A really special thanks to Equilateralwaffle (f0rt1ss1m0/DarkHorseBlueSky) for beta reading this chapter!
A drawstring coin purse jingled as it was dropped into Amethyst's gloved hand. On the shop's wooden counter, amongst potions, food and trinkets, was the glinting form of the golden claw, placed in the bare spot it was in before its theft.
"Thankyou so much for taking care of those thieves." The sincerity in the man's voice caught them off-guard, making it evident how much he loved the claw. "The Riverwood Trader is back to the way it used to be!"
Amethyst and Peridot smiled awkwardly at the fair Imperial merchant, their client, sweating themselves to death in full body armour in the cramped shop. It wasn't exactly them who took care of the thieves, or who retrieved the claw, but he didn't need to know that.
"Yeah, no biggie!" said Amethyst, happy to have food and mead money.
"We only had to kill, um, some of them!" Peridot stuttered, trying to pump up their repertoire as fearsome warriors. "And the barrow wasn't in the least bit terrifying. Yes." Amethyst slung her arm around Peridot's shoulder for the effect of admirable camaraderie and bravery. And to make Peridot look more confident and convincing (speechcraft wasn't really her thing).
"Really?" His voice was gravelly with surprise. "We're in the shadow of Bleak falls barrow, and not a day goes by where I don't get chills looking up at that place in the mountains." The tomb they'd been to was just a mountain hike away from Riverwood. The bandits didn't go far when they stole the claw.
"Maybe it's 'cause we're not locals?" Amethyst suggested gracelessly. They'd been just passing through the town when they heard of the theft case (and the reward).
"You must see worse things on the road." The man seemed to conclude, running a hand through his aging black hair. "Where are you two from? Valenwood?" he gestured to Peridot's pointed ears and olive skin. "Hammerfell?" He questioned Amethyst by the tone of her skin.
"No. We're travellers." Peridot stated, consciously flipping her hood back over her head even though it invited heat to cook her brain. Being birthed with pointed ears wasn't very fashionable in Skyrim as of late. A civil war and racist people didn't help that.
"But you must have a place where you were born and call home."
"Not for us. We're just …around." Amethyst said humourlessly. A touch of threat to drop the subject in her voice balanced her clear look of 'I don't want to talk about it.'
The Imperial looked thrown off-center, probably unacquainted with defensive responses to his easily practiced question. "Oh. Well-"
Amethyst and Peridot closed the shop door behind them.
"Whelp." Amethyst shrugged, shadow peeling away from her form as they stepped out from under the building's terrace. "Leg it to Whiterun?"
"Rent an inn room there?"
"Sounds good to me." Amethyst stretched with discomfort, her armour heavy and clunky. "Gods, I need a bed."
Riverwood was a town travellers mostly passed through, so it didn't necessarily possess the protection and guard like the cities did. Based on the banks of the White river, much produce came in the form of fresh fish and mudcrab. The lumber mill – powered by the river - also drew in great coin, but the labour going into it was back-breaking. A blacksmith provided weapons for the ongoing civil war, which the town for the most part was bubbled away from. The community shared vegetables and ingredients, while the Riverwood trader and Sleeping Giant inn sold local produce and imported goods. It was essentially a self-sufficient and tight-knit populace.
Walking through the town was very calming, with every sound - like the conversation of people or the clunk of the smithy - being backed up by the gentle flow of the river. So it was quite terrifying when a thunderous boom and crash came from the sky.
"What in Oblivion was that?!" yelled a man.
"Dragon!"
The sound was alike to the crack of lightening crossed with the shout of a warrior, compacted into one mighty roar, and people's screams became audible as the sound echoed away.
"Shit, Peri, run!" Amethyst yelped, grabbing Peridot before dashing under the local tavern's terrace for protection. From under the minimal wooden shelter and within a small huddled gathering of people, Amethyst held Peridot tightly to her, their scope on the situation minimal. With a dragon supposedly burning down Helgen - the next town up - and draugr wandering their tombs, a dragon attack sounded more plausible than it should have. At least they were armoured.
As the two waited to hear flames hurtled and beastly roaring, it soon became apparent that nothing was happening. The initial yelps of panic had not continued, just like the mysterious sound had ebbed away. The tavern terrace started to clear and Peridot freed herself to be greeted with the sight of confused townspeople chattering and looking up to the sky. No one appeared to be hurt or running for their lives from the maw of a dragon. The sky was clear apart from days old smoke and the midday sun.
