Unstable Ground

Writers: Dana, Eimi
Date Posted: 4th April 2008

Characters: Traelyn, U'kaiah
Description: Trae and U'kaiah have their first disagreement as a couple
Location: Dragonsfall Weyr
Date: month 9, day 20 of Turn 4

It was such a big bed--the size of it very telling of U'kaiah's position as Wingleader--and yet Traelyn wasn't sprawled in the middle to take advantage of such space. Instead, she lay curled up on her side towards the very edge closest to the door, sleeping, knees tucked up tightly against her stomach, one hand flung out over the edge while the other rested just beneath her chin. The chill in the weyr had her snuggled so far down into the mountain of furs that only the top of white-blonde head, and the tip of her nose, stuck out.

Usually U'kaiah would gently wake her now that his drills had finished. But not today. Today he would have to let her sleep a while longer. He had a mound of hides and books tucked under his arm as he stood over her, thinking about how precious she was lost in a nest of furs. With a reluctant sigh he gently brushed a few errant strands of hair back away from her face. Hopefully he'd be finished with his hidework before she woke up.

But he was getting nothing done just standing there. The bronzerider gently closed the door to his room so that the light from the wouldn't disturb her. He called down to the kitchens for some dinner to be brought up to him along with a pot of klah, and dessert for two. At least they could share that later. Shoving his crafting projects to the side, he spread out the stack of hides he had brought with him, picked up a stylus and set to work.

~~~

Perhaps it was knowing she was sleeping in a bed that was not hers, or perhaps her internal clock decided that she'd slept enough for now, or perhaps she subconsciously knew that her sleeping was cutting into valuable time to be spent with U'kaiah--whatever the reason, Traelyn's eyes fluttered suddenly open, and then she yawned, languidly stretching. Raising herself up on her elbows, she shook her loose hair away from her face and glanced towards the closed door. A slight frown crossed her face. Surely U'kaiah was back from drills? He had to be, she thought, for it was late. But he should have woken her...he usually did. Dressed in nothing but her underclothes and a heavy robe she kept in his weyr for just such occasions, Traelyn slipped out of his bedroom--and grinned when she saw that his back was to her, his shoulders hunching as he poured over open books and stacks of hides.

Soundlessly, she came closer until she was standing right behind him. Then she leaned forward, running a hand down his arm as she pressed her lips to the side of his neck. "You should've woken me," she murmured.

His breath caught in his chest at the unexpected, though certainly not unpleasant, touch. "I thought I'd let you sleep. I'm buried under hidework tonight..." And he wasn't getting any closer to the end of it than when he'd started, which was aggravating!

"It's a lovely thing to be in a position of power and importance," she chuckled dryly, kissing her way up to his cheek. Piles of hidework were certainly not new to Traelyn, and she herself had more than a few waiting for her back at Dolphin Cove.

"At the moment I'm finding it most inconvenient." He turned his head to kiss her softly. "I'm sorry, I really have to get this done tonight."

Her fingers slipped to his dark curls. "Surely it can wait? A break would do you some good, I think..." Her low voice trailed off suggestively as her hand slid caressingly to his neck.

He reached up and pulled her hand around to kiss the palm of it. "Really Trae, I just need to get this done and I'll be all yours. I have a couple books over there if you don't have anything to do..."

Her brow creased a little. "Shards, love, you have all day tomorrow, and I won't be here."

This was certainly not helping to ease his frustration. "I know, Trae. Trust me, if I could, I would do this tomorrow, but I just really need to get this done tonight. I'm sorry. I'm hurrying. I just need some time..."

Annoyed, she tugged her hand from his. "This is my restday, and I jumped /between/ halfway around the world to be with you, _not_ to watch you do hidework." Shard it, this was _their_ day! The only day they were able to have.

"I'm just asking for a little time, Trae! Trust me, I would much rather be spending time with you than to be pouring over these sharding hides until I go blind, but I have a job to do! What choice do I have?" Seriously, she should know that sometimes duty had to come first!

Guilt pierced her, but she stomped down on the feeling. "Why can't you finish it tomorrow?"

He threw down his stylus in frustration, making an ugly mark straight through the formation he had so carefully been drawing. "Because I have to give it to the scribers tomorrow to copy it before drills the next day!
We have holes in our formation we need to fill and so far nothing has worked and we have to get it figured out before Thread Falls next or more people will get sharding hurt!"

