The next day, they spread the map out on the floor of their dorm in an attempt to decide what they should do next. Jackie sat on the floor across from him, chin in hand, studying the map carefully. She then informed him that she actually still couldn't read maps.

"You're ridiculous," he grumbled, and turned the map so that he could look at it at the angle he wanted. "I was thinking somewhere… warmer," said Bradas. He placed a finger on a location. "Here?"

She leaned over and took a second to sound out the word. "Rif. Ten." Her eyes widened. "Riften? Um, why?"

"Why not?"

"Of all the places we've been to, you pick Riften?" she asked with a laugh. "Okay, how about…" she searched for the letters she was looking for on the map. Her finger lightly traced the map. "Sol-i-tude," she read, using her fingernail to tap the little word.

"It's far," he said, tracing the trail of her finger with his eye.

She frowned. "It is, isn't it? We can figure out something else." Her eyes lit up. "We can literally go anywhere."

"We'll reach Solitude in time, if that's where you'd like to go," he said with a grin. "No matter where we travel, I'll be happy to get away from all this snow."

.

…

.

The thing about getting away from the cold weather was that you had to travel through it first. Bradas and Jackie were not strangers to travelling through the snow, but that didn't mean they liked it. A few miserable nights were spent in the freezing cold, taking shifts to keep watch over a fire. Worse yet, Bradas seemed to have a renewed love for exploring dank, damp caves, which definitely slowed them down on their journey toward Riften.

After one such cave, they emerged to a dimming evening sky. Rather than continue on in the cold, they decided to make camp right outside the entrance. Bradas lit a fire with the wave of his hand.

"That's always a neat trick," Jackie remarked as she fed the flames with dry wood.

"You still haven't had any luck with magic, have you?" Bradas said, suddenly remembering that he'd once tried to train her to cast fire spells. He'd mostly forgotten about it once she'd begun making progress with the dagger.

"I really haven't," she sighed. "Too bad, too. Seven-year old me would have been really happy."

That brought a smile to his face. "You wanted to do magic when you were a girl?" His mind conjured up endearing images of a young Jackie trying to cast spells.

She scoffed. "I think everyone wants to be magical when they're kids."

"That's true for me, though I'm not sure about everyone," he said, thinking of many of the Nords he'd encountered.

"Well, you actually are magical," she said, rubbing her hands by the fire.

"Why, I am, aren't I?" he answered with a smug grin.

She rolled her eyes and bumped his shoulder with hers. "I mean you can do magic, you jerk. That's pretty cool."

"Perhaps you can learn how to enchant," he said. "You seemed to know how that Dwarven Centurion worked, a few weeks ago. I've been meaning to ask you about it."

She tilted her head. "Ask me about what?"

"You recognized the machines in Mzulft. You called them robots."

"Oh!" she exclaimed softly, like she was surprised that he remembered. "Yeah. We've been so busy that I forgot to tell you about it… huh, where do I start?"

"You have things like that in your world?" he asked carefully, remembering a time that mentioning home to her would cast a shadow across her face. It was still there, that melancholy, but he was glad to see that it had lightened a bit.

"Yeah, we do… kind of. It doesn't have anything to do with enchanting, though," she said, placing her hand under her chin. "How would I describe it? It's so… different from here. I'm worried that I'll try to explain and you'll think I'm crazy."

"It can't imagine it's that different," he laughed. "What machines do you have? How do you bring them to life, if they're not enchanted?"

"Hmm. Well we have cars, for one thing. They run on gas and electricity, no magic needed." She sighed wistfully. "If we had a car, we could skip all this walking. You just get in and speed to wherever you want to go."

He raised an eyebrow. "It sounds like a carriage."

That drew a laugh from her. "Way better than a carriage! Think about it like this. We only have about another day's journey to Riften, right?"

"That's right."

"If we had a car, we could get there in less than an hour."

He scoffed. "I don't know if I believe that."

"It's true! Also, we'd have a heater. Which means we wouldn't be freezing all the time."

"A heater," he repeated.

