Vilkas didn't expect to see Lexius awake by the time the Nord made his way upstairs. But there he was, with papers and ink bottles spread across the table like some sort of government worker. Lexius gave him a small nod when he spotted Vilkas. Not saying a word, the Redguard went back to whatever he was doing and Vilkas sat across from him.

Grabbing one of the sheets of paper, Vilkas squinted. Lexius' handwriting was worse than he'd remembered. The letters looked more like small scribbles. Ink blots speckled the page, sometimes covering entire words. He looked up, "I take it you're not left-handed?"

"Not at all!" the Redguard laughed, "I'm not as crazy as Valleri either."

"What'd she do?"

"The crazy lady taught herself to be ambidextrous. Thought it'd be easier to go through ruins and what not if she could use both hands. I dunno; Valleri gets these ideas sometimes that seem to make no sense what so ever and goes with it."

"Well, that's sort of Valleri's thing. She's a capable person though."

"Never said she wasn't" Lexius grimaced, still scribbling on the paper in front of him.

"What is all of this anyways?" Vilkas asked, gesturing to the mess of papers.

"Valleri doesn't know any Falmeri, but she knows Ayleidoon and bit of Aldmeri. I thought I'd try to write it all out in a way she'd understand. Unfortunately," Lexius paused, taking in a deep breath, "it's a bit harder than I thought it's be. I've been at this for hours."

Vilkas scowled, "Wait a moment. How long have you been up?"

"A few hours. It's hard to sleep since it's always so cold." Lexius shrugged when he looked back at Vilkas, "The caves I've been living in were a lot colder. But I haven't been really warm for a while and I'm starting to miss it."

"You ramble a lot for a thief."

"Valleri told you about that, huh? Damn." Vilkas narrowed his eyes, eliciting a laugh from Lexius, "Well, I never really tried to hide that I was a thief. I was arrested for theft several times," the Redguard admitted.

"Fun."

"You know, it sort of was."

Vilkas stared pointedly at Lexius, slapping the paper on the table, "How in the world did you up with Alastaros? You sound like a delinquent talking like that."

"Alastaros paid a hefty fine for me when I was younger. He even offered me room and board in exchange for some field work. Besides, everyone who knew Alastaros had a delinquent streak. Valleri was burning down a chapel when I first met her. Ask her about it sometime, it's a great story."

"All that aside, I still don't get what this is for." the Nord stated further, gesturing to the pile of papers again.

Lexius put the quill into a bottle of ink next to him before leaning back in his chair. The man yawned. "I'm not the best at Ayleidoon and Valleri doesn't know a lick of Falmeri. If there's a way I can make the gap any shorter, the easier time you guys will have later finding that necklace."

"You convinced Valleri not to give up on this treasure hunting business?"

Lexius shook his head, "Valleri's in a slump, but her curiosity and drive is still there. She'd go after eventually on her own."

Vilkas hummed before getting up from the chair. "You want something to eat?"

"Not really," Lexius muttered, shaking his head. "Hey, Vilkas?"

"Yeah?"

"How's your penmanship?"

Vilkas glanced over his shoulder after grabbing a jug of water and some cured meats. Lexius was still leaning back in his seat, arms folded across his chest. "It's, uh," the Nord paused. "It's not bad. It's readable."

Lexius chuckled to himself. "So better than mine on a good day! Perfect!"

Vilkas sat back down and set the jug and plate down with thud. The smirk on Lexius' face made Villas uneasy, but the Nord didn't say anything

"I've got a favor to ask," Lexius continued.

"I'm a Companion. I don't do favors."

The Redguard shrugged, "Well, fine then. I've got a job for you. You don't even have to leave the city. How do you like that, huh?

"Fine," Vilkas relented, cracking a grin. "What am I doing?"

"You're gonna rewrite my notes, then hopefully we'll get to finish them."

Vilkas arched an eyebrow, "We're starting over from scratch since nobody can make out what you've got all ready?"

"Yeah," Lexius mumbled, "I tried." He slid the writing supplies to Vilkas' side of the table before continuing. "I don't think you'll be able to read what I have already, so I'll just read it out. If there's any sort of special letters or whatnot, I'll just show you."

