Dancing with Lightning

Writers: Miriah, Yvonne
Date Posted: 7th March 2019

Characters: F'lin, Lanniya
Description: Lanniya runs into F'lin and has a rather serious question to ask after the unplanned encounter.
Location: Dolphin Cove Weyr
Date: month 9, day 21 of Turn 9

Lanniya

Humming softly as walked down the stairs from Pierka's weyr, Lanniya's
mind was full of the soft little bundle that she had gotten to hold.
The babe smelled so sweet and had been so tiny in her arms; her sister
had looked so happy and glowed nearly as much as Anaeryth before she
rose. Holding the small baby in her arms had sent such a surge of
longing through her and he thought of her someday holding her own
was...She would have to talk to K'ale. See what he thought.

Her mind was elsewhere as she wound her way to the weyrbowl, her mind
completely distracted with her own thoughts. She scarcely paid
attention to the greetings from those she knew distantly, she just
nodded to them, enjoying the warmth of the day.

"Lanniya." The bronzerider popped up directly in her path. "Lanniya! Hello?"

She simply wasn't paying attention and as she smiled to herself, found
her face smacking into a lean chest. "Oh! Sorry!" She looked up and
her eyes widened, then warmed. "F'lin!" Her smile flashed as she stood
on her toes and immediately wrapped her arms around his shoulders.
"Where have you been?"

"Right here!" He slid his arms around her waist to pick her up off her
feet and twirl in a circle. "But you're head's right up in the
clouds," he said as he put her down again. "Where have _you_ been?"

She laughed as he twirled her and as her feet touched back down, there
was a joy and real affection for him in her eyes. "Busy." She quipped.
"I just visited Pierka and her new baby. How have you been? You
haven't visited and when I'm here, you're busy." She poked playfully
at his chest. "How am I supposed to keep up with you?"

"Says the girl who is constantly here, there and everywhere," he shot
back. "Do you have a bit of time before you have to go back to
Dragonsfall, at least?"

Her grin was impish. "You know me, I hate sitting still." She tucked
her arm around his and pursed her lips. "Pretty sure I do. Chioneth
has eggs on the sands and I'm trying to keep Anaeryth from grumbling
too much about it. I think she's jealous." She ignored the inner snort
from her gold. " By the way, if a certain bronze isn't quick about
attending her, she's going to be unhappy with him." She winked and
tilted her head up to peer at him. "What do you have planned for
today? How have you been?"

He tipped his head toward the path that led to the seaside. "I'm
avoiding some hidework and heading down to the beach for a swim, if
you want to join me." Mentally he prodded Seneth awake. **Wake up.
Anaeryth is here.*

"You sound like me" Her nose wrinkled at the thought of hidework and
looked at the familiar path. "I'll have to watch. I didn't bring
anything to swim in and I haven't really been practicing," she
admitted. "I don't have a lot of time for it, really." She nudged at
his side. "So...any one special for you yet? You haven't said."

He laughed, pleased that she'd care. "Just me and my dragon, and my
Wing. Same as always. How's K'ale? And Pierka, and her baby?" He
didn't really want to ask about the rest of her
family. That still felt sore.

"No one? Oh." She couldn't help but feel a little thrilled about that,
despite wanting him to be happy. She walked down the path with him,
kicking little bits of gravel as she went. "K'ale's fine." She smiled
with warmth, pleased. "He stays busy, but he helps me out when I need
him to. Pierka's good too. You should see her, she's all soft, and
happy and the baby..." Her voice trailed off wistfully. "The baby's
just precious. I mean I love Kazom, but I didn't see him right after
he was born." She leaned her head against his arm. "Makes me wonder, really."

"Yeah? Are you thinking of starting a family?" He asked.

"You know...maybe. I've been thinking a lot about it and whether or
not I should." She sighed at the memory of holding the infant, and as
the warm smell of the ocean grew stronger, she inhaled deeply. Then,
remembering her own difficult choice, she glanced up at him quickly.
"Did _you_ ever want children?" She frowned and let him go to bend and
pick up a shell.

