Doodle #4
An Inn-Bed Made for Four
(SF, PM)
(Night-time at the Prancing Pony)

Strider's room had but one bed, yet he told the hobbits that they'd be sleeping in there that night. The Black Riders would expect them to be sleeping in their rooms, and would most likely try killing the decoys that lied in their beds that night. Strider refused to let them get killed off so easily.

The hobbits did not entirely trust Strider, but they were tired, and pondered their possibilities. "It's a full bed, surely four Halflings can fit in it, if they lay close together," suggested Strider.

To Sam's embarrassment, they really did have to squeeze together rather close, but they still managed it, somehow. Frodo was at the side, closest to the fire and Strider, lying on his back. Sam was beside him, sharing the first pillow with Frodo, and his arm as well, as Frodo was hugging it to himself in his sleep. Next in the row was Merry, laying on his side, back to Sam, front to Pippin, and drooling a bit on the pillow shared with him. Pippin was lying on his side, as well, facing Merry, red, and with a drunken grin on his sleeping face.

Strider admired the sleeping hobbits and chuckled to himself. They looked so innocent and peaceful, and most of all, very cute. He could only imagine what they were dreaming of, and why Pippin occasionally giggled in his sleep…