We laid in bed, arms wrapped around each other, both reluctant to get up. But we had to deal with the Altmer. I growled low in my throat, pulling Vincent even closer. He complained half-heartily, snuggling deeper in my embrace, his glassy eyes closing. I debated on whether or not to keep him out of this battle, as he seemed to be not up to fighting. That and I truthfully didn't want him to. The last true battle was with that damned girl Jynx and he nearly died.
I draped my wing over his warmth, nuzzling under his jaw briefly, before looking at his now open eyes. The bright blue orbs were fuzzy and tired. I purred at that. I'd worn him out, and that was something I couldn't help feeling proud over. Yep, he's staying here.
I caressed his cheek, his eyes closing as he tilted his head into my palm, humming. I leaned in, softly pressing a kiss against his swelling lips. Then, I started to run my fingers softly over his skin, running them over his closed eyelids. When his breath started to become heavier, more relaxed, I pulled away gently, pulling the thick blankets over him so he didn't grow cold. I then pulled back on the pants that I had discarded, and left the room silently. I came to the entrance to the castle, and transformed, my wings beating heavily against the air, heading towards Solitude. I still felt the warmth from Vincent, even in this form. I needed to shut that side down, I realized. I couldn't be pining for my lover in the middle of battle, so, I started to shut that side of my brain down, letting the true dovah take over.
VINCENT'S P.O.V.
Warmth, a soft hand caressing my face, and a soft humming sound. That's all I remembered before I slipped into darkness fully.
Then images flashed, of my childhood.
My father rejecting me as I reached my teenage years, (which wasn't that long ago), as I looked, from a distance, like a woman. He didn't like my, as Mother used to say, "feminine" body. I was more slender than the other guys that father pushed me to be friends with, hopeful that they would beef me up "into a real man."
So when my little brother came of age, my father fawned all over him, saying how he was a real man, gonna be the one to take over the farm one day, even though the oldest is who usually inherits the farm. I didn't care, though, I hated that place. All it would remind me of is how my father ignored and disowned me. I couldn't be happier when I was old enough to leave, which is exactly what I'd done. I'd left and never fully went back. I would write my mother, though, she didn't disown me. Mother had always wanted a daughter and to her I was the closest she'd gotten. Although my brother usually got spoiled by Father, he'd usually share what he'd get with me. We were close.
Then I'd left, and found Midnight. I was gone for a full year before Alduin found me. I would leave and "adventure" but really I was just walking around the area, fighting any bear or other hostile creatures that I crossed. I'd occasionally find a tomb and enter. But other than that, my life was….boring. I was glad when Alduin took control of me.
Now I was seeing Mother crying, Father looking blankly at the wall, and my brother, Izaak on the couch with his legs tucked into his chest, his arms wrapped tightly around his legs, his face buried in his arms.
"It's your fault!" My mother suddenly screeched at Father. "If you hadn't ignored him like you did, he would still be here!" She wailed, making Izaak look up through his blond hair.
Father didn't say anything, just continued to stare blankly at the wall. Then it clicked. They were talking about me. I hadn't been at that cottage I'd lived in for almost an entire year. I hadn't gotten any letters they'd sent me, nor was I there when they'd gone to see if I was all right. I'd left without anything to say where I was going or if I'd be back. They must believe I was dead.
I woke, jerking slightly as I heard the door open. I sat up, looking over at Alduin….who was covered in blood.
"What the hell happened?!" I demanded, flinging the blankets back and rushing towards him.
"The altmer." He sighed. I sighed, too, remembering that we'd been interrupted to be informed that the altmer were attacking. Of course, Alduin let me sleep while he went and fought.
I scanned him quickly, noting that most of the blood was not his, but the blood coating his cheek and neck was his, coming from a cut along his cheekbone, just below his eye. Then his arms were all scratched up, along with a long gash on his wing, at the center cutting clean through the thin skin, staining his wing with blood that still flowed freely.
I grabbed his hand and pulled him to the double doors that lead to our bathing area. I let go to grab a washrag, when I turned back around, he had already stripped down and gotten in the warm water. I got in, sitting next to him.
I pulled one arm and rubbed the now wet cloth along the length of his arm, feeling him clench into fists as I did. Once his arm was clear of any blood, I moved to grab his other one, switching positions to do so. While I moved, I noticed a long, but shallow, gash on his chest, right above his heart. I finished the other arm, and moved again, but this time I straddled his hips. Alduin was leaning back, with his eyes closed, allowing me to do what I wanted without complaint.
I dipped the cloth back in the hot water, cleaning off the blood. I then ran the cloth over the wound on his chest and he hissed, his body tensing. I did it again before rubbing the skin around it. I then brought the rag up to his face. His jaw clenched as I dabbed at the cut. He finally flinched away when I neared it to the cut again, his eyes snapping open. I looked down at him, nearing the rag again, only to have him move away, tilting his head to avoid the rag again.
