***PLEASE NOTE: THIS STORY CONTAINS SLASH AND MAY NOT BE APPROPRIATE FOR ALL READERS!***
"Woo-hoo!" Pippin yelled as he burst into The Palantir office, startling Eowyn and awaking Merry. Setting down his violin case, he launched into an impromptu celebratory cabbage patch as he chanted in a sing-song voice, "I made first cha-air, I made first cha-air."
"You made a chair?" Eowyn asked, very confused.
"No!" Pippin said, clearly exasperated. "I made FIRST chair. In orchestra. I'm gonna be the concertmaster!"
Eowyn didn't really know what that meant, but she offered a cheery, "Congratulations!"
"Yeah, Pip, that's great," Merry said, yawning and trying to rub the sleep from his eyes.
"It's more than great, Mer," Pippin said, hurrying over to where Merry was sitting at the computer. "Tom says I'm the youngest concertmaster they've ever had! And the best part is it means that, when there's violin solos, *I* get to do them!"
Eowyn saw Merry smile as he asked, "Hornblower's Violin Concerto?"
Pippin nodded excitedly. "Maybe! I don't know what pieces we're doing yet, but I know Tom likes that piece, so I'm hoping."
Eowyn smiled at Pippin's enthusiasm and returned to her computer screen. They had finished the layout over an hour ago, and Merry had run it over to the Vocational Tech department to have it printed as Eowyn began to work on the on-line version. Since she'd finally figured out most of the software, she'd decided to let Merry sleep when she'd found him napping after his return -- he'd looked so tired all afternoon, and the pizza seemed to have had a coma-like effect on him. But now that he was awake again, they could finish up what needed to be done and hopefully get home by midnight.
"Eowyn," Merry called, and she looked up to see Pippin dragging him towards the back of the office, "if you need me, I'll be...." And the two hobbits disappeared into the back room.
<<I'm so happy for Pippin,>> Eowyn thought as she continued to type away on the computer. <<It's such a big honour. Merry must be really excited for him, too.>>
****
Rubbing at his eyes with a fist, Merry let Pippin take his other hand and lead him towards the back room.
"Which *YAAAAAAWN* piece did you play for the audition, Pip?" Merry asked sleepily.
In response, Pippin backed him against the supply closet and kissed him deeply, until they were both breathless.
"Mmm," Merry smiled after he had caught his breath, "I'm awake now." He yawned widely, despite the declaration, and stretched until his back cracked with a satisfying pop.
"I should hope so," Pippin chuckled, wrapping his arms around Merry's waist and teasing him with light kisses down his neck.
"Hey," Merry said, gently lifting Pippin's face back up so they were nose-to-nose. "Congratulations on getting first chair. I know how important that is to you." He kissed Pippin softly, then pulled back to muse, "So what does a concertmaster DO, anyway?"
Pippin smiled brightly. "Well, a concertmaster is kinda like the conductor's assistant."
"Cool!" Merry enthused. "So if the conductor dies, do you become the conductor?"
"Mer-RY!" Pippin laughed. "No!"
"Concertmaster," Merry said slowly, as if sounding out a foreign word. "Concertmaster. I like the sound of that. Concertmaster Peregrin Took." He grinned. "I'm proud of you. We'll have to celebrate."
"I agree. Let's start now," Pippin said, pulling Merry closer and dipping his head down to kiss Merry's neck.
Merry smiled contentedly, enjoying the attention his lover lavished upon him, but a thought nagged at his mind. "Oh, hey...you never answered my question, Pip."
"Hmm?"
"Which piece did you play for the audition? Which piece won you the coveted first chair?"
"Something I wrote," Pippin mumbled against the skin of Merry's neck, "this summer. You haven't heard it yet." Merry gasped softly as Pippin pulled open the collar of his t-shirt to suck at the skin below.
Merry's eyes fluttered closed and he raised his hands to thread fingers in Pippin's hair. "Are you gonna play it for me?"
"If you want," Pippin murmured against Merry's throat, sliding his hands beneath Merry's shirt to brush his hands lightly across the warm skin.
Merry smiled at the feel of Pippin's callused fingertips ghosting across his back, thinking of how those strong, nimble fingers moved across the strings of his violin. He recalled one particular day over the summer, when Pippin returned to Buckland after a weekend at home, his hands blistered, deep grooves cut into his fingertips. When Merry had asked him what happened, Pippin merely shrugged and replied, with that trademark Took grin, "I've been practicing."
"Yeah, I'd like that, Pip." Merry vaguely wondered why Pippin hadn't played this piece for him before. Pip was the type who liked instant gratification -- the present moment being a prime example -- so he usually shared his music as soon as it was written. So why hadn't he played THIS piece? Merry would've worried about the meaning of it all if his brain had been capable of rational thought. But who could worry about ANYTHING with Pippin pressed up against him so?
