J'Zargo POV

J'Zargo growled, he had not come to this College to listen to the whimpering of whatever it was Brelyna had dragged home, it was bad enough he had to study if he wanted to be the next archmage, but this distraction, it was too much.

Much to J'Zargo's dismay the woman in question had gotten worse the moment the Elf had stepped out of the halls. It was almost the same as when the large man had came in, she was now hyperventilating and hissing in panic. Whatever had happened to her must have traumatised her a lot for her to act like this.

Despite his sympathy J'Zargo still needed to do something about this, she was ruining his system of becoming the best mage in all of Skyrim. He couldn't get in his 'zone' with her incessant noise.

"Is there anything J'Zargo can do to help you?" the Khajiit bit out, hoping the remainder there was someone only a few feet away would get her to be silent.

It stopped for a moment, for which J'Zargo was thankful, but then replied, "Who's J'Zargo?"

The Khajiit had to stop himself from groaning in frustration, "I'm J'Zargo, now again, do you need anything or will you let J'Zargo get back to his studies in silence?"

She spoke up again, but at least she had stopped sniffling and instead seemed relatively cheerful, "Oh! you're one of those cat people. I can never figure out your weird voices. What's it like to have fur? my parents said it was just like they'd imagine having my skin was like, it was just 'there' rather than having 'felt' it. But then they were a different kind of cat person than you."

He was half tempted to just huff in annoyance and storm off, but something about the woman intrigued J'Zargo. Being adopted by Khajiit wasn't very common for Nordic children, even stranger so was that she hadn't picked up an accent either. That was of course if she had been telling the truth. The woman was barely awake after an almost fatal injury, and then had two very serious talks, for all he knew she could now be mentally disturbed.

"What do you mean a 'different kind of cat person' to J'Zargo?" he queried, it was true Khajiit sometimes changed appearance due to moon position but only really by their markings, there wasn't much that could classify a 'different kind' of them.

"Oh, you know, the big strong warrior types? Now anyway, back to fur, is it that warm? I had a boyfriend once who had fur like yours, except his was shorter so I didn't bother ask," she asked again, clearly wanting an answer rather than it just being a question asked to break the ice.

J'Zargo was slightly confused as well by her statement, she seemed to be making less and less sense with every sentence, "Boyfriend? didn't you come here with Bre-"

"Stop dodging my questions," she interrupted, "Fur, tell me about it."

J'Zargo sighed, "It feels just like I would imagine your hair would feel, just all over. Happy now?"

Kayci smirked, how many times had she heard those words in that exasperated tone of voice? "Slightly… so, do you have barbs?"

J'Zargo spluttered, why was she asking him that? that was very personal and an embarrassing topic for Khajiit to talk about, "That's none of your business! now, can we please end this conversation now? J'Zargo needs to study and you're not helping, especially with all that nonsense going on between you and the large man."

Kayci's face fell and went silent at the reference to Resh, and suddenly J'Zargo felt saddened by the reaction, even though it had shut her up like he had wanted, after a few moments he asked, "Do you want to talk with J'Zargo about what's wrong?"

"No… yes… I don't know, it's just he's been like family for so long, and now I have to hate him, I don't want to, but him being alive just feels wrong. I've been told all my life dragons need to die, and being the Dragonborn he has to die," her voice cracked slightly, "I just don't know what to do."

The Khajiit didn't know what to do, he guessed it wasn't hard to imagine the large man was the Dragonborn, he had the basic look of the average Nord hero, just a fair bit taller, pretty much fitting every description. "I'm sorry, this must be hard for you. But J'Zargo has faced hatred like that, it is blind and misguided. J'Zargo's kind are scarcely allowed in cities, and are abused if they ever go in."

Kayci looked away slightly in guilt, "I'm sorry to hear th-"

She was cut off though when the Khajiit spoke again, his voice grew more serious as he became more passionate about the topic. "J'Zargo has it worse than others though. People look down on him for his dreams of being the archmage, they think Khajiit can only be thieves or skooma dealers, but they are wrong. J'Zargo's own family, his friends, they cast him out for wanting to make something of himself. It is something J'Zargo would never wish on anyone, and if this Dragonborn is like family, you should look past the differences so he is not like poor J'Zargo."

Kayci sniffled slightly at his little speech, trying to think of a way to 'out-logic' it, but couldn't, "That's very wisdomous of you."

"And people say J'Zargo will never make archmage, fools. Now J'Zargo has spoke what needed to be spoken he needs to work, so stay silent, J'Zargo doesn't want you ruining his Elsweyr fondue time," he muttered before leaving her to her thoughts, the odd cat man had given her a lot to think about.

Who would have thought that of all people it would be J'Zargo dealing out the wisdom? I didn't it just sort of, came out. Also to any of you that don't know Elsweyr fondue is a recipe in Skyrim which contains moonsugar.

I figure it's the equivalent of Skyrim pot-brownies, so who else would have them if not J'Zargo? He may want to be the archmage who isn't the 'run of the mill' Khajiit dealer, but that doesn't mean he doesn't do the stuff himself.

