More Than She'd Expected

Writers: Devin, Dana
Date Posted: 29th September 2005

Characters: Traelyn, N'vanik
Description: Trae helps N'vanik bathe Loseth, and learns more about his past
Location: Dragonsfall Weyr
Date: month 7, day 24 of Turn 3

N'vanik

Loseth shifted yet again to show off to the greens. "If you keep that up, I'm never going to get you clean." His rider scolded. In answer, the bronze splashed him with a forearm, eyes whirling with mischief. "Ingrate!" N'vanik kicked a spray at his dragon.

The bronze looked up. }:She is coming.:{ N'vanik didn't have to ask who. From his dragon's mental tone he knew it was Nyith. Turning, he could see the gold and her rider approaching the lake.

Nyith arched her neck and unfurled her golden wings slightly -
coquettishly. Trae grinned and patted her queen's sleek hide. **One of your favorites is here, I take it?**

}:Yes.:{ Traelyn didn't have to ask her which of the bronzes it was. When they were at last in the lake, and beside Loseth and N'vanik, she grinned down at him from her perch on Nyith's neck. "Hey there."

"Hey, Beautiful." He returned the smile. "Come on down and I'll get you nice and wet."

One brow rose as she swung both her legs to one side and slowly slipped down into the steaming water. "And what do you mean by that, exactly, hmm?"

N'vanik splashed her, with quite a lot of water. "How's that?" He asked, laughing.

With a sound akin to a growl, Trae launched herself at him and playfully bit the side of his neck as they fell against Loseth's shoulder. That bite soon turned into a kiss.

"My, my. Aren't we frisky today?" He tilted his head back slightly and put his arms around her. Loseth shifted, stepping aside and sending N'vanik falling backwards. Without time to react, he pulled Trae with him into the water.

She came up spluttering and laughing, and tugged on his arms to pull him with her. "I think he did that on purpose!" she grinned, tilting her head in the direction of the bronze, who was now very close to her queen.

}:Now you have had a bath, too.:{ Loseth told his rider.

N'vanik laughed. "That's his idea of giving me a bath. He can act like such a weyrling sometimes." He shook his head, smiling fondly.

"So can she," Traelyn said, looking over at Nyith. The gold dragon had demurely lowered her head beneath Loseth's, her eyes whirling greenly up at him as she briefly touched her nose to his. Shameless flirt! "Well, when she isn't acting like _that_." Trae grinned, shaking her head, and brushed her now thoroughly we hair away from her eyes.

Loseth rumbled pleasantly, looking a bit smug. "He sure loves the attention she's giving him." N'vanik said. **Do you want to flirt, or do you want me to finish washing you?**

}:We can do both at the same time.:{ "Of course he does. He's a bronze, isn't he?" she asked, an impish gleam in her eyes.

"Can't argue with that." He gave her a sly grin. "Now I better finish washing him before he starts complaining." N'vanik recovered the pail of sweetsand and his brush. "After that I'll help you with that gold beauty."

"Do you want me to help you with him? It's only fair, since you're going to help me with her after."

He almost said no out of habit. It was his usual response to offers of help. But he considered for a few seconds, then shrugged slightly. "Sure.
If your queen is alright with it."

"Of course she is." Traelyn grabbed her brush and waded over towards N'vanik and his bronze.

For a while, N'vanik enjoyed the sight of the goldrider as she scrubbed his bronze. There were thoughts floating around in his head, and he had a strange urge to talk. "What do you think would have happened to you, if you hadn't Impressed?"

She stopped scrubbing to look over at him, her expression thoughtful. "I guess I would've stayed at Far Island and picked up a craft. Maybe I would've studied to be a dragonhealer, just so I could be around them as much as possible. Or," she grinned, "I might've gone to study at the Dolphin Hall and maybe become a dolphineer. I've always liked dolphins."

}:Dolphins are silly creatures,:{ Nyith commented as she began preening one large, golden wing.

Trae scooted further up Loseth's neck to reach one of the smaller neck-ridges. "What about you, N'vanik? What would you have done?"

"I don't know . . ." Oh, but he had a good idea, didn't he? For a moment his gaze turned distant, and dark. "But I do believe Loseth saved my life when he found me on the sands." N'vanik's expression warmed.

}:We were meant to be.:{ Loseth said tenderly.

Again, she stopped scrubbing to look at him. By the way he said it, it almost sounded like he was... "You were holdbred?"

He looked at her, not answering, as things pushed and pulled inside him.
Seconds stretched out between them. Finally he said, "Yes."

Trae had always assumed that he had been Weyrbred. Maybe it was because of the way he acted... She was not unaware of the significance of the silence that had stretched between them, but he _had_ answered her... Trae gazed at him, keeping her expression soft. "What territory did you grow up in?"

The pause was shorter this time. "Jade Harbour." The name tasted bad in his mouth.

"Were you Searched?"

"Yeah." He began scrubbing Loseth again.

She went back to scrubbing as well, wondering if she should let it lie. Obviously he would have had to gone back if he hadn't Impressed Loseth...

}:You want to tell her.:{ The bronze said, }:So tell her.:{
**No I don't.** He said firmly, but he ended up saying something anyway.
"I wasn't searched from the hold. I left that place as soon as I could fend for myself."

Traelyn kept her eyes on the bronze hide in front of her. "Why?"

"Hold life . . . didn't suit me."

"It doesn't seem to suit most people," she murmured, glancing up at him.

N'vanik shrugged. "So I hear." He didn't like to think about his life there.

"Where did you go, N'vanik? You said you left Jade Harbor..."

It couldn't hurt to tell her the basics. "Traveled around, joined caravans sometimes, earned a few marks here and there working for smallholders."

"Did you see much of the south?"

"Yeah. A lot of it, actually."

Trae leaned back and looked at him. "And then you went to Dream's End?"

"I Impressed at Vista Point and transferred to Dream's End for a change of scenery." He shifted to work on another patch of hide.

And she didn't need to ask him what happened after that. She knew how he came to be here... She gazed at him for a long moment, quietly studying him.

After a moment of silence, N'vanik said, "We should hurry up and get him finished if we want to get your queen done today."

She nodded, her expression thoughtful as she slid down the bronze's neck. She had gotten more out of him today than she ever would have expected. "We're almost done with him, I think."

Last updated on the September 29th 2005

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More Than She'd Expected