AN: Warning for Debauchery.

~~~;)

Nala laid her head back against tub, and then thumped it there a few times. What was she thinking? So what if he kissed her? Kissing did not mean 'I want you forever.' She'd had plenty of experiences to tell her that. Talon needing to leave the room, and spending the entire meeting wishing he were out the window made it patently clear where his affections were centered. He loved Fey, and probably always would. Sucked for both of them. They could open a pity party for two: He could rant about never getting the girl he wanted, and she could whine about the guy that would never want her.

She needed some wine. She leaned over the rim for the bottle, hand hovering over the glass to test the temperature. It'd had long enough to warm the spices by now, surely.

"Nala!" Water blew upwards as Sam materialized, all seven feet of him, on the other side of the tub, splashing suds and steaming water over the sides.

"What in Aurbis?" Nala sputtered, shoving sopping hair out of her eyes. "Oh, hi, Sam. Sensed the wine, did you?" Nala passed him the bottle. Honestly, he looked like he needed it more than she did, and that was saying something. "I thought you mostly sensed drunkenness, not the intent to get sloppy drunk."

Sam stopped, distracted momentarily from whatever he was thinking to stare at her. "Whoa. What happened to you? You're all…tingly. It's delightful."

"Ah, that's what you sensed. Figured. Yes, all revved up, but no place to go. Talon wouldn't care if I did the Seven Tails Dance in his lap." Nala grimaced, "Okay, yes, he might take advantage of it, but his affections are firmly with Fey. I do not want the 'make do' status, thank you. I do actually have some self respect left. Dwindling, but still there. Now," Nala narrowed her eyes at Sam, "why do you look like you just saw your own ghost?"

Sam splashed water on his face and scrubbed, grabbed the wine and downed it, then looked at her. "How do I look? Drunk? Off-kilter? Smashed?"

"Scared witless, actually." Nala sidled around, offering a shoulder for comfort, "What happened to you?"

"Whaaaaa!" he wailed, falling backwards. The edge of the tub was abruptly gone, the room around them fading into mist, though the water stayed the same temperature. Far off giggling and other sounds of revelry could be heard faintly, but it was mostly drowned out by the rustling of nearby ferns. "This isn't happening!" he cried, scrubbing his face in frustration as he floated on his back in the water.

Nala hastily covered her chest in the sudden absence of bubbles. "Sam, I am not an exhibitionist. Can we either go back to the bathroom, or give me some clothes?"

"Hey, I listened to you!" he whined, splashing petulantly. "I mean, you're wrong, but I listened!"

"Sam. I am asking you what happened, but I'd like to be able to pay attention, rather than worry about ogling eyes." Nala pulled her hair around her, sinking deeper into the water. "Very hard to offer comfort and advice when worried about death by embarrassment."

"No one's here but me and you," Sam groused, waving that worry aside. "I don't want my followers knowing about this. I mean, what do you do with them? All mortals are so breakable, and they're doubly breakable! And what about influences? I'm not the best one. I mean, better me than Bal, but I have no idea what I'm doing. I can't just forget now! Kinda wish I could, but I can't!" he turned black, beseeching eyes her way, rolling in the water to face her.

"Sam. What's happened?" Nala pulled him over again, giving him a shoulder to cry on, if needed. Really, she wondered how Telki could do this so effortlessly, and why did Sam decide to use her as his confidant, and why, for the love of Mara, always in the tub?

He wiggled away like a ferret and took her by the shoulders, shaking her as he cried, panicked, "I didn't even know I could have children! Leastwise not with mortals!"

"Wait, Sam, you have kids?" Nala took a minute to absorb that information, his panic and rambling starting to piece together. "Oh you poor soul. Okay, can you catch your breath for me? And I like my teeth in my head, not shaken out on the floor."

"Breathe? Breathing," he said, taking a deep one. "Now what?"

"Okay, firstly, kids. How many, and who? Are they safe? Do they have families already?" Nala waited between each question. "We'll take it item by item, until you can think about it without a panic attack. Okay?"

"Two," he said, then flopped down into the water. "What the fuck is the Daedra of Debauchery supposed to do with two kids?"

Nala pulled her hair around, twisting some of the water out as she thought. "Second and third question: who, and are they safe? If they're safe, there's not much you need to do, really. If they aren't, then we can talk about your responsibilities. Leaving them with a loving family may be all you need to do." No need to bring up the numerous deadbeat parents amongst his followers. His behavior told her he really didn't need that right now.

"But it's not," he said glumly, looking lost. "I'll see them every time I visit Mercutio."

Nala's brows beetled. "You never call him Mercutio. Wait, did you just find out some of Telki's adoptees are actually yours, and lit out of there in a panic?" She stared at him, then rubbed her brow. "Oh boy."

