Vorstag sat in front of the fireplace in a well worn chair and flicked through the bestiary he had balanced in his left palm. The smell from the kitchen snaked through the air, interrupted his thoughts and made his stomach growl. He snapped the old book closed and leaned back in his chair to try and catch a glimpse of what was to be had for dinner. All his neck straining allowed him was the shadow of a slender orc splashed across the wall by the light of the oven's fire.
"What are you making, my darling?" He called thumbing the spine of the book
He smiled when there was no reply, knowing his life-mate must be immersed in his work to have not responded. He let his chair collapse back onto all fours and pulled himself up with the momentum. Vorstag slid the old book onto the dining table as he glided past on his way to lean against the door frame, cross his arms and smirk. The huge kitchen he had especially built for his spouse was crammed full of ingredients and the smell of their finished products. The recipient of Vorstag's gaze was crouched beside a table, eye level with a fragile pasty, which his long, thick fingers worked delicately at. Thomas was so consumed in overlapping the fine strips of dough he didn't even feel the pair of brown eyes that watched him work. Vorstag watched as his husband muttered to himself and leaned back on his heels to study his work.
"Smells good" Vorstag stated
Thomas's head flicked up in surprise but his expression melted into a smile as he came back to reality and the view of his husband. Thomas stood, bunched up his half apron and wiped his hands off roughly. Vorstag pushed off from the door and walked over to him and wrapped an arm around his waist loosely, lacing his fingers in the cord of his apron.
"It's something new I'm working on" Thomas said in his usual soft tone, half turning to look towards the oven.
"Am I going to get to have some?" Vorstag asked tilting his head to look up at Thomas
"We'll see," Thomas gave him a smile "If they turn out well, certainly"
Vorstag groaned and released him to trudge over to a stool and toss himself down onto it. He looked up sulkily to see the amused look in Thomas's bright blue eyes as he pulled on a mitt.
"What's the point in being married to the best cook in Skyrim if he won't let me eat?" Vorstag grumbled
Thomas chuckled and turned towards the oven to pull out a tray of crispy, golden pastries, placing them on a thick piece of cloth sitting on the table.
"You deserve nothing less than the best" Thomas said softly, rummaging through a few different draws and cupboards.
"Oh, starving has never been so glamorous" He said sarcastically
Thomas cast him a tired look attached to a smirk as he mixed up the ingredients he'd gathered.
"Oh, hush, you cry more than a newborn khajiit" Thomas smiled, slathering the cooling squares of pastry with berries in a thick sugar mixture
"Thomas!" Vorstag laughed in surprise "I do believe that's the nastiest thing you've ever said!"
Thomas gave an amused snort and looked away making Vorstag chuckle. A sudden knock at the door made Thomas jump, Vorstag laughed and left his perch to stretch his arms.
"You're such a little rabbit," Vorstag smiled "I'll go see who it is, must be a courier"
Vorstag trudged leisurely over to the main door in the entrance hall, his husband's casual shirt pooling around his hands and drooping around his torso. He loved wearing Thomas's much larger clothes after he'd come back from being away on mercenary work and finally ridding himself of his heavy steel armour and swapping it for the soft fabric drenched in his husband's scent. Vorstag opened one of the heavy doors and was greeted by the cool night air and the soft sound of the lake a short walk away. Harrow flicked up his ears at the sight of his rider but remained otherwise unfazed in the stable just across from the entrance. Vorstag got an uneasy feeling and suddenly wished to be inside behind the thick wood again quite soon. He pulled the door back quickly and something caught his eye. He paused as the single white rose rolled across the front step. Vorstag started to reach down but hesitated as the feeling of uneasiness gathered inside his chest. He pulled his hand away and retreated inside, bolting the door behind him.
"Who was it?" Thomas asked with his back to Vorstag as he entered the room
Vorstag slid over to where the pastries now sat with strings of icing threaded from side to side over the shiny pile of berries and stretched out his fingers towards them.
"Don't even think about it, Vor" Thomas would have scolded if his voice hadn't been so gentle and full of honey
"Ha, how do you always know when I'm up to something?" Vorstag sighed, changing direction for his previous seat opposite Thomas who had now placed the pie he was working on in the oven and fallen into a chair
"I just know you too well" He smiled arching his back to reach behind himself and take off his apron and wipe his forehead with it.
"Do you want to come into town with me tomorrow?" Vorstag asked casually but his eyes flicking up to catch Thomas's reaction
Thomas clenched his jaw.
"I'll give you some pies to take in and sell and don't eat them all this time! I swear, the way you're going you're going to have to go to the tailor a lot more often" Thomas said resting his forehead on his finger tips, a troubled look smothering his features.
Vorstag gave Thomas a very serious look. Thomas returned it till it got too much for him.
"What?" He laughed, sitting up
"Are you the gourmet?" Vorstag asked seriously
Thomas looked at him wide eyed for a moment before bursting out laughing.
"Why would I keep that a secret from you, if I was, which I'm not" Thomas sniggered
Vorstag gave him a suspicious look and rested his head against his fist.
"I heard the dark brotherhood got him assigned as a mark. Apparently he was an orc, but his body was never found…care to explain, my gourmet?" Vorstag smiled mysteriously
"Since when did you start listening to gossip?" Thomas teased "Besides, the gourmet could never be an orc…it just isn't done."
"Maybe that's why his identity's' such a big secret?"
"Oh please, it's Breton food. It's most likely just a Breton housewife with a pen name."
