I upped the rating on the story juuuust to be on the safe side. Nothing major. Just the chapter that I believe a lot of you have probably been waiting for ;)

Also, I usually stick to just one perspective per chapter, but there really wasn't a way I could do that this time. I wanted both characters' perspectives on this one, and it was giving me fits trying to narrow it down to just one. So I let Borgakh and Brand share this one. Enjoy!


Borgakh

Brand is quiet lately. Ever since I went troll-hunting with Lydia. I do not know what, precisely, is bothering him, but it seems like he does not know what to do with me anymore. He is clumsy around me, the tips of his ears turning red more often, like sharing space with me has become awkward.

I have my suspicions, though I keep them to myself. If I am honest, it is amusing to watch the Dragonborn stumble over his words and try to maintain his cool. Which is why I am not surprised when he proposes a trip to Riften one afternoon. I am surprised, however, when it ends with the two of us carting a notorious bandit leader back to Jarl Leila Law-Giver instead of visiting the temple of Mara.

The bandit is slung over my shoulders, bereft of weapons and armor, dressed only in a ragged pair of trousers. He stopped complaining a while ago, thankfully. Probably because it's hard to breathe while my shoulder is jarring his bruised rib cage. The man put up a fight. He is just lucky that his bounty specified bringing him in alive. He certainly gave us plenty of reason not to. Brand's blossoming black eye is proof of that.

Brand walks in front of me, a habit we've developed over the last few months. He used to argue with me when I did not walk by his side, but I am most comfortable watching his back and, despite his insistence that no one is going to jump him from behind, it is a position I took until he accepted it.

Other than the occasional grunts from the bandit and chirping birds, Brand is quiet. Which is unusual. He does most of his thinking out loud, regardless of whether I want him to or not. A quality that annoyed me at first, but that I have come to enjoy. Our journeys are never boring. But now, he seems preoccupied. So this time, I start the conversation.

"You know," I say slyly. "When you first said we were going to Riften, I thought we might be going to the Temple of Mara." I can't be certain, but I think he stiffens fractionally. He doesn't turn around and start walking backwards to face me like he usually does.

Instead he says, "Why would you think that?"

I shrug, though Brand cannot see it. The bandit on my shoulders grunts. "I heard a rumor that the priests of Mara were looking for help with some quests."

Brand doesn't answer immediately. "I don't know," he finally says. "I didn't peg you as the type to start serving priests, Borgakh."

"They are mortal, like anyone else," I say. The bandit makes a brief struggle and I get a better grip on his arms and legs and yank downward. He gasps, struggling for breath as I aggravate his ribs. I let up. He focuses on getting his breath back. I continue, "Which means they have their fair share of problems and quests, just like anyone else."

Brand grunts.

"Why, do you have something against the Divine of Love, Dragonborn?" I ply.

"What? No! Of course not. Why would you think I have something against Mara?"

"No reason," I say.

He sighs.

I wish I could see his face, but I cannot without asking him to turn around and then I risk giving away my game. "You wouldn't be trying to obtain an amulet, would you?" I ask a moment later.

This time there is a falter in Brand's step. He still does not turn around, probably because he cannot hide his expressions from me. I have gotten very good at reading his poker face. "What would I be doing with an amulet?" he asks slowly.

"Marrying, I presume," I say off-handedly. "Isn't that what the Nords use them for?"

"Yes."

I pause just long enough to let him think. "Hulda said she saw you talking to Jon over an amulet of Mara the other night."

This time Brand does risk a glance over his shoulder, eyes searching mine, as if trying to find out what I know. I give him a tusky smile, glad for once that I am not wearing my helm. He turns back around quickly.

"Yeah, Jon was telling me about his intentions to propose to Olfina, so I asked him about Nordic marriage tradition."

The explanation falls flat and we both know it. "Why is that?"

"Just thought it would be interesting, is all." He shrugs.

"Mm-hmm." I nod vigorously although Brand cannot see it. The bandit shifts again and I get a better grip on him. He heaves a particularly heavy sigh. "So how do the Nords propose, then?" I ask.

Brand rubs the back of his neck. "Well, apparently, they just put the amulet on and kind of wait for an interested party to walk by and say something."

"So it is like marriage roulette then?"

Brand snorts. "I guess that's one way to put it."

"What happens if someone you are not interested in comes and says they want to marry you?"

"You just turn them down and wait on someone else," Brand says.

"It seems to me that it would make much more sense to simply present an amulet to the person you are interested in and propose a marriage."

He pauses for a while and I can practically hear the smirk. "That's sort of what I told Jon."

"For being so bold on the battlefield, Nords seem awfully shy about love," I mutter.

The bandit mumbles something unintelligible. I glance down at him, but he shuts up as soon as he notices me looking. I wonder if he's a Nord. Probably. He looks Nordic.

