Innocent Sleeping?

Writers: Miriah, Yvonne
Date Posted: 20th November 2016

Characters: J'ackt, Alina
Description: J'ackt thinks back on an incident that happened months ago.
Location: Dolphin Cove Weyr
Date: month 9, day 3 of Turn 8

J'ackt

Alina

Threadfall exhausted him. Not just because of the obvious, but it
seemed like he could not stop watching the skies to make sure she was
alright, being ready to catch her if he needed to. It was stupid, but
he couldn't help himself.

After his bath, J'ackt lay down on his bed, one pillow beneath his
head and the other nearby. Thinking of her right now made him think of
the last time she'd been in his weyr.

---------------
Alina had crept from the flight cots straight to the baths, where
she'd scrubbed herself until her skin was pink. At least this time
she'd known what to expect... fear of the unknown had been replaced by
dread, and while it was still hard, Imarith rising to mate hadn't been
as bad as last time. A good dragonrider would have gone to the dining
caverns for dinner or gone back to her weyr for a good night's sleep.
Both of those choices seemed too hard. The thought of all the people
in the dining cavern watching her, _knowing_ what she'd done... it
made her skin crawl. And she remembered last time Imarith rose, when
Ikalis had pounded on her door until she'd opened it and spoke with
her. Alina didn't want to see her. Or _anyone_.

But there was nowhere to be alone at the Weyr. Briefly she debated
going to the beach, but anyone could find her there hiding in the
shadows. All they had to do was send a flit or ask Imarith. She needed
somewhere to hide... her feet turned toward the personal weyrs almost
of their own volition. **This is a bad idea,** Alina told herself.
**This is stupid. Don't go.** Her heart was pounding as she knocked on
a too-familiar door.

Keeping Zith out of Imarith's flight had been more difficult that he
had imagined and presently both rider and dragons were irritable. So,
when the knock came, J'ackt was inclined to open it and then shut it
firmly in the face of whomever was knocking. He flung the door open
with a scowl, but his expression cleared to immediate surprise when he
saw Alina. "Alina..wh.." He studied her face for only a moment before
he stepped back to allow her in.

"Umm.. if I'm not... interrupting." Alina brushed the end of her braid
over her knuckled as tried not to look past J'ackt into the weyr
beyond.

"You're not. I'm alone." He ushered her in and closed the door behind
her. Had her flight not gone well? He had hoped, though he'd not
wanted to think about the specifics, that it had gone better than the
previous. He just looked at her and waited.

"I..." She kept fidgeting with her braid. "I don't... want to talk to
anyone. I thought maybe... if I'm here, nobody will look for me."

He looked at her and then slowly nodded. "No, no one will look for you
here." He gestured to the curtained area where his bathing chamber
was. "Soak if you like, or lay down. Do what you need to." It hadn't
gone well then.

She drifted over to J'ackt's bed and perched on the edge, studiously
not looking at the lewd tapestry behind her. "I'm fine. I just...
don't really know what to do now."

He stayed back, then ran a hand through his hair before tugging at the
strands. He would need to chop it all off again soon. "What do you
want to do?" He sat in another chair, resting his elbows on his knees.
"Not what you think you should do, but what do you actually _want_ to do?"

She shook her head. "I don't know. I just don't want to have to deal
with people." Their concerns, their wants... it was smothering.

He nodded. "Then don't. Just stay here as long as you like." He
gestured to his weyr. "I have to tend to Zith anyway in the bowl, so
you can have some peace and quiet as long as you need." He didn't
really have to, but if she needed some time alone, which he could
absolutely relate to, he was willing to surrender his weyr for a while.

"I didn't mean to chase you out of your own weyr..." Even if she
didn't want to talk to anyone, J'ackt somehow didn't count.

He shrugged. "I can stay if you like." He tilted his head to the side,
then rose to pour her a glass of water. He stopped, peered at the
water and then shook his head and reached for a wine skin. It was
still full; he'd barely opened it and had been hesitant to drink
anything else alcoholic, but figured now was a good time. He poured
her a glass and handed it to her. "Better or worse this time?"

"About the same." She took a huge swallow of the wine. It was slightly
vinegary and burned going down, and she started to cough.

"It's not the best, I know." J'ackt nodded towards the wine. "But it
warms you." He sighed and sat beside her. "Look, you don't have to
answer if you don't want to, but I have to know." He held his own
glass and peered at her. "Do you even enjoy it? During the flight I
mean? Or is it the after that bothers you?"

