Skyrim Romance Oneshots

(A/N: Sorry about the wait. Things have been going on in life that have made me pretty well unable to update anything very often, and for that I'm sorry. However, I hope to get back into the swing of things again. No promises, but hopefully I'll be able to manage. For reviewers and readers who have made requests, your requests are all still pending, I promise you that. It just may take a while for them to show up. I'm kind of seriously lacking motivation to do anything much, but I'm trying to get a hold of that. Sorry again for the wait. Enjoy.)

Guardian

There was a lot of responsibility that came on him as the defacto leader of the Warrens. Ensure the residents had rooms, stayed warm, received new bedding, cleaned out waste, and generally kept as clean as could be expected in this cesspool of a cavern. He needed to ensure they were fed, that there was enough water to go around for drinking, and that they got down to the river and small pond to bathe at least semi-regularly. He was to make sure they hadn't been cheated on their wages, that they were paid their dues, and that Mulush did not get too cruel with them. He needed be sure that, when injured, they were properly cared for and had the appropriate time off to recover. He needed to make sure that when they were sick they got the medicine and healing they needed, and the rest required. Peel away all the layers and at the end of the day his job was to keep them alive and protect them. Even from themselves.

Naturally, Garvey took this position very, very seriously, going as far as to—when he couldn't work—linger on the inside of the cave and watch out for any who may do his people, his friends, harm. When one gosling—so to speak—was out of commission, they got the brunt of 'papa goose's' attention and were protected most ferociously. He always succeeded in nursing them back to health. He wouldn't settle for any less… So when she became sick and nothing he did seemed to get her any better, it was very, very distressing. Aggravating. Painful.

Garvey leaned against the wall of the cave, his eyes staying on her. Cairine weakly leaned against a wall. Suffering. Coughing. Afraid. Weak. He had tried every medicine at their disposal, others were too expensive for them to afford, and none of them had done anything more than perhaps ease the pain, if they were lucky. He didn't know what was wrong with her. Well, he did. Ataxia, she had claimed. Which made it more frustrating still because it should have been treatable. It was so simple… Except the medicine and treatments needed were so expensive that even their combined wages—if every single one of them gave all he could spare and forsook food and drink for a couple of days—it still wouldn't be enough to keep it ongoing for as long as would be needed. She couldn't recover on her own without it…

Garvey knew Omluag saved money. He had gone to him pleading for him to spare his coin and to help. Omluag had answered very curtly that while he sympathized, his whole savings wouldn't be enough to do much good. Liar. He had called him such. Omluag had shaken his head solemnly, repeated his statement, and had given Garvey his day's wages. He had said he wanted her to recover too. Garvey had told him to—in nicer terms than the words he'd truly used—drop dead and let the skeevers decimate his body. He had almost thrown the money back at him, but then…

"Garvey," her voice weakly said. He had turned. She was watching him, her eyes filled with pain. He had left Omluag without a word and gone to buy a potion of cure disease. It had worked a grand total of twelve hours before she'd regressed.

ES

Garvey pulled away from the wall and went to Cairine's side. It was a very rare time he was away from her nowadays. He knelt at her side and placed the back of his hand against her forehead. She was burning up. He pursed his lips. She opened her eyes and smiled weakly at him. She was a mess, he noted. Her hair was matted, her face was gaunt and smeared with dirt, her skin was pallid and her eyes clouded… But she was beautiful. Behind it all she had once been beautiful. Her voice was weak. It was the voice of a middle aged or elderly woman. Cairine wasn't middle aged and she certainly wasn't old. She was younger than even him. She should not sound like she did.

"You need to eat. Or sleep," she murmured to him.

"I'll manage," he answered, wetting a rag in cold water and gently bathing her face with the cool water, trying to slow the fever. "Right now you're my priority."

"I have been for some time. Perhaps your obsession," she pointed out. He looked at her, frowning. But to a degree she was right. He sighed through the nose. "I have never seen you focus on a sick person so long as you have with me," she remarked.

"They've always recovered," he answered, deflecting the remark.

She shook her head ruefully. "You need to stop," she murmured. "You can't help me anymore, Garvey. I've only gotten worse… For Aedra's sake, I can't even go to the bathroom without your help. You shouldn't have to do that for me. You needn't throw away your own dignity to spare me mine. You deserve so much more."

"I am a proud man, Cairine," he said.

"You are," she answered.

"Then you know that if I haven't left you for nought now, I'm not about to," he said.

"Let me go," she said, sadness in her eyes. "I don't want you to keep doing this… You have a life to live, my sweet friend. Let the sickness have me… I don't want to suffer anymore… Make your own life again."

