Crypts were not Farkas' favorite thing. Far from it, to be exact. In his early days as a Companion, he'd been fine venturing into the bowels of the earth and tromping through trap-rigged caves and digging for gold in draugr dens. Trip wires and draugr did not bother the Nord. Farkas had no problem with the undead and was a fairly decent detector when it came to pressure plates. But the one thing that he could no longer stand about crypts and cairns were the spiders. The Frostbite Spiders brought a chill to his spine every time he thought about them, still. And it had been years since the initial incident, yet he'd never been able to stomach them again.

It had been Alana's sponsorship journey that had exposed Farkas more personally to the eight-legged monstrosities. Yes, he'd seen spiders before, of course. Her first crypt journey was not Farkas' first rodeo, so to speak. But during her sponsorship journey, the two of them had wound up nearly outnumbered by the spiders in a very tight spot. Farkas had been poisoned during that encounter, and while his beast blood prevented the poison from lingering in his system, it was still a horrifyingly painful experience in the initial moments. Yet he had still continued to make cuts at the beasts, hacking them into pieces with the blonde woman at his side as his Shield Sister. It had been years ago, but the fear of the spiders had never subsided from Farkas' brain. It took much convincing to get Farkas to enter crypts nowadays.

Unless, of course, the woman doing that convincing was Alana.

When she mentioned setting out for the crypt, the first thing Farkas thought about not the spiders, but the desire to protect the woman from the spiders. And while he floundered slightly in regards to accompanying her, they both ended up riding against the night toward the crypt, Farkas simply happy to be tagging along with her.

Through her years in Jorrvaskr, Farkas had grown quite fond of Alana. She had an easy personality and a kind heart. Like him, she was barely attentive of politics and more interested in caring for her animal companions and offering her best loyalty and her kindest smile to others. By the time she had won her place in the Inner Circle, she had silently won a place in Farkas' heart. Although he had never mentioned it. No. Alana had never expressed interest in him. Or in anyone, as far as he knew. And what was a beautiful friendship could be so easily ruined by Farkas admitting his feelings for her if she did not reciprocate them. Thus, he had avoided mentioning it for quite some time. Though he continued to spend all the time he could with her, finding her a joy to speak to and a soothing presence to be around. Even against the Frostbite Spiders.

And they had encountered several.

Yet each time, Farkas had been consumed by the urge to protect his Shield-Sister, rather than the urge to turn tail and run from the hairy beasts. Together, he and Alana made it through the surface of the crypt before stepping deeper into draugr territory. Many were simply Restless Draugr, easy enough to fell between the two of them. But Draugr Death Lords also found eternal sleep in the crypt, taking some modicum of additional effort to press on. It was several hours before Farkas finally saw the iron door before them that held sanctuary for the bounty they had come for. With slow steps, the two of them had ventured into the cavernous great room and been assaulted with a barrage of draugr archers and yet another Draugr Death Lord.

Farkas could not have told anyone how long the altercation lasted. His adrenaline levels were so high that it all seemed like a blur to him. What he remembered was opening the chests and he and Alana laughing about how to prioritize what went back to Jorrvaskr now and what they'd come back for. But his mind was not truly clear until he fell back onto the cold stone steps, taking a drink of water and offering the skein to Alana.

He wasn't sure what it was that caused him to see it. The angle. The movement. The glint, maybe. Farkas was unsure. All he knew was that dangling before him in that moment was an Amulet of Mara. And his energy was at such a peak that he did not stop to think before he spoke.

"An Amulet of Mara? You don't have somebody? I'm... Surprised."

To think of this woman by herself, uncommitted... On the one hand it was optimistic for Farkas. If there was nobody at her side, it was a place that he could possibly belong. It was a thought he very much enjoyed. Yet it was sad that she was alone. This woman was far too good to be alone. Had too big a heart not to share it with someone who would welcome it lovingly. Yet he began to wonder if his inquiry had gone too far.

"I apologize if I was too forward. If that's too personal, I understand."