"What the fuck was that?!" Growled Amethyst, her fluffed up hair giving her quite a bewildered look. She pawed at one of her ears.
Peridot turned back to her. "I don't know. Not a dragon though, I don't think. Are you okay?" She asked, clasping Amethyst's padded shoulder and showing concern.
"Yeah." She shook her head before scenting the air. "Yeah I am. Just sensory stuff."
Information started to come to them in the scrambled form of various vibrant conversations. The general murmur was that the Helgen rumours were true, but there was also talk of the crackling shout coming from the Throat of the World – the tallest mountain in Skyrim and all of Tamriel; which also held itself above Riverwood. Peridot craned her head up to find the top of the bordering mountain screened by clouds, and for a strange moment she felt something was up there. She bought her gaze back to Amethyst, who was patting down her mane.
"Let's just get to Whiterun, okay?"
"Yeah."
The used cobblestone road clung to the edge of mountain and forest, the air smelling of pollen and water. Melted snow trickled down the ascent, winding around eroded rock. Healthy green grass swayed in the slight, chilly breeze, and fir trees whispered strangely in the wind. Peridot spotted a few wolves by their pelts, but they weren't a worry if both parties kept their distance. The White river accompanied them for some of the trip, mostly providing background noise to their conversations that were hidden away from the rest of the world. They shortly found their way back into civilisation, passing vaguely fenced areas that farmed blond, strawy wheat for mead production. The sky was starting to shift to an orange palette, and it was becoming evening when they were in sight of the city of Whiterun, Dragonsreach standing proudly at its peak. Peridot came to stop at the foot of a vast open field, and Amethyst slipped herself around her from behind, taking her hands.
They didn't say anything, they didn't need to speak. It was just quiet time between them, a small 'stop and smell the mountain flowers' moment. Amethyst breathed in Peridot's scent at her nape, picking up sweat and the lingering stink of death mingling amongst it. She couldn't've asked for anything else.
Peridot slipped her hands from Amethyst, needing them. She stepped away to slide her bow off her back, taking no arrows from her quiver. Amethyst re-attached herself to her partner's back, leaning lazily and affectionately as she watched Peridot stretch her bow string out, delicately and sternly focusing on something in the distance before bringing the string back without releasing it. She'd held her breath from habit, blowing it out in a controlled manner while bringing the bow back down.
Amethyst kept her chin on her shoulder, closing her eyes with the contentedness of a cat. The sunset made a lively glow around Peridot, illuminating the sharpness of her face, exaggerating her concentrated frown. Amethyst was struck with one of those moments where she was incredibly grateful for her, a peaceful and doting emotion blooming in her chest. Making coin kept them on the move, so moments like these were worth, well, more than gold to Amethyst.
"Wanna come out here and kill stuff at night time?" she offered lazily.
Peridot was halfway through stretching and aiming the bow again. She cocked her head towards Amethyst before returning her gaze to the rocky field. "I'm sure you're inferring that you won't be human in that time instance."
"Yup." Amethyst popped the 'p', sliding a hand around Peridot's chest and nuzzling further, using her partner's body to shield her eyes from the dying sun. Peridot's hair painted her scrunching face half bronze and half shadow.
"I'm entertaining the idea-"
"It's a very entertaining idea." Amethyst affirmed.
"-but I'd actually like to sleep tonight."
"Perriii….inn room's pro'ly only got one bed." Her thick lips found Peridot's neck and her voice dropped a few octaves in a husky mumble.
Whatever it was was clearly inappropriate, Peridot's bow promptly clonking her on the nose, scolding her like a misbehaving puppy. Amethyst couldn't've asked for anything else as she cackled heartily and they kept moving to Whiterun.
The inn room only had one bed.
The stone walls surrounding the city were high and protective, but Peridot and Amethyst's shared thought was that dragons could fly. Bandit raids were sure to end in Whiterun's favour, but a mythical, leathery-winged lizard that breathed fire at will and could lift itself into the air was not going to follow the winding manned path up to the front gates, knock on the wooden barricaded doors and say, "Salutations, may I kindly burn your city to the ground?" It wasn't a major worry for them since 1. they were visitors and 2. dragons weren't(?) real, but it would be nice to still have Whiterun on the map in any case.
Lightly strummed notes from a lute floated up from the common room below, a calm noise that gently penetrated Amethyst and Peridot's private atmosphere. A level above the tipsy chatter and crackling pit fire was just enough to seclude them comfortably. The sewn pelts of the blanket sheltered their now clean and bare bodies from the night time chill, hardly kept out by the wooden infrastructure of the inn.
