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Belladonna Took wasn’t quite respectable before her madcap adventures to ‘find elves’ or whatever scandalous notion that she’d gotten into her head. She had been bold and loud, pinning up her skirts to play in mud puddles with boys and tearing her clothes climbing trees. A lot of fauntlings got up to that sort of mischief, of course, but Belladonna was still ‘questing’ in the forests around the Shire far past an age that most hobbits grew out of that foolishness.
For Bungo, who even as a little girl had never had any adventurous urges, the way Belladonna got on was utterly confounding. Fairly often as she’d walked to market, she’d look up a tree only to catch a flash of dusty ankles and scraped calves.
“Have a care for your skirt, Miss Belladonna!” Bungo always called out.
To which Belladonna returned a delighted peal of laughter and some teasing remark or the other- usually along the lines of “You like the sight of my legs,” or “Stop peeking up my skirts, Bungo dear!”
Bungo had long since given up on hearing any sort of respectable response after her gentle reprimands, but she was a Baggins. She would have to continue to try, and really- what was a Baggins but predictable?
If it gave Bungo an excuse to make even short conversation with the loveliest hobbit in town, that was merely an added benefit. It wouldn’t do to remark on such a thing, because Bungo knew well enough the kind of teasing she’d get for it. Even beyond impertinent remarks, Bungo was the epitome of a Baggins and Belladonna was more than usually adventurous for a Took. Even if she did appreciate the wayward hobbit, there was no possible future that she could conceive of that didn’t end in heartbreak or terrible fighting between them.
So Bungo admired Belladonna’s wild curls- flowers and leaves always twisted into them- and brilliant smile from afar. If it was a disappointment one fine Monday morning to find her favorite distraction had torn off into the wild blue yonder, then that was no one’s business but her own. There was, as always when spring rolled around, gossip about just why the young Baggins hadn’t even attempted to court anyone, but it was the usual sort of whispered rumors.
When a rich and sturdy and respectable hobbit came of age, it was rather assumed among the general populace that a happy marriage and a large family should follow. Bungo’s repeated rebuffing of the attentions of her most eligible age-mates inevitably led to gossip, but this particular year, she was simply glad that the rumors were so general.
Bungo didn’t think she could handle rumors about her and Belladonna- especially when she hadn’t realized just how lovesick she was until she didn’t have Bella’s smile to look forward to.
Each new rumor- that Belladonna had been eaten by orcs or waylaid by bandits or had run away with an elf- was a fresh hurt to Bungo’s heart, and to combat her pining, she simply visited more, cooked more, gardened more.
It was all very proper and productive, but it didn’t ease her heart.
---
Almost a year to the day, Bungo was making her way through the market when a great commotion rose above the usual clamor of voices and music in Hobbiton. Bungo stretched up to peer over the crowds to see a figure coming up the path and pulling a small wagon behind her. She caught snatches of hushed conversations as she pushed her way through the crowd.
“—an Elvish style cloak, that is—“
“—a toy wagon borrowed from the Big Folk. No doubt filled with treasure.”
“—Belladonna looking out for the family fortune—”
“—heard she was married off to one of them dwarvish smiths—“
“ She does have dwarvish baubles around her neck—”
Belladonna, it would seem, had come back, and even the most disapproving hobbit wanted to see what she’d brought with her. Bungo, desperate to confirm that it was indeed the hobbit she pined after, broke through the edge of the crowd. She stood next to the spice stall as she watched the return of Belladonna Took.
“She looks fairly wild,” said a Proudfoot nearby.
“She does- all brown and freckled. I can’t believe she can walk through town so brazenly,” a Bolger agreed.
To Bungo though, Belladonna somehow managed to be even lovelier than she had been before. To be sure, she had tanned on her adventures, and her freckles had multiplied. Between that and her hair coming free from her braid to stick out around her face, she did look fairly wild. Bungo should be offended or scandalized, but more than anything, she felt breathless and a little flustered. Honestly, Bungo had always thought that Belladonna was all the lovelier when her hair was flying free- so different from Bungo’s meticulous buns and updos. With that smattering of freckles across her nose and her eyes bright, Belladonna was utterly dazzling.
