I do not own Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim.

And here we have an example of an author doing her best to rewrite a short Fiction she wrote a long time ago, so that it fits with the canon she came up with afterwards, but still sort of resembles the thing she originally wrote.

It's not easily done, lemme tell ya.

Reviewer Replies:

mia78: Thank you! I hope 'my Mercer' isn't too OOC...
I think you'll find that romance between Ziris and Brynjolf here in this chapter, my friend. You might want to milk it for all it's worth, though, because after this, and next week's chapter, the romance kind of disappears.
You'll see why, I promise.

Manu: Thank you! I'm loving every part the more times I reread this in order to edit. Please, keep enjoying!

Lydia: I'm updating a day early just for you. I'm glad you're enjoying the Fiction!

Chapter 5: Drunken Acts (Refurbished)

"I just don't understand, Delvin," Ziris sighed, setting her elbow on the table and her chin in her hand. "He's avoiding me like I'm… I don't know, Maven Black-Briar."

Delvin chuckled and shook his head. "Maybe we need to put you directly into his path, then," he commented.

"What do you mean?" Ziris asked, perking up a bit. She sat up straighter in her chair, and looked him in the eye. Delvin was grinning mischievously.

"I may have sent Brynjolf on a job to Whiterun," he began, leaning back in his own chair. "I suppose I could… send you that way, too…"

Ziris frowned at once. "Isn't it dangerous to have two thieves stealing from the same city at the same time?"

"Who said anything about the 'job' you'll be on would be real?" Delvin inquired, and Ziris's frown changed into a grin.

"All right, old man," she said, leaning across the table towards him. "What's Brynjolf up to?"

Delvin went into detail about the job he'd given Brynjolf, including where he thought the item he was supposed to be stealing was located. Ziris listened to all this, making sure to pick up on every tiny detail. When Delvin was done explaining, he gave her a meaningful look, and she nodded.

"Guess I better go… get that thing," she said, standing up from the table and heading for the cistern.

Delvin watched her go in amusement, and Ziris couldn't help but chuckle to herself as well as she pushed open the door into the cistern.

She didn't know when it had happened, but at some point in the last year, she'd realized that Brynjolf was appearing to be more than a friend in her eyes, and her heart. Everytime she saw him, it took her a moment to settle her breathing and for her heart to return to its normal pace.

She hadn't thought her newfound affections were obvious, but she hadn't been blind to Brynjolf's. He clearly thought of her as something more as well, because she caught him looking at her when they weren't near one another, and she'd picked up a bit of conversation between himself and Vipir a month back.

He'd mentioned getting to know a woman before trying anything with her. Ziris couldn't be sure, but what else could it mean, other than he wanted to be friends first? They were friends. Good friends.

She didn't know what she'd need for an excursion to Whiterun, especially on a fake job, so she just tossed a few things into a pack and slung it over her shoulder before heading in the direction of the hidden entrance. She was going to Whiterun to confront Brynjolf, because she was tired of him prancing around her and avoiding talking about whatever it was they were feeling. That was not how their relationship had ever worked, and it wasn't about to start, either.

Ziris knew their routine, and she needed to know if their affections were going to change it, and if so, how much, so that she could adjust accordingly. She couldn't do anything without a routine, and that included working with and having a relationship with Brynjolf.

She needed to set things straight, and in turn set her mind at ease.

Needless to say, however, the trip to Whiterun, and the 'confrontation' didn't go as she planned them to.

On the way to Whiterun, for one thing, her carriage driver insisted that she pay him extra for taking the 'fastest route from the Rift to Whiterun Hold', and she'd been forced to hand over fifty septims rather than the normal twenty the journey would cost.

It had dampened her mood considerably, so much so that she almost didn't notice Brynjolf later than night, as she was sitting in the Bannered Mare and nursing a mug of ale. She watched as he settled down at the bar and ordered a mug of his own, probably that nasty mead that he liked and she couldn't stand. She watched him drink it, waiting for the inn to clear out, or at least for it to quiet down long enough for him to slip out of it undetected.

That was her cue.

Ziris had followed Brynjolf around the city's marketplace, and had 'accidentally' gone to 'steal' the same item that Brynjolf was meant to be taking. She'd then dealt with a guard who caught the two of them red-handed, essentially. Brynjolf helped quite a lot by pretending to be drunk, and it made Ziris wonder why she'd never known he could act before.

After that, however, she'd lost all her nerve, and had let him leave without bringing up their relationship once. She had known such a thing would probably happen, but that didn't mean she wasn't disappointed.

She'd returned to Riften via another carriage the following morning, empty handed and brokenhearted.

Delvin didn't want to hear it, however, when she went to complain to him.

