We're Supposed to be _Friends_

Writers: Cali, Eimi
Date Posted: 27th February 2006

Characters: D'cal, B'vin
Description: D'cal and B'vin have an uncomfortable moment in the bathing pool
Location: Dolphin Cove Weyr
Date: month 10, day 17 of Turn 3

D'cal slid into the water beside the greenrider with a long sigh. "Shards, all those firestone tosses we're doing is really building up my back muscles again. I didn't realize just how much I hadn't been using my back since I left the shipyards."

B'vin grunted as he closed his eyes, letting the warmth of the water permeate his skin. "You're telling me. I'm back on duty for two days... what a welcome!" "Yeah, well, now I have to call you 'sir'. That's gonna take a little getting used to," the weyrling chuckled as he leaned back against the edge of the pool.

"And don't you forget it!" he emphasized it with a playful shove, causing D'cal to slip underwater. "I can tell the weyrlingmaster that his assistants are roughing up his weyrlings," D'cal laughed, lightly splashing the greenrider in retaliation.

B'vin grabbed at D'cal's hand, "It's not roughing up; it's reinforcing a rule." "Oh, and you think drowning me will help me remember, _sir_?" the weyrling said with a splash from his other hand.

"Maybe..." he laughed as he caught the other wrist. D'cal tried to pull away to mount another attack, but they were fairly matched in strength and both only managed to pull themselves together. Their faces were only inches apart, their bodies touching under the warm water, and B'vin felt his breath catch and his body still as he realized their proximity. The bluerider noticed the change in B'vin and looked up into the greenrider's eyes. D'cal looked away quickly, self-consciously. He willed his body to relax since with B'vin holding him like that, he wouldn't be able to move away on his own. Part of him wasn't sure he wanted to move away just yet. It was... confusing.

B'vin's grip on D'cal slackened and he felt his face flush as he tried to push himself away from his _friend_, only to realize the he was backed up against the edge of the pool. He was ashamed at the way his body reacted to their closeness and tried to look away. "D'cal, I..."
he didn't know what to say, or how D'cal would react, "I..." he was lost for words.

"Don't worry, B'vin, I won't tell Y'sani you tried to drown one of his weyrlings," D'cal said with a forced chuckle, trying to diffuse the tension that had suddenly grown between them.

B'vin just shook his head and scrambled out of the pool. Once out, he reached for a towel to cover his waist, to cover the part of his body that betrayed him. "I'm sorry D'cal, I didn't..."

"B'vin, it's all right. I know it... it was an accident." The bluerider didn't like where this was going. B'vin looked so upset over it! Of course, D'cal could hardly blame him. He knew how hard it had been for the greenrider to accept that part of himself. Shards, it was hard for him to accept it in himself too. But he didn't want to lose a friend over it.

"It doesn't matter if it was an accident, I shouldn't have let it happen." He quickly pulled up his pants and sat down on a bench to put on his boots. "We're supposed to be _friends_. I wasn't supposed to... you weren't... I'm sorry, D'cal."

"But we _are_ friends, B'vin!" the bluerider protested.

He felt like crying, "Are we _still_ D'cal? Really?" B'vin thought for sure that he had ruined it. "Green riders walk a very find line with their male friends, and I'm pretty sure I crossed it. I didn't even know I _wanted_ to cross it until... well, then! I swear, D'cal, I only ever thought of you as a friend; not in _that_ way. Well, I mean, occasionally a stray thought would enter in my mind or Serenth would make a comment about Aosorath... but well you know what I mean..." B'vin knew he was babbling, but he had to make D'cal understand, he just couldn't lose him. "In which case, B'vin, bluerider's like I am walk a fine line with _everyone_. Can I be no one's friend?" D'cal knew he had a hard time, but it was obvious that his friend had it twice as bad. "Just because we're friends doesn't mean that we aren't still bound by nature when we're together. So you look at me sometimes. So I sometimes look at you too. That doesn't mean we can't be friends."

"Your not mad?" B'vin asked, unsure. "I thought... I mean... you look at me too?" He thought for sure that D'cal would hate him, he always hated himself when he felt that way. "Sometimes," D'cal nodded. More than he cared to admit. "I'm not mad.
Come on back into the pool." B'vin wasn't sure that was such a good idea, he wasn't sure how his body would react if he got back into that water with him. "I just don't want to lose you as a friend." "You won't," the bluerider promised. "Shards, why should it? It's kind of a compliment, actually."

"What do you mean?" B'vin was calming down now since he had been repeatedly told he hadn't screwed up the best friendship he had ever had. D'cal shrugged, a slight blush crept onto his cheeks. "Well, it kind of means I'm attractive. That's always good to know."

"Oh." the greenrider replied sheepishly, "It's not like you needed me to tell you that, you've had enough girls in your bed to know your not ugly." "Yeah, well, girls seem to think I'm all right if there isn't anyone better around," D'cal shrugged. "Doesn't exactly raise my confidence much."

B'vin pulled his shirt on over his head and grinned. "At least you're good enough to be a fall back guy, that's got to count for something!" "I sure hope so." Somehow, D'cal didn't quite believe it though.

Last updated on the February 27th 2006

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We're Supposed to be _Friends_