A/N: I'm sorry it's taken me so long to update, but my brother's been very busy with university work so he had to put this off for a while. I must also apologize for completely forgetting to reply to my reviews for the first chapter, I'm very sorry.

Chapter 3

A month had passed since Glorfindel's attempt to seduce Erestor. She had now been given time to relax and assure herself that Glorfindel had finally given up.

She shifted the thick pile of papers in her arms, glaring at the library door. She needed to pass though the library in order to get to her office, but the door was shut and her arms where full. She paused for a moment, glaring at the door handle: now how was she going to open the door? She looked around and sighed; she was going to have to put all her papers down on the floor, open the door, and then pick them up again.

She was just about to do just this when the door opened to the grinning face of Glorfindel. She almost groaned.

"Erestor, what a pleasure it is to see you! Here, allow me to help you with those."

She stepped back abruptly as Glorfindel reached out to help her. "I am fine. I do not need any help from you."

Glorfindel merely shrugged and slipped past Erestor. She glared after him, wondering what he had been doing in the library, when a she-elf spoke up from the doorway.

"Would you like me to help you, Erestor?"

"If you would just open my office door Andune."

Andune was her quiet chief librarian. She had hair the colour of fiery sunset and was of invaluable help to Erestor. She ably administrated the library and all related matters, taking it out of Erestor's hands and reducing her workload by a great deal. She walked ahead of Erestor and opened her office door, allowing Erestor to enter before closing it again.

Erestor was about to place the papers down on the desk when she saw a single blood-red rose sitting in the centre of her desk. "Glorfindel," she sighed in exasperation, dumping the papers on the edge of the desk.

She roughly grabbed the rose, preparing to throw it away when the fire caught her eye. She walked towards the fire, tapping the petals against her cheek. If Glorfindel insisted on playing these games then she would reply in kind. She reached out and let the flower catch alight, then watched as the petals were consumed by flames.

(&)

Glorfindel relaxed in the Hall of Fire, listening to the songs as he watched elves walk past; his gaze lingered longer on some than others. He leaned further back in his seat. Across the hall, he could see Celebrian embroidering with one of her ladies. He saw Erestor step out of the shadows and approach her. They held a short whispered conversation, at the end of which Celebrian handed her work to her lady beside her and left the hall.

Glorfindel rose quickly to intercept Erestor before she moved too far.

"Erestor, I must admit, it is a pleasant surprise to see you here, especially since we missed you at the evening meal."

Erestor looked at him in that way she loved to, the way that said 'scum'. "I had work to do."

"That's good news. I was almost lead to believe that we had scared you away."

Glorfindel noticed that much of the hall was watching them (some even seemed to be trying to listen in), though this may have been because most of Imladris half-expected one to kill the other whenever they passed in the hallway, let alone when they had a 'conversation' together (rare as that was).

"I really would not rush to give yourself too much credit," and she turned away from him. Glorfindel was about to leap into action when Erestor added, almost as an afterthought, "Oh Glorfindel, I have something for you, as a response to that rose."

There was quiet muttering from those elves close enough to hear what had been said. Erestor reached inside her robe and pulled out the remains of a rose. Glorfindel instantly knew which rose it was. He had to admit that, if he had actually expected her to accept the rose then he would have felt his heart burning to char as well. Not bad Erestor, not bad at all.

"I have already told you that I will not be seduced by you. I am not one of your empty-headed maids who will jump into your bed as soon as you smile at them." She turned on her heel and marched out of the hall, offended glares following her from those elves who realised that they had been insulted.

Glorfindel watched her 'back' as she left. Well, at least she wasn't ignoring him. In fact, she was playing the game, and games have a habit of drawing you in...

Glorfindel gave a quiet chuckle and then turned again to his observation of Imladris' lady-folk.

End of Chapter 3

Well, at least this was a little longer than the last chapter. As usual, reviews are welcome: if you want me to reply then sign in or leave an email address.