"Merry?"
Both hobbits jumped at the sound of Eowyn's voice. Despite Merry's assurances that Eowyn must've "figured it out", neither was ready to have her walk in on them, so they were thankful for the verbal warning, no matter how brief. Pippin quickly released Merry and stepped back, nearly causing Merry to fall to the floor -- still not quite awake, Pippin had actually been keeping him upright in more ways than one.
"The last webpage isn't big enough to fit the final articles," Eowyn said, sticking her head into the back room.
"Uh...." Merry said, stalling for time, trying to ignore the blood pounding in his ears and elsewhere. Finally he stammered, "Try...try one of the compressed fonts."
"Okay." Eowyn started to go, and Merry breathed a sigh of relief that they hadn't been caught. The relief didn't last long, however, for Eowyn turned back, giving Merry a scrutinizing once-over. "Are you okay?"
"What?" Merry asked, perhaps a little too fast.
"You look a little flushed," Eowyn said, clearly concerned.
"Oh, he always looks that way when he first wakes up," Pippin interjected cheerfully. "Dontcha, Mer?"
"Uh, yeah," Merry said, not sure what to say. He suddenly felt guilty for having slept when he was supposed to be helping Eowyn, so he added, "Sorry I fell asleep on you."
Eowyn shook her head. "No problem. This is the last article, and then we'll be able to complete the upload."
"Great," Merry said, trying to muster up some enthusiasm. "I'll be out in a minute to help."
Eowyn nodded, smiling, and left.
Pippin cleared the distance between him and Merry in an instant and was about to take Merry back in his arms when Eowyn reappeared.
"Hey, I read that there's a Welcome Dance this Friday."
Pippin casually drummed his fingers on the wall behind Merry's head, pretending that there was a perfectly innocent reason for them to be so close, as Merry nodded, replying, "Yeah, they have one every year."
"What kind of dance is it?"
"Lame," Merry answered simply.
"It's in the school cafeteria," Pippin elaborated. "And there's no band, only a deejay. Hardly anyone goes, and even fewer dance. It's mainly just losers who don't have anything better to do on a Friday night. So Mer's right -- it's pretty lame."
"But it could also be pretty fun," Merry said, suddenly seeing the possibilities. Poking fun at others was one of their favourite pastimes, and this would be a PRIME opportunity. "We should totally go, Pip."
"Can't," Pippin said briefly.
"What do you mean you can't?" Merry asked, amused. "What else can you possibly have to do on a Friday evening at the beginning of term?"
"Eta Pi."
Merry was suddenly no longer amused. "I thought rush didn't start until next week?"
"Well," Pippin began, "OFFICIALLY, rush doesn't start until Monday, but the frat is having a welcome party for the new pledges on Friday night." He chattered excitedly, "It's going be so much fun! They're gonna have kegs of ale, and lots of food and a live band, and a pie-eating contest."
"That does sound fun," Eowyn smiled.
"Doesn't it?" Pippin chirped.
"But Pippin," Merry said dejectedly, "I thought that we might do something together on Friday. Maybe go for a pint at the Green Dragon, unwind a bit from the week..."
"I'm sorry, Merry. I HAVE to go to this party. It's required for all the pledges, so we can get to know our fraternity brothers."
"Free beer, free food, and a band. Yeah, I BET you're sorry," Merry pouted, crossing his arms.
Pippin frowned and narrowed his eyes. "What are you going on about?"
"Nothing."
"Did you already make plans for us for Friday?"
"No."
"Do you want to come to the party with me? Is that it?"
"NO!"
"Then what is your PROBLEM, Merry?"
"Um...uh..." Eowyn murmured, fidgeting uncomfortably, "I think I'm gonna go see about those compressed fonts. Please excuse me." She hurried from the room, leaving the hobbits alone.
They stood in silence for several moments, Pippin looking at Merry expectantly, and Merry standing with his arms folded across his chest, his eyes cast downward.
"Well?" Pippin snapped. "Are you gonna sulk, or are you gonna talk?"
Merry looked up, surprised by Pippin's harsh tone. He exhaled a deep sigh. "It's just that...I still don't understand why you want to join Eta Pi--"
Pippin grunted in frustration. "THIS again?!"
"Will you let me FINISH?" Merry growled.
Pippin glowered, but gestured for Merry to continue.
"Look," Merry said uneasily, forcing himself to look Pippin straight in the eyes, "I know your dad wants you to pledge and all that, but this whole Eta Pi thing seemed to come out of nowhere. You had no interest before, and now, all of a sudden, you do. Coincidentally, at the same time you are in a new relationship with me," Merry paused, thinking his words through carefully -- he had never spoken his concerns aloud before.
