Chapter 12 - Mila.exe not working

"...Mila?"

"Mila!"

The twins' annoyed voice jolted Mila from the memory of last night with Glorfindel. When she looked at them, both were looking at her with annoyed look in their steel grey eyes.

"You are absolutely not focused today," Elladan reprimanded her with a frown. "Where did your mind venture to?"

"Did you not hear anything we said for the past three minutes?" Elrohir butted with an equal annoyance on his expression.

Mila shook her head, sighing. "Sorry. I didn't get enough sleep last night. Can you repeat that again?"

"Your mission continues," said Elladan, giving his brother a look before turning back at Mila with determination on his expression. "Glorfindel is back."

"Get close to him. Find out who he harbors feelings for–"

"You can even try to get yourself in his chamber, now that you live next to him. Maybe he will open up," suggested Elladan with a flat face, yet he couldn't hide the suggestive look he had in his eyes.

Mila frowned. "Do you know how creepy that sounds?"

"What my brother meant is, it's not wrong to visit an ellon and gift him a bottle of dorwinion wine and drink together–"

"It's a common courtesy. Who knows he might loosen up some of his inhibitions and–"

"–That is still creepy. You want me to get him drunk?" Mila shook her head in disbelief as the three conversed in a hushed voice in the middle of the dining hall. She leaned forward. "Are you mad?"

"It's a perfectly well thought of plan. You don't need to worry, Glorfindel is a perfect gentleman. He will not do anything to you–"

"–That you don't want–"

"We'll have the bottle sent to your room. I promise you it is the best dorwinion wine, fit for a king."

Mila couldn't help but scoffed in disbelief at these two elves who were still scheming plans, putting their noses where they don't belong, making her spy on Glorfindel and now trying to make her get the golden haired elf drunk.

"Okay. I'll do it when I'm free," she said nonchalantly.

"Mila, this is the utmost important part of your job. Leave everything else to Ilya. Glorfindel is your first priori–"

"–He's here. He's here. Act surprised!!" hissed Elrohir, especially to Mila, cutting their previous conversation.

Mila watched as the twins resumed their meal, eating rather daintily, while she too, opted to look at her food in front of her.

She dared not look at Glorfindel.

Glorfindel walked over to their table, looking somewhat fresh despite not having enough sleep last night. Mila only glanced at him once, before averting her eyes back to her food.

This time, Glorfindel chose to sit next to Mila, his eyes gentle as he greeted her first. "Good morning."

"Oh? Oh! Glorfindel you're back!" Mila beamed, touching her heart as if she was surprised. "It's been a long time," she said, emphasizing the word long.

Elladan and Elrohir looked at her as if she was crazy. Her acting was terrible.

The legendary elf warrior smiled at her courteously.

"Yes. It has, hasn't it?" said Glorfindel, glancing at both twins in front of him.

"We miss you terribly, uncle," muttered Elrohir half heartedly, to which elicited a light smile on Glorfindel's face.

The twins watched the tension between both Mila and Glorfindel. None of them looked at each other, or even tried to start a conversation, and each of them seemed to be rather fixated at their breakfast.

Did something happen between them, Ro?

I don't know. Whatever it is, I don't like it.

"So..." Elladan broke the awkward silence, "Back to our conversation before," the eldest twin looked intently at Mila, "You may have an extra day off today, as per your request."

Mila looked at him with a frown. She didn't–

"Ahh yes she's free today. Glorfindel is free as well, aren't you?" Ro butted in, looking at Glorfindel, "You two should catch up. You know, talking about your business partnership–"

"–Or just talking in general."

Mila raised her brow at the twins before glancing at Glorfindel next to her, then quickly averted her eyes. She cleared her throat.

"Actually, I want to spend my day off at the village," Mila took the advantage of the twins' scheming, "I need to make some adjustments to my clothes, and I'm going to do some research on ingredients prices at the market."

"Really? Nine months and your little project is not done yet?" Elladan said in suspicion, clearly unhappy that Mila deviated from their plan.

"I've been slacking," Mila admitted, blushing in embarrassment as she sent an apologetic look at the said business partner sitting next to her. Glorfindel offered her a gracious smile.

"It's alright. No rush, Mila. I'm patient," he said before turning to the twins. "I am also not completely free today. I need to attend to a personal business. I promised to deliver a message to someone from Lord Celeborn."

I do not like this, brother.

They stay the same. Grew apart, even. I thought distance makes the heart grow fonder?

