Romance Amongst Chaos (A Skyrim Book)

18: Tae x Quintus (Becoming Friends)

Through extensive research, Quintus found a way to repair the Phial.

He just needed some help from a certain Argonian assassin...

"You sent for me?" Tae asked, walking in and taking off his cowl.

"Yes I did. You're a hard man to find. Thankfully, those couriers are tenacious." Quintus replied.

Tae snorted. "And annoying. So, you think you can repair the Phial?"

"Yes, I've been reading up on the legends of Curamil and the Phial. And I think I know how to repair it." Quintus walked out from behind the bar, giving Tae a paper with a list of ingredients on it.

"Unmelting Snow from the Throat of the World... Mammoth tusk powder, ground as only the giants know how... and a briar heart from a Forsworn of the Reach." Tae gave Quintus a grin. "I already have a few briar hearts, but the other things shouldn't be a problem."

"I wish you luck."

—

After they repaired the Phial (and Nurelion got to see it before he died), Tae took to visiting the Phial when he wasn't killing people.

Quintus got to know a lot about the Argonian during his visits... how he was raised by Shadowscales, and how he was also involved with the Thieve's Guild and the College of Winterhold.

"Wait, wait... you assassinated the Nord who hurt your Khajiit friend?" Quintus asked, looking extremely alarmed.

"He already had a hit on him anyways." Tae replied, chuckling as he leaned against the counter. "The Listener told me about it after I had already killed him. Ja'mara was more than happy to hear that she wouldn't be assaulted anymore." He added.

"You and Ja'mara are really close, then?" Quintus grinned.

"Best friends. Aside from Janny and Scouts, I'm the only other person she really trusts anymore." Tae sighed.

Silence consumed the two, until Tae spoke up again. "You know, this is nice. Just talking. Not worrying about assassinating anyone."

"I agree. It is quite nice." Quintus admitted, rubbing the back of his neck.

-

The next day, Tae showed up to the White Phial with his hand to his side.

"What's wrong? Are you alright?" Quintus asked, walking over to the Argonian.

"I brought you some more ingredients. But I got attacked by a few sabre cats on my way here." Tae hissed, removing his hand.

Quintus noticed that the spot was even darker now, and with horror he realized it was blood staining the armor.

"Sit down, I'll patch it up for you." Quintus instructed, going to grab a few healing potions.

Tae complied, sitting down next to the alchemy lab and setting a small bag on the counter.

Quintus returned with the healing potions and a rag, muttering obscenities under his breath as he began working on fixing Tae's wounds.

"Upset?" Tae asked.

"Shut up. You're not allowed to speak right now." Quintus replied harshly, dousing the rag with one of the potions, before he sighed. "I need you to remove the top part of your armor, as best as you can."

Tae didn't say anything, simply unbuckling the various belts before he removed the top of his armor and set it on the ground beside him.

Quintus fought the urge to stare at Tae's body, instead focusing his attention on the lashes on Tae's side.

"I'm going to clean it up, and then I want you to drink both of these potions until they're completely empty. Then I'll wrap it up with some thistle." "Sounds good, Quintus."

So, Quintus set to work, first cleaning up the wound (he felt extreme sympathy when Tae hissed in pain) before handing the bottles to Tae for him to drink.

After both bottles were empty, Quintus began wrapping up Tae's abdomen, placing two thistle branches over the wound before he bound it tight enough so they wouldn't move.

"There, should be completely healed up within a few days, if you're lucky." Quintus said, while Tae winced when he sat up straighter.

"You're too kind. Thank you." Tae kept wincing, reaching for his armor, but Quintus was faster, picking it up.

"You're staying here until you're healed up. I don't want you to get hurt again, or reopen the wound."

Tae only sighed. "I promised the Listener I'd be back before sundown, but oh well."

"This Listener seems to be important to you." Quintus chuckled, but Tae only snorted.

"Oh no, it's not what you think. She has a new boyfriend, his name is Jason. He's the Harbinger of the Companions." Tae explained, sitting up straighter. "I prefer the company of men anyways."

"Men? I... oh." Quintus went bright red. "Have you ever...?"

"I've only had crushes, unfortunately." Tae admitted. "Ulfric... Brynjolf... Veezara."

At the mention of Veezara, Tae looked down.

"Something bad happened to Veezara?" Quintus asked softly.

"The Penitus Oculatus came and slaughtered almost the whole Dark Brotherhood." Tae explained, still looking down. "There were only a handful of survivors. Me, Nazir, Babette, Cicero, Anne, and the Listener. Veezara was killed before I got the chance to tell him how I felt about him."

"I'm sorry." Quintus put a hand on Tae's shoulder, while Tae put his own hand on top. "It must've been hard for you."

"I haven't found anyone since Veezara." Tae sighed, looking down. "It just... hurts too much."

Quintus could feel the lie; he knew Tae must've found someone, he just didn't want to admit it.

"Anyway, I'm tired. Can you show me where I'll be sleeping, since you insist on me staying here?" Tae asked.

"Oh, of course!"

So, Quintus began leading Tae towards the bedrooms, allowing him to get settled, before he too turned in for the night.

That night, Tae didn't have any nightmares.