"Stop moving." I growled.
"But it hurts!" He complained, his hand coming to try to take the cloth from my hand.
I snorted, quickly running it across his cheek one last time before working on the blood staining his neck. "Why dd you leave without me?" I asked, looking down at him.
"You were already sleeping, Lokaal. I didn't want you to wake." He answered, running his hands up my sides. I rolled my eyes and leaned down to kiss him. He purred up at me, his tongue quickly running against mine, at it.
I remembered his wing. I tried to pull away, but his lips didn't detach and he followed my movement, the only thing I actually pulled away from was his tongue.
"Wait." I mumbled against his lips, which were still moving on top of mine. He growled, nipping at my lips, trying to force his tongue in my mouth once more. As it finally pushed pass I gave up and just went with it, letting his tongue chase away any thoughts that processed through at that moment.
But, with my eyes closed, images from my dream flashed, causing me to gasp, breaking away from Alduin fully.
"Vincent?" He asked, noticing the way I gasped.
"I have to go home." I murmured, looking at him.
"You are home." He said, confused, with narrowed red eyes.
"No, to my parents. I have a weird feeling." I explained.
"You're not leaving Skyrim alone." He growled. "Last time you entered, you nearly got beheaded!"
"But I need to…."
"I'll go with you." He snipped, cutting me off.
"But what about…."
"I'll have Paarthurnax and Odahviin take care of it. We'll leave tomorrow. Now." He pressed his lips to mine, lips and hands driving away any argument, along with any thought, which had me in a daze the rest of the night.
NEXT DAY
I shoved a small coin bag into the satchel, just in case, while Alduin was gone, arranging with the two how to do certain things. As I closed the satchel the door opened, revealing Alduin. In his hands, though, was gold, spiny looking metal.
"Your Dovah Sonaak armor is finished." He smirked, holding up the gold armor. It looked frail and useless. It wrapped around the waist, only to go up the spine into the shoulder pieces, that ran down along my arms, which were connected with a long piece that ran down the front, stopping right above my navel. I raised an eyebrow at it. "Try it on!" He actually sounded excited.
I sighed, going forward. I didn't have a shirt on, just black trousers and boots, and when I mentioned it, he shook his head. He helped me strap it on, knowing how to better than I. The cold metal pressed against the sensitive skin at my back and stomach, sending chills down my spine. The gold armor fit snugly around my hips, seemingly attaching to the skin of my back and neck, and the crown felt semi heavy with, as I noticed when it was being placed, a large black gem of some sort. He pulled away, his red eyes wide. He then came back forward, his lips pressing into mine roughly. My arms, still encased in the gold armor, slid up his arms, gripping his biceps gently. Alduin tilted his head to press in harder, his tongue rubbing against mine with ease.
He pulled away, his eyes bright. I panted slightly, his lips on my throat. He ran his tongue over the skin there before pulling back. "Come, if you still want to go, that is." He smirked. I blinked at him a moment, before pulling out of his grip slightly.
"Let me get this thing off first. Don't give me that look, when we get back, I'll wear it as much as you want!" I said, glaring at his pout, which turned into a grin at my last statement. He quickly dislodged it off me, placing it on a table before giving me a cotton shirt. I pulled it on, along with strapping the satchel to my waist, as he led me through the castle. I looked, as we went, at his wounds. They, since he was a dragon, were healing faster, but it still looked hurtful. The wound on his wing was fully sealed, though instead of the black skin that coved the rest of his wing, the wound left a long, dark grey line that proved that it was once a full wound.
Alduin pulled me through the large doors that graced as the entrance and turned into his original form, letting me climb on top of him. The flight was silent, me resting against his massive skull, gently stroking one of his horns, his rumbling was the only proof that he enjoyed it. It was like that for at least an hour, until his booming voice cut through the wind.
"We're at the border!" He called.
"Set me down!" I yelled back.
He snorted, but did as I requested, landing heavily. I hopped off his back, which he growled at, before turning human. "What do you think you're doing?" He asked.
"Going on foot. I don't want to give them a heart attack by landing at their front door on a dragon, plus, I know where I'm going, whereas I can't see when I'm in the sky with you." I explained. He snorted, but kept pace with me, wrapping an arm around my shoulders and pulled me closer to him with his wing. I settled into his embrace, wrapping my arm around his waist, laying my head on his shoulder, somehow maintaining my balance.
The sun was directly above us when I pulled away. We were close.
"Alduin, can you give me a few hours?" I asked, stopping.
"For what?"
"When we get there."
"Why?!" He demanded.
"I'm not staying all day. And once again, this isn't Skyrim. If any, few dragons have came this far. I don't know if they even realize that you're back."
He sighed out a growl. "Fine, though I have a feeling that something is gonna happen. I don't think we should've come here." He said.
