Title: Looking After You
Author: Pathvain_Aelien
E-mail: Pathvain_Aelien@yahoo.com
Disclaimer: Both Tolkien and PJ are all-mighty. I own nothing. Certain lines are taken (with love) from Return of the King.
AN: Written for Marigold's story challenge #2. Thanks to her for this opportunity!
"Merry! Merry! It's me. It's Pippin!"
"I knew you'd find me."
"Yes."
"Are you going to leave me?"
"No, Merry. I'm going to look after you."
-Pippin and Merry in Return of the King
Part 1-The Bonding of Merry and Pippin
"Peregrin Took! Pippin? Now where's he got to I wonder…Pippin?" Meriadoc Brandybuck's voice held just a touch of urgency. He had been charged with his young cousin Peregrin Took for the day. This usually happened when Pippin's family came to Brandy Hall for visits, and Merry loathed each time. Pippin was an overly curious seven year old Hobbit, and he seemed to adore Merry; toddling after him wherever he went. Although Merry had no idea why, this usually landed him into trouble instead of Pippin. This was why he had tried to avoid Pippin this visit. Merry also thought himself "too old" to befriend Pippin (although he was only eight years older, and acted much the same as Pippin to their older cousin Frodo) and so had devised a game of Hide and Seek to purposely get rid of the meddlesome lad for awhile.'
After a rather pleasant (and quiet) Pip-free afternoon, another cousin staying with them reminded Merry of his daily task. Then, and only then, did he realize the reason for the silence. No Pippin! Where was he?
Merry shook his toffee colored curls out of his eyes as he looked at his cousin Frodo Baggins. Frodo looked back at him calmly, lips only twitching slightly into a smile.
"I thought it was too quiet," Merry remarked as he started looking around the smial for his small cousin. The smial was home to more than a hundred Brandybuck relations and therefore was full of many-too many-secret places for troublesome hobbits to hide. And Merry knew only too well that it didn't take Pippin long enough to find trouble. It was like a magnet. 'And he had been "hiding" since'…Merry racked his brains 'since just after breakfast! And they were readying the kitchens for tea!'
Pippin had missed a meal. It was this knowledge that led him into a near frenzy. Pippin never missed meals! Frodo, Merry's older cousin by more than ten years, walked companionably beside Merry as they accosted a servant lass.
"I wonder what dear Paladin and Eglantine will say then they hear you have lost their only son?" Frodo asked wryly, wiping the smile from his face when Merry shot him a black look.
"I didn't lose him," Merry mumbled, "only misplaced him a bit."
The servant lass, a pretty hobbit with curly dark hair and bright eyes, smiled knowingly when Merry casually asked, "Have you seen Pippin around?"
"I think, Master Merry, that I saw him hiding in your room." She winked at him as she went back to her work. The rumbling of Merry's stomach reminded him of tea time, but he still smirked. In his room? Pippin hadn't even thought up a clever hiding spot!
Frodo led the way into Merry's room. He was quite tired of this "game" and wanted to have his tea. He peered around. Looked under the bed. Behind the bed. Merry and Frodo looked at each other, shrugged, and then Frodo grinned. He knelt down and peered into the inky darkness of the desk.
"Aha! We got…" his voice faded when the search rendered nothing but dust-bunnies and a broken quill. He stood up and straightened his weskit, trying to look dignified again.
"I suppose he went to get a snack when you didn't come find him," Frodo said, as the two slowly walked into the kitchens. The long table had been set for tea, which had not officially been served. Merry saw that this had not been enough to assuage someone's stomach: tarts were missing, little hobbit fingers had been into the cake. In short, the table was a mess. The servant lass they had spoken to earlier was there, silently cleaning and removing the plates that had been sampled. Merry's stomach rumbled, and he reached for a forgotten tart. She slapped his hand away gently.
"Young Master Peregrin will be coming back for that, I expect," she teased, "but you will have to wait for tea like everyone else." Merry glowered but admitted defeat. The cousins wandered into the sitting room.
"Honestly! We have to wait for our tea, in our own smial, and a Took gets to eat before us!" The "in our own smial" statement was debatable, as Frodo was a Baggins by birth and lived in Bag-End up in Hobbiton. Merry reasoned that there was enough Brandybuck in Frodo's blood to warrant him a tart before Pippin, at least. Pippin, who had been the darling of both Brandy Hall and the Great Smials since he was born!
Merry was the only hobbit who was completely unaffected by Pippin's charm. He thought this was because he was the only one with good hobbit sense. He honestly couldn't understand the way elder hobbits doted on his littlest cousin, giving him whatever he desired, simply because he had an adorable face and big green eyes. This charm unfailingly turned even the sternest of hobbits into acting like children. All hobbits, except for Merry, looked after little Pippin and spoiled him terribly.
