I can promise you tomorrow.
Disclaimer: I don't own anything in this fic 'cept Eomac. That lil' cutie is all mine!! w00t w00t!
Faramir is 9, Eomac is 8.
Faramir Took and Eomac Brandybuck raced up and down the long, winding corridors of the Great Smials. Along they way they ruffled many a skirt, and nearly toppled down three elderly hobbits, all of whom gave the rambunctious future Thain and Master a reprimanding. Not that the children bothered to stop and listen. They had more important things to attend to.
"Hurry up, Eomac, he's getting away!" Faramir cried back to his younger cousin. Eomac pumped his little legs harder, and soon caught up. Faramir tightened his grip on the massively sized (and rather slimy) toad in his small hands, and both hobbit lads chuckled wickedly to themselves. It had been Faramir who had caught the toad in the pond just a few moments ago, but Eomac had been the one who proposed the idea of dumping the amphibian into the lap of pristine Eleanor Gamgee.
The two boys slowed down as they approached the sitting room. Eomac peered his head in, and saw that Eleanor was sitting on a couch practicing, with little success, on how to mend a torn corset. He smiled widely when he saw that she was also alone.
He turned and gave his cousin a quick thumbs up, and soon the two of them were tiptoeing into the chamber, stifling the need to giggle the entire way. Faramir stopped and stood behind the couch, raised the toad high over the head of the Gamgee lass, and felt his fingers loosening their grip when...
"Faramir Took and Eomac Brandybuck!"
The two boys froze and turned cautiously to the doorway where Peregrin Took stood, his arms crossed firmly across his chest. Eleanor screeched when she looked up and saw a toad dangling dangerously over her head.
Pippin marched over to his son and removed the toad from his hands. Faramir gave his father a sheepish grin while Eomac kicked nervously at the ground. Opening the window at the far end of the room, Pippin laid the toad down in the grass, setting him free.
"Are you alright, Elanor?" The Thain asked. She was visibly shaken, but nodded her head anyway. No matter how much she would have loved to see Eomac and Faramir get into trouble, her aunt Diamond had told her just this morning what a lovely young lady she was turning into. And Eleanor knew that young ladies didn't tattle tale.
"Oh yes, Sir, I'm fine. No harm done."
Pippin eyed her incredulously, and couldn't help but be amused by the gobsmacked expressions of his son and cousin, who he knew both expected Eleanor to completely blow the story out of proportion. He chuckled softly to himself, before saying, "Alright Eleanor, If you're sure. Anyway, the reason I came in here was to tell you that your mother and father are leaving soon."
Eleanor nodded and thanked Pippin while gathering her sewing supplies. Curtsying to him, and scowling at Eomac and Faramir, she thanked the Thain for allowing her and her family to stay at the Smials, and left the room.
The two boys watched Eleanor leave, no less surprised by her actions. They turned to one another, eyes still wide, when Faramir said, "Did she really just...do what I think she did?" Eomac nodded vigorously. "She let us off the hook!" he exclaimed happily.
"You two are by no means 'off the hook'." Pippin said. "Why were going to drop a toad onto Eleanor's head?" he inquired.
Faramir suddenly became very interested in his feet. "Because, she was being mean to us." He said quietly.
Pippin made a non-committal noise in his throat. "I see. So you thought the best solution would be to drop a frog on her, then?"
Faramir scowled and pointed at Eomac. "It was his idea, Da!"
Eomac's face adorned a shocked expression, and he cursed his cousin for ratting him out. "It was not!" he yelled back. The two boys started arguing over whose idea the 'frog-dropping' was, when Merry walked into the room. He glanced at the two boys, who were too busy yelling to notice his presence, then went to stand next to Pippin.
Leaning over, he said quietly to his cousin, "What did they do?"
Pippin didn't take his eyes off of the boys. "They were about to drop a frog on Eleanor's head."
Merry raised his eyebrows and nodded in understanding. "Poor lass." He said. "Pity, though. It would have been brilliant."
Pippin laughed. "Yes, it would have been."
Faramir and Eomac tore through their lunch. Since harm was intended upon but not done to Eleanor, the boys got a light punishment of not getting elevensies that day, and by lunchtime they were completely famished. They filled their plates up to the brim with bread, cheese, carrots, mushrooms, and anything else they could get their hands upon, and went to sit down at the table with their parents. Diamond and Estella were at one end talking animatedly about a new dress that Diamond had seen in town, while Pippin and Merry were discussing horse breeding techniques, and which method produced the strongest, fastest horse. Faramir rolled his eyes. He would never understand adults.
