Heart's Day: Cicero X Reader Drabble 2

    "Listener! Cicero's feet are tired!"

    "Alright, Cicero. We're close to Windhelm and we'll stay there for tonight." You readjusted Shadowmere's reins in your right hand as you led him along the path.

    "How long will it take for Cicero and Listener to reach Windhelm?" Cicero questioned, suddenly draped over Shadowmere's saddle. He gazed at you with bright eyes, his hands cupping his chin. "What are we going to do in Windhelm?  Oh, can Listener get Cicero a sweetroll?  What about TWO sweetrolls?!"

    You chuckled and looked up at the jester. "We'll be there before nightfall. And we'll find something to do when we get there, okay? We can take a little break, I'm sure."

    Cicero flashed you a bright smile and you chuckled lightly. You were always happy when the jester was around, and you almost always chose him as your travelling companion when you went on adventures. To others, you came off as cold and menacing, as you had to be. You were the Dragonborn and the Listener and you didn't want others to think that you were weak or a failure in either of those titles.

    However, things were opposite with Cicero. He'd found a way to squirm into your heart, but you were alright with it. He'd claimed to go to the ends of the land to protect you and, even though you never told him, the feeling was mutual. 
~~~~~

    Night had just fallen when you and Cicero approached the walled city known as Windhelm. After paying Ulundil to keep Shadowmere for the night (and then some, considering you always wanted to be in good favor with the Altmer), you two headed into the city.  

    You shivered once the large double doors behind you, happy that your light armor was at least thick enough to keep you warm. Cicero was currently shaking the snow from his hat, but froze when the cold substance tumbled down the back of his motley. "OOH! OHH, THAT'S COLD!" 
    
    You raised a brow in amusement as he began squirming and bouncing, reaching his hands around to try and shake it out of his clothes. You shook your head slightly with a smile on your face before making your way to your favorite inn, Candlehearth Hall. This wasn't your first time in Windhelm, of course. The first time you and Cicero had arrived to the city, you helped solved the mystery of The Butcher and met the infamous Ulfric Stormcloak, which insured you two would always be welcome into Windhelm.

    "Listener! LISTENER!" Cicero hurried to catch up to you, his boots making crunching sounds in the freshly fallen snow. "Cicero thought you were going to leave him all alone!"

    You turned and looked at him over your shoulder. "Cicero, I walked five feet away-"

    "ALL ALONE FOREVER, LISTENER!"

    You sighed, very much aware that you two were getting a lot of attention due to Cicero's dramatics. Not that it bothered you, but you knew that if you didn't say anything, he could continue with his antics. You learned long ago that ignoring him only made it worse, resulting in the both of you being banned from Markarth.

    "LISTENER!!!"

    "Cicero, calm down."

    "BUT-"

    "I'll get you a sweetroll and some mead. Would you like that?"

    Almost instantly Cicero's attitude changed and he wrapped his arms around you. "Listener is so good to poor Cicero..."

    You resisted the urge to roll your eyes as the insane man continued to hang off of you as you entered Candlehearth.

    As you entered, the owner, Elda Early-Dawn, smiled at your familiar faces. She was especially grateful to you, as when you had successfully rid the city of The Butcher, you had in turn saved her business. "Ah, there's a sight for sore eyes. How are you, lass?"

    You smiled in return, finally able to get Cicero to let you go. He waved sheepishly to the woman behind the counter. "Good evening, Elda. I'm well, what about you?"

    She patted the bar and you two sat, letting out a sigh, "Oh, you know. Just livin' day to day. What can I do you two for?"

    "Well, we were travelling this way and decided to stop by for the night. Do you have any rooms available?" Cicero slightly elbowed you, giving you that look you knew too well. "Oh, and can I get a couple of sweetrolls and two mugs of mead?" This caused the jester to grin to himself.

    Elda shook her head and smiled. "Comin' right up, dear." Moments later she returned with the requested items in front of you. Cicero wasted no time in almost completely devouring his sweetroll as she carried on the conversation. "And, aye, I do have a room available. How long are you planning on staying with us?"

    "Oh, just for tonight. We'll be gone by tomorrow evening." You began to sift around the gold in your money pouch, getting the amount for the food and the room. "How much will it be altogether?"

    The older woman gave you an incredulous look. "Well, the room is free for tonight," she replied, as if it was common knowledge.

    "Free? Why is it free?" Did you miss something here?

    She gave you a hearty chuckle, "For Heart's Day, (Name). It's tomorrow. So, tonight is free."

    Your face fell slightly, but it went unnoticed to Elda. However, it didn't to Cicero. He instantly became worried, but hid it as he sipped from the metal mug.

    "Also, you don't have to worry about the food. It's on the house. Your room is the one over on the right." Elda sent you a wink before walking away to the kitchen, leaving you and Cicero at the bar alone.

    Leaning your elbows on the wooden table, you stared harshly at your drink. How could you forget Heart's Day? It was the day you despised the most. Years ago, you would have been ecstatic for the day. However, back before you were thrown into your life as the Dragonborn, you lived a simple life on the outskirts of Skyrim. Your family ran a farm in a small village where everyone knew everyone, and they were all fairly close.

    And you had your childhood sweetheart, a boy named Adonalo. You two had done everything together from tending to the village's livestock to washing the laundry in the stream. As you got older and matured, so did he, and so did your feelings for him. However, you weren't the object of his affection, which became prevalent when he ran off with another girl from the village on the Heart's Day you had planned on confessing to him. From then on, the day brought nothing but sadness for you, which is why you did your best to avoid the day.

    As you were lost in your thoughts, Cicero became more concerned for you. Never had he seen you so... dejected before. And he didn't like it, not one bit. He gently poked you in the arm, "Listener? Are you okay?" 

    Still in a haze, you nodded with a barely audible, "Yeah, I'm fine..." Giving him a small, almost broken smile, you scooted the sweetroll over to him. "Here, you can have it. I'm gonna... I'm gonna go for a walk."

    "But, Listen-"

    You leaned over and gave him a peck on the forehead before rushing out of the inn.

    Cicero watched you leave, a small pout forming on his lips when he turned back to the sweetroll you had given him. He sighed, swirling around the last bit of mead in his cup. He didn't like seeing you so... Not yourself. He was so used to you smiling and cracking jokes with him.

    After moments of thinking to himself, he got an idea. After quickly devouring the extra sweetroll, he rushed off, a borderline insane grin on his face.
~~~~~

