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[gondolin_noble]

The air is sweet in the clearing Glorfindel had been using as a campsite, and the birds are singing a bright morning chorus. Asfaloth, grazing peaceably nearby, nickers a greeting as Glorfindel leads Sunshine through the treebranch doorway he'd found by accident.

There is no sign of habitation, human or otherwise - Glorfindel could have dropped them on an empty planet.

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[sunbaked_baker]

It reminds her of telling stories to her younger brothers to pass the time on long car rides to the beach, back when Charlie could be convinced to leave the coffeehouse for a day.

Only these are stories more along the lines of her own interests than those stories - robots and heroic adventurers in space and all - had been. She asks questions occasionally (more often when riding than when she's puffing to keep up while walking), mostly about how things work, cultural confusion, and the meaning behind some terms she doesn't recognize. But more often she simply listens, watching the scenery around them gradually change, trees thinning and hills becoming fewer and further between (and those hill that still remain are thankfully less steep, much to her legs' relief).

[gondolin_noble]

The trees have melted away, leaving a rolling grassland dotted with rocky crags thrusting up through the earth like the fingers of a monstrous mountain troll.

(He mentioned those, right? They're definitely interesting to fight, in his world view.)

Though the light is beginning to fail, he doesn't seem particularly inclined to stop and make camp... not that there appears to be any good campsites from here to the foot of the mountains rising away to the east.

[sunbaked_baker]

Rae isn't thinking of fights or strange, otherworldly enemies. She's trying to ignore her useless desire for a hot shower (complaining will do no good, Sunshine, so deal with it) by focusing on the feeling of the last gleams of sunlight against her back, and the changing landscape around them. The mountains far away in front of them are like none she's ever seen - apart from in pictures on the globenet, and those doesn't count.

"What are those mountains in the distance? Are we going to have to cross them?"

[gondolin_noble]

"Not tonight, but eventually we will need to pass them - Gondor lies on the other side." Of course, he has absolutely no intention of camping anywhere near the mountain passes - alone, he knows he can defend himself, and without an armed guard, he cannot be sure he can defend her. The Gap of Rohan is an acceptable choice, and then there will be Ents.

It'd be a lie to say he wasn't secretly looking forward to that.

The ground suddenly opens up in front of them, the rolling grasslands having effectively hid the steep-walled valley until they had started down the steep track leading to the very well-lit buildings of the Last Homely House.

[sunbaked_baker]

"I've never even seen mountains like that," she murmurs, wonderingly. "I mean, the Poconos and Blue Mountain, yeah, I've seen them while on trips, but they've got nothing on those."

Rae is considering the camera memory cards she brought with her on this trip, feeling she likely has plenty of room to be able to take a few souvenir photos. Though, not this evening. The light is already bad enough her camera wouldn't be very useful, though everything is clear as though it were midday, to her. The sudden downward track surprises her - it is rather startling to feel the horse you're riding suddenly tilt sharply forward, especially when you had been distracted by the scenery.

Though being more mindful of the downward slope, Sunshine continues to look around as they make their way down. She isn't certain, half-tempted to write it off as a trick of the light, but her Dark Sight is trying to tell her something about the way the shadows of the leaves and rocks fall. It's probably nothing, but the Sight isn't letting her put it out of her mind.

"I have this weird feeling that we're being..." But she is interrupted by the sight - as they come around a bend in the trail - of Imladris, warmly lit in the early night. "...wow."

[gondolin_noble]

"Imladris, known in what is more closely your tongue as Rivendell, the Last Homely House west of the mountains, long held by Lord Elrond Peredhil, now by Lord Celeborn." Glorfindel announces with reasonable pride - he's had a part in keeping this valley safe for over an age.

[sunbaked_baker]

Rae has always felt that her imagination is pretty good - during the Wars, Charlie had always said that her occasional bad dreams were the price of a good imagination. Her more recent nightmares she figured were just another reiteration of that.

Elrond may have spoken to her of his home, briefly. But it was over a year ago, and she only partially recalls him referring to its size, its strength as a stronghold during long-past conflicts, and to the many visitors it pays host to. It's still far more than she could've imagined.

"...It's beautiful."

[gondolin_noble]

"It is a labor of love long cared-for." Glorfindel agrees, biting into an apple.

...

Somewhere he got an apple.

It's nice and crispy and sweet - clearly a good choice.

[sunbaked_baker]

Rae smiles slightly, though her words are a little breathless. "It shows."

