The plan was finally set.
It was still insane, still so risky, but it was the best plant they had ever had against the assassins.
Bishop and Aeyrin stayed at the outpost practically all day, going over the plans, over the magical trinkets and scrolls and spells, all to work out every last detail. Well, as much as they could work out. It was still a big unknown since none of them knew the Brotherhood's motivations for hunting Bishop so relentlessly.
Their next destination was clear – Morthal. It was probably their most usual go-to location when they wanted to avoid any complications. They would stay in town, however long they needed to. They would often find some reasons to spend time separately so that the Brotherhood would have an opportunity to lure Bishop away when Aeyrin wasn't around. She wasn't exactly thrilled about that, but there was no convincing him. And she knew that it was the right choice. It still didn't sit well with her, but she didn't know what else to do either. At least the Penitus Oculatus agents would be stationed in the town for this. That made her a little bit more at ease.
But by the time they got out of the outpost, it was too late to make it to Morthal. Bishop and Aeyrin, however, didn't want to spend another night in the same place. Not before their plan could be enacted. They had to be very careful until then. So, at the very least, they decided to spend the night in the wilderness nearby. The rain had stopped a while ago after all.
Aeyrin suggested an overlook near Dragon Bridge that she knew – it was a good camping spot and it was well situated to make use of Bishop's traps. She wasn't even sure why she had suggested it in the end. The last time she was there, she had spent the entire night crying her eyes out for him after the fight they had, when Bishop broke their 'casual arrangement' off at last. It wasn't exactly a place for pleasant memories, but she kept reminding herself that those days were long passed. She had him by her side again.
She just hoped that she wouldn't lose him now, in that insane plan.
When they arrived at the overlook, however, it was unfortunately already occupied.
It was only a very small group of bandits. Three of them were down by the overlook approach and Aeyrin didn't even hesitate before she rushed them. As Bishop saw her throw herself into the fray, it kind of felt like she needed that. It wasn't really surprising. She had been withdrawn the entire time ever since Whiterun, and now they had this whole Brotherhood shit on their minds too. She clearly needed an outlet to everything bubbling up inside.
When he was absolutely sure that she had things under control – with one bandit kneeling on the ground in pain, another dead and the third barely keeping up on his feet with his ribs bashed in by her mace and leather armor singed from the enchantment – he rushed up ahead towards the overlook with his bow drawn.
There was one more bandit up there, looking down. She didn't even seem to notice the commotion nearby as she scouted the area vigilantly. Idiot.
Bishop could have shot an arrow through her skull, but he had noticed something himself.
She was an Orc.
As he already had his bow aimed, he moved it down a bit, aiming at the back of her thigh instead. His arrow was sure to pierce the leather armor there and paralyze her. He just hoped that she wouldn't fall over from the cliff altogether. It was very high.
He let the arrow loose silently, hitting the woman straight into her thigh. She yelped out in surprise – had she really not noticed him the entire time? She bent down to yank the arrow out, but before she could, her whole body stiffened. Bishop rushed towards her instantly, before she could topple over, and he grabbed her by the shoulders, easing her down onto the ground. The woman instantly let out a piercing shriek, but there was no one left there to help her.
Bishop left her there for a little while as he jogged back to retrieve his backpack. He hadn't even taken it off before down where Aeyrin battled, but he left it just a short distance away from the Orc.
He rummaged around for a bit until he found the Dwemer device. This was a good opportunity. There weren't usually many Orcs among the bandits – most of those that had made their way to Skyrim ended up doing legit mercenary work or working in the strongholds.
The woman screamed again when he approached her, but he tried his best to ignore it. It was somewhat disturbing that she lay there, unable to move, only able to cry out. But he had to ignore that. There was something to Calixto's sick tactics. The silencing spell would have been rather useful just then.
He tilted her head forcibly to the side, still trying to ignore the screaming, as he pierced her flesh promptly with the needle of the device.
