Restless was an understatement, and that bothered Serana more than it should. She paced, convincing herself she wasn't pacing.

"I'm not," a stubbornly familiar thought persisted.

She took off the choker, thumb nicking the tusk of Molag Bal. It prompted a glare and a heavy sigh. She set it down on her table, hands running down the sewn swords of her corset ballgown. "I can't wait to get out of this. Where in Oblivion is Graven? He should have already been here an hour ago. Has it been an hour? If only I had a moon dial like mother's."

Serana paced.

"I'm not."

Her thoughts were not kind to her, apart from their obstinate inclination. She couldn't get rid of the memory that nagged her the most: the smell of blood on Graven's breath. Yes, it was perfectly reasonable that a newly blooded vampire would in fact seek the very sustenance they need if they do not wish to grow feral and mindless with blood lust, especially since the craving would hit hard. It took years of self-reflection and meditation in order to control or ignore such a powerful craving, but what she needed to know was where he acquired that sustenance. She never saw him feast on a thrall, but what if he stole a taste?

"He's... a very curious individual. I wouldn't put it past him and his love for experiments." The thought left a bitter taste in her mouth.

And the word experiment.

"Ugh."

Distant noises caught her ears. Loud noises. "Sounds like someone's yelling..." Serana not-paced to the door, wondering if she should go investigate. She had already excused herself to her father and rebuffed several irritating suitors vying for her hand on her way out of the court. There was one irritating man that was supposed to be vying for her hand right now and he wasn't bloody here.

"What's taking him so long?"

Every second ticking by was aggravating her beyond belief, especially when the yells didn't subside. It didn't seem angry, nor panicked. Baffling. There was no such thing as good-natured merriment, lest the vampires receive some sort of spectacular feast of decadent thralls, but father would have put a stop to that the moment she left. There was no more need for him to show off for her anymore.

Familiar footfalls finally graced her senses. She not-paced closer to the door, holding her breath when the final foot fell and cast a shadow under the sliver of her door's frame. She bit her tongue and waited on the cheery knocks. She didn't know why she was waiting.

"Lady Sera-Sera? Might I humbly ask for permission to enter?"

Serana rolled her eyes. "He's never going to stop that even if it were part of my eulogy. Wonderful." She subtly cleared her throat and her mouth opened. Then closed. She smirked. "Yes, you may ask."

There was a slight hitch of breath on the other side of the door. It fueled her smirk, and her inner mischievous devil.

Graven played along, much to her amusement. And expectation. "Very well. Then, with humility and utmost deference Lady Sera-Sera, do I have permission to enter?"

Enough time was wasted on the games. Yes, she was allowed to change her mind and suddenly be impatient. Memory reminded her of priorities, after all. She opened the door and stole a swift peek out and down the hallway. Nobody was there or watching. "Safe." She grabbed Graven's wrist and roughly pulled him in, taking in a deep breath to smell the air when he yelped in surprise.

"Blood. Blood is all over his breath."

She needed to take matters in her own hands and confront him quickly before he deduced what it was she was seeking, and so literally took matters in her own hands. She bumped the door closed with her hips as she wrestled off Graven's mask and manually wrenched his mouth open with her hand, ignoring his gibberish sounds of confusion and discomfort. She stared long and hard at his teeth and dismissed his squirming, though he soon quieted down and peered at her inquisitively.

"'Hecking why eegh?" Graven asked seriously.

Serana gave him a look and removed her hand, wiping the saliva off his jacket.

He tried again after a swallow, striding to her vanity for a cloth to wipe his mouth. "Checking my teeth? Are they exhibiting some sort of anomaly?" He checked himself in the mirror, stealing glances of uncertainty at her when she remained silent as she gauged what to say to him. She reluctantly chose the truth and approached the vanity.

"No, they aren't. I just smelled blood." Serana broke away from the eye contact through the mirror's reflection and busied herself with studying his regale suit, where there were surprisingly ornate patterns engraved on the vest beneath his jacket. "The seamstresses did a good job on his too, even though he's a new blood. Was it father's request that they remain attentive in their worksmanship?"

