After handing over the flowers, Michael leads Tiffania down to the shore, and onto some flat ice burgs so they could get further out to sea. After some walking hand in hand, Michael finally stops when he spots a circular hole in the ground, one used by desperate fishermen. Indeed, there were even a couple frost-bitten wooden chairs next to it.
"I know you and Charlotte are into experimenting with alchemy ingredients, so I wanted to take you here." he gestures at the hole, "Apparently a shoal of Slaughter fish have set up shop here, so we'll catch them and scale them... I know it's not first date material but, there isn't much else to do around here." he says while sheepishly scratching the side of his face.
Tiffania nods at his words but pauses at the mention of a 'date', "First date? Michael, is this a date?... Oh! It must be, you gave me flowers and everything!" she murmurs, eyes wide but not looking as upset as her surprise would make out.
"Is that, not okay?" he tentatively asks.
She rapidly shakes her head, "No, no! It's fine! I just... Wasn't expecting it! We've been together for so long and we... I was starting to think you weren't interested..." she admits.
He crooks a brow, "If you were waiting so long, why not just ask me first?"
She blinks, "But, that's a man's job, isn't it?"
"Is a woman's job to silently stay at home, cook and look after the kids?" he answers her question with another question.
...
"Yes...? Maybe?"
"Maybe I'm making the wrong choice here then, me thinking I was asking a girl on a date, turns out she was a manly man, a manly man who fights, uses magic, and looks good in a dress." he laughs.
She jabs his arm with an embarrassed flush on her face, "Can we just start fishing?"
"Not before you admit I was right and you were wrong."
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The date continued without interruptions, the duo learning together how to ice fish, occasionally catching a flailing Slaughterfish which gets unceremoniously dumped onto the ice next to them. Neither had much experience with fishing, so it was a learning experience for both of them... Not very date-like, but fun nonetheless.
Evening rolled around soon enough, and the temperature started to dip from 'uncomfortable but manageable', to 'Freeze your piss in mid-air'. Most folk would have had to take the long way around back to the College since the cliff wasn't really scalable without climbing equipment... Luckily, Tiffania was able to open a Teleportation Gate which led right back to the entrance of the College.
"So, would you want to do this, or something else another time?" he asks her as they approach the archway leading to the College.
"Whenever you want, Michael." she smiles, letting go of his hand and leaning closer.
They share a kiss. This is the second kiss, but it feels just as strange, exciting, and addictive as the first. Indeed, unlike last time, neither were able to hold themselves back as their embrace get more and more intimate.
*Ahem!*
The duo almost jumps out of their skins as they hear the voice, each getting a little distance as they looked towards the College entrance where Nirya was standing with crossed arms and a prominent frown. "Are you two done? You're disturbing the peace." she states.
Michael glances around, spotting no one aside from the empty street and the isolated buildings that comprise the whole of Winterhold. "Disturbing the peace? Disturbing your peace maybe..."
"My peace is the peace, if you must swap saliva, do so where I can't see it." she commands.
"Alright, we'll leave you to your peace then." Michael offers, knowing that the Altmer couldn't leave her guard duty... He and Tiffania walk past her and into the College hand in hand, ignoring the angry growl behind them.
"She'll get over it." he whispers as Tiffania rests her body on him as they walk.
Flashback end :
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Since then they hadn't been on any more dates, as there wasn't really anything to do around Winterhold... He could have Tiffania teleport them somewhere, but even then, where would they go? Whiterun? Riften? Falkreath? Neither was exactly 'date' material. If anything, Michael wanted to take her to Solitude next, the Capital of Skyrim and 'Most beautiful city'.
Unfortunately, while he and Tiffania were enjoying their time in Skyrim, Charlotte's mood was steadily getting worse the longer her mother went without recovering. Despite her improvements, it didn't look like she'd regain her mind in many years.
The occasional glances she sent his and Tiffania's way only made him feel more guilty about enjoying himself. The look she sent was one filled with envy, dejection, bitterness, and hopelessness. Clearly, she thought that Maria would've been healed by now... Maybe she thought he was stalling? Or maybe she thought that he'd forgotten her while his attention was focussed on Tiffania?
Regardless, he'd need to think of a solution to it soon, their last chance was at Markarth in the temple of Dibella, so if that failed he had no idea what to do... Probably travel to another world in hopes of finding a cure?... It wasn't like they couldn't come back here afterwards, right?... He'd need to get Tiffania working on that. Maybe have her look into it while she was researching the Familiar summoning ritual.
Whatever, at least Illococoo was enjoying herself... The girl could now use 'Fus' proficiently enough to knock a grown man off of his feet... And that was only the single word of the three-word shout... How powerful would it be altogether? And would it get stronger if she was in dragon form?... All things that motivated him to get stronger, simply to not be left behind by his companions.
