CONCLUSION

"So it's settled then. Mookie and his wife will take care of Princess when we're in Anvil, and when we come back she can stay with us, right?" Quill-Weave asked later that night in her bed.

"Sounds fine with me!" Rosie said from under the blanket, distracted.

Quill-Weave looked at the white tail and her lover's back feet - the only parts protruding from the blanket currently visible. The pink paw-pads beckoned for a squish.

"...so long as they don't confuse her for their own!"

"I doubt that will happen. Pretty sure these farming-types know their animals very well," Quill-Weave replied while giving in to her baser impulse.

"ACK! Quill! Leave my feet alone!"

"Sorry! They're just so squishable."

"Well here," Rosie said, adjusting her position to bring her back paw directly in front of Quill-Weave's snout. "Squish it with your tongue if you must!"

"Only because we just got out of the bath," Quill weave said before she began gnawing lightly on the proffered foot.

"And you're not going to sell the tower after all, right? I mean, I feel like it's kind of our special place now anyway."

Quill nodded, foot in mouth, before removing it. "Yes, I'll keep it. Even if I don't do the Mistress of Evil thing anymore, I still need my retreats."

The foot withdrew and something emerged from the blankets. Something pink and snuffling.

"But..." she began as she pulled the thing up to her chest. "I don't know about this."



"What? It's a piggie in a blanket!" Rosie protested, her head finally making an appearance again.

"Look, I appreciate that you didn't insist on bringing Princess back to Anvil with us Rosie. Really I do. But I have to put my foot down when it comes to sleeping in our bed!"

Rosie took the pig from Quill-Weave and laid her head down between the Argonian's breasts.

"Our bed..." Rosie said wistfully, while calming the piglet - who was slightly afraid of Quill-Weave, sensing a bit of coldness there when compared to the big white furball that loved to pet her.

"Well, I mean... We haven't really talked about the future. But we have to head back to Anvil tomorrow."

"What do you want to do?" Rosie asked, setting the piglet onto the floor to snuffle about the room.

"I want you to move in with me," Quill-Weave said flat out.

"You don't get much writing done with me around."

"That's true. But to be honest we can live off the residuals if we need to."

Rosie turned around to face Quill-Weave directly.

"You wouldn't be happy."

"What do you mean? I've never been happier..." Quill began, but a white finger was placed over her mouth.

"Sure," Rosie began. "Right now you are. You have a new lover. I am just as happy too. Quill, have you... How many relationships have you been in?"

Quill was taken aback. She knew the answer, of course, but she wasn't at all sure she wanted to be truthful here.

Rosie lay down full upon her. The weight wasn't much, but the thrill of feeling the khajiit press against her scales once again made her heart beat faster. Yet she didn't answer.

"Quill, you've told me some about you and Casta. Plus I think I'm getting to know you better. She was your first lover, wasn't she?"

Quill inhaled deeply before replying. "There was a boy... a human boy. Back when I was young. I was known as Dodger back then."

Rosie rolled back off of her, knowing it was time to listen and not talk. Instead she snuggled up beside her closely, covering the lizard with one arm across her chest.

"We were a thing. Eventually. For a long time."

"Did you love him?"

"It was weird. There was this girl too. Khajiit. We were very close friends. But we didn't talk about love. We just liked to be together. But sometimes me and him would go off by ourselves and... learn about each other. I don't know if I loved him or he loved me. But we sure had fun."

"What happened?"

"Oh... time. Time happened. The khajiit went off on a caravan. I think she realized she was the third-wheel eventually. I miss her too though. I miss them both."

"And the boy?"

Quill turned her head away.

"Dead. Killed."

"Oh Quill! I'm sorry!"

"It was a long time ago, Rosie. A very long time ago."

"And after that?"

"After that? Oh, my relationships? Yeah... nothing after that. Till Casta. But like you said, it turns out we were just friends with benefits. She... well, you know. She didn't want anything more."

"And you didn't want anything less."

Quill-Weave sat up and pulled Rosie up with her. "Look, I don't want to be the clingy type. If you don't want to move in with me, I'll be fine with that."

"For a while. But you want more."

"I'm getting old, Rosie. I don't want children. Obviously, given my apparent aversion to Argonian males. But..." and here her voice broke.

"I don't want to be alone anymore."

Rosie gave her a strong hug and kissed her cheek. Then rose and gathered up Princess and headed towards the stairs.

"I'll be right back." she said, and Quill-Weave watched her descend the stairs.

True to her word, Rosie returned and blew out the candle, but the light from the moon through the window provided enough light for them both.
***********
The morning found Quill-Weave and Rosie riding back on Quill-Weave's rented cart on the roads back to Anvil. Although the roads were regularly patrolled, the risk of bandits was ever present. Fortunately Quill-Weave knew most of them. It turned out that banditry was not only a dangerous profession, but also quite boring most of the time. In many cases it turned out that some of her most avid readers were of the bandit-persuasion. It didn't hurt that she tended to highly romanticize them, leading most of them to like her quite a bit. Of course, they would still need to take their tithe from her, but she had long since learned how to look distraught at the loss of a few gold coins while hiding her real travelling cash in far less obvious places. So far it had kept her out of any real trouble.