Even her clothes looked wild though. A worn but clearly Elvish cloak was pinned with a dwarven cloak pin, and her skirt had been tied up as well to keep it from getting dusty. From the look of the hems, the gesture was too little too late, and now that Belladonna was in town, the skirts were showing a bit too much leg to be quite proper.
Still, it did give Bungo a bit of an opening. As Belladonna drew close, Bungo admired how she tilted her chin up and stared defiantly at the gawking crowd of hobbits. Whispering amongst themselves, all of them were too busy to spare a greeting for Belladonna, and in the end, Bungo was the only one of the crowd to directly address her.
“Have a care for your skirt, Miss Belladonna,” Bungo called out, heart in her throat.
Swiveling around, Belladonna’s expression changed. Her defiance melted into a playful expression.
“Oh yes, I’d quite forgotten,” she replied. She reached down to undo the knot holding her skirt up, and it fell down to a more respectable length. “Better fix that. Wouldn’t do to scandalize the neighbors, would it?”
Bungo gave a surprised laugh, because Belladonna was certainly doing her best to scandalize the whole town by marching her wagon of treasure through the busy market.
“No, it wouldn’t,” Bungo still managed to agree. “Welcome home.”
“Happy to be back,” Belladonna replied easily. “We should take tea together soon. You must tell me who you’ve been scolding in my absence.”
She gave a cheeky wink, but Bungo was sputtering too much to respond.
---
Bungo awoke on her mother’s bench to the feel of light tugs at her hair. Assuming in the haze of sleep that a magpie had decided her curls were a bit of shiny treasure, Bungo waved a hand and huffed. Instead of the sound of wings taking off or the twitter of a bird, she received a light happy laugh in response.
Her eyes snapped open, and for a moment, she thought it must be a dream. That was certainly Belladonna Took sitting there staring at her and hadn’t she been on an adventure? There was a long moment of confused staring before reality caught up with her. Belladonna had come home and they’d spoken yesterday. And now here she was next to her…
Plaiting flowers into her hair?
Bungo sat up with an indignant sound, heat rushing to her face. “I say, you shouldn’t unpin someone’s hair in their sleep and-and…!”
“And braid it?”
“Braiding? Is that what you’re doing? Braiding it while I slept, indeed it’s quite—!”
“Indecent?” Belladonna suggested with a quirk of her lips, cutting off Bungo’s embarrassed stammering. “Improper? Or simply overly intimate perhaps?” She tapped Bungo’s nose with a daisy not yet worked into the braid.
The compliment sent another blush to her face, but Bungo wasn’t to be deterred. “All at once, I should say, Miss Belladonna. I know you’re scarcely back from your jaunt through the wild lands but—“
“About that jaunt,” she cut in smoothly. “I wanted to say thank you. You were the only one—other than my family of course—who greeted me properly when I got back yesterday.”
It was an abrupt change in the tone of the conversation. Belladonna was suddenly serious, intense, and it was impossible not to squirm as Bungo met her piercing green eyes. She wondered briefly if Belladonna’s expression and demeanor had always been this intense or if it was a side effect of her adventure.
“Well of course,” Bungo said uncertainly after a moment of quiet. “It is only polite to greet a returning neighbor.” She twisted her fingers in her skirt, knowing that this wasn’t the only reason.
Belladonna arched a brow. “Even if that means it’ll make the neighbors gossip?”
At Bungo’s uncomprehending expression, Belladonna went on. “Haven’t you heard them?” Belladonna affected a crackling voice- like an old gammer- and said in a stage whisper, “Did you see the look on Bungo Baggins’s face when that Took girl came back? Relief that was, and it’d explain why she ain’t been accepting any flowers…”
Bungo was doomed to spend the rest of her life flustered and red-faced it would seem. “Is that what they’re saying? And what of you? I’ve heard that you’ve run off with two elves and a dwarf since you’ve left the Shire.”
This was clearly news to her, but instead of being offended, her face lit up in amusement. “Is that what they’re saying about me? Oh, that’s rich. Could you imagine kissing someone so tall? Why, elves would have to kneel down, and I’d still have to stand on my tip toes!” She gave another delighted laugh and added, “I shall have to complain of my broken heart to someone and get the rumors really going… I wonder if they’d believe it if I said I had a brief yet passionate love affair with Lady Galadriel.”
