The Time To Be Bold

Writers: Dana, Eimi
Date Posted: 8th September 2005

Characters: Traelyn, Birigundi
Description: Trae proves to be just the distraction Birigundi needs after his failure to Impress
Location: Dragonsfall Weyr
Date: month 7, day 21 of Turn 3

Birigundi

"Hey there," Traelyn smiled gently as she came up to stand beside the boy. She wondered if he had been waiting for her. And sometimes she wondered if he kept track of when Nyith fed just so he could see her. Trae was a little unsure of how Birigundi would be today. She'd been there at the Hatching, and he hadn't Impressed...

"You might want to think twice about talking to me right now. I'm not in the mood to behave." He replied, his usually bright eyes were slightly dark and clouded.

Birigundi hadn't been waiting for her purposefully. He was just watching the dragons as they flew over the feeding grounds and plateau. Though he had tried not to let himself hope to hard to Impress this time, it still hurt to be left standing... again. He would have thought he was used to it by now. But he knew that the worst was not that he did not find a lifemate, it was that so many of his friends _had_. While he would be going back to the same Candidate barracks and classes as if nothing had happened, his friends had moved on without him. Someday his Candidate life had to end, and Birigundi was suddenly wondering if he could keep this up for another couple turns or not. Was it really worth the waiting? Would he _ever_ find a lifemate, or waste four turns of his life trying? Such questions gave made him feel almost dizzy. He needed something to distract him, and Trae was just the person he needed.

She searched his eyes for a moment, understanding him. She knew exactly what he was going through. She knew exactly how he was feeling. She'd been left there, unpartnered on the Sands before...so she wasn't a stranger to the sadness, to the frustration...to the bitterness. "I'm not here to ask you to," Traelyn replied quietly.

Birigundi remembered the way their last chance encounter had ended. The thought of the bronzerider still left a bad taste in his mouth. But N'vanik wasn't there, and he wouldn't have cared if he was. He took the goldrider's face in his hands and kissed her with all the hurt and frustration and desire he had at that moment.

And, unresisting, Trae returned his kiss, holding nothing back from him.
One hand moved to rest on his shoulder, the other moving to caress through his hair. He needed this right now.

The feeling of her accepting and even willing in his arms was almost dizzying. He curled his arms around her waist and pulled her closer. Yes, this was what he needed - an exquisite and addictive distraction.

A half-smile of understanding pulled at her lips, and she pressed her hips closer against his, deepening the kiss just a little further. And she knew that she would not send him away tonight.

He pulled back slightly. Emboldened by her response to him he asked in a heavy whisper, "People can see you here. Shall we go to your weyr?"

"Mmm..." She nodded, her eyes flickering up into his. "Nyith'll give us a lift."

And the golden queen did.

~~

Birigundi slipped down from the gold's neck. It was the first time he had ever ridden a gold before. And this was the first time he had ever seen the inside of a goldrider'sweyr. Suddenly he was starting to feel nervous. He could just think of Trae as a beautiful woman when they stood next to the fence, but suddenly she was a _Weyrwoman Second_.

She turned around once she hung the harness on the peg and looked at him. And he looked nervous. Well. Trae couldn't really blame him. She didn't want to chuckle and offend him, but she couldn't keep the teasing light from her eyes as she folded her arms lightly over her chest. "Come here, Birigundi." Maybe if she could bring just a little humor into this, that nervous expression in his eyes would disappear.

The young man obediently walked towards her, trying to keep his eyes from shifting around the huge room he had the rare privilege of being admitted to. **She invited you, you dim glow, so stop being so _sharding nervous_!**

Once he reached her, she asked, her voice soft, "Are you thirsty? Do want any wine?" Her gray eyes searched his and her head tilted slightly to the side. "Or are you hungry?"

"Both, actually." The Candidate was surprised at just how dry his throat had suddenly become.

She smiled at him and took his arm with hers. "Come on. I'll get some wine for us." She led him into the main living area and pointed to the couch. "You sit there." Then she slipped from his side and knelt in front of the wooden cabinet, looking at all the bottles' labels until she found the right one. Pulling it out, she brought it, and two glasses, over. The wine she'd chosen was a little strong, but she thought that the stronger the drink, the better it would be for him.

Traelyn perched on the edge of the couch and poured two glasses, then handed one to him. "I hope you like strong wines."

"I grew up in a tavern, goldrider." Birigundi inwardly winced at the inadvertant use of her title. He threw back the glass in one long gulp.

She eyed him over the rim of her glass. "Let's not be too formal tonight, hmm?"

"Yes, ma'am," he said as he took he bottle from her and poured himself another drink. He needed all the courage he could get.

As she sipped at her wine, she watched him in silence. She could feel the liquor beginning to warm her, and she could see Birigundi's cheeks beginning to flush. Trae shifted closer.

Birigundi could feel that this was not going as well as he had hoped.
**Now is the time to be bold,** he told himself. He was half afraid the moment would pass and his new found courage would fail him. As she shifted closer he strengthened his resolve. He set down his glass and the bottle and reached over and pulled Trae over to him.

Unfortunatly he didn't take the drink in her hands into account and as she had just raised the glass to her lips, he ended up spilling the contents of her glass over the both of them. The Candidates first impulse was to jump up and run out of the room in shame for his clumsy attempt at seduction. But then the humor of the situation began to creep in. "Sorry about that. I saw that going a bit smoother in my mind."

She laughed and set her glass down on the table before wiping the droplets of wine off of her chest. Grinning, she looked up at him. "You're lucky I wasn't wearing my white shirt tonight," she winked, shaking the loose tendrils of her hair back from her face.

"I suppose I am," he said, his mischevious grin having returned. "It's good wine though. It's a pity to waste it." Birigundi caught a few drops that were begining to slide down her neck with his lips. "Yes, very tasty indeed."

Trae grinned and leaned her head back, giving him better access to her neck. "And we don't want to waste anything, do we?"

"Definitely not," he whispered against her skin as he began working on the ties to her tunic. "Let's see if there are any other drops I missed."

"Mmm..." Her eyes closed. "Curious, are you?" She could feel his fingers on her skin now, slowly moving down the V of her shirt.

He let his fingers slide under that fabric of her tunic as he said, "I told you, I am a very willing pupil, and you are such a beautiful teacher."

Her eyes opened and she lifted her head up from the back of the couch to look at him. Gently she took his other hand and guided it slowly under the hem of her shirt, pressing it to her flat stomach. "How much do you want to learn?" Her voice was soft and her eyes were beginning to darken as she met his gaze.

"Everything you want to teach me," he answered, his voice hoarse. The fingers of his hand continued down until their progress was impeded by more cloth. Birigundi looked straight in her eyes as his fingers slipped under her waistband.

And she looked straight back at him, a sudden, coy smile curving her lips as she shifted her hips slightly more against his fingers. "There's a lot that I can teach you, boyo." The backs of her fingers slid up his thigh to his waist where they snuck beneath the hem of his tunic and began to trail up and down the line of his navel.

Birigundi shivered a little under the gentle touch of her fingers. "I can see that. And I think you will find that I am a fast learner." He lifted his other hand to her cascading blonde hair and claimed her mouth with his, gently pushing her back into the soft cushions of the sofa.

Last updated on the September 8th 2005

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The Time To Be Bold