[center][h3]Hotter than Hot in a Lot of Confusing Ways*[/h3]
[i]*Honesty is the Worst Policy[/i]

[@POOHEAD189] & [@Stormflyx][/center]

[hr]

[indent][i][b]2nd Midyear - Early Afternoon[/b][/i]

Today had been a nicer day than the previous one, at least it had started better. She hadn't felt exhausted, or felt any residual pain from the mission gone awry - in fact she felt fully cleansed of it. As she meandered carefree through the markets with her satchel over her shoulder she made out a familiar face in the distance. It was Alim. She watched him for a few minutes acting as he often did - a roguish swagger was his way of getting around, and he often had a look on his face which was a hybrid of intense concentration and complete relaxation. It was strange in a charming kind of way. She couldn't help but smile. Today he was concentrating and she took the opportunity to carefully creep up behind him.

Once she was within arms reach of him, she ran her finger down his spine gently - just enough to spark a tickle in him. “How's your back these days?” she said, an air of playful arrogance in her voice. She propped her body against the pillar of the market stall that Alim had been perusing, waiting for him to respond.

Alim had been a bit too busy being hungry, his eyes scanning the delectable foods being sold. He didn’t realize Raelynn had gotten the drop on him. Wait a minute...he knew those fingers. Her honeyed voice simply confirmed who it was, and he had to bite back a flirtatious comment. [i]Don’t. You and Ani are...[/i] What were they? He didn’t even know what to call it. Still. 

“Oh it’s been very flexible, thank you.” he said, turning to her and giving his trademark grin. His eyes twinkled, colored like rich gold in the sun. “And to what do I owe this lovely visit?” he asked, stepping away from the stall with, placing a banana in Raelynn’s arms as he hid a pineapple in his pack. He had truly been surprised at Raelynn’s arrival, but he had used the appearance of his own distraction to hide his small thievery. 

“Here, let’s find a place to sit.”  

With a raised eyebrow she took the banana and sat down upon a bench which looked out onto the streets. “I realised we haven't spent any time together, well, we haven't spoken since Anvil.” She began to peel the skin of the banana, she hadn't had one for a very long time, the sweet smell was pleasant to her and she inhaled it deeply. “I realise I left you hanging a bit, it wasn't very considerate of me. So I'm sorry for that I suppose.” She took a bite.

The rogue chuckled, though his smile was genuine, almost heartwarming. “I didn’t think you’d care.” he said honestly. “But I’m glad you do.” 

He pulled out the pineapple, and took out his knee, beginning to carve away at the hard skin. “I see you’ve taken to Hammerfell nicely.” he said, and even though he didn’t look at her, it was clear he meant her attire. “It suits you. Not as much as me, but we can’t all be perfect, you know?” he joked. Alim cut enough of the pineapple on his knife to slip it into his mouth. “My back’s been much better. Sometimes a little stiff but much more manageable. I’m more interesting in how you’ve been.”

“Well, I had a bad turn after the mission of course. I can't quite remember when we got back after ours… But it took a lot out of me. The Nord was hurt in the scuffle and…” she slowed down, lowering the banana into her lap. She didn't really want to have to talk about it again, she hoped that her silence would be all that Alim needed to gather the gist of what she was trying to convey. 

She shook her head, as if shaking away the feeling once more. A smile returned to her and she faced him; “I heard your mission went only a little better than ours?” There was a coy expression on her face all of a sudden as if the best thing to do now was to make light of their mistakes. 

“Aaaaaaaa little.” he said slowly, guiltily even. “Let’s just say I had to toss up a desk to block a door so Ani and Sol could get out of there. But I try to look at the bright side of things.” He offered her a slice of pineapple. “The mission was completed, and now we only have all of the Dwemer looking for us.” He nudged her with his shoulder. 

“Then again, I kind of like it.” He admitted. “Announcing yourself while still remaining anonymous. A thief under an alias, if you will. I’ve done it a few times before.” 

