By: Dana
Summary: A visit to Great Smials.
Characters: Diamond, Merry, Pippin, Estella
Pairings: Merry/Pippin/Estella/Diamond (and pairings in between)
Rating: NC-17
Warnings: Pre-quest hobbitpile, utterly PWP
Author's Notes: For Ruby Nye, for my birthday. Also, this is for Jen – mostly because of the Diamond. *grins*
Pre-quest OT4 – very-much inspired by Hyel, and Ruby Nye, and this Hyel-drawn fanart.
Disclaimer: The author makes no claim to owning the rights of anything to do with J.R.R. Tolkien or New Line Cinema. Any and all characters and situations that have been borrowed are for the author's personal use only, and for the entertainment of others.

Illustration: fanart that inspired All That She Can Hold (Hyel)

Great Smials is far more grand a place than North Tunnels – not to say that her home was without its own charm, but Great Smials had been built with more hobbits than the North-tooks had in mind, and lacking their order: North Tunnels had been built to order, and to plan, is rather neatly laid out. Great Smials, on a completely different hand, is a rambling place, with too-long corridors, too-wide halls, with far too many rooms and doors and back parlours than Diamond think she could even count. Funny, then, that she is looking for one such back parlour, in specific. And when it had been mentioned, Estella – and she's a Bolger out of Budge Hall at Budgeford, and she's quite a nice lass, really she is – had made it sound so very easy to find, but it wasn't being as easy as all that.

"Blast it all," Diamond mutters, getting more and more annoyed. A right turn, or should she make it left? She hitches up her skirts and almost thinks that she's run, or scream. Anything, or everything. Perhaps a kind hobbit would happen upon her. Perhaps that kind hobbit would not be Peregrin Took – or, even worse than that, Meriadoc Brandybuck – who, she knows, one or perhaps even the both of them, would laugh.

So, it seems that her luck is running just as it is, when she turns a corner – right, as she vaguely, only vaguely, recalls Estella's directions having mentioned, and she runs face-first into the both of them, leaning close as conspirators are known to do. Diamond stops, quite dead in her tracks, and she'd not have been noticed, not with them and their backs to her – the stealth of hobbits, even when one's not wanting to be stealthy – but she squeaks, and it breaks through the quiet of the hall. Before, there's only been breath, the quiet fall of dust, and the low hush of whispers, Merry's arm slung low about Pippin's neck.

Merry turns, and he grins wide, and Diamond feels a blush erupt in full force upon her cheeks, and it must be rose-red. "Well, Pip, it seems you were right."

Pippin's head snaps back so quick she thinks it might break free from his neck, and his expression goes from blank, to curious, and then he's grinning just as wide as his Brandybuck kin. Standing there, with Merry, how they had been, had it look as though they were plotting some great mischief – and she'd not put that against them. But then Pippin smiles, and he says, "Hullo, Diamond. Estella mentioned you – ah – and that you might be joining us for our game."

Diamond tries to stand as straight as she can. She'd rather be home, at Long Cleeve – all the lads at North Tunnels respected her, at least partially because of whose daughter she was. But these two didn't seem to act the same – but then, the whole of the Shire knew Pippin would be Thain, after Ferumbras, and after his father. And Merry was the Master of Buckland's only son. "Yes, well, Estella seems rather nice, compared to others I might mention," she states, and the fluster is still upon her cheeks, and her fingers go numb and she drops her skirts back down about her ankles (and she'd had them up about half to her shins). "Though, she didn't mention any game."

Merry's grin fades to a proper smile, and he unslings his arm from about Pippin and he turns to face her, tucking his arms at his back. He almost looks presentable, and proper, in his fine party vest and with his curls very nicely done. Almost, that is. But not quite. "Well, you're invited, if you wanted. Pippin insists."

"I do?" Pippin asks, and, grinning still, and quite like a fool, he says. "Yes, I do insist."

For some reason, and she doesn't know why, Diamond flusters even more, and then Pippin laughs. "Diamond, please, don't look at me so. Come along – Estella was hoping that you'd join us, really, and even more than me."

He's more than the gentlehobbit, then, as he very neatly takes her by the arm, and Merry takes her by the other, and then they bustle her down the hallway. "Where are we going?" she asks, almost bemused.

"To the back parlour," Pippin says, very matter-of-fact.

"Yes, but which one?"

"The back parlour," Merry says, as though there's no other.

"This place has far too many rooms," Diamond laughs, somewhat dazed.

"You should see Brandy Hall, then – an over-elaborate maze."

