Friendship (2)

Writers: AL, Elyriel
Date Posted: 20th January 2009

Characters: Zelle, T'marek
Description: Zelle takes T'marek up on teaching her to whittle.
Location: Dolphin Cove Weyr
Date: month 13, day 14 of Turn 4

Shaking his head, the brownrider realized he was actually enjoying himself. The only time he did that was when he was spending time with his lifemate. "They'll work better that way." He said with a completely straight face.

"Oh well then, maybe I should make six. Then they'll be really small." Zelle made a third, thinner notch on the end and began to ease the knife through the wood once more, the material curling over itself before falling to the floor.

Again the brownrider gave a slight shake of his head. This young woman was definitely enough to make even a crotchety old man like him smile. "Why settle for six? Go for ten." He replied.

"Maybe I will. I'll give my first ones to you. They'll be special." Zelle sliced of another thin piece of wood and admired her work. "I think this looks more like a dead tree than a fish tail."

"If you make that thing look like a fish on your first try, I'm quitting." T'marek replied dryly. She was already showing more skill in those few strokes than he had in the two turns he'd been working at it.

Zelle whittled away at what was supposed to be the base of the tail that connected to the fins. "It still looks like a stick." She took one more swipe, then stuck the wood into her pouch. "Well, I think that's enough for one day. So what do we do now?"

"We?" T'marek asked. He didn't remember much of the night before but he was almost certain he'd only agreed to teaching her how to whittle. Almost... of course, he could have told her just about anything by the time they walked back to his weyr, he was pretty into his cups.

"Yeah. It's a rest day, we've got lots of time to kill." Zelle leaned back into the couch. "We could head to the beach and go swimming. Maybe I'll get a better look at a fish and that will help with the carving. Or we could explore some of the forest, go hunting for firelizard eggs, or we could try our luck at actually catching some fish."

"Don't you... you know, have friends to go spend time with or something?" The brownrider asked, one brow arching as he looked over at her. "I mean, surely someone who talks as much as you do must have some friends... somewhere."

"Yes, I do." Zelle agreed readily. Then her smile grew wider and her eyes twinkled in merriment. "I'm with one of them right now."

His other brow joined the first as he looked at her as if she'd just grown a second head. "You don't know me well enough to know if you want to be my friend or not. I'd say we're more like acquaintances.

"Friendly acquaintance." Zelle stated as a compromise. "But if you spend more time with me, you'll see how wonderful I am. So what will it be? Fishing? Swimming? Exploring? Hunting? All of them?"

"I was planning on something that involved my eyes being closed and my butt sitting firmly on something warm and comfortable." T'marek replied. "So I suppose it will have to be fishing if you're going to make me choose. That way I can pretend and you can fish."

Zelle grinned and jumped up to her feet. Before T'marek could blink, she had taken a hold of his hand and was tugging at him. "Come on, let's go. It's probably the worst time of the day to fish, but it will be fun anyway."

Grumbling, the large man allowed her to help him to his feet, although he did most of the work. With a heavy sigh, the brownrider shook his head. "My fishing gear is in that trunk over there." He nodded. "Grab it and one for you and we'll head out." She wanted to fish, she could do the legwork, his head still felt like it was about to explode.

"Certainly." Zelle bounced over to the trunk. She grabbed his poll and the basket which, upon checking, held his other gear, then closed the trunk before turning back to the man. "I'll have to go grab mine, so let's make a quick stop at my weyr."

"There should be an extra one in there. You can use that unless you've got your heart set on your own." T'marek replied, wanting to just get somewhere where he could close his eyes and relax, anything to make the pain in his head stop.

"I wasn't sure if I should help myself or not." Zelle went back to procure the extra rod, then headed for the dragon ledge. "Rillith is on his way. Do you want to ride on her or on your own?"

Shaking his head, the brownrider made his way toward his lifemate. "Iriketh would have my hide if I rode on another dragon." T'marek replied. Of course the brown wasn't quite that territorial, but the woman didn't need to know that. He'd be much more comfortable on his lifemate than on a much smaller green. "Just give him the coordinates and we'll follow."

"Will do." Zelle stood on the ledge, waiting for Rillith who landed but a moment later. She secured the items then mounted her dragon. It wasn't long before the green was in the air, catching onto the currents easily and gliding as Rillth passed the coordinates to the brown.

Closing his eyes as the brown followed Rillith easily, T'marek took a moment to try and tamp down on the pain throbbing in his head. His stomach was none to fond of him today either. Shells what he wouldn't give for some peace and quiet and some solitude. It seemed far too soon and they were spiraling in for a landing. "Already?" He asked his lifemate, sighing heavily.

Zelle was already unstrapped, on the ground, and taking the poles down by the time T'marek managed to get dismounted. She drew closer, a grin plastered merrily upon her face. "come on, let's see if the fish will take some bait. We need to get some grubs."

Groaning, T'marek trudged along behind slowly. "You get some, I'll just examine the inside of my eyelids for holes." He replied, rubbing at the back of his neck to alleviate some of the ache that seemed centered there.

"Lazy." Zelle teased good naturedly. She trotted up the beach in search of grubs. She returned a little bit later and nudged T'marek with her elbow. "Found some!"

With a grunt, the brownrider opened one eye. "Shards. Okay, fine. Put one on the end of your hook and toss it in the water." His eye closed and he folded his arms back across his chest before leaning his head against the rock he'd been resting against. "I haven't finished my inspection yet."

"Is that so?" Zelle didn't bait her hook right away. Instead she wandered back up the beach and grabbed a couple of rocks, carrying them over to where T'marek had camped. It was then she cast her line then secured the rod between the rocks. Once she was sure it wouldn't budge, she took one of the grubs, grabbed T'marek's hand and placed the squirmy creature on his palm.

"What the..." T'marek dropped the squiggling thing in his hand and practically leaped to his feet. "Shards and shells woman, what in the name of the egg is wrong with you?" He all but roared, wiping his hand rapidly on his pants. He'd actually managed to fall asleep.

Zelle couldn't help herself. She laughed. "The fishes aren't going to bite if you don't bait your hook. Come on, if we managed to catch a couple, we can build a fire and eat them right here."

Glaring at her, the brownrider wiped his hand on his pants again. "I put this grub on this hook and put it in the water, you leave me alone, right?" He asked, pointing to the squirming thing that was even at that moment burrowing into the ground.

"Oh come _on_ T'marek." Zelle puffed, "Don't be a spoil sport!"

Last updated on the January 21st 2009

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Friendship (2)