"Were you invited to the party." His teasing was gentle since he knew that it had probably frustrated Tauriel that she had never masted the skill needed for cooking. "I was a bit better than that. My mother was very careful in her lessons. So were my cousins." Despite being so far from home, the memory was comforting. He had been rambunctious but his family had always been patient with him.

Occasionally, he pointed out plants that seemed familiar. Some seemed to be native to the world that the portal opened up to and some seemed like variations of the ones that they had at home. Some of them might interest Tauriel.

"Most of the time it was whatever work that could be had. Things that were needed around homes and farms. Thorin taught us more than that but blades were what interested me more than making horseshoes and trinkets."