Chapter 5

His head was pounding, as it usually did after a night of drinking, and the Orc groaned. Malath tensed for a moment. Somehow, he was laying in his own bed.

Right…that stubborn Elf dragged my sorry ass up here last night.

He sighed and rubbed his aching eyes.

How could she be so kind? He asked himself a few times, feeling confused.

He could have been terribly angry when she woke him up, He could have been violent. Malath was pretty brutal to Lydia when she would try to wake him in the past.

Malath shuddered, and pulled himself into a sitting position, swaying slightly as the room suddenly spun way too fast. After a moment, his vision settled. He sniffed the air. A delicious smell had wafted into his room. His ears detected the sizzling of something being cooked in the single frying pan he owned. So, Lenia had stuck around.

The Orc clambered awkwardly to his feet and fumbled through a satchel for a health potion. Drinking it helped ease the pain in his temple immensely. Malath took his time to dress today, thoroughly searching in the drawers for the cleanest clothes he could muster; mumbling about the fact that he really did need to do the laundry. He opened the second drawer and to his complete surprise, found two neatly folded piles of clean tunics and pants.

Malath blinked, glancing around the room. He noticed for the first time just how much cleaner his bedroom was.

"That little sneak," he growled softly, baffled by her actions. "She's not my housekeeper."

"Malath?"

Lenia's voice called out to him from downstairs. Malath walked out into the landing and looked down at the girl.

"Good morning!" The elf exclaimed cheerfully. "I thought I heard you blundering around."

"Funny," He replied sarcastically, gripping the banister, and Lenia grinned.

"I was going to wait until you were up to fetch you water for a bath, are you ready for it?"

"You …you don't have to…" Malath muttered, and Lenia cocked her head to one side.

"I'm going to take that as a yes. I'll be up in a moment."

He sighed and returned to his bedroom. Malath sat down heavily on the bed and waited for the silly elf. Lenia appeared a couple of minutes later with a large pot of water, and she walked over to the disturbingly misused tub located in one corner of the room.

She poured the water in, and then lifted her hand, letting a spell of fire heat the water. Malath cringed. Magic was not his thing.

"Breakfast will be ready when you come downstairs," Lenia told him.

She picked up the pot and walked towards the doors.

"Why are you so nice?" He blurted without thinking, and then hastily closed his mouth.

Lenia turned around to look at him with a smile on her face.

Does she ever look unhappy? Well... she sure was mad when she punched the merchant, Malath remembered with an inward chuckle.

"Why not? I like you," she replied smoothly and then left the room before he could even begin to think up a reply.

He felt his face grow warm and Malath busied himself with dealing with a bath to take his mind off of things.

He stripped his filthy clothes off and placed a hesitant foot in the tub, surprised at how perfect the temperature of the water was. Steam floated around his calf, and he quickly climbed in, sinking into the warm liquid with a contented growl. It wasn't too bad. He admitted it made his sore bones feel a lot better after. He took the bar of soap Lenia had left on the edge of the tub and dragged it along his green skin. He was amazed and disgusted at how murky the water became. He didn't even know he owned soap.

I'm disgusting, Malath thought with a curl of his lip and stood up.

He shivered, feeling the droplets of water cool on his skin. He dried himself off while walking back over to the dresser. Malath picked up a tunic and shoved it over his head. He fumbled with the lace strings of his pants; frustrated that he couldn't function as efficiently as he wished. He knew it was his own doing but annoyed him nonetheless. He smoothed his hair back, suddenly felt curious about what he looked like. Malath retrieved the only mirror he had, a little hand-held thing made of silver he had brought back from his travels and he took a deep breath.

Do I really want to know?

The answer was yes.

Malath wasn't as shocked as he was expecting it to be. The Orsimer that stared back at him was not the ugliest brute in the world. Sure, his eyes were bloodshot, that was a given with the nature of his hobby. He had dark bags under his eyes, and several light scars were scattered across his face. His beard was dark and thicker than he imagined. Malath scowled at what remained of his one tusk, and quickly placed the mirror back down. That story was a sore spot, and he did not wish to think about it.

