looked over and saw she was looking at him with a peculiar expression in her eyes. Thorin cleared his throat, "and what of yours? Do they bear similar description?"
To his surprise, Sereda laughed. "Oh, sorry, I'm not laughing at you. A friend of mine once described our elves as a 'lithe, pointy-eared people who excel at poverty,' so, funnily enough… our elves are quite the opposite. Well, except they are beautiful and graceful, I suppose. Our humans certainly find them desirable enough."
Thorin made a disgusted noise under his breath. "Some of our humans share similar delusions."
Sereda chuckled again, her eyes shining brightly with humour, "at least we dwarves still have some sense, right?"
He almost smiled. Almost. "Indeed."