"What's with the… oh…" He heard Aeyrin's voice behind his back as she finally made her way up to him. The screaming must have been confusing, but she noticed what was going on quickly.
He heard a bit of clanking armor for a while, before she knelt down by his side with her Dwemer dagger in her hand, ready to slit the woman's throat. At least the Orc wasn't talking – asking what they were doing to her. Though he wasn't sure if that guttural scream was any better.
The vial of the device was full soon and Bishop let out a relieved sigh as Aeyrin promptly slit the woman's throat in one swift motion. She looked ready to end it as well. The sight was as disturbing as ever.
Aeyrin didn't say another word the entire time as she silently cleaned her dagger of the blood and hid it again in its sheath. Bishop almost thought that he would get used to the unusually frequent silence from her, but he couldn't. She still seemed so… off. It almost seemed like she wasn't even half as disturbed by collecting that blood as she usually was. Though granted, there must have been so many more disturbing things on her mind now.
But at least they had an evening to themselves again with those bandits gone.
He really hoped that she would relax a bit in the comfortable familiarity of their wilderness stay.
…
The evening continued in a similarly somber quiet mood.
Aeyrin didn't speak much throughout, as they moved the corpses away, set up their camp, along with the traps, and made something to eat.
Bishop wasn't really sure what to do with himself. He wasn't sure how to reassure her anymore. He knew that she was still worrying about the werewolf thing, and now she was worrying even more because of that plan of theirs for Morthal. He was desperate to have her back, even though he wasn't even sure what that meant. Everything just felt strange. Every time he tried to reassure her, she nodded along, but he felt like she wasn't really taking him seriously, like it was just platitudes. Maybe he was doing a crappy job of it. But he wasn't sure what else to do. They didn't really talk as much as they used to in the last couple of days. They haven't even slept together ever since the night before Whiterun. Although, granted, that should have probably worried him less than it did, but he knew how much it always helped her to forget her problems when they were together somewhere, alone, just enjoying each other's company. And he felt like she just worried that if they did, she would turn into a werewolf again or something.
As the evening drew to an end, with the stars shining brightly through the colorful northern lights decorating the sky, Bishop rummaged in his pack again to examine the Dwemer device. He wasn't even sure why. He didn't really know what to do with himself, so he found any excuse to do something.
"One more to go," he smiled a bit as he spoke, mostly to himself. It was good that this was almost over. They had already filled four vials of that thing. "We're making progress."
"What's the point?" Aeyrin scoffed. He was almost surprised to hear her voice – she had been silent for at least an hour.
"What?" He wasn't even sure what she was referring to right then. He almost didn't even remember what he had said before.
"I can't Shout anyway," she scowled, but she didn't even look at him as she continued staring into the dying flames of their campfire in front of her. "What's the point of doing this? Even if we get the Scroll, it will be useless."
"Sweetheart, you know that this is just temporary," Bishop sighed. It was like she still couldn't wrap her mind around that fact fully. They would get the cure for her. He would make damn fucking sure that they would.
"No," she shook her head and swallowed audibly. He could have sworn that he heard her voice tremble a bit, even with only that one short word. He became sure of that when she continued to speak quietly. "It's not temporary enough when… when… never mind," she shook her head again, falling silent once more.
"'When' what?" he prodded. There was still plenty of time for her to go back to her old self. They didn't even have that stupid Scroll yet.
"I said 'never mind'," Aeyrin scowled, but her voice didn't sound angry. More… resigned.
"You honestly think I won't press you for that answer?" Bishop smirked. She should know better by now.
Aeyrin stayed silent for a long while. He almost thought that she was really done talking, but then, after what felt like another bout of endless silence, she spoke again. "When… when I can't even do anything when you'll be abducted somewhere with a bunch of assassins, possibly trying to kill you."
"Princess," he let out another sigh as he subtly moved closer towards her on the ground. He expected her to just remain sitting there stiffly, but much to his surprise, when she noticed the movement, she moved herself closer to him as well and pressed herself into his side. He promptly wrapped his arm around her, over her shoulders, and he began gently playing with a few locks of her hair in an idle movement. "That's not even a little true," he chuckled.