Naps, drinking and dining had constituted their evening into the night, which helped them slip into comfort and repair. The money they earned let them have more than cabbage for dinner, as well as a room in the local inn for the night and plenty left over for extra mead. They'd in fact just woken up from a few hours rest that was prompted by full tummies.
"So why'dya think this place is called 'The Bannered Mare'?" Amethyst sleepily pondered, comfortably nuzzling into Peridot's short, straight hair and brushing her hands in other places. Her eyes were happily slit like a drowsy cat as she cuddled Peridot to her, feeling the light warmth her thinner body gave off.
The inn was like all others in Skyrim; populated with people escaping the chill of the land and their own lives, happy to fill their bellies with warm mead and drink away the night to the tune of wartime songs. This establishment didn't seem to attract much outsiders, but Amethyst and Peridot still received a hearty Nord welcome ('How many can you down before you drop?', 'What type of ale do you want with that venison?', and a drunken invite to a brawl aimed at Amethyst - who may have knocked someone's teeth out).
"I have no idea. There was no horse theme or insignia in the common room." Peridot gave, pulling the covers tighter over them and giving a shiver unrelated to the outside chill.
"Aww, my fingers too cold?" Amethyst chuckled, pressing kisses to Peridot's face repeatedly. Her Dibella amulet she wore clinked and jingled as Peridot's paler fingers friskily tangled in it.
"Amethyst, you always radiate the inhuman temperature of a living furnace." Peridot complained, giving a little gaspy hitch of breath. She shifted her body closer with apparent relation to what Amethyst was doing below the blankets.
"Well, I am pretty inhuman." Amethyst mumbled huskily, speaking through the presses of her lips against her lover's. She moved gracefully to attend an earlobe as Peridot closed her eyes and gave a small moan. "Speakin' of which, I smelt a whole lotta dogs around here. Easily a pack, 'specially in a city."
Peridot hummed, opening her eyes a fraction to catch the side of Amethyst's head. She slid her thin fingers up her neck in a delectable manner, making shivers rack Amethyst's plump body as she found her way into thick and fluffy black hair. "Are we going to avoid them?"
"Mmm, yeah. Don't wanna piss 'em off." She answered, sucking on the shell of an ear before poking her fat tongue into the crevices. Her reception was a hand in her smug face and a cringing body.
"Ew! You have so many better places to put that!" whined Peridot, cupping her damp ear and looking offended.
"Want me to use it right now?" Amethyst performed an obscene gesture with her tongue. Peridot scowled and was probably half considering it behind those ferocious glinting eyes.
The bed squeaked as Amethyst somewhat rolled herself on top of her partner, lovingly finding her olive hand that lay resting on the pillow and taking it. From above it appeared they were doing a horizontal waltz, with their hands stretched and clasped like they were. "Whaaat? I meant smoochin' with tongue." Amethyst professed, displaying the offending muscle. "What were you thinking, huh? Dirtydot."
"I swear to Dibella I'm going to bite you." Peridot growled. And then she did just that by lowering her head and pinching Amethyst's dark flesh between her teeth.
"Ooo, a love bite~." Amethyst praised, eyes fluttering shut and brows creasing at the mixture of bliss and pain. "Mmm, wait, don't you want one from me? I mean, I do have two of my fingers halfway up your-ow."
Peridot huffed pleasurably, buried in Amethyst's shoulder and refusing to let go. She'd clenched her jaw harder and shortened her partner's dirty talk considerably.
Amethyst hissed as she felt her clamped skin lapped over. "Owie. If you're gonna do that then I can't hear you make my favourite noises…"
The hand in her dark hair tightened defiantly and warm breath washed over her strong shoulder.
"Mmm, fine." She turned her head and licked a stripe up Peridot's cheek, making her cringe and puff bitterly. "I'll just play a little bit harder."
Stubborn squeaky grunts came from Peridot as Amethyst worked her magic behind the scenes. Green eyes scrunched in ecstatic frustration, Peridot's limbs squeezing Amethyst just that little bit tighter as they rocked. The blankets covering their legs wriggled like a skeever was running amok in them, and every visible part of Peridot was starting to really flush and glisten with sweat. Amethyst's arm was visibly pumping below the sheets.
Peridot breathed as well as a person did when their mouth was latched onto something, but soon the oxygen needed was succeeding the amount only her nose was taking in and she had to let go, moaning in a reedy cry. Spittle remained and linked her to the teeth marks she left.
