When they approached the village with the missing Argonian they were practically hailed as heroes.
Everyone gathered around them, asking what happened, offering drinks and food.
Derkeethus recuperated a bit by swimming around in the clean water and finally finding some clothes. He also wolfed down almost half the food prepared for the entire village. Afterwards he started to spin the tale of how daringly Bishop and Aeyrin rescued him.
While the Argonian had everyone's attention, embellishing largely, Aeyrin motioned to Bishop to follow her over to the lake.
She led him towards the spot behind the trees where they talked last time.
"Finally need help washing?" he laughed.
She smirked at his persistence, deciding to play his game if it got her the result she wanted.
"Sure. You first. Off with the armor!" she laughed back.
Bishop raised his eyebrow at her then narrowed his eyes with suspicion: "That was too easy. It seems like a trap."
"I would never!" Aeyrin gasped in mock outrage, giving him an indignant look.
"You first then," Bishop laughed again, winking at her suggestively.
Aeyrin shook her head with a smile, stepping closer to him. She blushed a bit at the closeness but was determined not to get discouraged. She slowly ran her hand over his flank, reaching one of the clasps there, then moving on lower to the other one.
Bishop seemed to be paralyzed. He watched her hands move over his torso with an uncertain expression as she continued unbuckling his armor. This was definitely a strange change of pace. What has gotten into her? Not that he was complaining… but…
When the clasps were undone, she started to roll the lower hem of the leather chest piece upwards over his head.
He accommodated her without thinking, dragging the armor out of the way himself – it was mostly reflex. Did he even want her like this? It seemed so out of character, no trepidation, no incessant blushing… well some blushing. And there were people very nearby. Not that he cared, but it seemed like something she would definitely mind.
"I knew it!" she interrupted his ruminations.
He looked at her in surprise, determining the direction of her gaze. She was looking at the large bloodstain all over his tunic on his chest a disapproving frown on her face.
"I asked if you were wounded! You are like a child! Can't you just tell me, so I can heal you?!"
He only managed to stare at her slack-jawed for a bit, before he realized what just happened.
"What? That was… that was outright vicious, princess. You cheated!" he frowned at her, a little impressed by her ruse.
"Well what else am I supposed to do with you?!" she threw her arms in exasperation. "Now, let's just take care of this. Take off the shirt," she sighed.
"You first," he smirked again giving her a daring stare.
She chuckled and rolled her eyes while putting her hands on his shoulders making him sit down. This time he obeyed and even removed his tunic, revealing a nasty gash across his torso. His armor must have been torn too, but the black color hid that well in the darkness.
Aeyrin looked at the wound, shaking her head in disapproval.
She put a clean piece of cloth into the shimmering lake and started to clean his wound gently.
She did catch herself staring at his body all too often, blushing fiercely the entire time. Her gaze wandered to the hard contours of his body, the chiseled chest, the firm abs below and all the well-formed muscles on his arms. He had a leaner musculature than lot of the large burly Nord men, but she liked it a lot more. It was apparent that he was agile as well as strong.
"Enjoying yourself, sweetness?" Bishop's pleased smirk interrupted her.
She didn't even realize how long she's been running the cloth over his body. The blush on her face now must have been visible even on the other end of Skyrim.
"I… ehm…. there was… a lot dirt…" she muttered under her breath earning a hearty laugh from Bishop.
"Sure there was, princess," he smirked at her as she dropped the cloth, hurriedly pressing her palms on his chest, lighting them up with magic. The wound was nasty-looking but luckily not too deep – it wouldn't even scar after she was done with it.
She worked on the gash diligently, avoiding any eye-contact in the meantime – she did not want to see that smug smirk that was undoubtedly on his face.
When she was done she quickly grabbed his tunic and shoved it into his arms, turning away from him, waiting for him to get dressed. She heard the shuffling of cloth and him grabbing his armor, still stubbornly keeping his back to him.
After a while a warm breath on her ear startled her. "Thanks, sweetness," his deep voice rumbled in her ear, sending a strange shiver down her spine and making her cheeks light up again.
She turned around slightly only to see him head back towards the campfire.
…
They spent some more time celebrating with the miners but they were both pretty exhausted.
They went to sleep early, planning on leaving the next morning.
Bishop did still promise to leave some supplies behind and decided to go hunting before the dawn.