She may be reminding herself that she needs not to use up all the space on her camera's memory cards before they even reach where they're going, but Rae knows she wants at least one or two photographs of this place before they leave again.

She can see other people, unfamiliar elves, as they draw nearer, and feels somewhat embarrassed by the tinge of nervousness tightening in her chest. "Unless you habitually pick up strays, I suppose there'll have to be some explanation as to why I'm traveling with you."

[gondolin_noble]

"You're in luck." Glorfindel grins, because... yes.

Yes he does.

A lot.

The only time he hasn't was during times he had to actively protect his lord (or said lord's sons), or when the world had devolved into outright violence once again.

[sunbaked_baker]

This is somehow not surprising, but is somewhat reassuring. Rae grins, chuckling, as they ride into Rivendell. The buildings are even larger up close than they had seemed at a distance. Perhaps it was how delicate their design seems, that she figured them smaller to make their existence feel less improbable. There is nothing like them in her world to compare them to.

[gondolin_noble]

The buildings fairly boil with elves as Asfaloth clatters into the courtyard - some bringing lights and wine, some coming to take Asfaloth away, some coming just for the spectacle of the thing - the Peredhil's champion and a strange human female.

[sunbaked_baker]

Sunshine feels very out-of-place and uncertain amid so many strangers.

Also, very short.

Neither are things she's used to feeling so acutely, even in Milliways. She has experienced the awareness of being the only human in the room, before, but that was among her SOFs. Even if the dynamic had changed with the addition of unexpected information, they were friends. These elves seem in all respects to be good people, but they - while Elrond and her nameless, golden-haired guide are familiar and have been friendly and kind to her - are still strangers to her. And Rae is unfamiliar with the feeling of being a guest among strangers.

[gondolin_noble]

"Glorfindel!" His feet have barely hit the ground before he is nearly tackled by an elf only slightly smaller than himself. The two get caught up into a rapid-fire Sindarian conversation, which only continues as they head indoors.

Glorfindel casually reaches behind him, collars her, and pulls her along. No being shy, Sunshine!

Besides, Asfaloth has already disappeared down another winding pathway.

[sunbaked_baker]

Though the sound she makes upon being collared may be inelegant, Rae doesn't take much urging to stick close. Her guide is a strange island in a strange sea, but he is currently the only point of familiarity she has. She follows closely, unable to disguise her curiosity despite the trepidation she feels.

And, though it gets quickly filed away as there is far too much to take in as she follows them inside (for a given value of inside; these buildings are far more open than she is used to), Rae would bet money that first exclamation by the other elf was a name, despite the fact that she doesn't know the language. Her guide's name, then. Glorfindel.

[gondolin_noble]

The hallways are mazelike, but neither elf takes a wrong turning, and soon they are in the travelers' wing. Two maids, both human (one dark-haired and grey-eyed, the other shorter with the wildest brown curls) bob and curtsey - Glorfindel politely ignores the blushes of the younger maid.

"This is Rae, she will be spending a few nights with us - see she is well cared for, and knows the way to dinner tonight."

[sunbaked_baker]

There are too many places to look - too much that passes by too quickly for Sunshine to get a good look at. The overall effect is still pretty phenomenal.

Once in the travelers' wing, Sunshine offers the two women a smile and a slight wave. It does bother her, finding that being the only human in an immediate area affects her like it does. She's not normally shy at all - a little too content to be on her own, yeah, but she never had any trouble talking with people - but after seeing there are other humans here, for whatever reason, she feels a tightness in her chest she hadn't known was there... relax.

Rae can rationalize it, easily - being the only human in a place has only happened to her twice before, and both are high up on her list of bad experiences - but it's just, she tells herself, something she's going to have to get over.

"I guess I'll see you around, then?" she asks Glorfindel, just by way of checking. She promises not to be shy.

[gondolin_noble]

"This evening, never fear - the cooks would have my head upon a pike to warn others if I dared miss a meal without due cause." The dark-haired elf cuffs Glorfindel like a misbehaving puppy, cheerfully enumerating threats of scrubbing the road off of him under the ice water of the scullery pup as he hauls the taller elf off. Considering the threats are made in Sindarian, the threats are only partially caught by the maids, and Glorfindel is laughing too hard to be taking them seriously, clearly.

[sunbaked_baker]

The language might be completely opaque to her, but the tone is unmistakeable. She's used that tone before, though she had been being cheerfully infuriating at her younger half-brother. Rae chuckles, grinning after the two elves until they disappear around a corner.

