She frowns slightly. “Ye-es. Can you fight? If you can, I’ll get you a weapon, and if you can’t, stay near me, stay low, ask for healing if you need it, and don’t even fucking try to attack anything.”

He nods with the most confidence he's shown yet. "I am definitely not a fighter, and I can definitely do that."

And indeed he does, following along, staying close, and not provoking any of the presumably incredibly dangerous things in this place.

”Good.”

They reach Shor’s Stone easily enough; it’s very close by. She enters the tavern and sits down.

”So, there is an inn here, and not much else, although I suppose there’d be mining work with the mine cleared out. The closest city is Riften, which… can I perhaps recommend nearly anywhere but Riften?”

“Well, he could stay with Aerin in Riften, that’s something to consider.”

She nods acknowledgement of the point. 

“Fair. Do you know what work you could do? I’m afraid the Skyrim isn’t in a great place right now for odd interdimensional visitors, what with the civil war… which you don’t know about. Fuck.”

"Civil war..." He frowns. "That sounds pretty dangerous. Do you know where the fighting is, at the moment? I don't want to accidentally wander through a warzone, if I'm not staying in Riften. And, what's up with Riften, that you recommend literally anywhere else?"

“That… is such a complicated question. In short, the places with the most fighting are the places you’re least likely to get wrapped up in it, since they’re the places that are actually politically neutral. But of course both sides want to take those to turn the tide of the war in their favor, so…”

”Uh, Riften is…”

“A hotspot of crime and corruption?” suggests Mjoll flatly.

“Yes, that, thank you. Let’s say that my first interaction with the city was an official guard attempting to shake me down for my money, which colored the rest of my visit.”

He nods. "That doesn't too safe, especially since I already don't have any local currency on me, so I suppose I will need to find another place to go. Hm...I guess I could do work mining, but I don't have a lot of experience with physical labor. Do you know if there's any place that have need for someone of a more intellectual bent?"

“I… there’s the college, but if you’re not a mage you won’t have any luck there. There’s the Bard’s College, but trust me when I say that Skyrim has terrible prospects for bards. I came here originally to get work as one, and the first letter I got was from a friend telling me that the pay was bad and I should go back to Cyrodiil. Um… what work did you do previously, if you don’t mind me asking?”

Mjoll, while they’re talking, waves the innkeeper over and orders a three plates of goat cheese and baked potatoes for a few coins, along with two bottles of mead. She distributes the plates (or wooden trays, really, with simple metal two-pronged forks) between them, and hands one of the bottles to Nathan. She opens the other and takes a drink herself.

"I...uh...didn't do much, honestly. Work is a lot harder to come by in America than in Skyrim, it feels like. Mostly I helped my dad, who grew medicinal herbs and spices and such. If you know any...I guess, alchemists, who want help growing materials?" He raises a hand to the offered bottle. "Never had a stomach for alcohol." He does dig into the potato though. Mm, hard to go wrong with baked potato.

She nods, and tucks it away into some kind of backpack.

“Alchemy’s pretty profitable? I… wouldn’t say work’s easy to come by, not if you like decent pay and non-terrible conditions. Most don’t do much farming for their materials; the ones that grow well, or at all, are the one’s that are already pretty cheap. I… hm. You do seem sensible enough; I’m tempted to hire you on myself, honestly.”

On the one hand, going with an adventurer sounds pretty dangerous, especially since he really doesn't have much to contribute to combat at the moment and is not fond of getting shot or stabbed or bludgeoned. On the other hand, not going with these two doesn't guarantee he's not going to get attacked, especially since there's a war on. Plus these two do seem reasonably competent, and if he works with them for a while he might get a better grasp of this whole new world things. After this consideration he nods. "I'd be willing to work for you, if you'll have me?"

“Ah, not fighting, to clarify- I meant, more, how are you with childcare, because currently my housecarl is doing it and that is super not actually her job in any way.”

"Ah, well I've never done it as a job, but I at least like to think I'm good with kids. I'm decent enough of at cooking and cleaning as well, not amazing but not atrocious either?"

“Hm. Hire you on for a trial period, ask Lydia to interfere if you’re terrible, and see if you’re a decent fit? Might need to sort out living arrangements, but that shouldn’t be too much of a problem. I… hm. How about I let you see how much stuff costs before talking about pay, that seems for the best.”

"Sounds like a plan," he agrees. "Oh I just realized I never actually introduced myself. I'm Nathan."

Presumably after they finish their meals, Nathan can check out the tavern's prices, the cost of a room at the town's inn, and maybe talk with the town's blacksmith Filnjar about how much various items might cost, before finding his way back to the group.

An inn room is ten gold, which is apparently a standard guild price! Meals tend to be priced in the two to five Septims range. A good weapon at the blacksmith might be anywhere from thirty Septims to several hundred depending on quality. A set of good steel plate is around five hundred Septims. If he asks, iron ingots cost five per in bulk.

He briefly wonders why gold seems so inflated compared to his world, but figures that's a relatively small difference compared the jump in tech level and especially the presence of magic,

Still, equipped with this basic knowledge of prices, Nathan thinks he's reasonably prepared to talk with Hallana about the housekeeping/babysitting job, with the expectations of probably something like 40-ish coins a month.

“Hello!” she greets him cheerfully once he’s back. “Got the money worked out, then? There would probably be more expensive items in the big cities, but I think this should be fine to get a basic idea?”

Nathan nods. "Yeah, I think so! Assuming I live in the house, I was thinking that 40 Septims a month would probably be reasonable? Naturally I'm open to negotiation on that if it's unreasonable."

“…Right, that makes sense, but I *am* willing to pay for loyalty, and the cities often have more expensive goods.. Sixty a month, ninety after the trial period, plus a reasonable stipend for clothes, food, etc, I’ll sort out the specifics there later. If you get any bribes, tell me and I’ll deal with it, then give you double the amount.”