Wherever You Are Is Home Chapter Eleven - "Deliverance" It is 1408 in the Shire Reckoning Pippin is 18, Pervinca is 23, Merry is 26, Sam is 28 and Frodo is 40 Pervinca watched Merry and Pippin retire to the guestroom with a light heart and a fluttery stomach. It had been a beautiful thing to see; the light in Pippin's eyes, and the expression of love on Merry's face. She knew, without a doubt, that she had done the right thing by bringing her brother here and reuniting him with his lover. "You just did a very wonderful thing." Frodo said. He nodded slightly and tipped his teacup to her, smiling. Pervinca shrugged. "I only did what was right, as I see it." Pervinca said simply. "Quite right, if you don't mind me sayin' so." Sam put in as he set a plate of honey-cakes on the table. "Mister Merry was takin' on something frightful." He considered the cakes for a moment, then scooted the plate a bit closer to Pervinca. "A horrible thing, bein' pulled away from someone you love." Sam continued. "Don't think I could bear it, myself." Pervinca noticed that Sam's eyes flitted to Frodo for a briefly, and the pair shared a glance before Sam went back to his work. Frodo's eyes followed Sam as he walked away. He looked up at Pervinca quickly, and then suddenly became very interested in his honey-cake. Pervinca only smiled. She had her notion's about what passed between Frodo and Sam, but she had never spent enough time with them to be sure. And neither Merry nor Pippin had been overly forthcoming on the subject. That look they had shared was as good a proof as catching them at kissing, as far as she was concerned. Good for them, she thought with a smile. Good for them. Well, I could not bear watching my brother cry morning, noon and night." Pervinca said. "It was enough to make me weep myself." "As I said, you did a wonderful thing." Frodo said. "I only set to rights something that should not have been disrupted in the first place." Pervinca said, and Frodo smiled warmly at her. She knew that Frodo was not trying to flatter her, he was only speaking the truth. Despite that, she felt color rush to her cheeks and she dropped her eyes to the table. "It does not bother you that Pippin is in love with Merry?" Frodo questioned. Pervinca pondered a moment, sipping her tea. "No." She said simply. "Pity your father does not share your opinions." Frodo muttered. "My father." She said, shaking her head. "I have never understood my father, and after this nonsense, I don’t think I ever shall." "What do you mean?" "I might understand, if my brother and Merry were carrying on for sport. " Pervinca said. "But it is plain that they love each other. I just do not understand how my father……overreacted the way he did, with no thought to Pippin's feelings." "Possibly that it why he did it." Frodo offered. "If the Shire caught wind of Merry and your brother, there would be talk." "I can’t see Pippin being worried out talk." Pervinca said. "He loves Merry too deeply to be worried about a few unkind words." "The Shire would talk about your father as much as they would talk about Pippin." Frodo said. "He would receive part of the blame." Pervinca gave him a withering look. Then she sighed heavily. "All his life, my father has done as he pleased, and never cared what anyone thought about it." She explained. "He was a good deal older than my mother, by more years that Merry is older than Pippin, but he married her anyway." Pervinca gave Frodo a pointed look. "And a year before she was marriageable, while he was at it." "True." Frodo said noncommittally. "He was going to try and make Pearl Thain after him, before my brother was born." Pervinca said. "And he wouldn't hear anyone's complaints that it wasn't fitting. He started having the paperwork drawn up for her to inherit the Smials when he died." "Pearl as the Took and Thain." Frodo chuckled. "Now there is a fancy that is even too mad for a Took." "My father didn’t see anything wrong with it." Pervinca said, ignoring his jape. "And he didn't care if anyone else did. Just like when he gave Pippin over to Merry. Tuckborough was in an uproar, with the next Took and Thain being raised by a half-grown Brandybuck. But my father thought it was a good idea, and didn't care what anyone else had to say about it." "Your father has been impetuous in his life." Frodo said with a laugh. "But then why is my brother's impetuousness suddenly unforgivable?" Pervinca asked. "Don't mistake me, Pervinca." Frodo said. "I am not taking your father's side. All I am saying is that I am sure he has is reasons, I am I sure that he thinks they are valid." Merry stroked Pippin's back softly, savoring the feel of Pippin's sweaty curls pressed into his shoulder, and the feel of his breath misting on his neck. Pippin was laying half atop him, with his arms curled around Merry's neck so tightly that it was almost painful. Pippin was afraid. And so was