When Frodo arrived at the cafeteria for lunch, Merry, Pippin and Sam had already claimed a hobbit-sized table near the windows. Frodo noted that empty plates were already beginning to stack up.
"Hullo lads!" Frodo greeted his friends merrily, "Started without me, eh?"
"We're awful sorry, Frodo," Sam stammered sheepishly. "We just couldn't wait any longer."
"Don't worry about it, Sam," Frodo smiled warmly, "I'm just giving you a hard time."
"Have a seat, Frodo," Merry gestured to the empty chair across the table from himself, between Sam and Pippin.
"Hullo, Pippin," Frodo greeted his cousin as he sat down and dropped his messenger bag to the floor.
Pippin grunted acknowledgement between bites of potatoes and sausage, but did not look up from his plate.
"What's with Pip?" Frodo asked his friends.
"He just got out of choir rehearsal," Merry explained with a chuckle. "He missed elevensies."
The other three hobbits watched in amusement as Pippin shoveled heaping forkfuls of food into his mouth, until at last his final plate was completely empty.
Pippin set his fork upon the empty plate and leaned back in his chair with a satisfied grin. "Oh, I am SO glad I'm on the 40-meal, all-you-can-eat plan!" He sighed deeply. "Eleven o'clock choir rehearsals every day are going to KILL me, I just know it!"
Merry snickered. "I'm sure it doesn't help that you missed breakfast."
"Thanks to you! AND second breakfast, too, thank you very much!" Pippin exclaimed.
"I didn't hear you complaining at the time," Merry replied smugly.
"Well," Pippin began weakly, "I...I...I...couldn't complain. My mouth was otherwise occupied."
Way to be subtle, guys, Frodo thought sarcastically.
Sam coughed, and Frodo caught his friend's eye. Sam wore a puzzled frown. "I'll tell you later," Frodo mouthed silently. Sam nodded agreement.
I guess they're subtle enough for some, Frodo laughed to himself.
Frodo suddenly realized that he had been in the cafeteria for far too long without eating a bite. "Well," Frodo said, standing from his chair, "I'm going to get some food. Anyone care for seconds?"
"ME!" Pippin cheered enthusiastically, jumping up.
"Anyone else?"
"Could you please grab me a piece of chocolate cake?" Merry asked.
"Sam?"
"No thanks, Frodo. I couldn't let you serve me. Just wouldn't seem right, somehow. I'll go ahead and get it myself if I decide I want more later."
"Are you sure, Sam?"
Pippin rolled his eyes. "Come on, Frodo! At this rate we'll never eat!" Before Frodo could even open his mouth to argue, Pippin led him hastily to the cafeteria queue. As they slowly progressed through the line, Frodo silently listened as Pippin chattered about choir, music theory class, and his favorite topic of discussion of late, Merry.
Pippin's always been a very cheerful fellow, Frodo mused, but I don't think I've ever seen him so happy before. I wonder if Pippin has found his soulmate in Merry? Frodo smiled wistfully. I should write a story about that for The Ring -- the search for one's true soulmate, and the pain and suffering one must endure in that search...
"...and then Merry said..." Pippin stopped suddenly and heaved an annoyed sigh. "What?"
Frodo raised his eyebrows inquisitively. "What do you mean, 'what'?"
"Why are you staring at me and smiling like that? Stop it, you're creeping me out. Anyway, so then Merry told Fatty..."
Frodo chuckled as he filled his plates. This was going to be his best story yet.
"Oh, don't forget about Merry's cake, Frodo!" Pippin reminded him, as he transferred several dessert plates to his own tray.
The two hobbits made their way carefully back to the table, balancing heavy trays full of food. Pippin began eating before he even sat down in his chair. Frodo presented a large piece of chocolate cake to a grateful Merry, and settled in to enjoy his lunch.
"So, what class does everyone have next?" Frodo asked as he waited for his potato and bacon soup to cool.
"I don't have another class until tomorrow," Sam explained, "but I have to cover for someone down at the Perk today at 1."
Frodo smiled. Poor Sam. He's going to run himself completely ragged before the term's finished.
"What about you, Merry? Don't you have a class in 20 minutes?"
Merry grinned. "Yeah, I've got Intro To Argumentation. I'm really looking forward to that class."
