AN: Nanowrimo went well. Success! But during the challenge, my computer went down and I lost Microsoft word and all my documents were put onto this really rubbish writing pad program which I hated and found quite difficult to use. Sorry if this chapter feels a little bitty; it has a flashback in it, and I wrote some of it by had after I got hacked off with the other writing program and typed it up on my new laptop.

I have also read The House of Eragon and spotted a few mistakes and cases of long capitalised words being taken out of sentences so I will be going back and sorting those out – and after I watched the Eragon film again and got quite annoyed with the extreme lack of screen time Murtagh gets, and flicked through Eragon the book, I'm now more motivated with this story. And I feel guilty so I'm aiming for much quicker updates.

And the already written chapter I took the interlude from will be coming up soon so you can look forward to a quicker update there. Sorry it's been so long. (Is extremely guilty).

Disclaimer: I don't own the inheritance cycle but I do own the randomness and the plot – what little of it this story has…

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Murtagh groaned, hoping to glean a little sympathy out of the pretty nurse. He was not successful; she just walked right by him with the jug of water for the patient in the bed nearest to the window in the opposite row.

Why did he have to open his big mouth again?

Because, mini emo one, you are an idiot. Your father is an idiot, your brother is an idiot and even your mother is a bit weird; you were doomed from birth.

Gee, thanks Thorn… Murtagh replied sulkily. His dragon was never any help and was always quite happy to ridicule him and delight in his misery. Fine, maybe that was taking it a little too far-

And a little too emo, Thorn interrupted.

But this is exactly what I mean! Murtagh finished, actually addressing his thoughts to the thing that triggered them. You're just so ANNOYING! I don't want to hear your irritating little voice anymore! It is over between us, Thorn. I am finding myself a new, less annoying dragon!

Fine! Thorn snapped mentally at the fuming Murtagh. I don't need you! I don't want an emo drama queen for a rider anyway!

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Back at the place the neighbours had come to know as the house of crazy, Arya was also a tiny bit miffed… Or perhaps miffed was not the correct term. Replace the 'miffed' with 'furious' and the 'tiny bit' with 'very' and the result would be getting closer to what Arya was at that moment in time.

She couldn't understand why people would make comments like that; was it not obvious that she was pregnant, not fat? She had no neck flab so she couldn't just be fat. Or did she? Oh no, she could have bingo wings too!

No, she wasn't fat. She knew she wasn't because she was an elf and she was able to choose her appearance. Angela, who had been watching the elf from her vantage point in the opposite armchair, sighed; that was one internal crisis over, now there would be another one to go when the elf finally realised what she'd done to Murtagh.

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The next activity of the day had been called 'Aerial Runway', and had basically been a big zip-wire. The instructor was a nice woman called Liz, who wore green rimmed glasses, and the activity, Selena thought, had gone reasonably well; she'd even left with the same number fools she had arrived with, and had confirmed this with a Supernanny approved head-count.

Galbatorix hadn't eaten any of the equipment (he had eaten some tree bark and mud but considering the items the mad king usually put away, no-one thought it was really note-worthy), Murtagh had complained the safety harness was crushing and therefore ruining certain important parts of his anatomy though it was obvious he was enjoying the aerial runway, and after Eragon had sung 'I Believe I Can Fly' as he launched himself off the platform and down the runway, Durza had managed to convince himself he could fly too – without the harness or the zip-wire.

Thankfully, that old saying 'where there's no sense, there's no feeling' was true for once and Durza managed to land in a bush and was fine. It was a bit of an ordeal but still, compared that morning's kayak related drama, it went quite well; at least Liz got to leave with her sanity (and her glasses) intact, which couldn't be said for Chris, who was currently wondering if he'd make it through the day alive as he demonstrated and explained the art of putting on a safety harness.

Everyone was gathered around the abseiling tower watching him and copying his actions. Murtagh glared at the inappropriately placed straps on his safety harness as he followed Chris' instructions and successfully fastened the harness securely. Those were so going to cause him pain later.

To make himself feel better, he did the one thing he was sure would entertain him through the task of abseiling, which was something Murtagh had actually already done countless times with only a rope around his waist but had been forced into by a very excited Eragon, who was far too good at puppy dog eyes for someone his age.

He turned to where Arya and Selena were sitting on one of the benches provided for those who wanted to watch people abseil, egg them on or chant "Fall! Fall! Fall!" and hope they would take those words into account and provide some proper entertainment.

"Hey Arya," he called. "It's lucky you're not abseiling; even if these harnesses did stretch enough to fit you in them, that rope would never hold."

In her defence, Selena did try to restrain the future mother of her grandchild. Unfortunately for Murtagh, she didn't succeed, and everyone else – with the exception of Morzan, who had immediately launched into a lecture none of the others were listening to, and Chris, who was frozen in a mixture of disbelief and horror – was too busy laughing at his misfortune and stupidity to do anything.

The result was a lot of pain, a suspected concussion, a trip to A & E and the end of a holiday that was, if everyone was honest, doomed from the start.

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Murtagh moped around the house, carefully avoiding any rooms he thought Arya might be in. While in the hospital, he'd been diagnosed with a two cracked ribs, a mild concussion and a lot of bruises and he was definitely not doing that again; the pretty nurse hadn't even given him a second look.

Thankfully, as soon as he'd been given the all-clear to leave, he had been healed by a harassed looking Islanzadí, who had still not managed to get rid of the Morrison's alcohol delivering paramedic, fireman and chauffeur guy.

