Bickering Like Siblings

Writers: Leigh M-F., Miriah
Date Posted: 19th July 2014

Characters: A'kua, Ninaine
Description: A misunderstanding is cleared up, but not happily.
Location: Dragonsfall Weyr
Date: month 8, day 13 of Turn 7

Ninaine

There were no special treats this time because there were too many
witnesses around for Aluka to get away with swiping anything. He could
have just asked for an extra treat and said it was for a friend, of
course, but he was pretty sure he would only get a raised eyebrow and
a mild "Uh-huh," instead of the coveted goodie. So the next tasty
tidbit would have to wait. Hopefully Ninaine wouldn't mind.

As he neared the weyrling common room, a lovely young lady passed by
carrying a load of laundry, long blonde hair falling loose to her
backside. The redhead gave her an appreciative look from the corner of
his eye as she passed. Despite his disastrous sexual experiences, long
hair still got his attention. Not to mention her front view had been
quite nice as well. Aluka put his field of vision forward, shaking a
last few flakes of snow off his hair and shawl. "Ninaine?"

Her eyes were wide as she followed his line of sight and then turned
back to him. Lips were turned down in a frown as she tucked her hands
into the pockets of her heavy jacket. The girl was pretty, extremely
so and even she could see it. Wasn't he supposed to be courting her?
Why was he looking at the girl?

"There you are," Aluka said, giving his friend a warm smile. "Sorry, I
don' have any snacks today. No chance to grab one," he said,
misinterpreting the frown as the result of his empty hands. "I'll see
what I can do next time. How've ya and Luneth been?"

She gave an audible sniff. "I don't always need snacks and I don't
always expect them." Her eyes flicked over to where the other girl had
walked. "Luneth and I are fine."

"I know, but it's nice to give 'em anyway. And ya did like the
cobbler," Aluka pointed out. "That a new coat?" The cloth looked warm,
and the seams sturdy, but the color was dull, in his opinion.

**Men. Courting but still looking at other options.** She knew it
happened, and was often expected after marriage, but still most men
hid it! Maybe he liked the weyr a bit too much. Her arms crossed over
her chest, the bulky clothing she wore doing little to flatter her.
"Yes. The one I had wasn't good for the weather." She took a deep
breath. "If you don't want to be here, you can always chase her down.
It looked like she would welcome any sort of attentions."

The serviceability of the coat almost made up for the dull color. The
weyrling truly would look so much better in a rich blue, or mid-toned
red, or- and where in the world had that statement come from? What was
she talking about? Oh, wait. Had she seen him looking at that blonde?
Fardles. On the other hand, why was Ninane accusing her of being a
tramp? Was the weyrling jealous? She had no reason to be. Something
was wrong. "Why're ya tryin' to get rid of me? I just got here," Aluka
said, feigning a hurt tone.

Ninaine shifted on her feet and looked down. "Well, I wasn't expecting
you to be so open about looking at one girl while courting another. It
just isn't done. And..." she took a deep breath, "I know I'm not as
pretty as her, but you didn't have to be so obvious."

Aluka bit his tongue so hard he drew more blood than intended, but the
jolt of pain and the strain of keeping a straight face was preferable
to cracking up in front of the young woman and hurting her feelings.
Somehow, he summoned a gentle voice. "Ninaine, I'm not courtin'
anyone," he said. "No one's ever showed interest in me. Not to mention
no one can court ya when Luneth's willin' to maul everyone who tries
to get close to ya. And you're _stunnin'_, but I'm just tryin' to be
your friend. I'd be your brother if only ya asked." He wished there
was a more tactful way to say all that.

She looked up at him in confusion. "But...you brought gifts and..."
Her face immediately flushed at her own assumption, then blinked at
the compliment before looking away. She knew she wasn't stunning. She
was too full bodied, too dark skinned to be stunning. It was only her
position at home that had brought interest from potential suitors. "I
thought that..." She took a deep breath, closed her eyes and summoned
every inch of propriety instilled in her. She straightened her spine,
her posture rigid. "Thank you for the kindness, then. I apologize for
my assumption."

Had she never had a friend who gave her a gift just because? Even in
his poor, backwater hold, he had seen friends give each other small
gifts of food, flower garlands, and objects made of cloth. (Courting
gifts were usually things like jewelry or personal items, like combs.)
"Even if I was courtin' ya, ya had the right to tell me to bugger off
'cause you're not interested in me," Aluka pointed out, also sitting.
Not that a lot of women in Holds had that option, but this was the
Weyr. But it was time for a subject change. The poor woman was
embarrassed enough. "So what've ya been learnin' in your classes
lately?"

"And I didn't tell you that even if I did have the right." He was the
only man that was really nice to her all the time and didn't try to
force her to change who she was. She had thought that it had meant
something more than... That what she got for assuming. It was the
Weyr, she decided. Their free ways were already twisting her thoughts.
She took a breath and kept her gaze away from him. "Luneth is flying
on her own now. And we're practicing drills."

**Please don' let that mean what I think it means,** Aluka thought
helplessly, yet he gamely continued. "That's great! Soon she'll be huntin'
on her own then, right? No more time-consumin', messy butcherin' for ya."
That would be a very good thing, especially if she kept wearing clothing
that baggy. There was no way baggy sleeves could be kept effectively rolled
up and out of the way.

Ninaine nodded. "She will be. I'll be relieved. I was having to change
dresses and wash them often and I only have two sets of these. "She gestured
down to her clothes she now wore.

"Sounds like ya could use a trip to the storerooms in the meantime, see what
else they can offer," Aluka said, and almost offered to go with her to reach
things on higher shelves for her, but that might get taken the wrong way
again. He would have to be so careful in the future when it came to his
friend. But at least she wasn't crying, or telling him to never come around
again. That was something, right? Right?

Last updated on the July 21st 2014

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Bickering Like Siblings