Scandalized, Bungo replied, “Why ever would you want to encourage such nattering?”
“Because the kind of people that gossip like that are clearly bored, and why not give them a harmless diversion? They’re going to talk regardless. Might as well know from the start what the rumors are.”
Something about this reply didn’t sit right with Bungo, though she couldn’t understand why. She couldn’t think of how she should respond. After a moment, she simply said, “Quite…?”
Belladonna smirked at her and said in her primmest voice. “Now, I came all this way to invite you on a picnic, Bungo dear, and I haven’t even gotten a proper good afternoon out of you! And here I thought you the epitome of respectability!”
Instead of being affronted- as she probably should be- Bungo was amused. “Well good afternoon, Miss Belladonna. How do you fare?”
“I would fare better if you’d consent to lunch with me!” she replied briskly. Then she was on her feet, tugging Bungo off of the bench. “Now come along or it’ll be dark before we get back.”
“Heavens, where is this picnic to be?” Bungo asked, tone concerned but letting Belladonna lead her by the hand regardless.
“I found a lovely little glade once upon a time, and I’d like to see if it’s as nice as I remember.”
Bungo gave an exasperated huff. “It sounds like you’re dragging me off on an adventure.”
She didn’t let go of Belladonna’s hand though.
“If it is an adventure, it’s only a little one,” Belladonna said with a very unlady-like snort. “And besides, if we get too far away or if it becomes too close to an adventure, you’ll be there to scold me and lead me back to decency.”
“True… but if I hear any rumors or remarks about a Baggins going on an adventure…!”
“Dearest Bungo,” she said with amusement. “I don’t think anyone will be accusing you of adventures.”
And indeed they didn’t.
They did, however, have quite a lot to say about the daisies in Bungo’s hair and the fact that she disappeared hand in hand with a pretty lass on a warm spring afternoon.
---
“Miss Belladonna,” Bungo said, trying to keep the fretful edge out of her voice. “I’m almost positive this would be considered an adventure.”
“Oh, hush you,” Belladonna replied somewhere above her in the leaves. “It’s hardly a thing at all. And I do wish you’d stop calling me Miss. We are friends, aren’t we?”
Before Bungo can respond, a rope ladder dropped down in front of her. “And what’s this then?”
“Come on up! It’s sturdy, I promise!”
Bungo hesitated- she preferred having her feet on the ground, thank you- but Belladonna’s face appeared around the edge of the hunters’ stand in the tree. She had the most heart melting look of pleading on her face.
With a sigh and her fingers trembling, Bungo climbed to the top. After stepping up into the stand, she pressed against the tree trunk and tried to breathe normally. It was higher than it looked from the ground.
“As I expected,” she said in a voice gone high with nerves. “This is definitely an adventure. I’m going to go back down…!”
But then Belladonna was in front of her and taking hold of one of her hands. “Shh, hush now,” she murmured, not unkindly. “Stop looking at the ground and worrying over it. Look this way instead, please.”
She directed Bungo’s gaze around to a field to the left of the stand. There was a pleasing meadow- lovely, of course, but probably lovelier from the ground and closer to the wild flowers.
“Quite nice.” Her voice was still a bit strained, and she squeezed Belladonna’s hand. “Let’s go have a look—!”
But Belladonna pressed a finger to her mouth and shushed her. “Just give it a minute.”
Bungo did as she was bidden, but more out of surprise that she had one of Belladonna’s hands in hers while the other was pressed to her mouth. It was embarrassing and overwhelming and utterly perfect.
Belladonna’s whisper broke the spell. “There, look!”
In the field now, a deer was hesitantly coming into view. She was followed closely by two more does and a small, adorable fawn. Bungo’s breath caught and she leaned forward to crane her neck to watch the animals.
“Oh wow…!”
They watched the deer for a moment in silence before Belladonna moved to sit and dangle her legs over the edge of the stand. Although Bungo slid to sit down as well, her back was firmly pressed against the trunk, and her feet were safely tucked beneath her.
“Isn’t it dangerous for them near this stand? What of the hunter?” Bungo’s words were whispered and quiet. One deer paused to flick an ear in their direction, but she seemed to sense no danger and lowered her face to the grass again.
