A Private Retreat (2/2)

Writers: Devin, Dana
Date Posted: 9th February 2006

Characters: N'vanik, Traelyn
Description: N'vanik comes to whisk Trae away
Location: Elsewhere on Pern
Date: month 9, day 27 of Turn 3

N'vanik

The sound of the stream was soothing. If he'd been here alone, he might have taken a nap. "You're the first person I've ever taken here," N'vanik said.

The grass crushed beneath her prickled at her back as she shifted to lay on her side. Propping her head up on her forearm, she lifted her eyes to his. "It's beautiful here. You should take others here more often." She smiled at him. "Or do you not want your secret get-away to become common knowledge?"

He returned the smile. "It's mine, and I'd like it to stay that way."

"I don't blame you." Her smile turned into a small, amused grin as she began plucking grass from his hair. "I have a couple spots like this myself."

He swatted her hand playfully. "Quit it!"

Trae snatched her fingers away from him, her grin growing wider. "What? You have grass sticking out all over your head. I can't take you seriously with all those sharding green leaves..." Her teasing voice trailed off as her hand reached for his hair again.

"It tickles," he grumbled.

She snorted. "It _tickles_? I didn't even know you could _be_ tickled."

"I'm full of surprises." He ran his hands through his hair, trying to pull the grass out. "You got some in your hair, too."

"Well, I blame my disarray all on you, N'vanik." She sat up and began running her fingers through her own hair - and wondered again why she didn't chop most of it off. It would fit under a helmet better short, that was for sure...

N'vanik laughed as he watched her. There was something about the way she looked, or the way she moved, or maybe it was both. . . he took a breath.
He did not like the way his thoughts were going. "I suppose you need to get back soon."

A sigh escaped her. "Yes...I suppose so." She looked over her shoulder at him, her dark eyes glinting a little. "Can't roll in the grass with you all evening..."

He reached over and pulled her into his arms. "Sharding responsibility.
Always getting in the way of a good time."

"Mmm... Can't argue with you there." She pressed her lips to the side of his neck, completely relaxed.

"You know, one of these days, you should come visit _me_," N'vanik said.

Traelyn looked up at him, a slow smile curving her lips. "We'll have to wait until Nyith's clutch hatches..."

"That shouldn't be long now, huh? Maybe a sevenday or so? Then you'll get some of your freedom back."

"It'll be nice." Her expression turned distant. "I wonder how I even stood being earthbound. Before I Impressed, I mean. Being bound to the earth like a fish is bound to the sea. Once you get a taste of flying -
of being up there...you can never go back. The months out of the Turn when Nyith is brooding on the Sands gives me a little taste of what it could be like if..." **Something were to happen.** She shut her mouth before those words would escape. What on _Pern_ had made her thoughts turn so morbid?

"If you never Impressed?" he guessed. "Yeah, I think about that too. I like the freedom of being a rider. I like being able to go where I want, when I want." N'vanik chuckled, "I didn't even like being bound to a Weyr before the Pass started."

"Bound to the Weyr? That's a funny way of putting it, N'vanik."

He shrugged. "I don't like being told what to do. I would have rather lived on my own, just me and Loseth."

She lowered her head to his shoulder, a slight frown pulling at the corners of her lips. "Oh..."

"Oh? What do you mean _oh_?"

"Dragons are needed in Weyrs, N'vanik..."

"Well, _now_ they are," he said. "With Thread to fight, of course they are."

"Mmm." She fell silent for a moment, wondering at him. "Do you...do you really dislike the company of people so much?"

"Sometimes," N'vanik said quietly.

"Why?" Her voice was just as quiet.

He lifted an eyebrow, amused. "You've seen how well I get along with people, Beautiful. It's just the way I am."

She lifted her face to his, a slight grin pulling at her lips. "You can be really friendly when you want to be..."

"Yeah, but you're special."

"Oh?"

N'vanik frowned, realizing what he'd said. Well, shardit. "You know you're special."

"Special?" She laughed softly, almost bitterly as memories of her past flashed through her mind. "I'm not so sure."

He tilted his head. **What is going on at Dolphin Cove?** "You're a _goldrider_, Trae. A _Weyrwoman_. You're too perfect. I told you that before."

"I remember." Her fingers twisted in the grass beneath them. "But I'm not perfect, N'vanik. No one is."

"Maybe not. But you _are_ special." He went on in a quieter tone, "I don't like seeing you like this."

Traelyn glanced up into his eyes, a part of her a little surprised at his admission.

He plucked a blade of grass from her hair. "I'm supposed to be the troubled one."

That brought a faint grin to her lips before she lowered her gaze, coming closer to rest her cheek to his chest, warmed by the fact that he cared enough to tell her. Words were caught in her throat, and instead she rubbed her cheek softly against his skin.

N'vanik closed his eyes for a moment, enjoying the touch.

Last updated on the February 9th 2006

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A Private Retreat (2/2)