Tiny annotation from my side... There are PICTURES of Maera. A lovely associate of the project on DeviantArt has made protraits of her. Just look up Maera on DA and check her out.

II

After his mission, Styx asked his contact to drop him off close to the Old Thaumaturgan Academy. Since he normally asked to be brought to the next best tavern as fast as possible, the other assassin had given him some odd looks, but since the Academy supported the Brotherhood he didn't ask for details. Styx knew the Library filled most of the upper floors of the gigantic building, and up all the countless floors, linked by branchy gables, towers and a labyrinth of stairways, just under the lofty roof, Maera should have her chambers and laboratory.

The assassination of the ambassador had worked without incidents. He had infiltrated the embassy unseen as a ghost, leaving only a corpse in a closet behind. The number of Inquisition's agents, the most ruthless and pesky kind of enemies when it came to business with the religious fanatics, was way smaller than Styx had expected, though, as if those assholes were all sent away for something more important than guarding ambassadors. Not that Styx complained about a smaller amount of guards to take care of. Probably they were still having trouble finding the big hunk of beef, Arkail, one of the top-priority targets of them, and that's where they all went. It almost was a little too easy. Sometimes he liked a challenge. Whatever, as long as they didn't spend their time chasing after Styx's ass, he was perfectly okay with it.

When Styx had been done with the assassination, he looked for a path to leave the blood puddle in the ambassador's luxurious bedroom as fast as possible. While doing so, his eyes had wandered over a costly shelf full of expensive looking books. A pretty stupid idea had come to his mind, but he hadn't been able to resist.

Why are you doing that, stupid Rakash, Styx asked himself over and over again as he carried the heaviest, oldest, fanciest book he had been able to find in the shelf in a bag with him. It had slowed him down quite a bit, but nonetheless he had made it to escape the embassy unseen. And now he stood on the window ledge of what he suspected to be Maera's chambers, his shoulder aching from the weight of the heavy tome. He had decided against using the doors, as he didn't know how the other researchers might react if they saw him without Maera explaining them that he was invited, and anyway, doors and stairs were for beginners. He had simply climbed up the wall of the Library, jumping nimbly across wall hangings and ledges and reached the roof a little later than intended, due to the damn book.

Styx peered through the large window, trying to sneak a glimpse of Maera. When he didn't see her, he took out some of his trusty lock picks and started fumbling on the window.

Maera squinted at the pile of smoking organs with a disapproving frown.

Her experiment wasn't going as she had expected it to. The acidic solution she had prepared to help Master Cornix did not do what it was supposed to do, and she had no idea why. With a frustrated sigh, she used a wooden spoon to shove the dead rat, which was now a bloody mess, into a bucket. She cursed when she saw the spoon dissolve as well and tossed it in behind the halfway disintegrated carcass.

Master Cornix, the chief alchemist of the Thaumaturgan Academy, was currently looking for a new formula for an acid that could dissolve bodies faster than the existing ones, without leaving any traces. Since Maera was more than interested in that, she had offered to do some experiments to help him. The problem was that the Inquisition had always been trying its best to put obstacles in the Academy's way, for they did not approve of what they did, but could not yet legally stop them teaching magic and doing research. Not speaking of the fact that the High Inquisitor had been justifiably suspecting them of supporting the opposition for quite some time, and his inability to prove such wicked actions was driving him mad. The Inquisition imposed restrictions on the Academy, regulations, pesky controls, tedious bureaucracy. The use of a lot of alchemistic ingredients had been forbidden and Maera was forced to make do with what was left in their stocks until the contacts among the rebellion had smuggled some in for them.

And those fucking stale tinctures simply didn't work properly.

Maera scribbled a note in a large book with a barn owl quill. She was standing in her laboratory, a windowless, overstuffed room one level below her chambers under the roof where her books and desks were as well as her sleeping room and bath. Normally, she used her laboratory to prepare fresh inks and paints, restaurate damaged tomes and cast enchantments, but now the narrow workbench was covered in jars filled with floating pink things, vials and bottles of all sizes and colors, burners, mortars full of herbs and bubbling flasks.

