A Good Day

Writers: Devin, Bree
Date Posted: 18th July 2007
Series: Saving Each Other

Characters: Talryne, N'vanik
Description: With her new knots to show off, Talryne shares her good day with N'vanik.
Location: Dragonsfall Weyr
Date: month 4, day 10 of Turn 4

Talryne

N'vanik

Talryne adjusted the brand new knots on her shoulder a third time before she opened the door to her weyr and smiled at N'vanik.
"Hey."

"Hey." His eyes widened a little when he saw the knots. "Well, look who's all official!"

Her smile grew as she stepped back to let him in. "I'm an apprentice, now. An apprentice weaver."

N'vanik kissed her and smiled. "Prettiest one I've ever seen."

"I should hope so," she replied tartly, closing the door behind him. "I'm a good bit older than most of them. Had more time to develop all these pretty curves that make the blue sweater so nice."

He chuckled. "How about the prettiest _weaver_ I've ever seen? Although some of the boys do try awful hard." N'vanik winked as he laughed again.

"That sounds much more complimentary." She gestured to her small table and smiled proudly. "I even got us dinner."

"Oh, look at that!" N'vanik admired the table. "And here I didn't get you anything. I'll have to make up for it."

"No you don't." She slid her arms around his waist, resting her head against his shoulder for a moment. "I went out by myself. For most of the afternoon. And I have a craft, and I went to the kitchens and got food..." Her arms tightened. "It's sorta like being alive again. At least a little."

He laid his hands over hers and smiled. "And you'll keep getting better."

"Thank you." She twined her fingers with his. "Shards, N'vanik. You've helped so much."

Among the swell of happiness and pride, there was now a twinge of fear. He swallowed and tried to push it aside. "You did all the hard work."

"Not really..." She let her arms fall and gave him a little push towards the table. "Come on. Let's eat."

N'vanik moved forward and pulled a chair out for her.

One of Talryne's eyebrows went up as she settled into it. "Aren't you in a sweet mood tonight. You must really like my new knots."

He laughed as he sat across from her. "Seemed like the right kind of occasion to use my manners."

"I didn't know you had any," she said teasingly as she reached over to snatch a roll from one of the plates. "I don't know what I think about them. I always told my mother I hated good manners."

N'vanik forked meat onto his plate and snorted. "No more chair-holding for you, then."

"Maybe on special occasions," she allowed as she poured herself a glass of water. "_Only_ special occasions, though. I like you fine just how you are. Don't be getting all odd now that I'm finally starting to feel better."

**I've _been_ odd. You just think it's normal.** "Nah, I won't get all strange on you."

"Good." She took the meat for him and added as an afterthought, "Unless, you know, you really want to, I guess. You know, I'm not trying to tell you what to do."

N'vanik sighed and shook his head. "Tal, don't. Just don't. You can tell me what you're thinking without getting worried."

She winced. "Sorry. It's--" With a sigh, Talryne shook her head. "Sorry. I'm trying."

"It's okay. You'll get there." He added a roll to his plate.

Talryne recovered with another smile and kept up a light stream of cheerful talk throughout the meal, detailing the events of her first official day as an apprentice and the things she hoped to learn. Her face was almost animated as she talked, showing more life than she had in months.

N'vanik finished his glass and set it down. "So what do you want to do now?" His eyebrow arched up the tiniest bit.

"I was thinking..." She smiled shyly. "If Loseth doesn't mind, maybe we could find somewhere where there's a nice warm beach? I think... I think I feel like getting out, tonight."

He gave her a wide smile and his eyes glazed for a moment. "He doesn't mind at all. And I know just the place."

~*~

Loseth kicked up a spray of sand as he landed. }:The sun is very warm here!:{ the bronze said happily.

**It is! We picked a good day.** N'vanik gave him a pat and dismounted, then reached up to help Talryne down.

She slid lightly down into his arms, smiling as she reached out for Loseth. **Thank you for bringing us.**

}:You're welcome. Everyone is happy. This is very nice.:{ N'vanik kissed her cheek and started to pull off his riding jacket. "One warm beach, as requested."

Talryne left her riding jacket on as she stepped away from Loseth, still shivering a little from the cold of /between/ that seemed to take so much longer to leave her than it had before. "It's beautiful. And sunny."

"Hmmm. Reminds me of someone." It was stupid. It was sappy. But at the moment, he didn't care.

She laughed and grinned at him over her shoulder, looking almost carefree. "Someone really _is_ flattering me left and right today."

