Frodo Baggins (theseabell) wrote in valarlogs, @ 2013-10-08 17:57:00 |
|
|||
Entry tags: | !complete, frodo baggins, samwise gamgee |
Who: Frodo and Samwise
When: Oct 4 (Slightly Backdated)
Where: Bag End (Frodo’s House)
What: Frodo and the Ring have a moment, Sam interrupts
Rating/Warning: PG, but no warnings
Status: Complete
Normally Sam only came by once a week to do maintenance on the garden and he’d already been by once, the day he’d run into Sybil in the gardens, but he’d found a reason to come back again sooner and had spent the afternoon outside Bag End, laying down new fertilizer. After a couple of hours, he stopped, wiping his forehead with the back of his hand; it might have been almost October, but it was still pretty hot out. He had just drained the bottle of water he had with him when he heard something coming from inside Bag End. Now normally he didn’t go snooping around someone else’s house, but one, Bag End technically wasn’t the house and two, he was somewhat curious, because he’d been outside the hobbit hole for awhile now and hadn’t seen anyone go in, so chances were it was an animal or something.
Although he’d returned to work, now that Merrill was back to teaching, Frodo took more time off than he had before. When you owned the company, it was easy to do that. He stayed home to watch baby Samwise and take a load of his wife’s mind, because she worried an awful lot about returning to work so soon.
But he wasn’t currently looking after his son--for the record, Carson was. Frodo was sitting in Bag End’s kitchen. Alone. Without any lamps on. Staring at a wall above the unlit fireplace. Not really blinking.
Sam had wiped the dirt off the front of his jeans as he stood then headed towards the round door of the hobbit hole. Going inside reminded him of all the times he’d been there in his dreams, because it looked exactly like Bilbo and Frodo’s home in The Shire. He didn’t call out, but instead walked down the hall instead of going straight into the living area and came out in the kitchen. He did notice Frodo until he stepped out of the other side of the small kitchen, into the living area and saw him sitting in a chair, staring at the fireplace. He still wasn’t sure what the noise was that he’d heard, but it had obviously been Frodo. Stepping further into the room, quietly, Sam spoke, “Mr. Fr...Baggins?” Someday he’d know what to call the other man and wouldn’t seem so flustered.
Frodo looked up with a start, like someone who had just been roused from a deep dream. He looked at Sam with a certain amount of shock. In fact, he felt himself fill up with anger, as if Sam was some kind of interloper. “Sam. What are you doing here?”
Sam’s brows furrowed slightly at the shock that registered on Frodo’s face and after a moment he gestured towards the hall, “I was outside. Laying down some new fertilizer. I heard a noise and thought an animal had gotten in or something.” He paused for a moment, “I didn’t mean to intrude or anything.” He wanted to ask if he was alright, but he didn’t want to intrude anymore than he already was.
“Did you come down to check on me?” asked Frodo, his stern look not resolving itself. It was as if he was ignoring Sam’s explanation altogether. Meanwhile, his pulse was still beating in his temples from the surprise.
Sam’s frown only deepened at Frodo’s question. He’d never seen him like this and didn’t understand why he thought he’d come down to check on him, “No. I was outside and I heard a noise.” He took a few steps closer to Frodo, “Are you alright, Mr. Baggins?” This was really strange.
Frodo’s eyes turned back to the wall above the fireplace, where the safe was buried, where the Ring was hidden. Did Sam know where the Ring was? He spent an awful lot of time working on Bag End, unwatched. He’d trusted him with so much. Too much. “You know, don’t you? That’s why you came down here. You thought I wouldn’t notice.”
Okay, now Frodo was really confusing him and he wondered if he should call Merrill, "I don't know what you're talking about." The last thing he'd expected was that Frodo actually had the Ring. "Where what is?"
Frodo knocked over the chair as he crossed the room, moving quickly toward Sam. “I trusted you! But you’re just another greedy imp, no better than the Sackville-Bagginses!” His vision blurred and he stumbled forward.
