94 Chapter 91: Pain
A/N: Guess who's back, back again
Once evening fell on Riften, Mjoll decided it was time to head to the bee and barb, but Aerin was very much against it.
"Mjoll you can't trust everything you see here. What if he's lying to you? he could be working for the black briars for all we know..." Argued Aerin as he tried to convince Mjoll not to go.
"He described my sword perfectly, it cannot be false. Even if it is, if I don't go see for myself I won't stop thinking about it," said Mjoll, still very much determined to go.
"Fine, but I'm coming with you" Aerin declared before the argument finally came to an end.
When they arrived at Lokir's home, they were allowed in by Lokir and directed to the dining area where everyone was currently gathered eating and drinking.
"We have company" Lokir announced as Aerin and Mjoll walked into the room.
"Evening everyone. Sorry to intrude," said Mjoll while facing the group.
"Yes Evening..." Aerin said in a tone of disinterest.
"Silvya, show her the sword" Kel instructed while looking at a chest in the corner of the room.
Silvya nodded and stood from her seat before going to fetch the sword "Grimsever" from the chest. Even seeing it from afar, Mjoll already wore a look of relief. Silvya handed it to Mjoll who quickly inspected it before confirming.
"Without a doubt! This is her, my Blade Grimsever. Thank you." Mjoll gave her thanks with a smile on her face.
Lydia and Aela had no idea what was going on so they could only look at the others for answers.
"My Thane, is she a friend?" asked Lydia while showing a look of confusion. Her question however only sparked more confusion.
"Wait. You're a Thane? I thought you said you've never been to Riften before" Mjoll narrowed her eyes at Kel, growing slightly suspicious of him.
"What does being a Thane in Whiterun have to do with Riften?" Retorted Lydia, making Mjoll realize her blunder.
"Oh I thought you meant Riften, I don't even know your name so I assumed." Mjoll apologized quickly.
"Well then let me formally introduce my Thane, Kel the Dragon Slayer." Lydia said very proudly.
"You...You're Kel the Dragon Slayer? The warrior who took it upon himself to fight the Dragon menace? Goodness, your deeds extend far and wide. I know a great many who sing nothing but praises about you. I suppose that's why you easily defeated that dwarven machine." Mjoll spoke in a tone showing both excitement and awe.
Aerin simply watched the scene with his arms crossed. Although unhappy with staying here longer, there was nothing he could do about it.
"Thanks in no small part to my group here, take a seat. It's strange holding a conversation while standing" replied Kel while gesturing to him to take a seat. This filled the table leaving Aerin nowhere to sit.
"It's fine Aerin, I'm sure even you know of Kel. I'm in no danger here, you can go home," said Mjoll in a polite manner despite her words hitting Aerin like daggers.
Lokir said not to worry however as he had a spare chair. And by spare chair he meant a small stool used to get to hard to reach places. Aerin however still sat on it without hesitation.
The topic soon switched onto adventures everyone has had in the past. Aela told the story of how her first hunt ended in a disaster and then told them about her first successful one. Both happened when she was still very young.
"....and do you know what both hunts had in common?" asked Aela with a smile on her face.
"You cried during both," said Lydia while laughing.
"Dammit Lydia! You said you wouldn't tell anyone!" Aela complained to Lydia while the others burst into laughter.
"You really believed the words of a small girl? Her and I are two different people" Lydia answered while shrugging her shoulders.
Kel didn't even need to tell any stories about his adventures as Silvya went gung-ho and exaggerated everything.
"....and then all the loose women died and everyone was happy." Silvya finished her story with a smile.
Kel made no comment and simply drank his mead. They couldn't really reveal their past adventures in detail so he let Silvya lie like there was no tomorrow.
As for Lokir, his adventurous story was escaping Helgen with a bunch of idiots. This story was especially entertaining due to how he described Yorgen as a bumbling idiot.
"....then he got injured and tried to recover quickly so he ate ten apples there and then. True story" Lokir added before finishing his story.
"That makes no sense, how can an odd place like that have fresh fruit?" asked a confused Aela.
"Mhm and how does eating 10 apples at once help heal wounds? That also makes no sense. Unless you say Yorgen is a witch?" Mjoll commented as well on the story.
"I'm sure that might be the case, I've seen him in situations where normal people would've died. But being the cockroach he is, he came out unscathed!" Lokir shook his head upon remembering the enthusiastic idiot.
As for Aerin, he simply exaggerated the tale of how he saved Mjoll. But he left so many holes in the story that everyone simply said nothing and just drank from their tankards while giving skeptical looks.
Lydia's story was on how her and Aela stopped being close friends and became rivals.
"....so even after she joined the companions officially, she insisted on proving who was the best between us. We had competed in almost everything and so we were tied."
"However when the annual winter festival was approaching, we made a wager to see who would have the most invitations. I was asked by two different men. One was a companion and another was a merchant who's caravans I protected before. Aela however got none."
"She was so upset she didn't want to attend so I too decided not to attend and rejected my invitations. She saw this as pity and fought me. We fought till the festival ended and no one came out victorious".
"She then declared she'd one day have Skyrim's strongest, most handsome warrior at her side. Till this day...he remains unseen...."
Everyone went silent for a while before bursting into laughter. Aela could only drown her sorrows in mead. Soon however, the topic took a different turn.
"Don't worry, I too am yet to find the man who will sweep me off my feet and lead me into a life of adventure." Mjoll said in an attempt to cheer up Aela.
"Aren't you and him together?" Asked Lokir while pointing at Aerin.
"Who?, Aerin? Haha no, he's like a little brother to me..." Both Kel and Lokir held back their urges to laugh and continued to drink their mead.
(E/N: oooffff he got friend zoned)
"He will someday make a woman very happy. It would feel wrong for me to be in a relationship with him, he's but a boy." Mjoll's words came out polite and sincere but Aerin only felt pain.
"Any Nord woman's ideal man is someone both strong and charming. Such is rare in Skyrim, my Thane is among the few..." Lydia said while drifting off.
"Oh I forgot to ask, you two are married are you not?" Mjoll asked while looking at Silvya and Kel.
Silvya didn't deny but instead looked down while smiling and playing with her fingers.
"No we're not married, we share a path in life. So even if I never find happiness in a partner and remain single, I know I'll always have Silvya to depend on". Silvya blushed at Kel's words while Mjoll smiled.
"Single then... I would never have guessed" as if only hearing one part she commented with a smile on her face. Always being sincere and blunt.
Aerin continued to feel pain in his chest as he sat on the little stool and looked at the table. The drinking continued well into the night before everyone decided it was time to rest. Aerin left with a part of his soul and the little bit of his pride that remained while Mjoll was happy after being reunited with Grimsever....among other things. The others simply went to their rooms and called it a day.
A/N: As Usual give stones for continued release and mass release on Friday or Join Discord where the next chapter is already present. You can also read further ahead by joining and supporting me on pat.re.on
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(Edited by X-RYIZ (rawaz's sugar daddy), magnus the gay overlord, clickbait the part time crossdresser and Rawaz the small dick lolicon
