It wasn't long after that Aela sat Desmond on her bed and draped him in furs. She carded her fingers through his hair, and if he weren't so cried out and numb he probably would have felt indignant. Instead, he only sat quietly and watched with tired eyes as she threw open the doors to her room and the three people gathered to eavesdrop shouted and flailed and fell on their asses.

God, he was exhausted. He hadn't cried like that in- well, years, probably. He felt like a wrung out towel.

Almost without his notice, he slipped down sideways until he was lying on the bed. He wrapped the blankets of furs tighter around himself, and allowed himself to drift off to the sound of Aela tearing Farkas, Vilkas, and Athis into verbal shreds, and maybe also physicals ones. He fell asleep too quickly to confirm.

#

Kodlak was a man of simple desires. All he could say that he'd ever wished for was good alcohol, sharp weapons, and the respect of his people.

Well, and a cure to his furry burden, but he tended not to admit that out loud.

Regardless, Kodlak enjoyed being a companion. He found satisfaction in aiding the people and guiding his fellow companions to productive and slightly less dangerous outlets, and often it left him feeling like he had adopted a pack of belligerent and unruly children without his say so.

Arguments in Jorrvaskr were not at all uncommon.

Normally Aela had a better handle on her rage than this, though. She wasn't one to bite anyone's head off like what he was currently hearing, despite her gruff personality, unless that person had seriously fucked up. When the first skull sounded as it bounced off the wall, Kodlak decided it was best if he investigated and see if he couldn't soothe whatever nerves had been pinched.

"What's going on here?"

Ah, it was always so gratifying to watch everyone freeze and pretend to act innocent once he walked into a conversation.

"Kodlak," Aela nodded to him, not releasing her grip on Vilkas's hair or her foot from Athis's shoulders. Farkas sat against the wall, whining like a pup and clutching his head. "How nice of you to drop by," she said blandly.

Oh, by the Divines. "Aela, what's going on here?"

As if he'd reminded her of her anger, she growled and halfheartedly banged Vilkas against the wall again. "I was engaged in an important and extremely private discussion with a friend of mine, and they heard things they weren't supposed to."

"But Aelaaaa," Athis's whining was muffled. Having one's face pressed into the floor tended to do that. "We would have found out anyways-"

"THAT DOES NOT MATTER!" She roared, digging her heel into his spine and making him cry out. "Desmond did not choose to tell you at this time, and you disregarded that! If you were to know, it should have been face to face, from Desmond, on his own terms. Not through a crack in a door listening to the private story of a stranger you had no right to hear!"

Kodlak kept his face carefully neutral, though he was inwardly surprised. Aela, as far as he knew, wasn't close enough with anyone outside the companions to evoke a reaction that intense. This merited investigation.

"Who is Desmond?" he asked carefully, because Aela was as vicious as a snow bear with cubs at the most inopportune times, and it looked like this "Desmond" was the cataclysm of this particular episode.

She jerked her head towards her bedroom door. "He is a good friend." She carelessly leaned more weight onto Athis, who wheezed violently and smacked her leg. She did not release him. "He is in my room, resting, if you wish to speak to him."

Kodlak raised an incredulous eyebrow. "Resting? Just what kind of conversation were you having in there, Aela?"

"The emotionally draining kind," she said flatly, tossing Vilkas into his brother and pulling Athis up by his collar. "Now, if you'll excuse me Kodlak," she called over her shoulder, stalking towards an empty room, "Athis and I need to have a chat, since this was his idea."

Athis's eyes widened in horror. "No no no nononononononono, Kodlak don't let her-" He was cut off by the door slamming in his face, and so Kodlak never found out what he was supposed to keep Aela from doing. Pity. It sounded rather urgent.

He turned back to Farkas and Vilkas, who were resting side by side against the wall. He raised an eyebrow. "Well, if you boys have half the sense you were raised with you'd get out of here before she gets done with Athis and decides to start in on you two." They nodded rapidly, practically climbing over each other to get out of the hallway. "Also," he said flatly, halting them in their tracks, "don't let me catch you eavesdropping again, you hear me? You are both grown men and respected members of the Companions. Act like it."

"Yes, Kodlak," they murmured, thoroughly chastised. Then, with a few grunts and the sounds of hasty footsteps, they were gone. Kodlak paused a moment and then turned back to the door to Aela's room. He pushed them open quietly.

Truth be told, he'd fully expected to walk into the aftermath of a brief and violent(and consensual, because Aela was all about consent) sexual encounter. He knew Aela preferred women, but she had brought home a few male lovers in the past. But, not only was the man on Aela's bed asleep, he had all his clothes on. He also appeared to be… tucked in. Like a child. So, definitely no sex. Kodlak moved closer, and nearly stopped in his tracks once he caught a glimpse of the man's face.

He was adorable.

Kodlak realized, with a sudden clarity, why his mother had always wanted grandchildren.

Divines he was- just- his face! And the fluffy hair and the rosy cheeks and the- the- ugh. Kodlak needed to draw up some adoption papers immediately.

Gently, almost reverently, he ruffled Desmond's hair, and he had to keep himself from literally howling as the kid sat up and tiredly rubbed at his eyes. God, if his mother could see him now, after that speech he made as a teenager about how he would only ever adhere the manly and "Nord appropriate" stereotype, she'd laugh in his face and then deliver a solid kick to his rear for not having the kid as part of the family already.