Silence fell between them. It tempted and taunted her to look up and at him to prompt an answer, but she feigned indifference and left him alone to his thoughts to figure out what might be her concern. Though she wasn't one for games. What was it about him that encouraged her to play them, then?

Finally, after an excruciatingly long minute, he broke the disquiet between them with a gentle question. "I assume you postulated that I fed on someone?"

Serana nibbled the inside flesh of her cheek. She subtly nodded, somewhat tinged with guilt, now that she discovered the truth for herself. She wasn't a woman who was so uncertain, and displayed such behavior. It irritated her that she was, so plain for anyone to see regardless if they possessed the gift of perception or not. She fought to roll her eyes when Graven turned and scooped up her hands in his.

"Here comes this fool's foolish fairy tale notions of romance..."

Let it never become known to him that maybe, just maybe, there was the slightest possibility that she enjoyed the occasional cliché thing coming from his mouth.

"Rest easy, Sera. I didn't," he tenderly assured. "It was a goblet Garan had offered me. I saw no choice but to accept, so as not to rouse any suspicions among anyone. I had a pleasant conversation with him, but I was aware he was analyzing and getting a read on me." His thumbs massaged circles around her middle knuckle bones. "Truthfully, I was not as repulsed as I thought I would be, and I had not deluded myself into thinking it was wine."

"That's because you need blood," Serana murmured, tone laced with guilt and disappointment. She came as close to him as her blasted ballgown allowed her, angling awkwardly and forcing past discomfort to rest her head against his chest. It was just to hide her face from him for the most part. She felt what her tone did to his body, now tensing.

"Are you concerned I'll take to vampirism favorably?" Graven asked, loosely wrapping his arms around her shoulders. A hand lazily played with her hair, sending pleasant tingles throughout her scalp. She burrowed harder against his chest after a decisive nod. His hum reverberated deep in his chest and buzzed against her cheek. "I've taken to it well, only because in my experience, taking things poorly will only lead to a poorer mentality of it all. I may as well try to make the best of it, but I won't forget why I'm here in the first place."

Graven withdrew with a hopeful smile. "I am here to be better company than the demons lurking in the shadows. At least, that is my goal. Am I doing decently?"

Serana smirked. "I suppose this is better than a dancing skeleton."

"Ouch, you wound me," he chuckled. "Though I don't deny a dancing skeleton would be tough to compete against."

Without another word nor tease, he suddenly detracted from the path they were taking and instead took her hands to lead her towards the bed, where her heart paced.

"I'm not."

Intentions. What were his intentions? The question balled up in her throat, thickening and closing. He broke free from her hands to shed his jacket and vest, which were soon abandoned on her desk. He pulled to untuck his shirt and she stopped him from unbuttoning it. His brow arched with confusion.

"Is there an issue, Serana?"

She fought the urge to lick her drying lips. "What are you doing?"

"Isn't it obvious?"

"I wouldn't be asking if it was," she drawled with a bite of sarcasm.

"Oh." Graven looked over his shoulder at the bed. He strode to it, unbuttoning his shirt despite her earlier silent plea not to. Oblivious man. He still didn't enlighten her.

"He could do that any day now, preferably before he strips down to his loincloth and conjures more delusions."

Graven tossed his shirt aside with the others. He shrugged as he ungracefully toed off his boots and socks, then hopped on her bed with his limbs sprawled. He patted the empty space beside him with a genuinely innocent smile. "If there is nothing else occupying your mind, then I once again cordially invite you to a nap with me."

Serana hesitated. She looked down at her sophisticated dress and frowned. "This cursed dress will take forever and I'm not sure if I'll be summoned in the court again."

"Why would you be? Your father already has his elder scroll."

That stung. Serana's scowl deepened. She sighed and crossed her arms at him. "Which means we need to find out what he's going to do with it and then take it away from him."

"But... after our nap, yes?"

Oh, the misguided hope in his voice. The puppy eyes. The persistent hand still rubbing tantalizing circles on the big comfy bed.

