(Skyrim/Niam) Framed

»seven

At the entrance to the college--behind the very front door but before the room with the pool of magical blue substance--were two doors. The one to the left led to rooms and the one to the right led to the library, which was a legendary collection of informational books. But instead of going into the library as soon as possible, we went through the door that led to stairs which in turn led to a circular stone room with more rooms branching off of it. Blue light emitted from a pit that was not unlike the one in the room downstairs where we had met Tolfdir for the the first time--in fact, Niall walked over there and was surprised to see the room was completely visible and the light shot up through all of the rooms in the college.

His expression changed from one of self-doubt to one of awe and he looked up at me when I followed him and pressed my hand to the small of his back. "What even is this stuff, anyway?" he asked.

"I'm not really sure," I replied uncertainly. "But let's find a room that's not taken and take it," I trailed the tips of my fingers down his arm and hooked them with his fingers before walking to the nearest room. The room was occupied by a Breton woman wearing robes of Restoration; the walls were lined with shelves which had all sorts of magical ingredients and even a few enchanted daggers on them. A large, two-person bed with a light green blanket atop it sat in the middle of the room with a tall brown wardrobe sat across from it and a chair sat by the door. In the corner of the room was an alchemy table. 

Quietly, I stepped out of the room so as to not alert her to our presence behind her. We walked around the circle and peeked into all the rooms only to find that each one was occupied except for a room with a small one-person bed. The rest of the room was entirely suitable, though, and it gave us more room to walk around. Frowning discontentedly, Niall wiggled his fingers from my grasp and sat on the bed testily. "It's actually not that bad," he said, tilting his head to the side and looking at me expectantly. "So... is this it?" he continued after a moment of silence.

"It for what?" I asked cautiously before sitting on the bed beside him. The room--now ours--was bare but not uncomfortable. Shelves lined the walls of this room just like all the other rooms, and there were two chairs in here beneath one of the larger shelves and a dresser to the right side of the doorway, since there were no doors to the rooms there.

Before he had the chance to answer, the woman whose room we'd first checked walked by, poking her head in through the doorway. "Restoration is a perfectly valid school of magic and don't let anyone tell you otherwise," she chimed in a high-pitched, nasal voice that would be annoying if she used it too much, but she just continued walking by after that.

Pressing his lips together as if hiding a smile, Niall answered, "Like, what do I do? What do you do?"

"Well, I stay here with you, obviously," I told him, making him smile softly. "...to supervise your training and keep you safe from my family." 

"What's there to be safe from?" he inquired curiously. "They think I'm Jem."

"Niall," I hissed, lowering my voice as a precaution. "My family wanted you gone in a week and my family gets what it wants and I have a strong suspicion that when they learn that I ran away with you, they're going to attack both of us aiming to kill." 

His eyes widened as I stood up and started to remove my bow from its brace on my back. "B- But... I'm so sorry!" he apologized. "It's my fault!" 

"No, it's not," I assured him as I removed that strap that held the sheathe for my arrows tightly to my back and dropped it to the floor. "It's my fault for liking you so much." 

"B- but..." he trailed off this time, looking at himself uncertainly. "But... you wouldn't have left if it wasn't for me." 

"Hey," I said, grabbing his forearms with my hands to hold him close but not too close. "It's okay. You're worth it. And if they try to kill you, I'll get to them first."