Elvish Translations –

Otuuk Fe`Saign – Warg Kisser

Nadorhuan(nim) – Cowardly dog(s)

Adar – Father

'It didn't start this way, it happened just one day

You smiled at me and I saw you differently.'

- I'm Gonna Love You, Jennifer Love Hewitt

May 27th, 2769 TA

Erebor

Three days later found Marissa sneaking away—once again—from dinner with her father and brother so she could meet Thorin at their designated meeting place. She darted through the hallways, dodging numerous dwarves on the way. The skirt of her dress tangled with her legs, almost sending her crashing to the floor until she straightened them out and they flew out behind her instead. She reached her destination minutes later and skidded to an abrupt stop in the abandoned room just off the main hallways.

"I am so sorry I'm late," she breathed out, her cheeks flushed from the running she'd done. She approached Thorin with slow steps and dropped down into the chair next to him.

"I was late myself—my father insisted I attend a meeting with him," Thorin replied, the hint of a smile lighting up his features.

"I hope all is well," she told him honestly before he leaned down and kissed her firmly, his hands coming up to cup her cheeks. "I've missed you," she whispered, a quiet moan escaping as he tugged at her hair.

"I missed you too," Thorin admitted. Marissa smiled into the kiss as her hands moved up to settle on his chest, right over his heart. "Too long has passed since we last met."

"It has only been a day, Thorin," she said with a light laugh. He smirked in response, his thick fingers brushing over the braid at the top of her head that stretched down towards her left ear.

"Too long as far as I'm concerned," he murmured. He leaned in and brushed a lingering kiss to her forehead. Marissa closed her eyes at the action, her fingers clutching the rough material of his armour.

The two of them fell silent, content to bathe in each other's comfort and enjoy their company. A flash of silver caught Marissa's attention when she reopened her eyes and she carefully brushed Thorin's hair aside to reveal a thick, long silver clasp attached to his ear.

"I did not know you had an ear piercing," she uttered quietly. Thorin met her eyes and smiled in amusement.

"I got it pierced on one of my name days… though I do not remember which one."

"How not?" she asked curiously as she trailed a finger over the clasp.

"My friends and I snuck out to Dale and drank until we couldn't walk straight," he explained. "Which is something that occurs on most of my name days."

"That sounds rather wild," Marissa murmured softly. Thorin chuckled, nodding his head. "Tauriel and I usually steal a few bottles of my father's wine on our name days and hide away in my chambers of the gardens."

"How old are you, if you don't mind me asking?" Thorin questioned, glancing up at her.

"Oh… uh, I'm…" she mumbled something unintelligible under her breath and looked away in embarrassment.

"Pardon?"

Marissa's cheeks turned bright pink and she continued to gaze at a spot behind Thorin's shoulder. The dwarf prince reached out, catching her chin between his thumb and forefinger. "You don't need to be so embarrassed."

"You're going to laugh… or think I'm ancient," she grumbled in reply, though she did raise her eyes to meet his stare. "Fine. I'm 2,681 years old. My brother's a year older… though many of our kin see us as twins as there's only a year between us and most elves leave a good few hundred years between children."

"…You are ancient," Thorin said finally, and Marissa was about to take offence to it until she saw the teasing grin playing at his lips. She frowned and slapped his chest roughly.

"That wasn't funny," she pointed out. Thorin shrugged and wiped the frown from her face as he kissed her abruptly. "Don't think you're getting out of this—I've told you my age, now it's your turn," she mumbled against his lips.

"I'm 24," he said without hesitating. Marissa's eyebrows shot up in surprise.

"Really?" she asked curiously.

"What of it?"

"Nothing… it's just, in my race, when an elf is in their twenties, it's the same as a child from the race of man being about 7 years old," she explained as her fingers moved back to his ear to trace the pattern on his ear clasp.

"Are you calling me a child?"

"Of course not. I was merely stating that were you an elf you would be classed as an elfling."

Thorin nodded hesitantly at her words and decided to drop it in favour of taking her hand and holding it against his face. Marissa smiled, her fingers lightly brushing against his dark beard.

"Your braids are lovely," she said, the fingers of her free hand trailing over the two braids under his chin that were joined together with a large silver clasp.

"Thank you," he replied proudly. Marissa snorted at his expression and released his braid. Her other hand was still cupping his bearded cheek.

"I'm glad father made me come here," she stated suddenly, taking the prince off guard.

"I'm glad too, princess," Thorin murmured before capturing her lips in a lingering kiss.

"Hello, Adar," Marissa smiled up at her father as he closed the door to her chambers behind him. "Is everything all right?" she asked, catching sight of the stressed look on his face.

"That dwarf is completely insufferable," Thranduil griped in reply. Marissa covered a small laugh with a cough as she headed for the vanity table to fetch the jug of wine Tauriel had brought her and two cups. She handed one to her father and kept one to herself before pouring them both a cup.