Gods, I need a haircut.

Malath hoped he hadn't been making Lenia wait too long. He gathered his wits and quickly left the bedroom. He wandered noisily down the stairs into the first level of Breezehome. The warmth of a happily crackling fire greeted him, and the smell of food bombarded his senses.

"I thought you had drowned," came Lenia's ever-cheerful voice, and she appeared from the other room with a handful of soul gems.

"You're just full of jokes this morning," Malath replied, and Lenia laughed.

"I hope you don't mind…" Lenia held a few of the gems up to show what she had found. "I don't think you're the soul gem type."

"They're yours."

Malath turned to the bench and sat down, eager to begin his meal, which turned out to be quite good. The Orc praised her cooking. He took a big drink of what he thought was wine, only to find it was water.

"Yuck," Malath complained, and Lenia rolled her eyes at him.

"Water is good for you, silly."

"Wine tastes better."

Lenia frowned, and he turned back to his food, feeling a little awkward.

"How old are you?" Malath asked after a few moments of silence.

He had been curious to know for a while, but it slipped his mind.

"Twenty-five winters, and you're twenty-eight if I'm not mistaken."

Malath blinked, staring at her with narrowed eyes.

"The textbook told me your age when you defeated Alduin, I did the math." She explained between mouthfuls. "You were so young when you first learned the voice."

"Oh."

"I wish I had brought one with me, I own all three volumes. They're wonderful accounts."

Malath shrugged, taking a bite of his fried eggs.

"What are your plans for today?"

"Well," Lenia turned towards him, her eyes sparkling mischievously.

He looked back at her with suspicion.

"Will you accompany me on my errands?" She asked.

"Why do you want me to go?"

"Because, you know Whiterun, and of course because I enjoy your company."

Malath pondered it, wondering if she were up to something a little more than just wanting his company. She stared back, her blue eyes betraying nothing. Malath took another sip of water, grimacing.

"Okay," he replied, surprised by his response.

"Excellent!"

What did I get myself into?

Lenia nearly had to fist fight the big green baby to ditch the creepy wraith cloak he was so fond of. It was a tattered gray rag and made him appear like a beggar.

"That's the way I like it," Malath had argued, "Nobody bothers me."

"That's just silly," Lenia replied, forcefully removing it from his grasp. The Orsimer scowled.

"Don't look at me like that," She scolded.

In the end, the elf won, and Malath left the house looking like a decent Orc. He sported a slightly faded black cloak that had no hood to hide under and zero tattered holes. The pair departed Breezehome and walked up the hill to Arcadia's Cauldron. He wouldn't let up the scowl.

"You could at least pretend to enjoy my company," Lenia complained to him, before opening the door to the shop.

Lenia busied herself with haggling Arcadia. She needed the proper vials of potions she would use for the rest of her trip as well as few ingredients. She enjoyed dabbling with alchemy here and there when she had the time. Malath stood near the door, watching the elf while she interacted with Arcadia. He was surprisingly a gentleman, coming over to hold the packages once she had finished paying.

"Thank you," Lenia murmured, ignoring the odd glance Arcadia shot them.

Arcadia sent the Orc an even more curious glance. Lenia wondered if she even knew who he was.

They left the store, and continued to a few more places, detouring a trip home to drop off their items. Malath made to remove his shoes when Lenia told him her next errand.

"I wish to speak with Farengar Secret-Fire, the Jarl's wizard," Lenia explained, moving back to the door. "You can come along if you wish, but I know you don't like magic."

Malath paused, looking up at her, and she smiled.

"Okay," he replied, nodding. "I'll stay here."

Lenia left Breezehome and headed up the street towards Dragonsreach. It was a place she had never been to before. She climbed the winding stone staircase up to the Jarl's place, greeting the guard standing outside the doors. When she headed inside it took a moment for her eyes to adjust to the darker atmosphere. In the middle of the room, a fire roared. Lenia found Farengar in a little side room to the right of the dining hall, pouring over a couple of spell tomes.

He was a formidable fellow. Lenia couldn't say he was the kindest mage she had ever met, but he listened to her and had much to offer.

