Title: Northfarthing Rain
Author: LeftOfWest
Chapter Summary: The hobbits spend the night at the Green Dragon Inn.
Feedback: Yes, have some.
a/n: Okay. So I got no feedback for the first chapter. I'm still writing, though. I haven't given up yet. Please enjoy this rather stupid chapter (if there's anybody out there reading this at all).
Chapter 2: Here a Beer, There a Beer
It never did take very long to get from Bag End's front gate to the Green Dragon Inn, even when traveling off-road. But for some reason, today Merry and Pippin thought it would be fun to go for a quick swim in the Water.
"Come on in, Frodo, Sam. The water's quite nice," a nude Pippin called to his friends before he completely submerged.
Merry was swimming not far from Pippin, enjoying the feel of the cool water on his skin. It was a warm day, but the weather would be cool by nightfall.
"Oh, no, Mr. Pippin," Sam said. "Last summer when you and Mr. Merry tried to teach me to swim, you nearly drowned me. I won't have a scare like that again, thank you very much."
Frodo giggled.
"It wasn't our fault that you lost your composure when you went under," Merry defended.
Pippin began splashing around in a panic and let out a terrified yelp before sinking.
Merry looked at his younger cousin and laughed. "Right. Just like that."
The smile on Frodo's face vanished as he watched the youngest of them flail his arms about frantically. "I don't think he's imitating Sam."
"I knew it! Even people who know how to swim can drown! This is horrible!" Sam shouted. He grabbed Frodo's arm. "We have to do something!"
In only a matter of seconds, Merry had stopped laughing and was dragging his sputtering and obviously frightened little cousin out of the river. The Took coughed up water and clung mercilessly to Merry.
"What in the Shire is the matter with you?" Merry asked.
Frodo breathed a sigh of relief and gave Sam's hand a reassuring squeeze.
"Th-there's something in the water!" Pippin told them, trying to scamper away.
Merry frowned and grabbed their clothes. With a sigh he said, "Yes, Pippin. Fish live there. You nearly drowned yourself because of a fish?"
"That's no fish, I tell you! That thing's LURKING under there," Pippin declared. "It's a monster! Some foul water beast from the days of old come to reclaim the Shire!"
Sam didn't dare go near the water. Frodo, however, found the idea of a mysterious creature in the water fascinating and went to have a look at this thing that Pippin swore was a monster. The eldest hobbit laughed when out crawled a small turtle. "Here's your monster, Pippin."
"Looks like you've been listening to one too many of those strange tales you like so much," Merry pointed out.
And everyone had a laugh on poor Pippin's account.
-soon...
Once they got to the Green Dragon, however, everyone started having a laugh on poor Sam's account, with the help of a little ale. Okay, more than a LITTLE ale.
"Oh, Sam. If you like her, you should go over and talk to her," Merry suggested.
Pippin giggled, glad that he was no longer the center of attention when it came to lasses. But he wasn't about to say anything that would draw attention back to him in that area. He just gulped from his mug and chuckled to himself.
Frodo laughed, but he also felt a bit awkward. He always knew that Sam fancied Rosie, but he didn't think about what it would do to their friendship if Sam ended up courting her. Was he being selfish to want to keep his friend all to himself? 'Am I jealous of Rosie?' Frodo thought. That made him laugh louder than he would have liked.
All eyes were on the Baggins now.
"Are you alright, Mr. Frodo?" Sam asked.
Frodo colored and looked into his mug. "I'm fine. I think the ale's going to my head is all."
"Already? You should think about cutting back on the ale, then. I'll take your share," Pippin said. He probably should have kept his mouth shut. He still surprisingly wasn't ready to draw attention to himself, but the ale was making his tongue a bit looser than he'd intended.
Frodo grinned a little, shook his head and kept staring into his mug.
Merry shook his head. "Great. I'm with two lovesick fools-"
"Lovesick?" both Pippin and Sam said. (Neither of them seemed to object to the 'fools' part.)
"-and one drunken fool," Merry went on with a grin. He couldn't really say that because they were all well on their way to being drunken fools.
Frodo frowned at the Brandybuck.
"It seems I'm the only one here who's thinking straight," Merry continued. "Yet one of you, Sam, won't listen to me when I tell you to go over and talk to that lass."
"There's a couple of differences between you going up and talking to a lass and me doing it," Sam said to Merry. "First of all, you're the future Master of Buckland and I'm a gardener."
Merry rolled his eyes.
Pippin and Frodo only looked at Mr. Gamgee.
