She arrived wearing her light blue robe, the same one she'd worn during the firedrill.
When Faramir had asked Eowyn to come watch the race today, he had hardly dared to hope that she might actually show up. But he'd certainly never DREAMED she'd show up dressed like this, wearing a robe and apparently nothing else, as far as he could see.
But before he had a chance to look any further, Merry's deep voice rang across the lawn. The two of them turned to see the tall, blustery man approaching them with long, angry strides, yelling at Eowyn for standing him up for brunch. Faramir felt immense guilt welling up inside, feeling like he was once again to blame for Eowyn's misconduct. He was about to step in and defend her honor when she suddenly grabbed his arm excitedly.
"There's Strider!" she whispered to Faramir, barely able to get the words out in her eagerness. "I have to go talk to him! Will you break up with Merry for me? I'll see you later." And she was gone across the lawn, the ties of her robe flapping in the breeze as she ran, leaving him alone with Merry glaring down at him, ready to beat him into a bloody pulp as soon as Faramir opened his mouth.
He awoke in a cold sweat. Lying in bed in the dark, Faramir felt confused and disoriented, unable to decipher what was real and what was just a dream. Merry HAD yelled at Eowyn for standing him up, but that had been over a week ago. And surely Eowyn hadn't shown up for the race in just a robe -- the race hadn't even happened yet.
It wasn't until his neighbors started yelling obscenities through the walls that Faramir realized that his alarm, which was still set for his crack-of-dawn crew practices, was going off. He quickly turned off the offending noise, resetting the alarm for a more reasonable time. After all, today was their first race -- he realized that now -- and he didn't have to be there until 8am. That gave him an additional three hours to sleep in.
So Faramir rolled over, pulling the covers tight around him and closing his eyes, determined to fall back asleep. With any luck he might have another dream about Eowyn in her robe.
And maybe this time he would get to see more of what was underneath!
***
"You're up early," Merry said, peering through half-closed lids at his roommate across the room.
"Practice," Pippin said succinctly, rifling through the disorganized pile of music on his desk.
"Oh, that's right," Merry said through a yawn, moving to the edge of the bed and then just sitting there, his feet dangling, still not awake enough yet to stand. "Think you'll be ready for tonight?"
Pippin nodded absently. "Most of us played for Bilbo's birthday last year. We just need to brush up on some of the newer songs. But I think we'll be fine. Just fine."
Merry nodded and smiled, suddenly looking forward to watching his "fine" boyfriend fiddle tonight.
But first he needed to wake up and get through the morning. So Merry determinedly rubbed his eyes with his fists and then slowly stood, sleepily making his way over to the mirror.
"Pippin!" he scolded as he stared in horror at the reflection of his neck. Or, more specifically, the reflection of the giant purple mark on his neck. "I can't believe you DID this!"
Merry watched through the mirror as the Took turned and grinned broadly at him. "I didn't hear you complaining last night," he teased.
But Merry wasn't amused. "Pip, I have to go out this morning! How am I gonna cover this up?"
"Wear a turtleneck," Pippin suggested. Then, tugging on his Eta Pi scarf, he added, "Or a scarf."
Merry sighed frustratedly. "I'm gonna be OUTSIDE, Pip, where it's HOT. Remember? I'm covering the crew race for The Palantir this morning."
"Oh yeah," Pippin said absently, opening up his violin case and stuffing the assembled music inside. "Well, I hope you're not as hard on the crew team as you were on the jazz band -- they're STILL grumbling in the music lounge about your review."
"Hey, I wasn't HARD on them," Merry said defensively, turning from the mirror to face his roommate. "You know as well as I do that 'Hash Pipe' was NOT an appropriate song to play at the Welcome Back assembly."
Pippin laughed. "Yeah, I guess you're right." He closed his violin case, snapping the clasps closed. "Well, I'm off."
"But what about THIS?" Merry asked, turning back to the mirror to stare in horror at the large purple mark again.
Pippin shrugged, walking over and kissing the bruise gently. "Show it off," he said, setting his chin upon Merry's shoulder and grinning at their reflections. "Let everyone know that you have a social life."
Merry didn't like the suggestion but said nothing, merely turning his head and kissing Pippin's curls briefly before the Took straightened and headed for the door, violin case in hand.
"See you later."