The sound of footsteps made her turn around.

"Maera, there you are. Irathindur told me you were playing with dead animals again", a haughty voice stated. It belonged to a tall, slender High Elf named Ragnasil, one of the leading Librarians. Technically, Maera with her 342 years was about the same age as Ragnasil and also had at least the same status and rank that he had, but he made quite an effort to let her feel otherwise.

"I'm sure that's not how Irathindur described my experiments for Master Cornix", Maera replied coolly. She knew Irathindur, a Wood Elf, quite well. He was a very agreeable person, a little shy maybe and too polite for her taste, but nice.

Ragnasil huffed. "Experiments. I see. However, I just wanted to inform you that the institute for earlier Dunmerian literature is soon having a conference with the guest researchers from Winterhold that arrived earlier, and since you are the head of the workgroup concerning Vvardenfell archaeology your presence will be required." Somehow, he made it sound like it wasn't him that required Maera's presence, but she still looked forward to it.

"Of course I'll come. Let's make sure the guys from Winterhold are having one hell of a good time with us, right?"

"Er… right. Just make sure you'll be there when the conference starts, probably next week. And consider wearing clean robes for once." With that, Ragnasil turned around, perfectly groomed hair and robes swirling, and left.

Maera glared after him, huffed angrily and continued wiping the bloody mess from her desk. She surely was excited to meet her colleague J'Zargo and talk to him about their outcomes, but there was always something tedious about those conferences. She loved her work and was so passionate about literature, books and history that it formed a significantly important part of her life, but sometimes the other researchers were prone to drive her insane. Some of them were so fucking boring. Or arrogant, like Ragnasil, or just so damn prim about everything that it almost hurt. Irathindur surely was a nice guy, but he blushed every time Maera cursed and when he first saw the dead rats in her laboratory, halfway dissolved and bubbling, he had almost fainted.

As she wiped the surface of the bench as clean as she could, her thoughts went to Styx, not for the first time this day. Maera was not the kind of girl that would hop into bed with anybody just like that, even if that was the usual way Dragonelves went about things. And yet, after having talked with Styx for a while she just couldn't resist to take him into bed with her, her desire to get closer to him rising with every sarcastic comment he made. No, she was not a person for random one-night-stands, but this was something else. Styx was so utterly different from the arrogant, fussy, nitpicky and boring Librarians she often had to deal with, and everything he had told her woke deep longings of secret missions and dangerous adventures in her. Sure, he seemed to be a nasty little dirtbag and probably as far away from a clean slate as possible, but, strangely, all of that excited her more than she could put into words. She really felt like having him with her more times. He seemed to have enjoyed their night in the tavern just as much as she did.

She wondered how Styx thought about all this.

Maera really hoped that he had told the truth when he promised her to see her again.

Finally, the lock clicked open. Styx grinned satisfied and hopped on the window ledge.

"Maera?", he called, glancing around the room. At least it was the correct place, for he could see a perch with Bryn sleeping on, her feathers all puffed up. The ceilings were very high with wooden rafters and everywhere stood high shelves stuffed with books, scrolls, parchments, boxes and flasks. In between were lots of narrow tables covered with paper, quills, maps, crystals, copper microscopes and other complicated looking devices. Numerous sunbeams floated in through the large windows and made the dust dance and glow like Amber sparks. There were door leading to more rooms, Styx could see. He called her again and this time Maera appeared through one of the doors, a big smile on her pretty face. Styx couldn't help widely grin himself.

"Styx! You came!", she called out as she walked towards him.

"Hey there, beautiful. Of course I came, I said so. Sorry for being late", he replied, jumping down from the ledge he had been standing on.

"I admit I was a little worried that you wouldn't come", she said. Styx opened his arms and hugged her.

