![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
cherie-morte.livejournal.com posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
lotr_sesaTitle: Perhaps the Greater
Characters/Pairings: Merry/Pippin
Genre: Hurt/Comfort
Rating:
PG-13 for slash (obviously), brief nudity, and brief mention of sex.
Word Count: 1,827
Author’s Note:
For![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
shirasade for ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif)
lotr_sesa,
I really hope this is to your liking and your holiday season is wonderful!
Battered and sore from three days under the whip of the Uruk-Hai, Merry and Pippin fought with all the energy they had to escape from their captors. Although they were still unaware of what had truly happened, neither dared to halt or even glance behind to discover the specifics of the battle. They pressed on as quickly as they could manage in their condition (not impressive even with the boost from their Lembas) not caring who was winning or where they were going. Pursued by fear of being retaken from the battle to the threshold of that ill-reputed forest, they hesitated only a short while before taking the deciding strides past the first trees. Convinced no malice of nature could be more terrible than what they had suffered at the hands of the servants of Saruman, they went further and further into the forest until each was gasping and stumbling more with each step.
“Let’s stop here and rest for a bit,” Merry suggested once they were at a place he considered to be deep enough into the woods to be safe.
Pippin halted immediately, relieved at the suggestion of stopping before they both dropped dead with pain and exhaustion. He stumbled towards a large moss covered rock and sat on it without a second thought. Merry followed him and brought out more Lembas, handing some to Pippin and devouring his own piece.
“I thought you would die!” Pippin said solemnly, one hand reaching to the terrible cut on his friend’s forehead.
“I thought we both would,” Merry replied and after a short pause continued, “we would have too, if you hadn’t been so clever about your bonds. How did you do it?”
Pippin, excited and proud to hear the admiration in his companion’s voice, told Merry of everything he had done while Merry had been weak. Merry listened with a mix of pleasure and jealousy to his friend’s many cunning tricks. He was unspeakably proud that his little Pippin had been so daring and defiant towards those fearsome Uruk-Hai and felt the love he felt for him swelling. He was, however, terribly ashamed to find that while his friend was fighting with all his wits to protect them, he had succumbed almost immediately to the harsh treatment and been made weak and sick without even a day’s struggle. It was almost comical to him that he had so long flattered himself by thinking he was Pippin’s protector only to have failed his friend the first time they were left alone in need of rescue.
After they had taken the Lembas and rested for the better part of an hour, Pippin finished his story and asked Merry how he had spent the days. Merry perceived that the good cheer Pippin had been showing since they first began to feel safe vanished as soon as he had finished talking and though he tried to hide it with a joke every now and then, Merry read in his friend’s countenance a pain that only increased as Merry told his gruesome tale. He stopped finally, distressed to see his friend so sad and gently asked what was wrong.
Pippin’s eyes, which had been staring down blankly, seemed to return to the present and met Merry’s.
“I didn’t realize…how terrible they would be. I could never have imagined anything could be so terrible. I feel sick and dirty, I don’t think I’ll ever be rid of their stench.”
Merry recognized how much of his story Pippin had not told, things he had seen and heard while he had been left so alone with the band of orcs. Despite the terror they had faced on their journey, Merry suddenly realized they had not yet truly experienced anything that had been able to completely grip his friend’s heart with the terrible reality of their task. The black riders that had caused him so much fear along the route had never lasted much longer than twenty minutes at a time and even in the long dark of Moria they had each other…even there Merry had tried and succeeded to distract Pippin from seeing the terrible truth. Merry, who had spent the entire journey worrying for his friend’s safety and imagining the worst, had been relatively unmoved by the behavior of the Uruk-Hai. It was no worse than he would have expected from them. But Pippin, his sweet naïve little friend, had never considered they would be caught amongst such creatures and the fact that he had been alone amongst them made it doubly bad. There were horrors imprinted on his mind that Merry had never intended to let his friend know. He felt a terrible pang of remorse that he had allowed Pippin to come on a journey so dangerous and felt he had failed him.
He gently brushed his friend’s tears away with one hand and pulled him into a gentle embrace with the other.
“Perhaps,” he thought with his last once of hope, “I can still help him. I can’t have failed him already.”
“They’re gone now, Pip. They’re lost or dead, you won’t ever have to think of them again. And I think I hear water! We’ve rested enough, let’s go have a drink and wash them away. You’ll forget about them as soon as you’re clean again.”
