"I Would Stand At Her Back, That The World Might Never Overtake Us..."

The Housecarl

The following morning Farkas slept in a little later than his usual. Aylin slept till nearly noon.
"How hungover are you?" Farkas teased when she found him at the outside table.
"Only a little," she grumbled as she sat down on the bench beside him. "I wasn't that drunk," she admitted.
"Really?" Farkas asked slowly, turning to look at her with a smirk. Her face flushed a light shade of pink, but she looked back at him confidently.
"Really," she nodded.
"Well," Farkas shrugged, Torvar's too hungover, and Athis is finished for the morning, you ready to train?"
Aylin raised an eyebrow at him and grabbed an apple out of the bowl on the table. "Almost," she said before taking a bite of the apple. Farkas chuckled.
"Actually," she began again a moment later, "I had a question... I promised my housecarl I'd ask once I officially joined..."
"You have a housecarl?" Farkas interrupted in confusion.
"Yeah," Aylin laughed, "the Jarl made me a Thane after I killed the dragon at the western watchtower, so I have no house, but I have a housecarl. She's really nice, I've brought her with me as back up for a couple of missions, but anyway, I promised her I'd ask if I could bring her to see Jorrvaskr."
"Fine with me," Farkas shrugged, "just warn Tilma you'll have a guest for dinner."
"I'll do that," she nodded, she put a hand on his shoulder and leaned against him as she stood back up. It was a simple, mostly platonic gesture, but Farkas loved it. "I'll be back in a bit, then we can train," she added with an extra pat on his shoulder plate.
"Alright then," Farkas smiled.

Vilkas came outside a few minutes after Aylin took off toward Dragonsreach, and a thought crossed Farkas's mind... what were the odds...? He decided it would be best to not get Vilkas's hopes up... but maybe they could both be showing off when Aylin and her housecarl got back...
"Been a while since we had a good fight," Farkas commented casually. Vilkas looked down at him thoughtfully with a raised eyebrow.
"Aye," he nodded, "I've been teaching whelps to use two-handed weapons, I haven't had a good brawl in ages."
"Alright," Farkas grinned, "you and me, let's go."
"Alright," Vilkas laughed, "if you're that eager to get beaten." Vilkas unstrapped his sword and set it on the weapon wrack. Ria, Athis, and Njada were outside as well and all three were watching with interest. Farkas laughed and got up, putting his sword on the weapon wrack as well.
"We'll see who's getting beaten, little brother..."
They squared up in the yard and out of the corner of his eye Farkas saw Aylin coming back down the steps from Dragonsreach. The woman with her wore steel armor, and had shoulder length brown hair... she definitely might have been Lydia...
Vilkas swung first and they exchanged a few blows before Aylin and her housecarl came fully into view. Farkas spared a glance in their direction as he and Vilkas circled. It was Lydia, he was sure of it. If the fact he recognized her wasn't enough, her intrigued expression as she watched Vilkas gave her away for sure. He almost let his attention stray from Vilkas too long... almost. Farkas dodged a right hook and countered, his fist glancing off Vilkas's shoulder plate.
"Or maybe you'll owe me a favor if I let you win in front of a certain lady..." Farkas said quietly as he dodged one of Vilkas's fists again. Vilkas gave him a bewildered look and Farkas inclined his head toward the awning where Aylin and Lydia were now watching intently with the rest of the whelps. Vilkas glanced over at the awning and Farkas chuckled as Vilkas's eyes went wide.
"Is that...?"
"Eyes on your opponent, brother," Farkas warned right before throwing another punch. Even with the warning, Farkas's fist landed a solid hit to the side of Vilkas's face. Vilkas growled and swung back at Farkas, his anger made him quicker and he landed two solid punches, in quick succession.
And so the fight continued, the brothers traded several more solid blows. At some point Ria started cheering for Vilkas, and Lydia joined her, and Aylin started cheering for Farkas. The cheers made both men grin as they fought. After several minutes they ended up in a grapple, and while Farkas had a slight size advantage, he also knew Vilkas had a few tricks up his sleave. Farkas thought Vilkas would probably try and off balance him and throw him... and it would probably make for a spectacular show for the ladies and the whelps... he decided he'd let him do it. Farkas glanced to the side at Aylin and was please to see she was watching intently. He gave her a quick wink right before he heard Vilkas growl;
"Eyes on your opponent, brother..." and then with an extra shove on his left Vilkas suddenly stopped pushing back on his right and Farkas began to topple forward. Using the momentum, Vilkas turned, stuck out his hip, and slung Farkas clear over and on to his back on the ground. The whelps under the awning cheered and Vilkas laughed.
"Good throw!" Farkas laughed, still flat on his back. "That was a good fight!" And it was, even if he'd let Vilkas win, the adrenaline and camaraderie was what Farkas enjoyed most.
Vilkas looked back toward the awning and then suspiciously back down at Farkas. Farkas gave his brother a smug smirk.
"How did you..."
"Aylin has a housecarl," Farkas explained as Vilkas helped him up. "Now go tell her hi," he chuckled. Vilkas's dumbfounded expression melted into an understanding and appreciative one.
"Aye," he nodded, clapping Farkas on the shoulder as he turned to walk over to Lydia.
Farkas stretched and stepped back into the shade to lean against the wall. He listened as Lydia and his brother exchange flirtatious pleasantries. Farkas noticed Aylin and the other whelps were listening as well. Ria looked plainly disappointed... poor girl, Farkas thought... she had to realize she was too young for him... she was nearly twelve years younger than they were... he was pretty sure Lydia was close in age to Aylin... Farkas has known from their first meeting that Aylin was older and more mature than the other whelps, but she had actually told him that she'd seen twenty eight winters... Vilkas and Farkas were thirty two.
Farkas was pulled from his thoughts as he noticed Aylin walking toward him. She leaned against the wall beside him and elbowed him playfully in the arm.
"I saw that," she said with a smirk.
"What?" Farkas feigned innocence.
"You let him do that," she accused with a smile.
Farkas let out a chuckle before explaining; "he's been sweet on Lydia ever since he met her when she was still a guard. Had to make him look good." Farkas shrugged. Aylin shook her head, but she laughed.
"He already looks good," Aylin said, rolling her eyes. Farkas turned his head to look at her directly.
"Really?" He asked raising an eyebrow at her.
"To Lydia I mean!" Aylin clarified, turning a little red in the face. "The whole reason she wanted me to bring her here was so she could see him. She told me about how she met you two..."
Farkas laughed. "Good, he's been in a foul mood for months with her gone."
"So did you wear yourself out or are you still up for training with me?" Aylin asked, giving his arm another playful nudge.
"I could start teaching you some of those grappling moves," Farkas suggested with a smirk.

Farkas trained with Aylin the rest of the afternoon, working on her unarmed combat and with moving in her heavy armor. The hand-to-hand fighting was closer than weapon fighting, and Farkas enjoyed himself immensely.

"It looks like I should have told Tilma Vilkas would have guest for dinner," Aylin joked when they went inside later in the evening. Farkas nodded in amusement. Vilkas had spent the rest of the day with Lydia, and now they were sitting at the dining table, laughing and talking as they ate. Farkas hadn't seen his brother so happy in months.