How did she still think that she was helpless? Did she not notice herself tearing through those bandits just now as if it was nothing? Granted, it was a far cry from trained assassins, but still, she was never helpless. He had seen that first-hand many times before, even without her Shouts.
"It's gonna work out. Better than it would have if we did nothing." He continued to stroke her hair as he spoke. "It's a decent plan. And, princess, I know that if I needed it, you would just barge in there, wherever I was, and deal with all of them with barely breaking a sweat, Shouts or not," he chuckled. It was kind of a nice image, her rushing to his rescue, slaughtering assassins along the way. "And you'll have a good backup too. Sounds like these tin-cans know who they're dealing with."
Aeyrin only nodded, but somewhat absentmindedly. Without a word again. She didn't really look convinced.
Fuck, he really wanted to get her out of this mood.
He placed his hand on her cheek briefly and nudged her to look at him. First, it didn't really seem like she was even seeing him when her black eyes focused on him, but when he stayed silent for a while, she finally seemed to bring herself into the present there with him, waiting for what he wanted to say.
"Love, you need to snap out of this. I know it all seems shitty right now, but I wasn't kidding. We are making progress. Just look at everything we've been through together. It's just another hitch in the road. We can do this. The assassins, the lycanthropy, anything. We'll deal with this, like we have with so much already."
Aeyrin nodded again. Her eyes glittered a bit in the soft light of the faint flames. At least now, he felt like she was trying to believe him.
"I… I know… I know I've been… I'm sorry," she let out a long shuddering breath. She knew that she was withdrawn and that it worried him incessantly. She just couldn't tear herself from this state. "I just… I don't know what to do."
"Sweetheart, you're getting too hung up about this." Bishop stroked over her cheek again gently. "I know this isn't easy for you. It's fucking shitty what they've done to you. But… it's not as bad as it first seemed. We've been through this before, nothing is always as bad as it seems." Fuck, who knew he could ever be so optimistic? And actually mean it.
"When have we been through this?" she scoffed. She thought that she would remember being turned into a monster before.
"Have you already forgotten how adamant you were about never using the Shouts, always thinking like you're some kind of a monster for even knowing them?" he gave her a soft smile, but the worry from his face couldn't be hidden. "Why do you keep doing this to yourself? You were scared because you couldn't control them, couldn't control yourself with them. I know… it's not really encouraging on that front right now, given the whole 'blood is control' shit, but… before, it got better. This will get better too. You'll gain control and you won't have to worry about this shit at all. You can use it, or forget it ever existed, whatever you want."
"That's… that's different," Aeyrin stammered. It wasn't even close to what she was feeling back then… was it? "Yeah, it was hard and scary back then, but… at least it wasn't some… curse brought upon by a Daedric Prince. This is so much worse. It means so much more than…"
"No. It doesn't," Bishop interrupted her surprisingly sternly. "It means nothing. Who cares where this came from?" he scoffed bitterly, but his tone got much softer when he spoke again. "Look, I know you're worried about the afterlife stuff, and I realize I don't really understand any of this shit enough to be able to 'claim' anything with certainty, but… it's not like you're some Hircine cultist now, or whatever. You don't serve him. This was done against your will and it can be reversed. You don't need to worry about this. And I promise you, if those two shitheads take too long, we're just gonna take matters into our own hands. We can steal their research and bring it to the College or some shit. They'll help with that."
"I… y-yes, but… you don't understand what this means…" Aeyrin still tried to argue. It was just a bunch of what-ifs and whens, she couldn't know anything for certain. And what if she really did embrace it? What would she turn into if she tried to gain control over that beast?
