A/N: The other idea I had is turning out to be more complicated and intractable than I expected. Have another one of these instead.

Rajirr swung his tail irritably back and forth, his ears flattened back against his skull. He was standing at a lead-lighted window at the Bards College, watching raindrops chase each other down the diamond patterns of glass. He hated rain, almost as much as he hated snow, almost as much as he hated condescension, almost as much as he hated being ignored.

Another Khajiit would have taken one glance at his body language and kept out of his way for the next few hours, but unfortunately there were barely any other of his kind in the whole country, let alone in the Bards College. He still couldn't decide which he wanted to do less; step out into the rain, or remain here.

This was supposed to be home.

Illdi wasn't a Khajiit. She wasn't all that perceptive at the best of times. Rajirr heard her walk in, and her delighted, "Raj!" at seeing him back at the College. She scampered up behind him and reached up to put her hands over his eyes. "Guess who?" she sung out.

That was the last straw. The fur on the back of his neck stood up, as did that on his tail. He turned his head, and curled his lips back from the fearsome teeth he usually thought it wise not to draw attention to, and snarled.

Illdi shrieked and snatched her hands back. He caught a glimpse of her terrified face before she turned and fled, practically tripping over her long skirt. He heard her flee past the atrium and out the front door into the rain.

Bah! Good. It was about time someone fled in fear from him.

But his fur smoothed down after a while, and anger drained from him. It wasn't Illdi's fault. His anger had struck an innocent target. In fact, Illdi was one of the few Nords whom he might presume to call friend. He wasn't sure why the others disliked her so; he found her pleasant and easy to talk to – he might have blamed her unpopularity on himself, but it was clear the animosity stretched back before he'd even arrived in Solitude.

Rajirr sighed; his decision had been made for him. He carefully wrapped his lute in oilskin and slung it over his back before raising his hood over his head and making his way out of the College. As far as he knew, Illdi lived at the College, and wouldn't have gone back to a home. The obvious place to look was the Winking Skeever, and accordingly he splashed through the puddles in that general direction.

She wasn't there. He asked Lisette if she'd seen the other bard, but she only shrugged, "Not today. Would you like to make a request?"

Rajirr shook his head and hurried out into the weather again. Maybe she'd left the city? It was worth finding that out before turning Solitude upside down. The guards were useless as usual but the man with the cart was still there, and he said a girl had run past some time ago, down towards the docks. He glared at Rajirr suspiciously as he did so, but the Khajiit was used to such things.

Illdi had confided that she liked to go down to the docs on clear days to watch the ships coming and going, and daydream about faraway places. Today was not in any way clear, but that appeared to be where she'd gone. Rajirr himself wasn't sure what he was going to do if he found her. Apologise certainly, but what if she didn't want to hear it?

The fact was, her word could see him barred from the city, or worse, if she chose it. His position was precarious at best.

Small mercies; the rain was letting up. He could see the low hanging clouds and their curtains of rain sweeping out to sea as he descended the steps, still slippery and wet, to the docks.

She was sitting on her usual perch; a large flat rock, out of the way, with a commanding view of the harbour. She'd wrapped a shawl around her shoulders. Rajirr halted a few feet away, what he hoped she'd feel was a safe distance.

"Illdi?"

She turned to look at him, eyes clear, water beaded on her face and dripping off her hair. She looked startled and slightly nervous to see him. He pushed his hood off his head, his ears twitching as the last few spots of rain struck them.

"I'm sorry I scared you. You didn't do anything wrong; it wasn't your fault."

"I've never seen you so angry," she said softly. "I've never seen you angry at all." She pulled the shawl a bit tighter around her shoulders. "Those teeth," she whispered, mostly to herself.

"I try not to be angry," Rajirr said. "I don't want to make people nervous."

She looked out over the harbour for a few moments, and then shifted to the side in silent invitation. He took it, sitting down on the wet stone beside her..

"I'm sorry I startled you," she said. "But Raj, why were you so angry?"

Rajirr shifted his jaw, "Illdi, do you like the College?"

"Of course I do," she said. "It's like a musical museum."

