The Morning After (1/2)

Writers: Anaria, JR
Date Posted: 26th November 2010

Characters: J'klin, Roana
Description: J'klin and Roana have a morning picnic, and discuss future plans.
Location: River Bluff Weyr
Date: month 11, day 19 of Turn 5
Notes: Part 1 of 2

After spending candlemarks swimming and laying on the beach talking to
J'klin the night before, the last thing Roana had felt like doing was
stumbling back to her own weyr... In wet, sticky clothes... To a cold,
empty, _lonely_ bed... Especially when the alternative was claiming a
spare shirt from J'klin, leaving her own clothes hung over the back of
a chair, and following him into bed when he finally settled for the
night.

They'd fallen asleep on opposite sides of the bed, but when she woke,
there was warmth under her face and most of her body, a heavy arm
around her shoulders. When she cracked open one bleary eye she found
her head was pillowed on the brownrider's chest. Her body was cuddled
against his side, her own arm over his torso, while he sprawled over
the bed. In fact... Roana shifted to peer over her shoulder and
stifled a laugh.

She'd had no choice, and her sleeping body had known it. He'd crowded
her right up to the edge of the bed, and if she moved from her current
position she'd be on the floor. A quick check with Phiralith confirmed
it was still early; there was plenty of time before she needed to be
at wing practice. So for the moment she laid back down and let her
thumb idly stroke his skin, lost in her own thoughts.

J'klin was awoken by Roana's movement, although just enough to pull
her close to him, and snuggle his head into her neck. It then occurred
to him that something was different, that this was not how he usually
slept, and he woke. "Good morning beautiful," he said, his voice still
cracking with sleep. He blinked a few times to focus his vision,
taking in the scene that he was presented with. "Hey, what are you
doing all up on the edge like that?" He moved over slightly, pulling
her with him.

Roana let out a breath she hadn't realized she was holding, relaxing
into his hold as a faint blush stole over her skin. Beautiful, he
called her... And he was still half-asleep, so he couldn't have done
it just to butter her up, he _meant_ it. Her arm snugged tighter
around him and she turned to prop her chin on his chest. "I wouldn't
have been 'all up on the edge like that' if you weren't hogging the
bed, darling."

"I disagree. You started all the way over on to the side, I had to
come all the way across the bed to snuggle you," J'klin said with a
mischievous glint in his eyes. "If you would have started out next to
me, we would have ended up staying in the middle." He wrapped his
other arm about her, enjoying for what must have been the thousandth
time how good she felt in his arms. "I missed waking up with a pretty
girl in my bed."

"I didn't exactly ask if I could stay," She replied sheepishly, "So I
didn't want to crowd you. But I've missed being held, much less waking
up with a handsome man." Roana turned into his hold, tucking her head
under his chin. Not only had she missed those things, but after he'd
left Dragonsfall and she'd lost touch with him, she'd _never_ have
imagined she'd ever be laying here like this with him, of all people.

"I would have invited you sooner in the evening, but I was afraid
you'd think I just wanted to get in your pants," He responded with a
wry smile. "I have a few candlemarks til my first drill, would you
like to stay for lunch? Or I guess we could go down to the Dining
Cavern if you prefer." J'klin personally wanted to stay in his cot for
the entire day, but ever since Roana came to the Weyr, he had actually
been trying to get his act straight. He didn't want to break that
habit so soon.

The greenrider thought about it for a moment and checked with
Phiralith about the weather. "Let's go get breakfast and eat outside.
On the beach, or we can come back up here on the ledge." She
reluctantly started to shift away.

"On the beach sounds nice," J'klin said, stretching as he stood. He
was still wearing his clothing from the evening before, which smelled
faintly of salt water from his antics of jumping into the water still
clothed. He linked his arm with Roana's as they walked down to the
Dining Caverns, picked up some treats for breakfast, and went out to
the weyrbowl to meet Nimyth. Before long, he had taken them back to
the cove from the night before, and J'klin pointed down at the
waterfall from above. "I bet you didn't realize it was so big last
night, did you?"

Roana was surprised that he'd taken them away from the weyr again,
especially back to the same spot. "You had better not make me late for
drills, J'klin! And you have your own to get to - no skipping." She
reached around him to wriggle a finger in his face, then fought a
laugh at his last comment. Oh, shards, nothing like walking into a bad
joke. She couldn't resist. "Ah well, cold water does that. I won't
hold it against you."

"Hey!" J'klin said, his face flushing bright crimson. "I suppose I
asked for that one, eh? And don't worry, we have over a candlemark.
It's not like we can't /between/ back to the Weyr in a few moments. It
is quicker to come /between/ to this place than it is to fly straight
to somewhere near the Weyr." Nimyth landed lightly in the sand near
the waterfall before J'klin had time to do something silly like jump
into the ocean fully clothed again. "I promise you, we will be back in
time for drills."

"True, but we could have just gone up to the heights or something,"
She pointed out. "Not that I'm complaining about your company, but...
Ah, scorch it, nevermind." Roana slipped off Nimyth's back and found a
spot already warmed by the morning sun. "Why on Pern did I stay at
Dragonsfall for so long when I could be basking in warmth like this?"

"I wondered the same thing myself. But you'd be surprised, there is
something to be said about varied weather conditions." J'klin removed
a blanket from Nimyth's back, and spread it over the beach before
unpacking the basket of food that he had brought with him. "I'm
certainly glad that you came though," he added.

The greenrider peered over at him. "I don't know if I'm glad I came
here permanently just yet. Ask me in a month or so, once I've had a
bit more time to settle," She sent J'klin a quiet smile, "But I'm glad
you're here with me."

"Well, if you leave then I am going to have to see about transferring
back to Dragonsfall!" J'klin said, taking a big bite of redfruit. "I
fear that I have gotten far too used to your company in the past
several days." He leaned back a bit, looking off across the water.
"Remember all those nights we used to sit on my ledge and just watch
the stars?"

"There's a lot of things we used to do," Roana settled on the blanket,
curling her arms around her knees. "It hurt, when you stopped coming
around, you know. I understood that I wouldn't get as much of your
time once you were weyrmated, but you just cut me out like I never
meant anything to you."

Last updated on the January 21st 2011

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The Morning After (1/2)