Dibella's Morning

*BANG!*

The door is unceremoniously kicked by a certain dragon girl, her foot almost launching it off of its hinges from the sheer force of her kick. She skips inside with a wide smile which only becomes brighter when she sees the position Michael and Tiffania were in, "*Gasp!*, Big sis! You're right! They did do it!" she laughs as she leaves and slams the almost-broken door closed.

...

"Michael... What is it?" a sleepy Tiffania asks while rubbing the sleep from her eyes.

He brushes a stray lock of hair from her face and gives a quick kiss, "Seems like the others are aware of what happened between us..."

She takes a moment to process that information before her eyes widen, "H-how!?"

He shrugs, "You weren't exactly quiet last night..."

...

She buries her face into his chest, "So embarrassing... How am I going to look at them now?"

"Look at them with pride and say we're together now... After you wipe my semen off of your back and stomach..." he corrects, realising that they'd forgotten to clean up after themselves.

She puffs her cheeks, "You aren't helping..."

He grins, "Why would I help you when I can help myself to you?" he laughs as his hands begin roaming, the girl unable to stop from giggling as they play around.

Soon enough though, Charlotte's voice comes from the closed door, and they're forced to quickly clean themselves and get dressed before she sees them like this.

In the end, the duo had to endure the jeers and japes of their friends as they exit the room, Borvir clapping Michael on the back while Yisra and Illococoo tend to an incredibly embarrassed Tiffania. It was fortunate they weren't upset for having their sleep disturbed but happy for the duo.

Charlotte had a complicated look but it was quickly covered by her usual neutral expression, the girl congratulating the duo on finally getting together.

Michael and Tiffania were saved in the end by Toldir's lecture, which wouldn't wait for the group to get the jokes out of their systems.

Thus, life continued as it had, with the only real changes being the way Michael and Tiffania interacted with one another. Swapping kisses when they passed each other in the hallways or holding hands as they sat and studied... Both sometimes lay on the bed together as they read their respective books. It was the bliss that most new couples enjoyed for a short time before reality hit them... Only that this wasn't temporary. Michael and Tiffania had been through a lot together and had already seen the best and worst of one another.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

It's a week later that Charlotte approaches Michael to discuss when they'd head to the Temple of Dibella in Markarth... To be honest, he'd kind of forgotten all about it after he'd gotten together with Tiffania, making him feel like a piece of shit when the short bluenette explained herself.

It was for that reason that he'd sped up their plans. Having everyone prepare to leave the next day. Illococoo and Tiffania were surprised, but not upset as they both understood and wanted to help.

The next day they headed to the inn and retrieve the cart and horses before having Tiffania create a Teleportation Gate that lead to the outskirts of Whiterun. It was the closest location to Markarth other than Falkreath, but Michael wasn't too keen on going anywhere near the Dark Brotherhood base after what he'd done to the Black-Briar's.

They journey west along the road, but half a day later Illococoo requests that they stop off somewhere. Apparently, she wanted to visit a cave that had a high possibility of containing a Word Wall, this information came from the map that the Arch-Mage had someone sketch out.

It was called Sunderstone Gorge, a cave not too far off of the road they were headed down. It was relatively easy to find, and once inside the only real thing the group encountered were a couple weak Draugr.

Indeed, there wasn't even a powerful Draugr at the end of the cave system like all the other ancient Nord structures Michael had visited. That said, aside from the Word Wall, there wasn't any good loot either, meaning that the cave was just an empty dragon shrine of some sort.

Illococoo eagerly copied everything from the Word Wall onto the many parchments she'd brought with her. Apparently, it told the story of a failed human rebellion against the Dragons, who punished their slaves by burning them all to ashes.

Illococoo explained that the story was imbued with information about the Thu'um. The Dragon's understanding of the event, their emotions when they discovered their slave's betrayal, and their subsequent rage that fueled their burning shouts.

She wouldn't be able to learn more about the words that comprised 'Fus Ro Dah', but this Word Wall would help her understand how to manifest fire with the Thu'um. Something she was eager to do as she liked she wasn't meeting everyone's expectations as a dragon... What dragon didn't breathe fire after all?

She was just playing around of course, but that didn't hide her excitement and passion for her research in the slightest.

After copying the Word Wall, the group left and continued on their journey. A day and a half later and the group could finally spot the city of Markarth in the distance. It was built into the mountain and was primarily made of Dwemer architecture, so it was fairly easy to recognise. They could even see the Temple of Dibella sitting on a tall outcrop of rock, which only made them increase the pace of the horses further.

"Almost there girls, let's just hope we don't get ambushed by Forsworn or something."

"Did you think we will?" Tiffania asks and Michael shrugs.

"Probably not? But who knows, we might get lucky."

"You mean unlucky?" Illococoo asks to which Michael just smirks and doesn't reply.