"Yeah, a…" Jackie waved her hands. "I actually don't really know how they work? But they make your car warm without any fire," she explained.

He wasn't sure he believed her that it all worked without magic. "They must be very rare," he guessed. "Such a machine would be dangerous."

"Not rare at all. I used to have one before… Oh, I forgot all about it," she gasped. "I wonder what happened with my car now that I'm gone."

"You had one?" he asked incredulously. He tried to imagine her climbing into a machine that ran around at dangerous speeds. "How did you control it?"

"Um, a… wheel? I'm not a mechanic, I really couldn't explain it to you…"

That was the beginning of a long, slightly frustrating conversation. By the time they were ready to fall asleep, Bradas had concluded that she was far better off without dangerous 'cars' zipping around and causing havoc.

.

…

.

Jackie wasn't the greatest fan of Riften, but she was extremely happy to be in a city again. They had more than enough money for supplies and a week's stay at the Bee and Barb, and once they sold all their extra junk they'd have even more.

"Mmm, a bed!" she sighed happily as she locked up some of her valuables. She was going to enjoy that tonight. She slumped down onto her single straw mattress, enjoying the warmth of the room.

There were two small beds in the room, but at this point they had no issues with sharing. She was just glad that they didn't get the same rooms as last time—that would surely have been a bad omen.

She put the thought out of her mind and nestled down into the covers. She dozed off a little until she felt Bradas shaking her shoulder to wake her up.

"Shall we head down to the bar for a drink?" he asked.

She sat up, drowsy. "Sure, why not?"

They ate dinner and got a full night's rest. Their slumber was, thankfully, abduction-free. Jackie woke that morning and dressed before peering over Bradas' sleeping form.

"Bradas?" she said gently. He didn't react—nothing but a soft snore. The elf was probably going to sleep for as long as he possibly could, she supposed.

She took the opportunity to go to the market and sell some things she didn't need. She headed back to the Bee and Barb with her coin purse a little heavier.

"Hello, sera," a voice seemed to come from the blue. Jackie whirled around to find it. She was surprised to see a Dunmer elf, tall and rugged, leaning on the side of the building. Her mind flashed to several after-school specials she'd seen where the drug dealer came out of the alley to tempt kids into trying 'dope.'

"Hello…" she replied, crossing her arms over her chest, protecting where her pocket of money was.

"You look like a lady who'd be interested in a discount," he drawled. She couldn't help but laugh a little—it really was like an anti-drug PSA.

"I'm fine, thanks," she said graciously.

"You wouldn't even want some of the famous Black-Briar Mead?"

"It's little early for cheap mead, isn't it?"

"No, no friend, you've got it all wrong. I'm selling good mead for cheap… Black-Briar mead. I sell cases of it for half of what the inns and taverns pay through the meadery."

"Sounds illegal," she remarked.

"Does that bother you?" he asked.

"I just wouldn't go telling everyone about it," she replied, a smile quirking at her lips unbidden.

"I only tell charming girls I find outside the tavern," he said. She scoffed and felt her face flush. He went on: "Charming, capable young ladies who might have need of an odd-job or two."

She floundered for a second. "Ah, um, job?"

"All I'd need is someone to deliver the mead to a friend for me. If anyone saw me leaving Riften, they'd get suspicious. But you're a newcomer, aren't you? You can come and go without anyone giving you a second thought."

Oh, now Jackie could see it for what it was—he was trying to charm her into helping him out. "I think septims will get you a little further than flattery will," she said, cursing her red cheeks. She was still flattered, dang it. But she definitely wasn't going to consider any 'odd jobs' unless she was getting paid.

The elf seemed to approve. "Smart girl. My name is Romlyn Dreth—I work at Black-Briar Meadery just down the road."

"I'm Jackie Carson," she greeted. "You really are running a racket, aren't you? You steal beer from work?"

"Mead, not beer," he replied, mock-offended. "You've never had Black-Briar mead, have you?

"I… don't think so," she admitted. "It's all the same to me."

He drew back in exaggerated horror. "We must remedy that, mustn't we?"

