It was a typical night in the Bannered-mane inn, the low hum of conversation and the occasional drunken shout filling the air. In a corner booth, Katia Managan and Quill-Weave were nursing drinks, deep in conversation and laughing loudly at their own inside jokes. They were a striking pair, the Khajiit and Argonian sitting side by side in the crowded inn, their bright eyes flickering in the soft candlelight as they joked and ribbed each other.

Katia chuckled, leaning back in the booth and took a swig of her drink before speaking, her voice soft and slurred from the mead.

"You know, Quill, I've been thinking."

Quill-Weave raised an eyebrow, a smirk on her face.

"Oh, that's never a good sign. What's on your mind?"

Katia rolled her eyes good-naturedly before continuing.

"I was thinking.. we've been at this for awhile, haven't we? Stealing, pickpocketing, living day by day. I mean, it's fun and all, but..."

She paused, taking a long swig of mead before continuing.

"But don't you ever wonder what our lives would be like if we didn't have to do all this? If we didn't have to live like this?"

Quill-Weave shrugged, taking a swig of her own drink. She knew what Katia was talking about - they'd been living the life of petty thieves for years, barely scraping by. Living day to day, never sure where their next meal or next score would come from.

"I dunno," she said, her voice a little quieter now, "It's all we've ever known, isn’t it? What else would we do?"

Katia sighed, staring down at her drink.

"I don't know either. It's just...I worry about us, Quill. We're not getting any younger. What if one day we're not quick enough, or we get caught?"

They sat in silence for a moment, both lost in thought, the idle chatter of the rest of the inn filling the air between them.