And it did so on this trip as well. The two bandits that met them on the road from the Imperial City back to Anvil later that afternoon actually greeted her warmly - having met her before.

"Wow! That's quite a trick!" Rosie said later after they were safely gone.

"Oh, them? They're like most of the highway robbers around here. Desperate and dumb. The little guy worries me a little. A bit of a loose cannon. But Dag is an old friend from way back. Always asking me when my next book is coming out."

"An old Argonian friend I notice. He was checking you out."

"What, Dag? Really? That's... kind of nice to know actually."

"You sure you're not interested in lizards, Quill?"

She laughed and slapped Rosie's thigh. "Oh, don't be silly. Who would be interested in him when they could be interested in you?"

"Well... if ever you do want to have kids... We could probably work something out."

Quill shot her an angry look. "Hey, enough of that talk. So, you never really answered me last night. Want to move in with me?"

Rosie took a deep breath and turned back to the road. "You've been alone a long time, Quill. I might wear out my welcome. Plus I'll interrupt your writing I'm sure."

"You probably will, and I don't care. I started writing stories as far back as I can remember, but I think I really got into it heavily after... Well, after I changed my name. I've been living alone since then. Even after me and Casta became a thing, I still lived alone. I have a few friends in town, but I keep them at arm's length emotionally. The writing, I think, is how I can continue to live like that without dying of loneliness. I know it's not the same, but emotionally I don't feel alone when I'm with my characters. They are my closest friends."

"And Casta?"
"I... thought she was more. She shared my passion for writing. And other passions. And she taught me a lot, really. But ultimately she didn't want any sort of commitment more than a few days of lovemaking. I was a wreck after she rejected me, but it was for the best. Like you said, I wanted more."

"And I caught you on the rebound. Look, I don't lie. Much. But you know I've been after you since you hired me. Don't you?"

"I certainly didn't at the time! Frankly, when I think about how I've treated you. I've been a fool. But what's new?"

"Well, I knew you had a lover already, so I didn't push it."

"...and that was good. At the time, had I known I'd have probably fired you. Somewhere over the years I've grown racist I'm afraid. I don't know why. I had a good khajiit friend when I was young. But since then... I guess I just slowly started thinking you were all like the caravan khajiits."

Rosie nodded. "We tend to stick to our own. Don't feel bad. You don't want to know what my father says about Argonians!"

"Your father?"

"Well sure. I have one too, you know! I do have a family. I just don't see them much."

"Are you going to have to introduce us?"

Rosie laughed at that. "Quill, I haven't even moved in yet! But... assuming this thing between us lasts anyway, I suppose I will. Oh, what a scene that will make!"

"Really doesn't like lizards?"

"He doesn't like anybody. But let's not worry about that now. About that moving-in thing..."

"Yes? If you absolutely don't want to, it's okay. We can still... well. We can still be whatever it is that we are. Right?"

The landscape around the cart grew more and more familiar, and finally the sea beyond Anvil could be seen. Even the slightly nauseating smell of fish was noticeable as they approached the city's outskirts.

"Um... Well. I'm going to answer you. But first, I have a question for you."

"What's that?" Quill asked.

Rosie's face took on a mournful look. "How much do you really not want a pet?"

Quill gave her a confused look.

"I might have lied. A little..." Rosie admitted.

Quill's eyes went wide. "You didn't!"

"I was going to keep her at my place..." Rosie pleaded, turning around to the blanket over their luggage and climbing back.

"Oh no." Quill said, but couldn't help but spare a glance at the khajiit's hindquarters as she uncovered her large trunk.

"I'm sorry!" she cried. "I just couldn't leave her there in a pigsty like all the other pigs!"

"Oh for heaven's sake, get her out of there. She must be starving."

"I left her plenty of food. And she's been so good and quiet!" Rosie said, pulling the piglet back onto the seat with her."

Quill sighed.

"Do you still want me to move in? With Princess?"

"No," Quill said honestly. "I don't. But... I'd rather have you with me - with Princess - than not."

Rosie squealed and gave Quill a hug to end all hugs. Princess squealed too, though it may have been due to being caught in the middle of the hug.

"Rosie! I can't see!"

"Fuck that. The horses know where they're going," Rosie said, tears coming freely now. As freely as her kisses along the Argonian's neck.

Pig or no pig, Quill-Weave admitted to herself, this trip was worth it. Who knows, maybe she could learn to like pets, if they came with Rosie. And besides, she wasn't 100% sure that pigs couldn't breathe underwater. It was a question worth pondering.

THE END