"Ah-ha, you have a Breton name! It all makes sense"
Thomas pulled his oven mitt over his left hand and stared beside him but didn't look at anything.
"You know why I've taken this name" He stated quietly
Vorstag let his shoulders slump.
"I know, I'm sorry" He replied genuinely
Thomas snapped out of his state and shook his head slightly and smiling walked over to the oven to retrieve his newest creation.
"So, who was at the door?" Thomas asked again
Now it was Vorstag's turn to clench his jaw. He didn't want to alarm his already naturally nervous husband that even though they lived far more than a casual walk from town there had most certainly been a knock and there had also most certainly been no one there.
"Just a traveller, wondering where the nearest town is, I pointed them towards Falkreath." Vorstag lied
"Gods, I hope they get there before it gets too late," Thomas worried "or come across wolves, they can be awfully vicious at night…"
"Gods, you make it easy for me to remember why I married you," Vorstag said softly, his eyes suddenly lit up "So, what's new about this one?" Vorstag asked watching eagerly as Thomas divided the steaming pie with one of the smaller knives.
"Mud crab and clam meat with a Hammerfell sauce and Elsweyr spices" Thomas informed him
"You're not going to make me wait while you test it are you?" Vorstag grumbled his mouth watering
Thomas looked thoughtfully and Vorstag worried that he may actually want too.
"It's late," Thomas said "So I'll make an exception"
Vorstag woke to Thomas's moonlit outline sitting bolt upright beside him. He rolled onto his side and took a breath in preparation to question why he was suddenly awake at such an hour when, he too, heard it.
"Vorstag…" Thomas breathed desperately, reaching out a hand to wake him
"I hear it," He whispered taking Thomas's hand and pushed himself up with his other "I'll go deal with it"
Vorstag threw the covers off and crept over to the weapons' rack where his sword hung.
"Vorstag, don't go out there!" Thomas hissed climbing over the bed, the moon shining off his eyes
Vorstag paused when he got to the door, fingers hooked around the handle.
"My love, I do this kind of thing for a living" He smiled
Thomas hesitated, stuttered for the right words then hurriedly scurried over and snatched a candle from the shelf closest to him and lit it from the sparks conjured from his finger tips. He shielded the flame from his movement and hurriedly snuck over to Vorstag's side and gave a nod for the door. Vorstag gave him a surprised smile but his look became serious as he turned back towards the door and opened it quickly, going sword first into the main hall. The candle's light was swallowed up by the thick darkness and only a small pool of it welled around them as they made their way towards the kitchen. Vorstag pushed his blade through the second door that was slightly ajar and angled it open with the flat of his sword. He looked around quickly but saw nothing even when Thomas carried the light in after him and made the shadows dissolve and run under the cupboards and in between cracks. Vorstag's sword dropped to his side, he rubbed his eyes and gave a confused look to Thomas. Vorstag went out and swept quickly through the large house, even scouring the cellar. Vorstag took the candle from Thomas and used it to start a fire in the cold stone fireplace back in the main hall. Thomas sat on the hearth with his back to the small crackling flames, Vorstag sat it his worn chair to the left of him.
"You heard it didn't you?" Thomas asked finally, his head resting on his knees, tucked against his chest.
Vorstag looked down the open hall and into the entrance hall where the main door was bolted just as he had left it. The uneasy feeling returned and a sudden shudder went through him.
"It must have been a skeever" Vorstag rationalised
"A skeever? Vorstag, skeever's aren't that heavy and they don't wear shoes," Thomas said shakily, fear stinging his eyes "Someone was walking around our house"
"It just sounded that way, no one can get in here, Thomas"
Thomas looked unconvinced and wrapped his arms around his knees. Vorstag sighed heavily through his nose.
"I'll get us a drink" He said getting up and brushing his hand over the top of Thomas's head gently on his way to the kitchen.
Vorstag pushed open the door to let the light from the fire in as he wandered around picking out one of the better wines that had and looking for glasses to hold it. Feeling around the flagons stored on the windowsill Vorstag's hand suddenly touched something soft and sharp. He looked down and there in the light of the moon, hanging out of one of the glasses he was looking for was a single white rose. He looked over his shoulder quickly and glimpsed his husband looking the other way. He quickly turned back and opened the window and picked the rose up. As he brought it up he saw a thin blue ribbon tied in a bow with a tiny slip of white parchment hanging from it and in tiny perfect curls the ink on the tag spelled his husband's name. He stared at it as a knot worked itself into his throat and his skin crawled with tiny bumps.
"Vor?" Thomas called
Vorstag panicked slightly.
"Y-yes, coming" He managed to reply
He tore the petals from the plant and ripped the paper to shreds and tossed the entire thing out the window, shutting it before the mangled object had a chance to hit the ground.
"Sorry, it's dark in there, I could hardly see anything" Vorstag smiled returning finally
"No, I just…I thought I saw things moving in the dark" Thomas blushed
Vorstag scanned the room quickly, his normally unwavering courage shaky from the recent events.
"Maybe it's a ghost" Vorstag teased, only half convinced himself that it wasn't true
He handed Thomas one of the Ayleid glasses and filled it half way and noted his worried expression.
"It's not really is it?" Thomas asked clutching at his glass
Vorstag filled his glass up to the top and sat back down.
"I doubt it, but there's no one here, you saw that for yourself"
"Yes, but…" Thomas trailed off
Vorstag emptied his glass and filled it up again, after a few repeats of this his world went dark.