„This flat is definitely too small for five grown-ups – I don't want to even imagine what it will be like when the babies are born!", Fíli sighed, settling on the couch next to his brother who was watching something stupid on TV.
The brunet immediately looked at his brother, sighing as well. „I know! Only this morning I walked in on a half naked Legolas in the bathroom. He screamed bloody murder and threw his hair straightener at me!", he complained.
Fíli chuckled. „I really regret to have missed that!", he mumbled.
Kíli shrugged. „I'm sure you will get the chance to witness something similar in the near future. But anyway, it's annoying that we have to make a schedule for using the bathroom! Why can't Legolas and Gimli stay at Gimli's place? Or why can't Legolas move out so that we – Tauriel, you and me – have the flat to ourselves?" he asked.
Fíli frowned. „Honestly? You know that Gimli still lives with his parents, so there's no privacy. Furthermore, Legolas owns half of this flat, remember? So why should he move out? We are the intruders here," he remarked.
Kíli groaned. „But soon we will be a family, have babies, we need some space! You and I, we have saved some money, maybe we can convince Legolas to sell his share of the flat to us? Then we two can live here with Tauriel and our children," he suggested.
For a moment, Fíli contemplated his answer.
It was December and Tauriel was already three months pregnant with their twins. Sure, if Legolas moved out, the flat would be big enough for a small family. Legolas's bedroom could be the nursery then. Yet babies tended to grow into toddlers, then kids and finally adolescents, meaning that at some point in the future the flat would become too small for their family anyway. And maybe they would have more children than just the twins... who knew?
No, buying Legolas's share of the flat would not be the ideal option.
„Maybe we should get our own place," he commented.
Kíli raised his eyebrows. „Seriously? You think that Tauriel, you and I should buy our own home? That would be so cool! I mean, I like this flat, especially since Tauriel has furnished and decorated most of it. Yet I think it would make us feel more like a real family if we three go to an estate agency, tell them what we want and need and then have a look at all our potentioal new homes!" he raved.
"You make it sound as if it is a game to you – Kíli, buying a house is serious business!" Fíli reminded his brother.
Kíli pouted. "You never take me seriously! Of course I know that buying a house is not a game! I know that we have make the right decision, make sure that we are able to pay the mortgage and so on," he shot back.
Fíli buried his face in his hands.
He was tired after a long and hard day of work and could kill for a hot shower, a cold beer and a hearty meal.
Yet the bathroom was currently occupied by Gimli and it was Legolas's turn to make dinner – meaning that they would be eating something without meat and calories and taste.
"I'm sorry, Kíli. For me you are still the shrivelled up and reddish looking baby that Uncle Thorin put into my arms when I was four and a half years old," he answered.
Immediately Kíli wrapped his arms around his brother and leant his head on the older one's shoulder.
"It's okay, Fí, I know that you love me!"
Fíli reciprocated the embrace and for a moment just enjoyed the peace and quiet with his little brother.
"When will Tauriel be home?", he finally asked.
Kíli shrugged. "Late, I think. She went shopping with Sigrid, then they wanted to have an early dinner at this fancy new Asian restaurant before going to the cinema," he explained.
Fíli drew his eyebrows together. "I don't like the idea of her being on her feet the whole day. She should take better care of herself. I don't want her to have another miscarriage!", he remarked.
Kíli huffed. "Don't let her hear that. She doesn't like being patronized. By they way, I don't like it either that she is always so busy nowadays. But she says going out is not stressful and provides a good opportunity for her to relax," he elaborated.
Fíli nodded slowly. That made sense. He and Kíli used to go out in order to relax as well – before they met Tauriel. He vividly remembered his and his brother's drunken escapades, like pub brawls, blackouts and one-night-stands. But that was all in the past now; he and Kíli had become rather domestic.
"I just worry," Fíli whispered, burying his nose in Kíli's black-brown wild waves, inhaling the familiar scent of licorice and leather, closinng his eyes, feeling content.
"Eww, can you please stop that? I find it kind of disgusting to see you two cuddling on my couch!"
Legolas.
"Oh yeah? Do you know what I find disgusting? Your long blond hairs in the shower every morning!" Kíli retorted and Fíli bit his lower lip in order to prevent himself from laughing.
"Whatever! I just wanted to let you know that dinner is ready!" Legolas answered flippantly and stormed back into the kitchen.
"Do we really have to eat the dinner he has cooked?" Kíli asked quietly.
"We don't have an excuse not to," Fíli reasoned, disentangling himself from his younger brother.
Kíli grinned deviously. "Well, we can tell him that I'm sick and you have to take me to the doctor... Once we're out, we can go and eat somewhere else," he suggested.
Fíli shook his head, smiling fondly. "Good plan, yet I'm afraid I'm too exhausted to leave this flat. So I'd rather eat Legolas's tasteless dinner than going out," he admitted.
Kíli sighed dramatically. "Fine! But if I die tonight of food poisoning, it's your fault, meaning that I will come back as a ghost and haunt you for the rest of your life!"
Saying that, he got up from the couch, extending a hand to Fíli. "Well, then, old man, I'll help you!"
Fíli took his brother's hand and let himself being pulled to his feet. "Just you wait, you rascal!" he said, then both brothers laughed.