The aroma of honey sweetened sweat and dried blood filled my nose. It was nearly as intoxicating as her initial scent, that of a female Dovah in which she sought to mask in fear of being found by others of her kind, knowing that she'd be attacked upon discovering who she was. It was something that was always present before I saw her and lingered in the air long after she left.
I ran my claws over the stone beneath me, patiently listening to the footsteps draw closer and counting them. It was a tendency I had since I started seeing the Dragonborn. She was the only one who ever made the journey to the Throat of the World to visit me and I had little else to do but count the days until her return.
"Morning, Paarthurnax." She smiled immediately upon seeing me atop the Word Wall. I returned the gesture by baring my teeth and lifting a wing.
"Reven." I bent my neck and bowed my head to the woman, observing her as she walked over to me. I could still feel the tension wracking her even as she calmly moved her fingers across the scales lining my jaw. I pushed gently against the palm of her hand and she stopped dead. I thought at first that I'd done something wrong until I glanced down and saw her eyes scanning over me. That was barely a look of anger. "Lost in translation, I presume?"
Reven blinked, opening her mouth to speak but giving no words.
"Not necessarily."
I closed my eyes again and let out a long sigh, leaving my head where it was but being careful not to put any pressure on the small woman. I scarcely believe I ever detested small human gestures of affection so many years ago when now I was nearly pleading for them.
Reven resumed; scraping her nails across my cheekbone and breathing strangely as if she'd run from one end of Skyrim to the other. Reven pressed her other hand to the opposite side of my face. I snapped my eyes open and felt the tiny fingers land on the bridge of my nose and tickle the softer scales, making my head tip downwards. It seemed useless to resist and I really hadn't any idea why I'd want it to stop—the sensation of the human's touch was warm and comforting. I pushed out air against my closed mouth and felt my throat rumble from the vibration.
The pointed teeth lining her mouth showed when she smiled, staring right at me with an expression of pure entertainment. Her eyes could strike a man down if gazed into. They were like two diamonds in a lake that glistened in the sun, lined with a coal color close to that of midnight. Little shimmers of silver were scattered about them that could blind someone in the right lighting. They were by far the strangest eyes I'd ever seen, even on a Dov. No doubt Reven's eyes are that way because of her dealings with both Aedra and Daedra, and the fact that magic was in her veins.
"May I join you?"
I hummed quietly in response and moved from her grasp—sitting up straight to turn and swing my tail over the front of the World Wall. I barely felt her weight when she climbed upwards. Knocking one of my scales with her boot and grabbing onto the top of the wall, she signaled me to pull her up.
"That doesn't hurt?"
"Not at all." I turned back to her carefully, leaning down to bite onto the hooks of her armor and set her down beside me.
"Because it's so important to your balance, wouldn't it make it that much easier to injure? I always assumed the smallest damage to the tail or wings would mess up everything." She raised an eyebrow at me and flung her legs over the front of the wall haphazardly, flinching only slightly when the wind picked up.
"Despite the tail being the most useful, it's mostly bone and scale. It would take a lot more pressure for something to even slightly impair my flying capabilities or disrupt my balance. Wings are another story."
"Oh." Reven nodded her head once and informed me with her eyes that the information was received. I never used to understand humans and reading their emotions seemed damn near impossible. I would assume any Dov that spoke with a human close to daily would pick up on such things. I knew why she avoided eye contact and the reason for fiddling her fingers. I also knew that twitchy fleeting smile and sudden silence was because she was reeling inside about something.
"I always wondered.." She finally spoke. From the corner of my eye I could see smoke from the cold coming from between her lips. "Why I'm the way I am."
I turned my head to her in curiosity, blowing out a short jet of hot air to stop her shivering. "Why you are how?"
She looked over and half smiled. "Why I'm who I am." Reven paused and gazed back up at the sky with sorrow in her eyes. That sadness doubled in anxiety was growing and radiated from her in waves. "Why I can't be like you."
"Because you are special. You have the strength of two different species and none of the flaws. I envy you."
"I don't want strength, I want to be normal."
"You're the only human that considers wanting to be a beast normal."