Beyond Friendship (1/2)

Writers: Dana, Eimi
Date Posted: 14th June 2007

Characters: U'kaiah, Traelyn
Description: U'kaiah organizes an enjoyable evening for Trae, but the night proves full of surprises for them both
Location: Dragonsfall Weyr
Date: month 3, day 24 of Turn 4
Notes: Notes: Follows "Good Wine and Best Friends"
Notes2: Part 1/2

U'kaiah allowed Trae to pull him towards his sleeping room. "All right,
all right, I'll show you... But, you have to promise not to laugh, ok?"

"Cross my heart," she told him solemnly before she flashing a grin.

"Well, have a seat. It's under the bed." The bronzerider couldn't
believe he was doing this. He had to blame it on the wine. At least,
that's what he could tell himself when he was made to look like a fool.

Traelyn flopped back into his nest of furs, a little clumsily perhaps, but
she blamed that on the vintages she and U'kaiah had partially consumed
earlier that evening. Stretching languidly, she pulled her knees up and
wrapped her arms around them. "Careful not to hit your head, U'kaiah,"
she warned cheerfully when he knelt down.

"What, are you saying I'm too tall to walk under my bed?" he grinned as he
leaned down to reach under the wooden slates. His fingers finally curved
around the handle and he pulled the case out with a practiced movement.
He sputtered a bit as it kicked up the dust. "Yeah, I haven't taken it
out for a while..."

Coughing, she waved a hand in front of her face, wrinkling her nose. "How
come?"

"Because..." He shrugged a shoulder. "I took it out a few times after
Jaela died as something to keep my mind off of things, but... I guess I
haven't needed to for a while."

She gave him a soft, understanding smile. "You've got dust on your nose,"
she murmured, brushing it off with a couple fingertips, gently...tenderly.
Then she scooted over to make more room for him. "What song are you
going to play?"

"My, aren't you demanding," he teased lightly as he reached up to wipe the
rest of the dust off his face. "Just seeing it isn't good enough for you,
eh?"

She shrugged a casual shoulder, an innocent look lighting her dark eyes.
"Well, since you have it out..."

"Well, you do outrank me... I have to tune it, though." He ran his
fingers over a quick scale. It was an easy one, but he was glad he could
still do it so smoothly. "No singing, though. I haven't had nearly
enough to drink yet."

"What about humming?" she asked impishly. "You've hummed to me before,
and you weren't drunk then!"

"Oh I know you're goldrider ways," he said, narrowing his eyes
suspiciously as he strummed a few chords and made some adjustments. "You
think that if you can convince me to hum, it's only a small step over to
singing."

She widened her eyes for an innocent effect. "Would I truly be that
devious?"

"But of course. You're a Weyrwoman. The ability to manipulate poor
helpless males is you're greatest asset." He gave her a teasing wink as
he struck another chord.

Traelyn gave an indignant snort. "Yes well.... What if I just asked you
nicely?" Her expression turned coy. "I can be very nice when I want to
be, U'kaiah," she purred.

"See," he said, point a finger at her accusingly, "manipulation! I know
your goldrider tactics. I'm on to your wicked ways."

Laughing, she gestured to his gitar. "Come on, U'kaiah! Stop stalling
and play. Please?"

"All right, but I will tell you know, any humming you may _think_ you hear
is completely involuntary." Despite his stern tone, he couldn't help but
grin. Clearing his throat he ran through one more quick scale before
starting in on a real tune. It was a simple song, really. A variation of
a teaching ballad, and one of the songs his gitar instructor had insisted
that he practice over and over to get his fingers used to some of the more
awkward chords. Still, it was one he _knew_ he could play flawlessly,
even after so many turns. He didn't play for people often anymore and he
did really want to make a good impression.

At first Traelyn watched his fingers move over the strings, wondering how
he could make it look so sharding easy. Then she settled her chin up on
her knees and watched his face as he played. His eyes had an intense,
faraway look in them--no doubt he was lost in remembering how to play the
song correctly. After all, he said it had been a while. Her smile grew
soft as he began to hum. **Involuntary indeed,** she thought to herself,
quietly amused. He had a pleasant voice, and he played that gitar rather
well...