"And second of all, I ain't much to look at," Sam went on.
Frodo looked as though he might say something, but he looked away instead.
"Excuses, excuses," Merry said before he even thought about what Sam had said.
"What do you mean; you're not 'much to look at'?" Pippin asked Sam. "I happen to think you're handsome."
The other three hobbits looked at Pippin.
"You do?" Sam asked.
"Of course I do. And you're as sturdy as an ox. You'll make a fine husband," Pippin said happily.
Sam blushed at the compliment. "Why, thank you, Mr. Pippin."
"And besides, whoever you end up marrying won't have to cook all the time," Frodo added quietly, just so he wouldn't seem as though he didn't agree with the whole idea.
Sam fingered his mug and glanced up at Frodo for only a moment before returning to studying the mug again.
Merry nodded sloppily, the beer taking even more effect. "That's true too. Handsome, sturdy, good cook. It's perfect. Why, I'll bet if Frodo could marry a lad, you'd be the first on his list."
Sam's blush deepened and he stared at his mug intently.
Frodo was obviously flustered as he stammered, "Wh-whatever would make you say such a-a thing, Merry?"
"I don't know. Just saying... I mean, you seem perfectly happy just having him around and I don't think I've seen you even dance with a lass since you danced with Pearl at the Winter Ball about six or so YEARS ago," Merry answered. "And that hardly counts, seeing as she's your cousin."
Frodo was too flabbergasted to look dignified. "Meriadoc. What I do at parties is none of your concern. When was the last time you had YOUR arms around a lass?"
Merry was about to speak, but Pippin broke in. "Oh, he always dances with ALL the lasses at the parties he goes to."
Merry smiled and nodded unsteadily.
"Oh, you're just a big flirt," Frodo said, his tongue, too, was loosened by the alcohol.
"And you're a 47-year-old bachelor-" Merry began.
"A HANDSOME 47-year-old bachelor," Pippin corrected, his head seeming to swim as he smiled at his friends.
"Thank you, Pippin," Frodo said almost too quickly, as though he knew that Pippin would give him the compliment.
"No, thank YOU, Frodo. It makes you a lot easier to look at," Pippin reasoned with a giggle.
Merry looked at Pippin strangely. 'That little Took sure is making a habit of calling everyone handsome,' he thought and then hoped he hadn't said it out loud by mistake. After waiting a few seconds for a response, he assumed that he had indeed thought that particular comment. "Yes." He looked back at Frodo. "A handsome 47-year-old bachelor who won't dance with lasses at parties."
"He's danced with a few since then," Sam interjected a little late.
Everyone's attention fell on Sam once again.
"Well, I have to keep my eye on him, like my Gaffer said," the gardener defended.
"So you and Pippin are the wallflowers of the group," Frodo said.
Sam gave a shy nod.
"Well, Pippin usually dances with a lass or two at parties," Merry corrected.
Pippin looked at Merry out of the corner of his eye. "I always thought you were too busy to notice."
"It's hard not to notice you, Pip," Merry said.
All eyes were now on Merry and the Brandybuck realized that he hadn't thought that last statement. He'd actually said it out loud.
"That is, seeing how he's always getting himself into trouble. It's my job to keep an eye on him, you know," Merry explained. "Being his older cousin and all. He doesn't have an older brother to look after him and his older sisters won't. I'm the only one who will." He nodded affirmatively. Was there really any need for that much explanation? Was he making himself look guilty by over-explaining the situation? If so, guilty of what?
Pippin smiled. He meant to say 'Thank you, Merry', but he'd only mouthed the words.
Frodo giggled lazily. "I know what this is about."
Merry blushed and started drinking from his mug to hide the coloring of his face.
Frodo sighed and leaned his head on Sam's shoulder. "Someone wants to be like you, Samwise."
Sam, who had been drinking and minding his own business, looked confused. "Like me, sir?"
Pippin nodded. "I guess that's true. Because you take such good care of Frodo. Now Merry wants someone to take care of." He put his hand on Merry's shoulder. "And he doesn't have any siblings, the poor thing."
Frodo was fast asleep.
Merry just called for refills on their ales.
"But then again, Frodo's older than you, Sam. So it's a little different than with me and Merry," Pippin said, trying to make sense of it all.
"Well, you two are like a couple of brothers. He's got to look after you. And you've got to look after him, though you two just mainly get each other into trouble. As for me and Mr. Frodo, there's certain things that Mr. Frodo doesn't always think of. Especially when he's got his head in those books of his," Sam explained. "And that's what I'm there for."
