It Started with a Sweetroll [Tells-Grim-Tales]

[Tells-Grim-Tales]

Grim's mind was racing a million miles a minute. This... all of this was totally new territory for him and he still had no idea what to do or think... or anything at all. The Argonian continued to just quietly sit, letting the Khajiit speak and do what ever. Maybe he should have spent a little less time on killing imperials and a bit more time on learning basic social skills. Tells-Grim-Tales drank a bit more of his mead, in hopes that it would calm his stupid, stupid nerves. Yet it didn't seem to help at all. He had felt the nervous rush before, but that had been when faced with death not the possibility of love or lust. It should have been easy, right? There wasn't anything that Grim could do about it now though. The Argonian had embarrassed himself enough already.

However, when Raziah mentioned asking her questions to get to know her it, oddly enough, began to put him at ease. Getting to know somebody was something that the argonian could do. "What is the story behind the Fearless part of your name? Anything in particular, a certain escapade or adventure?" He was rather curious, normally there was some history behind a title.

( Short but I wanted to post something~ )

[raziah]

Raziah chuckled softly, relaxed and at ease with the situation. Picking up her own cup, she took a drink of her mead, enjoying the taste. Windhelm, being home to many of the Nords, always had some of the best mead on stock and she loved how it complimented the sweetrolls.

"Well, to understand my title you should understand that in my home tongue the words "Fearless" and "Foolish" have almost the same meaning," Raziah began. "It was quite the escapade... I was the youngest person in my clan to earn a name, as we say. There were these great beasts in Elsweyr... I'm not quite sure of how to pronounce the name in this tongue... but regardless, they were big and they were dangerous. Well, one of the other young cubs dared me to sneak up and jump on the back of one and ride it til the count of twenty. So... I did... but I fell off at fifteen and the thing began to chase me and the other cubs that had been watching. We were lucky that there was a couple adults nearby that had been watching."

Raziah chuckled at the memory, taking another drink of her mead before continuing. "I was damn lucky I wasn't killed and got of the ordeal with only a twisted ankle. But I never stopped smiling and laughing, so my grandmother, one of the clan elders, saw fit that I be given a name. So, I became Raziah the Fearless."

Raziah was very fond of the memory and the story, even though her title was a bit of a poke at her own character. But she welcomed it, always had and always did. She had always proved it time and again that she was indeed fearless, if foolish.

"What of you, Grim, do you have any titles you've earned of which to speak? Likely they're more interesting and worthy than mine," Raziah asked, leaned back against her chair.

[Tells-Grim-Tales]

The Argonian sat and listened to Raziah's story on how she got her name with great interest. He enjoyed listening to other's histories, especially when it came to grand adventures and epic battles. When the khajiit spoke of the great beasts, he was rather curious to know what they looked like and how dangerous they were. Grim found nothing more satisfying than testing his strength against dangerous creatures, especially dragons. Before the war, there was very little out there for him to test his mettle against except saber cats, bears, and wolves. In the beginning, they were rather challenging, but as time went on they proved to be predictable and hardly a challenge.

"More worthy and interesting than yours? Hardly," Grimnir laughed, "I do have a title of sorts. There isn't any particular story behind the title, it's more of a tendency in battle. When the Imperials slaughter my brothers and sister I tend to become a little.... angry. It's like watching them murder my closest friends and family over and over again... So, as sadistic as it sounds, I like to make death as slow and painful as possible for the imperials. Breaking their bones is what i'm known for, it leaves them defenseless and they get to watch the result of their damn empire unfold. Jarl Ulfric deemed me Grimnir the Bone-Breaker after we escaped from Helgen together. He gives all of his top officers titles at some point or another."

Grim just casually shrugged. If his darker side scared the khajiit off, then so be it. It was who he was, a war torn argonian that constantly questioned if what he was doing was right or wrong. Death was never an easy thing to deal with and after each battle Grim took several days after to think things over. "I'm not evil... I just lose control when I see the men and woman I fight to protect die before my eyes. I feel so damn helpless and I want those damn imperials to know what it's like. Those elves... they're the real problem..."

