@papabirdurskeks 's khajit, tlalih, done for an art trade 😸
(sized down version)
i had so much fun making this one, and i am quite pleased with how it turned out. i hope you will like it as well 🖤
please check out their profile too, their art is metal as hell and i love it!
Attack on my wonderful partner @pinnithin of our Oblivion guys! Dyet and Fiadh would NOT get along, do not let them work together it will only end in disaster.
Indeela worked away restlessly at her latest sketch work of armor, each intricate line and twirl a little more different than the last. Frustration began to spill from her fingertips, the design never quite connecting in the exact way she wanted.
She’d reached one of those points where the world beyond the paper becomes that much more enticing – every little sound of tapping feet or muffled ramblings of voices urged her that much more to give up this chore and hurry out.
Yet soon enough, she found the option wasn’t even hers.
The door slammed open to reveal a scrambling Khajit, fur puffed out and pupils thinner than a shard of glass. His white fur melded into pools of deep, warm brown that held amber eyes – nothing short of terrified.
Indeela shot up, her expression muddling with confusion. “C-Can I help you? If my sister sent you here for a custom design you’ll have to-”
“Shut up, shut up!” He scrambled after her and whatever sounds he made afterwards became muddled together. He clasped her shoulders, the ends of his claws snagging into her clothes – she could’ve done without it.
“Y-You – you've got to hide me! Please! They can’t catch me!”
“Who-”
The crumbs and dainty little things began to rattle as pounding, heavy boots trampled along the cobblestone – enraged shouts spiteful with venom tore through the curtains and glass with such fervor one would fear they’d shatter.
“Capture the rogue cat! He has betrayed the Empire and is dangerous! Remain on alert for any suspicious Khajit!”
Indeela glanced back at the stranger as the voices of the high elves continued to demand for imprisonment. Their accusations and punishments growing worse and worse by the second. What few puzzle pieces she’d had begun to connect in an instant.
“Just -- What... the fuck... did you do?”
He kept glancing nervously between her and the windows, his breath quick, shallow, and unsteady. He laughed, attempting to smooth down his fur that was practically bursting from his collar.
“C-Can this wait for another day?”
“If you didn’t want to get asked any questions you shouldn’t have stormed in my study! Now answer me or-”
The criminal on-the-run snapped a horrified curse and grappled at her arms before stumbling backwards, sending the two collapsing behind the desk full of craggy old boxes and dust bunnies Indeela never quite cared enough to clean – if she were being honest.
However, out of all things – that was far from what bothered her. What did happen to bother her was the fact that was currently on top of a stranger – a stranger who happened to be a fugitive.
The aforementioned fugitive stared with eyes as wide as saucers, the skin beneath his fur becoming a bright red akin to a strawberry. He opened his mouth to speak but could barely figure a single coherent sentence to make up for the strife he’d caused Indeela. Instead, he sputtered the first thing that came to mind.
“I wouldn’t kill someone.” He managed through exasperated breaths. “I’m in this mess because I refused to kill someone.”
Indeela soaked in his words, her shoulders rising and falling and a death grip on her desk to keep her from collapsing entirely upon the Khajit. She could scramble to the door right then and call to the guards – surely, they’d laud her a hero and ideal citizen. It’d be easy, so, so much easier than anything else.
But Indeela was never one to take the easy way out. And a part of her couldn’t convince herself that it was the right thing to do.
“A good someone?” She asked, folding her lips nervously.
He paused, and wrinkled his snout, if only for a moment. “I hope so.”
That was good enough for her. She nodded. “That’ll do.” She pressed a finger to her lips, and he understood. Indeela then rose to her feet, stepping forward to the window and peering forward. The Thalmor’s thin figures remained a way ahead of the shop, but their voices had become only a faint call. It would be risky, but just maybe she could sneak him in.
She rushed back to the stranger and reached out to his arms, helping him to his feet. His ears twitched at the slightest sounds and he held onto her a tad bit too tight, his nerves getting the best of him.