"I think it's more of a reliance on the gods thing," Brand dissembles.

"Maybe." I'm not convinced. "But what's stopping them from just walking up to their intended and asking for their hand in marriage?"

Brand stops this time. I walk up beside him just in time to see him swallow hard. "Nerves."

"Nerves?" I scoff.

"It's an entirely different sort of courage used in love than in war, I think." He gives me a calculating glance. "Have you ever been in love?"

The question catches me off-guard. It's not entirely part of the game when I say, "I am not sure."

For a second something almost like fear flashes across his face. "Not sure?"

"Well, I do not know what I am supposed to feel when I am in love. If it means I must be nervous, then I suppose I have not been."

He looks relieved before he manages to compose his face into something more neutral. I resist the urge to smile. My Dragonborn is in love and there is no denying that.

"Something tells me that even love doesn't make you blush, Borgakh," he says.

On my back, the bandit groans, but I do not know if it is in pain or because of our conversation. I jostle him a little. He glares at me uselessly. "Why should it? It is a natural process of life. You should not be embarrassed to speak of your love or profess it."

"Spoken like a true orc." Brand gives me that lop-sided grin I have become so fond of.

"Why, is there someone that you love and haven't told?"

"I...uh...maybe." He blushes for perhaps the first time that I can recall.

"Are you nervous?"

"Oh, very much so."

"Well, why don't you just tell this person you love that you love them? Or put your amulet on when you are with them?"

"My amulet?" he looks surprised.

"I saw it in your bag."

"Oh. I...well...it was because...I have that for…" he stumbles over his words. "Jon gave it to me-"

The bandit suddenly squirms on my shoulders and interrupts, "Would you two just shut up and kiss already? I'm sick of all this babbling. Any fool can see the two of you are in love, so get it over with! Anything but making me hang here listening to this drabble."

Brand blinks and stares at me, then he bursts out laughing and I join in. The bandit grumbles and takes a clumsy swing at me. I barely feel the weak punch through my Ebony armor.

Brand sobers. "He's right, you know."

"This guy?" I tilt my head toward the bandit, incredulous.

"Yeah." Brand puts a hand to the back of his neck. "Borgakh. I…" he steps forward and nearly has to go up on tiptoe to give me the kiss.

"Oh, c'mon!" the bandit protests. "I didn't mean…" he trails off with a sigh.

Brand's kiss catches me off guard, but then I tilt my head and respond. I cannot say that it was anything like I was expecting - our first kiss out on the road in Skyrim, a bandit slung over my shoulder - but all of that disappears at the feel of Brand's lips on mine. He feels like a fire, burning hot and passionate and I bask in his warmth. When we finally pull apart, his breath comes a little heavier than normal. He grins, eyes bright and I smile back.

He reaches into his pack and pulls out an amulet of Mara, swinging it back and forth off one finger. "Little late for this now, huh?"

"Psh. Since when have you put stock in amulets and superstitions, Dragonborn?"

He pretends to consider the question, letting the amulet wrap around his finger and rest on the back of his hand. "Fair point. Let's get this guy turned in, yeah? And then I have something very important to ask you."


Brand

By the time we find ourselves standing in front of the Temple of Mara, I know Borgakh knows what I'm doing. There's no way she can't. After turning the bandit in at the Jarl's house, I took Borgakh back to our rooms at the Bee and Barb and asked her to put on the dress I bought for her in Solitude a few months back.

She started to protest that it was back at Breezehome until I pulled it out of my pack.

She laughed.

I even had a bath drawn for her in the next room and she positively glowed when I told her. She disappeared and I readied myself as well, putting on the royal blue tunic with gold trim Borgakh gifted me. It's a special occasion. We should look nice. Not much I can do about the nice black eye the bandit gave me. But otherwise, I'd say I clean up well.

But now that we're actually standing outside the Temple, my stomach knots with single-minded intensity. Borgakh has got to know what I'm up to now, right? She all but said so on the road with the bandit. And though we've never quite discussed marriage to each other, Borgakh has mentioned that she wouldn't mind it, if she ever found the right partner. And I know I want it.

She just kissed me on the road and she seemed to enjoy it.

Lydia always tells us how well we work together and makes good-natured jibes about us being more than friends. Even Jarl Balgruuf has noticed and casually asked me if there would be a wedding in our future.

Borgakh never denies it when people tell her that she and I make good partners. She even grins most of the time when my name comes up. She's protective of me and once or twice I think I've detected a hint of jealousy in her words or tone when another female interacts with me.

But am I reading the signs right? Should I have just asked her back at the Bee and Barb, before we went through all this? What if I get inside and she says no? What if it's not the right time? What if -

For being so bold on the battlefield, the Nords seem awfully shy about love.

It's an entirely different sort of courage used in love than in war, I think.

A different sort of courage entirely.