Well, shards! "Why didn't you just sharding _tell_ me before!" she shouted back, furious with him for not telling her and making her look like a foolish, selfish weybrat. Scorch him--she would have understood!

"And how should I have known you would need every single little detail before you could believe that when I say it is important, it really _is_
important?!"

"Because I'm a hot-headed, impatient woman who has missed you!"

"And I'm a tired, frustrated man who has missed you! But just because I'd rather be making up for the last sevenday that I've been missing you, that doesn't mean I get what I want, Trae. Duty comes first, and you of all people should be able to understand that." And sharding _support_ him for Faranth's sake! He didn't need this right now!

"Don't lecture me. I _know_ that duty comes first. I _know_ that." Shards, she felt like such the fool. A young fool. He'd caught her in a moment where she had been thinking just as Trae, the woman, his lover--not Traelyn, the Weyrwoman. Well, she certainly wouldn't make that mistake again. Ashamed, she looked down and moved away. "Do what you need to do, U'kaiah."

"Why thank you for your permission, Weyrwoman," he muttered, snatching up his stylus once more, hating the pages in front of him even more now. He just wanted to rip them all into little sharding pieces! But as therapeutic as it would be, it would make it just that much harder to get through this mess.

Traelyn stared at him. Faranth, he had no idea how the mocking tone he'd just used hurt her more than his shouting ever could, for it painfully dug at the deepest, most insecure part of her. Furious that she suddenly felt so unsure and vulnerable, she whirled around and stalked into his bedroom, digging in the half-dark for her clothes. Shards and shells! The man really could aim low, she thought darkly, thrusting her legs into her pants. And even after she had backed down--even after showing him that she was ashamed for acting so selfishly--he'd _still_ cut her with his words. Well, she didn't have to stand for it!

B'ram would have recognized her acquiesce. The sudden thought shocked her, and made her even angrier. Raking her hair back from her eyes, she yanked her belt around her waist. He would have understood her and wouldn't have resorted to such tactics because he _knew_ her. Snarling, she fought with the buckles on her boots, too frustrated to slow down.

U'kaiah cradled his head in his hand as he stared down at the smudged hide in front of him. It made even less sense now, and it was even harder to care. He could hear her riffling around in the bedroom, and as much as he wanted to be angry at her, at his hidework, at the fact that he had so few riders, at this whole situation, part of him wanted to go to her and fix this. How could he think about hides and flight formations? When things were wrong with Trae, everything was wrong. It had always been that way, even when they were just friends.

"Trae, come out here," he called over his shoulder.

A long moment passed, and then another, before she finally emerged once more into the main room, half-dressed, with a wary look in her dark eyes. Her arms were crossed defensively as she edged closer--but not too close. This was unstable ground they were on--unknown territory they were treading. It wasn't often that they fought, and she was unsure with how to deal with him...and this situation.

He turned his chair to face her and put his hands on his knees. He looked down at the floor for a long moment, fighting down the anger and frustration he had been feeling. This was not how either of them had wanted this visit to go. "I'm sorry."

Slowly her arms fell to her sides as she, too, looked down at the floor. "Me too, U'kaiah."

He nodded his understanding as he reached back for the hide he had been working on. "This is just really important, and very aggravating because I don't feel like I'm getting anywhere and I've been at it for candlemarks, and I... honestly I just can't do this right now."

"Can't do what right now?" she asked carefully.

**Fight you.** "Put this down."

She took in a deep breath, then let it out slowly...and looked up at him. "Is there anything I can do to help you with it?"

His brow furrowed thoughtfully as he looked into her face. He had really hurt her. U'kaiah felt a sudden stab of guilt. He could have put it down for a minute at least. He _should_ have done at least that for her. "Yeah. Come here."

Traelyn went to stand before him, and as she looked down into his eyes, she hesitantly reached out to touch his cheek.

He gently took her hand and tugged her down into his lap, resting his head against her shoulder as his arms wrapped around her, hide still in hand. "Why don't you distract me for a while? But not _too_ long..."

A small smile tugged at the corners of her lips. "You sure?" she asked softly, threading her fingers through his hair, nuzzling him.

"Yeah," he murmured, eyes closing as he could feel his tension starting to ease a bit. His arms tightened around her, pulling her even closer to him. Maybe this was what he needed after all.

Last updated on the April 5th 2008

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Unstable Ground