"What do I dooo?" he wailed, splashing water as his hands flailed, "What if they all want me to do that father thing? I don't do the father thing! I'm not even much into the daddy thing, to be completely honest."

"Honey, you need to be talking to them, not me." Nala took both of his hands, and used as soft a voice as she could, "I'm no expert. Everyone with any parental know-how is back at the place you left, and Mercutio is probably worried sick. You need to be there, talking with them, if you think you can now."

"Muffin's sweet like that," he agreed, then waded over to the side to sink onto something chairlike under the surface of the water. He patted a few bubbles to death and said softly. "I can't get drunk. Skooma isn't even working. I just…stay sober."

"You're worried and scared," Nala observed, "and if I don't miss my guess, I don't think you'll get inebriated again until you deal with this one way or another." The groan that elicited was positively heart wrenching. "Seriously, Sam, go talk to them," Nala pushed on his shoulder. "They'll be able to do more for your worries than I can. Promise."

"I…think I'll just bring Muffin here for a bit, first," he said, looking nervous. "I don't want little Frankie bouncing up asking if I'm going to take him fishing or something."

"Yes, talk to your Muffin." Nala noticed Sam's slip, but didn't mention it. Frankie was his? Wonder of wonders. Who'd have thought that sweet aedric-like angel was Sanguine's? She worried her lip. She hoped Sam puffing off like that wasn't going to Be A Thing. Some guys did not respond well to that sort of thing.

Looking pensive, he sighed, then really looked at her, eyes flicking up and down as if he could see right through the water. The edges of his lips curled up sardonically. "In the meantime," he gave her a sly look, "I can help you with your problem. One of them, anyway."

Nala groaned, sinking back down in the water. "No, let's go back to talking about yours. I'd nearly forgotten I even had a problem."

"But I like your problem. You're lit up like a New Life tree and it's all that's keeping me even slightly buzzed right now," he revealed. Normally he'd be moving to help her out with it himself, but he had a lot on his mind right now, and a deal to win.

"So glad my angst is benefitting someone," Nala grumbled.

"Here," he said, dipping a goblet formed from thin, misty air into the water and holding it out to her. "Drink this."

Nala raised an eyebrow at Sam. "You do know what I was told about accepting drinks from you, right? I want it noted that this is a big leap of faith here on my part." Nala took the cup, watched it dubiously for a moment, and then drank. The bubbles frothing in the liquid did not fill her with confidence.

The world lurched, and Nala found herself back in her bathtub, feeling drunk as ever she saw Sanguine, to the point she couldn't even feel her legs, but hot and bothered enough to melt High Hrothgar. "Shhhhhham! How ish thish helpin'?" she bellow-slurred.

"Well, it's making me feel better," he said, standing and admiring her from the other end of the tub, armor back on and smirk in place.

"No' nishe." Nala felt herself sniffing. She hated being a maudlin drunk. One reason she only drank in the tub was that it was so much easier to hide the tears. "I tried to he'p you, no' trick you."

"That's good. Keep crying and looking all cute and sad. Just stay right there," he said, making a box out of his fingers as if to size up a portrait of the scene. "Not that you can move all that well," he added, then vanished.

Nala sunk down in the water, still sniffling, turning around on him. "Oh go 'way. You're jus' teasin' me now." She was not going to thank him for the lack of nausea, not when she felt if she didn't ride something soon, she'd explode. "No' nice teasin', and trickin' and invading my bath, and then taking my bath to there! Why?" Nala got no answer, and so she let the tears fall. There wasn't anyone to see, anyway.

.


.

"Talon!"

The mer nearly slipped off the roof as Sanguine appeared next to him, overbalanced, and clung onto a chimney. The Daedra pouted at him as he lifted an eyebrow. Something about a massive Dremora clutching a chimney pot shaped like a rabbit appealed to his oft-hidden sense of humor. "Yes, Sanguine?"

"I need some help," he admitted.

"From me?" Talon asked skeptically.

"Weeelll," Sam drawled, looking down at the street and noting that it was an awfully long way down, and he'd make a pretty big crater in all the pretty cobblestones if he fell. "It's Nala."

He frowned, heart thumping just a little harder as his face assumed his habitual mask. "What of her?" There was no way in Oblivion he was having another rooftop conversation about Nala, especially with the Daedric Prince of Debauchery. That was almost as bad as having one with Blythe.

"She has a bad habit of having a glass of wine in the bath. I want in her robes, so I may have souped it a little. Now I can't get her out of the bath, because fireballs, and I'm a bit afraid she might drown. Do get her out for me, won't you?" he asked, fluttering his eyelashes even as he vanished.

Staring blankly at the spot Sam had been for a moment, Talon's mind finally processed this and he cursed, moving across the rooftops with an ease that would have appalled the local Thieves Guild. By the time he reached Mittens' home it was well into night, and he hoped that idiotic drunkard hadn't gotten her killed. Slipping in through a second floor window, he listened, detecting the slight sound of water splashing somewhere down the hall.