Let's wait and see. If the problem still persist, we shall move to Phase Three.

I sure hope it doesn't come to that, Phase Three is by far the riskiest.

Desperate time calls for desperate measure.

"The four of us can catch up while we're here as we enjoy our breakfast," Glorfindel said, putting his fork down and folded his hands on top of the table, "So what do I miss?"

The moment the breakfast ended, Mila and Glorfindel said their goodbye awkwardly before going the opposite way. To the twins, it was as if both were avoiding each other.

What in the world happened to them?

Did you see Mila? She was quiet.

Glorfindel is still obviously in love with her but he... What is he doing?

Did something happen that we didn't know about?

This bad, Ro. I don't think Glorfindel will be alright if Mila–

–Not being alright is an understatement. What do we do? Can Phase Three solve this problem?

Phase Three? Look at them. They're not meeting eye to eye. If we go with Phase Three now they will hate each other even more.

The twins had an exact expression of exasperation on their identical faces.

***

As Mila made her way towards the stables, a tall figure came out of nowhere and took her hand. She'd knew that touch anywhere, even before seeing his familiar angel face.

"Mila."

"Glorfindel."

"How did I do?"

Mila had a flat look on her face only for a moment before she could no longer contain her smile; so was Glorfindel. The elf quickly grabbed her by her waist and cornered her against the wall of the stable entrance while no one was looking. Their faces so close that their nose were touching.

"I missed you, little one," sighed Glorfindel affectionately with his lover voice that dripped like honey. How was it even possible that his voice, his face, his everything, grow even better with time?

"I missed you–"

He silenced her with long, loving kiss, silently telling her that he missed her more. More than she could imagine. Their kisses turned heady, intoxicating, stoking fire that Glorfindel had never expect to run through his veins. Her soft lips were his lifeline, and to Mila, his kisses were like cool water on a hot summer day, or a warm embrace in a cold winter night.

Glorfindel could not think anything more exquisite than the way she kissed him, or the way her small hands rested on his back, as if promising him heaven with those sweet touches.

When they pulled away for air, both were breathless, and he watched with awe how her reddened lips parted slightly and her chest heaving because of him. Glorfindel stroke her cheek softly with the back of his hand.

"Run away with me," he breathed, his eyes fleeted between her eyes and her lips, "Just for today."

Mila gave a small kiss at the tip of his smile in response, making his heart soar higher. "Where?" she asked with an adorably raspy voice after the kiss.

"Anywhere the twins won't find us."

Mila giggled at their little payback at the twins. "Oh, I think we got them good."

"I think we did," chuckled Glorfindel lightly, before stealing another deep kiss from Mila, enjoying the feel of her lips like it was the sweetest thing he ever tasted.

Compared to her, the legendary elf warrior was probably twice as big, yet from someone so little, Glorfindel noted, he felt love and affection so big radiating off of her, that he even wondered how such love could fit someone so small.

She wrapped her arms around his neck; delicate against his strong fighter form. Though Glorfindel felt how fragile her humanity was, the way she returned his kisses with much fervor and heat was exhilarating beyond anything he ever experienced. He felt her effervescent soul, singing to him through every brush and stroke of the touch of her lips.

This was why Glorfindel adored her kisses. Why he couldn't seem to stop since that night she first granted him a taste. Why he should probably stop now, and why he was having trouble pulling away from her sweet mouth.

Because while his fea returned her song as they kiss, hoping to reach her, his own body was fighting him, demanding him to claim her. That utterly selfish, insatiable part of himself, he didn't realize he was capable of harboring until he had her.

There was another part of him that contradict himself when it comes to Mila. She felt delightfully soft and sweet against him, and her innocence, despite his desires, called for another fierce instinct within him. That is, to protect her.

That was when Glorfindel pulled away. Reluctant, wistful, yet still leaving him hopeful and elated.

"Let's go before Temar sees us," he breathed, his eyes heavy as he felt her sweet breath against his face.

Mila smiled and brushed her small nose against his, prompting a breathless chuckle out of him.

Cute.

After getting Asfaloth from the stables, Glorfindel lifted Mila to his horse before mounting himself. Unlike the last time, this time the two were able to freely relish their closeness as they rode towards their destination. Mila hugged his middle along the way, and being a bubbly girl that she was, she began animatedly chatting while Glorfindel, being more of a subdued personality, happily listened to her, while stealing her kisses whenever he got the chance.

