In response to Rhonda's fic challenge. (I am sending out this fic challenge to write a fic about Merry and Pippin as tweens, and the mischief they caused.)

Hope you enjoy all 321 words of it... (Edit – now it's 395 words – gasp!). Lini stopped being lazy (or as lazy anyway) and edited it slightly. She is thinking about adding more sometime, as long as it isn't four in the morning…

Title: Foggy NightAuthor: Liniya
Rating: PG (Oh, hey, it involves drinking. xD)
Disclaimer: They are mi… er… looks at the lawyers Yes, they belong to Tolkien.
Summary: Merry is twenty-nine, Pippin is twenty-one. Even though they are worried about Frodo, the two still manage to cause mischief. Two words should describe this fic nicely: Pippin. Ale.
A/N: It's unbeta'ed, so there will be mistakes...

Foggy Night

"Pippin?" Merry's slurred voice rang out. "Your mother might not be too pleased with what you're doing..." Might not be too pleased would have been an understatement. Eglantine Banks would be furious at what her son was currently doing; dancing on the table with a lovely hobbit lass. Meriadoc was drunk, but not to the point that his younger cousin was. "Pippin..."

It wasn't likely that the Thain would disown his only son for the act; however, the thought would most likely cross his mind at the sight. Not only was Peregrin Took too young to be in a bar (by four years), he was also out late at night without his parents' permission. As far as Eglantine and Paladin knew, their son was asleep.

Several of the older hobbits (notably Wilibald Bolger) were laughing and handing the young hobbit more drinks. Even the barman, Halfred, didn't mind the underage hobbit. After all, news of the dancing hobbit got spread around fast; all of the younger and older folk have come to watch. As long as he was getting business, he didn't mind how it was coming about.

Thankfully, the underage, drunken hobbit didn't stay on the table. As Pippin downed his fifteenth quart of ale (courtesy of Mungo Broadbelt), he wobbled and slipped on the mug that held his sixth quart. He fell and landed by his cousin's feet. "Merrrrrrrrrrrrry…"

"Mmmmmmm?" Having eight less quarts than his cousin, Merry was feeling a bit better. "Ready to returrrrrn?" He hiccupped. It took several tries for him to be able to stand up right without falling over, and he smiled lopsidedly up at his cousin.

"Yesssssssh." Green eyes, slightly glazed over, stared up at him. "May need… help… up."

Merry tried to help him up, but the first three attempts ended up with two drunk hobbits on the ground and an audience of amused customers. Bungo Boffin finally took pity on the two and helped them to their wobbly feet and to the door. "Much thanks for the entertainment. Come back soon." A smile appeared on his wide, flat face.

As he watched the young ones stagger away, he couldn't help but laugh, for the sight of the two brought back his own memories. "Your parents are going to love to see you." His dark eyes followed the figures until they faded into the foggy night.

The End.