A/N: This idea hasn't left me alone for a few weeks now. I have no idea how long this is going to be, or exactly how it's going to end. I know what I want to happen, but we'll see. It's based on a conversation between me and my sister as well as some of Richard Armitage's comments on Thorin.
It will be OFC perspective.
The market was more crowded than usual. People bustled past each other, and the chatter of haggling filled her ears. She pushed through a line of men bickering over the price of two-day-old bread, and made her way to the nearest vegetable stand.
"Here for more potatoes, Hegrir?"
"And carrots, onions, turnips, parsnips," she paused a moment and scrunched her nose, "and peas if you have them. Oh! And turnips."
"You said that already."
"Ah, yes, well. You know the order as well as I do. Gered makes the same stew everyday, so I shouldn't even need to give the list anymore, Meldaer."
"What precisely are you implying, dwarf?"
"That mine is not the only memory that seems fleeting."
The grey haired stand owner smiled. "I'm sorry, what were you saying?"
"Just put the vegetables in my pack, man," Hegri handed her bag over to Meldaer and smiled back at him. "I have somewhere I need to be."
"Bed, I presume?" He replied with a half grin and raised eyebrow as he pulled the vegetables from their crates.
"I wish! I have to get to the butcher yet, and then back to the inn. There are repairs to be made today, as always."
Meldaer paused a moment to regard the dwarf in front of him. He nodded, seemingly in approval. The parsnips found their way into the sack as Meldaer exhaled loudly through his nose. Hegri quirked her eyebrow. Meldaer looked over to the carrots and said, "Gered is lucky to have found such a strong lad to help keep that place from falling down around him. I know most of the people around here are a bit leery of you, but I know you aren't going to up and take him for what he's worth and leave."
Her head fell to the side and she studied him a moment. "Is that meant as a compliment?"
Color creeped up Meldaer's neck. He hurriedly stuffed potatoes in the bag. "I only meant that…"
"I know what you meant, but I am neither deaf nor stupid and I heard the implication." She sighed. "However, I will take it for what it was meant to be." Meldaer held the vegetable bag out to Hegri, and a sheepish grin spread across his face. She took it and smiled at the man.
"Thank you, lad," he called as she turned to head toward the butcher's shop.
She stopped a moment and called over her shoulder. "I am hardly a lad; likely I am older than you. See you tomorrow, Meldaer."