Title – Stablemates

Author - Pipspebble

Rating – G, no sex, no profanity, nada

Characters – Merry and Pippin – I ask you, who else?

Setting – The Shire, post-Quest

Thanks to – Nickey and Marigold, without whom I would be hopelessly mired in uncertainty

Written for - Marigold's Challenge 14

The big, airy stables at Brandy Hall were among Pippin’s favorites, though he and Merry had known many. Often in their travels they would avail themselves of a fresh bed of hay in the loft of some quiet inn’s stable, rather than have to share a roof with those who did not understand. Who hadn’t seen what they’d seen, or been forced to do the things they’d done. Only he and Merry knew what lay behind the nightmares driving the screams that would otherwise wake their fellow travellers if unleashed upon the night. Thus, they often sought the solitude of the stables, wherever they might find them.

It was the sheer unpredictability of the dreams that bothered Pippin most. It seemed to him that they lived always on edge, waiting for the next nightmare to raise its ugly head, and unfailingly it happened at a time when they had allowed themselves to relax and enjoy life again. The fact that Pippin was so much enjoying life seemed to work against him, and gradually the contentment he had known only a short while ago had surged into a raging fear of what awaited him when next he closed his eyes. And Merry was still up at the Hall, talking Buckland business with his father, and was not here to help him find his way back. He would be lost, banished to forever wander among the images of chaos that reigned in his mind’s eye, images that constantly played out behind his lids if he allowed them to close. He must not … he must not… sleep…

The stables at Edoras were a wondrous sight, or would be if he weren’t so terrified that they were going to be the setting for the last moments he would ever have with Merry. Gandalf unceremoniously lifted Pippin to sit on Shadowfax and suddenly he found himself staring down at Merry in utter terror, and Merry himself wore an expression of dread and loss that pierced his heart and made him want to throw himself from the stallion’s back and into his cousin’s arms, clinging and crying that he would never, ever do it again, only please, Merry, please don’t let him take me away, I’ll be good, I promise, Merry, please, please, please don’t let him take me away, Merry, Merry, Merry!

He woke to strong arms about him and gentle hands in his hair, and soothing words whispered into his ear in a beloved voice, his anchor in the storm of nightmares. “Merry?”

“That’s right, Pip, I’m here. I have you now. All is well. The War is over, and we are back home in the Shire, in the stables at Brandy Hall.”

He opened his eyes and looked up, and the sudden realization that it was all a dream washed over him, and with a little whimper he buried his face in Merry’s chest. Merry tightened his arms and rocked him, and Pippin could feel his cousin’s heart thrumming beneath his ear. The life affirming sound washed over him and once again he found himself in tears, of relief and joy and all consuming love for the one who held him.

“Fear not, my brave Pippin. Your Merry is here, and I’ll never leave you, nor let anyone take you away from me, ever again. I swear it as a Knight of the Mark.”

Pippin took a deep breath, held and released it, trying hard to control himself so that he might respond in kind, for surely the oath given deserved one just as earnest, and as binding, in return. He sniffed mightily, blinked the tears from his eyes and looked up into Merry’s.

“I, Peregrin Took, swear to you, Meriadoc Brandybuck, that I will stand beside you all of our days, and naught shall part us, even death, for I will find you in the Overheaven and be with you forever and ever. I swear it as a Knight of Gondor. Accept it, as I accept your pledge to me.”

Merry’s eyes sparkled with tears of his own and he moved his hands up to Pippin’s cheeks, held his face in a loving embrace. “I accept.” He brought Pippin’s face close and planted his lips firmly on Pippin’s forehead, sealing the vow with a kiss, as they’d done since Pippin was very small.

He allowed Merry to tuck him into his shoulder as they fell back to lie together in the hay, and Merry covered them with his cloak. “What were you doing in here anyway, Pip?”

Pippin sighed, nuzzled his nose contentedly into Merry’s neck. “Waitin’ for my stablemate, what else?”

He felt Merry’s laughter roll up through his chest and Pippin took it into himself, welcoming it. A moment later they were both snorting and wheezing in the throes of uncontrollable mirth. Finally, they lay exhausted, and once again all was right in Pippin’s world. How could it not be, with his Merry beside him, here in the stables, all snug and cozy and theirs alone, save for the ponies below?

Pippin sighed contentedly as he nestled against his cousin, surrounded by the warm darkness of the stables, and by the heady scent of the hobbit beside him. “I do so love ye, Merry-mine.”

“As I love you, my Pippin,” he heard in his ear, felt the soft kiss in his curls. Happy and safe, he slept, cocooned in the knowledge that the one who held him loved him above all others, and returning that love ten fold.