“We hope it's just the Dwemer,” she replied, taking another bite of the banana and savouring the sweet taste. She took a slice of the pineapple too and ate it quickly. The taste was explosive. “You know, I am certain that pineapples are quite amazing and somewhat magical fruits. So tangy, -- something in them is just a cure for all digestive ailments you know… As for bananas, well - they're the perfect energy source for a healthy body.” Stifling a laugh, she placed her hand on Alim’s leg for a split second, “sorry, that probably sounds completely absurd and dull to you. They're just fruits after all.” She ate the last of the banana, placing the skin in a planter beside the bench. “How are finding it here? Hammerfell is your home, is it not? I mean besides from High Rock of course.” 

“Whoa wait, you kidding?” Alim asked, referring to the fruit comment. He placed the pineapple down and flexed his arms, though he was obviously being facetiously arrogant. “I might not be as medically inclined as you, but I wouldn’t be as sculpted if I didn’t know my food groups.” He crossed his arms as if to say ‘take that.’ 

He then deflated, smiling with amusement. “Oh I love it here. Sun beating down on you,” he patted his bare chest for emphasis. “The smell of the sea. The music, the dancing, the intrigue. I might not have been born here...but it feels as home to me as Highrock does. Maybe we’ll soon venture there…” he said, looking off into the distance.  

“It is beautiful, you’re right about that. Stretches of gold for miles around... I've never been here, and it's a world apart from Skyrim. To feel heat bathing my skin instead of bitter cold nipping at it… It's refreshing.” Raelynn too gazed off into the distance like Alim, holding a silence for a little while, just breathing in the fresh air. “I miss High Rock. I miss my family home, I'd love to return there soon. I think that Gre--” she stopped herself and almost blushed, taking a slice of the pineapple. “I think our group would enjoy it - the culture, the couture… Ahhh, I just miss that perfectly temperate climate, the food, music in the streets… it's home.”

Alim agreed with her sentiments, but his ears were far too sharp to miss half spoken name she had uttered. He broke from his reverie and looked at her, giving a small intake of breath and opening his mouth as if to speak, before casually looking away with a sigh. “Nevermind.” he said nearly indecipherably. His next words he spoke up. “You are right. I think once the weather grows even hotter, Vasora or...whoever is in charge will think it’s best to move north to Highrock.” 

He’d been so caught up being in Hammerfell, he had nearly forgotten the cost of having gotten there. He felt a tinge of sadness for Rhea. 

“I’ll have to show you my parent's shop. Although you must promise to keep your sticky fingers at bay…” she rounded off her sentence with an airy chuckle, her attention was swiftly grabbed by a handsome bard who had been setting up in the street, beginning his jaunty song. She looked back to Alim and observed that his usually untroubled aura was deflated all of a sudden. 

She held a breath as she weighed up how to break him free of this unexpected case of gloom, and she decided on something wholly uncharacteristic and spontaneous -- quickly rising to her feet, rolling her shoulders back in time with the music, holding out her hands to Alim. “Dance with me,” she gave him a friendly smile, her eyes sparkling with mischief. “Don't make a lady dance alone in the street now…” It was obvious that a woman like Raelynn could dance, but the way in which she moved her body now was almost deliberately humorous, and in a way, purposefully goofy. It wasn’t something she would ever do, but something about seeing Alim less than himself, and something about the happiness she was feeling just drew the vibrant energy from her.

Her mood was infectious, and he found himself giving off a smile and shaking his head. Alim stood up, outstretched his hand and said. “You know I could never permit that to happen,” he said, and once she took his hand he’d guide her through a merry dance, though of course they both knew she knew what she was doing. It was more so he could gain a better mood, and it was working. 

After only a few moments their dance matched the music that flowed in from one of the taverns, and they moved very smoothly, in near perfect unison. 

The Breton couldn’t help but smile from ear-to-ear. It was probably the first innocently fun thing she’d done in a very long time. While they moved together like this, she felt like she was home - and that their lives weren’t potentially in peril. “You dance well my friend!” she laughed as she spun in a circle around him - noticing that they were fetching quite the crowd of watchers around them. It was only then that she got a little shy in her efforts, until finally others came up to join them in their impromptu cavorting. 