Brelyna POV

Despite all that was happening between them Brelyna and Resh seemed to be having a relatively good conversation. Unlike Kayci or Lydia the Dunmer found that she could actually have intellectual conversations with him.

Somehow even for a Nord Resh seemed exceptionally well versed when it came to magic, perhaps more than herself. "I'm surprised you know so much about how magic works Resh, Nords aren't really known for that kind of knowledge."

Resh snorted, even though he wasn't actually a Nord he still felt slightly offended, he was sure there were tonnes of Nords with magical capabilities, "You have a Khajiit in this College, I smelled him earlier, you can hardly say that they are naturally gifted with magic ei-"

The Tsaesci didn't have enough time to finish his sentence before Brelyna's eyes almost popped out of her head, "Shit! that idiot is still in there! I've got to go, I need to make sure he's not… saying things!"

Brelyna didn't even look back to the dumbfounded man as she sprinted into the halls for a second time, and as she had suspected J'Zargo was talking to her lover, or at least, had finished talking to her as he walked away, which was probably even worse. Who knows what he had said?

Running past Kacyi's room Brelyna grabbed the cat by the fur, "What did you say to her? she's very fragile at the moment so if you said one thing to upset her you'll never get to be the Archmage, but he will get a nice new fur cloak."

The Khajiit chuckled slightly before pushing her away and breaking free, "J'Zargo does not think there will be a need for that. In fact the stroppy Dunmer may be pleased with what he did."

Brelyna bristled at the word 'stroppy' but contained her anger so as to not prove him right, she was still cautious though, J'Zargo still wasn't someone she wanted talking to Kayce when she was so injured. "What did J'Zargo do?" she ground out.

"J'Zargo made her not hate the large man, she listened to his own stories and saw the similarities," the Khajiit told her, not wanting the Elf to get angry again, it wasn't often he saw Brelyna get this way, usually it was only when he was snooping around her clothing for things to steal.

The mage woman looked at him in shock, "You're kidding right? did you not see how panicked she was, and how disturbed? there is no way you of all people could bring her to her sense when both me and Resh have tried."

The Khajiit shrugged, "It seemed she listened to J'Zargo, which is surprising considering how much she talked," he then started to look embarrassed. "She asked poor J'Zargo about his barbs, very personal."

Needless to say Brelyna didn't really know what to think, J'Zargo, the stoner fool who had spent his entire College life stealing undergarments from her and trying to snoop through her belongings, had actually done something nice for her, and if not her for Kayci and Resh without thinking about himself. Brelyna didn't know whether she should hug him or scold him for bringing up his 'barbs', she knew very well what they were.

In the end she compromised by uttering a quick 'thank you' and leaving him in peace to study, afterall, he wasn't going to become Archmage if he spent all his time counselling a burnt up Nord and her Dunmer lover.

From the looks of it Kayci was in deep thought, at least she wasn't freaking out like before so that was a plus. "Kayci?" Brelyna asked. "Apparently J'Zargo said some stuff to you which helped you out, if he's lying I'll beat him up for you, but I'd like to know if it's true he got through to you."

Kayci sighed, "No, everything he said is true, it all makes sense. But forgiving Resh for what he is still just feels 'wrong', and I call myself open minded, I might as well be some Nordic idiot pushing your kind into slums."

Brelyna thought the woman's way of phrasing the last part was a little strange, but then again, the whole situation was strange, and it must have been hard for Kayci to come to this conclusion so the Elf had to give her a little sympathy there, "Kayci, you know I'll stick with you regardless but I still believe that you just need to get rid of whatever stupid cultural thing is making you act so narrow minded, it's not a nice colour on you and it's not the woman I fell in love with."

The burned woman smiled at her, before forcing out the words, as it was obviously hard for her to abandon her tradition, even when necessary, "Okay, I will. For you, and I guess a bit for Resh too, but mostly for you."

The mage would have kissed her there and then if it wouldn't have most likely broken her delicate healing skin, and if it turned into something more that moment she could only imagine how much magical repair that would set back. "Thank you," she whispered warmly, "I know it must be boring for you lying down all day unable to move, so in a few days when you fully heal I'll give you a tour of the whole College, and I'll take you to the places where no one will be able to… hear us."

"I'd like that," Kayci grinned, "It's a shame I can't move right now. I guess I might as well just try to get some sleep so I can rest the entire wait."

Brelyna smirked, not bothering to correct her. There was no way she could go a few days without food, drink or ever being awake, she'd go mad. Either way, she didn't particularly want to ruin the moment.

Unfortunately someone else did as the happy atmosphere was suddenly interrupted and a distasteful air of arrogance invaded the room, Brelyna could already guess who it was as the heard the most hated man in the College clear his throat, "Brelyna, leave. It came to my attention there was going to be a new resident to the College, and as you should know it is of the utmost importance the Thalmor has kno-"

"No, I'm not leaving, she's injured and doesn't have to be asked questions by the likes of you Thalmor bastards," Brelyna growled, knowing that Kayci had had bad experiences with Thalmor in the past.

Ancano only smirked with arrogance, "Oh so it is her then? I was hoping so, definitely better than that brute of a man outside. I was just wishing I wouldn't have to speak to a savage like that."

