The Aftermath

Writers: Devin, Dana
Date Posted: 4th October 2008
Series: Proving His Worth

Characters: N'vanik, Traelyn
Description: N'vanik wakes up to find that he's Dolphin Cove's new Weyrleader.
Location: Dolphin Cove Weyr
Date: month 11, day 22 of Turn 4

N'vanik

A warm, sated feeling filled him. He was sore, too, but that didn't bother him in the least. Loseth had won a Flight, that much he could remember. The green's rider must have given him quite a ride for him to feel like this. He turned to the woman beside him, eyes widening when he saw her face. Trae?! He won _Trae's_ Flight?

Wait a minute ...

}:I flew Nyith,:{ Loseth said, answering his rider before he finished the thought. }:We lead the Weyr now.:{ The bronze radiated satisfaction and pride.

N'vanik's stomach dropped. He groaned, covering his face with his hand. "Oh, no ..."

"Oh, yes," she murmured, eyes dark and intense as they flickered open to look at him.

"This is ... I mean ... I can't be _Weyrleader_!" Panic rose inside him. A whole Weyr, looking to him for guidance, expecting him to make the right decisions.

Sighing, she shifted stiffly to lay on her back, not at all in the mood to deal with hysterics. "Loseth caught Nyith."

"I didn't think I'd _win_!" He sat up. "I've got no sharding experience. I've never even been a _wingsecond_!"

}:We were meant for this,:{ Loseth assured, confused at his rider's worry.

Traelyn's eyes flashed in annoyance, but she didn't rise with him. She was too sore, too mentally and physically exhausted, and too emotionally drained to try and talk him out of his mood. "You need to calm down."

"Yeah, I'll get right on that," he snapped.

"Oh for Faranth's sake!" she snarled, glaring up at him. "What do you want me to say to you, N'vanik? You knew this wasn't _just_ a mating flight. You knew what might happen if you won."

He shook his head. "I shouldn't have chased. I'm sorry." What kind of sharding idiot was he to risk the future of an entire Weyr just so he could share a Flight with Trae?

"You're _sorry_?" Temper flared, white hot--and she sat up, face inches from his. "Maybe you shouldn't have chased, but that's for you and Loseth to know. Only you. But you did, and you're here. Apologizing isn't going to change the fact that you're Dolphin Cove's Weyrleader now."

He gave a shuddering sigh, trying not to snap back out of instinct. Yes, there was nothing he could do to change it. "I wanted this," he said quietly, trying to convince himself, to remind himself.

Traelyn studied his face for a moment in silence, knowing that her own face must have shown a similar expression all those months ago when she had been called Weyrwoman for the first time. She knew how it felt to have such anxiety coursing through the body and mind, to have such self-doubt...and fear. "Look," she began in a softer tone, placing a palm against his arm, "you're not alone in this. You know that."

He looked at her, remembering that she had become Weyrwoman only a turn ago. His lips twitched. "We've gotta stop doing this. Dragonsfall riders stealing Dolphin Cove's leadership."

She snorted delicately. "Oh how the rumors will fly. But that's nothing new."

"Yeah. Except now ... you're stuck with me." It _was_ funny, in a crazy way. After all they'd been through, he never would have thought they'd end up leading a Weyr together.

"Mmm. Think we'll get through a day without snarling at each other?"

"It has to happen once in a while," he said. Then his eyes went wide. "Oh, shards! Tal! I have to tell her." **We have to tell Tal what happened.**

}:I'll tell her.:{

**And let her know I'll come for her, later.** Part of him wanted to rush to her, to assure her that he wouldn't abandon her. But it would be much easier to hide in here for a while. **Tell her not to worry. Everything will be fine.**

After a pause, Loseth said, }:I told her. She says okay.:{

**Tell her I love her.** She might need to hear that now.

}:She says she loves you, too.:{ N'vanik relaxed a little.

Traelyn shifted away, trying to ignore her protesting ligaments as she reached down to scoop one of the furs off of the floor. Shards, she needed a long soak in hot water. And soon. "She'll be coming here?" It wasn't so much a question as it was a statement.

"Yeah. We talked about it yesterday." Had it only been a day? It seemed like ages ago.

She nodded. Really, she hadn't expected anything else.

"She isn't going to be happy about this."

Her fingers tightened on the blanket, wondering why he was stating the obvious to her. Traelyn wasn't a stupid woman; she knew Talryne wouldn't be pleased. Traelyn also wasn't a perfect woman, and she didn't _want_
him talking about his other lover in the middle of the sharding aftermath of the flight. "That, I think, is between the two of you." She gave him a slight smile. "You could go to her now, if you need to. We need you here as soon as possible, but I understand that you'll need to do some....packing. And take care of things." She shrugged a shoulder. "Tie up loose ends."

"Yeah." There was a lot he needed to do. "But ... maybe it could wait a while. I need some time to .. absorb all this." That was a scorching understatement.

She hadn't had that luxury. As soon as she and J'darin were able to gather their legs beneath them and stumble out of bed, they'd dressed and gone straight to the Weyr's council room. Shards, that had been an awful evening--terrible, to see the fury and disappointment in each pair of eyes, and to feel it in herself. She hadn't had the chance to really absorb what had happened until U'kaiah had tracked her down...and had held her as she began to come to terms with her decided fate.

Shells, U'kaiah.

Shoving the memory--and him--out of her thoughts, she glanced at N'vanik and nodded. "And I need to...rest." Preferably in a hot tub, but she didn't think she had the will power enough yet to leave the room. She was tired, yet still feeling vaguely sensual, which was of course due to the residual flight lust.

He lifted an eyebrow. "You think we could hide in here a little longer?"

"I rather think we're entitled to."

"Good." He pulled her into a gentle kiss. "And I forgot to thank you for a wonderful Flight."

At last...familiar ground. She smiled a little smugly as her eyes traveled over his body, noting the marks rising on his neck, his chest. "Nothing like you've ever experienced before, wasn't it?"

"Our first gold." He finally started to share his dragon's pride and satisfaction. His hand brushed her cheek. "You're the only goldrider who ever understood me." All the others had seen him as a subordinate, a toy, a troublemaker. And maybe that was part of it, that Trae and Nyith had seen something in him and Loseth, the way Loseth had seen something in him when he chose N'vanik to be his rider.

"I'm not like most of the others," she murmured.

"You're not like anyone else." His hand went down to her shoulder, slid across her arm.

Traelyn looked down, watching as his fingers wrapped gently around her. Then she glanced up into his face, a knowing expression in her eyes. "The effects are hard to ignore, aren't they?" Her hand fell to the rumpled sheets, very close to his thigh.

"I don't want to ignore them." He wanted to ignore everything _else_. N'vanik bent to brush his lips against a bruise on her neck.

She sighed, tilting her head to give him better access. Her fingers slid over his leg, squeezing very lightly. "Neither do I."

He pushed her down onto the bed. This was what he wanted, to have Trae beneath him as dragonlust still burned in them. To claim her again with full awareness. He wanted to lead, too, to prove his worth, but that was tainted with fear. There was no fear in this.

Last updated on the October 5th 2008

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The Aftermath