He physically shook off a cringe. By Talos, what had his 15 year old self been thinking?

Well, that didn't matter. What mattered was that his new unofficial son was lost and emotionally exhausted, and probably hadn't eaten anything all day. That needed to be changed.

Desmond yawned. "Qu'est-ce qui se passe?"

Kodlak paused, unsure. Desmond seemed to realize that he was not speaking the correct language, and spit out a few different words that held no meaning to the Harbinger before he finally settled on a language Kodlak could understand.

Desmond scratched the back of his head and stifled a yawn, looking a bit embarrassed. "What's up?"

"Have you eaten today, son?" Kodlak asked quietly, setting a comforting hand on Desmond's shoulder and smiling slightly when the younger man leaned into it, seemingly without thinking. Desmond just shook his head, trying and failing not to yawn again and show how tired he was. Kodlak gently pulled him up by his arm. "Come on, let's get some food into you."

"Okay," Desmond sighed. Kodlak caught the longing look Desmond shot at the furs on the bed.

"You can bring a blanket with you," he laughed. "I know I'm waking you up from your nap, son, and I'm sorry about that, but it's not good to sleep on an empty stomach. Especially not after an emotionally exhausting conversation like Aela says you had."

He felt, rather than saw, the younger man tense. "Did she, uh, tell you what that conversation was about, or…?"

Kodlak shook his head. "No, I only know that it happened. Unlike some of the Companions around here, I was raised with manners."

Desmond chuckled softly, an utterly charming sound. "Well, I'm glad."

Kodlak smiled. "Come, let's get you some food, and then you can get back to your rest." He was glad that Desmond seemed too tired to puzzle out the meaning of his words and infer that his chat with Aela had indeed been listened to. The boy didn't need that kind of stress right now.

Kodlak guided Desmond up the stairs and into a seat at the table, right next to his. He subtly helped the boy get settled, because if he remembered anything about being Desmond's age, it was that he got irritated easily by overt coddling when others were around. He assumed Desmond was the same. He set a bowl of venison stew in front of Desmond, settling next to him with his own bowl, and a plate of bread and cheese between them.

"So," Kodlak said, swallowing a spoonful of warm stew, "if you don't mind me asking, what were you and Aela speaking about? Do you feel comfortable sharing any of it or not? It's perfectly alright to say no," he added, when he saw Desmond visibly waffling between giving away information and maintaining his privacy. "We are, after all, basically strangers."

Desmond looked relieved. "Yeah, I mean, I don't even know your name. Mine's Desmond, by the way, I don't know if Aela told you that already."

"My name is Kodlak Whitemane," he said. "I'm the Harbinger of the companions."

Desmond paused, a spoonful of stew halfway to his mouth. "That… sounds important. What do you do?"

Kodlak idly fiddled with his spoon. "I provide guidance to the other companions. They refer to me as a sort of unofficial 'leader' even though as companions we have no definite leaders, only senior members."

Desmond shrugged half-heartedly. "I understand wanting an equal hierarchy, but a horse is a horse, no matter the name you give it."

Kodlak laughed. "Yes, that's an excellent way of putting it."

The boy smiled, and it filled Kodlak with parental warmth. "So, Mr. Whitemane-"

Kodlak snorted. "Just Kodlak. I may be old enough to be your grandfather, but that doesn't mean you have to act like it."

"Kodlak, then." Desmond shifted his blanket higher up around himself. "I was wondering, is Aela- I mean is she always that…" He seemed to be fishing for an appropriate word. His eyebrows furrowed together and the corners of his mouth turned down ever so slightly. Cute. Kodlak could feel himself throwing out unrepressed pack bonding instincts, but he couldn't give less of a shit. His wolf was howling to Hircine's realm, full of joy and delight at the presence of what it had decided was it's new cub, and Kodlak's feelings weren't exactly dissimilar.

"Overbearing?" he guessed. "Aggressively and inconveniently motherly? Full of unexpressed rage and mood swings? Prone to extreme violence at the drop of a hat and then inclined to behave like she didn't just bash someone's head into a wall?"

Desmond blinked. "I was gonna go with intense, but yeah, those too."

Kodlak nodded, faux-seriously. "Yes, she is."

Desmond sighed dramatically, picking up on Kodlak's joking tone. "Oh, good. I was worried it was just me." His sigh abruptly turned into a yawn, which he tried to hide, to no avail. He dug the heel of his hand into his eye, trying to rub away the heavy, gritty tiredness that had suddenly settled on his eyelids.

Kodlak stood almost immediately, gently pulling Desmond up along with him. "Back to bed with you, I think," he chuckled. He settled a guiding hand between Desmond's shoulder blades, steering him towards the stairs.

"'M not tired," Desmond managed to say through another yawn, making Kodlak smile fondly. Cubs and their whining, he thought, shaking his head. He herded Desmond back into Aela's room, settling him on the bed with only token protests. The younger man kicked off his boots and flopped onto his side without another word, out like a wind snuffed candle. Kodlak tossed another blanket over him.

His wolf, which had been howling at the back of his mind, finally quieted down, content now that it's new cub had been cared for. Kodlak rolled his eyes, but it was a touch more fond than usual. Dumb beast.

His smile slipped off his face when he remembered that he still had to check on Athis and make sure Aela hadn't literally ripped the flesh from his bones.

Why were all his children so violent?