Don't Be Afraid GT

I want to stay

(G/t. Don't like, don't read. Thank you!)
~~~
They had soon finished eating, and Elena was soon becoming more and more comfortable with Tirion. She was still wondering why she had trusted him so easily and even accepted comfort so soon after they met. It wasn't like her to come out of her shell so fast. She figured it must have been desperation.

They were now back in his room. Tirion and Elena were sitting on the floor some distance from each other. Tirion was leaning back against a wall and Elena was in the middle of the floor.

"So wait, you're how old again?" he asked.

"9." She said.

"That's a bit young to be out by yourself in the wilderness..." Tirion said with a look of disbelief on her face.

"Had no choice. I had to run away from the people who killed my mom and dad. It happened too fast." She said, biting back tears.

"We... don't have to talk about that if you don't want to." He said.

She nodded, "Ok."

The shakiness in her voice had disappeared, but her voice still showed a hint of fear. Tirion was glad that she was at least talking to him again.

"Do you plan to stay here, or do you want to back to town to get help from the townspeople?" Tirion asked, knowing that it would be fair to.

"I don't wanna risk my life against the people who killed my parents," She said, "I'd rather stay here."

"Are you sure?" he asked.

"Yes. I want to stay."

Tirion was surprised. He had expected her to demand that she be brought back to the town, but to hear her say that she'd rather stay with him made him feel a bit better about himself.

"Alright, well, if you need anything at all, just let me know. I will have to find a way to get you some proper sized furniture, unless you'd like to sit on an armrest."

She laughed softly. "I'll get used to it." She said.

He nodded, chuckling softly as well. "We'll work at it."

"Ok, and... I really am glad you took me in, even though I was scared at first, I'm not so scared now. At least, not anymore."

"Little one, you have no idea how much that means to me." he said, smiling.

She smiled back at him, nodding. "So, is there anything we can do? I'm getting a bit bored."

Tirion turned his head away for a moment, deep in thought. "We could watch a movie." He said.

"What kind of movies do you have?" she asked.

"What kind of movies do you like?"

"Do you have any cartoons?"

"Yeah, I have a lot actually. Wanna go pick one out?" he asked, hesitantly lowering a hand.

"Sure," she said, climbing into his hand much quicker than the last time.

"Hmm..." he said, watching her with a confused expression.

"What's wrong?" she asked, looking back up at him with an equally confused one.

"Nothing, that was rather fast though."

"Oh. Well, you're not going to grab me, right? Plus I think I'm getting used to being picked up."

He nodded, taking note of how her personality had changed. She was quickly growing from the timid and nervous creature he encountered in the woods to the happy and sweet child she really was. He was happy that she was beginning to feel safe with him, and he hoped that she would feel that way for a long time to come.

Slowly, he lifted his hand up, watching her grab his thumb as he did so, nervously scooting to the center of his hand. She still needs work, but she is getting better. He thought.

~~~

They were only about halfway through How to Train Your Dragon when Tirion heard a quiet noise coming from her. He looked down at the armrest of the chair he was sitting in to see Elena drooping slightly and yawning softly as she fought to stay awake.

He chuckled softly at the sight, finding it adorable. "Tired?" he asked, keeping his voice low so he wouldn't startle her.

She nodded, looking up at him as if unsure of how he would deal with the situation.

Tirion had to hide his smile when he saw her look up at him. His assumption had most definitely been right, she looked like she was about to collapse. He didn't want to go too far with her just yet, but he wanted to test something. He wanted to see how much she really trusted him.

He held up a hand to her, waiting patiently as she slowly climbed (more like fell) into his palm. Moving as slowly as possible without taking too long, he brought her over to his lap, his hand hovering over his stomach.

Elena looked up at him, as if expecting a cue. He only smiled encouragingly at her. Looking down, she yawned again and she slowly climbed off of his hand and into his lap. She was a little nervous with the contact but she tried to push the feeling away and focus on getting comfortable. She shifted positions for a while until she found a position she liked and curled up, trying to pay more attention to the movie than the situation she was in. She found herself unable to focus on the movie as she realized that she was very comfortable in his lap, and she soon closed her eyes. She jumped slightly when she felt something heavy press down lightly on her. She opened her eyes to see that his hand was now laying over her as if Tirion was holding her protectively.

"Tir... Tirion...?" she asked, looking up at him.

"Shh... Just sleep. You are tired, and you need rest." He whispered.

She looked down for a moment before nodding and closing her eyes again. "Why..." she trailed off, unable to say anymore.

"Why am I doing this? Because I want you to be able to trust me, and you're tired. It's ok, you're safe." He said. He knew he was being a bit repetitive, but he wanted to make sure she knew she was safe.

She finally nodded and, still unsure about the whole thing, fell asleep in his lap.