Frodo, seeing that Merry was working himself into a fury, decided to step in.
"Cousin, I think you are a trifle jealous of Pippin. He really is a sweet little lad, after all, and he looks up to you so," he said gently.
This only made Merry sigh. "He's too young to be following me around. He's always trying to play with me and Fredegar, or wanting to ride ponies with us, and everything else that a baby lad can't do! He just gets in the way." Merry, of course, left out the fact that he sometimes enjoyed the shining adoration Pippin bestowed on him, and the way Pippin would hang on Merry's every word.
Frodo debated whether to remind Merry of the similar troublesome lad he had been-and still was! Merry was exactly like Pippin in the way that he loved Frodo and followed him around, especially when Frodo lived at Brandy Hall. Merry, like Pippin, followed the older cousin without knowing he had been considered a pest.
Merry's sad look at Pippin's usurpment of Brandy Hall quieted Frodo's debate. He simply listened to Merry further berate Pippin, understanding that Merry didn't really mean most of what he said.
Pippin, a tiny lad, had entered the room unseen, and couldn't hear Merry and Frodo's true thoughts, but he could hear what dear Merry said about him! He, Pippin, just got in the way? His small mouth trembled as he received this crushing blow. Merry, his older cousin and hero, didn't even like him! He now saw the fun game Merry had suggested for what it was-the means to get rid of him! And it had worked.
'Perhaps Merry would like me better if I leave him alone,' Pippin thought. He certainly didn't want to be a pest. But who would be his playmate if not Merry? He wandered through the Hall, thinking.
Pippin was quite the social Hobbit, and didn't yet realize his gift of charm, so to him finding a willing playmate would be a hard task. He brightened when he heard familiar voices, one especially that was so much like his own with its Tookish brogue. It was his Uncle Saradoc's study, where all four Hobbits had retreated earlier that morning to talk about business, crops, and other boring things. Pippin figured they needed someone to brighten the party.
The four Hobbits: Saradoc and Esmeralda Brandybuck, and Paladin and Eglantine Took, looked down at the tiny lad as he shyly entered the room. Paladin immediately swept him into a hug.
"Hullo, my little lad!" His voice boomed as he swung Pippin around into the air. Pippin squealed with delight and protested when he was sat down (quite unsteadily) onto his feet.
"Hullo, Pip," Uncle 'Doc said, "having a good visit?" Pippin nodded his head, wild auburn curls bobbing in every which way as he made himself comfortable on Aunt Esme's lap. Esmeralda acquiesced by wrapping an arm around his little waist. The four older Hobbits looked on as Pippin chattered about this and that, and waves his arms around in excitement. He was so sure that his plan of ignoring Merry would work that Merry's cruel remark didn't completely dampen his day.
A pained expression crossed Saradoc's face when Pippin's custard-smeared fingers started trying to root through papers on the mahogany desk. Saradoc was the Master of Buckland and thus had very important papers. Paladin, fortunately, noticed and captured Pippin's tiny hands in his. "Pippin, dearest," Eglantine began in her normally sweet voice, "we do appreciate your company, of course, but business matters cannot be much fun for a little lad such as yourself." Pippin sighed unhappily. This somehow reminded him of Merry. Did nobody want to play with him?
"Why aren't you playing with Merry?" Paladin asked. Esme, who thought she knew the answer to that, began to frown. This frown deepened considerably when Pippin's long eyelashes drooped and he tried to bury his head into her arms.
"I'm making Merry like me, Da, by not being a pest and leaving him alone." He said this in a quiet un-Pippin like voice. Now Saradoc's frown matched his wife's.
"Lad, whoever told you that Cousin Merry thinks you are a pest?" He was dreading the answer. He wanted both hobbits to be close friends, partly for Shire-business, as Pippin's da was the Thain, but mostly because the two prominent families were close and spent a lot of time with each other. Esmeralda was Paladin's sister, after all, and Merry and Pippin would naturally have to spend time together. He would rather they both enjoyed it.
"Cousin Merry did," Pippin said glumly as he noticed the custard on his hands. He absently tried to wipe his fingers clean on Aunt Esme's dress. She didn't notice, because she was watching Saradoc's normally jovial face contort into a glower.
"He did, did he?" Pippin evidently heard the grimness of his uncle's tone, for he looked up and said hesitantly, "Well, not to me, but to Cousin Frodo." This made Esme smile, because his pronunciation made it sound quite a bit more like "Fwodo."