"Exactly," Pippin said, not really knowing what he was agreeing with. Sam's explanation had flown right over his head. He picked up his new mug of ale and giggled. "I'd like to make a..." The poor thing suffered from a temporary brain malfunction.
"Toast," Merry suggested, giving them his attention once more.
"A toast," Pippin went on. "To Frodo and Sam. Thank goodness they found each other. And to Merry and me. Thank goodness we're related or he would have left me high and dry a long time ago." He chuckled at his own little joke, which nobody else understood. It's doubtful that Pippin even understood.
Everyone started drinking, except Frodo. When Sam looked over and saw that his master was asleep, he smiled, and then looked at Merry and Pippin. "I should take him to bed. You two just come on in whenever you're ready. Considering all the ale, I doubt either of us will hear you."
Pippin nodded to Sam as the gardener hobbit supported the now half-dozing hobbit while heading toward their room.
Merry smiled. "Sam's a really great fellow. He doesn't give himself enough credit."
Pippin was leaning over his mug, lapping at the contents like a thirsty dog.
Merry just stared at the young Took, watching his tongue dart in and out of his mouth...
"A fine hobbit, he is," Pippin said, referring to Sam. "Sweet, strong, handsome, good cook. Maybe I should talk to Rosie for him."
"Not YOU," Merry told him.
"Why not?"
"You'll make a mess of things."
Pippin frowned. "Would n-"
"This one's not up for discussion. You're drunk, Pip," Merry said quickly.
"I am NOT drunk," Pippin informed his cousin.
"You're not? Then why's your face so red? And why were you saying that Frodo and Sam were handsome all night?"
"Well, I'm a little drunk, but I said they were handsome because they are... What? You don't think so?"
Merry nodded and looked back at his mug.
"What's wrong?"
Merry shook his head. "I'm tired."
"You're tired, Merry?" Pippin asked.
"Yes. That's what I said, isn't it?" Merry told him.
"Well, let's go to bed," Pippin suggested plainly.
"I don't feel like it yet," Merry said.
"But you just said that you were tired," the confused Took pointed out.
Merry sighed and played at his mug.
Pippin laid his head on the table to study his cousin and the two remained silent for a while.
-meanwhile...
Frodo giggled as Sam opened the door to the room he and his three friends would share. Considering he was only half awake and not very sober, he wasn't altogether there. He smiled. "I know there are, um, FOUR beds, but why don't you and I just share one?" He tried to look at Sam, though his eyes were still closed.
"Share a bed, Mr. Frodo?" Sam asked nervously, still supporting his master. They'd never shared a bed before-had no reason to really. He'd never even spent the night at Bag End. Why would they want to share a bed?
"Yes, dear Samwise. Share a bed. Haven't you ever shared a bed with anyone?" Frodo questioned. He reached his other arm around the young Gamgee and leaned against him rather carelessly, nearly sliding to the floor.
A blush was evident on Sam's face when he put his arms around Frodo to keep his master from falling. "What?"
Frodo slowly regained his footing, but kept his arms around Sam. When he finally opened his eyes, his face was only about an inch away from Sam's. He smiled even wider and repeated, "Haven't you ever shared a bed with anyone?" His cheeks too started to color when he realized the question he'd asked. "I mean, you have lots of siblings. Surely there weren't enough beds for all of you," he added slowly and quietly.
"Oh... Well, yes sir. I've shared a bed with family, but-" Sam began.
The master of Bag End slowly walked two of his fingers up the back of Sam's neck, then through his hair and finally over to his ear where he simply began stroking it from point to lobe. He smiled when he felt Sam shudder slightly. "Then share a bed with me," he whispered, his face inching ever so close to Sam's.
Sam knew that this wasn't the way his master usually acted. The beer was doing strange things to him. They'd all had more than enough to drink, though Sam's mind was obviously not nearly as clouded as Frodo's.
"Please don't say no, Sam. I don't think that I could bear it," Frodo said quietly. He planted a feather-light kiss right below Sam's lower lip. He'd planned on kissing him directly on the lips, but the room seemed to be moving them around just enough to keep him from his objective.
The feeling of his master's lips on his skin caused Sam to gasp softly. Frodo's half-lidded eyes and the small smile that appeared upon those lips reminded him that he could deny his master nothing. "I...I won't say no to you, Mr. Frodo."
"I'm so glad, Sam."
