By: Jen Grimbee
Ch.2- The Green Dragon
Disclaimer: I own nothing of Lord of the Rings. Just Aurora and Shaye are mine.
Later that day Aurora and Shaye were home sitting by their comfy fireplace arguing over whether they should go with Frodo and Merry or not.
"I think we should go," Aurora said calmly to her sister as she settled herself comfortably in an armchair with her small sketchpad, "They were nice enough to invite us and it would be rude not to."
"And I say, blow them off!" Shaye retorted, "They're perfect strangers and they knocked us both down at the market today!"
"Now you're just over reacting," Aurora said, "It was a complete accident and you know it."
Shaye snorted in response and hid her face behind a brown covered book while sitting down in the opposite chair in the room. "I still think we should go," Aurora said to her.
Shaye pretended to ignore her and continued to read. Finally she said to Aurora, "This is just an assumption but… I think you liked that Frodo Baggins."
Aurora blushed a deep crimson red and eyed her sketch intently. "So what if I did," she said, sketching away, "It's not a bad thing to like someone now is it?"
Shaye smirked and shook her head. She laughed at her sister's flustered face and set her book down on the nearby table.
"All right, we'll go," she agreed, "If it'll make you happy then we'll meet them there."
Aurora looked up from her sketchpad and smiled at her sister. "Will you really?"
Shaye nodded, "But if I don't like this Green Dragon place, then we're coming straight home." And with that final statement spoken, Shaye sat back with her book and began to read again.
Bag End
"They're not going to come, cousin," Merry said to Frodo, flailing his arms as if to put emphasis on his words.
"You don't know that, Merry," Frodo replied, opening the door to the smial and walking in.
"I'm pretty sure that Shaye wasn't at all fond of us," Merry said, following Frodo inside. "I think she might've talked her sister into not coming."
"Oh, come now, Merry. Think logically," Frodo responded with a lopsided smile, "Do you really think that could happen?"
Merry looked at Frodo in confusion and then looked down at the tiled floor, shaking his head.
"I'm quite sure that the two will show up tonight, at least I'm sure Aurora will. As for Shaye, well, she'll calm down. She was just being protective of her sister, that's all," Frodo explained to Merry.
"All right," said Merry, looking up, "But don't get your hopes up if they don't show up."
Frodo chuckled and smirked at his younger cousin and then followed him into the sitting room where they heard Pippin and Sam having a lively conversation.
Later that night Merry and Frodo walked over to the Green Dragon Inn where Shaye and Aurora were waiting patiently for them outside. The lasses said their hellos to the cousins and Frodo and Merry escorted the sisters inside. The hobbits found an empty table and the barmaid whisked them all four mugs of ale without even asking them what they wanted.
An awkward silence hung in the air as the hobbits sat around the circular table sipping their ales. Soon, Frodo broke the uneasy quietness with a question to Aurora and Shaye.
"Are you two new here? I don't remember ever seeing you around Hobbiton before," he asked, taking another sip of his drink.
"Yes, from Bree," Aurora answered.
Merry looked over at his cousin with a smug grin plastered on his face. He held up his mug to hide his face so Frodo wouldn't notice.
"We've been there," said Frodo, completely oblivious of Merry.
Merry snorted and added, "Perhaps you've heard of the famous vanishing hobbit that just so happened to come there one evening." He nudged Frodo, who had turned a bright shade of red.
Shaye and Aurora looked over at Frodo and giggled. "Yeah, we've heard all about that," said Shaye, "I take it that was you?"
Frodo nodded once and cleared his throat in embarrassment, finding the interior of his beer mug to be quite fascinating. The others only laughed harder. To change the subject, Frodo looked up and faced Aurora.
"Would you like to dance?" he asked her, standing and offering her his hand.
Aurora looked down at Frodo's hand and then up at his face and smiled. "Why, yes. Thank you."
Merry looked over at Frodo and Aurora and followed his cousin's example with Shaye. He turned to her and offered her his arm and asked the same question. Shaye stood without a word and accepted his offer and the two couples strode out to the dance floor.
They danced for a while and when they were all exhausted from it, they sat down and had a few more drinks, chatting all the while. When the last of the stars had shown their bright little faces and the hobbits began to get sleepy, they all decided it was time to call it a night.
"It's getting rather late, we should probably head home," said Aurora, stretching out her arms.
"Yeah, I'm falling asleep on my feet," Shaye added with a large yawn.
"Would you like an escort home?" asked Merry, standing from his chair.
"No, that's all right. We'll be fine," said Shaye with a smile. "But thank you."
Frodo and Merry nodded and walked the girls out the door and watched them walk back to their home before heading back to Bag End for the night.
TBC…
A/N-And chapter two is finito! Finally finished it and I hope it's toeveryone's taste. I'm tired so… yawn I'm going to go to bed now and sleep and think of a way to come up with chapter three to this story. But I hope that you all enjoyed this next chapter. Let me know in your review. Thanks lots!
Jen