"Yeah, later," Merry called after him absently as the door shut and then instantly returned his attention to the mirror, wondering how on Middle Earth he was going to hide the embarrassing bruise.
****
Estella grabbed her toothbrush and headed out her round dorm-room door. The halls of North Farthing seemed eerily quiet this morning. Of course, Estella was used to trekking down to the communal bathrooms in silence -- after all, she had crew practice every morning at 5am, and the dorm was always dead then.
But today felt different somehow, and it took Estella a few moments to realize why -- the sun was already up! It seemed strange to see sunlight pouring in from the windows at the end of the hall and still have everything seem so still. But what else could she expect on a lazy Saturday morning?
And Estella felt lazy herself, having gotten to sleep in almost three extra hours this morning. She couldn't believe they were already having their first race -- it felt like only yesterday they'd had their first practice -- but she was confident that her crew was going to do fine.
Especially with someone like Boromir on their crew.
Estella smiled to herself with thoughts of the handsome man as she entered the communal bathroom and walked over to the row of sinks. She ran her fingers absently through her curly hair and then, paste on her toothbrush, started mindlessly brushing her teeth.
Catching movement out of the corner of her eye, she turned to see her own reflection in the full-length mirror which hung on the bathroom door. Estella frowned as she critically looked at her uniform. The yellow tank top had such a low neckline that she'd had to put on a t-shirt underneath for fear of looking indecent. After all, the last thing she needed to worry about when they were out on the water was whether or not Boromir could see down her shirt!
But the tank top was a bit too tight by itself and, with the additional t-shirt underneath it, the top pulled and stretched awkwardly around her plump hobbit figure. Biting down on her toothbrush to free up both her hands, Estella yanked and pulled on her two shirts, trying to straighten them out, but her efforts only seemed to make things worse.
She sighed, scowling at her reflection. The girls that Boromir usually talked to around campus were tall skinny human girls with beautiful long flowing hair -- they were a far cry from the figure she saw looking back at her from the mirror. 'He'll never like me like this,' she thought to herself, running her hands over her healthy hobbit belly.
She finally noticed the bubbling toothpaste that was starting to run down her chin, and she quickly turned and spit it out into the sink. 'That's just what I need,' she thought irritably as she rinsed her mouth out, 'a big blob of toothpaste on my uniform! Boromir would definitely notice me then!'
Estella wiped her mouth dry and then stared at her reflection again. She knew it was just nerves that was causing her to feel this way. It was there first race, and she just wanted her crew to do well.
"It'll be just like practice, only with uniforms," she told her reflection, her mind suddenly imagining Boromir rowing in his tight tank top. She blushed at the image, suddenly worried that someone might read her mind. But only Vinca and Merry knew about her crush, and thankfully neither of them would be at the race today.
Of course, their absense was entirely her own doing since she had conveniently neglected to mention the race to either of them. But the last thing she needed was for one of them to be on the riverbank, grinning knowingly every time she happened to glance Boromir's way. 'It's for the best,' Estella reminded herself as she headed back to her dorm room to finish getting ready. 'I'll invite them to the next race, when I'm not feeling so nervous.'
'And maybe by then this tank top won't look so tight!'
***
Eowyn hurried across campus, silently scolding herself. She couldn't believe she was late! When Faramir had told her that the race was at 8:15, she thought there'd be no problem -- she'd just set her alarm for the same time as she did for her daily 8 o'clock class, and that would give her plenty of time to get ready. Yet here she was, late again, with no idea where the extra time had gone.
And it wasn't that she was upset about missing the race itself. After all, she didn't really know anything about crew except that it involved boats and rowing. She felt she owed it to Faramir, though, to show up to his race today since he had promised to come to her first fencing bout next week.
But the real reason that she was upset about being late today was that she had wanted a chance to talk to Faramir before the race. She desperately needed his advice, and she needed it NOW, before this afternoon. Because he was the only one who really understood the situation between her and Merry.
Eowyn knew the right thing to do was to officially break things off with Merry. After all, she now knew she was in love with Strider, not him. But she and Merry had become such good friends. They worked together so closely on The Palantir and rode horses together regularly, not to mention the day-to-day palling around in the cafeteria. She was afraid that breaking things off would ruin everything. Therefore she kept putting it off, waiting for a perfect opportunity which never seemed to present itself.
