Thanks to everyone who keeps coming back to read more, and especially to those who've reviewed! I truly appreciate it. The Divines reward a charitable soul...heh.
...
When next they woke, she knew they should get moving. It was hard to tell the passing of time underground, but they had surely rested enough. Fun as this was, there were still things to be looted, and home was sounding better and better.
She quietly slid out of bed, hoping to find something in her packs that would pass for breakfast. The fire was still lit, although it had died down quite a bit. Unfortunately, she hadn't brought much more than travel food, just some bread and cheese and a bit of dried up meat.
She glanced back at the bed and found Brynjolf awake, leaning on one elbow and watching her. He smirked when he saw her look at him. "Good...morning?" she ventured.
"Good something," he said, ogling her naked body shamelessly.
"I was going to make breakfast, but that would require real food," she told him. "As it stands, we have stale bread, hard cheese, and a little stringy venison that would make a better shoe."
"As tempting as that sounds, lass, I think I'll decline your offer," he replied dryly, scooting over to sit on the edge of the bed.
She sat down next to him and leaned her head on his shoulder. He slipped his arm around her waist as they scooted closer together. She sighed. "We should probably get dressed and back to it..."
"Aye..." he said softly. Neither of them moved.
Finally she gently pulled away. They got dressed quietly, occasionally helping each other with an awkward buckle or strap. When they were done, she faced him and put her arms around his waist to give him a hug.
She looked up at him. "So...I figure we should circle back, around the other side of the city. I think we covered most of it, so there's little point going back in. I just want to see if there's anything around the other side."
"Whatever you say, lass. I'll be with you."
...
After leaving the building, they headed back towards the other side of the city. They ended up having to wade through some of the wide streams that crossed through the cavern, leaving both of them with soggy feet. When they came across a tower that was clearly inhabited by a large colony of giant spiders, neither of them cared to explore it.
"I hate spiders!" she grumbled, wrinkling her nose. "They're stinky and venomous and just...icky!" She punctuated the statement with a shudder.
Brynjolf had to laugh. The same woman who ran towards a dragon the day before looked ready to run away from some spiders today. Not that he blamed her, though, because who likes spiders anyway? They did stink, especially their gooey venom, and their bites tended to fester.
"Well, you know I'd protect you," he said with a smirk, and she snorted in response. "But spiders are pretty nasty."
"Then let's go around," she decided.
They continued on their way, meeting little resistance except for the occasional small party of Falmer. He was surprised by how peaceful it was. I wonder if most of them were killed by that dragon. On occasion they'd encounter another small building, but most of them were too ruined to enter. Sometimes they'd find an old chest in the ruins or in a Falmer hut.
Before long they had circled around to the other side of the city ruins, where they found another huge lift. She stopped and looked at it thoughtfully. He halted beside her and asked, "Do you know where that goes?"
"I'm not certain, but I remember reading that aside from Raldbthar and Alftand, Mzinchaleft and Irkngthand also connected to Blackreach. I know Irkngthand didn't have an elevator to the surface. Come to think of it, I never saw an entrance there either. Must've collapsed. Anyway, this is probably Mzinchaleft." She bit her lip and thought a while, then pulled out a map and studied it. "We should probably just go back to the Raldbthar entrance. Closer to home, and there's not much but mountains between the two on the surface. And we'll even know where we are, and hopefully our horses will still be around." With that, she started walking again.
Brynjolf wasn't sure that the underground route would be that much easier, but he knew the mountains could be treacherous, especially in bad weather. Besides, he would've followed her on authority alone, in addition to wanting to be near her.
Closer to home. He was looking forward to it, but he was dreading it all the same. He wasn't sure how people would react to them. He hoped they wouldn't. And although he had told the Dragonborn the truth, he knew well enough that the reason Tonilia refused to marry Vekel was him, which meant she would be none too happy when she learned.
He decided not to worry about it for now. Can't be helped. They rounded the city without any real trouble, although they also didn't find much of value, either. Finally they came to the edge of another large, shallow body of water with a columnar tower at its center.
"The Tower of Mzark," she said, pointing to it. "I had to go there to find an Elder Scroll. The good news is that we aren't far. The bad news is that we might have to get our feet wet again."
"Wait a minute, lass-an Elder Scroll? Did you just say you found an Elder Scroll?" He wasn't sure if he had heard right.
"Aye, that's part of that long story I mentioned. Honestly, if I hadn't lived it, I wouldn't believe it," she answered with a wan smile. She started walking along the shoreline, and he followed beside her, waiting for her to elaborate.
"Well, you know I'm Dragonborn, and that I had to kill Alduin, right?" He nodded, for everyone knew that. "And obviously, you know I can Shout." He nodded again. "There's a particular Shout-Dragonrend-that had been lost to time. Basically, I needed an Elder Scroll to go back in time and learn it in order to defeat the dragons."
He laughed. "You're right, that is rather hard to believe. If anyone else had said that to me, I'd have told them to lay off the skooma. Actually, when I tell people about this," he said, gesturing at the strange landscape around them, "they'll probably tell me the same." They had arrived at a stone bridge, which they crossed.
"And here we are again," she said as they approached the lift, traipsing through the shallow stream in front of it. "Right where we started." She looked a little sad for a moment.
"You okay, lass?" He was usually relieved to leave Dwemer ruins, if not outright happy. Not that he spent much time in such places, if he could help it.
"I'm fine," she replied, still looking a bit worried. "It's just...I had a weird moment of paranoia, that's all. We should probably go." She turned toward the lift.
"Paranoia?" he asked, hoping that didn't mean some other mythical beast was about to attack them. He looked around them nervously.
"I...I...I guess I'm a little worried about things. You know." She looked a little embarrassed and awkward.
"Things?" he questioned her, raising an eyebrow. Surely she wasn't going to try to tell him she was pregnant just a day later, was she?
"When we get back...are we still...you know...together? I mean I'd like to be, but I understand if you don't want to be tied down..." She looked progressively more uncomfortable with every word, like she was trying to shrink down out of existence.
He smiled with relief, amused at how adorably nervous she was being. "Aye, lass, I think we are." He pulled her close and kissed her tenderly.
She smiled, though her cheeks were still a bit pink. "I don't know how people will react...I suspect Karliah will have a few words for us, at the least." She looked less than happy at the idea.
"She might, but she'll get over it," he comforted her. "Don't worry. The guild's my family, our family, and I know them well. We keep bringing in coin, we're fine."
She nodded, her face unreadable, and they took the lift to the surface.