From Boredom to Boredoom…

Chapter 2: Birthday Party



Frodo walked idly through the woods that bordered the road to Bree. He was lost deep in his thoughts, as he had been most of the time for the past months. He didn't pay much attention to his surroundings, just enough to avoid collisions with trees – although that maple almost took him by surprise.

The sun would soon set soon, but he didn't care – he didn't care much for anything any more, anyway. He jumped when he heard a familiar voice behind him.

"What is a Hobbit doing alone so far from his home just before dusk?"

Frodo turned round, and for the first time since many days, a smile illuminated his face. "Gandalf!" he called at the sight of his wizard friend standing next to his horse. The hands on his hips and mirth in his eyes, he added: "You're la-…" He hesitated. "Hum… Very early actually… My birthday will not be celebrated before five days."

"I know." Gandalf answered. "I was just bor-… hum… borrowing a book from a colleague when I thought I could arrive early for once…"

They walked together towards Frodo's house, talking about the good old days and gossiping about the rest of the former Fellowship.

"And how is Aragorn faring? I haven't seen him for… almost one year. He must be very busy with all his royal occupations…" Frodo's voice lowered during the last part of his sentence.

"Oh yes, he is indeed. But it did not work out as he had hoped it. He was dreaming of a great democracy, with its own power, there to help the neighbouring nations." Gandalf stopped walking and stared at Frodo. "Instead of that, he is judging neighbourhood issues. I saw him recently; Arwen told me he needed to change his mind. And I am sure they will be early as I am!"

A noise from a bush made Frodo turn back. Gandalf patted his friend's shoulder.

"Do not worry, it is only the wind… You are still nervous after all those years, are you not?" Gandalf asked, urging him to go on walking and enter his house.

"Yes." Frodo looked at Gandalf, hesitating to add something. But as they were now near his courtyard, he ran to the door and welcomed Gandalf has he deserved. "Welcome to my humble house, Mithrandir."

"Oh, oh! Please do not call me like that, Frodo. I just want to be Gandalf when I am in the Shire. Is Sam still your gardener?"

"Yes." Frodo replied proudly.

"Those roses are beautiful… No wonder he chose a wife named Rosie."

"It's warmer inside!" Frodo said as he went in.

Gandalf followed him and closed the door behind him. A short while after, a bush started moving and speaking in Frodo's courtyard.

"We have almost been caught! Actually, I'm rather surprised Gandalf didn't notice us. I think he's getting old… And we are too old ourselves to hide in bushes, Pippin…" Merry sighed, brushing his clothes as he was talking to his cousin. "Can you tell me again why we are tracking our best mates?"

"Have you not seen? We have to do something!"

"I have just seen two fellows talking about the good old days. Frodo has been smiling and Gandalf as well."

Pippin and Merry kept on talking while they were getting back to their homes. In front of Merry's house they agreed.

"We won't need much time; I already know where to find the things we need. Merry? Are you still with me?"

"Yes, but I was wondering if it was the best thing to do. We may just speak with them and-"

"You have seen Frodo as I have. Even with Gandalf he kept brooding. It's even worse because now they are brooding together."

"Ok, Pippin. You're right. When will we do it?"

"The best is to begin as soon as possible. I just need a couple of days to get organized and find those things."

* * * * *


In the morning Frodo was suddenly awoken by a sound coming from the courtyard. He stood up quickly, Gandalf was up too; he had heard it as well. The wizard just had the time to handle tightly his staff before the door opened.

Gandalf had a strange deja vu feeling when both sides of the door opened slowly and Aragorn, wet haired, came in and looked up at the wizard.

"I have dreamt to do it again for years!" Aragorn said cheerfully.

"Don't tell me you have deliberately wetted your hair?" Gandalf asked suspiciously.

"Actually it is raining outside. Arwen is fastening the horses." Aragorn turned to face Frodo and took a knee as the Strider he once was had done before. "Frodo. I am so happy to see you."

"So am I, Strider. So am I…"

* * * * *


Preparations for Frodo's birthday had begun with excitement in the Hobbit village. The presence of Frodo's friends was a consolation for him, and he was acting like his old self again. He would have preferred to celebrate his birthday with them only, but after the Quest of the Ring he became quite well known in the Shire, and had had to invite more people. Not as much as Bilbo had for his 111th birthday, but still more than he had wished.