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I HAVE BECOME A LIONHEARTED GIRL

Alana had wanted to grumble when this quest had fallen to her. She had smiled and accepted like a good girl, but there was just something about crypts. It wasn't to creepy-crawlies or the draugr. For Alana it was being deep within a musty, slimy tomb. She wasn't sure what she hated most about being inside tombs. It might have been the traps, or maybe it was being below the Earth. She had decided that if she had to go waist deep into spiders and sassy skeletons that she was at least going to see if she couldn't convince Farkas to ride out with her. If she was going to be miserable and descend into a crypt then she was at least going to have good company. At least she hoped that he would agree to go with her. She did feel a tug of guilt for asking him. She knew how he felt about spiders. He still fought them bravely, but Alana had seen how he would stiffen when the arachnids approached. She still remembered when he had been bitten. Alana was the type to rescue small to medium sized spiders she found indoors, but when it came to the larger types, like Frostbite Spiders, Alana would kill them. Even if she wasn't happy about it.

She was very glad that he had agreed to accompany her. She wouldn't have to travel alone. She wouldn't have to fight alone. There was a Farkas sized increase on the likelihood that she wouldn't die, and if she did at least someone would know about it. She wasn't actually worried about dying. It was a pretty routine quest. Alana had done harder quests on her own before. It was just very nice to have company along, especially since it was Farkas. She knew him the best of the companions, and she thought that he probably knew her better than any other humans. She tried not to bother him when they were back at Jorrvaskr. That was their time to relax, and Alana just spent it with animals. She didn't want to become annoying or anything like that. It was bad enough that she worried about those sort of things. She just didn't want to mess up the friendship that she had with Farkas. There was a special kind of camaraderie in the mead hall, especially between the inner circle. Alana absolutely did not want to be the one that messed that up and made things awkward.

Alana had not been surprised that they had just carved their way through the dim halls. They always fought well together. Even the more advanced enemies were not too much for them. Combined they were a true force to be reckoned with. There were few people that she admired as much as Farkas, particularly for his prowess on the battlefield. He was also much better at picking up on pressure plates than she was. Alana was a bit, maybe more than a bit, clumsy. It was not a good idea to send her into an area that was full of traps. Unless of course the trap was being cornered by a cute puppy. No, it was a bad idea then too. She didn't need more animal friends. At least she was sure that the others were thinking that. Three were enough, and if Alana could help it she would have an entire army of animal friends to take down the forces of evil. She wouldn't send cute puppies in to do battle with evil. She wasn't heartless. In fact she was so attached to animals that she preferred keeping them out of battle, no matter how capable they were.

Once they were finished, Alana relaxed. She would have been happier back out in the sunlight, but it could have been worse. Things had went as well as she had expected. No deaths, major wounds, or poisoning. They had found the loot, and they had cleared to tomb. That was a successful quest to Alana. She leaned back on the steps behind her back, and took the skein when it was offered. She was grinning up until Farkas mentioned the amulet around her neck. She had completely forgotten that she was wearing the amulet. She had just grabbed it before she had buckled her armour on. She had tucked it into her undershirt, and thought nothing else of it. Alana had just found it in a chest a few months ago. She hadn't worn it before. She had just picked it up this morning. She hadn't put any thought into it. She had tried to hide it, but it seemed that the amulet had slipped out during all of the action, and now Farkas had noticed it. That was her luck. How was she going to wiggle her way out of this?

"Oh, uh..." She quickly groped at her neck, and pushed the amulet back down out of the way. "I... It's not. It's fine." She shrugged, trying to convince him that she didn't mind talking about it. "No, I don't have anyone." She was surprised that he was surprised. Was she supposed to have someone? Was she doing something wrong? Alana hadn't ever thought about having someone before. Well, that wasn't entirely true. "Well, there's someone. Sort of." She started slowly. She was trying to seem calm and relaxed, but her voice was a giveaway. "But I don't have them." She said with a nod. She was doing her very best to make sense. She was certain that her cheeks were flushed. She wanted to change the subject, but hey, what could it hurt? "We... we haven't talked about that... stuff." She put emphasis on the last two words, particularly the last one. It was true. They hadn't talked about that stuff. It had never been brought up, ever, and she doubted that it ever would be. She wouldn't know how to begin. Alana had never been down the love path. She had never been interested before. She had no idea how to begin a relationship, much less be in one. Plus it wasn't like he was interested. He certainly didn't show any signs of it.

