Well Ain't That Something

Writers: Leigh M-F., Miriah
Date Posted: 19th January 2015

Characters: Ninaine, A'kua
Description: The day is full of progress!
Location: Dragonsfall Weyr
Date: month 9, day 28 of Turn 7

Ninaine

As she watched her parents leave, Ninaine couldn't help but feel proud of
herself and lapse into thought. It was funny how one single event could
change her so much, Ninaine mused. Maybe it wasn't just the one thing;
after all, she'd been getting stronger physically, and was flying more, but
even that didn't explain how she was able to stand up to her mother and
father. Not only had she been so offended at their suggestion, she hadn't
even considered going along with it. Thoughts about what _he_ would have
thought about the situation had admittedly influenced her. She wondered
what N'call would have said to her parents, especially considering the
situation had occurred shortly after their…dalliance.

The thought made her flush. She hadn't seen him since; not that she'd been
avoiding him. Much. She was busy. They both were busy. So what if she went
to bed early in an effort not to go back to his weyr? It was just too
tempting to sink back into those furs and the warmth and affection he
offered. She wasn't _that_ way, despite what had happened.

She turned away as the dragon carrying her parents leaped into the air, not
paying attention to what was around her only to collide with a person
behind her.

"Oof!" Aluka actually had to take a couple of steps back from the impact.
Ninaine really was getting stronger. "Watch where- oh, hey," he greeted on
realizing who had bumped into him, and gave her a smile. "Nice day, huh?"
It was why he was wearing his absolute worst clothing and a pair of gloves
that covered his fingertips; he wanted to go rock-climbing again.

Ninaine stepped back quickly, about to apologize when she saw who it was
and smiled. It was bit more wide and open than before and her back was held
straight but not stiff. "It is, actually. My parents just left."

Aluka's eyebrows lifted in surprise at the greenrider's expression, then
lowered as he processed what she said, and his eyes narrowed. "What did
they do?" he asked suspiciously. There was no way on the Red Star that his
friend's parents would willingly return to her.

She looked back where the dragon and just gone /between/ and then back to
Aluka. There was a tinge of embarrassment as she quickly relayed the story,
including her father's final embrace before he left and his introduction to
Luneth. Luneth had not been impressed by her father, but had behaved at
least. "I told them no, Aluka. My mother wanted me traded for wood. Wood of
all things." She sniffed.

Aluka didn't respond for several minutes. He was trying to rein in his
temper, clear the red from his vision, and refrain from saying some truly
nasty things, such as calling Niori a few names that had been aimed at his
own mother. Finally, when he thought he could talk without exploding like a
volcano, he let out a breath and managed to smile at Ninaine. "I'm proud of
you," he said without a trace of accent to emphasize he meant what he said.
"You did very well."

She watched him, the twitching of his face and the tight expression; she
could easily guess what his opinion was. She flushed a little at the
compliment and gave a quick shrug. "It didn't feel right, what they were
wanting me to do. And I'm not marriageable now. Not really." That brought a
flush as she cleared her throat. "And Luneth would have never allowed it
either. Can you imagine what she would have done if some stranger touched
me?" She shook her head. "But the worst was how my mother just disregarded
Luneth. Like she wasn't even important." Ninaine's eyes hardened at the
memory. "But I took care of that. I'll probably never see her again."

"Aye, actually, I can imagine. Very vividly," Aluka said, picturing the
green eating some poor man before his thought process stuttered and broke
off. Ninaine really had found someone she trusted -someone Luneth didn't
want to maim- to be her first? Wow. That was a huge leap for both dragon
and rider. He didn't make a fuss about it, though; he didn't want to
embarrass her. "At least your father seems to be on your side," he said
instead.

She gave a little shrug. "A bit, yes. I'm surprised. Usually he agrees with
whatever Mother thinks. He is for now until he's back home with her and has
to live with her." She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. "Mother
tends to get her way." She took a deep breath, looked at him and blinked.
"Why are you looking at me like that?" Her cheeks flamed. Shards, could
people tell that she had...no...surely not.

"Like what?" Aluka asked, cocking his head curiously.

She frowned, just a little. Perhaps it was just a guilty conscience. Her
cheeks reddened. "Like I'd...I don't know...grown an appendage or
something."

