InsaneJournal

Merry and Eowyn in the Houses of Healing
Who: Merry and Eowyn
What: A devoted vassal pays his Lady a visit.
When: Game-time
Where: The Houses of Healing
Rating/Status: G



Everyone in the Houses of Healing--healers, assistants, patients and regular visitors--had become so accustomed to Merry's presence, originally as a patient himself, that it was rare to pass someone who did not greet him by name. As it was, he usually arrived at his Lady's room more than half an hour later than when he first entered the Houses. The brief conversations added up to something uncomfortably close to tardiness, which although Merry was not unknown for it, the beating of his heart kept time a little louder than usual, constantly reminding him that it would be better to be rude to an acquaintance than to be late for his Lady.

Finally, he came to her door, which was shut. It never failed to jar him, seeing the door closed. He didn't like knocking on locked doors. It made him feel somewhat unwanted, although Eowyn had given him absolutely no reason for it. It was just that lately a good number of people *had*, and he was slightly sensitive to it.

Eowyn was one of the only patients who had their own room and she rather liked it that way. She could keep the door shut and bar out the noises of the cries of the other patients, or open it when she felt she needed a bit of her reality to sink back in. At the moment, however, she was washing her face off in the water basin and had the door closed. She had completely forgot that Merry said he would come by, but as soon as she heard the knock she knew who it was. After quickly drying off her face she went to the door and opened it with her good hand to find a small hobbit looking up at her. "Merry!" she exclaimed, her face bright with happiness at seeing him. "Come in, I'm so glad you came."

Her joyful face was more than enough to soothe his overactive mind. She looked so well, it was difficult to see why she remained in the Houses at all. Then his eyes moved her broken hand. The fingers at the end of his own wounded arm began to tingle. And there were other deeper and lingering injuries that would probably need more time to heal than the Houses could offer.

He stepped inside, bowing his head in respect. "My apologies for being so late."

Eowyn returned the bow for she had great respect for Merry the hobbit. "Nay, do not be sorry," she told him gently before heading to the nearby table and grabbing an apple to hand to Merry. Fruit was somewhat rare in the current climate, but Eowyn had somehow gotten a hold of a whole bowl of fruit. "Come in, sit, eat, tell me what is going on outside these walls."

Out of sheer excitement, Merry plunged into the apple without hesitation. He pulled himself up into a human-sized chair, which seemed not as difficult as it once had, giving his increased height, but it still a bit of a challenge.

"Well, to start," he said as he settled in. "This is the best thing I've eaten in days."

Of the four hobbits, Merry was second only to Frodo in terms of how different his appearance had become. He had departed from the shire on the plump side, the shape of a well-off and well-fed hobbit. Now, he was more muscle than he was comfortable with. His clothing, which was now comprised of altered human vesture, fit him quite oddly.

Eowyn was quite proud to have Merry as a friend and ally. She felt a certain kindness towards him for his desire to go to war and being told no. She understood that want all too well. She smiled at the hobbit and took a peach from the bowl for herself. "I am glad to be of service," she said with a smile. "Eat all you like," and she knew that it might very well mean he would eat the whole bowl of fruit. Hobbits liked to eat indeed.

The apple was already more than half gone. "There is a rumor I've heard of another hobbit in the city. A fifth, I mean."

"Another hobbit?" Eowyn raised her eyebrows. "How can that be when only four of you came with the Fellowship?" Eowyn decided she liked Hobbits quite a bit and another would be most welcome.

"A hobbitess, actually," Merry clarified. "Apparently, she came riding in on a pony." He began to laugh as he spoke, a ringing chuckle that echoed pleasantly in the room. "I'm not sure I believe it. I daresay it sounds too fanciful to be true."

"A girl-Hobbit?" Eowyn's eyebrows raised even higher at the sound of that. She wasn't sure she believed it either, but she was surely interested to find out. "I hope that it is true for your sake. You could use some of your own women about now!"

"Oh, I--" In almost an instant, his cheeks were flushed with a deep rosy hue. Merry leaned back in his chair, letting some shade mask his face. The reaction an honest surprise, for her words had been so innocent. He had not realized he had been harboring any excitement over the prospect of a feminine presence. Of the hobbit sort, anyway. "Yes, it would be nice, if it turned out to be true, I mean."

Eowyn laughed at Merry's reaction. It was quite cute to behold. It had been quite some time since any of the Hobbits had seen a female of their own kind, indeed. "You should find out for yourself, Merry. What are you waiting for? You come and visit me nearly every day, but it is not every day that a Hobbitess comes jaunting along!"

The apple was gone now. Merry was an anxious eater. He cleared his throat and reached for a second. "Well, I'm in no position to court, so it doesn't much matter. Once I'm home again, and my mother learns I'm not dead--as she must think me--she'll be in a dither to marry me off. She always is. And besides, I cannot think of a girl from the Shire who would be brave enough to travel this far. They are not... well, they are not of your ilk."

It was difficult for him to imagine any woman who was, Hobbit or Man. (Elves did not count, in his opinion. They were not entirely of this world.) His Lady had proven herself crown jewel among her sex, of which he was not too often impressed. Had he been Man himself, he would have been thoroughly in love with her, but he was only a hobbit, and as it was he had not allowed the idea to enter his brain. She was his Lady and he was her happy vassal.

Eowyn found that she was blushing a little. She never truly considered herself to be brave, and yet she kept hearing the adjective describing her. It must be true. "I am sure any Hobbit of the shire would be glad to marry you, an esquire of Rohan! Though for all of your sake I hope it to be true so you may find some happiness in a bit of your homeland. Long have you been away, longer than I from Rohan and I know that my own heart aches for my lands." Eowyn picked up the bowl and offered it to Merry, thinking he might like another piece of fruit.

His heart was aching, and for the Shire, though not in the way it had when they first set out. Then it had been homesickness of an understandable sort. Now, he had been through so much and seen so many places and had so many temporary homes that Merry felt displaced. He was not sure where he belonged and he was not convinced returning home would quickly cure this restlessness, let alone taking a wife.

He looked down at the bowl with a lopsided smile and was quiet for a little while. Half his brain was thinking in existential terms, while the other half was contemplating the philosophical beauty of finishing the entire plate in one sitting.

"Would it be all right to take some of this with me for the others? For Pippin and Frodo and Sam, I mean."

Eowyn gave Merry a firm nod. "Take as much as you like. It is rare in a time like this, but I have had my fill." She held the bowl out for Merry to take what he would and then let out a mighty yawn. She was tired more often than not these days as she did not have the air to refresh her.

The oversized folds of his shirt would at last prove useful as Merry gathered the fruit into them. With a bow, he bid his Lady a courtly and tender farewell.