rated pg, 1456 words
estella, others (merry/pippin/estella/diamond)
20 things you might not know about Estella Bolger, from SR 1418 to 1427.
When her brother left Budgeford, deciding to live a rebel's life, Estella waited a week and then followed after him. It wasn't that it was safe, staying at Budge Hall, but Estella had spent months worrying after Merry, and had wondered at times if it would have been best if she had gone along with him and Pippin and Frodo, too, though she had only ever wondered – but could face no more than a week with her brother off alone, before the worry drove her to dressing as a lad and following after her brother.
rated G/PG-13, 3000 words
merry/pippin (merry/pippin/estella/diamond) Thirty years in a long, long life.
Pippin is near a head taller than Merry recalls him having been at Yule - well, close enough, at least - and it's well and clear that Pippin's no child, not that Merry had thought him one for years. And Merry only notices that Pippin has been growing because Pippin had kissed him at the summer fair the year before, and Pippin had had to tilt his head up into the kiss, just so. But they're eye to eye, this time, and Pippin grins, and when he leaves Merry - because he does leave - Merry is speechless, and Pippin wears that same grin.
rated pg, 375 words éowyn/ofc
Her captain fell before the start of the war.
It's been months now since they came to Edoras, and all Éowyn knows is that she misses her mother and her father, and Éomer spends more time playing eored with their cousin Théodred and the other lads, than he has spent with her. Well, Éowyn thinks, she doesn't need Éomer to play, most especially since she met Brunhild, who she likes a whole lot. Maybe mostly because they are both girls, and Brunhild doesn't seem to like the boys all that much, not when they play at their games and leave her out, too and that is something that Éowyn very much understands.
Brunhild's uncle is the Captain of Éowyn's uncle's Guard, but maybe if Éowyn were queen, Brunhild could be the Captain of hers.
rated r, 5382 words rosie/sam, rosie/frodo, sam/frodo implied
What differences that there could be with a lady's touch upon the Ring.
The air is viscous and sweet like fresh marmalade, heavy raindrops drop like blotches of grey paint from the cloudy sky above; the end of the seasons nears, the last of the summer showers thick and wet and hot. Vibrant air stirs sweetly in Rose Cotton's lungs. She stares down at the party field from the cast open door of Bag End; behind her, there is darkness, the warmth of spice and tea, home and hearth, her home, her hearth, behind her. Somewhere deep within the smial, the slight pad of bare feet upon well-worn, hard-packed earth is heard; the sound of a ghost, nothing more than a shadow. Rose keeps her gaze upon the path up from the field that rounds up from Bagshot Row. Her hair is damp from standing too long in the light downpour, makes her seem taller, more vibrant; as though she's connected to the earth, lives with it, breathes with it; if she sinks her toes into the rich dark soil of the gardens, she'd grow, too; she'd bloom.
rated r/nc-17, 4,892 words frodo/merry, frodo/pippin, merry/pippin
Merry and Pippin both have their own way of handling Frodo.
It might have been snowing the night before, but they're lucky as they start their ride out from Frogmorton, intent on making their way east. The day is bright, but chilly, and their way is clear. From Frogmorton, and then to the Causeway, and they make a grand passing of the Brandywine at Bucklebury, where the water is dark and choppy, as dark and unsettled looking as the sky. And their luck continues, as they make it through to Brandy Hall before the next snow comes, and it's falling hard at their backs as they make it in through Brandy Hall's grand doors. When it had been morning still, and they had woken but hadn't thought to move from their warm bed, Pippin had suggested that they take a day longer. And Frodo found himself thinking, as they travelled, when he was cold and damp, that maybe it would have been for the best if Pippin had, once again, gotten his own way. Well, at least they'd stayed for breakfast.
rated pg, 250 words
lobelia/primula
It she had known.
If she had known what a difference a kiss could have made, she might have kissed Lobelia sometime before. But as it is, by the time she saw what indifference had done, they were both much older and Lobelia, who had been kind enough in youth (though never as kind as she could be), had turned as sweet as a muddy bog – that is, as foul as could be. Primula would sometimes think, she might have done it all differently: she might have smiled instead, she hadn't any need to frown. She might have accepted Lobelia's present, might have kissed her in return. Might have taken what was offered, that kiss and that friendship, might have known that she was holding onto a very fragile thing. No, not might have, but would have, and Lobelia would have been the greatest of her friends.
rated g, 600 words merry/pippin
Pippin has found Merry wandering in the city as the smoke clears.
It is a shallow slumber in which Merry sleeps, as though his body struggles to wake what dark dreams Merry must face, to have him seem so deeply distressed. Even the light of day is not strong enough to cast off this shadow no, the pale spring light falls thin like rain.
Chapter:One, Two rated pg, 9685 words
estella/diamond (with others)
Five months in SR 1419 where Estella and Diamond become better acquainted.
She stumbles down the bank, clutching at her left arm. If she'd been in a fouler mood, she might have cursed the blood. 'You really are something,' Folco says when she stops, dropping down on her knees. 'I'm not quite sure what that something is, but you are, in fact, something.'
Estella scowls at Folco, then looks at her arm. She winces, then bites at her lip, drawing bloody fingers back.
'Well, that looks worse off than it is, I'm sure.'
'Let me have a look,' Folco says, though in no way asking for her permission. She nods and drops her hand and lets him have a better look at it. She winces again and could have cursed at him, but doesn't – if . 'Really, Stel,' he says, with a matter of fact tsk. 'You're going to give poor old Freddy fits.'
Chapter:One, Two, Three rated pg, 9546 words
celandine brandybuck, moro burrows (and others)
Some roads are longer than others.
She was the only daughter, and the youngest child, of her immediate family – and that meant that Celandine was, more than not, used to getting her own way.
rated pg, 3205 words merry/estella, merry/pippin, merry/estella/pippin implied
Where Estella decides that something MUST be done.
Estella hadn't thought much of it, at first. Tonight was different, though, and Estella watched Merry as he sat in the corner of the parlour. He had gone here to escape from the chaos of Pippin's coming of age. There were more Tooks flooding the halls and the grounds of the Great Smials than could have been imagined, Boffins and Bolgers, Chubbs and Grubbs, Bracegirdles and Brandybucks. Estella had thought that the two cousins would be inseparable. But when she found Pippin, he was alone; and he had not been sure at all where to find Merry.
rated g, 2400 words
lotho sackville-baggins (and various others)
The way it happens
The night before, as the hours unwound, his mother had insisted they arrive right at midnight – at long last, all their waiting had ended, and Bag End would be theirs. But over tea, she considered the propriety of that: and conceded, though Lotho had not protested. But they waited, and went to Bag End at the crack of dawn, instead.
rated nc-17, 5847 words
frodo/merry, merry/pippin
But you loved him first, you loved him best. You still do.
You've lived your life keeping your eye on him, both eyes, as often as you can spare them. It was easier, before he left you, before he went away, but he should have known you'd not be stopped at that. You followed him, visited him as often as you could. And you've kept your eyes on him, and you know it's been for the best. He doesn't look after himself half as well as you look after him. But no matter how hard you tried to stop them from changing, things did change – he isn't just yours anymore, and you don't like that one bit.
rated nc-17, 3583 words
frodo/merry/pippin
It has been far too long since they'd had a proper visit.
Three months is far too long to have gone between proper visits, Merry thinks, as Pippin near bowls him over with the force of his almost too exuberant greeting. Pippin catches Merry tight in a hug, and Merry's legs almost buckle beneath him though that isn't only from Pippin's weight and the energy of Pippin's greeting. Part of it the good majority of it, really is that three months is far too long to have gone between visits, and his bo y has gone beyond hungry for Pippin's touch, and is now starving. Merry wants to touch Pippin all over, but he can't, at least, not right now. Instead, he hugs Pippin tight, hands smoothing down Pippin's back following the curve down to the small of it and then he squeezes, tightly, pressing down through cloth to flesh. He breathes in Pippin's scent heady, and Merry could spin. He mutters something, but it's low enough that it must not matter.
rated g, 2000 words
tunnellys, tooks, and bolgers
First kisses.
She had grown so used to Tully, it surprised her when she found she loved him, and as more than just a friend. Pimpernel wasn't one on holding to propriety, most especially when it came to saving time.
rated g, 953 words
merry, pippin, kitten-fic
There's someone new at the Crickhollow house.
Merry wakes, with something, soft but firm, batting at his cheek. 'Pippin,' he groans, with his eyes still shut – and there Pippin is, and the soft but steady sound of his laugh. And Merry supposes that he should open his eyes. Then that thing taps against Merry's chin, the faint prickle of something sharper, and Merry is more curious than he is injured. Pippin's weight depresses at the edge of their bed, Merry opens one eye and then the other: and then that something comes into focus: the soft fuzz yellow-gold fur, and leaf green eyes. A cat, a kitten still by the size of it, sitting right on Merry's chest, all its weight focused at its paws.
rated pg-13, 500 words
frodo/sam/pippin
And Pippin had turned to Sam, and he had leaned close and he had smelled of berries, sweat, and Frodo, all faint and pleasant, and he had smiled as he drew a fat, sharp-red berry, glistening, up from the bowl.
It was gentlehobbits that he was sitting with, and fine as they might be, Sam better knew Frodo (and Pippin, even, most especially that Took) as one with, at the slightest, queer habits and when Frodo had tutted his tongue and said, "Pippin, there's berry right there right at the corner of your lip," Sam had been left thinking that Frodo would take his kerchief from his pocket, that he'd offer it to his cousin but Frodo had grinned, blithe had been the word for it, and he had set a kiss right there at the corner crease of Pippin's mouth.
rated r/nc-17, 1767 words
frodo/merry/pippin
Spring has come, as well as other things.
'It's Took tradition', Pippin says, standing at the opened door to Bag End, where both Frodo and Merry had greeted him. Took tradition, Pippin's said, and Frodo wonders just how long Pippin's been waiting to say that, given his grin. Pippin is often all about grand gestures, after all. Then Pippin takes them by hand, and leads them to the bed; a kiss and a tumble, both on the first of spring, and it will be a very fine season, all in all; and he'd kissed them at the front door, after he'd dropped his pack onto the floor, after he'd shut the door hard and let the latch catch. His mouth against Frodo's is a wet fumble, not ice and snow but grass and sun. It's been three months since their last proper visit, Brandy Hall at Yule. When Pippin draws back, his eyes are warm and his cheeks are flushed, and he puts one hand up at the nape of Merry's neck, mouth reaching for Merry's mouth. They kiss, a breath away from Frodo, and Frodo wonders if he ever did try and tell Pippin no. He knows he had, knows he's had to at some point, but he can't recall it to his mind.
rated pg, 500 words denethor/pippin
Your first encounter with Minas Tirith passes in a blur...
Your first encounter with Minas Tirith passes in a blur. This place of stone, tall towers and tall men, and it all rushes by as you sit before Gandalf on old hadowfax. You should not be here, and you cling to that belief; but you cling to your belief in Gandalf, too, that he would not led you into danger.
rated pg, 2100 words
peridot/olivine (ofc/ofc), talenard/peridot (omc/ofc)
Different ways to look at similar things.
Olivine had never understood Peridot's feelings for Men – Peridot was certain that Livvie hadn't ever even tried. It wasn't til the Men came again, and withdrew the Shirriffs to Nobottle, Peridot at least found that she herself could understand – for these Men were nothing at all like Elendir, and, in fact, she was insulted, for his sake, for him to be compared with such.
rated pg-13/r, 1338 words merry/pippin, folco/freddy
You'd think they'd worry that there was someone about to watch.
You'd think they'd worry that there was someone about to watch - the bedroom window is thrown open, and all about seems brisk and cool, and the light that slants in, pale, spills at their feet. But they're just as they always have been, even if they've changed - and they've made a mess of each other and are laughing, giddy in their afterglow where they lie entangled with each other, on their bed. And there's not a worry about (at least, not one that can be seen or heard), that someone might happen upon them happening upon each other, if by chance they travelled off the lane - but they are tired, certainly, and not thinking of all else.
rated pg, 3213 words
celandine brandybuck, moro burrows (and others)
Celandine and Moro's wedding.
He came out reluctantly, though not for lack of loving her: only he wished himself a better hobbit, to be bound by her. Moro looked at Celandine, and thought his heart might surely split – she stood there, a crown of pale yellow blossoms atop her dark hair, her name-flower, no doubt: and her frock was long, white, and sprigged with gold and green.
rated r, 1016 words
pervinca/angelica
She might have been the one.
Pervinca spends too much time with lads (and on more than one occasion Pippin has said she'd make a better one than a lass), and she thinks mostly like a lad and lets Angelica know that she's interested in her (and she is interested in her, there'd be no good denying that). Angelica wouldn't be visiting at Great Smials if it hadn't been for cousin Amethyst's wedding, and Amethyst set to marry a Baggins. It might just be timing, but Pervinca thinks it might instead be fate.
rated pg, 4,232 words merry, pippin, frodo/merry
Pippin and Merry in the Houses of Healing.
Pippin never has thought himself impatient, though there are others who have, and for the most he had thought they simply didn't know what they were thinking. He knows he trusts Aragorn, and he trusts Gandalf, too, mostly because if he doesn't trust them, then he doesn't know who he would be able to trust. Well, he can trust himself, as he doesn't think he's crazy yet and he has stood at Gandalf's side since they had came in from the City, and he has watched Aragorn tend first Faramir, and then Éowyn, and he doesn't know what is going on with Merry, and the scent of athelas should be refreshing but he's almost sick with it, and his worry.
rated pg, 600 words
andson twofoot (omc) and robin smallburrow
It isn't the worst.
When the opportunity was presented, Andson took up with the Shirriffs – now, he knew how some viewed them, and the Men they sided with, but Andson didn't see it as such. He thought he had a bit of power of his own, and didn't think it to much – he wasn't Lotho, after all, and needn't be Chief of the Shire. But knowing he could say do, and that hobbits would hasten to listen to him... well, he did like that. It wasn't for want of being cruel, but just of wanting his own power: what was the harm in that?
rated g, 741 words
merry, pippin
But it was an end, and a beginning, too.
Pitch in the fire snapped with a pop, and Merry woke with the feeling that he was being watched. He opened his eyes slowly, listening to the silence of the night, a silence broken only by the low crackle of the fire, as Merry held his breath. It wasn't a very cold night, nor was it very warm. In the low light of the campfire, and the half-light from the moon and stars above, Merry could see that the camp was empty.
rated pg, 2225 words
pippin/hawthorn (ofc)
Pippin has kisses to give. Hawthorn has a story to tell.
His smile reminded her of another's, and so she smiled in return. His name was Peregrin Took – the Thain's own son – but mostly the hobbits of Budgeford called him Captain Peregrin, for his part at the Battle of Bywater and the ousting of the Ruffians. Master Freddy, come back from the Lockholes and perhaps a shadow of who he might have been before, called him Pippin only, for Hawthorn knew them to be cousins and close friends.
rated g, 400 words
merry, pippin, and a bramble-cat
Bramble has been helping Pippin in the kitchen.
Merry comes up the lane, and finds Pippin sitting outside Crickhollow, with Bramble at his side. The front door is open, and the air smells faintly of smoke, and Bramble is currently butting her head against Pippin's hand, in want of Pippin's attention – Pippin, grinning, scratches his fingers back through tawny-gold fur, shaking his head, as if he's lost in thought. He doesn't look up at the sound of Merry's approach, either, though he doesn't look singed, and despite the acrid smell of smoke, the house is still standing.
rated nc-17, 7270 words
merry/pippin/estella/diamond
A visit to Great Smials.
Great Smials is far more grand a place than North Tunnels not to say that her home was without its own charm, but Great Smials had been built with more hobbits than the North-tooks had in mind, and lacking their order: North Tunnels had been built to order, and to plan, is rather neatly laid out. Great Smials, on a completely different hand, is a rambling place, with too-long corridors, too-wide halls, with far too many rooms and doors and back parlours than Diamond think she could even count. Funny, then, that she is looking for one such back parlour, in specific. And when it had been mentioned, Estella and she's a Bolger out of Budge Hall at Budgeford, and she's quite a nice lass, really she is had made it sound so very easy to find, but it wasn't being as easy as all that.
rated g, 400 words merry
In four drabbles, a progression from start to the end.
Merry rode, and the moon cast its light, and all the mist about him seemed to glow. The sound of his pony's steps was a steady clop clop in the night, and the damp was creeping in, though Merry had bundled himself before he'd gone out to ride. Still, he'd yet to find Frodo or Pippin (or even Sam), and he wondered what bothered him more the wet and the darkness or his two cousins, missing. More than likely, it would be the last.
rated g, 400 words
various
The first time I saw you.
The ride from Buckland took the better part of four days, with the summer storms so heavy and Merry's tired, and he says as such, and what's so important about babies, anyhow? He didn't want to hold it, that's for certain, but his mother very carefully set the swathed bundle, wrinkled-pink and small, in his arms. Merry wonders, what's so special about another baby, even if the baby is a Took lad, the first for Aunt Lana and Uncle Pal?
rated g, 300 words
original characters (citrine smallburrow and freddy banks)
There's no need to rush.