"Well, it's not that bad," Merry replies.

"Well, so you say."

And Diamond supposes, if only because they make it so she's not thinking near as straight as she ought, that they're not all that bad as she might have thought. Well, they still seem – bad, a bit queer, even, and she's not sure if she's to blame the Took in them, or the Brandybuck in Merry (and Diamond's a Took, too, and she doesn't think herself near as strange). But, they're almost – nice, or pleasant, or even charming, and she rather thinks she like it, even if she can only somewhat think.

And she'd not be here, not if it wasn't the Thain's own birthday, and it's – difficult, she supposes, to think of Pippin as the Thain's own son, for all he seems like a rascal, at the best of times, and a miscreant, at the worst. Merry, and he'd first been the grandson, and then the son, of the Master of Buckland, and though she knows he should know better, he's almost just the same.

"Well, here we are," Merry announces, and he opens the door, ushering them through. The air inside is warm, and pressed close, and Diamond feels it smooth against her skin, smelling of woodsmoke and of cinnamon. And there is Estella, sitting upon the ornate, pattered rug, with her dark curls falling free about her shoulders and a smile upon her mouth, in greeting. The parlour is an open one, shut in and with a wide hearth at the north (and the fire there is laid out, but has not been set), and a long sofa to the east. There are portraits upon the wall – painted visages that Diamond could not name, not even if she could recall. And she thinks, perhaps, that Pippin's told her how he found this place first – of course, Merry had been along, and it is not a hard thing to think of Pippin and Merry as being almost inseparable – like one and the same.

And then Estella says, "you found her," and Diamond's gaze comes to settle on her, on her and her pretty smile and her dark curls and the low cut of her dress – green as dark as fine polished stone, with gold and rose and paler yellow, creeping upon her bodice, like spring-time all in bloom. She is lovely, dark and fair, lovely, yes, as she had been, when she had watched them – them being Estella, and Merry, too – dance, when the celebration had poured out from Great Smials into the party fields beyond. And that had been the night before, and there had been a day between that now and this, and – and, oh, yes, but Estella is as lovely as she'd been before.

"More that she found us," Pippin says, back. "But we were looking for her, Stel – well, planning on looking for her, at least. It seems she found us, instead."

"It's good that she's here, then. I was hoping that you'd want to join."

"Well, you made me feel enough at home, here, Estella, when this place is not at all like my home," Diamond says, and she even smiles. Pippin gives her wrist a squeeze, and she looks sideways at him, and his look is less – bold, yes, that's the word for it, bold, than she's used to, and with a fool's grin upon his mouth, he tucks chestnut-lit curls back behind his ear, and then he's moving from her line of vision – to sit, and right beside Estella, who greets him quite pleasantly when he does.

"Why were you hoping I join you?" she asks, feeling out of sorts, but not unpleasantly so. Nothing more than a good, energetic dance, or a long, deep pull of good ale, and she smiles, when Estella bids her sit. She does, sitting at Estella's side, and Merry finishes off the circle that has unconsciously (or with purpose, Diamond'd not know) been made.

"Oh, just to even things a bit," Estella says. "No good playing games when one's the uneven one out."

"I suppose," Diamond replies, thoughtful.

"Stel knows what she's on about," Merry says. "Really now, I think, this was all her own idea. A fine one, though, I'd have to say."

"You'd say that, Master Brandybuck, if only to free yourself of any blame. Well, if that's how it is, then that's how it will be – if I'm to blame for wanting your company, well, it's not something I mind admitting." At that, she smiles, and the blush Diamond had forgotten – the blush that had cooled upon her cheeks – has come back, at double force, and Estella smiles quite sweetly as Diamond ducks her head and looks away. Estella giggles, and Pippin sets his hand upon Diamond's – and Diamond lifts her head, quick enough, and he's smiling quite amicably – yes, almost charmingly – when she looks him eye to eye.

"Don't worry much, Diamond. I admit, Estella's games even get to me."

And Diamond laughs. "That's laughable," she says, and Pippin grins. "I don't think anything, out of everything, could ever get to you."

"That's Pippin for you," Merry states. "Too much bravado, and not enough thought."

"I'll take that as the compliment its intended," Pippin says, rolling his eyes. Once again, Estella giggles. "And Diamond, it would be very – nice, if you wanting to stay, and play."

And she's not blushing, for all that she should, when she says. "Well, what games are we wanting to play?" Pippin's fingers twine, quite slow and sure, about her own, and Diamond rather likes the way it feels.