“What’re we doing?” He asked, swallowing hard.
“Instead of you just breaking into my shop – I'm sneaking you into my house,” Indeela paused. “Which is fine because it’s my house... mostly.”
His brows furrowed. “Mostly?”
“I have a big family.”
“How can you sneak me in if you have a huge fucking family?” The Khajit’s fur puffed outwards, and his tail even fluffed up twice in size.
Indeela huffed, tapping her index finger against her lips once again. “I can’t if you don’t keep your mouth shut!”
He puffed his cheeks out, wanting to protest but with nowhere else to go, he couldn’t exactly argue. He relented and allowed Indeela to guide him to the back door that’d lead into the storage room. From there... well Indeela hadn’t planned that far.
As she turned the knob leading into the back of her home, the Khajit stopped her. His tail swung easily from side to side and he fidgeted meekly. “Wait.”
“What is it?” Immediately she glanced back at the window, assuming one of the Thalmor were surely gawking at them. Except when she looked, she saw nothing.
“No, no it’s just-” He cleared his throat. “My name – it's Ma’vani -- I’m Ma’vani. And thank you.”
Ma’vani. The name repeated itself in Indeela’s head. It was a gentle name, softly spoken and yet full of life all the same. She liked it.
“I’m Indeela,” She responded quietly, offering him a smile. “And you’re welcome.”
She brought him inside, and no matter how confident Indeela was that’d they’d be safe and secluded, all hopes were shattered at the sight of Aisha standing just at the open door. Two glasses were clasped in her hands, and they nearly slipped from her grasp at the sight of the pair.
“Aisha!” Indeela’s heart nearly burst from her chest. A sudden onslaught of embarrassment searing through her. “What’re you doing?”
“I live here...?” Aisha raised the glasses. “I also brought you juniper juice!” She turned her attention to Ma’vani and laughed. “Sorry to miss you! We weren’t expecting guests! You must be the felon those Thalmor are looking for? They’re being ridiculously loud about it.”
Ma’vani froze. “Please don’t call them on me.”
“I wouldn’t breathe if the Thalmor asked, so don’t worry! You came to the right place.” Aisha eased back, allowing room for the two to come in. “I wouldn’t let Dad see him though; he’s already got enough grey hairs, don’t you think?”
Indeela cursed beneath her breath. “Do you think Dad will notice if we sneak him up to the attic?”
A grin tugged at the ends of Aisha’s lips, snorting. “I’ll go get Mom.”
Indeela tried to grapple after her sister but Aisha managed to dodge her sister’s desperate hands just so. “That is so clearly not what I asked!”
“Nothing happens in mom’s house without mom knowing~.”
Indeela hated how right Aisha could be. Truthfully, halfway through whatever patchwork plan they’d come up with, Ehsan would probably find out. Most likely seeking them out to tell a ridiculous joke she’d just learned. That’d be Indeela’s luck.
“Is your mom going to be uh – okay with me?” Ma’vani wondered aloud. “Or do I need to run?”
“Mom wouldn’t hurt a fly if it personally insulted her – just don’t talk bad about Dad.”
“I don’t even know him.”
“Then I think you’ll be safe.”
Ma’vani huffed something like a chuckle.
Aisha already returned with her hands ribboned with their mother’s. Ehsan’s tawny gaze widening like dinner plates at the sight of Ma’vani. She was a tall, slender woman, and age graced her features in the form of crow’s feet and the faintest wrinkles. Her youthful beauty never quite faded.
Ehsan slipped away from her daughter to instead approach Ma’vani, noting his stray, ragged fur with sorrow. “You poor thing. You’ve been through a lot, haven’t you?”
Ma’vani froze at the kindness. His ears perked up and a weight fell from his shoulders. He nodded weakly, and a pang of pity struck at Indeela.
Ehsan smiled weakly. “Well take a deep breath. You’re safe now.”
Ehsan turned back around and peeked the door to the parlor just a crack so that the few lanterns lit poured in with their light. Ehsan called out. “Makna~? Darling, could you come here?”
