Words of Comfort

Writers: Dana, Eimi
Date Posted: 13th June 2007

Characters: U'kaiah, Traelyn
Description: U'kaiah comes to cheer up the visiting Weyrwoman and unknowingly prompts her to make a choice...
Location: Dragonsfall Weyr
Date: month 3, day 23 of Turn 4

U'kaiah sat at his desk in weyr pouring over wingrider's service
records. He was supposed to be making recommendations on who might
benefit from a little extra leadership training. But his mind wasn't on
his wing as he scanned the same sentence for the third time. He was
wondering what Trae was doing now...

He had been so excited when she came back to Dragonsfall. Not overly
excited, of course, considering the tragic reason for her stay. But it
was supposed to be like old times. Him and Trae knocking around
Dragonsfall... Talking whenever they wanted... Laughing and joking and
teasing and... yes, even flirting. And it had been just like old times
for a while. But the day or so... She had just seemed a little
distracted. A little distant.

Really, he didn't know why it bothered him that she had stayed in the
weyr that was allocated to her to the night before. After all, it
hadn't bothered him when
he thought she was staying with N'vanik. Well, maybe only a little.
But that was different. Now she was choosing to sleep alone rather than
sleep next to him... Not that he _needed_ her to sleep next to him.
All right, he admittedly _liked_ it when she slept next to him. And it
wasn't like when she lived at Dragonsfall she had always slept next to
him. That was mostly a habit that was formed after she left. And it
was kind of sad, knowing she was in the same Weyr, but that they were
both alone in their own beds... Somehow it made his bed feel...
emptier...

But she needed her space. He could understand that. And he was
probably imagining that she hadn't really seemed so interested in
spending
time with him after coming back from the other bronzerider's weyr. She
probably just had a lot on her mind. After all, her
Weyr suffered considerable damage. The Clutch her lifemate laid was
missing 8 eggs. Her Weyr, which was already low on riders, lost 8
potential dragon pairs, which was a _considerable_ blow! Then on top of
that everything with N'vanik... Of course
she's distracted. She has things she has to worry about...

But that didn't mean he didn't wish he could help. Shards, he could see
that look in her eyes sometimes when she'd look out over the sands.
That pained look when she watched her Nyith brood over her eggs. And
U'kaiah always tried to distract her, to make some sort of joke or tell
her some funny story. What he really wanted to do, though, was gather
her up in his arms and protect her from all the realities of the world.
He wanted to take some of that burden on him and give her a little rest
for a while. But the day or so he had the distinct feeling his
help wasn't needed. It wasn't even wanted.

Maybe... Maybe he was over-reacting. Maybe she really was just tired
and had a lot on her mind, but maybe she was feeling better. Maybe...
Maybe he should take her a snack or something...

Yes, a snack. Bubblies and sweetrolls. Sweets had gotten him into many
a woman's good graces. Maybe she just needed a little treat to lighten
her up!

**Kalamath, please ask Nyith for permission to enter the Sands. I'm
going to bring her rider come klah and a snack.**

Nyith gave her permission to Kalamath, of course. And when her rider
protested, Nyith had argued that Traelyn needed to take care of herself,
so therefore, she must eat. And eat a lot. Traelyn would have been an
absolute fool to argue with a broody Nyith when she had _that_ certain
mental tone, and so she accepted the situation, albeit a bit grudgingly.

It was a very immature thing to be avoiding U'kaiah like she had. Of
course, she'd had legitimate reasons for it: contacting Dolphin Cove,
exchanging letters between herself and J'darin, Jyramikah, and the
Headwoman.... But throwing herself into her work and her Weyrwomanly
duties had always been her way of not dealing with what was happening on
the inside. Old habits die hard, so they said, and Traelyn's habits
were no exception to that rule, no matter how many times she'd tried to
overcome
them. And, to be honest, at times, her situation with U'kaiah paled in
light of Dolphin Cove's disaster. Every time she received another
letter,
she had to relive that horror, and observe the damage in her mind's eye.
Her imagination conjured the most horrendous of sights,
especially at night when there was nothing she could do or no one there
she could speak with to distract herself. Or to confide in.

