He's the _Man_ Oh Yes He Is

Writers: Bree, Eimi
Date Posted: 23rd May 2006

Characters: M'galec, Lenala
Description: M'galec uses some clever talking to confuse Lenala into thinking she's not mad at him.
Location: River Bluff Weyr
Date: month 11, day 26 of Turn 3

Lenala

M'galec sighed with relief as he left the flightroom. He apologized profusely to the greenrider whose dragon Dwarkanath had caught. After all, he was Weyrmated after all. Thank Faranth the rider hadn't been male, he would have had a much harder time explaining the marks on his back. But now, finally, he didn't have to be afraid that Lenala would see Abrei's marks and could let her just guess where they had come from.

**Thank you, boy. You saved my hide!**

This dragon's only reply was a content snort as he curled closer around the green he had just caught.

He took the stairs two at a time and quietly slipped into their weyr. Thank Faranth, she wasn't there. The bronzerider stripped down and slid into the bath, hoping the warm water would make the scratches look fresher than they were. Lenala arrived a few moments later, her eyes wary as she leaned against the door to the bathing chamber. "Vilarth said you were in the flight room. I suppose you have to go straight back to the infirmary now?"

"Would I be relaxing in the bathing pool if I had to go straight back to the infirmary?" he asked as he leaned his head back against the edge of the pool. It sounded like she was still rather upset about the night before...

"Last night I would never have guessed I'd be screamed at for being concerned about you, so I can't honestly say I have any idea what you would or wouldn't do," Lenala replied shortly. "No," M'galec corrected closing his eyes, "last night I was angry because when I repeatedly asked you to just let me rest, you insisted on pestering me like a whiny child."

"A whiny child?" Lenala retorted angrily. "Well if that's what you think, maybe I don't need to be _pestering_ you at all." She stalked toward her sleeping chamber, wishing she had a door to slam. It would have sounded wonderfully satisfying.

"Are you trying to tell me that you do not this think arrangement is working anymore?" he called after her. The bronzerider wasn't sure what he hoped her answer would be. He wanted her, cared for her, perhaps even loved her.
But he also could not deny what had happened between he and Abrei. Well, not to himself at least.

"What arrangement?" Lenala retorted loudly, kicking at a pile of clothing.
"You mean the one where you sleep in my weyr and ignore me the rest of the time? Is that supposed to be _working_ for me?"

M'galec sighed as he slipped out of the water and wrapped a towel around himself. He walked, still slightly dripping, into the room they shared and began gather up his clothes into a pile. "Where is the bag I brought with me? The big one."

Lenala couldn't help the tears that filled her eyes. "If spending the occasional evening with me is such a traumatic thought, why did you sharding move in here to begin with?"

"Because I rather liked the idea of coming home to you," the bronzerider sighed. "And I do not want to spend the occasional evening with you. I want to spend _every_ evening with you. But I have a talent and a skill that is important during a Pass, and the Weyr and its needs must come before my own. I had hoped that as a _goldrider_, you of all people could appreciate the lengths I must go to. Do you really think I _like_ being in the infirmary until late? Do you think I dread coming home to wrap my arms around you and finally feel like a _normal_ human being for a while? Do I have to give all _that_ up for the good of the Weyr too, Lenala? Is that what this is coming down to for you?"

"No, giving up everything for the good of the Weyr is the goldrider's job,"
Lenala replied in a voice far more resigned than angry. "Do whatever you need to do, M'galec. Let me know when you need me." And she could sulk and wallow in how M'galec was just another bronzerider later, when he was off ignoring her.

"I need you _now_," he sighed as he pulled on his pants. "But I need your support more than your body, and _certainly_ more than your anger."

Lenala glared at him over her shoulder. "Support? I was _trying_ to give you support last night until you snapped at me! So next time you want my support, maybe you should just tell me what I need to be supporting you on and how you'd like me to go about it."

"I did. I asked you to let me sleep. But you just could not accept that."

"Yes, we already know how terribly selfish I was last night." She kicked a pillow out of her way with unnecessary force as she stalked to the couch.
"Can we just move on to whatever you need of me next?" "What I need from you," he said grabbing her arm and pulling her back to him, "is to shut your mouth and _listen_ for once!" M'galec wrapped his arms around her so that she would not be walking away from him while he was trying to talk to her again. "This is not a relationship between a goldrider and bronzerider, Lenala. This is supposed to be a relationship between a man and a woman, and _I_ am the man!"

Lenala glared at him and pushed back against his arms, but he'd told her to shut her mouth, so she kept it shut. Besides, anything that came out now would probably drive him out of the weyr for good, and even if he was a pain sometimes, she didn't really _want_ him to go. At least, she didn't think she did...

"That is better," he nodded, his arms tightened around her even as she pressed against them. "Now, I will explain this to you just once. I am a healer, and whether you like it or not, that _must_ come first. I am not just some general practitioner taking care of colds and bumps and bruises. I am a _surgeon_. Lives depend on the work I do. Sometimes the surgeries are candlemarks long and more complicated than you can imagine, and the slightest slip can kill a patient. When I am in the infirmary I am preparing patients, operating on them, or following up, which can be just as dangerous a time as when I have their bodies opened up before me. When I am in the infirmary it is because I am _needed_, not because I would not rather be here with you. Faranth knows I would rather be making love to you." His arms relaxed just a bit, that having been said. "Now I have promised to try to spend less of my time there. I have promised you to make an effort to spend more time with you. But when I cannot, there is a good reason and _no one_ can do what I can do. I must go when I am needed or people die.
If you cannot accept that, then tell me to go now, and I will leave your weyr tonight."

Her defiance wavered as she struggled to find a way around his words. They _were_ reasonable... what was more, they made her seem selfish and childish.
Something unpleasantly like guilt filled her as she dropped her gaze to his chest so that she wouldn't have to meet his eyes. "I'm sorry. Of course I want you to stay."

"That is my good girl," he smiled and kissed her forehead softly, then her temple, her cheek. "We will not speak of this again." M'galec reached down and lifted her into his arms. "Now that is settled, I made a promise to you, and I intend to keep it."

Last updated on the May 23rd 2006

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He's the _Man_ Oh Yes He Is