The greenrider slowly went red and tried to look at anything except
the young man beside her. The silence stretched. "I... don't know
where I end and Imarith starts," she said slowly. "It's just all mixed
up." What she wanted-- what she _enjoyed_ was because of her dragon.
Or was it?

J'ackt thought about that for a moment, then scratched the back of his
head. He had a solution he could immediately think of, but whether or
not to say it to Alina was the difficulty. "Maybe..." He started but
stopped. He didn't want to suggest she take a lover; shards, the
thought of her bedding someone outside of flights bothered him and he
knew full well that she wouldn't take the suggestion well.

He weighed his options, something he had learned to do since he had
gotten to know her. He decided on one course and spoke slowly.
"Flights are different than sharing a bed with a lover. It's...more
out of control." He ran his hand through his hair. "Flights are all
well and good, but personally, I prefer doing more than just trying to
reach the finish. Flights...it's just mating. That's it. " His voice
softened. "You've never experienced anything besides that, so you
don't know the difference."

It always came down to that. Alina could feel a sharp retort on the
tip of her tongue. But if she said anything, she'd end up starting a
fight and losing her sanctuary. And then she'd end up getting into a
fight with someone else. "So I've been told," she said finally. **Over
and over.**

He nodded, then shrugged. It did make a difference, but she knew it
and just hadn't acted on it. Her choice, even if he wanted to change
it. "I'm not going to question you, Alina. Do what you think is best."
That's what his MindHealer had said...and Faranth, he hated that the
man's words were right some times.

J'ackt rose, refilled her glass. He had no idea what she really wanted
or what she needed. "Just do what you need to here, Alina. Kick back.
Talk about whatever."

"Maybe... if Zith doesn't mind, can I go sit on his ledge for a
while?" The fresh air seemed appealing. And Zith didn't ask awkward
questions.

His brows rose. "Zith isn't on the ledge." He paused, listening and
his smile was wolfish. "He's with Imarith." He gestured towards the
ledge. "Feel free." While she was out, he'd leave for a bit to give
her some space, and just check on her later.

Of course Zith was with Imairth. **Fickle dragon.** Alina managed a
smile and stood. "Thanks."

"No problem." He shrugged. The moment she was out of sight, J'ackt
quietly left, leaving her to her solitude.

A candlemark later Alina wandered back into J'ackt's weyr from Zith's
ledge. It was quiet inside, and the solitude soothed her jangled
nerves. She ran her hand along the edge of his dresser and peered at
the few things he'd left on its top. J'ackt had so little... she sat
on the edge of his bed and stared at the dirty tapestry he'd hung up.
Was that what she and L'exan had looked like in the midst of Flight
lust? The woman had her head thrown back, her hair spilling down her
back. Her cheeks were pink with desire. She looked wanton, and the
man... he looked consumed by her. To them, the rest of Pern didn't
exist.

She looked away and closed her eyes. Everything was happening so fast.
It was just over a Turn since she'd been Searched and taken to the
Weyr. Less than a Turn since she'd Impressed. And now she was flying
Thread and bedding men and everything had changed so fast she could
hardly breathe. Alina lay back on the bed and wrapped her arms around
his pillow. It smelled like him, something indefinable and different
and... safe. He was Holdless and had stabbed a man. He'd stolen from
Emerald Falls Hold and brawled with the Weyrleader. Nothing made sense
here.

She closed her eyes. **Only for a moment...** J'ackt would be back
soon and she wanted to be gone by then. Instead she fell asleep.

When he finally came back into his weyr, the bundle in his bed
surprised him. The last thing he expected was to see Alina snuggled up
with her arms wrapped around his pillow; he had expected her to
already be gone. Instead, she looked...peaceful and for once, without
worry or strain on her expression. He moved to carefully sit on the
edge of the bed, then gently tucked a strand of hair away from her
face. She didn't wake. Apparently, she was not as light of a sleeper
as he was.

J'ackt sighed and glanced at his chair. It was small and not very well
cushioned. He grumbled a soft curse, then glanced at his bed. Shards,
he was tired too, and it was his shaffing bed. He scrubbed at his
hair. She would kill him. She would take his balls and rip them off;
he happened to like them exactly where they were. But, if he slept
light, he could wake before she did.