Saradoc scooped up Pippin, who linked an arm companionably around his shoulder. The small Took looked up at him earnestly and crinkled his nose. "Can you tell me how to make Mewwy like me? I just want him to like me." Pippin looked downcast, and the adult Hobbits felt their hearts catch at the sincerity of it. Pippin, of course, was oblivious to the fact that he was putting his beloved cousin into trouble.
"Peregrin," Eglantine said, "go find Merry and Frodo and stay with them a minute, dear." Pippin obediently let himself be set down by Saradoc as he ran from the room. He thought the adult Hobbits were going to help him get Merry to like him, and this cheered him considerably.
Esmeralda saw, with some mirth, that the entire room somehow had tiny hobbit-custard prints-where Pippin had leafed through papers, touched walls, and, apparently, used her own dress as a napkin. She wisely decided not to comment on this fact as she stood and straightened her light yellow skirts.
"Now, Saradoc, don't be too hard on Merry," Paladin said carefully, noticing the angry look on his face. "You can't force him to like Pippin." Eglantine and Esme shared a Look, and as one quietly took their leave. Best leave the lads to this mess.
"Merry's just fifteen, after all," Paladin continued as they strode from the room, now and then seeing a trace of custard from Pippin's wayward hands. "He's not even a 'tween yet, and has his own friends. Pippin will just have to look after himself until he has playmates his own age." Paladin's voice was heavy. That was the trouble. There was no one Pippin's age. Paladin was schooling him, and so his only other companionship were his three older sisters-all sweet lasses who doted after Pippin, but they weren't exactly what could be called friends.
"All the same," Saradoc said as he slowed to a stop, "he needs to learn to accept Pippin and respect him." With that, they entered the room Pippin had gone in. He was sitting with Pippin, and was, for once, without Frodo. Pippin was looking down at his now clean hands, apparently too afraid of "pestering" Merry to actually look at him. Merry cheerfully greeted both father and uncle, completely oblivious to his own troubles.
"Pip, I believe I feel up for a game of 'Hide and Seek', what do you say?" Paladin asked. When both older Hobbits looked pointedly at Merry, realization dawned and he looked down at his lap, both abashed and angry.
"Oi! You countin' first, da?" Pippin asked as he wriggled out of his seat. He nearly tripped over his large feet in his eagerness for the game. "I'm good at hidin'! Merry never finds me!"
Merry winced as he mentally thanked Pip for that new comment. Paladin only sighed. "No, Peregrin, I believe I shall hide first, and you can count." Both Merry and Saradoc listened to the fading voices, and even Merry smiled a little at the thought of the Thain hiding under a desk or bed in Brandy Hall from his tiny son (who counted one through five perfectly fine, skipped six, and only haltingly said, "seven")
"Meriadoc," Saradoc said sternly, "I think you know what you have done wrong." Merry chewed his lip. "Yes, da. I don't like Pippin much," he said honestly.
"Have you even given him a chance? He's just a little lad, just as you were-and are- and there is no one in the world he loves more than you." Merry's round cheeks were tinged with pink, and he said nothing.
"Try to imagine being in his place. The other lads are much older than him. He just wants to find a friend, someone to look after him." Saradoc paused, then as he observed Merry's flush of embarrassment, added more gently, "the same way Frodo looked out for you when you were Pip's age."
Merry looked a little indignant. "I was never half as troublesome as that lad!" He said this without thinking. His father raised an eyebrow, amused. "You weren't, hmm? Then which son of mine (and you know better than anyone that I only have one) followed a certain Baggins into the Old Forest? Did you think Frodo wanted you to come while he explored?" Saradoc stood, and thus ended the discussion.
"Lad, just remember that everyone needs a friend, no matter who they are or how young they are. No one but the Valar knows when you will need a true one." He lovingly ruffled Merry's curls. "Oh, and son, do not forget to clean my study, and wherever else that 'troublesome Took' touched!" He pointed to certain smears on the wall, clearly visible. Merry groaned inwardly. No wonder Pippin stayed so small! None of the food he touched actually made it into his mouth!
*
After Merry finished cleaning, he and Fredegar went outside near the Brandywine River to play. His cleaning had taken so long that he had missed tea, and he had been unable to pilfer any snack. His stomach rumbled loudly as he waited in anticipation for dinner. The shade of the trees near the Brandywine was a favorite spot to relax, and many older hobbits wandered over to either play or lay out on the soft grass to enjoy the bright sun.
Fredegar Bolger (not yet plump enough to deserve the nickname he would have later in life) leaned closer to Merry and whispered, "is that your cousin Frodo comin' just up the hill?" It was. What perfect timing! The older hobbits were discussing who had kissed lasses, and how many lasses had been kissed, and so on. Merry outwardly agreed with everything said but privately thought only Frodo might have really kissed a lass. Merry sure didn't want to. He preferred playing outside or reading books to thinking about silly lasses.
