Chapter Text
Jesper knew soulmates were a thing ever since he was little. Everyone knew they had a soulmate, it was one of those facts people threw around along with the sky being blue, but despite knowing soulmates existed, very few people ever tried to find theirs. Admittedly, sharing someone else’s pain doesn’t give much insight when it comes to finding your other half. Tamriel was a big continent, and trying to find that one person that you were destined for was like looking for a needle in a haystack, and considering that life in Tamriel wasn’t the easiest, there were also a good portion of the people who’s soulmates had died.
This was the case for Jesper. At least, he believed that was the case; he had no way to confirm, but he hadn’t felt any pain from his soulmate in years, which was usually interpreted as a sign they had passed. The thought of it always made him sad; being the hopeless romantic he was, he had always hoped to find his soulmate one day. But considering the amount of pain Jesper has been dealing with almost daily, maybe it was for the best that his soulmate was no longer of this world to feel it; ever since he’d joined the Whiterun guards, he never went a day without getting hurt, and now with the Dragonborn around, somehow it had gotten worse.
He had long since started tuning out the pain; he could barely feel the bruises anymore and he had gotten used to being hungry most of the time from having his rations stolen by other guards. He’d learned to keep a low profile and not draw attention to himself, he knew blending in was the best way to stay safe. So he kept quiet when around the others and always kept his uniform on, never removing his helmet so no one would notice his face; with the current climate in Skyrim, his pointed ears would definitely attract the wrong kind of attention, so it was for the best.
It wasn’t easy, but he got used to it. However, he never got used to the loneliness; isolating himself from the rest of the guards and most of the townspeople meant he didn’t really have any friends beside Hulda the inn keeper. He found himself lucky enough to be part of the guard exchange program that allowed him to meet new faces; like Kevin and Dave. Even Alder, although he didn’t quite understand his vibe. He was grateful for having met them, it made him feel a little less alone, but he couldn’t exactly say he felt welcomed in places like Windhelm or Riften.
Especially Riften; that place was the worst to him. He thought the guards in Whiterun were bad, the ones in Riften were ten times worse, and even if Lenny was generally nice to him, he knew that he was just as corrupt as the rest and it really rubbed him the wrong way. So he tried to avoid having to go there as much as possible. It’s not like he could do much there anyways; it was the home of the Thieves Guild, so he considered the place to be a lost cause.
Speaking of thieves, Jesper had a particular thief that made it a point to be a thorn in his side. He had arrested him a few times, not that it mattered much because the thief had escaped the cell in records time, but at least he was playing fair and never hurt him in any way. He didn’t understand the thief’s motivations; the thief had said he was doing things for his own entertainment, which Jesper couldn't wrap his mind around what in the world was entertaining about stealing stuff, but after he built a pad above the entrance to Whiterun, it appeared he’d be sticking around.
Jesper knew the thief was friends with Dave, but they just couldn’t get along. Every time they met, they would be arguing; he supposed they just had two completely opposite views of the world, but regardless, Jesper didn’t mind him as much as he said he did. But that didn’t change the fact that the thief could be down right annoying at times.
“Seriously? The Jarl’s desk? Why would you even steal that?” Jesper had asked.
“I don’t know, because I can,” the thief shrugged.
“Why are you always stealing from the Jarl? Did he do something?” Jesper asked.
“Beside being the Jarl? Not really. The guild just encourages us to steal from the nobility at any given opportunity,” the thief replied, “And who am I to turn down a good steal? Also our boss is going to love her new desk.”
“Please tell me you’re joking and that you’ll return the desk,” Jesper sighed.
“Nope. Also took the chair; gotta have matching furniture,” the thief laughed.
“You’re giving me so much paperwork, honestly I should arrest you just to make up for my overtime,” Jesper replied.
“Right, like you could catch me if I actually ran. You’d fall on your face before even making it to the gate,” the thief told him.
“Ugh, at least can you not do it when I’m on shift?” Jesper asked.
“Well, I try, but you’re always on shift, so that’s kinda on you for having such a busy schedule,” the thief replied.
“I hate that you’re right,” Jesper said, crossing his arms.
“I usually am,” the thief replied, “Anyways, gotta go. I have a desk to deliver to Riften.”
Jesper grumbled as he walked away. That thief was always such a pain to deal with; with the sarcasm and jabs at his job, Jesper never truly understood him. But even if he was a pain, Jesper would take dealing with him over having to deal with the Dragonborn and his chaos any day. The guard much preferred filling out paper work than being thrown into the moat or shouted halfway to Falkreath. Besides, the thief had a good side to him, despite not showing it often. Jesper knew it was there because he often found himself on the receiving end of his ‘good act of the month’ which Jesper also didn’t understand. Maybe it was his way of making up for all the trouble he was causing him? Jesper would have much preferred if he’d just stop stealing, or at least left to steal somewhere else, but apparently the thief was having too much fun in Whiterun. Whatever that meant.
So Jesper had resigned himself that dealing with the thief was going to be part of his daily life for a while; and considering how bad his daily life could be, this was barely making a dent in his armour. Between being picked on by the other guards, the townspeople mostly ignoring him and the Dragonborn being an agent of chaos, the thief was honestly the easiest to deal with, even if it was annoying.
Jesper just hoped his luck would change one day and that he’d find a way to be happy again despite the circumstances. Maybe if he could find someone; not his soulmate obviously, because they were probably dead, but he didn’t need a soulmate, he just needed someone that loved him enough, cared enough... But he’d probably never find anyone like that. Not in Whiterun anyways, maybe not even in Skyrim. But it’s not like he could leave anyway, it was just wishful thinking.