Lydia's favorite part of morning was waking up to the delectable aroma of sweet rolls. She'd been blessed with a thane whose only talent in cooking happened to be her favorite food, oh yes. She inhaled the perfume, gave a happy sigh, and rolled out of her cot.

"You're up," Hannah said as her friend stormed down the steps. "I thought you'd never drag yourself out of bed."

"I'm sure it's not that late."

She paused for a moment, glancing at the hour-candle in the windowsill. "Half past seven."

"It could be worse. Where's breakfast?" She sat down at the small table by the hearth, which lit up with a cozy blaze. Hannah insisted on lighting the hearth whenever she was home; she said that it made Breezehome look inviting to visitors. That was a total lie, of course, as the weapon stand a few feet away was as "inviting" as a pit of skeevers.

She pointed to the platter of lukewarm rolls, and before Lydia shoveled them into her mouth, she said, "We're going to Riften today."

"To give what's-her-name those potion ingredients?" She snorted. "You say that every week."

Hannah shrugged. "And every week we can't find her. Your clothes are drying outside, and make sure to get your armor; there's been a dragon sighting somewhere near there, and you can be sure that I'm not missing that."

Lydia was still putting on her pants when Hannah performed a spell – fast travel, the housecarl suspected.

"Are you kidding me?" She hastily pulled her trousers up and shot a venomous glare at her thane. "Couldn't you have waited until I was fully dressed?"

"You took too long," she said simply, "And there's no time to waste. I think that Ingun should be around at this time. And yes, before you say it, this happens every time we come here." She pulled her beyond Riften's gates and immediately wrinkled her nose in disgust. She really did hate Riften, because she always felt like she had to cover her pockets. Shortly after, Lydia stopped in her tracks, her feet unwilling to move themselves. "What is it?" Hannah demanded.

"That man," she replied, "Who in the world is Mr. Hunkalicious McYummypants over there?"

The elf looked around, scowled, and began inspecting her housecarl's eyes. "Do you happen to be on skooma? He's just a guy named Brynjolf, but you-"

"Even his name is dreamy! Wait here, I'm going to go talk to him."

Hannah latched on to her arm, yanking her back. "There's a reason that I don't take you to Riften in the daytime, and he is that reason. Why don't you, I don't know, go groom the horse or something?"

"We have a horse?"

"No, but let's pretend we do and get the hell out of here."

"Oh, come on, Hannah, you're no fun." She aimed a punch at her arm; though it was intentioned to be friendly, it still left a magnificently colored bruise.

"By the Divines, fine." She gingerly stroked the sore spot on her shoulder. "But if he asks you to do something and you get caught, I'm not giving you any septims to-"

Lydia was off and running before the sentence was completed, and the last words trailed off into a mumble. Hannah sighed deeply. Maybe I should have left her at Breezehome.

Moments later, as she listened to Brynjolf shout gibberish about some type of potion and spied Lydia attempting to pick a lock, she thought, You know, maybe I should have left her with Balgruuf.

She winced at Lydia's amateurish attempts to stuff Madesi's ring in a merchant's pocket – her fingers fumbled around the cloth, poking this way and that, and she swore through her teeth. With shock registering on his face, the dark elf leapt from his seat and cried, "What the…help! Pickpocket!"

The guards were alert before her feet could carry her far, and within seconds she was brought to the ground. "Petty thief," one mumbled, "Did you really think that you would get away with this?"

Lydia grimaced visibly, spitting out a mouthful of dirt. "Well, to be completely honest…yeah, I really did."

"You must have the wits of a potato – that was the clumsiest attempt at thievery I have ever seen, and please note that I have lived in Riften all of my life!" She wasn't was sure whether the man was sneering or snickering behind his helmet, but the Nord decided that perhaps now wasn't the most appropriate time to ask. "Alright, you're coming with me. Unless you can pay off your bounty, of course."

Hannah unleashed another heaving sigh and strode to her side. "Excuse me," she snapped, "That's my housecarl you just tackled, and I'd really appreciate it if you would get off of her. How much is that bounty?"

The guard scrambled to his feet and attempted to stand tall. "Oh, uh, Dragonborn, or, um, Companion, is this your housecarl?"

"Damn right I am," Lydia growled, picking herself up from the ground and shaking the dirt from her hair.

Hannah rolled her eyes. "Alright, just give me the fee and let me deal with her." She shoved a fistful of septims into his hand and waved him off. When he was out of sight, her scowl dropped from her face and was replaced with a grin. "That was stupid of you."

Lydia's eyes refused to meet her friend's. "I would've been fine if the damn merchant didn't have so many layers on."

"He just had a vest."

"Oh, shut up." She wiped the gravel from her cheek and scowled. "Let's just go find that Black-Briar chick and get out of here, alright?"

Hannah turned her head to give a spiteful look to the cause of the mishap. "Actually, how about you go ahead and do that? I...think I might stick around for a while."

"Please don't rearrange his face. I like looking at it."

"I won't make any promises. Here, take the nirnroot." She dug through her pack and threw the potion ingredients at her. All twenty of them, to be exact.

"I am sworn to carry your - Ack!"

The elf carried herself into the small plaza, stopping in front of Brynjolf's stand. "I have a bone to pick with you, pretty boy," she said, throwing him a glare that she hoped was intimidating enough.

It didn't seem to work. "Listen, lass, I don't want to hear it. That friend of yours could have gotten me arrested."

"Does it look like I really care about you? Lydia could have been thrown in jail, and she's my best follower, alright?"

"And what do you expect me to do about it?"

She opened her mouth to retort, but no witty words would come out. What appeared to be the world's most smug smile materialized on his mouth. Finally, she said,

"You are so thick." Her condescending tone had turned into a low, predatory growl. Literally.

The Nord replied with a mild chuckle. "Easy, Hannah. Go take a Midol."

"A Mi – what in the name of Oblivion is a Midol?"

"Never mind." He raised his eyebrows, and his smirk – that stupid freaking smirk – grew larger. "Shouldn't you be going now, lass?"

"I guess you're right. I don't want to get a bounty for murdering you. And stop calling me lass."

His arrogant expression was wiped from his face, only to be replaced by a look of puzzlement. "You're the first woman I have ever known who can resist that nickname, I'll give you that."

She snorted and said, "That word makes me feel like I'm a kid, that's why. I can't say the same for my housecarl. By the way, you'd better stay away from her, or I'll-"

"—Slit your throat, use my shouts...you've told me all of this before," he said, waving his hand in a dismissive gesture. "I think you have places to go, don't you? Goodbye." Before Hannah could seize yet another chance to argue, he turned away and began his regular routine of shouting nonsense at passerby.

She really did not like this Brynjolf. She did not like that she had to see him every other day. And she especially did not like the fact that Lydia was most likely going to ramble about his "sexy accent" the whole way back to Breezehome.

Which was exactly what she did.

Hannah figured that she was just going to sacrifice herself to the dragons soon.

I procrastinated on this so much, and as a result it is rushed and not a lot happens in it. Sorry! My only excuse is that Brynjolf may or may not become an important character later on. And, uh, yeah. I apologize for this filler chapter here.

(also, just because I can, I blame my brother if an hour-candle isn't a real thing. He suggested it and I was too lazy to check, so he is taking the blame against his will at the moment =D)