Author's Note:

Happy New Year! Tomorrow… :D

Happy New Year's Eve today to you all. I hope you're all having fun in whatever way you like. And in the spirit of the celebrations, here's a fun start to a new plotline. Well… new-ish. But you'll find out soon enough.

Now it's time to party.

Enjoy :) And I'm excited to share more with you all in the next year :)

Chapter CXXIII – Out of Your Mind

Aeyrin and Bishop's journey from Dragon Bridge went off without a hitch.

It was all pleasantly calm. No disturbing feeling of being watched, no interruptions. No fear of getting ambushed on the road.

It was somewhat unsettling. They should have been more worried about the Brotherhood's retaliation. They should have been always wary.

But maybe they were both just too exhausted from living like that. It was too easy to focus on anything else, even if those worries still sometimes prodded at their minds, they both promptly buried them as deep down as they could.

They took a carriage from Solitude stables, just as Maro had suggested, and they hitched a ride to Rorikstead. Granted, they weren't exactly sure if when the Commander said he would have patrols in all towns, it meant the small ones like Rorikstead as well, but they certainly weren't going to go all the way to Markarth. Especially not after Bishop had sent the assassins there. And they had quite enough of Morthal. They would be fine. They would be careful as always – no long separations, trapped room through the night and no going off with strangers. Hopefully that would ensure their safety.

Everything seemed quiet in the village.

They arrived in the afternoon. It was the perfect time to just enjoy some time at the inn with good food and a warm bath. Even though they had spent the past week in a similarly lazy manner, it was still a tempting prospect. They would set off on some adventures soon enough again.

After a pleasantly uneventful afternoon, the two of them retreated into their room.

Aeyrin plopped down on the bed with a satisfied sigh leaving her lips. There were still a few things to be done, but she was really looking forward to that bed. How was it possible to still be so eager for a rest even after a day… no, a week of doing absolutely nothing? Maybe it was just the fact that she could rest somewhat easily. Or at least she kept telling herself that.

Bishop crawled on the bed right after her. His arm was still wrapped in the sling, but he didn't let it slow him down as he snuck his healthy one below her to pull her against him. He nuzzled his face to her neck promptly, planting the occasional kiss on her skin.

"Uh-uh, healing first," she smirked at him. She could already tell where this was going with the way his open-mouth kisses on her neck got more frequent and passionate and his grip around her waist firmer. He better not try to distract her through the treatment again. Though that was really naïve. Of course he would.

"Hmm… I have a better idea," he murmured against her skin.

Yeah, she got that. It wasn't hard to tell what ideas he was getting already.

"Bishop, you need the healing," she sighed. It was for his own good, why did he always make it so difficult? She knew that he was getting better already – he could mostly feel his arm and he could already move it somewhat decently, though definitely not well enough for combat and such yet. But that didn't mean that they should stop the procedures in the slightest.

"I know. I just thought we might do that while we celebrate," he smirked at her.

Before she could question him, he let go of her and stretched himself out to reach for his pack. She waited with curiosity to see what he meant, until a slight clank gave her a hint. A second later, he was presenting her with a bottle. The last of Jack's rum.

"What exactly are we celebrating?" she chuckled at him. Getting drunk right now was definitely not an idea she had expected from him. Not that she was opposed to that – it's been a while since they indulged themselves, always careful, always wary to dull their senses. But it was still a surprise.

"Well… I don't know," he smirked again. "I get that it's not really a victory, given that those shitheads probably want to kill me now, but… I don't know… progress? Getting a little peace, naïve as that is." He wasn't sure why he wasn't more worried about the Brotherhood retaliating. It just felt like they had the upper hand right now. Maybe it was stupid. Maybe he just wanted to 'celebrate' to drown even those few stray thoughts of doom and gloom that still plagued him from time to time.

"It does feel a little less dire," she gave him a wry smile. She couldn't deny that.