"How often is that gonna happen?"

"Often."

Vilkas pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed. Glancing at the stack of blank paper, he was sure he could feel a migraine coming on. Breathing out sharply, Vilkas could only shake his head, "I hope you're paying me well."

"I'm low on coin at the moment but I'll figure something out," Lexius muttered under his breath. Without another moment wasted, Lexius took one of the finished papers and shot Vilkas a quick glance, "You ready?"

"Yeah. May as well get this over with," Vilkas replied in a low tone. Grudgingly, he picked up the quill and waited for Lexius to begin reading.

…

Valleri almost didn't realize the bed space next to her had gone cold. Instead of the sleeping lump she remembered being there before, there was no one. Her heart sank when she realized that Vilkas must have woken up before her. The Nord was at least kind enough to add another blanket to the bed before he left.

Even then, Valleri still felt a tinge of abandonment.

Valleri held her arm over the empty space in the bed and took a deep breath in. She must have slept in late if the bed was already as cold as it was. Valleri couldn't tell what time it was in the basement. If she were to guess, the sun was probably already up high in the sky.

The Imperial took in a deep breath before lifting herself to a sitting position. Immediately, a wave selfish regret washed over her as goosebumps rose on her arms when bare skin met cold air. Valleri only groaned. By this point the only thing she could do was get up and get ready for the day. She was already awake.

Dressing was a slow process as Valleri searched for her clothes on the floor. Once finished, Valleri groggily plodded her way upstairs. She was still yawning when she stopped on the stairs. Valleri could hear Lexius' clear voice reading, slow and steady, above her.

Tentatively, the Imperial made her way to the top of the stairs and paused. Lexius had his feet propped up on the table. His legs were surrounded by scattered papers. Surprisingly, Vilkas was hunched over the table, facing away from her.

"And then, I think it says that in Falmeri, possession is given by adding an 'e' after a consonant and an 'a' after," Lexius paused, bringing the paper closer to his head. "That's not right."

"Wait back up. What in the world are you talking about?"

"Nope, it adds an 'e' to a vowel and an 'a' after a consonant."

"This makes no sense."

"Valleri will get it. Basically, it's just like adding an apostrophe to the word. It's directly changing the spelling though."

"Why not just make a list of the words?"

"Too long, too tedious. Besides, a lot of the vocabulary between the languages are really similar. Valleri will be able to muddle through it."

"She tried before and couldn't make heads or tails of it."

"The alphabets are different. That's why.'

"You're not expecting me to write that out too, are you?"

"Absolutely. I'll pay extra."

Valleri silently made her way to the table, stopping by the support pillar a few feet away. "What are you paying Vilkas for?" Surprised, both men looked up and Valleri couldn't help but smirk. Valleri moved to stand over Vilkas and sifted through the papers he was writing on, "What is Oblivion is that?"

Lexius rolled his eyes. "Valleri, no one can have your impeccable handwriting. We weren't all raised in a chapel," the Redguard smirked finally and Valleri felt a little easier.

Vilkas stared up at the Imperial, handing her a different paper, "If it makes you feel better, look at this."

She couldn't help but blanch at it with a gasp. Whatever Lexius attempted to write was unreadable. His handwriting had gotten worse, especially now that he only had one hand to use. "Well, I'm not exactly surprised. So, you're going to pay Vilkas to do all this writing for you, Lex?"

"Yep!"

Valleri narrowed her eyes, "You do realize you're broke right?"

"Oh, absolutely!"

The Imperial exchanged an unsure look with Vilkas. The Nord only shrugged and put the quill he was using back into the ink bottle, "Looks like you're getting the bill, Val." Valleri only rolled her eyes, but she could see the both of them smiling. She gave the Nord a quick squeeze on the shoulder before taking the seat next to him.

"What is all of this though?" Valleri asked, pointing to the scattered papers.

