Hoping He's Right

Writers: Dana, Eimi
Date Posted: 2nd June 2007

Characters: Traelyn, U'kaiah
Description: Traelyn tells U'kaiah about her situation with N'vanik
Location: Dragonsfall Weyr
Date: month 3, day 22 of Turn 4
Notes: Follows "Something More"

It hadn't been a very restful night for Traelyn, and she was relieved when
the soft light of morning began to filter into U'kaiah's weyr. Now she
wouldn't have to force herself to fall back to sleep and hang there in
that restless state between dreaming and waking. There were two reasons
for it, she'd realized as she'd lain there, snuggled up against her
friend's warm body. One reason was that her body and mind weren't on
Dragonsfall's time yet, and she knew that it would take some time before
she'd get a full night's rest here. It was a mournful thought, but
honestly, it really was the least of her concerns. As long as Nyith was
able to sleep--which she was--Traelyn could deal.

The other reason she hadn't been able to fully relax into sleep was
U'kaiah. Ever since she'd finally admitted to herself that she'd wanted
something more... Shards. The very idea frightened her. Thrilled her.

Opening her eyes, she shifted slightly closer to him, almost hesitantly
reaching out to touch his arm. But what would he think? It was so
important to know what he'd think. Would he be willing to take that step
over the boundary they had set together all those months ago? Would he be
willing to risk their friendship for something more?

Swallowing thickly, Traelyn closed her eyes. Was _she_ truly ready to
risk their friendship to be something more to him?

For months her friendship with U'kaiah had been the only stable thing in
her life--something she could trust completely. Those kinds of things did
not find her often. U'kaiah had been the man in her life who she could
count on to be there for her, to hold her when she just needed to be held,
to tease her, to make her laugh. It didn't matter that he'd lived half a
world away. What was time and space when they had dragons?

Traelyn lightly traced her fingers down his arm. She valued his
friendship--him--so much. She depended on him so much. Would being
something more to him be worth the risk? She didn't know. But if she
just locked everything back up inside... Shards.

U'kaiah groaned a bit as the tickling sensation disturbed his slumber. He
muttered something unintelligible as he shifted sleepily towards her,
reaching out to find the offending hand and pulling it across his body.

The movement brought her right up against him. She could feel the rise
and fall of his chest, the hairs tickling her through the opening of her
borrowed shirt. Her lips were so dangerously close to his throat...
Closing her eyes, she took in a deep breath to steady herself, but all
that did was make her even more aware of just how close they were.
**Shards...** And suddenly her body decided to act all on its own. Her
lips brushed against the hollow of his throat, one bare leg shifting to
rest snugly against one of his, fingers flexing over his skin as she
rubbed her cheek against him.

He hummed, though whether it was from pleasure or annoyance at the
unexpected touch was indiscernible. His head turned towards the
perpetrator and his lips brushed across her forehead before his deep
rhythmic breathing started once more. It was hard to work up the
motivation to wake himself up fully.

_Her_ breathing, on the other hand, was shallow. His lips were like a
sharding brand on her brow. **For Faranth's sake, Trae...lock it down.**
Once again her fingers flexed over his hip, and she closed her eyes.
"U'kaiah."

His breath hitched slightly as the sound of his name cut through the fog
of sleep and his eyes flew open in surprise. "Yeah?" He had to blink
down a few times at the white-blonde head nestled against him before his
lethargic brain could process what was happening. "Trae? Did you just
come in?"

"No," she murmured, shifting lightly against him. "I've been here for a
while."

He sat up slightly and looked down at her in confusion. Wasn't that _his_
shirt she was wearing? "Did you sleep here?"

Traelyn glanced up at him, smiling a little at the way his hair stuck out
at all obscure angles. "Yeah." She wanted to caress those tangles back
from his forehead, but she curled her fingers in on themselves, refusing
to sharding give in to the impulse. "Well, tried, anyway. I'm still not
on Dragonsfall's time."

"I thought you were going to stay with N'vanik last night..." At least,
that had seemed to have been the plan when he fell asleep.

Her smile turned wry, and she looked down, shaking her head.

"You two didn't fight again, did you?"

The look she slanted his way was a little sharp before she shook her head
again. Then she sighed, stretching her arm out and resting her cheek on
it. "We both decided that we had different places we wanted to be." Which
was half-true. Technically she didn't really realize that until she'd
come back here to this weyr, but...

U'kaiah was pretty sure he knew where N'vanik preferred to be. "Shards,
love, I'm sorry," he murmured, reaching up to smooth back her hair.
Typical of N'vanik to screw first and explain later.

She shrugged a shoulder, a part of her wanting to just drop the subject.
After all, it was uncomfortable. But his fingers in her hair soothed her,
and that helped loosen her tongue. "We've been drifting, U'kaiah. And
we've both known it for a while."

"Are you all right?" he asked, more concerned about her heart than the
status of their relationship.

"I'm fine." She reached out, touching the tips of her fingers to the back
of his hand. "I'm not angry. I regret it a little, but that's to be
expected, I guess."

"I know he really cared for you," he said, trying to be as supportive as
he could. "You'll find someone, Trae. I know you will."

And that was the real question, wasn't it? If only he knew what she
thought... Linking her fingers with his, Traelyn shifted until she was
pressed up against him again. "You're probably right."

He took her snuggling up to him as a sign of needing to be held, so
wrapped his long arms around her and gave her a gentle squeeze. "It will
be all right, Trae. Everything will work out. You'll see."

Shards... Traelyn buried herself against him, rubbing her cheek along his
skin, savoring the feeling.

She hoped he was right.

Last updated on the June 2nd 2007

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Hoping He's Right