Somebody to Lean On

Writers: Anwen, Eimi
Date Posted: 27th August 2006

Characters: Maiz, U'kaiah
Description: The pair have a conversation about relationships.
Location: Dragonsfall Weyr
Date: month 13, day 4 of Turn 3

Maiz sat out in the sun, basking in its warm rays.
T'nac had just left for drills- it was the third time in a sevenday that he had spent the night. She hadn't been so happy in months. "Well, you seem rather chipper this morning," U'kaiah smiled as he settled down next to her. "Slept well, did you?"

The greenrider blushed deep scarlet. He might not have been refering to the fact that she was sleeping _with_
someone, but she took it that way. "Yes, I suppose."

"Nothing like a good night's sleep," he nodded, laying back in the sand. "What have you been doing with yourself lately?"

"The usual," she said a bit defensively. She refused to meet his eye. "Wing practice, taking care of Indyath..."

"I'm sorry, am I hitting on a sore subject?" U'kaiah asked, noting her discomfort and really not sure what he could have possibly said to cause it... After all, he was just asking how she'd be doing!

Maiz was immediately contrite. "No, no. I'm sorry. I just tend to think I am being critisized when I am questioned- even when its not the case."

"It's all right," he reassured her. "But I promise I don't intend to critisize. What's there to critisize anyway, right?"

"I thought you'd seen T'nac leaving," she admited. "I thought you were teasing me about him."

"Bronzerider T'nac?" U'kaiah asked curiously. "He stayed with you?"

Maiz nodded. "He's been here on and off for about a sevenday."

Well, there were worse bronzeriders than T'nac, U'kaiah knew. "Is this something serious?"

"Maybe... yes... I don't know," Maiz said, as she herself was confused. "I haven't known him all that long, but I don't sleep with just anyone."

"Nothing wrong with a casual fling now and then." Faranth knew U'kaiah had more than his fair share in the past.

"I suppose not. At least not by Weyr-standards. But holdbred morals are harder to shake than you would think."

"Well, I won't hold them against you. T'nac is not a bad choice. I seem to remember he was Holdbred too. Or craftbred. One or the other." At least, U'kaiah remembered he had been Searched and had not been raised in the Weyr like he had. "Just so long as you know what you're doing."

**If only he knew...** Maiz commented to her dragon.
To U'kaiah she said, "Are you worried about me breaking his heart? Or him breaking mine?"

"I actually hadn't thought about it. But I suppose him breaking yours."

"I thought that was what the, 'as long as you know what you're doing' statement meant," Maiz clarified. "Well, you know, you've just arrived and it seemed like this was a bit of an adjustment for you. But if T'nac can ease the process, then I'm happy for you," he shrugged. "I'm glad to see you looking so happy here."

"Thank you. And you're right... it was an adjustment coming here. I'm still adjusting, and probably will be for a long time. But its getting better and its getting easier."

"Well, if you ever need to talk, I am always willing to lend an ear."

"Thanks," Maiz murmered. "Its nice to have someone around who is willing to listen. Sometimes talking helps a lot more than you would think."

U'kaiah had never been all that good at talking. But he was pretty good at listening it seemed. "Well, any time you need someone, you know how to find me."

"You're conviently close," she agreed. "I'll try to remember if I want to talk in the middle of the night that being close doesn't mean you want to be of service at odd hours!"

The bronzerider chuckled, thinking of the odd hours he and Trae had to keep when she needed his shoulder, what with her being eight candlemarks ahead and all. "Any time, really."

"You're entirely too nice you know," Maiz jokingly scolded. "I know," U'kaiah sighed dramatically. "It's my greatest flaw."

"Well, I really appreciate it," she said sincerely.
"Its nice knowing there is someone around I can go to, even just for the comfort of silence. I haven't always had someone like that in my life."

"You haven't?" the bronzerider asked, surpried by her admission. "You had no good friends you could go to?"

Maiz hesitated a little bit, knowing that she sounded pathetic. "I had sisters at home. Then a moved to the Weyr... and I was just always sort of... isolated."

"Ah," he nodded his understanding. "That happens sometimes when someone is Searched and brought the Weyr not knowing anyone."

She was happy he took her statement at face-value and wasn't going to pry any further. "It was hard, going from having my family around me, to being just one of a thousand people."

"I really don't know," U'kaiah shrugged. "I was only ever one of a thousand. Really, the only family I had was my fostermother, Sarazara."

Maiz half-laughed. "Sometimes when I was little I got sick of having so many siblings and imagined how wonderful it would be to be an only child. Guess its all a matter of perspective, huh?"

"I suppose so," the bronzerider said softly. "But hey, what does it matter now? You have me, right?"

"Yeah," she said with a smile. "I guess I do."

Last updated on the August 27th 2006

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Somebody to Lean On