Finally stopping outside the door, he knocked faintly. "Nala?" he called.

"Go 'way!"

Well, she hadn't drowned, at least. He sighed, resting his forehead against the door, several warring impulses making him hesitate. "Nala, how drunk are you?"

"T-talon? No, can' be. You know how drunk you made me, no more teasin'!"

Puzzled, he spent a long moment trying to make sense of that before giving up. "Nala, I can feel the heat in that room through the door. You're going to pass out."

"Fash' pashin' the poin' I ash'ly care." The sound that followed was caught between a cry and a chuckle.

"Are you crying?" he asked, both astounded and growing steadily angrier with Sanguine. His own unchecked expression glared back at him from the polished wood of the door, vague and blurry.

"Nope," she sobbed.

Muttering something uncharitable in Aldmeris, he called, "I'm coming in, Nala."

"No! I'm nekkid n' you've don' 'nuf!"

"By the time I get back with one of your sisters you could be unconscious in there," he pointed out.

"So?"

Annoyed, he turned the knob, found it locked, picked it in a few deft movements, and opened the door. Steam wafted out into the hall, coating the floor with a layer of condensation. It seemed she had forgotten to mind her fire rune, or else was so far passed caring she'd simply let the room turn into a sauna. It took him a moment to get his bearings, noting that most of the room seemed to be cabinets surrounding a massive porcelain tub that wouldn't look out of place in a palace. Nala sat at the other end looking absurdly small, mostly covered with bubbles and her own long hair but with a flush clinging to her skin that made him avert his eyes hastily, feeling as if he were intruding.

"Nooo!" Nala sniffled and gasped, "No fair! Wearin' his face like that."

"I have no idea what you're talking about," he said, relief and puzzlement making him slightly peevish as he searched around for a towel, doing his best not to stare, or even look her way overmuch.

"Aren' you s'posed to be havin' a talk with your Muffin inshead of messin' wi' me?"

He halted, unable to stop his eyes from locking on hers incredulously, "You think I'm Sanguine?" he asked, feeling insulted.

Nala snorted, "Why wou'd Talon be here? In my baf? Makes no shenshe."

Lifting one hand to rub his brow, he cast his eyes about for a towel again, finally locating one near the tub itself. "Can you stand?" he asked, striding over quickly and ready to cast a ward if she decided that some fireballs were in order.

"A'fer you gave me a spiked d'ink? Nope. No legs, they're gone."

"Immortality aside, I'm going to strangle him," Talon grumbled, mind turning over the problem at hand and being completely unhelpful with other input. He'd noticed she had a habit of nibbling her lips when troubled by her thoughts. She must have been thinking a great deal since he'd last seen her; her normal pink had darkened to a rosier hue, slightly swollen with pressure.

At least, he hoped she'd done that to herself. If Sanguine had kissed her, he might shoot a few fireballs at him himself.

Nala's eyes crossed. "Wha'? Bu' ? Nope. You have to be Sanguine, 'cause if you're really really Talon, then I'll really really have to pull in a dim'sel po'ket a'fer me."

"Nice to know you lose all sense when inebriated," he said dryly, finally crouching next to the tub to get a good look at her condition, reaching out carefully to lift a sodden lock of hair from her face. Her sapphire eyes were red with crying and drink, nose and cheeks flushed, and hair in complete disarray. He wondered if Telki would actually cast that everfill spell of Sober Mead on Sam's cup after this. He planned on suggesting it.

"S'why I don' d'ink much. Don' like loosin' m'sense." Nala gave him a woebegone look.

Gentling his voice, he said calmly. "I'm going to help you out of the tub now, alright?"

"No funny stuff!" Nala waved a directionally challenged finger at him. "P'omise."

"No funny stuff," he promised, taking her hands lightly and wrapping them around his neck so he could lift her out.

"'Kay." Nala got a good whiff of his neck. "Oh no fair! You e'en shmell righ'. How'm I s'posed to fireball you now?"

"I'm not going to answer that," he shook his head, reaching down and hooking an arm under her knees, lifting her from the tub and setting her against the rim, pulling the towel around her before he picked her up again. She was still soaking wet, but it preserved a little modesty, at least.

"Well, it wash on'y if you broke you' p'omise 'nyhow," she grumbled, trying to assist, but mostly lolling like a ragdoll.

"Please tell me you picked a room here?" he sighed, ignoring her squirming as best he could. The towel had not been all that secure to begin with.

"Ri' 'cross hall." She flopped an arm in the general direction.

"Good," Talon replied with distinct relief. "Please stop moving about so much."

