My apologies, then. [ Meriadoc is sorry. While it made sense for Merry to lay atop the serpent (most surface area for warming) it does seem like it would be rather unpleasant to wake with someone potentially hostile and somewhat unfamiliar in one's lap. ] I did not mean to cause you discomfort.

[ At Sauron's mention of the Lady Galadriel, he laughs. Sauron sounds not unlike he had bitten into some particularly bitter and ill-flavored fruit pastry. ] Aye, but an elf is not alike a Maia, at least so I was led to understand. [ There is old, hella old, and then there is before Arda existed old. While Galadriel is likely far more old than Merry is comfortable thinking about, the very ground he lived and walked and all such things did exist before she did. The same cannot be said for Sauron. Sauron, in that sense, seems widely and completely unreal. ]

I doubt I should invite the two of you to tea at the same time. [ It is strange, for once, to consider that though he has told her such things, and she has forseen them as a possible path, Merry has lived Sauron's defeat, and thus almost has less cause to fear him. ]