“No,” Belladonna replied, just as quietly. “I think the ranger that put it up has moved on. I’ve been putting feed out for them. I wanted you to see them too.”
Bungo’s cheeks turned pink and she gave a soft huff. “I’m less surprised that you managed to get the deer to come out and more shocked you got me up the tree in the first place.”
Belladonna had to bite her lip to stifle a laugh. “Oh yes, that was certainly a concern. But you always give into me if I give you the look.”
“I haven’t the faintest idea what look you mean,” Bungo said with sniff even though she definitely knew what ‘look’ she was talking about.
“Don’t you be contrary with me, Bungo Baggins,” Belladonna replied tartly. “Or I shall reconsider my decision to kiss you under the Party Tree at the May Day festival tomorrow.”
The words were so startling that Bungo couldn’t stop the strangled gasping sound of surprise she made. The sound sent the deer fleeing back in a flurry of movement into the woods, and Belladonna laughed loud and long. Bungo wasn’t quite sure if the laughter was directed at the deer for bolting or at her- not only for the sound she’d made but also her flabbergasted expression.
“And why, pray tell, did you decide to tell me that just now?” Bungo said, voice pitched high again. She was suddenly acutely aware of how close Belladonna was and that their hands were still clasped together.
“Because you are quite terrible with surprises,” she replied matter-of-factly. “And I couldn’t risk you fainting dead away from being kissed by the most beautiful hobbit in town.”
Bungo took a moment to calm her heart and her breathing before she responded. Her tone was a bit petulant, and she turned her face up and away in a display of haughtiness. “Yes, well, I’ll have you know that Miss Hilda Bolger isn’t at all interested in kissing me. In fact, I do believe she’s about to become a Brandybuck in the fall.”
Instead of laughter or more ribbing, Belladonna paused and looked at her in an indiscernible, intense way. After a tense moment, Bungo opened her mouth to take back her teasing words, but Belladonna finally replied.
“Did you just tell a joke? I didn’t realize Bagginses could do that!” She grinned broadly, teasing and humor back in her face. She stood and tugged Bungo up. “Well, now that we’ve scared the deer and I’ve gotten you to properly flirt with me, we might as well go back.”
She went down the ladder and started to wander along the path.
“Oh, was that why you brought me here? To get me to flirt with you?” Bungo asked when her feet were safely on the ground again. Instead of slowing to walk next to her, Belladonna turned and walked backwards.
“Well, I couldn’t be sure the deer would show up. The flirting though… I was pretty sure I could manage that.” She grinned at Bungo and fiddled with something in her pocket. Mischief came into her eyes again, and she added, “And I may have been interested to see if I could snatch your afternoon snack out of your coat pocket…”
Belladonna pulled a little pouch from her skirt pocket and held it up. The rose patterned fabric and the two delicately embroidered B’s proclaimed that it was Bungo’s bag of nibbles. Still, Bungo’s hand flew to her pocket to confirm that her two apple hand pies and her cheese scone were missing.
“Hey! You give that right back, you little thief!” Bungo sped up just a bit, walking fast. Proper young women didn’t tear after their friends in the woods, after all. “I made those myself!”
“I thought so~” Belladonna said back. “So I wanted to try them! If you don’t catch me, I shall eat them all myself.” With this bold declaration, she blew a kiss at Bungo and turned to race down the path.
With only a moment’s hesitation, Bungo took off as well, trying to convince herself that she was chasing after her only to get her property back and not all because of that cheeky kiss.
---
Even knowing that Belladonna intended to kiss her on May Day, Bungo didn’t see it coming. For all of Belladonna’s talk about not surprising her, she had waited until Bungo was coming back from the wine tables with a large cup. It would occur to Bungo later that she should’ve been a bit suspicious of the large group of Tooks edging toward her, but she hardly expected Belladonna to suddenly push out of the middle of the crowd to claim a kiss. It was a warm gentle press of lips together, and it left Bungo’s head spinning. It simultaneously felt too brief and yet also like a small eternity had passed by the time Belladonna pulled back.
Bungo did not faint, but she did spill a gratuitous amount of wine over Camellia Sackville’s best dress.
