Quality Time

Writers: Bree, Eimi
Date Posted: 14th April 2007

Characters: D'cal, Dyaera
Description: D'cal and Dyaera spend some quality time out on the water
Location: Dolphin Cove Weyr
Date: month 3, day 7 of Turn 4

"Right, I think we can drift for a while now," D'cal smiled as he took a seat next to the greenrider. "How are you feeling?"

"A little better," she promised, leaning into his side comfortably. "I don't think I've ever been this far out, before. It's a little scary."
She had to trust D'cal knew what he was doing. She might be a decent enough swimmer, but she tired out very easily, and didn't like the idea of having to put her swimming abilities to the test.

"Don't worry," he smiled, wrapping his arm around her shoulders, "this is kid stuff. I've been sailing boats like this since I was old enough to hoist the sails."

Dyaera rested her head on his shoulder and let her eyes drift shut, enjoying the warmth of the sun against her face. "It's sort of peaceful, isn't it? Just the waves and the wind and no one but us."

"It is," he nodded, resting his cheek against the top of her head. "That's my favorite part about sailing. That's why I want to build one of these of my own one day."

Dyaera's head popped up fast enough to knock into his cheek. "Can you really do that?" she asked, eyes going a little wide. "I mean, build a boat all by yourself?"

"Well, an extra pair of hands from time to time would be nice, but, yeah, I can build a boat this size by myself," he chuckled as he rubbed at his chin. Realizing what she'd done, she leaned up to kiss the point of his chin.
"Sorry. I just never really realized that you could, well... _make_
something so complicated."

"It's not so complicated," he smiled, rubbing his nose teasingly against hers. A cracked chin was nothing to breaking a girl's nose, which he almost did once. "This kind of boat is what we started out building as apprentices."

"I didn't know you were so skilled!" She flashed him a suddenly naughty smile. "At least, not at building things. I've always known you were good with your hands."

"Well," he grinned, liking where her mind was wondering, "I've always been a hands-on type of guy."

Dyaera slid her hands down his chest and then hesitated, giving the boat a wary look. "How sturdy is it? Is it... going to tip over?"

"I might be good, but I'm not that good," D'cal laughed as he leaned in to nuzzle her neck. He was pretty sure it would take a lot more than just the two of them to tip even a boat that small.

With her nerves a little high strung from the presence of so much water, she took his words the wrong way. "What do you mean you're not that good? You told me you could build a sturdy boat!"

"Well, first of all, _I_ didn't build this one, and second of all, I was referring to my love-making skills, not my boat-building skills." Leave it to Dyaera to over react to every little thing. "Oh..." She looked confused, then she made a face. "Hey! You are _too_
that good! Those things that happened when Tilarth rose..." She didn't blush easily, but her cheeks turned a little red. "Shards, D'cal. I don't know where you learned how to do stuff like that, but it's...
impressive."

"Unfortunately we don't have enough space to recreate _that_ particular night," D'cal murmured as he reached for the hem of her tunic. "I'm pretty sure we can make do, though."

She lifted her arms, not missing how careful D'cal was to avoid stretching her sore shoulder or do anything that might cause her healing scoring the slightest pain. When the tunic had fallen aside, she glanced out of habit at the side of her body that was covered in still-healing scars. There was something about sitting like this with D'cal, in the open, that made her feel even more self-conscious than she did at the Weyr. There was nothing to hide behind... just the burning sun showing every imperfection and ridge and valley of what had been a smooth young back not so long ago.

The bluerider couldn't mistake the way her face fell, or how she looked at the web of scar tissues. "I don't care, Dyaera," he said softly as he lifted her chin to meet her eyes. "You'll always been the most beautiful girl I've ever known."

Dyaera lifted her hand to trace over the scars on her shoulder lightly, something she'd avoided doing as much as possible. "I wish I'd gotten a chance to grow up a different way. I was a kid, D'cal. I'm still one."

D'cal leaned down to kiss her scared sholder softly. "Don't worry, you and I still have a lot of growing up left to do."

She closed her eyes and leaned back into him. "I guess I'm glad I've got you around to help me with it."

He wrapped his arms around her and continued to kiss her neck and shoulders, not so much to arouse as to comfort. D'cal just didn't know the right words to say to her to ease that kind of pain.

His gentle touches slowly soothed her, the tension leaving her body. She let her head fall back onto his shoulder, and turned it slightly so her lips brushed the base of his neck. "I'm sorry I'm so hard to get along with," she said quietly. "I wish I didn't make you so unhappy."

"Shhh, don't talk that way," he whispered as he kissed the bridge of her nose and the peak of her forehead. "No one can make me as happy as you make me."

The words made her smile. "You put up with an awful lot for me, D'cal."

All the heartache they had caused each other was worth it in moments like this. "I don't ever want to lose you, Dyaera."

Dyaera lifted her good arm and slid it around his neck. "If I distract you, are we going to end up lost at sea?"

"Not with two dragons looking over us," he grinned, drawing circles around her naval with his fingertips.

"Oh, good." And since everything was going so perfectly, she didn't feel at all worried as she tugged D'cal's lips to hers and kissed him hard enough to make it clear that she had every intention of distracting him for a good long while.

Last updated on the April 17th 2007

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Quality Time