"Conjure flame atronach," he mumbled, and Lenia nodded.

"Yes, I think I am ready to learn it, do you have a copy of the tome for purchase?"

"I think so, just a moment."

The mage disappeared into another, smaller room, and Lenia waited patiently by the table. He returned a minute later with a book in his hand, and she rocked on the balls of my feet with excitement.

"Here it is."

The wizard offered a heavy spell tome to her.

"Oh, that's so wonderful!" Lenia replied happily, taking the book from his outstretched hands. She gently cradled it in her two hands, it was quite heavy. She could feel the low humming of magic that vibrated through it, tingling with excitement and anticipation.

"How much?"

"Ninety-nine gold."

"Done."

Today went incredibly well, she told herself once she was heading back towards Breezehome.

It was beginning to grow dark, and Lenia realized she'd taken a lot longer up in Dragonsreach than she'd originally intended. But she was pleased with herself.

Malath became a little more like an Orsimer and less like a zombie, and I got all my supplies.

She had been thinking all day of how she was going to convince the stubborn man to go with her to Winterhold. He needed to get outside the walls of Whiterun and find the spark again. She knew it wasn't going to be easy, but she had to try anyway. Lenia couldn't let the Dragonborn waste away.

Lenia became a little nervous the closer she reached him because she had to tell Malath soon. She knew she'd have an argument on her hands.

Perhaps the element of surprise might work, she mulled. Just throw it out there and then fight until I win.

Lenia sighed, stopping just outside the door. Outside the sun was beginning to fade into the night. She had spent more time up at Dragonsreach than she had intended. It was now or never.

She stepped inside, finding the Orsimer was out of sight.

"Malath?" Lenia called out, and she heard a muffled response from upstairs. A female voice giggled.

Her stomach dropped. Was he with a woman?

Malath appeared a moment later, his bare chest heaving, and the laces to his breeches undone. Lenia swallowed hard, feeling her face grow red.

"I-it's a bad time…." Lenia whispered, and then Arcadia stumbled out from the room.

"Whoops!" Arcadia laughed.

She sounded drunk. The giggling woman attempted to adjust her skirt but wasn't terribly successful.

"I'll be leaving now."

Arcadia moved unsteadily down the staircase and walked past Lenia without another word. The door closed behind her and there was dead silence in the room.

"I thought…I thought you'd be a bit longer," Malath blabbered, looking very uncomfortable and embarrassed.

Lenia didn't know what to think, so she shrugged it off.

"It's okay, I'm an intrusion anyway," she replied quietly, moving over to the bench.

Malath opened up his mouth to speak changed his mind. He remained quiet. He was extremely embarrassed but so was the elf.

Lenia placed the bottle of wine she had purchased for two of them to have with dinner on the wooden table and started to climb the stairs. Malath moved back into the bedroom. A few moments later he came out completely dressed and watched Lenia as she placed the spell tome down on the bed.

"What's that?" He asked, still sounding a little embarrassed, and he coughed.

"Oh uh, just a spell tome for conjuration."

"Is that what you do?"

"I have knowledge in a lot of areas, but conjuration is my primary interest," Lenia replied quietly, turning to him.

"So, you like…conjure things to fight for you," he stated, and Lenia nodded.

"Pretty much."

There was an awkward silence. Neither of them knew what to say.

"So... I'll start dinner."

Lenia brushed past Malath and climbed the stairs back down to the first floor. She began pulling ingredients out of the cupboard. Malath eventually joined her. He moved over to the bench and picked up the bottle of wine.

"Vintage… this is expensive wine."

Lenia had her back to him, and she rolled her eyes. This was not how she thought it was going to go.

"I bought it for us to have with dinner," Lenia explained.

She started to chop up carrots, and Malath sat down, watching her while she prepped the food. Lenia couldn't get the image of Arcadia, laughing and breathless as she came out of his bedroom, out of her mind.

Now or never.

"Malath," Lenia started, placing the knife down. The Orsimer looked up at her, and she took a deep breath.

"I think you should come to Winterhold with me."