"Translation notes. You're gonna need them to go after the pendant to get into Sedor," Lexius explained. Valleri eyed him anxiously, not saying a word. The Redguard took his feet off the table, replacing them with his elbows. Lexius finally rested his chin on his hands. "Don't worry, Valleri. I'm heading home as soon as possible, but this needs to get done."

Tilting her head towards him, Valleri spoke in low tones, "Good. I would have dragged you back"

"I know."

Valleri turned back to Vilkas. "When did you want to leave for Winterhold?"

Vilkas opened his mouth to speak when Lexius interrupted him. He slammed his hand on the table with a hard thud, surprising even himself. "Wait, where are you guys going?"

"Up north for a while. There's some Companion's business we've been putting off for a while," Vilkas explained, turning to look over at Valleri. "I'm honestly surprised that head held up as well as it did."

Both Valleri and Lexius stared at him with confusion. Vilkas reeled back, eyes as wide as dinner plates, "Never mind. It doesn't matter right now."

"Vilkas, you didn't answer the question," Valleri leaned back in her chair, propping a foot in Vilkas' lap. "When are we leaving?"

"Tomorrow morning at the earliest."

Valleri exchanged an uneasy glance with Lexius. "I won't be able to leave Whiterun for a day or two at least. Going back to Cyrodiil isn't as easy as it used to be."

Valleri felt her expression melt into disappointment as she stared at the ground. She could feel the eyes of her friends on her and Valleri suddenly felt very uncomfortable in her own skin. Valleri did tell Lexius to go home, but like this? Valleri didn't think her time with Lexius would come to such a sudden end.

"Val? You good?"

The Imperial gave Vilkas a reassuring smile, taking his hand. "Yeah, I'm fine." She paused, turning back to her brother, "I know I'm the one who told you to go back, Lex. But I'm still bit jealous." Nobody said anything for a long moment before Valleri continued, smirk growing on her face. "Don't take me as complainer, Lex. I'm getting the necklace because I want to. I know what I'm doing."

Lexius chuckled to himself, "I know, I know. If I was worried, it'd be a cold day in Hammerfell." The Redgaurd stared pointedly at Vilkas across from him. "And it's not as though I'm sending you to your death alone."

Vilkas scowled with narrowed eyes while Valleri threw her head back in laughter. Her eyes darted back and forth between Vilkas and Lexius, finally landing on the table between them. "You two had better get onto whatever it is you're doing. Especially since I won't see you again for some time after tomorrow."

Valleri stared down at the table for a moment longer before getting up. Vilkas frowned as he and Lexius looked back at her. "Where're you going?" the Nord asked off handedly.

Mustering a smile, Valleri felt a pang of guilt in her gut as she met Vilkas' eyes. She grabbed his hand and gave it a quick kiss, "Just downstairs for a bit. I'll be back later." She felt their eyes following her as she left. Tension grew inside of Valleri with each step the woman took. The feeling in her chest was uneasiness, small and barely tangible but still there.

…

The day passed slower than Vilkas anticipated. There was more to Lexius' notes than he thought and learning how to make the elvish characters look right had taken at least three hours to prefect. He'd seen Valleri write out the stoic, sharp Ayleid characters before. Her practiced hand made it look easy but Falmeri characters were another matter. While Ayleid characters were sharp and minimalistic, the Falmeri letters were smooth and round; flourished in a way that caught the eye. Falmeri was much prettier in his opinion. He was embarrassed to admit it, but Vilkas would have loved to see Valleri write anything in Falmeri.

That was a thought Vilkas preferred not to dwell on for long.

Throughout the day, Companions filtered in and out of the mead hall. They would give him strange looks. He clearly remembered Torvar and Ria sniggering when they saw him writing down Lexius' notes. Every once in a while, other Companions would come to chat and Lexius was always willing to talk. This afforded a nice break for Vilkas to rest his hand. He never realized how painful writing was.

The sun was already far below the horizon by the time Lexius put his hand down and gave Vilkas a metaphorical pat on the back. The Redguard got up and stretched his arms above his head. "Good job. Most of what I was talking about probably didn't make any sense. I was never the one good at any of this stuff."

"What were you good at?"