"As if you needed a class in THAT," Pippin snickered.
"Look who's talking," Merry countered. "So what do YOU have next?"
"Aural Skills," Pippin replied matter-of-factly.
Merry coughed and sputtered as he nearly choked on a mouthful of chocolate cake. Sam pounded him on the back helpfully, and handed him a glass of water.
"What was the name of that class again?" Frodo asked in wide-eyed disbelief.
"You did NOT just say you're taking a class in oral skills!" Merry laughed uproariously, after he caught his breath.
"AURAL skills," Pippin corrected.
"That's what I said, oral skills...as if you...ha ha ha...needed a class...hee hee...in THAT!"
Pippin's annoyed expression made Merry laugh even harder.
"So who's...*snort*...going to be teaching you...bwahahahahaha...oral skills?" Merry inquired breathlessly.
"Don't tell me Tom's teaching it," Frodo snickered, "because that knowledge would scar me for life."
"Do you need to...heeheeheeheehee...practice your oral skills, Pip?" Merry offered. "Will Tom...*snort*... be giving you lots of homework?" Merry put his head down on the table and collapsed into a fit of giggles.
Pippin grinned wickedly. "Lots," he replied with a smirk.
Frodo noticed that Sam once again wore a puzzled frown. "I'll tell you later," Frodo mouthed silently, before starting to giggle himself.
***
"Class president, huh?"
Boromir nodded, pulling the straw from his mouth. "The way I figure it, what's the point of being a Poli Sci major if you're not gonna put it to good use?"
"That makes sense," Faramir agreed. "So how many signatures do you need?" he asked, wiping the hamburger grease from his fingers before looking at the petition his brother had handed him.
"Fifty."
Faramir looked up, clearly impressed. "You're almost done."
Boromir smiled. He was amazed at how easy it had been to get the signatures. Of course, a signature wasn't a VOTE, and he would have to do some heavy campaigning in order to actually win. But Boromir looked forward to it -- it was what he'd spent the whole last year studying for.
"But what about YOU, little brother -- how's your first day of college going?" Boromir asked, eating a handful of fries. Faramir merely smiled, and Boromir noticed a faint blush starting to spread across his cheeks. Laughing, Boromir asked, "Okay, so what's her name?"
"What?" Faramir asked, the blush no longer merely faint.
"Is she a freshman? What House is she pledging?"
Faramir wouldn't meet his eye. "What are you talking about?"
"C'mon. You think I can't recognize when my little brother's got a crush?"
"It's...it's not a crush," Faramir stammered, suddenly fascinated by his hamburger.
"Oh, so it's true love then," Boromir teased. "What's the name of my future sister-in-law?"
Faramir rolled his eyes. "Enough! Her name's Eowyn, and she's a freshman and an education major."
Boromir grinned. "All right! Score one for my little brother -- hooking up with a fellow major."
Faramir shook his head dejectedly. "I'm not hooking up -- she's got a boyfriend."
Boromir shrugged. "That doesn't mean anything. People break up. And in the meantime, you'll probably have lots of classes together, so you can become friends, and then when she DOES break up...." Boromir smiled and raised his eyebrows suggestively.
Faramir nodded, but Boromir noticed something else was troubling him.
"What is it?" Boromir asked. Faramir had always been far too sensitive for his own good, and Boromir would hate to see him get hurt over some stupid girl, especially the first week of college.
Faramir shrugged. "I don't know. It was just weird. There was this T.A. in our class, and she somehow knew him...and was scared by him. And I don't blame her -- he was creepy."
"Which class?" Boromir asked, taking another sip through his straw.
"Biology I."
"Oh -- Grima!"
Faramir nodded. "I think that's his name."
"That explains a lot," Boromir said. "He IS creepy. And he's practically infamous in the Poli Sci department. Apparently he was a Poli Sci major his freshman year and became all buddy-buddy with Professor Theoden. Rumour has it that Grima convinced Theoden to fix some grades. Somehow the college found out about it and it was a huge scandal and Theoden almost got fired. So Theoden kicked Grima out of the department, but Professor White invited him to come be a Biology major instead, and Grima's been working for him ever since. White even helped get him an R.A. job on campus to make extra money."