Arriving at the riverside where Glorfindel once brought her to console her, he helped her down and they both sat in each other's arms under a tall, old tree by the edge of the calm Bruinen River. The sounds of their laughter as they reminisced the look on the twins' face reverberating through the comfy summer afternoon.

"...I still can't believe the mystery elleth was me," Mila chuckled, shaking her head in disbelief, before tilting her head up to look at Glorfindel who had his arm around her shoulders, "I thought it would be someone destructively beautiful like, I don't know. Erussiel."

"You think she's destructively beautiful?" he asked, lightly tucking back a strand of her wavy dark hair behind her rounded ear as his striking blue eyes held hers.

"Yeah," Mila nodded, before turning her eyes to the river before their eyes, "So why me?"

"Why not?" Glorfindel replied with playfulness in his azure blue eyes, deliberately holding back his true answer to tease her.

"Because I have a theory," Mila shrugged, "We both have shared experience. An intense one," she added, thinking back to their past lives, then gazed back up to Glorfindel's handsome face. "You might think you love me, but I have to warn you, I've heard relationships based on intense experiences never work."

Mila had a smug look on her face for quoting Keanu Reeves from the movie Speed, though she would flip a thousand times if Glorfindel return her quip with Annie's line. Thank god he didn't.

Glorfindel raised a neat brow. "Are you doubting my feelings for you after what I confessed last night?"

Mila actually paused to think about it. Glorfindel was a ten–no, he's a twenty at least; she was probably... five and a half, compared to these beauty queens in Rivendell? Though she enjoyed the way he cared and apparently loved her, immensely, she also doubted his feelings. And if this love as he put it was temporary, and that it might fade someday–

"Mila."

Mila hummed and looked up to him.

"Even if I wake up here in this time without my memory, give me enough time and I would still eventually fall in love with you. Because loving you is easy."

Mila blushed, though Glorfindel could see the unconvinced look still in her eyes. This time, the elf warrior took her hand and put it on his chest, his eyes sincere, "I really do love you, Mila."

Mila studied his face silently. At this point Mila was weighing whether or not she want to delve into the sensitive topic that she buried all her life like a skeleton she wished she never had to dig back up. The topic made her really uncomfortable; and generally she just didn't want to be seen as someone insecure.

"I want to know what you're thinking," Glorfindel said, having noted the troubled look on her face.

Mila gently pinched his chiseled cheek and shook her head. "No. Don't worry about it."

"It bothers me," Glorfindel admitted, "Please talk to me."

Mila threw her head back dramatically. "Uhhhh no. Forget I say anything."

Glorfindel was at loss. After last night, he thought that his love for her was mutual. He never thought that she doubted him. He didn't understand. Why would she kissed him like she did if she never loved him?

"Give me a chance," he suddenly broke the silence. Hiding his worry well behind his ever gentle expression, Glorfindel continued. "If there is anything that I can do to convince you of my feelings for you, anything you want me to change or do–"

"Oh, Glorfindel," Mila rubbed her now hot face, "It's not you. You're... You're perfect just the way you are," she blushed harder in embarrassment of what she was about to tell him. "It's not you, it's me."

The elf warrior was confused. He watched as the human girl got up and started pacing before him back and forth. Glorfindel tried to be patient and waited, but she kept doing the same pacing for a whole minute before he lost his patience.

"Mila, you need to tell me whatever it is because apparently this troubles you. Now it is troubling me," he said as his own doubt began to fester inside him.

She turned to Glorfindel, who was still seated gracefully against the tree. "I'll tell you. But I need a moment to sort my mind."

With that Mila walked away, leaving him with a pit in his stomach. His fears began to resurface in his mind.

Did she still have feelings for Legolas? If she did, that would explain why she hadn't told him that she loved him in return. But why would she accept his kisses? Why gave him such hope? The elf couldn't make sense of it.

Mila was walking about a few metres away from him, where there was a patch of land with grass on it. She ceremoniously sat down on it, before laying down flat on the ground.

Observing her from afar, Glorfindel couldn't help but chuckle at seeing Mila's eccentricity. She was truly one of a kind, and it was one of the things that he loved about her. He could never guess what she would do next; she always kept him on his toes, and he loved it.

Glorfindel watched her picking the grass mindlessly as her eyes were fixed towards the blue sky. He waited patiently, giving her the space she needed, while he too struggled with his own doubt and took the time to do some introspection.