But it seemed that she had run out of time, for at 3pm today was Frodo's birthday party. Pippin had bragged that there would be "excellent dancing music" at the party, and while Merry had insisted he didn't like to dance, Eowyn was afraid he might change his mind when surrounded by his friends. And if that happened, what was she to do? She didn't want to continue to lead him on, but she also didn't want to hurt him.
Surely Faramir would know what to do. Or at least he would give her friendly support. He'd been so helpful in calming her brother down after she'd accidentally stood him up last week. Faramir had quickly come to her defense so that Eomer wouldn't be so mad, even though it had been entirely her own fault due to her mind having been preoccupied with thoughts of Strider. Faramir was a good friend, and she didn't know how she would get through her muddled love life without him!
But he wouldn't be able to help if she couldn't talk to him. So she quickened her pace, hoping that she hadn't missed her opportunity to get his advice before the race.
***
Boromir leaned forward, stretching down onto his extended leg and feeling his thigh muscles pull. As he held the position, he stared mindlessly in front of him at the all-access pass attached around his ankle and his own bare foot. He still was adjusting to the idea of being barefoot outdoors, but he was beginning to understand its advantages as well. There was something tantalizing about the feel of grass, wet with morning dew, against his bare feet, and he wondered if the hobbits found it as appealing.
As if suddenly appearing to answer his question, he noticed a pair of hobbit feet approaching. Boromir looked up from his stretch, ready to ask the coxswain for her opinion on wet grass.
"You're not Stel!" Boromir exclaimed, startled, as he stared at the hobbit in front of him.
Merry made a face. "I should HOPE not." He laughed, adding, "And I would hope we don't look much alike."
"No, but your feet do," Boromir teased, smiling up at the hobbit. "So what are you doing here this morning, Merry? Just showing your school spirit?"
Merry shook his head. "Not exactly," he started, opening up his spiral notebook. "I'm here for The Palantir -- I'm supposed to report on this year's crew."
"I hope you're not gonna trash us the way you did the jazz band," Boromir teased good-naturedly.
"I didn't mean to trash them!" Merry said defensively. "But playing an Elvish folksong as a drum solo was a terrible idea! Besides, I'm just here to report what I see, and Stel tells me that you guys are really good this year."
"Oh, you know Estella?"
Merry nodded. "We're old buds. In fact, back in high school we used to...." He trailed off as a group of boys from an opposing crew suddenly jogged by.
Boromir's eyes followed them as well. "We're SO gonna beat them."
"How do you know?" Merry asked, putting his pen to paper.
"Well, there are certain ways you can spot a slow crew." Boromir waited for a moment as Merry frantically scribbled notes. "First clue -- jogging together before a race."
Merry laughed as he wrote it down. "So these are really scientific rules, huh?"
Boromir nodded, grinning. "Absolutely."
Merry looked up, his pen at the ready. "What else?"
Boromir glanced around at the other athletes. He pointed at an assembled group of men and elves wearing matching purple t-shirts with the words "Pull hard!" printed on them. "Wearing matching t-shirts ashore," Boromir explained, and Merry nodded as he jotted it down.
The crew that had jogged by earlier made another pass, this time calling out a call-and-response chant. Merry and Boromir exchanged amused looks.
"Let me guess," the hobbit said. "Stupid team chants?"
Boromir chuckled. "You're catching on." He then nodded over towards the purple crew, whose members were now removing their matching t-shirts to reveal tight-fitting unitards underneath. "Unitards," he said simply.
Merry cringed as he looked at the way the ill-fitting Spandex pulled tightly across their crotches. "That CAN'T be comfortable," he mumbled.
Boromir nodded. "That one IS scientific -- it's hard to row when your boys are being crushed."
"Merry!" Estella suddenly appeared, her face flushed. "What are you DOING here?!" Through clenched teeth she added quietly, "And why are you talking to Boromir?!"
"He's reporting on our victory, of course," Boromir explained to the coxswain. "But first I'm filling him in on how to spot a slow crew."
Merry nodded towards the purple crew. "Unitards, obviously."
Estella glanced at the crew and then turned back around, smiling as she gave her fellow hobbit a once-over. "You should talk!"
Merry looked confused. "What do you mean?"
