AN: I'll be honest. I have no idea where this story came from. But I like how it turned out so here it is.

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"Wow! I've never been in a city this big. Of course, considering that I spent all my life in Rorikstead I suppose that's not a huge surprise, is it? Hey! Is that a Wood Elf? I've never seen one in person. I wonder if I can see other Elves too. Or maybe a Khajiit! I heard they travel all over Skyrim, but I don't think they're allowed in the cities." Raelynn bit her bottom lip hard enough to bruise to hold in the sigh that desperately wanted to escape. She forced herself to tune Erik's rambling out and focused on making it through Whiterun without him inadvertently insulting anybody.

They reached the steps to Jorrvaskr without incident and she allowed herself a sigh of relief. Behind her Erik was still talking, though it sounded like he had moved on to musing about the Shrine of Talos. She tromped up the steps and twisted open the door to Jorrvaskr, stepping inside and hoping that being there would finally quiet the man with her.

She offered up a brief prayer to Talos when Erik fell silent, eyes wide as he looked around the main hall of Jorrvaskr. "Where are we?" he asked.

"Jorrvaskr," she replied, giving him a quick glance before heading down the stairs to the table. Skjor and Aela nodded in greeting and Vilkas' eyes skated over her and then Erik before he sneered and disappeared out the back door.

"This is the home of the Companions," Erik exhaled, amazement in his voice.

"Yep," she answered, ignoring the glances and snickers of the others.

"Are you a Companion?" he questioned, dogging her every step.

"Yep," she said as they reached the top of the stairs.

"Wow," he said. "I'm traveling with a Companion. This is great!" She could not stop the groan that escaped her, but Erik did not seem to notice. She made her way downstairs and bypassed the whelp room, heading instead down the hall with the hope that maybe she could hide for a little while.

She reached the door to Farkas' room and stopped so quickly that Erik ran into her back, shoving her forward and into the door. "Oh! I'm so sorry, are you okay?" he asked, reaching for her shoulders and steadying her. Raelynn turned to look at him with a tight smile and flinched when she heard Farkas' door open.

"I'm fine Erik," she assured him. "It was an accident." His eyes were wide, gaze fixed over her shoulder at Farkas. She cleared her throat and motioned between them. "Erik, this is Farkas of the Companions. Farkas, this is Erik. He's an… adventurer that I ran into in Rorikstead."

"Okay," Farkas responded. "Why's he outside my room?"

She turned away from Erik and gave Farkas a strained grin. "He's been traveling with me and I need to talk to you and he followed me in here."

Farkas blinked at her. "What do you need to talk about?"

She grabbed his arm and started into his room. "It's private," she answered. He allowed himself to be pulled into his room and then Raelynn turned and held a hand up to stop Erik from following. "Just, wait out here. I'll be out in a few minutes. Okay? Okay."

Erik frowned and looked between her and Farkas. "Oh," he exhaled and crossed his arms as he stepped back to lean up against the opposite wall. "Okay. I'll be here."

Raelynn gave him a tight smile and then closed the door, pressing her head against it and sighing. "So," Farkas started and she could hear the smirk in his voice. "Who's your friend?"

She groaned and slumped against the door, flopping over to face him. "Just some guy," she answered. Farkas arched an eyebrow and she blew a gust of air out. "I was in Rorikstead for…" she trailed off and frowned. "Honestly I don't remember why I was there in the first place. Anyway, that guy, Erik, was out in his field looking like he would rather be traipsing naked into Oblivion rather than working in the field." Farkas snorted at the expression and she ignored it. "I went up to him and we started talking and he said his real dream was to be an adventurer instead of a farmer, but his father was way too overprotective."

She pushed away from the door and wandered across the room towards the bar stools as she talked. "So I went and talked to his father and he said the only way Erik could leave is if he had some better equipment. Lucky for him I happened to have some stuff in my pack that fit him well enough so I gave it to him." She collapsed onto one of the stools and propped her elbows on the counter, burying her face in her palms. "Of course, then the father commented that he would feel even better if he knew Erik was traveling with a capable fighter." She rubbed her eyes. "There was also something in there about me being a courageous and beautiful woman."

