Serana and Irina had retired early to their room from the other two nords, before they took their leave Brynjolf had wrapped an arm around Irina's smaller frame and hugged her tightly. Irina couldn't help but to blush against the nord, his antics were quite... public. He had placed a hand on her head and gave her a great big smile that made Mjoll narrow her eyes and Serana purse her lips, "I've missed you so, my little coin-maker. Go rest now, before I drag you back to the cistern for drinks."
She sluggishly pushed herself out of his grasp but Serana caught the faintest smile gracing her lips.
Irina gave a swift nod to Mjoll who'd looked over Brynjolf as if he had grown another head. She couldn't give the poor bosmer a glance in return, her apparent distaste was obvious. Which wasn't too out of place, Brynjolf had never shown his affection in front of the lioness before, it probably stunned her.
"Are you a secret lover or something, what in oblivion was that?" Mjoll asked him as Serana and Irina silently pushed their chairs in.
At the question Irina tensed up and made to speak but Serana grabbed ahold of her forearm dragging her away from the conversation. She was given a look of confusion in return but Serana merely shook her head, "You're so close to passing out right now I don't need you to do it in the middle of an inn- They'll be fine."
"I would call you the expert in secret affairs but Aerin hiding behind your armor is pretty obvious-" the nord cut himself off and narrowly evaded a leek that had flown in his direction with pinpoint aiming. Mjoll had thrown it with intentions to take out his eyes, her face was as red as a tomato. Her cheeks were ablaze with a snarl on her face, the last person she wanted calling out her relationship was doing it with ease.
The woman bit down on her jaw at Brynjolf's ignorance and slammed her hands on the table, all the pent up aggression toward him seeping out of her.
The first fight of the night, and it just had to be them.
The pair had not even made it to the stairs before they heard the sound of a fallen chair. Irina spun on her heel at the sound while Serana merely winced at the ensuing chaos- she didn't have to turn around to know what she would find.
The dragonborn buried her face in her hands at the sight of Mjoll taking a stance looking feral with rage and embarrassment mixed into her countenance. She had her hands leveled to her just under her chin and her eyes were focused on the other nord, Brynjolf had his hands down by his sides looking modestly confident.
He locked eyes with Irina and gave her a sheepish shrug. How she sometimes despised the nord's ego, it only fueled Mjoll's rage and that was the last thing that they needed.
"They cannot be serious... Not even a minute-" Irina was cut short with another tug from Serana.
"They will deal with it themselves, they don't need you there to babysit now come on." the nord urged.
Irina released a sigh and shook her head before following the pale woman up the stairs. Her exhaustion could almost erase the shapely backside that was currently gracing her eyesight, Irina could almost roll her eyes at her own mind for even going there. The wood creaked beneath their boots with every step and once they entered their shared room Irina released a silent puff of air.
She leaned against the door with her hands behind her back, looking nothing short of exhausted. Her brown hair fell in her face covering much of anything else besides her own boots, she was so very close to her housecarl and Brynjolf and Mjoll were more than willing to help- everything seemed promising... Why did she feel like something would go amiss?
Well, that's not the real reason she was worried- Irina already knew what the reason was. She was anxious for how Lydia would feel about her afterwards, how she would view the dragonborn for endangering her- her child. Being torn away from her husband and home, Irina didn't even know how she was kidnapped- what circumstances. Nothing.
Her brows scrunched up with worry and hearing the lioness yelling from downstairs didn't help her thoughts.
"Irina." Serana's voice called out.
She ignored it for a few seconds. A mistake. Black boots marched their way to her with purpose and Irina could hear it- lovely.
Sure enough, the nord was in front of her in a matter of seconds. Candlelight filled their room and gave it a warm presence, it only served to keep the dragonborn in a sleepy state. Irina could hardly appreciate the romantic flair.
Pale hands wrapped themselves around her toned tan shoulders, Serana gave her a firm squeeze and urged the bosmer to give her the grace of eyesight. Irina lazily looked up at her and felt her mouth go dry, something in the way Serana looked at her made her lose her ability to speak. She hadn't the pleasure of ever being looked at in such a way. Well, no. That was wrong-
Lydia used to look at her like that. Once upon a time... when things between them were unspoken and now forever kept quiet.