"I understand what you think it means," he sighed. "I'm telling you, it's no different from all that Dragonborn shit. It's not about Aedra and Daedra and things like that. It's about you and what you do with it. You had the same blood and soul and powers as the dragons. It doesn't matter that it has nothing to do with Daedra – they're still mostly vicious fuckers that are trying to slaughter or enslave everyone. And aren't they supposed to be descended from Akatosh or something? Yet, the Companions have all this 'Daedric curse' going on for them and they still generally at least try not to do shitty things to harm people. Mostly." Except for when those two jackass brothers had revenge on their mind, but that was a different thing entirely. "I mean they're fucking idiots to do this to themselves voluntarily and they're fucking assholes for doing this to you against your will, but that's on them, not on Hircine or whatever other fucking evil thing you keep thinking you belong to now. What does it matter where what power comes from? It's what you do with it that counts."
That was… a nice sentiment. He had a point about the dragons for sure. And the Companions certainly didn't turn into some evil monsters. Not all of them at least.
Still, Aeyrin couldn't help but feel like he only said that to make her feel better. He certainly seemed to be much angrier about people 'belonging' to Daedra once before.
"You sound more understanding about this than you did with Karliah," she smirked a little, but the doubt on her face was still palpable.
"It wasn't about that," Bishop scowled. "You know I'm no fan of the Daedra, but I don't give a shit if someone uses their powers or something. It's not like it's all the same… being a werewolf doesn't make you a cultist, set to drag everyone down with you. Karliah tried to convince me to swear myself to another master," he growled angrily. It's been a while, but he still felt rage well up in him when he thought about it. Rage and betrayal. "Another fucking tyrant to rule me in fear. She knew everything about my past, she knew about the Thrice-Banished clan because of that fucking bounty, she knew about Thorn, Mercer, and yet she tried to do that to me. That's why I was pissed. Am pissed. I don't give a fuck what she does to herself, but she tried to drag other people to that shit with her. It's the same fucking thing my mother used to do. I never cared about what people believed or what they swore themselves to, but don't fucking put that on others." He gritted his teeth. He was kind of burying his point with this rant. He really didn't want to start talking about his fucking family of all things now.
"This is different," he sighed as he tried to get back on track again. "It's against your will. And we will fix it, you know that." He stroked over her cheek again as a reassuring smile formed on his face. "There's no reason you need to obsess over it. Like I said, it's a hitch. It doesn't make you a different person. And if you… if you gain control over it, that's not a bad thing. You're just adapting. Like with the Shouts. It doesn't mean you're gonna start running around, slaughtering people in Hircine's name."
Aeyrin just looked at him for a long while with furrowed brows, as if she was trying to mull over his words. He wasn't sure if he was getting through to her at all, but then she nuzzled her face into his hand affectionately.
"Thank you," she smiled. He was right. It wasn't any different from before. She could do this. She could live with this while she had to. She did that before when she was scared out of her mind of what kind of a monster she was, back when she found out about the Shouts. She just needed to remember that she did manage to adapt.
"How do you do this?" she chuckled a bit as she moved even closer to him and wrapped her arms around him in a tight embrace. "You always find a way to make me feel better."
"Look who's talking," he smirked in return. As if she hadn't done the same for him, over and over again. He wrapped his arms around her and nudged her to move even closer, though that wasn't really possible. Instead, she shuffled a bit and moved herself to sit in his lap, wrapping her arms around him tightly again.
"We'll get through all of this, love." He leaned down to plant a lingering kiss on her lips before he spoke again. "We'll kick those assassins' asses and then, someday soon, we'll find you a cure too."
This time, she actually looked like she believed him.
Aeyrin made herself more comfortable in his embrace before she started to nuzzle into his neck, occasionally planting brief kisses on his jaw. She knew that what happened to her, as well as the fear of what would happen now, would still bother her. She knew that talking to him wouldn't magically erase all her worries for good. But right then, she felt more 'normal' than she had for days. Even if it didn't help for good, it did help now. And right then, she wanted nothing more than to just keep reminding herself that she had him by her side.
Bishop didn't really need to wait for any more signals from her. Whenever she began running her lips over his jaw like that, it always alluded to the same thing. And he was even more reassured of that when she teasingly flicked her tongue against his skin.