Amethyst pretty much pounced on her from there, crashing their lips together and performing all manner of ministrations on Peridot, judging by the watery 'oh's and 'ah's she tended to switch back and forth from. Peridot's hand squeezed Amethyst's tighter on the pillow.
One of her eyes peeked open as she moaned. "Don't s-stop!"
"Wouldn't dream of it." Amethyst groaned back, kissing her sharp jawline and feeling muscles tense with her hand. Peridot's pants turned to breathless gasps and then arcing moans and Amethyst held her down dominantly. She keened Amethyst's name and shook before going still under her, chest heaving to regain that spent oxygen.
"Hope that felt as good as it sounded." Remarked Amethyst, displaying a cocky grin. She rolled off of Peridot and onto her back, lapping her coated fingers lazily. "Okay, my turn."
Peridot groaned exhaustedly, too tired to move. "Uhn, gimme a minute…"
Peridot's small chest rose and fell gently as she slept, a quiet whistle from her nose sounding with every exhale. Amethyst watched with deep brown eyes, tightly keeping the blankets around them as she lay strictly at her side. She rested a hand around Peridot's lean waist to hold the sheets to her partner's more vulnerable form, protecting her from the iciness that still had yet to leave with the rise of the sun. Her legs scissored Peridot's between them, holding like the snare of a wolf's jaw. Her flabby stomach and chest pressed to a lean back and generous behind, providing warmth.
Amethyst had woken up first, as usual. Some who knew her would say that she was lazy when she clocked off her waking hours early, but excluding tiring travel, the half-Redguard got little sleep. Her body was restless if she was unconscious, and often she woke tensing her fingers and jaw. If they stayed somewhere with a single bed, Peridot complained regularly of being kicked.
She dipped her pudgy nose into her girlfriend's collarbone, a bored and lonely expression on her face. She'd let Peridot get her sleep otherwise she'd be grumpy, but Amethyst was highly anticipating when she'd wake up. Her dark fingers traced the tanned and bony expanses of Peridot's side absentmindedly. She was even smaller when she wasn't wearing her armour.
The light touches weren't the cause, but soon after the other woman woke up, evident by a weird snort from her pointy nose. Amethyst snickered as Peridot squinted awake, watching her roof-directed glare before she started to recognize her surroundings.
"Hey cutie." Amethyst buried her face in her rousing torso while Peridot nestled her nose into Amethyst's sweaty hair. The blond took a deep inhale and released it in a happy sigh.
"Ahh…You smell like sex…"
Amethyst mumbled adoringly from Peridot's clavicle. "Your face smells like my pussy."
"I'll need to bathe again before we go." Peridot swiped her wrist across her mouth and chin a little like a cat before poking her tongue out mischievously. "How's the headboard?"
They both looked above them to the bed's headboard, which now featured - courtesy of Amethyst - a nice big crack in the intricately carved wood. They looked back at each other, grinning.
"Think they'll notice?" Amethyst purred, leaning in to nuzzle again. Peridot felt her warm morning breath on her face and vice versa.
"Mmm, not if we place a cloth over it or something. If we leave the room neat it should make up for it."
"Totally." They held hands under the blanket and tangled their legs. Amethyst lay her head back on her pillow and closed her eyes, feeling the lack of sleep. "Did'ya like that stew they served up? I was just thinkin' 'bout it."
"Yeah. It was nice and warm like a cuddle from you." Peridot pressed her lips against her forehead. Mwah."
"Aww, you're sappy and I love it."
Peridot's chest heaved as she giggled, settling herself back on her elbows and exposing down to her happy trail. "Do you have an idea on what time it is?" she yawned.
"Uhh, breakfast time?" Amethyst suggested, lying on her tummy. "I dunno." She buried her face in her own fluffy hair. "Think rent's up soon? You bet she'll charge us an extra ten septims for loungin' around in here?"
"Hopefully not."
"Yeah. I want more shut eye."
Amethyst relaxed into her own black mane, rolling her shoulders before settling. She had three minutes of shut eye before she seemed to think of something. "Hey, Peri, my love?" she yawned.
"Hmm?"
"How many septims we got left after last night?"
"I'll put in an inquiry, nyeheh."
Peridot's arm reached for the bedside table draw, where they'd stashed their earnings and other valuables for the night. She bought her arm back to her chest and pried open their drawstring reward purse with her fingers before peeking inside. She looked back into Amethyst's awaiting face with dread.
"Shit."
