A Change in the Pattern

Writers: Clancey, Heather
Date Posted: 23rd February 2015

Characters: Devyn, J'darin
Description: J'darin has a ... proposition... for Devyn.
Location: Dragonsfall Weyr
Date: month 11, day 14 of Turn 7
Notes: Mentioned: D'kere, E'naer
Notes: At one time there was a Pattern series haha

Devyn

J'darin

He had told D'kere and E'naer that he was not to be disturbed for
_any_ reason. If he was going to do this, they were going to have
to learn to live without him anyway, and even more importantly, _he_
was going to have to learn to let other people handle things.

Besides, it was his day off.

To that end, he'd planned this Restday outing carefully, but had
treated it like he was asking her out on a date, not just assuming
she'd go somewhere with him. He knew she had no plans - he'd asked a
few of her friends - but that was the only notice she might have had
to what he was planning.

After all, she might say no.

He had gotten up early, when it was still dark, and crept out trying
not to disturb her.

He and Hasaarth had vanished /between/ to one of his favorite wooded
meadows in a part of the Southern continent where flowers were
blooming. He had picked some of the prettiest, and then brought them
back to the chill air of Dragonsfall and made a beautiful spread of
them on a tray. He set the tray aside for now and began to write a
note to her, hoping very much that she would not wake up or catch him
at it.

Dearest Devyn,
I request the pleasure of your company on this fine Restday. I would
like to take you on a beachside picnic, if you are available and
willing.

The flowers are for you no matter the answer.

Love,
J'darin

He settled the small note in the center of the flowers, with one of
the stems laying across the top of it.

Still unsure if he managed all of his mischief without waking her, he
stood up from the table carrying the tray and began to creep into the
bedroom.

A long, femininely shaped lump in the bed said that Devyn was still
asleep. The furs were pulled all the way up to her forehead with only
tufts of her cinnamon brown hair sticking out to indicate that she was
even there at all. Inside the cocoon of blankets the greenrider was
curled into a fetal position with her pillow hugged close and tucked
under her chin. While not necessarily a heavy sleeper, Devyn had taken
double sweep duties the day before as a favor for one of her
wingmates.

Out in the weyrcouch Ellyth twitched lightly in slumber, almost
mirroring her rider's sleeping position in the way she was curled up
with the tip of her green tail draped over her snout.

Hasaarth curled back up with his own weyrmate, though he had yet to
catch her in a Flight. He did not pretend to understand why his
rider was going to all this trouble, but Ellyth was warm and lovely
and they were not going anywhere for a while.

A soft, sweet smile curved across that handsome face as he realized
she was still asleep, and looking so lovely despite the fact that he
couldn't actually see her. He could see her shape, so familiar and
so beautiful. He moved around to his side of the bed, setting the
tray where he usually slept. And since she was still sleeping, he
added a steaming cup of klah to the tray from the pitcher he'd called
for, for himself, when he had woken up this morning.

He didn't want to disturb her, but he did take the stemmed flower and
trail it down the outline of her shape ending at the top of her head.
He would let her wake up on her own, and hope she would see the tray
and the invitation right away.

He settled down in a chair beside the bed and scooped up a piece he
was carving and began to work quietly, the soft sound of his carving
was not loud enough to wake her, and he was patient to wait.

It was as if her body instinctually knew that someone was watching her
sleep as her eyelids began to flutter open not long after J'darin had
began carving. At first she simply snuggled the furs closer to her,
savoring that warm fuzziness of lingering between sleep and awake.
Slowly she stretched out her legs and then lifted her arms over her
head to stretch as well, causing the blanket to fall down to her
waist.

She saw J'darin before she saw the note and tray that he had left her.
It was unusual for him to just be up and doing something leisurely.
Normally the man's day was filled, even Restdays. "Mmm, morning." She
rasped as she pushed herself up into a sitting position, her hair
looking rumpled, and mussed. Rubbing at her eyes she finally noticed
the tray beside of her, littered with fresh flowers.

Eyebrows raising with interest, Devyn reached out and picked up the
letter, a smile bringing her lips to life as she read it. "You know,
you could have just asked," she looked up at him, and then picked up
one of the flowers and lifted it to her nose. "You've been busy this
morning." There was no way he'd gotten the flowers around Dragonsfall,
they were still out of season for the wintery place.

He smiled at her and went to the side of the bed, kneeling to cover
her hands with his own. "You're worth it, Devyn. And I could have
asked.... and you could have said no." His chuckle was warm as he
contemplated a whole day with her in someplace that was not freezing
and snow-covered. "I have something very important to talk to you
about today.... so I wanted it to be special. " He kissed the back
of her knuckles, looking as excited as a newly Impressed weyrling for
a moment.

