Mjoll gets blubbery when bad stuff happens to Aerin
“Get out! I don’t want to talk right now…”
Mjoll, the Lioness could hardly bear to look at me. Her eyes were filled up with sadness, brimming with unshed tears. I could tell she she felt betrayed, but there was also a quiet resignation in her. I was her life partner, that means something here. She promised to stand by my side until death take us. She could not simply walk away, not even in the face of my crushing cruelty.
I was reeling. My blushing bride cared for someone after all.
And it wasn’t me.
Well, she should have thought better about hauling her man-servant with her to live in my hard-won home in Solitude. Didn’t she understand what I had been through to acquire such a property? How I had journeyed to the bleaker reaches of Skyrim to retrieve a homeless man’s helm, scuppered necromancer’s plans to raise the wolf queen Potema, then took on Potema’s spirit in a bloody battle of magic and death? How I had carried out a Jarl’s desires on the battlefield even though she would never openly acknowledge me for it? Can she not see how long I have applied myself in alchemy, all the exotic ingredients I have collected over time, all neatly piled in my archaic laboratory? Is she blind to my collection of magical and infamous weapons I saved from the darkest depths of ancient king’s tombs and subterranean dwarven cities? Does she not appreciate the luxury I have provided her?
I could go on. But these ill-gotten feelings of resentment had been bubbling up inside of me for oh, about ten minutes in-game. Which, yeah, is about a day or two in Skyrim time.
Still, seeing her crippled with sorrow there, I felt momentarily softened towards her- maybe this is what I liked about her in the first place. Outwardly, she is a heavy armoured, two-hand weapon-wielding warrior woman. But inside…well, she appointed herself Riften’s protector, a city long lost to scoundrels and thieving dogs. The ordinary decent citizen became her charge. She carried a burden they barely even knew they had. She had some depth. Maybe it came from her harsh life experience. She was found on the brink of death in the ruins of Mzinchaleft, only to be thankfully recovered by Aerin…
Aerin.
Stupid, annoying Aerin. When I asked Mjoll to marry me, I didn’t ask him into the bargain. I expected her to ditch him outright. Imagine my surprise, nay, disgust! When she walked through my door with Aerin in tow.
Aerin. Smarmy git.
“Ehhhh…why are you naked?” he sniped. “You should put some clothes on.” I gritted my teeth. Obviously, I stripped down to my undies to see what reaction my new wife would have, as one does. That’s NOT naked. And I wasn’t expecting him to be shadowing every goddamn step she made.
“Hello, love,” beamed Mjoll, oblivious to my humiliation. And my nakedness. “I’ve decided to start up a shop, you know, sell odds and ends…” I could barely hear her as I intently regarded Aerin, wondering what the flip I was going to do about him. He was ruining everything! Mjoll handed me over a hundred septims, my share of her shops profits.
“I’ve never seen Mjoll this upset…” began Aerin for the practically millionth time. Shut up! I silently yelled. I looked to Kharjo, my faithful, loyal follower. He lovely cat face was non-judgemental. I wondered if I could instruct him to kill Aerin.
Murder! I couldn’t do it. He may have been annoying, yet he was technically innocent.
But it was likely that Mjoll wouldn’t be programmed to notice…
“Ehhh…why are you naked?” Aerin asked again. He was really getting to me. I turned to Kharjo. I was losing it. Aerin had to go.
But I couldn’t do it…I looked to Jordis, the “Sword-Maiden” who had strayed into the frame. Appointed to me by Elisif, Queen of Solitude…they would probably go easy on her if she went ape-shit on Aerin…
Jordis. I am completely indifferent to her.
“Ehhhh….why are y-” said Aerin again. I snapped. I unsheathed my weapon only to remember I had unequipped everything (in order to, you know be “naked”) and was bare-fisted. It was a bit of a eureka moment- I wouldn’t have to murder him after all, just maybe give him a punch in the fucking face. Teach him a lesson.
I landed one easy.
But to my shock and to some extent, indignance (he was in MY home, and it’s not like I had a weapon other than my fists?) he pulled out a dagger and tried to kill me!