"Oh, um, maybe another time," she said, voice coming out a little squeaky. "Um, you said you wanted a delivery though, right?"

"That's right," he said, his body language easy. "You'd take the barrel out to the fishery. My contact will give you something in exchange. You can keep it, in exchange for doing the legwork," he explained. "Does that sound like something you'd be interested in?"

"I'll think about it…" she said, thinking that this was definitely a job she should bring Bradas into—just in case this was some kind of scam.

"Good. Let me know when you're done. Maybe afterward the two of us can get a few drinks for ourselves," he suggested, and she felt her cheeks burn anew.

"Ahahah, okay," she stammered, turning away and marching back into the tavern.

"Sounds like an easy enough job for one person," Bradas was murmuring, still lying in bed. His black hair was sprawled over his pillow, his eyes looking a little puffy from sleep. Kinda cute, Jackie thought—though he probably wouldn't appreciate it very much if she said so.

"Did I mention he was, uh, very friendly?" Not that she hadn't sort of enjoyed being flirted with—it had been a really long time. Still, one could never know.

"That is unusual for Riften," he replied sleepily, not getting the point. "Just be careful. Don't hesitate to kill anyone."

"This is my life now," Jackie sighed. "You're not worried someone will try to kill me? Kidnap me?"

"You're very strong and brave," he grumbled, and she narrowed her eyes. "I have no doubt you can take care of yourself…"

"You're going to be really sorry if I wind up dead in a ditch because you're too lazy to get up."

She saw the hint of a smile before he covered his face with the pillow. "Will I?"

.

…

.

It was later in the day when Bradas awoke with a vague memory of sending Jackie off alone to murder someone at the Fishery. Was that what they'd talked about? He'd been far too exhausted when she'd barged into his room to ask him to tag along.

He didn't make good decisions when he was sleepy.

Thankfully, he found her out in the common room of the tavern with a bowl of stew and an apple. She was grinning from ear-to-ear as she showed him a little bag of jewels she'd gotten.

"What did you do to get that?" he asked, sitting at the table across from her.

"You don't remember?"

"Just, ah, refresh my memory," he hedged.

"I made an illegal booze delivery." She paused, like she was just realizing something. "Like a bootlegger."

"That's what it was," he sighed. "Good job. I get half the cut, I assume?"

"In your dreams," she scoffed. He grinned and swiped her apple.

Bradas really didn't think twice about it until later that evening. They'd spent the day outside, running errands and looking for jobs, so the whole thing was far from his mind. That evening, he and Jackie were sitting at a table in the Bee and Bard with a bottle of wine and dinner, discussing drinking games from her culture.

"'Beer Pong' sounds awful," he said. "Why work so hard when you could just drink?"

"Just for fun. I like the one where you a movie and take a drink every time someone says a certain word," she explained. He gave her a blank look, and she went on: "Okay. It's like if we had to take a drink every time we heard 'Age of Aggression.'"

"One could get very, very drunk if that were true," he muttered. Just that moment, the bard began to sing the very song they hated. Jackie stifled her laughter with her hands.

Another voice he didn't recognized interrupted them, and seemed to pop the little bubble they had created. "Jackie Carson?" it said, and he looked up to see a Dunmer elf with white hair standing by their table. The man didn't seem to notice him at all, eyes focused squarely on Jackie.

Well, that was sort of alarming.

"Yes?" Jackie replied with a polite smile, eyes lighting up with recognition. That was a surprise. "Your name was Romlyn, right?"

"That's right," he said smoothly. His eyes finally flickered to Bradas. "And who is this?"

"My friend, Bradas Sarayn. He's usually with me. Bradas, this is the guy I was telling you about earlier, with the mead delivery. Romlyn Dreth."

Ah, he'd completely forgotten. "Well met, sera," Dreth said. "I didn't know you travelled with a Dunmer. How interesting."

That struck Bradas as an odd thing to say, but perhaps it meant nothing. Or, the more cynical side of him supplied, perhaps the man was wondering if Jackie was interested in Dunmer men. Which—which was a train of thought that Bradas really didn't want to follow.