It was almost enough to stray her from duty.

"No. We need to get to the bottom of this as soon as possible, Graven."

"Then why did we come here?"

It was an earnest question borne from confusion. Truthfully, even she didn't know. She was being pulled by hundreds of different thoughts and feelings that it was almost impossible to sort through half of them. She missed the days where things actually made sense.

"Especially the things in my mind."

Serana shrugged as her answer. He would just have to be content with that.

Graven groaned. "But I'm tired. All that socializing and scheming was more exhausting than doing battle with a dragon."

"Welcome to what was my whole life," she chuckled. "I don't miss it one bit, but we're going to have to play the court's games, at least for a little bit. Now come on."

Before she got the chance to stray far from the bed, Graven rolled quickly to the edge and snatched her hand. His puppy eyes were at full force now. She gave him an amused look, shaking her head, but she didn't deny that she was tempted to take a nap.

"Maybe I'll finally get to the bottom of these strange dreams."

On that note, she wondered if she should confront him about that too. The whole thing with the blood on his breath made her lean towards the nagging negative predisposition that he might just be saying whatever she wants to hear to comfort her.

"I know what I saw. Or didn't see, anyways. There was no... meat... stuck between his teeth. But he does have a complicated relationship with honesty. Well, he used to, anyways..."

Serana conceded with a not-so-reluctant sigh, but overplayed it as such so Graven wouldn't get any ideas that she was caving in so easily. Otherwise he would get ideas that duty wasn't as obligatory as it was... well. Supposed to be. But now it wasn't, just because of a blasted nap. Priorities. She tapped her dress with her free hand.

"Let me change out of this first, then I'll join you."

"Deal," Graven beamed. "Would you like help? I won't look, I promise."

Warmth tinged the deepest recesses of her throat. She didn't trust her voice and shook her head, taking off to hide behind the privacy wall divider. She knew it would take her longer to deal with the dress herself, but it was the price to save her modesty. Not that she didn't trust Graven to keep his word, at least for this, but she would never forget his five-finger discounted purchase on her bra, and his embarrassing hypothesizing thereafter. She felt awkward working away in silence, fabric rustling, and wasn't sure if it was helping or worsening the situation when Graven began to whistle a quiet tune. He broke the awkwardness between them, but only to inject a different kind of awkwardness in her.

"You know, that Garan fellow is a very interesting character. Though, I have to ask, why were you so inquisitive of dunmer history and culture with me and Erandur, when you had Garan right there for basically, oh, I don't know. Your whole life?"

Serana's cheeks throbbed. "I didn't know he was a dunmer."

"You- what? First of all: the skin color is a dead giveaway. Second of all: he was your teacher for the School of Destruction, was he not?"

That second point piqued her interest, and she conveniently ignored the first. She stopped wrestling with her corset and straightened to listen carefully. "How do you figure?"

"Puh-lease," Graven huffed with telltale pride. "Even a novice could tell. Every single one of your theories is an exact copy of his."

"You know, his theories could be a copy of mine. Do you know how old either of us are?"

"He's definitely older than you. Definitely." There was a slight pause, and then mischievous levity injected in his tone, his words dancing. "I know my dunmer history, unlike someone."

"Shut up," Serana mumbled. "I never had time to talk to him after our lessons. And... he was always distant, sort of. He's loyal to the Lord of the court, whomever that may be."

"So you kept him at arm's length, because of your father?"

She didn't answer him. It may as well have been the most obvious rhetorical question to have ever existed - for she kept everyone in the court at arm's length.

Graven hummed to break the silence. "Well, I know one thing for sure. He's a good teacher. You're proof of that."

"I could just have been a good student and studied his theories on my own," she lilted, smirking. She looked over at the privacy wall, more so to check he wasn't around the corner to peek, reminding herself that she could hear his breathing at the bed. Her bold innuendo fell short when Graven didn't seem to catch on.

"Mm, that is a very fair answer indeed. You know one of these days, I should teach you my theories. We could run experiments. Trial and error is my favorite kind."

