T'lat explains it all (1/2)

Writers: Miriah, Suzee
Date Posted: 3rd October 2014

Characters: T'lat, Ninaine
Description: T'lat explains a few things to Ninaine.
Location: Dragonsfall Weyr
Date: month 9, day 4 of Turn 7
Notes: Mentioned: Aluka, N'call

T'lat

Ninaine

T'lat?" Ninaine found his weyr easily and tapped urgently on the
heavy hide that covered his door. "Are you home? Can I talk to you?"
She looked down at the hide in her hand, reading the carefully
scrawled words again. It was a lovely bit of poetry, but it completely
confused her. Aluka said one thing and then wrote another. Why were
men so confusing?

"Come on in," T'lat called and threw a shirt over his head pulling it
down quickly so she wouldn't be embarrassed. T'lat knew Ninaine was an
innocent in many ways and Luneth wasn't making things any easier for
her. His weyr was small but neat and decorated with his treasures from
a life spent in the Weyr. He dropped onto the foot of the bed with a
foot tucked under him so she could have the single chair.

"What's up?"

Ninaine hurried in, and held out the hide in her hand. "He said he
wasn't courting me and then he sends me this. I don't understand him
at all. I mean, I was with him when he was sick and all, but now it
feels like he's courting me again, and I just don't understand."
Ninaine tugged at her braid and took a deep breath. "Are all men
so...difficult?"

T'lat reached for the hide. "Who's this from," he asked after reading
it. "Aluka?"

She nodded. "Yes. He sent it to me and I don't know what to make of
it. You're a man and you like men too, so can you tell me what I'm
supposed to think?"

"Looks to me like he's just apologizing." T'lat looked at her puzzled.
"Did he do something wrong?"

Ninaine went silent for a moment. "I thought he was courting me. He
was giving me gifts, coming to visit me...things a man who is courting
does and then he said he wasn't and he was a brother to me." Her brow
knit. "He's from a Hold, he knows what courting is."

"You know men don't know how to talk to women right? They're
confusing. I mean, it's hard for some men to get their signals right
with a woman. So they bring gifts. Girls like that usually. I the Weyr
it just means they like you. Then if you like them back something more
can happen or if not, nothing happens. There's no rules about courting
because no one is getting married here. 'cept maybe in the lower
caverns." He tilted his head with a smile. "My ma is a rider. I was
the result of a flight not a relationship so I don't even know who my
da is, and I doubt he even knows he's a da."

"I did like the gifts. I just thought that..." She sat down on a
chair, chewing her lower lip. "It just..." She looked up. "Well,
nothing more is going to happen with me. They may not get married
here, but they do that weyrmating thing, like Yanley and D'ale. Its
like a marriage." Her brow furrowed. "And I won't do anything without
that. I just thought he liked me that way and was courting..." She
looked down and crossed her arms over her chest in a self-hug. "Then
he said we were just friends. Why does it have to be so confusing
here?"

"Dragons," he shrugged. "The dragon decides, the rider complies," he
quoted the harper teaching they'd all learned in class. He leaned
forward on the bed. "You know that the time will come when you won't
have a choice right? Luneth will decide which dragon she wants and you
will be with his rider. No choice."

Ninaine's face crumpled just a little and she nodded. "I know. It'll
be horrible, but I have to do it." She glanced at him and then looked
down at her fingers. "What would happen if I just stayed in my weyr
when she rises? I've..I've been afraid to ask anyone else about it. I
think that I could do that, maybe. I mean, she'll mate, but I won't
have to." She then shook her head and quickly spoke again. "Never mind
that. What do I do about Aluka? I do miss talking to him and he said I
was his only friend. I just...I've never been just friends with a
boy." She looked up at him quickly. "I mean...a boy who isn't a
greenrider too."

"It won't..." he tried to interject but she went on so quickly he
doubted she heard him.

"You can't just stay in your weyr! That would be incredibly bad
manners." He actually looked shocked that she would suggest such a
thing. It was her duty to her lifemate and all he could think of was
horrible in the extreme.

His mind switched gears when she told him 'never mind' and he tried to
refocus. He pinched the bridge of his nose and shook his head, though
he didn't take offence at her words. She wasn't taking in the whole
picture and her questions were all over the place. So, he decided to
just try and focus on Aluka. "Because things are so different here, so
are friendships. You and I can be friends without any thoughts about
what might happen if we were to sleep in the same bed. We both already
know the answer. I find it hard to believe that Aluka hasn't thought
about it unless he's headed for a green of his own. Men think about it
all the time. I think about it all the time. So, it was hard... er
difficult when we were first weyrlings to learn that control." he
pinked up slightly at his own slip of the tongue.

"Well of course you and I can. You don't like girls that way." She
replied. It had been one of the harder aspects to get accustomed to at
the Weyr, but one she didn't have to really think about. T'lat seemed
more like a girl anyway. "Aluka likes girls. I know that much. So..."
her brow furrowed as she took it in, "he really just sees me as a
sister, like he says? I misunderstood him." She sat back a little and
then looked at him. It must have been a male trait to think about
bedroom matters all the time. She didn't find it that fascinating. It
was a just another duty that women had to bear.

"You don't sound like you think it will be nice." T'lat looked at her
still a little puzzled.

"What? Aluka thinking of me like a sister?" She tilted her head. "I
don't mind that, I guess. I never had any siblings and if he's not
meaning to court me, he's just trying to be nice and friendly."

"No silly," T'lat said teasingly. "Going to bed with someone dreamy!"

Last updated on the October 10th 2014

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T'lat explains it all (1/2)