Merry. He was holding Pippin just as tightly, his arms wrapped around his waist. Being separated from Pippin had been horrible. Unbearable. He did not think that he could take being separated from him again. Especially now, after the intimacy they had just shared. Being inside him and been so sweet and wonderful. It had been perfect. From the moment he had slid inside of Pippin, he had felt closer to him than he had ever thought possible. Closer to him than he had ever been to anybody in his life. But the closeness had not faded, even as his release came, even as he had pulled himself out of his cousin. The feeling had remained, and remained still, as they lay there, sighing and cuddling and marveling in the moment they had just had together. The feelings of love he had for Pippin were so sweet he could weep for it. He found himself clutching Pippin even tighter as his thoughts drifted to what was to come. They would eventually have to leave the sanctuary they had found in Frodo's guestroom. Pippin would go back tot he Smials. Alone. Hot, searing pain enveloped Merry's heart. Being separated from Pippin had been painful before, but it would kill him now, without a doubt. He did not think he could bear being without him for an hour, let alone the weeks and months until they could managed to see each other again. Merry did weep then. Pippin stirred on his shoulder, looking at his tears with questioning eyes. Merry only shook his head silently, and stroked Pippin's curls. Hours had passed. Merry and Pippin had not returned from the guestroom, and Pervinca was no closer to understanding her father. "Your father may be having a difficult time reconciling with the idea that his son prefers lads." Frodo said, gesturing in towards the hallway that led to the guestroom with his teacup. Pervinca snorted loudly, and Frodo gave her a questioning look. "I don’t think it is that." Pervinca said with a twisted smile. "Why not?" Frodo said. "You and I may find nothing wrong with it, but you know as well as I do that most folk do not approve." "I have heard a few things about my father that make me think that he should not be as adverse to the idea as he is acting." Pervinca said. "Have you, now." Frodo said lightly. He sounded amused, but his face was tight, like there was something he wasn't telling her. "I have." Pervinca gave him a determined face, and raised an eyebrow, daring him to argue. "And what did you hear?" Frodo asked. "Likely it is not true, but go ahead." He said, waving his hand in the air. "Uncle Adelard said…." "Wait." Frodo said, cracking a smile. "Adelard Took?" He asked. "If you are about to tell me a tale concerning your father and Odovacar Bolger in a barn, don't bother." "You've already heard it." Pervinca frowned as Frodo nodded. "From who?" "Adelard." Frodo said. "He enjoys telling it. But I also heard it from Odovacar." He smiled at Pervinca, who looked a bit indignant that her tidbit was not privileged information. "And Milo Burrows. And Saradoc Brandybuck." "Oh, what would those two know about it?" She asked. "They were there." Frodo said simply. "They were not there." She said replied. "Leastwise, Uncle Adelard did not mention it." "Because he didn’t see Milo." Frodo said. "Or Saradoc." "Because Milo and Saradoc were not there." Pervinca insisted. "They would not have been there, if my father and Odovacar were doing what they were doing." "They were not doing anything." Frodo said with a sigh. "They were, too! Uncle Adelard saw them." "Adelard Took is a meddler, and a story-teller." Frodo said. "He saw two drunk hobbits in a barn, and decided to make a tale of it." Pervinca gave him a look as flat as week-old ale. "Fine. What did Milo and Saradoc tell you?" "As I heard it from Milo and Saradoc, it was your grandfather Adalgrim's birthday." Frodo explained. "The four of them had retired to the barn, to enjoy a bottle of the Old Winyards that your father had pinched from the wine cellar." "Uh-huh." Pervinca said, narrowing her eyes at Frodo. Her father stealing wine from the cellar sounded a bit like something Pippin would do. "They were well and truly drunk when Adelard stumbled upon them." Frodo said with a grin. "He didn't see Milo or Saradoc. Saradoc was in the hayloft, and Milo had retired to one of the empty pony stalls with an upset stomach." "So my father and Odovacar were not….." "No." Frodo said. But, Uncle Adelard said….." Pervinca started. "Yes, Master Bolger's breeches were down around his ankles." Frodo said, smiling. "Only because he had been watering one of the piles of hay when Adelard walked in." "My father was just standing there, watching him water the hay?" "No." Frodo said. "Your father fell out of the hayloft right before Adelard walked in. He…" Frodo stopped abruptly, and studied his teacup. "Adelard said my father's breeches were down around his ankles, too." Pervinca said. "Oh." Frodo said haltingly. He