"Why do you look so helpless right now?" Serana asked. Her eyebrows were furrowed into her forehead, the light in her golden eyes only read that she was worried. Genuinely worried about the woman. Irina had never seen such an expression on Serana's face before and especially not directed toward her.
"I... I-I don't know." Irina barely managed to say in response.
Her eyes... They're golden. How beautiful.
With a tiny huff Serana frowned. She released the woman from her gentle hold and Irina didn't expect herself to miss the touch, not at all.
"You've been quiet for most of the journey, I thought that now that we were here you'd get some life back but... I don't know- sorry. You didn't seem like yourself so I got worried." Serana explained with her hands clasping behind her back. Irina took notice of the pink hue coloring her cheeks and wondered if the nord was embarrassed.
With only half of her reason Irina placed a firm hand on the nord's shoulder, giving her a reassuring squeeze "thank you, Serana. You're right- I'm overthinking and obviously I've let the thoughts bleed out of my mind. But don't worry about me, I just..." Irina let go of her and cradled her hand to her chest. Serana swallowed nervously at the sight of the woman looking distraught- this was new and uncharted territory.
"You love her. You're worried...-" Serana tried explaining but Irina merely chuckled in defeat.
"I love her deeply. It's... There's too many things rushing my mind. I don't know what to make of it all." Irina admitted with a dejected sigh. Her arms hung loosely at her sides while her orange eyes focused on the window, the night was dark enough to see many stars and Irina could lose herself in staring but she knew she needed to rest.
Now... Serana knew that the admiration in Irina's eyes was love. She knew that the bosmer was in love with her housecarl, it was plain as day. However, hearing her say the words aloud was something else entirely- it struck the nord in the chest with a mixture of emotions that she was not pleased to be feeling. Despite knowing the truth for herself.
"Don't force an answer right now- you're pretty much delirious. Now Isn't the time to be stressing yourself out- you need some sleep. It's that simple." Serana said. She tried to sound comforting but if one were to pay attention they could hear the tiny edge to her voice.
Whatever feelings were surfacing to eat away at the nord were quickly vanquished- Irina had given her a smile that made her go weak in the knees. "I need a bath first, I'm absolutely filthy- but... thanks again. You're quite the charmer yourself, dear."
Dear?
Serana felt the warmth rush to her face and blinked rapidly to try and keep her mind sane. A few moments passed between them and Serana took a hurried step back realizing that she was blocking the elf from the washbasin and most of the room. She handn't a clue as to how to respond to that she chose to remain silent instead, Irina chose not to tease her about the way her face lit up with color.
"Well, it looks like you've got a plan underway. That's a good thing, I couldn't tell you why but I've got a good feeling about this." Serana spoke while undoing the braids in her hair. Attempting to do something to busy herself, she sauntered back over to the bed and gave the elf her space.
Irina rubbed her own shoulder and shrugged, "I try to diminish whims like that, the future is never certain." Irina loosened her sword belt and set her blades to lean against the wall, her glass sword and ebony blade reflected the light in the room with deadly importance.
Wordlessly, Irina had begun to strip herself free of her clothes. Serana unknowing."that's not a good mindset to have, I found that mortals always seem to perform better when they have hope."
The bosmer neatly set her clothes atop the table their room was provided and stretched her limbs, a soft groan left her at the pop of her shoulder- nothing else but her impending bath could have been better. The dovahkiin glanced back to the nord who sat on the edge of their bed removing her boots.
"and who is exactly are you referring to? I'm no longer a mortal, my lady." Irina asked with an incredulous voice.
"I know that, but you still have this... spark of life to you. Okay, forget the part concerning mortals- It would just do you good to have some faith in that things will go smoothly, or at least... not at awful as you might think." the nord explained.
Irina could almost roll her eyes at the statement. It was an endearing thought and she made a fair point but it felt too late to be hopeful, there could be no telling what condition her housecarl was in. There were so many questions Irina needed answered concerning the woman's wellbeing but nobody to ask. It was too frightening to relax.
