While they Walked
Chapter 10: Grooming
A/N: Thankyou for that Pipkin Sweetgrass, my grammar checker thing has fun changing it all automatically, but I thought it was meant to be lower case and it confused me greatly, thanks for clearing that up.
They had all finally stopped walking. Aragorn's foot was the coldest it had been for a long time, but he now had it as near to the fire as he could get it.
"Strider, honestly, you get any closer to that fire and we may as well use you as fuel for it."
"I don't know how you stand having such cold feet all the time." said Aragorn
"We don't, we have hair, which I may add, is far better than your socks or stockings or whatever it is you wear on your feet." said Merry, who was also warming his feet next to the fire, having been mostly brushed down and dried already.
"Ow! Frodo not so hard!"
"Stop your moaning Boromir, you're starting to sound like Pippin!" Frodo was going through Boromir's hair with a fine-toothed comb, which never failed to get caught on all the knots, no matter how big or small.
"See? Someone else agrees with me, you are far too vigorous in your brushing Frodo!" Pippin was yet to be seen to, as was Aragorn. Merry was happy in the knowledge that he was already dealt with. Frodo had decided not to interfere with Gandalf's appearance, Legolas didn't seem to need any help (being one of the only beings in the group who was neater than Frodo) and Gimli looked as though he would seriously harm anyone who came near him with a grooming implement. Sam just plain refused to have his hair brushed by his master.
Pippin knew he was safe while Frodo concentrated on Boromir, Frodo could only brush one head of hair at a time after all.
"Well Boromir, I think I'm nearly done," Pippin tensed. "Oh no, there's another knot."
"Ow! Yes! I can feel it!" said Boromir, surprised that brushing hair could ever be so painful, it brought tears to his eyes more readily than being stabbed in the shoulder.
"I'd offer for you to squeeze my hand when it hurts," said Pippin generously, "But I rather fear that I wouldn't have a hand left."
"That's aaalright Piiippin." Boromir's words extended into small yells of pain when Frodo caught knots with his comb.
"Don't worry Boromir, just this one knot left." upon hearing these words, Pippin decided to make himself scarce.
"Excuse me, I think I'll go talk to Gimli." said Pippin quickly before slipping off.
"Good cover Pippin! Very subtle." called Frodo after him.
"Is this what I am now? A hobbit's excuse to keep the comb away from his hair?" said Gimli in mock disapproval.
"Why of course not Gimli, I was merely prompted into starting a conversation with you that I've been wanting to have for a while," he saw Gimli's disbelieving look, "well, a few minutes now."
"Very well." sighed Gimli.
"Oh good, I had been wondering what your father told you about the finding of the ring, or at least what happened to him while the ring was being found. We never really heard that tale in full." So that was Pippin indisposed for a while, Gimli not being able to resist a bit of story telling.
And so it was Aragorn's turn to have his hair brushed and the mud removed. He refused to move away from the fire, so Frodo went to him. Boromir marvelled at hair smoother and freer of knots than it had been in weeks, and so it should be, it had been painful enough!
It wasn't long before Aragorn's face was stuck in a permanent wince.
"Don't you brush your hair Strider?" Asked Merry, having become long since used to Frodo's rough treatment.
"Yes, but I'm usually a little more forgiving in my handling of the brush." said Aragorn.
"It'll be over before you know it." said Frodo confidently, glancing behind him to where Pippin was deeply engrossed in what Gimli had to say. "Your hair isn't as bad as Boromir's." Aragorn took his opportunity to cast a superior look over to Boromir who was now sitting on the opposite side of the fire, next to Sam, but it was ruined when Frodo caught yet another knot. Boromir laughed and tossed his hair to show that it was knot free whereas Aragorn's still had a little way to go.
But before long Pippin was the only one left to be treated by Frodo. He had nowhere left to hide.
Aragorn was twiddling his hair between his fingers, happy with how it had turned out. Merry knocked his arm.
"Honestly Strider, you're worse than Angelica Baggins." Aragorn surmised that Angelica Baggins was not one to be worse than and so stopped his fiddling.
"Nothing from you about my family Meriadoc, there's a good deal to say about the Brandybucks you know!"
"Even Bilbo admitted it!" argued Merry.
"Bilbo was a Baggins himself though, that's different."
"Typical Bagginses logic." Merry grumbled. Frodo decided to let it go, he had a Took to catch. Unfortunately for him Pippin was watching him like a hawk. Fortunately for him, Pippin was outnumbered three to one.
"You need help?" asked Aragorn.
