The Road East

Stuck For Awhile

(Changing things up a bit POV-wise and I've decided to make their stay in Rivendell two or three chapters long, so if that kind of thing bores you, sorry not sorry, I think it's going to be cute)

Pippin's POV:

My cheek was smushed up by the hand that I lazily rested it on. The other hand thumbed through pages of a dull book that I soon discovered had no pictures and wasn't even in my own language. Merry had the Elvish language reference book and was off working away at deciphering different words on a map that he'd unravelled. I sighed and slammed the rather large book shut.

I never really saw what Merry did in books and maps and such. I didn't mind books so much when someone would read them to me, which I often would recruit Linny, Merry, or Pearl for, but the words didn't make much sense when I read them. They would swirl around on the page and cause me to mispronounce them among other embarrassing things. According to Merry it's because I don't read enough and therefor can only read on a child's level. This made enough sense to me I supposed, but the sketchy explanation didn't quite make me take any more or less interest in reading.

I got up and ambled through the library towards a humorously studious Merry. Laughing, I sat on the table in front of him, hoping that he'd notice me and pull his nose out of the reference book. He didn't.

All he did, without so much as a glance in my direction, was mumble, "Pippin, you shouldn't sit on the tables, they were meant for books not people."

I rolled my eyes, but complied and hopped off. Merry had the translator book in his left hand while he followed along on the map with his right index finger, stopping every so often to flip his page or mumble something he knew about that particular area on the map. I snorted and he glanced up for a brief, shining moment.

"Something funny?"

"You look ridiculous."

He didn't respond, only gasped at something that had caught his eye on the old and dusty map. An idea popped into my head and I grinned. Hopefully he wouldn't react too badly.

I held my giant, boring book above the table about a quarter foot and dropped it in front of him. Merry's head snapped to attention and I figured he'd jumped to around the same height as he stood. Generally, as a rule, I don't like to embarrass him. He's an awfully proud fellow and as his best friend and favorite family member (obviously) I try to respect that. In this case, however, I knew I would not be able to restrain myself from telling everything with a pulse about the unearthly shriek that had escaped his surprised lips.

His face as red as a tomato, he stood up and his chair flew back two or three feet and flopped over on its side with a loud thump. I smirked even though I was nervous I'd annoyed him too much.

"Merry, you really should be quiet, we're in a library."

He hissed through clenched teeth, "Why would you even consider doing that?"

I shrugged, beginning proudly but finishing my sentence quietly when I reaized how ridiculous I must have sounded to him, "Well, I was bored and you weren't...paying attention, um, to me."

His brow furrowed and he sucked in a sharp breath. I cringed and tensed up, I hid behind my shoulder and let my head hang low. He pointed to the door, still fuming.

"Out. Get out."

I whined, but still backed up a step or two, "But Merry, it's so boring here! What am I supposed to do?"

He shrugged, "I don't care, I gave you the option to read and you didn't take it, you've only yourself to blame."

I stomped my foot like a child, "But that's not fair, I hate reading!"