"Why would I want to pass on that, silly?", he asked. Maera offered him to sit on a desk, and Styx did so while she went to a shelf to fetch a flagon of wine and two cups. She sat on a chair in front of him and handed him a cup. Styx took a sip. It turned out to be some strong honeyed wine that did wonders to his tired head. They started talking about the mission and how it went, and just like the first time, Maera was enchanted by Styx's adventures. She wanted to know everything, even all the nasty details.

"What poison did you use for the bodyguards?"

"Milk of the poppy, highly concentrated. Nice thing about this stuff is that it makes the victim just tired, and when they wander off to find a place to sleep, they don't wake up any more. It's really discrete, nothing bloody", Styx answered.

"Is it Papaver somniferum that's used in the poison?", Maera wanted to know.

"Maera, are you making up words again?"

She laughed. "That's a kind of poppy flower, the one also used for sleeping tea, in low concentration."

"Well, as long as it works properly, it might as well be fucking daisies, I wouldn't mind", Styx replied. "Anyway, you wanted to show me the alchemy section later, didn't you? We can talk to those geeks there and ask them if you like."

"I promised we would do that, don't worry", Maera said smiling. "How did you assassinate your target?"

"I simply sneaked up on him and introduced him to my dagger. When the guards are gone, those Inquisition ambassadors are all pretty wimpy", he replied, stretching for the bottle and refilling his cup. "And then all I had to do was escape. The way back is always easier than the way in, and this time there were a lot fewer guards than usually. Strangely enough, but the better for me. What happened to you while I was gone?"

"I've finally managed to translate the rune inscription from the stone of Urnes, I've been working on that for years! There were some bits missing, and an archaeologist from the Academy in Winterhold dug up a missing piece and brought it to me. It was really helpful, and now I finally can translate what the inscription says!", she told him with that excited glitter in her eyes. Styx had to grin.

"Hell yeah, that's some good news!", Styx said. "And, what does it say?"

"I'm not done yet, but I'm sure it is part of an old saga of the Nord. It's a story about a battle of some Nord hero against a giant ice troll to free an Elven princess from his cave, or something like that."

"Yeah, good work, beautiful! Essentially, that's pretty damn impressive. But you know. Meh, humans."

"Yeah, I know. Your favourite. Humans weren't always like they are today, Styx, at least some of them. The Nords back then befriended lots of other races, also Elves, and lived in harmony with nature", Maera told him.

"You should show me that runestone when you're done. Maybe that Nord gets squashed to a pancake by the troll, I'd love to hear that story. Anyway, if you'd suggest to a fucking Inquisitor that he should consider just being nice to people that are not as pale and gawky as he is..."

"He'd probably call you a filthy greenskin and burn you right where you're standing, I know." Maera sighed. "So much for the good news. We've also had some more restrictions oppressed on the Academy by the Inquisition. We are no longer allowed by law to produce runestones to hold spells and charms."

"Those assholes. That's a shame, sorry about that. What are you going to do?"

"What do you expect? We politely act like we accept it and make our runestones anyway. Fuck their rules", Maera replied angrily. Styx laughed.

"Hell yeah, that's the spirit!" He rose his cup to hers and they drank. Maera kept on talking about her research and other old texts she worked on. Styx had always thought being a Librarian must be the most boring thing in the world, even though books themselves were pretty useful, but Maera was so enthusiastic about what she did and the knowledge she obtained that she often surprised him with truly interesting stories.

When they came to that topic, he remembered the book he had stolen for her. Suddenly the thought of giving it to her seemed kinda embarrassing to him. Styx hemmed and hawed a little, but finally he took it out of the bag and handed it to Maera.

Her eyes went wide with awe as she saw it.

"This is for me...?"

"Do I look like a Librarian to you? Of course it is. I don't need it", Styx grumbled. Maera was stunned with emotion.

"This is one of the last copies of the Opus Paramirum by Paracelsus... Do you even know how long I've wanted to get hands on a copy of this? This book is invaluable!", she whispered.

"Well, I'm the best. I told you", Styx replied with a wide grin. Seeing how much she liked it kinda made him proud.