So the little turd probably resented me right back, after all, I had snatched his lovely Mjoll right out from under his stupid nose. It must have been nasty for him.
His pathetic blows barely marked me, but something we both didn’t count on right then was Kharjo unleashing Molag Bal on him and condemning his essence to a black soul gem I had given him earlier. Mjoll was shouting, attempting to attack Kharjo in return. But she was no match for Kharjo, to whom I had crafted and gifted the best armour and weapons. I had to stand between them as they tried to reach around me (as neither would attack me). In the background, Jordis jauntily hopped around Aerin’s lifeless body, looking completely bizarre and useless.
My house was in chaos!
“Stop! You have broken the law…” began a Solitude guard who had suddenly entered the house. But he wasn’t near enough ready for my uber-levelled speechcraft abilities and I was able to pay him off to “overlook” my crime “this time.” Ha! I’m so awesome I could even get away with murder.
Upon bribery, everyone calmed down. Kharjo stayed by me, Jordis went off downstairs, and Mjoll walked quietly towards the bedroom.
I tried to talk to Mjoll- and that is when she struck me with her heartfelt response to Aerin’s untimely demise.
I tried talking to her several times after that, to no avail.
She just needs time, I thought.
Meanwhile, I had his body to take care of. Even his lifeless corpse annoyed me!
I searched him for valuables (force of habit) then proceeded to drag his sorry dead ass down several flights of stairs. I won’t lie. It was awkward. His dumb head knocked a glass vase off an end table. And it was a pain having to navigate around Kharjo, who kept hanging around (but I would forgive him almost anything). I eventually managed to navigate his body into the storage room. I shut the door behind with an air of finality.
“I follow in your footsteps,” purrs Kharjo. Clearly! Considering the way he smashes that mace around.
Kharjo, capable companion extraordinaire.
After that fiasco though, I found it difficult to look at Mjoll in the same way. She had disrespected me, clearly pined after Aerin and not even a formidable and accomplished warrior-thief proficient with destructive magic such as I could change that. Her accent, once cute, became grating. Her fair looks became meek. Her ambition had evaporated, she no longer cared about being “Riften’s protector.” She just drifted from room to room, utterly passive.
It was no surprise then that I found my thoughts straying my past love, and wishing that it was her that I had married.
Aela the Huntress made me who I am. She was the first person I met that I could stand. Her deep calm voice was one of guidance in my fledgling Skyrim career. It was with her that I built up my foundation strength, gutting ruins and caves for treasure, routing out the filthy “Silver Hand.” When I woke up in the forest after contracting lycanthropy, it was her face that appeared in my vision. Aela, in her wild animal skins and war paint, bow-ready and effortlessly capable, it didn’t take me long at all to love her, to depend on her, to look forward to seeing her brandish weapons at my side. When I became leader of the Companions, she accepted my role and asked me “do you have guidance for me, Harbinger?” (I liked being called “Harbinger.” That did it for me). It was for her that I reloaded an earlier save, forsaking achieved levels and treasure, after I realised I had unwittingly killed her with an errant fire spell.
In truth, she had been my first thought for marriage, but I didn’t think that someone like her would be even concerned with it.
She belonged on the battle field.
Aela the Huntress. Awesome in the actual dictionary sense of the word.
I looked morosely at Mjoll, and felt the full extent of the doom marriage had brought to the rest of my game-play (a least another few hundred hours or: many many many Skyrim years).
But then, with a sudden rush of excitement, I remembered I had saved right before I asked Mjoll to marry me, because I needed to reload to iron out some glitchy processing…I wasn’t chained to her after all! I could effectively erase all traces of our marriage and pursue Aela instead! After all, I should have followed my heart from the outset.
When I load the save, I am confronted with the sight of Mjoll making chit chat at the local grocer stall in Riften. Aerin has been restored to life and is standing by her. She is smiling and the sun is shining. As I move to walk past her, she looks at me and speaks.
“Hello, friend.”
I am relieved. All is right with the world- well, with Skyrim anyway.
I set out on the path to Jorrvaskr in Whiterun, where I hope Aela will say yes.*
*She definitely says yes, because I checked it on Google.
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