“You dance better than I, I have to say. You’ve been holding out on me, haven’t you?” he asked her, their dance having slowed a bit, though he smiled widely. As the others joined, he picked Raelynn up and spun her around along with him, keeping her held up in a pose until he gently set her back down again, giving a bow to her. 

“I have many secrets Alim, just as you do…” as he bowed she gave him a curtsy as the music began to slow to its stop. Unsure of whether to acknowledge his earlier change in mood, she merely smiled at him again. “I do hope you're okay, things are difficult right now…” 

Alim slipped one of the waves of his dark mane behind his ear and gave a light, heartfelt laugh. “You know, if you would like to ask me something or have something to tell me, you don’t need to butter me up with a dance first. Not that I did not thoroughly enjoy it. It reminds me of my days in Highrock.” he said honestly. “But have I ever judged you before?” 

One of Alim’s many talents was being abruptly earnest in the middle of his maelstrom of quips and flirtatious comments. He had a strange honesty to him, for a thief that is. 

She bit her lip to the side and ran a hand through her hair. “You haven't. You're about the only one who hasn't, actually. That's what I like about you.” Something about the rogue always allowed her to feel free to speak more than she ever normally would. Maybe the bond of having come so close to death by his side was the reason. “Your face changed, that's all. You were going to say something and then you didn't and your face changed.” 

They began to walk together slowly, past the many stalls of Gilane - so much colour and vibrancy surrounded them. “I consider you to be my friend and don't friends take care of each other?” The concept really did confuse her, she'd gone her whole life without ever really growing close to anyone in a way that wasn't beneficial to her. “I'm just not good at it, I could use some work at the whole thing…”

“You seem to be doing fine to me,” he said warmly, his arm hooked within hers. “Cheering me up by threatening me with a good time. Dancing in the street...you are far better at being a friend than you think, at least to me.” He shook his head, the sunlight now blocked by various buildings to their right, giving them a nice spot of shade to walk through as less and less people mingled about them, leaving them relatively alone. 

“Pay no attention to me, I was just...concerned about Gregor and... you.” he declared honestly, biting his tongue. “But, it’s not my business. Besides, I tend to be a talker, but when it comes to more [i]intimate[/i] matters I try to stay quiet until I know for certain whether something is right or wrong.” He placed a hand on her arm. “I’m just being a fool. More than I usually am, which is saying something.” 

She moved her arm away from him, a troubled look fell upon her face. “So many are so quick to share their concern right now… I -- he’s a good man. It's not your place to share what may or may not be right or wrong. I just…” she shook her head and sighed, she didn't want to get angry at Alim. Afterall, he really wasn't wrong at all to voice his concern, he was being a friend. “I'm okay, I promise.” She placed her hand back on his, letting the expression of worry wash off, trying to replace it with a sincere smile. “I just… we understand each other.”

She felt awkward, and she could feel sudden awkwardness between them - it fell on her to once again alter the atmosphere. “Besides, speaking of intimate… You and the Altmer. You have a spark there, I think.” 

Whenever Alim spoke to Raelynn, he always seemed to say something wrong and she would skitter off. Luckily this time that didn’t happen. As for Gregor being a good man, he had first hand experience as to the contrary, but he wouldn’t bring it up. “As long as you’re ok.” he said, honestly. When she spoke of Anifaire, he blinked. “I...maybe. I mean yes there is one, but we haven’t done anything about it yet. I sometimes wonder if she’d be better off with someone less…” He tried to think of the word. “Opportunistic than I. But we’ll see what happens.” 

“Opportunistic? Aren’t we all that way in this world? Now more than ever too,” she didn’t want to hear him speak like that about himself. For some reason it made her feel a slight sadness. “Maybe she can decide for herself whether or not you’re good enough, Alim.” Granted, Raelynn didn’t know enough about Anifaire to be able to speak about it. She had only noticed the way they looked at each other innocently, the way he made her smile - and vice versa. “I think that our lives are not guaranteed -- Gods, look at what happened to Calen! If you feel anything at all for the girl, chase the feeling.”