"No, this needs a special skill and years of practice." answered Merry knowledgeably. Boromir noticed that Sam had silently left his side and was creeping around without Pippin's knowing. The whole camp tensed without realising. Pippin was glancing around, but mainly looking at Frodo, who was staring intently back, Sam was somewhere in the shadows of the trees and Merry was ready to run at the slightest movement.
Suddenly the camp came to life. Sam burst out of the darkness, causing Pippin to bolt and Frodo to dart for him. Frodo missed and Pippin continued onwards, towards Merry. Merry leaped.
"Got him! Quick! Help! Oh no, too late, he's gone." Pippin obviously had twisting out of a grip perfected and it would take a mumak sitting on him to keep him still. There was any amount of rushing around and diving from the hobbits and ducking and moving limbs out of the way from the rest of the company. Until:
"Yes! Grab his other ankle Sam!" Frodo was nearly lifted from the ground, holding on to the ankle of a Pippin who had made his way half way up a tree. Sam secured the second ankle and together they dragged Pippin down, moaning all the way.
"First things first, hold his feet still." commanded Frodo. Sam leaned with nearly his full weight onto Pippin's feet while Frodo whipped out the scissors and comb. Merry held Pippin's top half. There didn't seem to be any point though, Pippin was resigned to his fate, his eyes shut tight, his only moving was the flinch when he heard the scissors snip. Frodo, for his part, worked quickly. And soon Pippin's feet were neat and tidy. Then Frodo moved onto his head.
"Is that not a slight overreaction to a bad haircut?" inquired Boromir.
"Not just a bad haircut, I've been stabbed in the foot by scissors countless times, Frodo's the only one who can cut around my twitching and squirming. Everyone else," He paused as Frodo tugged on his hair. "Everyone else manages to cut my feet as well and I've developed quite a fear of it." He took a sharp breath in through his teeth as Frodo succeeded in removing a knot and a clump of mud.
"Well, your feet certainly look well-groomed." commented Boromir.
"Thank you." said Pippin. Frodo seemed to be being harsher, yet quicker with Pippin's hair. Either it was a habit he'd developed from when Pippin couldn't sit for longer than ten minutes or it was his own form of revenge for all the trouble Pippin had ever caused him. So it wasn't too long before Frodo released Pippin and he was able to get up and dust himself down. Frodo looked him up and down approvingly.
"We may well make a Thain out of you yet!"
Chapter 10: Grooming
A/N: Thankyou for that Pipkin Sweetgrass, my grammar checker thing has fun changing it all automatically, but I thought it was meant to be lower case and it confused me greatly, thanks for clearing that up.
They had all finally stopped walking. Aragorn's foot was the coldest it had been for a long time, but he now had it as near to the fire as he could get it.
"Strider, honestly, you get any closer to that fire and we may as well use you as fuel for it."
"I don't know how you stand having such cold feet all the time." said Aragorn
"We don't, we have hair, which I may add, is far better than your socks or stockings or whatever it is you wear on your feet." said Merry, who was also warming his feet next to the fire, having been mostly brushed down and dried already.
"Ow! Frodo not so hard!"
"Stop your moaning Boromir, you're starting to sound like Pippin!" Frodo was going through Boromir's hair with a fine-toothed comb, which never failed to get caught on all the knots, no matter how big or small.
"See? Someone else agrees with me, you are far too vigorous in your brushing Frodo!" Pippin was yet to be seen to, as was Aragorn. Merry was happy in the knowledge that he was already dealt with. Frodo had decided not to interfere with Gandalf's appearance, Legolas didn't seem to need any help (being one of the only beings in the group who was neater than Frodo) and Gimli looked as though he would seriously harm anyone who came near him with a grooming implement. Sam just plain refused to have his hair brushed by his master.
Pippin knew he was safe while Frodo concentrated on Boromir, Frodo could only brush one head of hair at a time after all.
"Well Boromir, I think I'm nearly done," Pippin tensed. "Oh no, there's another knot."
"Ow! Yes! I can feel it!" said Boromir, surprised that brushing hair could ever be so painful, it brought tears to his eyes more readily than being stabbed in the shoulder.
"I'd offer for you to squeeze my hand when it hurts," said Pippin generously, "But I rather fear that I wouldn't have a hand left."
"That's aaalright Piiippin." Boromir's words extended into small yells of pain when Frodo caught knots with his comb.
"Don't worry Boromir, just this one knot left." upon hearing these words, Pippin decided to make himself scarce.
"Excuse me, I think I'll go talk to Gimli." said Pippin quickly before slipping off.
"Good cover Pippin! Very subtle." called Frodo after him.
