Gaiden Arena

"So..." Michael trails off before completing his thought, figuring that asking about how things were going between her and Tiff would be insensitive or whatever it was.

Sakeo lets out a sniff as she shakes her head, clearly catching him, "I told you earlier, don't mind me too much. Ask what you want to ask, holding back will hurt us all in the long run."

...

"How's everything going between you and Tiff? To be honest, I didn't think you'd have much in common..."

"At first it was difficult... We're about as different as you can get, light and dark, cats and dogs. I decided to accompany her to see if we held any similar interests at all." she grins, "You struck gold with her, Michael, a true housewife. Ignoring her abilities as a Void Mage and dismissal of your more, violent tendencies, she'd be as vanilla as ice cream."

"Tastes just as good too..." he mentally adds.

"I figure you found something then?"

She nods, "We both have an interest in... Children." she says but realises the implications of her words and follows up, "Rearing, I mean. I accompanied her on her rounds to one of the many orphanages she helps out, spending time with the little ones wasn't all that interesting, but that changed when I found some young boys playing with sticks."

"And so you beat them into submission." he drawls and she rolls her eyes.

"I'm not that bad... Usually... Anyway, it wasn't long before I found myself tutoring half the orphanage in swordsmanship. I hadn't realised how satisfying it was to see those under you slowly improving. A few of them even had some talent, talent that might've been squandered and left unnoticed."

"So you bonded over teaching kids?"

She nods, "Tiffania decided to tutor some in some basic spells, thinking that giving them the tool for their futures was better than simply taking care of them. She speaks often to me of her dream to open up a school for those too young to join the College or a mercenary group like the Companions."

Michael scratches the back of his head, "Funny, she hasn't mentioned that at all to me..." he mutters, wondering why she was hiding it... Maybe she thought he wouldn't care? Which was sort of half-true?

Saeko's lips thin, "Ah... That was a secret then... This stays between us?"

He shrugs, "I'll ask her about it eventually, I'll try not to mention your name though." he offers just as the doors open and some servants bring in their starters.

Michael was having some Blackwood lake dove wings while Saeko had 'Crispy Mountain Meat' in front of her, which could only be the testicles from some animal somewhere judging by their appearance.

Saeko grins at him and cuts them in half, revealing the white-pink centre before presenting him with a fork-full. "Ahhh..."

He waves her away, "I'm not having sperm anywhere near my mouth, cooked or freshly squeezed." he firmly states.

"Why not? I heard it's good for the libido..." she says meaningfully.

"We're not fucking on our first date." he states. He considered this whole relationship-thing pretty fragile, and he was not jumping into it until he was certain everything wouldn't implode.

Saeko shrugs, "Even then, at least Tiffania benefits from it."

He lets out a sigh and almost thanks the Divines when the announcer's voice calls out the start of the first match.

Two newbies from the Fighter's Guild apparently, both using swords and shields and wearing barely any armour at all... Had they oiled themselves as well?

"They're just braggarts, oiling themselves up to make their physiques look better. I'm sure their forfeit after first blood. Non-lethal too." she dismisses them at a glance.

"I don't know, think they'll drop their weapons and start wrestling instead?" he asks sarcastically.

"If only."

Her prediction proved correct, the two men dealing probing strikes until one receives the slightest cut on his shoulder, forfeiting immediately after. They're boo'd out but neither, not even the winner looked bothered by it.

"Youknow, this stuff is kinda boring after all we've been through... Zombies, armies, dragons, this is like watching two toddlers kick sand at one another in comparison." Michael remarks, he wasn't lying either as their stats were so high that the participants looked as if they were moving in slow motion.

"Neeext fighter! Coming all the way from Hammmmeerfellll... SWOOORRRRD-SIIINNGGGEEERRRR, RAAAIIIDDDEEEENNNN SHIIIIINJIIIII!!!"

"Er, isn't that you friend?" Michael points out as the Redguard warrior steps into the arena, his rather ragged robes making his pristine-looking curved sword look kind of out of place. His opponent wasn't half bad either, dressed in full steel plate with a two-handed warhammer.

"It is... Hm, so this is where he went to... He said he wanted to hone his skills against more varied opponents. Figures he chose this place."

"What do you mean?"

"Most arenas in Cyrodil come from Gaiden Shinji, his ancestor. I doubt anyone remembers that though." she remarks as both of them could clearly hear the crowd's derogatory shouts at the Redguard.

"Douchebags."

"It's fine, Raiden won't care, but his opponent will..."

True to her word, Raiden showed himself superior... A flash of steel was all that was needed for both the Redguard's opponent's arms to hit the floor, both dismembered from the unfortunate man.

"OOOH GODS! WHAT A MASSACRE! THE SWORD-SINGER ISN'T HOLDING BACK ANY HITS! THAT'S FOR CERTAIN!"

Michael and Saeko continue watching, observing as Raiden beats every single opponent he meets and eventually claims the head of the champion.

"Think he's anywhere near to your level yet?"

Saeko shakes her head, "As long as I have a Shehai and he doesn't, there's no contest to be had."