In the entire time that Sam had known Frodo, he'd never thought the man could act the way he was and Sam stumbled backwards, eyes wide as Frodo moved towards him. He'd yet to actually see the affect the Ring had on Frodo in the dreams, so he still didn't quite understand what was going on. "M..mr. Baggins, I honestly have no idea what you're talking about."
There was a quick pang in his chest, like a flash of light in the darkness. Frodo touched his temple and swayed where he stood. A grip upon him mind was loosening, though before he was certain he hadn’t been aware of anything strange. “Sam…” he uttered, sounding much closer to himself.
If Sam was confused before, he was extremely baffled now. Was Frodo screwing with him or was he bipolar or something? Sam just didn't know. His fear quickly changed to confusion again and he nodded, "Yeah."
Maybe it was simply because he’d put some distance between himself and the safe, but Frodo didn’t feel the same stiffness in the mind that he hand felt before. His legs, however, also suddenly went limp. He stumbled again, ready to fall. This time, he reached for Sam for help.
As confused as he was, when Frodo reached out towards him, Sam moved to support him. After all, he wasn't about to let the man fall, "Mr. Frodo, are you alright?" The name came so easily to Sam's tongue that he barely even noticed it.
He gestured for Sam to help him to a chair. Now that he was coming back to his senses, Frodo’s face was flush was embarrassment. He lifted a trembling finger and pointed to the wall above the fireplace. “The Ring... it’s hidden. There. Sealed in the wall. I thought keeping it out of the villa would keep it far from my mind, but…” His voice trailed away.
Alright, so Frodo hadn't been screwing with him. "I didn't realize you had the Ring here." Sam said helping Frodo to the chair he'd been in a moment before, "I had no idea what was happening." Sam was somewhat relieved to find out that it had been the Ring's influence that had caused Frodo to act like that, "I haven't seen you acting like that in the dreams."
Frodo gave the bridge of his nose a tight pinch as he sat down. "You haven't? You might yet." His tone was low and sad. He felt weak. "The Ring... it has a will of its own; and I don't think it likes being cooped up in that wall."
Sam was sure that if his dreams continued, then he would see this side of Frodo eventually. “I haven’t dreamt anything since Weathertop when you were stabbed.” That had really freaked Sam out and he still felt bad for texting Frodo so late at night after that particular dream. As Frodo spoke about the Ring again, Sam’s gaze flicked towards the wall then back to Frodo, “Can it do that to anyone or just you?”
“I don’t know,” Frodo replied. “I think the Ring chooses whom it calls its master, but I do think spending a lot of time close to it might affect anyone. I can’t say I’ve noticed anything with Merrill, or my nieces. Or you. You were able to cross Middle-earth with me, and it did not seem to to call to you at any time.”
That was somewhat of a relief, but at the same time not, because that meant that Frodo was constantly being tortured by the Ring and there was nothing they could do about it, “Have you tried getting rid of it here?” Not that he knew how that would be possible with a magic, cursed ring. He was sure that if Frodo just tossed it in the trash, it would probably find it’s way back or someone else would find it and judging by the conversation he’d overheard with Frodo and Gandalf in the dreams, that would be bad.
“No,” Frodo said simply. “When Gandalf was here, I spoke with him about it, and he said I would need to keep it until a solution presented itself. It hasn’t, as of yet, and that was nearly a year ago.” He wasn’t sure if it was time to look for a method, yet. He wasn’t sure he wanted to, either.
Sam nodded as he listened to Frodo, wondering if there was a solution that they just didn’t know about yet. It was entirely possible that there was a solution right in front of their faces and they just didn’t see it because they weren’t looking, “Well, I’ll help you find one if I can.” He didn’t know what caused him to offer, but he suspected it had something to do with the dreams and the connection he was beginning to feel towards Frodo.
For a split second, Frodo felt the same pang of distrust as he had before. The Ring’s image flashed his mind and he clenched the arms of the chair. He took a breath. Clearly, he needed some help. Sam was offering, and that was a good thing. The pang subsided. “I would very much appreciate that, Sam.”