"I thought I'd come over and offer to buy you a drink," said Dreth, seeming not to notice any discomfort. "It's the least I can do to repay you for your hard work." Bradas wrinkled his nose as Jackie laughed, a little nervously.

"Sure, I'd love to," she said. She turned to him. "I'll be back in a little bit!" she informed him, and followed Romlyn Dreth to the bar. Bradas huffed a laugh, finding himself more amused than anything else.

He was oddly not bothered by it. He could admit that his feelings toward her were complicated, so it was a bit of a surprise when he wasn't… somewhat jealous. Not that he'd expected to be… but, well.

He poured himself another drink of wine and paid only a little bit of attention to what his companion was doing at the bar. She had a bottle of mead in her hand, and her nose wrinkled when she took a sip. He couldn't hear what she was talking about with the other Dunmer, but her eyes were lit up and she was obviously having a good time.

Was she flirting? Dreth certainly was.

Bradas found himself wondering if perhaps Jackie wasn't entirely averse to relationships with other races besides human. She was from a distant land where there were only humans, so the idea would be very strange to her, wouldn't it? They'd never talked about it—how would one bring up the subject, anyway?

It hadn't been something he'd ever considered, himself. There was the occasional human-elf couple back home in Morrowind, but it wasn't too common.

What did it matter? He wasn't interested in humans like that, anyway.

He scoffed at himself. That was simply not true, was it? He looked over to where Jackie was again and felt his stomach drop when he noticed how close Romlyn was, almost close enough to whisper in her ear.

Ah, there was the jealousy he'd been expecting. Luckily, Jackie pulled away just when the other man got too close. She said something to him—and then, Azura bless her, she was walking back toward their table.

"Hey," she said, sounding a bit breathless. "I'm done. Are you alright?"

"Yes, why?" he asked, frowning.

"You just look a bit more… I don't know, broody than usual?" she said.

He scoffed. "I'm not brooding. I'm tired."

"Me too! We should turn in."

.

…

.

Jackie could officially say that she was off her game. She'd felt so awkward talking to a guy who was clearly interested in her that she'd needed an out. That 'out' just happened to be heavily implying that Bradas was her boyfriend when Romlyn got a little too close for comfort.

"How about you and I go someplace more private?" Romlyn had suggested, breath tickling her ear.

She'd blinked, smile freezing on her face. "Oh, ah, I really shouldn't," she'd replied, instinctively glancing over to where Bradas was sitting. Romlyn had nodded in… understanding?

"Ah, so he's your lover then?" Jackie was a little embarrassed at the wording, but she knew how to recognize an opportunity when she got one. It'd be way easier to go along with it than to tell him the truth: she wasn't interested in one-night stands with shady people who might possibly have venereal diseases she'd never heard of.

"Um, well…" she'd shrugged. It wasn't exactly a confirmation, but it was enough for him to leave her alone.

She was well aware how weird it was, and she was hoping she'd be able to get away with it without having to tell Bradas at some point. He would surely tease her until she died.

Anyway, flirting in this world was… really weird, especially since she hadn't dated in a long time. Even harmless flirting was a challenge.

The fact that Bradas had been grimacing in the corner the whole time hadn't helped. She'd gotten the sense that he felt abandoned somehow, although he would never admit it.

What she didn't expect was for him to ask why she'd bailed out on the guy once they got back to their room. "Why hide away in here? You seemed to be having a good time." he remarked, sounding so casual that she almost wondered if she'd been wrong—maybe he hadn't felt abandoned at all.

"I was just getting kind of tired," she said, and she knew that he knew it was a lie as soon as it came out of her mouth.

"Really?" he drawled.

"No," she scoffed, crawling under the covers of the bed and closing her eyes. She heard him lie down in his own bed, the mattress creaking in response to his weight. "I just. You know. I haven't dated or anything in… like, an embarrassingly long time," she confessed. "It was just awkward to let a guy buy me a drink and try to be funny or interesting. I just wasn't into it."