opened his mouth to speak, but closed it again. Pervinca narrowed her eyes at Frodo again, watching he tried to concoct a lie that explained why her father and Odovacar Bolger had been in a barn with their breeches down. Except that her father had been in the hayloft with his breeches down. Pervinca paled to a ghastly shade of white. She sat frozen in her seat, teacup half-way to her lips, as she had a horrifying realization. Frodo's face went taut again, and he looked like he wanted to die. "Saradoc Brandybuck?" Pervinca whispered. "Don't cry." Pippin said. Merry looked at Pippin and smiled weakly. He trailed a finger across Pippin's cheek, and paused, resting his it on Pippin's lips. He pulled Pippin close with the other arm, shivering at the feel of Pippin's skin against his own. They had not bothered to get dressed after their earlier adventure, and Merry was glad for it. "I love you." Merry said. "Then why do you cry?" "Because you are going home." Merry said. "Today." He paused, Kissing Pippin's brow. "Tomorrow." "Not home." Pippin said. "When I leave, I will be going back to the Smials, not home." He leaned up and kissed Merry softly. "Wherever you are is home." Merry gasped softly, remembering the first time that Pippin has said that to him. "Don’t send me away, Merry. Please." Pippin had started to cry. Then he had collapsed onto the bed, and seized Merry by the leg. "Then behave! Otherwise, I am sending you home. "But I am home. Home is wherever you are." Shaking, he pulled Pippin fully on top of him, and kissed him. "We could stay here." Pippin said as the kiss ended. "No, we couldn't." Merry said. "Your father would find us eventually. It is no big secret that we visit with Frodo." It was Pippin's turn to cry. "We will just have to make the best of it, Pip." Merry said, running his hand down Pippin's back soothingly. "We will just have to figure something out." "Like what?" Pippin asked, his eyes full of tears. "I don't know." Merry admitted. "We could meet somewhere, maybe." "But I want to see you everyday." Pippin whined. "I want to see you everyday, too." Merry replied. "Every hour. Every minute. But I just can’t be." "I don’t see why they won't leave us alone." Pippin said angrily. "I hate them. All of them." His round face contorted in fury. "Except Pervinca." "Oh, Pervinca." Merry said, smiling. "I don’t know what she was on about, bringing you here, but I don’t care. I love her for it." Pippin pinched him for that. "But I love you more." Merry said, kissing him. Pippin fell into the kiss, dropping bonelessly against Merry's chest. Merry skimmed his hands down Pippin's back and cupped his rump, pulling Pippin closer. He felt himself harden as groin came into contact with Pippin's, and moaned as cousin pulled his mouth away from his to kiss him lightly along the line of his jaw. Pippin paused at Merry's ear, sucking it lightly and running his tongue along the edge. Sparks and tingles shot up Pippin's spine Merry shuddered, whispering his name, and lifted his hips to grind against him. He kissed down the side of Merry's neck, sucking and nipping at the place where Merry's neck met his shoulder. Merry moaned loudly, and slipped his hand between their bodies to take Pippin's hardness in his hand. Pippin gasped and bucked against his hand, burying his face in Merry's shoulder. Merry kissed Pippin hard, pushing his tongue into his mouth. He groaned into Pippin's mouth as Pippin's tongue slid against his. "Oh, Lady." Pippin cried as Merry began to stroke his hardness. "Merry." Merry moved Pippin off of him, his hand never leaving Pippin's erection. He rolled over on top of Pippin, and straddled him, sitting just behind his erection. He stroked Pippin steadily, and leaned up to kiss him. Pippin ran his hands along Merry's body, his fingers trailing over Merry's arms, shoulders and chest. He brushed his fingertip over a nipple, making Merry cry out into his mouth and push his erection against Pippin's thigh. "Merry." Pippin said desperately, as Merry began to stroke him faster. His tone was husky, but warning. "I know, baby, I know." Merry murmured. "I want you to. And I want to see your face when it happens." Merry dropped his arm behind Pippin's head, leaning on his elbow so that his face hovered just over his cousins. He pressed a kiss into Pippin's curls, then pulled back just enough to see Pippin's face clearly. He felt Pippin's erection throb in his hand, and locked his eyes on Pippin's bright green gaze as she stroked and squeezed. Pippin arched his back, driving his shoulders into the bed. "You are so beautiful." Merry breathed, watching the play of emotions on Pippin's face. Pippin's eyes flashed brightly as Merry stroked him hard, then grew dark and smoky. Color rushed to Pippin's cheeks, his mouth falling open, and his bottom lip quivered. "Meriadoc!" Pippin screamed, shaking. The expression on his face was