Rajirr rolled his eyes. That again. "Well, to be honest, I'm feeling a bit disillusioned. I joined the College in good faith, I went and unearthed their missing instruments and that poem."

"Yes! You were wonderful, I'm sure everyone is grateful." She looked at him hopefully.

"Well they certainly don't act grateful. Now I'm done being their errand-boy I may as well have ceased to exist. Not a single lesson, not a trick of harmony or even a few jokes; not that Nord jokes are very good in the first place. This is not why I joined the College. Bards of any kind do not appreciate being ignored."

Illdi frowned, "But-"

"No buts. They hardly treat you any better. Are you allowed to ask for coin for your song yet? Didn't think so. How long have you been waiting?"

"It's my home."

"A home in which you are not appreciated."

"I just don't know what I'm doing wrong!" And then she burst into tears.

"Uh." Rajirr hadn't wanted that reaction. He felt sorry for Illdi; they were in the same boat, more or less, but he hadn't realised how attached she was to the place. "I'm sorry." He reached out cautiously and patted her shoulder.

She turned and flung her arms around his furry neck and buried her face in his shoulder. She cried even harder into his leather jerkin, occasionally saying something, mostly incoherent. Rajirr wrapped his arms around her and let her cry; it sounded like she had a lot bottled up. He was glad the rain had driven everyone away, however; a Khajiit with his arms around a young Nord woman would get a beating if he was lucky, and skinned if he was not.

Eventually, the tears subsided, and Illdi pushed away from him suddenly.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry. This is unbecoming. I'm sorry."

"You know, Khajiit know sometimes you have to let the tears out first before you can laugh."

She didn't laugh but she did manage a weak smile as she dried her eyes on her shawl.

"What now?" she asked.

"Hm." Rajirr pricked his ears up. "I want to show you something." He got to his feet, and shrugged off his cloak. He handed it to her, and then he unwrapped the lute.

"You can play?" she asked.

Rajirr grinned, "I am here because I wished to learn of Nord music, not because I wished to learn to play. I learned that sitting on my mother's knee." He flexed his fingers, his little claws perfect for plucking at strings. "This is the music of Elsweyr."

Illdi stared transfixed as he slid his claws down the strings, made them purr, stretching the notes out like taffy, slapping the belly of the instrument with the palm of his hand. Nords sung of battles and politics and drinking and death. Khajiit sung of passion; thwarted, unrequited, lost, reciprocated, scorned, all the colours of the heart on display.

For a long time she was silent, but he made room for her nevertheless, and finally she scrambled to her feet and clapped along.

"Come on," he said between verses. "You know the words by now." He repeated the chorus again, about all the beasts the singer would slay for the lover who spurned him. Shy at first, he could barely hear her, but the next time the same words rolled around, she took a deep breath and belted it out.

He'd never heard a Nord sing a Khajiit song. He had to admit, they had big voices; the noise that poured from her throat would have brought a caravan to its feet. And a prospective suitor to their knees. Rajirr bared his teeth again, this time in a wide grin.

They stopped when they saw a guard coming, out of breath, the music still hanging in the air, potential humming along the strings of Rajirr's lute. And Illdi laughed with sheer delight.

"You don't need them," Rajirr said. "To Oblivion with the lot of them."

"Y-yes. I've never heard anything like it. And it was me. Well, you too."

"Come with me. I'm going sing songs in the Dragon's tongue, and all of Tamriel will know my name. Yours too. We'll sing for the Emperor himself." He stretched out his hand.

She hesitated, biting her lip. And then she took it. "I'll regret it for the rest of my life if I don't."

"Let's go steal some horses," Rajirr said.

"I thought you said not all Khajiit were thieves," she said, taken aback.

"I'm sure some of them aren't." He shrugged. "Oh, you have have this back too."

Her hand went to her throat as he handed her back her necklace. She put it back on and glanced back at Solitiude. He waited.

She took a deep breath, "Lead on, I follow."

A/N: Yes, I was disappointed with the Bards College quests, why do you ask? I suspect Khajiit, with their aesthetic appreciation of life, would be excellent bards and the built-in picks don't hurt either. I was listening to the John Butler Trio when I wrote this.