Chapter Text
When the dragonborn had finally woken up, she was confused. She wasn't even able to get a good look at her surroundings before someone checked on her, but from the dunmer accent, and the dunmer himself, she remembered she was in Solstheim, and after a few moments she remembered why too. Immediately, she got up and tried to leave but fell back down from dizziness. "Woah there, khajiit," an unfamiliar voice said, "take it easy." Hearing the advice, she got up slowly. The dragonborn looked around the room confused. The dunmer laughed and told her, "You're in the Retching Netch." In response the dragonborn simply nodded. She left the room, slightly wobbling and still somewhat nauseous, and looked around to get her bearings. She had gotten to the bottom of the stairs before realising that he was up there. The dragonborn had wanted to avoid confrontation at all costs, she didn't want to see him, she didn't want all the what if's to come true. The dragonborn had started hyperventilating, she was scared, more than she's ever been. She collapsed at the bottom of the staircase, so many thoughts racing through her head, she couldn't process them all. She was dizzy, gasping for air, and crying. The one coherent thought was I shouldn't have come here. However, she knew the only way to leave was to pass by him, and she couldn't stay here forever. After controlling her breathing as best as possible, the dragonborn got up and slowly went up the stairs. She wanted to make as little noise as possible, hoping she could sneak past her ex-follower, and that he wouldn't notice her. Sadly enough, the poor dragonborn tripped walking up the stairs, attracting just about everyone's attention. Including Teldryn. By the time she got back up, everyone who'd left their seat had gone back, everyone except Teldryn. After wiping the dust off of her armor, they locked eye contact. Talos knows how long they had just stood, staring at each other. The truth is that neither of them knew how to react. They had both been through so much emotional turmoil after their separation, that this whole confrontation seemed like one big dream.
Not wanting to be stuck here, the dragonborn broke the silence. "Hey." She said in the most casual voice she could muster. However, that obviously wasn't enough to break the awkwardness that had grown in between them. Taking one step up the stairs, the dragonborn had been taken by surprise to see that Teldryn had taken one step towards her. They both knew that they wanted to lock each other in the tightest, most comforting embrace, but the dragonborn panicked. She sprinted up the rest of the stairs and ran past Teldryn before either of them could properly react. After getting out the door and getting a good distance away from the inn, she collapsed. She couldn't process all these thoughts, all these emotions. Happy, sad, angry, what, why, how. It was almost as if she didn't know anything anymore.all the happy memories they shared, the one bad one that she's absolutely positive ruined the both of them. If only he weren't wearing that armor, I could see the true look in his eyes, She thought to herself. Maybe she could ask? No, she quickly pushed the thought out of her head, still fearing rejection.
Teldryn stood there for quite awhile, unable to process the events that had just transpired. She was here. Back in Solstheim. She tripped going up the stairs, however he never saw her go down. She spoke to him. He walked towards her, out of instinct. He was half tempted to go after her and make sure she was okay, but also wanted to wait until she left. He knew he couldn't leave until she left for her home in Skyrim, but he also couldn't stay here. His house was a short walk away, even if he got dead drunk, he'd still be expected to walk home himself. Teldryn was truly at a loss. Acting out of impulse, he went after her. He thought it would be the best thing to do. Upon exiting the Retching Netch, he quickly spotted the distressed dragonborn. She had collapsed, and plainly out of concern he ran up to her and crouched with her. She was staring at the ground and... Crying? Teldryn had never seen her act this way before. She was always so happy, and comforting, and she knew how to control her emotions. This had really caught poor Teldryn off guard, and before he knew it he was rubbing her back in an attempt to comfort her. The dragonborn looked up, and Teldryn had taken off his helmet. He gave her the most comforting smile she had ever seen. The dragonborn wiped her eyes, and got up. She headed straight for the dock, not even thanking Teldryn for his attempt at comfort. By the time she reached the dock entrance she realised she was out of gold for the ride back, and Solstheim is a very unforgiving place to say the least. She'd be stuck here for at least a week maybe more. Upon turning around, Teldryn was right behind her. Smiling nervously, he finally replied with, "Hey.". The dragonborn scoffed, attempting to seem mad at him still, hoping it was more convincing to him than it was for her. Unfortunately, he noticed the tears welling in her eyes again before she had time to stop them falling onto her already wet fur.
He wiped the tears quickly, rubbing her cheeks afterwards in an attempt to dry them. His hands on her face, he wanted to take his face and squish it against her's, however Teldryn knew that wasn't right. So instead he settled for pulling her into a tight hug. He wrapped his arms around her, one hand holding her head and scratching behind one of her ears, the other one laying on her middle back pulling her in as close as possible. As soon as the dragonborn had held him back, tears were welling in his eyes as well. He buried his face into the dragonborn's shoulder, holding back a sob. As soon as she held him the same way he had just been holding her, the apologies started. Teldryn kept apologising and he didn't know if he could stop because to him, no amount of apologies could make up for what he did.
In response, the dragonborn kissed the side of his head, and entangled her fingers in his hair, rubbing ever so gently. After Teldryn's "episode" subsided she held his face in her hands, holding his cheeks gently at both sides, and kissed his forehead.