26A/N: Sooo I've been doing a fun game on tumblr (join the fun; my username is mistergandalf) where people ask me about my Durin headcanons, and I come up with answers. One of the questions was about if any of them had a sweet tooth, and I said that Dís and Fíli did... and then an anon said they'd love to see something about that in a "sweet" fic. Well, here it is—aptly titled "Sweet."
Dís had a sweet tooth. Now, this is putting it mildly—the princess had pillaged pantries and raided candy jars as a young lass in Erebor, and her mischief had never stopped. Often she kept a stash of sweets in her bedroom, hidden from her brother and her boys, and she prided herself on her sneakiness; not even her mischievous little Kíli had found it yet.
Well, at least, that's what she thought.
Dís heard sniffling the moment she came home, and instantly her motherly instincts took over. That sounds like Fíli. So she walked carefully through the house, searching for the source of the sound and finding nothing. First she looked through the kitchen, but there was no little blond head that she could see. Then she checked the boys' bedroom. Kíli sat on the bed, his legs crossed and his eyes wide, feigned innocence radiating from his being. Dís put her hands on her hips.
"Kíli, what have you done?" she said.
"Nothing," Kíli answered too quickly. "An' I don't know where Fíli is, either."
"I didn't ask you about that," said Dís. "But now I know that you do know where Fíli is. What have you done and where is your brother?"
"Fíli didn't do it," Kíli said, looking at his mother intently. "It was me, Mama—he didn't do it."
"Kíli, he didn't do what?" Dís said. This was a typical game between the two brothers. Whichever one got caught first always took the blame, for whatever reason. She could only assume it was some kind of strange arrangement the two had agreed upon between themselves.
"Nothing," Kíli said, shaking his head. "Fíli didn't do it."
"Fíli didn't do nothing?" Dís said, raising an eyebrow and suppressing a grin. Kíli shook his head violently and looked down at his toes. Pressing her lips together, Dís stepped forward and knelt down beside the bed, making her eyes level with her young son's.
"Kíli, where is Fíli?" she said gently.
Kíli shrugged, keeping his gaze down; Dís reached out and grabbed his chin, forcing him to meet her gaze. The need to laugh was overwhelming as she looked into those impossibly wide brown eyes that looked everywhere but towards her, but she held her own, keeping a straight face expertly.
"Kíli," she said, "Look at me, please."
Kíli's eyes drifted, meeting Dís's for a moment before flitting off somewhere else.
"Look at me," she said again. Again, Kíli's eyes drifted to hers for a moment before looking off to the right. Dís wiggled his chin, pressing her lips together hard to keep from laughing.
"Kíli."
"H-he's in the living room, I think," Kíli said, his words spilling out quickly as his eyes met his mother's. "But he didn't do it. It was me. Don't yell at him, please, Mama."
Dís nodded seriously and released Kíli's chin. He looked up at her soulfully, the corners of his lips pulling down. She kissed him on the forehead and ruffled his hair, and then she made her way to the living room.
Ah, yes. The sniffling was definitely coming from this room. Dís looked around, but at first glance, she saw nothing; the room appeared to be empty, save for the sounds of a little boy crying.
"Fíli?" she called gently. For a moment, she worried that her eldest was seriously hurt, but she knew that if something terrible had happened, Kíli would have run to find someone as fast as his little legs would carry him. Which begged the question—where had Thorin run off to, and why had he left the two of them home alone?
As Dís approached the couch, the sniffling got louder, and she smiled. So he was hiding behind the couch. She stepped around the piece of furniture in the middle of the room, and sure enough, she could see two pale little feet. She took another step, and two curled-up legs became visible; one more step, and there was Fíli's little blond head, buried in his arms. His back bounced as he sniffled and cried, and Dís knelt down and crawled towards him quietly.
"Fíli, what's the matter?" she said. Fíli jumped and looked up, his pale blue eyes wide and shining and his face stained with tears. Most notable, however, was the line of sugary powder and chocolate around his lips. Ah.
"I-it wasn't Kíli," Fíli said instantly. "It wasn't Kíli, he didn't eat any—"
"Kíli said it was all his fault," Dís interjected, sitting down next to her son and leaning against the back of the couch.
"W-well, he—he found them, I guess, but he didn't eat any," Fíli said, rubbing his eyes with his fists. "He just gave them to me, Mama, and I swear, I didn't know they were yours until after—"
"Is that why you're crying?" Dís said.
Fíli shook his head and hiccupped tearfully. "M-my tummy hurts," he said, pointing at his stomach.
Dís looked up at the ceiling and forced her face into a calm expression. Though her sons would not tell her anything, she could work out what had happened from here. Kíli had found her secret stash of sweets, and knowing that his brother had as big a sweet tooth as their mother, he had given them to Fíli without telling him where they came from. Fíli had clearly eaten all of them with no regard before Kíli had mentioned where they had come from, and now his stomach hurt and he felt dreadfully guilty for stealing from his mother. As far as mischief could go, this was mild for her boys, and it was quite a struggle not to laugh. Finally she managed to pull a straight face, and she looked down at Fíli kindly.
"Well, I think you've been punished enough for eating my sweets," she said. "A tummyache doesn't feel good, does it?"
Fíli shook his head and sniffled.
"Well, now we know, don't we?" said Dís, scooping Fíli into her arms. Instantly he curled up against her, resting his blond head on her bosom. "What have we learned, Fíli?"
"Ask Kíli where he finds stuff," said Fíli.
Dís could not resist laughing this time. She wrapped her arms around Fíli tightly and kissed the top of his head.
"And what else have we learned?" she said.
"Don't eat all the sweets?" said Fíli hesitantly.
"That's right," she said. "Or else you'll get a tummyache."
Fíli nodded and nestled in closer, and Dís rocked him back and forth, resting her cheek on the top of his head. Sometimes her boys were a bit wild, but they were good boys—for the most part. They learned their lessons easily. At least, Fíli did.
"Is Kíli in trouble?" Fíli said suddenly.
"Hmm," said Dís, considering this thought. "Maybe a little. But he did say it was his fault."
"Is he gonna get a spank?" said Fíli.
"Maybe."
"Am I gonna get a spank?"
"No, you've already got a tummyache."
"Okay," said Fíli, sniffling again. "But can we stay here a little longer?"
"Sure," said Dís, kissing the top of his head again. "For a bit."
Fíli heaved a shuddering sigh and pressed into his mother, and Dís smiled and hugged him tightly. What a gift her two boys were—mischief and all. She wouldn't trade them for all the world.