Thorin's eyes were closed. The warm darkness of the inside of his eyelids soothed his nerves and blocked out the world under the Mountain. Being king was tough business. And, he thought ruefully, he wasn't as young as he used to be. He felt the mattress shift at one corner and cracked an eye open to see his burglar looking at him. A triumphant sort of feeling washed over the dwarf king and he let his eye close again. She was his. His beautiful, responsible, caring wife. Her hand touched his leg gently, petting the coarse hair. That was another thing he loved about her. She appreciated his hair, admired it in a way he imagined dwarvish females didn't. Her hand moved down toward his ankle and past where the hair thinned out. With gentle fingers, she played with the fine wisps of black that grew on the top of his foot, and Thorin jerked fully awake, yanking his feet out of her reach.

"What are you doing?" The tingling, ticklish feeling was still racing along his skin and Thorin rubbed the top of his foot furiously, glancing at Billa. He was dismayed to see that the hobbit looked wounded, her hand still poised above where his foot had been a moment ago. Before he had married her, he probably would have given her a wounded look right back, huffed and grumbled, then went on with his life. But this blasted halfling, with her pretty soft face and big brown eyes, had somehow twisted things around so that he was the one that felt guilty about what had just happened. Guilt warred with righteous indignation, and they wrestled in the muddy interior of Thorin's brain while he stared at the hobbit. She stared back, still looking hurt.

"What business are my feet- I mean," the dwarf was positively flustered now, "my feet have no business- er. Don't touch my feet. That tickles." The injured expression faded slightly, replaced with confusion.

"Tickles?" He wasn't sure how to identify her tone. It wasn't curious so much as it was… questioning. "Your feet… are ticklish?" And now it was disbelieving. Thorin frowned and momentarily stopped rubbing his offended foot.

"Yes. Why shouldn't it? Everyone has ticklish feet."

Billa's lips twitched. Her eyes turned up at the corners and crinkled. Her throat tightened visibly and Thorin knew seconds before he heard it that she was trying very hard not to laugh. But laugh she did, and for some reason it made him feel like he was the butt of the joke. It was the dwarf's turn to frown, but rather than having the grace to look even the slightest bit contrite, the halfling nearly fell off the bed, laughing harder than ever.

"And what, exactly," he growled, hurt turning to frustration as her giggles wore on, "is so funny?"

"Ticklish… feet!" she gasped, wiping tears of mirth from her eyes.

"I fail to see how that's at all humorous," he grumbled, shifting uncomfortably. Billa managed to sit up and calm herself, but there was definitely an amused twinkle in her eyes.

"Did you sincerely think, after watching me walk for months over everything under the sun with my bare feet that hobbits suffer from such a," she snickered, "unfortunate condition?" Her humor didn't lighten his mood in the least and as he scowled darkly at her, Billa seemed to realize that he was being serious. Clearing her throat several times, she composed herself.

"I wasn't trying to tickle your feet," she told him, the twinkle in her eyes threatening to turn into a laugh again. "I didn't know feet could be ticklish. Among hobbits, it's considered a… gesture of affection and trust to touch your partner's feet. Married couples sometimes wash each other's feet to show their devotion and the strength of their marriage." Thorin's scowl was draining away now and he felt somewhat foolish. Of course she hadn't been trying to tickle his feet. Why would he have thought that? He thought he might need to apologize, but he couldn't find the words. He gazed at her for a long moment before he realized that she was smiling.

"You old silly," she accused him fondly, and stood up.

"What are you doing now?"

"Showing you how hobbits apologize."

Thorin thought later that he should ask her to apologize more often.