A Precious Gift

Writers: Heather, Miriah
Date Posted: 11th May 2019

Characters: T'kala, Aviday, Tisafelle
Description: T'kala gives Aviday a present
Location: Dolphin Cove Weyr
Date: month 11, day 2 of Turn 9

Aviday

Aviday plopped down with a sigh and ran her hand over the fresh trim
that her mother had given her. Despite her desire to grow her hair out
just a little bit longer, her mother had taken the scissors to her
hair with a vengeance and now it was barely a fingerwidth long. She
could even feel it sticking up a little bit at the back, one section
refusing to lay down no matter how much she smoothed it.

"Hey Avi, do you-" T'kala stopped in his tracks and let out a low
whistle. "Haircut day, was it?"

She looked up, her hand stilling as she tried to wrestle the stubborn
bit of hair down to some semblance of smoothness. "Yeah. She cut it
even shorter this time. I think it was because I told her I wanted to
grow it out. She says it's too much trouble." With a look of worry,
she tried pushing down the errant locks. "Does it look that bad?"

"No, it's cute," he told her honestly. The short trim accentuated the
structure of her face, although he would have thought with her
mother's determination to see Aviday lose her virginity, that she
would have left it long. Women seemed to think that their long hair
was equatable to desirableness, he'd noticed.

That brought an outthrust lower lip. "Yeah, cute. Just how I want to
look. Cute." She sighed, then shrugged. "I guess it's okay. I was in a
hurry today. I think there was a greenflight about to go off. Guess
you're not chasing, since you're here." She gracelessly splayed her
legs out in front of her.

"No, I'm here with a surprise though," he smiled. The entire
conversation a leather sack had been dangling from his shoulder. "I
got you a little gift." He dangled it out in front of her.

"A present? For me? What for?" She never got presents. A grin spread
her face as she reached out. "What is it? Gimmee!"

T'kala laughed. "Easy now, it's fragile," he said as he handed her the satchel.

She was careful after the warning, opening the satchel to peer inside.
She gasped and lifted her head to stare at him. "You got me a flit
egg? Ohmigosh..." She squealed in delight, carefully hugging the
satchel to her. "A real flit egg?"

"That's right," he smiled. "Now you'll have a way to get in touch with
Dagreth and me whenever you want."

She beamed up at him, rose and holding the satchel carefully, gave
him a tight hug. "Thank you! I'm so excited!" She tried not to bounce
on her toes, but kept the egg carefully in her arm. "When is it
supposed to hatch?"

"Within the next day or two so keep an eye on it," he warned.

"I will! We have a brazier in the barracks that I can keep it next to
and everything!" Can you help me set it up? I've never tried hatching
a flit before. What will I need? How will I know when it's about to
hatch?" She threw the questions at him rapidly, shifting from foot to
foot in her excitement.

"You'll need a bucket of sand. Bury it in the middle and keep it warm.
Usually a couple of other flits show up when they're getting ready to
hatch, just like with dragons. They'll hum and you'll know it's time."
T'kala explained. "When it hatches you'll want to feed it immediately
or it will go /between/ and become wild."

Aviday grabbed his hand and started pulling him along with her towards
the barracks. "Okay. I can get sand. Come help. And I'll call for
you when it hatches so you can watch. I'm so excited!"

T'kala laughed as he followed Aviday. He was glad to see her spirits
lifted since she had obviously been a little down when he had first
arrived. "I'm not sure I'm supposed to be in the girl's barracks, but
I suppose we can make it quick."

She bustled into the girls barracks. "Most of them are at chores. I
finished early, so you should be okay." She pulled out the slightly
dusty brazier and quickly lit it, then pulled out a bucket. She handed
T'kala the satchel. "I'll go get sand. Stay here, okay?"

Tisafelle watched with interest at the sudden activity and put aside
her book, sitting up. Her eyes studied T'kala, took in his knots, then
looked at the bag. She decided on sweetness. "What're you doing?"

T'kala turned at the sound of the voice. He hadn't even seen the girl
until she spoke. "Oh, we're setting up a warm place for Avi to keep
her firelizard egg."

That immediately perked her interest and she rose. "A firelizard egg?
Where'd she get it?" Her gaze kept the sweet expression. "May I see
it?"

"I gave it to her," he said immediately. There was something odd about
the girl, T'kala thought, but he couldn't quite put his finger on what
it was. He opened the bag just a bit so she could peek inside.

"Oh, that was so nice of you." She smiled up at him, then looked down
into the bag. "Where did you get it?"

Aviday came back in, lugging the small bucket beside her. The moment
she saw Tisafelle, her eyes narrowed and she hurried over, face set in
a frown. "It's mine, Tisafelle. You can't have it."

Tisafelle's eye twitched, but the expression that slid over her face
was one of hurt. "I was just looking, Aviday."

T'kala wasn't sure what the situation was between the two girls, but
Aviday's immediately defensive nature around Tisafelle put the
bluerider's guard up. "No one is going to take your egg, Aviday," he
said, trying to smooth over the tension.

Aviday scowled at Tisafelle and took the satchel. "You just stay away
from my egg, Tisafelle." She placed the sand bucket near the brazier
to keep heated.

"I wasn't going to _take_ it." Tisafelle responded, sounding injured.
"But, if you want to sell it..."

Aviday's eyes narrowed. "It's not for sale. Go away."

"I got it from the beastcrafters, if you're wanting one." T'kala said.

"I'll be sure to talk to them. Thank you." She turned a stunning smile
to T'kala. He was a bluerider and typically not worth her notice, but
she did notice Aviday's scowl getting darker. How funny... the girl
must have a crush. "Perhaps I'll see you later then. " She turned,
waggling her fingers back at Aviday, before returning to her cot. She
wondered how Sh'del would feel about Aviday bringing a man into the
girl's side of the barracks. She'd have to let him know.

Aviday muttered, moving the lit brazier near her cot and farther from
the other girl. "Does that look good, T'kala?"

"What's up with you two?" he murmured so that Tisafelle wouldn't hear.
"Yes, that looks good."

"She's awful and she's mean. She calls me a boy all the time." Aviday
scowled over at the other girl. "She's a bitch, T'kala, so don't let
her fool you." She sniffed and rose. "Okay, so I'll keep an eye on the
egg and when it hatches, I'll let you know!"

T'kala glanced back at Tisafelle before pulling Aviday into the crook
of his arm and kissing the top of her head. "Okay. I'll have Dagreth
listening, so when the egg's ready we'll be here."

Tisafelle hid a smirk. So little Aviday did have a man. It made sense
that it was a bluerider. Maybe he pretended she was a boy when they
were in bed together...now that was funny. She tucked the little
nugget away for later use.

Aviday hugged him back. "Okay. Come on, let's go before we get in
trouble for being in here."

Last updated on the June 15th 2019

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A Precious Gift