Escaping (1/2)

Writers: Devin, Bree
Date Posted: 17th January 2007
Series: Saving Each Other

Characters: N'vanik, Talryne
Description: N'vanik takes Talryne to the beach, and things get interesting in more than one way.
Location: Dragonsfall Weyr, Elsewhere on Pern
Date: month 1, day 28 of Turn 4

N'vanik

Talryne

}:I don't know why you have to go somewhere else for cookies. There are cookies at the Weyr:{ Loseth said as he settled back onto the ledge.

**Because these are better.** N'vanik had gotten up early that morning, a rare occurance for a restday, to get a batch of cookies from Arosil.
She'd been more than happy to give them to him, especially when he mentioned they were for a friend. "Oh, what kind of a friend?" she'd asked. "Just a friend," he answered quickly. During their light conversation, though, he'd let slip that his friend was a 'she'. "You're surprising her with cookies? How romantic." Arosil smiled as she filled a small sack. "Would you like some flowers, too? I have some growing in the garden--" Even after he'd told her it wasn't like that, Arosil had kept smiling at him. **Shards, not her too.**

Now N'vanik unstrapped the carefully wrapped package of cookies and brought them into the weyr, wondering if Talryne was awake.

"N'vanik?" Talryne's voice came from the bathing chamber, followed by splashing. A few moments later she emerged, wrapped in a towel. "You were up early," she said as she rubbed at her hair with a second towel.

"I brought you a healthy breakfast." N'vanik removed the thick fur-lined pouch and felt the bag. "Still warm. These are the best cookies on Pern," he said as he took the bag over to her.

Talryne lowered her towel and leaned closer to the bag. "They smell delicious. Just let me get dressed."

"Ok." He grabbed a cookie and began munching away. They really were the best.

She emerged two cookies later fully dressed and with her hair neatly combed and braided. The look on her face was a little uncomfortable, though. "I think I may have to go to my weyr again... I need a few things."

"Like what? I can get them for you." He tried to sound casual. Unless Abrei had cleaned up on her way out, the bed was a mess and one of his socks was in there somewhere. If Talryne saw that and asked what happened . . .

Talryne didn't look suspicious. If anything, she looked relieved as she reached out to take one of the cookies. "Thank you. I still... I still don't like going in there."

"Do you need your stuff today?" he asked.

Shaking her head, she hastily swallowed the bite of cookie she'd just taken. "I don't think so. It's nothing really important."

"Good." N'vanik smiled. He wasn't eager to return to her weyr, either.
"More time for the beach, then."

"Beach?" The cookie paused halfway to her mouth, and she tilted her head to the side. "You're going to the beach?"

"_We're_ going to the beach," he corrected. "To the ocean."

"Oh." She took another bite of her cookie, and then rewarded N'vanik with a smile. "Can we bring the cookies? They're really good."

~*~*~*~*

The sound of the waves was soothing, and the sand beneath the blanket was warm. N'vanik lifted a cookie from the bag. "Last one," he said, raising an eyebrow at Talryne.

"I don't know if I can eat another one," she admitted, eyeing the cookie. "But oh, I want to. Where did you _get_ them?"

"There's a little farmhold along one of the sweep routes. The holder's wife is generous with her sweets," he said. "If you can't eat the whole thing, how about half?"

Talryne reached out for her share of the cookie. "I suppose now I'm going to have to get some exercise. I'm not as agile as I was a few months ago... and the cookies aren't going to help."

"Wanna go swimming?" he asked around the last bite of cookie.

"That would be fun..." She smiled up at him as she dug her toes into the warm sand. "Can we enjoy the sun a little first, though? I've missed having it be so warm." And she felt the cold of /between/ a lot more than she used to.

"Sure." N'vanik put his hands behind his head and laid back on the blanket. "I need to work on my tan anyway." The warm sun and sand made his darker thoughts and feelings seem a bit more distant. A stomach full of cookies and Tal beside him were also improving his mood.

"I could probably use some sun, too." She pulled her tunic over her head and studied her arms. The long winter at Dragonsfall followed by a month and more of almost never going outside had given her usual tan a chance to fade. Her skin would never be pale, but she certainly looked like she'd been spending too much time indoors.

N'vanik tugged off his pants and folded them up along with his shirt to use as a pillow. "Don't let me fall asleep. I don't want to get baked."

Stretching out next to him, Talryne smiled a little. "What makes you think I'm going to stay awake?"

"Hmmm, maybe I should try to keep myself awake then. I don't want you to get baked, either."

After working her own clothes into a suitable enough bundle to serve as a pillow, she turned onto her side and looked at him. "We could talk, I suppose."

"About what?" he asked, turning to face her. The old familiar reluctance and fear crept up at the suggestion.

She studied his face for a moment, surprised at how easy it was for her to read the change in his emotions. Nothing obvious--but then, she'd been spending more time around N'vanik than she'd ever spent around anyone before. And right now she knew he didn't like this idea. "I could talk about me. It would be guaranteed to put you to sleep, but at least I'd have to stay awake to keep talking."

"Ok." His smile was part relief, his fear subsiding. **Why does that bother me so much?**

Now she had to think of something to say. "Did you know I have a sister?"

"I don't remember you mentioning her."

"Her name's Rialine." Talryne's mouth turned up in a little smile.
"She's sixteen, now. My father offered us both the chance to come to the Weyr and choose a craft or try to Impress, but she wanted to stay with him and find a husband."

N'vanik made a face, then his expression quickly returned to neutral.
"How could somebody turn down a chance to go to the Weyr?"

Talryne shrugged one shoulder. "Most of my family has been happy enough in crafthalls. Though I'm glad I didn't have to go to the Vintner Hall with them. I don't like the Hallmaster."

"Why not?"

"I don't know. I've only met him once, but he was..." She could remember that ice-cold glare that took in her riding jacket and dismissed her as unworthy of his respect. "I don't think he cares much for women who live at the Weyr."

"Ahh, he thinks they should be in their proper place, at home with the children." He gave a derisive snort.

She made a face. "And that's why I left. I know my father'd had offers for me already, but I was lucky. He wasn't going to hand me over to some ugly old man who'd killed off his first wife by making her have too many children."

N'vanik swallowed and suppressed a shiver. "Yeah, you were lucky."

Last updated on the January 17th 2007

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Escaping (1/2)