"Yes, I suppose you speak some truth." Irina said to please the other woman. She wanted nothing more than to just be hopeful but she couldn't- not really.
Serana had stared at the ceiling absently, expecting more monologue between herself and the tragic hero, and was surprised to find that Irina listened to reason. Not that she didn't expect her not to... Serana had only assumed it would pose harder for the elf because of the trickiness of the situation.
Golden eyes went to meet orange ones, to give her some comfort but she was instead met with her nude body, beautifully bathed in candlelight.
Wait a minute.
Huh?
Serana had frozen at the sight and closed her mouth, at a loss for words. Her back was turned to her and so the bosmer didn't notice her intrusive eyes. Irina stepped toward the washbasin and Serana almost felt ashamed of herself. The woman wanted a bath, couldn't she give her the privacy she needed? No. It seemed she could not. Her eyes were glued to Irina's body in appreciation, lust, and something else she couldn't quite place at the moment.
"In two days right? That's when we're going, but during the day or night?" Serana asked in an attempt to make conversation, her silence would've given her away. Maybe. Would it have? She could look away anytime, it would only be right. Why was Irina so comfortable with her? Golden orbs scanned the shape of her back and slope of her shoulders- gods.
Serana never registered how much smaller she had been compared to the nord and a new urge to assert dominance hit Serana in a way she'd never felt before.
Irina hummed in thought and shrugged. "Honestly, I don't know yet. I would like to go at first light tomorrow but given our exhaustion, mine especially- that'd be the same as going in there drunk out of our minds." Irina began to dip a small cloth in the washbasin and slowly poured some oils on said cloth. She scrubbed at the dirt that had gotten on her neck and arms. The oil had left a pleasant scent while the soap had formed small white bubbles across the elf's skin.
Serana found herself holding in a breath. Her body was becoming unreasonably hot, all over- she felt heat in her face and neck and somewhere else that only made the woman feel more ashamed. With some embarrassment the nord crossed her legs over one another and prayed for the small spark of arousal to go away.
"Yeah, you're right. I don't mind either day or night, but I'll need a heads up so I can feed beforehand." Serana responded while she cleared her throat. She tried so desperately to clear her mind from lewd thoughts but seeing her bare was maddening. It was every man's dream in Skyrim come true and Serana was the one with the privilege of experiencing it.
"I should do the same, but I think night would be best. Brynjolf is a good sneak, we'll need shadows and the elements of stealth to our advantage. Mjoll's good as well, granted she would be better if she foregoes her heavy armor. Night would be best for the three of us but Mjoll is a day person..." Irina trailed off while she bent over to clean her legs.
Her backside was presented to Serana, the nord bit on her lower lip hard enough to break skin.
Just look away you pervert.
Serana could feel all levels of exhaustion leave her body, her senses more alert than ever. Irina bent forward some more to wash the dirt from her ankles and even more of her body was presented to her. Serana felt all her senses turn to mush at the sight of the elf's sex and the slight profile of her breasts.
Serana gripped the sheets of the bed tightly until her knuckles turned white and tore her eyes away from the woman. A second longer and Serana would have said something stupid, suggested something ridiculous and... by the blood, she didn't even want to know what Irina's reaction would have been if she did.
It was only until Irina stood upright did Serana think to respond, "nighttime would help my magic but you're right to think of how Mjoll would do." she was curt and her tone sounded far-off. How could it not? She swore the bosmer was doing this on purpose. She kept her gaze to the wall and away from the bosmer in front of her.
"I'll let them both know on the morrow and try to work something out. By the way... You realize I could see you staring right?" Irina asked.
"What?" Serana asked with great surprise.
She turned back to the elf whom glanced at her with an arm draped over her chest, and a hand modestly covering her sex. Serana felt a small twinge of disappointment at the coverage but said nothing of it. It was with great difficulty that she kept her eyes above the woman's clavicle and not anywhere else.
Irina reached toward the dresser just a foot away from her and held up a bottle of mead as if to show her. "I could see your reflection on the glass, and all the lovely reactions" there was a playful edge to her voice and Serana's eyes wilted again, not from what she said but because she knew if Serana had looked just a little down south...