"Room h's shtop, fi'st." Nala pursed her lips, and tried again. "Room. Stop. I. Stop."

"Grand," he said, putting down her legs to open the door so that she was supported mostly by being pressed along his side. His clothing was almost as soaked as she was, and without the heat of the bath, it was getting distinctly chilly. He tried to focus on that.

"Cold now," Nala's teeth started chattering.

"You had the bath hot enough to cook crustaceans, I'm not surprised," he told her, casting a magelight before picking her up again.

"R-r-r-rune?" Nala burrowed into him as best she could, stealing his bodyheat. Kind as he was being, she could almost believe it was Talon. Which meant she would have to throw herself into Red Mountain from shame.

"A moment," he said, setting her on a wooden chair that wouldn't soak up water like upholstery, then considering the room a moment. He placed a rune on the wall above the bed, then on the footboard, and one just under her chair, radiating heat upwards. Leaving just long enough to grab a second towel from the bathroom, he placed it lightly around her shoulders just before the first towel slipped, trying to wring some of the water out of her hair. She was mostly quiet through this, except for the occasional sniffle. He'd met a few weepy drunks in his time, but none that had been tricked into drinking by the Prince of Excess. Smiling grimly, he hoped it had come as nasty a surprise to Sam as it had to him.

Once assured her hair wouldn't soak the bed and leave her chilled, Talon lifted one of her arms over his shoulders, pulling her up and helping her into the surprisingly luxurious bed, glad he had taken the time to inspect them earlier. Once she was safely covered with sheets, he gently rolled her out of the towels, reminded of a careless housecat by the way she simply flopped out of them. He shook his head slightly as she curled up, facing away from him, the last handspan or so of tail restlessly curling and uncurling. "Hopefully he has enough remorse to spare you a hangover," he told her, folding the heavier blanket over the sheets and around her, his fingers grazing the curve of her shoulder and finding her skin still warm to the touch.

"Why?" Nala asked with a jaw cracking yawn, finally warm under her covers, confused by the tender caress. Her heart wanted to jump because Talon, but if it was really Sanguine, she'd need right back in the bath.

He'd been turning to leave, but the bereft tone of her voice halted him. "Why, what?" he inquired. If she really thought he'd leave her drunk in the bathtub he would need to seriously reconsider their past interactions to find where she would have gotten that impression.

"Why can't Talon love me back?"

He froze, heart thudding. After a moment to get his mind working again, he swallowed the tightness in his throat and asked, "Is that why you were crying?"

The whisper was so quiet, even his ears had to strain for it. "You know it is."

"Nala," he said, turning after a moment of hesitation to go sit next to the bed, staring at her pensively. He wasn't quite sure what to say. Everything felt inadequate.

"'S m' own faul', ruinin' it, y'know. I don' t'ink even Mara coul' fix it, much less you." Even half asleep, her voice sounded small and lost.

"Ruin what?" he asked, reaching out and tucking some of the errant strands he could see sliding over her face to they were secured by her ear. Nala's traitorous heart kicked up a notch.

"Stupid mouth runnin' off 'bout stupid portals, firs' 'mp'essions nev' go 'way. I sounded li' I'd trade favors f' magic. Who wants someone li' tha'?"

His brow creased as he searched for words, bothered by the way she was curling in on herself, her ears flattened and her tail wrapped about her, as if for comfort. "I don't think less of you for pursuing your passions, Nala. I'd only judge you if others were hurt by your doing so."

"Don' matter. I saw at th' meetin', no room f' me."

"What?" he asked, completely lost at this point.

"Fey."

Actually twitching in surprise, he felt quite as if she'd doused him in ice water. "What about her?" he asked, mouth dry.

Nala whined from under the covers. "A'ready told you. Why a'g'n?" A heavy sigh followed, her voice getting crisp as it could. "He loves her, will probably always love her, and there's no room for me. Not if the way he disappeared from right behind me is anything to go by." She pulled the covers tight around her, rolling into a small ball, and got very still. Now she was not only sad, but mad, and still very very turned on. Sleep would be a while claiming her. He couldn't hear tears falling, could he?

He sighed, then turned and settled against the bed, staring out into the dark room as the magelight spell ran out and dimmed until only the faint street and starlight from the window filled the room. "When I was younger," he said haltingly, knowing she wasn't quite asleep, but unsure if she'd remember any of this. He couldn't even say for certain if he wanted her to remember. "When I was much, much younger, I fell in love for the first time," he said, thinking back on those years with a sort of distant pain. "She was another Young One, neither of us Named, but we were a team. We worked well together. The lord that raised us, he wasn't against the Young Ones pairing off and having relationships. He saw us all as misguided Altmer rather than half breeds, and as long as none of us actually had children without permission, he was fine with it. Serve the cause, whatever it took. She went out on a solo mission and never returned."

