Shortly after they left Ustengrav, Gunnar cheered up and resumed his usual playful personality. Which the knight preferred over his sulking one because the silence was an alien thing around Gunnar.
“Hey pup, watch your step”
Vilkas stumbled over an odd stone and one wrong step sent him falling forward. But the old warrior quick as a fox reached out and grabbed his arm.
“Silly pup, I told you so” Gunnar chuckled.
“Thanks” Vilkas grunted, righting himself and trying not to enjoy the strength of Gunnar’s large hand gripping his arm. He almost protested when the hand left him.
He realized that blood was flowing the wrong way and his cheeks felt a bit warmer than they should have. Gods this man roused him without even trying.
“S-so” Vilkas said quickly “What was being a priest like?”
“A priest? Now why would you want to hear about that pup?” Gunnar grinned, wiggling his eyebrows.
“Are you going to tell me or not old man?!” Vilkas snapped.
“Just teasing you pup” Gunnar laughed “But seriously, being a priest was boring”
They paused along the road to let a merchant and wagon by. The merchant nodded and they returned the gesture before walking along as the merchant passed.
“Let’s see, most days I prayed before a statue, ate, prayed some more, ate, prayed some more and then went to sleep” Gunnar said.
“How could you stand it?”
“I wanted it, a quiet lifestyle away from the fighting and for awhile I really enjoyed it” Gunnar said “And then… well a few things happened and I came here, and then that whole Helgen business”
“What happened?” Vilkas pressed.
The knight should have realized that if an open book like Gunnar didn’t immediately spill it that it was something painful to remember. But he wanted to know more about the man, especially after the nightmare episode. Besides, wanting to know what was on the inside distracted him from thinking about the handsome and sexiness outside.
“If it’s okay with you pup, I’d rather not talk about it” Gunnar said, sunny personality suddenly gone.
He was about to protest, but then he saw the deep hurt in Gunnar’s eye and shut his mouth. He had no right to ask the man about something painful, especially after being a complete prick to him their first few weeks.
“Sorry” Vilkas muttered.
They walked in silence for awhile, carefully traveling the cold roads. The silence was… strange but Vilkas didn’t have the heart to ask the old man anything else. Damn, and after he had wanted to start building a relationship with the old man, now it felt like they were back to square one. Maybe he should-
“Being a priest is actually isn’t a safe long term job” Gunnar suddenly said “After awhile priests start… losing their minds”
“What?”
“Turns out trying to draw the attention of the gods usually works” Gunnar sighed “After a few years you start hearing their voices in your head, seeing visions, and in some cases they even get possessed by them”
“…You’ve been possessed by the gods?” Vilkas asked.
“Yeah… a few times actually… it’s not a nice experience and it often leaves your body and mind wrecked for weeks” Gunnar admitted, scratching the back of his head “Not only that but I also started seeing visions so often I had a hard time telling what was real and what was vision”
“That’s terrible!”
“It’s why I came here, because I was hoping to just retire, get away from it all” Gunnar sighed, looking more his age “It just became too much…”
“I’m sorry for asking”
“No, it’s actually nice to tell someone” Gunnar smiled slightly “Though you’ll probably think I’m a raging nut now”
“No” Vilkas said truthfully.
That part of him that wanted to know more about the man felt slightly satisfied, but then it wanted to know more and even if Gunnar was mentally or physically scarred from his years as a priest, it just made him yearn for the old warrior more and he felt a few yearnings to comfort the old man start to shamelessly grow.
“So, why do you think they want you to go all the way to Riverwood?” Vilkas ventured.
“No clue, but they better have the horn or they’re going to deal with a very grumpy old man” Gunnar grinned at his own joke.
Vilkas smiled. He liked this old man not matter what, but some dark voice in the back of his mind voiced his fear
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timeasmymeasure
Old Scales 19/?
Date: 2013-02-13 12:31 am (UTC)“Hey pup, watch your step”
Vilkas stumbled over an odd stone and one wrong step sent him falling forward. But the old warrior quick as a fox reached out and grabbed his arm.
“Silly pup, I told you so” Gunnar chuckled.
“Thanks” Vilkas grunted, righting himself and trying not to enjoy the strength of Gunnar’s large hand gripping his arm. He almost protested when the hand left him.
He realized that blood was flowing the wrong way and his cheeks felt a bit warmer than they should have. Gods this man roused him without even trying.
“S-so” Vilkas said quickly “What was being a priest like?”
“A priest? Now why would you want to hear about that pup?” Gunnar grinned, wiggling his eyebrows.
“Are you going to tell me or not old man?!” Vilkas snapped.
“Just teasing you pup” Gunnar laughed “But seriously, being a priest was boring”
They paused along the road to let a merchant and wagon by. The merchant nodded and they returned the gesture before walking along as the merchant passed.
“Let’s see, most days I prayed before a statue, ate, prayed some more, ate, prayed some more and then went to sleep” Gunnar said.
“How could you stand it?”
“I wanted it, a quiet lifestyle away from the fighting and for awhile I really enjoyed it” Gunnar said “And then… well a few things happened and I came here, and then that whole Helgen business”
“What happened?” Vilkas pressed.
The knight should have realized that if an open book like Gunnar didn’t immediately spill it that it was something painful to remember. But he wanted to know more about the man, especially after the nightmare episode. Besides, wanting to know what was on the inside distracted him from thinking about the handsome and sexiness outside.
“If it’s okay with you pup, I’d rather not talk about it” Gunnar said, sunny personality suddenly gone.
He was about to protest, but then he saw the deep hurt in Gunnar’s eye and shut his mouth. He had no right to ask the man about something painful, especially after being a complete prick to him their first few weeks.
“Sorry” Vilkas muttered.
They walked in silence for awhile, carefully traveling the cold roads. The silence was… strange but Vilkas didn’t have the heart to ask the old man anything else. Damn, and after he had wanted to start building a relationship with the old man, now it felt like they were back to square one. Maybe he should-
“Being a priest is actually isn’t a safe long term job” Gunnar suddenly said “After awhile priests start… losing their minds”
“What?”
“Turns out trying to draw the attention of the gods usually works” Gunnar sighed “After a few years you start hearing their voices in your head, seeing visions, and in some cases they even get possessed by them”
“…You’ve been possessed by the gods?” Vilkas asked.
“Yeah… a few times actually… it’s not a nice experience and it often leaves your body and mind wrecked for weeks” Gunnar admitted, scratching the back of his head “Not only that but I also started seeing visions so often I had a hard time telling what was real and what was vision”
“That’s terrible!”
“It’s why I came here, because I was hoping to just retire, get away from it all” Gunnar sighed, looking more his age “It just became too much…”
“I’m sorry for asking”
“No, it’s actually nice to tell someone” Gunnar smiled slightly “Though you’ll probably think I’m a raging nut now”
“No” Vilkas said truthfully.
That part of him that wanted to know more about the man felt slightly satisfied, but then it wanted to know more and even if Gunnar was mentally or physically scarred from his years as a priest, it just made him yearn for the old warrior more and he felt a few yearnings to comfort the old man start to shamelessly grow.
“So, why do you think they want you to go all the way to Riverwood?” Vilkas ventured.
“No clue, but they better have the horn or they’re going to deal with a very grumpy old man” Gunnar grinned at his own joke.
Vilkas smiled. He liked this old man not matter what, but some dark voice in the back of his mind voiced his fear
But does he like you?