WORDS 1,042 TAGGED FARKAS/ANKH NOTES LOOK WHAT I DID!

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The fact that Alana had still felt the need to ask Farkas to go out with her amused him. In an endearing way. For all the years that she had spent with the Companions, Farkas had never once denied one of her requests unless he was doing something else for Kodlak or Skjor first – at which point he would vow sincerely that he would make it up to Alana in whatever way she would choose. But he had not been busy with anything for anyone as of late and when Alana approached him about this little quest, he had expected a 'let's go'. Yet she had posed the question as to whether he would like to go or not. It was cute, truly and Farkas found it warmed his heart. She could have simply pointed to him and informed him that she was going with him and Farkas would have happily obeyed and tagged along. He found it difficult to believe that she didn't know that by now. In fact, it shocked him on some very basic level that she even felt the need to ask rather than grab him by the arm and simply cart him off to wherever she was going.

He would have followed her through hell if she'd asked...

It was unreal to the Nord that she had been around so long... Had talked to him so often and gone out with him so many times. How could she not have seen how he felt about her? Though he was shy and did not voice his feelings often, there were many times in which he felt as though he had worn them too openly on his sleeve. There had been moments in which he was sure she'd caught him gazing at her. Moments when his voice had been just a bit too tender. His verbiage a bit too sweet. On several occasions he'd made efforts to be near her. Sitting next to her at the longtable, being by her side at initiation ceremonies, riding out with her when she left Jorrvaskr... At times, he felt that his feelings were too overt. Vilkas had once pointed out to him that he was awkward around Alana. Given, that had been when she was new to the Companions and Farkas had imagined that as an excuse, telling his twin that he was simply uneasy around the newcomer and found her tolerance of spiders slightly unnerving. Surprisingly, Vilkas had bit.

In some ways, he wished she would have noticed and given some sort of indication regarding whether or not she reciprocated his interests. Yet on the other hand, perhaps she did notice. Perhaps she knew of his feelings but did not reciprocate them which was the reason for her inactivity. Farkas didn't know, but he couldn't rule the possibility out. Unrequited love was such a common thing, it seemed, and Farkas feared it. Although he was a friendly person by nature, he feared disclosure of his feelings – particularly something so tender and delicate as love. More than anything, he feared that he would tell Alana and she would laugh him off, wondering how he ever could have thought she would be interested in him. Nightmares of it had plagued him. Always paired with the most beautiful dreams of what could be if she desired him too. Yet no matter how happy the dream ended... No matter how much in love they were... The nightmares always came. Came to haunt him with images of her rejection and her glee at his discomfort. While he knew that Alana was simply too sweet to feel enjoyment at his pain, he could not discredit the fact that her rejection would destroy his heart.

So to hear now, that she had someone in mind, evidenced by the Amulet of Mara... It pained him all the way to the center of his beast heart. Though she attempted to stow it away quickly, Farkas could not unsee it, as much as he wished that he could. Everything seemed to sink and that moment felt suddenly dark and dreary. As much as he did not want to ask about it, did not want to hear anything about the man who possessed the heart he so wanted, she was anxious. Nervous. Farkas did not like Alana feeling unease. At this point, as the subject had already been breached, he felt that turning to something else would seem callous. Instead, his voice was soft as he inquired about it, hoping to ease her anxieties. “I was unaware that someone had taken your heart,” he began slowly, “But he is a lucky person, to be sure. I am happy for him... And you.” Although he was not 'happy' per se, what made Alana happy tended to make Farkas happy. Was it Aela who had once likened him to a dedicated lapdog over this realization? Possibly. Probably.

The fact that she proclaimed she had never had a conversation with the man of her interest caused Farkas to arch an eyebrow calmly. If any man felt that Alana may be interested in him, he ought to jump at the opportunity. The fact that this mystery man hadn't jumped told Farkas that he was unaware of her feelings. Wow. He must have been truly oblivious in that case. But that was his prerogative and not Farkas'. “I see...” Pausing a moment, he scuffed the floor a bit with his boot before continuing. “Tell me about him. How did you meet him? What is he like? What drew you to him?”