He could not find any other explanation for her behavior, other than that maybe, all this time, Mila still secretly harbored feelings for Legolas. Sighing quietly, Glorfindel didn't expect today to take such a sharp turn. His felt hurt more than he expected, to know that she still loved another and not him.

If she did, he wished she hadn't given him any hope.

Glorfindel stood up and approached her, before lying himself on the grass next to her. Mila turned on her side to look at him, resting her head on her hand. From his point of view, he couldn't help but smile at her pretty face. At the way the sun set behind her. At the way those big eyes that he loved, stared right back at him.

In that moment Glorfindel made up his mind: He didn't have to have her, if she didn't want to, as long as he get to keep her eyes in his life.

Mila exhaled softly. "Answer honestly. You do know that there are many beautiful elves in Rivendell who are attracted to you, right?"

Glorfindel raised his brows in surprise. That was not remotely closer to what the elf had prepared himself to hear. "I know," he answered truthfully. He wasn't blind or oblivious to the fact, but he didn't see where this was going.

"They are all beautiful, right?"

"They are."

"Then why me? Why not them?" Mila pointed out, "I'm not like them. I'm not tall, dainty or graceful or small. I'm–I'm a big girl," she said, as if emphasizing a negative. Glorfindel reminisced how she used to say 'I'm a big girl' when she tried to reassure people that she could do things on her own. But now, the word big didn't seem like a positive thing coming off of her.

"...I'm not even an elf," Mila continued, "I don't have naturally glowing skin. I don't know how to curtsy; I'm weird and awkward and clumsy. My ears are round; I am round," Mila babbled to herself, as if realizing the last part of her speech herself. "I'm White, I'm Asian, but I am also neither. I'm never White enough, but I'm also not Asian enough. Back then they would just call me an immigrant." Mila shrugged, "Some nicer people would call me exotic, as if I am a near extinct Sumatran Tiger. Now here, in this world? I–I don't even know what I am anymore."

Glorfindel was appalled at hearing Mila's ranting. Of all the heartbreaking things he imagined to hear from her, this was not what he expected at all.

"Even the–" Mila chuckled bitterly, the rim of her eyes began to redden in memory, "Even the orcs in Saruman's tower called me hybrid because they don't know what I am."

"Mila–"

"–I tried to blend in, you know. Being a servant in Imladris seems like a good way to do it because the alternative would be like, what does a human woman with unknown origin with a confusing skin color do in the House of Rivendell as a guest?"

Her eyes had been welling with sudden emotions as she continued her ranting with a forceful smile, for him. Glorfindel couldn't take the pain in her eyes anymore. He tried to pull her to him, but she refused his comfort and pushed him gently away, as if she wasn't done talking.

"–And then you came along. You gave me your attention. Your friendship. Your love," Mila said with a wistful smile on her face, the crease on her temple deepened, and her beautiful night eyes began leaking with tears.

Something broke inside him as she forced him to listen and watch her break down bit by bit with every word she uttered.


"With you, I've never felt more special. But then you want me to be this person by your side, while I–I don't fit the criteria at all. Next to you I'm going to stick out like a very sore thumb," she finished with frustration in her voice and her expression.

By the time she caught a breath from her ranting episode, she realized then how stupid she had behaved in front of such a calm and collected Glorfindel. For the verbal diarrhea she threw up at him. For being emotional. For crying.

Mila was humiliated.

So humiliated at herself, that she turn her face away from him. But this time, he didn't let her. The woman struggled to hide her face and turned her body away from him, that Glorfindel had no choice but to get on top of her to get her to look at his eyes.

"Look at me, little one," Mila heard his gentle voice as she felt his body pinning hers to the ground, not giving her any chance to get away from his view. So she did what she could and closed her eyes.

"Please, Mila. Open your eyes," Glorfindel pleaded her gently. When she did not heed him, he had to resort to threats. "If you don't, I will keep you here, like this," he grabbed her wrists and pinned them beside her head, "...until you open your eyes and listen to what I have to say."

Mila stubbornly kept her eyes closed, still nursing her humiliation. She did try to get her wrists free from Glorfindel's grasp, yet her efforts were feeble against the strength of his warrior hands.

Helpless, Mila tried a different tactic. "I think need more time to sort my mind," she sniffled.

"No," Glorfindel responded right away, "I think I gave you enough time already."

Defeated, she slowly opened her still wet lids, and a pair of beautiful dark eyes that never fail to cause butterfly in his stomach stared right back at him. "I'm sorry," she apologized with a cracked voice, her cheek still heated from tears and shame.

