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 Posted: Wed Jun 20, 2018 10:47 am
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It was tempting, oh, so tempting, to simply pretend that she was asleep. Vera didn't want to move. She was comfortable right where she was, and moving would entail confronting what had happened the night before. Not that she regretted it. No, she was... more afraid that he might have regretted it. That he might regret it.
She snuggled a little closer, content to be wrapped in his embrace. She'd never considered W'dre that way before, but now that they'd renewed their intimate acquaintance, she found that the idea was not as shocking as she might have expected. Mostly, she just didn't know him very well. She'd wanted to get to know him better, and maybe she would get the chance.
"Good morning," she said at last, not budging a bit. She might as well admit what he probably already knew. She was awake.
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Posted: Wed Jun 20, 2018 11:00 am
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"G'morning," he murmured into her hair. Vera seemed content to remain where she was curled up against him, so W'dre made no motions to disturb the peace of the bed. They would get up soon enough and have to start tending to this and that - any prying from the Weyr, having to return home, checking on on Vedra. But, that could wait for now.
W'dre would enjoy this for as long as he got to have it.
He could have filled in the moment of silence with several questions, or observations. Each thought was picked over carefully, weighed for if it was too much, or not enough, for sleepy post-flight banter. "We can....stay like this as long as you want," he finally said. Maybe that was...more forward than he intended.
Ah well.
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Posted: Wed Jun 20, 2018 11:12 am
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In the space of a few sevendays, her world had expanded to include him. Vera, who had been so desperately lonely for adult companionship, no longer felt quite so alone. It was strange how a moment could change one's life. She wanted to savor it. Wanted to pretend that she could disappear into it, and let it engulf her. Let it absorb all of the confusion and uncertainty. What was there to be so afraid of, after all?
"As long as they let me," she said, keeping her eyes closed. Had she been a more lusty woman, she might have gone in for a kiss, but as it was, she enjoyed this. This was comfort. This was safety. This was security. All things that she had never truly enjoyed to their fullest extent. And so she let herself relax into his hold, and trust that he would not judge her for what she had done.
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Posted: Wed Jun 20, 2018 8:49 pm
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"I would like it," she decided, burrowing against his chest until his nose was touching it. She'd been so alone, even with the best daughter in the world. With W'dre, somehow it was a little easier to put aside all of those worries. Vera only had a few hours left before she'd have to go back to the Weyr, no doubt. Zheria would expect her as soon as she was able to leave. However, Serenath was clearly tired, and she wondered whether it would be better to simply fly straight through. She didn't want to risk her Gold.
Perhaps this would work. "When we leave, I've been thinking. Maybe we'll fly straight to High Reaches rather than going between. Serenath seems exhausted." Clearly, as even her rider's thoughts had not yet woken her. Hmm. Well, Vera was comfortable where she was, anyway.
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Posted: Wed Jun 20, 2018 9:00 pm
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Dormith, despite being awake, still didn't seem to want to stir and wake Serenath either. It made staying cuddled up like this all the more enticing. "Then that's that," he agreed easily, arms tightening around Vera as she burrowed further into his chest. He'd thought it many times that morning alone, but she was very warm.
W'dre listened intently to Vera's plan, nodding his head slightly as she spoke. Relaying it to Dormith, the bronze sent him back a nudge of affirmation. "Dormith seems to agree," he himself could not converse with the sleeping queen, so he had to take his lifemate's word for it. "I tend to...enjoy the long flights," he admitted after a moment. There was much to see that went unseen.
"If we go up by Sattle, we'll almost fly over where I was born."Perhaps he could point out the landmarks. Oh, that would perhaps be boring, though. Did anybody even live there now?
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Posted: Thu Jun 21, 2018 6:59 pm
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There was... pain in W'dre at that suggestion. Vera's thick brows furrowed with concern, and she reached up to run her fingers through his hair. "You don't have to take anyone there," she told him, listening to what he did not say. So much that he did not say.
"Is it... gone?" she asked, knowing that she was digging into sore places. "You don't have to tell me, if it hurts," she added quickly. "The trees explain your climbing habits, though. And maybe Vedra's." Was that something one could inherit, she wondered. If not, it was quite the coincidence.
Then again, maybe all children went through such phases. She couldn't say for certain, as she'd never been much of a climber herself. Then again, she'd grown up in stables, and then on the street, so who knew what was normal? Certainly not her.
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Posted: Thu Jun 21, 2018 7:18 pm
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He couldn't help but lean into her touch, sighing deeply. Even as much as he already had said was far more than W'dre had ever told anybody. "I should at least take myself there, I.....have not gone back in a very long time," he could say he would, but it would not be enough to make him do so.
Vera's question made him bury his face, holding in a sigh. She said he didn't have to answer it, but he'd already begun talking - and it had been all bundled up for a very long time. "I'm sure the buildings are. We didn't see many visitors, but it only took one to bring...." the sigh he had tried to hold in snaked it's way out of him, like a hiss of pain, "disease. It was...not kind."
But he'd think about the trees instead. "I wonder how far they've grown now since I carved my name at the top of them. At least a few feet, right?" He should have known more about trees, but they were all so different from each other. "I wonder how tall they'll be when Vedra can climb them."
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Posted: Sat Jun 23, 2018 4:30 pm
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Her fingers did not pause in W'dre's hair, and she listened closely to what he had to say. What she heard saddened her, though it was a normal enough occurrence. Frowning, Vera let her hands wander down so that she could rub his shoulders. "You lost your entire family," she said... and suddenly it all made sense. In one instant, she had given him something that no one else ever had: Vedra.
Hope. "She loves to climb. She's still little, but I would imagine that she only needs a couple of Turns yet. You can show her how to climb down safely," Vera added, for that was a skill that little Vedra had not yet mastered. "I'd love to see the trees." For that, at least, seemed to not cause him such terrible pain.
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Posted: Sat Jun 23, 2018 4:43 pm
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W'dre nodded grimly, even if the details weren't exactly aligned. It was in the little details pain hid itself, and so he hid those away. Perhaps for another time, perhaps for never. Enough had been unearthed from places he usually didn't allow anybody to creep into for now, whispered into the ears of someone that would hopefully keep it safe.
Was a desire to climb something all kids had or had he given that to their daughter? His mood at least seemed to lift a bit as he smiled into Vera's hair at the mental image. "Depends on how quickly she sprouts. Four or five turns should really do it," though imagining even at that age, his - Shards, his - little girl getting up as high as he did with twice that much time on her.... Well, safely down would definitely be a first step.
Then, after a moment, he began to laugh, as though he'd just gotten the punchline of a joke perhaps a few beats too late. "I have a daughter," and that statement alone, was enough to salve any pain he'd spoken of.
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