As the last chord reverberated inside the body of the instrument he turned
and gave her an almost shy smile. "It's not much. Give me time and I
might be able to actually play something." He fingered the pegheads
fondly as his eyes rose to meet hers. "I used to be quite good, you
know."

"Used to be?" Traelyn shifted closer, voice warm. "I thought you here."
She knew it wasn't just the wine getting to her when she pressed her side
against his. Looking down, she trailed a finger lightly over a carving
she hadn't noticed before. " 'Senior Apprentice Uzrakaiah'... You know,"
she chuckled softly, "I'd always wondered what your full name had been
before you Impressed Kalamath."

"That was it. Uzrakaiah..." Shards, that had been a long time ago. And
it had been turns since he had heard anyone speak that name aloud. He
reached down to place it carefully on top of its case. "Everyone called
me 'Uzra' when I was kid. After graduating Harper Classes and becoming an
apprentice, I insisted everyone had to call me by my full name. 'Uzra'
was just too childish."

"Oh, but I like it." Turning her face up to his, she met his eyes, and
her own were unguarded, bright with wine and something else...something
more. "Uzra..."

It didn't sound nearly so childish the way she said it, and U'kaiah found
he liked that. He looked into the deep grey eyes, forgetting for a moment
that staring was considered rude. But shards, it was so hard to look
away. There was something in the way she looked back at him that just
made feel... warm. "I can't believe I remember that song... It's been
turns since I played it. Course, Master Kutel drilled it into me. He was
rather disappointed when I Impressed. He knew I'd never made a good
instrumentalist then."

Chuckling, she reached over and tapped his knuckle with her finger. "With
all the calluses you were destined to get to desensitize your hands, I can
see why he'd think that."

"Well, it's not just the calluses," he said holding his hands up and
inspecting them. "It's the loss of mobility. These hands are trained now
to catch firestone sacks and scrub dragons and grip riding straps and
holding on for dear life. These are a dragonrider's hands, but for a
harper, they're pretty much ruined."

"Mmmmm." Traelyn took one of his hands in hers and studied it, but her
gaze wasn't scrutinizing. Rather, it was more thoughtful than anything
else as her fingers lightly ran over his palms, tracing each line, nick
and callus. Thoughtful, and something more. She knew these hands. She
knew how they felt in her hair, on her shoulders, her back, her neck.
Yes, they were rough, but it's what made them his. And she suddenly
wondered how they'd feel if they grasped her hips, or if they ran down the
sides of her body to caress and tease...

And without a second thought, she followed that soft flare of sensual
awareness and brought his hand to her lips. Traelyn felt him stiffen very
slightly next to her, but she was far from caring. She wanted to kiss.
She wanted to taste... Her mouth parted slightly as she turned his hand
on it's side and gently closed her lips over the knuckle, teeth just
barely scraping against his skin.

U'kaiah's jaw dropped open slightly in surprise, but more than that, he
could feel his heart beating in his chest. Shards, for Trae, _Trae_, to
be touching him like that it was just so... so... forbidden. And oh
shards but that just made it so hot. He knew he should pull his hand
away. It was probably just the wine that made her do it. And yet part of
him, the part of him he always pushed far back in his mind, was screaming
in the hopes that it might be more than that. And so he just watched her,
curious to see what she would do next, and yet afraid that she would do
more.

When he didn't pull away, she bit him very lightly, very gently, there
before lifting her head. Her dark eyes were smoky with uninhibited desire
as she stared up at him, fingers linking with those of the hand she held.
Whispered warnings sounded in the back of Traelyn's mind as her eyes
searched his, but they were too faint to listen to. And she realized with
a start that she didn't _want_ to listen to them anymore. She was tired
of waiting, tired of being caught in this sharding undecisive state. She
wanted something more from him...wanted to _be_ someone more to him. And
shards, but she wanted to see that same desire she felt reflected in his
eyes.

And so she leaned forward, lips meeting his in a kiss that spoke of things
beyond friendship.

Last updated on the June 19th 2007

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Beyond Friendship (1/2)