[Comprehensive British and American] Old popsicle online dating rules

Captain America is a little confused now.

Glorfindel's tone was very familiar, and he didn't hesitate to call out his name, as if he fully understood who the man in this uniform was and had known him for a long time, completely cutting off Steve from being himself Introduction is necessary.On the contrary, this matter is also very confusing, because the captain has carefully checked all his existing memories and determined that he has not intersected with this elf in any form at any time.All his knowledge of the Lord of the Golden Flower came from Jarod, and there was nothing else, and there should be no other.

Also, his question is very strange.

"This time?" Keenly grasped the key words in Glorfindel's words, Steve frowned slightly, looked at the elf in his arms who was still tightly closed, and tightened his arms like protection: "What do you think?" What should I do with him?"

Naturally, he could hear the guard in his words, but Glorfindel was surprisingly not offended.On the contrary, he looked at Steve even more relaxed than before, as if he was sure of something, and there was more relief in his voice that he didn't have before.

"Anyway, it won't be worse than last time."

Shaking his head, Lord Golden Flower stepped forward, motioned for Steve to put Garrod down, took out a roll of gauze from his pocket, and planned to bandage the wound on his chest: "Just tell me you won't hurt him. , Rogers."

"Of course I wouldn't hurt him, never will, but I can't promise you the same."

Unable to understand why the other party had doubts about this, the captain frowned, took two steps back, and clearly expressed his distrust.Although the other party was an elf who had watched Garald grow up, and Garald had an unusual dependence on him, the appearance of Lord Golden Flower was too strange.Although the other party saved them just now, Steve will not take the risk of letting anyone he is not familiar with get close to Garrod before he gives a reason or statement that convinces Captain America, especially in this situation where he is defenseless. situation.

Even if the opponent is Glorfindel.

"I hope you can give a reasonable explanation."

He could feel that Merlin beside him pulled him with disapproval, but Steve still decided to go his own way: "Otherwise, please forgive me for not being able to give the corresponding trust."

The hand holding the gauze stopped in mid-air, and then fell to wipe Jarod's hanging left arm.Glorfindel looked at the persistent captain in front of him for a long time, as if he wanted to see something from him, his expression was somewhere between wanting to laugh and wanting to hit someone, but unexpectedly fixed on the former.

"Ok."

Shaking his head, something seemed to disappear in the eyes of the blond elf: "Although your question makes me a little angry, it may just indicate a possibility."

A possibility that he might be able to look forward to more, the possibility of ending this endless hopeless torture.

"I'll tell you everything."

The corners of his mouth curled into a wry smile, just like he was helpless and tired thousands of years ago when he returned east to the Middle Earth to find the trace of Jarod, knowing that nothing could be changed.Glorfindel stood where he was, with his side face reflected by the faint light from the stone wall, as if confronting fate from time to time, drawing a narrow and long shadow on the dusty ground.

"Did Garrod tell you about his past?" He raised his head, looking straight into the blue eyes of Captain America: "About the three crimes of kinslaughter by the Noldor elves, and the relationship with that man outside Sending orcs to hunt down your fallen ones, the elves you call 'Sin'."

"I probably know." Steve nodded seriously.

"That would be much easier." Glorfindel sighed, "So now you should also know one other thing."

The finger hanging by the side moved, and the elf's eyes turned around in the cave, and landed on the mural of Gray Harbor at the end. It was hard to tell whether the expression was angry or sad.

"This is the eighth time I've been standing in this place at this time, Rodgers."

Glorfindel said so.

"—and Garrod too. Although he doesn't remember anything, and never will."

Sometimes, you don't know what kind of ending the gods have arranged for you, because you can never really get there, and Garrod's fate is like this.And even for elves who can touch eternity, it is an endless torture, repeating the same beginning and death, trapped in an unbreakable cycle, and bit by bit the soul that should be immortal do.

If we insist on going back to the cause of the matter, we probably have to start with the genocide that created 'Xin'.Because Glorfindel had died with the Balrog at that time, and was sleeping in the halls of Mandos. He didn't know how Garrod got into such a fate, just as no one knew how 'Sin' came from Like a fallen man who escaped from that fire and became a soul tainted by darkness, but that's how it is.The presence of fallen elves in Arda was itself a mistake, a twisted paradox whose variables even the gods could not have foreseen.Therefore, fate began to correct this obvious loophole in its own way. It chose Garrod, who was not completely innocent in this fall, as a carrier, and weaved a completely different journey for him.Unable to travel westward is just the beginning of this journey.

Glorfindel didn't understand why this was so.In his opinion, it was completely normal for Garrod to kill him because he didn't respond to 'Sin''s request. After all, there was such a deep shadow as Swan Harbor, and if the elf dared to swing the knife, it would have surprised the guardian.But Iluvita doesn't think so.It regards Garrod as the creator of this paradox, the causal loop, and naturally he must correct this mistake and continue what was not completed back then.As long as the paradox of "Sin" exists for one day, he will be trapped in Middle Earth, and his destiny will not end, and he will always run on a track that does not belong to an elf.

Kill 'Sin' to stop his hatred and revenge on the world.This sounds like a simple and straightforward mission, but considering that the fallen elves themselves are beyond the control of the gods, it is almost an impossible mission.

So, Garrod failed seven times.

Each time, he was killed by 'Sin' when he finally came face to face.Just as he didn't know that he was on the mission to eliminate the paradox, at the moment of his death, Iluvita would silently cut off his fate at that second, and then rewind and start over again, setting the time back. Back at the beginning, when he was far from experiencing everything, he met Glorfindel at the foot of Mandos.

