Race You!

Writers: Estelle, Miriah
Date Posted: 29th November 2020

Characters: R'fal, Aviday
Description: Aviday and R'fal spend an afternoon together to get to know each other.
Location: Dolphin Cove Weyr
Date: month 7, day 22 of Turn 10
Notes: Mentioned: L'cor

Aviday

Aviday got to the beach first and had settled onto a thick blanket,
slim legs outstretched in the sun. She was wearing only a top over her
swimsuit and her hair stuck up wildly from the wind, but she didn't
mind. She'd been asked out, in a not-a-sister type of way. It was a
first. All of her guy friends either were interesting in other guys or
saw her in _that_ way, so to spent time with a guy, to become friends
and, she giggled, maybe practice later on, was exciting. She hoped it
wasn't boring. Maybe he could tell her what living in a Hold was like.
It couldn't possibly be better than living in a Weyr, but things there
had to be different.

Aviday wiggled her toes as she waited and watched Kobeth gambol
playfully in the water with another dragon. Since she'd been with
L'cor, her green had been much more light-hearted and had returned to
her play, something that Aviday was grateful for. L'cor... Aviday
fanned herself at the thought. **Whew, okay...stop thinking about that
right now.** She couldn't help the grin that still stretched her
mouth.

The young brownrider she was waiting for came jogging down the beach, a
towel under his arm and the breeze ruffling his curls. "Hey, Aviday! I'm
sorry I'm late, my wing meeting ran long." Catching his breath, he
looked at her for permission, then sat down beside her on the blanket.
"You're looking happy."

"Oh, I am. I really am." Her grin was wide as she peered at him as he
sat. "So do you. You look a lot more relaxed. I didn't have a meeting.
I'm still stuck as a weyrling until I turn sixteen. It sucks, but at
least I'm not grounded or anything."

"Yes, some of my clutchmates are still waiting to join the wings. You
know K'don, and T'nep? I trained with them." He dug his toes into the
warm sand and stretched his back, which was a little stiff from the
morning's inactivity and the previous day's drilling. "I went straight
in after graduating, but I'm still the youngest in my Wing."

"Yeah, sure I know 'em. We're not friends or anything though. Not
really. " She studied him as he moved. "You know, stretching and stuff
in the morning or taking a good hot soak at night will help with that.
Or a good massage. I'd offer, but my mama says I'm kinda useless at it.
My hands are too small." She moved to sit up on her knees, facing him.
She felt like she'd gotten most of herself back and it lightened the
load considerably off of her shoulders. "How old are you anyways?" She
tilted her head and looked a little more at him. "Seventeen?"

"Eighteen." R'fal usually liked to be thought older than he was, but in
light of his confession after Kobeth's flight, it was less uncomfortable
to be younger for your first time. "I was sixteen when I was Searched.
Came from a hold in Emerald Falls territory."

"Wow. I'm fifteen." She scooted to sit right next to him, her hip
against his. "You've only been here two turns, huh? I've always lived
at a Weyr. I was born at Riverbluff, but then we moved here after the
earthquake. I've never even been to Hold, except during drills and
transporting and things. What's it like to grow up there? Is it
boring?"

"I thought it was," R'fal said. "I used to daydream about being a
dragonrider, fighting Thread like in the teaching ballads, or rescuing
people from fires and hunting bandits. Flying with the Wings, rather
than watching the herds. Now... It's still an honor to be here, but
back then, everything was simple. I had my family, I knew everyone, we
were tight knit. I knew the way my life was going to go. This - living
here - is much more than I ever thought. There's choices, and I never
know if I've made the right ones." He stopped himself. "Sorry. You
just wanted to know what it was like on the farm."

She slowly blinked at his response, then blinked a little quicker.
"Well," she began slowly, "Do you think maybe you just think too much?
Or maybe worry too much? No one ever knows if they made a right choice
until later." She shrugged. "And then you kinda just have to go with
it." Aviday looked around. "See, I think it's pretty simple here too,
honestly. But maybe it's because it's what I'm used to."

"Maybe. When I came here first, it was _so_ different. There were more
people than I'd ever seen before, and they'd do things without
thinking that would be a scandal back home, and I never knew if I was
about to do something ridiculous or wrong without knowing. Perhaps
it's in my nature. Worrying." R'fal smiled briefly, as if in jest at
himself. "Then I hadn't been here but a few sevendays when I was on
the sands and Marlath was there. I know I'm in the right place. I just
wish I was better at it."

"Wow, you really were just kinda thrown in, huh? Well, if I was sent
to a Hold, I'd probably make a lot of mistakes too." She bumped her
shoulder against his. "I bet you're lots better than you were when
you first came. Maybe if you're worried about something, you should
talk to a friend or something. That's what I do. "

"That's what Marlath always tells me." R'fal felt a tingle in his
shoulder as their skin met, a thrill along his nerves and deep into
his belly. "He's right. It helps, every time. Somehow it doesn't make
it easier." He looked down at her, shyly. "It's easy to talk to you,
though."

"That's cause I talk a lot." Aviday grinned impishly, absolutely
clueless as to what he was feeling at the moment. "Maybe you just need
practice at that too. Talking to people. And like you said, you've
practiced at other things to get better as a rider right? This is just
something else. So keep talking to friends and maybe it'll get easier
each time you do it." She pointed to herself. "Some people think I
need practice in shutting up, but honestly, I don't really practice
that one."

