Tales of the Shire: Dishes

Set in the movie-verse of the Lord of the Rings, during the Party in the first film, not the book-verse.

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It had been worth it.

Most Hobbits would consider Meriadoc Brandybuck and Peregrine Took mad to have gone up against Gandalf the Grey. They'd stolen one of his great fireworks, for pity's sake. Not only had they stolen it, they'd lit it. They'd lit the fuse – inside a tent, mind you – and then let it go off instead of putting it out like sensible Hobbits. That's what everyone in Hobbiton was saying. How such down to earth Hobbit folk as Saradoc Brandybuck and Eglantine Banks have spawned those two hooligans, was almost impossible to comprehend. Decent Hobbit folks blamed the Took siblings, Pippin's father and Merry's mother, for their foolishness.

But Merry didn't consider it foolishness. It had all been worth it. Being covered in soot, thinking he was going to die when the firework went off and the great dragon of light and fire had come swooping low upon them, being forced to wash all the party dishes after the great prank by the crotchety wizard.

It had all been so very worth it. Estella Bolger had helped him wash the dishes.

He'd tried to focus on his task, tried to ignore the slim arms, the adorable dimples in her elbows, the way the wash-water made the supple skin of her wrists and hands gleam. After all, he'd been scrubbing grimy plates and mugs sticky with ale. That was hardly a suitable breeding ground for romance. But the rainbows thrown off by the bubbles floating up to her cheeks from the washtub, the sweat-dampened curls plastered to her forehead... these mundane things turned her into a vision of loveliness that he, Meriadoc Brandybuck, alone had the privilege to see.

"Pass me that plate, Merry," she said, gesturing with one dripping hand. He handed it to her as if it were made of glass. "Thank you."

His heart thumped, and a blush flew across his face. He ducked his head to hide it, thinking all the while that out of all the lads forced to wash the party dishes this night, the beautiful Estella Bolger had only offered to help him.

Oh, yes, it had most definitely been worth it.