"Don't talk about Resh that way!" she shouted at him, surprised at herself for caring about the man she had wanted to kill an hour ago.

"And here I thought Brelyna was going to do all the talking for you, guess not. You can stay if you want to Brelyna, but I still need to write a report for Elenwen so you need to stay silent. The only two people speaking will be me and…?" he gestured to the injured woman for a name, who growled in reply, looking slightly scared at the name 'Elenwen', Brelyna couldn't begin to think about the memories that must've brought back.

Ancano snorted in derision, "No names for today then? I don't really care for yours that much anyway you Nord, although I must say, it does sound familiar…"

Kayci POV

The High Elf gave her another long look as if trying to figure something out in his head, but after a moment sniffed and pulled out a notepad, obviously getting ready to write out anything he find of worth.

10 Minutes Later

Fortunately all the questions he had were fairly trivial, most asking about the worship of Talos, or Stormcloak affiliation, both of which she vehemently refuted, which seemed to please the Altmer. Brelyna couldn't help but notice the was a mild edge of fear whenever she replied to him, it was as if the very idea of the Thalmor terrified her.

He was about to leave after having found out nothing of interest being staring intently at the burned woman again, "You wouldn't happen to be related to a High Elf know as Kayci would you? you seem a lot like her and knowing that piece of scum there's a large chance she bred with the lesser races like yourself."

Brelyna glanced with worry at the mention of her lovers name, and was thankful that Kayci hadn't told him it or they could be in deep trouble. It may have been likely that Kayci actually knew this Elf and made sure he didn't know. Instead of making it obvious Brelyna tried to keep her face the same as he continued rather than looking shocked.

"Given our superior life spans she may still be alive, it has only been around 50 years after all, so if you have any information on her I'd suggest handing it over, I doubt a burned out Nord would be able to escape Thalmor interrogation like she did," he spat before leaving, thinking that the conversation was a dead end.

He knew there was something 'off' about the woman, but he just couldn't put his finger on it, he was thinking of writing a letter to Elenwen telling her all his findings, maybe she would be able to piece some of it together, and have insight as to why this woman sounded so familiar. For the moment though, he could just leave happy that there were no Talos worshippers in his midst.

Once he had left the building Brelyna turned to Kayci who had distanced look in her eye, "Are you okay Kayce? I can only imagine how bad that must be for you having to talk to one of those Thalmor assholes after what they've done to you."

It came as a complete surprise to her, but Kayci was actually angered by her sympathy, Brelyna didn't know what she had said, but the woman glared at her angrily before snapping, "For fucks sake Brelyna, they haven't 'done' anything to me, you act like I've been raped by them!"

Brelyna paused for a moment, "Well… you have… haven't you?"

"No! just because mine and Elenwen's relationship was odd from your viewpoint doesn't mean it was non-consensual!" Kayci yelled, despite somewhere in the very back of her mind, the part she refused to listen to, that she was lying to not just Brelyna but herself.

"Then why do you always look terrified when anything on the topic of Thalmor comes up? you were almost wetting yourself when he spoke to you. Do you know him or something?" Brelyna sighed, not really wanting an argument while she was in such a state.

"I didn't look terrified," she disputed, despite obviously being wrong, "I was completely fine. And if you must know, yes, I did know him, he was one of Elenwen's friends who helped prepare me for our… dates. We didn't speak much though, never had the opportunity."

Brelyna let out an audible gasp of shock at what she had just heard, "Kayci, you must know this somewhere in your mind, but surely you can see what they did was wrong? it was in no way whatsoever a relationship, nothing you've described about it makes it even come close to sounding like one."

"Listen Brelyna, you weren't there! you can't tell me about something that didn't happen to you, so just leave it alone," Kayci told her, knowing that Brelyna would never push any more than she had already.

"Fine," she ground out. "Mark my words though, he takes one step towards you and I'll fucking kill him. I'm just glad he couldn't recognise you because of your burns. I don't know why he thought you were a 50 year old Altmer though, but then again I've always known he was an idiot."

Kayci thought about it for a moment before nodding, "I guess it's probably best I use a fake name then if you really don't want him knowing who I am."

The Dunmer was having a hard time knowing what to think, Kayci should be completely devastated that there was a Thalmor in the College, and in some ways she was acting exactly like that, but she mostly seemed in denial than anything else. It was strange as well, because if she truly believed nothing bad had happened to her why was she so quick to agree about keeping him away, and suggesting to use a fake name?

She also got the feeling that there was more to this than she knew, the Kayci was hiding something from her, it couldn't have been a random mistake for Ancano to talk about Altmer interrogate before Kayci was born with the same name as her, it just didn't make much sense. It was definitely something she would have to ask Kayci about, there was a lot she didn't know about the other woman's past and felt that she should know what it was.

Also a shout-out to the author KhajiitWarriorSam who is currently one of my favourite authors at the moment. Their work is really excellent, but I seem to be the only one reading it, so please, by all means, look for their stuff, such as 'The March' which is my personal favourite. And review their work, it deserves far more praise than I can ever give them.