#trigger warning: fire

“It’s almost dark, are you sure you don’t want me to join you?” Adnan kneeled down to reach Rosalie’s small size, his brow knotted with worry and lips sewn into a frown.

“Addy, the house is in seeing distance, and it’s not like Eldrims is some frightful beast,” Emeline ran a calming hand through his curls of untied hair and smiled. “If she’s not back when we’d like we’ll come by and get her ourselves.”  

She glanced down at Rosie and raised her brows amusedly. “You hear that missy?”  

The little girl nodded fervently, clutching the small basket of treats they’d bought in Solitude in her tiny fists. It was full of sweet rolls, braided bread, and even a lavender dumpling that Rosalie had resorted to giving up despite it being her absolute favorite.  

“Yes mama!”  

She softened like a sap at her daughter’s high little voice. “Then no dawdling, we don’t want those sweet rolls going cold now, do we?”  

Emeline didn’t have the heart to admit that, living in the mountains, it wouldn’t surprise her if the desserts were already icicles. But the elf could warm it up anyways with that magic of his if he really wanted to.  

“Mm!” Rosie shook her head and whipped around, the sound of crunching snow fading a tad more with each step she made away – both Emeline and Adnan keeping their eyes plastered onto their little girl until she vanished behind Eldrims’s heavy wooden door.  

The inside of Eldrims’s cabin was dimly lit with candles that’d been free to flitter away to mere smoke but it was enough to see the cabinets, shelves, and books scattered about – only helped by the evening lights that spilled in through the windows.  

A wolfskin rug brushed against her boots as Rosalie stepped further inside, finding Eldrims hunkered over in the room ahead, the craggy stone fireplace sending both warmth and light to encircle around him.  

“Mr. Bedaleth!” She bounced to life and hurried forward to greet him, the heat of the fire welcoming her as she came closer. “We went to Solitude! I brought you some desserts from the market!”  

Nothing.  

Eldrims continued staring forward into the crackling flames, an eerie haziness in his gaze and a small puddle of bottles collecting at his feet, a nearly empty one was still cradled in his grasp in fact. He was utterly devoid of any and all feeling on the outside – something dreadful and horrifying brewing within.

Rosie wrinkled her nose in confusion, speaking slower. “Mr. Bedaleth...?”  

He inched his gaze to her and took in a sharp breath. With a sting in his voice sharper and missing that playful hint, he spoke – slurred and unsteady. “What do you want Rosalie?”  

“I just told you! I brought you some things-”  

“No, no, I heard that part,” Eldrims scoffed, pointing at her and inadvertently dropping the bottle with a thankful ‘thud’ rather than a shatter. “I mean, what do you want? Why do you keep coming here? Why do you keep pestering me?”  

Rosie didn’t entirely know what ‘pestering’ meant, but the coldness in his words told her it didn’t mean well. Nonetheless, she swallowed hard, refusing to relent. “W-We’re friends!”  

“Friends? You are a child and I’m damn near as old as dust!” He shook his head. “Overblown nanny is more like it.”  

Rosie puffed out her cheeks, reddening in frustration. “Don’t be so mean! Just tell me to go!”  

But he didn’t. He simply stared at her, perhaps debating in his mind but not able to bring himself to send her off.  

Did he want her to leave? No. Would he ever willingly admit that? Also no.  

“It’s not like you’d listen anyway.” Eldrims cursed beneath his breath. “You’re just as bull-headed as her.”  

He rose to his feet and staggered forward, catching his unsteady legs with arms wrangling for the dining table. If he stepped out into the snow he’d surely fall and freeze to death, he was so unaware.  

“Who’s her?” Rosie set down the basket and followed after him – she was at least partially sure they wouldn’t be enjoying desserts tonight.  

“Her? What do you-” Eldrims groaned, his back turned to little Rosie. “Oh. Her.”  

He twisted around to face Rosie, snarling like a rabid but utterly confused animal. “Why do you care? It’s none of your concern!”  

“You said her.”  

“No, I didn’t!”  

“Yes you did!”  