Merry wondered if this was true, if Pippin would ever forget the disgusting things he had been subjected to or if he was lying to his friend. Pippin nodded slowly and got up without letting his friend’s hand go. He seemed somewhat cheered by Merry’s empty promise so Merry led him towards the sound of running water until, unable to see the stream in this dark of the forest, they heard a splash and felt the wonderful, cool rushing water on their bare feet.
They stepped back onto the muddy bank to avoid the risk of walking into deep water and stooped to quench their thirst. The taste of the water after three days of orc-draught was immeasurably sweet and Merry was overjoyed to see Pippin’s spirits were genuinely beginning to lift.
“Now let’s get their filth off you,” Merry said, stepping into the river again. Pippin unbuttoned his shirt and let it drop to the floor walking into the water with relief. He let himself go deeper into the water until most of his body was emerged and put his head under the current.
Merry, on the other hand, began to back out of the water as soon as Pippin had come close enough to be visible in the poorly lit forest. Several times along their journey the hobbits had all bathed together in rivers like this but suddenly, being alone with his friend—both in such need of each other’s company—frightened him. It was true he had loved Pippin for longer than he remembered and had wanted him in a way he knew Pippin would never return but he had never spent a day holding him, touching him, trying to relieve his friend’s troubles and then been faced by this dilemma…Pippin was so close…and they were alone.
He jumped as he felt a wet hand on his shoulder turning to find that lost in his thoughts he had turned his back on his friend.
“I couldn’t see you,” Pippin explained sweetly. “I was afraid you were going to go too far and lose me.”
Pippin’s sad tone tugged at Merry’s heart so that Merry could not stop a tear from running down his cheek. Pippin leaned into Merry, resting his head on his shoulder and putting his arms around him so that his body was pushed against Merry’s. Merry closed his eyes and tried to think of anything but the wet body pressed against his…anything except how sweet Pippin had looked when he first turned him around.
“Lose you! Never. Never, Pippin. I’m taking care of you now; everything’s going to work out.”
Pippin lifted his head weakly and looked into Merry’s face. Very slowly he brought his face up and pressed a kiss, so soft it was almost imperceptible against his friend’s lips. Merry froze and wondered if it had truly happened. The kiss was so brief it almost seemed like an accident. His body froze but he did not let his friend go.
“Why did you do that?”
“I’m sorry,” Pippin answered almost the same way he had so often apologized for stupid mistakes throughout their friendship, but now with genuine sadness. “I…couldn’t help it.”
Merry lessened his hold on Pippin and returned a weak kiss with a passionate, hungry one. He could not remember a moment sweeter in all his life. His Pippin loved him, wanted him. The friend he had so long cherished with a hidden but wild passion was not a friend now, but a lover.
Still locked in a kiss, Merry’s hands wandered onto his lover’s chest and Pippin’s did the same. Lost as they were, with no way to escape and only bad rumors about the forest they were now at the mercy of, they completely forgot present and past perils, lost in each other’s kisses, touches, and embraces.
When Merry awoke the next morning to the smell of earth he did not dare open his eyes to discover if these things he so clearly remembered were not just another cruel dream. He could still feel Pippin’s kisses, his skin still burnt where Pippin’s hands had touched it—no dream had ever been this true. He told himself this, he breathed deep the scent of a forest thick with moss assuring himself no orc camp could ever smell so sweet, he listened to the running water…how could it be a dream? Nevertheless he lay completely still, unwilling to move or open his eyes in case it would shatter the perfect illusion his mind had created. Finally he sat up and looked around. This was the forest of his dream made beautiful by sunlight and by the memories he was still unsure of.
“Pippin?” he cried out when he found his friend missing.
“Over here!” his friend cried from somewhere near by, Merry followed the voice and found him sitting on the rock they had rested on the night before his back facing Merry. Merry sat down next to him and looked at his friend. Pippin did not say anything, nor did he look at Merry and Merry began to fear that the better part of the previous night had not happened.
Just as Merry’s hopes began to fall and he seemed to remember how hopeless their situation was, Pippin took his hand with tenderness impossible to misunderstand. The older hobbit leaned his head against his lover’s shoulder and let out a contented sigh.
“I almost think I like this place, Pip,” Merry uttered thoughtlessly. Before Pippin could reply, someone neither hobbit had perceived answered him …someone with a booming, angry voice. As they sat together hand-in-hand, the next part of their journey began.
Characters/Pairings: Merry/Pippin
Genre: Hurt/Comfort
Rating:
PG-13 for slash (obviously), brief nudity, and brief mention of sex.
