Fic: Skyrim, "Things they don't teach you at the College"
Things they don't teach you at the College
Perched on a cliff overlooking the Sea of Ghosts, the College of Winterhold was a cold and often miserable place. In the dead of winter, frigid winds coming off the water left frost on the stone walls and stole a mage's breath with sudden with sudden chilly drafts.
The professors recommended that new students enchant their robes, boots, and furs with warming spells, but it was never enough for Mara. Though a Nord by birth, Mara was raised in Hammerfell in the city of Rihad. She longed to return to the warm coastal waters, especially late at night when her toes were numb and her breath appeared in little white puffs in front of her face. After one too many bone-chilling nights, Mara-ever the inventive one-took to the Arcanaeum, determined to find some way to keep warm in the drafty old college.
She eventually found her answer, but not in the pages of a dusty old tome. Instead, she found it in Onmund’s bashful blush as their fingers touched over a borrowed quill, and in J’zargo’s purring voice as he whispered questions in her ear.
Now, with her face nuzzled into Onmund’s neck and J’zargo wrapped around her from behind like a living blanket, Mara’s nights were filled with a warmth far more all-encompassing than that of a measly spell and deeper than the waters of the Abecean Sea.
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Prompts:
1. The return of the Dwemer
2. Testing experimental spells for fun and profit
3. Experimenting with skooma
Author's Note: This was written for (and cross-posted to) the Weekly Community Challenge at tes_skyrim.