"Oh, the playful sort," Merry grins, and Estella laughs, quick and sharp at his reply. He leans towards her and, gazing sideways at Diamond, and knowing that she's looking back, he sets a kiss upon Estella's mouth – a very smooth kiss, slow and sweet, an unhurried moving of mouth against mouth – and Diamond spots, as well, the very faintest flick of soft, pink tongue. A thrill chases down her spine, and warmth floods her cheeks, though she supposes she blushes no more than Estella does, and Estella is far fairer, so the pink stands out far more. And, and this makes her almost smile, when Estella and Merry part, Merry with a wide, Brandybuck grin, and Estella with a softer smile, Diamond quite suddenly turns to see what Pippin thinks of this, and sees that Pippin is pink to the cheeks, too.

Diamond puts her left hand to her mouth (as her right is still warm, held by Pippin's left), and she laughs against her palm. "Oh, goodness," she murmurs, dropping her hand to her chin. "And here I thought you Tooks were the wild ones," she says, at Pippin, as though there's much difference between his between a Took, and hers. "I suppose it must really be the Brandybucks, and the Bolgers."

Then, perhaps because Merry did it, first, and Estella did so seem to like it, she leans forward, closer to Pippin, and there is surprise upon his face – his expression fluid, and then his mouth curves, lips parted, when he realizes her intent. Her eyes close when her mouth settles against his, their noses bumping, and they laugh and then she tilts her head, and sets her mouth to his, again.

Not her first kiss – no, wait, it is, she thinks, not counting kissing her mother, or her father, or even brother-kisses, as those were always the sort that ended up, almost always sloppily, upon the cheek. This isn't even a cousin's kiss, or an aunt's, as Pippin's lips are anything but old, or wrinkled. She's quite surprised by the taste of him – and she realizes that her own lips are parted against his, and the slow slide of his tongue invites her to probe in return, with her own. She's never kissed like this – for all its slow, unsteady, though that's more her own fault than Pippin's, as she has no problem guessing that he's the more experienced, between the two. After all, five years might mean something, and Great Smials isn't – isn't at all – like North Tunnels, and she's never at all, while she was there, kissed like this.

He groans low in his chest – and she feels a warm flush across her skin, and up her ears, and down her throat, creeping boldly over her breasts. She draws back, with a start, and Pippin's fingers are still wound about her own, and he's smiling, kind and sweet, and with such merry light in his eyes – and she wonders, just wonders, is she falling for him, for Peregrin Took?

"Pippin – " she mutters, and then she laughs, and Estella says, tone joking – well, only perhaps. "Somehow, this doesn't seem fair," and Diamond turns, and looks at her, and Estella's dark curls seem somehow darker, and her eyes seem somehow brighter, and her grin is wide, showing off the white of her teeth. "But it seems that we've chosen the game."

Diamond's blushing, still, the only one, it seems. "Oh?"

Estella nods, and she laughs, cheerful. "Yes." She licks her lips, then, and she leans forwards, and Diamond realizes only belatedly realizes her intent – when her mouth, warm and wet, is pressed against her own, sucking on the surprised gasp that has burst free from behind Diamond's lips. And her kiss is bold, where Pippin's had been slow, searching. Her hand – her right, Diamond hazily thinks – is warm, pressed against Diamond's cheek, and her tongue curls slow about her own, and her taste is heady – sweet.

She tastes of Merry, too, but of herself.

And she realizes, when she tastes it again, that she tastes of Pippin, too.

Diamond blinks, slowly, as Estella draws back, and Estella settles her dark skirts about her as she still. "Oh," Diamond breathes, low, and then she softly, very softly, laughs. "I suppose it's your turn, then," and her gaze turns to Pippin, who is sitting there beside her.

And he grins, no Brandybuck grin, but a Took's grin, instead. "Yes, I do suppose you're right."

She knows what next will come – she finds herself expecting it, actually, and she supposes she might have felt a thrill when Merry had kissed Estella, and he had felt warm all over when she herself had kissed Pippin, and she had felt and tasted more than even that when Estella had, so forwardly, kissed her – but it's something else, completely, to see Pippin lean forward and wrap his arms about Merry's neck, and set his mouth to Merry's.

Whatever has she wandered into? Whatever it is, she doesn't want to leave.

Diamond does not know what is more fascinating – how Merry's eyes, and Pippin's, too, close, or how Merry winds his arms about Pippin's waist. All she knows is that they fit, and she can see it, and she can feel it, and something aches – oh, but Pippin's let go of her hand, and she's only now realized that it was gone. She watches, captivated, as one mouth seeks to devour the other – and she's the one who groans, though she's not aware of it at the time, and she tingles – she tingles all over, and it almost seems that her head is floating.