Word Count: 1,827
Author’s Note:
For
shirasade for lotr_sesa,I really hope this is to your liking and your holiday season is wonderful!
Battered and sore from three days under the whip of the Uruk-Hai, Merry and Pippin fought with all the energy they had to escape from their captors. Although they were still unaware of what had truly happened, neither dared to halt or even glance behind to discover the specifics of the battle. They pressed on as quickly as they could manage in their condition (not impressive even with the boost from their Lembas) not caring who was winning or where they were going. Pursued by fear of being retaken from the battle to the threshold of that ill-reputed forest, they hesitated only a short while before taking the deciding strides past the first trees. Convinced no malice of nature could be more terrible than what they had suffered at the hands of the servants of Saruman, they went further and further into the forest until each was gasping and stumbling more with each step.
“Let’s stop here and rest for a bit,” Merry suggested once they were at a place he considered to be deep enough into the woods to be safe.
Pippin halted immediately, relieved at the suggestion of stopping before they both dropped dead with pain and exhaustion. He stumbled towards a large moss covered rock and sat on it without a second thought. Merry followed him and brought out more Lembas, handing some to Pippin and devouring his own piece.
“I thought you would die!” Pippin said solemnly, one hand reaching to the terrible cut on his friend’s forehead.
“I thought we both would,” Merry replied and after a short pause continued, “we would have too, if you hadn’t been so clever about your bonds. How did you do it?”
Pippin, excited and proud to hear the admiration in his companion’s voice, told Merry of everything he had done while Merry had been weak. Merry listened with a mix of pleasure and jealousy to his friend’s many cunning tricks. He was unspeakably proud that his little Pippin had been so daring and defiant towards those fearsome Uruk-Hai and felt the love he felt for him swelling. He was, however, terribly ashamed to find that while his friend was fighting with all his wits to protect them, he had succumbed almost immediately to the harsh treatment and been made weak and sick without even a day’s struggle. It was almost comical to him that he had so long flattered himself by thinking he was Pippin’s protector only to have failed his friend the first time they were left alone in need of rescue.
After they had taken the Lembas and rested for the better part of an hour, Pippin finished his story and asked Merry how he had spent the days. Merry perceived that the good cheer Pippin had been showing since they first began to feel safe vanished as soon as he had finished talking and though he tried to hide it with a joke every now and then, Merry read in his friend’s countenance a pain that only increased as Merry told his gruesome tale. He stopped finally, distressed to see his friend so sad and gently asked what was wrong.
Pippin’s eyes, which had been staring down blankly, seemed to return to the present and met Merry’s.
“I didn’t realize…how terrible they would be. I could never have imagined anything could be so terrible. I feel sick and dirty, I don’t think I’ll ever be rid of their stench.”
Merry recognized how much of his story Pippin had not told, things he had seen and heard while he had been left so alone with the band of orcs. Despite the terror they had faced on their journey, Merry suddenly realized they had not yet truly experienced anything that had been able to completely grip his friend’s heart with the terrible reality of their task. The black riders that had caused him so much fear along the route had never lasted much longer than twenty minutes at a time and even in the long dark of Moria they had each other…even there Merry had tried and succeeded to distract Pippin from seeing the terrible truth. Merry, who had spent the entire journey worrying for his friend’s safety and imagining the worst, had been relatively unmoved by the behavior of the Uruk-Hai. It was no worse than he would have expected from them. But Pippin, his sweet naïve little friend, had never considered they would be caught amongst such creatures and the fact that he had been alone amongst them made it doubly bad. There were horrors imprinted on his mind that Merry had never intended to let his friend know. He felt a terrible pang of remorse that he had allowed Pippin to come on a journey so dangerous and felt he had failed him.
He gently brushed his friend’s tears away with one hand and pulled him into a gentle embrace with the other.
“Perhaps,” he thought with his last once of hope, “I can still help him. I can’t have failed him already.”
“They’re gone now, Pip. They’re lost or dead, you won’t ever have to think of them again. And I think I hear water! We’ve rested enough, let’s go have a drink and wash them away. You’ll forget about them as soon as you’re clean again.”
Merry wondered if this was true, if Pippin would ever forget the disgusting things he had been subjected to or if he was lying to his friend. Pippin nodded slowly and got up without letting his friend’s hand go. He seemed somewhat cheered by Merry’s empty promise so Merry led him towards the sound of running water until, unable to see the stream in this dark of the forest, they heard a splash and felt the wonderful, cool rushing water on their bare feet.