The lizard man seemed distant, his mind was back in his memories of his first battle where he watched his best friend die. Sitting there just felt so strange while he recalled the first time he faced death. "Sorry. I don't mean to sound whinny. Talking about battles isn't an easy thing to do."

[raziah]

"It's alright... wars have a funny way of touching us all on very intimate levels, especially when the fighting happens right outside of people's homes..." Raziah stated, looking off into the fire. Her tail curled and uncurled lightly as she sipped at her mead. Raziah didn't support the Stormcloaks or the Imperials. She was a thief, thieves were only loyal to one another and the Guild. What matter to them was staying alive and staying fed, nothing more.

"It's just... be careful, okay? You probably have people who care a lot about you. It's upsetting to lose someone you really care about..." Raziah whispered, her thoughts having turned to her long-dead father. Even though he had died shortly before she was born, her mother had never let her forget, especially since she had her father's coloring. As a cub, Raziah had often been sent off to play or to stay with friends or relatives when her mother couldn't bear to look at her, she reminded her so of the man she had loved and lost. That was where she had formed the idea that you shouldn't form lasting romantic attachments... they ended badly if your partner died...

"The Altmeri Dominion needs to learn to stop sticking their noses in places they don't belong... they've caused too much heartache," Raziah stated, lightly wiping at her eyes. She felt she had no right to mourn a father she had never really known.

[Tells-Grim-Tales]

Grimnir sat silently at the table, eyes wandering off into the distance as he recalled the memories of his fallen comrades. He felt guilty for making the conversation darker and far less interesting than it had been before. At least the argonian wasn't flustered and feeling especially awkward like before. Although, it was a different kind of awkward now. The still silence was worse than anything else, so Grim tried to think of some way to change the topic. Talking politics was risky since you never really knew who was on who's side. Any one of the people lurking about the building could have been Thalmor spies.

Grim scooted his chair closer to her and whispered, "Shhhhh... you never know who might be listening." The argonian glanced around, looking for anybody that might have been listening to them. "Even in Windhelm you're not safe from Thalmor ears..."

[raziah]

Raziah hummed softly, noting how close the Argonian had become in order to whisper to her. Her regular mischievous grin found it's way back to her face as she saw her opportunity, and decided to take it. When he looked back towards her, she lightly took the sides of his head and quickly placed a kiss on the tip of his snout, hoping to fluster him into silence and complacency.

"Calm down... you'll draw more attention to us by overreacting to such a comment," she replied in a low, calm whisper, lightly caressing his cheek. Oh yes, Raziah was an opportunist and never tried to hide it. She was craving physical touch and comfort and she'd take it in whatever form she could get, even if that meant stealing a kiss that could cause her Argonian companion to flee.

"So, darling Grimnir the Bone Breaker, ask another question of Raziah the Fearless, if you so desire. There are still many things you do not know about me, and I about you. Unless, of course, as kiss makes you run with your tail tucked betwixt your legs," Raziah commented with a gentle giggle, eyes full of mirth once more.

[Tells-Grim-Tales]

Just as Tells-Grim-Tales was starting to feel a bit more at ease, she just had to kiss him and completely fluster him once again. She must have really enjoyed torturing him because that was at least the second time she made a move. Not that he minded it, of course, but his body responded in the opposite way. He tensed up but still managed to take another drink of his mead. Now he didn't know what to do, once again... but when she mentioned they looked even more suspicious, that took his mind off of the awkwardness again.

"T-That's true..." he stuttered, glancing around once again. The argonian was really glad that none of his Stormcloak buddies came waltzing in and made fun of him for being such a pansy. That would have just made everything soooooooo much worse. Grim just wished he knew what to do... well, he kind of knew what to do... but he didn't want to overstep any boundaries and upset his new Khajiit friend.