Shaking her head wryly, she offers a smile to the two women. "Testing the wrath of cooks is dangerous everywhere, it seems."

Some things never change - it's not smart to mess with feeders of people trying to feed people.

"I'm Rae - though he already mentioned that. Nice to meet you."

[gondolin_noble]

"A pleasure, miss." They chorus, bobbing in neat curtsies. The pair shares a glance, and the shorter girl heads off down the hall to start the process of fetching hot water, and the other heads in the other direct, gesturing for Rae to follow. "If it please you, miss, the room at the end of the hall here gets the best light." She opens a door to a very well-situated room - with a bed piled high with fluffy blankets and pillows, a full-length mirror, an intricately carved wardrobe, and through a partially open door, a honest-to-goodness bathroom is visible.

[sunbaked_baker]

Rae can feel her smile broaden as she walks into the room. "Oh, it's perfect," she breathes, beaming. "Thank you."

And there's a bathroom. Bathrooms mean baths. Thank all the listening gods.



Rae made that bath count, too, so it's a scrubbed baker in clean clothes who follows the curly-haired maid to supper later that evening. Sunshine reflects that it's very good she wasn't left to find her way on her own. There are many halls in this place. The two women have been very helpful, indeed, if not nearly as easy to converse with as Rae expected.

She is very unused to being curtsied at.

[gondolin_noble]

The hall of Imladris is filled with folk: Perhaps not so many elves as in times past, but they still made the majority. The rest are made of humans - some clearly Dunadain stock, some in the grey cloaks with star broaches of the Anor Rangers; some of the natives peoples of this land. Dwarves are there as well, usually banded together, more comfortable in the company of their own kind. At the head of the table are three chairs upon a dias. In the center is a silver-haired elf, ageless and noble - on his left sits the dark-haired elf that had greeted them when they came to Imladris, watchful and content. On his right sits Glorfindel, tall and straight, fair and young and fearless and full of joy.

Even in these late days, there was still strength in the elves, and they took pleasure in these days of peace.

The tables are fairly groaning under the weight of all the food - some clearly could meet Rae's tastes easily - dishes of local fruits and vegetables, breads and pastries. There's just a few more animals gracing the boards than Glorfindel has been offering her lately.

The dwarves certainly do not seem to mind.

[sunbaked_baker]

It's one thing to see Glorfindel or Elrond in Milliways, where no one really belongs. It's another to see Glorfindel among other elves. Even among them, he shines.

Rae smiles in his direction for a moment as she enters, before she goes to find herself a seat at the table. There is an empty space at the left edge of a group of humans, to the right of a group of dwarves, where her inquiry whether that seat is already taken is met with negative answers and invitations to join them.

So she does.

Obviously, in Rivendell, there is no trade-off between quality and quantity. None of the many kinds of foods Rae tries, though she still shies away from eating any of the meats, is anything short of delicious. She feels somewhat foolish asking after the name of an unfamiliar type of fruit, but it certainly serves as a way into a conversation.

[gondolin_noble]

A server appears at her elbow before too long, with a flagon of spiced wine.

"From the high table, miss, with compliments." If she looks up, Glorfindel is giving her a cheeky sort of grin before he's distracted by a comment from Lord Celeborn. Every movement he makes is highlighted in the flash of white gems from his braids.

The nearby diners become more friendly and chatty as the meal draws on and the beer and wine flows - they are used to the mixed company here, and reassured by the reputation of safety. Even the Rangers let down their guard (at least a bit) after a while, telling stories of the wild - misfortunes that seem more humorous now than when they were happening, misunderstandings and missed connections that now make excellent stories rather than bitter complaints.

[sunbaked_baker]

Her replying look towards Glorfindel is a wryly laughing grin; she hasn't forgotten the wine Glorfindel once introduced her to, any more than he's forgotten it. Rae certainly hasn't forgotten the resulting hangover, either, but the gift tonight is taken in the spirit in which it was given.

Even if she makes sure to drink it slowly.

Anecdotes of dealing with the public in a family restaurant pale in comparison to some of the stories being told here, and Rae figures stories of her other work would take too much explaining, so she is content to listen as she eats and drinks, and to occasionally ask questions to help spur the story along. The wine and food leave her pleasantly warm. She might not know the people around her, but some of them remind her so much of her SOFs talking shop and trading stories of Others over plates of food at the coffeehouse, that she is comfortable even in unfamiliar company so very far from home. Her laughter mingles with theirs as another story concludes.