F'lin paused. Did he? "I've guess I've never really thought about it.
I want to be Wingleader, and Weyrleader. And I want Seneth to have
lots and lots of babies. I suppose I wouldn't mind if children
happened along the way."

"Well, maybe someday when I'm a Weyrwoman, you can be my Weyrleader. I
bet that Seneth and Anaeryth would have some great clutches." She
picked up another shell and looked at it, then rose, kicking off her
shoes, enjoying the sand between her toes. She walked forward towards
the lapping water, then bent at the waist to roll up her trousers to
the calf. "I've missed this place." She smiled as the water lapped at
her ankles.

The bronzerider came to stand beside Lanniya in the water. "You could
always transfer back, you know. The Weyr misses you."

"Just the Weyr?" She quickly glanced at him. "You all have Dessa now
so Saibra and Cyradis wouldn't allow it. You know that. I'm sure Dessa
will be just fine and maybe you and she will you know...be friends."
She couldn't help her nose wrinkling with a hint of jealousy. She
always thought of F'lin as uniquely hers and the thought of sharing
him with another goldrider wasn't pleasant.

"You're not Dessa, and Dessa isn't you. And you know I miss having you
around." The bronzerider bumped her shoulder with his companionably.
Granted, he also had much less drama in his life. But standing there
on the beach next to Lanniya, he wasn't sure that it was a good trade
off.

"No, but she _is_ pretty." She returned the bump, then crossed her
arms over her chest. "And I don't want her snatching my bronzerider
away." She flicked a gaze at him and kicked lightly at the lapping
water. "And I miss you too, you know. I've thought a lot about you."

"Oh?" He cocked an eyebrow. "What about me, may I ask?"

She colored, giving mute evidence to where her thoughts had
immediately gone. She turned to face him and tucked her fingers in his
belt before giving just a little tug. "Sometimes I wonder what it
would have been like if I had been able to stay. And...I wondered if
you still think about me too." She finally lifted her head to look at
him. "And that I really do care about you. A lot. And if you'll ever
kiss me again or want me again."

Oh, she was trouble. Everything about this was a bad idea. The brush
of her fingertips against his waist didn't make it easy to make good
decisions, and F'lin stepped forward so that they were nearly
touching. He brushed a strand of pale red hair from her face and then
leaned in to brush his lips against hers.

Lanniya sighed at the light brush of lips, and her eyes fluttered
closed. One hand lifted to the nape of his neck and her fingers played
in the hair there, encouraging him not to pull away. Her lips moved
against his mouth, gentle and sweet. "F'lin..." Her arms lifted to
wrap around his neck and she pressed her mouth more fully to his.

Shells, she felt good. Just like he remembered... Thoughts of the
night they'd spent together before she'd left the Weyr suddenly
flooded his mind, the feel of soft skin and the way her breasts looked
in his hands. He wrapped his hands around her waist and pulled her
against him. Her kisses were like sweets and sunshine, deceptively so.
He kissed her again, savoring the shape of her mouth beneath his.
"You're trouble," he murmured against her lips.

She loved being pressed against him, feeling the warmth of him and the
lean strength. Something about him, she didn't quite know what, made
her insides absolutely sizzle. She wanted to explore it, relish it,
drown in it. "Maybe," she murmured, then slid her mouth along his
jawline, kissing lightly as she reached his neck. "Everytime I see
you, I want this." Her hands kneaded his shoulders. "I want you."

Shells. This was _too_ good. F'lin exhaled and reluctantly pulled
away, hating that he had to be the responsible one. "Yeah.
Unfortunately neither of us can get what we want." He planted a soft
kiss on the tip of her nose to ease the sting a bit. "You have someone
waiting for you back at Dragonsfall Weyr."

It stung when he pulled away from her and his words were worse.
"But...he's okay with it.. " Her voice trailed off as she stared up at
him. She quickly stepped away and turned her back to him, hurriedly
wiping at her eyes and wiping them off on her pants. Feeling
completely embarrassed and more than a little humiliated at her own
behavior, she cleared her throat. "You're right. I'm sorry. I
shouldn't have said that. " Or thrown herself at him. "I have to go."
She began walking quickly away from him.