"I'm not really one to run away," replied Grimnir, even though he had nearly run away just a short time before, "What about your family? Do they live in Skyrim with you?" As awkwardly as ever, Grim lifted his hand from his lap and set it on hers. Was that too much? Oh gods... it probably was... If this was how it was meant to fall apart, then so be it... but at least he could say he didn't try.

[raziah]

With a satisfied smirk, Raziah gently laid her head on his shoulder, ever so slightly nuzzling against his neck to prove she wasn't about to run away either. The Khajiit was quite comfortable with the whole thing. She was rather used to males being a bit more crude and forward when she decided to flirt, so this slow-but-steady thing was an odd, but not unwelcome change. It really did put her in mind of her youth and a few of her first lovers. It reminded her so of her first girlfriend (and first lover for that matter), especially the shy, awkward flirting and tendency to jump or tense when new boundaries were being pushed.

"Mmm, gods no, mother could never stand the cold. It was just my mother and me... my father died shortly before I was born, he was part of a rebel group fighting to get the Altmeri Dominion out of Elsweyr, rather like the Stormcloaks but with less racism. He and my mother were lovers, but weren't married because he didn't want something to happen to her because of his rebel status. She was heartbroken when he died and did the best she could to raise me, and my aunt and uncle were always watching out for me when she was depressed," Raziah stated, sipping from her mead. It was true, her mother had never been shamed for having a cub out of wedlock and she had never been interested in another lover. But there had been days when her mother couldn't even look at her due to how much she was like her father. Their personalities were very similar, save for the fact he had been quite loyal to his beloved while Raziah had, as the Clan Elders said, "too much love to spare."

"My mother's part of the reason I left Elsweyr, you see... there was this guy, he was attractive, well-connected, and very interested in me. But I had absolutely no interest in him, but he couldn't understand why. Well, one night he decided to propose marriage. Mother was oh-so-delighted and told me I should accept, trying to push me into the arrangement, I stalled as long as I needed to join up with a caravan from the next village over and never looked back."

Raziah was very indifferent about the whole affair. True, her mother likely had been worried sick that she was gone, but Raziah had never been one for regrets or second-guessing.

"And you, dear Grim? Any interesting family to speak of?"

[Tells-Grim-Tales]

Oddly enough, the argonian was feeling considerably more comfortable than he had before. The silent, subtle affection was much different than the strait forward, sudden attention than before. Maybe it was just because Grimnir was a novice at it all, but a fast pace was a bit too overwhelming for someone so new to love and lust. He still didn't really know what to say about it, nor what to do really.. so Grim just remained silent about it for the moment and let things go as they were meant to.

Grimnir could understand not liking the cold weather, he had gotten used to it over time, but the chill in the air always nipped at the back of his neck. And as much as he wanted to snap back at her Stormcloak racism comment, he couldn't because it was true. If it weren't for the fact that his adoptive parents were Nords and he was a Dragonborn, Grimnir knew that he'd be living on the docks with the other Argonians... there was no doubt about that. He really wanted to talk some sense into Ulfric once they had won the war. But what if he didn't listen? Tells-Grim-Tales wasn't sure what he would do then... If Ulfric were to become the High King, he could do anything he wanted. Maybe if he challenged him so he would listen... No... what if he lost? What if he won? Grim wasn't really the royal type... but if it meant Skyrim would be free from racism, he'd be ready to challenge Ulfric if needed.

"You should never be forced to marry somebody you don't love. It isn't fair to either person, a marriage without love is nothing but bitter co-existence." Grim replied, "Well, my biological parents died when I was very young so I starved on the docks for quite some time. My adoptive father was a City Guard, a Nord even. Originally he and my adoptive mother planned to train me to be their servant, but couldn't resist my adorable looks and my unmatched charm."

