Chapter Text
You just finished the painting you have been working on for weeks and you took a step back to see the outcome. Yellow sunflowers filled the canvas and a small, cozy-looking cottage sat in the middle. You lifted it aside and grabbed an empty one, trying to decipher what to paint. A knock interrupted your thinking and you straightened your back and it cracked loudly.
"Yes?" You called, and the door opened. First, it seemed like there was no one there, but a small figure appeared.
"Henry! What are you doing here?" Your little brother peeked into the room.
"Mama said that we can go out and see if we could find me a new toy." You nodded, his wooden horse has broken a week ago and now he had nothing to play with.
"Go grab your shoes, I'll wash the paint off my hands and change, we can go now before it gets dark."
He squealed and ran out of the room, yelling for your mother. You shook your head, smiling, and grabbed a bright yellow dress from your closet and pulled it on, and grabbed a brown scarf to match it.
Your brother was running down the road of the city. A new toymaker had just come into town, and he wanted to see what kind of toys he could make.
"Come on, Y/N, hurry up!" Your brother exclaimed and ran back to pull you from your hand.
"We're almost there!" He exclaimed, and you sped up, not wanting him to tear your hand of its socket.
"I'm coming! Slow down!"
A bell rang as you entered the shop, and your brother squealed. The shop was filled with toys, all wooden and make to the smallest detail. Henry disappeared somewhere and you bent down to look closer at a small wooden horse. It was incredibly detailed, but it was colorless and it bothered you. The wooden color was nice, but you could only imagine what it would look like if it was painted brown.
"How may I help you, lass?" A friendly voice came from next to you, and you sprung up, startled. Turning around, you were face to face with a friendly-looking dwarf with brown eyes, a mustache, and a curious-looking hat. He was quite handsome, in his own way. You blushed and tried to speak, but nothing came out.
"Oh, I'm terribly sorry I didn't mean to startle you. I am Bofur, at your service." He bowed shortly and returned his gaze to you.
"How can I help you today, miss?" You smiled.
"Please, Y/N is fine. I am here to..." An excited squeal interrupted your words.
"I want this one!" Henry ran to you with a horse that had wheels on it, and held it up to you.
"Well, here is my business. Henry needed a new one after his old one broke, so we came here." You explained, and Henry nodded eagerly.
"That is an excellent choice, lad. My brother Bifur will back I for you, I'll change a few words with your mother." He spoke, and you smiled while Henry giggled and a frown made it's way into Bofur's face.
"What?" He asked from the two of you, and Henry answered.
"Y/N isn't my mum, she is my sister!" He ran off, still laughing, and Bofur turned to you, face beet red.
"I am incredibly sorry, I didn't mean to..." His voice trailed off and you shook your head, smiling.
"It's fine. Now, how much for that horse and..." You grabbed the smaller one off the shelf.
"This smaller one?" You finished the sentence and he pondered for it a while and then smiled.
"Normally it would be 50 coins but I'll sell them to a pretty lass like you with 40." It was your turn to blush furiously and you swiped a tuft of hair behind your ear.
"T-thank you, master Bofur. Here." You spoke quietly with a slight stutter and handed him the money, glancing out the window. You turned hastily towards the door as you saw it was getting dark.
"Henry, we need to go now! Mom will get nervous if we aren't home before sundown!"
- - - -
It was late, but you wanted to finish painting before you went to bed. You had painted Henry's horse before he went to bed, and it had turned out quite well. It was black with a small white mark on it's forehead. Now, you were working on the horse you had bought for yourself. You had already painted it brown, now you worked on the eyes and white markings on it's head and legs. You were interrupted by a knock.
"Mmh." You mumbled a sound to tell whoever was behind the door that you were listening, and your mother's voice sounded from the other side.
"Someone is asking for you at the door." You frowned. Your friends never visited this late. And there was no other person in your life.
"I'll bring him to your room, I know you are busy." You frowned. "Him?"
"Oh. Hello." You greeted Bofur as he arrived at the door.
"Did I give you too little money? I swear I made sure there was all of it."
"No. No, lass, I'm not here because of that. I'm here to return this." He handed you your scarf that you had forgotten into the shop and you blushed.
"Oh! Thank you. I would have wondered where it had gone." You grabbed the scarf and placed it in the box you had for them, only to turn around and have Bofur to look at Henry's horse while you turned around.
"You painted this?" He asked, pointing to the horse, and you nodded, not sure what he was getting at. He turned to you and smiled.
"I have been thinking in hiring someone to paint the toys, but it seems fate wanted this to play out differently. So. Would you be interested in a job at the shop. They pay isn't much but it's something." You stared at him and shifted your weight from one leg to another.
"Are you sure you want me?"
"It doesn't matter that you are a lass, your work is remarkable." You nodded, still a little unsure.
"And what about your brother?" You asked, and he waved it off.
"He'll be fine. I doubt he will have a problem with working with a pretty lass." You blushed again and smiled at him, your face burning.
"Then I'd love to. I could start as soon as tomorrow, is that alright?" Bofur seemed a little stunned but nodded.
"Yes! Of course! I'll see you tomorrow at nine." He kissed your cheek as a goodbye and you blushed furiously. As he exited the house, you ran to your parents to inform them of your new job. They were thrilled and happy for you, knowing that your job was one that you loved. You lied awake for most of the night, trying to fall asleep but failing, Bofur's eyes and smile returning to your mind time after time, even if you tried to keep them at bay.
"I cannot like him, he is my boss." You told yourself and closed your eyes. But oh how you were wrong.
- - - -
After a week of shifts and paintings, you could not longer deny your feelings for him. He was so kind and polite and sweet that your heart bled every time you were around him. But you just could not gather enough courage to tell him.
"Y/N?" His voice pulled you out of your haze, and you straightened your back and dress quickly.
"I'm in here." You answered and returned to the blocks you were painting. They were going to be all different colors, this one was going to be red.
"There you are, I have another horse for you." Bofur handed you a sturdy wooden horse, and you shook your head to signal him not to give it to you.
"Put it to the table, I have paint on my hands." He glanced at you and his mouth twisted into a smirk.
"Not only your hands." You frowned but wiped your nose with your hand and groaned as a spot of red smeared your sleeve. This had happened before, you became so focused that you sometimes got paint on your nose.
"Oh no." You grabbed a cloth and started to wipe it off, but Bofur grabbed it from you.
"Let me." He gently wiped the paint off and as he finished, he tried to give you a kiss on the cheek but you shifted so it landed on your lips instead. He blushed deeply as you froze.
"Oh no, Y/N, I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to!" He gasped, and you fought the gaze off and turned to face him, his face still beet red.
"N-no, it's fine." You stuttered, and he turned to look at you and out of nowhere, planted another kiss on your lips. You froze again and he pulled away and started apologizing and tried to leave the room.
"I shouldn't have done that, I'm sorry Y/N, I don't know what came over me-" You cut him off with you lips. The kiss was long and full of love.
As you finally pulled away for breath, Bofur smiled warmly and you couldn't help but giggle. The moment was perfect. At least it was until Bifur burst trough the door.
"Y/N are you done with..." His voice trailed off as he took in the scene in front of him. You blushed furiously.
"I'll come back later then." Before you could say anything, he backed away and closed the door behind him.
"I think we should get back to work." You said and turned to your paints, but Bofur pulled you back to his chest.
"Not before I do this." And with that, Bofur pressed his lips to yours again.