"Yeah. We survived that insane plan. I think that's as good a reason to celebrate as any," he smiled. "Come on, love. Let's put all that shit out of our minds for a night. At least."

It was definitely tempting.

It was probably careless and risky. But she really missed doing careless things. And besides, they've had two bottles of that rum before and weren't even that drunk. Granted, those two bottles were more one and a half. Well… more like just one – Bishop's drinking counted for two in how much he could take. And it was all paired with a lot of cold air, freezing water, and long pauses in between to sober up a bit, but still.

"Alright. We should celebrate," she gave him a wry smile at last. "But, really, first healing. And you'll hold still and not distract me this time."

"Sweetness, you know I can't promise that," he chuckled in return. It was too tempting to tease her while she was trying to concentrate. She always got so flustered, he couldn't resist. Besides, he was fine. Granted, the movements of his arm still weren't ideal and he really couldn't put any weight on it or hold anything heavy, but he was fine. It would fix itself. But… if it made her feel better to fuss over him, he wasn't going to complain about more opportunities to get her into that state.

Before she could start with the healing, however, he decided to start things off already. He placed the bottle between his knees and held it there while he reached out for the knife on his belt. She watched him for a while as he positioned the bottle a bit in between his knees and stuck the knife in the protruding part of the cork. He kept holding the knife firmly while he started to roll the bottle a bit in between his knees.

She could have helped him so easily. But it was kind of fascinating to watch him. The entire time, not once, had he asked for help with anything that usually needed two hands. Mostly it was funny to watch him grumble at mundane tasks. Now it was kind of impressive. And she was pretty sure he didn't ask for help mostly to show off anyway.

It didn't take long before the cork was drawn from the bottle with a loud 'pop'. He was showing off. He just tossed the knife away until it clattered onto the ground and he gave her smug smirk, tilting the bottle towards her meaningfully.

Aeyrin only rolled her eyes at him with a snicker. So much fanfare for a task she could have done instead. But it must have made him feel better about the injury, doing all these things alone. He didn't say it. He pretended like he was fine, but she could tell that he was actually really worried when the healer back in Dragon Bridge examined him. There was definitely at least one thing he could never adapt to and never again do with one arm not working – archery.

But that was all the more reason for him to let her help him heal!

Ignoring the bottle for now, she moved her hands behind his neck to remove the sash. He stayed quiet and practically motionless as she took the bottle from him for a second to help him remove his shirt too. Well… 'help' was a strong word. He was barely moving, just letting her do all the work this time while the silence only built the tension in the room.

When he was finally out of his clothes and the bottle was discarded on the nightstand for now, Aeyrin moved closer to him to examine the shoulder properly. By now, there was nothing visible there. No wound, not even a bruise. He was going to be back to his old self soon. Until then, of course, he was determined to make things difficult.

Just as her hand lit up with the soft light of healing magic and she touched the top of his shoulder with a gentle press, he moved closer. His head dipped down to the crook of her neck with a teasing bite, too fast for her to register it.

Her spell dissipated instantly as she startled. She really should have expected that. Why didn't she expect that?

"Bishop," she whined at him as she pressed her free hand on his chest to push him away. She was just as tempted to do other things, but she needed to concentrate on the healing now. Her hand lit up once more, but before the spell could even do anything properly, Bishop snuck his hand around his waist and pulled her into an embrace. Her hand got moved right away with the motion, but that didn't matter. The spell promptly dissipated again when he nipped at her earlobe teasingly.

"Alright, that's it," she grumbled as she pushed him away again. Really, such a child. She knew he did that just to fluster her and she kind of hated that it worked. She was getting all red-faced and flushed. He really needed the healing.

She reached out for the bottle on the nightstand and shoved it into his hand instead.

"Here. Drink," she smirked. At least his hand and his mouth would be occupied.

Bishop chuckled at her, clearly not oblivious to her tactic, but he did take a long sip. Finally she had the time to put her hand on his shoulder and let the magic do its work. She had to do the whole arm like this, but maybe he would finally be distracted enough to let her.