Talon rubbed his head, soothing an ache away with a momentary glow of Healing that gilded the room briefly. "I thought I'd never love again. Of course, that was foolish of me. I'm more than half elf, and always took after the elven side. It took another few decades, but I fell again. She was human, and I met her on a mission. She never knew what I was, and since it was an information-gather that could take years, I thought, maybe I could stay there. Just for a while. I could request it as a boon. But she was human," he repeated, closing his eyes. "They took that a bit more strongly than having a relationship with another Young One. Once she was no longer vital to my mission, I came back to the house we had been sharing to find her dead. Executed, because of me."

Pausing again, he licked his lips to get some moisture, unused to speaking so much at once, and especially about himself. "I wasn't even a century old yet," he added softly. "I promised myself then, that if I ever met another woman I could care for, I would leave her alone. I wouldn't do that to her. Sixty years later, the War broke out, and I was given to Lord Faloniril. There were a few lords that Young Ones prayed never to enter into the service of. He was one. He would pit his own Young Ones against each other once they'd grown. Literally no one could be trusted.

"Then I met Fey. Faloniril's daughter, for Auriel's sake, and she tried to befriend me. I couldn't trust it, not then. It would be years before I learned that she was genuine, and by then it was far too late. I admire her, I pined for her, and I knew I could never have her. I watched her fall in love, mourn as she thought she lost her first child to her brother, caused her false grief over the culling of her second, and finally got the courage to help them escape when I saw they were actually going to try. Now, she's happy. Her children are happy, and it brings me more joy than I can tell you to see them that way. It also brings me pain, but I've…I've found that lessening. I realized it this afternoon. I don't feel the same pain I used to. I regret turning her away, but not for the same reasons. When I realized that, I had to think, and I think best away from others."

"Talon?" Nala's brain felt it was caught in a whirlwind, and took her feelings along for the ride.

He allowed himself a small smile that she wasn't even pretending to sleep anymore. "Yes?"

"M'sorry you went through all that. Y' know I'd fix it, if I could. Stay?" A hand fumbled out of the covers reaching for his. "No funny stuff, just… Stay?"

He turned when her hand found his shoulder, the back of it brushing against his cheek as he regarded her. It was too dim to tell if the flush had faded from her skin, though he'd seen her shift and the changes in her breathing when he'd touched her. Considering everything, he wasn't as certain as she was nothing would happen if he joined her. "My clothes are still wet," he said after a moment, "Give me a moment to change and I'll be back."

"Promise?" There was no hiding the hope in that one word.

Reaching up to grab her hand, he gave it a small squeeze. "I promise."

"'Kay, I'll be here. Need talk t'you." Her voice mumbled off into a sleepy half purr.

Standing, he tucked her hand back with the other, heading back to the room she had chosen earlier for the muffle enchantments carven into the walls. He hadn't had a chance to remove the clothing he'd placed there yet. Closing the door against more Sanguine problems—though this time from the possibility of one of his followers—he laid his clothing out to dry and selected a simple tunic and trews meant for sleeping, asking himself all the while if he really knew what he was getting himself into. Worse, wondering if she did, and if they should really go forward with this at all. One thing was certain; they should at least talk about it.

He returned only minutes after he had left, closing the door quietly behind him and gazing about the room, making a face and opening the door again to let their host's cat back out. Nala stirred slightly in the light from the hallway, and he paused, unsure. "Where do you want me?" he finally settled on asking.

"Where wou' you be comfy n' not run 'way?"

"I just spent the better part of the evening sitting on uneven roof tiles. Anywhere is adequate," he said, reaching up and, after a moment of hesitation, removing the ties to his hair. He didn't think he'd be able to sleep tonight, but it was always more difficult with his hair tied back.

"'S'not wha' I asked….oh, I'm in trouble." Nala had peeked out to glare at the self sacrificing toots, but was sidetracked by the glorious freed curls. They really were unfairly pretty.

Blinking a moment, he gave her a droll look, "You really do have the most unusual preoccupations," he said, taking in the way her wide eyes glowed like twin candlelight spells.

Nala snorted, "Look you, I jus' f'gured ou' you're you n' not Sam pulling a stunt af'er spiking me with hinky hoodoo hooch, n' you are stoope…stooped, too pretty!"

A quick bark of laughter escaped him, and he finally came over, shaking his head at her in amusement. "Whatever 'hinky hoodoo hooch' is, I shall endeavor to keep you from it evermore," he assured her.

"Please?" Big pleading eyes regarded him from her blanketcave.

"At this rate, I'm inclined to warn everyone off giving you alcohol at all," he said firmly, looking around for a somewhat comfortable chair or bench to pull beside the bed.

Nala huffed." 'S too cold. Come to bed." Nala patted the mattress, "You c'n wrap up in the extra blanket, 'f you're worried." Bright blue eyes crinkled at him. "Wo' say no to th' extra body heat, though."

