Writing WIP Wednesday
I'm pathetic and lazy and don't remember who all I was tagged by, and I don't feel like looking, so I'm just going to thank whoever tagged me (you know who you are), and tag all my friends: @dirty-bosmer @gwilin-stay-winnin @mareenavee @skyrim-forever @thana-topsy @thechaosdragoness @thequeenofthewinter
This is nothing fancy, just a longish scene from the next chapter of Best-Laid Plans (@mareenavee, you're not the only one with no chill), in which Erik and Miranja pass back through Rorikstead to stay a night at the Frostfruit. Erik's father notices a change in Erik after just a week of adventuring. I just get the idea that Mralki's a better dad than he lets on. ;-) I debated between this scene and the scene with Sondas (my love - ok, one of them) at Darkwater Crossing.
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“When I left home, I was practically a child,” he declared as they walked. “Father will hardly know me when I go back, and I’ve only been away a week. Thanks to you, Miss Miranja, I’ve become a man in more ways than one.”
Miranja smiled and blushed with embarrassment, but also felt rather flattered.
“Maybe this is a childish idea,” Erik continued, “but it would make me feel really good if we could make love under my father’s roof. It would be like the icing on the cake. Even if he didn’t know about it, I would know, and I’d feel like I’m finally on the same level with him.”
“What if he did know?” Miranja asked. “Do you think he’d be upset? Would he call me a harlot and throw me out?”
Erik looked surprised and bemused when she glanced over at him. “I-I don’t know,” he admitted. “I wouldn’t think so, though. We may be small town people, he and I, but we’re pretty open-minded. He might worry that you’ll break my heart, but he wouldn’t disrespect you.”
“Hell, Erik, I worry that I’ll break your heart. I don’t know if it’s different for men than it is for women, but I fell pretty hard for the first boy I went all the way with. I’m not the marrying kind, though, and I hope you’re not thinking along those lines yet.”
“No, ma’am,” Erik replied. Miranja worried that she’d been too harsh and looked over at him. He looked back at her with a serious expression, but didn’t seem to be hurt. She nodded once, then turned her eyes back to the road ahead of her.
“You don’t think it would be disrespecting your father?”
“Well, think of it this way, Miss Miranja. Lots of travelers come through there. Some are couples. Some must surely have relations in the beds at our inn. How much difference would it make if I was half of one of those traveling couples?”
“It could make a big difference to your father,” Miranja speculated.
“He has to expect me to be a man in every sense of the word sooner or later.”
“But what if he expects you to wait until you have your own house and a wife?”
“What if he does? This is the Fourth Era. Times are changing. I’ve even heard of men having relationships with men, and women having relationships with women. Not that that bothers me…” he interjected, an apologetic tone in his voice, “I just mean that people should be able to do what makes them happy, if it’s not hurting anyone.”
“Now you’re speaking my language,” Miranja smiled. “I agree wholeheartedly. It’s what my parents have always told me. Okay, my dear, we will make love at the Frostfruit Inn tonight.”
Erik’s father was pleased and surprised to see them back, and Erik told him they were only spending the night because he had to accompany Miranja back to Whiterun to put away the stuff she was collecting.
“I’ve always wanted to see Whiterun,” Erik told his father. “All my life we’ve lived just at the opposite end of the hold, yet I’ve never been there.”
Mralki couldn’t help but smile. “I’m glad you’re enjoying yourself, son. And you seem to be no worse for the wear. In fact, you seem a little different already.”
“I’ve killed two Forsworn Briar-Hearts and a hagraven,” Erik told his father proudly.
Mralki’s eyes widened for a moment, then he shook his head and smiled. “Then I guess I didn’t have so much to worry about after all.”
“Granted, I couldn’t have done it without Miss Miranja, but we made a good team, and I’m learning a lot and getting stronger already.”
Mralki turned to Miranja. “Thank you, Miranja, for taking good care of my son. I trust you will teach him well.”
“Anything I can’t teach him, I have friends who can. Don’t worry, Mralki. He’s in good hands. And who taught him to use a bow? He’s pretty good.”
Mralki smiled and blushed a little. “I did. I was in the Legion once. Archery is useful for hunting as well as battle. I still hunt occasionally, and I taught Erik when he was young. He does more hunting than I do these days.”
When Mralki asked if Erik would be staying in his old room for the night, Erik fumbled before agreeing that he would. His red face would have given him away if his hesitation hadn’t. Miranja held her breath as they awaited Mralki’s response. Mralki looked from his son’s embarrassed face to Miranja’s steady but cautious gaze, reading the signs.
“Have you already, or…?”
“Yes, sir, we have already,” Miranja stated quietly and matter-of-factly. Now Mralki hesitated, but Miranja spoke again. “Call it a friendly agreement. It’s a form of stress-relief after life-or-death situations. We’ve talked and have an understanding.”
“It was my idea, da,” Erik put in. “She told me she doesn’t want anything serious. If my heart gets broken, it’ll be my own fault.”
Mralki sighed and wiped at the bar with his towel, looking at his own hand as he spoke. “I’ve already committed to trusting you to know what you’re doing, and it sounds like you’re well aware of what you’re getting into, so I won’t lecture you. The only thing I want to remind you of, whether with this lovely lass or another, is not to let the little head do the thinking. Keep your wits about you, lad.”
“Yes, da.”
“And you can rent one of the rooms with a double bed tonight.”
Erik’s face lit up like the sun. “Thank you, da. I love you.”
Mralki waved his towel at Erik. “You know I love you, too, son. Go get cleaned up and I’ll get you two some supper.”
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