By: Dana
Summary: Where what you want isn't the same as what you get.
Characters: Pippin, Merry
Pairings: Merry/Pippin
Rating: PG
Warnings: Slash
Author's Notes: Pre-quest, and vague in that random sort of drowsy summer afternoon sort of way. I know, I know. Like I haven't done this sort of thing before. As well, I have decided that I am rather obsessed with hobbits when they sleep. That is all. (Well, and thanks to Hyel for help with the title.)
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.

It was hot, that dusty sort of heat that blanketed the calm of the day with a quiet that seemed a little too unreal; where the sun was too bright and too yellow and the sky was too blue. It felt like everything was going to wash away and fade to green.

Pippin yawned, rousing from his nap. He cracked his eyes open, stretched a bit, thankful for the patch of shade where they'd chosen to lay. The sun was creeping up on the edges and the shadows were stretching out, longer, as they neared the end of the day. And Pippin was a very many things in that moment, comfortable and warm and sated, and most of all he was more than just a little bit hungry.

Merry was still curled up on his side, deep asleep, and Pippin frowned as he angled his leg to give his cousin an uninspired kick in the side. "Wake up, Merry," he said, annoyed. Merry snuffled and rubbed his cheek, curling a bit more in on himself. Pippin's frown deepened and he gave another kick, his heel pressing hard against Merry's hip.

"Merry, wake up!"

Merry grumbled and cracked one eye open, staring blearily at Pippin with an irritated frown stitched onto his face. In opposition, Pippin's smile was sudden and bright. "There you are," he said, rising up and giving a small cat-like purr as he stretched, his back cracking with a satisfying pop. "And there we go."

Merry grumbled something and closed his eye. Pippin rolled his eyes and tapped his cousin on the side of the head. "It's time to wake, Merry-my-own. Time to trek back to the Smials for tea."

"It's far too hot," Merry mumbled.

"Maybe we ought to go for a swim..."

"It's far too hot," Merry mumbled once again.

Pippin's stomach, however, was finding that hard to believe. It gave an unhappy grumble and once again, Pippin frowned. "Get up, Merry, get up."

But Merry most certainly didn't seem to want to get up.

Pippin bit on his lip then sighed and leaned over, pushing against his shoulder. "Merry-my-own, I'm hungry," he said, with a grumble and a sigh. And that was supposed to get Merry to move. But Merry's only reply was a something that sounded mumbled as if he was chewing on his wrist.

Pippin sighed again and leaned back, shaking his head. "Silly, silly, you're a bit too silly, if you know what I mean."

But he was quiet after that, besides the shuffle of fabric, and Merry thought that maybe he might just be able to get back to sleep. It seemed that he was right.

But then, it seemed that he was wrong.

After what seemed to be the passing of an age, Merry woke with a start as something cold and very wet splashed on his back. "Pippin!" he cried, his voice a bit strangled, and Pippin and sat the bucket down, wiping his hands free of grit. Merry flopped over onto his side and glared up at his cousin, who was grinning like a mad-hobbit. "Now what was that for?"

"I wanted to get you up," Pippin replied in an obvious enough tone.

"But why did you do that?"

"Now you're up."

Merry grumbled and sat up. With a sigh, he ran his hands back through his hair. Awake, well, he was certainly awake. Pippin would be pleased. He reached for his shirt, light enough for the heat of the day, but too much for an extended nap. He frowned and pulled it on, and Pippin sat down across from him.

"To the Smials, then? We might just make it in time for tea..."

Merry did his buttons up, one by one. "Honestly, you."

"I can't help it, you know," Pippin said thoughtfully, picking a small pebble up from where it rested amidst the grass and fallen leaves, rubbing it back and forth between his forefinger and thumb. "Tiring you out makes me hungry."

Merry snorted softly, laughing, and then he shook his head. "If I remember right, I did a bit of tiring you out, as well."

"You might be right," Pippin replied, taking aim and flicking the pebble at the base of a tree that rose up behind where Merry sat. It hit with a satisfying tck, and rolled back into the taller grass that grew round the bases of the trees. "Actually, I'm rather sure."

With that, Pippin scooted a bit closer and sat down with a hmm, batting at Merry's hands and finishing the slow work that Merry had been making with his shirt. Merry tried to fight back a yawn, felt his eyes water, and failed as it escaped in an unhappy little gust of breath.

Pippin grinned and tweaked Merry's chin, tilting his head, and pressed his mouth to Merry's. It was very still for a moment and Pippin's breath was a pinprick of warmth against Merry's lips. He was very happy to move, just a bit, and sighed a bit as Pippin took a swipe at his lower lip with his tongue. He leaned back, then, felt the bite of the bark through the thin fabric of his shirt, damp and a bit cool, felt the warmth and weight of Pippin's frame as he pushed against him.

"You're a bit too warm," Merry sighed against Pippin's lips, and Pippin pushed his hands up through Merry's curls, and kissed him again.

And if it had been warm then, well, it was getting a bit too hot. Pippin rearranged himself, sliding to sit on Merry's lap, and Merry just about groaned into Pippin's mouth. The world was too lazy, he felt too slow, like a build up that was worth it all, slow and sweet. And there were those that said that Pippin hadn't a bit of patience to his name.

He had a bit too much, if you asked Merry.

And it ended abruptly, with a soft sigh. Pippin, smirking, sat back just a bit; right then, he most certainly was the center of Merry's world. "Shall we go for tea, then?"

And Merry groaned.