"Um, are you a giant?" a small voice asked from the entrance to my "room".
I turned to look and was surprised to see an honest to gods child standing there. A little Nord girl with red hair and brown eyes that stared at me with unending curiosity.
"No, I'm not a giant. Those are much bigger than I am." I said calmly.
"You sound funny. Like a frog with a cold." she said with an adorable tilt of her head.
I felt part of my face twitch at that but I didn't get angry. If anything it was really damned funny as my voice can be called many things but frog-like is definitely not one.
"You shouldn't tell people stuff like that, they might get angry." I said as I kneeled down so she wasn't craning her neck so much. "Why are you here little one? This is a place for mages, not children." I asked calmly.
Her face puffed up angrily at that "I'm not a child! I'm six! Great great Grandpa Tolfdir brought me!" she said defensively.
That earned an eye raise from me because it told me two things I didn't actually know from the game. One was that Tolfdir had blood relatives. The second was that he was old enough to be four generations older than the newest one. By my estimation he would need to be at minimum ninety something for this to pan out. But given most children are born at around twenty-ish for couples he was more likely well into his second century of life. Not that this really surprised me since he was a master of alteration which was one of if not THE go to school of magic for living unnaturally long.-
After that were restoration, conjuration and mysticism. I couldn't say for sure if the other schools had any ways but I certainly hadn't heard of them if they existed.
"Is that so? And does he know you've wandered off by yourself?" I asked teasingly.
The girl paled immediately as she seemed to realize that no in fact he didn't.
"Freda! Thank goodness you are alright!" the devil himself appeared when spoken of in a hurry to find the girl.
He ignored her protests and picked her up like she weighed nothing and carefully looked her over.
"You had me worried sick when I turned around to find you missing! What did your mother tell you about wandering off at the college?" he scolded with concern evident.
The little girl looked down thoroughly chastised "To not to." she muttered quietly.
"That's right. Accidents happen all the time at the college and I'd never forgive myself if anything happened to you under my watch." the old man said seriously.
"I'm sorry. I won't wander off anymore, please don't be mad at me." the girl said with tearful eyes.
"Oh hush now, i'm not mad at you. I was just worried." he said reassuringly before turning to me as he set the girl down. "You must be new here. I saw you earlier with Faralda. I do hope this little one hasn't caused you any trouble?" he said with a hint of a question.
I shook my head with a smile "None at all. In fact before you showed up I was just going to suggest finding you. Since you are here though all is well. Ah but before you go how about a treat, I make them myself?" I offered warmly.
"Can I please?" the little girl perked up with big bright eyes at the old man hearing this.
The man caved like ancient brickwork "Oh alright, but only a little. We don't want to spoil your dinner." he agreed.
I made a grand flourish ending with my hands clapped together and when I separated them two small yellow hard candies sat on my palm with little brown flecks all over it's surface.
"Caramel cinnamon hard candies, a perfect little treat in the cold clime of skyrim." I said as I let the girl take one and offered the other to Tolfdir.
The girl snatched hers up like it was going to run away and popped it into her mouth. Tolfdir however sniffed his before chuckling as he popped it into his mouth. The reason for the chuckle was obvious almost immediately.
"Why is it spicy?" the little girl asked with the most innocent look of confusion.
"Cinnamon is naturally spicy. There's not enough to really be a bother but it adds a nice touch of warmth to the otherwise very sweet caramel. Do tell me what you think?" I said with a smile.
"It's .... good? Weird though." she said like she can't quite make up her mind about if she liked it or not.
"I think it's a wonderful treat. Just stimulating enough to keep the mind sharp but sweet at the same time for relaxing. I do believe I might ask for more of these at a later date." Tolfdir said clearly enjoying the candy very much.
"Feel free, I always keep a stock of it for my mount. Strange fellow can't get enough of it." I said with a chuckle.
"Sounds like quite the personality." the old man laughed.
I chuckled "You have no idea." I said shaking my head.
The old man and little girl left me be after that and I took off my boots and cleansed them and my feet before any smell could come from them. I sat on my bed and sighed at the heavenly softness and warmth. I chose to take a nice nap since there was no hurry to go get familiar with the college just yet. I didn't need to worry about getting attacked in my sleep or anything like that for the first time in over a week so I was out in no time flat. I eventually woke up an hour or so later when my keen hearing picked up someone messing with my stuff.
"Put it back." I said calmly as I sat up.
The Bosmer who was picking up my alchemy equipment froze at the sound of my voice.
"I was just admiring the quality of the glasswork." he said smoothly as he set the alembic in his hand back into it's place.
"Wouldn't do you any good to steal anyways, it's all got specifically placed flaws that would render it broken if used without knowing where they are. I work with the guild so you can relax Enthir." I said casually.
"Funny. The guild didn't mention they were sending anyone." he said with a hint of hostility.
"They didn't. Also I work WITH the guild not for it. I'm a healer who doesn't ask questions about how they got their injuries. That said Gallus mentioned you plenty before he died, otherwise we wouldn't be talking right now, well you wouldn't be at least." I said with a yawn.
He frowned "If you know that name you probably aren't lying but why are you here? This is my turf and I don't need competition." he said firmly.