He didn't reply for a second. She peeked over at him and see if he was asleep. "Dating," he repeated, as if contemplating the term. "How long is, ah, 'an embarrassingly long time?'" he finally asked, sounding like he was about to laugh.

"Oh, maybe almost a year?" she said, cheeks burning. Oh, God, was this really a good topic to discuss with Bradas? Was he going to tease her forever? "I mean, at least four months before I got dropped in Skyrim. And I certainly haven't dated in the six or so months I've been here."

He chuckled and she pulled the blankets over her head. He peered over at the lump of covers and felt the tips of his ears burn. Were they really talking about this? Before he could stop himself, he asked, "So you're not fond of Romlyn Dreth?"

She poked her head out of the covers. "Not so much," she admitted. "But I really like that Black-Briar mead."

He couldn't help the bark of laughter that bubbled up through his chest. "Is that what it would take to court you? Lots of mead?"

"Oh, I'm not that easy," she laughed. "Although he does have access to a lot of mead… wait, should I go back out there? I can't let him get away, what if he's the one?"

"Don't even joke," he groaned through her laughter. "So is there any reason you didn't court—date—before?"

She sighed, still smiling. He was relieved that the question hadn't offended her. "Four months before I came here I was just getting out of a really serious relationship. Like… almost got engaged, serious."

Engaged? Jackie? "What happened?"

"Oh, you know… we were together for a year, and things were really good until they just… weren't, I guess," she sighed. "He broke up with me because he wanted to see what else was out there. He said we were too young to really know, that we should experiment… I think he just wanted to see other people. Or he already was."

"What?" Bradas sat up and narrowed his eyes. He imagined a slightly younger, jilted version of Jackie and it made his heart drop into his stomach. "You were nearly married and he ended it to…" To see other people? He threw Jackie away for some notion that he could do better?

"Oh no, we were more like… engaged-to-be-engaged," she corrected. "It's not a big deal! I ate tons of ice cream and cried a lot, but I did get over it," she added with a reassuring smile.

"Good. He sounds like a fool," he scoffed.

"You sound just like my sister," she laughed. "Honestly, he did me a favor. I wouldn't want to be with someone who wasn't on the same page I am. And I mean… it feels like a lifetime ago. Even before I came here I was over it. I was even on Tinder." She paused, "Um, Tinder is like… never mind. But I was open to dating."

Before today, for some reason, he hadn't ever even imagined Jackie as a person who had almost been married—or someone who'd had her heart broken.

"What about you?" she interrupted his thoughts. "Ever have any ladies you were interested in? Any, ah, marriage prospects?"

"Ah, no, no marriage prospects," he scoffed, embarrassed. "Some dalliances, but I never considered marriage."

"'Dalliances,'" she repeated, smirking. "So you love 'em and leave 'em, huh?"

"Sweet Azura, please don't ever say that again," he huffed. That phrase sounded too strange coming out of her mouth.

"Oh, come on," she teased. "Alright, I won't say it again. So you never thought about getting married? Can I ask why?"

He supposed that since she'd shared something personal with him, it was only fair. "There was one woman I'd thought I could marry. But I was a peasant in Morrowind, a bastard with no name but my mother's. I'd thought to find my fortune before marrying."

"Oh. So what happened with the lady?"

Bradas shrugged. "We went our separate ways. I had no desire for marriage, and she had no desire to wait for me."

"Wow," she murmured, eyes wide. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be. My mother was probably more disappointed than I was," he confessed. He hadn't thought about that in a very long time. Now, he could remember it with detached clarity. "I've taken many lovers since then."

She wrinkled her nose. "'Taken many lovers.' Ugh. Sweet Azura, never say that again."

.

…

.

The next morning, someone who frequented the bar asked them if they were looking for work.

Louis Letrush apparently had some kind of deal to buy a horse from a certain Sibbi Black-Briar, who was trying to weasel his way out of it because he'd gone to jail.

"Black-Briar? Like the mead?" Jackie asked.

"The very same," Louis said with a nod. "I paid Sibbi half the cost up front, but before he could deliver, Maven had him locked up. Sibbi believes this exempts him from our deal." The larger man frowned. "It does not."