Then Belladonna was gone again, disappearing back into a crowd of laughing Tooks as Camellia tried to complain loud enough to be heard all the way in Tuckborough. Bungo was barely able to be polite about her apologies because all she could think was ‘That was not at all a proper kiss.’
When Bungo did finally find her, Belladonna was sitting down, red faced and huffing after a rather spirited dance with one of her Brandybuck cousins. Bungo marched right up to her and stood in front of her with a thunderous expression of disapproval.
Bagginses were notoriously good at such expressions.
It threw Belladonna off for a moment- a feat rarely accomplished. With little ado, Bungo held out a crown of flowers. She’d made it herself, and she’d twisted in flowers that clearly declared her intentions towards the rambunctious Took. It made her fairly blush when she’d went to the little flower stalls at the edge of the Party Field to pick them out.
No one had said anything to her directly, but there was plenty enough whispering going on to make Bungo blush and squirm self-consciously the whole time.
“You didn’t kiss me properly at all,” Bungo said then. “You hadn’t even offered to explain yourself or… or make your intentions clear or anything. Quite improper all around.”
As she spoke, Belladonna began to grin, and she stood up in front of Bungo. She gave a teasing little curtsy, her expression too playful to make the gesture polite. “Why, Miss Baggins, I say, are you formally asking me to be your sweetheart?”
In all the time they had known each other, Belladonna had never once called her ‘Miss’ and very rarely used her last name. The teasing politeness made Bungo blush even darker.
Bungo tensed a little, looking away from her with a stiff little jerk of her head. She was much too easily embarrassed to be as bold as Belladonna, and they both knew it.
“I am,” Bungo finally replied, voice going quieter as she was rather suddenly questioning that her suit would receive a favorable answer. Belladonna was a bit of a flirt after all, and what if Bungo had mistaken playful sport for something more meaningful?
“Well,” Belladonna said after a moment. “You did make such a lovely crown, and you looked ever so sweet when I stole that kiss. So, I’m afraid I’ll have to accept.”
Then she snatched up the flowers to put them over her wild hair. She took a step closer and very gently turned Bungo’s face toward her again. This was probably a good thing, because as soon as she’d said ‘accept,’ Bungo had froze up completely in a mix of overwhelming relief and sudden dread that she might mess things up.
But Belladonna dragged her attention back to the moment.
“W-well, that’s wonderful,” she said as she met Belladonna’s eyes.
“How do I look?” Belladonna asked, arching a brow. She dropped her voice to a whisper just for the two of them. “Am I more beautiful than Miss Hilda Bolger now?”
Almost giddy at the expression on Belladonna’s face, Bungo nodded fervently. Giddy was not a feeling that Bungo was at all familiar with and so she didn’t quite know how to handle it. Perhaps that was why the flood of words came out of her mouth, “Even more beautiful than your Lady Galadriel I should think. You’re the loveliest creature I’ve ever seen. That Lady didn’t realize what she was giving up. I mean, I know that was a joke, I’m sorry. It’s just with your sparkling eyes and gracious smile and the flowers…”
She almost continued to babble on like this, apparently determined to wholly and truly make an ass of herself in front of everyone. All Belladonna had to do was take a step forward, and Bungo’s mouth snapped shut with an audible click of her teeth. She winced, and Belladonna giggled behind her hand.
“I believe you mentioned a proper kiss, Miss Bungo, and I must confess I haven’t a clue how to do it properly.”
Bungo cleared her throat and seemed to consider her for a moment, expression a bit confused. “Well,” she said at long last. “You accepted my gift and my… my offer… So, I should think that now any kiss would be proper. Since we are actually…” Bungo gestured vaguely with her hand and said, “Entangled…? Unlike before, I mean.”
There was a better word for ‘being sweethearts,’ surely, but in that moment Bungo hadn’t the faintest clue what that word was. Bungo was still vaguely and awkwardly gesturing in the air, and Belladonna finally reached out to take hold of her fingers.
“Entangled?” she replied, starting to smirk. Her eyes were lit up in a way that Bungo could only describe as Tookish. “As I suspected, I’m really not at all proper, and you must show me how.”