"Oh, sorry. That wasn' my intent," Aluka apologized, reverting to his usual
sound. "I was just-" Wait, no, he had to say something other than the
truth, much as he disliked that. "Just wishin' I could give ya a hug
without settin' Luneth off," he said instead. "I know it hurts, what your
ma did, but I really am proud."

She tilted her head and then slowly smiled. "You can hug me." The change of
accent was interesting. Which one was the real one?

}: He can? :{ Luneth's tone was a warning. }: Is it like good touching? It
better be nice touching. :{

**It'll be fine. It won't bother me.**

}:...bothers me. But fine. As long as it's not bad touching. :{ She huffed
softly, but turned her head away from the both of them.

"She doesn't mind, Aluka." Ninaine stepped forward, stopped and just waited.

Wait, _what?_ She- And- But- Really? Barely daring to believe it, Aluka
slowly stepped closer as well and brought Ninaine into a brotherly hug. He
closed his eyes, relishing the contact, and realized that not only did
Ninaine deserve it in every way, he had been craving this kind of thing for
some time. Just a simple human connection. He really needed more friends,
more "siblings", or a lover.

He reluctantly let go, not wanting to push Luneth's tolerance too far, and
nodded to the green. "Thank ya," he said quietly.

Ninaine was stiff at first, still not used to contact, but the hug that her
father had given her earlier had warmed her towards further embraces. She
relaxed quickly and hugged him back with a slowly growing smile. Contact
felt good and she hadn't realized how much she missed it when Luneth had
panicked at the slightest touch. She stepped back as he addressed Luneth,
but didn't move too far away.

Luneth turned her head back to look at Aluka and just peered at him for a
moment. }: He is your friend. :{

**Yes.**

}: Like Haloth's? :{

Ninaine's face flushed brightly and she quickly corrected the little green.
}: Not like Haloth's. But he won't hurt me. He cares for me. :{

Luneth lowered her head to snuffle at Aluka, her breath blowing at his
hair. }: Alright. He gave nice touches to you. Not good ones, but nice. :{
She lowered her head and presented her eyeridge to Aluka. }: Scritch. :{

Ninaine's eyes softened as she glanced at Aluka. "She want's a scratch."

If he got any more surprises from this pair today, his heart would probably
stop. Barely daring to breathe since the sniffing started, Aluka pulled off
his right glove and rested his fingertips on Luneth's eyeridge as he'd seen
so many riders do, gently scratching with blunt and uneven nails. The
green's hide was very smooth, almost soft, a testament to Ninaine's care. A
huge grin slowly overtook his face. It certainly wasn't the first time he
had touched a dragon, but this contact meant the most because he understood
the amount of trust it took. "You're amazin' up close like this," he told
the green honestly, and repeated, "Thank ya."

Ninaine watched, hugging herself. "You know...you're the first person
besides me to be able to do that." Luneth's eyes half-closed in pleasure as
he scratched, a low croon bubbling out of her chest. Luneth hadn't even
offered to let N'call do that, not yet. But then again, he hadn't tried.
"She's relaxing around people. Not a lot, but much better than she used to
be."

"Well, then ya should both be proud," Aluka said, quite pleased with how
things were turning out. The day where rider and dragon were happy and
secure in their bond seemed to be coming closer sooner than expected.

"I am. She's just grumbling." The dragon snorted softly and purposefully
nudged Aluka's hand for more scratches. "Or, she was. She still does. I
guess it's because I'm more comfortable around you." Ninaine's smile was
more at ease than it had been. "She still doesn't like strangers. She
didn't like my Da very much at all."

The Candidate wasn't surprised, but maybe Luneth just needed some time to
warm up to the man, if he was indeed on Ninaine's side, so he just nodded
in response to his friend's words. "Ya know, I am gonna need my hand back
at some point," he joked to Luneth, but he kept scratching.

"She doesn't think so. I think you may have started something." Ninaine
then smiled as Luneth moved her head under the scratching fingers, guiding
the fingers to the base of her headknobs. There was a hint of pride in her
eyes that Luneth was behaving and finally allowing someone other than
herself close. Elevator duty was an exercise in chaos for the pair of them,
with Luneth only performing because Ninaine forced the issue. "Maybe this
will help her, you know?"

Aluka leaned in slightly to Luneth, but only slightly. "I've always been
glad to help Ninaine," he whispered, "so if ya need anythin' too, I'll try
to assist." He scratched the base of the green's headknobs, for now content
to keep doing as Luneth wanted.

Last updated on the January 27th 2015

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Well Ain't That Something