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"Excuse me, Michael?" Yisra asks quietly asks before sitting opposite him as he was studying in a quiet corner of the Arcanaeum.
He glances up from his book about Magicka and how it interacts with the environment, raising a brow at his uninvited guest. "Did you need something?"
Yisra shakes her head, but the way she begins chewing on his lip shows that something was clearly bugging her. "I, I wanted your advice on something."
...
"My advice? You barely know me." he replies, having only had a few short conversations with the girl. Sure they occasionally stood together during lectures, but that was merely to bounce ideas off of one another.
She lets out a sigh, "It's not like I can turn to anyone else... The only other people I know here are Borvir, Ilas, Orthorn, and Nirya... One's an idiot with only mead in his mind, one's only interested if it's about scrolls, one's a mindless kiss-ass, and one's a bitch who only spits venom from her mouth... Please, you could really help me out here."
"What about Tiff or Charlotte?"
"I know even less about Charlotte than I do about you, and Tiffania isn't someone I'd consider reliable for something like this... No offence." she admits.
...
"Just tell me what it is and I'll see if I have an answer for you." he shrugs as he sets down his books and shows that he's listening.
...
"I received a request the other day, well, it was worded more like an order... Master Malyn Varen has requested me to assist in his research and I don't think I can refuse... I don't have enough gold to pay for my tuition here, so unless another Master intervenes..."
Michael nods and sheepishly scratches his cheek, "Yeah, this might be my fault actually... With Sorkas and Jernil gone, he's lacking on people for his research, he even tried to coerce me into working for him since I was the one who caused them to leave... Lucky I've got enough gold to pay my way and a working relationship with the Arch-Mage..."
"Good for you... But how do I get out of this?" she asks and only now realising that Michael was partly at fault for her situation.
"Why not accept? He's a talented man from what I hear, I might've accepted if I didn't have other things to do and learn."
Yisra shakes her head, "I've heard things about him and his students, that they'd sometimes leave on tasks and never return. That, and the fact he keeps the subject of his research hidden... Only someone with something to hide would do that."
"Or someone with revolutionary ideas who wants to reap the profits of his work?" Michael retorts, causing a frown to creep onto the Redguard's face.
"Can you help me or not? Because I'll find a way out of this, my instincts are screaming that accepting is a bad idea. My instincts have never steered me wrong, I'm almost certain that working for that man is a death sentence!"
"Hey! Silence in the Arcanaeum!" Urag shouts from across the room, causing Yisra to shrink in on herself.
Michael taps his fingers on the table rhythmically while observing her, "I mean, if you're that certain about it... How about this, I'll pay for you to stay here, but you'll work for me. You'll assist with my studies, write notes during lectures I'm unable to attend, gather materials, etc. How's that sound?"
Without a shred of hesitation, she nods with an eager look on her face, "I accept. It's no different to what a Master might ask of you, plus, I probably won't die under your care."
"Alright," he mutters under his breath, retrieving the Book of Heroes and tossing her enough gold to cover her stay here for half a year. "Keep that safe, if it gets stolen you're not getting anymore."
"This really means a lot to me, Michael. I promise to repay you one day." she says, standing and giving a deep bow while clutching the sack to her chest.
He shrugs, "Just be a good 'Apprentice' and we'll be even."
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
As soon as Yisra leaves the Arcanaeum, Michael closes his book and hands it back to Urag before leaving. He was interested, to say the least, she hadn't been the first person to express concern over Malyn's research... There were quiet rumours going around that most Masters also suspected foul play...
He'd actually asked the Arch-Mage about it after Malyn had 'invited' him to work for him, and even the head of this institution wasn't too sure. He'd had Malyn show what he was doing, but he suspected that it had all been trimmed down to lesser than what it was.
It was for this reason that Michael had snuck out and activated Cloak and Dagger. Malyn usually slept inside his laboratory, so using this time when he was giving a lecture was probably the best chance he'd get to discover just what the man was doing.
Silently creeps over to the Hall of Countenance and slips inside after making sure the coast was clear. Luckily, no one was present, allowing him to go up to the third floor where the man's laboratory was supposedly placed.
It wasn't too hard to find either as the other rooms lacked the many enchanting tables and broken, discarded soul gems that Malyn's research was supposedly based on.
It takes a couple minutes for him to sift through the papers, but steadily he gets an idea on what his true motives for researching soul gems really was... The Arch-Mage had said that the man was researching on the other applications soul gems had that didn't require you to kill creatures to reap their souls.
The Arch-Mage's hope was for them to find an alternative to such brutal methods... But, that all seemed like an afterthought to Malyn... Judging by the filled black soul gems he'd found tucked behind one of the desks, the man's morality was far more skewed than one might expect.
Hope you bois liked the chap, if I missed anything please let me know. Thanks!
Also, thanks to my patrons for their support :
ShinAmazake
Kingsprovince
JayJonnaJamison
Jack Allen
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