Well, he decided, she was on his bed, and he needed sleep. She'd have
to deal with it. Very carefully, he slid off his boots and his shirt,
(by Faranth, he hated sleeping clothed and his pants were going to be
his only concession to her modesty) and slid into the bed next to the
weyr wall. He heaved a sigh and lay back, reminding himself internally
to wake at dawn.

What he didn't know was that Alina was an early riser, and Turns
living on a farming cot meant that she usually woke a little before
the sun came up. She yawned, feeling rested and relaxed and...
someone's arm over her middle. The greenrider froze.

The stiffness of the person beside him didn't rouse J'ackt. Instead,
he tugged the warm body closer to him, tucking Alina's head under his
chin. He mumbled something incoherent and settled back down, his hand
splayed over Alina's abdomen.

She sucked in a breath. She was in J'ackt's weyr still-- **I must have
fallen asleep!** Her shirt had ridden up as she'd slept and the touch
of a hand on her bare stomach sent a frisson of warmth through her
body. If she moved, he'd wake up. He was curled against her back, a
solid shape that fit neatly against her spine. She could feel his
heart beat. Alina lay very still and slowly relaxed into his arms. The
smart thing would be to leave. But for once she couldn't bring herself
to act appropriately.

For a long while, J'ackt didn't move and just laid there, quietly
sleeping. But as Rukbat came closer to rising, he shifted slightly and
his fingers began stroking the soft skin under his hand. He shifted,
his head moving to nuzzle against the dark hair and made a soft,
pleased noise in the back of his throat. Half asleep, the typical
reaction of a man in the morning occurred and nestled so closely to
the woman beside him, it couldn't be hidden.

When she realized what was happening, Alina froze, barely breathing.
It felt so good to be there-- a little fantasy made real. But J'ackt's
body was a good reminder why she couldn't stay. Slowly she began to
try to ease out of his arms, hoping he wouldn't wake.

The slight movement woke him and for a moment, he was confused about
who the warm bodied woman was beside him. "Hm?" He opened his eyes,
his touch on her stomach to instinctively halt her progress. He lifted
his head sleepily and blinked sleepily. J'ackt's brows knit as he
realized who was beside him and he remembered that she had fallen
asleep and so had he. And his lower extremities were extremely
interested in that fact that she was nestled beside him. Regretfully,
he moved his hips enough to keep him from temptation and when he
spoke, his voice was still slightly hoarse from sleep."Sorry..happens
in the morning sometimes."

He lifted his hand away from her stomach and rubbed at his eyes,
looking around the not quite dawn light filtering in. He turned back
to look at Alina and there was no apology in his expression for the
fact that they had slept in the same bed.

"I should go," she said quickly and nearly fell off the side of the
bed in her haste to make an escape. This was so bad. "I'm sorry I--
you should have woken me up!"

J'ackt rose to a sit, then rubbed at his hair, making it stand up in
random places. "Nothing happened, Alina. We just slept." He rubbed at
his eyes and swung his feet over the side of the bed. "It was
nothing."

**For you.** She scowled and wrapped her arms around her middle
awkwardly. Where was the line between something and nothing for
J'ackt? Because this was 'something' for her. This was the first time
she'd ever slept in someone else's bed. "I'm sorry..." she said,
backing away. "I'm sorry if I intruded... I didn't mean..."

The moment she scowled, J'ackt keyed in on her agitation. It was
getting easier to read her, though he wasn't always sure he was
correct in his assumptions. "Alina..." He shook his head and stared at
the ceiling for a moment before looking back down at her. He remained
on the bed and rested his arms on his knees. "It's nothing to
apologize for. You didn't intrude, remember? You were tired, had a
rough day and you were sleeping so peacefully that I wasn't going to
wake you. You needed the rest." His lip curled up slight in a smile.
"And I enjoyed holding you."

That made her turn as red as a beet. "You didn't even _ask_!" It came
out half way between speech and a shriek. "I can't believe-- oh
shells, I'm going to be late for drills!" And if anyone _saw_ her
leaving J'ackt's weyr...! She turned and scurried for the door.

He just looked at her for a moment, then threw up his hands. The girl
was impossible! He flung himself back on the bed as she scampered
away. Bloody impossible, fecking annoying, female!

----

J'ackt snorted to himself at the memory. He should have taken the hint then.

Last updated on the January 31st 2017

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Innocent Sleeping?