Flipping

Writers: Dana, Eimi
Date Posted: 26th August 2005

Characters: Renner, Desirae
Description: Renner takes Desirae out on an assignment and their chatting hits a painful spot
Location: Elsewhere on Pern
Date: month 7, day 15 of Turn 3

Renner sat on the cliff, his legs dangling lazily over the sea. He leaned over. It was a good ways down and dotted with rocks here and there. The waves crashed mercilessly against the stones in their timeless battle. The sea of course would win, he knew. The sea always won in the end.

He glanced back at the little dingy that had been brought back up onto the beach. Des was nowhere to be seen. Since he and Zanie were not to go to Topaz Sea Hold for the time being, he had volunteered to accompany the young journeywoman to the secluded beach. He didn't know what he was expected to do, other than row the boat, since she had a dolphin life partner who could rescue her far better than he ever could. But it was nice to get away from the Dolphin Hall for a while. It was quiet here. Peaceful.

Desirae had been surprised when Renner had all but asked to accompany her here. Though they had always been on polite, even friendly, terms, she never would've expected this. It had been a little awkward at first, but the slight tension was slowly starting to ease between them.

From her position on the low branch of one of the trees, she could see Renner, and he seemed to be looking for her. She smiled slightly to herself as she picked one last, plump fruit, placing it carefully in her basket before swinging down to the mossy ground.

"It's nice here, isn't it?" the young woman asked once she reached his side. She flicked her short hair back from her eyes and gave him a smile, slowly lowering herself next to him.

Renner nodded. He had been in his own silent thoughts and had not expected her company. "Yes, this is a beautiful spot. Very quiet."

"Would you like a fruit?" She held out her basket to him. "Picked them just now."

"Thank you," he said as he took the offered treat. "Have you finished your work, then?"

She nodded, setting her basket down at her side. "For now, at least. Now I just want to _relax_." She turned her face into the breeze, smelling the brine and the heady scent of the tropics.

"This is the spot for relaxing," Renner agreed before taking a bite out of the fruit she had given him. "I could almost live on a beach like this forever. Plenty of food, shade, sea..."

She nodded. "But I know I'd get lonely. I need people around too."

"It would be nice to get away from people for a while sometimes," Renner replied as he stared out at the sea. "Besides, even here you can see people. Look, over there. It's a ship."

"Looks like a trader ship from the north," she commented, shading her eyes against the bright, evening sunlight.

"You have good eyes," Renner said as he smiled approvingly. "But of course you have plenty of experience with boats from the north."

She looked at him. "You could say that," she agreed with a smile. "With my parents being seatraders? Of course."

He chuckled, remembering his short stint on the same boat as her family. "Yes, you were a well-travelled group. I'm surprised you were content to settle down on land."

Des shrugged a shoulder. "Who knows? I might want to sail the _endless_ expanse of the oceans again someday." She smiled at him. "But I'm very content learning here at Dolphin Hall. Not all women have this chance."

"True. The Dolphin Hall is a rare exception." Renner could understand the need to repopulate the South after the plague, but he saw no reason why crafting should be considered an interference. Plenty of dolphineers had families. "Where are your folks now? On their boat? In port?"

"On their boat up north." She gestured vaguely to the horizon. "I remember sailing there. Weren't you with us during one of those certain trips?"

"Yes, I believe I was. It was my first trip north I believe."

"Did you do inland at all? Is it as barren and as cold as they say?"

"Finn and I explored the coast, but nothing inland." Renner smiled at the memory. That had been a great trip. "Finn enjoyed exploring a new coastline for a while."

"Did you both find it very different from the southern coastlines?"

Renner didn't answer. He was staring off at the northern horizon, lost in thought and memories. That had been a pleasant time - one that proved as painful as it was happy.

Des glanced at him when he didn't reply. "Renner?" she asked quietly.

Renner slowly turned his head towards the sound of the voice beside him. He looked at Des in dazed surprise, as if she had just appeared out of no where.

"...Are you all right?"

"Of course. Yes, I'm fine," he replied as he turned back to look past his feet at the water swirling below.. Renner shook his head slightly, trying to clear it of the thoughts that had filled it.

She let silence engulf them for a few moments before she murmured softly, "Would you tell me about Finn?"

"Finn was my dolphin partner." Renner replied quietly. "He was very smart. Very playful. And very brave."

Des remained quiet, waiting for him to continue.

He glanced over at her waiting in silence. After a moment of just sitting there he finally said, "What more do you want to know?"

She shrugged a shoulder and gave him a small smile. The uneasy feeling was back. Had she pushed it too far again? "Whatever you're willing to share... But I can understand if you..." she trailed off, embarrassed, and looked down.

Renner sighed. "Well, he loved to flip."

Desirae grinned slightly at that. "And I'm sure he impressed many a female with his flips?"

"I suppose he did," Renner said with a shrug. "He would flip over and over until he finally tired himself out. I guess he liked the feeling. I have always wondered what it was about flipping that was so great."

"It's the simple things in life a dolphin loves."

Renner looked between his feet at the crashing waves. "That is true. If only humans were so easy to please. Perhaps our lives would be a lot happier if we just took the time to flip every once in a while."

"You're right..." She sighed a little. "But we can be plagued by remorse, irritation, anger and guilt... Something that the dolphins hardly feel and understand as much as we do."

"And just what do _you_ know of guilt and remorse?" Renner suddenly snapped, fixing her with an icy stare.

Startled at his sudden vehemence, Desirae stared back at him. She flushed, felt the blood leave her cheeks, and then flushed again. It took her a long moment to find her voice behind the lump that had sprung into her throat at the harsh look in his eyes. "Obviously not enough to even comment about what I've observed in others." The quiet words were out of her mouth before she could stop them, and she looked away.

"You think you can just _look_ at someone and understand how they feel?" he asked quietly, coldly. "Don't think you can just look at me and know how I feel. You can _never_ know how I feel."

"I wasn't talking about you. And observing isn't _just_ looking." Des stood and wrapped her arms around herself, feeling a little angry, and sad. She wanted to apologize, but she couldn't get the words out. Not knowing what else to do, she turned and walked as steadily as she could away from him. She knew it was the coward's way out, but she needed to get away from that awful stare. Why was it that whatever she said to him always sounded _wrong_?

Renner watched her go and instantly felt bad for his reaction. **How _could_ she understand what you feel? She shouldn't ever understand how you feel.** Humans and flipping just was not a good mix.

~~

Eimi (sea_spray_singer@fastmail.fm)
Renner, Sr. Jr. Dolphineer, DCW-DH

Dana (dana@triadweyrs.org)
Desirae, junior journeywoman dolphineer, DCW-DH

Last updated on the August 26th 2005

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Flipping