"You're obviously a fugitive from the fashion police yourself. What the hell are you wearing, Mer? It's 75 degrees out and the sun's barely even up -- you're gonna DIE in that black turtleneck."
Boromir noticed Merry's face turn bright red as he sputtered, "Uh...I...uh...it was the only thing clean."
But Boromir recognized the look and chuckled. "Merry must've gotten lucky last night," he teased, and the rising flush on the hobbit's face only seemed to confirm the theory.
Estella must've thought so, too. "What happened to being discrete?" she teased, elbowing her friend. "You know, if you don't want the whole campus to find out, you better tell Pih--"
"Stel!" Merry cut her off, quickly dragging her away before she could say more.
Boromir watched them go and then stood up, absently brushing the grass from his shorts.
"So who was that?" Faramir asked, wandering over to his brother as he watched the two hobbits walk away. "Doesn't he work for the newspaper?"
Boromir nodded. "He's here doing an article on us." Faramir's eyes opened wide with surprise, causing Boromir to chuckle. "There's nothing to be nervous about -- he's also my chem lab partner, so I'm sure he'll give us a good write-up."
Faramir nodded absently, but his gaze was still focused across the lawn, and Boromir could tell he was distracted. 'It must be nerves,' Boromir thought, remembering back to HIS first race.
He patted his brother reassuringly on the shoulder. "So, you ready, little brother?"
"Huh?" Faramir asked blankly, pulling his eyes from the distance to stare at his brother.
"Your first race! You excited?"
Faramir nodded, but Boromir could read the worry on his face.
"Don't be nervous, little brother. You're gonna be great. Even Coach thinks so, or he never would've put you in seat 7 -- it's by far the hardest seat.
Faramir smiled wanly. "Are you TRYING to make me more nervous?" he asked, not quite teasing.
Boromir laughed. "No, I'm trying to build up your confidence." He put his arm around Faramir and gave him a brotherly squeeze. "Isn't it working?"
Faramir shook his head, though he was smiling more completely now. "I'm just afraid of screwing it up for the whole team."
"Not the WHOLE team. Only HALF of it -- the rest of us will be following Celepharn in seat 8."
"That helps a lot." Faramir smiled. "Only HALF the pressure then."
"I promise, you're gonna be great. You have the best concentration of any rower I know, and obviously Coach recognizes that, too. And you'll see -- once you're out in the scull and the gun goes off, it'll just be you and your oar and you won't be able to think of anything else because your mind will be totally focused. There'll be nothing to distract--"
"Faramir?"
Boromir and his brother both turned to see the pretty blonde girl walking up to them.
"Eowyn!" Faramir said, startled. Boromir smiled, suddenly remembering that his brother had mentioned inviting the girl he liked to the race -- no wonder he'd seemed so distracted all morning, staring off into the distance. 'He's so pathetic,' Boromir thought to himself as he watched his brother awkwardly stammer, "I...uh...I didn't think you'd show."
Eowyn smiled. "I said I would." She suddenly got a stricken look on her face as she quickly asked, "I'm not too late, am I? Did I miss it?"
"No, you're right on time," Boromir reassured her. When she looked blankly at him, he quickly extended a hand. "Oh, I'm Boromir, by the way. Faramir's big brother."
Eowyn smiled as she shook his hand, looking back and forth between the brothers. "I can see the resemblance." Suddenly remembering her manners, she quickly added, "And I'm Eowyn."
"I know," Boromir said, nodding. "Faramir talks about you all the time."
Faramir blushed, quickly rushing out an explanation. "Because we have so many classes together. I just...I see you a lot. Every day, in fact. So...so I talk about you. That's all."
Boromir shook his head, amused by his brother's continued awkwardness with girls.
But Eowyn didn't seem to notice and merely nodded absently. "Actually, can we talk?" she asked Faramir, obviously preoccupied with something. "Do you have a minute before the race? Because I really want to ask your advice about...."
"Eowyn?" Merry asked as he and Estella made their way back over to the group.
"Merry!" Eowyn exclaimed, her face suddenly red.
Looking from the girl to the hobbit, Boromir asked, "You know Merry?"
"YOU'RE Merry?" Faramir asked, looking almost more flustered than when Eowyn had arrived.
"What are you doing here?" Eowyn asked the hobbit nervously, as if she'd just been caught with her hand in the cookie jar.