No, no, no, she thinks. She doesn't want to leave.

Pippin sits back, and he seems of two natures – one, and he's grinning wide, but the other, and he's blushing. There is something very open about him, and – and Diamond's not one to think such things, as she's not been so wild since she was very young, and had been wont to act more as if she'd been a daring lad than a proper, lady-like lass – but if Merry doesn't push Pippin back, and kiss him right then and again, then she'll have to do it herself.

"Well," and she wets her mouth. "Who's next?"

"Not Merry," Estella smoothly replies, her smile bright, mischief dancing in her eyes. "We should have a way to pick."

"Well," Diamond replies, easy enough. "Pippin went last, so perhaps it should be he."

"But Diamond is the guest," Pippin interjects. "Perhaps it would be fair, if she were the one to choose."

"Well," Estella replies, thoughtful, and Diamond is not surprised when heat creeps across her skin. "I suppose that sounds just. Master Brandybuck, though, should have the say."

"I say," and Merry grins, "that the turn belongs to fair Diamond."

And they all laugh, though Diamond blushes as she does.

"Pippin," Diamond says, quick enough. "I want it to be Pippin, again."

"No fair," Estella giggles, grinning. But Pippin, taking it all very – in stride, turns and leans close, and he winds one arm about her neck and tangles his fingers in her hair – and Diamond misses the feel of him, even more now than she had – and he sets his mouth to hers. She almost feels it herself when Estella is the one who groans – and she laughs, low and sweet, with a gap of breath between her mouth and Pippin's, and she presses both her hands to his cheeks and she claims her own kiss, kissing him once again, though it seems somewhat harder – far more demanding, than Pippin's own had been.

Oh. If she had thought it warm, when she had first entered the room, then it positively blistering, now. Sweat – a cool bead of it – slides down her back, below the faint breath that exists between cloth and skin, and she shudders – and she moans, when it creeps along to the small of her mouth.

And Pippin says, "does this mean it's my turn again, then?"

Estella gives him a slight shove, nodding, and then Pippin turns to face Diamond – and Diamond gasps, a small, shuddering breath, and she feels the weight of Pippin's gaze. Then, she feels the weight of Pippin's mouth, so very smooth, and deep, and when she had kissed him, it had been slow, steady. It seems even more so, now, though there is a curiousness about him – and she does taste Estella, and Merry, too, and a delicious thrill chases down her spine – even as another cool bead of sweat drops, very deliberately, down her back.

His cheek is damp, sweaty, yes, and she can taste the salt of it upon her mouth. She moans, and then he's drawing back, and his thumb traces the shape of her jaw. "Oh."

"My turn, now, I suppose," she almost matter-of-factly states.

And Pippin, with a nod, sits back, tugging at the buttons of his shirt – the first, and then the second, and the third, follows. "It's starting to get too warm."

"Only starting?" she asks, laughing, and then she leans forward – and gives Estella her kiss.

It goes as such – she kisses Estella, and then Estella kisses Merry, and Merry kisses Diamond, which is something even more, it seems, and while warm had become hot, hot is now sweltering – and Diamond's sleeves are too long, and she fancies how low Estella's sleeves are set upon her shoulders. Giddy, and with Merry leaning back, grinning his grin, Diamond stands – and she hitches up her skirt, the air cool on sweaty legs – she crosses the circle, and sits again, between Merry and Estella. They move for her, of course – and Estella watches her, quite intrigued, and amused.

"Well, hello."

"Hello," she says, back, giggling, and she sees that Estella's skin all but glowing, and she sets her mouth to Estella's shoulder – the left, she should mention – and places a slow, sucking kiss her, salt on her mouth, and the taste, pure and thrilling, of Estella's skin. Estella gasps – and her fingers, her wonderful fingers, tangle themselves in Diamond's hair.

When Diamond sets back, Estella looks surprised. Diamond can't help but grin, and Estella does, too. "Well," she says, and she licks her lips. "I think our game is changing, lads."

"Good," Merry's voice rumbles – Diamond can almost feel it, against skin. She sees that Pippin's shirt is fully undone, but Merry is the first to draw his off, pulling it up over his arms. His party vest, fine dark brocade, is long gone, but she only realizes that now. "It's far too hot in here," he mutters, uses his shirt to mop up against his brow – then, he drops it, careless, at his side.