"You're in such a good mood, it's rubbin' off." He tossed his jacket onto the sand and started undoing Loseth's straps.

Talryne finally tugged off her jacket and dropped to the sand, pulling her boots off and tossing them aside so she could dig her toes into the warm sand. "It's just a good day," she replied as she closed her eyes and tilted her head back, letting the sun warm her face. "I feel... different."

With his straps gone, Loseth wandered off for a swim in the warm water. N'vanik sat down next to her, kicking off his boots. "You've got something to do. Something you're good at. That changes a lot."

"I suppose it does." She leaned her body into his without opening her eyes. "I know there will still be bad days--lots of bad days.
But... maybe there'll be days like this, too."

"Shards, I hope so." He put an arm around her and kissed the top of her head. "I love seeing you happy."

She smiled. "What do you say to going for a little swim?"

"I say yes." N'vanik stood up and held out his hand.

Talryne let him help her to her feet and then tugged her tunic over her head. "I don't suppose we thought to bring towels."

"I did." He pointed to the bundle among Loseth's straps. "Gotta at least try to keep sand out of those annoying places."

"You're good at thinking ahead." She smiled and pulled her shirt off as well. "Well, am I the only one going swimming, or what?"

He mock frowned. "Saucy." He pulled off his shirt and started untying his pants.

"Only all my life," she replied easily, slipping out of her pants. "You've just been getting spoiled. I'm always saucy on my good days." She actually laughed as she moved towards the water.

N'vanik sprinted a few steps to catch up with her. "I _like_ saucy." He bumped against her playfully.

"So I see." She bumped him back and waded into the water up to her waist before diving into the waves. He followed after her and waited until she came up. Giving her a second to breathe first, he reached out and dunked her under. She disappeared under the water almost too easily, and then there was a sharp tug as she yanked one of his feet out from under him. He just got his mouth closed before he went under and he turned to grab at her arm.

She squirmed out of his reach and broke the surface several armlengths away, smiling as she pushed her wet hair back from her eyes. "Gonna have to move faster than that. I was always a good swimmer." "What do I get if I catch you?" He sent a splash her way.

Talryne swept an eyebrow up as she swam lazily backwards. "What do you think?"

He moved just as lazily toward her. "And what do you want if I can't catch you?"

"Mmmm... pretty much the same thing." She swam a little faster. "I guess whoever wins gets to decide the details, though."

"Still win-win. I like those odds." N'vanik kicked out and started after her.

True to her word she was an excellent swimmer, but she didn't seem as interested in evading N'vanik as she perhaps should have. Before long she returned to the slow lazy strokes again, watching him approach with sharp anticipation. He slowed a few feet from her. "You know, it's not as fun if you just let me win."

"I know." She grinned at him and kicked off again. "It's taking too long, though, and I'm very impatient."

"Oh! Now you're calling me slow!" He brought his foot around and kicked a spray of water at her. "We can call it a tie and go back to the beach."

She laughed and kept swimming away. "I don't think so. You splashed me, now I'm going to make you work for it."

N'vanik slowly stroked toward her. "I thought you were impatient?"

"A girl can change her mind," she replied easily, and then dove under the water again.

He started after her, then paused, a wicked smile on his face. In another moment, Loseth swam over, blocking Talryne's path as N'vanik came up behind her.

She surfaced just before she bumped into a large bronze side, taking a startled breath before she spun to give N'vanik a laughing glare. "Now that's just cheating."

"There were _rules_?" he asked innocently.

}:He wanted me to help him win the game. We like to win,:{ the bronze told her.

**It's all right,** she told Loseth soothingly, her eyes still narrowed as N'vanik approached. "Shame on you, using your dragon like that."

He grinned and reached out to touch her. "I win."

She wrapped her fingers around his wrist and pulled herself to him. "So you do."

"Now can we go back to the beach?" He kissed her. "What I have in mind is a little hard to do in the water. At least, this far out."

"Mmmmm, you _did_ win..." She started moving lazily towards the shore with him. "Though I admit, I'm curious as to what your evil plans involve."

"You, of course. And the rest, well ... you'll see." He flashed her a smile.

She smiled in return, pausing to sink her feet to the ground and wrap her arms around him, the water still lapping at her waist. Leaning up, she kissed him softly. "Thank you for everything, N'vanik," she whispered.

He smiled down at her. "You're welcome."

Last updated on the July 18th 2007

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A Good Day