Citrine laughs, puts her hand in Freddy's. 'It does seem to be a good day,' she says, and she means it – for the sun is bright, and thought Blotmath has come, and winter advancing, the air still seems to carry some of summer's cheer. 'Tell me, Freddy Banks,' she goes on, and he presses her hand more firmly, smiling cheek to cheek. 'Is it true, do you mean to wed me?
rated g, 300 words
merry and pippin (merry/pippin)
But more than that, the cold and the dark, some motion has startled him, but one he finds to be familiar.
Merry wakes, startled by darkness – cold and hateful, and for some long seconds, he forgets where he is. But winter is gone behind him, and another long spring lies before him. He is in his own proper guest-room at Great Smials, in a too-small bed.
rated g, 1005 words
beregond/pippin, merry/pippin implied
Beregond and Pippin talk and come to know one another.
He was easy company, this Peregrin, and Beregond smiled as the halfling talked. It seemed that there would be no lack of conversation, between them, as he had all his companions to speak of. Peregrin spoke of Mithrandir, and Gimli, too, and Merry; of course he spoke of Merry, and Beregond wondered who this Merry might be, other than Peregrin's cousin, as Peregrin had named him. And while Peregrin had once mentioned Aragorn, and Rohan, he did not speak more of him, other than to say that Aragorn had been of the greatest help to him and his friends while they had all been out upon the trail.
rated pg-13, 400 words
frodo/pippin
All that Pippin sees in Frodo.
Sometimes, Pippin wonders what Frodo sees in the river yes, he did lose his parents, and that was a terrible accident that no hobbit lad ought to have endured but Pippin knows Frodo as the best swimmer in all the Buckland, when he is visiting there, at least.
rated r, 3268 words
merry/estella/pippin
So, how do you like the Lithe celebrations here at Great Smials?
"Whatever happened to Frodo? I thought you said he meant to join."
Merry thinks on that, and Estella watches him as he does, and as he watches his reflection where it ripples in the surface of his mug of ale. Then Merry downs the mug full in one go, and he gasps in satisfaction after, settling back against the broad bole of the old oak. The sun is out, and the sky is mostly clear, and the sound of faint merry-making is distant at best. There are trees all about them, and while the sky is mostly clear, it is only visible through open, narrow patches in the green above. And Merry says, but only at length: "Oh, I think I saw Freddy dragging him off," and then he sets the emptied mug down in the tall grass at his side.
rated g, 1058 words
merry/pippin
Somewhere between Rivendell and Moria.
The night might be dark but at least the stars are out to guide them. It seems that they're all in a mess, and they've been walking since before dusk had fully fallen since before the first of the now-bright stars had come out. But Pippin's feet are no more tired and sore than they'd been the day before, and the day before that. He'd looked forward to a good hot meal, and another to follow, and isn't that a ridiculous reason for him to think that he might regret that he'd been allowed along on Frodo's quest? Perhaps he shouldn't have pressed but then, perhaps Gandalf shouldn't have gone and been the most insensible of all, and sided with him when he had insisted that he would go with Frodo that being at Frodo's side could be his only place.
rated g, 984 words
freddy, merry, pippin
Things that need to be said, are said.
It isn't the first they've seen him, since that day in November when they carried him out into the light; but he does look desperate, Merry thinks, and somehow, that, that desperation, knowing in name at least all that Freddy had faced, that affects Merry in ways that are hard enough to consider, but harder still to name. Fatty has always been his cousin, and almost always been his friend. But right now, he doesn't quite seem to fit into himself – Fatty no more, isn't that what Pippin had said? And it isn't just for how he's too-thin, and how he seems too-tired... Cousin Rosamunda had endured it all well enough, taking care of her son after they had brought him back home – and it was something of their fault, wasn't it? They never should have left him on his own. Perhaps they shouldn't have gone from the Shire, themselves, but Merry does not think that could have been otherwise.
rated g, 870 words
pippin and diamond
What happens because of a broken heart.
Pippin finds Diamond easily enough: standing there in the corridor, hands at her sides, shaking as she – laughs? He finds himself somewhat perplexed, though not as he might have been elsewise, since he is familiar in his own way with grief. It is too terrible, and too terribly complicated. So, with all that in mind, Pippin cautiously strides forward.
rated pg-13, 3587 words
merry/estella
After their arranged marriage, Merry and Estella get to know one another all over again.
'I'm not quite in the mood for tradition,' said Estella. 'I hope you don't mind.' Merry gave a grave nod, but then a warm smile, and Estella thought that he must understand. He opened the front door with some care, and while he stood to the side to give her room to enter, he did not carry her over the threshold, nor did he even reach to hold her hand.
rated pg/pg-13, 700 words
frodo/merry/pippin
Merry and Pippin entertain Frodo at Crickhollow.
'You're welcome here, you know,' Merry says – the house at Crickhollow had been Frodo's before it had been his and Pippin's, after all, and Merry wants Frodo to know (and tells him as much) that this is their way of saying – of impressing it upon him, as need be – that he is ever in their hearts, and in their lives.
rated pg-13/r-ish, 1723 words
alyssum (ofc), pervinca, berilac
Moments in time.
The day is summer-bright still, though the sun's turned west to fading, and evening gathers in the east: and all those were left in Brandy Hall have turned out to dance. Some say the best Litheday celebrations are the ones that happen in the Tookland at Great Smials, but Alyssum rather prefers staying in Buckland. Oh, let Mardoc run off to his North-took at Long Cleeve. She knows what she wants, and what she likes, and she needn't cross the River to find it.
rated g, 1408 words
merry/éowyn implied, merry/éowyn/pippin-dynamic
It is at waking when Éowyn sees that she is not alone.
It is at waking when Éowyn sees that she is not alone a holbytla, very much like her own dear Merry, was sitting in a high backed chair that had been drawn close to the bedside, wearing all black and dangling his legs over the chair's edge. His attention was unbound, shiftless as the wind, and he hummed a cheerful-sounding tune, fingers tapping out the rhythm where his hands were resting at his knees. "I should know your name," she says, though her head is still cushioned against her own hair and the soft pillow, and she has not yet risen. At that, the halfling starts, then smiles, and oh but that smile is bright as the sun, and his attention comes to rest fully upon her.
rated nc-17, 4,000 words
merry/pippin
Beyond the end of all things, yet before the beginning. (The slashy take.)
It is not until the next morning, after a night spent s eeping and dreaming and despairing in the tent that Legolas and Gimli have taken to sharing, that Merry sees Pippin again. "It seems you have a visitor," Gandalf says into the dim tent, and kindly bids Merry enter, from where he stands, silent, at the open flap.
rated pg-13, 5754 words
merry/pippin
Pippin wonders what it will really mean to follow Frodo.
They're up rather late, and Pippin finds himself envying Fatty, and even Frodo and Sam. They're all very comfortable, he's sure, and in their own beds, as Merry insisted that they not bother with cleaning up, not when he and Pippin could see to it themselves; and they could finish with the last of the packing, too, and then at long last they would be able to put themselves to bed.
rated pg, 400 words
hobbits
A look at hobbits and death.
It really didn't hit him until they'd left the darkness of Moria, when the light seemed faded and bitter and the loss of Gandalf weighed upon them all. And Sam realised that he had killed, with his own blade, and it felt... wrong.
rated r, 3057 words
pervinca/marigold
Marigold really was starting to wonder how she'd ended up in this mess.
Marigold really was starting to wonder how she'd ended up in this mess. And even if she knew all that had brought her here, and all that she had wanted, it couldn't have been her own want or her own greed that had put her here.
rated g, 549 words
merry/pippin
"Morning will come, and then we will away."
It's late, and though they'll wake early come morning, no, even earlier than that, Pippin's quite certain that he won't be able to sleep. Fatty, though, had followed soon enough after Frodo, and now with the fire lying mostly dead on the hearth, Pippin and Merry are the ones left awake, and soon enough Pippin supposes that they shall at last follow after. It's hard knowing that this is their last night in the Shire for, oh, for a while now to come. And Pippin's not contemplated that he'd sleep the night through alone.
rated r, 2734 words merry/pippin
Merry can't sleep. Neither can Pippin.
It's cold and damp and dark. Merry watches the sky, and would have counted stars, if there had only been stars out to see. "Merry, you should try and sleep," Pippin says, his voice low, coming from Merry's right. Merry turns on his side, and finds Pippin to be an indistinct shadow with darker night at his back. Other than Pippin, and their breathing, the night is as empty and as still as the wide dark that stretches beneath mountains.
rated r/nc-17, 7162 words
frodo/pippin (frodo/merry and merry/pippin)
"There's no point in throwing blame, Pippin, when we've both had our hands in deep, helping cause this most particular mess."
The snow is falling in mad flurries beyond the glass pane of their inn-room's round window snowing like it hasn't in, oh, at least as long as it's been since Frodo first came to live at Hobbiton, and that has been oh, a very long time. He can only imagine what a press that will put on their travel plans, and he hadn't wanted to come along from the first, which only makes it more of a bother. Of course, it isn't Pippin's fault, either most especially, the heavy-falling snow. No, and it isn't that he hadn't wanted to come, at least, not completely. But it had taken a bit of persuading, on Pippin's fault, and Frodo is still rather surprised that Pippin got his way.
rated pg, 800 words
berilac brandybuck, hildibard took, and camellia brandybuck (omc and ofc)
Parts of a whole.
She laughs as she smiles, reaching for his hand. 'Oh, pardon me,' she says, for Berilac's heart is in his eyes, misguided though Camellia knows it to be. 'Oh, forgive me, Berilac, I hadn't meant to laugh.'
rated pg-13, 600 words fatty bolger, merry, pippin
And they remember him as he should be remembered, laughing for all that it had been three years, now, that he'd been gone.
"We should drink to something," Fredegar says. This must be hindsight, Pippin supposes. They've all been drinking, and there hadn't been worry that they needed something to drink to.
rated g, 1551 words
merry/pippin
What Merry wonders about, beyond the moon and stars above.
Merry watches the stars wheel overhead; a great game of tag in the heavens above. He lies flat in the slick grass, the taste of fresh rain cool and heavy in the air. He can't help but wonder as he watches, a thought that rests at the back of the mind, between the stars and the Moon, who'll be the one who wins.
rated pg, 3603 words
hally bolger and a cast of other ocs
Hally has been walking a long road.
'Mister Bolger, sir?' The voice is small, timid, and Hally would not have noticed it, if it had not been accompanied by a small cough. He turned, and found himself looking down at Lavender Goodchild, who had been a friend of Holly's since their youth. 'Mister Bolger, that is – Hally, if I may be so bold–'
rated g, 300 words éowyn, merry, mention of pippin
If you have already given up hope of his return, beyond ll thought, then you can only seal his fate.
He comes to visit after dark, quiet and subdued. She understands, in a way, but she would rather rage. She would, in fact, but the sorrow in Merry's eyes is more than Éowyn can stand.
rated pg, 1684 words
beryl boffin (and some of her family), bittersweet twofoot (ocs)
Beryl Boffin's first love.
Bittersweet Twofoot was nothing like her name might suggest: she was sweet, with an even temper and a merry disposition, and a much better hand at stitching and the other fineries of embroidery than Beryl should ever hope to be. They would, at times during the summer, when the days had begun their stretching into autumn, sit together in the side garden, talking and laughing and working together: both of them working together at Beryl's stitching, Beryl with her unsteady hands, but Bittersweet's hands level and her voice jolly as she gave Beryl her instructions.
rated g, 1355 words pippin, merry, esmeralda, eglantine, mention of frodo
Where young Pippin asks that certain question.
Pippin had always associated Brandy Hall with happy visits and fond memories - so, to see Frodo so distant and forlorn, with shadows in his eyes, when he should have instead been smiling, filled with cheer, confused the young Took to no end. It was after tea one sunny day, when Frodo had excused himself early, and Pippin watch him go before leaning close to Merry; who, being seventeen, and knowing the answer to Everything, would certainly have the answer to this to this small query.
rated pg, 500 words
pippin (others)
The Scouring through Pippin's eyes.
It is too much for Pippin to bear.
His thoughts go back to the Field of Cormallen, where Frodo and Sam had been honoured by the King himself and all the Men of the West: and rightly so, for all they had both suffered. But here now, this squint-eyed rascal is calling Frodo – Frodo, the Ring-bearer, renowned in the West, Aragorn's own dear friend, and Pippin's own dear cousin! – little cock-a-whoop.
Yes: too much to bear.
Thus, casting back his cloak and flashing out his sword, the silver and sable of Gondor gleams on his chest as Pippin strides forward.
rated pg, 1130 words frodo/boromir
He always feels so very alone.
There will come a time when the air is charged with the electricity of a thunderstorm unleashed, and a hunger will choke the air with its intensity. Fear will take hold of Frodo's heart and all he had hoped would not come, and yet had known was inevitable, will come crashing down upon him. Boromir's voice will be hoarse and he will grab for him, and he will demand what is rightfully his. He will have the Ring, but panic will seize the Hobbit, and he will not let it be. The world will stand still when he feels Boromir's weight above him, the Man's hand grabbing for the burden about his neck, words like iron dropping from his mouth.
rated nc-17, 1608 words
pippin/diamond (merry/pippin/estella/diamond)
"What were you thinking, Peregrin Took? Were you even thinking at all?"
Pippin's cheeks are blustered red from the cold and Diamond chides him as she pulls him from the front hall to the sitting room, putting him before the fire and shedding his clothing faster than he could even reason. His cloak hangs, sodden and iced, already near the front door. "What were you thinking, Peregrin Took? Were you even thinking at all?" It isn't just the tone of her voice, but the look upon her face, and Pippin's sides ache as he tries his best not to laugh.
rated pg-13/r, 5382 words
isenbard north-took and olivine hornblower, and a number of ruffians (and other ocs)
Walking a difficult road.
'I know these hobbits,' Isenbard tried explaining, hand on his cap to keep it there as the cold wind gusted. 'Please, there isn't any need to frighten them – I'll talk to them, and surely they'll give what they can.'
rated g, 734 words
berilac brandybuck and hildibard took (omc)
A talk outside Brandy Hall.
'I'm sure mother has worried herself sick by now,' Hildy says, sitting in the shadow of the pear tree, the branches laden with growing fruit, the courtyard spreading out before them. 'And Rosebud–'
rated pg, 1000 words
various ocs and a minor canon character (daffodil sandheaver, holly twofoot, marigold gamgee, and dardo grubb)
Three of Lotho's housekeepers (and the fourth he never quite had).
Dillie's Da had died when she was very young (and her brothers had been younger), so it was left to her Ma to raise her and her sibs. Dillie always did the best that she could, for it was hard on her Ma, a burden, and she wanted to be a good daughter, and lighten that burden as much as she could.
rated r/nc-17, 500 words merry/pippin
Pippin had made it a dare.
Merry grumbled, then, though it felt a pleasant rumble, and opened his mouth to Pippin's, fingers still curled loosely, holding themselves secure in Pippin's hair. Pippin did feel good against him, as though he was fit for that space, though the current space was dark, small and cramped, with far too much dust floating in the air. Well, one could hardly think better of bachelors, and this was a bachelor's linen cupboard, after all.
rated g, 373 words
merry, pippin (bramble and her kittens)
Merry's missing shirt.
Merry noticed his shirt was missing. Fifteen minutes later, Pippin noticed that Bramble was missing, but Merry seemed to be missing, too. He went looking through him, from kitchen to front room, and back to the bedroom – and that was where he found Merry, lantern-light in his hair, on his knees on the far side of the bed, looking down.
rated g/pg, 2054 words merry/pippin
There is thinking and there is thinking too much.
Firelight paints shapes on the floorboards and across the worn fabric of once-bright carpeting; red-orange light makes swirls and starbursts against faded spirals of gold and blue and green. The time is late at least, Pippin thinks, it must be late, though it isn't yet morning and the sky outside is dark. He has sat here for far too long, a pipe gone cold clasped in his right hand, his eyes on the firelight as it pools upon the floor.
rated R, 300 words
estella/diamond
The one where stars are counted (as well as other things).
Estella wakes with a start, cool-damp air on bare skin, hot-soft breath against her breast. All that, wet grass sticking to her and Diamond asleep against her, and them in the shadow of the tall tree – but beyond that, the night-sky sparkles and stretches out wide and endless, and Estella lets out her breath.
rated g, 375 words
merry/pippin/estella/diamond
Three different points in a very long life together.
A look, a smile, the sharp mind behind the pretty face, and Estella falls for Diamond of Long Cleeve, and falls hard (all things that, one day, would lead Pippin to do the same – though, when Estella falls for Merry, the second great love of her life, it doesn't seem like such a silly, silly thing, that she would love him for his laugh and his smile). And much too quickly, too, which really isn't Estella at all, the Estella who'd always been more likely to stumble into love, more than fall: but it was like the after of spending long hours the blackest darkness, dazed and reeling and then finding herself standing in the bright-blinding light of the sun. And unable to look away.
rated pg, 1312 words frodo/sam/rosie implied
Where having all you want isn't the same as all you need.
