**A/N: Me again. :) This took a little long in coming but I finally sat down and wrote out the rest of this chapter. /Here's/ where I mention Panny. :) And for those of you who asked, Ele is short for Elendor… as in the MUSH game. You can find all relevant info at www.elendor.net for those curious. :) Oh, and I don't own anything in this fic, legally, that is, except perhaps the word 'the'. Yes, I /do/ think I own 'the'. Go me! Oh and one more thing, with school and a variety of other constraints, I'll be v. slow in updating Chapter 3. The biggest 'constraint' is that I realized I don't have a /strong/ idea of where this is going. I had planned a basic sketch of the story along with some basic gags but it's already turning out different than I had planned. I'm discovering the story too… as I write it. Hopefully the muse bunnies will kick me in the head and give me tons of great ideas. Thankee for the R/R! Keep 'em comin'… Now, on with the Show!
**Fini**
The Sweetest Thing?
Ch. 2: It begins…
Pippin's grumbling voice reverberated off of the inner walls of the oven. The lad was lying on his stomach scrubbing any remnants of his incident from the scene with an old rag. The oven was enormous, large enough to fit most of the hobbit child inside and it had taken him a full two hours to come this far. Indeed, his fingertips throbbed from the work and though he was nearly done with this task he had been sentenced to mop the remaining crumbs from the kitchen floor.
Pausing to eye the result of his labour, he nodded with at least partial satisfaction and wriggled out of the cavernous opening and onto his feet. He struggled under the weight of the heavy oven door, finally managing to shove it closed with a loud *clang*. After another moment, he started toward the broom closet with a sigh to retrieve the mop and found when he glanced around he noticed that he was alone in the room. Slowly, a clever smirk crept across his face.
Slowly, he reached a hand into his pocket and, taking a last minute peek to assure that he was definitely alone, he popped the entire cookie into his mouth. Though it was by no means an enormous cookie, it filled the Took's mouth completely and it took all his might not to let any crumbs escape as he chewed. Indeed, he noted it /was/ rather chewy.. and surprisingly sweet, even for one of Panadrin's creations. Closing his eyes, he savoured the myriad of flavours that were flowing over his tongue. As soon as the treat was devoured, a wide grin spread across Pippin's face.
"Ooh! I /must/ get more of these!" he mumbled to himself, wiping a few stray crumbs on his sleeve. "A pity I'll have to wait for ol' Panny to bake the next batch."
He stalked off in a bit of a pout to fetch the mop but the raincloud of a mood was no match for the thought of raiding the kitchen for more of the delicious goodies. The little hobbit practically danced across the kitchen floor as he mopped; unbeknownst to him, another hobbit, no doubt some distant relation, had passed the kitchen on his way down the corridor and, pausing a moment to watch the scene, cocked an eyebrow and gave a snicker before moving along.
In this way, under the apparent spell of the cookie, time moved quickly and soon the lad's work was done. In fact, not more than a moment after he returned the mop and bucket to their respective places, his mother popped her head into the room. Her brow was lightly furrowed and her lips pursed. Stepping into the kitchen, she glanced around, observing the fruits of his non-consensual labour. Nodding approval, she bent down to look the child in the eyes.
"I'm sorry for being so cross with you earlier… It's just that.. well, you /did/ create quite a stir, Pippin.." She paused, a little smile tugging at her lips, despite attempts to mask it. Giving a little sigh, she reaches up to brush back a few curls that had fallen into the little one's face. "It's almost time for elevensies and the table is nearly set… Are you hungry?"
The future Thain merely shook his head in the affirmative, accompanying it with an 'Mmm-hmm!'. He was careful not to open his mouth, for fear that his deed would be revealed by remnants of cookie on his teeth or perhaps the obvious aroma on his breath. It did not seem as though Eglantine suspected anything.
"Good! Then why don't we start out there, eh?"
Taking her child by the hand, she led him out of the room…
***
Elevensies had indeed been a satisfying meal, even by hobbit standards. There were sandwiches and fruits, tarts and breads, all tantalizing to the taste buds. Indeed, Peregrin happily sampled nearly everything on the spread. When it came time for desserts, he had taken several of the strawberry puffs, a favourite of his. Of course, he ate them all… however, he noted that they didn't seem to be quite as sweet and enjoyable as he had remembered them being. He reasoned that the batch was most likely off… After all, even bakers had their bad days.
The rest of the day seemed to pass uneventfully, from tea to dinner to supper. As he climbed into his soft bed at the end of the day, Pippin pulled the covers up to his chin and let out a soft sigh. Despite the earlier incident, he felt that the day had somehow redeemed itself.
Soon he drifted off into a deep dream.. a dream of dancing sunshine on blossoming fields and of ovens, gigantic ovens… and cookies….