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“Okay, Jesper, how does it look?” was followed by an uncomfortable silence. Rhea looked up, confused- “Jesper?” He cleared his throat, and caught himself, trying to pretend he wasn’t staring as she looked up from fiddling with her newfound Amulet of Mara. “Uhh, it looks nice.”
“You think so? I’m hoping it’ll lead to, well, new beginnings, or something.”
Jesper said nothing, simply humming a tune he presumably wrote.
“I think I’m going to go to the Bee and Barb, get some mead to celebrate. You wanna come?”
“Yeah, I’ll come along with you.”
Jesper’s polite smile he usually wore faltered a moment, but Rhea didn’t notice.
Rhea dragged him along by the hand, into the inn, and looked around for a place to sit, eventually settling on a stool in front of the innkeeper, Keerava.
Keerava sighed, clearly worn out from the Dragonborn’s previous shenanigans. I mean, thievery, intimidation, and just in general being a nuisance- the Dragonborn’s reputation preceded her in most places. But the negative always seemed to stick out more than the positive, like how she defeated vampires with the Dawnguard or slayed dragons terrorizing towns and cities. Rhea was a little tired of it, but still, she smiled and asked Keerava for two drinks.
“Hey, Jesper.”
“…”
“Jesper?”
Rhea waved her hand in front of his face, hoping for him to notice her.”
“Oh! Yeah? What do you need?”
“Uhh, what would you like to drink? I’ll pay tonight.”
“Oh. I’d like a wine, please. Maybe something strong tonight.”
“Wow, getting crazy, huh?”
“I guess so.” Jesper shrugged.
Keerava chimed in then-
“So a mead and some wine? That’s all for the amazing Dragonborn?” Clearly being sarcastic.
Rhea smiled politely and nodded.
“Well, would you look what the horker dragged in!”
Rhea turned around, met with the gaze of Marcurio, a mercenary mage she’d hired in the past.
“I’m always surprised you’re not dead. That’s a compliment, by the way. You brave danger like no other.”
Rhea laughed, taken by his friendly sarcasm.
Marcurio turned his gaze to Jesper.
“Who’s this, then? Another mercenary?”
“Oh, this is my friend, Jesper. He’s followed me as help after working in Whiterun as a guard.”
Rhea looked over to Jesper, waiting for him to introduce himself. Jesper looked over, a bit overwhelmed, and reached out his hand to shake Marcurio’s.
“I’m Jesper. Nice to meet you, sir.”
“It’s nice to see Rhea’s got a friend. She always seemed a lone wolf type to me.”
Jesper simply nodded, and went back to sitting on his stool, sipping on the wine placed before him.
Marcurio sat down next to Rhea, on the opposite side of Jesper, and they engaged in a bit of small talk before he noticed Rhea’s necklace.
“Oh? Is that an Amulet of Mara? I’d supposed before that someone accomplished as you would have been snagged already.”
Rhea smiled, and nodded her head.
“Are you interested?”
“Well, yes. Are you?”
“Oh, I-“
Just then, Jesper fell off his stool.
Marcurio and Rhea both looked down at him, with his knees on the floor, picking himself back up.
Rhea stood up, grabbing his hand and pulling him up from the floor-
“Gods, Jesper, what are you doing? Are you alright?”
“Uhn, yeah, I think so.”
Rhea looked over to the counter and saw one too many glasses of wine, and it surprised her.
She turned to Marcurio, asking-
“Hey, sorry, can we continue this conversation tomorrow? I’m going to get this idiot a bed before he jumps into the river in a drunken stupor.”
Marcurio laughed,
“Good luck! You’ll need it!”
Rhea paid the innkeeper, before guiding Jesper with her arms around his back to an empty room.
She laid him down, and sighed. This had never happened before. Jesper wasn’t really the type to drink, nor did he drink much at all. He was a bit childlike sometimes.