There's a moment between day and night where everything seems like it's a still life painting, and it isn't much of a leap for Sam to make, and then it's Yesterday, years ago, and his master will be wanting to take his tea in the gardens. Sam picks a four o'clock, looks to the sky.
rated pg-13, 4,805 words
merry/pippin
From a beginning all the way around to an end.
Merry goes out into the yard, lantern in hand, and Pippin follows after. The light is unsteady, flickering, and the creeping fog is damp, almost sticky as it clings, and cool. And Pippin follows after, as though chasing after the distant flicker of dancing fairy light, and not once – not once – does he speak – well, what could he say? But that leaves silence, breath and faint footsteps, and the far off sound of a late-night bird's piercing cry. Pippin has no idea how far they go, only that they've left Crickhollow far behind. Then Merry opens a door, and it creaks on worn hinges. The inside of the shed is the pleasant warmth of living things when compared to the emptiness of night-chilled air – almost as pleasant as the house had been, though not near as cozy as the bed.
rated g, 300 words
pippin/diamond
How Pippin sees Diamond (through Diamond's eyes).
When Pippin brought Diamond to Tuckborough, Diamond had not known what to expect: it had been too long, after all, since she had spent any length of time at Great Smials. There seemed little to comfort one's heart – after all, her mother, who'd spent her younger days a Took, had removed herself early on and hadn't ever been a Tuckborough Took, anyhow. Pippin has long been dear to Diamond, though her heart had taken its time in knowing so as well. She would face a hundred – no, a hundred times a hundred – Tooks for his sake, if that was needed.
rated nc-17, 3000 words
estella/diamond, merry/pippin
There's room enough.
Diamond feels like such a fool, weeping as she had. Estella tells her there's no use in worrying overmuch – and if there's a hobbit in all the Shire that she'd have wept upon, herself, Pippin is the one. Diamond smiles, and Estella in turn, and they find themselves drawn together, as though fated to that end. But then, laughing as she draws back, her hands at Diamond's, Estella says: 'You know, in all the fuss, I made certain your brother had settled into his room, but quite forgot about you!'
rated g/pg, 2242 words
merry/pippin
Conversations that are overheard, and how they are misunderstood.
Pippin finds that his words are all strangely calm. "I overheard the both of you, while you were in the hall Frodo'd gone off for a smoke, and I suppose you must have thought that I'd gone off with him, and the door'd been open, and... Well," and here, his words aren't as calm as they had, and something hurt and angry shows in his eyes. "I'd not."
rated nc-17, 2342 words frodo/merry/pippin
Nothing more than a cold winter's night and the warm company of fine alcohol and good friends.
The Yule log cracks open, spitting out red-gold sparks that float down like stars falling into fire, where they are then consumed by the fervor of leaping flame. The hall is decked with bright cheer, holly and fair ribbons, with mistletoe tucked here and there, and a great bay wreath high up above the hearth, resplendent with brighter ribbons of yellow-gold and cherry red and darkest green, looking down upon the occupants of the hall. Frodo sits, amidst the merriment of talking relations, with perhaps one too many helpings of the Hall's good, mulled wine now sitting contentedly in his stomach. He closes his eyes, breathing in the scent of warm spice and citrus, li tening to the lull of gentle voices as hobbits about him speak.
rated pg/pg-13, 4,320 words
merry, pippin, various brandybucks
There was a crowd gathered on the far bank of the river...
There was a crowd gathered on the far bank of the river, a crowd that Merry could see from his place on the ferry. He lifted a hand up and shielded his eyes against the glare of the sun, squinting, but still he couldn't make out the details; the crowd was too far, and his sight was hardly that strong. Was it a welcoming committee? he wondered. His trip to Rushy had been anything but out of the ordinary, so he doubted it could be.
rated pg-13, 1435 words
merry/pippin
A moment in the sun.
It unsettled him somehow, still, but Merry hardly thought that he should bother Pippin with that: not now that they had found their way to light, the plain light of day, where they were weary and warmed but together, and finding rest.
rated g, 400 words
merry (with mention of others)
Merry waits in Minas Tirith.
He dreams sometimes that Pippin won't come back, and Merry wants to tell himself, in waking, that he is being foolish, and overly so, losing himself to such despair. But despair is all he has now, and it has made a better companion than he could have made for either Faramir or Éowyn. It isn't like they need him, or ever will need him, no more than Pippin needs him, now. It isn't the first Merry's doubted his following after Frodo, even knowing he never could have let him go off on his own. It won't be the last, either.
rated pg-13, 400 words merry/pippin/estella/diamond
In the dead of night.
Estella wakes (it's a slow and steady thing), drifting up out of dream veiled like fog and mist and shade, and into an almost smothering heat. She gasps, drawing in breath, and her eyes open slowly; she blinks, groaning, yawning, shifting, feeling the ache of sleeping muscles as they begin to come awake, feeling the smooth-but-rough pad of fingertips as they rub circles on her bare hip, too.
rated pg, 348 words merry, pippin, others
Merry has never wanted to fail Pippin.
Merry has never wanted to fail Pippin. He had had a habit of playing tagalong when he had been much younger, and Merry would often find himself having to look out for Pippin, when Pippin would not to think to look out for himself. Scrapes and skinned knees and broken bones, Pippin has been through so much, and Merry knows this is different. This is, all of it, different than anything before.
rated nc-17, 1180 words éowyn/arwen
Minas Tirith is cold.
Despite the warmth of those who live there, and hands that have turned this palace and his city from a place of cold stone into a home, Éowyn finds that Minas Tirith is stark and brittle and redolent of winter's lasting chill. It creeps in, slow, through her fingers, and down into bone. She can feel it, and taste it, and she can breathe it, too: even when the sun is shining, it is not shining so brightly as to cast off the cold. It fills her nostrils, and it settles deep in the pit of her gut.
rated pg, 4,657 words merry/pippin
They've found their way in, but what matters is finding their way out.
The trees were whispering, now, and Pippin was as close to Merry as close could be; his chin was pressed to Merry's shoulder, his arms wrapped tight about his neck, and Merry thought that it felt a little hard to breathe; more due to Pippin's arms, than the gravity of their current weighty situation.
rated r (hard r), 1395 words
pippin (it's a surprise!)
It starts with fire.
You hear a low hiss – one of pleasure – and only belatedly do you realise that the pleasure is your own. 'No,' you would whisper, if you could, and now you gasp, feeling both shame and fear as well as endless heat; a mouth that works on you, with slow, sickening precision, and the over-powering will of a mind that holds you still, helpless, as though you were bound, and is too strong, too much for your body to resist.
rated pg, 300 words
merry/pippin/estella/diamond
The Yule after the Lithe after the Spring after Merry and Estella married.
A first might be a first, but that doesn't mean that it need be anything full and new. The difference in Estella's kiss, thinks Diamond, is that Estella is married now to Merry – but she knows Estella's kiss well-enough, and Merry certainly knows Pippin's, and as Diamond herself has rather come to know Pippin's, she now finds herself thinking that she ought to make full acquaintance of Merry's, as well. 'The year's turning,' she says, and there's such dark behind them, but here she sits in warmth, and in such light. 'Merry, lad, won't you kiss me, please?'
rated g, 1000 words
pippin
Stories have their way of being told.
Cousin Bilbo knows all sorts of interesting things, and he knows all the very best stories; but of them all (and Pippin spends enough time at Bag End that he thinks, of course, he's heard them all), he likes the one where Bilbo outwits Smaug the very best. It's another birthday (for Bilbo and Frodo, that is), and Pippin is full of three helpings of dessert and he's got two new very fine birthday gifts (a fishing pole and the promise of fishing to go along with it, from Frodo, and a picture book filled with knights and princesses and dragons, too, from Bilbo, who also gives the very best gifts), but the very best part of the night is when Bilbo takes his closest family into his own best parlour, and tells them all tales. They all get to choose one Merry's is boring, but then, Merry thinks he's too big for being so little (he's only fifteen), and it takes almost forever it to be Pippin's turn: but when it is, he picks that one of course, his favourite, and laughing, Bilbo scoops him up and sits him on his knee, and then he makes magic with words.
rated g, 3173
pippin, others
Five things that could have been.
Terror overcame Merry and Sam and they threw themselves flat on the ground. Pippin was left to stand his ground alone, against a slow advance of shadows, a hissing in the night, and Frodo at his back; and Frodo was there, quaking, as arm and shoulder they bumped together.
rated r, 3127 words
rosie/marigold, frodo/rosie/marigold
Rosie distracts Marigold from her chores at Bag End. But Frodo doesn't mind too terribly much.
'Not here, Rosie!'
When Marigold tries to shrug Rosie off, Rosie sticks to her like wet linen. Her arms are wrapped tight about Marigold's waist, and her mouth is slow, somewhat damp, and thoughtful, as it kisses its way down Marigold's throat. But she's more thoughtful, then, though Marigold can hear the teasing smile in her voice, when her mouth draws back a breath, 'Where ought we, then?', and she hears that warm against her ear.
Marigold shudders, as it's not the feel that she's disliking, only the timing and the place. So, she presses hard to control her voice, though she's more than certain as she speaks, 'Back in your own bed, or in mine if you're not for waiting, if my old Dad's still out with Sam as he ought to be', that Rosie can hear the faint tremor of her voice.
rated r, 3580 words
frodo/pearl
'Will you consider my proposal?'
'Look at me, dripping all over the place – not only have I woken you from bed, but I'll likely flood all of Bag End before I'm through. I apologise for that as well, dear Frodo.'
rated g, 500 words
pippin, sam (and other hobbits of the conspiracy)
The week before Yule at Bag End, SR 1417.
'Look at me, dripping all over the place – not only have I woken you from bed, but I'll likely flood all of Bag End before I'm through. I apologise for that as well, dear Frodo.'
rated g, 500 words
merry, pippin, frodo, sam, boromir (the fellowship)
In the wilds beyond Rivendell, Yule is remembered.
'What do you miss most?' Merry asked, and that made Pippin think. It was a dreary grey day in Hollin, and they were taking rest, and no doubt they would be on their way again, walking, walking, walking on and on.
rated g, 500 words
merry and pippin (merry/pippin)
It also seemed the very best Yule that there could be, at least after the year that they had had.
The sky seemed endless, and solid grey, and it was colder out than it was within. It had been decided that the very best place to celebrate Yule that year would be at Great Smials, and Pippin had been somewhat surprised that Merry had been so eager to agree.
rated g, 500 words
pippin, merry, frodo, sam and rose (sam/rose)
Yule at Brandy Hall.
Pippin thought it somewhat charming that Sam found it so daunting, most especially since Rose seemed quite well in her element, and seemed to glow. 'Well, I wouldn't be surprised,' said Frodo – Frodo seemed wiser than some by far, but even to Pippin it seemed clearly evident that Rose was with child. And that seemed just as it should be – the Shire was glowing a bit, too, if only from Sam's gentle care. No doubt, when spring returned, they would all find themselves richer, and by far.
rated g, 500 words
pippin, merry, frodo, sam, rose and elanor (sam/rose)
The Yule after Frodo leaves.
That year, at Bag End, when Pippin was asked to sing, he sang with all his heart – and if he wept by the time the song was over, well, then, he could hardly be blamed. That carol had been Frodo's favourite, after all, and Frodo...
rated g, 1166 words
boromir/pippin
He dreads what the darkness in his heart could have him do.
They'd spend Yule at Brandy Hall, of course, but the week before had them at Bag End – all six of them, and that number included Sam. 'Don't worry,' Pippin said, with as much cheer as he could muster. 'I won't open my mouth and say the wrong thing, and have Frodo vanish on us all.'
rated pg, 638 words
aster took and amethyst took (ocs)
Amethyst and Aster meet again, after many long years.
Aster Took does not often come to Great Smials, for once she had settled her heart, and put her Hilderic to rest, she found herself a wanderer, and travelled the Shire full over, from one side to the other, and then over again.
rated g, 459 words
sam
Sam has been spending most of his time about Bag End with the Master's younger cousin.
For as much time as Sam has spent helping his Dad about the Bag End gardens, the lad feels that the most of that time has been spent speaking with Mr Bilbo's young cousin - Frodo, and he's not so young, as he's years on Sam and more than Sam knows. And for all he's spent with Mr Frodo, and for all the time he's spent wondering on how a gentlehobbit could act as though he'd want to spend his time with a child, they have been telling one and the other stories - stories of all sorts. Though there's hardly an improper thing as a boat about, Mr Frodo has told Sam of the Brandywine and the ferry boat and swimming, too, and Sam thinks, what proper hobbit would want to go out and swim?
rated r, 350 words
sam/merry/pippin
More than seven days, then, left, with Merry and Pippin about.
Frodo was out for the day when Pippin came to Sam, and Sam wondered once more what Frodo had been thinking, to leave his cousins in charge of Bag End while he was visiting in Michel Delving through to the end of the fortnight. More than seven days, then, left, with Merry and Pippin about.
rated pg, 3054 words
Spring always comes.
merilac and morn brandybuck, todo and pearl boffin, other ocs, and cameos by canon characters
Some said Samwise Gamgee was a friend of Kings, that he had gone off and come back (like another hobbit who was also spoken of in story): but Morn Brandybuck thought him plain enough, though not plain in any way simple. He was friendly, and with an air about him, though not one that would have a hobbit thinking less of herself. He had done great things, had Samwise Gamgee, and Morn could see that, as clear as anything – and he had done great things out of nothing more than great love.
rated r/nc-17, 4,084 words
hally bolger, talenard north-took, and peridot bolger north-took
One needn't always be alone.
'Hally Bolger?' Hally, who'd sat to the side of the room, looks up, then nods. A lad, dark-haired like a North-took, stands there, and now that Hally's nodded, he grins, and offers out his hand. 'Come dance with me, Master Bolger,' he says, and Hally regards the offered hand, and then the guileless face.
rated nc-17, 3200 words
frodo/merry/pippin
'Frodo's set on having luncheon,' Pippin said.
It was no surprise at all finding Pippin, mussed hair, on the other side of Bag End's front door – mussed hair, yes, and with the top two buttons of his shirt undone and the third, having been hastily buttoned, fitted into the hole that belonged to the fourth.
rated r, 1189 words
merry/pippin
For their first week at the house at Crickhollow, Pippin had been unable to sleep.
For their first week at the house at Crickhollow, Pippin had been unable to sleep. Merry had had no troubles, at least when it came to sleeping staying asleep was another matter, when he was so bothered by his dreams. At least he had Pippin, and Pippin's restless walking the house would creak and groan and Merry would wake, most often sudden, and would listen the night would breathe, and though Pippin's footsteps were faint, Merry could hear them. So he rose, and went out to where Pippin tended the fire in the parlour, and Merry greeted him and then poured the brandy a gift from his father, when Merry had insisted that he and Pippin would be living, for the time, on their own. It was the best that Brandy Hall could provide. Saradoc had hoped that it would do them good for all that Merry had liked knowing that he had made it home, home didn't much feel the same as it had, before.
rated pg, 449 words pippin, others
Pippin is tempted.
He catches sight of a glimmer in the water (like gold and silver and molten iron all blurred together as one) and P ppin doesn't think as a sudden urge grips him; he slides down off Brego and immerses himself in cold water, feels it soak through cloak and cloth and skin.
rated pg-13, 3980 words
topaz tunnelly, other original characters
The months Topaz Tunnelly spent in the Lockholes.
Topaz woke from the worst possible nightmare, and found the waking was little improved. She couldn't remember much of what had brought her to this place, for even now her mind seemed fogged over. Her head ached, as well, as did her right wrist. And, in a fashion that seemed quite detached, she noticed that she'd torn her dress.
rated r, 1501 words
sam/rosie
A cool day, and Rosie's warm touch.
She laughed, and kissed him on the mouth. If it tasted too desperate, then Sam could hardly fault his Rosie that – it had been a very long while since he'd found himself about Bywater, for all it really wasn't so far away. He took her by the hand, and she lifted her gaze, looked him in the eye. He was struck by that gaze, and he stood there, as if he'd been full mired in a daze. They'd met on the road, him walking towards Bywater, and her walking towards Hobbiton. Now, they were somewhere beyond the middle – though, they were fair closer to Bywater, than they were to Hobbiton. Sam was caught in Rosie's gaze, bright and clear; and her parted lips, and the line of her throat, and it curving so as it swelled into her –
rated pg, 400 words
faramir/éowyn/merry
With green cleared to the river, they go riding, Merry and Lady Éowyn and her husband, Prince Faramir, too.
With green cleared to the river, they go riding, Merry and Lady Éowyn and her husband, Prince Faramir, too. He suffered his pride when Éowyn asked him to join her once again in her saddle, and that only with a joking laugh and a half-honest grin. He'd honored her request.
rated pg/pg-13, 500 words frodo/pippin + sam
Sam finds himself wanting to look, and no, that'd not be proper at all and why should he go looking, when he has ears, and they can so very clearly hear?