"Radagast sent me," Merry explained.
Estella nodded. "Merry's doing a report on us."
Faramir was still staring. "YOU'RE Merry?" he repeated.
Merry blushed, clearly flustered by the accusation. Turning to Faramir, he defensively asked, "Are you in jazz band or something? Look, I didn't mean to be so cruel in my review, but I just--"
"Oh, Faramir's not in jazz band," Boromir said helpfully, and Merry breathed an audible sigh of relief.
But Faramir still seemed confused. Turning to Eowyn, he asked, "So who was the guy you stood up for lunch last week?"
Eowyn looked blankly back at him. "You mean my brother?"
"Your brother?" Faramir repeated, his eyes wide with astonishment.
"Eomer got stood up by his little sister?" Merry teased, looking up at his friend. "I bet he wasn't happy about that."
"That's an understatement," Eowyn agreed. "Eomer was furious!"
"Eomer?" Faramir repeated.
Boromir laughed, patting his brother on the back. "Don't mind my brother the broken record -- it's just nerves."
"What's there to be nervous about?" Estella asked.
Merry nodded. "Yeah, Stel tells me that your team is great this year."
"Our CREW, you mean," Boromir said, good-naturedly correcting the hobbit. "And she's right, we are great," he said, winking knowingly at the coxswain, "expecially when we've got a mouth like Estella's to keep us going."
Merry turned to look at his hobbit friend with a mischievous look on his face, and Estella instantly blushed, elbowing her friend sharply. "Everyone on the crew is good," the lass said, wiping sweat from her forehead as she looked up at the sky, "and we'll be fine today, as long as it doesn't get too much warmer out -- I can't believe how hot it is already."
"Yeah, it is hot," Eowyn began. "And Merry, you look really hot...I mean, not that I think you look HOT...you just look warm. Sweaty. You know, not that there's anything wrong with looking hot and sweaty. Obviously hot and sweaty is a good look for you. Not that I -- it's just -- I mean -- why are you wearing a turtleneck?!" Eowyn finally spit out.
Merry's face turned red as he stammered, "I...uh...well...."
"Stel and I have a theory about that," Boromir teased. "We think he got lucky last night."
"Lucky?!" Eowyn repeated, looking shocked.
"Lucky?" Faramir repeated, a slow grin spreading across his face.
Merry shook his head vehemently, although his face was still red. "It's laundry day, that's all," he insisted without much conviction.
Boromir laughed. "It's funny how often laundry day is immediately after a big par--"
"It's time," Jeremer interrupted, approaching the small group. "Coach wants us to get the boat in the water so we can start to warm up."
"That's us, bro," Boromir said, patting his brother on the shoulder. Turning to the rest of the group, he added, "Please excuse us."
"Good luck!" Eowyn called after him. He then heard her quietly asking Estella, "Is that okay to say? Or are you supposed to say something else? Like 'break an oar' or something?"
As Boromir and Faramir hoisted the scull above their heads with the rest of their crew, Boromir smiled at his little brother. "She came to watch you!" he said encouragingly. "That's a good sign, isn't it?"
Faramir shrugged as he entered the cold water, and his brother followed immediately after, noticing that the water felt slightly warmer than their usual morning dips. As they flipped the scull over and started securing the oars, Boromir glanced back at the bank. Estella had retrieved the Cox Box and was explaining how it worked to Eowyn while Merry frantically scribbled notes for his news story.
Boromir smiled. He was so glad that Eowyn and Merry had shown up. He knew that both Faramir and Estella had been nervous about this first race, and having their friends here must've had a relaxing effect on them. With their help, their minds would now be free of distractions and ready to compete! Friends could be such a blessing!
Boromir exited the water and walked over to the small group, dripping water along the bank. "Sorry to steal her away like this," he said, picking up the coxswain, "but we can't win without her."
Most days Estella sat docilely in Boromir's arms as he carried her above the waist-high water, but today she seemed to be squirming in his arms like a toddler who wanted to be let down. But Boromir simply chalked it up to nerves.
"Have fun!" Merry cheerfully called after them.
After setting the squirming hobbit down into her seat in the back of the scull, careful not to get her wet, Boromir waved back to the hobbit and the girl left standing on the shore. "Thanks! We will!"
***
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