Glorfindel's azure blue eyes were gentle and loving when he looked at her. "You need not to apologize for being truthful about how you feel," he murmured softly before leaving a small kiss on top of her nose, "You've always been so vibrant and cheerful, that it never occured to me that you have these kind of feelings you told me about yourself."

"I know I must sound petty and insecure to you," she mumbled sadly.

"Petty? No," the elf said with a small smile, "Insecure? Absolutely."

Mila closed her eyes, seeming like she was about to cry again, but before she could, Glorfindel continued. "Everyone have insecurities, Mila. But not everyone is brave enough to admit it. I know I have mine."

Mila opened her heavy eyes. "What could you be insecure about?" she blurted in disbelief.

"I did tell you that not everyone is brave enough to admit their insecurities, did I not?" he said, looking somewhat bashful, "I will tell you some other time. But now, since you are clearly upset, I'm going to tell you a story, and I expect you to listen. Can I trust you not to hide yourself from me if I let go of your hands?"

Mila nodded, and so he released her hands and placed his palms on the grass next to the girl's head. "This is a story of one Radagast the Brown. Do you know who he is?"

"He's a wizard," Mila answered half heartedly, now starting to become aware of the position they found themselves in, "Do you want to move to a more comfortable position while we..."

"I am comfortable. Thank you," he said courteously, that if she didn't know him, she wouldn't have detected the slight mischief in his eyes.

Mila blushed.

"I met him once while he visited Rivendell. The brown wizard mainly concerns himself with the well-being of the plants and animals in Arda, especially those under his protection in the deep forest. Hence, it was only fitting that his favorite spot throughout Rivendell is our garden."

Mila soon found herself being lulled by the deep timbre of Glorfindel's melodious voice. Soon, she was hanging upon his every word, enchanted.

"Like me, he was content and pleased enough to observe the flowers that Lord Elrond grew in his garden, without having an urge to pick or put them in a vase, until one day, he spotted a single flower growing in the midst of the roses that Ilya tended to so carefully. It was the Flower of An Hour," Glorfindel narrated softly as he stroke her left cheek with the tips of his fingers, and Mila's heart skipped a beat.

"The Flower of An Hour was considered a weed, one that Ilya resented, for they grow randomly and messes up the landscape she worked so hard to maintain. I relayed this information to Radagast, yet he seemed so taken by the wild flower among the roses. So everyday since, at the same time, the jolly old wizard came to the garden. Not for the roses, but for that one little flower and to watch her during her one hour bloom."

Glorfindel pecked Mila's lips, pleased as he noted the blush on her cheek, before continuing his story.

"The day for his departure had come and I had the honor of escorting him to our border. The wizard seemed to have a lot in his mind that day. We bid each other farewell, but not a few minutes into his journey home, Radagast came running back to me, breathless."

"Wait!!!" exclaimed Radagast, running back to Glorfindel and his party, breathless. The old wizard's expression was anxious as he adjusted the pointy hat he had on top of his unruly grey hair that was tipped slightly during his run, "My apology in advance, master elf. I do not think I can go home without the flower. I want it. Do you think Lord Elrond would let me have it?"

Glorfindel looked at the Brown Wizard with surprise. "Pray tell, Radagast. Is that why you seem so restless when we leave the House of Elrond–all because of that one flower?"

The old wizard nodded. "I grow so fond of it, I do not have the heart to part with it, for I have never seen a flower so beautiful in my life before."

Glorfindel was confused.

"It is going to be sunset by the time we come back here if we are go back to the House of Rivendell to fetch the flower," Glorfindel cast his azure blue eyes upon the wilderness around them, "I am sure we can find one or two of them around here–"

Radagast shook his head enthusiastically. "No, no, master elf. I wish to deflower the one in the garden and put it in a pot. It is the one that calls to me."

The balrog slayer understood Radagast's zeal for the plants and trees that grow on Arda, for it was in his blood as one of the Eldars as well. But he couldn't quite comprehend how the Brown Wizard cared so deeply for that particular wild flower.

"I must warn you beforehand, mellon nin, for the flower you wished to bring home with you is delicate. I do not think it is going to last your journey home, or even able to survive in such harsh environment as the Great Forest. Out of Rivendell, it might wilt sooner than you think. You might not see it bloom again."

The old wizard leaned on his staff and petted the small animal that rested on his shoulder. "Then I shall take my chances. For even if it wilts tomorrow, at least I can still look at it today while it blooms, so that I have no regrets."