I put my hand on the door handle of the Temple of Mara. Divines, I hope I know what I'm doing. That feeling in my stomach intensifies and I take a deep breath. I fight dragons for a living. Why in Oblivion does a proposal scare me? The worst that can happen is...is that she says no. The butterflies are back. I swallow. But I open the door anyway and walk inside.

I hope Borgakh can't tell how nervous I am.

She doesn't say anything, just follows me inside, standing slightly off-center at my shoulder, her usual position whenever we're out and about. A position from which she can watch my back and guard my off-side.

Is that supposed to comfort me now? Or is she just doing it out of habit?

Divines, Brand, get a hold of yourself. You're the Dragonborn, dammit. Borgakh is your best friend. There's nothing scary about this. Nothing scary at all…

"Hello, friends." A voice interrupts my thoughts. A Redguard priest walks up to us from near the altar. "My name is Maramal, a priest of the Divine Mara. Can I help you?"

I can practically hear Borgakh grinning beside me, but she doesn't speak. I take a deep breath, swallow, and pull the amulet of Mara out of my pocket. "I heard you have to have one of these to get married," I say.

Maramal looks a little surprised, but his face softens into a smile. "Traditionally, yes."

"And you perform marriages here?" I ask.

"Yes."

"How does that work?"

"Well, usually, the two intended will come to the Temple of Mara, present their amulet and explain their intentions of marriage. Both parties must be in agreement, and then there's the ceremony to arrange, of course. Why, do you two wish to be married?" he asks, giving us a glance.

I notice that he's more tactful about it than most people and doesn't really seemed surprised that a wood-elf and an orc are standing in front of him, potentially proposing a marriage. I hold up a finger. "Hang on a minute," I say.

He raises an eyebrow.

I turn around and look Borgakh in the eye. Her eyes are sparkling with mischief. For a moment, I'm taken in by her beauty. It's rare that I see her dressed up like this and the dress does her justice, hugging her curves in all the right places. I feel the butterflies begin to flutter in my stomach again, so I don't give them a chance.

"Borgakh…"

"Yes?" she looks at me expectantly.

"Will you marry me?"


Borgakh

For a heartbeat, I am speechless because my beautiful, bumbling Dragonborn just asked for my hand in marriage in the most unexpected way possible. By just asking me. In front of the priest of Mara, in a Temple in Riften, while I'm wearing the dress he bought me - perhaps for this very occasion.

A range of emotion goes across his face while he waits for my reply. There's joy and uncertainty that gives way to excitement so palpable I can nearly see his heart beat against his chest. He holds his breath and I don't think he even realizes that he is doing it. His dark eyes meet mine with no hesitation, even though he fairly trembles with emotion. When I don't answer immediately, his face falls slightly, though I can tell he tries to hold that brilliant smile for me.

I cannot stop the answering smile that spreads across my face.

"Why not, Dragonborn?" I say.

He almost melts. "You mean...yes?"

"Yes." I grin. "Of course I'll marry you, Brand." I lean forward until my mouth is right beside his ear. "I thought you were going to ask me sooner, little elf."

He goes stiff as my lips brush his ear and I'm close enough to feel the heat that suddenly flushes across his skin. I smile to myself. I think I have just discovered something new about Brand, a theory I will have to test later.

I glance over Brand's shoulder to see Maramal standing there with a half-puzzled, half-excited expression on his face. I doubt he's seen a proposal quite like this before.

Brand spins around, practically buzzing with exhilaration. "You heard her, Maramal. Can you marry us?"

Maramal looks surprised. "Wh-you mean, right now?"

Brand holds up the amulet of Mara. "I've got an amulet and she said yes. That's all we need, right?"

"Well, there is the matter of witnesses…"

"We can use your priests, yes?" I ask.

"I, uh, of course, yes. Yes." He stumbles over his words. "But surely, you want some guests…?"

Brand shrugs. "There are a few who will miss this, perhaps, but they're scattered so far across Skyrim, it'd take days to get them all here. We'll celebrate with our friends later."

Maramal's mouth moves, but no sound comes out as he nods.

I would have thought a priest of Mara would be more prepared for moments like this. Surely we cannot be the first impulsive marriage to ever occur in Skyrim. Maybe it is Brand's black eye that looks so out of place with his nice clothes. Or perhaps he is surprised about the difference in our races. It is rare to see an elf marry outside of their race and even rarer for them to marry an Orc. Or maybe it is simply because he is being asked to perform the Dragonborn's marriage ceremony. Surely that is an honor for any priest of the Divines.

"Well…" Maramal stutters. "I've never seen it done quite like this before, but...I suppose we can perform the ceremony now. Do you have rings?"

"There's an Argonian jeweler right outside," Brand says. "Does it matter what the rings look like?"

"Ah, no," Maramal says, surprised.