so exquisite that Merry fell in love all over again. Pervinca came back to herself as she felt Frodo's fingers prying her own off her teacup. She let her hand go lax as he pulled at the cup, and looked at him helplessly. "Pervinca." He looked at her with worry. Fool of a Baggins, he thought to himself. He had wanted to explain, not wanting her to believe the nonsense about Odovacar Bolger, and he had only made it worse. He had given her enough to figure out the truth. "My father and Saradoc Brandybuck?" Frodo remained silent. He knew he couldn't lie his way out of this, but he didn't want to expand on the truth, either. Pervinca sighed heavily, and rubbed at her temples. She had not expected this. Odovacar Bolger was one thing. Saradoc Brandybuck was quite another. Knowing that her father had been involved with a lad might have helped her when she faced her father about Pippin. But this was different. The lad was her father's sister's husband. All this had done was make the matter more complicated. "Pervinca, I am sorry." Frodo said quietly. "No, no." Pervinca said, smiling weakly and trying to look less distraught. "I am fine." She said, waving him off. "It was a very long time ago." Frodo offered hopefully. "How?" Pervinca asked. "I don't know exactly." Frodo said. "You have to remember that I am a good deal younger than either of them. They were no longer close by the time I was old enough to notice, but from what I have heard, they were close as children, and became closer as they grew older." "Just like Merry and Pippin." Pervinca murmured. Every time Frodo opened his mouth, the situation got worse. "Almost." Frodo said. "I doubt they saw each other as often, as the families were not as closely related as they are now." "Are they still…." "No." Frodo said quickly. Silence enveloped the kitchen. It was pointed and uncomfortable, and both Frodo and Pervinca were fidgeting and studying the table. Sam ambled in from the garden, muttering to himself. He paused before he reached the table, studying Frodo and Pervinca. He became very interested in the gardening shears in his hands, and decided that the hedges needed more pruning. "Seeing as you know the truth, I will tell you why I think your father acted as he did." "Oh?" Pervinca asked. "I think that your father was trying to save Pippin some heartache." "How so?" "Merry and your brother are in the same position that their father's were in many years ago." Frodo explained. "I think that your father fears that things will end the same way it ended for him. He probably thinks that if he ends it now, it will be easier for your brother." "But." Pervinca started. "Listen." Frodo said. "I may as well tell you the whole story, as I have heard it." "I doubt they had any concern for the future when it began." He said. "Saradoc was many years from inheriting Brandy Hall, and your father was far removed from become becoming Thain." "Did they love each other?" She asked. "From what I have been told, they did." Frodo said. "However, I have also heard that Saradoc was, uh…..friendly, in his youth, and had a tendency to stray with lads and lasses both." "Really?" She asked. She could not picture her Uncle Saradoc as a lecher. Of course, she couldn't picture him bedding her father, either. Then again, she really didn't want to. "Yes." Frodo said. "But regardless, it would seem that they were happy, as I have been told they carried on for many years." "Then what broke them apart?" Pervinca asked. "When Uncle Saradoc married my aunt?" "No." Frodo said. "They had a disagreement right after Saradoc took his office, and did not speak for almost a year. They reconciled eventually, but they were never as close as they had been." "What did they argue about?" Pervinca asked. "I don't know." Frodo said lamely. Pervinca gave him a flat look when his voice caught. "And if I did know, I wouldn't tell you." He added quickly. "I think I have spilled enough of your father's secrets for one day." Pervinca gave him another flat look. She had decided that her father had entirely too many secrets, and she intended to find them out. Merry remained still, watching Pippin as he came back to himself, even as his own erection throbbed desperately against Pippin's thigh. Pippin truly was beautiful, with his wide green eyes, and his flushed cheeks, accentuated by his cinnamon curls. Pippin shifted and made a contented sound, giving Merry a warm smile. Merry leaned down to kiss him, but the contact was disturbed by Pippin, who pushed Merry over and rolled onto him. Pippin shifted to sit low on Merry's stomach, his knees pressed into the bed on either side of Merry's body. "I love you." Pippin said, leaning down to kiss him. "I love you, too." Merry said when Pippin pulled away from him, Pippin's tongue running over his bottom lip as he spoke. He moved to kiss Pippin again, but cried out sharply and Pippin said up, and leaned