Work Text:
They’re hiding just outside old Mr Pepperpot’s garden, which has the biggest raspberry bushes in all of the Shire, and trying to muffle their giggles. Some things never change. It always ends up like this - Merry and Pippin, just the two of them, but always with different items. This afternoon it’s a sack of stolen sweet peas.
“Have you seen Mrs Puddifoot’s face when she saw you from the window?” Merry asks excitedly, breaking open a fresh pod of peas and popping them in his mouth all at once.
“Yes! She recognized me immediately,” Pippin smiles, “Thank god you put that bucket of water right outside her door.”
“The way she fell right into it, unbelievable!” Merry laughs.
The sound of his laughter is pure and bright, and Pippin can’t help but laugh too. He’s so lucky to have a best friend like Merry by his side.
Merry is smart, funny and agile, and that makes him the best companion for crazy tricks. Pippin loves stealing things with him, because he gets to hear his laughter. Further more, he’s got a really nice smile. And his curls are bright and beautiful. Also, he’s got really long eyelashes…
Pippin tries to stop thinking before it’s too late, but he’s already blushing. He pops two sweet peas into his mouth, and averts his eyes from Merry’s face, in order to look at their hairy legs which are almost tangled together. 'We’re just that, two peas in a pod,' he sings to himself.
“Hey, Pippin, you got something on your face,” Merry says, suddenly serious, and brings his hand to Pippin’s chin. Urging his cheeks from getting hot, Pippin looks down, and Merry immediately bops his nose.
“Gotcha!”
“Unfair!” Pippin shouts through laughter, and slaps Merry in revenge. However dumb, he always falls for this trick.
In a moment, they hear the noise of someone stepping on a branch, and Pippin brings a finger to Merry’s mouth, to shush him.
They have a whole ritual for situations like this one. Usually they count to three and then immediately jump up and run, whoever sitting closer to their stolen possession, grabbing it and securing under his arm.
Silently, Pippin locks his eyes with Merry and begins counting.
One. There’s a sound of a dog barking. It’s certainly Mrs Puddifoot’s dog, Pippin can recognize it anywhere. It’s the one that bit off half of his trousers last spring, and Merry laughed at his bare ass all the way back home.
Two. He can hear some voices, and it’s probably Mr Pepperpot coming out of his home with a bunch of tomatoes. Usually, he throws them at anyone who steals cabbage from his garden. Uh-oh. The adrenaline is pumping high in Pippin’s ears.
Three. Pippin wants to jump up, but suddenly there are Merry’s lips on his, in a half-stolen, quick and desperate kiss, that makes his whole world spin before his eyes, and in a moment someone’s grabbing him by the arm and before he can realize what is happening, Merry is already running, the bag of sweet peas under one arm, holding his hand, and laughing at the top of his lungs.
“Run, Pippin!”
And Pippin begins to run as fast as he can, heart beating wildly. He doesn’t stop, not even when a disgusting rotten tomato hits the back of his neck, and starts dripping down his shirt. He only laughs louder, squeezing Merry’s hand in his own.