"Come on, have a drink with me," Bishop nudged her, but this time, she did manage to keep up her spell. It took only a few minutes. Couldn't he just wait that long? So impatient.

Aeyrin couldn't help but burst out chuckling when she felt a cold neck of the bottle prod her lower lip. Gods, he was just relentless with the distractions.

"I will take a drink and you'll shut up and stay still for three minutes. Deal?" She grabbed the bottle from him with a chastising stare.

"One minute. Then you have to take another drink," Bishop grinned at her.

So relentless.

"Fine," she chuckled. She could work with that.

She took a swig from the bottle and the burning spread through her throat pleasantly. It was even warmer and stronger than she remembered. She quickly felt the heat spread down to her stomach, warming her whole body in a second.

When she was done, Bishop gestured meaningfully with his hand, pretending to lock his mouth shut with an imaginary key. Good.

She made some progress with the healing, all the way across his bicep, before he nudged her with the neck of the bottle again. Only then she noticed that there was less of the rum inside than when she relinquished it. And she was still feeling very warm from the previous sip. Like her cheeks were burning. She really didn't remember it being that strong.

Another sip made her feel even warmer. And… was it her imagination or was she feeling a little bit hazy already? That was ridiculous. It was probably just from doing the spell so many times.

She concentrated on the healing again, then another sip, then the rest of his arms, all his fingers. Bishop had kept his promise throughout the process, but he did seem to be nudging her to drink more often than she thought he would. By the time it was done, almost half of the bottle was gone.

They went through that fast. That would definitely be why she was feeling so warm and a little woozy. But who cared? They were supposed to celebrate and enjoy the evening.

Bishop finally sprawled himself on the bed when the healing was done and his arm-sling was back in place, positioning himself in a half-sit, leaning on the headboard. Aeyrin promptly curled herself up to his side with the bottle in her hand. She took another sip before she passed it to him – to the arm she was currently resting her head on. Bishop took the bottle, but in order to drink, he had to roll her suddenly to his shoulder and squeeze her in between it and his arm. Aeyrin only let out a muffled giggle at that. She felt like her whole world spun with that motion. She had no idea how she got drunk so fast, but she didn't mind in the slightest.

She knew that Bishop would make fun of her. But when he finally straightened up his arm to let her breathe, she noticed that his face was quite flushed as well.

Maybe they both drank it too fast.

He looked good when his cheeks were all red though. It did remind her of how he always looked right after they spent some time entangled with each other. It only tempted her to give him another reason for that flushed face.

She sprung up and straddled his waist. He was currently busy taking another sip, but she would get him back for all those distractions. Just as he was pressing the bottle to his lips, she leaned down and kissed his neck passionately, flicking her tongue over his skin and nipping at it every now and then.

Bishop instantly sputtered some of the liquor and he let out a chuckle at her antics. Fuck, he hated that injury so much now. He just wanted to grab her. But he also kind of wanted to drink more. He couldn't really do both with just one arm. Luckily, Aeyrin was pressing herself close to him as firmly as if he had been pinning her onto him himself.

She only stopped kissing him when she got a hankering for more of that rum. It was really good. She remembered it being good, but not this good. Not so good that she could tear herself away from Bishop to get more. He seemed to be in a similar predicament. She had previously expected him to dispose of the bottle to pay attention to her alone, but he didn't.

Right when she took the bottle from him he, in turn, sat himself up straighter to kiss her on her neck and collar. The hot trail that his kisses left at her skin only made her feel even warmer inside, in addition to the pleasant burning from the alcohol.

They continued like this for a while, exchanging kisses and the bottle alike. But it didn't take that long for them to drink themselves to the very bottom of it. At least it didn't feel like long at all.

It all seemed to be leading to one thing. The way they were pressing against each other, getting more and more eager by the second, kissing each other anywhere their clothes didn't obstruct.