“No, I-”  

He paused. “I did... I said her...” He bit the inside of his cheek and closed his eyes, squeezing them tight like he’d wake up to reveal this all to be some terrible nightmare. “Anese... I can never rest, can I?”  

His eyes opened and for a moment, he gawked at her like she weren’t the pesky little child that constantly knocked on his door but someone precious, someone lost in a life from long before but treasured all the same – like a memory one could only grasp for.  

“Why won’t you leave me be...?” The question was asked weakly, barely above a whisper. “Aren’t I suffering enough as it is?”  

Rosie didn’t quite know what to say.  

With a laugh and pinch of his nose, Eldrims gave a miserable smile. “Of course a selfish ass like me would say that.”  

“E-Eldrims...?”  

He glanced back at her and his expression changed, understanding who it really was standing just a little way away.  

She couldn’t tell if he was disappointed or relieved.  

“Who... Who is Anese?”  

Eldrims hesitated, but whether it was because of the drunkenness or exhaustion it slipped through the cracks of his ever-growing wall.  

“She was my niece. I helped my sister raise her.” His shoulders dropped with a heavy sigh. “She was around your age.”  

Rosie lit up at the idea of someone her age being around. She could only imagine the fun the two could have together and all the places they could explore together! She thought she might burst with excitement! “You have family my age? Where is she? Can I meet her-”  

“No. You can’t.”  

He collapsed into one of the dining chairs and hid his face in his aged, weathered palms. “She’s dead.”  

Rosalie gawked with wide eyes, her expression falling and head aiming low sheepishly. She shuffled her feet against the floor, the sudden weight of his words leaving the world feeling like it was dragged by cinderblocks. “O-Oh... I’m sorry...”  

“A-Apologizing to me...?” Eldrims drew his fingers from his gaze and stared ahead coldly, lost in thought. “That’s awfully strange... it is my fault after all...”  

“Her mother too – oh gods, Erisa – oh fuck.” His expression contorted and grimaced in every possible way imaginable, like he may shatter into a million pieces right there and then. “I killed them. I may as well have done it myself! I-I'm sorry, I’m so, so sorry...!” He crumbled against himself, his shoulders shaking with the sudden onslaught of sobbing.  

Rosalie had never seen him cry before. She’d barely seen anyone cry before – she was fortunate enough to say it wasn’t a frequent sight, but it left her frozen, shell-shocked even. Her mind was both caught in whirl-wind and standstill.  

But, for what it was worth, she did try something.  

One step after the next, she came closer to the Dunmer elf until she stood not even an inch away. Rosie tugged at his sleeve, offering him a smile as he warily lifted his head.  

“My mama says... accidents happen – everyone makes them. It’s... it’s not anyone’s fault...”  

Eldrims gave something like a smile even though every other inch of him portrayed the exact opposite – he was full of contempt, and indignation and it oozed out as he spoke, lifting up her head as he pinched her chin.

“It must be wonderful to live in such blissful ignorance...” He scowled. “You know nothing.”  

He tore himself away from her, yanking away her chin as he staggered to his feet, the light of the fire reflecting in his crimson eyes in a way that somehow left him appearing even more remote than before. 

“You didn’t see the flames... how the people rioted against us – for what, some puny fucking thief that wasn’t even an elf. Some would’ve spouted about their tradition – others rambled about how the land was for Nords not-”  

He glanced at her and then himself, biting the inside of his cheek. “not anybody else...”  

Eldrims, even in his drunken state, prayed she’d never understand his words.  

“They barreled into the slums like wild dogs – they had so many torches you could actually see for once in the night...”  

He could still recall the fluttering flames peeking into his sight from the supposed safety of his home, how Erisa had joined him by the windowsill with wide, befuddled eyes at the sight of the approaching crowd.  

“What have those bastards got twisting up their knickers this time?” She had muttered, more so with exasperation than true concern. Ulfric’s band of Stormcloaks always did find something to complain about amongst their privilege – like petulant children they misplaced their anger and were never satisfied, grappling for more than their little hands could ever carry. So instead, they’d simply placed all their burdens into the hands of the ones they crowded into slums – exploiting them for personal gain while staining the air with complaints of their very existence.  