The way Serana's skin flushed red made Irina bring a hand up to her own lips and smother a smirk. Flushed all the way from her neck to her face, the nord tore her eyes away and looked to the ceiling.
Irina set the bottle down with a wordless sigh- yet the smirk failed to leave her. Once she was finished wiping herself of the soap and oils Irina had dressed herself in clean small-clothes and fished through the wardrobe for anything to wear.
Unbothered seemed like an understatement and Serana could only wonder why, but then again, would she herself have been bothered if Irina snuck a glance or two? Probably not.
Irina returned with a forest green shirt fitting snugly against her, she'd foregone pants letting her legs and backside be exposed. The poor nord had begun to stare again and this time Irina could see her plainly do so. There was something holding either of them back from acting out on their desires, there could be no way that either hadn't noticed the tension between them, it was plain as day.
What had initiated what? Serana had touched her body first, she remembered being mesmerized by the younger elf's scars, and there wasn't any intentions of any bedding in the nord's mind- she just wanted to see for herself. Serana had kissed her purely out of impulse and that had been that. She never tried again.
Irina had stared at her body in Solitude, there was a look of appreciation in her eyes that had always replayed in Serana's mind for days to come. Nobody had ever looked at her like that before and so for the woman to keep the memory wasn't too out of the ordinary, at least for her it wasn't.
Had there been anything after that? Serana tried to replay all of their time together to track down the moment their sexual tension... Serana felt herself swallow deeply at the realization that they've probably had this attraction from the start- or was it only Serana? That couldn't be true, Irina was just as interested, wasn't she?
"If you hadn't kissed me first, I would be shocked at this lack of control." she spoke moving to her side of the bed, Serana was pulled out of her own thoughts and focused on the woman in front of her.
"You never struck me as the type to enjoy a woman's company." Irina added as she undid the covers and settled herself in. Serana still lay on top of the covers so she had to shift a little for the elf to wrap herself in the blanket. Her golden eyes glazed over a little before speaking.
"I don't. I mean... not anyone's company. Not until recently." Serana said. She laid on her side with the arm underneath her used a pillow, she stared at the dovahkiin's back and her neck. She had an urge to trace her fingertips down the length of Irina's spine, to feel her skin. The nord frowned at herself.
You can't be serious...
The dovahkiin secretely smiled to herself at Serana's words. "I'm flattered... Goodnight." Irina said with a light yawn.
A feeling of warmth spread throughout the nord's chest, something unfamiliar yet so welcoming. She only seemed to feel it even more as she stared at the dovahkiin's back. After a moment of realization, Serana cursed herself for feeling something so pure, she didn't deserve it and she hoped to all of her ancestors that the feeling wasn't what she thought.
After all that she's done to be a pure-blooded vampire, worshipping a daedra, casting aside her innocence and welcoming depravity... she threw herself to an immortal life of solitude for reasons that she didn't whole heartedly believe in anymore and she had to accept that no one would overlook the things she did in life- she had to accept a life of solitude a long time ago and her decision shouldn't be swayed by a pretty face coming into her undead life.
Then why did she feel what she felt with the young dragonborn? Why was she so uncertain now?
Golden eyes stared at Irina's sleeping form with concern, it was hard for the nord to fall asleep that night but the harshness of their journey forced her eyes closed eventually.
The night should have remained undisturbed and peaceful. They should have both gotten their much deserved rest for the night but alas... that did not happen. At least, not for the dovahkiin anyway. The woof elf had risen in the middle of the night with her body tense and her eyes wide open, almost like she was paralyzed in fear.
The most strange thing about it was, Irina couldn't place why she woke with such alarm.
Irina pushed herself into a sitting position and rubbed her temples.
Her brown hair was askew and her breaths were shaky. She'd barely slept a meager three hours and it showed from the heavy bags still underneath her eyes. She could recall from her dream a man in robes, for some reason she could only remember from the neck down. They were long and flowy, colored a light olive green and looked similar to that of mage's robes.
Nothing else came to mind after that. Which was fine, she didn't need to dwell on things that would damage her psyche.
Irina sighed to herself and looked at Serana's form. Fast asleep. Irina felt a small smile tug at the corner of her mouth, she looked so gentle... To lay back down by her side was more than a temptation.