And it was during those times when she not only wanted U'kaiah there,
but needed him there. As a friend. As something more. But she was too
damn prideful--and too damn confused--to go back to him. Traelyn just
didn't know how to act anymore. But if she didn't find some kind of
resolution soon...
Shards.

Nyith's rumbling greeting shook Traelyn out of her conflicting thoughts,
and she looked up, eyes instantly locking on U'kaiah.

"Hi," he smiled, holding up the pot of klah and plate of goodies. "I
know you're probably busy, but I thought you might need a little
something to snack on."

Traelyn shifted, eying the sweets he brought. It was safer than meeting
his gaze. "Nyith says I do need to eat more..."

"I've learned always to listen to my lifemate." He ducked his head
slightly, trying to meet her eyes. "Have you had news from Dolphin
Cove?"

Reaching out, she nodded as she plucked a sweetroll from the heaping
pile of goodies, studying the flakes and small sugar crystals with more
scrutiny than was probably necessary...just so she could avoid looking
into his face. "Words can only paint the real picture in the vaguest of
ways. But it's enough. For now, anyway."

He jumped on the opportunity to actually _do_ something for her. "Do
you want me to go? I could be your eyes for you..."

Startled by his offer, she glanced up at him before she could stop
herself. And for a moment, her face was stripped of its mask, and a
very vulnerable woman looked out at him. "You'd do that?"

U'kaiah set the pot of klah on the bleacher behind them and slipped onto
the seat next to her. "Of course I'd do that, Trae. I know it's not
easy being here when everything is happening back... back home."
Dolphin Cove was Trae's home now. He was just borrowing her for a
while. And anything he could do to make the time they had together
better... "I'd go if you asked me to."

To cover her shaken stability, Traelyn took a steadying bite of her
sweetroll and turned her eyes to Nyith, who had paced the length of the
Sands to settle on the other side, the huge, arching entrance still in
her line of sight. "No one else has offered to do that for me. The
messengers have been too swamped to, and understandably so, but..." She
took another bite, annoyed that her voice was trembling a little.

He wrapped his arm around her and pulled her closer to him. "I want to
help you, Trae. Anything I can do, anything at all, and I'd do it. You
know that, right?"

Closing her eyes, she nodded.

U'kaiah sighed and leaned in to kiss her temple softly. "I'll go. I'll
go right now."

Her hand gripped the sleeve of his tunic before she could stop it and
she lifted her face, slowly brushing her cheek along his...initiating a
caress for the first time since she'd put up that sharding barrier
between them. The caress was more than a sign of gratitude. Much more
than that.

U'kaiah could tell there was a much deeper feeling behind the touch,
though he just assumed she was upset. Trae didn't like showing
weakness, not even to him. Perhaps things were worse at Dolphin Cove
than he had thought. He wrapped his arms around her and gently tucked
her head into the crook between his neck and shoulder. "Everything will
be all right, Trae. You'll see."

Despite it all, a faint smile touched her lips at his
words--something he'd been saying over and over again to her. She'd
been struck by the harsh realities of Dolphin Cove's post-hurricane
disaster since she'd first arrived here at Dragonsfall. The blows
hadn't eased, but they were kept at bay. It was amazing what small
words of comfort could do for a person--how much they could help a
person's
morale--in whatever situation they faced. And U'kaiah... Traelyn's
fingers slid down to
hold his wrist. Distancing herself from him hadn't done her any good.
She knew that now. "I know," she murmured.

He held her silently for a long moment, hoping that he was somehow
reassuring her, that he was being of some comfort. But he knew the
greatest comfort would come with an eye-witness report from Dolphin
Cove. "Tell me what you want me to do when I get there."

And so she made her request, her tone quiet, a little halting. And even
though she didn't look up into his eyes when she spoke, she stayed close
against him, making no move, physical or emotional, to pull away. It
was consciously done, and she knew that with that decision, she'd made
her choice. Softly she rubbed her cheek against him.

Traelyn hoped to Faranth that she wouldn't regret it.

Last updated on the June 19th 2007

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Words of Comfort