Everything was unfolding rather well. He put up both Aragorn and Arwen himself, while Gandalf was dwelling at Merry's. However, a few things were worrying him greatly. First, Pippin had been nowhere to be found for at least the last two days. Frodo had asked his wife about it, but Diamond had been at a total loss. She herself did not know where her husband was gone as he had only told her he would be back in time for Frodo's birthday. But his birthday was now the next day, and he began to fear the worst for his friend, thinking about the dark shadows that still haunted his dreams.

And second, elf and dwarf had not arrived yet. They had not forgotten, had they? He knew both of them had a good memory – well, Legolas was an elf, and Gimli could hold grudges so long he certainly had an excellent memory – and he could not believe they would not come. They surely would not miss an occasion to size each other up, be it for a drinking contest.

He was now paying a visit to Merry, while Gandalf was outside, busy preparing some fireworks for the party, to the Hobbit children greatest pleasure. And for that matter, Faramir – Pippin's son – had a curiosity that equaled his father's, and was at the moment vigorously questioning Gandalf – or annoying him like any Took would, the wizard might rectify jokingly.

"Merry, have you seen Pippin lately?" Frodo asked.

Merry looked up. "Huh? Who?" he stuttered, taken off guard by the question.

"Peregrin Took. Your cousin," Frodo articulated slowly, surprised by his friend's attitude.

"Oh, him…" Merry answered with a nervous laugh. "Why are you asking?" he questioned suspiciously.

Frodo blinked at the other Hobbit, wondering about his strange behavior. "Because he's been missing for the last days, and as you're the one he spends the most time with I thought that maybe you would know where he is."

"I know nothing," Merry hastened to answer.

As if to contradict his sayings, the backdoor slowly opened and Pippin sneaked in. "I'm back Merry! And I have –"

His cousin quickly interrupted him. "Hey, look who's back Frodo!!" he said, loud enough to cover Pippin's voice.

"Hey Pippin," Frodo called rather happily. "I am glad to see you."

Pippin stared at him, clearly embarrassed. "Oh. Frodo. You're here. I… huh…" he said, clumsily hiding his backpack behind him.

"Where have you been?" Frodo enquired. "I was beginning to worry."

"I have been… huh… Outside. Obviously."

"But what for?"

"For… huh… A surprise. For your birthday."

"Oh," Frodo just said. "I am sorry. I will go then, and let you prepare your… surprise!" he added, emphasizing the last word with a half wink. As he had just said he walked out, leaving the two other Hobbits alone.

Merry stepped towards his cousin. "Oh, that's just great Pippin!" he exclaimed rather angrily. "Now he thinks we're preparing a surprise for his birthday!"

"Well in a way that's true…"

Merry sighed. "Did you find everything?"

Pippin grinned. "Absolutely! Now all we have to do is set everything up!"

The older Hobbit sighed once more. "I hope this is going to work. I really do."

* * * * *


The awaited day eventually came to most of the Shire's delight. Many tables had been prepared with unlimited buffet, along with appropriate decorations. In barely a few hours the celebration would begin, but oddly Gimli and Legolas were still not there. Frodo was no longer the only one to worry about them, and Aragorn had even offered to go off for a scout around.

But then to everyone's relief they finally arrived, just in time. They were both greeted warmly by their friends and former companions.

"I am sorry we arrived so late," Gimli apologized to Frodo, "but this elf has the ill tendency to shuffle quite too much."

"Oh, really? Have I?" Legolas inquired. "Did it occur to you that when I did so it was to adapt to your pace?"

"I was beginning to wonder if you two would arrive before the end of the Fourth Age…" Aragorn joked, until he noticed they had no mount. "Where is your horse?"

"Ask the dwarf…" Legolas answered. "For it is because of his aversion for horses that we had to go on foot and hence arrived so late…"

"I just said that I would not mount this creature again," Gimli objected. "As far as I am concerned you were free to ride if you wished to."

Before the elf could answer anything, Frodo interrupted their soon to be endless argument. "Now that everyone is here, we can begin the party!" he said with a grin.

At his side, Sam smiled as well. Not that he was extremely impatient to see the party start, but he was happy to see a smile on his Master's face for a change.

