New Arrivals, Old Surprises (1/2)

Writers: Anaria, JR
Date Posted: 11th November 2010

Characters: J'klin, Roana
Description: J'klin and Roana meet for the first time in turns and make a deal
Location: River Bluff Weyr
Date: month 11, day 13 of Turn 5
Notes: Part 1 of 2
Mentioned: Arilanna

J'klin had two plans for the evening. One was to remove himself from his best
Gather clothes as quickly as possible, and change into something more
comfortable. The other was to drink heavily. He'd been seeing a
mindhealer for several sevendays regarding his drinking, and had done
somewhat well with it. He was at least keeping it down to the point
where he wasn't in danger of losing his position in the fighting wings,
which was a positive.

However, his most recent encounter with the female kind was forcing him to
rethink his stance on alcohol. A wingmate had set him up with a Harper
from the Lower Caverns - a girl that he had not spoken to, but who he
had seen around and knew was reasonably attractive. Things had seemed
alright initially, until the girl had asked him what his feelings on
weyrmating were, and if he thought he was ready for children. J'klin had
quickly but politely removed himself from the situation.

After changing his clothes, he stood next to Nimyth on the weyrledge. He
noticed the brown dragon staring intently at something down below him,
so he tentatively stepped to the edge of his ledge and looked down.
"That green looks familiar..."

}:It's Phiralith,:{ Nimyth confirmed. }:She says she is moving in here.:{

J'klin was surprised. Phiralith's rider, Roana, had been a close friend of his
for a while at Dragonsfall. They had drifted apart as J'klin had gotten
settled in with his weyrmate at the time, and J'klin hadn't even really
spoken to her since his transfer. **I wonder if she hates me,** he
mused, partially to himself.

}:I could ask Phiralith?:{ Nimyth offered helpfully.

**No, that won't be necessary,** he responded, pausing a moment and deciding
how best to proceed. He came to a decision quickly, grabbed a skin of
the best wine that he had, and walked down to the greenrider's weyr. He
knocked on the door, uncertainly wondering if perhaps this was a bad
decision.

Roana was struggling with the clasps on one of her carisacks when she heard
the knock. Who on Pern was that? Someone probably had the wrong door,
but just in case, she straightened her shoulders and quickly brushed
fingers through her hair. When she swung the door open, she was glad for
the extra effort. "J'klin!" She exclaimed. "Well, here's a pleasant
surprise."

Inwardly, she was torn. She and J'klin had been friends - good friends - until
he'd gotten involved with Arilanna back at Dragonsfall, and then he'd
turned his back on her like she'd never meant anything to him at all.
But, it was never that he treated her badly, he'd just... not been
there. And since he'd never known she'd fallen in love with him, he'd
had no idea how much it had hurt. To find him here at River Bluff _was_ a
pleasant surprise, but there was a hint of sadness there too. The stab
of attraction at the mere sight of him was still there.

J'klin smiled, somewhat shyly. **Shards, since when did I feel nervous around
Roana?** He thought to himself. Still, the greenrider was pretty, and
now that his attentions weren't elsewhere he couldn't deny that fact.
"It's good to see you as well. Here, I brought you some wine... do you
mind if I come in?" he asked, hoping that she would say yes. "Phiralith
looked to still have some bags on her, I could help you get settled in?"

"I... um, sure," Roana stepped back and gave him room to pass by her and into
her weyr. "It's still rather empty. I'll have to have a talk with the
Headwoman about raiding a few storerooms." Glancing up and down while
his back was turned, her lips quirked in a half-smile. He wasn't
traditionally handsome, but there was something about him... She forced
the serious expression back on her face when he turned back to her and
reached for the skin of wine. "Thank you, I'd appreciate the help."

"No problem, anything for a friend," J'klin said, entering the weyr.
Thinking for a moment he said, "I'm really sorry about losing touch with
you at Dragonsfall. "I was so afraid of losing her.." he couldn't even
say the name aloud, but knew Roana understood who he meant. "But we
still ended up breaking up." Even now, he felt himself choking a bit on
the words. Shards, would he ever get over that fardling woman?

She shrugged, "I missed you for a long time after that, but what could I
do? We were just friends. And she... was special to you." Roana choked
herself off before she added 'and I wasn't' to the end of that sentence.

J'klin stopped, turning to face Roana. "You were special to me too." He said
softly. "But I never got the feeling that you wanted anything more from
me than friendship." He wanted to touch her - to reassure himself that
this was real, and that she was really standing before him, but he
couldn't bring himself too. He was too afraid that it was just a bubble
that would burst as soon as he touched it. Instead, he clenched and
unclenched his fists at his side.

"Your 'feeling' was wrong, then. I wanted more, always did." She looked away,
setting the wine aside to go back to fighting to unbuckle her bag. "But
I think you made it very clear that even if you had known how I felt
about you, I was second choice." Roana didn't know what would be worse,
for him to say he just wanted to be friends, or that he was single and
interested still.

"I... I don't know that would have been the case" J'klin said, his voice
uncertain. "You... you wanted more? With me?" He felt like a dimglow
asking the question, but he needed to hear her say it again. He reached
out, and grasped her hands lightly to stop her from fidgeting with the
bag, and angled his face so he could look her in the eye. "You.... had
feelings for me?"

She could only meet his eyes for a moment before her gaze dropped to hover
somewhere between them. "Yes," she admitted softly, "But I couldn't
imagine you'd ever want me, so I never said anything." The greenrider
tried to fight back the rising hope that maybe there was still a chance
for something between them.

Last updated on the November 20th 2010

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New Arrivals, Old Surprises (1/2)