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Pippin and Merry sat upon the limb of a high tree in Isengard. They were just short of being separated, but were oblivious to the fact as of right now. For right now, they were perched up in that tree, smoking and passing a wooden flask back and forth.
Slipping away was easy for the two, they were used to sneaking around to get into trouble. They knew Gandalf would find them sooner or later so they landed upon enjoying their time alone while they could.
Pippin still hadn't fully grasped the idea of what was happening, simply that they were in some danger. Merry was a little further into understanding than Pippin, then again; he always had been, mainly because he was older.
"Pippin?"
"Mm?"
"Do you ever wonder what Sam and Frodo are up to? It's been quite a long time since we've seen them, last time we did Frodo seemed quite scared."
Pippin exhaled the smoke he'd been holding, passing the pipe off to Merry. He continued to ponder the question as he took a swig of the ale from his flask. He answered after a firm swallow.
"I think they're alright. Likely having much more fun than we are, aye? They've got each other and nobody else, if you get what I mean."
Merry quickly removed Pippins pipe from his lips and began to laugh, huffing out smoke. Pippin followed in laughing at his own joke. They'd always suspected something about Sam and Frodo, until Sam developed his crush on Rosie. Still, it was an idea.
"Do you really think Sam loves Frodo? I mean, what about Rosie? He seems very interested in her." Pippin gulped down another drink.
"You think he wants both?"
Merry passed the pipe off to Pippin after he got his proper share, taking the flask from him. Sharing was their thing, everything that was Merry's was Pippin's. It usually wasn't vice versa.
"Oh, definitely! The way he glances at both of them nervously is a dead give away, but you think both will be open to it? I mean, he'll certainly have to choose one, right?"
Merry shrugged. The idea was beyond the two of them, and all the hobbits. Hobbits were very traditional people, unexpected things weren't very welcome. Bilbo Baggins and his tales of his late male dwarven lover was a very large example of it.
"How about Gimli and Legolas? Did you see the way Gimli ran his hand down Legolas's leg as they were talking yesterday?"
"Aye, I did! Did you see when Legolas moved Gimli's hair from his eyes? I couldn't believe it! Thrandruil would've killed him on the spot, Legolas knows it too!"
"He's doomed himself by falling in love with a dwarf, of all things! You know, they can only fall in love once! He should've learned from Bilbo, dwarves take far too many risks to live even close to as long as their lifespans! As well as their.. Beauty standards.." Merry shuddered.
Pippin nodded. He stuffed his pipe with a bit more pipeweed, taking a deep breath of it. He filled his lungs and held it. He handed the pipe back to Merry as he let all the smoke out in small rings.
"Well, if we're talking about looks; I think I found Faramir far more attractive than Boromir."
"Yes!" Pippin shouted. "I agree! Boromir was a lovely lad, toward the end anyway, but Faramir is far kinder and better looking."
Merry nodded as he took his own drink from the flask and moved onto the pipe. He handed the flask to Pippin.
"Speaking of kind, how about Aragorn? Have you seen him and Arwen interact? I don't think I've ever found relationships intriguing until then, what they have is lovely. Very respectful man he is." Pippin hummed.
"True, I agree. Relationships are kind of weird, don't you think? Sure, they're nice, but being stuck with one other person forever is a little much."
"What about us two, you're stuck with me forever!"
Merry laughed. "Not at all the same, Pip! I'm never going to kiss you!"
"Euck! I forgot they had to do that in relationships." Pippin shuddered.
"I'm not sure if you'll ever find love, Pippin. You're way too fast for even me. I think I might, though!"
"What makes you more capable than me?"
"Just about everything, really."
"Like what?"
Merry thought for a moment. "Well, you're very fast, you cannot settle down. You smoke and drink at every meal, you eat everything in sight and take a casual ale as a drinking game; but finding someone just like that, especially a hobbit, is going to be extremely hard!"
"Who said it had to be another hobbit?"
"I suppose it could be another race, but hobbits are most likely for our case. We don't get out much other than this journey."
Merry nodded at his own statement. Looking out across the horizon, he quickly caught sight of a white horse with a very white man on the back of it. A shout came from the man on the back of the horse, causing Merry to scramble to get up.
"It's Gandalf!"
The voice got louder as the two crawled down the tree, trying to look busy and hide the objects of their true activities. By the time Merry's feet hit the ground, Gandalf was right behind the two.
"Peregrin Took and Merry Brandybuck, what have you been doing?"
Gandalf's voice was loud and demanding, it always scared the two to their core. As Pippin got on the ground, Merry answered for them.
"We were trying to find a vantage point in the trees, see if we could spot anyone coming!"
"And is that why there is a pipe stuffed down your shirt?"
Merry looked down at his shirt to see the very obvious pipe stuffed into it, the lip was still sticking out between buttons. He looked up at Gandalf and smiled with a shrug. Gandalf grumbled.
"Come with me, we require you two."
"You do, us?" Pippin spoke joyfully.
"Just follow, Peregrin. Fools of hobbits." Gandalf muttered.
Pippin and Merry looked at one another with a smile, nodding at one another before joining Gandalf in a ride back to where they needed to be. Even though they were taken away, it was good to be filled in on everything that was happening in the others mind.