"That is so sweet of him," Mila commented with a smile, "Silly, but sweet. I like him."

Glorfindel chuckled. "I'm sure he would like you too, Mila."

"So does the flower made it to the Great Forest?" asked Mila as she played with a strand of Glorfindel's golden hair.

"I do not know, Mila. That event took place more than a hundred years ago, in another reality that we left behind," he replied, "That event never took place. I can't find Radagast in my memory. In this reality, I have never met him."

"Wow. So it was a lifetime ago then, in more ways than one," Mila hummed, "Now that's too bad. It means he never finds that flower here. That's the bluish little flower with tiny yellow fluff in the middle, right? Now that I think about it, I think I've never seen them around here, or in the garden."

Mila fell into a deep thinking before muttering, "The flower may never exist in this reality. Maybe it extinct," thought Mila with a mild concerned look on her pretty face. "If Radagast know what he missed, he would've been very sad."

Glorfindel watched her with an amused smile. "While Radagast might lost the flower, I found it."

"Where?"

Glorfindel cupped her face, his smile kind and fond, "Right here," he said with reverence in his blue eyes.

While Mila.exe was still loading, Glorfindel continued his ministration on her. He leaned closer to her, his breath fanning softly against her cheek.

"You're the one flower that caught my eyes," he said in his low, lover voice, planting his lips on her cheek, "The one that calls to me," his lips trailed down to her jaw, leaving traces of heat that spread across her skin, making her breathless, "The most beautiful my eyes ever laid upon," he kissed her lips deeply, making Mila felt light headed, before breaking the kiss. As his left hand supported his weight as to not crushed her under his weight, his right hand stroke her side sensually, feeling her curves, making the poor mortal woman combust with desire, "The one I want to... deflower," he said with slight mischief in his eyes at the word, "...and bring home with me. It's always been you, Mila."

Mila blushed furiously upon understanding the meaning behind the little story that he narrated to her. The hidden metaphor. The way he looked at her with much love and desire made her heart swell with wonder and her body ache in need for the handsome elf.

Mila cupped his face and pulled him for a kiss; one that ignited fever in her blood.

Unlike the usual, his kisses now were sloppy, tainted heavily with passion. Mila felt the tip of his tongue tasting her, and in return she parted her lips slightly, granting him entrance. Glorfindel deepened the kiss, and upon tasting him in her mouth, Mila felt her head swam in drunkenness for him.

When they broke the kiss for air, Glorfindel was unable to part with her that he resorted to trace his lips downwards, kissing the delicate skin of her neck, following his baser instinct.

The smell of her skin was intoxicating. And if the pleasure that ran down his whole being wasn't enough torture to his self restrain, then the small mewling noises that the human girl made was enough to push him closer towards the point of no return.

No. He cannot. Not like this.

"Tell me to stop, Mila," he breathed to her ear, desire clouding his senses.

"Don't stop."

Her wandering hands had traveled to his head, and he felt her fingers delightfully across his scalp, stoking the fire that he didn't know whether he could control. But it was when her fingers had began to gently stroke his sensitive ears that he felt pleasure jolted across his whole being towards his lower abdomen.

Fearing losing control with her, Glorfindel used what willpower he had left to cease his kisses and took her fingers off of his ears, pinning her wrists again on the ground.

"Stop," he said shakily, his own breathing ragged with desire.

The view of Mila's reddened lips, parted enticingly at him; the pleading in her romantic dark eyes and the way her chest heaved as she gasped for air nearly destroy him.

"Can't you keep your hands to yourself?"

That line somehow broke whatever fog that had clouded Mila's mind earlier. The girl suddenly broke into a fit of giggle, one that make the legendary elf warrior on top of her smile in amusement.

He got off of her and offered his hands to help her stand up.

"I'm sorry," Glorfindel apologized almost bashfully, "I shouldn't have gotten carried away. I went too far with you."

"We both went too far together," she said, still hiding the remains of her amused giggle.

"For someone so innocent, you are quite the temptress," Glorfindel said in realization, and quite a bit of awe as well.

"Am I?"

"Yes, Mila. Next time, you are not allowed to touch my ears without my permission," he deadpanned.

"Why not?" Mila asked as they began their walk back to where Asfaloth waited for them, her expression curious, "Did that excite you?"

The balrog slayer closed his eyes at the small girl he held in his arm. "Don't make me blush, Mila."

***

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