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The summer night wind of Elsweyr cradled Cicero’s pale and barren skin, claiming him as their own as he basked in the midnight moon.
“Are you sure this is safe?” He stood on the shore of the lake, the water lapping at his feet. It was warm. An invitation for him to join whatever was waiting in the unseen depths. Not to mention that Ji'Ghoul was already waist deep in it.
Waiting for him.
“When have I ever put you in danger?” Asked the Khajiit.
“Plenty of times.”
He extended his arms toward him. “Come on,” he reasoned, “We're already both undressed in the middle of nowhere. The nearest town is a day by horse away. Just get in the water with me, Cicero. Trust me.”
He took a breath and stepped in further. The water came up to his calves. He expected it to become cold. To give him a reason to run back to shore under the guise of safety, but it never came. There was only ever warmth. In the water and inside Ji'Ghoul’s awaiting arms.
“See? It's not so bad. I would never bring you here to hurt you. If I ever hurt you it would be back at Dawnstar so everyone could see me beat your ass,” he laughed.
Cicero laughed with him.
They stayed like that for an unknowable amount of time. They simply held each other in the gently rippling water. Occasionally a fish swam by, brushing against the both of them with Ji'Ghoul laughing at Cicero for getting scared.
“It's just a minnow,” he would tell the redhead before he finally relaxed again and let Ji'Ghoul place his head on his chest.
The sky shifted with the passage of time. Crickets sang from the wooded shore, joined by an unseen frog or two.
“This was one of the first places I ran to in my journey to escape magic,” he admitted in the quiet. “It felt so otherworldly when I first arrived, but in a good way. Like it would cancel out anything else. Anything I was running from. I don't remember how long I stayed here, but at night I would stand on the shore and just fish. Not just for food, but also to keep my mind from racing.”
“No matter how many times you tell me this story, I'll never understand. The way your mind works is a mystery.”
His ears flattened against his head. “Do I really talk about it that much?”
“On repeat,” he assured.
“I guess it's just taken up a majority of my life. I don't have much else to talk about, you know?”
“Mhmm.”
“Without it, it's like, who am I? Who would I be if these major events never happened?”
Cicero thought for a moment. Where would he be if he hadn't had his own major events? The last contract? Staying alone with the Night Mother until he went insane.
He'd still be Cicero, but who would he be?
“They wouldn't be us,” he answered. “It wouldn't be me, and it wouldn't be you. There's no changing the past now. Even if we could, I don't think I'd ever want to.”
“But aren't you curious?” He looked up at Cicero. His blue eyes shined. He couldn't help himself at that moment.
He closed the distance between them - what little there was - and kissed the Khajiit.
He could feel his paws moving to his back. There was no turning back. There wasn't anything besides the two of them.