An Evening Swim (Elder Scrolls Online)

An Evening Swim

The setting sun of a well-spent Loredas, and two Queen's Eyes were out by the sea. Horns-Are-Many was in the water, up to her neck in the lulling waves. Her scales glistened, bronze hues brighter than they had probably ever been, the golden flecks along her spine and tail, in outstretching stripes on her back just about glowing. And that wasn't just because of the sun and the water, the Argonian had never been as healthy as she currently was in her entire life.

Razum-Dar sat on the shore, watching his partner. He had to admit, the short Argonian had grown on him in the few months since he had seen her fall from the sky. Never had the Khajiit become closely attached to someone, but never would he admit that, for the reason was pitiful. He had always been scared that becoming friends with someone, perhaps even more than that, meant that the other could be used as a weapon against him. But now, watching his friend enjoy her swim in the Abecean Sea, he would admit it, stubbornly, yes, but admit it to Horns-Are-Many. Jode, he might even join her in the water.

Horns-Are-Many ducked her head under the water again, scrubbing the week's worth of dirt from her horns. The almost-crimson colour was a rarity amongst Argonians, but then again, she was as unique as the eye-catching shade. Stripped down to her underthings, she was certain nobody but the two would have travelled the distance to this particular beach, and without the need for a braband, as no Argonian did, the action wasn't indecent. Red paint stained the water, as she washed the crushed rock off that had been smeared in lines from her eyes to lower jaw. Moving to a clear section of water, she lay on her back, soaking in the fading sun just as Razum-Dar was doing.

The Khajiit had settled on his back, and removed his shirt to catch the last warmth Nirn had to offer for this day. But that light was fading, and although he loved the moons, their rays weren't sufficient. Standing, he shook the majority of the sand from his fur, some dust and dried blood that had hardened shaking off as well. With a grimace, he picked at an awfully hard spot under his arm, where a rather angry-looking Nord had swung an axe. The wound had been sealed, by Horns-Are-Many, who was probably the only reason Raz was alive at this current moment, but his blood still remained.

To Horns-Are-Many's surprise, Raz was soon up to his hips in the water, pants left near the two's piles of armour and garments. His fur had darkened where waves had splashed, and fortunately the water was warm, or the Khajiit would have already been hissing and halfway up the beach by now. His eyes met his friend's brownish ones, as she came near him in the water. He was expecting her to make some comment about the kitty-having-his-tail-pulled expression, but to his surprise, Horns-Are-Many swung her tail around, created a wave that drenched him.

With a grunt, Razum-Dar decided that there was no point in simply washing off the dirty areas and keeping the majority of his top-half dry, and dived in. His red mane flopped into his face when he pulled up from the water. The Khajiit's hair had been cut in a spike that ran to his neck, but when Horns-Are-Many had expressed her dislike for it, he had let it grow out. Now, it was long enough to be braided, and he had thanked the Gods the Argonian didn't how to braid. That would have been humiliating. 

Said Argonian was a guar-length away from him, her lips turned up in a smile. "I never would have thought to see my kitty enjoy the water." Unlike others of her race, her voice unusually elven, almost of an Altmer's. It confused Raz, and he had never figured out why it was that way. Her tone was also very... Affectionate. Razum-Dar had never heard her sound like that. He had barely heard kindness, as a disappointed and almost angry tone was what usually came from her lips. Horns-Are-Many did care, she just didn't have the best way of showing it.

Feigning a pained expression, Raz turned up his nose like many Altmer had done to him. "This one doesn't enjoy it, and doesn't know how Horns enjoys it." After only a few seconds of the snobby expression, a chuckle rumbled from Raz's throat. It didn't help that his friend was already laughing. Her eyes danced, and the Khajiit swore he felt his heart skip a beat. She had swum closer, close enough that he could see the intricate pattern of her scales, and just about each individual scale. He could also see the deadened patches of scales on her upper arms. Scales that were a darker shade, and shrivelled; sunken into her skin like the eyes of the corpse that gave her the marks. Raz remembered the sickening crunch as he swung one of her axe's into it's head. Thread pulled together more recent wounds, ones that had mostly been healed, before allowed to heal themselves, magic not worthy of wasting on them.