back, grinding his rump against Merry's erection. Pippin smiled at Merry's noise, and brushed his rump against his cousin's hardness again. "Oh, Pip." Merry cried fitfully. He was so hard it was almost painful He pushed upwards, lifting his knees, wanting to feel Pippin's rump on his hardness again. "I want you so badly." "I'm yours." Pippin said, rocking backwards rhythmically. "I always have been." Pippin leaned down to kiss Merry, catching his distraught groan at the loss of contact in his mouth. He sucked Merry's tongue into his mouth, and grazed his teeth along his cousin's bottom lip before sitting back up. Pippin moved to sit behind his cousin's hardness, and reached up to rescue some of the slickness he had left on Merry's belly. Merry sucked in a sharp breath and clutched at the coverlet when Pippin ran his slippery hands over his length. Pippin's touches were soft, but lacked some of his earlier shyness. Pippin's slick hands felt like silk as they moved over him, so soft and sweet he thought he might die from it. "Pip?" He questioned quietly, as Pippin leaned back against his legs, positioning himself over his hardness. "You saw me." Pippin said as he let Merry's tip brush against his opening. "Now I want to see you." Merry opened his mouth to argue, worried, but all that came out was a moan when he felt Pippin push against him. Pippin's face clouded with pain briefly, still sore from earlier. Merry reached up to stop him, but Pippin batted his hands away. Pippin pushed down again, and all arguments, all coherent thought fled. He cried out as he slid inside Pippin, and bright spots of light flashed across his eyes. The sharp pain that Pippin had felt when Merry had entered him ebbed away as he looked on Merry's face. His cousin's face was flushed and pink, and his eyes slid half-closed dreamily. Merry's mouth slid open, and he made soft noises that seemed to cling to his plump lower lip before reaching Pippin's ears. Pippin rode him slowly, moving up and down him with smooth, steady motions. Merry took Pippin's growing hardness in his hand, stroking him as he moved his hips to meet Pippin's movements. Pippin moan each time Merry pushed up, his movement's causing his erection to brush against something sweet inside him. Merry's hips started to move faster, and the hand on Pippin's hardness grew erratic. Pippin felt his erection throb inside him, begging for completion, and Pippin pushed down against him hard. Merry's erection struck that sweet spot in him firmly, and he cried out loudly, spilling himself on Merry's belly. Shaking, Pippin moved up and slid down Merry's length one more time. Merry cried out, calling his name, and Pippin felt a warmth inside him. "No fair." Pippin said. He moved up to kiss Merry, letting his cousin slide out of him. "You saw me twice." "And it was just as beautiful the second time." Merry said softly. "Will you be stayin', Mistress Pervinca?" Sam asked with a sweet smile. "If Frodo will have me." She said sweetly. "Of course I will." Frodo said. "For as long as you want to stay." "For the night, only." Pervinca said. "I must face my father eventually." "Beggin' your pardon, Mistress Pervinca, but that's hard." Sam said. "Bringin' Pippin here only to take him away from Merry again, and so soon." "Oh, no Sam." Pervinca said with a mischievous smile. "I am returning alone." Frodo and Sam regarded her with shocked and questioning looks, which only made her smile wider. "I am going to tell my father that Pippin got away from me the second night we were out." "But why so soon?" Frodo asked. "You are welcome to stay a few more days." He said. "Weeks, even." "For a couple of reasons." She answered. "Mainly, because I will be returning on foot. It will be easier to explain how Pippin got away from me so quickly, and why I was unable to find him after my diligent searching, if he took the pony." "It would only be takin' you two days on foot." Sam said. "I may not have two days." Pervinca said. "My father sent Pippin and I away because Merry's parents were traveling to the Smials. I intend to talk to Master Brandybuck, and to do that, I need to get there before he leaves." "What will you be talkin' about with Master Brandybuck, if you don't mind my askin'?" Sam quesitoned. "I am not exactly sure." Pervinca admitted. "But I have a nice, two-day walk to figure it out." Frodo and Sam stared at Pervinca, speechless. "You are a wonder, Pervinca Took." Frodo said finally. "You really are." "No." Pervinca said. "The two in your guestroom are the wonders." "Why do you say that?" Frodo asked. "Because no other two hobbits could cause so much uproar, simply by being themselves." She said with a wry smile. "And besides, if those two wooly-headed lummoxes can find love and happiness, then there must be hope for us all." Thus ends Chapter Eleven, as Pervinca tells it. Chapter Eleven | Chapter Twelve back to the Blue Book