So off they went to the town jail.

"So who is Maven?" Jackie asked.

"Maven Black-Briar," Bradas supplied. "She's the jarl of Riften and the mother of Sibbi, if I'm not mistaken."

"Sounds like we're wandering into some family drama," she remarked. Regardless, they marched into the jail, with all the authority of people who were supposed to be there. The guard stationed just inside the building stopped them for but a moment.

"Hey, you're not supposed to be down here," he said.

"It's alright, we're allowed to be here," Bradas lied. Apparently, confidence was all they needed to convince him to let them through. Jackie suspected that the guard just didn't care.

They went up the stairs to the holding cells and found Sibbi's quarters easily—it was the most lavish jail cell Jackie had ever seen. There was a four-poster bed, a dresser, and even a fully-stocked bookshelf. There was even a dinner table filled with food.

"Have you come to gawk at me or is this a social call?" Sibbi groused, his voice just as grating as any stereotypical spoiled rich kid. Jackie's knee-jerk reaction was to roll her eyes, but somehow she kept it in check.

It didn't seem to faze Bradas, who just leaned an arm on the bars of the cell, as casual as could be. "We're here on behalf of Louis Letrush," he said. "Does that name ring a bell?"

"Ah, let me guess, he wants his horse," the other man replied. He sounded awfully smug for someone behind bars. "Well, that's going to be a bit of a problem. You see, I don't exactly outright 'own' Frost."

Jackie scoffed, now feeling fully disgusted with this guy. "You sold a horse you don't even own?"

"That is correct," he said shamelessly. "You see, Frost belongs to the Black-Briar estate… which is technically owned by my mother, Maven. My plan was to take the horse from our lodge and deliver it to Letrush at the stables. Obviously, that didn't work out as I'd planned."

Bradas smirked. "I can see that. Well, you don't want to cross a business partner, do you?"

Sibbi hummed in agreement, like he hadn't thought of that before. "You're right. Tell you what. Steal the horse and deliver it, and you can have the second half of the payment."

Jackie blinked in surprise. She couldn't believe how easy it was for this guy to sell his mother's property. Bradas happily accepted the deal after blackmailing Sibbi into giving them the key to the lodge.

.

…

.

And that was how Jackie found herself participating in what she privately thought of as a heist.

They had snuck onto the property of the Black-Briar lodge (which was, by the way, a very nice place) and were currently creeping around as quiet as could be.

Her Dunmer companion was an expert at sneaking, and it was all she could do to follow his lead without giving them away. She served as the lookout when Bradas began picking the lock to a side door. With just a few quick movements they were in, and snooping around the cellar to search for Frost's lineage papers.

It was a stressful experience. Jackie sat, as still as she could, and listened to the mercenaries talking to each other upstairs. Bradas took a tour of the cellar, unlocking all the chests and safes. He found the horse's pedigree papers early on, but of course he felt the need to steal as much as he possibly could.

She watched, growing more and more agitated, as he picked open every lock and stole every bit of gold and jewelry he found.

"Hurry," she whispered as quietly as she could. He looked up from a strong box and gave what she could only describe as a shit-eating smile. She risked another whisper just to say, "You're an ass." Which only made him smile even wider.

She suddenly heard footsteps at the top of the stairs, like someone was pacing up there. She held her breath and readied her dagger.

"… with three bears down, the Orc did frown, and bade the elf goodbye," A booming voice made her jump. Bradas jerked a little from his lock-picking and gave her a quizzical look. "For none could know, 'twas not for show, and someone had to die!"

Poetry. The guards were reciting poetry.

And then singing.

"Oh dear fellows, explain! Brothers can you help make it plain, this man's been doing this for years! Leaving maidens fair in tears…"

"Listen to them, they're drinking," Bradas said softly, holding back laughter.

Jackie sighed and rolled her eyes. It was sort of funny, but it didn't make her any less worried about being caught. By the sound of it, there were enough mercenaries upstairs to overwhelm the two of them, drunk or not.