"I'm not gonna stay long." I said, though acknowledging his warning.
I continued forward, hearing the beating wings in the distance. After a few minutes, my eyes fell upon the small house where I was born. I felt a sneer pull at my lips. I bit my lip and forced my way forward, heading up to the front door. I balled my fist and knocked.
"We're not entertaining anyone today!" My mother's voice came ringing through the wood, full of tears. I knocked again. I heard the sigh and the footsteps. "We are in mour….."
I looked at my mother's tear-filled blue eyes, her usually tidy blond hair in disarray. "….Hi, mom…" I said.
"Vincent?" She choked out, before pulling me against her, enveloping me in a harsh hug.
"Leka! Send whoever it is away!" My father's voice came, but it was distant, not fully there.
"I will not! You haven't seen who it is!" She snapped back, pulling me inside. I clenched my teeth as she led me through the foyer, into the dining room where my father and brother were sitting at the table.
"VINCENT!" Izaak shouted, jumping up and hugging me. I froze, not returning the hug. "Where have you been? Why haven't you been answering our letters? What happened?" He rushed at once after letting me go.
"Skyrim."
"You've been in Skyrim?! Don't you know that the dragons are back?" He asked, tilting his head. I nodded, mentally rolling my eyes. Of course I knew, I was one of the first people to find out!
"Sit down! Dinner is actually almost ready!" My mother seemed to be excited, very excited. Something's going on.
"Actually, I want to talk to him, we'll be back." Father said, suddenly getting up. "Izaak, you too." He went to the door, just expecting me to follow. I gritted my teeth.
I went out side, noting Alduin in the distance, circling around a mountain that they wouldn't have been able to see.
"First of all, what happened to your eyes?" My father demanded, narrowing his own. When I didn't answer, he snorted. "What? Consorting to magic, now? You do know that's for women. Anyway, Izaak wants to become an adventurer, so you're gonna have to take over the farm." He sighed. "Though I was hoping he would take my place, were a real man should reside."
I snapped. "So is that the real reason that you went to my cottage?!" I snarled. "No. I'm needed in Skyrim. The dragons have taken their rightful place as rulers, and I'm dragonborn!" I snapped, making Izaak go wide-eyed.
My father snorted. "You, a woman basically? I doubt it. The role needs to filled by a true warrior, not some girl in a boy's body." He snickered. "Now, stop making up stories and take your place as heir to this farm."
My eyes blazed with anger. "You don't believe me?! FINE!" My lips were pulled back in a snarl. "AL-DU-IN!" I shouted, the amount of force that I used, caused my brother and father to stumble backwards, fear in their features. Alduin immediately turned, coming forward. "And so what if I'm 'feminine'? My lover enjoys it!" I snarled, anger pulsating off me in waves, my hands shook. "I made the trip here, because I remembered, after nearly a year, that I did have a family, yet, it seems all I am is just someone to carry on the farm." Alduin was there, landing heavily, raising his wings in
Alduin came forward, snarling at my father.
My body shook with anger, all the years of verbal abuse had come crashing down, hurting me now when I never cared about it before. And I knew why.
Dragons are prideful. I was more dovah then human, my dovah was reacting to being put down like some lesser being.
"You were right, Alduin. Coming here was a bad idea." I snarled.
He lowered his head, allowing me to climb on his back. He hovered over the pair a moment before flying off. By the time we made it back it was nighttime. Alduin went through the entrance through the ceiling, landing and turning into his human form.
Alduin came up behind me, wrapping his arms around my waist, along with his wings, placing his chin on my shoulder. I sighed and leaned back into his embrace. The anger was gone, and I truthfully just wanted to forget about them, well except Mother, but Izaak is at fault, too. He knew how I felt, how our father treated me, and he still wanted me to be stuck there.
I closed my eyes, stopping my thoughts.
"Hey." Alduin murmured, pressing his lips to my neck. I spun in his grasp to press my face into the hallow of his throat.
"Sorry, I should've heeded your warning better."
He simply hummed, one hand leaving my waist to tilt my head up to kiss me. He then pulled away to pull my shirt off, turning me around. Then the cold metal of my new armor hit my back, causing me to jump. I let him fix and strap it on properly.
"This signifies your rank, and it will protect you. Soon, you will be given a mask to go with it, along with a staff. But they take forever to make." He explained, sliding on the crown. "And, this is technically not the full set, but well get into that tomorrow." He purred, kissing me just below the ear. "This armor suits you, very well." He licked the outer shell of my ear.
I closed my eyes once again, leaning into his touch. My body began to heat up, like every other time. I tilted my head for him to get better access, a soft moan escaping my lips.
Alduin helped me forget about my family, and I completely forgot, thankfully, that they even existed.
A little longer than usual, but bc I was gone all week, i did it on purpose ^.^
please review ~