Some part of Rhea was hoping that it was because of her amulet, and that Jesper was getting jealous. She didn’t show it, but she had grown fond- well, very fond, of her innocent companion. She sat in the chair next to the bed, staring at Jesper’s form, his face, his brown hair. She liked being able to see his face when they weren’t cavorting through enemy territory.
He was a bit shy about it, so she felt a little special being the one to make him take it off, sometimes. She fell asleep like that, comfortably staring at him. She woke up the next day with aches in places she didn’t know she had, and immediately regretted falling asleep in that stupid rickety chair. Rhea moved over to Jesper’s sleeping body and gently shook it a few times.
“Jesper. Hey, Jesper. Get up, please. I had to sleep in a chair ‘cause of you.” She said, not expecting him to actually wake up the first time.
“You… you did? Why?”
Rhea chuckled.
“I was making sure you weren’t gonna die with how much wine you drank last night.”
“Really? I’m sorry.”
“It’s okay. Are you hungover?”
“A little bit.”
Rhea sifted through her bag then, quickly pulling up a potion of healing.
“Here, try this, it might numb the pain a little.”
“It’s fine. I don’t need it. You keep it for a rainy day.”
“Well, okay. If you’re sure. I’ve got a lot of ‘em, though.”
Jesper pushed himself off the bed, staring at Rhea. Maybe it was the buzz of the previous night, or desperation, but he asked her a bit of an odd question.
“Hey… you wore that Amulet of Mara because you wanted to marry someone, right? Can I ask… what type of person you want to marry?”
Rhea stopped for a moment, intrigued by the question.
“Hmm.. maybe someone adventurous, like me. Or a homebody that could take care of the house. Kind, too. Maybe a little bit funny. Someone interesting, and maybe musical.”
Rhea smiled, satisfied with her answer.
“Anyways, wanna get going? I’m looking for matches as well as fights now, too. Gotta work twice as hard.”
Jesper chuckled softly.
“You work hard enough. Those in Skyrim don’t know just how grateful they should really be to you.”
Rhea felt herself blushing, but nodded.
“Thanks.”
Rhea walked downstairs with Jesper in tow, and waved hello again to Marcurio.
“Hey, Marcurio. Did you want to talk after last night?”
Marcurio stopped for a moment, looking between the two, and smiled.
“No, that’s okay. I think you’re barking up the wrong tree.”
Rhea was a little taken aback by this, but regained her composure after a moment.
“Well, it was nice to see you! Me and Jesper are going to head to Winterhold next.”
“Good to see you too. And if you have any good news… you know where to find me.”
Rhea and Jesper walked out into the street, but ran into another old friend a few paces from the door.
“Mjoll, it’s so nice to see you! I hope you’ve been doing well since I got you that old sword of yours.”
“Ahh, well met, Rhea. I’ve been good, thank you. How have things been with you?”
“Oh, not bad. Just adventuring around with my friend here.”
Jesper waved, acknowledging Mjoll, and introduced himself.
“Hello. I’m Jesper.”
“Nice to meet you. You must have a lot of tall tales from your travels, I’d wager. You both should tell me about them sometime.”
Jesper nodded thoughtfully.
“Wait, Rhea, is that an Amulet of Mara? You’re not spoken for?”
Rhea smiled bashfully.
“Well, you know. I’ve been thinking I wanted to try a calmer life in the aftermath of all this crazy dragon fighting. And maybe find somebody to love.”
“Well, if you want, we could get drinks… together, sometime.”
“Really? I’ll have to- wait, where did Jesper go?”
“Your companion? I don’t know.”
“What? I hope he’s not in trouble again.”
“Hah. He sounds fun.”
Rhea laughed politely and responded-
“It was nice to see you. I’m going to go find where he went. And I’ll get back to you on that drinks thing! Capiche?”
“Capiche. I’m sure we’ll find the time.”
Rhea didn’t quite catch the sarcastic undertones of the second line.
Rhea walked around the square, calling Jesper’s name firmly, eventually hearing him respond. He was on the docks, sitting with his legs hovering over the water, staring wistfully at the horizon.