“Ranging from slightly cold stew to a major battle lost, the possibilities are endless,” He had mused, nudging his sibling, drawing her attention back. “Is Anese asleep?”  

“I just put her to bed.”  

“Good, it’s better she didn’t see this-”

“Didn’t see what?”  

That child’s voice was just as bright and curious as the one who stood just a little way before him now. Her usually brushed and kempt hair was strewn about in drowsy curls that fell about her cheeks and dashed just above her groggy gaze.  

“Anese, you little rogue, what’re you doing out of bed?” Erisa questioned, her words surely meaning to scold but inadvertently pouring with a sweet softness at the sight of her child, only half-awake and still rubbing the sleep from her eyes.  

“I was thirsty...” She mumbled, yawning.  

“You were...” Erisa laughed. “you were thirsty... by the nine,” She glanced to Eldrims. “She’ll wake up again in a few hours needing to piss too.”  

“It’s almost like she’s a kid or something,” Eldrims nudged her side playfully. “Imagine that, huh? I’ll take her downstairs – I might still have some river-water in my flask.”  

“Take a whiff before you pass it to my kid -- I know how you like your mead.”  

Eldrims gave a dramatic clasp upon his chest in offense, beginning to back away. “Oh! You just had to hit it where it hurts, didn’t you? You act like I’m a bad influence!”  

Erisa grinned with a glimmer of mischief only she could ever conjure – the only thing sharper than her wit, being her tongue. “I act like you’re a bad influence, cause ya’ are.”  

“What slander!” He simpered, settling a gentle hand upon his niece’s shoulder, leading her to the stairwell where the floorboards creaked and were stained with age. “I’d be offended if it weren’t true. But lucky for you, I kind of like the little mouse.”  

“I’m no mouse!” Anese had blurted, her tiny little hands coiling into indignant fists. At the time, it made Eldrims smile like an utter fool.  

“Ah, of course. Aren’t I just a silly old man?” He ruffled her hair and swore his heart melted at the sound of her laughter, so sweet and gentle it out-rang any bile those outside could sputter. “Come on then little one.”  

He had scooped her up in his arms and carried her down the steps that moaned beneath his weight but nonetheless, they made it, Eldrims speaking up as the sound of Nordic protests grew in their volume. She didn’t need to hear them. 

“Oh, it’s slipped my mind... where did I put that damn canteen...?”  

It was quite ovbiously on the dinner table, but he avoided it purposefully, his eyes teasingly scanning just about every other corner in his vision. Anese groaned in exasperation, grappling at her uncle’s cheeks in a desperate attempt to show him.  

“It’s right over there! Right in front of you! L-Look!”  

She let out a huff as he finally relented, gasping perhaps a little grandly than necessary, but her little face lit up with such pride, he couldn’t not do it. It would’ve been criminal!

“Oh, by the gods! You’ve found it! Anese, you’re a genius!” He peppered her face in kisses and she squealed in surprise, the two of them smiling so wide it should’ve hurt -- but it didn’t matter then. 

“So then, let’s get you your water. You must be parched by now, aren’t you?” He set her down and she hung onto the end of his ragged shirt, full of patches and mismatched sewing -- for all the talents Erisa had, needlework wasn’t quite one of them. 

“What does ‘parched’ mean?” 

“Like thirsty -- you spend all those time reading books and you don’t know what parched means?” He shook his head. “Simply shameful!” 

“Sounds like a dumb word.” 

“Now you’re just being spiteful.” 

He undid the canteen’s cap and did, albeit sneakily, sniff the inside warily. Fortunately, it was just water. He didn’t exactly want to admit his immediate reluctance. 

“There we go! A whole canteen of water for the little rebel who should be asleep.” He pinched Erisa’s nose, snorting at how she wrinkled it in apparent protest. 

“Not sleepy...” She mumbled incoherently as she took the flask as raised it to her lips, her ramblings surely bouncing off the metal insides but he nodded anyways like he could hear her crystal clear. 

“Yes, yes, very interesting...” He muttered, raising his voice. Maybe her incredibly loud gulping drowned out the rest of the world, but Eldrims hadn’t exactly been willing to take that chance. 