When Frodo came back up the hill, fresh from a walking trip from Bywater, it was with a basket of red-bright strawberries. Pippin, of course, became fascinated with them, even before Frodo had managed himself in through the front door, and Frodo warned him (of course) that they'd been a gift, for him and not for Pippin, and Pippin knew well enough not to go grabbing after what's not yours.
rated nc-17, 2040 words frodo/pippin
Pippin was, of course, very good at getting his own way near as good as Frodo was, when it came to getting his.
Pippin was, of course, very good at getting his own way near as good as Frodo was, when it came to getting his. So it was, two weeks and three days before Pippin's twenty-fifth birthday, that they came to something of an impasse. At least, that was how it felt to Frodo, and though he had known his share of stubborn Tooks (for all that he thought his Brandybuck heritage less than his better half, as he was too fond of old Bilbo, certainly he was not near as Tookish as, say, Pippin was, when he put himself in a mood), but Pippin was far more stubborn than any other Took that Frodo had ever known.
rated g, 300 words
frodo/sam implied, sam/rosie
Looking towards home.
His Rose is gone, now, gone and buried, and Sam sometimes wonders what's left; his youngest is a father, and his eldest soon a grandmother. He's lived more of his life here in Bag End than not, and while this place is his home, maybe it's come time he move on.
rated pg-13, 3805 words
éowyn/merry/pippin
She is looking for a way back home.
She had had a home once, a long time ago - a trip through memory, flesh and blood and bone, the cold steel of a blade, and the colder chill of shadow. And she had lost it, lost it all, lo t herself. She could remember not remembering, cast from her home, away from those that loved her best.
rated g/pg, 500 words
pippin, merry, mention of others
It isn't that he really wants to go back.
They had run out over the gr ss, feeling the plain heat of sunlight sinking into their limbs, and they had lain out, basking, in that same sunlight. Pippin sits, with his legs stretched out, more tired than he ought to be. Perhaps the sun is too bright - no, that can't be, though the barrows had been long and dark - and Pippin finds that that frigid memory is almost too strong for him to bear, and he works at rubbing unwanted recollection from his limbs. There is a tightness in his chest, a burning in his eyes, and a stinging right through his throat. He would like to go home.
rated pg, 2676 words pippin, beregond, aragorn, merry
And so despondently Merry now stood and watched the mustering of the army.
Pippin hadn't thought that it would be so difficult to stand still. He shifted slightly, transferring his weight from one to the other. He was unaccustomed to wearing boots, the feel of them, and their hard shape. He shifted again and leather creaked. The morning air was damp and warm. He could already feel sweat trickling down the nape of his neck.
rated pg, 300 words
ilberic brandybuck/minto burrows
Minto and Ilberic come home.
They stumbled inside, arms about the other, wound so tight Ilberic wondered if they would notice, if they stumbled into the wall, or fell: but they hadn't tripped at the threshold, and they were pressed so tight that they likely would have gone down laughing, if they had. Minto drew back, lips glimmering and his eyes cast low. He whispered something, low, against Ilberic's cheek: and Ilberic felt his cheeks grow warm, though then he laughed and caught Minto about the waist, and pulled him closer still.
rated pg, 4,895 words
light merry/pippin
When the sky is grey, and the branches are bare.
The sky is grey and the branches are all bare, stretching out long and thin like great weathered fingers that reach towards the heavens – all dark and fine and glistening with ice. It is the week after Second Yule, a week into a new year – Pippin remembers riding to their home, after all the celebrating had been through. Fat wet snowflakes had drifted in the air, and his breath had bled out white into growing dark. It had been cold, had only promised to grow colder, and his bones were all aching, and he had started to think that maybe, maybe, it would have been best if they had stayed one last night at the Hall. But that was a week before them, and here they both are, and Pippin mutters something beneath his breath, the wind knocked from his lungs. He's out flat on his front, and his ankle and his back are both aching, too, and his head, in just a moment, starts to throb. He tries to sit, pushing against cold hard ground, still feeling winded, and he puts a hand to his brow, and he feels something wet and warm, so it can't all be grey hard sky and cold white frost. 'Oh, blast it all.'
rated pg, 1335 words
angelica baggins, everard took, tolbric tunnelly (omc)
After, and again.
She tries not to think of it, before. She is a hobbit, changed fully, and she wishes otherwise, but can't regret herself for having grown. What a thing to think, having walked in such darkness, pushed down in it, drinking it as if she might drown. It is difficult not to think of it, so she pushes against that thought – pushes with all her might.
rated r, 3040 words frodo/merry/pippin
Finding warmth after being stuck out in the rain.
They trek mud into the front hall as Frodo giggles like a drunken tween. Their progress is haphazard grace, and they lurch more often than not, and Frodo has one rm tucked about Pippin's waist, his fist clenched in Pippin's weskit, the other arm slung across Merry's shoulder, and he grasps empty air; his weight is more or less evenly distributed between. Merry is glad that Bilbo is long gone, for their cousin would chide them for Frodo's condition; though in fact, it's all Frodo's fault that they were even caught in the storm.
rated g, 300 words
frodo/merry/pippin-ish
Not all tears are an evil.
Frodo sits there in the sunlight, radiant as he smiles; but there is shadow in his gaze, and tell-tale lines at the corner of his eyes. Pippin offers him seconds on apple crumble, and Frodo accepts with a smile; supper had been spectacular, and each of them taking multiple helpings. Earlier, they sat together and spoke of things they had let sit idle too long, and Pippin had felt a great fool for weeping on Frodo as he had. But Frodo had told him that, for all there is sorrow in tears, there is great joy in them as well.
rated g, 1752 words
sam, frodo, rosie, mention of merry and pippin
Some days seem bleak. But at least they have come.
There is an emptiness that comes in the time between the rising and the setting of the sun, a sky that seems to cling to winter though it is now up n the threshold of spring, where bitter grey cloud-cover often stretches for as far as a hobbit's eyes can see. Sam knows that they, at least two out of their three (and soon to be four), have hearts all hoping on turning this place from smial into home, and there had been work throughout the turning of the years, when the days we e shorter, darker, and cold. There is still work to be done, though, there always seems like there is w rk to be done: airing out rooms that had been left closed only to gather dust through the long winter, and letting in clean air.
rated g, 300 words merry/pippin
Pippin goes wandering in the morning snow.
Snow had fallen in the night, and the morning air is cold and crisp and clear - the world outside is white. Pippin wakes long before Merry, and though he puts another log onto the fire, he does not wake Merry; pulling on warm clothing, long trousers, both a shirt and a sweater to go beneath his long coat, an old scarf that had once been Merry's, and a pair of new gloves that he'd been given as early Yule gift, only this year.
rated g, 300 words estella, freddy, rosemary (freddy/rosemary)
Where Freddy really doesn't feel all that terrible, and he hopes for a specific nurse.
'Go on ahead, Estella,' Freddy said, sniffled, hopefully sounding as miserable as he could. It looked hopeful that his sister would leave, just as he wished, for she rolled her eyes back and then shook her head.
rated g, 400 words merry/pippin
Merry wonders if Entmoot will ever end.
It is not the way of an Ent to be hasty, and, to Merry, it does not seem that the Entmoot will ever end. There is little that can be done to pass the time: they wandered the wooded edge of the dell, listened to the whisper-creak and groaning-pop of moving trees, and they sat, and slept, and talked, and waited even more.
rated pg, 2870 words
boromir/éomer, boromir/éowyn implied
Observations.
It isn't often that Éowyn is given a chance to spend time with Boromir of Gondor. She thinks that it is her uncle and his father's fault - because they were friends once, at least, that is what she heard Hama said, but responsibility, and power, can sour even the strongest of friendships and loves.
rated pg, 7200 words
various minor canon characters and original characters: lotho and lobelia sackville-baggins, berilac Brandybuck and his uncle saradoc, marigold gamgee and some of her family, angelica baggins, tolagrand and diamond North-took, willibald whitfoot, fatty and estella Bolger (and rosemary brandybuck and folco boffin), rosie cotton and some of her family; and lots of ruffians, as well
From September of SR 1418 to March SR 1419 (and the occupation of the Shire).
Though his mother had insisted they arrive at Bag End right at midnight, they waited until the crack of dawn instead. Lotho of course felt triumph in the moment, that all their long waiting at last had come to its end. He did not even mind, not much, that his father was not here to share in their moment. No doubt, it never would have come to this, if Otho had still been around.
rated pg-13, 9600 words
various minor canon characters (and a number of original characters are mentioned, too): lotho and lobelia sackville-baggins, ted sandyman, rose cotton, tom cotton the younger, folco boffin, estella bolger, diamond north-took, robin smallburrow, tom cotton the elder, hamfast gamgee
From April to November of SR 1419 (and the occupation of the Shire).
He insisted that the hobbits of Hobbiton and Bywater call him "The Chief" – not "Mr. Lotho", or even "Mr. Sackville-Baggins", for neither of those were good enough, now. He insisted, and the hobbits knew well enough to call him what he wanted (at least, to his face). He had them frightened to full obedience, well, his Men did, and that was as affective, and Lotho knew that he was the most powerful hobbit in all the Shire.
rated pg, 2698 words
merry/pippin (merry, mosco burrows, pippin, celandine brandybuck, doderic brandybuck)
Discussion, and results.
I hadn't thought we'd see you again, not so soon,' Mosco says, looking sideways at Stybba, running his hand through shaggy-grey fur. Stybba stomps one hoof, and snorts as if to laugh – Merry looks up, from brushing down Stybba's flank, and laughs just the same.
rated r, 1821 words frodo/pippin
A night at Bag End where there's no need to talk.
He isn't sure how it happened. Somewhere in between Minas Tirith and Rivendell, or maybe on the road back to Bree, or maybe even seeing that it wasn't just him and Merry and Sam and Frodo that had changed, but his own beloved Shire had grown up, too, and had its own twisted, dark scars, Pippin had decided that he might not always do things their right and proper way, but seeing what had happened to all that he loved, he decided that he would at least try.
rated nc-17, 9000 words frodo/merry/pippin
Frodo and Merry have insisted that he is welcome, but Pippin is too stubborn for his own good.
Pippin walks with the Green Dragon at his back, arms wrapped tight about his chest in some hope of warding off what? For September, the night is not particularly cold, nor is it chilly in the slightest, as it is actually pleasantly warm. Rather lovely, too, with the moon so bright and the fair shining stars as thick as fog. Still, even with all that beauty about, he knows that if there ever has been a night to never, ever, forgive Merry, then this one bright and dark and clear is as good as any other. Angrily, he kicks at a small rounded stone upon the dirt path, watching as it flashes grey-white in the light and sails off at a sharp angle into the low gulley that follows along the side of the road. Scowling, Pippin kicks again, this time at dirt and raising dust, and then he doubles his pace.
rated pg, 300 words
sam, frodo/merry/pippin
Hindsight struck him by the time he came to Number Three perhaps it would have been best for him to stay.
Master Pippin had insisted Sam stay for the night, and Mr Merry had laughed and told Pippin it wasn't his smial to go insisting on who'd stay and who'd go but Sam insisted, on his own, and left Mr Frodo with his two younger cousins.
rated g, 300 words
merry/pippin/éowyn/faramir
It is Pippin's idea, and they take their luncheon in the gardens.
It is Pippin's i ea, and they take their luncheon in the gardens. "The warmth will do you all good," he says, and Merry hinks, but Pippin, you're the one who last saw battle, and come freshest from its arms. But Pippin is right, and the spring does not seem so bitter now, a recollection of words spoken, but long ago, as the warmth of the sun sinks through flesh down to bone. It will do them all good.
rated pg, 2689 words rosie/sam/frodo
Rosie just doesn't feel sure.
Rosie wakes even before the dawn, stumbling from bed and her husband's warm arms, and Sam shifts and sighs and curls in on himself as she pulls on her dressing gown. She turns, and watches him, and her heart thuds heavy in her chest. She can't sleep she doesn't know why, only that she knows she can't. She turns and takes the bedside candle, lighting it, and when she leaves the room, Rosie leaves the door cracked open.
rated pg, 400 words merry/pippin/estella/diamond
And one turn into another.
Estella always has loved the river, a love that she has long shared with her mother; and something that her father has always blamed on wild Took blood. Rosamunda was a bold lass, bold still, and though she is tempered, Estella is clearly her mother's daughter.
rated nc-17, 3388 words merry/pippin/diamond (merry/pippin/estella/diamond)
What starts with teasing and fun in the garden.
"Make her stop," Pippin gasps, and Diamond grins, glancing sideways at Merry where he crouches in tall grass, chrysanthemum and autumn leaves and apple sweetness in the air. The very last of the last day's light is a soft glow from the west, and it sets off the grey in the depths of his eyes. She had not meant for work to turn to play, when they had come out from the house to her garden. The chrysanthemums are blooming, yes, and the trees are changing colours, red and gold with only bare hints of summer and lingering green. There is work to be done, yes, and Estella will soon be home. Pippin shudders. Merry laughs and, at length, replies.
rated r, 300 words gríma/éowyn
Gríma shall have all that he wants and more.
His breathing is low, and the feel of his hand on skin is warm where once she would have thought him cold. Ice, his heart is ice, but his mouth invites her, and she lets him feed her lies.
rated pg, 2101 words
merry/pippin/estella/diamond
Filling a home with all the things you'd need.
The first thing they needed was a bigger bedroom; and after that, what they needed was a bigger bed. For a week there are workers at the house and Merry, in what Pippin considers a good-natured fit, takes all of Berilac's grinning jabs and jokes with nothing more than well-mannered grins. "As if you'd not do the same, if you could manage it," he'd said, though he'd likely been thinking that they'd not manage it at all, but for Pippin's insistence. Well, Berilac would, and the week went on the wall between the two bedrooms was knocked down, which left them with one large room. The bed was an easier match, and an easier fit it was easily the biggest in all the Shire, or so Pippin had grinned and boasted when they'd had it arranged.
There are things that cannot be undone, no matter how hard one tries. Like this -- knowing that, no matter how much Merry wishes that things could change, things can't; and even if they could, he knows that they wouldn't, because the way that things happen, no matter how good or bad, is just the way that things are meant to be. Lothlorien isn't home, it isn't even the Old Forest, which seems strangely comforting what with it being right there on the edge of Buckland; but Lothlorien is a whole new set of rules and responsibilities and even a life that Merry would rather not have had to know.
rated pg, 891 words
boromir/merry/pippin
There's room enough for all three.
All he wants is the Ring and I'm silly enough to think that, maybe, just maybe, that's not completely the truth. At least, it's not the full true truth; he's got too light a hand when it comes to Pippin and me, and what does he gain from being nice to the two not-quite-important-as-the-Ringbearer hobbits that happen to be tagging along. He doesn't just want the Ring; if he did, he certainly isn't having any luck at it finding its way into his hand when he keeps the two of us about.
rated pg-13, 250 words
merry/estella/pippin implied
Merry wonders.
Merry, hardly concerned on whether it would have been gentlehobbitly or not, found himself wondering who Pippin's first had been. It most certainly hadn't been him – not that he was concerned with that, either. It was sheer curiosity, really, and so he asked Pippin: and Pippin, at a glance a rather well-favoured lad, laughed and grinned, though then he kissed Merry's cheek.
rated g, 658 words merry/pippin
Sometimes you have to do something twice in order to do it right.
Pippin Took, while on holiday in Buckland, was and always had been a talented lad when it came to stealing the proverbial spotlight (not that there were such things in the Shire, or even all of Middle Earth), in effect becoming the center of attention.
rated g, 600 words
merry/éowyn, merry/pippin
Éowyn is, or so Merry has told Pippin, the finest lady that he has ever met.
Éowyn is, or so Merry has told Pippin, the finest lady that he has ever met no insult intended, not in the slightest, to all other ladies that he has had the honour and the pleasure to meet. He does not have many stories about her, and the ones he does have seem small, but their telling have brought light and life to a small, grey room: Edoras in her childhood, how she could ride before she could even walk and no, Merry, she'd laughed and said, no I can't swim, and he knows her, knows her better than he ought to; shieldsister, almost as if she is half of his own self.
rated g, 615 words merry/pippin
Hobbits and chocolate.
Pippin knows chocolate. A treat, at times, during the winter months, most often shared at Yule, but always something that had come to them from far in the south: far in the south being even farther than the furthest reaches of the Southfarthing, leagues beyond even the gold-tinted waters of the Bay of Belfalas.
rated g, 300 words merry/pippin
Merry knows Pippin and his ways all very well.
Knowing Pippin as well as Merry did, it was clear that Pippin was only silent because he wasn't wanting to be a bother, and he certainly felt that he had been enough of a bother, as it was. While his younger cousin often played the fool, he knew that, deep down, he truly wasn't as foolish as he often seemed. And now, he was not foolish at all, but quiet, instead, and that silence spoke volumes that he was tired, and he was sorry, and perhaps, if he was very lucky, Gandalf would forget his foolishness before the great door, and all would then be well.
rated g, 1000 words
ilberic brandybuck/minto burrows
It is all a matter of the legalities.