With slow movements the woman rose from the bed and made her way to where she had placed her armor. She inspected the pieces in the moonlight that shone through the room and hesitantly grabbed ahold of her gauntlets, her thumb moved over the stalhrim in slow circles with much contemplation. No. Something told her that she would not need them tonight, a feeling that nothing was going to be amiss.
She set them down softly and shook her head, she would be fine.
Irina quietly opened the wardrobe and retrieved a pair of brown slacks, she tried her best to not wake Serana but the squeakiness of the wooden floor and the creaks of the wardrobe were rather prominent. Irina furrowed her brows and winced at every squeak the old wood gave under her weight. With as little noise as she could make, Irina sauntered to her sword and wrapped the belt tightly around her waist.
She may not have needed her armor tonight, but a weapon was a must.
As she left the room, a pair of golden eyes followed her form with furrowed brows.
The cold air made the bosmer shiver and she wished she brought a fur coat with her, something, anything to keep the hairs on her arms from rising. Having a resistance to cold did nothing for her right now. Her boots made muffled sounds against the cobblestone with the few steps she took, she didn't make it very far from the inn.
The first thing she caught sight of was a beggar woman named Edda.
She was on her side and in a fetal position, in an attempt to keep warm. She lay on a makeshift bed, hardly a bed at all, it was simply a thin piece of cloth over the cobblestone with a potato sack as her pillow. Her frail body shivered relentlessly against the stone and Irina sighed deeply. Her chest felt pain at the sight. She bit her lower lip and cursed under her breath, how she wished to have the ability to ignore such things.
She materialized her bag and sifted through its contents, it took a couple moments but she found what she needed. Out of her bag and now in her hands was a bear pelt, a small one but it would have to make do. Irina knelt down to the cold stone and ever so softly draped the woman with the fur.
An undead hand came to rest on the beggar's forehead, a small piece of affection. Irina hoped that she would at least be more comfortable this way, to see her out in the streets was uncommon. Usually the people of Riften would sleep in Beggar's Row- while undesirable as it was, it protected one from the cold.
Edda continued to shiver, only slightly. It wasn't until her body had stopped its shaking that Irina decided to leave her.
Out in the other holds hundreds of others were living out in the cold and dealing with their miserable existence, just like Edda. Due to the war, due to Skyrim being a tough land to live in, and amongst other reasons.
It was almost comical, Irina was a fighter. If she was put in the position of Edda, she would do whatever she needed in order to make her situation better, Irina was a stubborn woman. When did she ever take no for an answer? Hardly ever. Yet, despite herself... she found herself full of sympathy. She knew others didn't have that constitution.
"That was very generous of you, thane" a deep voice came from beside her. Irina's ears perked up and she looked upwards to see Balimund the blacksmith with a torch in his hand, he stared down at her with an old man's curiosity. She leveled with the man, "yes, I know. Hopefully she keeps it during the winter, I know no one else gives her a second thought."
"That is unfortunately true, however you can't blame anyone for that." he responded with a shrug. He looked at Edda with pity and then back to the bosmer, "but It's a blessing, to have people like you. It might teach the rest of us a lesson."
"I have a philosophy concerning all that. But, to give you a short answer... It comes from love." her eyes were pointed upwards to the moons and stars. The night was unusually cold, and even with that harshness the sky was beautiful to look at. A rare night in Skyrim, where so many stars shined brightly.
"Is that what you learned living up at High Hrothgar? With those hermits?" Balimund asked her with a raised brow, the tone of his voice implied distaste. She closed her eyes and remembered the night sky before she gave her attention to the man beside her, she couldn't tell if he had poked fun at her masters or not. Even so, she did not appreciate his tone.
"I learned a great many things with the Greybeards, but that's just a piece of my own wisdom. It sounds like you could use some more." she said with a small frown.
"Why would I want to do that? Their wisdom may be useful to the dragonborn, to important leaders and influential people... but me? I'm just a blacksmith."
"What do you mean, why? Doesn't the gathering of knowledge even seem the least bit important to you, or are you content with keeping the same head until you die?"