Considering this a moment, he finally sat on the bed—still wondering if this was a terrible idea or not—and moved around her to the headboard, finding the extra blanket folded at the foot and drawing it lightly over himself without getting under the rest of the covers. It took him a moment to recall the last time he'd been in bed with a woman, then he shook the memory away. Nothing good would come of thinking of that now. "What did you want to speak of?" he asked her, watching the luminescent blue wax and wane as she narrowed or widened her eyes.

"Ever'thing." She reclaimed Talon's hand, her hand now, drawing it to her and practically curling around it.

"Why are you crying again?" he asked, reaching out with the other hand and gently brushing the tears he could smell were coursing down her face. It had been a few months since he'd scented saltwater. It was not how he expected to encounter it again.

"'Cause I'm lose you anyhow." Nala squeezed his arm tighter, as if she could change things by sheer force of will. "So, nuffen' as trau-taraum- bad as wha' you went through, but no luck wif partners. Bad, ended very bad. E'en tried the cas-sasu one night thingies. Worse. So, gave up. All done. No more for Nala. But…um…well…Still wanted someone. Sam said he'd he'p, f' a price. What've I got to lose? 'S'not happ'ning anyhow, right? But then you! N' now you won't want me."

"You made a deal with Sanguine?" he said flatly, not quite sure he'd heard correctly.

"A night of scrying free days af'er I finally ge' married," Nala sniffed, "No' comple'ely daf'."

Slightly dumbfounded, his face cleared as realization struck, "You didn't know who he was."

"Nope," she snorted "but does it really make it be'er I was willing to make a deal wif an obbi- obvi- really powerful Sanguinist?"

"That…" he shook his head slightly, a soft, angry sound his only real show of temper, "That's a problem for a later date."

"Sorry." She curled tighter around his arm, threatening circulation. The heat coiling in her belly was very aware his hand was so close, as much of herself as she'd wrapped around his arm. The frustrated squeak was not her fault, never mind the wiggling to get comfortable. It was all Sam's fault, anyway.

Talon took a deep breath, closing his eyes for a moment and willing himself not to move. "Nala," he managed after a few moments, opening his eyes, "I need to ask you something."

"Well, drunk as I am, you're bound t' get an uncen-uncensense… a bald answer."

His expression was very serious in the faint light, "What do you want of me?"

Nala didn't quite stifle the surprised squeak and froze solid as his question rattled around her brainpan for a bit.

"I know you want me physically, and at this point I am quite willing to give you that," he said, eyes locked on hers. "Beyond that? I cannot promise you much. I will stay by you for as long as we desire each other's company. The danger becoming my lover would put you in is neither greater nor lesser than simply being the sister of the Dragonborn. You are a target either way, and you may actually be safer with me. I cannot promise you marriage, but I can offer companionship, for now."

"I need a ques'ion answered m'se'f. Is that all you thin' it'll ever be?" Nala could feel the hot tears rising behind her eyelids, again. Anger, humiliation, and stupid loss rising in a panic in the back of her mind. It was a wonderful cocktail for burning off inebriation, but hell on her emotions. "Cause if it's just a 'getting to know' each other caution, sure, I can handle that. If it's a chance for more, I can do it, but if I'm just a stopgap? No. I want the long haul. I want a partner for tomorrow, and the day after tomorrow.

"I want burnt breakfast mornings and moonlit walks, and a partner to sit on the porch with when I'm too old to cast candlelight anymore. I'm tired of being someone's momentary whatever-the-hell. I want a partner." She slowly released his hand when he didn't answer, and rolled over, balled up once again.

"Nala," he said, a bit of anger creeping into his own voice, "I don't do 'momentary whatever-the-hell.'"

She flipped back around, mouth gaping and panting. "But you just said...!"

"Because I am quite willing to start pining over you," he revealed.

Nala cocked her head at him, uncertain she'd heard him correctly. Her brows drew down. "Screw pining, I think we've both pined long enough." She launched herself at him, grabbing double handfuls of that lovely, lovely curling mass and kissing him with all her heart. It was every bit as amazing as she remembered.

Talon's arms came up immediately, holding her tightly as he brushed her hair back from her face, taking the opportunity to see if she actually did have that sensitivity problem. Arms and legs latched tight around him, and Nala practically warbled her need against his mouth. He gave a soft, deep chuckle that sounded faintly sinister, repeating the action.

Nala keened, tightening her grip on Talon, but decided returning fire would be more fun, and kissed her way over to his own ear, licking it from lobe to tip, scraping her teeth lightly at the apex. He moaned lightly, surprised, his hand pressing her lower back more firmly against him, grinding slightly against her.

