A Kiss Before Dying - Alternate Ending to Oblivion Dark Brotherhood

7: Devotion and Desire

**NOTES: this chapter is longer but SO WORTH IT. CW: alcohol/drunkenness

They had been walking for some time now, and the wintery landscape of the Bruma region was turning to the spring-like environment of the Great Forest. By midday they see the White-Gold tower backdropped on the bright blue sky. They day is growing warmer and warmer, so Lucien pulls his hair back into a neat but low ponytail.

At some point Matuul had admitted he was hungry and so was Lucien. Because of that and the fact he suspected his Dunmer companion was still upset about their rough morning, Lucien offers,

"Seeing as we are no longer in an immediately life threatening situation, I suppose we have plenty of time to explore the wonderful Imperial City?" with the lasts few words coming out in a mocking tone.

His question seems to cheer up Matuul some, but he looks at the city in the distance with an uneasy expression.

After a moment Matuul makes up his mind "Sure! I think that could be nice. As long as the first thing we do is get food." His tone is preppy but Lucien can detect that a lot of it was forced.

If Matuul was determined to try and be happy, then Lucien wanted to do everything he can to make that happen. He didn't like his Silencer having to go through all the difficult emotions that resulted from the past few days. Apparently Matuul had even had a seizure the previous day. Lucien already knew Matuul was epileptic, he's been tracking him for a while now, but he didn't bring it up in case it made him uncomfortable.

"Let's move quicker then, shall we?" Lucien says stopping to mount Shadowmere. He reaches a hand out to Matuul to help him up. The elf sits behind him and wraps his arms around the Imperial's waist. At this, Lucien feels some sort of... pleasant disturbance in his chest.

Lucien clicks his tongue and Shadowmere takes off down the road, picking up speed.

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Matuul felt truly safe and at peace for the first time in a while. He watched the trees, bushes, and occasional house pass by as he had his hands clasped around Lucien, hugging his back. The man's lovely head of hair kept tickling him in the face, but he didn't mind. It was worth it being able to be this close to him. And as much as he tried to ignore it and suppress it, the motion caused by the running horse combined with their hips being so close together made the journey that much more exciting. He just wishes he could know what Lucien was thinking and feeling then.

After hitching up Shadowmere at the stables just outside the city, the pair walk up to the huge wooden doors engraved with the Imperial sigil of a dragon. Matuul is a little nervous about the guards since he was technically supposed to be in prison, but no one seems to give a fuck. Him and his crime were insignificant and forgettable to the Legion.

Once on the other side of the tall, white stone walls, they stop for a moment to take in the city. Other than the large amount of people, the first thing he notices is the buildings are tall and elegant; the walls have angular columns, many featured a dome on top, and had turquoise tiled roofs. The road was neatly paved with stones. In the center of this area, Talos Plaza, there was a stone gazebo featuring a statue of a dragon. It reminded Matuul of the one he'd seen ages ago in Ebonheart.

There was a ton of things to look at, but Lucien starts walking ahead of him.

Catching up to him, Matuul says "Do you happen to know anything about fencers here?"

"And why would you need to know about that?" Lucien responds, not missing a beat.

"I have things to fence, duh." Matuul says not disclosing any details.