"Will you come? I'll get everything ready; you can spend a luxurious
amount of time laying about or taking a bath or whatever you want and
I'll gather all we need."

He glanced around their very cozy weyr; large and with its own bathing
pool. He supposed he would have to give this up to the new
Weyrlingmaster. That distressed him for a moment. He had lived
in this weyr since he'd returned to Dragonsfall.

Then he looked at Devyn again and decided that as long as she moved
with him, it wouldn't matter.

Well, he would hope to keep a private bathing pool. He was the rider
of a very large bronze dragon who now had a green dragon weyrmate of
his own.

"We will _not_ be disturbed." His grin turned a bit lazy. Swimming,
playing, sunning, taking her to bed on the hot sands. It all was
sounded more and more delicious to him.

A smile curved across Devyn's face. She was wide awake now. "I am
liking the sounds of this, bronzerider. When do you want to leave?" If
it was just going to be the two of them the greenrider wouldn't even
bother with a swimsuit.

~*~

When they arrived at his chosen spot, they were treated to an amazing
view coming out of /between/. It was not that the place was a
secret, far from it. But it was incredibly visually stunning.
The white, pristine sand was large and expansive and made a lovely
contrast with the deep blue of the ocean. This beach was near a
drop off so dolphins came to play and leap in the deep waters
offshore. There was enough close in for swimming, but it got deep
quickly. Over some rocky ground behind the beach, the landscape was
a bit wild and quite green, full of untamed trees. He had seen other
riders here at times, though it seemed no one was here at the moment.
Perfect.

The sun was hot and filled his bones with warmth and memories of
Dolphin Cove and as he dismounted from Hasaarth, he felt an incredible
weight lift off his shoulders.

Pulling the bags free, followed by the harness from his bronze, he
thumped Hasaarth in the shoulder and sent him off to fish.

}:I will sun, instead. :{

Chuckling at his lifemate wanting to be his own dragon, he shook his head.

As he waited for Devyn to join him, he started setting up a cozy place
for them to lay on the sand. He left the food alone for now. He
grinned at his greenrider weyrmate. "Just you and me, lovely
greenrider. Lets hope we can find something to do." His eyes
twinkled at her, while at the same time, he wondered when to bring up
his wish to step down as Weyrlingmaster.

Would she be happy, or think he was weak? Only time would tell.

Devyn smiled as Ellyth made for the water, leaving a trail in the sand
as the tip of her tail drug along the white, sandy beach. Stretching
out on the blanket that J'darin had arranged for them, Devyn looked up
at the bronzerider with a smile, "I believe we can find some things to
do. Although you may have overly dressed for them." Her lips curved
suggestively. The greenrider was already in a pair of short shorts and
a halter top that only reached part of the way down her torso, leaving
her toned midriff exposed.

She liked days like today, when her and J'darin could simply be flirty
and fun without the gravity of the duties that weighed on them and
their relationship back at the Weyr. The man was never so handsome as
he was in these carefree moments. **And shards, is he handsome.**
Devyn never took for granted that she got to sleep beside of the
_best_ looking man in the Weyr every night.

He drank in the sight of her, almost breathless. So beautiful... and
lively.... and amazing.

He knew, though, with that sixth sense all bronzeriders have, that she
was appreciating the view, so he shrugged out of his own clothing,
down to a simple pair of shorts and nothing else. He took his time,
but never took his eyes off of her.

"You're giving me ideas, greenrider." His blue eyes darkened and then
he knelt down beside her on the blanket before rolling over and
trapping her beneath him. He decided words were for losers and
kissed her instead, letting that speak for him.

It was days like today that made him wonder why he let duty interfere
with his relationships at all.

And in that moment, he became as sure as he was about his dragon that
he was doing the right thing by stepping down as Weyrlingmaster. It
stung his pride on many levels, but he was learning that there were
more important things than pride.

Like this moment.

And the moments with other friends and his sister, his mother.

And the moments he spent with Hasaarth.

He kissed her until neither of them could breathe, his hands traveling
down her barely clothed body, before leaning back a little to look at
her.

"Hmmm... I seem to have forgotten all of my ideas....I hope you have
some, now." He spoke softly, and while he was definitely distracted
enough to forget why he'd brought her out here, to somewhere special,
he did spend a moment trying to decide when to tell her.

Devyn flashed another smile up at J'darin, struck at that moment by
how carefree and lighthearted he seemed, a rarity for the
Weyrlingmaster. "Something is different about you...." She trailed her
forefinger along his jawbone, "I just can't pinpoint what." The
greenrider slid her finger down the side of his neck, and then
outlined the path of muscles on his torso. "You seem.. happier?"
Usually there was a tense edge behind the man's personality, even when
he was with her, because there was always so much work and worry
behind tending to the Weyrlings.

