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A Night in Sejith's Weyr
Sejith's Ledge (#638)
A large, open cavern of sun-warmed stone, well fit for a dragon's home. The walls are smooth and rounded, formed around some great gaseous bubble long ago, sunlight catching and glinting off of fragments of obsidian glass caught and hardened into the stone of the weyr. A few glowbaskets are set along on wall, leading back toward a very small and very round doorway. Opposite, the floor has been worn into a smooth, comfortable hollow by turns of occupancy by dragonkind.
T'rell buffs a section of riding straps a last time, finally putting the set aside as he rises from the bench and stretches with a large yawn.
"How many pairs of straps do you have, anyway?" Kae asks softly as she slips out to the ledge, her fingers slipping through her hair and patting the golden locks back in place. "And how long did I sleep?"
T'rell glances at the piles in the one section of the weyr that has any semblance of outward organization. "About three and a half, I think. Some in better shape than others." He shrugs and smiles. "Enough for a backup here and there." He steps out to the edge, taking a deep breath and looking up at the deepening sky. "Not too long, but I bet Brencia's just starting to make Oli's life miserable." He grins back at Kaeryn, stepping back under cover to greet the sleepy Kaeryn with a kiss. "Feeling better now?"
"A little nap here and there *always* makes me feel better," Kae admits with a sleepy smile and a soft sigh as she stretches her arms and back out by, what else?, giving T'rell a big hug. "It's just nice to be able to sleep until I wake up on my own, not to wake up because Bren needs me. My ears like the break as well." Glancing over at the straps again, she hmms, "Fall tomorrow?"
T'rell nods. "Pretty close by, too. You'll want to stay in the caverns tomorrow morning, I think," he advises even as he relaxes into the embrace.
Kae rests her head against his and closes her eyes, just taking a moment to inhale the smell of all that is T'rell, from the smell of leather and the hint of firestone, to the oil he'd been using to oil the straps. "And how's the wing?" she asks as she takes a step back to look both Sejith and T'rell over, a small smile playing on her lips as she does.
"Always ready, of course." T'rell's grin is cocky, as usual whenever he or any of his wingmates discusses the state of the wing. "The drill over Silver Cove this morning was a good one, and best we can tell now, the weather'll be okay... knock on wood," he adds, giving his own skull a quick rap.
Kaeryn laughs and shakes her head as she takes another step back and runs her hand over Sejith's warm, smooth hide, her voice soft as she speaks to both dragon and rider, "I know the two of you are going to get tired of me telling you this every time, but take care of each other." With another rub of Sejith's hide, she on toward the ledge and looks out. "They're bringing candidates in already, though I'm sure you knew that already, right?"
T'rell follows Kaeryn, slipping a companionable arm about her waist. "Coming from you, I don't think we'll get tired of it," he smiles, looking out to the jagged outline of the far rim of the Weyr. "I'd heard. With luck we'll get assigned to a Search wing instead of sweeps this next sevenday, eh? Popping around to the holds, enjoying the food and drink instead of flying through cold rain... sounds pretty good to me, eh, Sejith?" He turns to grin up at the dragon, who has also come to join them at the edge of the ledge, draping large forefeet over the dropoff comfortably.
"I passed a little time chatting with one of the new candidates earlier today," Kae informs him quietly as she allows herself to be pulled closer to him. "His name is Archellian, and he's from Gar, says he knows my cousins. Nice fellow he is, though he seems a little distraught about being here, so if you could keep an eye on him, I'm appreciate it. I think he's, well, scared, to be honest." Head is turned so she's studying T'rell's face as opposed to the view, "he asked me what it was like to be weyrmated to a 'rider, which, after explaining to him that we weren't exactly... well, anyway, I tried to explain what it's like being in love with you," a glance is given to Sejith as well and she smiles, "how you can't really love a rider without loving their dragon as well, because the pair of you are one. At least, that's how I see it."
T'rell's eyebrows gradually raise during this in-a-nutshell assessment. "Sure, I'll keep an eye on the kid." He sets himself down on the ledge to lean against Sejith, reaching for Kaeryn's hand in an invitation for her to get comfortable too. "I guess we should figure out what this arrangement is, eh?" He sighs a little; definitions of this kind have rarely accomplished much for him.
"Oh, I didn't bring it up because of that," Kae shakes her head and points this fact out as she is pulled down against both T'rell and Sejith. "He was confused, and didn't really know where relationships with people would stand if he did impress, so I gave him *my* views on it. I think it would have been harder for me, say," she pauses, looking for a way to explain things she had explained to the candidate, "had I met you, before you were a pair, might have been more difficult to love both you and Sejith, but I didn't. The first time I met you, 'you' meant 'T'rell and Sejith', so I either had to learn to love you both, or neither of you. And I do love you both."
T'rell smiles, leaning his chin on Kaeryn's shoulder. "Hear that, Sejith? We got an admirer." He kisses the woman's cheek, teasing. "And you've got a pair of admirers in exchange. Fair trade?"
"Do you think you could be with someone that *didn't* love Sejith, though? Honestly?" Kae entwines her fingers with T'rell's, her other hand reaching back and rubbing affectionately against Sejith's side. "Or could you be with someone that Sejith didn't like? Because I told him that, to me, it was important that an affection be two sided, for a relationship to truly work." She laughs softly and turns to face him, revealing sparkles in her eyes, "Of course, he's heard all about riders and the way they hop from bed to bed, and wanted to know if everyone is like that. I told him," she pauses, squeezing her hand around his, "that I could never ask you to promise to never have another in your bed, because these things happen around here, but I do hope that you never have another in your heart."
T'rell contemplates, his fingers idly caressing Kaeryn's in their handhold. "Hard to say, really. We've -- well, sorta weyrmated," the term doesn't seem all that appropriate, but is the only one available, "before, but it's never been all that serious. Mostly just someone to have around for flights and a scrubbing partner." He shrugs, to himself and to Kaeryn, and is quiet for a moment. "He's pretty sure I've never felt this much for anyone, too, and he's pretty pleased that you like him." The rider grins fondly, the affection in his eyes both for his dragon and his... partner.
"How could I not like him?" Kae laughs softly and shakes her head, "To me, I don't know, the pair of you just, put together are... I don't know, I can't explain it." A finger is lifted to touch T'rell's lips and she smiles, "I am serious when I say that I'm not asking you to promise me that I'll be the only one in your weyr, love, so the people you've had here before, that doesn't matter to me, as long as my arms are the ones you *choose* to be in."
T'rell shifts to abruptly be lying across Kaeryn's lap, gazing up at her. "What does it look like to you?" he grins merrily.
"It looks to me like we're slowly figuring out where we are, aren't we?" Kae laughs, leaning down to give T'rell a playful hug and run her fingers through his hair. "Eventually, we'll have it all straight, right?"
T'rell keeps Kaeryn close, nudging her into a prone position with him on the cool stone ledge. "Eventually, but I think maybe we should do a little more figuring, don't you?" His fingers nonchalantly begin unfastening her dress, as if he needed to clarify.
Kaeryn laughs softly as she's pulled to the cold stone floor, but her laughter is cut off as she presses her lips against his in a soft, but passionate kiss. "If this is what we call 'figuring', then I'll have to agree," she gives him a playful wink and kisses him again.
Sejith moves his tail to curl around the pair on the floor, encircling them on the high ledge while he watches out at the weyr's sunset activity.
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