He just laughed at his own joke. Grim never thought of himself as adorable or charming, but it made the story much more humorous. "My father taught me how to fight and I joined up with the Stormcloaks when I was old enough. I suppose the Nords that I fight with are my family as well. At first, they hated me but soon learned that I wasn't as terrible as they were raised to believe. I'm just like them, except with scales and a tail. I hope that, one day, I'll be able to help restore Skyrim to what it was once. A Skyrim without war, dragons, and prejudice... Wouldn't that be something..."

[raziah]

Raziah hummed gently at his last comment. A Skyrim without war or prejudice... that WOULD be something, especially for the "beast folk" as the Nords so lovingly referred to the Argonians and the Khajiit.

"I don't know if you could ever get the Nords to accept the rest of us..." she commented lightly, gently running her fingertips along his arm in slow, easy strokes as she continued to rest her head on his shoulder. "They're so very set in their ways that even if you made some sort of change for the better, it would take forever before they saw the good in it and accepted it."

Hearing the story of his early life lightly pulled at Raziah's heartstrings. No wonder he was so shy and withdrawn. Living amongst Nords that only saw your people as servants and low-level workers couldn't have been easy, even for an Argonian adopted by a pair of Nords. Of course, she wondered why he could support Ulfric and the Stormcloaks, knowing how they were and how they treated his kind, but she had enough tact to know to keep that kind of comment to herself. It was never a good idea to insult someone's family or culture, especially if you were trying to get into their good books. Raziah hummed softly, she hadn't really intended to get so invested in this Argonian. She probably could have found an easier lay if she wanted to, but the more she spoke to him, the more she wanted to stay here and be with him, for however long he was interested in being with her... Sanguine's cups, was she falling for a lizard?!?!

Giggling softly, she nuzzled against his neck, whispering to him. "I think I'm succumbing to your adorable looks and unmatched charm, too."

[Tells-Grim-Tales]

The Nords were really set in their ways, weren't they? But that certainly didn't mean they weren't capable of changing their way of life and Tells-Grim-tales was determined to do something about it. His adoptive parents, who were incredibly dedicated to their Nord heritage, found it in their hearts to love and care for an Argonian... of all the different species out there. Even if their original intentions weren't the greatest, Grim was still grateful for their kindness and love and knew that they were able to change once they saw the true side of the one of the "nasty beasts" disliked so much. Even if he wouldn't say it, Grim knew he had changed his parents for the better and he felt as if he could help change the rest of the world as well. After he, S'kvari, and Wilhelm defeated Alduin, the world would look up to him as a hero... With that kind of influence, the rest could easily just fall into place, right?

"I believe that the Nords are afraid of change. If they had a strong leader to look up to that didn't have such prejudice. Jarl Ulfric certainly is a fantastic leader, but he hates pretty much anybody that isn't a Nord or is valuable to him," Grim replied, "The other Stormcloak soldiers look up to me... I think that once the war is done and over with and I help defeat Alduin, they might actually listen to me. Skyrim would be a barren wasteland if only the Nords lived here. I don't know... maybe i'm just a little too ambitious, but somebody has to step up and do something eventually." The argonian had forgotten to mention that he was dragonborn, mostly because the majority of Windhelm already knew what he was.

When Raziah said she was succumbing to his looks and charms, Grim chuckled. Rather than become nervous and shy away, he felt an odd rush of confidence. "All of the ladies do eventually," He laughed, obviously joking, "Kidding of course, Argonians aren't desirable... companions."

[raziah]

Raziah hummed softly as she listened. The Khajiit wasn't all that interested in current events. All she knew about as the war, mostly because it affected her line of work. During war time, the Guild tended to get less personal business (as in clients coming to them for personal reasons) and more political business. It also made traveling the roads a bit harder for her, being both a Thief and a Khajiit, so she had started to come up with interesting ways to skirt around such places so that she wouldn't suffer a humiliating pat-down, leading to a humiliating arrest, and then a "heroic" jail-break. It also saddened her to see friends and families split for what she viewed as a silly and stupid reason. Yes, Talos worship was outlawed, but wasn't one religion always putting another down? Either way, Raziah wasn't on the side of the Stormcloaks or the Imperials, she was on whatever side was paying her at the time.