She was unsure of how to feel about what she had just said. She’d made confessions to Gregor since the mission - and he to her. They were certainly closer now and there was no denying that, he had been the first one she wanted to see. There was something in that. Still, she couldn’t leave it at that - she had to make it trivial and light-hearted once more. “But it’s okay my friend, if you’re just too hung up on me.” It was self-centered of her to say it, but she dressed it in a satirical grin, and an overly flashy flip of her hair in his direction so that there was no way he would take it seriously. It did make her look at him differently though, they had a special connection - and she would be lying to herself to say she had never thought of the two of them in some way. 

If there was anyone better off without someone, it was Alim being better off without her. 

Alim absorbed what she had to say, and he had to give a smirk at her last comment. Though she was joking, it brought something boiling up from within him that made him speak. He decided to not be coy for once and even stopped walking so he could turn to look at her. He almost went from caring, to coy, to a casual yet blunt manner where the words seemed to flow out of him as if he was telling a story from long ago. “I’ll tell you the truth.” He said. “I am interested in Ani. I plan on seeing where I can go with her. But if you had asked me to dinner two weeks ago, we’d likely be in a room at the moment and you’d have a very expensive necklace around your neck that I would have undoubtedly stolen.” He chuckled at the thought. “And I wouldn’t have minded. Because I’m attracted to women like that. Like you. But that’s how opportunities work, isn’t it? We either do something, or we don’t, and it dictates what happens for the rest of our lives more often than not.” 

He smiled a friendly smile, and reached up to smooth a bit of her hair behind her ear. “Just make sure you remember that deserve has nothing to do with relationships. As long as whoever you’re with brings out the good in you, it’s a good one to be in. Don’t just be with someone who shares demons. Be with someone who silences them so you can make something of yourself you’ve always wanted. If that’s Ani for me and Gregor for you, then I’ll have no complaints. But always make sure of that. As a friend, that’s my thoughts I thought you should know.” 

[I]Demons[/i]. What he said resonated with her in the harsh light of day...

She imagined the scenario in her mind, the thought of lying with Alim, dripping in stolen jewels gifted to her by him and nothing else... It caused a stir within her that her face couldn't hide. It was a nice feeling to be desired after all. “If it is meant to happen, then it might yet. Who knows what will happen between us Alim? But for now I know that I…-" she stopped. The rest of her words hanging from her tongue as she weighed up whether or not to say them - but today was a day for honesty and openness “you're my friend, maybe one day much more than that. But I'm not a clairvoyant, I only know where my path sets me now. I trust you Alim, probably more than I have trusted most people in my life…” She smiled, in a carefree and earnest way “I [i]am[/i] happy on my path, who knows if I would stray from it. But I want you to be happy, we all deserve happiness after all, you are right about that.”

She placed a hand against his, and let it linger there for perhaps a moment too long. “I hold you in high esteem, always. I want you to know that.” 

Alim had not thought she felt in such a way. He did not wish to further complicate things, nor did he want to besmirch his own honor when it came to Anifaire. He was oddly protective of her, and he did feel as if there was something there. Hopefully there was, he realized. However, he did know he and Raelynn were kindred spirits in a way, so he decided to end it on a good note. He took her hand and kissed the back of it. “And I feel the same to you.” he said, and let the words hold for a bit, before he added. “Friends.”

She felt awkward in a way - she'd said too much. As she took her hand back from him, she felt herself savouring the kiss he left there. After all that had happened, it was like Alim was able to scratch her surface and find some sincere goodness and humanity under there. “Well, I should probably get going… I have a number of things to do today and the afternoon seems to have gotten away with us.” She turned away from him to look over in the distance, the back of her hand stroking her forehead. “It was good to see you,” she said to him with whatever smile she managed to conjure to her face, and then she made her way into the bustling crowds. Before she completely disappeared she turned one last time to him, and called out; “you should get her a gift! Take her something nice!” She held her gaze on him as if it was the last time she would be permitted to do so. The sight of him now… it made her confused. 

Another abrupt ending to their time together, it was becoming a [i]thing[/i].

Alim too felt a pattern. “I will!” he told her with a wink, giving a sigh as she left. Once there was no one in earshot, he said under his breath. “I can tell this will be a problem for later.” 

This time he made sure not to appreciate the sway of her hips as she walked away. Wow, he had a lot of things to work on.[/indent]