They stepped back onto the muddy bank to avoid the risk of walking into deep water and stooped to quench their thirst. The taste of the water after three days of orc-draught was immeasurably sweet and Merry was overjoyed to see Pippin’s spirits were genuinely beginning to lift.
“Now let’s get their filth off you,” Merry said, stepping into the river again. Pippin unbuttoned his shirt and let it drop to the floor walking into the water with relief. He let himself go deeper into the water until most of his body was emerged and put his head under the current.
Merry, on the other hand, began to back out of the water as soon as Pippin had come close enough to be visible in the poorly lit forest. Several times along their journey the hobbits had all bathed together in rivers like this but suddenly, being alone with his friend—both in such need of each other’s company—frightened him. It was true he had loved Pippin for longer than he remembered and had wanted him in a way he knew Pippin would never return but he had never spent a day holding him, touching him, trying to relieve his friend’s troubles and then been faced by this dilemma…Pippin was so close…and they were alone.
He jumped as he felt a wet hand on his shoulder turning to find that lost in his thoughts he had turned his back on his friend.
“I couldn’t see you,” Pippin explained sweetly. “I was afraid you were going to go too far and lose me.”
Pippin’s sad tone tugged at Merry’s heart so that Merry could not stop a tear from running down his cheek. Pippin leaned into Merry, resting his head on his shoulder and putting his arms around him so that his body was pushed against Merry’s. Merry closed his eyes and tried to think of anything but the wet body pressed against his…anything except how sweet Pippin had looked when he first turned him around.
“Lose you! Never. Never, Pippin. I’m taking care of you now; everything’s going to work out.”
Pippin lifted his head weakly and looked into Merry’s face. Very slowly he brought his face up and pressed a kiss, so soft it was almost imperceptible against his friend’s lips. Merry froze and wondered if it had truly happened. The kiss was so brief it almost seemed like an accident. His body froze but he did not let his friend go.
“Why did you do that?”
“I’m sorry,” Pippin answered almost the same way he had so often apologized for stupid mistakes throughout their friendship, but now with genuine sadness. “I…couldn’t help it.”
Merry lessened his hold on Pippin and returned a weak kiss with a passionate, hungry one. He could not remember a moment sweeter in all his life. His Pippin loved him, wanted him. The friend he had so long cherished with a hidden but wild passion was not a friend now, but a lover.
Still locked in a kiss, Merry’s hands wandered onto his lover’s chest and Pippin’s did the same. Lost as they were, with no way to escape and only bad rumors about the forest they were now at the mercy of, they completely forgot present and past perils, lost in each other’s kisses, touches, and embraces.
When Merry awoke the next morning to the smell of earth he did not dare open his eyes to discover if these things he so clearly remembered were not just another cruel dream. He could still feel Pippin’s kisses, his skin still burnt where Pippin’s hands had touched it—no dream had ever been this true. He told himself this, he breathed deep the scent of a forest thick with moss assuring himself no orc camp could ever smell so sweet, he listened to the running water…how could it be a dream? Nevertheless he lay completely still, unwilling to move or open his eyes in case it would shatter the perfect illusion his mind had created. Finally he sat up and looked around. This was the forest of his dream made beautiful by sunlight and by the memories he was still unsure of.
“Pippin?” he cried out when he found his friend missing.
“Over here!” his friend cried from somewhere near by, Merry followed the voice and found him sitting on the rock they had rested on the night before his back facing Merry. Merry sat down next to him and looked at his friend. Pippin did not say anything, nor did he look at Merry and Merry began to fear that the better part of the previous night had not happened.
Just as Merry’s hopes began to fall and he seemed to remember how hopeless their situation was, Pippin took his hand with tenderness impossible to misunderstand. The older hobbit leaned his head against his lover’s shoulder and let out a contented sigh.
“I almost think I like this place, Pip,” Merry uttered thoughtlessly. Before Pippin could reply, someone neither hobbit had perceived answered him …someone with a booming, angry voice. As they sat together hand-in-hand, the next part of their journey began.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2007-12-25 03:09 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-12-25 03:20 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-12-25 03:44 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-12-25 08:46 am (UTC)“I was afraid you were going to go too far and lose me.”
I liked this passage for the little shadow of what Merry says to Pippin on the Pelennor when Merry finds him (er, movie-verse :-)
Lovely fic!
no subject
Date: 2007-12-25 04:31 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-12-31 03:23 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-01-01 01:03 am (UTC)