"How the hell did you get it?"

"I asked politely. No, really, what do you think? I stole it from that Inquisition asshole. He didn't really need it any more..."

Maera laughed at that.

"Did you do this just for me?"

"Hell no, it accidentally slipped in my bag and I carried the damn heavy thing all the way through hordes of guards. I almost forgot that I had it... Ouch!" Maera had given him a playful punch on the arm.
"Spare me your sarcasm, you wise-ass."
"Who's the wise-ass here, bookworm?", Styx came back. Maera laughed again. Then she looked at him with a touched smile. Styx felt a little awkward and kept acting like it wasn't anything special at all, but then Maera leaned forward and kissed him. Styx, who had been complaining about how heavy the stupid book had been, decided to shut up and kissed her back. Her mouth tasted just as sweet as the last time they had kissed, and a bit like honey. It reminded him of the taste of her skin in that wonderful night of theirs, and he had to control himself to not get instantly aroused. They kept on doing that for a while, until Maera climbed on the desk and sat in front of him. He embraced her, stroking her arms. Suddenly she stopped and looked him deeply in the eyes.

"Erm...", Styx said, ears drooping, a bit speechless by her sudden affection.

"Thank you, Styx", she whispered.

He wanted to reply something, but he couldn't think of anything smart. His head was spinning when he saw her smile, and he felt a certain tension in his abdomen area. Maera grabbed him by the shoulders and pushed him until he lay on his back, placing herself on his lap. Quickly, she untied her belt and got out of her robes, and just as fast she had opened his belt buckles and pants.

Styx's body seemed to have understood a little faster what Maera was about to do, and she smiled as she saw how he reacted to seeing her naked skin. She closed her delicate hands around his shaft and stroked him gently. Styx let out a raucous moan. It felt wonderful. Grinning dreamily, he put his hands behind his head, closed his eyes and let her caress him for a while, just enjoying the sensations. When she felt that he was ready, his breath coming harder and his yellow eyes glowing, she brought her hips closer to his and let him enter her. Styx gasped with enjoyment, stroking her thighs and waist. Maera moved like a dancer, winding her smooth curvy body, with Styx under her watching with unhidden desire. He placed his hands on her ample rear and guided her movements. She seemed to enjoy it just as much, with her head tilted back and her breathing short and quick. Finally, he couldn't stand the tension any longer. Styx clutched her hipbones, laid back his head and groaned hoarsely as he came with an intensity that took away his breath.

Gasping for air, he lay under her.

When he felt able to look up again he saw that Maera was smiling widely, and he had to smile as well.

"Oh, fuck me sideways... You are driving me crazy, little beauty", Styx said. Then he noticed something. "You didn't come, did you?"

"I didn't", Maera replied. "I wanted to watch your face."

"Ha! Do you really think that is a sight worth the effort?", Styx said with a sarcastic tone.

"It certainly was." She leaned forward, her breasts brushing against his chest, smiling warmly.

Did she mean that she thought he was pretty? It seemed like a really stupid thing to Styx. Dragonelves were pretty, all of them, even the males. Styx didn't really give a shit about what other people thought about his looks, but he was very well aware of the fact that Goblins weren't really known for their natural grace. Maera seemed to not give a damn about that. The way she smiled when she put her hand on Styx's cheek either showed what a talented liar she was, or that she actually liked the way he looked. She kissed his flat, triangular nose, his chin and his craggy green forehead, and after that his lips again. Styx smiled back, utterly confused. He quickly changed the topic.

"Don't you long for some pleasuring yourself?", he asked her with a suggestive grin. She snickered.

