If you ever wondered what the vibe of the Devil and Maiden story is like, behold a legit canon scene:
Feat the maiden (Marguerite) who actually hasn't had any art posted yet!
This is the vibe of their friendship before it becomes a relationship, just being absolute goofs without meaning to be. She knows Markus is hiding something and is trying to weasel it out of him - he knows they like each other and delights in making her blush, especially when she tries to keep to the rules of propriety.
To also make it perfectly clear - she didn't actually break into his house. She came to visit while he was on an errand, he left the door unlocked, and she thought it would be really, really funny to ambush him on the couch. Marguerite should've expected his response to be flirting, though!
An embarrassing noise of alarm was sounded, sharp and nearly a yelp, as hands were suddenly pulling him down and backward from his projected route to the drinks table. If they’d been in the presence of any others his face would have gone a striking shade of rose, but it managed to spread only to his cheeks at his embarrassment, above a smile nonetheless. “—What on earth are you doing? I can’t very well make you something like this.” He playfully pulled away, but with hardly any strength, quite content to be held for as long as Mycroft preferred.
“Mm, the drink can wait,” Mycroft hummed in response as he wrapped his arms around Jasper’s middle, pulling him back towards his chest as he gently rested his chin on the other’s shoulder. The smell of alcohol was clear on his breath, that, combined with his behaviour, providing evidence for his drinking throughout the day.
To be honest, he didn’t really want another drink. Instead, Mycroft had wanted to lure Jasper closer so he could do exactly what he had done - pull him in and hold him close for a moment. Perhaps it would have been easier to just ask the other to sit with him but, well, where was the fun in that, hm?
Tauriel paused in the doorway, andstared in some disbelief at Kili.
“Excuse me?”
Kili cocked his head in herdirection.
“That’s the thing that you shouldsay, you know, when you do one. Not just, you know, hide it in the bin in thebathroom under a bunch of tissues and pretend that you didn’t.”
She rolled her eyes at him.
“I was going to tell you, idiot.”
To her surprise, there was agenuine slump of relief to his shoulders at that, and she paused for a moment.Had he honestly thought that she wasn’t going to mention anything to him, thatshe didn’t trust him enough to tell him what had happened? She wouldn’t havethought that Kili would assume that, but by the way he was looking at her now,relieved and hopeful all at once, perhaps she was wrong. So rather thanthrowing her bag on the floor and going to find food, she threw herself on the sofa, bag and all,knocking Kili off balance so that he fell against her. It gave her time to wrapan arm around him, to pull him close, nuzzling at the mess of his hair with herchin.
“You were away all weekend withyour brother, idiot. I wasn’t going to tell you over breakfast this morning,was I?”
Kili shrugged, but he didn’t pullaway, just nosed closer to her throat, breathing deep the smell of her skin,the warmth of her.
“I was worried, was all,” hemuttered, and she kissed his crown. “Worried that you didn’t want to talk to meabout it.”
“It’s negative, after all,” shereminded him, and he nodded morosely.
“But you were worried enough totake it in the first place. I want you to know that I’d be there to do thatsort of thing with you, if you wanted me to be, so that you wouldn’t have to bealone.”
She kissed his hair again, then,because he was being rather sweet, even if he was also being daft.
“I know. But I wasn’t reallyworried, just wanted to make sure.”
There was a pause, for just amoment.
“Have you ever thought about kids?”he asked, and she started. They must have had this conversation before, surely?They had been together for years, after all, since they met at university –they’d braved the roads of graduation and adult life together, had found jobsthat they enjoyed enough to continue with, had found a flat, had stayed togetherdespite what everyone had thought. They’d talked about the future countlesstimes – all of Kili’s mad and ambitious plans, all of Tauriel’s dreams. Had childrenreally never featured in those conversations?
“Not now,” she said. “But one day. Coupleof boys, running round, looking like you?” Tauriel said, quietly. “And a girl,who looked like your mum? All of them with messy dark hair and laughter thatmakes everyone turn to look?” She kissed his head again. “Aye, I’d be happywith that.”
Kili smiled, pressed against herthroat still.
“I’d like at least one of them tohave red hair, you know.”
She laughed, then, and he rolledthem over, not judging the space and knocking them both to the floor.
He stole a kiss, and didn’t lookeven slightly apologetic.
The first time Agnès successfully flips a pancake in the pan without losing half of it or flipping the entire thing onto the floor, she's so extraordinarily pleased with herself, telling Tiz to come see, she's a cook now!, that he can't help a bit of laughter as he gives his approval of the browned, fluffy breakfast.