Garvey felt his jaw twitch and felt a burning threatening his eyes. He swallowed. "I am content with this one," he stated. She started, eyes filling with some sort of emotion before she hid it again, swallowing. It was as if she were afraid of it. His jaw twitched. He was unsure why he labelled the emotion he had seen in her eyes as unknown. He knew what it was. He felt it too.

"Come on, you need to bathe," he said, lifting her up in his arms… She was so light. She had lost so much weight. It scared him. It felt as if he were picking up no more than a skeleton. That thought terrified him.

ES

He brought her down to the lake. It was dark and the streets were empty besides the guards who rarely came down this way. He laid her down on the ground and looked at her. "I'm going to undress you now," he said to her. "If you feel uncomfortable, let me know."

"I feel uncomfortable, but I know it's necessary. Do as you will," she answered.

He nodded. Carefully he began to remove her dirty clothing. He could wash these soon enough. Or burn them. Burn probably. A spare set for her had been donated to him by Hroki. She had tried to give him a better set, but he had told her they would only be ruined quickly. Cairine had backed him and so reluctantly the girl had given them a rough spin tunic instead. He was at her undergarments and paused. "If you…" he began.

"Get it over with," she said to him. He shifted uneasily and nodded. Carefully he removed them. Oh wow. He bit the inside of his cheek lightly. "Your eyes are lingering, Garvey," she teased, smiling. They really weren't, but he was flustered nonetheless, looking up at her in alarm and guilt, blushing.

"Sorry," he murmured. He swiftly picked her up and helped her into the water.

She giggled lightly. "I was teasing you," she said.

"Oh, um, good," he replied. He helped her lean back in the water, wetting her hair. Gently he began to wash it, working at the tangles and mats as delicately as he could. Not all of them would come out, he knew. He had no hairbrush for her so he had to work with fingers, and they weren't enough to get out every knot. It was surprising, he noted, how much dirt and grime came off of her hair and body. He needed to try and increase the frequency of the baths. Not only for her but for all of them. Staying clean would also help fend off diseases and the like.

He watched quietly as her hair was cleansed. It was soft between his fingers. She was completely at ease with him helping her. He was glad for it. He didn't want her to be scared or feel unsafe. She had every reason to be. They were alone, no one was near, she was vulnerable, and she couldn't have hoped to defend herself should he try anything. He had no intentions of breaking that trust with her. He gently helped her under the water one last time then brought her up. She was grinning and shivering in the cool night air. She opened her eyes, smiling at him with such trust… He felt his heart clenching. He helped her carefully out of the water and brought out the new rough spin tunic. He helped her into it then went to her old clothes and took them to the smelter, throwing them into the still hot coals. She watched silently from where he'd left her. He watched the clothing burn. A fearful thought came to him. How much longer before it was a body he saw burning? He could still visualize Weylin's body in the flames as he had been cremated. They couldn't even afford a burial for him, let alone him being able to afford one for himself. Cairine would be next, a dark thought whispered. A painful tightening in his throat. He couldn't watch her die…

ES

"You're afraid," she murmured. He gave no answer. "You don't have to be," she said. He looked over at her but said nothing. She tilted her head, summing him up. Soon she shook her head. "You shouldn't have to bear all of this alone."

"I don't," he answered. And that was true. Hathrasil had been and continued to be a great help, a great confidant, a great friend…

"You are a beautiful person," she said to him. He turned to her again, a little surprised at the statement. "Inside and out you are beautiful. You are guardian, protector, friend, leader, hero… I wish you were more…"

His eyes widened slowly. More? She didn't mean… He turned to her. She smiled sadly at him. "Cairine?" he asked.

She looked up towards the moon saying nothing. He approached her. She looked over at him. "I wish you could be my lover, my husband, the father of my children…" she murmured.

He froze in place, blinking at her in shock and disbelief. "You wish…" he began, unsure what to say. "By the Old Gods…"

She chuckled and looked again at the moon. "Were I to live to see that day… But I suppose that is lost to me now too… I know you love me as well, but you can't. I won't allow it. You… I'm dying, Garvey… I won't have you suffer more than you already do…"

He crossed quickly to her and took her into his arms. She felt her mouth quivering and buried her face in his clothing as she gasped back a sob. He tilted her chin and took her lips. After a moment he drew back. "I'm not suffering," he answered. "You will make it, my love." My love. Oh he'd long meant to say those words…

Her mouth quivered and she leaned against him. "You cannot love me," she murmured. "You have a life above this one before you."

"And we will share in it," Garvey promised. "Tarry a little longer. A little longer and it will all be alright again. I promise. I will watch over you forever more."