"It'll all work out, love," he told her with a dismissive wave of his hand. "Give him a day or two to get his bearings, and he'll come around. We gave him the push he needed; now he has to do the rest."

Ziris didn't know if she believed him, but she agreed nonetheless, mostly because she didn't want to talk anymore.

After that, she'd left the cistern and gone up to the surface, heading for the place she'd discovered several years prior that she snuck away to whenever she needed to get away. It was typically after a fight with Mercer, or after she botched a job and Vex gave her a piece of her mind, and Ziris needed to cool off.

Now, however, she was sitting up on the roof of Honorhall Orphanage in order to consider all that had happened in the past few days, and come to the conclusion that literally nothing had been born from it.

She was watching the sun set over the mountains in the distance, the fiery orange color of it making the lake burn, and drinking her second bottle of ale, when she heard a throat being cleared from down on the ground.

She crawled to the edge of the roof and peered down over the edge of it, her eyes widening when she spotted Brynjolf standing there in a set of street clothes, tossing a bottle of his own away into the other trash littering the street.

"How'd you -?"

"Your secret hiding place isn't actually so secret, Ziris," Brynjolf replied, smiling a bit. "Can I…?"

"Sure," Ziris invited, scooting backwards away from the edge in order to give him room to climb up, finishing off the ale. He did so, grunting a bit as he hauled himself up onto the roof beside her. He let out a heavy breath once he was situated, and his gaze settled on the setting sun.

"Wow," he said after a moment. "That's something else."

"Yeah, it's beautiful," Ziris agreed. "I don't come up here and watch it as much as I should. It helps me relax."

Brynjolf glanced over at her, and Ziris stiffened under his gaze. Without asking first, Brynjolf reached over, and slid his hand into hers. Ziris didn't react for a moment, and then she gave his hand a gentle squeeze, glancing over at him.

"You weren't in Whiterun on a job, were you?" he asked softly, and she shook her head.

"I wanted to talk to you," she admitted. "I feel like you've been avoiding me, and I think I know why, but I wanted to make sure." She blinked at him. "You probably know that, though, since you know me."

Brynjolf reached up with his other hand and pushed her hair back behind her ear. The ring he'd stolen and slid onto a chain for her glinted as the shadow of her hair moved away, and Brynjolf picked it up, examining it for a moment.

Finally, however, he met her gaze again, and Ziris disappeared into the forest of his without any hesitation. She'd always thought his eyes were the best thing about him, but she'd never admitted it to herself until then. Now, however, she felt like she could.

"Brynjolf -"

"Shh." He let the ring fall back against her armor, and then he cupped her jaw in one hand, leaning forward. Ziris's heart sailed into her throat when their lips met, and she exhaled through her nose, reaching up to wrap her own hand around the back of his neck.

She let go of his hand with the other to tangle her fingers into his hair, and Brynjolf's went around to her lower back, pulling her across the roof tiles and closer to him. He practically pulled her into his lap, and Ziris broke off the kiss with a chuckle of amusement as the night before drifted into her head.

"What?" Brynjolf queried, running his nose beneath her jaw. Ziris tilted her head upwards, still laughing.

"I didn't know that you could pretend so well," she told him. "I actually thought you were drunk last night, but only for a minute or two."

Brynjolf leaned backwards, and she lowered her head so that she could look at him. He was grinning. "A thief has to know how to act," he told her.

"Really?" Ziris shrugged her shoulders, letting the hand in his hair join the other on the back of his neck. "I've never had to act in order to get out of a situation."

"That's because you always let your situations escalate before you have the opportunity," Brynjolf teased.

"Oh yeah?" He nodded, pressing a kiss to her nose, and Ziris lifted an eyebrow at him. "Well than, maybe I should let you teach me a few things, in case I ever need them for an non escalated situation."

"Sure, I can teach you," Brynjolf agreed, and Ziris didn't resist when he shifted their positions so that she was lying back on the roof, and he was hovering over her. "You wouldn't even have to pay me."

"Why's that?" Ziris queried, sliding her hands down to his waist.

"Because teaching you will be payment enough," Brynjolf answered, and then he leaned down and kissed her again, deeper and more languidly this time.

After that… well.

After waking up with nothing on, Ziris decided that she needed to get as far away from Brynjolf as possible. Head pounding, she dressed quickly and hurried off of the roof, leaving the still-sleeping Brynjolf alone in all his naked glory.

She couldn't believe she'd been stupid enough to let that happen. Obviously, they'd both been drunk, and feelings had been running high. They'd let their inhibitions get away from them, like idiots. It was never going to happen, again, however, not if Ziris had any say.