"I assume you mean King Thror? What's he done?"

"He takes every opportunity he can to insult me and the ones I care about and the others find it incredibly amusing… I was doing all I could do to keep from strangling his short little neck."

Marissa let a laugh slip out at her father's confession, though part of her was irritated at the dwarves for bullying her father. "I would pay to see that."

"I know you would. You and Tauriel's love for gambling money away is getting ridiculous." Her father rolled his eyes and took a seat at the dining table, setting his cup down with a small clunk.

"But this would be a good one to bet on—I know for a fact that you would win. You could beat that silly old dwarf blindfolded with one hand tied behind your back," she said honestly, wrapping her arms around his neck from behind.

"Such flattery you bestow upon me," Thranduil replied with a smirk pulling at his lips.

"Not my fault if it's true," she countered, shrugging playfully before she turned serious, sighing softly as she rested her cheek against the side of her father's head. "What were they saying about you?"

"Apparently they do not realize that I can understand their language perfectly and I heard every word clearly."

"What did they say, Adar?" she asked, dreading the answer.

"That I'm the offspring of an Orc…" Thranduil trailed off, shaking his head tiredly. Marissa's arms tightened briefly around his neck before loosening again. She rubbed her cheek against his pale hair in a comforting manner. "So, I called the King a Otuuk fe`saign and the rest of them Nadorhuan Nim."

Marissa's lips twitched as she tried to prevent a laugh from escaping. She eventually gave in, and the room filled with her loud, amused laughter. Her father joined in with a few chuckles of his own.

"T-they must have been so confused at your insults," she giggled, grateful that the dwarves didn't know any of their language.

"They did look rather startled. They obviously didn't know that I can give as good as I get."

"That you can," Marissa mumbled with a smile.

"I must be off now." Thranduil patted his daughter's arm until she let go of him and he stood up, drinking the rest of his wine before leaning down to press a kiss to her forehead. "Your brother said he and Tauriel might come by later to spend time with you after they've been to Dale."

"All right," she said softly, watching her father as he quietly left the room and closed the door behind him.

"Come on, Marissa," Arwen urged with a grin, tugging at her cousin's arm. "It'll be fun."

"Fine. If I must," Marissa relented with a heavy sigh as she allowed the slightly taller female to pull her into the group of dancing elf maids. Arwen's brothers were sitting on the table, playing their fiddles with matching grins on their faces. The female elves in the room were mainly from Rivendell but Marissa could see Tauriel's flaming red hair on the other side of the room as she was also talked into dancing. "Who even gave you permission to use this room?"

"No one," Arwen said smugly, "we just decided to take it."

"Fair enough!" Marissa let out a loud laugh as Arwen grabbed one of her hands and another elf took her and Arwen's free ones and they all started spinning in a wide circle. The music grew louder as more of their kin appeared with instruments in hand and began playing alongside the fiddles. "I-I admit you were right, this is fun!"

"Told you so!" Arwen replied, releasing Marissa's hand to make room for more elves to join them. After a few more spins, they started ducking under each other's arms and twirling around to prevent themselves from getting tangled with each other and then they went straight back to twirling around the room.

Marissa eventually managed to free herself from the circle and she staggered over to Elladan and Elrohir, her cheeks bright red and her eyes alight with happiness.

"Elro, Ellad, come join us," she ordered. Elladan shook his head immediately, stating that he'd rather continue playing his fiddle but Elrohir was quick to stand up and take his cousin's hand, following her back to the others. "I'm glad to see one of you knows how to have fun," she teased with a grin. Elrohir returned it readily and twirled her around.

"I always was the more fun of the two of us," he replied. Marissa snorted in amusement and almost lost her footing as he suddenly spun her out and pulled her back in before dipping her backwards.

"Are you trying to make me fall over?" she gasped in surprise.

"No, I'm trying to show the dwarf over there that you're a good dancer… and maybe, just maybe he'll get over his stubbornness and ask you to dance," Elrohir replied slyly. Marissa's eyes widened and she glanced over her shoulder at the door, where Thorin and his brother were watching them. She smiled shyly at Thorin, and he returned it briefly before she turned back to her cousin.

"I don't know what you mean," she lied immediately, trying to hide her flaming face.

"I think you do. I've seen that dwarf stare at you whenever you walk by and I've seen the way you look at him too," Elrohir explained softly, meeting her wide eyes. "You have feelings for him, don't you?"

"I… I don't know what I feel," she admitted, following him as he led her over to the window at the far end of the room. Her cousin opened them and Marissa sighed in relief as the cold air washed over her. "I like spending time with him and he makes me feel warm inside. It's like he's filled a hole inside of me that I didn't even know was there."

"Mari, is he… is he your one?"

"M-my one?" she asked softly. She glanced back over her shoulder at Thorin and felt butterflies flutter in her stomach as he sent a bright, fond smile in her direction. "I don't know. But I hope so."