R'fal smiled. "You seem pretty wise. I don't think you need to talk
any less." He thought for a moment, then scrambled to his feet and
offered a hand. "Want to swim?"

"You're the first person ever to say that." She grinned, pleased. He
_was_ very sweet. And as she took his proffered hand, decided that she
would indeed be his friend. "Sure!" She pulled up her shirt quickly,
revealing the green bikini that she'd gotten right after she'd
Impressed. It was tighter now, and she was pleased at the changes,
but what she wasn't pleased about was promptly getting her arms and
head stuck in her tunic. In her haste, she'd gotten her arms and
head stuck in the folding cloth. "Ack!" Head covered and arms
flailing above her head, she twisted, trying to wriggle free. "Uhm?
Help?"

"Wait! Hold still." R'fal shrugged out of his own shirt and dropped it
on the blanket, then took the hem of the tunic and began to gently
ease it up over her shoulders. "Hold your arms up straight - like
that." He slipped his fingers under the ties at the neck to loosen
them and lift it over her chin, revealing her face. "There you go." It
was only then that he realized how close they were, warm skin all but
touching.

She held her arms up and as the tunic lifted off her head, Aviday
breathed a sigh of relief. "Thanks...: The tunic dropped to her feet,
but she didn't notice right away, not as her eyes lifted and they met
R'fal's. He was barely a breath away from her and she wasn't afraid of
the kindle of interest that now seemed to sparkle in his eyes.
Instead of any remaining fear of him, she felt a tingle up her spine
with a prickling of gooseflesh. Her arms didn't drop as much as fall
lightly on his shoulders. **Why,** she idly thought, **is everyone
always taller than me?** She said the only thing that came to mind as
she lifted to her tiptoes. "I can't reach unless I climb you or
something."

"I can help." He looked down into her eyes, and almost without
thinking, slipped his arms around her waist and lifted her off the
sand, just a little, so his lips brushed hers. She felt light and
strong in his arms, and he could feel her heart beating where her
sun-warmed skin touched his. Everything else around them, the sounds
of the waves crashing on the shore, the other weyrfolk enjoying the
beach, seemed to fade into the background, as if they were the only
two in the world.

When he gently set her down, he was sure he was wearing an incredibly
silly grin and he didn't care. "Oh... Wow."

Her feet dangled as he lifted her, but Aviday didn't care; she was
more concerned with the soft strength of his lips against hers and the
warmth of the body she was pulled against. He hadn't kissed her
before, even during the mating flight, but this had been wonderfully
soft and sweet. She was disappointed as she was set down; she'd been
willing to continue with that kissing for much much longer. Sighing
softly, she looked up at him and gave her own little silly grin.
"Yeah...that was really really nice. You'll have to do that again
sometime.You have nice lips."

"Uh. Thanks. You have nice...everything." R'fal wanted to smack himself.
**Say something suave!** But his brain didn't seem to be working too
well, unlike the rest of his body. "We should definitely do it again.
Definitely." He thought of something. "Oh, and I was right. You do look
really good in a swimsuit."

"You really think so?" Aviday looked up at him with light in her eyes.
"Do you really think I'm pretty?" She looked down at herself, then
back up. "I'm not...too small?"

"Small?" R'fal blinked, confused, suddenly understood she wasn't talking
about her height, and felt his cheeks grow hot. "Oh! No. They're not - I
mean, you're not... You look wonderful." He reached out, tentatively,
and touched her cheek. "I'm never quite certain of anything here at the
Weyr, but I am sure about that."

The expression on her face, the melty girlish pleasure of his words,
reflected that he had gotten those words just right. "No one's ever told
me that." She'd been thought of as a boy so often that to hear a man who
didn't think of her as some sort of sister, and despite his young
face, he was a man, that she looked wonderful... it was a sop to a deep
hurt sensitivity that she'd been carrying. "Thank you." She smiled as
he touched her cheek then lifted her own hand to lightly grip his in her
own. She twined her fingers with his. Her next words were quiet and a
bit shy. "I think I really like you. "

"You do?" Now it was his turn to get that half-pleased, half-embarrassed
look. No girl had ever said that to him before, either. "You don't think
I'm just some...Holdbred lunk?"

That brought a little giggle. "Oh, you're probably still a lunk," her
eyes gleamed at him with mirth. "But I like you anyway." She tugged at
his hand held in hers. "And maybe it's not such a bad thing, you know?"
Aviday tilted her head at him and swung their joined hands from side to
side. "So...after we swim...do you wanna uhm, you know...practice with me?"

"Yes!" R'fal said, and then looked abashed at the speed of his response.
"Uh. Yes. I would really like that. If you want to." There shouldn't be
anyone in his weyr right now, he thought, his father would be working,
and he felt a ripple of excitement stirring deep within him. For now,
though, immersing his lower half in the cool ocean waves might not be
such a bad idea. "Let's swim?"

The quick, eager reply brought another giggle and a glance downward. A
sly little grin played around her mouth before she darted forward,
hopped to kiss him on the cheek, and then released him to run towards
the water. "Race you!"

"Hey!" R'fal stood amazed for a moment, then sprinted after Aviday, his
longer legs closing in on her head start enough that he splashed into
the surf only moments behind her, his feet kicking up a spray of
sparkling droplets, laughing with the sheer delight of this wonderful day.

Last updated on the December 1st 2020

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