"It is," Diamond replies, for all she's wearing the most of all. "And Stel, dear, I do think it's your turn."

"It is," Estella laughs, smiling slowly, and her kiss falls to Pippin – but not his mouth, his neck, instead, and Diamond watches, fascinated, as Pippin tilts his head back, and Estella all but sucks upon the pulsing of his life. He moans – oh, but he moans. Diamond's fingers close on empty air. She wants something – needs it, and she's almost afraid of wanting it as she does.

Pippin's turn, then, and it's not Merry who pushes Pippin back – but Pippin, instead, who leans across the circle, and leans into Diamond, one arm winding slow about her waist – and his chest is sticky, and the smooth fabric of her dress sticks to it – and his mouth slides up her jaw, and fastens at the place where it meets with her ear. She shudders, groaning, and Pippin is fire – yes, fire, against her, for it is now that hot. "Oh. Oh," she gasps, and flutters her lashes.

She feels she might faint.

And he pulls back, and he's open, still, and she can read him – oh, but she can, of course. "Yes," is all she says, and then looks from him, to Estella, and then to Merry – and it's Merry that she kisses, leaning to him on her hands and knees, setting her mouth to his with force – such force. Her eyes fall shut, but only halfway, and she can see that his eyes are fully closed – and she can feel, almost, Estella's delighted smile, and the joy that is shining so radiantly on Pippin's face.

Whatever this is, she's wanting it more and more. Whatever it is, she's glad – overjoyed – that she was invited along.

She is so close to Merry that he seems to open himself to her – one leg pushing out, the other still pressed close to his body, and one of her hands is set upon his leg – his thigh – and the other presses against his hip, fingers curling about the band of his trousers. She is not finished – not quite yet – and her mouth skims down his jaw, licking a line across his shoulder, and then her mouth fastens – and he jerks, and she imagines his eyes must be opened, now – when her mouth, sealed about one nipple, very, very carefully, bites.

She draws back, almost sheepish, thinking she might be blushing, but if she is she doesn't care, and Merry laughs, so loud she can feel it through her – as she's still touching him, hands here and there. "That," he says, "was quite a surprise."

Diamond wonders, for a moment, how is this to work? But then Merry smiles at her, and it's an open smile, not like a conspirator's grin – and he puts his arms about her waist, and pulls her flush against him. "Come here."

He lays back, and her legs are between his and he is very long – and strong, and broad – against her, beneath her, and she giggles mostly because she can't help herself. And she kisses him – kisses him, while Estella and Pippin watch (or not, she doesn't know, perhaps they've found something more interesting). Merry's hands push beneath her curls, searching for the buttons of her dress – and they find them, and they part them, one by one, and his hands are almost cool – blessedly so – when they do, finally, touch against skin, though her hair sticks quite unfortunately, given that she is hot, so very hot. Her hands against the rug, she pushes up, and he pushes against her chemise – and then his hands drop, and loosen the tie at her waist. She flushes – but she's not embarrassed, not now, and how could this be, she wonders? No, but she doesn't worry, not now, and she bends against Merry when his fingers trail, light, and the sweat against her back is cooler where he touches her, and where air touches her, too.

Well, if she's cooler now, it stands to reason that she will be coolest once she's free of all this clothing.

This is what he seems to reckon, as well, though he only gets her half out of her dress before his mouth is otherwise distracted – if she had thought his first kiss with Pippin had been hungry, then she knows now what it is to be devoured, when his mouth descends upon her breast – taking it in, licking with the flat of his tongue, then sucking on it, making her shudder and gasp. She cries out, and his fingers tangle in her curls, hair half sticking to her flesh, and his where it falls against his chest. He doesn't stop – for all he's very slow, and steady, and he gently sets her on her side, almost curling himself about her, one arm still about her, the other pressed flat against her stomach. All the world could stop – and she opens one eye, very lazily, very warm and very content, to see that it's not, and Estella and Pippin are as involved as she, and Merry.

And it's very – very strange, and perhaps she's just as queer as they – for all there's Took in her, too, and she laughs – she laughs, moaning, and heat rushes through her veins, courses through her – there might soon enough be Brandybuck in her, too.

"More?" she whispers, then, pleading, and Merry seems easy enough to sway – and his hand creeps lower, fingertips trailing cool across her skin, and they find their way up beneath her skirt – up her thigh, making her shudder and gasp, and she latches her arms about his shoulders, paused, expectant – and his mouth finds its way to hers, even as his fingers tease at her, sliding in as she parts her leg, one going up over his, hooking behind his knee. His thumb presses against her, against her very center, it seems, rubbing as two fingers press deeper. Slow, and slick, and sweet, and she moans into his mouth, her body moving against his – her hips seeking out a rhythm, pressing him into the one she wants, and it seems almost that she's riding – like she's riding him, his hand, wanting him deeper, wanting – wanting more, but he's still to blasted slow, for all she wants more.