Nala had to let his ear go, because she was pretty much ready for the main event before Talon even came in the bathroom. Right now, just the slight friction was causing stars, or maybe those were actual fairy lights, all she knew for certain was she needed more. She circled her hips restlessly against him, seeking more heat, more friction, more Talon.

"Too many clothes," she managed to gasp out, "Need you, now."

His lips curled into a smile against her skin, pressing her back to the bed as he dragged them lightly back to her mouth, claiming it again. Nala had no problem with this, and greedily sucked his tongue into her own mouth, savoring the taste of him. Enjoying the feel of her writhing against him immensely, he pulled away, gazing down into her eyes. "Not quite yet," he said, running a hand lightly down her arm.

"Whyyy?"

Moving slightly to her side so that she was pressed against him, he trailed his hand down her stomach, brushing over her inner thigh. "Because this is Sanguine. I want you to writhe for me," he informed her huskily.

"Got a cure poison on you?" she asked, breath catching a bit as his fingers grazed just beside where she wanted them on their way down.

"I have a simpler idea," Talon revealed, gliding his hand back to where she needed it, finally giving her a taste of what she craved.

"Oh sweet mercies please!" Nala jackknifed against him, the sudden intrusion pleasant but unexpected. She shuddered against him, hot and cold at the same time. He bent and kissed her again, slowly working her, resisting any efforts she made to speed him up.

Nala was sure this must be some evil revenge scheme of Talon's. No matter how she bucked, whined, or wheedled, he kept the same pace. It was driving her straight to the Shivering Isles, she was sure of it. Her head whipped toward his, color high and panting. Her eyes were so dilated, they'd be lost in the dark if not for their shine until, finally, a wave of release flooded through her with a ferocity that left her speechless.

He kissed her gently as she came down, then nibbled on her lower lip before moving to her ears. "How do you feel?"

"Surprisingly floaty and relaxed." She hummed as he continued his attentions to her ears. "And quickly thinking a round two is in order."

"Good," he replied, leaning back long enough to divest himself of his shirt. "Now," he pulled her up so she was sitting with him. "I'm going to teach you a spell."

"Now?" Nala was rather busy admiring the clean expanse of statue-perfect chest in front of her. "You expect me to cast in this state?" Her fingers started exploring without any input from her, tracing a faint scar across one otherwise perfect pectoral.

His breath hitched slightly, and he lifted the hand from his chest to kiss her palm, then each of her fingertips. "I enjoy watching you cast," he said, "but for now, you can simply watch."

"I like watching you. You move like magic, all flowy and graceful." Nala waved at him. "It's beautiful."

Smiling at her a moment, he lifted his other hand, a small sphere of incandescent Restoration forming on his palm, slight, misty corona surrounding it. "Can you tell what this does?" he asked, eyes glowing in the golden light.

Nala studied it a moment, eyes narrowing as she tried picking apart its form and function, distracted, as always, by a magical puzzle. "It's a modified heal other spell, but…subtle, very subtle shifts in…Talon, what did you do to this spell? It's changed, but I can't quite make it out."

"I'll show you," he promised, closing his hand over it. Rather than extinguishing, the misty light clung to his palm as if he'd coated it in foxfire. Reaching out, he brushed his thumb over her bottom lip, leaving a warmth behind, as if he still touched it even as he moved his hand away. Lifting the hand he still held, he drew curving, curling patterns in light over the underside of her wrist, moving slowly up her arm.

"Oh sweet mother of mercy," Nala stared at the glowing swirls patterning her wrist, the skin just above his hand already tingling in anticipation.

He gave her a warm look, "You did say you liked my drawings," he reminded her, painted fingers still making their way up her arm, before jumping to her chest, just below her collarbone. Featherlight caresses crossed from one shoulder to the other, then down around her breasts, circling each in fanciful patterns until he reached the peaks, where he lifted his hand and painted his own lips before drawing them in, catching her when she bowed backwards sharply, holding him to her. He lowered her back down before raising his head to study her expression, leaving the sensation of his lips and tongue behind.

Nala was in sensory overload heaven. All she could do was lay there and shudder with reaction. She watched his face, taking in the play of emotions, including the rather evil satisfaction. A shaky hand reached up and looped itself in his glorious beautiful hair. She hauled him down to her face where she proceeded to kiss the breath out of him. While he was occupied with the kiss, she wrapped a leg around him, and then rolled them both over. She grinned down at him from her new perch, rolling experimentally over his trew covered legs. Talon gasped slightly and grabbed her hips, simply following her movements, but not stopping her.

"So, shall I show you something?" Nala's grin was wide and wicked. "After all, we were encouraged to experiment in college." Interest flickered across his face as he watched her with hooded eyes.