“Why does Makna need to know?” Indeela groaned, pinching the bridge of her nose.
“This is a family affair Indeela!” Ehsan exclaimed. “Except your father, because I think he’d have a heart attack.”
Ma’vani frowned. “Is your father a... tense man?”
Ehsan tipped her head from side to side in consideration, a fondness to her voice as she referred to her husband. “Hanee is sensitive. It hasn’t been easy raising four kids after all!”
“There’s a fourth?”
Indeela swatted her hand in the air indifferently. “He lives in the mountains; don’t worry we won’t be that cramped in here.”
“Why does he-” Ma’vani stopped himself while he was ahead. “Never mind.”
Makna soon appeared at the door, towering over her mother and even a few inches above Ma’vani. Her eyes were only slightly warmer than Ehsan’s, and her expression was cool, stilled, even when spotting Ma’vani. In spite of everything else cluttering and clamoring at Ma’vani, Makna was oddly calming.
“So, this is what we’re doing today.” She muttered. “And I suppose I’ll be the one distracting Dad?”
Ehsan squeezed Makna’s arm tenderly, beaming. “Thank you darling.”
Makna failed to hide her tiny grin, sighing with a mock amount of exasperation. “Of course, Mom.” She pointed at her sisters. “You two try not to get our guest killed?”
Aisha scoffed, sticking out her tongue. “There’s only a small chance!”
“If anything had happens, Aisha did it.”
Makna laughed at that. She disappeared a few moments later, and only when Ehsan, pressed against the parlor’s door, heard the chattering voices of her husband and daughter, did she lead the rest forward.
The home itself was wide and spacious, large enough even for a family like theirs's to breathe in peace. A warmth spread through the house like sunlight on a bare meadow – there was love here; a great deal of it.
Ehsan was leading the group up the stairs where the faintest step creaked, slow and lingering. One could only imagine the countless feet that ‘pitter pattered’ each step – perhaps at some point a mother cradling her child and another being that very same child racing down the stairs.
“You have a very nice home.” Ma’vani whispered, taking care to watch his heavy metal. He wouldn’t forgive himself if he scuffed the weathered wood.
“Thank you. We try to keep it nice for guests.” Indeela hummed. “I guess that includes impromptu ones now too.”
“I really appreciate this – I hope you know.”
Indeela raised her brows, musing. “I suspected as much. But it’s not problem, I hope you know.”
Ma’vani fiddled anxiously with his fingers. “Does your family do this often? Will I have roommates?”
“No, you have the honor of being the first. I hope you like dust and cobwebs.”
Ma’vani let out a deep laugh. “Oh! My favorite!”
It was then Indeela thought he had a nice laugh. It was a thought she quickly shoved into the deepest depths of her brain, but it had existed, nonetheless.
They approached the attic’s door where a string dangled in the air. Aisha snagged this string and swung it back so that the ladder could topple out onto the wooden floor with a ‘thump’.
“Well, I hope you like your new room!” Aisha chimed. “It uh... it can use some work.”
Ma’vani chuckled softly. It’s not as if he was going to be picky. “I’m sure it’ll be fine.”
He climbed up the ladder and understood just what the others meant. Dust and age clung to the attic’s corners, and plenty of ornate heirlooms – or simply old forgotten knick knacks. However, by the end of the wall there was a bed with a thick, heavy quilt and lantern set comfortably against a desk. Books were stacked atop one another on that desk, and Ma’vani could tell it hadn’t been touched in a long time. It was left just the way it was when the last person left.
Indeela was the one to follow him up, her fingers trailing along the room wistfully. “This was my brother’s room before he left. We can fix it up for you if you want, but Adnan had all sorts of interests, so there’s a little bit of everything.”
“What do you think I’m interested in?”
“How to get in dangerous situations?”
Ma’vani contemplated. “Unfortunately, you’re not too far off.”
Indeela smirked. “Maybe try to avoid that while you’re here?”