When he woke up in the middle of the night, he grabbed his hunting supplies and walked over to Sondas's hut. The door was closed but there was a slightly opened window. He opened it fully, careful not to wake the man and knocked on the wood quietly – he knew Karnwyr was alert at night, the slightest sound would rouse him.
As he suspected, soon he heard the rustling of paws against the stone floor. He got out of the way of the window and waited as his friend jumped out with grace, already at full strength.
Bishop closed the window quietly, ruffling Karnwyr's fur. He knew Sondas was reliable, but he couldn't help but worry about him all the same.
They both crept out of the camp stealthily, continuing along the mountain path deeper into the forest.
…
They spent several hours stalking prey, Karnwyr proudly presenting himself to Bishop with two rabbits he managed to catch during their nighttime stroll, while Bishop managed to kill a large buck that would feed the whole village for at least five days.
He remembered the days when killing such an animal would be a feat to be proud of, days when it would help him and his brother survive for weeks in the woods. Now it seemed so ordinary. He got so good at hunting them down that one buck was hardly a challenge.
Suddenly he realized where he was.
Without even thinking he started to walk the old path.
He remembered it well, even at night.
He continued along, curious how the old tower looked these days. He hasn't been back in years.
As he approached the stone bridge leading to Nilheim, he noticed a person lying on the ground. He pulled out his knife, knowing what kind of people that place attracted and approached the figure warily.
"Sir… ow… sir, please," the man's eyes lit up when he saw Bishop. He looked wounded… or drunk? "Please… I got ambushed… robbed blind I tell ye. Please… help me back to my homestead, I beg of you!" the man pleaded.
It was dark, but he looked unkempt. Bishop narrowed his eyes in suspicion but asked regardless: "Where's your homestead?"
"Not far… good sir… just past the bridge," the man smiled.
That didn't make sense – Nilheim was a ruin, no homestead. No one respectable lived there – he should know. The man was playing him.
Bishop outstretched one arm to the man to help him up.
"Thank you, really…" the man muttered as Bishop suddenly pulled him towards him with great force, impaling him on his hunting knife.
The man's eyes showed both shock and wrath, he didn't speak though, only gurgled and spit out blood.
Bishop kicked him off the road in the river as his limp body cracked over the boulders making its way towards the waterfall. He wondered for a while if he was going to end up all the way down at the lake by Darkwater Crossing. He shrugged at the thought, looking over at Karnwyr with a smirk as he pulled out his bow: "Just like old times, huh?"
…
They made short work of the bandits camped out at Nilheim.
Most of them didn't even see Bishop coming as he picked them off one by one.
Karnwyr took out anyone that became alert, ripping into their limbs or throats as they desperately tried to shake the savage wolf off.
It didn't take long before the place stood empty once again. Bishop kicked some of the bandits off the cliffs, not even sure why. It felt strange having them there. It still felt somehow… his.
He climbed the tower looking over the darkness covering Skyrim.
He could see the moon glittering in Lake Geir and in the distance he could even swear he saw the outline of the cliff under which Lost Knife lay. It was a good decision to avoid it. If Nilheim had these bandits living there, who knows what sort they would find there? Aeyrin would likely want to rid Skyrim of them… and that might get ugly. With her attitude he was really glad he managed to dissuade her from frolicking around Falkreath.
He looked up at the top of the tower for a while, remembering the many talks he had there with Jules. He missed him. He wondered what his brother would think of Aeyrin. They were certainly both annoyingly excited about everything.
He smiled to himself.
It would only take an hour or two before the sun rose. He could probably wait a bit, enjoy the sunrise at the tower again. The shimmering lake, the morning mist over the mountains... Aeyrin would have loved the view.
Damn, he did think about her a lot.
He smiled again as he remembered their interaction from last night. The way she looked at him… there was no doubt about it now.
He got up from his vantage point suddenly, walking briskly back towards Darkwater.
…
"Pssst, we have to hurry, come on, ladyship."
A tug at her shoulder woke her from her slumber.
She drowsily opened her eyes. It was still night out and Bishop was tugging her out of bed.
"What… It's dark," she mumbled.
"Stop complaining and come, I have something to show you," he dragged her out of the bedroll, stopping her when she reached for her pack. "We'll be back soon, you don't need that. Come."