Both of her hands glowed with heat. "Friend of mine was very good at massage, but Skyrim's cold, and her hands were always cold. So, just like I modified the bolt, I modified flaming hands. Care to try them?" She backed off his legs, drawing his loose sleeping pants with her. Her heart raced when she finally laid eyes on what she'd revealed, marveling that she had such an effect on him. Taking a deep breath, she climbed back over him, pretending to ignore the part of him silently begging attention, and rolled her palms over the taunt shoulder muscles. "Good grief! When was the last time these got attention?"

"You bit one earlier, if that counts," he replied, amused, hands still trailing idly up and down her thighs.

"It needs more attention, then." Nala pretended to tsk in disappointment and concentrated on her task, rolling and massaging each muscle in his shoulders until they relaxed completely, before moving to the next muscle group, studiously not thinking about how much she wanted something else. If he could be damnably patient, so could she.

Simply watching her, letting her take the lead, he smiled slightly. She had the tip of her tongue peeking out as she concentrated, which he found strangely endearing. Each movement swept her long hair over his chest, each brush of the silken strands growing more erotic as she moved, the soft skin of her stomach grazing against him with every subtle shift of her weight.

"I need to roll you over. If your shoulders are this tense, I don't want to think about the state of your back."

Reaching up and lightly caressing the side of her breast before cupping her jaw, he looked up at her with laughing eyes. "I'm not going to be laying on my front anytime soon, Nala," he said.

The sight of that open smile caught her breath in her chest a moment, "Oh, well, then, maybe I should fix that." Nala kissed him quickly, and wriggled down to attend his 'problem,' and upped the heat in her hands, just a touch. Talon let out a shuddering breath with the first touch, head falling back and back arching slightly. He wasn't hiding any of his responses from her, and Nala never felt so powerful in her life.

Some time later, Nala cuddled into his side as he caught his breath. Impulsively, she grabbed him and kissed him. "I love you, y'know." The words were out before she realized she was about to say them, and she bit her lip lightly, reminding herself that she'd already bared her hopes to him.

One hand soothing up and down her back, holding her close, he murmured against her lips, "I surmised, mellani."

She smiled back at him, happiness brimming brightly in her gaze, and wrapped doublehandfuls of his hair to pull his face to hers for a long lovely kiss. She hoped he'd be ready for a round three soonish, because she really needed all of him touching all of her. Nala hooked a leg around him, cuddling close and running her hands everywhere she'd imagined touching him. That was a lot of ground to cover, and some needed a second pass to make sure it was properly mapped.

He chuckled, something occurring to him. "Nala, how would you feel about taking this back across the hall?" he murmured, nibbling along the column of her neck.

"Alright, alright, bath then, but there better be cuddles and warm and nibbles and lots of you." She made to sit up and wobbled. "And carry me. I think you put my legs out of order already."

"I'd have it no other way," he said smugly, flicking a spark of Restoration at her that lit up every curling line he'd traced on her body earlier at once.

She stopped breathing altogether for a long moment, coming back to sense laying beside him with her entire body tingling. "Did you know your aura had purple sparkles in it?" she said inanely, the first thing that popped into her mind, "Why does it have purple sparkles?"

"No idea, mellani," he said, sliding from the bed as he drew her to him, swinging her into his arms. "But I thought I should warn you," he added, "I also know the stamina spells."

"I'm going to die, but I'm going to die happy and satisfied." She laid her head on his shoulder, breathing his scent in deeply. "Do you use some magical, alchemical mix? I'm getting bothered just smelling you!"

"I appreciate soap, but I believe I only have that effect on you," he told her.

"What? You mean to tell me in all this time, I'm the only female to look at you with googly smitten eyes? I don't believe it for a moment."

"You don't have 'googly' eyes, Nala," he said, brushing his lips along her forehead. "Your eyes are the most beautiful I've ever seen. I've seen them every time I closed my own eyes nearly since I met you." The dazzling smile she gave him was more than he could ever have hoped for, and he lifted her face for another kiss. It was a long time before either of them got any rest.

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Sorry this one took so long. The kids started school, and I had a hard time editing this down to ff's sensibilities. As always, if you want to read the R rated version, you can head over to AO3.

Anyone in the lower Michigan area want two a-hole ducks? I now have a small duck recovering in my shower after they beat her up and kept her from the food and water.

Thank you everyone who read and reviewed! Nala-Talon shippers, I especially hope YOU liked this chapter. ;)

afeleon276: I can't see Sam arguing with that assertion. I don't know how much fun he'd find turning into a swan for the act, though.

The Celtic Dragon: Ah, the Lazy Muse. I know her well. Not that I can throw stones in that department.

GalacticHalfling: They're Telki foundlings: She's a magnet for odd.

Wynni: There is no such thing as quiet time in this house unless everyone is gone or everyone is sleeping.

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Next Time: Sam faces the consequences of bailing on an emotionally insecure boyfriend without warning, while Lydia faces some conundrums of her own.