A/N: Sorry the update took so long! My old laptop's screen is splitting apart. I'm now getting settled into a new laptop. The next chapter should be up quicker.
"Why, why did the dwarves build in the cold?"
Vilkas sent a glance at Elana. "Some Nord you are, disliking the cold."
She humphed, dragging her feet forward through the snow. Since she knew where they were headed, she was leading, no matter how much easier Vilkas could plow through the snow. They had curved around Dawnstar, awkwardly skirted the edges of the nearby Imperial camp, and started to take shelter in a lighthouse.
That attempt at respite lead to a foray down underground way too late in the day and a fight with Falmer and bloody Charus.
It seemed wrong to sleep in the lighthouse after burning the man's remains, so the two trudged on towards the Dwemer ruins in the distance. They had to dispatch several wolves along the way, and it seemed to Elana that it took far too much work.
Once across the empty, rickety bridges, and into the first feet of the glacial tunnel, Elana grabbed Vilkas' arm.
"We've got to rest.
"What? Here? In the icy tunnel completely unprotected? If something doesn't sneak up on us the cold will kill us before long, even with our sleeping rolls. We've got to keep going until we find better and secure shelter."
In response, the Dragonborn dropped her packs. "There are wolves out there. There are empty tents outside without any recent signs of life. The men must be deeper inside, alive or dead. We'll have to fight for every ounce of safety we gain. There won't be a moment to be totally secure until we kill every living thing in Blackreach. I'm the Dragonborn, and I'm telling you that those wolves took more effort than it should have. Now, we need to rest." She violently unrolled her sleeping roll. "You can take first watch, since you're so concerned about safety." She jerked the top layer away. "Sit. And be small about it."
"I'm sorry – What?"
"Clearly, in order to preserve heat and keep from death we will share the sleeping roll. You'll sit up against the wall in order to listen and keep watch. When you start to nod off, rouse me so we can switch roles. Should my idea work, we can rotate until the two of us are sufficiently rested. Work for you?"
With what amounted to a gruff noise of consent, Vilkas sat. "I thought you didn't want to share a roll."
Elana curled up next to Vilkas, facing away from him. As she pulled the roll closed, she muttered, "This will be a lesson in speaking too soon, then." After some fidgeting, she fell deep into exhausted sleep.
Vilkas had no problem staying awake. The cold seeping through his back was just annoying enough to keep him alert, as was the though of dying before he even got to see the legendary Dwemer ruin of Blackreach. Kodlak would probably be very mad if he did die on anything but Companion business. If Elana made it back, and managed to mention it had been a quest for the Dragonborn, she might not get skinned as long as she got his body back to be burned on Eorland's fire.
Speaking of Elana, she could not sleep still it seemed. While she slept, her body seemed determined to be sure everything still worked. A foot would twitch, followed after a length by the head or arm. Then, in one surprising motion, she turned over and buried her face in his hip. Her limbs wrapped around his body as he sat in shock.
His first logical thought was that she was cold.
It was closely followed by contemplation of all the many ways she was going to kill him even though this was her fault.
When she didn't move at all for a few minutes save her measured breathing, Vilkas decided he rather liked this arrangement. She was more comfortable, and he wasn't bothered every so often.
Now he just really had to focus on the cold at his back, and imagine it sinking into other parts of his body.
"Elana, wake up. I'm almost half-asleep here. You need to take the next watch."
Elana was mostly aware of Vilkas rousing her. She had some notion of sitting up as he stretched out to sleep. Her mind did snap into focus when he started talking about the watch.
"I heard some sort of howl earlier, near the start of my watch. Nothing ever came of it, so whatever made the sound must have moved on already. Keep a sharp ear, and the cold wall will help you stay awake. Now, good night." He rolled away from her and fell asleep quickly.
"Wait, Vilkas, was I curled up around you- oh. You're already sleeping. Good." With a glance at the changed sky through the small tunnel's opening, Elana shot an impressed glance at Vilkas. "You let me have almost six hours of sleep. Take all the rest you want."