Under The Moonlight (1/3)

Writers: Anaria, JR
Date Posted: 24th November 2010

Characters: J'klin, Roana
Description: J'klin hasn't come to see her, so Roana visits him instead.
Location: River Bluff Weyr
Date: month 11, day 17 of Turn 5
Notes: Part 1 of 3

A few days later, Roana was crawling the walls in her weyr. It had been turns since she'd felt this alone. Despite his visit that first evening and asking if he could come around, the greenrider hadn't seen him since. She sent a message through Phiralith, to see what he was up to. If he was lazing around alone, she'd head up to his weyr for company.

}: Nimyth, my rider is bored, is yours, too? :{ The green queried.

}:Yes. He seems to have this silly notion that if he runs out and spends all his time with yours, that yours will think he is desperate. If he checks his riding straps one more time, I might nudge him off the weyrledge...:{ Nimyth responded.

**Who are you talking to?** J'klin asked, sensing that Nimyth was talking to someone, but not hearing the actual conversation. That generally indicated the brown was trying to hide something from his rider.

}:Uh.... Phiralith,:{ The brown said.

J'klin felt his heart thud harder in his chest. **And what does she want?** he asked his lifemate, but to himself he was thinking **Please let her want to hang out, please please please.....**

Roana was already moving to make her way up to J'klin's weyr, moving through the back halls. He was two levels up and a couple weyrs over, not far at all, but his ledge was positioned so that unless Nimyth was peering over the edge, she couldn't tell if he was there. Before a few minutes had gone by, she was outside his door, knocking tentatively. In the meantime, Phiralith had made the flight up to join and curl up with Nimyth on the ledge, her mint-green hide glowing in the moonlight.

J'klin smiled when he saw the green dragon land on his ledge, and was already at the door by the time that Roana knocked on. He opened the door, smiling broadly. **Shards, I don't remember the last time I was so glad to see someone at my weyr...** he thought to himself. "Roana! What a pleasant surprise! What brings you to my weyr?" Meanwhile, Nimyth was glad for the cuddle partner on his ledge, and he draped one wing affectionately over Phiralith.

"You haven't come to see me," She pouted, "So I came up to see you. It's lonely, not knowing a lot of people here." While she'd never been the most popular person, she'd had a small group of mixed riders and crafters before, so there was always _someone_ available. But, it had barely been a sevenday, she couldn't expect that she'd instantly meet people. Despite the teasing pout, there was something else in her voice - uncertainty. His smile and greeting seemed overly bright. What if he was only pretending to be happy to see her?

"I didn't want to push you," J'klin said. "Or... well, moreso I didn't want to come off as being needy." His voice was similarly uncertain. Why did things need to be weird? Since when was he ever nervous about liking a woman?

}:Just cuddle with her. That always works for me,:{ Nimyth supplied helpfully.

Roana sighed, "I thought giving you an open invitation to my weyr would have been enough of a hint that I want you around. Shards, we were in and out of each others places like it was nothing back at Dragonsfall." She bit her lip at the unexpected stab of hurt and turned to head back toward the stairs. "If you don't really want to see me, I'll just... go."

Realizing that in trying to go slow with Roana, he had actually hurt her feelings, J'klin reached out, grabbing her gently by the arm and turning her to face him. "No, it's not that at all, I just didn't want to scare you off. Shards, it's been so long since I've tried to start a relationship, I don't even know what I'm supposed to do any more. I want to be more than just friends... but I don't want to sacrifice our friendship in the process."

Slowly, waiting for him to move away or do something else to reject her, Roana curled her arms around his waist. "I want more, too, but J'klin, you're acting as though I'm a different person, or there are different rules. I'm just Roana, the same one you've known for nearly ten turns. Treat me like you did at Dragonsfall. You weren't afraid to touch, or talk, or anything else with me then."

"Yes, but I didn't spend the entirety of my time with you wanting to kiss you back then, either," he said. "Well, that's not true. I still _wanted_ to, but I'm an honest man, I wouldn't go behind my weyrmate's back, so that made it a lot easier to deal with," J'klin realized he was rambling and decided it was time to shut his mouth.

"So you want to kiss me, but you won't even hug me back," She tightened her arms around him for a brief moment before she released him. Roana's eyes burned; she closed them to fight the threatening tears and hide the hurt that showed so easily on her face. "You're not making any sense, J'klin. I can't do this, not this way. If you want me, you have to show me, you can't just say it then reject every advance I make."

J'klin decided that the time had come for him to make a decision and stick with it. He wrapped his arms around Roana, pulling her close to him. "I'm so sorry..." he said, before kissing her gently.

This was exactly what she'd missed. He wasn't that tall, but his build more than made up for it, and being wrapped up this way made her feel so safe and secure. She snuggled in for a moment before she focused on the kiss, taking the time to enjoy and lock it in her memory.

J'klin didn't want to pull away; She felt so right in his arms. But it occurred to him that they were still standing in the doorway of his weyr, so he broke the contact. "I really would like it if you came inside," he said softly, kissing the tip of her nose lightly. "I promise, I'll stop being a wherry-headed fool."

"Okay," She nodded. Reluctantly, she moved around him and into his weyr, looking around curiously. It was far more lived in than hers, obviously; he'd been at River Bluff far longer than she had. "It's surprisingly neat, for a man's home," Roana noted, a little nervous. What would he do now?

"Yeah...," J'klin said slowly, scratching his forehead. "Living with women for a while will break you of a lot of bad habits. You start to realize that not having dirty clothes all over the place is a pretty nice thing. Here, have a seat," he said, gesturing to the couch, "I'll go grab you a glass of redfruit juice. I got rid of all my wineskins. Even the hidden ones." He said with a smile.

She settled in, pulling her legs up in front of her and letting her arms settle around them while she waited. His last comment put a smile on her face. "You don't have a single drop of wine, _anywhere_ in here? I'm proud of you!"

"I got rid of the hard alcohol as well," J'klin boasted, as he returned with two glasses and a skin of redfruit juice. "All I have is redfruit juice and klah!" He poured glasses for both himself and Roana, before handing one of them over. "I would like to propose a toast to new beginnings!"

"I will happily drink to that - yours _and_ mine." Roana gently clinked her glass against his. "I never thought I'd say this, but I miss Dragonsfall. It's going to take a long time before I'm as comfortable here as I was there."

"Oh yeah. My first three months here, I think the Wing practices were worse than when I was promoted to the Wings after weyrlinghood. I was terrified I'd mess up, I didn't want people thinking I was a dimglow. It was horrible. And of course, I got lost every time I was told to go somewhere.... I don't envy you at all in having to relearn everything. It was not fun," J'klin said.

Roana shrugged, "That's not what bothers me, it's trying to make friends with people. At Dragonsfall, even if I didn't know someone personally, I knew them by sight, at least. It was rare to meet a complete stranger. Here, I can't keep track of anyone." When he sat, she shifted in close to his side, "At least I have you around, if you'll stop being such a stranger."

Last updated on the December 16th 2010

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Under The Moonlight (1/3)