But in that moment, when Bishop pulled away from her to cup her cheek affectionately and to look deeply into her black eyes, his voice suddenly broke the intense silence that had been reigning over them.

"So, sweetness…" he still panted a little from the heated exchanges. "You wanna go outside and get more to drink?"

Funny. She really thought they would do something else just then.

But it was exactly what she was thinking.

…

The music at the inn was so merry and inviting.

Everything else felt like a blur. There was just the distant laughter of the patrons and that music.

The taste of strong alcohol still burned pleasantly in Aeyrin's mouth, but she didn't even really remember what they had been drinking after they left the room. It didn't matter. It's been ages since she felt so carefree.

She loved it. She needed this. She couldn't even remember what she had been so worried about in the past… months? She didn't even know. And she didn't care. The only thing she cared about was having fun.

Everything was spinning.

Or was she spinning?

She felt like she was. She could feel Bishop's arm around her waist and the warmth of his breath on her cheek. She could also feel air whooshing around her back as if she was in fast motion.

Were they… dancing?

Why were they dancing? She didn't dance. She couldn't dance. That was crazy. She wouldn't agree to a dance, definitely not in a public tavern like this. But it was kind of pleasant, feeling the breeze about and her hair tickling her as it flopped around her head.

She could hear voices calling out, but she didn't really hear what they were saying. She couldn't concentrate on anything. She wasn't even sure where they were. Probably in the tavern in Rorikstead, but she couldn't actually see anything. Everything was blurry and disorienting, but in the best way. As if the whole world fell away.

She felt a violent tug and her ears got filled with sounds of cracking wood and breaking glass. She wasn't sure what happened, she only noticed that she was sprawled on top of Bishop's body on the ground. They must have collided with something and fell. She didn't even feel any pain from the impact and she didn't hear him acknowledge it with a grunt or some such either.

All she could feel was the sudden urge to laugh. And he laughed too. And so did many others around them, though she didn't recognize any of those voices.

It didn't matter. The world around didn't matter.

She just wanted to keep having fun.

…

"Come here. Don't be… don't be afraid," Bishop heard his own voice slur a little as he whispered into the night.

He just wanted him to come closer. Why was he so afraid? He didn't understand it. There was nothing to be afraid of. Not Aeyrin. Even when she was… a little different sometimes now. He had to get over that. Bishop did. He could too.

The wolf was cowering in the bushes, whining lowly in fear. Poor Karnwyr. But Bishop was sure that he could make him realize that there was no need to be worried. He didn't know where they were. He didn't know how they got here or how they found Karnwyr. Everything was such a blur. But none of it mattered now. He found his friend again and this time, he wouldn't leave without him.

He still felt so guilty for sending him away. Maybe it wasn't necessary. He just didn't know what else to do at that time. He was at the utter end of his rope. He still probably was. But now he was determined.

"Bish… Bish…" Aeyrin whispered from behind him in a drunken voice. She didn't really whisper. She tried, but it was very loud. The wolf only whimpered again in response. "Bish… don't… don't… it's gonna bite you."

"He's not gonna bite me!" Bishop scoffed. "He wouldn't. Not even… even when he's sc'red."

"Everyone's afraid of me…" Aeyrin only retorted, lost in her own thoughts. Now she actually said it very quietly into the dead of night.

"He won't be… not… not fer long," Bishop scowled. "He's gotta know it's you."

The wolf whined again before he let out a threatening growl. He was getting frustrated with Bishop standing in the way of his attack. Or escape. Whichever one it was.

"No, no, shh, it's alright," Bishop tried to calm his friend down, but he only growled at him more.

"Bish, he's gonna bite," Aeyrin's worried tone carried through the cold night air.

"No, Karnwyr wouldn't bite me," Bishop hissed back. He would never. They were so close. Bishop never should have abandoned him. He felt so fucking shitty for that. But now he would make things right.

"Wha?" Aeyrin almost giggled. What did she find funny? "That's not Karnwyr," she chuckled.

