Lead Me Not Into Temptation (3 of 3)

Writers: Anaria, JR
Date Posted: 4th August 2011

Characters: J'klin, Roana
Description: J'klin and Roana visit the Tavern
Location: River Bluff Weyr
Date: month 3, day 6 of Turn 6
Notes: (3 of 3)

"What?" Roana burst into laughter, imagining it. "Faranth help me,
that would be awful. I like your hair," she protested.

"Oh, come on, I'd look great as a redhead!" J'klin protested with a
frown. He winked once more before waggling his eyebrows.

"No you wouldn't!" She shook her head vehemently. "You wouldn't look
any better than I would as a blonde! Ugh, how did we even get onto
this subject!"

"I have no idea," J'klin said, practically giggling. "It seemed like a
more humorous subject then discussing how old we are?" He took another
few bites of his food, savoring how good it was.

"Well, I can't be that old. I got hit on by a twenty-something the
other day," Roana chuckled.

"Wait... why is it that I get the crabby old ladies, and you get the
twenty somethings?" J'klin said, offended. "You need to teach me what
I'm doing wrong!"

Roana couldn't help but tease him. "Because I'm cuter than you?"

"Well.... yeah," J'klin said. "I guess I don't have an argument for
that. But the greenrider boys seem to like me well enough." It was
actually a shame that he wasn't a bluerider, the way he attracted men.

She raised an eyebrow, "Yes, I never did understand that, even back at
Dragonsfall. You don't give off even a little bit of a hint that you
might swing that way. But I guess most of them have a fantasy of
talking a straight man into a tryst or two."

"I guess that's like the old bronzerider fantasy of two greenriders at
the same time," J'klin joked. He couldn't imagine two women at once.
He had a hard enough time keeping one lady happy with him.

Laughing, Roana finished the last of her fish, which she'd been
nibbling throughout the conversation. "Oh no, don't tell me you fell
into that, too," she couldn't help but ask.

"Do I ride bronze?" He joked. "Honestly, with my track record with
women, I'd be glad to please one at a time. Baby steps!"

"Baby steps, my arse," the greenrider mock-glared at him. "Besides, if
you get anyone into bed, it had better be _me_."

"Hey, I'm working at it. Very diligently," he pointed out. "Sometimes
we just need to step back in order to step forward."

Roana could have kicked herself for making that comment and bringing
it up again. "I know," she sighed, "This is for the best."

J'klin wondered how long it would be this way. How long would they
continue to want more, but hold themselves and each other back. It was
hard for him, and he wasn't certain that they would ever get to a
better place. "I'm sorry for mentioning it."

She gave him a half smile. "Don't worry about it. I'm
just...frustrated. I'll deal with it, one way or another," the
greenrider resisted sighing. Why couldn't Phiralith be due to rise
again? Then there wouldn't be a question about it, and J'klin couldn't
hold anything against her.

J'klin knew what she meant, and he tried not to feel a pang of regret.
He should be with her every night. He shouldn't have messed up so much
when they were friends before. And he certainly shouldn't have let
alcohol get between them again. He sighed to himself. **Don't let
yourself get like this,** he chided himself. **There's nothing that
can be done to change the past.**

Disconcerted by his silence, Roana fell quiet herself. She'd been
planning on asking him back to her weyr after this - even if they did
nothing but sleep in her bed, she wanted company for the night - but
perhaps that wasn't such a good idea.

The conversation had soured, and J'klin struggled to think of
something to talk about. Something that would change the subject to
something more positive, and would make things not feel awkward. "I
hear that there'll be a Gather at Emerald Falls soon," he said.

"So I heard," the greenrider nodded, thankful for the new topic.
"Did... do you want to go? With me, I mean?"

"Yes," J'klin said without hesitation. "I mean, I really can't imagine
anyone else who I'd like to attempt to dance with," he added. J"klin's
lack of dancing ability was something of a joke between the two of
them.

"Awww, you're not that bad," Roana protested fondly. "I just have to
make sure to pad my toes so you don't break them."

"I warned you last time to wear your riding boots. It's not my fault
that you thought sandals looked better with the dress you were
wearing," J'klin said.

"Sandals always look better with dresses! It's not my fault that you
can't control where your feet are going!" Roana scolded, but it was in
fun, and they both knew it.

"I told you just to put your feet on top of my feet, that way there
was no possible way for me to crush them!" He responded, glad to be
discussing something a bit less serious.

The greenrider peered across the table at him, curious how he'd react
to this suggestion, "Well, if you'd let me give you lessons, you
wouldn't be so awkward about it when it comes time for the Gather.
It's not like you're uncoordinated, you've just never had reason to
practice."

"Well fine. I'll come over to your weyr for lessons every rest day
after dinner until the Gather, and we'll see if you can do anything
with my terrible dancing," J'klin said, hoping she'd appreciate his
clever excuse to spend time with her.

She beamed at him instead. "That's fine with me," Roana responded,
clearly not at all upset to have an excuse to have him stop being so
distant.

"I can't be held responsible if any of your dainty little toes end up
flattened though," he said, threatening her mockingly with a soup
spoon.

"In my weyr, you will dance with your boots _off_. That way if you
step on me by accident, at least nothing will be broken," Roana was
actually quite enthused about the idea. "And you can have your first
lesson tonight, because I don't know that I'm ready to let you go
running off after getting so little time with you lately."

"Alright, but I'm sleeping at your place, because if you want me to
dance until my feet hurt, I'm not carrying my lazy butt home. I know
that Nimyth will probably be too busy pretending to be asleep with
Phiralith on the ledge to be of any help to me." He had finished his
meal, and he set aside his bowl.

"Okay," Roana easily agreed. It was exactly what she wanted. "You want
to hang around here for a little while, or head back?"

"Nah, let's head back to your weyr," J'klin said, tossing the
appropriate amount of marks on the table, with a little extra for a
tip.

Last updated on the October 8th 2011

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Lead Me Not Into Temptation (3 of 3)