He smiled cheerfully at Frodo, who had someone with him. A small someone. He squinted his eyes against the bright-too bright!- sun, knowing that Pippin was with Frodo but still hoping his squinted eyes might spy a different hobbit.
Frodo sat down next to Merry, turning his face away from the sun to talk to him. Pippin sat down on the other side of Frodo, waving cheerily at the older hobbits. "Hullo, Merry," Frodo greeted. He looked at Pippin, whose green eyes were locked on Merry's blue ones.
"Lo, Mewwy," Pippin said hesitantly. Well-remembering his father's words (and the implied words, too) Merry smiled at Pippin and reached around Frodo to ruffle his wayward curls.
"Hullo, Frodo and Pip!" Pippin's smile grew wider as he perceived that somehow, he had made Merry like him a little more. Dear Merry! Pippin abandoned his spot and chose to squeeze in between Frodo and Merry. He was beginning to feel more comfortable. Frodo heaved a sigh. "Sure could use an apple or two…or maybe some crumpets!" His dark blue eyes twinkled.
Hobbits, as a rule, eat six meals a day, but are constantly "filling up the corners," and that was just what Frodo had in mind. "It's a shame the kitchens are off-limits now," he added with a sigh. And they were, at least until dinner. Anyone who tried to get in only received a slap on the hand for their pains.
Pippin brightened, a smile playing on his small mouth. The smile was infectious, and both Merry and Frodo grinned back. He hopped up. "I could go! I could get something!" Puppy-dog eyes pleaded with his cousin's for a chance. Frodo stifled his smile.
"All right, Pip, if you think you can get in," he said. "I can! Someone will let me in." Merry thought this was probably true.
"Go, then. Just be sure to bring back enough for all of us!" He laughed, looking around at the lingering Hobbits, who appeared quite interested in having a snack. Merry scratched his arm absently as they watched Pippin run as fast as his little legs could carry him.
"Dear cousin, I do think you were trying to rid us of him. Were you?" Merry inquired. Frodo looked injured. "No. I'm only a Hobbit, after all, and hungry!" They both laughed, and then Merry remembered something else his da had said.
"Frodo, when I was Pippin's age, was I a pest to you?" His tone was jovial but his eyes and the set of his jaw were serious. Frodo put a companionable arm around his shoulders. "Dear Merry," Frodo said affectionately. There was a long pause. "Don't you remember the games of 'hide and seek' we used to play?"
Frodo laughed gaily when Merry's head drooped. He did remember. "You left me in a closet for four hours!" he cried in indignation. Frodo shrugged one shoulder. "Pippin only waited two before giving up. You actually stayed there until someone came and dragged you out!"
Merry scowled harder when Frodo teased, "I think, dearest cousin, that our Pippin may be smarter than you were!" Merry's lips twitched minutely. "Am I still such a pest?" Frodo shook his head and looked at Merry fondly.
"Cousin, you are the best friend I could imagine having, except for maybe Sam Gamgee from Hobbiton. And Pip will grow up, and become the best friend you have ever imagined."
"He does have some uses," Merry allowed as Pippin and his three sisters came up the hill and into view, all carrying a variety of snack foods and jugs of cider. Pippin grandly presented Merry and Frodo with their snacks, saying, "they seemed glad to help with our picnic!" Merry smiled at him, and Pippin beamed back. Too late, he realized that he was already under the spell of the charming Took.
"You know, Pip," Merry said around a mouthful of cake, "I think you might just be old enough to learn to ride a pony." Pippin looked delighted. "Mewwy! Today, Mewwy? Can we do it today?" Merry laughed, and laughed even harder when Frodo said warningly, "don't you even try to use his charm on Farmer Maggot. Old Maggot won't be as susceptible as the rest of us!"
Merry and Pippin only grinned mischievously at Frodo, who groaned. The bonding of Brandybuck and Took had only brought two troublemakers together! He told them this much, and Pippin said seriously, "That's why we have you, cousin Fwodo. To get us out of trouble."
Frodo looked on as his young cousins laughed, sealing their friendship over tarts and cakes. It was the first time that looking after Pippin hadn't seemed like such a chore, and it certainly wouldn't be the last. Frodo had looked after Merry, and the same would be true for Merry and Pippin. It wouldn't always be such an easy job, looking after a Took, but when Pippin turned on the charm, Merry was completely wrapped around Pippin's little finger.
And if looking after Pippin meant getting into trouble (the idea of Farmer Maggot's crops was certainly tempting) Pippin was right. Frodo would always be there to look after both of them.
Content at last, Merry settled back onto the grass and listened to his two cousins talk.