He and Eomac passed the time spent not eating by flicking stray corn kernels back and forth at one another. Just as one stray kernel hit Eomac in the eye ( "Watch what you're doing, Faramir!" ), Pippin spoke to his son.
"Faramir, you're mother and I have some business to attend to in Long Cleeve for tonight, so you're going to be spending the night at Cousin Merry's. Doesn't that sound fun?" Pippin said in what he hoped was an encouraging voice. Faramir nodded, but his face fell a bit as he started to absorb the information. His father had most certainly just said that Faramir would be spending the night at Brandy Hall...without his parents.
Eomac cheered, happy to have a companion for the night, and Faramir gave him a weak smile. He was upset, but refused to show this in front of his father and cousin Merry, let alone in front of Eomac. His Da had told him that Merry used to watch out for him, so Faramir felt the responsibility to keep an eye out for Eomac, and this meant not worrying the young Brandybuck, no matter what.
Faramir excused himself from the table, saying he needed to use the washroom. However, he found his feet led him away from the washroom, and into his bedroom. Closing the door, he sat down quietly upon his bed and started to think. If Mum and Da don't come, than that means they can't tuck me in tonight. Faramir felt his throat tighten up, and found it hard to swallow. And Mum can't sing me a night-a-bye song. Hot tears began to prick at the back of his green eyes. And Da can't check under the bed for monsters. Two tears escaped his eyes, and tumbled gracelessly down his flushed cheeks. He wiped them away, ashamed to be upset about not being with his parents. But he had never spent a night away without them in his life!
Before he could think any more on this rather troubling subject, he heard a knock on his door, and a moment later, his father was in his room. Faramir furiously wiped his eyes, and tried to regain any ounce of composure, but it was no use. He knew that his father would know he had been crying.
Pippin sat down on the bed next to his son. "This doesn't look like the washroom to me, Faramir." he said carefully. Faramir just nodded his head, and kept his gaze fixed on the floor. Pippin sighed, and put an arm around his son's small shoulders. Knowing what the problem was from the moment Faramir left the table, Pippin spoke.
"It's alright to be afraid, Faramir."
Faramir jumped off the bed and turned to look his father angrily in the eye. "No, it's not!" he argued. "Lads aren't supposed to be afraid."
Pippin felt a grin tug at the corners of his mouth. Faramir's expression softened as it went from anger to confusion.
"W-what are you smiling about?" the young Took asked timidly, his brow knitting in curiosity.
"You." His father said simply. Faramir's face became more contorted in misunderstanding, silently willing his father to continue sharing his thoughts.
"Remember the story I told you, about when Merry and I were in the Fangorn Forest?" Faramir thought for a moment. He always had trouble keeping the places in his Da's tales straight.
"That's the place with Treebeard, and Quickbeam, right?" he asked. Pippin nodded, and explained, "When we were there, waiting to hear whether or not the Ents would help us..help our friends...I was scared. I was very scared. Because, that's when I realized that if something didn't happen soon, to counteract Saruman...well, the world wouldn't be as it is now. And I wouldn't have you. That was scary. And I know I've told you that before. So what makes you think that lads can't be afraid?"
Faramir looked into his father's eyes and said "Tom Boffin said that only weak lads got scared. And only weak lads were afraid to be away from their parents..." he said quietly. Pippin thought for a moment before asking, "Tom Boffin is the one who eats pinecones, right?" Faramir giggled a bit, and nodded. "I don't think it's the wisest thing to pay attention to 'advice' from people who consume pinecones. Do you?" Faramir shook his head.
He climbed up onto the bed next to his father, and rested his head on his Da's arm. "I am a bit afraid, then, I guess." He nuzzled his face into the crook of his father's arm, and Pippin smiled. "It's only one night Faramir. Your mother and I will be waiting to get you first thing in the morning."
"But," Faramir said from within the confines of Pippin's arm, "you can't tuck me in, tonight."
"No," Agreed Pippin, "I can't. But I can tomorrow. I can promise you tomorrow."
Faramir nodded slowly and slowly pulled away from Pippin. Looking up, he said "Thanks Da. I feel better now." He then jumped off of the bed, and went over to his door, opening it slightly. Before turning to leave, he said "I'm still gonna be afraid without you there, but I'll be ok. You can tuck me in tomorrow." Pippin nodded, knowing his son would not be the only one missing the nighttime rituals later on that evening. "Yes, I will most definitely tuck you in tomorrow."
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