The Bronzerider's Songs

Writers: Devin, Heather
Date Posted: 1st September 2014

Characters: D'ren, Payje
Description: Payje gets D'ren to open up a bit.
Location: River Bluff Weyr
Date: month 8, day 19 of Turn 7

"Evening D'ren."

Payje sat down beside of D'ren in the Dining Cavern. Besides being her
wingmate he had won Ysavath's last flight. There were always people in
the Dining Cavern that you didn't want to sit beside of while you were
trying to eat. Either they had deplorable table manners, or they pried
too much while you were trying to eat and relax. Fortunately D'ren fit
into neither of those categories.

"Hi." He smiled, though he wondered why she was sitting with him. Did
she want to be friends? He hadn't been quite as good at that as he'd
hoped. Menanth siring a clutch had helped D'ren get noticed, but he
was slowly sinking back to a quieter life. Not that it was a bad
thing, just ... a few more friends would be nice.

She returned his smile as she dumped a hefty load of sweetener into her
klah, "Mm, fish." The sarcasm in her voice was rich as she poked at
the meet on her plate with the tip of her fork. She liked fish but the
kitchens at the Weyr never got it quite right.

"So, um, how are you?" he asked to be polite.

"Good." Payje was about to take a bite of her fish when she glanced at
the man, "Oh and Ysavath wanted me to compliment you and Menanth for
your fancy flying last practice." The greenrider grinned a bit,
knowing the green had only wanted to mention it for the pure hopes of
flirting with the bronze dragon.

"Oh, thank you." He passed the compliment along to Menanth.

}:She was watching us. She likes me,:{ the bronze preened. }:I flew her well.:{

D'ren chuckled. "He likes the attention."

"Of course he does. Ysavath is an excellent flirt." Payje winked at
D'ren conspiratorially. The green never missed the opportunity to
share a ledge with a male dragon and she was quite good at it.

"You seem to be good at it yourself." He lifted an eyebrow before
taking another bite. When he tried to flirt, it often felt awkward.
Other bronzeriders made it look so easy.

"Well, it _is_ easier when the person is good looking." Payje informed
him in a teasing tone. She didn't always feel so comfortable around
men, but D'ren was easy to talk to.

He smiled and tried not to blush. "Thanks."

Payje's eyebrows lifted marginally, "A bronzerider saying thank you
after being complimented? I am impressed." She grinned.

"I'm harper trained, if that explains my oddity." **Am I flirting? I
think I might be flirting. Don't ruin it!**

"What branch of harpering? Singing, instruments, archival...." There
were so many more that Payje didn't even bother to list them all.

"Just the general kind. I haven't made it past apprentice. The whole
dragonriding thing got in the way." He took a sip of water. "But my
favorite thing is songwriting."

The greenrider would never have guessed the bronzerider for the
songwriting type. It made him more intriguing. "What do you do with
the songs after they are written?"

He shrugged. "I play them for myself. And Menanth."

"Well, I would love to hear them some time if you ever feel like
sharing." Payje smiled, her fingers lightly skimming over his forearm
as she spoke.

His heart thumped hard. "I ... I suppose. If you promise not to laugh
at them." His mind flashed on what it had been like after her flight.
Should he invite her to his weyr? Did he want to? Well... part of him
did.

"I would never laugh at them." Payje said, with sincerity in her eyes.

"Maybe..." D'ren swallowed. "Maybe on the restday?"

The greenrider gave a decisive nod, "The rest day it is. I look
forward to it, D'ren." Payje smiled, glad to see this other side of
her wingmate.

Last updated on the September 21st 2014

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The Bronzerider's Songs