The house had been Minto's in name alone, if only because no one else would claim it: but their father's (and their attorney's) had had papers drawn up, the formal sort, that would make it his in more than just name. Ilberic and Minto suffered through tea together, in a stuffy room at Brandy Hall, their parents talking over their heads, as if they weren't there. It wasn't just that that loomed over them – but the papers, and their ages, and them both still being years off of being of age. If their fathers somehow found themselves in disagreement (possible, though not very likely), then the house would not actually be theirs.
rated nc-17, 3730 words sam/pippin
Pippin is having quite a day, and he's not even had reaskfast yet.
Pippin wonders if he ever has seen Frodo really-truly mad well, there was that thing he'd done with the tea cup and the pastry plate, and Frodo had laughed even if he had been annoyed, and for all that a pack of S-Bs can be an irritation, too, Pippin can't recall a time they'd made him real and truly mad (certainly, Lotho had come close on more than one occasion and Pippin's seen that for himself, but Frodo has a better hand with Lotho than many liked to think). Well, if he'd not ever seen Frodo really-truly mad before, now he has now that Bag End's front door has slammed, and Pippin has been left all alone, on his bottom, splayed flat in the dirt.
rated pg, 1023 words merry/pippin
Where what you want isn't the same as what you get.
It was hot, that dusty sort of heat that blanketed the calm of the day with a quiet that seemed a little too unreal; where the sun was too bright and too yellow and the sky was too blue. It felt like everything was going to wash away and fade to green.
rated pg-13, 1007 words sam/merry/pippin
They are not alone.
Merry never has thought Pippin one to cry. When they both had been young - Pippin only sixteen, and Merry a much more worldly twenty-four - there had been an accident, once, when Pippin had been startled from a tree. There had been blood, so much blood, and his arm had been badly broken. Though Pippin had been white as his mum's best linens, and Merry had though he would faint, Pippin hadn't cried, not at all, speaking cheerfully, instead. Why, even at Cormallen, when he was healing, and even Merry knew that he could haveshould have been dead, he hadn't wept, not once, at least, not when Merry could see.
rated g, 1712 words merry, pippin, mention of frodo and sam
Merry wonders if Pippin will ever wake up.
Merry sits up abruptly. Next to him, Pippin shifts uneasily but doesn't wake. It's hard to breathe (it's been hard to breathe for some time) and the air is thick and still and settles around him like a heavy black cloak. He tries again (inhale, that's all you need to do, just remember how to breathe), but it doesn't help. Merry puts a hand to his forehead, runs his fingers back through his hair. Frantic, distraught, but disturbingly calm. He smells the earthy scent of grass and medicinal herbs, the tell-tale fragrance of athelas lingering like at the back of his nose. Its lightness drifts at the back of his mind.
rated g, 2775 words estella, diamond, merry, pippin (gennish merry/pippin/estella/diamond)
Estella and Diamond visit Merry and Pippin at Crickhollow.
For weeks now, Estella's found it difficult to sleep.
'You've worried too much on things beyond your reach,' her mother said. Estella wouldn't have thought so, but knew her mother quite likely was right – after all, she so often was.
Estella slipped away from Budgeford to leave those worries behind, and wasn't surprised that the road she took went north. Diamond told her things happen as they may; Estella told Diamond that she just couldn't sleep – for some strange reason, she found she feared her dreams.
Diamond said, 'It's always best to face your fears head on.'
'I thought you'd say that,' Estella said, laughing. In fact, she'd feared Diamond would
rated g, 1558 words frodo, sam, merry, pippin
Three moments.
You find him sitting in the gardens, surrounded by bluebells a d hyacinths and roses in bloom, his hair dark but shining and his eyes sad but bright. He's fidgeting with one of the bright copper buttons on his coat. You don't think he sees you, and you wish he didn't have to be so sad.
rated pg, 400 words merry/pippin
The days are growing longer. The dreams are not so bad.
The days are growing longer. The dreams are not so bad. He is thirty-three, now, and Pippin remembers a time when that would have mattered - has he truly only now come of age? That shouldn't be possible - he feels too tired, too old, for this life.
rated pg, 600 w rds merry, pippin
Merry wonders how Pippin can still sleep.
Pippin dreams so hard, it's a wonder he doesn't wake; a low whimper, twisting and turning, and Merry watches, like he's the one who dreams, as Pippin's hands twist, as fingers coiling about soft linen. Pippin cries out; surely, Merry thinks, Pippin will wake.
rated pg, 444 words
original characters (olivine, peridot, isengrand)
Another turn of years.
It was a birthday, and that was reason enough for kissing games, as Olivine knew quite well. Being that is was young cousin Diamond's birthday, it went to her for the rules – and Diamond said, 'Just us lasses, if you please!', and seven disappointed hobbit-lads went off, left six hobbit-lasses on their own.
rated pg15 438 words
aragorn/boromir/arwen
Boromir muses between sleeping and the coming dawn.
The light of moon stretches idle across the room, soft light that shines through filigree patterns, painting swirls and shapes on the far wall. The light seems to drift, and to sleep-blurred vision, the patterns seem to shift and churn, sea-foam washing upon the far-distant shore.
rated r, 4,847 words merry/pippin
When you want something but you're not so sure of what it is.
It's one of those days, where a tween would find it hard to know what to do with the time in between the ending of tea and the beginning of supper. The sky above stretched out, wide and too blue, and the clouds were sinking down into the west. And Pippin was one of those tweens, and he knew that if he was in Tuckborough and not outside of Bucklebury, then it wouldn't be hard at all to find something to do.
merry/pippin, pg
They make a game of counting fireflies.
They make a game of counting fireflies - whoever counts the most, is the winner, though in their rush to make a game, they never did figure out what would happen if one or the other were to win. Now, they are lying out on the hill atop Bag End, the evening sky overhead, evening-coloured grass cushioning them where they rest. Only the first stars are shining - the day has yet to fully end.
rated nc-17, 1600 words
It was a pleasant surprise finding Pippin, muddy feet and all, at Bag End's door.
It was a pleasant surprise, finding Pippin, muddy feet and all, at the front door – Frodo brought water, and insisted Pippin sit on the front bench – he'd wash Pippin's feet himself. 'You haven't done this for me,' Pippin said, 'since I was very small. Is there something you want from me, hmm?'
"Really now, Prim, don't think you're a bother. Sit, sit, and let me have a look at your delightful son." With a wide gesture, Bilbo ushers Primula to his own favoured seat, smiling as she sits, with Frodo, bundled in a fine blue blanket, in her arms – a colour that goes, most fetchingly, with his baby-blue eyes, and with the darker blue of his mother's brocade bodice. "Oh, but he has his mother's eyes. Now, Drogo, are you certain this lad is yours? Takes after his mother fully, if you ask me – " then he looks back at Drogo, who's standing at the door. "Not to say that that's all bad, if you ask me. It might have been good for us all if you'd taken after Ruby, and not your da – old Fosco wasn't the best of us Baggins, at least when it came to his looks."
rated pg, 2657 words frodo/pippin, frodo/merry (frodo/merry/pippin)
Merry's sent a message.
"Merry's sent a message," Pippin said, not nothing more than that (and he had been so distressingly concise), and Frodo found himself backed up against the doorjamb hardwood firm and solid against his back, and Pippin all too willing against h s front. Any proper, sensible hobbit, knew about limitations, and bounds, and that a gentlehobbit could come quite attached to his personal space not, Frodo knew, that limitations, and bounds, factored all that highly into their past goings on, or what currently was being done. It wasn't something that he minded, as he rather did enjoy finding himself in his younger cousin's company and that was something else, entirely, wasn't it, as he'd not come to terms with it, not fully, until he and Merry had spent a full season away from him, and had Frodo thought that he would end up going mad.
rated g, 1317 words
frodo/sam, merry/pippin
Frodo is quite sure his cousins are up to something.
Frodo is quite certain that his cousins must be up o some sort of mischief. After all, they've been spending what could be called an awful lot of time around Bag End, for the last handful of months. Standing outside of Bag End, he looks to where Sam is sitting at work. "I'm sure it's not because of my stunning personality," Frodo continues to voice his thoughts. "They're up to something, but I can't be sure."
rated g, 1337 words merry, pippin
He's gone through too much, to lose Pippin now.
Merry woke to the sound of a sharp cry. It pierced through the darkness, and chased away the gloom. Merry quickly threw his legs over the side, even as he sat, and he did sit for a moment, his eyes adjusting to light no brighter than the gathered shifting shadows. There was another cry, sharp like a knife as it grated on his nerves, and any thought of it being nothing more than the remnants of dream were chased away, right then, like the sun as it burned away lingering morning mist.
ra ed pg, 1073 words merry/pippin
Because there can always be more.
The distinctive heat of a late August day had Brandy Hall under its cloak. The air, mostly still, was heavy and a bit stifling, despite the fact that all of the hall's great windows had been thrown open, letting sunlight stream on in; the scent of river and flower drifted in on soft puffs of breeze. And that little air was welcome company; a little after all was much better than none.
rated g, 1446 words pippin, frodo
A day stuck indoors.
The parlor was quiet - too quiet - interrupted only the sound of breathing (both of theirs) and the steady rapping of Pippin's fingers against the long arm of the sofa. The curtains were drawn and the parlor was half shadow, half flickering candlelight. Motes of dust drifted in the air, and Pippin wondered in that way of his, if Bag End was due for another cleaning, and if he would be one of the poor souls Frodo would be drafting into service to clean. Well, and this was a pleasant thought, maybe he'd be asked to clean the pantries. That wouldn't be a bother at all.
rated nc-17, 3030 words merry/pippin
Pippin lends Merry a helping hand.
The next time Merry ends up with a rip in his trousers (and he blames it on Celandine, that wretched cousin of his, though she would find it funny that he would end up with a split in the seat of his breeches and he admits that he must have had it coming), Pippin will be there visiting Brandy Hall, and though he'll snicker, he quickly lends a helping hand and his jacket, too so that Merry could leave the great hall with some sense f dignity in tact, without continuing the scene that he and Celandine have already half-started.
rated g, 1270 words pippin, merry, mention of others
At Entmoot, Merry sits, and watches, and thinks.
Merry sat in the shadow of a great old oak; not that you could tell where one shadow ended and the next started again. The night was calm, the moon shining full and bright in the sky. There was the crick and creak of moving wood and the steady rumble of entish voices raised together wearing on Merry's mind like an out of fashion song. There was his own breath, steady and low, the faint rustle of falling leaf, the crunch and crackle of grass. There was Pippin's own breath, tired and low, the soft and nonsensical murmur of his voice as he mumbled in his sleep.
rated pg, 2298 words
pippin/diamond
In which Pippin goes to find Diamond, and finds more than he'd expected.
He thought of her quite suddenly, one day at the start of June, and then he thought of her again the next day, and the day after that. When he mentioned her to Merry, Merry questioned him about her: so Pippin told Merry of Diamond of Long Cleeve, or at least the Diamond he remembered. He wanted to put in to words the reason why she had come to mind, but no words would come: and Merry teased him for having brought her up in the first, and Pippin didn't frown and it wasn't that he was upset, but he hardly thought Merry had the right to tease Pippin for thinking of a girl, most especially when Merry had ridden back to front with Éowyn, and somehow had missed her breasts.
rated g, 3806 words
diamond of long cleeve (and others)
News of Diamond's brother Tolly comes at last to Long Cleeve.
It's raining out, lashing against the broad windows – the winter's been mild enough, and this the least of its storms. It's closer to spring now, though. Still, it's no wonder the lad is soaked through, he must have ridden through the worst of the storm – Diamond might have chided him for that, but hardly thought it her proper place. A mild winter, yes – with them being more used to hard snow and the more apparent dangers of the season, and in specific the dangers of winter out on the Moor.
rated g, 1551 words sam/pippin
Pippin wants to grow up; Sam thinks all good things come in their time.
Pippin guessed that if Frodo had been behind his expulsion from Bag End, then his cousin would have said something along the lines of and don't be a bother, and took him by the shoulders, and guided him out into the light; but then, Frodo didn't understand him nearly as much as he should.
rated pg, 700 words
sam/merry
It isn't so surprising, really, that Merry's attention has fallen onto Sam.
It was half-way through the summer when Merry goes visiting to Bag End, and half-way through that visit, by the time that idle summer boredom has turned to thoughts of greater play. There are only so many hobbits his own age in the Hobbiton area, and Merry has no de ire to go walking to even Bywater, or any further than that. It is an excuse, at least, to escape Pippin's constant tagalong attention - there really are other things he'd rather be doing, than tending to his younger kin.
rated g, 410 words boromir
What remains of the strength of Men.
I, Boromir, have never been one to dream, and yet I find that in Lothlorien, under the veil of Elven trees, I cannot remember a time in my life when I did not.
rated pg, 2443 words merry/pippin
When there is something that must be said, though no good can come of it.
He had thought to end the night in silence, wandering the halls of the Great Smials. It was something that he often did - after all, there was no greater silence than that which fell after the hobbits had turned to their beds for the night.
Chapter:One, Two, Three, Four, Five, Six rated r (overall), 22067 words
ilberic brandybuck/minto burrows (and others)
The life and times of two hobbits of the Shire.
He found Minto sitting beyond the last of the long truss tables, sitting in the deep shade at the edge of the trees. He had been there for a while now, and when Ilberic moved closer, saw a familiar book opened, propped up against his knees – a certain old book of Buckland that must have come from the Master's private library, and one Doderic could recite from memory. But then, Ilberic knew all of it, too (and true, it wasn't the way of hobbits to keep written records, but the Bucklanders were hardly normal hobbits, and this was hardly the normal Shire). Ilberic knew that book, knew it well, bound in brown leather and, this copy, at least, penned in Uncle Dinodas' steady hand. Ilberic had a mug of ale with him, and another for Minto. He set Minto's down at his side, and took a draw off his own.He found Minto sitting beyond the last of the long truss tables, sitting in the deep shade at the edge of the trees. He had been there for a while now, and when Ilberic moved closer, saw a familiar book opened, propped up against his knees – a certain old book of Buckland that must have come from the Master's private library, and one Doderic could recite from memory. But then, Ilberic knew all of it, too (and true, it wasn't the way of hobbits to keep written records, but the Bucklanders were hardly normal hobbits, and this was hardly the normal Shire). Ilberic knew that book, knew it well, bound in brown leather and, this copy, at least, penned in Uncle Dinodas' steady hand. Ilberic had a mug of ale with him, and another for Minto. He set Minto's down at his side, and took a draw off his own.
rated g, 1000 words frodo, merry, pippin
Frodo suspects that something is wrong.
Frodo knew that there was a problem when Pippin, red cheeks and glazed eyes, hiccupped, and sat down right on the floor at the middle of the parlor, with the punchbowl – and Bilbo's finest punchbowl, too – before him. Yes, Frodo had added rum to the concoction – to add flavour, of course – but hardly enough to cause Pippin to react in such a way. He was still rather young, but he more likely than not drank more than this when he was at his own home. Yes, something was a foot.
rated g, 722 words sam/rosie
Rose reflects near the end of her life.
Rose Gamgee is older now than she once was; she's a sister, a wife, a mother, a grandmother; Elanor's little son isn't little anymore and he'll be married come the Autumn. It won't be any time now and then she'll be a great-grandmother, too. Rose has lived a long and full life; she hasn't any regrets.
rated g, 1550 words
introducing the tunnellys
The births of three Tunnellys.
'I don't think I've ever felt this tired,' she said, felt where her hair was limp, sticking against her brow. Opal looked at her, her expression shrewd somehow but also very dear. Opal, who was nearly at her time, herself, and yet had insisted almost as fervently as Orchid had, that she be the one who'd attend to the birth. So Orchid, feeling very tired but perhaps not as tired as Opal must be feeling, laughed and then sighed. 'I do suppose it's only just the start.'
rated pg, 820 words
hally/talen/peridot, and elendir (all ocs)
Hally finally meets Elendir.
For all they meant it to happen sooner, Hally doesn't meet Elendir for some years yet. 'If I were a Bounder still,' Talen says, 'this might have been easier.' And he grins, and grips Hally's hand, and Hally hopes that this will all be for the best. 'Rangers are rather hard to find.'
rated g, 541 words
pippin, merry
Pippin thinks he'd feel much better, if only they'd let him sleep.
Pippin thinks he'd feel much better, if only they'd let him sleep; he wakes so often, and for all he's dreamed of late, it's impossible to tell what's real and what's not. 'Don't let them bury me too deep,' he gasps, breathless, as if he's still being crushed. Maybe he still is being crushed. 'If they do, then I won't be able to breathe.'
Chapter:One, Two rated pg-13/r, 9798 words
moro burrows (and others)
What happened to Moro when he was taken to the Lockholes.
