Motives

Writers: Dana, Eimi
Date Posted: 7th December 2006

Characters: Traelyn, U'kaiah
Description: Traelyn hides her true motives behind a lie
Location: Dragonsfall Weyr
Date: month 1, day 7 of Turn 4

With a croon of greeting to Kalamath, Nyith dutifully lowered her forearm so Traelyn could dismount. }:Kalamath is happy to see me,:{ she told her rider smugly, arching her golden neck. }:His rider will be happy to see you, too.:{ Smiling, Traelyn placed her helmet and gloves on the shelf. **Well, I should hope so, dearest!** "U'kaiah?" she called aloud, slipping into his weyr.

"Trae?" he called from his room. He was stretched out across his bed along with hides and books, looking for something to mark his place with. "I'm back here!"

She poked her head around the corner, grinning at the sight of him. "Am I interrupting you in anything important? Or can I come in?"

"No, come on in. I was just working on some research," he said with a sweep of his arm. The bronzerider began gathering up hides and records. "So what brings you here?"

"...You. I wanted to see you." Reaching over, she picked up a hide hanging partway off the foot of the bed and held it out to him, gray eyes raising to meet his.

"Thanks," he said taking the hide from her. His brow furrowed a bit. "Is everything ok? Bad day?"

Traelyn hesitated, suddenly uncharacteristically shy. And it was on the tip of her tongue to tell him no, she wasn't having a bad day. On the contrary, it was actually a good day all around; drills had gone very well, she'd gotten another pile of hides off of her desk, and she'd found her favorite pair of boots she'd misplaced about a sevenday ago. But what came out instead was, "Yeah..." Shards. What was she _doing_? **Shards, Trae, there isn't anything wrong with coming here just to _see_ him, for Faranth's sake.**

"Oh, love, I'm sorry," U'kaiah said, real concern in his eyes. He unceremoniously plopped the pile on the floor and gathered up the books. "Come up here and tell me about it."

She bit her lower lip, shrugging a shoulder as she came closer, trying to think of something to say. "It was...." Shards, she felt foolish! He'd even set down his hides for her. No--let them drop carelessly from his fingers. Oh shells. **Just tell him why you're here!** Ignoring that whisper of common sense, she murmured, "It was just one of those days, you know?"

He set the books down on the table by his bed and scooted up to the head board. "Come here," he said, patting the space he made between his legs. "Let's see if we can't work some of those knots out and you can tell me what happened."

Faranth, was it tempting... Surely her small fib was worth one of his massages? Obediently she crawled over to him, settling herself comfortably before offering him her back. "Do I...have to?" she asked, hoping her tone sounded weary. Maybe he'd let it go, and she could pretend she didn't feel like the fool for lying to him just because she had a sudden bout of hesitant shyness!

"No, love, you don't have to," he said as his hands wrapped around her shoulders and his thumbs began searching for tense muscles and small knots. U'kaiah knew she wouldn't tell him what was wrong. She usually didn't. He could guess it probably had something to do with her riders. She'd had some problems fitting in since she moved to Dolphin Cove. Or it could be N'vanik.

Sighing softly, she tilted her head to the side, guiding his fingers to a lower spot on her shoulder. "That feels really good," she murmured after a moment, hand moving to his leg to gently help brace herself as he continued to knead. "No one gives massages like you, U'kaiah."

"Not even a professional?" he chuckled as he followed her direction. "Just relax," the bronzerider said soothingly. He wrapped an arm over her shoulder and cradled her body against him as he kneaded the muscles around the opposite shoulder blade.

"Not even a professional," she replied with a teasing grin, cracking an eye open to glance briefly at him. "I like yours better. But maybe I'm just biased."

"Well, does this mean you'll be coming back for more?" he teased her as he gently switched arms, gently pulling her across his body the other way. "You know, you're actually not too tense."

"Good," she muttered, trying not to flush. "I don't want my back seizing up in the middle of the night." Not that it had ever happened before...
She was still a young woman, after all. Closing her eyes again, Traelyn rubbed her cheek against his arm. "And yes, I will be coming back for more." It felt so good to be with him...even if she _did_ fib a little to get special attention. Shards and shells.

U'kaiah worked in silence. It had been a while since he had spent this much of his attention on one person. He was realizing just how much he missed it. It made him feel... special. Moving her hair to the side he began gently rubbing her neck with the heal of his palm. "You know I really wouldn't mind seeing more of you. I know you're far away and all, but..." **Now that you're not coming here to visit N'vanik...** He decided not to finish his thought aloud. She hadn't told him about the troubles they'd been having. It wasn't right for him to bring it up.

Traelyn couldn't keep the smile from her lips as he said that, and she gently squeezed his knee affectionately. "I thought that was our agreement for this new Turn: we'd see each other much more often than we have in the past." She turned her head to look at him, still smiling. "Right?"

"That was the agreement," he nodded, brushing the hair away from her face.
"Well, you seem to be in a better mood now."

Her smile turned softer, and she nodded, curling in closer, resting her head on his chest as she tucked her feet up against his thigh. If only they were at the same, sharding Weyr... "Thanks for the massage, love,"
she whispered.

"Anytime." Wrapping his arms around her, he curled his fingers in her hair and gently kissed the top of her head. "And you can come to me whenever you want, even when you're having a good day."

Now she _did_ flush, and to hide her embarrassment, she rubbed her cheek against him again. **See? You could have told him...** "And you can come to Dolphin Cove any time too." She almost preferred it if he would. Being here at Dragonsfall and knowing that she and N'vanik still haven't resolved their issues made her feel a little uncomfortable. Not that she'd let anyone on to that, though. Traelyn was stubborn that way.

Last updated on the December 7th 2006

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Motives