It's a long, sad cycle.

No hope, no way to break free.

Iluvita treated Garrod really harshly, trapping him in an unsolvable Mobius loop, just to correct the mistakes that should not exist in the world of Arda.But in this hopeless backwater, it left a glimmer of life—let the elf who watched Garald grow up discover this hopeless fate, so that he could come back east, time and time again to break the Trying to struggle with that mortal ending.

"So, that's why I'm here."

Seeing the unconcealable shock on the faces of Steve and Merlin, Glorfindel smiled wryly:

"He and I have experienced the same thing seven times. I picked up Garrod at the foot of the mountain, raised him, watched him not allowed to cross the west, slept for thousands of years and then woke up, stopped 'Xin', and finally Killed by 'Sin'...although the ending didn't have a single exception, I'm still making an effort."

It’s as if he knew he couldn’t wake up Garrod within the set time, but he still insisted on coming to Middle-earth to look for it; even if he knew that he was just repeating the same mistakes every time, he couldn’t stay in Amen with peace of mind. Europe to enjoy the eternity of the elves.He had to do something, and even if the final outcome was Garrod's death ringing the bells of Mandos, Glorfindel knew he had to do it too.

He believed that Iluvita would never make him aware of this endless loop for no reason.He is a variable in Garald's fate. Everything, including Garald himself, is developing according to the established track. Only he can see the past and the future and try to make changes.But so far, what he can do is too limited—because of Iluvita's rules, he can't follow Jarod out of here, and he can't protect him in places other than the ruins, and he can't even tell everything. To be able to watch that person come alone, leave alone, face alone, and then, at some point, find that it's a rewind all over again, without exception.

"That's why I was so surprised to see you here."

His eyes flicked across Jarod's face, and finally settled on Captain America's complex and difficult expression. Lord Jinhua shook his head: "Before this, I only heard your name unilaterally. Since 'Sin' is in If you work for that hydra, if Jarod wants to eradicate him, it is impossible not to establish some kind of relationship with you and your teammates... whether it is good or bad."

"What do you mean?" He frowned even tighter, because he heard a certain possibility in his words.Combined with what Glorfindel said at the beginning, Steve felt that he was gradually able to keep up with the elf's thinking: "In the past—I mean the first few times, I didn't have a good relationship with Garrod?"

"Sometimes." Glorfindel shrugged: "For example, last time, it wasn't S.H.I.E.L.D. but Hydra that awakened him, so he was on your wanted list. But most of the time you are friends, Will work together against Hydra and Sin, but you've never been here with Jarod yourself—I guess maybe it's because your relationship isn't as good as it is now."

...that is more than good.

Recalling how the two of them stuffed dog food into his mouth one by one, Merlin twitched the corner of his mouth, silently turned his eyes away, and decided to continue to maintain the silence that should be maintained.

And Glorfindel didn't know this, he just looked at Steve, as if he saw some kind of hope that was not obvious but vague.

"So, can I ask you to do this?"

Taking a step forward, Lord Jinhua's tone rarely contained pleading: "Protect him, and don't let him die in the same future."

Captain America nodded without hesitation.

"I'll do it even if you don't tell me."

He doesn't care what the fate of the elves is, what repeats the same mistakes over and over again.As long as Garald is in front of his eyes, he will do his best to protect him without any reason. This is a natural instinct: "You just need to leave him to me with confidence."

"I'll give him to you."

His eyes fell on that resolute and upright face, as if judging the sincerity in his words.Glorfindel stared at Steve for a long time, as long as a century, before finally sighing softly and showing a desperate smile.

"I'm glad Garrod has a friend like you."

"……Um."

After being silent for a long time on the word 'friend', he finally responded without blushing or panting.Merlin stood where he was, staring dumbfounded at Captain America and Lord Golden Flower looking at each other and smiling, and they hit it off.After holding back for a while, I still couldn't help reaching out and grabbing his shoulder strap.

"Although Glorfindel now thinks you are friends."

Leaning closer to the captain's ear, he said tremblingly: "But do you know that if he finds out that you have kidnapped Jarod, he will definitely blow your head off?"

"It doesn't matter." Steve also replied in a low voice: "Anyway, he has already handed him over to me, and he can't go back on his word."

Merlin:  …

It's hard to say whether the mage was taken aback by Captain America's wit or brazenness, or maybe both, but neither Steve nor Glorfindel caught his hesitation.At this time, they were surrounding the elf whose eyes were still tightly closed, trying to bandage his wound, and soon formed a united front to 'save Jarod'.

"Why hasn't he woke up yet?"

Holding the back of the elf's head and letting him rest on his lap, Steve looked at Lord Golden Flower with a little anxiety.

"The first person who steps into the stone gate will trigger the protection mechanism here."

Skillfully removing all the equipment on Garrod's body, Glorfindel pulled away the gauze in his hand: "It's just an illusion, nothing to be surprised about. When he finds a flaw, he will wake up by himself in a short time. Garrod has never been on this before...wait?!"

Before he finished speaking, the elf who was supposed to be unconscious suddenly moved.Although there is no sign of waking up, everyone can easily see that he seems to be in a very bad situation, his brows are tightly frowned, as if he is having a terrible nightmare, and even his face is pale. It quickly paled.

He clenched his palms involuntarily, and his lips moved, as if he was muttering something.Although the voice was as soft as a feather, all three people present could hear it clearly.

"Steve..."

Closing his eyes, Garald murmured.He tilted his head uneasily, buried in Captain America's uniform, revealing some traces under the collar that hadn't faded.

"..."

Lord Jinhua's expression sank.