The Hobbit & Lord of the Rings -oneshots II

Puzzles and patience - Pippin

Warnings: Frustration, puzzle pieces not fitting?
Word count: 777
Other: Me and my roommate have gotten quite into puzzles during the big C, and the inspiration for this fic comes from that (and the fact that I almost lost my mind one night trying to find a piece to fit one spot). This is a bit on the shorter end but well.
Requested: by my wonderful roommate

You and Pippin put together a puzzle, and he fails to see how it is supposed to be relaxing.

The puzzle was laid out in your living room, in a corner where you still could access it easily, but also it was not in your way when you walked around your house. Pippin had purchased an extra lantern for that corner so you could see what you were doing, and after a while, he had been roped into putting it together too. The floor and the surrounding floors were bathed in warm candlelight as you sat side by side in the corner, your hands sometimes brushing as you put together the puzzle, your mugs of tea resting on each side of you, a safe distance from the puzzle but still close enough for you to take a sip whenever you wanted.

The evening was serene, only a few pops of the fire burning in the fireplace and the clicks of the old wooden furniture filled your house in addition to your breathing. Or at least that was the case for the first few minutes of making the puzzle.

Pippin groaned in frustration, holding another piece to the puzzle. He had tried to get it to fit into the spot he had been building, but it hadn't.
"I don't understand how you manage to fit your pieces in. Mine never do, and it's starting to drive me nuts!" He huffed and took a sip of his tea. It was still piping hot, and he burned his tongue in the progress, and that didn't make him feel any better.
"You just aren't trying the right pieces." You remarked gently, giving him a bump with your shoulder as yet another of your pieces slotted neatly into place. Pippin groaned at that, picking up another piece and trying to make it fit. He had been stuck in the spot for three days now, and he refused to let you help. You glanced at your tea but as it was still steaming you didn't take a sip, and as you continued to shift through the pieces, looking for one that might fit.

You shifted on the plush pillow you were seated on, continuing to put together the field of flowers that covered most of the bottom of the puzzle. Pippin was struggling to put together the mountain that was situated at the top of the picture. You had separated the pieces into piles according to color before you had started with the color as you searched for the edge pieces, and that was making the job a lot easier. Well, at least for you. Poor Pippin seemed to choose the wrong pieces no matter how hard he looked through the pile.
"I do not understand how I am supposed to find any pieces that fit!" He yelled, and you grabbed the piece out of his hand to stop him from throwing it somewhere where it could never be recovered from.
"You have to look at the colors, and find the place it fits. Like this," as if to prove your point, you tapped the piece Pippin had been struggling with for half and hour easily into place.
"HOW?!" He yelled, staring at the piece with a look that was a mix of anger and wonder like it housed some sort of magic that you had been able to bend to your will.

Just something sort and sweet, I had a bit of a problem in the beginning to make this work and it almost ended up as too short for me to publish, but I rewrote some of the small scenes and now they not only work better but have a bit of a bigger word count so I can publish them without feeling bad for publishing something that is too short in my opinion.

Do you like putting puzzles together? Is it a calming exercise for you or does the slowness infuriate you?

If you are interested in requests, you'll have to wait until next year starts, as I will open them in January. I have a few requests left that I want to finish before opening them again, and I want to get back to writing actively before I take more requests in.