"Is this what I am now? A hobbit's excuse to keep the comb away from his hair?" said Gimli in mock disapproval.
"Why of course not Gimli, I was merely prompted into starting a conversation with you that I've been wanting to have for a while," he saw Gimli's disbelieving look, "well, a few minutes now."
"Very well." sighed Gimli.
"Oh good, I had been wondering what your father told you about the finding of the ring, or at least what happened to him while the ring was being found. We never really heard that tale in full." So that was Pippin indisposed for a while, Gimli not being able to resist a bit of story telling.
And so it was Aragorn's turn to have his hair brushed and the mud removed. He refused to move away from the fire, so Frodo went to him. Boromir marvelled at hair smoother and freer of knots than it had been in weeks, and so it should be, it had been painful enough!
It wasn't long before Aragorn's face was stuck in a permanent wince.
"Don't you brush your hair Strider?" Asked Merry, having become long since used to Frodo's rough treatment.
"Yes, but I'm usually a little more forgiving in my handling of the brush." said Aragorn.
"It'll be over before you know it." said Frodo confidently, glancing behind him to where Pippin was deeply engrossed in what Gimli had to say. "Your hair isn't as bad as Boromir's." Aragorn took his opportunity to cast a superior look over to Boromir who was now sitting on the opposite side of the fire, next to Sam, but it was ruined when Frodo caught yet another knot. Boromir laughed and tossed his hair to show that it was knot free whereas Aragorn's still had a little way to go.
But before long Pippin was the only one left to be treated by Frodo. He had nowhere left to hide.
Aragorn was twiddling his hair between his fingers, happy with how it had turned out. Merry knocked his arm.
"Honestly Strider, you're worse than Angelica Baggins." Aragorn surmised that Angelica Baggins was not one to be worse than and so stopped his fiddling.
"Nothing from you about my family Meriadoc, there's a good deal to say about the Brandybucks you know!"
"Even Bilbo admitted it!" argued Merry.
"Bilbo was a Baggins himself though, that's different."
"Typical Bagginses logic." Merry grumbled. Frodo decided to let it go, he had a Took to catch. Unfortunately for him Pippin was watching him like a hawk. Fortunately for him, Pippin was outnumbered three to one.
"You need help?" asked Aragorn.
"No, this needs a special skill and years of practice." answered Merry knowledgeably. Boromir noticed that Sam had silently left his side and was creeping around without Pippin's knowing. The whole camp tensed without realising. Pippin was glancing around, but mainly looking at Frodo, who was staring intently back, Sam was somewhere in the shadows of the trees and Merry was ready to run at the slightest movement.
Suddenly the camp came to life. Sam burst out of the darkness, causing Pippin to bolt and Frodo to dart for him. Frodo missed and Pippin continued onwards, towards Merry. Merry leaped.
"Got him! Quick! Help! Oh no, too late, he's gone." Pippin obviously had twisting out of a grip perfected and it would take a mumak sitting on him to keep him still. There was any amount of rushing around and diving from the hobbits and ducking and moving limbs out of the way from the rest of the company. Until:
"Yes! Grab his other ankle Sam!" Frodo was nearly lifted from the ground, holding on to the ankle of a Pippin who had made his way half way up a tree. Sam secured the second ankle and together they dragged Pippin down, moaning all the way.
"First things first, hold his feet still." commanded Frodo. Sam leaned with nearly his full weight onto Pippin's feet while Frodo whipped out the scissors and comb. Merry held Pippin's top half. There didn't seem to be any point though, Pippin was resigned to his fate, his eyes shut tight, his only moving was the flinch when he heard the scissors snip. Frodo, for his part, worked quickly. And soon Pippin's feet were neat and tidy. Then Frodo moved onto his head.
"Is that not a slight overreaction to a bad haircut?" inquired Boromir.
"Not just a bad haircut, I've been stabbed in the foot by scissors countless times, Frodo's the only one who can cut around my twitching and squirming. Everyone else," He paused as Frodo tugged on his hair. "Everyone else manages to cut my feet as well and I've developed quite a fear of it." He took a sharp breath in through his teeth as Frodo succeeded in removing a knot and a clump of mud.
"Well, your feet certainly look well-groomed." commented Boromir.
"Thank you." said Pippin. Frodo seemed to be being harsher, yet quicker with Pippin's hair. Either it was a habit he'd developed from when Pippin couldn't sit for longer than ten minutes or it was his own form of revenge for all the trouble Pippin had ever caused him. So it wasn't too long before Frodo released Pippin and he was able to get up and dust himself down. Frodo looked him up and down approvingly.
"We may well make a Thain out of you yet!"