And slowly – just slowly – a little faster, a little more, his thumb rubbing her a bit harder and a bit quicker, and his pace quickens into the one that she's wanting – and she groans and she shudders and she pleads, and pleasure – oh, liquid heat against the blessed cool of him, and her skin, and it rushes through her but he presses on, not stopping even as she clings to him, gasping and weak, weaker. He rolls her over, flat on her back, sucking on his mouth and – and she can't even think the word, for all it makes her blush, no, she will, she will – fucking her with his hand, and she arches beneath him and she tenses and she screams, muffled into his mouth – and then he slows, and stills, and she falls back, flustered and damp and with such warmth across her skin, and between her legs.

Gasping for breath, gasping for it, shivering like storm is surging through her, but it's only him – only him, and she whimpers – she really does whimper, when she feels his hand move.

"Merry."

His mouth is gone from hers – but he kisses her, again, very sweetly, and he smiles against her mouth. A moan, but it's not hers, and it's not his – and she does blush, hotly, then, and she turns to look – and his hand curls against her cheek as she watches Estella, and Pippin, knotted like a tangle, Estella's legs about Pippin's – and Pippin is moving in her, oh, he is, and she's only jealous because that's what she wants, too.

She looks to Merry – puts one hand at the nape of his neck, the other at the buttons of his trousers. "That," she says, quite succinctly. "I want that," she her fingers pop one, then the next, and Merry grins when she so suddenly takes him in hand.

He's hard – of course, and she's not even seen a – seen a male, naked, up close, though it's not that he's naked. Well, he's naked enough. But he's hard, and long, and rubs her hand along him, listening to him gasp, the small, wheezing intake of his breath.

"Patience," he whispers. He frees himself from her grip, settles himself properly between her legs – her hand is still at his neck, and the other joins, fingers twining with his. She doesn't know – can't think – but she arches when she feels him, when he presses into her, and her toes curl against the carpet – the rug is suddenly rough against her bottom, and his hands are smooth when they lift her up – and he presses in, as deep as she can, and she feels him, flesh to flesh.

"Oh. Oh, yes."

Slow – slow – slow, but then he quickens, not holding back as he had. The world is bouncing about her – she closes her eyes, and his mouth falls to hers, then along her throat, sucking on her as he kisses her – as he kisses her, and he moves in her, as he – as he becomes her world.

She can hear them, still, but all she feels – all she feels, is this.

He moves her again, settles her on her side, but she goes willingly, and he kisses her, slick again all over, hot and cool then burning, and he finds that rhythm again, though it's all his, driving itself into her. She clutches at him – clutches at him, and she cries out, hoarsely, and the fire rushes through her, consumes her once again – and he cries out, too, though his words don't seem to matter – and he stills against her, very sweaty and very hot, and she laughs, very weakly, and she sticks to him, sliding one leg up over his hip.

She lays like that, with him against her, and one hand finds hers – and she knows it's Pippin, for all she can't see him, not when she is so perfectly content, and tired, and her body seems intent on sinking itself into sleep.

It pulls her along, and she knows – well, she fancies she has a reason, why this would be the back parlour, the only one. There are a dozen empty rooms, and she knows it for herself, in each direction – no one would hear them, for all they've been screaming just as much as they've moaned.

When she wakes, she's settled against Merry – but atop him, not against him, and a familiar hand clutches at her right hand, and another arm is smooth against her lower back – and she doesn't know that one, so it's not Pippin, and it's not Merry, so it must be Estella.

She smiles, cheek pressed against Merry's shoulder – and that is perfectly all right, and she is only perfectly – not uncomfortably at all – warm.

When she wakes again, she's bundled in a light coverlet and has been settled against the sofa, and she yawns, opening her eyes – and she's snuggled up against Estella. Sleepily, she leans into her, and kisses her cheek – and Estella's eyes open, and surprise registers in her eyes – but then they brighten, and her mouth smoothes as she smiles, and she presses her mouth back into Diamond's kiss.

"Well, hello."

"Hello," Diamond says back, giggling. Estella's arms settle about her – beneath the coverlet, where there's only skin – so much skin.