"Can't it just be that I'm with you at long last?" He grinned and
leaned into her caress for a second, cherishing her sweet touch.
Then he winked. " You beautiful, intelligent woman... I cannot fool
you for a moment, can I?" Indeed, there was so much relaxation about
him that it was a state she would have rarely, if ever, seen. This
was the real man, the man she'd decided to share her life and weyr
with, and a man that so few had ever seen given the struggles of the
last several turns.

"I have to admit having you barely... or not at all....dressed on a
beach and all to myself is incredibly happy. But there is
something.... something I wanted a special setting to discuss."

Now would be as good a time as any, and besides, he hoped she would be
as happy as him and they could show each other just _how_ happy they
were.

He made himself slightly more comfortable and looked at her, lifting
one hand to trace her delicate jawbone the way she'd traced his a
moment ago. "What would you say if I stepped down from
Weyrlingmaster and became just another thread-fighting bronzerider?"
He breathed it all out in one long, soft sentence, and his body tensed
a bit in anticipation. Would she think him a coward still, for
leaving the job behind? Or be disappointed that she wasn't weyrmated
to the Weyrlingmaster anymore, or disappointed in him period? Or would
she be happy? He thought happy.... but only she could tell him.

Devyn's initial reaction was to smile, but she battled against it,
after all, she did not want to be the cause of a man giving up a job
that he was clearly _good_ at. **Duty to the Weyr and all that
nonsense.** She knew "duty" had to come first, but sometimes it was
nice when your own happiness and _life_ got to have some precedence in
your relationships. "I would say that I would feel bittersweet about
you stepping down from being Weyrlingmaster." That was an honest
enough answer.

She caught the look in his eye and quickly continued on to reassure
him, "J'darin, I wouldn't care if you were some poor crafter that no
one had ever heard of, or if you were such a bad dragonrider that you
_had_ to fly in the Queen's Wing forever." Devyn grinned a little,
"The thought of you not having late nights at the office or being on
call all the time makes me _very_ happy. I love you, and I love
spending time with you."

The greenrider leaned in on her elbows and pressed her lips warmly to
his, "Now, the bitter side is that you'll be fighting Thread again
which means possible injuries... or worse. But that is the life of a
dragonrider, and I know you're good at what you do. I am sure Hasaarth
is eager to get back into the skies with the fighting Wings."

He let out a breath he didn't know he was holding and enfolded her in
his arms as he slipped down on the blanket beside her, pulling her
close. He relished the feel of her against him for a moment before
speaking.

His sense of humor was rearing its head again, and while he would lose
some of his lack of self confidence as a rider of a Thread fighting
dragon, he still had a tendency to the dry and self-depreciating and
he chuckled softly. "You'll be spending lots of time with me now,
probably in a slightly smaller weyr. Unless I can somehow convince
the Headwoman that my turns of service deserve the nice large one we
have now. But, either way, I'll ask you again in a few months and see
if you don't say, 'Go back to work already! You are making me crazy!'"
He laughed then, a full out laugh, a release of tension and worry
that was usually always present.

His voice softened with seriousness. "I love you too, Devyn, and I
want you to know that there were other reasons for my choice, but
spending time with you was the first and greatest." He didn't want
her to think it was just for her, and it wasn't completely. He needed
to be _himself_. Not torn in two with worry. Who was he, anyway?
Not a Weyrleader, no longer a Weyrlingmaster. Not a Wingsecond, or
even a Weyrlingmaster Second. He had _always_ had a job of some
kind. Some kind of responsibility.

What would he be now? Who would he be? What would he do?

"Oh my sweet greenrider... neither Hasaarth or I can wait to fight
Thread again. We were good Weyrlingmasters, great Weyrleaders, but
we are _excellent_ Thread-fighters. I have to fight him every
single Threadfall now. He does not yet understand that we will be
going back to the air.... but he will." He was already feeling the
old confidence, the old belief in himself and his dragon. He didn't
know where he had lost it, to be honest.

His touches turned a little more insistent along her side and he
turned toward her to kiss her neck.

"Now... just how happy are you?" Husky with passion, his voice was a
bare whisper against her ear.

A smoldering spark lit Devyn's eyes as she wrapped one shapely leg
over the man's waist. Pushing him onto his back, Devyn straddled
J'darin with a smile, her hair falling around her face as she leaned
down to nip at his lower lip, "I'll show you." She promised and with
the sun to warm them during their love making, there was no doubt by
the end that they were both _very_ happy.

Last updated on the March 3rd 2015

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A Change in the Pattern