It hadn't been the most sound of ideas, though at the time he had thought on it as much as he could. But that was just the start, and then there was a middle, and when the end came it really all came down to nothing more than chance – chance, and a lucky kick. Oh, he'd thought about it, and he'd planned only as well as he could. He'd been lucky, that Celandine had understood what he was on about – and though his feint had been convincing enough as a distraction, the kick he'd aimed (and landed) had done better than just that.
rated g, 822 words
Inevitable things.
primula and esmeralda (and frodo), then merimac and paladin (and eglantine and pearl)
'He hopes to marry me,' Esmeralda says, little Frodo on her lap. Primula looks up, and Esmeralda looks at her, and Primula's expression is blank enough that Esmeralda can't help but laugh. 'It isn't a terrible thing, though perhaps I've made it out as such. And Saradoc is dear, though he's also rather young... I don't know, cousin, I just don't know.'
rated g, 700 words
pippin and diamond (pippin/diamond)
Pippin and Diamond discuss a relation, and share differing opinions.
'The way I see it, he only got as he deserved.'
Pippin knew he'd said the wrong thing, though Diamond gave no audible reply. Instead, Pippin heard it in the way she set the bowl back down upon the table. Pippin felt his gut twist, and felt like a young lad once more, and one who'd somehow deeply offended an older sister, or an even older aunt.
So, he smiled as he turned, as brightly as he could, and cast his gaze upon Diamond – she stood at the small table, still crowded with the dishes from their supper – from beyond the kitchen, there came Merry's laugh, no doubt laughing at some jest of Estella's.
rated pg, 1423 words
théodred/éowyn/éomer
Moments have a way of tangling together.
It's too wet and cold to go riding, but Éowyn knows that even that won't stop Théodred, because it never ever was enough to stop him before; that is, then. "Where do you think you're going, cousin, when there's more water out there falling from the sky than there is in the sea?"
rated r, 3500 words
brandybucks and burrowses
Seven different things that might have been worse.
It hadn't been the most sound of ideas, though at the time he had thought on it as much as he could. 'Little rat's just not strong,' the leader said. 'We're close enough to the water, we could throw him in, and be on our way with the little miss.'
Moro was jerked into a sitting position, then, and his plan seemed to be working well enough: and hopefully, Cellie would know that he was doing this all for her, that she would run now that he'd given her the chance.
'Aye, let's just throw him in the river, and be on our way.'
rated nc-17, 941 words merry/sam (frodo/sam/merry/pippin)
Sam wakes to something unexpected.
Sam wakes with a hard elbow pressing into his side. His mind is hazy of course it and there is warmth at his front, and at his back, and he has known Frodo far too long and too well not to know the night noises that his master makes. Sam opens his eyes, and the moon lights the air, faint beams crossing through the night air as sharp as any blade. It is Pippin elbow that is pressing too hard, and it is Merry who is curled at his back.
rated nc-17, 2388 words merry/pippin
Thinking too much, and wanting to sleep.
Merry thinks what he needs is a smoke and a drink, and he longs for hearth and home, as well. That is, he finds himself wishing after those days that had come before Frodo had tried sneaking off from him and the Shire, when he and Pippin had imposed themselves on their cousins good will, and Bag End, a much better way to keep both sets of eyes upon him, and with Sam so near, as well. Not that Rivendell is not a wonderful place, but it is only proof that things have changed, are changing, and Merry supposes that it's right that Frodo has always been different, but he only seems more different here. And Rivendell is beautiful, more fair than any other sight that Merry has seen (though there are certain recollections of Pippin that he has, and this place of elves cannot hope to match), though he cannot forget, or ignore, the sorrow of it: like water fluid, strong, but hidden beneath a thick flow of ice.
rated g, 1027 words sam/rosie
On a hot autumn day, Sam muses in the garden.
It's really too hot to work, but Sam appreciates the solitude, the silence that comes in the lull of the golden afternoon, when the sun shines brightest. It hasn't been raining much, no, and the days blend together in a haze of green and yellow and a rainbow of bright blossoms. The summer has been stretched wide, too thin, and the heat that came with the end of April and the beginning of May lingers; and its September, now, and there's no sign of it soon cooling down.
rated r, 3646 words sam/frodo
At the beginning and at the very end.
The rain falls in a quiet hush outside the thick earthen walls of Bag End. The sky is grey mixed with darker blue and pale white, a summer storm bleeding its lifeblood own onto the earth; its time has come. Even as the rain stil s, until only errant drops fall from a sky now half-covered, the quiet of the day-not-quite-night extending down over the party field and the span of green that separates Bag End from Hobbiton, it sinks into the walls as well, pervading the very air within.
rated nc-17, 2187 words merry/pippin
Merry doesn't know when to forget and what to remember.
"It was yesterday, wasn't it?" Pippin paused. The bed creaked and the covers rustled when he shifted, pressed just slightly closer, and he ended up with his cheek resting snug against Merry's chest. This was made easier by the fact that Merry's arm wound about his shoulder as he had moved. And then after the silence, Pippin continued; "Well, a year ago yesterday, and we'd come to the Brandywine. We'd finally made it home." It had been an odd thing for him to say, but yes, Merry thought, thinking of the day - no, not day, as night had fallen by the time they'd come to the Brandywine bridge. A year before that, they had been safe enough in Rivendell but Frodo had not been at all safe - well, he had been safe enough, but Merry had wondered if Frodo was planning on running off on them once more. Not again, Merry had decided, and Pippin had insisted on coming along.
rated g, 2052 words pippin, merry
Merry and Pippin in the Houses of Healing.
Grinning at Merry, trying to lighten the mood, Pippin retrieved Merry's pipe from the pack that hung from the bedp st. He stroked the smooth wood, almost reverent in his handling of the thing. Instead of taking this pipe back to Merry's father, a token to remember him by, he was filling the pipe for its owner. Because of the remains of fear in the back of his mind, like smoke lingering after a fire is gone, he concentrated fiercely on the small tasks of filling the pipe, tamping it down, lighting it, drawing to get a good draught going. The leaf caught, and the first sweet smoke curled in the air.
rated g, 800 words
frodo/sam, merry/pippin
Hobbits, and sleeping, in a place that isn't home.
It wasn't as uncomfortable as it could have been, thought Frodo, lying stretched out on and bundled in his blanket with his feet facing toward the hearth; the fire had been built up nicely, and it crackled cheerfully in the otherwise quiet gloom, and Frodo could feel its heat where his toes peeked out.
rated g/pg, 400 words merry/pippin/estella/diamond
Late spring, SR 1429.
They had gone out riding, Diamond with ribbons in her hair near as colourful as Spring, and grousing good-naturedly that, wouldn't it be nice if this over-large pony wasn't such a terribly hard ride. Now, while Merry and Pippin busy themselves with luncheon, raiding the whicker picnic basket while the ponies are tethered near by, eating their own meal, Estella finds herself fussing over the honey-bright mess of Diamond's curls, trying to work those ribbons free.
rated pg/pg-13, 2433 words
merry/pippin
This place doesn't feel like home.
This place doesn't feel like home. It should, but it doesn't. It just isn't home to this Merry, even though it had been more than perfectly right for the Merry that had been left behind.
rated g, 235 words elanor/fastred
The waves of the Sea advance, and they retreat, as Elanor ponders love and loss.
Elanor has always loved to swim in the rivers of the Shire, and she's loved the Sea, too, even before she knew what it was. And swimming wasn't a something that was very common with the hobbits in the Shire, after all, because swimming was something altogether unnatural.
rated g/pg, 3503 words frodo, pippin, mention of merry and sam
Frodo and Pippin have a much needed talk.
After Merry and Pippin had brought back the last of his belongings and taken charge of putting Bag End back to rights, Frodo thanked the Cottons for their hospitality, and finally went back home. Home. Oh, it had been too long. Although things are as they should be, Frodo's not so certain that it all feels right. So, Pippin stays on with Frodo after Merry admits that he has to make his way back to Buckland for his father's sake. But he'll be back, he tells them both, and Pippin cheerfully promises that he will take good care of Frodo while Merry is away – while Sam is away, too, for Sam is still busy taking care of his Gaffer. Yes, it does only seem right that Sam would be there for him, and Frodo knows that his cousins must be aware of the fact that Sam is not. So in the meanwhile, Pippin is still there to look after Frodo.
rated g, 500 words pippin, merry, sam, frodo-lad, elanor, rosie
A picnic at the beach.
The water was shallow - the waves were slapping gently against Pippin's long legs as he waded out further. The water was warm - the warm salt-sweet smell of the sea - and the sand against the soles of his feet was smooth.
rated g, 995 words pippin, merry
When the 15th of March rolls around...
When the 15th of March rolls around (a very important date, for those who don't know), Merry loses himself in darkness. It brings to Pippin's mind a something a something that Frodo once said; a something that Sam drove home whether he knew he was doing it or not. And because of that, Pippin is sure he'll never be far from Merry's side when the Shadow comes a-calling.
rated nc-17, 4,626 words pippin, merry
If Merry has lost himself, Pippin is there to find him.
Pippin arrived at Brandy Hall, dusty and dry from a long ride, and met with Berilac in the courtyard as he led his pony to be stabled. Pippin had watched the day speed by him, and it had brought him to this place, at this time. It was nearing dusk.
rated g, 1140 words pippin, frodo, sam, various elves, mention of merry
They now marched on again in silence, and passed like shadows and faint lights...
Pippin staggered once more but felt the light touch of an Elvish hand, gentle, yes, but with the strength a soft and cool breeze, guiding him, and he remained upright. He blinked his eyes, eyes that were owlish in the drawing dark. The woods were thicker now, and Pippin looked from side to side. The trees were slender and young, but their quiet power could be seen; they had weathered many storms, Pippin was sure, and they stood there, tall and strong and proud.
rated pg, 256 words merry/pippin
Pippin would never cheat.
"You've been cheating," Merry says, lips twitching. The evening stretches on and it's only the two of them sitting in one of the small side kitchens of Brandy Hall, quiet. Time stand still. Pippin has been winning hand after hand of cards all the night long.
rated pg, 2022 words merry/pippin
A winter's day (and looking back.)
The snow had come early this year - Pippin hadn't made a comment, but he could feel it in his bones. Now, he stands on the front steps of Crickhollow, watching as Merry pulls on his gloves. "Are you sure that I can keep myself entertained while you're away?" Pippin sks, sliding his own hands into his pockets, tilting his head.
rated g, 2223 words merry/pippin, others implied
Maybe Pippin only wants to know for knowings sake.
It isn't that first night in Lothlorien that Merry lets himself speak further on what Galadriel showed him, n r the night after that, and for as much as Pippin can tell, it's fully possible that Merry isn't even thinking about it at all. Something seems wrong with Merry, though, at least that's what Pippin finds himself thinking. Whatever it is that worries Merry so, it clings to him like half-seen shadows that fl t in between the dark and light spaces that you can find in between the trees. Almost intangible, it still manages to leave you fully aware of its dreadful presence; Pippin certainly thinks himself aware of it.
rated pg/pg-13, 400 words
merry/pippin
Merry is obstinate. Pippin is a brat.
Pippin comes in from the cold, bearing wood for their fire, snow hanging in the mess of his cinnamon-bright curls, red tips for both his nose and ears, and cheeks that are flushed from the cold. He grins at Merry, who grins right back. It was Pippin's turn to go fetching firewood, after all, which has made it Merry's turn to laze upon the couch, which he does with much relish, all stretched out, wearing the most comfortable (and the warmest, all fine and yellow) of his robes.
rated r, 300 words
frodo/pippin
"Whatever are you thinking?"
"Pippin!" Frodo gasps, coming with force enough to lift him up off the bed. It does not help that Pippin is pinning him as he is, beneath a hungry, greedy mouth, and Frodo twists, fisting hold of the bed covers as Pippin sucks him fully dry. With a final cry, Frodo gives, collapsing backwards, though Pippin has not yet finished with him, and Frodo whimpers, loosening one hand to bite hard at his wrist.
rated pg-ish, 1000 words
will-lad whitfoot, azalea sandheaver, perry sandheaver, and a number of ruffians (all ocs)
Going in, and coming out.
He must not have thought straight at all, or at least not thinking with any intelligence, to go running at the group as he had: one of them laughed, catching him by the hair. He was jerked back, for he had been moving still, and he was almost too stunned to make a sound, as he was stopped and swung off his feet. He was pulled back, and pulled up, and then tossed to another of the Men. 'You can't – my father,' he gasped, though he made it no further than that, a hard fist catching him in the gut. He then cried out, the breath gone from him, his eyes burning, tears and stars.
rated pg-13, 2172 words merry/pippin
When emotions bottle up, they come out in a storm.
It was early autumn and the dry heat of the day, heavy and sickeningly sweet like old ale, tasted more of summer, a too bright sun and dust thick in the air, than of the fall. There was fire in the west, down low in the sky, that tangle of red and gold, pink and grey, that heralded the end of the day.
rated pg, 2250 words frodo/pippin
One night in Minas Tirith, Pippin goes to Frodo, when they both need to talk.
It is a silly thing, to try and count the stars - but there isn't anything else that Frodo can do, in this place of tall towers and tall people, a place so different than his own memories of home. Home - now, nothing more than those same memories. Sitting here, on the long low steps, Frodo cannot help but feel that it has been a lifetime since he had last walked within the Shire. He is certainly a different hobbit, now, with his terrors and his scars. The stars, though - the stars are a constant. So, he counts.
rated pg, 3434 words
sweetbrier chubb, her mother, and a wounded ruffian
It was the eighteenth of Blotmath, and the day promised to be clear.
It was the eighteenth of Blotmath, and the day promised to be clear. Sweetbrier Chubb, just come of age (as she would celebrate her thirty-third birthday this very day, no matter if it was a day fit for such celebration) woke early, as there was much work to do before she let herself think of frivolities or of parties.
rated pg, 250 words
rosie/estella/diamond
'I suppose they wouldn't be much without us.'
'I suppose they wouldn't be much without us,' Estella says, too proud of herself by far and it shows in her grin. Then her mouth is on Rose's, and the kiss is wet and deep. 'Well, that is, there are times when they need the looking after, still.'
rated nc-17, 2728 words
frodo/sam
A night caught at Bag End, and what comes of it.
The rain had come in a flash from the harsh November sky, falling hard, and cold, and soaking Sam through to the skin. Now, he sits in Bag End's front parlor, bundled in a thick quilt and one of Bilbo's fine old robes, and sitting right before the fire that crackles, bright and cheerful, on the hearth. He shivers his fingers were still cold, and felt a bit numb. He'd only been halfway up the Hill when the storm had hit, and he had been closer to Bag End than he had been to Number Three, by far. It had only made sense that he would finish his trek, even if that took him through the storm, and left wet, and cold, at Bag End's front door. He hadn't even thought that Mister Frodo would think that he had presumed
rated g, 692 words théoden, éowyn, mention of others
Not all birthdays are happy.
Éowyn stands with her arms held straight at her sides, a fierce-stubborn look on fair, dirtied cheeks. There is a dark green ribbon knotted in tangled yellow curls, a rip up one sleeve and down one side of her summer gown - a gown the same green as the undersides of bright summer leaves.
rated nc-17, 3876 words frodo/merry/sam/pippin
Nothing is better than an evening spent in the fine company of friends.
Frodo groaned in quiet frustration, leaning back against Sam's bare chest. Pippin had only just come back into the parlor, wearing naught but a grin and a long shirt. With a show of grace, or aybe just because there were those times where Pippin was nothing but a showoff, Pippin was managing to balance three empty tea cups in one hand, a long tea towel draped over that same arm, and a small pot of tea and one more empty cup in the other.
rated g, 250 words
hally/talen/peridot (omc/omc/ofc)
The threads of a story.
They share their stories: Talen's first, his time as a rebel. 'And I was lucky,' he says. 'You might not think it, but I was. Never caught, never hurt, not really. My leg only pains me when I dance too much.' And here, he grins. 'And, you know, I do love to dance.'
rated r, 3443 words
lotho/daisy
She'd made the choice on her own.
She'd made the choice on her own. She was the eldest daughter, and perhaps it wasn't proper – her old Dad often got stuck on what was proper, what was not – and it wasn't that Daisy didn't care. She did love her family, and she wanted to do right by them. But she remembered a time, still, when she had been much younger, and her mother had been there, too: and Bell had been fair younger, too, a Goodchild out of Tookbank, who had, at one time, been apprenticed to one of the Took healers out of Great Smials. Now, even Daisy-as-a-child knew that this was a lifetime away – not the sort of thing that Hamfast Gamgee would appreciate from his wife – and while Bell never did lose her healer's touch, she seemed fair content as a wife and mother. It was a sacrifice that Daisy couldn't, and didn't think she ever would, understand. But she loved her mother all the while, and as she grew, she made her plans.
rated pg, 400 words
moro burrows/celandine brandybuck burrows
The day of the morning after Celandine and Moro's wedding.
She woke pleasantly sore, the hum of sunlight warm on her skin. When she turned, she found the sunlight even more pleasant as it warmed her husband's skin. She did not giggle, but she smiled, and she ducked her head low, pressed a kiss against his chin. Moro murmured something, and tilted his head. Then Celandine's stomach gave a faint grumble, and Moro's one that was even louder, and his eyes snapped open wide. The moment stretched long, and then he laughed, and she laughed, too, and Moro wound his arms about her neck, and brought his mouth to hers.
rated pg-13, 1000 words
merry/pippin
Pippin would, very much like to feel like himself.
