Strike Two

Writers: Clancey, Suzee
Date Posted: 22nd February 2015

Characters: Tavia, D'aon
Description: Tavia and D'aon meet again with even worse results than their last encounter.
Location: Dragonsfall Weyr
Date: month 11, day 13 of Turn 7

Tavia

A bag over his shoulder, the lanky bluerider made his way to the
bathing pools. He had come to the pools instead of using his own,
looking for a bit of company perhaps. He had kept a bit to himself
the last month or two, waiting for his shoulder to heal completely.

It had healed completely a few sevendays ago and he was good as new,
but there was nothing better at times than a warm bath with a cool
glass of wine.

It was a busy time of the evening at the pools, so there were plenty
of dragonriders and weyr residents in various states of undress all
around the pools. There was a couple of empty spots on the far side
near some attractive greenriders, of the male and female varieties.
He made his way to one of those and slipped out of his loose clothes
with natural grace and ease before sliding into the warmth with a deep
sigh.

It was quickly followed by an appreciative noise when he sipped the
wine he'd brought.

Tavia didn't exactly feel like lots of company tonight. Her day in the
infirmary had been long a fraught with emotion. She carried her things
to the side of the pool and stacked them on the bench before pulling
off her clothes. She waved and smiled at called greetings as she
slipped into the water. A small groan of pleasure sounded at the back
of her throat as the warmth of the water eased her tired muscles.
"Shards that feels good."

He became marginally aware of someone taking the place next to him and
found himself slightly aggravated when he realized it was not one of
the attractive greenriders he'd first seen, though she _was_
attractive, but instead it was the annoying Healer that had patched
his shoulder for him.

Well there went his idea of company!

With his plans mildly upturned, his voice came out sharper than he meant.

"Well, if it isn't Miss State the Obvious Healer. Hot water does in
fact feel good on aching muscles. A healer, one would think, might
realize that fact." He sipped his wine once more and closed his eyes
as he looked away. She was far more attractive than he'd first
suspected, now that he'd seen her ... up close... so to speak. But
that didn't mean he had to _Like_ her.

What was it about her that made him bristle immediately? He'd only
had that one interaction with her. He opened his eyes and slid his
gaze sideways. And here she was again.

**Oh great,** she turned and looked at the man and then simply rolled
her eyes before closing them and sinking under the water to expel a
breath. She rose back out of the water and plucked the drink from his
fingers. "Thanks," she said and smiled sweetly before batting her
eyelashes. The smile didn't reach her eyes of course. She took a deep
breath "Nice vintage."

Why that little.... He found himself mildly impressed despite not his
personal feelings. Not many would have been so ...... He couldn't
think of a word for her attitude but deep inside he liked that she
didn't back down.

He'd never show it though.

He met her own half smile with one of his own, cool, with a slight
twitch that made it look like he was trying not to laugh. "How very
rude. And obvious. As if I would drink anything other than a 'nice
vintage'. " He leaned closer to her, his large shoulders taking up a
bit more space than they had moments ago. "I prefer to choose my
own.... drinking partners.... though." He snatched it back. "Its
too bad really. All of that lovely body spoiled by the personality."
He turned away, though he obviously did not intend to go anywhere.

She didn't move and she didn't flinch, but stared back at him with
eyes of emerald fire. "I have no opinion of your drinking or any
other... habits," she said raking him with her eyes has he had done
her. "So don't flatter yourself," she answered without inflection.
"But then actions speak louder than words." Her opinion of this rider
had just dropped to a new low. She'd given him the benefit of the
doubt in the infirmary when he was in pain, but this -- this was just
bad manners. "And here I thought Ma'din was rude. He's got nothing on
you does he?" The question was obviously rhetorical.

"These are communal baths" --oh how she wished U'kaiah were still here
so she could use his instead-- "so I must put up with riff raff from
time to time." She looked to the side of the pool and scraped up a few
fingers of sweetsand to wash her hair.

He gazed at her for a moment, his eyes hooding and hiding his
feelings. Stone faced, he said lightly, "I'm only rude when the
company demands it. In general, I'm a wonderful, nice person with a
fantastic sense of humor. Odds are you'll never find that out, but
there it is." In truth he was fascinated by her feisty personality
and her pointed response to his, lets face it, poor behavior. He
knew he was behaving badly. But she aggravated him... and his temper
was a last unfortunate holdout of his mis-spent youth as weyrbrat.

He straightened up after dunking his head once more to rinse the sweet
sand from his own hair, then stood out of the warm water and grabbed a
towel to wrap around him as he stepped out.

"The riff raff will leave you to your bath, my lady." He winked,
though it wasn't quite a _Nice_ wink.

He did, however, leave his wine within her reach.

She didn't understand why she felt this way about the man or why they
seemed to rub each other the wrong way. Beyond that she didn't much
like the person she became when he was around. She closed her eyes and
turned her head as she washed her hair. So it was only when she
resurfaced from a rinse that she even saw the bottle of wine and his
disappearing back.

She wasn't quite certain how to react other than to refill the glass
and sip appreciatively. It really was a very nice bottle.

Last updated on the March 3rd 2015

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Strike Two