Care to Dance

Writers: Devin, Heather
Date Posted: 20th January 2018

Characters: A'vel, T'kala
Description: A'vel and T'kala dance
Location: Dolphin Cove Weyr
Date: month 2, day 17 of Turn 9

A'vel enjoyed the happiness of watching hatchings, because it reminded
him so much of Impressing to Tsogath. The feast afterwards, with
dancing and food, didn't hurt at all. The food at the Weyr during
major celebrations seemed more varied and fancier than that at the
Hall. Probably due to tithes coming in from all of the territory's
Holds which meant a variety of items.

When his tray was loaded up with food, he looked around to see who was
available to sit with. His eyes landed on T'kala, and he drifted that
way. "May I sit here?" he inquired.

T'kala looked up, surprised to see A'vel. The bluerider wasn't sure
after their first date if there would be a second, not because he
didn't like the greenrider, but because he found it difficult to tell
if the feelings were in any way reciprocated. "Of course, have a seat.
Some hatching, wasn't it?"

"With a gold egg, it was guaranteed to be dramatic," A'vel said as he
sat down. "I helped bring some people's family in for it, they seem
thrilled their son Impressed brown."

"I didn't know any of the female candidates, really, so I didn't
really have much feeling one way or the other about who the gold
Impressed, but just _seeing_ a gold hatch is special enough." T'kala
agreed. "Did you have any friends among the Candidates?"

"I don't know many of them. I wasn't here that long before my
Hatching, so I didn't spend a lot of time with them," A'vel admitted.
"Though the Weyrlingmaster's Third asked me if I would be interested
in being a buddy for one of the green weyrlings later on when it's
time to get those assigned, and I said yes. So I suppose I'll get to
know some of them."

"I like working with the Weyrlings, I've mostly been asked to help
some before their first flights," he lifted his shoulders. "But I
can't imagine being a full time Weyrlingstaff member. Seems like a lot
of work."

"You're responsible for all of those lives and making sure they know
how to get up into the wings. I heard it's a job with a lot of
burnout. I don't know if I'd be suited to work as an assistant, though
I'd give it a try if someone asked me. Nobody's going to want Tsogath
and I for any kind of rank until we've been riding awhile longer,
though."

"It's good to have some Thread experience first," T'kala agreed.

"Exactly. How can you teach it if you haven't flown it? Or how can you
do wingthird duties if you don't know how a wing works." T'kala had
been a rider longer, so he asked, "Is that something you'd be
interested in one day?"

"I think I would like to Wingthird, some day, if a Wingleader ever
thought me worthy enough. Right now I'm enjoying the other parts of
being a dragonrider thought," he smiled a little. T'kala liked flying
sweeps, and fighting Thread, or running transportation duties, and
then having the rest of his time to himself.

"It's good to be getting used to it," A'vel agreed. "So how long are
you going to be sticking around this celebration?"

"I'll probably be here for most of it," T'kala said. "There's nothing
waiting back at my weyr and I like hearing the harpers play."

"Me too. I think I'm going to start rehearsing with a few people to
perform at the next hatching," A'vel mentioned.

"You should," T'kala encouraged, "I would love to see you perform."

"Once I get back into practice, I'd be happy to play you something," he
offers.

T'kala noticed A'vel's empty plate just as the harpers were striking
up another tune, "Would you care to dance?"

A'vel looked at T'kala. "Oh, uhmmm..."

His voice trailed off. He hadn't been dancing since he got here. He
was always used to playing the music people danced to. He'd learned
the basics because he'd had to at the Hall, but he was going to
embarrass himself if he tried actually dancing with a person.

But it was supposed to be a lot of fun, and T'kala didn't seem like
he'd be judgemental.

"I'm afraid I'd step on your toes," he said.

"It's a good thing I'm wearing boots then," T'kala said, standing and
offering his hand to A'vel.

"You might regret this," A'vel warned, but his tone was playful as he
took the hand of the bluerider and they walked out to the dance floor.

"A moment with you could never be regrettable." T'kala said, leading
the way and then pulling A'vel to him as the dance began.

The first few steps together were a bit dicey, as A'vel tried to
figure out how to move to the music. The problem was that he kept
listening to it and thinking about what was playing, what would be
coming up next, how the instruments sounded. That engaged his mind and
he was losing track of his body. Treading on T'kala's toes broke that.

"Sorry," he said, flushing.

T'kala smiled off the apology, "Our bodies should be making a rhythm,
like the music, right? Just concentrate on that."

He could give that a try. Rhythm of the feet, not the ears or hands...
His steps steadied a bit.

"So what was your favorite part?" he asked.

"When the blues Impressed," he smiled, that was always his favorite
part, which pleased Dagreth. "What was yours?"

"Watching the gold Impress to Dessa," A'vel said with enthusiasm. "I
like seeing people I knew from the Hall Impress."

"Did you know her well at the Hall?" he asked.

"We overlapped in a few places but we were never very close," A'vel
said. "It was great to hear she'd been Searched so I'm hoping to get to
know each other better."

"That's funny, because I'm hoping to get to know you better. Think
you'll have the time?" T'kala smiled.

A'vel gave T'kala a little smile back. "I'd enjoy spending more time
together," he said.

The words pleased the bluerider, so did A'vel's genuine smile, "I'm glad
to hear it." The dance ended and couples split apart to applaud the
harpers. "You danced better than you gave yourself credit for."

"I suppose I'll have to practice more. Thank you for volunteering your
toes," A'vel said in return.

"Any time."

Last updated on the March 2nd 2018

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Care to Dance