We continued our walk in the darkness of Moria. For what seemed like a lifetime, everything was gloomy, black and white, and it affected everyone's mood. We only talked occasionally in hushed voices as we crossed the mountain from beneath, not wanting to attract any hostile attention.

It was hard to tell the time when you're walking in an endless darkness. I imagined we probably had walked for two days, but it could be more. Or it could be less. As most of us rested, I tossed and turned, shifting in hopes to find a comfortable position to sleep in. Despite my bedroll beneath me, it is still impossible to get any sleep.

Especially not with the looming darkness hovering over us, nor the possibility of us being attacked during our sleep. And most importantly, not while feeling the jagged stone floor beneath me poking my back uncomfortably.

Giving up hope of sleep and wanting to make myself useful, I offered to take the watch as the others sleep. Unfortunately, my offer was declined sternly by the men. I sighed.

Aragorn told me to try to sleep. And really I did, but I couldn't. Sleep won't come to me. By this time everyone else had mostly snored in their sleep, so I walked up to Legolas who was on the watch duty and sat next to him. He smiled at me; it was the first smile I saw from him for days and I missed it. I returned his smile with one of my own.

"Trouble sleeping, mellon nin?"

"Yeah," I said, linking my arm to his right one and his smile grew wider.

Don't be surprised. We were already this close now to the point that doing such gesture was no longer uncomfortable for both of us. He only smiled at me as we linked our arms together. I rested the side of my head on his upper arm, feeling Legolas' emotions seeped into me. He was calm and collected, though there was also alertness lurked behind his mind.

Above all, his mind was constantly guarded.

Suddenly I felt sorry for him. He had been up for days now as he offered himself to watch over us, a lot more than the others. Even though I knew elves needed less sleep than mortals do, but still. He must be exhausted.

"Just between me and you," I said, breaking the comfortable silence between us, "What about you take a few hours of sleep and I watch? I seriously can't sleep right now and I can help."

His gaze softened at me, melting my heart. There was a look of fondness in his sweet blue eyes as his gaze met mine. He must think of me like a little sister, I thought cheerily to myself, content with the idea.

But then again, he might also think of me as his great great great greaaaat grand-daughter because of how old he actually was. Him being a 2,919 year old elf literally makes him the most youthful, extremely good looking grandpa out there.

The brief wandering thought of mine was cut by Legolas' answer.

"Nay," he refused with a furrowed brows. "I will not let a lady be burdened by this job. Not as long as I am still healthy and capable doing such thing," he declared softly. I rolled my eyes at him and sighed.

"But you haven't sleep for days!" I retorted in a hushed voice as to not wake the others. "And I'm not a lady. Drop the lady," I said with fake stern face. He laughed silently.

"Elves require very little sleep. I can do this."

"Oh, come on," I groaned at his resolve.

"Thank you for worrying about me, Leane. It warms my heart that you care so about my wellbeing," he said solemnly as he tucked a stray strand of hair behind my ears. I blushed at his touch and he tilted his head, almost in confusion.

Awkward moment ensued.

"You are shy," he stated.

"No, I'm not!" I retorted in protest.

Deny, deny, deny.

"Then why does your cheek turned a darker shade of pink at my touch? Not that I'm complaining..." he said in a low voice and against my will, the heat crept up my neck
I freaked out internally, until I noticed him smirking.

That sassy bastard.

"It's a good look on you. I like it," he gave me an attractive lopsided smile. I smacked him gently and huffed.

"I couldn't help it, okay? You are a guy and I am a girl, it's only natural that I blush at such a gesture!" I exclaimed in hushed voice, trying to cover up my embarrassment with a half-hearted upset tone. "I'm telling you now, you can't just go around doing that to girls. If I didn't know any better I would've thought you were trying to seduce me!" I glared at him. He arched an eyebrow and smirked in amusement.

"And... if I were trying to seduce you?"

"Then you must be very desperate, trying to seduce a smelly, ragged looking girl," I mumbled, "Heck, I might not look like a girl right now." Legolas chuckled and I hit him again.

"Nay, you look beautiful still."

"Thanks for trying to cheer me up, Legolas. But it's not working. Unless I can get a bath then maybe," I shrugged.

"You're worried about cleanliness like an elf."

"Hygiene is a basic human rights," I snorted and he looked a bit confused at my words.

"Never mind," I waved it away and continued, "How do you managed to look immaculate after all this?" I asked, eager to divert the topic off of me. He smiled and didn't say a thing. I shake my head gravely. "I envy you," I pouted and stroke a strand of his blonde hair. "I wish I could look as pretty as you, mellon nin," I said with a dreamy sigh as I studied his glowing blond hair. He raised his eyebrows at me.

"Pretty?" he asked, squinting his eyes at me.

I gave him my legendary shit-eating grin. I was not gonna say 'handsome' and let his head explode with smugness despite the fact that he truly was handsome. Immensely, excruciatingly handsome. Sometimes I wonder how I was able to talk normally and look him in the eyes at his glory without getting stuttered.

I imagine even Mr. Darcy in Pride and Pejudice wouldn't be able to rival Legolas.

"May I braid this?" I asked while holding a strand of his smooth blond hair. He blinked for a bit and nodded.

I absent mindedly braided a small part of his hair near his cute pointy ear to a small braid. I secretly watched his face as I did. He closed his eyes at my touch, making me grin again. If only he knew what a hair treatment and massage is and what kind of indulgence it was. He might as well sleep at the salon for a whole week.

Oh what a sophisticated queen Legolas would be!

I smiled at my stray imagination. I continued my work, studying his hair. It was straight, so soft and glowing. It was perfect. The word 'tangled' was not found in his book.

Did he used conditioner? There must be some sort of technique Legolas applied to wash or brush his hair that every strands were not just glowing with health and radiance, but also easily managed and smooth to touch.

I can literally see hair model on Earth weep in utter despair to see, touch and feel his hair like I did.

After I was done, I tied it with a small strand of leather band.

"There," I said patting his braided hair gently. I nodded approvingly at my creation. What I did to him then felt exactly like those cliché movies of girls braiding each other's hair. I smiled at the thought. Legolas turned to look at me, his expression unreadable.

At a split second I considered if I had offended him but he finally smiled and my doubt was suddenly forgotten. We sat there in a comfortable silence for a moment. We ended up chatting for an hour more until he spoke.

"Mellon nin, you have accompanied me for too long now. Sleep, you need your strength for tomorrow," he said.

"I can't sleep. I'm fine here, Legolas," I replied flatly.

How could I sleep knowing what would happen to Gandalf soon? It haunted me. Yes I knew he'd be back after the fall, but the thought of the others' reaction and their feelings about it gave my mind no rest ever since we entered Moria. I glanced back at my sleeping companions and sighed.

"Allow me to help you."

Without waiting for my permission, Legolas put both of his hands on my face. My confused eyes met his soft but intense blue ones that seemed to glow a bit under the dim light. He started speaking in elvish language that I didn't understand. I was about to question him, but my eyes became suddenly hazy and I lost any energy to even open my mouth. I frowned.

He let go of his hands only to place it behind my neck and my back to support me as I swayed backwards. The smell of his grass, leathery smell hit me, lulling me to unconsciousness as my surroundings grew darker.

"Losto, pen vain."

***

[Author's Note: Losto, pen vain = Sleep, beautiful one. Sooooo what do you think about the fluff? Leave me your thoughts, opinions and constructive critics in the comments below, and if you enjoy the chapter don't forget to show the love and vote ♥️ Thank you awesome readers. I love y'all, *in Gollum's voice* MY PRECIOUSSSSS]