Since they’d come downstairs the yells had become louder and more enraged -- each spouted insult entwined with that much more hatred than the last. It was rare that they broke into the slums themselves, but now, he swore he felt the ground beneath him rattle against their heavy, vexed stomps. Even the sight of their flames grew nearer and nearer by the-

“They’re inside...” Eldrims murmured, only a chill managing to run down his spine -- his body could barely muster anything else in its petrified state. “T-They’re coming in...” 

What could they want? What more could their hearts truly desire at this point?

 He swore it couldn’t get any worse. That was at least until Erisa came stumbling down the stairs, nearly losing her footing had she not had a wall to tumble into. 

“E-Eldrims!” She had cried, sweat beading down her forehead and matting her hair. “They’re... they’re coming...!” 

“Who’s coming...?”  Anese asked, lifting her lips from the canteen with eyes so bereft of the knowledge that weighed down the two before her. 

“No one, no one but old dust bunnies!” Eldrims panicked and gave a smile a little too wide to be trusted as he smacked a hand over her mouth. “But you... you have to be quiet, okay? Not a peep!” 

She attempted to make up some sort of sound beneath his palm. Eldrims couldn’t help but huff with his patience so quickly shortened. “There’s no time for your silly questions. Just let your mother take you to the cellar! You’ll stay there for a bit!” 

Anese tore his hand away and pouted. “I hate it down there! It’s so dark and scary...” 

“It won’t be for long. I swear on it,” He tapped the tip of her nose. “Besides, isn’t this whole place dark and scary?” 

Anese didn’t laugh, but she smiled, and that was enough. 

Eldrims rose to his feet and he and Erisa exchanged a knowing look. Whatever words she might’ve yearned to say became caught in her throat, instead falling to her fingertips as she pulled her brother into a hug, gripping him ever so tightly. 

“Don’t get so fussy. I’ll be there to get you in a minute.” 

“Please do.” She murmured. “Please.” 

Eldrims chuckled. “If I promised, would that help?” 

“No, you never keep them.” 

Thinking back on her words, Eldrims despised how truthful she had been. 

“I thought it’d only be a minute...” Eldrims muttered, glancing up at Rosie and seeing not a child but a mere shape -- he saw the entirety of the world around him as just that -- a mindless blending of colors to form something so utterly unfamiliar he could’ve ripped it all to shreds. 

He could’ve ripped himself to shreds. 

“I-I went outside to t-talk them out of it... that’s... that’s all I wanted to do...” 

Eldrims had watched his family disappear beneath that horrid old door underneath the even more atrocious kitchen rug. Anyone searching for them would be far more disgusted by the poor interior design than anything else. 

Gods, he had been trying far too hard to distract himself. 

He raced to the crowd of angry Nords, the flame of their torches nearly blinding him in the process. Eldrims laughed sheepishly, having stopped the horde in a mix of pure confusion and curiosity. 

“Oh goodness gracious! What on earth is going on here?” He cleared his throat, standing upright. “S-Surely there’s no reason for all this?” 

The man who spoke to him had a surly voice Eldrims could only akin to rumbling gravel, his beard was thick and skin etched with the hints of oncoming age. He sold fruits. Eldrims knew of him for a nerve that left something to be desired. His name was Berid. 

“Of course you’d say that. One of you elves has been stealing from us! They’ve taken my weekly earnings and many others!” 

“W-Why couldn’t just send a guard for them? S-Surely you’ve got a description of some sorts?” 

“If we knew what the thief looked like, they would be in prison! Not on your streets!” 

Eldrims frowned, his brow becoming tight in a befuddled knot. “T-Then... how do you even know they’re one of us?” 

Another man stepped forward, towering over Eldrims with an expression more grizzly than stone. He sneered at the very sight of Eldrims. “Only a Dunmer would ever stoop so low as to steal. You can’t even make something of yourself in your own quarter so you’ve got to take even more from us!” 

Whatever temper Eldrims had been trying to simmer down broke through with the cost of his patience. His frown deepened to a scowl. “Don’t say my name like it’s an insult! And if you hadn’t noticed, it’s difficult to build anything worthwhile when you’re thrown to the scrapyard! We’re not even allowed in your markets!” 