"Well, if you think you can handle a second round...", Maera replied, carefully rising from her sitting position, kneeling over him. Styx stared at her body with a hungry golden glitter in his eyes. Maera had been sweating, and tiny drops were glistening on her smooth pale-green skin. As she rose, a thin trickle of greenish milky liquid ran down the inside of her thigh. Seeing that made Styx aroused again only a few heartbeats later. He sat up and gently turned her to lie on her back as if she weighed nothing. Styx placed himself above her, one hand resting behind her head and with the other he pushed her left thigh aside to lie between her legs. Every part of her looked so delicate and beautiful that even when he was bursting with tension, he entered her carefully to not hurt her with crude movements. Maera took a deep breath when she felt him inside her, and smiled against his lips as he kissed her. Styx shifted slightly left and right as he pushed deeper in, trying to find the perfect angle for her to feel the friction. He grinned satisfied when he heard her moan. Maera nibbled his pointy ear, which made him purr and drove pleasant chills down his spine. Feeling her tremble under him and her warm, quick breathing on his skin drove Styx wild. He couldn't resist speeding up his thrusts, but that seemed to be just what she wanted. The Dragonelf moaned with pleasure every time he moved, winding under him. Her sharp nails dug into the skin of his back as she whispered into his ear, almost too quiet to hear: "Harder...". Styx granted her the wish. He felt Maera's heart beating in time with his and her wet body under him. Styx climaxed a few thrusts later, and when he groaned with ecstasy, Maera came as well.

The two lay on the desk, gasping for air. Styx didn't really feel like getting up, he wanted to stay just like he was now, joined with Maera, and bury his face in her hair. When she pushed at his shoulders, he got up reluctantly and rolled to the side, holding her close. She smiled widely, her eyes still dreamy and blissful.

"I'm afraid we made a mess...", she said laughing.

"Yeah, the table wasn't that sticky before", Styx admitted. "But the scrolls were a mess before, so I guess it's fine."

"What...? I am very well organized!", Maera started, but when she saw Styx glance around the stuffed shelves and overloaded tables meaningfully, she gave him a punch and laughed.

"It's not that chaotic!"

"Hey, I didn't say I didn't like it. In fact, I like your place a lot. It's quite the opposite of square. Just my thing", he said. She kissed him, and he closed his eyes for a while to enjoy the kiss.

"Do you want me to show you the alchemy section now?", Maera asked. "After we've dressed, that is."

"Fuck yeah, I'd really like to see it! Think I can get some free samples?"

"Well, maybe not the first time Master Cornix meets you, he's a little special. Typical Alchemist, you know. But when I tell him that you are my guest plus a very talented assassin he's already heard of, he'll shower you with free samples to test them on your targets during missions", Maera said, slipping in her robes and rearranging her dreadlocks.

"Ha, that sounds great. You think you can do that, Maera?", Styx asked, pulling his hood over his head.

"As I said, I guess he'd love to give you newly-developed poison samples to test in the field. But…" She hesitated, giving him an odd look.

"But what?", Styx wanted to know.

"Well… Master Cornix will expect you to tell him about the results." Maera's face switched between looking insecure, hopeful and her usual rakish smile. Styx blinked as he let her words sink in.

"Hold on a second… That would mean that I might have to stop by again at the Academy. Probably even regularly."

"Yeah, just that. If you want to, that is."

"I wouldn't mind. If you're okay with that...", Styx said with a wide grin. The thought of seeing Maera more often seemed better to him than he could put into words. Her skills in bed were mindblowing, and the Academy was one of the safest placed to hide in on the whole continent. He liked were this was going. She seemed to think the same, for she looked relieved for a heartbeat before her smirk returned.

"I guess I can handle that, my place is big enough. Bryn likes you too, and I'll just fetch a second pillow for you", Maera said with a meaningful blink. She turned around and glanced over her shoulder, signaling him to follow her. He did so, and she showed him her chambers, the laboratory, the alchemy section and the books she loved so much. Again, Styx had the feeling they had known each other for an eternity, and yet it was all new and strange to him. He inwardly thanked himself for taking the risk when he had decided to stay after their first night. It might turn out to be one of his best ideas ever and his chance to get laid quite some times more.

When Styx was planning his next mission, his usual thoughts of where to spend his wages afterwards were replaced by thinking about seeing Maera again, her wet, curvy body winding under him, and the mere thought of that made him grin.