Hobbit/The Lord of the Rings Imagines 2

Messy But Beautiful

Christmas Fic!

Warnings: Mess and fluff, slightly irritated reader, but it's all for fluff

You walked in to utter chaos.

Never before had you seen the kitchen like this, covered in flour, sugar and goodness knew what else, mixing bowls and spoons scattered in every direction, and it only took you a moment to catch onto the laughter to know exactly what had happened.

"Merry!" You called, not hiding the anger in your voice. "Pippin!"

Two very guilty looking hobbits poked their heads around the door. "Ah-hello Y/N!"

"Hello indeed," You said flatly. "Would the two of you care to explain the state of my kitchen?"

Both of them shook their heads and instantly flinched at the flash in your eyes. "Not yet! We have a little more to do then we'll clean up, promise!"

You folded your arms. "A little more to do? Are you destroying the rest of the place too?"

"No!"

"I don't even want to know what's in there," You said. "But if it's anything like here, then I can promise you two are going to face some serious consequences!"

Merry and Pippin share a look as you huffed and rolled up your sleeves, starting on the mess in the kitchen.

"No Y/N!" Merry said quickly, hurrying forward. "We'll do it, we-"

He was stopped by your stare at him, equally covered in flour and sugar as the kitchen, but it was also clear that there was white frosting on his clothes, as well as batter from whatever they had decided to try and bake.

"What did you two do?" You asked. "Fight with it? You realise it's meant to be cooked to be eaten? Not poured onto your clothes!"

Merry gives a hesitant laugh. "Well, we don't do this very often, so we weren't overly sure of what we were doing."

"We've still managed it though," Pippin said from the doorway, not moving the rest of himself out. "And it'll still taste great, if the batter and icing is anything to go by."

You pinched the bridge of your nose. "Is it still edible for the rest of us?"

The two shared another look and you sighed. "Just...go finish what you are doing, there's little point in stopping you now."

"In all fairness Y/N, you weren't meant to be here this early." Pippin said, but quickly shut his mouth at your glare.

"If I thought the two of you were capable of being left unsupervised, then I wouldn't have," You said. "But clearly this mess is most definitely proving that otherwise. Now, just, go...please, before you make me regret not being here earlier even more."

Merry gives a nod and quickly, maybe a little guilty, moves back to the room, Pippin's head quickly disappearing as you faced the mess in the kitchen.

It was meant to be for the celebrations later tonight, the largest gathering in the Shire since Bilbo's 111th birthday, a time that everyone needed. Like most others, you were hesitant when Merry and Pippin volunteered to handle this side of things, but you all had seen how they changed, so it was left in their hands.

Just as the cleaning was now in yours.

Of all the things that you wanted to do today, this had not been a part of it, but apparently Merry and Pippin had other ideas, and just seeing the amount of mess was making you itch, not wanting to see it.

All the bowls and spoons and everything else you could find that they used, were thrown into the sink, ready to be washed. With the space cleared of clutter, you grabbed a cloth and started to wipe down the benches.

"This is how you get ants," You grumbled to yourself. "I have a feeling I'm going to be finding sugar for months."

Whatever the two of them had going in the other room, you hoped all this mess was worth it.

Sweat soon beaded on your brow, and you couldn't help but wipe it away, a little in frustration, as it threatened to irritate your eyes. You were scrubbing hard at a spot on the table when Pippin entered a little sheepishly, clearing his throat.

You looked at him, seeing he was just as bad as Merry earlier, but refrained from making a comment.

He gives a slightly nervous smile. "Do you want to see it?"

Sighing, you straighten out and wash your hands. "I hope you two have thought about being able to move this?"

Pippin nods as you approach. "Sam, Frodo and Fatty are coming around at dusk to help us."

"Good," You finally give him a smile. "Alright Pippin, let's see what you two have been up to and what all this mess has been for."

Pippin grins and leads you into the next room, where Merry was applying just a little bit more icing to some part of the large gingerbread structure.

You couldn't help it, you stopped and stared at you, a little taken back that they'd actually managed to create something so complex.

Pippin leans back on another table, popping some spare gingerbread into his mouth. "It took longer than we would've liked, but we wanted to make sure at least the key details were right."

Merry gave a small laugh as he stepped back too. "That, and we had to keep making more gingerbread. Just getting the base assembled was bad enough."

They both looked at you, suddenly paying attention to your silence, and shared a worried look with each other.

"Are you alright Y/N?" Merry asked.

"You two...you two really did this?" You asked quietly.

They both nodded, unsure of your reaction.

You smiled, positively beamed, at the two of them, surprising them. "It is incredible. Messy, but beautiful. I can't believe the two of you managed this with that mess in there."

On the table, was a gingerbread replica of the Shire, with tiny hobbit doors, the tree atop of bag end, and every other little detail they could think of, and while there were globs of icing in random places, and a few pieced together pieces of gingerbread, it was absolutely stunning.

Merry finally grins first, rubbing the back of his neck before realising there was icing on them. "Thank you Y/N, that means more than you think coming from you."

Pippin chuckles. "Does that mean we get out of cleaning up?"

"Absolutely not," You said, not letting the smile drop. "Whoever cooks also cleans, so get those brilliant butts in there and get going instead of letting me do it all."

"But we've been on our feet all day," Pippin groaned. "And we need to clean up ourselves!"

"Then you better get moving," You said with a laugh. "Creative genius's or not, you still have to clean."

Merry and Pippin share a look. "Genius's you say?"

You snort, turning back to the kitchen. "Enjoy it while it lasts, you two, I've known you both long enough to know the truth."

"You just enjoy riling us up." Pippin said, pouting a little.

"Absolutely." You giggled, casting them both a mischievous look. "And you both make it so easy."

"Pippin," Merry said, feigning seriousness. "How much icing do we have left?"

"More than enough." Pippin said, grinning wildly as you looked between the two, just as quickly cottoning on to what was about to happen.

They both ran at you and soon the kitchen was filled screams and laughter as the three of you proceeded to make an even bigger mess, the gingerbread and celebration of the night, temporarily forgotten.