Pippin would, very much like to feel like himself: do I feel the same, Merry, he asks, and Merry laughs, which isn't the answer that Pippin had been hoping for. Pippin blames it on the ale good South-farthing ale, however they were able to manage that and Merry has started on his fifth, Man-sized pint, so there is more ale than blood and wit in Merry's veins. He understands, of course, and he sympathizes, too: if Merry has started on his fifth, and Pippin has just downed his seventh.
rated pg, 400 words merry, celeborn
In Rivendell, an elf and a hobbit meet again.
Silly how he feels like a tween in the presence of this great Lord of Elves perhaps, despite his own age, he is but a child in comparison but then, such comparison would be as one that likened an apple to a rock. "Celeborn, my lord," he says, and Merry deeply bows. When he looks again, there is a smile near as old and as effortless as starlight upon the elf's fair mouth.
rated pg, 1478 words
bilbo, merry, pippin (merry/pippin)
In Rivendell, Merry and Pippin wait for Frodo to awaken.
The moment Merry opened his mouth, Pippin shut his hand around Merry's wrist and pressed tight. Merry blinked, his mouth snapped shut, and from the corner of his vision he saw the sharp brightness of Pippin's wide smile.
rated nc-17, 3042 words merry/pippin
Where Merry knows he shouldn't be waking up alone.
The last time that Merry had seen Pippin, Pippin had laughed, and sighed, and given Merry a kiss on the lips. It was hardly a cousinly kiss, soft and sweet and deep, and Pippin had tasted of smoke and good ale.
rated pg-13/r, 1000 words merry/pippin
erry proclaims, loud despite the din of drunken song and raucous cheer, that this is just like that time, back at the Green Dragon...
Merry proclaims, loud despite the din of drunken song and raucous cheer, that this is just like that tim , back at the Green Dragon, when a perfectly pleasant evening had been interrupted by a visit from the youngest of the Sackville-Bagginses, and to escape the start of a much-unwanted scene, they'd pulled Frodo under the table, despite his protests against.
rated g, 1200 words
pippin (and others)
Twelve different good-byes.
Pippin would not have minded it, if he'd been allowed to ride along in the wain with Merry: instead, he rides with pride, with the knights of Gondor. The smallest of them, certainly, but, as Aragorn had told him, once (when Pippin had been black and blue all over, and with a number of broken bones), lack of great stature has no bearing on the size of one's great deeds.
rated g, 500 words
it's a surprise!
In the summer of SR 1421...
Summer had come, though the air was cool and crisp. Rose bustled about the Bag End, drawing light where she went – but that might have been Elanor, going on three months now, and her glowing near as brightly as the Sun. And he would watch them, as Rose went about her day to day, but never thought it his place to speak or act – he was much better at watching, anyhow. But then the day came, one summer morning, when he had been watching from the shadows, that Rose needed her hands free – and she spoke up, sharply, saying, 'Mr. Baggins, sir, here, hold my lass for just a moment – there's too much light and air out there to keep the windows shuttered, against so lovely a day,' and she passed Elanor on to him, with a mother's grace and care.
rated pg, 674 words
moro burrows/celandine brandybuck burrows
The morning after Celandine and Moro's wedding night.
He woke to shifting pressure at his side, and for a moment did not realise that he was in fact, in his own bed. He took one deep breath, and then another, and as he went on breathing, the breaths became easier to take. He reached out, and found a hand lying warm among the covers, and he threaded his fingers with it, and pressed it tight.
rated pg, 1754 words merry/éowyn, merry/pippin
And tomorrow they ride to war...
He calls it mindless fancy; mindless, because it makes little sense, fancy, because it could never be anything more than just that. And Merry is a patient sort (he's had to be, with Pippin about), but he's never been fond of looking-not-touching, of wanting-not-having, and he doesn't think it's ever been this bad, even when he's had Pippin to blame. And Pippin, lover-cousin-best friend, is so far away.
rated pg-13, 4900 words pippin, the hobbits of north-delving, ruffians
The village of North-delving, almost in the Northfarthing of the Shire, and a dark year after another dark year.
He wakes with a groan, head pounding: for a long moment, there is no up nor down, nor proper reason, and Pippin can't tell where he is (or, his mind says, aching as it does, where he isn't). He opens his eyes, and the light that greets his vision is moor-grey, washed out, and the air is stilted. He coughs, and his head aches further. He tries to move, to sit up, and finds that he can't.
rated pg-13, 6300 words
citrine cmallburrow and the hobbits of north-delving
Another dark year, after one dark year.
Citrine is standing in the kitchen with her mother when Tom Norton, the baker's son, came round, whistling as he knocked upon the already opened door. 'There's news come from Michel Delving,' he says, as mother welcomes him in, then asks if he might like some refreshment. 'Ah, no time, Mistress Dahlia, I've no time for tea – Thed Gravelly's come round, and brought with him very good news. We should all stand out to hear it!'
rated pg-13, 2338 words
merry brandybuck and some others
Where Merry finally shows up.
'There's nothing here but grass, and hills, and sheep,' Mosco says, stressing that last word, at the edge of Merry's hearing. That's all well and mostly true, for the Westfarthing is wide and green and rolling. Merry, though, has never thought it home to an abnormal amount of sheep.
He didn't think he understood his father, but Merry didn't have to understand Saradoc to know that they needed the rain. It had been too long, and the summer was hot and the days were long and dry, and the fields all crackled, thirsty, no, parched. And they weren't on the best standing, but his f ther was doing the best that he could - not that there was much that Saradoc could do to make it rain. But Merry is young, and his father certainly was capable of all those wonderful things that only grown ups could do. If anyone could figure out how to make the rain come, it would be Saradoc. But the air was hot and dry as dust, and still the rain doesn't come.
Collaboration with Lindelea Chapter:One, Two, Three, Four, Five, Six rated pg-13, 15844 words pippin, merry, sam, aragorn, various tooks and brandybucks
An ancient curse descends upon Merry, and Pippin is the only one who can save him...
The only sound in the clearing was the crackling of the fire, the occasional snap as hot pitch ignited explosively, the sighing of the wind in the treetops, and Merry's soft pleading.
'Pippin? Pippin, listen to me. It's all a mistake. Pippin?'
rated pg-13, 1044 words omc (canon characters)
A dare and the consequences thereof.
The night is quiet and warm, the smell of earth and grass and night-blossoms thick like perfume, the sweet sort a fine lass might wear when she wants to charm her lad. The moon is low in the western sky, full and yellow, and all is very quiet, very still.
rated pg, 1506 words éowyn/merry, merry/pippin implied
The best lies are the ones that start small.
The best lies are the ones that start small; Éowyn knows this, having lived her life one lie at a time. So much falsehood gathered, for such a short span of years - she is not that old, after all. But that does not matter, and she could paint ut her life in faded shades of grey and gold, all the lies that she has lived, and not even the ones who knew her would find it impossible to work ut the truth from the tangle of not.
Chapter:One, Two, Three, Four rated pg-13, 18661 words
introducing the tunnellys
The story of Jed Tunnelly's homecoming.
Aster knew it was a funny enough habit, her clucking at the chickens as if she expected them to talk back. Jed had always told her so, though Tolby in his own fashion would often tease her, and tell her that she really was too young and pretty to be so very cracked. And no, the chickens never did talk back and Aster thought it well enough they didn't, as she wasn't sure she'd know what to say if they actually understood what she was saying. Though, perhaps wouldn't have minded the conversation. Perhaps a bit of good cheer.
rated PG, 800 words
diamond, others
From one season to another, and how things change.
There are riders from the south at some time just prior to Yule – tall Men, on large horses, with grim faces and dark grins, and all bearing long sharp swords at their sides. She remembers her father having gone out, with her three brothers and her four uncles, and though they'd all stood tall as they could manage, they'd been nothing but children standing at their elder's feet. Had they been frightened? She had, if only because of what they'd all heard, and the Men that had been seen about – but they'd not come so close, though winter's come and it's been bitter, cold… What did they want? What could they want? No, Tolly'd not been frightened, but he'd been angry, instead…
rated nc-17, 1603 words éomer/gríma
Gríma shall have all that he wants and more.
He had stood there, watching, as storm clouds gathered overhead, thick and black and grey; they stretched from one horizon to the other, heavy and dark, and it was like midnight instead of midday. And if you listened very arefully, you could clearly hear a song; buzzing, surging, rumbling, buried down deep in the charge of the storm.
rated g, 424 words
frodo (merry, pippin, sam)
He would rather they stay behind.
Frodo toyed quite idly with the clasp of his cloak, looking out into the dim gloom of the fog that swims thick as rolling sea beyond the house's opened door. There was a damp chill upon the air, and Frodo breathes it in, smelling earth and something else, something deeper, and what could possibly be deeper than earth?
rated pg-13, 3000 words
rosie/marigold
Rosie and Marigold weren't biding their time for thirteen months and ten days.
'Our Sam's got a right better head on him than that,' Marigold says. 'He'll do for Mr Frodo, just as Dad wants, just as Dad thinks is right proper: but Sam's not suited to a Brandybuck's life, not even if that Brandybuck's a proper Baggins by name, and I don't reckon it'll be long at all our Sam makes his way back home.'
rated pg, 2305 words merry/pippin
It had been raining since before morning had been morning...
It had been raining since before morning had been morning, or so Merry thinks. He wakes to a chill grey day, the world beyond the guestroom's little round window and its cheery blue drapes distorted by a heavy fall of rain.
rated pg-13, 600 words merry/pippin/estella/diamond
All threaded together.
Her lips are soft and taste of cinnamon, a curve against his own as she laughs against his mouth. "You've been baking," Merry says, ar s loose about Diamond's waist, head bent, hands knit together at the small of her back. Her eyes are bright and she smiles as he breathes her in, smelling cinnamon-sugar-sweet off the warm glow of her skin.
rated nc-17, 1146 words
frodo/merry/pippin
Distractions.
"What is it that you're planning?" Frodo asks, amazed and amused and more than just half aroused by the look that flashes so bold in his young cousin's eyes. Pippin is first to crawl up onto the bed, followed by Merry, and Frodo finds that he is pressed close between two bodies (well, he thinks, at least they are still dressed.)
rated r/nc-17, 3000 words
elendir/talenard, talenard/peridot, elendir/talenard/peridot implied (all ocs)
Three nights in SR 1416 a Bounder, a Ranger, and a Bolger.
It is the third night, in as many weeks, that Elendir son of Elenbarad has come upon Talenard North-took, out wandering the Wild beyond the North Bound of the Shire. On their first meeting, they'd exchanged names; the second time, Elendir learned that Talenard is a Bounder, and it is expected of him to wander; and on the third, Talenard tells Elendir that the stars must consider it fate, and asks Elendir to sup and then camp with him that night.
rated g, 6384 words
estella/diamond, merry/pippin
Diamond comes to Budgeford.
'Estella, I need to – '
'What you need to do, dearest brother, is stay put in bed and have your luncheon. You're naught but skin and bones, and not nearly enough of that.' Estella regards Freddy sharply, but then the edge of her smile softens. She sets the tray down on the bedside table, and then she turns and throws open the drapes. Outside, the day is clear, the sun is bright. And she knows, standing there and in the gleaming sunlight, that she is very lucky. Freddy's not told her nearly as much as she would like to know, but Estella does know that there have been deaths, that too many hobbits have died. But she has her brother back, and she knows how very lucky she truly is.
rated pg-13, 1800 words
aragorn/boromir/arwen
Boromir is tempted, by both silver and gold.
He is a man of action, fighti g better with weapons than he is with clever words. His first meeting with Aragorn (though, at the time, he had not known him by that name) is fruitless, a blunder, and irritates him, and nothing more.
rated pg, 600 words frodo/merry
He's probably getting what he deserves.
Though Pippin insisted, as though his responsibilities as Thain's son were something he took to mind during each day (and he did think of them, more often than one might suppose), that he'd have to leave now, in order to make it to the ferry before dark, he was not all that surprised when Diamond insisted he stay. It had been raining through the day, from before even dawn, and it misted out beyond the house's windows muddled and thick, and what sane hobbit would go out travelling in weather as horrendous as that?
rated pg-13, 1702 words merry/pippin
Merry is lost somewhere in between where he thinks he should be, and where he actually is.
Pippin's left his pipe out again. Merry crosses the parlour, picks it up, and moves to put it up to sit on the mantle. Pippin has a habit, leaving his things out. The pipe, now, and just last week, it had been his cloak that Merry had found in a crumpled pile in the front hall. It ah. It's very hard to think, sometimes. Clarity is a difficult thing to manage, though it always does come. Merry blinks, and his vision blurs over, but as is the nature of a moment, it is a passing thing. No, Pippin's not leaving his things out. Pippin never came home.
rated r, 1322 words frodo/merry/pippin
Frodo's way of saying good bye.
There was a time before this time that was now, when the world had yet to turn to black and white and all the shades of grey between; when laughter and light and colour had some meaning, a time when the promise of their kisses and their smiles and their touches, too, would have drawn him close.
rated pg, 4,022 words
frodo/pippin, merry/pippin (frodo/merry mentioned)
Sometimes, things change for the better.
' – and don't be a bother, Pippin.'
'You think I'm a bother?' He turns from his pack, now secured, and lifts it with one hand, dumping it at the side of his bed. Merry, standing at the mantel, turns just at that moment, fists at his hips. How important he looks, or at least that's the illusion he gives Pippin. Pippin, knowing Merry wouldn't appreciate it if he laughed, shuts his mouth as merrily as he can manage.
And Merry stands there, the hearth dead at his back – it's autumn, but the days haven't yet begun their turn to cool. Pippin's almost certain, by the time they make it to Frodo's Party, that it will be as warm as summer, still.
rated g, 208 words
gríma/éowyn
He watches her and is always unseen.
The White Lady of the Rohirrim is fair, and he is but the aide of the King, below her, always wanting and never having. She is all that he is not, light to his dark, right to his wrong, life to his death. She is all that he will never be.
rated pg, 826 words
estella and diamond (estella/diamond)
Diamond comforts Estella.
Estella picks up her skirts, runs full-force - and Diamond is forced to do the same, running down the hall, gasping apologises as she does, running into one hobbit and then another. Estella doesn't go far, taking herself to her own room, opening the door and slamming it with such force that Diamond feels it, the ripples of it, from halfway down the hall.
rated pg, 1931 words merry/pippin
The one where Pippin thinks Merry needs to lighten up.
There had been a time when Pippin had looked upon the Brandywine with a sort of morbid fascination; a time, as well, when Merry had decided that it was time enough for his young cousin to learn how to swim. That had involved Merry picking Pippin up and dumping him in the water; but Pippin had been swimming on his own by the end of the day.
rated r/nc-17, 450 words
hally/talen/peridot (all ocs)
Tangles.
They get better at it, at tangling together and finding some way, one or another, to keep Hally safe. Talen is sturdy and warm but Peridot is soft and hot, and she laughs almost all the time, even when he's buried deep in her, when he feels the squeeze of her body all around: and there could be no end to it, he thinks, setting to a pace. 'Ah, ah,' Peridot pants, smiling, sweaty fingers on a sweaty cheek. 'Ah, yes, but that's glorious, it is.' She is glorious, eyes burning bright, hair a rumpled mess, all her curves fair and sweet to know.
rated g, 300 words
sam/pippin (kind of)
"You must be too young for such heavy thought."
The sunlight is thin, and t e day is chill. Pippin is sitting out behind the tool-shed, knees drawn to his chest, arms in turn wrapped about his knees, and with the point of his fine Tookish chin thus set against his kneecaps. It looks as though the lad (no, now, Sam, he's not a lad, and don't forget) is having himself a sulk, and Sam busies himself with his work, instead, opening the heavy latch on the door and heading in, to claim the pruning shears, and the whe lbarrow, too.
rate g, 713 words pervinca/melilot
Pervinca takes traditions very seriously.
There were certain Yuletide traditions that Pervinca Took had always taken to heart, ever since she'd only been a bit of a thing sitting on her Da's knee. Warm spice cake and mint tea, staying up late listening to stories of years gone by, of playing in the snow and jingle bells that seemed to dance, sleigh rides in the bright cold, ice skating, sled rides, and snow ball fights, too.
rated g, 3021 words pippin, merry
There are those promises that are meant to last forever.
Merry knew the look well; the one that reminded him of the time that Pippin set out to eat the entire cask of sour pickles, and hadn't stopped himself until he'd hit the bottom. Afterwards, Pippin had been pinch-faced and complaining of a belly ache; and Merry had told Pippin that he'd been asking for it from the beginning. Or perhaps it reminded Merry more of that Summer when Pippin had swam and swam and kept swimming, more fish than hobbit, and Merry remembered thinking that he'd go to wake his cousin one day and find scales instead of skin, and Pippin had decided that he'd swim more than any hobbit ever before, and he'd gotten an earache, a nasty one, from all the water. But... O Pippin, when he'd got a plan into his head, Merry knew well how hard it was to turn his cousin from his chosen path, even if it wasn't the most well-chosen of paths, and more often than not, afterwards Pippin would look about as happy as an old boot, as dusty and just as worn. It was a stubborn streak that some would say spoke true of all Tooks, though Merry, only half a Took, wasn't near as stubborn as Pippin could be; at least, he liked to think that was the truth.