Pfft. Of course it was Karnwyr. Bishop would recognize him anywhere. Even in the dark and with everything so fucking blurry and spinning. He… he would.

Although… he didn't recall Karnwyr's fur being that light in the moonlight. Huh…

Before Bishop could realize that it, in fact, wasn't Karnwyr, the wolf lunged. Bishop instantly scuttled back as he fell on his ass, but fortunately, the wolf only let out a few menacing barks before he bolted out of there. He was so fast. Bishop only barely saw a smudge.

What the fuck just happened? He really thought he saw Karnwyr. Why the fuck did he think that?

Bishop stayed there, dumbfounded, sitting on the ground. Where the fuck even were they? This night was weird. What were they doing before again?

He tried to stand up after a while, but for some reason, he completely forgot that one of his arms was immobile in the sling. Instead of leaning for support on both of them, his fast motion only left him with one arm pressed into the ground. That wasn't enough. He fell back on his ass in what must have looked like a ridiculously clumsy stunt.

Aeyrin's amused laughter rang through the night and he couldn't help but join in too.

Who the fuck even cared where they were or how they got here?

No matter how weird, this night was such a welcome reprieve from everything.

He really missed getting drunk out of his mind.

…

The cold night air kept hitting her heated bare skin mercilessly, but for a change, the cold was pleasant.

And Aeyrin could never really concentrate on it much. She was much more concentrated on other sensations.

Like the rough, somewhat painful scratching of tree bark on her back as her skin moved against it in quick motions. The knot in her core that threatened to unravel and undo her at any moment. The feeling of Bishop's cock sliding in and out of her with hard thrusts.

Her head dipped back as she let out a loud moan when he started kissing her neck. She had to hold on tight with arms around his own neck and her legs wrapped around his waist – he could only support her with one hand after all. And the other was kind of in the way, pinned in between their bodies. Why were they doing this up against that tree again? They should have really stayed on the ground. But she didn't really remember how they got to this point.

She opened her eyes briefly as sharp breaths escaped her lips constantly with each thrust filling her. The night sky looked strange. So colorful with the northern lights dancing over it, yet so chaotic as the stars and the colors blurred and whirled about. As if the whole Nirn was spinning rapidly. It was disorienting. But she loved it at that moment. That overwhelming feeling that always came with being with him like this.

She couldn't even recognize the shapes around, the trees or the mountains on the horizon. Where were they? How did they get here? How long had they been doing this? She only remembered the last few seconds.

But then again, those were all she needed. The moments of pleasure were the only thing she wanted to concentrate on. Gods, if only this could be the only thing on her mind forevermore.

Bishop bit into her shoulder with a loud grunt when she felt herself finally shiver and get over the edge. Her whole body tensed, her nails dug into the back of his neck and she could feel herself squeeze him so tightly with the intense pulsating between her legs. Bishop didn't stop his motions through that, he kept driving into her as his teeth sunk in deeper, almost painfully. But in that moment, it only served to spur the passion on.

The sweat that enveloped her left chills all over the body, but there was still no end in sight as Bishop continued thrusting deep inside her.

Gods, she really wished this would last for a long time. She could stay like this forever.

…

"He's so big! Look how big he is!"

Aeyrin gaped at the large form in front of them, staring with her mouth adorably ajar. Fuck, that just gave Bishop ideas. She really shouldn't look this cute. It should be illegal. He just wanted to take her there and then. Again… right? He felt like they've definitely fucked a lot of times through the night already. He had hazy memories of that. He wasn't sure though. The whole night had been rather confusing.

Was it the whole night? How long has it been since they left the inn? It was still dark out.

Come to think of it, why did they leave the inn in the first place? He didn't remember anything.

But he didn't really care that much to ponder on it. It was more fun to watch her stare at the statue of Talos in front of them.

"He's not that big," Bishop scoffed with a chuckle. He stepped right next to the statue and puffed out his chest. "I'm bigger."

