My Random Skyrim Stories

Good Advice (4)

Zara woke the next morning with a splitting headache and a crick in her neck. She was still wearing her tavern-style dress and she was sitting on the bench where they'd been reading outside Vilkas's bedroom. She'd been woken by Vilkas groaning and shifting beside her. She was leaning against him with her head on his shoulder, and his arm was around her shoulders, holding her close against his side.

As Vilkas shifted, the book they'd been reading fell off of his lap and hit the floor with a loud slam, startling them both fully awake.

Vilkas swore, but Zara could only groan and lean forward, clutching at her head. She felt like she was going to be sick.

"Apologies," Vilkas grumbled, "are you alright my l— Zara..." he cleared his throat, "are you alright, Zara?"

Her head throbbed and she feared she was about to puke, but Vilkas's stutter made her heart jump. What had he been about to say? She started to look up at him, but then she realized her increased heart rate was making the headache worse. She doubled back over with a groan, holding her head and silently debating if it would be better or worse to actually throw up. Her legs, back, and neck were stiff and aching from the position she'd slept in, and now the dim light from the hall was hurting her eyes.

How drunk had she gotten? She vaguely remembered having the guts to finally approach Vilkas... oh gods that was humiliating now... what had happened after that? She couldn't remember beyond coming downstairs to read... at least based on how she'd woken just now that might have been it... surely the memory of Vilkas's smile could be attributed to the alcohol haze...

The next thing she knew, Vilkas's hands were gently rubbing her back.

"Come on Zara," he whispered gently, "I've got a potion that should help the hangover."

Zara didn't think she could stomach anything right now, but she was willing to try it... at least if it didn't work it would be something in her system she could actually throw up instead of just dealing with the continuing nausea.

It took a lot of effort, and she nearly gagged several times, but Zara did manage to drink the potion Vilkas had handed her, followed by an entire water skin. She sighed in relief as the magic worked. The nausea faded and then her headache subsided.

"Thanks," she groaned. She shook her head and looked uncertainly back to him, feeling an embarrassed flush creep up her cheeks. "I... I'm sorry about last night Vilkas, I..."

"It's alright," Vilkas interrupted quietly. He looked down, seemingly not wanting to look at her now. "I knew you were drunk and not in your right mind," he mumbled, "we can pretend it never happened if that's what you wish."

Zara blinked. He... he looked unhappy at that thought... maybe her memory wasn't as addled as she thought...

"Vilkas," she began slowly reaching back to him, "I was drunk last night. I wasn't out of my mind."

He looked up at her in surprise as she took his hand... just like he had the night before when he'd realized she wasn't with Farkas... he looked suddenly hopeful again.

"So..." Zara continued sheepishly, "did... uh... did you mean what you said about kissing me when I was sober?"

Vilkas just blinked at her in surprise for a moment, and Zara began to feel the fear of rejection settling into her chest, but then, before she could pull away, Vilkas's grip on her hand tightened and he pulled her into his arms.

He sat back on the bench and Zara stumbled slightly as he pulled her into his lap. His arms went around her waist and he hugged her to his chest.

"Aye," he replied. He kissed her forehead, then her cheek. Then he gently brought a hand up to cup her cheek and leaned in to kiss her lips.

It was a much longer kiss than the quick ones they'd shared night before. It made Zara's heart skip excitedly, as she kissed back and wrapped her arms around his shoulders.

"I meant every word I said last night," he breathed when their lips parted. He leaned back to look seriously into her eyes, "I've loved you ever since we defeated the last of the Silver Hand together... I... I just... didn't know how to tell you."

Zara's heart skipped at that confession, and she smiled. "I mean, this works pretty well," she teased before leaning in to kiss him again, but she paused just before their lips met. "I love you too," she whispered genuinely before she closed the short distance and kissed him softly.

Vilkas seemed stunned, and for a brief moment he didn't even move. Zara suspected he was wide-eyed in shock, but before she could pull back to see, his arms tightened around her and he was eagerly kissing her again.

One kiss morphed into several more, steadily growing more passionate, and Zara had no interest in stopping... despite the naggings in the back of her mind about propriety...

But then they were interrupted by the sound of slow heavy footfalls on the stones.

Zara straightened up with a start, as Farkas strolled lazily into the shared hallway, but she didn't manage to scramble off of Vilkas's lap before Farkas's eyes found them. The content smile he'd been wearing split into a wide grin as she and Vilkas both jumped to their feet.

"I see you took my advice, sister," Farkas chuckled teasingly.

Zara blushed more and hid her face in her hands with an embarrassed grumble. To her surprise, Vilkas just sighed and stepped closer to put an arm around her shoulders.

"Aye, and where in Oblivion have you been all night, brother?" Vilkas countered with a smirk.

"Takin' Zara's advice," Farkas replied still grinning from ear to ear.

Zara quickly decided that, for propriety's sake, all four of them were going to need to make a trip to Riften... very soon.

She was pretty sure she had an amulet of Mara stashed somewhere in the hoard of trinkets she'd collected over the years...