A beat. His voice lowered.

"That way we can make discoveries on the spot and apply our techniques accordingly, testing what we're learning on each other."

...Or maybe he did catch on.

Serana almost choked. Audibly. She was a little stuck on his words, too busy to think up her own words as a suitable comeback. She renewed her efforts to get out of the bloody corset squeezing the life out of her and unlaced it with practiced speed. It was the corset's fault that she couldn't think of anything. That was it. That was the story she was going to go with, anyways. It'd help her sleep better later.

"Sleep. I'm going to be sleeping beside him, after all of this."

Serana grew uncomfortable at the thought. She coached herself that it was just going to be like before. She trusted Graven not to make any indecent moves, especially when he worked doubly hard to facilitate trust between them even with their history and penchant for distrust. She smiled a little when he coughed, his quirky awkwardness showing painfully clear.

"Uh... was that a bit too much, Sera?"

She didn't have the heart to answer. Truthfully, she didn't have the mind to answer - the mind made up, that is. There was something jolting and thrilling, a strange dynamic to it all, that unhinged her in good and bad ways. She focused on changing into casual attire that would be comfortable sleeping in, but also react quickly should an unprecedented situation arise with unwanted visitors at the door. She withdrew from the privacy wall with a complacent smile forced into place, one which grew into a genuine one at the sight of a nervous man sitting up on the edge of the bed, running his hand through his hair and rubbing his nape.

"I see his tics are hard at work again."

It was no small measure of amusement gained. She approached the bed and, just to be clear and certain, she idly reached behind her to hide her hands. She poked her finger into her palm. It didn't go through. This was reality, to be sure.

"Good."

Serana strode before him, taking comfort that at least she wasn't the only one who felt like a fish out of the sea. Boldness guided her hands and she cupped Graven's jaw to encourage him to look up at her, rather than everywhere but. She could relate. She wanted to do the same, but there was a small part inside of her that screamed for a connection. But it was terrifying. But everything terrifying in her life couldn't be run away from. She had to face it at some point. She had to run to it instead.

"What was a bit too much?" Serana whispered huskily.

It ignited something in his eyes. There was always a tamed hunger in them, even before vampirism. She wanted him to be honest, to be confident, to be the first to confess what was actually on his mind, rather than masking it like her. She couldn't find it in her to tell him all of that directly, though, as if afraid it would unleash something she wasn't actually ready for.

Graven seemed to be searching her eyes, whether it be mercy or help, she couldn't quite tell. Both were equally entertaining notions though.

He smirked ever so slightly, but it screamed answers. Quirky, up to no good, corners of lips curling in pure devilishness that seemed to say her challenge was accepted.

And issued one of his own.

"My honesty. Do you think you can handle it, Yi Ara?"

Author's Note

Well I'm semi-back! Just a short chapter to finally break out of my hiatus. This year has been super crazy, and I hope everyone's been staying safe. I've had a nasty bit of luck with work and covid but everything is slowly settling down now and the pieces are kind of sort of falling together.

I've recently picked up elder scrolls online though and it's proven to be a scary-fast time consumer, but finally sitting down to hammer this chapter out in a few hours has reminded me just how much I miss writing. I apologize if it's chock full of mistakes as it is very very early in the morning but I just could not sleep until I got this out lol. It will for sure be cleaned up once I edit this with refreshed eyes and will update it tomorrow night!

I've also sent out a request to be invited to AO3 so once I figure out how that whole formatting works, I'll be publishing this story on there as well if there are readers that prefer the AO3 layout instead. Huge thanks to Asphaleia-I for the suggestion and for taking the time to tell me what's what when it comes to using AO3!

Hope to see you in the next chapter/on AO3. Stay safe everyone!

Reminder: Yi Ara translates to "My Queen" but it's not yet been revealed what language it is. Serana first heard Graven say it as well as instinctively learned it's meaning during one of her dreams. He does say it in reality and she reveals she knows what it means, stunning him since he's never told her. This plays a major part in the near future, can you guess why? Hope you have fun with your theorizing :)