"I sent Merry out on an errand," she says. "I think you might feel Pippin, sleeping – he's practically curled up against your feet."

And he is, Diamond realizes, though his head is against her knee, and he's wrapped in another blanket, another light one, from the looks of it. Estella's hands are very curious, sliding across bare skin, and Diamond shivers, gasping. "Is it – is it always, well, like this?"

"I don't know if it's ever been – well, just this way. But I'll not mind if it decided on happening again."

And it has decided, Diamond thinks, when Estella's mouth finds hers, sinking into their kiss. Her hand finds Diamond's hip, pressing at it, and her legs gently – so gently – wrap about Diamond's, as careful of Pippin as they can be, though Diamond almost wonders if she minds – and Estella hums against her, touching her and making her gasp, and shake. Diamond wants to melt into her – and it seems she does, for all she might have felt as though Estella was forceful when she was kissing, she seems even more so through touch. The press of her thumb, how her palm feels when it curves over her hip – and Diamond wants for her touch more, and even more, but she is somewhat delighted in this slow, thorough search of her body. (And she realizes, only just then, that her clothing is long gone – sometime between her first sleep, and this, and oh – "oh," that escape, and the pad of Estella's thumb pushes with intent to tickle into the small of her back. But she doesn't, as she's not ticklish, not at all, and her hands finally wake up – and they're free, suddenly, to move against Estella, as well.

Estella is humming, then, a contented sound low in her throat. "What errand," Diamond slowly breathes, dropping her mouth to Estella's shoulder, "have you sent Merry on?"

"Oh, I was thirsty," Estella gasps, hands not moving – and they're moving with more intent, now, and a delighted thrill leaps from her fingertips to Diamond's skin, "and I thought you might be, too. Healer's special tea," and Diamond knows enough about herbs that are drunk when one has coupled, and not for the sake of life being brought into this world. And she'd say more, that she knows it well herself, as she might not be as wild as Estella – not half as wild, at least – but she knows well the taste of Mistress Hyacinth's brew, and knows that the matron healer will keep what secrets are given to her, to herself.

Then, though, Estella's hand is at Diamond's backside – and the fingers of her other hand are in her, curling in as they slide, and Diamond groans, clutching at Estella's hip and all but driving herself onto Estella. A gasp, and Estella is warm and slick and wet, so wet, all around, and they clutch at each other with their hands that are still free, moving slightly – but it's more their hands, and their mouths, that are moving, rubbing and pushing and kissing and thrusting. Diamond swallows the low, hoarse cry, that frees itself from Estella's mouth as she releases against her, body suddenly free of any tension – filled with, Diamond knows, pure bliss. But the sound lodges itself in Diamond's throat, holding itself there – and Estella rubs firmer, presses harder, clutches and the curve of her nails presses into skin – and then the sound is spilling back out, lost in the breath between their mouths. And Diamond collapses against Estella, laughing very weakly, slick again and with Estella's breasts pressing back so nicely against her own.

"Hello."

"Hello, again," and Estella laughs, too, low and sweet. Mouths nuzzle at each other, slow, long kisses, and shorter ones, too, and then – mostly because she can't help it, all but glowing as pleasure ripples through her – Diamond finds herself sinking back into sleep.

Not fully, though, as she wakes again, and soon enough, when the door creaks open and Estella shifts against her. "Hullo, Merry," Diamond hears Estella say, and she cracks open one eye and sees Merry leaning over her – over them both – as he sets a kiss to Estella's mouth. Then, drawing back, he grins when he sees that Diamond's eyes are both opened wide.

"Well, if Pip were to join us, then it would all be perfectly right."

And Diamond laughs, "let me wake him, then," and she gives her legs a shake, and Pippin grumbles as he wakes. He blinks, and grumbles, too asleep still, but then he's crawling up along the sofa, out from beneath his cover and up over the one that is spread over Estella and Diamond – and then he seems to spread himself over them, as well, and Diamond grunts, loudly, and is laughing out loud. A light kiss for Estella, and then another for Diamond, and Pippin all but rolls from them, legs over the sofa's edge and then he's wearing naught but a grin for Merry, and what a grin it is, spreading wide.

"Have you brought food? I think I could eat for a week."

Merry mutters something back at him, and Pippin snickers, then stands up and catches Merry about the waist, taking him down to the floor. Diamond sits up, slowly, half interested in their play – and what play it is, as Pippin seems fully intent on stripping Merry once again, as where did all this clothing come from, and why is it in my way? But Pippin had mentioned food, and she's hungry, feels it gnawing at her stomach. "I think I could eat," she says. Estella is warm against her when she sits, her arm wrapping about Diamond's waist. Her kiss is even warmer, set against Diamond's jaw.