"So?" Pippin asked, more confused than frustrated. "What does one have to do with the other?"
Merry took a deep breath. "I don't know, Pip...it just makes me wonder if you're not happy with me or something. Why do you have to go to a frat to find guys to get drunk with when you were perfectly happy getting drunk with me and Frodo and Sam before? It feels like you're trading up, y'know?" Merry felt the tension in his body disappear, at finally voicing his insecurities.
But Merry didn't give voice to his other fear: that Pippin's fraternity brothers wouldn't accept his "lifestyle choices" and would react punitively.
Pippin sighed, and Merry tried to read his expression. Finally Pip said, "It's hard to explain, Mer. College is where you prepare for your life, you know? And my life, like it or not, is gonna involve a LOT of hobbits, not just you and Frodo and Sam. I guess I just...." Pippin trailed off, his brow furrowed with the effort of explaining.
Merry was taken aback. Though he had trouble expressing it, Pippin had obviously given Eta Pi, and his future, a lot of consideration. Merry chided himself for assuming that Pippin had merely been seduced by the fraternity's infamously lavish social events.
After a quiet moment Pippin's face softened, and the smile returned to his eyes. "But I didn't come here to talk, Mer," he said, closing the distance between them till they were nose-to-nose. Looking into Merry's eyes, Pippin teased, "I believe I promised kisses."
Merry smiled despite himself, caught up in Pippin's enthusiasm. "Kisses are always good," he replied.
And Pippin took him in his arms and gently kissed him. It wasn't sudden and passionate like when they'd first entered the room, yet it still managed to leave Merry breathless. There was something in its intensity that convinced Merry that, despite Eta Pi, Pippin was "perfectly happy" with him.
When their lips parted, there was a glint in Pippin's eyes. "I believe I promised more than just kissing," he said, grinning evilly as he started to move down Merry's body.
****
After three attempts, Eowyn was able to compress the font so that the article fit perfectly. <<That does it -- the on-line layout's now complete.>> She sighed, casting a glance towards the back room. She needed to talk to Merry, to find out what she needed to do next, but he'd seemed quite upset with Pippin, and she didn't want to interrupt while they were still arguing. So instead she checked her email. And read the headlines on the internet. And began to play solitaire.
"Uh...Eowyn," Merry said, finally emerging with Pippin from the back room. "How're things coming?"
Pippin giggled, but Eowyn didn't hear as she quickly closed the solitaire screen, hoping Merry hadn't noticed.
"Oh...all done," she said, flustered.
"Great!" Merry said. "Then we can all go home to bed."
He and Pippin started towards the front door.
"But...don't we need to actually upload the webpages?" Eowyn asked. "And put in the links?"
"Damn!" Merry said, turning around. "I completely forgot." He turned to Pippin, saying, "I have to get this started. It won't take long."
Eowyn watched as Pippin and Merry had a silent argument with their eyes. Merry apparently won because Pippin eventually sighed melodramatically and plopped down into a chair.
"The upload program is on this computer," Merry said, leading Eowyn over to the other side of the room. "It's compatible with Adobe, so we just have to open the pages through the network, insert them into the program, and then play with the links."
As Merry patiently showed Eowyn what to do, she tried to screw up her courage, glancing nervously back and forth between him and the sulking Pippin across the room. Ever since she had witnessed the beginning of their fight, a question had been nagging at her. Something she desperately wanted to know.
Finally, when Merry paused in his explanations to yawn, she burst out, "Since Pippin can't go with you to the dance, you wanna go with me?" She instantly regretted it, realizing she must've sounded like a fool. She quickly back-tracked, saying, "I mean, if you WANT to go. But you don't have to. I just thought, since you said you thought it'd be fun, that maybe...." She trailed off, feeling stupid.
But Merry smiled, shrugging. "Sure. Why not?" He cast a glance across the room at Pippin, who was mindlessly flicking the clasp on his violin case, and then said more emphatically, "Definitely. Let's go have fun at that dance together."
Eowyn couldn't believe it -- he said YES!! "Great," she said, trying not to sound too enthused. She tried to stay focused as he continued to explain things, but inside her heart was pounding excitedly.
A few minutes later Pippin joined them at the computer.
"Aren't you ready to go yet?" Pippin whined.
"In a moment, Pip-PIN." The end of his name was yelped, and Eowyn looked up to see Merry glaring at Pippin, who now stood behind him smiling innocently. She turned back to the computer monitor, not wanting to lose her focus and forget all that Merry was explaining.
But Merry's focus was already gone. "Uh...why don't you go ahead and get started, Eowyn," Merry said as he followed Pippin into the back room. Eowyn wondered if Pippin wanted to continue their argument, especially now that Merry had made plans with her, but she tried not to worry about it.