“Are you defending a criminal?” 

“A criminal you can’t even describe! Don’t you know what they say about assuming? You’ve got no proof that they’re one of us!” 

“All you grey-skins are petty little beggars anyways! You should be groveling on your knees in thanks for all we’ve given for you and those lizards!” 

“Would you like a sacrificial lamb too? I mean sure, we’re treated like less than your mutts but I do suppose you could’ve just slaughtered us!” 

“How fucking dare you! I bet you’re housing the rat!” The man leaned over Eldrims like a stature just a mere tug from crashing. He pointed out to Eldrim’s house with a piercing glare. “There! Search the place!” 

Eldrims couldn’t even begin to describe the panic that soared through him then. Striking like electricity it coursed through every vein, every drop of blood that lived inside of him. He threw himself in front of the door with splayed arms and ragged breath. 

“Wait! Wait just a second! P-Please!” He yelled, lifting his voice with that sense of curtness he’d lost so earlier before. He didn’t care how fake or forced it sounded, he was desperate. “Surely there’s another way we can resolve this! I’ve only got my sister and niece! No criminals -- I swear on my very life!” 

The Nords stared at him coldly, the leader speaking up. 

“And who's to say they aren’t guilty?” 

Eldrims’s mind squirmed in a battle against his anger and desire to live to see the sunlight. 

“My niece is a fucking child and my sister is a crafts potions! They’ve never stolen a crumb!” He swallowed hard. “Please, surely we can handle this as it should be!” 

Eldrims wrinkled his nose, scrambling for any possible way to deter them. “They’re not even here now! T-They’re out! Visiting family! Far away from here!” 

Berid eyed him carefully, pausing in thought. “... Is that so?” 

“Yes! Yes, it is!” 

“Then they ought to stay there.” 

Berid took his torch and hoised it to the old wooden walls of Eldrim’s home and in mere seconds it lit up in viciously scalding flames. Eldrims’s whole chest crashed in on itself and he let out a wicked scream, hurling his fist into Berid’s stomach. 

“How fucking dare you! T-That’s my home! My family-” 

Blood trickled upon the edges of Berid’s lips, the man wiping away with a wound fist as he spoke. 

“Aren’t here, isn’t that right?” He scoffed. “Do I look like an idiot? One thing you should know about Nords, elf, is that we’re damn good hunters. And if you can’t get the fox out of its den, you snuff it out -- it’ll come to you.” 

Berid grinned. “Or die trying.” 

In an instant Eldrims did all that he could to barge back inside his home, to rip off that dreadful rug and reach Anese and Erisa. He would’ve taken them anywhere, would’ve done anything just to have made it out of those walls. 

But they grabbed him first. 

The Nords wrapped their heavy fists around Eldrims and hauled him in the midst of the crowd like derelicts upon a fresh meal. They yelled insults like hymnals rained fists and kicks onto him relentlessly. All the while, the fire crawled further and further into his home -- into the bedrooms, the stairwell, the kitchen, and the cellar, eventually. 

And despite all the other sounds pouring down from every which angle, Eldrims still managed to hear Erisa’s wails and Anese’s shrieks -- even above his own sobs. The only sounds he would’ve given everything to drown out, he heard the most clearly. 

Eldrims fought until his heart gave out and his body was caked in soot and blood but it was of no use. 

“It didn’t change a f-fucking thing...” He whispered. “T-They still died! They still fucking died!” 

Eldrims’s legs trembled and gave out under him, he hit the floor with a ‘thud’ and scarcely missed his head slamming to the wood had it not been for his arms, shielding his tear-stained face. He cried like a child, uncontrollable and unrelenting he wept and howled even as his throat became dry like sandpaper -- hurting almost. 

He deserved it, didn’t he? He deserved every ounce of pain the world could throw at him. 

And yet, Rosalie still remained. 

Eldrims threw up his head and scowled with more venom than any poison. His yell made the poor child’s blood run cold. 

“What more do you goddamn want? Why’re you still even here huh? Get out! Get the fuck out before I burn you to ash too!” He curled his lip, digging his nails into the floor. “Before I kill you!” 