Delvin, however, made it almost impossible to ignore what had transpired, mostly because he wanted to know exactly why she wanted a job as far from Riften as she could get.

"I'm not jus' gonna send you to another hold without knowin' why," Delvin informed her.

"But you'll know why," Ziris tried. "I'll be there on a job."

Delvin gave her a look, and Ziris sighed, leaning against the wall. "Please, Del. I need to get out of here for a while."

"What happened?" Delvin asked again.

Ziris bit her lip, and glanced in both directions of the hidden hallway, before she sighed to herself, and turned her eyes down to the floor.

"Brynjolf and I might have had a…" She winced. "... romantic encounter, last night, on the roof of the orphanage."

"No you didn't," Delvin said, and when Ziris glanced up at him, the grin he had on his face disappeared at once. "Yes you did." She nodded, wearily, and Delvin exhaled heavily. "It's fine."

"No it is not! It is not fine!" Ziris shouted. "It is the opposite of fine! We were drunk, Delvin!"

"Keep your voice down!" Delvin advised, just as loudly. "Do you want this getting around to everyone?"

Ziris started to retort, but before she could, there was a very recognizable voice coming from the end of the hallway closer to the cistern. "Delvin?"

"Shit," Ziris cursed, and then she scaled the wall. Delvin was about to follow her path with his gaze, but Brynjolf appeared before he could, and he looked at him instead.

"Good morning!" he greeted, noticing how rumpled Brynjolf's street clothes were immediately. "Looks like you had a rough night."

Ziris cursed silently to herself from where she was holding herself up against the ceiling. The stone of the wall was digging into her palms, and she gritted her teeth together as Brynjolf offered Delvin a cursory glance.

"Don't mention it," he grumbled. "Where's Ziris?"

"Oh!" Please, Delvin. "I uh… I haven't seen her yet today."

Ziris released a silent, relieved breath.

"Oh." Brynjolf sounded… disappointed? Ziris must've been hearing it wrong. "Do you have any idea where she could be?"

"Not really," Delvin said. "I guess she could be in the Flagon, but I'd didn't see her in there."

"I should check," Brynjolf said after a moment. "I need to talk to her."

"Go right ahead," Delvin said, stepping out of his way. Ziris watched as Brynjolf continued on down the hall, and then she let herself fall, landing lightly on all fours. Delvin watched in appreciation as she stood up.

"That's pretty neat," he said to her. "You should teach me how to do that sometime."

"Maybe later," Ziris replied. "Do you have a job for me somewhere or not?"

Delvin sighed to himself, and dug into one of his pouches for a moment. He then pulled out a slip of paper, and handed it to her. "Someone wants a ring from Radiant Raiment in Solitude," he told her.

"Thank you," Ziris said, putting her hands together. "Please, please keep this from Brynjolf, all right? I need some time to think."

Delvin gazed at her for a moment, and then he offered her a single nod. Ziris looked relieved. "Thank you, Del. I'll see you when I get back."

With that, she turned tail and hurried for the cistern. Delvin watched her go, and then he sighed to himself and started back for the Flagon.

As he started through the door, Brynjolf stopped him, giving him a look.

Delvin hesitated for a moment, and then he gestured towards the cistern. "She's leavin' for Solitude. I'd run."

And that was exactly what Brynjolf did.

Ziris heard him before he spoke, and she let out a frustrated sigh.

"No hiding from this one," the shadows told her, and she scowled at them.

"Ziris, hold on," Brynjolf called when he spotted her, and she forced herself to a halt, wanting nothing more than to keep going.

She turned around to face him, and Brynjolf stopped a few steps away. He held out his arms. "You're just going to leave without talking to me about what happened last night?" he asked her.

"That was my plan," Ziris agreed. "The one that you've interrupted."

"I can't just let you go without at least trying to talk to you," Brynjolf said, stepping closer. "That's what you wanted to do when you came to find me in Whiterun, right? So, let's talk."

"About what?" Ziris questioned. "Hmm? I know that we must have mutual feelings for one another, but I don't know if I want to act on them, especially with our line of work. It's not smart, Brynjolf."

"But can we just ignore it?" he retorted. "I don't want to do that."

Ziris stared at him for a moment, and then she lowered her gaze. "I guess I don't, either," she admitted, "but what else is there to do?"

When she looked up again, Brynjolf was closer, and about to take her hand. "Not ignore it?" he suggested, meeting her gaze.

"You're hilarious," Ziris sighed, taking a small step backwards. Before she could get far, Brynjolf grabbed her hand, and he pulled her right up against him. Ziris let out an exhalation, and glanced up at him. "This is a bad idea, me and you," she said.

"It's a pretty good bad idea, then," Brynjolf replied.

