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Snow tipped mountains that stretch far into the horizon, the fresh layer of frost that blanketed each light green leaf and every newly sprouted bud. A frozen lake that would lie in a state of perfect stasis until the melt next spring, and the dark-feathered birds that circled the towering pine trees… These were only a few of the things that came to mind when the Listener thought of winter in Skyrim.
However, her companion didn’t seem to appreciate this beauty. Cicero described it as ‘ chilly ’. Which, admittedly, it was.
The Listener was a Nord, so she had a natural immunity to the cold… but Cicero didn’t. “Are you… alright? ” she asked the motley-clad Imperial, who had turned a rather unpleasant shade of blue.
“C-Cicero?” he managed to say through chattering teeth, “Y-yes Listener. Why?”
“...have you got frostbite?”
Cicero narrowed his eyes, “...maybe.”
“Look.” the Listener sighed, placing a hand on Cicero’s shoulder, “I don’t want to haul your frozen corpse back to Dawnstar.”
“You don’t?!” Cicero gasped, bringing a shaky hand to his mouth in mock outrage, “I’m offended.”
“Wait!” the Listener exclaimed, “I have an idea… you could borrow my coat!”
“... that coat?” he said, curling his lip in.
“Why?” she asked, dropping her arms to her side, “do you not like my coat?”
“No!” Cicero said, his eyes widening, “it’s not that! The coat looks… divine. But it’s a bit…” he shrugged, “ girly .”
The Listener snorted, trying her best to hold back a flood of laughter. Cicero would probably have a fit if he knew how Nazir and Babette had nicknamed him ‘ lady-boy ’. “ I think you would look good in it…”
Cicero didn’t look convinced, “hmf.”
“If I tell you to wear the coat…” the Listener leaned into Cicero’s ear, lowering her voice to a murmur, “then it’s an order from a superior.” the jester shivered, and not from the cold this time.
“Loyal Cicero wouldn’t wish to break a tenet,” he giggled, standing on his toes to be closer to the Listener’s height.
“Is that a yes?”
“Oh yes.”
The Listener slipped off her coat (a bearskin number, died a shade of dark magenta with yellow trim). The cold lifted the hair on the back of her arms, and a chill washed over her skin, “here,” she handed Cicero the coat, and helped him put it on, “is that better?”
“...yes.” he admitted, adjusting the sleeves of the coat.
“Good.” The Listener smiled, Cicero really did look funny in that woman’s coat.
_________________________________________________________________________
They travelled for a good few hours in the snow, Cicero skipping alongside the Listener, and the only sounds that punctuated the silence were his occasional songs and rhymes.
Then, the Imperial stopped in his tracks, “Is the Listener,” he said, sounding mortified, “...cold?”
“A bit,” the Listener shrugged, “but it’s better me than you. I have Nordic blood…”
Cicero let out a horrible combination of a cry and a gasp - “No!” he shouted, “No, no no! Y- you are the Listener! Cicero should… throw his jacket down on every puddle before you step in it! The entire Brotherhood should bend to your comfort and will! This is wrong…”
“You think that?” The Listener said. To be honest, she never really thought that being chosen by the Night Mother should make her any more important than the other members… but Cicero clearly did.
He nodded, taking off the coat and pressing it into her arms.
“I have a better idea,” the Listener laughed, “why don’t we share the coat?”
“She the coat?” Cicero raised an eyebrow, “how exactly does one share a coat? Does Listener plan on cutting it in two?”
She shook her head, “no, I’ll show you,” she draped the coat loosely over her shoulders, then took Cicero in her arms.
“What is listener…”
“Be quiet,” the Listener murmured, “that’s an order.”
“ Oh~” he purred, tracing a finger over her collarbone, “alright,” he laughed, “Cicero will be… silent. ”