My Random Skyrim Stories

The Mage Harbinger (Vilkas) 4

Once out in the hall Vilkas had been quickly able to tell that it was still quite early in the morning. It seemed he'd only passed out for a couple of hours... but he so desperately wished he hadn't. The stiffness in his neck and back from dozing off in his armor was bad enough, but even worse than that, he wished he'd never seen Lystrid's amulet. He was quite sure his disappointment when she made it clear she hadn't intended to propose to him had been painfully obvious, and he wasn't sure how to recover from that.

The brief moment of hope he had as he closed the door faded as he replayed the conversation in his mind...

As he hoisted his armor off and then dropped himself heavily into bed, his imagination plagued him with alternative ways that morning could have played out...

Waking up beside Lystrid, not miserably stiff from passing out in his armor... if she hadn't pulled her hood off when she did and they'd been able to have a relaxed conversation... lying so close together like that...

He tried not to think of how nice it would have been to roll over and pull her into his arms... to kiss her... and to then discover the amulet of Mara...

Or... if she'd actually known what the amulet meant in Nordic culture... if she'd actually been wearing it for him intentionally... if she'd responded favorably to his question he'd still be in her room with her now...

Vilkas groaned and threw his arm across his face feeling stupid. He wished he could just go to sleep and let the last half hour have been all a bad dream.

To Vilkas's surprise, he was woken several hours later by Lystrid knocking gently and then letting herself in.

"You just going to sleep the day away?" She asked lightly, sounding amused.

Vilkas groaned as he rolled over and sat up groggily. He was still sore and stiff. "That might have been the goal," he grumbled.

"You slept through lunch, so I thought I'd bring you some food and... maybe give you that explanation now?"

Vilkas stretched his arms over his head and a few joints creaked and popped.

"I... could also heal your aches," Lystrid offered a little uncertainly as she set the plate of food she was holding down on his desk.

Vilkas looked up and regarded her hesitantly at that... she was wearing the blueish dove-grey robes that looked like they went with the large hood she'd thrown haphazardly over her shoulders the night before, and her copper-blond hair had been braided neatly over one shoulder. It wasn't an unusual look for her... in fact, the mage robes seemed to be her preferred garment for relaxing in... he hadn't really let himself notice before then how nice those robes looked on her though... the blueish hues to the grey matched her eyes nearly perfectly, and the robes hugged her curves in a flattering way that her armor did not.

He wasn't sure he could deal with this...

Then she cocked her head questioningly at him and he remembered she'd offered to heal his aches.

Vilkas took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "I suppose that would be... alright," he agreed a little awkwardly, "just a healing spell at least."

She smiled an adorable little smile at that, and stepped forward to sit beside him on his bed, and he was a little startled by her closeness.

"I was thinking," she began hesitantly as her hands lit with a soft gold glow, "after last night's ordeal, I should probably request the help of a shield-brother for my next job..."