Murtagh sighed, noting the silence in his mind after his argument with Thorn, and padding into the kitchen, where Islanzadí was hiding from the Morrison's alcohol delivering paramedic, fireman and chauffeur guy with a mug of coffee between her hands.

Murtagh took a bar of dark chocolate from the cupboard and put the kettle on for a hot chocolate. He was in a chocolate-y mood for some reason, though he couldn't quite explain why. He blamed his new found talent for saying all the wrong things and subsequent need to avoid the hormonal, pregnant elf.

He had just selected a mug, a large, maroon one, and was deciding which type of hot chocolate he wanted, when he and Islanzadí were joined by the one person Islanzadí was trying to avoid. She had chosen to stake out the kitchen because everyone knew queens were too special to cook but apparently the Morrison's alcohol delivering paramedic, fireman and chauffeur guy didn't know that because she had only been sitting there for ten minutes.

But a brief respite was a respite nonetheless. Islanzadí huffed as he pulled up the chair across from her; when would he get the hint that she was a queen and he was therefore beneath her and really a waste of her time even looking at? She hoped it was soon.

He smiled, not his usual 'Thinkin' you're hot, Izzy' smile but a serious, slightly disappointed smile, a new smile that gave Islanzadí some much needed hope that he was going to be a gentleman and leave her alone.

He slid a business card over the table to her and said, "Gotta leave ya, Izzy. Ya know, duty calls an' all that. Tell insane rich freak an' 'is lot I'll see 'im again soon. There's me card, ask for Andy Mann."

"Andy?" Murtagh echoed in disbelief, dropping three sachets of hot chocolate on the counter and two on the floor. "Is that your name? Or are you just handyman?"

Islanzadí looked down at the business card he'd given her as he nodded to Murtagh enigmatically. It said;

Bertha's Diverse Business

Handymen and workers for all occasions and most professions

They won't even steal your valuables.

Call...

Islanzadí squashed the urge to bestow upon the card a small smile at the typical text and very small number...

... So he was more common than she'd thought.

He left the house with a final shout of, "See ya, Izzy!"

Islanzadí merely sighed, poured the coffee she didn't want down the drain and left in search of her daughter so she could say goodbye before she calling Oromis and arranging a ride back to Ellesmera on Glaedr.

"Oh. Are you making hot chocolate?" Eragon enquired, suddenly appearing behind Murtagh and making the red rider jump. "Is there enough water in the kettle for two?"

Murtagh grunted in response.

Eragon, having delighted in spending time with his big brother for a lot longer than he cared to count up, correctly interpreted this and selected his own (smaller and bluer) mug and some vanilla flavoured hot chocolate and put it in his mug.

"So," he said as the pair waited for the kettle to boil. "Wanna go play in the snow with me later?"

Murtagh quirked an eyebrow. "Oh, it's been snowing?" he answered, flatly.

"Uh huh," Eragon replied, pouring the hot water and some milk into both his and Murtagh's mugs at a speed and with accuracy that was alarming. He pushed the maroon mug into the shocked rider's hands and Murtagh complied, tightening his grip so it wouldn't smash; Orik, if he dropped by (He'd gone back to the dwarves because, though he'd left due to the dirt, he couldn't stand the horrors of Selena's household), would have a fit if he did drop it.

Both riders seated themselves at the kitchen table and sipped at their drinks. Well, Murtagh stared into his, wearing an expression of pure concentration, and Eragon started to practically inhale his before realising it was hot and jumping up to drink cold water from the tap, but after that particular incident, he'd sat back down, silence had reigned, and a thoughtful Murtagh had broken the peace before Selena could find out and insist on some proper family bonding time to celebrate.

"I need a new dragon," he'd said, deciding to let the younger brother whose insanity had kept his emo tendencies at bay – well, the more health ruining ones – most of the time.

"I heard about you and Thorn," Eragon nodded, looking strangely serious for once.

Murtagh immediately reached out to Thorn to note that Eragon was choosing to act his age when he felt like it and Angela's mental age fluctuation theory had been disproved, but shrank back into his own lonely mind when he remembered he and Thorn had broken up.

"I wasn't working out," Murtagh stated.

Eragon offered a small, sympathetic smile. "He'll-"

Morzan, who had been listening from behind the door, flung the door open and puffed out his chest in pride. He pulled out a chair and sat, regarding both riders happily.

"My Murtagh having woman trouble," he said to himself as if he could hardly believe it. "I have dreamed of this day for so long now," he shared, standing up for dramatic effect. "It is now time for me to share my knowledge of the opposite sex to you, my sons."

Looking absolutely ecstatic, he grasped Murtagh's shoulders and pulled his son, who looked completely horrified, into a tight, manly hug. "I was so sure..." he breathed, "But I am so glad you're not gay!"

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AN: I'd just like to point out, in case anyone jumps to conclusions; I am NOT homophobic in any way. At all. I don't want to offend anyone. That's just the way I thought Morzan would react.

For update info, see the AN at the start of this chapter.

Next Chapter: Morzan's relationship advice, more on Thorn and Murtagh's 'break up'; will Eragon and Murtagh ever get to play in the snow? And what has everyone else been doing? They've been disturbingly quiet this chapter...

Extreme thanks to every person who is sticking with this fic and everyone who has and will review. You seriously make my day.

Luckily, my exams (AS Maths and Biology) are over, but I am still doing a production of the Sound of Music. Still, after watching the film, my muse is backing this fic a bit more so yeah, quicker updates all round, I hope...