* * * * *


Frodo had insisted for all the former members of the Fellowship – along with Arwen of course – to sit at the same table for the dinner, and they had all complied with pleasure. Unfortunately they had not managed to have Legolas and Gimli sit at opposite sides of said table, hence they would not fail to start one of their faked arguments. However, Frodo was sure that even at opposite sides of the table they would still find a way.

Pippin and Merry discreetly walked toward a tent while the party was going full swing. But this time Gandalf had kept a close watch on the two fellows and he soon joined them in the tent.

"Do you really think I do not know you enough by now?" Gandalf asked as he caught the Hobbits searching for what he assumed to be fireworks. "Although I thought that time would instill some wisdom in you."

"Eerr… It is not what it seems to be." Merry began before is cousin nudged him.

"Actually it is exactly what it seems to be."

"Mmh…" Gandalf muttered, puzzled by this quick confession.

"Shall we turn out by ourselves?" Pippin offered, and the two Hobbits ran out before he could find an answer.

The dwarf and elf inevitable confrontation began when Legolas asked for someone to hand him the drinks. Gimli jumped on the occasion to start the hostilities.

"You are too used to elven wine, Legolas. You will not manage to stand Hobbit beer very long."

"You need not worry, I will very well manage it," the elf assured.

"You should not overestimate your resistance. I bet we will find you rolling under the table before that jug is even emptied."

Legolas stared at him. "Is that a challenge, master dwarf?"

Gimli shrugged. "I am just saying, master elf, that a dwarf certainly has more endurance to alcohol than any elf on Middle-earth."

Soon the pair engaged into a drinking contest, as Frodo had foreseen. Actually it had not been hard for him to do so, since he had already witnessed something similar a while ago in Minas Tirith, for Aragorn's and Arwen's wedding. At the time, it had ended with both of them completely drunk. He had eventually found Legolas examining his pointy ears with utter fascination, and Gimli snoring loudly, the mouth wide open and drool dripping from it. And from the looks of it, it would soon follow the same path.

Hobbits children never grew weary of magic and Gandalf never grew weary of amazing them. This time he made flowers appear, the most beautiful orchids any man had ever seen. Gandalf quickly regretted his choice, since as soon as the kids went to bed, Sam pounced on the wizard, harassing him with gardening questions.

After a couple of hours only Legolas and Gimli's argument had turned much more entertaining as both were now searching their words.

"Admit it Legolas… You can not… huh… endure… endure?… huh… Yes, endure… more than I can…"

"I can not admit something that is so ob… obvou… obvusy… huh… clearly wrong…"

"It is not my fault if you never seem to see the truth…"

"Gimli, you are… huh…" Legolas hesitated, looking for a suitable insult to answer back. "You are… a dwarf… I think… You are a dwarf, right?"

"I… think so…"

"Then a dwarf you are…. A drunk dwarf…"

"I am not drunk, and I will show you I can still –" Gimli suddenly looked all over the table, as if searching something. "Hey, where is my glass?"

Legolas laughed. "See? Drunk. Can not even keep an eye on your –" He frowned. "Hey, my glass is gone too!"

In front of them, Sam tried to look as innocent as possible while he held the discreetly grabbed glasses behind his back, hoping none of them would hear anything when he would drop them on the grass to free his hands.

* * * * *


A while afterwards, the former Fellowship members gathered at Frodo's house to have a late drink, and Frodo was opening his gifts. The royal couple of Gondor offered him a fine and rare elvish jewel; Sam gave him a scarf his wife had knit especially for the occasion representing all his best friends; Legolas and Gimli had managed to agree on a knife, the blade had been forged by Gimli and it had a strange axe look-alike shape, while the hilt had been carved by Legolas with elvish words to wish him a happy birthday.

Pippin and Merry gave their gift last; Frodo unwrapped the package and discovered the most beautiful leather bound book he had ever seen. There was as well a sliver pen that he hesitated to handle. Frodo was wordless.

"We knew you missed Bilbo's stories, so we thought it was time for you to write your own." Merry explained.

Frodo hugged his friends. "Where did you go to find such a beautiful object?"

Pippin shrugged. "The only thing I am allowed to tell you is that it took me a couple of days to get it!"

"Thank you so much." Frodo faced all his friends. "Thanks to all of you."


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Here we are again!
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Suggestions and constructive criticism always welcome.

Stay tuned for chapter 3: "A Special Gift", in which the story will *really* begin, promised!

~ The 3 She-geeks ~