Maybe it was weird, trying to tell whether she was feeling better based on whether she wanted to sleep with him, but he didn't really care. It did seem like she was feeling a bit more herself again. Even if it was just now. He definitely didn't feel this familiar eagerness from her in days.
He wrapped one arm around her waist and pressed her closer. At the same time, he pressed the other hand to the nape of her neck. He tilted her head back as he enveloped her in a lustful kiss, sliding his tongue against hers the second she parted her lips for him.
Aeyrin's arms wrapped around his neck eagerly, pulling herself even deeper into the kiss. She prolonged it for a while with increasing passion, until they were both out of breath. She parted her lips from him only for a second though. She promptly moved them towards his temple, planting a few brief kisses there, before she started to nibble on his earlobe. Her hands weren't idle either. One of them gripped his hair firmly as the other one moved down to his chest, sliding below the collar of his shirt.
Fuck, how he missed that. It really wasn't that long – they have gone far longer without sex before. Even without seeing each other at all. But somehow, it felt longer when she was right there by his side, just mostly silent and forlorn. Maybe he just missed seeing her in a better mood, more than the sex. That was a disturbing thought. What happened to him?
Well… not like he cared anymore. He was just glad that things didn't seem infinitely dire for at least this moment. It wouldn't last, but for now, that didn't matter. That was all he wanted just then. He wasn't exactly calm about their next plan either, but there was nothing to do but suck it up. And forget all about it as Aeyrin's hips began grinding and rubbing against him while her breath and teasing nips continued to warm his ear.
When she stopped for a while, he couldn't help but let out a disappointed sigh. Aeyrin only chuckled at him in response as her hands promptly moved to the hems of his shirt. She stopped all her movements as she set out to undress him, but he really missed the pressure of her hips on his. He placed his hands down on her asscheeks firmly, while she started to roll up his tunic, and he gave her one brief squeeze before he took matter into his own hands, so to speak, and started to grind her against him again. He did try to move against her himself as much as he could, but it wasn't the same when she herself wasn't moving too. What choice did he have?
Aeyrin draped his shirt over his head and down his biceps, but then she had to stop. He still refused to let go of her buttocks and she couldn't really remove the shirt this way.
"Bish, this isn't gonna work unless you let go," she chuckled again. Sure, he knew that. But still…
"Never," he let out a low growl as he pressed her closer, still holding onto her flesh while he began nipping at the side of her throat and shoulder.
Aeyrin's chuckle promptly turned into a soft moan as she enjoyed the teasing, but soon enough, she managed to reluctantly pull away from his lips.
"Fine. But I'm getting you naked first," Bishop smirked as he reached out for the hems of her shirt in turn. It was very clumsy with his own tunic still wrapped around his arms. He struggled with her shirt for a while, eliciting another giggle from Aeyrin at his efforts, before he finally managed to get her shirt off. He practically wrapped her face in his own in the process, mussing up her hair more than he would ever manage with his hands alone, but eventually he was finally able to throw both their shirts away, somewhere towards their packs.
When he was finally done, Aeyrin dug her hips into him sharply as she wiggled to reach for her boots. She managed to get those off rather quickly, but it soon became clear that she would have to finally get up from his lap anyway.
The second she got up on her feet with Bishop still sitting below her, he looped his fingers under her trousers and undergarments at once and dragged them down her legs. Fuck, he would never get tired of the sight of her completely naked in front of him. Well, almost completely. He didn't want to wait anymore. He couldn't, with her standing like that, with everything right in front of his face. He started to run his hands up along the backs of her thighs, ready to pull her close and press her up against him. But before he could, she quickly stepped away from him in an uncoordinated motion with her clothes around her knees.
Alright, fine. It was probably best to let her get rid of everything now, rather than later. Still, he was getting increasingly impatient when he couldn't touch her. But fortunately she was quick. She shook the remaining clothes off her legs and, before she could do anything else, he reached out for her hips promptly and ushered her to sit onto his lap again. He wasn't going to wait to get rid of his boots and trousers too. That was too much wasted time without being able to feel her soft skin against him.