Of course, she was also behind on the whole Dragonborn issue, that being something else that wasn't affecting her or her work. She just figured that Alduin was just another enemy that needed defeating, at least from Grim's point of view. Of course, if the matter was explained to her she'd probably agree Alduin needed slaying, but that wasn't what was on her mind at the moment...

"Ambition is good to have. Keeps you busy... you've an open and understanding mind, too. That's hard to come by in these frozen lands. I think the ice has invaded most people's brains, freezing them in place," the Khajiit stated with a soft giggle. Raziah herself was a free spirit and tended to say exactly was was on her mind. It had gotten her into trouble on more than one occasion, but Raziah was more of a "say and it now and deal with the fall-out later" kind of person. Caution was not a word in her vocabulary.

Of course, when he stated that Argonians didn't make for desired companions she sorted gently, offering his cheek a gentle kiss.

"You've been listening to too much Nord talk. Too many only take one look and decide everything about you and how they perceive you, minds made up from the word go. It's a foolish practice that the lot of them need to stop," Raziah stated. Gods, she was getting too involved, but it felt oddly right...

[Tells-Grim-Tales]

Tells-Grim-Tales just sat quietly for a little while, thinking about everything that could have possibly happen in the future. Everything was so up in the air now, and the Argonian wasn't entirely sure what was going to happen. Would he, S'kvari, and Wilhelm be able to defeat Alduin? Would they all die and the world end? What would happen after everything was over with? There was a billion questions Grim could have asked himself, but he felt like he needed to know what he was going to do in every possible situation. And as much as he wanted to pursue a romantic relationship.... Grim wasn't sure that it would be fair to who ever he might have ended up with... What if they got married and then he died? He would have felt terrible to leave anybody alone in the world.

"That might be true, but i'm not somebody anybody should want to be with. I have so much responsibility and couldn't possibly give anybody the time they truly deserve. I might die soon... Hell, I could die any day at any time. For all I know you could be an Imperial assassin," The argonian just chuckled, "I don't know anymore... Hmmmm... Maybe I should just head home and stop wasting your time."

[raziah]

Raziah smiled lightly, continuing to nuzzle at Grim's neck. She could hear the uncertainty in his voice, the uncertainty that always came with war and hardship. That was something Raziah was used to hearing. Her Clan had often times provided food and housing to rebels fighting against the Altmeri Dominion and the way they lived was very day-to-day and hand-to-mouth. Of course, the difference between those rebels and this Argonian Stormcloak was that they normally lived and loved fast before they died, most just seeking the simple comfort of another warm body next to then in their bed but others did want to have something more permanent...

"Quite honestly, had I been an Imperial Assassin you'd be dead by now," Raziah stated with a giggle. "I'm no assassin, can't stand that line of work. Like I said before, I'm the judge of whether you're wasting my time and I say that you're not. In all honesty, Grim, any of us could die soon, that's the problem with living the way we do, so why not take comfort when you can?"

[Tells-Grim-Tales]

Death was quite a touchy subject for the lone argonian. Death had taken his parents, his friends... everybody he ever cared for. His name certainly had a lot of truth to it, where ever the argonian went, he always returned with grim tales to tell when he returned. Grim could remember the faces of all of the loved ones of the soldiers that died when he had to inform them of the bad news. The events of the war haunted him greatly, but Skyrim's freedom from the Thalmor was worth suffering for.

"I just don't want to string you along and then suddenly die... that just wouldn't be fair at all. It's the same reason i'm so damn awkward around you... I was raised to fight and die... and I don't know anything else." The argonian hated feeling so vulnerable. "The chance that i'll walk out of my fight with Alduin alive is... unlikely."