Aeyrin laughed heartily at that. He looked like he was really trying to seem big just then. He definitely wasn't bigger than the statue though. It could probably be seen from far away. Unless they were somewhere where it was hard to see. She wasn't really sure where they were.

But still… the statue was just there, for anyone to see.

"They just wanna take him down. Look how pretty the statue is," she sighed. There were so many details on it. At least she was pretty sure of that. They were a bit blurry. "What if they tear it down? Stupid Thalmor."

"I think it can be here," Bishop smirked. They must have been in a Stormcloak region if that statue was there. Probably. Wait… where the fuck were they? Weren't they in Rorikstead before? How did they get here?

Or maybe Aeyrin was right and it was just hidden here and the Thalmor would find it. No skin off his back, but she seemed kinda sad about it.

"I know!" She gasped suddenly. "We need to hide him! Disguise him!"

"What?" Bishop laughed at her. How the fuck were they gonna hide a statue? And why would they? Who the fuck cared about a statue that much?

"No… no… listen, I got a plan," she slurred a bit as she quickly looked around. She seemed to find whatever she was looking for quickly and she skipped towards the offering place in front of Talos. There was a large cloth there with lots of bowls filled with various coins and mountain flowers and there was even a sword lying there. Likely to symbolize war or some shit like that.

Aeyrin grabbed the cloth and yanked it from under the items. Predictably, everything cluttered around, making noise and tumbling all over the ground. She didn't seem to mind disturbing the provisionary altar though. She just grinned at him when she had her find firmly in hand.

"The fuck are you gonna do with that?" Bishop laughed again. Whatever this was, it seemed like a bad idea. Though likely a fun one.

"He needs to hide. I got a disguise for him. Watch," Aeyrin grinned at him. He barely even realized what she was doing before she walked towards the statue and stepped onto the snake coiling around Talos's legs.

"Come closer, I need a… a boost," she inclined her head to Bishop as she managed to balance herself up on the head of the snake.

This was just fucking hilarious. She was so cute, trying to protect the statue from the Thalmor. He kept snickering as he stepped as close as he could to the statue, but his laughter got cut short when she grabbed the hilt of Talos's sword and lodged one foot against him. She hoisted herself up and the other foot landed on Bishop's shoulder. He grunted in shock, but luckily, it was the hale shoulder. He wondered if it was a fortunate coincidence or if she was aware of it even in her drunken state.

She didn't keep him as her support for long. She had to climb fast. Soon enough, she was hugging Talos around his neck and climbing up onto his shoulders.

She was… surprisingly dexterous when she was drunk. He had expected her to fall a few times already. Though he wasn't sure how he would break her fall with his arm incapacitated.

Aeyrin was up on Talos's shoulders promptly and she draped the cloth over his helmet with a victorious grin.

It was just… the same old Talos but with a hood on his head now. The Thalmor would have to be really stupid not to realize that.

"Look! He's disguised now," Aeyrin giggled. "Now he's Mara."

Bishop let out a hearty laugh again. So fucking cute.

"Yeah. I'm sure that will fool the Thalmor," he chuckled.

"It will! They're stupid," Aeyrin scoffed before she looked onto the ground below again. "Going down!"

He barely managed to react as she slid off that thing. He tried to break her fall, but to her credit, she did land on her feet. Though she did stumble a bit when she did and she ended up colliding with Bishop, practically falling into his one-armed embrace.

"Good job, love," he smirked. "That'll show'em."

"You bet," she giggled in turn. "He's safe now."

Sure. He was definitely safe with a cloth on his head.

"Where are we?" Aeyrin's grin turned into a frown when she looked around again. She didn't recognize the surroundings at all.

"I have no fucking idea," Bishop shrugged. Did it even matter? Wherever they were, they would find out later. Right now, he was reluctant to think about anything serious or rational.

Maybe they could just find some place to get more drinks.