Pippin x Merry Oneshots

Nightmares and Thunder

The war had ended and the hobbits had returned to the Shire six months ago but Pippin still felt scared and unsure. The others seemed to slip back into normal life easily, albeit awkwardly. Pippin, however, still jumped at small noises and had night terrors.

He had tried to avoid sleeping in the same room as anyone else because of this but he, stupidly, invited his best friend, Merry Brandybuck, over to spend the night before he remembered that the guest room was being re-painted.

They were eating dinner now and, to Pippin's dismay, he heard thunder rumble in the distance. The hand clutching his fork began to tremble slightly. The thunder reminded him all too painfully of the loud thumps of the battering ram on the gates of Minas Tirith. 

"You okay, Pippin?" Merry asked suddenly, having noticed Pippin's unusual silence during their meal.

Pippin flashed Merry a quick smile and nodded,"Yeah, of course! Just tired, is all." He fought back tears at his best friend and lover's worried gaze.

After a moment's eating in silence, Pippin seeming more and more tired the longer his eyes stayed fixed on his meal, Merry stood up and gently took Pippin's hand. "Let's go to bed, dearest."

"But we're not done eating," Pippin protested weakly.

"I'm full," Merry said truthfully. "Come on, Pip." 

Pippin stood up and let Merry guide him to the bedroom. Thunder boomed closer now and Pippin let out a little nervous laugh. "Thunder's coming," he observed with a tiny smile.

"Very astute of you," Merry teased playfully, earning a real laugh from Pippin. 

They laid down in bed and Pippin made sure to sleep a few inches away from Merry so as not to disturb him. Merry stared up at the ceiling as Pippin fell into an uneasy sleep. His mind was racing, he wanted to find out what was troubling the younger Hobbit but he did not want push him into anything that he wasn't comfortable with.

Not an hour later, Merry heard a tiny, pitiful whimper coming from Pippin. A moment later, Pippin's head shot up. Merry lost no time in opening his arms invitingly and Pippin, without thinking, buried his head in Merry's chest. 

Merry wrapped his arms around Pippin tightly, stroking the younger hobbit's dark blonde curls gently. "What happened, Pip?" Merry asked quietly.

"N-nightmare," Pippin whimpered, all thought of staying strong in front of Merry gone with the strong, comforting arms wrapped around him. "It's the same thing every night."

Merry's heart broke at the words of the pitiful little creature buried in his lap. "Do you want to talk about it?"

Pippin raised his head, took a shuddering breath and stuttered slowly,"Y-you either leave me, or you die, o-or you become a wraith, and sometimes you try to hurt me, and-" 

Merry silenced him by putting a finger to his lips. "Fool of a Took," Merry whispered fondly. "I would never leave you, dearest of all hobbits." His sentence was punctuated by a loud crack of thunder directly overhead. 

Pippin flinched and buried himself further into Merry. "The thunder reminds me of the trolls at Minas Tirith breaking in with their huge battering rams..." Pippin trailed off, shuddering.

"Go to sleep, dear heart," Merry murmured gently. He stroked the curly head gently in a steady rhythm. 

"Merry?" Pippin whispered quietly after a while.

"Yes, love?" Merry smiled fondly down at the younger hobbit, his hand stopping it's soothing motions for a moment.

"I love you more then anything in all of Middle Earth," Pippin smiled into Merry's chest. 

"Even more then elves?" Merry teased.

"A great deal more, for you are my Merry and nothing can be more lovely then that," Pippin murmured sleepily. Merry tightened his hold around the small hobbit, pressing a soft kiss to the top of his head, and Pippin soon fell asleep, dreaming nothing but pleasant dreams for the first time in a long time.