TITLE: Starved
AUTHOR: Febobe (Frodo Baggins of Bag End - FBoBE - "Febobe")
FANDOM: Lord of the Rings
PAIRING: N/A - Gen (Characters: Frodo Baggins, Sam Gamgee, Faramir, Arwen, Eowyn, members of the Fellowship, brief appearance by Ioreth)
GENRE: Hurt/comfort; angst
RATING: Teen/PG for thematic darkness
WORD COUNT: 12,139 words
SUMMARY: Following the Quest, Frodo and Sam find that returning to life as usual isn't as easy as it might seem. . .particularly when it comes to eating.
WARNINGS: Rating for mild thematic darkness only; no sex, slash, or profanity. Probably bookverse apart from Frodo's appearance, but you could go either way on the interpretation. Additionally, this series is heavy on the food imagery - I *am* writing about a hobbit, after all, and a hobbit with a food obsession at that, so please bear with me! Seriously, this is a foodie h/c Frodo fic, so if you don't like those, DON'T CLICK. Just STOP NOW. Otherwise, you will NOT enjoy yourself. Trust me!
NOTES: The foods cited in this fic are drawn from a wide variety of sources, including an online BBC website for the English foods of the Shirefolk (I'd give you the URL, but it doesn't seem to be functioning fully these days, so I don't know how much good that would do!) and from 1,000 Italian Recipes by Michele Scicolone for the "Italian" recipes of Minas Tirith and Gondor (Minas Tirith sits at about the latitude of Florence, according to JRRT in the Letters, which inspired some of us in discussion to give Gondor a somewhat "Italian" flavor). Eowyn's recipes come from One Potato, Two Potato, from 500 Soups, and from general personal experience (in short, I could find you a recipe for it, but I didn't look at a specific book this time to find it). In addition, some of my ideas about the effects of starvation/food deprivation on the human psyche and the body come from the Ancel Keys experiment, summarized nicely on a website that I'm sure you can find if you Google; I can't seem to get the link to post here due to some site quirk. Apologies!
DISCLAIMER: I don't own Tolkien's characters; I just like to play with them from time to time. I make no claim of ownership on his creations. Any and all treatments used in this series are purely for fictitious purposes and not to be attempted on humans (having been designed for fictitious hobbits instead). Please consult a qualified health care professional for all your medical needs.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
"You *will* have a copy made for Eomer, then?"
Aragorn nodded gravely. "Of course. You have my word, Frodo. I will order our finest scribe to personally attend the matter, and Arwen shall oversee it herself. When it is completed, we shall present it as a a gift to Rohan from the Ringbearer himself."
Frodo flushed. "I didn't mean that - only - I wanted to - well, I suppose I would like to leave something of hobbits behind in the South, for I know not when nor indeed whether our kind shall pass this way again. It gives me peace to think that something of Sam's thoughts and my own shall stay behind."
"They shall, my dear friend. That I assure you." Embracing Frodo warmly, Aragorn accepted the book to cradle in his arms. "It is a wonderful gesture, and it shall be treasured in Gondor for many generations to come."
Frodo smiled. "Thank you."
"He seems a little better."
"The improvement is largely temporary, I fear." Aragorn sighed. He and Gandalf rode together in Theoden's funeral procession, some distance from the hobbits, who were just out of earshot. "It rises and falls like the tide in his spirit."
"What, then, is to become of the two of them?"
Aragorn shrugged. "Sam I do not fear for. He fares very well. . .most likely he will return to his old self within even a few more months of care. But Frodo. . ."
He hesitated, watching the slender hobbit.
"It is likely that Frodo will carry the scars of this torment forever, in more ways than we can fathom. . .and this way may always be one of the most visible. Among his own people, though, he will be well tended, for have you ever known a hobbit to allow anyone to go hungry? His own folk will not understand why this troubles him so, but they will not allow him to suffer thus without solace. At home, Sam and the others will, I have no doubt, see that his needs are met."
"They will." Gandalf sighed deeply. "I only wish that they had never had to know such loss."
"Aye." Aragorn nodded. "It is a grievous cruelty of war when little ones - even little ones who are not children - must know such suffering."
He paused in conversation.
"All we can do now is hope for the best. . .and do all that we can for them while they are in our care."
-to be continued-