    You sighed and kicked the poor pebble you'd been abusing with your foot. You knew it was wrong to just leave Cicero like that, but you just needed to think. As you walked around, you noticed an increased number of couples walking about, despite it being late in the evening. They were holding hands, embracing, kissing. All of these things made you feel even lonelier than you were.

    Deciding it was probably time to go back and ensure that Cicero hadn't broken anything you couldn't afford to replace, you shuffled back to the inn with your arms crossed over your chest.

    You entered the inn, shivering a little bit from the cold that still clung to your body. You tapped your boots against the floor in an attempt to knock off any snow. You knew Elda wouldn't appreciate leaving soggy footprints along her floor. 

    Ready to just rest, you were slightly annoyed when you discovered that the door to your room was locked. You sighed and knocked on the wooden door. "Cicero, are you awake?"

    You heard some random shuffling around behind the door, followed by a few curses. "Listener! Cicero asks that you wait for just a few more minutes!"

    You raised a brow, taking a step back as you heard more shuffling, followed by something falling and shattering against the floor. Moments later, a rather disheveled Cicero opened the door.

    "Welcome back, Listener!"

    You cautiously moved in around him, but stopped short as you looked around the room. "Uh... Cicero?"

    Cicero let out a high pitched chuckle, "Yes, Listener?"

    Looking around you, you noticed he had definitely done some... redecorating. There were several bouquets of flowers, rose petals scattered about the floor and on the bed, and a neatly built pyramid of sweetrolls on the table next to two bottles of alto wine and a couple of silver cups. "What... What is all this?"

    "Well... The Listener was really upset earlier. Cicero wanted to make it all better so..." He dug his foot into the ground, looking away sheepishly, "Cicero asked the people of Windhelm what they would do for someone they cared about on Heart's Day. And he did that for the Listener. Because... he just wanted to make the Listener happy on a day where she should be happy."

    You couldn't help but smile at the jester and you pulled him into a tight hug. "Oh, Cicero... That's the sweetest thing anyone has ever done for me."

    "Oh! And there's one more thing!" He turned and reached under the pillow, retrieving a wooden box. "Here! Just for Listener!"

    You smiled even bigger as you unwrapped the ribbon from around the box, but held in a shriek when you discovered there was... a bloody heart inside. 

    "Cicero will take that as a shriek of HAPPINESS!" he claimed, jumping around in excitement.

    "Cicero."

    "Yes, Listener?"

    "Why is there a heart in here?"

    "Oh! Well, one man said that he should give his heart to his loved one! But, if Cicero took out his own heart, he would die. So he took that man's heart instead!"

    Placing the box down on the table, you still gave the man a smile. Standing on your tippy toes, you gave him a loving kiss on the cheek. He then pulled you into a strong embrace, pressing his lips to your forehead. "Happy Heart's Day, my Listener."

    You smiled and rested your head on his shoulder, "Happy Heart's Day, Cicero." You pulled back and quirked an eyebrow at him, "So, this man that you murdered..."

    Giving you a gentle and slightly manic smile, he forced you to rest your head back on his shoulder. "All taken care of, Listener. All taken care of."