My Random Skyrim Stories

Green Bottles (6)

Vilkas woke the next morning feeling awful... the light was too loud, and it felt like a blacksmith was trying to hammer something out of the inside of his skull.
With his arm feeling much heavier than it was supposed to, Vilkas reached up and swatted away whatever the obnoxious thing was that was poking his shoulder.
He heard Farkas grunt at that and then felt something smooth gently but insistently tapping the side of his face. Vilkas cracked open one eye and glared at the dark red bottle Farkas was holding in his face.
"Come on," Farkas grumbled, "gonna have to pay for another night if we're not out soon."
Vilkas groaned and slowly rolled over. He had to quickly clap his hand to his mouth, and only barely avoided vomiting.
"Ysmir's balls," he swore grumpily, "I hate everything."
"Oh, so that was your personality, an' not just the beast after all," Farkas quipped, sounding amused.
"Shut up," Vilkas snapped, and then immediately regretted his own volume.
"Drink the potion, it helps," Farkas replied calmly, tapping the side of his face with the red bottle again.
Vilkas had half a mind to slap the bottle out of his hand and punch him, but his head hurt too much for that kind of movement. Instead, he slowly and skeptically sat up and took the bottle. He knew a healing potion alone was no cure for a hangover and he was wondering bitterly how Farkas was handling so well.
Very slowly, so as not to make himself sick, Vilkas began to sip the potion Farkas had handed him... as his headache cleared he realized it wasn't a simple healing potion.
"What is this?" He asked, looking at the bottle in surprise. He was suddenly feeling much better.
"Hangover remedy," Farkas shrugged, "it's mostly a poison antidote potion mixed with a healing potion, with a little stamina potion and cure-disease potion mixed in too."
"Where'd you get it?" Vilkas asked. He was impressed now, he only had a mild headache.
"Mix it myself," Farkas replied, "usually buy the potions from Arcadia."
Vilkas just blinked at his brother in surprise for a moment.
"Didn't used to need it after that little to drink though..." Farkas added with a sheepish smirk.
"I'm still taking your alcohol away when we get home," Vilkas sighed as he got up and stretched.
"I know," Farkas chuckled, "an' I won't need it."
Vilkas smiled... with the hangover clearing the relief of having finally had a dreamless sleep was settling in... he felt better than he had in years...
Until the memory of what Farkas had said before they'd passed out came back...
As he collected his things and got his armor back on, Vilkas contemplated what to do about that... how to bring the conversation up... if he should bring the conversation up...

They got a late breakfast and set out from Winterhold much later in the day than Vilkas would have preferred. It seemed, unsurprisingly, that men also needed a lot more sleep than werewolves did, and even with Farkas waking him, they'd slept till nearly noon.
In spite of the worries weighing on his mind, Vilkas's mood improved drastically as they got out on the road. The weather was sunny and the air was crisp. He decided he could risk the conversation with his brother...
"So how much do you remember of what you said last night?" Vilkas asked, putting on a teasing smirk as they walked down the road.
"Most of it," Farkas nodded, a content looking smile forming on his face, "pretty sure I dozed off at one point, but then I woke up 'cause you were snorin'."
"I don't snore," Vilkas protested, but Farkas laughed at that.
"You do when you're drunk!"
Vilkas scowled and rolled his eyes. "Alright, at least I don't always snore like you do," he grumbled.
Farkas let out another laugh at that. "So do you remember what you said last night?" Farkas asked teasingly.
"I think so..." Vilkas nodded, furrowing his brow, "I wasn't as drunk as you were..."
"Dunno..." Farkas shrugged, "you seemed more drunk when I tried to wake you up."
"No, I was just hungover," Vilkas shook his head.
"No, the first time I woke you up..."
"What?" Vilkas looked sideways at Farkas in confusion now and Farkas's grin instantly turned mischievous...
"When you woke me up 'cause you were snorin'," Farkas continued, "an' I woke you up..."
Vilkas shook his head uncomfortably, "I only remember trying to get you to tell me the name of this woman you're hoping to marry and you dozing off without saying..."
"So you don't remember wakin' up an' tellin' me all about your 'ray of sunshine'...?" Farkas grinned deviously and Vilkas felt his face flush.
"I don't," Vilkas replied stiffly, his scowl returning.
"You don't remember tellin' me how much you wanted to kiss a certain shield-sister recently?" Farkas prodded.
Vilkas thought he noticed the corners of Farkas's smirk twitch just a little, which was usually one of Farkas's tells that he was bluffing, but Vilkas wasn't confident that he'd caught it now.
"I have no memory of that," Vilkas grumbled, glaring at Farkas suspiciously.
"An' you don't remember tellin' me about how you were hopin' that certain shield-sister was in your room the other day 'cause she wanted to go get in your bed?"
Vilkas knew Farkas was bluffing now. "Damn it, brother! I said no such thing!"
Farkas just stopped in his tracks, laughing so hard he doubled over.
Vilkas knew he couldn't have said that, because such a thought hadn't crossed his mind... but now that it had... by Ysmir he was going to have a problem when they got home...
"Damn it, brother!" Vilkas snapped again, "you made all of that up, didn't you?!"
Farkas was laughing too hard to answer for a moment, but he finally nodded, laughing so hard he had tears in his eyes.
"I knew it," Farkas laughed.
Vilkas scowled as Farkas kept laughing...
"You didn't even stop snorin' when I hit you with a pillow last night," Farkas admitted as he caught his breath, "but your reactions just told me everything," he added with a teasing grin, "you're sweet on Lillia."
Vilkas sighed as he ran a hand down his face. It suddenly occurred to him that Farkas seemed amused by this, not concerned or jealous... which was probably at least good news for him... "Fine," Vilkas grumbled, "I admit it... I might be... interested... in the Harbinger..."
Farkas grinned like he'd just won an argument and it made Vilkas sorely tempted to punch him.
"Now, who's this woman you're so sweet on?" He prodded irritably.
"Uhn-uh" Farkas shook his head, "that's gonna be a surprise."
"Wait, what? Brother, that's not fair," Vilkas complained indignantly, but Farkas just laughed.