She followed him out of the large tent, noticing a few animal carcasses on the ground beside it as he ushered her on.
"Where are we going?" she rubbed the sleep from her eyes.
"Patience, princess. You'll see soon."
Bishop didn't say anything the rest of the way, as they marched along the mountain path, towards a stone bridge. The light was slowly creeping up to the sky but the sun wasn't visible yet.
As she followed him across the bridge with curiosity, she noticed a few corpses along the path. Likely bandits, the tower they seemed to be headed for looked perfect for a lookout.
Karnwyr laid down lazily at the base of the tower as Bishop led her inside, walking along the stone steps all the way up to a wooden platform.
There he grabbed her by the shoulders pointing her towards the view, setting himself right next to her.
The view was spectacular.
She could probably see the whole province from up there.
As the sun slowly made its way up on the sky, it drowned everything in beautiful golden hue – the shimmering lake right below them, the snowy mountaintops in the distance, the mist falling all over the valleys – it all looked like a dream.
It was even better than sunsets on the Gold Coast.
Maybe because this time, she wasn't watching alone.
"I spent some time here, long ago. It was a place I could always return to for a while," Bishop smiled, staring into the distance. "It's where I met a certain wolf cub," his expression conveyed so much fondness – more than she ever thought to see.
He turned to her, smiling again as he found her already watching him.
"My first home in Skyrim… I never brought anyone here."
She looked into his eyes, not being able to stop herself from blushing and averting her gaze a bit after a while, noticing the intensity in his eyes.
"It's beautiful here," she said, looking back at him after she managed to compose herself again.
It felt like he was standing closer to her now, his amber eyes glinting in the morning light, his face close to hers.
Again she felt blush rising on her cheeks but this time she didn't look away. She didn't seem to be able to… staring into his eyes, almost mesmerized.
She felt one of his hands envelop her side, lying gently above her hip, the other he moved towards her cheek, stroking it lightly, then easing it on the back of her neck.
He tilted her face upwards, moving even closer to her as she stood tentatively on her tiptoes, suddenly feeling very short.
His lips brushed against hers softly at first, but before she even realized what was happening, they captured hers fully. The taste of honeyed mead filled her mouth as his kiss grew on insistence. He pressed her closer, his hand stroking slowly above her hip and the other firmly holding the back of her neck, draped in her hair.
His tongue entered her mouth teasingly, twining with hers as a light moan escaped her throat, muffled by his lips on hers.
The experience was dizzying but she didn't want it to end, her arms encircling his waist, lying at his back, pulling him closer.
His teeth bit gently into her lower lip before he kissed her again, hungrily, deepening the kiss even more than before. Her heart was pounding in her chest and a pleasant heat spread through her body. She felt herself responding eagerly, almost subconsciously, as her hands bundled the fabric of his tunic in a tight grip, her tongue teasing along his own.
The need for breath finally pulled them apart.
Aeyrin's whole face was a deep shade of red as she pressed the back of her hand to her cheek dizzily, catching her breath. Did that really just happened?
"You… kissed me," she blurted out, still a bit in shock at her own forwardness.
"You just noticed?" he laughed, pressing the palm of his hand at her cheek, his thumb stroking her skin lightly, a fond smile on his face.
"It was kinda hard to miss," she smiled bashfully, averting her gaze from him slightly.
He shook his head at her with another laugh. "That's good to hear, I'd hate if you missed it," he smirked.
She looked back at him, smiling, his hand still stroking over her reddened cheek. Her gaze fell towards his mouth and she leaned in without even thinking about it as Bishop quickly captured her lips again, enveloping her in a tight embrace.
…
They spent quite some time there.
Aeyrin expected him to try for more, but he was surprisingly restrained, not groping at her or even making any comments.
They didn't think at all, for a change, neither of them wanted to spoil the moment by wondering about what it meant, what would happen next and other issues.
They spent a long time standing atop the tower, lost in each other.
Eventually, they set off back towards the road together, eagerly followed by the rather bored-looking wolf.
Neither of them spoke. The moment, the scenery, the feelings, all were too fleeting to be ruined by overthinking.
They walked back towards Darkwater Crossing, silently, but side by side.
Aeyrin did wonder though whether her flushed cheeks would ever go back to normal again.