Northbound Pilgrimage II

Chapter CX - Bad Blood

Somehow things always seemed a little less dire after a good night's sleep.

And they definitely seemed even less dire when the smell of Lydia's boiled cream buns and honey-nut treats filled the room. She went all out for the breakfast. Maybe it was her attempt to lift their spirits after last night, or maybe she just wanted to make sure she made enough for everyone. But whatever the case was, it didn't really matter. Her food was as delicious as ever and it made Aeyrin chastise herself internally for skipping dinner last night because of her... mood.

She stuffed another small bun into her mouth and a muffled satisfied moan reverberated through her throat. Lydia made them all tiny so it was easy enough to just pop one into her mouth as a whole. That was perfect. Maybe she could take some for the road? If there were even any left over after this. After her assault. Aeyrin was definitely the one who had eaten the most of them by now. Bishop only tried one – he was more interested in the honeyed treats – and Saadia and Lydia tasted only sparsely too. It probably wasn't that rare for them with Lydia cooking and baking every day.

She should really control herself so that there would be some left for her to take later.

"You know," she tried to speak in between her chewing before she gave up and took a few seconds to swallow instead. "When I'm with Aela tonight, you could teach Bishop how to bake too," she gave Lydia a conspiratorial wink.

"What? Where would I even bake?" Bishop chuckled at her. "You think I can bake on an open fire?" Though, granted, he had thought about it. Not the fire thing, but he had seriously thought about getting a small oven into the cottage. He didn't, in the end, but there was a bit of room there for it if he ever decided to. He never even tried to bake anything. He always just bought treats for Aeyrin, but he knew how much she loved anything baked and sweet. It was practically the only reason why he would ever consider learning.

Fuck, he sounded... domesticated. Disturbing. The most disturbing part of it was that he didn't really mind at all.

"I don't know, I'm sure you'd figure something out," she giggled at him. She wasn't really serious. Besides, maybe she could learn how to bake instead. It was kind of fun back in the Rift when he was making dinner and she was roasting those nuts for dessert, even if it wasn't exactly hard work.

"Aren't you going at midnight or something?" Lydia chuckled. "A little late for baking lessons. We'll probably all be asleep by then."

'Asleep'. Right.

"Oh please," Aeyrin scoffed in amusement. "You're gonna be here, drinking the night away. Without me," she made sure to punctuate that with a prominent pout. Not that she minded, but it was more fun that way. And she knew that they would be awake anyway. They would definitely wait up with Bishop – since he needed to leave the city only during night-time, he and Aeyrin had agreed that they would both leave once the meeting with Aela was done and that they would spend the night at the hunter's rest outside of the city instead. It was tried and true at least – no more dangerous than if Bishop stayed. And this way, they wouldn't have to worry about leaving during the next day. That Commander Maro person was still waiting for them after all; they shouldn't prolong their stay too much.

"Well I do need to use the time to complain about you," Bishop smirked at her and the comment promptly earned him a cream bun tossed right at his face. He was quick though. He managed to catch the bun in his hand and he instantly plopped it into his mouth instead. His other arm snuck around Aeyrin's waist though and he pulled her closer to himself affectionately.

"How long will that meeting of yours take anyway?" Lydia asked after the brief chuckles subsided.

"I have no idea. I don't really know what she wants. I have a theory, but I don't know," Aeyrin shrugged. And even if her theory was right, she had no idea how long it would take. She suspected that initiations like these involved some ceremonial stuff too. She just hoped that there wouldn't be any drama with Vilkas.