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Náin and Kara had walked out the Mead Hall, down three or four streets, and into the tradesmen's shops part of Edoras without saying a single word. This struck Náin like a bolt of lightning just as they were coming up towards the first of the shops, the tanner's. They could smell it long before they saw it.
What an idiot he was! Here he was trying to keep from stumbling over his own words, and to keep his flutterly gullet as stony and Dwarven as possible, and all he was really succeeding in doing was nearly ignoring her. Companionable silence was normal among Dwarves, but Náin had noted that Men, and particularly their womenfolk, could often be uncomfortable at long periods of silence. Fool! Bad enough one of them felt distinctly uncomfortable, no need for Kara to join him. Now, if only he actually had something intelligent to say...
"It looks like we might be in danger of showers sometime ere nightfall."
Unfortunately for Náin, he only managed to find those words just as Kara started to ask him a question.
"Is leatherwork a common craft among Dwarves?"
Kara and Náin glanced at each other, Kara looking a little amused, Náin looking mortified.
"S-s-sorry!" he stuttered, turning as red as his beard. Kara laughed.
"No, it's my fault. What were you saying?"
Náin spluttered, completely unable to remember. "N-n-nothing. Please-- go on!"
"I was asking about leatherwork among Dwarves," she continued, determined to squeeze a decent conversation out of the flustered Dwarf. "I've noticed that you have some finely crafted pieces among your effects, and I was wondering if it's a common craft among Dwarves? Or is your kinship to the King evident in it?"
Náin breathed a sigh of relief. Craftsmanship! Here was a topic he could expound on, hopefully without embarrassment.
"Nay," he said, "it is a common trade among Dwarves, though not so highly esteemed as stonework or metalwork. I learned much of the trade ere I came of age, and ere I selected stonework as my trade."
Náin rambled on a good deal more than he needed to have done, but after the unnoticed silence of the walk from the Mead Hall, he was unwittingly swinging in the other direction, becoming overly gregarious.
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