Helping Her Forget

Writers: Devin, Dana
Date Posted: 18th January 2006

Characters: N'vanik, Traelyn
Description: N'vanik visits Traelyn and offers her some comfort.
Location: Dolphin Cove Weyr
Date: month 9, day 14 of Turn 3

N'vanik

"Trae?" N'vanik called. He was standing just outside the huge entrance to the hatching grounds. For the last sevenday, he'd been considering not coming back. Trae had a life and duties here, and he would just get in the way. But the image of Calyth going /between/ kept coming back to him. What if something like that happend to Trae?

Nyith raised her head at the same moment Traelyn did. Surprised, she set the hides that were piled on her lap aside and stood. "N'vanik?"

"Hey, Beautiful. Don't look so surprised, you're gonna hurt my feelings,"
N'vanik said. "Can I come in? I don't know how broody Nyith is."

She glanced at Nyith, wondering what kind of mood she was in today. Sometimes she would snarl quietly and snap when people entered her domain, but at other times, she was perfectly content to show off her beautiful clutch to curious eyes.

}:He can come in. As long as he doesn't touch,:{ the queen told her rider primly as she settled herself more comfortably in the sand.

**He's not going to touch anything, dearest.**

Trae's grin turned into a smile as gestured him in with a hand. "You can come in. She won't snarl at you."

"That's a nice clutch," N'vanik said as he made his way over to Traelyn.
**They should have been ours,** came the unbidden thought. He pushed it away quickly.

"Thank you." Her eyes traced his face as he came closer, and once he reached her side, she leaned forward and kissed him lightly on the lips.

He slipped a hand around her waist. "So how are things in warm, sunny Dolphin Cove?"

Unbidden, a wry smile curved her lips, her eyes darkening slightly at the thought of the...issues standing between she and her Weyrleader, and the issues raging between she and that scortching brownrider. Things were certainly a toss up here for her in warm, sunny Dolphin Cove.

"Things have been...going well."

"From the sound of your tone, things must be fantastic," he said sarcastically.

Traelyn's jaw tightened at the memories, and she suddenly turned so she could press her brow to his shoulder - an uncharacteristic gesture of weariness. She was tired. Tired pretending, tired of being angry.

Concerned despite himself, he asked, "Hey, what's wrong?"

A faint smile touched her lips. "If I told you, you'd either laugh at me, or go to someone's weyr and start throwing things. You might even do both." She tilted her head to look up at him. "I don't really want to talk about it, N'vanik. Shards, I don't even want to _think_ about it."

"I know the feeling." He ran his hands through her hair. "Is there something I could do, to help you forget?"

Her dark eyes searched his and she reached up to brush his hair behind an ear. Then she smiled, but it was a warmer smile than before. "I'm sure, if you're given the right inspiration, you could probably think of something..."

N'vanik kissed her beneath her ear and whispered, "I know lots of ways to make you forget everything but me . . ."

"Then let's try them out, hmm?" Her smile was slow as she took his hand, leading him away from the Hatching Grounds to her weyr.

****************************

N'vanik sat propped against the pillows with Trae leaning against him, so that she was almost in his lap. He was running his hands through her hair, almost meditatively. The calm that he felt was only disturbed by knowing he would have to leave. Then, of all things, he thought of U'kaiah and what he'd said. **Tell her . . .or you might not get the chance** But _how_ could he tell her when he didn't know how he felt? "Do you ever wish . . . things were different?"

Her eyes fluttered open at his question, one arm tightening around him.
"What kinds of things?" she asked softly.

"That you were still at Dragonsfall, or that I . . . could stay here?"

Her eyes closed and she slowly rubbed her cheek against him. "Yeah... I do." She lifted her head to meet his eyes. "And you?"

He moved his hands around her waist. "Yeah, me too."

Traelyn curled closer against him, loving the familiarity of the way he held her. She was silent for a moment, shifting to rest her cheek back down against his chest. "Have you ever..." she paused.

"What?" N'vanik whispered.

She hesitated. "Have you ever considered...transferring?"

"With my record? I don't get to _ask_ where to go. I get told."

She should've known that. She _did_ know that. Why had she even asked? A deep sigh escaped her lips before she moved to press a kiss to his skin.

**Does she really want me here?** "If you want me to come by anytime, let me know," he said.

At that, she tilted her face up to his, wondering at him. "You mean that," she murmured, searching his eyes. "Don't you?"

"Yeah, I do," he said quietly. Then he smiled. "I just don't guarantee what kind of mood I'll be in when I get here."

"Mmm...yes. You can be pretty sharding moody, N'vanik." The look in her eyes was lightly teasing. "You definitely were the day you first came up to me, I remember."

"I was _very_ nice to you, considering the sevenday I was having." Had that really only been three months ago?

Her expression sobered, her teasing smile fading. "I guess we both know what it's like to be...forced to adjust quickly." Was 'forced' really the right word? Perhaps, sometimes, it was.

"You get used to it after a while," he said.

"Are you really used to it, though, N'vanik?" she asked quietly.

The bronzerider shrugged. "It's not easy. But when it happens enough, you learn how to deal with it."

She gazed at him, falling silent. And it was then when she truly realized how little she knew of him. He had told her some things, but they were like small pieces of a bigger puzzle. Three months of knowing him...what else could she expect? But shards...three months... Time felt longer than that. A half-smile curved her lips as she brushed her cheek against his shoulder. It really did feel longer than that.

Last updated on the January 18th 2006

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Helping Her Forget