“What… are you doing? Do you know how long it took me to find you!?”
“Oh.. I’m… I’m sorry. I just can’t…”
“Can’t what?”
“I can’t deal with people hitting on you.”
“Hitting on me? I’m the one wearing an Amulet of Mara. “
“Well, I know, but it’s… it feels bad.”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean… I don’t like it when they do it.”
“You mean… you’re… jealous?”
“What!? No! I- uh, I guess that is a way to describe it, yes.”
Rhea sighed, sitting next to Jesper, the leather of her leg guards softly brushing against the wood. Their shoulders were touching, but Jesper didn’t turn away.
“Rhea… can I… tell you something?”
“Yeah?”
“I’m… in love with you. I don’t want you to marry anyone else. I don’t want you to kiss someone that’s not me. I’ve felt this way since we were adventuring in Solitude.”
“Solitude? That was… a month from when we met. It’s been a year. You really… do like me.”
“Yeah. I do.”
“Well, I love you too.”
Jesper turned, mouth slightly agape.
“You… you do? Why?”
Rhea laughed.
“Do you remember when we first met? I was still coming into my own as ‘the girl fated to save the world,’ and not everyone took me seriously. I walked into Whiterun, asking anyone for help, and you were the first to come to my aid. You said, yes, I’ll help, and you asked nothing in return. It meant something. It meant something to me.”
“I was just supporting the Dragonborn.”
“Yes, but you were also supporting me, the person behind that mask.”
“You fell in love with me at first meeting?”
“No, not really. I just liked you. The anecdote was about your character, but I didn’t quite fall in love with you then.”
“Really? Then when?”
“I remember after I’d slain my first dragon. I sat there, stupefied, after its soul sucked into me. I didn’t know what I was, what I was becoming. And then you dragged me along to look at the torchbugs.”
“Yeah, that sounds like me.”
“I don’t know if you knew I was struggling, but you offered to dance with me, in the light of the moon, in front of the torchbugs- maybe to take my mind off things. And it worked. All I could see in that moment was your eyes. It made me wonder what made them shine so bright, like you saw who I was inside, and accepted me.”
“I… remember that night too. I wanted to get you out of your head, but some part of me also wanted to dance with you. Maybe some greedy piece of me, and I pushed myself out of my comfort zone to ask. And I never regretted it.”
Rhea turned to Jesper, who was still facing the water, watching the waves lap along the dock.
Jesper asked, almost too quietly for Rhea to hear-
“But… do I deserve the love of the Dragonborn? The one who has slain countless and become the chosen? Whose fame precedes them? I wonder.”
Rhea put her hand on his cheek and slowly pushed his face to be facing hers.
“I’m not the Dragonborn right now. I’m Rhea. And Rhea is in love with you.”
She pushed his head lightly into her face, pulling Jesper into an enthralling kiss. Jesper gasped, before leaning into her and hugging around her waist.
Rhea’s hands combed through his hair as they kissed, before he pulled away from her.
She stared at him a moment, breathless.
Jesper spoke.
“Will you… marry me?”
“Yes.”
Rhea smiled, and took off her Amulet of Mara.
“Well, I guess I don’t need this anymore.”
Rhea geared up to throw it into the river, but Jesper stopped her.
“Hey… let’s keep it. As a reminder of when we… confessed.”
“Oh. Yeah. We should.”
Rhea grinned sheepishly, continuing.
“Now, we should look for somewhere to live together. I want to start a family.”
“A family? Really?”
“Yeah, well, now that the end of the world’s over, and my responsibilities are gone, I want a quieter life. Do you not want one?”
“No, I’d love to start a family with you. Maybe a nice place in Whiterun?”
Jesper laughed,
“It’s where we met, after all.”
Rhea leaned her head into Jesper’s shoulder, sighing.
“I missed breakfast ‘cause I was hunting for you. You’ll have to make it up to me.”