Faranth--!! "Lanniya, wait." F'lin hurried after her. Dealing with
Lanniya was like dancing with lighting. She was warm in his arms one
moment, then crying all over the place the next. "Lanniya?"

She held her head high, but couldn't hide her flaming cheeks as much
as would have liked to. She didn't stop, but kept walking. "Forget
about it. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have just thrown myself at you like
that. I just thought that..." She shook her head, not finishing her
thoughts. "I'm really sorry."

"Just-- stop." He caught her by the hand. "Hold up and talk to me."

She tugged at her hand but stopped. "I was trying to talk to you. I
was trying to let you know how I felt." She finally spun to face him,
staring straight up into his eyes. She wasn't crying, but her face
flamed with embarrassment and the beginnings of a temper. "You are the
only other man that I have ever been with, do you know that? The only
one besides K'ale and the only bronzerider I've ever really wanted
more than a kiss from since Anaeryth hatched." She stomped her foot.
"I don't know how to ask someone to be a lover. I've been trying to
and...excuse me if I'm embarrassed because the one person I want to
ask doesn't want me!"

The bronzerider ran his hands though his hair in frustration. "Where
did you get that idea!?"

She stared at him. "Just now. You knew about K'ale before and didn't
care and I know you liked being with me. And he knows about it because
I told him. He knows I'm here right now 'cause I don't lie to him."
She finally tugged her hand from his. "I'm here at least once a
sevenday. I just wanted to...to have more with you." She sighed, her
temper fading as quickly as it had risen.

"Yeah, well, you never told me that you'd talked with K'ale. And
despite last time I don't actually want to be the one to break up
weyrmatings." Taking Lanniya to his bed behind K'ale's back - what he
had thought was behind K'ale's back - hadn't been his proudest moment,
but he didn't regret it, either. Perhaps that said something about
himself. He shook his head. "Lanniya, I like you. But I'm not a
dragon. I can't read your mind."

She didn't walk away, but crossed her arms over her chest and slowly
rubbed them. What he said was true; it was easier for her usually. All
she had to do was speak to Seneth or any dragon and they just
answered. It hit her then how massively unfair it was on her part and
how much she just tended to assume afterwards. She kicked at the
mixture of sand and rocks. "You're right, " she admitted, pushing her
hair back from her face.

He blinked. "Say that again?"

"You are right." She spoke slowly. "I forget that you can't just find
things out like I can. Maybe I should try a lot harder to remember
it."

The bronzerider slowly smiled. It wasn't an apology but he wasn't
likely to get one anyway. "Come to my weyr next sevenday."

Her eyes shot up to his, her brow furrowed. " Huh?" She blinked
slowly, now completely confused. "But..."

"You heard me. We can see if this is a thing that could work." Maybe
it wouldn't. F'lin wasn't sure if this was something he wanted -
Lanniya made everything complicated. But after that kiss on the beach,
he didn't want her to walk away either.

She opened her mouth, closed it, then just looked at him, her mind
working. He did want her? "Why not today?"

"Because." His body wanted it to be today. Right now, in fact. But. He
took a deep breath. "Because I said next sevenday. I don't have the
time I want today."

She looked up at the sky, then slowly back down to him. The was still
three candlemarks until the sun went down. Then her eyes widened and
her voice came out in a slight squeak. "How much time were you
thinking about?"

"All of it." He brushed his hands along her bare arms. Shells, it
would be easier if she just stayed. "You'll want time."

Her skin prickled at his touch and she visibly shivered, the flutter
in her stomach returning with a vengeance. She wanted now, but unlike
before, decided not to fling herself at him. Lanniya laid her hands on
his chest and studied his face. "So next sevenday." She stepped
closer. "Will you at least kiss me before I have to leave?"

That, he could do. F'lin bent as if to kiss her, but he hesitated over
her mouth for a heartbeat so that he could study the bright blue of
her eyes and the pale sweep of her eyelashes against her freckled
cheeks. And then he pressed his mouth against hers and kissed her,
deliberate and slow, taking his time to make a promise he'd look
forward to fulfilling later.

Last updated on the March 11th 2019

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Dancing with Lightning