Hurt rushed Rosalie’s expression for a moment before she swallowed hard, huffing with indignantly puffed out cheeks. 

She made her way towards Eldrims with short, heavy steps and stared at him for a moment. There was more pain in those eyes of his than Rosie had known in her whole life -- like a story one could understand before they even opened the cover. 

And without a word, Rosalie wrapped her arms around his neck and hugged him. 

“Don’t be so mean to yourself. It’s not right.” 

Eldrims froze at the gesture as if he’d forgotten just what exactly a hug was. Yet all in a few seconds it rushed back -- all the warm embraces he’d shared when reuniting with his little niece in the evening or the small hugs he’d greet Erisa within the mornings when both were far too tired to say a word. 

All at once he remembered what a hug was, and how fervently he missed it. 

Eldrims flung his arms around her, pulling her close. He nearly squeezed the air out of her lungs but it was perhaps the most sincere and truest kindness he’d ever shown anyone in a long time. 

He set her down delicately, and Rosie took his weathered old hand in his, squeezing it just like her mother would. She offered him a smile.

“I... I don’t think you’re so bad.” 

Eldrims’s shoulders dropped with a heavy sigh. “How can you know that...?” 

“Bad things happen to good people,” She murmured. “I-I fell and scraped my knee while exploring and it hurt so bad but it’s not ‘cause I deserved it! It... It just happened. I can’t change it, and I can’t get mad at myself for it.” 

Eldrims smirked. “That’s a very different example.” 

“I... I know. But I mean the same thing. What... what happened wasn’t your fault -- it was those bad people! And... and if I ever meet them I’ll knock their teeth out!” 

He chuckled just barely and very softly. “I don’t doubt it. You’re a bit special that way...” 

“What do you mean?” 

Eldrims ruffled her hair and rose to his feet, the last few tears cascading from his chin and falling to the floor. Strange, he felt almost lighter, like a burden was released from him. He looked down at her, softening. 

“You’re a good person, I mean. That’s rare, Rosie. Don’t let that change as you grow up.” He grinned. “Stay a little skeever, would you?” 

“I won’t become some big boring adult!” She wrinkled her nose in exasperation. “I’m gonna do something great! Something huge!” 

“Yeah? I’m sure you will.” He bent down for the wicker basket of treats and sat down beside her. Eldrims dug through the desserts to pull out her favorite: a lavender dumpling. “But would you first have a snack with a dreadful old man?” 

Her eyes widened like saucers and she tapped her feet in anticipation, nearly hurrying to sit down, crossing her legs. She nodded. “Mm!” 

She watched excitedly as Eldrims tore it in in half and promptly gave it to her, shocked at the speed in which she snatched it. The little child wolfing down the dumpling in an instant. 

Rosie took one last bite and licked the last few crumbs clinging to her fingers before a thought came to her head. “Oh! Mr. Bedaleth?” 

“Hm?” 

She smiled. “You’re not dreadful.” 

Eldrims cocked his head to the side with a snort. “But I’m old?” 

“You said it first!” 

“Touche.” 

“But... you’re nice -- a nice, not super young man.” 

That brought a laugh out of Eldrims. He leaned forward and pinched her nose in a fond little way he once did to his niece long ago -- the same sort of care still ever-present. The light of the evening fading away to bring forth the night in all its purples, blues, and starlight. For once, Eldrims didn’t dread it. 

“You aren’t so bad yourself Rosie.” He grinned, truly earnest. “You aren’t so bad at all.” 

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Eldrims just became president of the ‘adopted an annoying but well-meaning kid that won’t leave me alone’ club fdasfkldjafkjd

Anyways, I hope you all enjoyed this prompt! I worked super hard on it and I LOVE Eldrims and Rosie’s relationship! They’re one of my favorites! 

Anyhow, I’ll be continuing on with Adnan’s side of Rosie’s family but any other questions about Rosie’s life -- past or present, or just about anyone in the Rosieverse -- I’d be more than happy to answer! Thanks a bunch, and have an absolutely wonderful day! <3

Rosie Bio

Rosie’s Parents (Emeline and Adnan)