She leaned forward, tilting her face up as though offering her mouth. At the rather bold invitation, Bungo stopped breathing. She was only aware of the warmth of Belladonna’s breath- smelling sweetly of strawberry wine- on her mouth and the heat burning in her own cheeks.
Someone in the crowd shouted, “Belladonna, take pity on the poor lass, and kiss her afore she catches flame.”
Somehow, this seemed like a challenge to Bungo, who shot her most disapproving Baggins frown at the crowd around them. Although a lot of them had pretended not to be listening, they had gotten more blatant about it when they realized that the two hobbits were in their own little universe and weren’t taking notice of the attention fixed on them. Now, they all suddenly jerked and went back to hurriedly pretending to eat or talk or smoke their pipes.
“Well I never,” Bungo said in the most put upon, insulted tone she could muster. Then she surged forward and planted a kiss right on Belladonna’s mouth. It was even shorter than the first- a quick, barely-there brushing of mouths before Bungo pulled back and away. When she did, Belladonna gave an incredulous laugh.
“That was what you’d call proper, was it?”
Bungo gestured up at the crown on her head, expression quizzical. “Now we have a formal understanding…yes. That’s proper, isn’t it?”
With a snort, Belladonna shook her head. “Hardly.”
Then, Belladonna buried a hand into Bungo’s hair. While Bungo’s thoughts were still ‘It took me two hours to get that updo right!’ Belladonna moved forward to claim her mouth again. This kiss, unlike the two before, was more substantial, their lips open and warm and actually tasting. Fingers in her hair urged her to tilt her head just so, and Belladonna’s mouth fit even easier against her own. Only when Bungo felt the wet slide of Belladonna’s tongue pushing into her mouth did she suddenly remember herself- that she was most certainly still in public.
She pulled back, eyes wide and lips tingling. Several someones were catcalling them, but Bungo didn’t have the presence of mind to turn and look. After taking a trembling uncertain breath, Bungo frowned and said, “I think you and I have entirely different ideas of proper.”
It was meant to be scolding, but there was no bite to it. Even if she had managed the reproachful tone, it would’ve been lost anyways because of her gob smacked expression and her focus on the wet shine of Belladonna’s lips.
Belladonna’s laugh was gleeful as she swept Bungo into her arms. Without even offering a response or an apology, she dragged Bungo out into the crowd of twirling hobbits and led her in a lively dance.
---
That May Day had Belladonna and Bungo sharing several kisses, but they wouldn’t be the last. All summer and fall of that year, the Shire saw Bungo trailing behind her energetic sweetheart. Whenever one saw Belladonna dash around the corner, there was a good chance that Bungo would turn the same corner a few moments later at a more sedate and reasonable pace.
It was as sweet a courtship as anyone in the Shire had ever seen. Whatever initial concerns the other hobbits had about a Baggins and a Took together were quickly put to rest. Sturdy, steadfast Bungo grounded Belladonna, always calling her back from her ‘little adventures’ around the Shire. In turn, Belladonna made Bungo more vibrant and social than she had been before. They balanced each other out rather well. Of course, there were sometimes squabbles between them from the differences in their characters, but that was normal for any young couple.
It wasn’t a particularly special day when the two finally agreed to marry. In fact, it was a more-than-usually ordinary winter day. It had snowed early in the morning, and many hobbits had decided not to stir out of doors. That hadn’t stopped Belladonna, of course, who had taken habit of showing up for afternoon tea every day. As always, she knocked at four o’clock sharp with her cheeks rosy from the walk over.
They’d went out to sit on the bench in front of Bungo’s house to enjoy a pipe together and watch the sun go down.
Rather suddenly, from Bungo’s point of view at least, Belladonna said, “I think we should get married.”
Bungo was tongue tied for a moment before huffing. “Bella, are you asking me to marry you or are you informing me of our coming nuptials without my input?” Embarrassment and the rapid beating of her heart could account for how stiff she sounded.
“Neither, silly,” Belladonna replied tartly, and Bungo realized rather suddenly that her Took was nervous. “I was telling you what I think we should do, and I was hoping to hear your own thoughts on the matter.”
“I was actually looking at the Hill, you know,” she said back, after the briefest moment of consideration. “I was thinking it was about someone put a nice smial up there. It’d be a great place for a family, don’t you think?”
