nemhaine42:

you ever have something sitting in your to-do pile for so long that you can’t not finish it?

Here’s an excerpt from my MCU-Skyrim crossover WIP, which I may or may not actually finish someday, in the future:

Rodmar and Torva were having a pretty dull evening, even as guard shifts went. The main city gate was usually okay – travellers and locals came and went on errands this way – but today was an especially slow day. And now it was raining. They were counting down the hours until Herbjorg and Gunnar came to relieve them.

They’d talked about everything already, and Torva certainly didn’t care to hear even more about Rodmar’s latest argument with his wife, so they stood in silence, watching the rain bounce off the path. But that silence meant they had plenty time to hear the approaching footsteps on crunching the wet gravel road, accompanied by disgruntled muttering.

A man came into sight carrying a young woman in a piggyback. Both were soaked through and thoroughly miserable looking, their clothes covered in dirt from what must have been a very long journey.

“Is your lady injured?” Rodmar called in concern.

“Oh, no, just bone-idle,” Loki grumped as they finally crested the hill and reached the gate. He jostled her further up on his back with little care for her comfort.

“I am not!” she said, smacking Loki on the shoulder, though would Darcy concede that he had been carrying her rather longer than she thought he would. It was probably deeply uncomfortable for him too. “My feet are sore – you were the one complaining that I was slow.”

They were both of them strange-looking: definitely not Nords, but not elves of any sort or Regards  and the woman had strange lenses over her face. Darcy slid down off her companion’s back, hissing and inspecting her feet. Loki was now able to stand upright – much taller than Rodmar had expected – and stretched his back, making an audible pop.

“Have you come far?” Torva asked, unsure if they should be letting these strangers inside the city. But there would probably be a fuss if they denied them entry, especially in this weather.

“Markarth,” answered Loki, who started to look up at the city walls, catching sight of the other guards patrolling the ramparts.

“We’ve been on the road all day,” Darcy said, “we’d really like to find somewhere to stay the night.”

“And where are you headed? Winterhold?” Rodmar asked, looking Loki up and down. “Or will you be staying in Solitude for while?”

“A few days at the most, I think,” Loki said, purposefully not answering the first question.

Rodmar and Torva looked at each other for a moment or two, then Torva nodded subtly and turned to open the large city gates behind her.

“Alright, then,” Rodmar said to Loki “just remember: destruction magic’s fine, but don’t go burning down any buildings.”