Chapter:One, Two, Three rated pg-13, 13188 words
sam, rose, frodo, merry, pippin (sam/rose, merry/pippin); au
There's a rot in the air and in the ground.
Rot.
The stench of it catches in her nose, in her throat, settles down on her and causes a sick twist in her gut. She holds herself steady, works her spade. Growing things dying where they ought to live, before their time had even come to be taken from the ground. Sickening, and not by lack of nurturing hands, instead as if it was the earth itself that had gone back. There's a moldy, stale stench in the air, the smell of growing things dying in the ground.
Rose sits back, wipes at her sweaty brow with one gloved hand, clutching at the spade with the other. The Shire had flourished after her Sam's return, and the bounty of 1420 was the best there'd been in years. But now the dirt is rotting, dying, or that at least is how it seems. Rose looks down at her gloved hands, at her mother's kitchen garden. She'd been known for her root vegetables in the Bywater area, though she never claimed as much as old Gaffer Gamgee. The taters are dying, rotting from the inside. It's not even time for them to be taken from the ground.
rated r, 1428 words estella/alyssum (ofc)/rosemary (ofc)
Drinking too much. Or, perhaps, not enough.
"I've drunk too much, I think," Estella declares. Candlelight and fire's glow has turned the air to gold. There is a long sofa in Rosemary's bedroom, brocade and red velvet, and that is where they all sit, their skirts all in a pile so that's it hard to tell where one lass ends, and the next begins.
'Pippin and Merry, well, they both think it right: that I should marry a Brandybuck, for I should have been one, all along.' Pervinca grins, then reaches for Alyssum's hand: her mouth is warm, as she sets a kiss at Alyssum's wrist, and then another, higher up than that. 'What I think, though, is that I missed you, and you a proper River- bound lass.' At that, Pervinca grins. 'And here you are, and me the one who's wed-proper, and you the one who plans to run away.'
rated r, 3288 words merry/pippin, frodo/sam implied
Some dance to remember, some dance to forget.
The White Tower of Ecthelion was neither the most impressive structure to be seen in Gondor, nor was it, actually, any longer truly white. In the light of the moon, it glowed softly grey.
rated pg, 1026 words merry/sam implied, merry/pippin
What Merry would give to understand Sam.
Sometimes, like now, Merry wondered if he'd ever be able to figure Samwise Gamgee out. He was the sort of hobbit, Merry knew, that would give all and ask for nothing in return. Merry knew, because he'd seen it with his own two eyes.
rated r, 6146 words merry/pippin
There must be s mething, that will hold Pippin together.
There are those nights at those times of the year that Pippin doesn't like to sleep, because he doesn't like the dreams that come when he can't fend them off, and he doesn't like the sensation of waking and feeling as though he's been smothered. He wakes before dawn in darkness so pitch he's feared all the lights have gone out forever, dream-images of glass-eyed children swimming in his mind and the faded copper taste of old dead blood at the back of his throat. All the old hurts are suddenly as sharp as the edge of a knife, scars and memories that are just as severe. This is one of those nights, and he wishes he could instead dream himself into a void, because the maybes that come when he sleeps always manage to steal away the light of the day.
rated pg/pg-13, 1434 words merry/pippin
And, really, it wasn't that he wanted home, but something familiar would be a welcome relief.
It wasn't until after they left Rivendell, travelled half across the wild, up through cold and down into darkness, when they found themselves stuck in Moria, that Pippin at last realised that they were in over their heads; and that was unlucky enough, for them all, but they were just hobbits and they hadn't been all that tall to begin. If Pippin told Frodo what he thought, he knew his oldest cousin would only remind him that he and Merry had insisted on coming along; so Pippin told Merry, instead, even if Pippin knew Merry well enough to know that Merry might just say the same thing. Pippin was, of course, right, and Merry said just that and that left Pippin idle-feeling and restless, and acting like a fool. Pippin was sitting close, close as a conspirator, and Merry kissed him on the cheek; they were conspirators, still, and they were only here because that was what they had insisted on. Why, for all they'd done and seen, Pippin was still somewhat at a loss that Gandalf had let them along.
rated pg, 2600 words
merry, pippin, others
Beyond the end of all things, yet before the beginning.
Merry has thought so much on what he'll find when the convoy arrives at Cormallen, he has decided to stop thinking about it at all; since hearing word of Frodo and Sam's return from Mount Doom, there has been hope, yes, but little more than that. It is a strange thing, to think so poorly of hope.
rated nc-17, 2665 words frodo/boromir
What is wanted but can never be.
A new day had dawned, clear and cool. A faint taste of smoke hung in the air, the fire that Sam had tended as he fixed the fellowship its breakfast, along with the chill of a new day. The sun was still low in the east, rising up into a sky of fair blue. The fire had been stamped out, put to rest, and now the company ate their breakfast quickly, quietly. Even Pippin and his incessant insistence had stilled.
rated pg, 4,441 words
freddy and folco (and others)
Folco attempts to jolly Freddy from his mood.
'Where've the Captains gone?' Freddy asks, with only half his heart. His face is weary, too thin, and if Folco's heart hadn't already broken, then it would surely now break in his chest.
But Folco smiles, as if to cast that pain away, and he leans back in the broad-back chair, casting his hands to the end of the arms. 'They're off to Bywater – and there by now, I'm guessing. They meant to check on Frodo, and Bag End – I'd have thought they'd told you, though, before they left.'
'Oh,' Freddy blinks, then shrugs. A ghost's grin sits on his lips. 'Well, they did. It seems it's been a long day, Folco – or perhaps, instead, it's been a very long week. That must have slipped my mind.' Then, quietly, he says. 'How long has it been?'
rated g, 300 words
pippin/diamond
"I was wondering if you'd ever come home."
"I was wondering if you'd ever come home," Diamond says, and she wonders - like she sometimes does - if he knows that she means it, more than she should have to mean it, how each time he goes off riding, she's left wondering if he'll be riding back.
rated nc-17, 1397 words merry/pippin
Can Pippin bring Merry b ck, or will Merry simply come back on his own?
When Pippin woke in the middle of the night, reached out to slide one arm over Merry's side, he found that his cousin was gone. I wouldn't be the first time; he doubted, even, that it would be the last. Merry often woke, wandered Crickhollow in the shadows of the night. The only thing different, then, would be that they were in Bag End, and not their own Crickhollow. Pippin slid out of bed, slid into his robe, and padded out of their shared room, into the quiet of Bag End's main hall.
rated g, 1163 words
frodo/sam
The sun is shining bright and Bag End's front door is in need of a painting.
The sun was shining, the birds were singing, and if there was somethin that Sam was certain Bag End was in need of, then that something was a fresh coat of paint for its less-than-cheery front door. What should have been a welcoming bright green was starting to fade to a dull and drab grey.
rated hard r/nc-17, 3085 words
pervinca, estella, rosemary (pervinca/estella/rosemary)
Second Yule is spent in good company.
It had come to a new day, and to a new year as well, but Pervinca did not think, or even feel, that very much had changed. There had been some snow, enough of it to give Yule an extra amount of cheer – and given how lacking the cheer had been, Pervinca knew that that was more than enough. Last Night had come, and with it the new year, and even for the darkness of times, that was only more reason for celebration.
rated r, 6240 words frodo/merry/sam/pippin + faramir
In Minas Tirith, an unexpected offer makes the hobbits feel at home.
The sun was shining brightly, and the air in the garden was warm and still and flooded with the scent of half a dozen different flowers in bloom, perfectly calm and peaceful and just warm enough for a lengthy nap: and that was how Sam found his master and his master's cousins, dozing lightly in the sun. Merry was up against the tree, head at an angle, snoring softly, with Pippin's head pillowed against his thigh. Pippin's curls glinted brightly, side by side with Frodo's, and Frodo was curled against Pippin, fist full of Pippin's clean linen shirt.
rated g, 400 words frodo, celebrian
He can feel that the waves are washing him away.
The water was bright against white sand and Frodo sat with his feet well within the reach of playful waves. The sky was bright, too, and the sun was shining with an unreal shade of silver-and-gold. Frodo could feel that he was washing away, like the waves, rolling in crowned in white only to roll back, retreating to the sea.
rated g, 800 words
the tunnellys
Four vignettes: the meeting, the courtship, the engagement, and the wedding of Ben Tunnelly and Orchid Goodbody.
His name was Ben Tunnelly, and Orchid met him quite unexpectedly at Great Smials (and her having come all the way from Michel Delving). At their meeting, Ben smiled, and she rather liked his smile – but found herself somewhat puzzled at it, as well. There was just something about it, something she couldn't quite explain...
rated nc-17, 5859 words frodo/merry/sam/pippin
At least they'll make the best of it.
The rain had made a ruin of the roads, and there would, most regrettably, be no comfort found in Bag End that night. Frodo had trudged, cloak pulled up, with Merry at his side; Merry, who Frodo was certain afterwards would be regretting that he had been carting both of their packs, and who was now cursing under his breath.
Collaboration with Julianne rated g, 2051 words legolas, boromir, aragorn
Legolas watches Aragorn and Boromir and tries to understand.
Legolas had lived a very long time and yet even now, at the end of an age, there were things that he did not quite understand. To an Elf, death was not something that was easily understood. Elven grief was cold and insubstantial like the starlight they loved, hard to take hold of and even harder to comprehend. Natural death was something unheard of among the Elves; even violent death, in the idst of a great battle, was rare enough among his. Legolas had lived a very long time, and yet Gandalf's fall had been a first. He was not sure if he would want to feel that pain again.
rated nc-17, 4,304 words
frodo/pippin, frodo/merry mentioned (frodo/merry/pippin)
Frodo truly isn't in a place where he can affect the situation as he most desires.
Frodo roused at the slow but incredibly loud creaking of his bedroom door as it was pushed open. Low candlelight flickered in the darkness, and he blinked his eyes once and then again against the burning intrusion of too-bright light. He blinked again, as if to be sure that this was reality, and no lingering dream. The air tasted cool and sweet, just this si e of morning, when the sky was still dark and the bed was firm yet soft, and fully inviting. Though the e was a warm body pressed near to his side, and given as sure as Frodo was, Frodo wasn't so certain if he was truly comfortable, given that his arms were stretched out up high over his bed, bound with a good leather belt to the headboard of his bed.
Chapter:Prologue, One, Two, Three, Four, Five, Six, Seven, Eight, Nine, Ten, Eleven, Twelve, Thirteen, Fourteen rated pg-13, 101572 words
frodo, merry, pippin
In which we find out what would happen if Merry and Pippin went to Mordor with Frodo, instead of Sam; and yet things have not all changed so drastically as they might.
They came to Parth Galen, and the lawn was cool enough beneath Merry's feet. When Aragorn told all of them that they would rest there, Merry thought it a fair enough place. Night came and he slept, but he did not sleep easily at all; he woke a number of times, and Pippin must have wakened a number of times as well, as Pippin told him once that he needed to get right back to sleep, that Merry was thinking too much and it would do him, or any of them, no good, other than keeping the both of them awake; and Pippin would rather sleep while he could.
Merry did sleep again, though he woke once or twice more, and one of those times, he found Frodo and Aragorn awake as well. Merry did not rise, but he did listen, though he heard nothing; but he saw the glimmer of Sting, as faint as burning dream, in the darkness of the night.
But then Merry settled back down into sleep, and perhaps that had only been a dream. He slept, and if that had been a dream, he did not dream again 'til dawn, when the day came upon them, dark and dreadful, black and red. He hardly felt as if he had rested, waking to flame. He looked at Frodo, and wondered how he felt. As they made ready to eat their breakfast, he looked at Frodo – Frodo, who looked out over the water, to the tall island that rose up sharply from the deep, his gaze very distant. Were his thoughts so distant as well? Merry wondered. Frodo did not seem on edge at all, but instead, perfectly calm.
rated g, 750 words pimpernel, pervinca, pearl (pippin, others)
Three sisters and three reactions.
Out on watch as she was, Pimpernel was first to see Pippin when he came riding home. She knew it was him, even from a distance, somehow felt it in her heart even before she had clear sight of his face. She sat balanced on the branch of the tree, and nodded at Allard who whistled sharp like bird-song and signaled the fellows. Pimpernel dropped down as gracious as she could, stood with one hand on her left hip and the other clutching at her bow, her heart beating, but her eyes all but disbelieving.
rated nc-17, 5081 words
frodo/merry
They haven't been arguing. Really.
"Been arguing, eh?"
Merry fixes Pippin with a piercing glare, a look he knows from personal experience to be accompanied by a rather like-minded frown. Pippin, though, doesn't seem to much mind Merry's irritation as he flashes a quick grin, the sort that shows off a flash of ha d white teeth, and then he turns back in his seat to the all important task of buttering a scone. Merry walks across the width of the kitchen and is left standing at the table, though he doesn't go any further than that and take his own seat. He glances down at Pippin, who is busy licking butter from his fingers. Haven't you any manners? he wants to say, though it isn't as if his words would matter.
Chapter:One, Two, Three rated r/nc-17, 5347 words
hilderic/aster (omc/ofc), pimpernel/aster (ofc), merry/pippin/aster (ofc)
He might have left her, but she knew he would return - he had promised, after all.
'Hilderic, please – '
'We've no point at all in fighting, lass,' Hilderic said, and Aster realised at last (and he had gone on and on about it for time enough, now) that he truly did intend on leaving her, if only his calling her lass – and him, trusting to her being contrary by nature, knowing how that would only have her wanting to argue more. But it was true, and she certainly was a contrary thing, and almost always too cross. No matter he wanted to go away – he might be intent on going off to join in with that Bolger's band, but at least he'd have some peace.
rated pg-13, 1016 words merry/pippin, frodo/sam
Merry and Pippin have a way of coming to Bag End as they please...
Merry and Pippin have a way of coming to Bag End as they please, whether Frodo is expecting them or not, and there is no difference this afternoon, as they walk up the way from Hobbiton. The sun is shining, the birds are singing, and there are bees buzzing over flowers; the summer air is hot and still and sweet.
rated nc-17, 3505 words
merry/pippin
All that he wants, and just a little more.
Then hunker down, close, in winter coats and long winter gloves, the wet cold of snow beneath their feet. In the shadow of the mill, the darkness is like ice, frigid and numbing, and Merry rubs his hands together, hoping for the friction of some heat.
rated g, 1415 words merry/pippin
In the quiet of their last night in the Shire, Merry and Pippin sit, and talk.
The house has been tidied, the very last of the packing has been tended to, and both Frodo and Fatty are off to their separate, it should be noted beds. Sam is already long asleep. Pippin is left sitting in the parlor, reclining back against the arm of the sofa that is closest to the hearth-fire, his feet quite idly lounging ankle over ankle in Merry's lap. "Shall we sit out on the steps, cousin, and have ourselves a smoke?"
rated pg, 931 words
boromir/merry/pippin
The differences don't matter in the end.
Pippin has an ability to taste like candy despite the fact he hasn't had a chance at something sweet in longer than he can possibly remember. He dives headfirst into the kiss and he's all tongues and teeth, like it's all a great game and he's out to be on top. Kissing Pippin is like kissing a summer storm because you never know what to expect next. But no matter what, there's always a sort of playfulness in Pippin's kisses, and they're sweeter for the memories they stir; late afternoons, sunshine and the crisp taste of apples, breezes laden with late blooming blossoms, all of it together with something undeniably Pippin.
rated nc-17, 2100 words
sam/merry
Suppose Merry should be so surprised.
Frodo is sitting at his desk in the study when Pippin next finds him. Frodo doesn't look up as Pippin enters, which left Pippin free to walk up almost fully behind him, on quiet hobbit feet and Pippin's hobbit feet are far more quiet than most.
rated g, 793 words
merry/éowyn
There are other things he would rather regret.
One day, he will work up his nerve, and he will do something that he has been meani g to do; that is, he will say something that he has long needed to say. Only now, he isn't sure what it is that he will say, only that he will know it, then, in its time.
rated pg, 5935 words
merry/pippin
It isn't that he's longing for the sea...
Though Pippin's woken too early, the day is already too warm and Pippin waking early, well, that's quite a change, given that for years and years and forever, it seems, Merry was the one who'd wake far before day had been given a chance to begin and wouldn't Pippin know, given that he's so often had a spot in Merry's bed? But day has just come half-born, still, and the sun is busy rising, turning sky from dark to grey to orange to pinkish-gold, and the Anduin is a ribbon of looping fire about the fields of Pelennor, heading far into the south. He fancies that, if he watches where sky meets earth, that he can see the far off shape of Pelargir oh, but it is too far, and he knows that he is only thinking foolish, fanciful thoughts.
