Anyway, I once more ask for any ideas for the story, past, present, or future, especially new characters, preferably OC's!
On with it then! Review! Flame! Or give me ideas! Or all of those!
Colette's POV
Dipping the awful excuse for a sword in the bucket of water beside the forge to cool it before continuing to work, Colette sighs heavily. She'd taken the Dragonborn's offer of a job and travelled to Whiterun to become apprenticed to Adrianne. The Imperial was kind enough, and paid Colette a considerable hourly wage for work that was acceptable at best. She'd taken the liberty of crafting herself a simple longbow. It was completely devoid of any detail whatsoever; though not the beautiful craftsmanship she'd seen made by Avenicci, it was adequate and it would be good to have extra protection after her second rescue at the hands of the Dragonborn. That was a rather crushing blow to her pride; the fact that he'd had to once again venture off his path of killing bad guys and whatever he does and safe her pathetic hide once more was quite embarrassing. She'd decided that she'd repay him someday, somehow. Or at least apologize a second time. She'd awakened in Riverwood and he'd been long gone.
She'd been cared for by the kind innkeeper until she was able to function without wincing at her bruised sides. After that she'd stayed a bit longer, milling about the town, exchanging gossip with the villagers all day and drinking like a Nord every night. On the third day or so the kindly blacksmith, Alvor, had entered her room and deposited an exquisite set of leather armor, in all its shining, polished glory. It even came with a sword, expertly crafted, simple and strong, as he had said. She had thanked him like a child receiving a gift. Well, she was pretty much that actually. Because it had been a final gift from the Dragonborn; it even had a little dragon etched in to the leather in the center of the breastplate. The symbol of the Empire. The symbol of Talos. The symbol of the Dragonborn. Wiping the sweat of her brow, she removed the sword from the pool and hammered away once more. It was then that the gates to the city creaked open, loudly and obnoxiously. It was nearly midnight! Nobody but her was out this late, much less traveling from city to city.
She curiously turns and the armor is the first thing she sees. He strolls in regally, and quite, ahem, handsomely, and speaks to a guard at his side. The guard nods. "…of course my Thane," She hears. Huh. He's sure moving up in this world. As if being the Dragonborn wasn't title enough. She chuckles lightly. Oops. He hears her and whirls around to face her. She can feel her face redden. She smiles shyly in his presence and is suddenly interested in her leather boots, bought for her by him of course. Why should he even care about a girl who can't make her own way? "I-I um…Uh…I'm sorry, I…" He puts a finger to his lips, removing his helmet and holding it beneath his arm. "You don't have to say anything. You look tired. C'mon, my house is just down here." She tries to object but he waves her off. Her hours at the forge were quite long…
He unlocks the door and holds it open for her. She smiles as she is greeted by a warm, cozy living room. Off to the side is a small table, to the right a bookshelf stocked with literature of all kinds. In the center are two chairs beside the fire. Manning the cooking pot was a woman, Nord, with a pale complexion and kind features. She was dressed in steel armor, standard for a housecarl which she clearly was. "My Thane!" She leaves her spot and stalks towards them, grinning ear to ear. "Hey, Lydia. Sorry I was gone so long. I got distracted a bit. You know, bandits, dragons, draugr. Alduin." He hugs the woman, dumping his helmet on a table. They release their fierce grip on each other so he takes the oppurtunity and tosses his shield to the floor, propping his quiver against the wall. "And who's this?" His housecarl asks. "Ah," Darius smirks. "Meet Colette. I met her under some interesting circumstances. The Thalmor were dragging her to her bloody death due to her presumed worship of Talos, and you can guess what that got them." Shaking hands with Colette, Lydia brightens even more. Like any Nord, it seemed she hated the Dominion quite a bit.
Darius and Lydia sit in the two chairs by the fire with a glass of wine each. He motions to the master bedroom upstairs. "Go ahead to my bed, Colette. Me and Lydia have some catching up to do." When she hesitates, he reassures her, saying, "Don't worry. You won't have to sleep with me, if that's what makes you uncomfortable. It's rather normal for me to go days without sleep; it has something to do with my dragon blood." He chuckles lightly. "And Lydia, you're just a creep." He laughs at her outraged expression. "Seriously! I've never seen you sleep, not even when we go out adventuring! You take first watch then you don't ever wake me up for mine! Sometimes I wonder about you, woman. I swear, if—" Colette doesn't hear the rest. She's already climbed the stairs and is closing the door to the bedroom. Her eyelids are heavy. She hadn't had much sleep in the Bannered Mare; the beds were hard and it was always only a few hours until her next shift on the forge. The Dragonborn's bed was calling for her. Damn, that sounded wrong.
She smiles inwardly at her little jest. She could hear laughing and glasses clinking downstairs. She was glad to see the Dragonborn so relaxed. The savior of the world needed some time for fun too, right? With that she fell asleep, wondering what the days to come would bring.