"Breaking and entering." Lexius paused, eyes wide. He turned back to Vilkas with a shaky grin, "Into ruins of course. Silly me, I never actually broke into homes."

The Nord stared at him with a good amount of exasperation, "That's exactly what a thief would say the morning after a break in."

"Yeah, I'm gonna go before I say anything else."

Vilkas waited a moment and watched Lexius leave before getting up himself. The Nord clattered out of the chair with a groan. Vilkas had been sitting for too long. He gathered up the notes in a neat little pile and took them downstairs.

He found Valleri downstairs in the bunkroom, quietly sitting and staring at something in her hand by candle light. The somber expression on the Imperial's face made Vilkas feel like sinking. Vilkas stepped into the bunkroom as silently as he could. When he knocked on the screen separating Valleri's bunk from the rest of the room, she finally looked up.

"Have you been in here all day?"

Valleri rolled her eyes with an exasperated smirk, "I've been out and about. More than you have probably."

"I have a new respect for scribes. I don't think I've ever had wrist pain like this."

Valleri laughed, "You'll get used to it."

"I hope not. I did not enjoy that one bit." Vilkas paused, looking Valleri up and down, eyes finally landing to the shiny piece of metal in her hand, "What's that?"

The smile on Valleri's face faded to something sorrowful. She held up the piece of metal, revealing a vaguely familiar ring. Vilkas' eyes were drawn to a carved ruby pattern in the face of the ring. "Alastaros' old signet ring. I found it in that coven a while back, remember?"

"A little, yeah." Vilkas paused again, taking a deep breath in. "You want to talk about it?"

"Not really."

The Nord shrugged, "All right. I'm here if you need it." Vilkas leaned over and placed the notes on the foot of the bed by Valleri's feet. "The books I brought back are in my room, if you're interested." Valleri nodded and Vilkas turned to leave.

Before he could take another step, Vilkas felt her hand around his wrist. Vilkas paused. He turned around to see that Valleri had all but gotten up to meet him. He sighed when he saw her downcast expression. Taking a step forward, he laced his arms around her and brought Valleri close.

She buried her head in his shoulder and breathed in deeply, "I'm sorry. It feels like I just got my brother back. And I know better, but I don't want Lex to leave. Then it makes it real. I can't help thinking of how Alastaros is gone and I'm going to be alone again." Valleri paused and looked up, meeting Vilkas' fake eye roll, "Not alone per se, but you get it."

"It takes time," Vilkas stated, "I can't judge you for grieving for your father."

"I just hate it. Most days I think I'm good but now I feel like I'm about to lose it." She paused, sucking a breath with a hiss, "I Don't understand it. I feel like if I turn my head quick enough, I'll see him bent over some book or walking about to inspect his plants. And every single time, I'm disappointed."

The Nord stepped back from the embrace and grabbed Valleri firmly by the shoulders. "Valleri as long as you feel that pain when you think about them, they're still there. Yeah, sure it'll just become a fond memory, but if that pain ever fades into nothingness, you'll have nothing left of them."

"It still hurts and I'm still gonna complain," Valleri said with a smile. Her expression was bright again, making Vilkas feel a bit better himself.

"I wouldn't have expected otherwise." the Nord gave a quick peck on the forehead, eliciting a chuckle from Valleri. He grabbed a hold of her hand and gestured towards the door, "Let's get something to eat. I haven't had anything all day and I'm pretty sure you haven't either."

Vilkas began to turn around again but stopped when he noticed that Valleri wasn't moving. He looked back over his shoulder to see the Imperial smiling so earnestly. Her eyes were shining, focused on the ground.

"You okay?"

"Yeah. I just… I just love you so much."

Without another moment wasted, Valleri cupped her hands on his cheeks and brought him down for a kiss. Vilkas didn't react for a solid second, still surprised by Valleri's words moments before. In a moment he closed his eyes and melted.

Valleri pulled back and grabbed his hand before rushing out of the bunk room. Vilkas couldn't see her face, but he was sure she smiling ear to ear. Barely able to contain his laughter, Vilkas could only stare at the ground. He could only think of how amazing Valleri was.