"Let's see what Merry brought us, then."

"Save some for me," Pippin says, and Merry gasps, arching beneath him as Pippin manages free Merry's trousers and find what he's been looking for, below. "Well," Estella laughs, stepping by him, "you seem to be having more than your fair share." Then, in a low voice, and it's still a laughing one. "Ah, lads will be lads."

And Estella takes Diamond by the hand, as Diamond had been watching, Pippin bare all over, and Merry now half dressed – how Pippin has taken Merry in hand, and Merry has crushed his mouth to Pippin's shoulder, the sounds of his pleasure muffled against Pippin's bare, lightly freckled skin. But Estella gives a tug, and Diamond's gaze rolls over them – and Pippin bends and Merry arches, and it's Pippin who gasps – and Estella is grinning at her.

"Come along."

And Diamond does.

Merry brought more than just water for the tea – and the hearth, where a fire had been laid out but had not yet been lit. And it is cool enough now, Diamond thinks, for the fire to be needed, and it is burning cheerily – and the water pot is steaming, hanging out over the dancing flames, and there is a spread of food and drink laid out before it, and the great wide tray that Merry had brought it all along on. There's tea, for them, and for them all, and there's a small cask of ale, as well, slightly cool. There is bread and a wheel of sharp cheddar, and apples, and tarts lightly left over (somehow) from late supper. There's more than enough for them all, and Diamond, though she feels in a daze, eats and drinks and talks with Estella, even as Merry and Pippin – and they're so close, Diamond could reach out and just touch them, and would they be warm, as she is, again? She watches long enough, attention half on that and half on Estella, as Pippin moves against Merry – and they wind up, somehow, twisted all up in a tangle of coverlets, gasping as they laugh.

They're beautiful, she thinks. She doesn't think she'd want to come between them, not ever. (Well, to come between them – that, she thinks, is something else, and she blushes brightly at the – at the boldness, of that thought.)

And Estella laughs. "What are you thinking?"

"Things I probably shouldn't think," Diamond replies, feeling mostly demure. "My mother must be wanting after me, and wondering where I am – and my father, too, and I suppose we're all lucky my brothers haven't come about, intent on breaking down the door."

"There'd be no need to break it down," Estella laughs, again. "It isn't kept locked."

Diamond doesn't know whether she should join in, or not, so she settles on smiling, instead. "This is all very – not like me, Estella. But I don't think I mind it. I rather think I like it." She does like it, a whole lot. She likes Estella, and Merry and Pippin really aren't as awful as she'd first thought.

She sets her hand on Estella's, and their fingers thread close. Diamond smiles even wider. Estella settles against her, all warm and smooth and bare as dawn. Diamond winds one arm about her waist, and sets a kiss at Estella's brow. "My brothers would – oh, Serdy would give me the talking to of my life, and I don't even want to think about what they'd do Merry and Pippin. And I'm not a child – anything but that, I know, but I'm not – well, you know? I still feel so very young."

"Well, you're not." Estella snuggles closer, breaks off a piece of bread, and offers it to Diamond. Diamond accepts, and then Pippin settles down beside her, snuggling up close, one arm going about her, the other reaching for the bread – but passing it over, and picking up an apple, instead. Merry sits next to Estella, though he doesn't seem to be one for snuggling. He cuts the food out into proper portions, and Estella smiles, then kisses his cheek. "You are very good to us, you know."

"Yes, well, I know," and then he kisses her in return. "For all that Pippin has properly worn me out." He does look it, mussed and rumpled, and he'd given up on his trousers, at some time, perhaps even before Pippin had been through with it.

"It's only because I love you," Pippin returns, and Diamond does like the sound of that, for all that she's – peeking, yes, that's it, and wanting a better look at Merry, and all over.

"Yes, well, I know," Merry returns, and he grins at Diamond, catching that she's looking. She looks away, and Pippin laughs, low, and nuzzles his mouth against her cheek.

"I think I would like a chance to properly wear you out," he murmurs, and his mouth finds hers. He tastes of Merry, and faintly of salt, and the bitter tart of apple all lie heavy on his tongue.

"We've hours before dawn."

This, Diamond thinks – though she can't take her mouth from Pippin's, and the kiss slides deeper even as the fire pops and crack and the lantern-light flickers, pale gold, low – that they've more than that, and right there, all for the taking.

And she'll take it all, as much as she can hold.