"Be right back." Brand runs outside.

Maramal stands there with me in stunned silence for the few minutes it takes Brand to return with a matching pair of silver bands, set with sapphires.

Maramal's eyes widen. They are nice rings. Expensive rings. Rings that the priest probably wasn't expecting anyone to casually run outside and purchase.

Brand holds them out.

Maramal takes them. "Just give me a moment to gather my acolytes and bless the rings and then...then we will begin," he says.

Brand says something generally agreeable and turns to me with the biggest smile I've ever seen. "I'm not moving to fast for you, am I?"

I cross my arms and snort. "Too fast? For me? Brand, we both know I'm faster."

"How do we know that?" Brand raises an eyebrow.

"Longer legs," I say.

He rolls his eyes. "I mean, about this…" he gestures around him. "The wedding. I mean. Do you want guests? I guess I should have asked. I don't know what Orcish weddings usually entail. Do you-"

I put a finger on his lips. He stops, looking surprised.

"Hush, Brand. This is perfect."

He looks relieved and visibly relaxes as I withdraw my finger.

"Besides," I say, as Maramal returns with a couple of acolytes. "When have you ever been one to stand on ceremony?"


Brand

Ceremony or no, the marriage is everything I wanted. Maramal performs the rites and vows and all three priests treat it with all the gravitas I would expect for a full ceremony, even though it's just the five of us.

Borgakh is right. It's perfect.

So perfect, it's almost hard to believe that we're married when we leave the Temple a few hours later with matching rings and an official document sealed by the priests of Mara declaring us husband and wife.

As we leave the Temple, hand in hand, some loud shouting at the market catches our attention.

"Make love like a sabercat with my magical elixir! Only twenty septims apiece! Get yours before I run out!" a red-headed Nord yells at passerby. A few people stop to listen, but most of them roll their eyes and continue on their way.

I snort. "Love like a sabercat?"

"What, does that not appeal to you?" Borgakh raises an eyebrow.

"Not remotely."

Borgakh makes a sound halfway between a snort and a laugh.

"Why, you prefer sabercats?" I tease.

"To what?" Borgakh looks at me slyly.

"To...uh…" I trail off because I realize I was about to say 'me' but she doesn't exactly have a comparison there.

"Are you suggesting that you would be better than a sabercat?" Borgakh teases.

"Oblivion, Borgakh! I should hope so! Are you suggesting that a sabercat would make love better than the Dragonborn ?"

Borgakh smiles. "I suggested nothing of the sort. Though I wouldn't know, now would I?" She gives me a sidelong glance.

"C'mon, Borgakh, have you ever seen a pair of rutting -"

"I am going to stop you there."

"But really."

"Really? Yes. I am a hunter. I have seen sabercats mate. Messy affair."

"And you really think someone would want to make love like that?"

"To each their own," she says mysteriously. I swear she gives me a wink.

"I'm not...sure how to take that."

Borgakh suddenly grabs my arm and pulls me into a nearby alley, pinning me up against the wall. It's not a threat. I've seen her when she's being threatening and this is much more...playful. There's something bright in her eyes I've never seen before. Our breath speeds up and Riften fades around us until it's just me and her. She bends her head close to mine so that her breath tickles my ear. "Well, then, maybe we should find out how the Dragonborn does make love. Seems like a fitting end to our wedding day, does it not?"

"Mmnnn." I don't manage an intelligible answer.

Her hand is on my chest, slipping between the folds of my tunic until she brushes bare skin. Words desert me. She nips my ear. Oh, Divines. That's...does she know what that does to an elf? Her tongue slides up the edge of my ear and I shiver.

"Borgakh…"

"Shh."

"Perhaps we should find -" I moan as her hand does some very interesting things to my body.

"A room?" she supplies.

"I, uh, yes. That." My eyes aren't entirely in focus.

"The Bee and Barb's right across the street."

"Sounds good to me." My head buzzes like I've just drunk a whole bottle of spiced wine. Borgakh could drag me anywhere right now and it would sound good to me. She pulls me across the street and ushers me into the Bee and Barb, stopping at the counter just long enough to toss a couple septims on the bar and request a bottle of wine. Then she whisks me and the wine upstairs and we're in our room and she's closing the door and I can't seem to find my shirt and Borgakh shoves me up against the wall again and - Divines, but she knows what to do with her tongue.


This is actually pretty close to how Brand's proposal to Borgakh went in-game XD I already knew I wanted him to marry Borgakh, so I pulled her out of the orc encampment pretty early on and had her as a follower for a while before I traveled to Riften. So, by the time I got there, I already had her with me and had an amulet. So Brand just marched into the Temple, had the whole "how does marriage work" conversation with Maramal, turned around, asked Borgakh to marry him, and then turned back around and told Maramal to set up the ceremony. I imagine Maramal would've been pretty surprised.