"You're so impatient tonight," Aeyrin chuckled at him as she settled herself onto his lap again, pressing her bare skin against his clothed groin. It seemed like he wasn't the only one though. The second she was nestled in his embrace, she began to toy with the laces of his pants.
"You're one to talk," he smirked, but he wasn't interested in any more talking after that. He snaked his hand around her back and pressed her closer, completely ignoring her efforts to untangle his laces. He pressed into her back so that she would arch back a bit, and when she did, he instantly began to plant kisses onto her breasts.
His free hand snuck between their bodies in the meantime. At first, he only gently began to run his fingers over her folds, but when he pressed her back once more, pushing her chest towards him, and moved his lips to her nipple, he promptly entered her wetness with his finger. Aeyrin let out a lustful moan at that, pressing her hips onto his hand. It was instantly followed by a soft sigh when he took her hardened nipple between his teeth carefully and started to run his tongue around it. He fucking loved the sounds she made. And how she kept trying to press against him more and more.
He added another finger soon and he began teasing her clit with his thumb. He could never get enough of those moans. But it seemed like Aeyrin would not let him tease her for long. She only enjoyed the treatment for a little longer before she managed to sneak her hand in between their bodies as well and pull at his uncomfortably tight laces. Heh, she really was impatient.
Though he couldn't really blame her. She always felt so good, even only on his fingers. He couldn't wait to take things further either.
When she finally untangled the laces, he pulled his hand and face away and moved himself back from her a bit, giving her more space to maneuver. It only took a few more seconds before she pulled his cock out from his trousers properly and began stroking him, running her hand over his length with a squeeze, before she began to tease the tip with her thumb.
He let out a groan as he felt his whole body tighten. He wouldn't last long if she continued teasing him like this though. He was already almost ready to blow.
"Princess," he whispered with a palpably pleading tone in his voice. Fortunately, she decided to have mercy on him. She still held his cock firmly in her hand as she shuffled a bit, positioning herself above it so that he could tease her wet entrance with his tip for a while.
He really felt like pressing into her, but luckily, she herself didn't manage to hold off for too long either. She slowly sank down on him, letting her heat envelop him at last. They both let out a simultaneous groan of pleasure before Bishop pressed his lips to hers in a passionate kiss.
Aeyrin wrapped her arms around his neck, tangling her fingers in his hair as she began to rise and fall on him, clenching her muscles every now and then to squeeze him inside. Fuck, he needed that. There was no worry in the world he couldn't forget when he felt her on his cock like that. He began meeting her thrusts eagerly, as much as he could from his position, never stopping playing with her tongue with his for longer than a second.
He only parted from her lips a little when she quickened the pace of her motions, letting the friction overwhelm him. He was getting dangerously close – he could feel himself tighten and throb within her and she wasn't making it much easier to hold back with how she kept squeezing him inside like that. Their heavy pants mixed together with their lips barely a hair's breadth away from each other. He wanted to kiss her again, but he wasn't sure if his breathing could take it just then.
He couldn't take any more of that. He let out a loud groan as he felt himself burst over the edge, spilling himself inside her. His arms gripped her back in a firm embrace, pressing her towards him as she stilled her motions for a while, and he dipped his head to bite into her shoulder in order to stifle his moans a bit. Aeyrin let out another moan that sent shivers down his spine when his peak subsided, but she started to move up and down again rapidly in a few more thrusts right after, letting out a couple more sharp gasps.
It barely took a few seconds before he felt the tell-tale quiver and pulsing of her walls. She slumped down against him, digging her fingers into his back and letting out heavy breaths against his neck.
Neither of them was eager to part from their interlocked embrace yet. Everything bad haunting their steps seemed like a distant faraway thought just then.
He could stay like this forever. If only that was possible.
But whatever happened next, he would make damn fucking sure that they could be together like this soon again.