"Is he a decent fighter?" Farkas questioned, settling on the stool next to her.

She shrugged. "Good enough. Pretty green but he held his own against the few bandits we ran into on the way here."

"So, what's the problem then?" he asked. He twisted to face her and placed one elbow on the counter, leaning against it and trying to look at her face. She kept it buried behind her hands.

"He won't stop talking," Raelynn groaned. "The whole way here I don't think he even stopped to take a breath. And from behind me! He was always walking behind me! I'm pretty sure the talking wouldn't bother me if he were walking next to me and actually talking to me instead of my back." Farkas chuckled and she shifted her hands enough to glare at him with one eye. "What?" she snapped.

"I usually walk behind you when we travel and you don't complain about it then," he pointed out.

She glowered at him. "You also don't talk the entire time," she replied.

He smirked. "That's because I'm too busy enjoying the view. Don't want to waste energy on talking when there's looking to be done." He nudged her hip with his knee. "I suspect Erik's doing his fair share of enjoying the view too."

She let her hands drop away and exhaled slowly. "You're probably right; this is the first time he's been out of Rorikstead. It's probably overwhelming, all the new sights and sounds and things like that. I remember the first time I saw the snowcapped mountains here." She smiled a little. "Of course, I was so inspired I was quiet," she added.

Farkas laughed, a booming sound that rattled her pleasantly. "Rae, I am fairly certain he was not observing the landscape."

She frowned again and crossed her arms. "Farkas, if he wasn't looking at the landscape then how could he have been 'enjoying the view'? It makes no sense otherwise."

"By the Divines," Farkas sighed. "And they call me Icebrain." She glared at him, aware of the fact that he just insulted her but not sure how. "What did you need to talk to me about anyway?" he asked.

She bit her lip and gave him a guilty smile. "I just wanted to escape Erik's incessant talking for a little while. I can't figure out how to shake him. I don't just want to abandon him, but I don't want him constantly following me." Farkas rolled his eyes and levered himself off the stool. "What are you doing?" she asked, eyes tracking him across the room.

"Taking care of your problem," he replied. He opened the door and stepped into the hall, motioning Erik over. The other man moved into her line of sight and Farkas tilted his head down, murmuring something to Erik. Erik's eyes widened and he glanced at her for a moment and then looked back at Farkas, shaking his head. Farkas said something else and Erik nodded.

"Hey, thanks for letting me travel with you," Erik called through the door. "I'm gonna head on over to the Bannered Mare now and hang around, see if anybody needs a mercenary. Thanks again!" He disappeared and Farkas walked back into the room, nudging the door closed behind him.

"What did you say to him?" Raelynn asked, suspicion dancing along her nerves.

"Don't worry about it," Farkas said. "I took care of it, right?" She nodded slowly, the feeling that she was really missing something again washing over her. "So, what're you up to now that you're back from Rorikstead and without a traveling companion?"

She shrugged. "I dunno. Danica wants me to head over to Eastmarch and get some sap to help heal the Gildergreen tree. And I haven't taken any contracts for a while so I probably should before Vilkas has a fit at me for not pulling my weight around here. Maybe I'll see if he has one over in Eastmarch." She hopped off the stool and pranced to the door, pausing to grin at Farkas. "Thanks so much for helping me get rid of him," she said. "He's nice and a decent warrior, but if he stayed around any longer I would have probably Shouted him through the wall to shut him up."

Farkas relaxed on his bed, stretching one thick arm up behind his head as he studied her. "Any time Rae," he replied. "And let me know if you want company when you go to Eastmarch. I would love to enjoy the view with you," he added with a wide grin.

"Uh, okay," she answered and left his room, wondering what it was about the barren plains of Eastmarch he wanted to enjoy.