Title: "Kisses So Sweet"
Author: Pirate Turner
Rating: PG
Summary: Every one always has somewhere they'd rather be than work; even the seven Dwarves would rather be home with their beloved Snow White by far.
Warnings: Group Love, Het
Word Count: 1,153
Date Written: 5 September, 2011
Challenge: For the XDisneyDreamer LJ comm's weekly challenge
Disclaimer: Snow White and the Seven Dwarves and all characters mentioned within are ﾩ & TM Disney, not the author, and are used without permission. Everything else is ﾩ & TM the author. The author makes absolutely no profit off of this work of fan fiction, and no copyright infringement is intended.
No one really likes to work. It's a simple fact of life that every one would rather be living in their own, chosen surroundings and doing whatever they please rather than having to go into a job or work in a mine shaft or somewhere else. The task doesn't always matter. It's the simple lack of freedom that really unnerves one, the fact that you can't just do whatever you please and must instead focus your full attention on your job, whatever that task may be. It doesn't matter if you're a human, a Troll, a Dwarf, or some other creature. It's the same for every one, and the seven Dwarves in the forest are no exception.
No one who knows them suspects how much they'd rather not go into their mine and work all day. After all, they sing on their way to and from and all day long while working, and yet their songs do little, in truth, to make the time pass more easily for they'd all much rather be at home at their cottage with their lady. It is the thoughts of what awaits them at their home that keep the Dwarves pounding out their gems and the necessity of what those gems will eventually earn them.
Not only will their lady smile when they present her with the most beautiful gems, but they'll use the rest to barter to get things they could not otherwise obtain through honest means. They travel into the village once a month, and it is through bartering with the precious stones they dig out from their mine that they procure the supplies they'll need, such as clothes with which to adorn themselves; flour, sugar, and other foods that they can get in the forest; and the rare trinkets to make their lady smile when she finds herself not quite in the mood for which they seek, to live freely in their forest home for another month of what is, for them, mostly paradise.
They enjoy their forest and would never choose any other home than their beloved, little cottage, but all seven would gladly leave their mine if their work was not such a necessity to make their dream lives come true. Singing their work songs help to pass the time, but no matter how loudly they sing, they always keep in mind the things awaiting them at home. It is those thoughts of what they'll soon be able to do that keeps them going and swinging their pick axes, no matter how long or hot the day. For all, their goal is simply to get through their work and be able to return to the love and happiness awaiting them at home, but for each Dwarf, the things they most look forward to differ greatly.
Doc is always eager to open his books and reread them all again while Sleepy looks forward merely to crawling back into his own, treasured bed and resting his head on his fluffy, feather pillow, of which a new one is always his greatest purchase whenever they venture into the village. Poor Sneezy looks forward to changing out his snot-soaked handkerchief for a fresh handkerchief and wonders when their beloved Snow White will make him a new one. She's made him one so far, and he always blows his nose with pride into it, constantly turning it whenever he touches it so that his embroidered name shows to any one watching. Bashful, meanwhile, most anticipates their nightly dances with their lady and dreams of one day not quite being so bashful and kissing her first.
Happy is, in truth, still happy regardless of rather he's at home or in the mines, but even he would much rather be at home. Like all the rest, he enjoys being with their special lady, Snow White, and hearing the new stories she creates for them every night at bedtime. Like Happy, although for vastly different reasons, Dopey also doesn't much care what he's doing, but he always looks forward to hearing the twinkle of their Snow White's pleasured laughter. His ears wriggle in delight every time he thinks of going home to her.
Six of the seven Dwarves do pause in their singing from time to time, especially when they stop mining for lunch, to discuss what awaits them at home. They share their thoughts of what they most want to do and encourage their brethren that it won't be much longer before they can live those thoughts. Of the six, however, there is one who keeps his opinions to himself, and when asked what he most looks forward to, Grumpy won't tell them. He simply waves them off with the occasional exclamation of "Bah!", picks up his axe, and goes back to work.
Yet, with his back to the others, Grumpy smiles as looks forward to going home and taking a bath. He's learned to enjoy removing the grime from the cave and the sweat from his labor off of his short body, but it's not because of the bath. No, he still hates water almost as much as he despises having to work, but it's what comes after the bath that leads him homeward. Snow White knows how much he hates bathing, and she made him a promise long ago that she'd always show him how proud she was of him every time he bathed.
While the other Dwarves are still messing around in their tubs, fighting with their bars of soap and little, rubber ducks Snow bought to encourage them to have fun bathing many moons ago, Grumpy consistently steals Snow away for a quiet moment together. She inspects his cleansed body, speaks her approval, and then shows it with a kiss.
His whole body warms as Grumpy thinks of those kisses, his beard and toes curling, and when the whistle goes off, he's the first one out of the cave, almost running instead of marching to get back to their beautiful Snow White and not only the dances, stories, and fun times spent in their pushed together beds that await them at their home but, most of all, to those kisses so sweet. He smiles to himself as the sun sinks low, an expression he only allows himself when no one is watching, and is glad the other Dwarves can't see his eager happiness from their places in the procession in which they march.
Soon, he'll be climbing out of the tub and she'll be kissing him again, but he'll never tell the others to what he most looks forward upon returning home. Let them have their silly times, their books, jokes, and dances. They can share Snow White when it comes time for bed, but after the bath, she's always his. He will forever take all the kisses she has to give him and always hurry back home, after a long day's work, for more.
The End