The Fall Of Alduin (ON HOLD)

Ch 12: late night drinks

We spent a decent few hours walking the road to dragon bridge and had to ride my horse after a few hours, I mean it was still dark out and I haven't had much sleep. Even now my eyes were heavy, beckoning for me to shut them. . . just for a few minutes.

" dovahkiin, your falling asleep again."

I jumped at the sudden sound of Alduin's voice and snapped my eyes back open quickly. I sighed and rubbed my tired eyes with my gloved hand.

"Sorry,"I muttered as I yawned. "We should be there in a few minutes now, I can see the Bridge."

I looked ahead, seeing the dark structure of the bridge, despite the darkness of the night. It was a good thing too because I seem to be only getting more and more sleepy, with Alduin having to keep me awake. I rubbed my eyes more, urging myself to stay awake for a little longer. Tomorrow morning I may sleep in just a little before we head off to solitude for the supplies.

"tell me, do you always struggle to keep yourself awake at night?"Alduin asked as if he was trying to make some small talk. 

I shook my head, "sometimes, but this is the first time in awhile that I had proper sleep. I usually stayed awake half the night before going to sleep, though since the war is now over and I don't have to hunt for you this is the first time I've had good sleep. Do you sleep?"

"not all the time, we don't much need sleep,"he answered after a few moments, but he looked up at the bridge, while we began to cross, seeing the stone dragon's head at the top. I guess he knew now why they called the small town dragon bridge, but I only seen slight interest as we entered the town. 

The inn was fairly close and I dismounted my horse to tie him up close by for the night, Alduin followed the entire time, but I could tell he was a little hesitant. I wouldn't blame him and even though most of the imperial's stayed around here, that was the least of his worries. What bothered him was that they were mortals and he mostly burns down towns then hang around humans. 

I had my hand on the door almost ready to enter when I looked up at his tall form,"you are hesitant."

Alduin's red eyes looked at me with little surprise, but he frowned and looked to the side, "it is none of your concern, but you are tired anyway and I would hate to see you hold us up tomorrow."

He sounded unconcern, and entered first with more confidence in his walk, with myself following behind. The inside was so warm and the smell of food and drinks hit my nose, almost making me hungry all over again. I forgot how cozy these places were and the warmth since skyrim is always cold and hearing the crackle of the fire had a satisfying sound to them. I looked around, seeing a few people around just as I predicted, but alduin still looked a little tense, so without standing around I walked up to the innkeeper who greeted me kindly and I gave her the coin to rent a room for the night. 

"Travelers I see, I can tell by your armors,"the nord woman said with a smile. "Would that be all or would you like anything else?"

I thought for a moment and I just couldn't help myself, due to the sweet smell of the inn, "actually I would also like some mead please."

She nodded and looked down at her shelf, looking for the mead as alduin looked curiously at me.

"I thought you were tired,"he said as he stood next to me. "What are you doing now?"

"I'm just getting some mead, it's been a bit since I had some. Do you want to try some?"I asked as the lady put my mead on the counter and I gave her the coin for it.

Alduin only looked at the bottle, while I took it and held it up to him. The dovah looked to be thinking first, but he didn't give an answer and instead took the bottle from my hands gently. He looked at it for the second time, as if he was hesitating, but put it to his lips and began to drink it. I was surprised he would drink something like this, though my blue eyes widened and I quickly took the bottle away from his lips because he was drinking it awfully fast. I realized I should have known better then to let him since it was his first time and he wasn't use to alcohol.

"What?"he asked with slight agitation since I caught him off guard with taking the bottle.

"Don't drink it too fast, you'll get drunk quicker. If you like it, then drink slowly,"I explained to him and his red eyes seemed to lighten up a bit. 

"Fine,"he mumbled and I gave him the bottle back and turned to the woman to order a second bottle. We went to sit down at a table close by and he seemed to take my advice on drinking it slowly, though since I was more use to it I was the one to finish my bottle first and stood up from my chair. I still felt so tired and needed the sleep before I ended up sleeping where I was.

"I'm going to the room for some rest, behave okay?"I muttered tiredly to alduin.

He nodded, but I already turned to walk awake a little sluggishly and headed for the small room I rented for the night. Shutting the door behind me, I moved quietly to take off my armor and boots, leaving me in my sleeveless shirt and trousers. The room was dark, except for the sliver of light that peaked from under the door and I didn't mind because before I knew it I laying on the bed with a long, comfortable sigh and turned to my side. I fell straight to sleep comfortably, and finally able to relax. 

Unfortunately that night it was short lived when I felt someone wake me up and I groaned, wanting people to stop waking me from such a good sleep. Rubbing my eyes tiredly I turned around to look up, recognizing the dark dragon armor and red ruby eyes as alduin.

"Yes what is it?"I asked as I started to move to sit up.

". . .I don't feel to good,"I heard him mutter with a slight slur in his voice. 

I sighed, after a bit and looked closer, seeing that he was slightly wobbly and spotted a red tint over his cheeks. There was no doubt about it, he was drunk and over one bottle? he is such a light weight for a dragon, but then again he must have downed the bottle as soon as I left. He should have listened to me, though he will have a big headache tomorrow so however it went he still gets punished for not listening, especially the hangover he will have in the morning. Standing up I placed my hands on his chest plate, trying to balance him.

"Your just drunk, I told you not to down that bottle,"I muttered anyway as I moved him a little.

"W-what are you doing,"he asked, a little startled, placing his hands on my shoulders. "Just moving you, so I can stand. Go ahead and get some sleep, trust me the mead will put you to sleep."

"There's only enough room for one person,"he hiccupped as he looked at the bed.

"That's why you will take the bed, I'll just sleep in the chair,"he said quietly. "Would you like to take your armor off so you can sleep comfortably?"

He chuckled lightly, "eager already Colette?"

At his words I felt heat rush to my cheeks, feeling a little embarrassed, but slightly shook my head and sighed. It seems he is the opposite person when he is drunk and his voice sounded lighter then the usual deep and serious tone, I mean it sounded nice to hear him relaxed and he even called me by my name, though tomorrow he will go back to the way he was, not that I minded. Dragons always had such a serious nature, the only dovah I can think of who is more relaxed is odahviing. 

Removing myself from my thoughts, I felt fingers graze my, still warm cheek ever so softly. My eyes was already looking into a pair of soft rubies, his fingers still caressing my cheek, until he moved a piece of my lose hair behind my ear. I could feel my cheek heating up more along with the back of my neck and I didn't even move to stop him. I was almost frozen, not with fear, but with nervousness because no man has ever touched me like this before. It felt strange to me and my eyes started break eye contact out of embarrassment.

". . .You know, for a mortal you look really pretty,"he muttered softly.

I puffed out my cheeks and slightly pulled back from his touch.

"Just take off your heavy armor and get to bed,"I said in a flustered tone as I sat down in the chair, hearing him chuckle.

Closing my eyes I leaned back on the chair, while I heard shuffling from alduin, and slowly the sounds faded away until I was able to go back to sleep. It wasn't a comfortable sleep, but it was a decent enough one for me to stay asleep for the night.