"You are very gracious and kind, which my mother had always hoped I would be, though I do not know that she would say I succeeded in that," Kili says. As always, there's a melancholy flicker in his eyes when he mentions his mother but it doesn't last long, seeing as it's his own fault she's come up in the first place. He carries the rune stone she'd given him before he'd left for Erebor with him again, having retrieved it from Beth after Fili had been returned, and Kili slips his hand into his pocket to wrap his hand over it.

Return to me, the stone reads, and he'd certainly failed in that but as for the rest, he hopes to continue on in Darrow in a manner that would have made her proud. Except when it comes to Fili, of course, for some relationships simply cannot be changed. As much as he loves his brother, Kili can say with confidence that he will always eat the last cupcake or cookie or slice of pie, even if Fili is the one who's brought it home; but that is his role as the youngest, and he plays it well.

"In any case, you're very much like a friend I knew from home. He was called Bilbo, and he was a hobbit, but do not let that deter you from thinking it a compliment. He was the best hobbit I ever had the pleasure of meeting, and quite brave, at that." Kili doesn't know the first thing about Bitty's mettle but never mind that, he'd prefer to think Bitty would never have to show it at all. "A peach pie would be excellent, though, and as for myself, I've been well."

His face falls a little, though his smile doesn't entirely disappear with it. "I do know that there have been many who've suffered as of a late, some friends of mine included. I was fortunate to have escaped those horrors, I do hope you were, too."