Although it didn’t directly address the topic, Belladonna understood well enough, and she pulled at Bungo’s arm. Obediently, Bungo wrapped her arm around Belladonna’s shoulder, tugging her in close against her side as she puffed out a smoke ring.
“Then it’s lucky that we are, both of us, quite wealthy.” Her nervousness seemed gone as suddenly as it had come.
Bungo smiled and responded simply, “Indeed.”
“You know,” Belladonna said, more conversationally now. “I used to pretend the Hill was a mountain, and I had to climb it to fight monsters and such. I had so many play adventures there… then I went and learned what an actual mountain was like. It was quite another thing entirely.”
She paused, though, as she felt Bungo noticeably tense beside her. Before she could ask, Bungo’s thoughts came pouring out.
“Are you sure that you would be happy married to me? I won’t go on any adventures, as you well know, but I… I wouldn’t want to be without you.” Bungo looked embarrassed. “It was hard enough when my feelings for you were naught but a simple crush. Now that I…” She took a breath. “Now that I love you so dearly, I don’t think I could endure your absence.”
For a moment, Belladonna looked as though she might be about to tease. Seeming to change her mind, she shook her head, and she turned on the bench to look into Bungo’s eyes. She brought up her hands up to Bungo’s face and cupped her cheeks.
“I have spent my time out in the world, and now I’ve come back. Not all adventures require leaving the Shire.”
Bungo huffed and frowned at her words, as if the very idea of adventures in the Shire was ludicrous.
“It’s true!” Belladonna insisted. Bungo looked away, but Belladonna leaned until their eyes locked again. “I’ve adventured out in the world, dearest Bungo. Now, I’m thinking of a new adventure. You see, I’ve never been married, and that’s a different sort of adventure entirely. It’s an adventure that I only want to take with you.”
Despite the smile that this brought to her lips, Bungo said, “I don’t see how marriage will be much of an adventure…”
“That is because of all your numerous remarkable qualities, creativity isn’t among them,” Belladonna replied. “But lucky for you, I’m creative enough for us both. We shall never be bored. I shall fill our house with song and cheer, and you will cook your lovely apple pies for me. I’ll hide your laundry in trees and you shall have to take walks with me in the woods if you ever want your favorite bit of lace back.”
The thought of Belladonna hiding her clothes out in the forests to tempt her out into walks was ridiculous… but at the same time, it was also embarrassingly plausible.
Still, there was a fondness in her voice when she replied, “When you put it like that, it does sound rather like an adventure.”
There was a quiet moment between them, their breath steaming in the cold winter air. Finally, Belladonna dropped her hands from Bungo’s face and gently gripped at the front of Bungo’s coat. The nervousness was back- uncertainty wasn’t a feeling Belladonna was used to, and it showed in the way she fidgeted.
Bungo gently touched a hand to Belladonna’s elbow, a silent show of encouragement.
“Then… then Bungo,” she said slowly, expression open and earnest. “Will you marry me?”
“I was hoping you’d ask,” Bungo replied. “Because the answer has been ‘yes’ for a while.”
The joy in Belladonna’s eyes was almost achingly beautiful, and she moved forward to claim a kiss to seal the deal. Unfortunately, Bungo had completely forgotten the pipe between them, and as she leaned in to meet the kiss, she tipped some of the contents onto Belladonna’s lap.
Before their mouths met, Belladonna jerked back with a yelp and started to brush the smoking tobacco off of her skirt. Realizing what had happened, Bungo righted the pipe again and hastily put out the rest of the contents. Then she moved forward to bat at the ashy spot on Belladonna’s skirt as well.
“Oh gracious, Belladonna, I’m so sorry. I wasn’t paying attention, and I just… and the pipe, and oh lord, are you alright?” Bungo was rambling, unable to stop the outpouring of concern. The only reason she’d stopped was because Belladonna’s face was tilted down, her shoulders shaking.
“Belladonna?”
At her name, she raised her head and looked into Bungo’s eyes. Her expression utterly mischievous, she said, “Have a care for my skirt, Miss Bungo!”
When they kissed again, it was with laughter on their lips.