A/N: Merry Christmas and happy holidays, a day (or two) late! This fic is just a little accompaniment to my friend Mhyin's "Happy Holidays" fanart, which you can find on her tumblr at mhyinart dot tumblr dot com. I told her I'd write a fic to go along with it, and this is it; you can see a mini version of it as the cover to this fic, but I encourage you to look at the big version on her tumblr!
Two red little noses. Two sets of pink cheeks. One set of sparkling brown eyes and one set of shining blues. Twenty red, wet little toes.
One pair of front teeth.
"Mama, I'm c-cold," Fíli said, his teeth chattering as hugged himself tightly. "My toes are cold and my nose is colder!"
"Me too," said Kíli, mimicking his brother's pose. "I'm cold all over!"
"Are you, now?" said Dís, gently pushing both of her children into the living room. "All over?"
"Kíli climbed into a snowbank," said Fíli, plopping down in front of the fireplace. "He got snow all down his back."
"It was really cold!" Kíli chirped, plopping down beside his brother and snuggling up against him. Dís wrapped a thick, red blanket around the two of them, chuckling; immediately, Fíli pulled it over their heads so that only their little pink faces were showing.
"Well, warm up by the fire while I make you both some cocoa, all right?" Dís said.
"Cocoa!" Kíli cheered. He flopped down onto the floor and pumped both fists in the air, pulling the blanket off Fíli's head. Fíli's hands went to his hair, checking to make sure his braids were still in place before wrapping the blanket more securely around the two of them.
"Kíli, careful!" he said.
"Sorry," Kíli lisped, his tongue sliding through the new space where his front teeth had been until two days ago. They had both gotten loose at the same time, and Fíli and Kíli had thought that it would be an excellent idea to simply have Fíli punch his brother in the mouth to make them come out. It had worked, of course, but apparently neither brother had considered the idea that it might hurt, as well. Kíli didn't cry for long, though; he got enough bumps and scrapes already, and he was far too fascinated with his bloody gums and detached teeth to vie for much attention.
Dís left them by the fire and set to making them some hot cocoa—sweet for Kíli, and extra sweet for Fíli. Her eldest had definitely inherited her sweet tooth, and she felt no shame in indulging him from time to time. She could hear the two of them giggling in the living room. At one point, there was a shriek and a high-pitched exclamation of Kíli, your toes are cold, followed by more giggling from both boys. She smiled. A minute or two later, she entered the living room with two mugs of cocoa; she knelt carefully before the red lump on the floor underneath which both boys were now hiding.
"Cocoa is here, khahîthuh," she called. A moment later, two pink faces and two sets of little hands emerged, and she handed over her mugs. Kíli took a sip of his immediately with a big slurp, and then he grimaced.
"This is really sweet!" he said.
"Oh, you have Fíli's," she said. "Trade with your brother."
Fíli and Kíli switched their mugs, and Kíli's second sip resulted in a pleased expression. Fíli smiled warmly when he tasted his own super-sweet cocoa.
"Thank you, Mama," he said.
"Thank you!" Kíli repeated, tipping his mug a little too far and spilling a little of his drink.
"Careful, Kíli, you'll spill it!" Fíli warned. "Hold it up straight like me. Look."
Kíli straightened his mug, holding it so carefully that Dís had to hold back a laugh.
"Are you all warm and toasty now, boys?" she asked.
"Aye, Mama," they said together. Dís grinned and adjusted the blanket around them as they sipped their cocoa.
"Good."