"… Before the final tune's been blast, and her first dance with him will be the last!" the drunken guards sang.

Bradas worked diligently on the strongbox, without much luck. She flinched as she heard the sound of a pick break, and he pulled another one out of his pocket to try again. The cacophony of noise and laughter rose upstairs as a male voice upstairs began to sing in a high-pitched imitation of a woman's voice.

"… which lady do you prefer? Lord Jornibet pointed, 'her!'" The raucous laughter seemed to boom around the cellar.

Bradas grinned from ear to ear as he worked the lock and whispered along: "See that bosom bob and weave, well-suited for me to love and leave…"

Finally, the lock clicked. He gathered the loot and shoved it into his pockets alongside Frost's pedigree papers.

Stealing the horse was not nearly as easy as stealing his papers, but they managed to pull it off without getting killed. They made it to the stables without getting caught, but a mercenary had spotted them at the worst possible moment.

Bradas swung up onto the horse and dragged Jackie up with him. He hadn't ridden a horse in a while but the urgency of the matter left him little choice but to jump on and go.

An arrow whizzed past them as they rode, causing Jackie to yelp and hug his torso so tightly he almost wheezed—but other than that, they got away without a hitch. Bradas supposed a bruised sternum was better than an arrow in the face.

Otherwise, the plan went off without a hitch and they were richer for it. The Black-Briars had an abundant amount of wealth, and it'd been his pleasure to steal from them.

They met Letrush in the woods and made the exchange. After he left, Jackie let out a long breath.

"Jesus Christ," she exclaimed—an expression he found she used often when she was stressed out. "Did you really have to pick every lock in that room? I thought we were going to get caught for sure!" Her cheeks were pink and she placed her hands on them to cool them down. He found the gesture entirely too endearing.

"I considered stealing the horse, but I thought that you might disapprove," he half-joked. He had thought about it, but ultimately decided that he didn't have the means or the willingness to take care of it.

"Gee, thanks," she laughed. "C'mon, let's get back into town."

.

…

.

Night had fallen by the time they made it back to the Bee and Barb. The bar was crowded tonight, with what looked like every bad element in the city. Jackie recognized a few people from the street, including Romlyn Dreth. He looked between her and Bradas and gave her a nod—like an 'I understand you're in a relationship and that's great' type of nod.

She felt her face heat up and prayed that he wouldn't mention anything to Bradas about their 'relationship.' She'd forgotten all about her lie the night before, and was dearly regretting it now.

Why couldn't she have just said that no, she wasn't interested? Why was she such an idiot?

She was distracted by Bradas' touch on her arm. She looked up, disturbed from her self-effacing thoughts, and saw that he was offering her a bottle.

"Some Black-Briar mead to celebrate our victory?" he suggested, a wry smile on his face.

"I think it's appropriate," she agreed as she took the bottle.

They managed to get a table in the corner, despite the crowd. They settled in with a bottle of wine, some bread, and some cheese. "This would actually be kind of a classy meal back home," she mentioned to Bradas over the low roar of the crowd.

"What?" he asked, unable to hear.

"Never mind!" she said. She held out her empty glass of wine. "Pour me some more?" Maybe it was the relief of getting away from Black-Briar lodge unharmed, or the bad influence of a corrupt city… but she really needed to wind down.

Bradas was having a lot of fun buying and drinking wine with Jackie, who had become progressively more cheerful as the night progressed. His spirits were high, too, after the victory of making it out of danger without so much as a scratch.

What a thrill it would be to steal whatever they wanted by day and party by night. Jackie's contagious laughter filled his ears as the fantasy took shape in his mind: the two of them fighting and marauding for the rest of their days. No more running errands for nobles, no more worrying about being the Dragonborn and all of the things that implied.

"We should join the Thieves' Guild," he said, leaning toward her until their shoulders touched. She responded with a light touch on the inside of his elbow and a shrug.

"Do we really need to be in a guild to steal stuff?" she asked, lips red from the wine.

"I like the way you think." And oh, he must have been a little more than just tipsy if he was thinking about nuzzling the crook of her neck. He cleared his throat and tried to gain his bearings.