"Maybe that's where she knows him from," Faramir said, deep in thought. "He did mention something about meeting her in the Edoras common room."
Boromir nodded. "Edoras Hall is a co-ed dorm."
"That explains it then," Faramir said. "She probably didn't expect her R.A. to be a T.A. as well."
"Well, if he IS her R.A., I feel sorry for her," Boromir said, stealing the last fry from Faramir's tray. "I've heard he's hell on freshmen. Especially the pretty ones."
****
"I'm sorry you're having such a rough first day, sis," Eomer said, dumping his cafeteria tray and placing it on the conveyor belt. "I wish I could do something to help."
The thought of her meeting with Grima suddenly flashed through Eowyn's mind, but she decided it could wait -- she didn't want to bother her brother with that now, after they'd just spent such a pleasant lunch. "The rest of the day shouldn't be so bad -- I've only got one more class. And later I'm meeting Merry at the newspaper office so that I can see about writing for The Palantir. Merry promised he'd introduce me to the faculty sponsor, and he totally wants me to pitch my fencing team story idea."
Eomer smiled. "Merry, huh? You really like your new hobbit friend, don't you?" he teased as they headed out of the cafeteria.
Eowyn blushed. "No. He's...he's just a friend."
"Uh-huh," Eomer said, obviously not convinced. "You know, I'd hate to think of my little sister becoming a hobbit hag so early in the semester."
"Thanks!" Eowyn laughed, playfully thwacking her brother on the chest. He took the opportunity to grab her arm and playfully wrestle with her, eventually ending in a headlock and a noogy on her head.
"Hey, watch the hair," Eowyn said, wriggling free of his grasp and untwisting her long hair from where it'd caught on his backpack strap.
Eomer smiled warmly at his sister. "I'm glad you're surviving okay, sis. It's good to see you smile like that."
Eowyn gave her brother a big hug. "I'm so glad you're here with me. I don't know what I'd do without you."
"You'd probably eat lunch with the hobbits," Eomer teased again.
"Very funny. So what do you have now?"
"I promised Uncle Theoden I'd help him start inventorying the polo equipment. Practices start next week, so he wants to make sure everything's in order."
"Do you need help?" Eowyn asked eagerly.
Eomer shook his head. "I'll be fine. And you should probably go study -- you know, I don't want my little sister flunking out."
Eowyn smiled and watched as her brother headed off towards the stables. She then started walking towards Edoras Hall, pulling her schedule out so she could see what she had next. Her next class wasn't until two -- Intro. to Educational Theory. I think Faramir's in that one, Eowyn thought. It's nice to think that I'll know SOMEONE in that class.
Eowyn entered through the lobby, hoping she wouldn't see Grima about. Luckily, another R.A. was at the front desk, and he waved Eowyn through when she showed him her student I.D. She then bolted up the stairs, eager to get some reading in before her class.
As she reached her door, she dug into her pockets for her key. ALL her pockets. Where is it? She began to panic as she set her backpack down on the floor and began pulling everything out of it.
Then she remembered -- when she'd come back from Freshman Elvish she'd placed her key on her desk, and she had no memory of picking it up when she'd left for Bio.
Dammit! Eowyn scolded herself. How could I be so stupid?
Eowyn couldn't remember what the residence hall agreement had said to do if this happened, so she ran down the stairs, hoping that the R.A. at the front desk could help her.
"I locked my key in...." Eowyn trailed off when she saw that Grima had just come in and was chatting with the other R.A. behind the desk.
"Yes, Eowyn?" Grima asked, turning towards her.
Eowyn could almost feel her lunch coming back up, but she swallowed hard. "Uh, nothing," she said, turning on her heel and walking back towards the stairs. I'll just sit in the hallway until class, she thought. I don't need to get into my room.
But Grima was following her. "You locked your key in your room, did you? What a freshman thing to do. If you had met with me, you'd know that the proper procedure when that happens is to seek out your own R.A., not go to the front desk."
Eowyn wanted to run up the stairs, to somehow escape from him, but she knew there was nowhere to go.
"The front desk can't help you anyway," Grima continued as he walked with her down the hall. "I'M the only one with a key to your room."
He unlocked the door as Eowyn felt a cold chill go through her.
"So I guess now would be a good time for that meeting," Grima said, walking straight into her room.
***
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