"You may say these things because you're young, and because you are special. Whether or not you'll admit it out loud. But for me, what I think about is how I'm going to sell my stock, how to perfect my craft and to see if my weapons and armor make a difference in this silly war. Only the simple things matter to me- I don't need to go out and find a reason to live, I just do." Balimund said plainly.
Irina simply stared back at him. Perhaps there was some point she missed, or perhaps he truly was just a simple man who cared for simple things. She couldn't form an answer to that because there was none.
He shrugged his shoulders and took a gander to the blades that hung at her waist. "I didn't think I'd find anyone else out here besides me, especially not you, dragonborn. Those swords you have there, you need 'em sharpened? I can do it for you free of charge."
Irina looked at him surprised, "Weren't you the one to go on about the simple things? How do you expect to continue your craft by offering your services for free?" she asked.
"Come now, I didn't mean to offend you about the Greybeards. There's no need for the nit-picking. I want to sharpen them for free, because you did me a favor in the past and now I'm returning it." he said as he led her to his forge. It was close, she could see it from the inn's doors.
At his forge the elf had suddenly remembered what the blacksmith had spoken of. She'd presented fire salts for the man, to keep his forge burning hot, Irina made a face of surprise and Balimund raised a curious eyebrow at her, "you okay?" Irina was dumbstruck. As if she had just realized the amount of people who were 'indebted' to her, "years ago, I'd given you ten batches of fire salts. I can't believe that slipped my mind, I just recalled" she said as she scratched the back of her head.
Balimund wordlessly shook his head at her.
He threw his arms up in the air in a shrug before he took his seat at the grindstone. "You know what? That doesn't surprise me, everywhere I go I'm always hearing about some favor you did for someone else, there's no wonder you forgot."
"My housecarl would always tell me that I don't understand the meaning of the word no, I guess she was right" Irina mumbled the last part off to herself, Balimund still heard her whispered words and a half-smile graced his lips. As the dovahkiin mused to herself the nord had procured a bright green ingot, malachite. Even in the dark the metal had reflected the moonlight.
"I could give you a better sword, if you'd like to trade me." his tone was genuine and she sensed no ill-intent behind it. She crossed her arms over her chest and cocked her head to the side, her gaze inquisitive "do me one better? What material are you trying to give me better than ebony and malachite?" she was overly curious. There were many different types of metals that had different levels of durability, but there were only two materials that could be better than what she currently owned.
Balimund ceased his work at the grindstone. He looked to her with eyes that Irina couldn't quite understand, it was so...simple. A mixture of both wisdom and aloofness, no expression graced his features, it was only his eyes that had spoken to her. "I don't want you to think I'm trying to cheat you, I want you to wield a better blade and put it to use, there's alot you gotta do. I know because I can read your eyes, you've still got things left unsettled. So use my sword, dragonborn."
He stood from the grindstone and walked to his workbench, he had a sword lying on the metal bed. It was sheathed, the sword-belt a pitch black and the straps were strewn across the table. Balimund pick up the blade by its handle and looked at her with a gleam of pride in his eye, "one of my finer pieces, It's daedric."
Irina whistled when he unsheathed the blade and presented it to her, the metal was a far deeper tint of black than her ebony sword was, it was freshly forged and sharpened to a most refined point. She grasped the handle and felt the difference in weight, it was easier to hold than her ebony sword with the blade being so compact, and a bit heavier but... it would do. It would very nicely.
Irina looked to him with a half-smirk, "I take it you want both of my swords then? To compensate for this beauty."
He brushed blonde hair away from his face and nodded, "I can produce the gold I need to make another by selling those two off, what do you say? I don't think it's a bad deal, two good blades in exchange for one blade with twice as power?"
"It's not a bad offer at all... well, they belong to you now Balimund. I can't say I understand the need to give me such a weapon, but I'm still grateful. I guess I can let your comments on the Greybeards slip my attention." she said as she sheathed her new sword about her waist. Balimund set the glass and ebony blades by his forge. A thick hand placed itself on Irina's shoulder and he gave her a squeeze, "take care of it, it took me hours of slaving away to forge it...- I'm going to bed now, be sure to get your rest as well."