Ziris gazed at him for another moment, and then she smiled weakly. "Isn't it, though?" she asked, and then she leaned up onto her toes and pressed a long kiss against his mouth. Brynjolf tightened the hold he had around her waist, pulling her impossibly closer.

Ziris broke off the kiss before it could go too far, however, and she met his eyes again. "I should still take care of this job in Solitude," she told him, and Brynjolf nodded.

"We'll talk more when you get back?" he suggested.

"Sure," Ziris agreed. "I think that's a good idea."

"Good." Brynjolf let her go, but before she could walk away, he grabbed her hand and pulled her back long enough to give her another kiss.

Then he let her go.

Ziris gave him a wave, and then she turned on her heel and headed out of Riften, smiling a bit to herself as she went, and not without a small skip to her step. Maybe not much about their routine would change at all.

A week later, Ziris returned to the Ragged Flagon, her pack weighing heavily with the things she'd stolen from Solitude on her trip. Delvin noticed how cheerful she was the minute he spotted her, and he waved her over to his table.

"Something good happen while you were gone, or… did it happen before you left?" he asked, waggling his eyebrows.

Ziris laughed at him, lowering her pack to the table so that she could show him what she'd gotten. First, however, she produced the ring that he'd wanted, and set it down on the table in front of him.

"Thank you," Delvin said, putting it away in one of his pouches. "What else have you got in there?"

"Just some extra things," Ziris replied, pulling out a tall green potion that she'd snatched, followed by a black robe with an intricate design of golden roses sewn into it.

Delvin picked up the potion and frowned as he peered at it. "What is this?" he asked her.

"I don't know," Ziris responded. "That's why I took it."

"Huh." Delvin set it back down, and ran a hand over the robes. "Why'd you steal extra things?"

"I wanted to," Ziris answered. "Do you want either of them?"

"I guess I could see about selling this robe," Delvin replied, "but I don't know who'd want a mystery potion." He pushed both out of the way and looked up at her. "But what happened?"

Ziris picked up her pack and slung it over her shoulder, tapping Delvin on the forehead as she rose.

"I'll tell you all about it once I get this put away," she promised, and then headed for the corridor leading to the cistern.

As soon as she passed through the wardrobe, she heard the door to the cistern opening, and she paused when she saw it was Brynjolf. His face immediately turned as red as his hair when they made eye contact, and she ducked her head, remembering their encounter in the graveyard before she had left.

"Good to see you in one piece," he greeted, clearing his throat.

"Yeah, uh…" She licked her lips and smiled at him. "I missed you, while I was gone."

Brynjolf returned the grin. "I missed you, too," he leveled.

Ziris nodded, intending for the conversation to end there, but as she started to move past him, Brynjolf suddenly took her by the shoulders and pressed her against the stone wall of the corridor, his body against hers and his mouth claiming her own.

Ziris hummed thoughtfully through the kiss, her pack falling from her hand as she wrapped her arms around his neck. Brynjolf snaked a hand down to her thighs and lifted her legs up so that they could wrap around his waist. He pressed against her, keeping her stable against the wall as his lips trailed down her jaw to her neck.

Ziris tilted her head to one side, eyes closed as he kissed and sucked on her skin. She was faintly aware of a door opening nearby, but she wasn't certain she was hearing it until she was suddenly dropped to the floor again, Brynjolf pulling away from her as though an invisible force had pushed him back. After a moment, Ziris realized why he'd parted so quickly.

Mercer stood before them, arms crossed and a glare on his face. He raised an eyebrow as Ziris pushed a strand of hair behind her ear and drew her lips inwards, hoping to hide their swolleness from him, although it was pointless. He clearly already knew what had been happening.

There was silence for quite some time as Mercer glared at them. Finally, however, he inhaled through his nose and spoke: "If you're going to do that, at least do it somewhere private." He shook his head. "It's unprofessional."

"Sorry, Mercer," Ziris said, glancing down at the floor.

"Won't happen again," Brynjolf added.

Mercer glanced between the two of them before he snorted and pushed past them into the Flagon. Ziris waited a moment before she glanced at Brynjolf, and found him already looking at her.

"That was… embarrassing, to say the least," he said.

"I'd agree with you, but it was also sort of funny," she responded.

Brynjolf shook his head. "Maybe to you. Mercer looked like he wanted to kill me."

"Oh, Brynjolf, don't you know that's Mercer's typical facial expression?" Ziris inquired, and she managed to get a laugh out of him. Ziris joined in, and she decided that she was glad she'd gone after him to Whiterun.

I must have written this when I was on my Sherlock kick a few months back, before the garbage ending to series 4, because Ziris quotes Watson in this chapter.

Free cookies if you can find the quote I'm referring to.