Arrival. Finally.
An owl hooted in the distance against the dark night sky. The moon was high and cast a sparkling reflection on the still water of Lake Honrich. It was quiet, despite the occasional ambient nightly sounds from the forests of Riften, and the horses whinnying in the stables.
And Molte was profusely sweating.
“U-u-uh here we… are now,” he stuttered awkwardly, rubbing his hands together. The nice Dunmer man was surely hating him, what with how Molte had gone off at the wrong direction after a distraction when the mer had asked for directions towards Riften. A distraction that had caused the two-hour trip to turn into a five-hour one.
“Yes, we are,” Molte could sense the faint, underlying frustration in the Dunmer’s voice. The little elf didn’t dare look at the other, so embarrassed he was!
“Well, I thank you for your help, nonetheless,” Rellam sighed. His feet were sore from all the continuous walking, and no doubt Ein was wondering where he had been all this time. The long delay had not been a very pleasant one, but the Bosmer seemed very earnest in getting them in the right place after it. Plus, the extremely flustered look in the mer’s eyes when he dared to peek up after Rellam’s thank-you made it feel inappropriate to scold him.
After an uncertain silence, Molte finally piped up: “… S-sorry…”
Rellam shook his head. “It’s okay, nobody got hurt.”
Molte looked at anywhere except Rellam’s eyes. “So, uh.”
“So this is goodbye then. Stay safe out there,” the Dunmer offered him a compassionate smile, which Molte attempted to reciprocate. He really looked like a rabbit about to dart off.
“O-okay bye then,” Molte said in a hurry and walked off towards the forest, at a normal pace at first, but soon he did speed up like the rabbit Rellam had suspected him to turn into.
Rellam fluffed his curly hair. What an odd day this had been.