With his hand on his door Balimund paused and looked to the dragonborn whose eyes had followed his old form saunter away.
"Oh, and before you start growing grey hairs on your head... learn to be young. It'll do you some good." He bid her goodnight and retreated inside his home.
Learn to be young? She hadn't the slightest idea as to what he meant by that, her mind wasn't given much time to process it either because a familiar scent filled her nose. The scent of another vampire who was supposed to be asleep.
Her footsteps soon became audible and Irina turned towards the sound, Serana had approached her from the shadows with a lazy smile. "I thought you were sleeping, don't tell me I woke you." Irina said with a bit of concern in her voice. How charming she was. Serana would never tire of her, she was sure.
The pale woman shook her head and laughed, "no, you didn't. I did that on my own, I just noticed you weren't there when I woke up." she could have continued and remarked how she wanted to simply be by her side but that would boost her ego in a way that Serana wouldn't enjoy.
The smirk that formed on the elf's face was almost condemnable. "I didn't expect you to fancy me this much, Serana. Come to look for me? So that we may lie together in bed? Within one another's arms?" the nord looked at her in mild disbelief. Irina laughed at her expression, which would've made the nord blush had it not been for the grandiose suggestions from the elf.
"You need help, and no. I couldn't really sleep tonight, which is why I'm here." Serana didn't specify that Irina was the reason that she had even bothered to rise from her bed.
The bosmer raised a questioning brow, it was understandable for Irina to not be able to rest tonight. The plan to rescue Lydia had adrenaline rush through her veins, but Serana? What in oblivion troubled her? Serana could read her wonderous expression and simply shook her head.
"I was going to head inside, but I don't know- erm... Did you want my company? Or would you prefer to be alone?" Irina asked her with a curious voice.
Oh, she was adorable. Serana felt her cheeks begin to flush and she hoped the bosmer wouldn't be able to see. She pondered for a moment, "It'd be nice with you around, I do appreciate conversation." Serana found Irina's visible joy at the prospect flattering.
They both continued to walk around the city for a good half hour in the wee hours of the wolf, since everything had been closed and they completed a full circle around the city, the bosmer had a grand idea to go past the city gates. Their forms sifted through brick buildings and emerged somewhere just outside the gates.
Serana stared at the trees curiously.
"Nature is pretty, is it not?" the dovahkiin asked with a small grin.
Not as pretty as a certain bosmer.
"Yes... I've never seen leaves turn orange. It's lovely to look at" Serana said with her hands behind her back.
Irina hummed in response, she placed her hands atop her head and stared at the beauty around her. So much had transpired in her short time down from High Hrothgar that she forgot to take in the world around her, orange leaves and crisp air. There was a small breeze that made Irina shiver every so often but other than that, there was nothing amiss.
A serene smile graced her lips and she made to look over at Serana but she found that golden eyes were already transfixed on her.
The nord was on her knee, with a leaf in her hand, long forgotten in her fingertips. Irina tilted her head to the side and her grin grew more, she opened her mouth to say something cheeky. Something that would surely turn the nord bright red, as she was want to do when Irina teased her. However, no words came.
Her breath had caught in her throat. Moonlight poured down onto Serana's features enhancing her pale porcelain skin, the brightness of her eyes and contributed to a beautiful contrast between her skin and hair. A dark beauty, and there was no way she couldn't have known. Yet the curious light in her eye told Irina otherwise.
The dovahkiin lost her own voice.
At the realization of the shorter woman's staring Serana blinked back into focus and felt her face heat up. Irina also snapped out of her trance and cleared her throat awkwardly, her orange eyes moved back to the sky and kept her gaze firmly fixed away from the taller nord. Had she been embarrassed? Serana couldn't quite tell.
The same warmth she felt inside the inn returned to her chest. Serana placed a hand over her chest and bit her lower lip, she couldn't deny its presence any longer. It had been painfully obvious from the first instance, and Serana couldn't believe... how intense the emotion was.
Irina sauntered off to observe more of their surroundings with pink-dusted cheeks, she could still feel the other woman's attention on her and seemed a bit flustered at it. Serana swallowed a lump in her throat and let her hand drop to her side in mild disbelief.
"I love her..."