"Anyway, would we have to actually live here to do that? God forbid," she chuckled. "I'm getting kind of giggly, aren't I?" she realized. "Hey, do you think we're drinking too much?"

"We are not," Bradas replied confidently.

"Saying it loud doesn't make it true," she said with a crooked grin. It was endearing, actually, and the fact that he was even thinking that was probably a sign that he was getting too deep in his cups. There seemed to be a direct correlation between how much he was drinking and how adorable he found her.

"Alright. One more round and we'll call it a night," he said, warmth blooming in his chest. She gave an approving nod and followed him to the counter where the Argonian barmaid was busy serving other customers.

"Some things never change," Jackie said mournfully, "you can never get the bartender's attention!"

"Maybe it's a sign to call it a night," he said reluctantly, looking over the crowded pub.

"Whatever you want," she replied, eyes focused on something behind him. "Hey, that guy is looking at us." She gestured to a person behind him, trying to be subtle but failing.

He turned and found that she was correct. A human man was leaning on the bar, looking like he was appraising them. He didn't look threatening, though, just interested. He walked toward them with a smile.

"I couldn't help but notice you two were out of wine," the mysterious man said, voice friendly. He seemed… oddly trustworthy, for a patron at the Bee and Barb. "I can help you out, free of charge… if you're looking for a challenge, that is."

"A challenge, hm?" Bradas grinned.

"A few drinks, a few laughs, and a contest," the stranger agreed, smile illuminating his features. "What could be better?"

"Ooh, drinking contest?" Jackie asked, eyes lit up with excitement. "What are the stakes?"

"A magic staff," the man said, eyes twinkling with mirth. "My name is Sam Guevenne. If you beat me, it's yours for the keeping."

"You don't stand a chance, friend," Bradas replied, bolstered by Jackie's delighted clap.

"Ha! We'll see about that. This is a special brew, very strong stuff. Let's get started," Sam said, bringing a clouded bottle out from the folds of his robes.

"Yes!" Jackie cheered, cheeks rosy. "Can I be the judge?"

"I like her," Sam said approvingly. "You get some, too, Lady Judge!"

Sam grinned and poured the alcohol into what looked like a special goblet. It looked like it was made of burnished bronze, with little rubies set into the stem. Very opulent. Bradas vaguely wondered where such a cup had come from, but he found that he didn't care. Everything suddenly seemed bright and beautiful, like the world was shining.

"I'll start round one," Sam was saying. "Down the hatch!" He gulped the drink down like he was born to do it, not even flinching at the taste. "Your turn!"

"Here we go," the Dunmer said with a grin, taking the cup and downing the drink as best he could. It was strong stuff, but it went down smoothly.

"One down, my friend! One down. Now, some for the lady…" said his opponent. He poured once more and Jackie took a few sips, making a face as she did so.

"Gah! Oh boy," she muttered, swallowing it down. "What is this, vinegar?"

"Yeah, yeah," Sam laughed. "It's strong stuff, I told you! Now, another one for me…" He poured and drank one more cup. "How about you?"

"A second drink, easy enough," Bradas replied. The world was spinning pleasantly by now. He could hear Jackie's voice cheering for him in the background, like her voice was coming from the end of a tunnel. And what a lovely voice it was—everything was lovely.

Sam laughed and poured the second drink. "So says you. Tell you what, one more and you win the contest!"

A niggling voice in the back of his head warned him that it was too easy, but that voice was easily drowned out. "One more. No problemsh," he muttered, and took the second drink without hesitation.

"Wow, look at you! You've really done it. The staff is yours," the human said magnanimously.

"Thash grape!" someone said—Bradas thought it might have been Jackie, but it also could have been him. He hardly cared though. By Azura, this was fun!

"You know, you're a fun person to drink with. I know this great little place where the wine flows like water…"

A/N:

Here, a long chapter to make up for the little short one I put up last time! In case you were wondering, the little ditty the guards and Bradas sing is called Jornibret's Last Dance.

I hope you enjoyed ;)