But Sam found himself quite confused. On the one hand, he had feelings for Rosie, yet on the other hand, he was now discovering feelings that could only be explained if he'd secretly had them for a long time. Of course, he loved his master. Everyone knew that. But now he wasn't so sure how far that love went.
"Well, don't just stand there like a knot on a log," Frodo giggled. "Come to bed with me." Taking Sam's hand, he led his gardener to the bed he wanted them to share.
-back in the pub...
"I know what it is," Pippin said suddenly, with his head still on the table.
Merry looked at him out of the corner of his eye.
"You want another drink," Pippin deduced. He smiled, quite proud of himself for supposedly figuring out what was wrong with his dear cousin.
Merry looked in his mug, then at Pippin. "Sure. Why not," he muttered. He didn't care about drinking. He'd had enough to drink. He was just feeling melancholy all of a sudden.
Pippin called for refills on their ales, then smiled at Merry. "Come on. Cheer up. This is an adventure, not a funeral march."
"You're right, Pippin," Merry said. A small smile graced his face. He wanted his little cousin to have a good time, even though he was going all this way to find a lass he'd met a long time ago. The Brandybuck still wasn't sure why that bothered him. Maybe he'd become too protective of the younger hobbit and didn't want his heart to be broken if he went all this way and found that this lass was already involved with someone else.
"There. That's the Merry I like to see," Pippin told him. He hadn't noticed that Merry's smile had started to disappear. "You're so much more handsome when you have a smile on your face."
Merry smiled again, glad that Pippin hadn't excluded him from the group of handsome hobbits. He was about to say something when he noticed that Pippin was now staring at him. "What?"
Pippin looked away and shook his head, grabbing his beer once it had been refilled.
Merry could swear that Pippin was blushing, but then again, he was so flushed from the alcohol already that it was hard to tell. They had all been a bit flushed that night. He watched Pippin chug his ale and laughed when a little of it dribbled down his younger cousin's chin.
The young Took wiped at his face with his coat sleeve. "Ah! Now that was refreshing." He looked at Merry's mug. "You're not drinking."
"I think I'd rather go for a walk instead," Merry told him, slowly standing.
"A walk?" Pippin asked. He was obviously having a hard time comprehending things at the moment. "Is it just me, or is it dark outside?"
"It's not just you. You should go on to bed if you're tired. I'll see you in a little bit," Merry said.
Pippin looked confused. "But you were the one who said you were tired."
Something inside Merry's mind recalled the comment without his putting forth an effort. He smiled. "I did, didn't I? Well, I feel like walking. I'll see you later."
"I'm coming with you." The young Took hopped to his feet and suddenly he found himself sitting on the floor with a sore bottom. Apparently he'd lost his footing.
Merry laughed. "I don't think you CAN walk, Pip." He extended a hand to help his cousin up off the floor.
"I CAN walk. Stop laughing. It's not funny," Pippin said. He took Merry's hand, got back on his feet and steadied himself. "See? I can walk. Come on." He let go of Merry's hand and went bouncing toward the exit.
"You're too cute," Merry found himself saying. He hadn't meant to say it out loud, but thank goodness his cousin wasn't close enough to hear him say it.
-in the room...
Frodo frowned when he saw that Sam wasn't moving to lie down. "Listen, Samwise. I know you like Rose. Rosie with the full lips and full hips and those huge milkers she's got up top-"
Sam couldn't believe Frodo was talking like this. As a matter of fact, his mouth was hanging open in surprise as his master spoke of Ms. Cotton. He was too speechless to comment and he stood once again.
"-but in all fairness, I think you liked me first," Frodo went on with a coy, yet somehow seductive smile. Or was it the shyness of that smile which made it seem seductive?
Even more surprise washed over Sam, not only because of the accusation (which happened to be true), but because of the look his master was giving him. "Wh-what do you mean?"
"Come now, Sam. I know you're a very dedicated lad when it comes to your work-everyone knows that-but you've always doted on me like I was your biggest crush," Frodo said plainly, looking quite sleepy. "And don't tell me that it's your job because that's not a part of your job." He patted the bed so Sam would take a seat next to him.
Sam was blushing uncontrollably. 'Has Mr. Frodo been thinking these things the whole time?' he thought. Even though he was very nervous, he took a seat on the bed anyway.
"You probably don't see it this way, but I dote on you too," Frodo said with a slight blush.
Sam gasped, not knowing if his master was serious or if it was just the ale talking. Either way, he couldn't think about that now. After looking at Frodo, Sam realized that Mr. Baggins was leaning in close yet again for another kiss.
End Chapter 2