<<They're roommates -- they can work things out for themselves.>>
So Eowyn began uploading the pages. It was mainly mouse work, highlighting the links and then copying and pasting the web addresses in. But each page had multiple links, and she could tell almost immediately that it wasn't going to be a quick job.
Eowyn heard a heavy thud from the back room, followed immediately by what sounded like a metallic clatter.
<<Oh my...it sounds like they're throwing things now. I hope they haven't come to blows,>> Eowyn thought anxiously. She stopped typing and listened for a few moments, but the only thing she heard was the hum of the computer fans. <<I don't want to get involved in their argument, but maybe I should make sure they're okay...>>
"Merry? Pippin?" Eowyn called from the computer. "Everything all right back there?"
"Uh...yeah...everything's fine," came Merry's muffled reply from the back room. "Everything's fine, we're all fine here...uh...how are you?"
Eowyn chuckled and turned back to her computer screen. "Great! Almost done here!"
Merry emerged breathless from the back room, followed by a smugly smiling Pippin. Both their faces were flushed but they certainly seemed more relaxed now. Eowyn wondered if Pippin finally won the argument.
"Uh, Eowyn," Merry said. "You don't have any questions, do you?"
"No, it's fairly straight-forward," she said, turning back to the computer to save the page she had just finished.
"Good," Merry said. "Uh...do you think you could finish this up by yourself?"
Eowyn nodded, suddenly worried. As Pippin walked across the room to get his violin, Eowyn whispered to Merry, "Is everything okay between you two?"
Merry nodded, smiling. "Everything's fine."
"C'mon," Pippin said impatiently from the door.
Merry hurried across the room, stopping in the opened doorway to turn and ask, "Are you sure you'll be okay?"
Eowyn nodded. "No problem."
"Great!" Merry said as Pippin grabbed his hand and dragged him away. "And be careful walking across campus," he called back before disappearing into the night.
Eowyn smiled, thrilled that he cared about her well-being. And she might've wondered about his curious behaviour had she not been obsessing about Friday night. <<I can't wait to tell Eomer. I don't even care if he teases me and calls me a hobbit hag. I have a real DATE!>>
She was so happy that the time flew by, and before she knew it the edition was completely uploaded. Sighing and cracking her neck, she glanced at the clock. <<Almost midnight. And I have Freshman Elvish at eight. Oh well -- if I fall asleep, I can always borrow Faramir's notes.>> There were real advantages in having someone you knew in almost all your classes.
Eowyn stood up, suddenly noticing how eerie the empty office seemed. She walked around, shutting down the computers and turning off the lights. As she emptied the three pizza boxes into the trashbin, she smiled. <<Tomorrow my first article will be published. And in two days I'm going out with Merry. This is turning out to be a GREAT first week of college.>>
She finished closing up and, grabbing up her backpack, was about to leave when she remembered Merry's cautionary words, and Gimli's voice suddenly echoed in her ears: "You really shouldn't walk across campus by yourself late at night. It's not safe. You really should call the Redhorn Riders."
She set her backpack on the nearest desk and pulled out the folded pamphlet. <<Gimli's right. I'd hate to ruin this week by having something bad happen tonight just because I was being stubborn.>> Her stubbornness had gotten her into trouble her whole life, but she was in college now -- she should try to act like a mature grown-up, even if it was the last thing she felt like.
So she walked over to the nearest phone and dialed the number.
****
"Merry?"
The room was silent.
"Merry!" Pippin nudged his companion with his big toe.
"Hmmm?" came the muffled inquiry.
"Are you asleep?"
"Not anymore, you git," Merry mumbled drowsily as he turned to face Pippin. He squinted in the near-darkness, his frown softening as he met Pippin's worried eyes. "What's on your mind?"
"We never did anything about the beds..."
Merry reached out to finger-comb Pippin's curls. "I reckon we were a bit preoccupied, Pip," he yawned.
Pippin grinned. "That we were."
Merry propped himself up on his elbows. "Do you want me to move to the other bed, so you can get some sleep?"
"No," Pippin said, "no, no, don't you dare." He gently pulled Merry back down until Merry lay comfortably nestled in his arms, head resting on Pippin's chest. "I like you right here."
Merry laughed, and it tickled Pippin's skin. "Are you sure? I thought you said that I thrashed in my sleep like a wild warg. There's not a lot of room..."
"I'm sure. I WANT you here with me, Mer."
"Hmm. Well, if you insist." Merry turned his head to press a soft kiss to Pippin's chest, and settled in with a contented sigh. "We'll figure things out tomorrow," he murmured sleepily.
***
Click here to return to the index page.
Click here to go back to the previous story.
Click here to continue to the next story.