Tell Me What I Can Do

Writers: Bree, Eimi
Date Posted: 4th February 2006

Characters: Zanie, D'cal, Renner
Description: Zanie asks D'cal to take her away after her fight with Renner
Location: Dolphin Cove Weyr, Dolphin Hall
Date: month 10, day 3 of Turn 3
Notes: Follows "Don't Ask"

The drills were getting harder and more complex. They were being prepared. It would not be long now before his turn to be Blooded, and then into the wings. Both rider and dragon were exhausted and in need of a little swim. D'cal stripped off his riding helmet and slid off Aosorath's neck. **Let's get in the water. We'll both feel much better,** he told the blue as he stripped off his jacket and tunic.

The weyrling looked down the beach towards the Dolphin Hall. He sighed.
Of course she wouldn't be there. He stripped off his dragon's riding straps and both slipped into the water for a leisurely soak. It wasn't until he was halfway back on shore that he heard his name being called.
For one confused moment he looked around on the beach, but there was no one.

}:The dolphin girl is in the boat with a stern looking man.:{ Aosorath said, his head pointing towards the little skiff.

D'cal's smile broadened as his heart quickened a pace. She saw him! He waved to her with long sweeps of his arms. "Zanie!" he called back to her.

Zanie gave him a smile and a short wave. "Meet me at the dock?" she called back, pointing towards the buildings that housed the Dolphin Hall.

"Ok!" he called back, grinning from ear to ear. He pulled on his trousers, but thought better than to put on the shirt and tunic he had worn during drills. The bluerider left them with his lifemate and hurried off to the dock to meet her. D'cal and Renner exchanged quick, but polite nodds as the journeyman dolphineer tied off the boat. He smiled and reached a hand down to Zanie to help her onto the dock.

She hopped out of the boat and was moving almost before her feet hit the dock. "I need to go put these reports up," she said, nodding at the maps clutched against her chest. "It will just take me a few moments..."

"All right," he said as she ran past him. "I'll wait here then?"

Her answer was muffled and cut off by a door slamming shut behind her.

D'cal stood on the dock... waiting... He looked over his shoulder at Renner as he pulled in and stowed the oars. "Do you want a hand with..."

"I've got it, bluerider," Renner quickly assured him in a not so gentle tone.

**Okay...** D'cal shifted his feet uncomfortably as he waited. He watched as Renner started loading gear onto the dock. "Do you need me to help you..."

"No."

**All right...** "Um... if Zanie comes back will you tell her that I just ran to get my shirt? I won't be long. It's just..."

"Take your time."

D'cal felt undeniably dismissed. He breathed out a sigh as he jogged back down the beach. That dolphineer always unnerved him. He realized it would be faster to have Aosorath give him a lift back, and the blue happily obliged.

}:Is the dolphin girl going to visit? I like it when she visits. You feel really good.:{
**I don't know. We'll see. I don't think we'll stay long in either case. That Renner guy doesn't seem to like me much.**

}:That's all right. I don't like him anyway. But I like the dolphin girl.:{ D'cal reached the dock just as Renner brushed past him with all their gear. "Has Zanie..."

"Not yet." Renner disappeared behind the building, much to the weyrling's relief.

She reappeared finally looked flushed and out of breath, with her hair in a sloppy knot and a bag slung over her shoulder. "Are you ready?"

"Yes," he breathed, happy to be far away from Renner and his cold gaze.
"Where are we going?"

"Away from here," Zanie said firmly, still trying to catch her breath.
She'd abandoned dignity after she'd gotten the maps back where they belonged and run through the hallways at full speed, wanting to get her things and get out before Renner finished tying the boat up.

"All right," he said as he helped her onto Aosorath's neck. The need to escape the dour dolphineer's gaze was mutual. "Let's stop back off at my Weyr first so I can get a fresh shirt and then we can ago anywhere you like."

She buried her face in his shoulder when he climbed up, wrapping her arms around him in an almost desperate manner. "I just want to get away from here. Now, please?"

Aosorath sprang aloft, beating his wings as he steered towards home.
D'cal reached his hand down to cover her hand with his. He could feel her tention, and intuitively knew somehow Renner was the cause. Neither one seemed to happy as they came ashore. He brought her hand to his lips and kissed it gently before pulling her arm tightly around him again. The weyrling wished that he could hold her, but that would have to wait until they touched down at least.

For a few moments after they landed on the ledge, Zanie didn't release him, keeping her arms tight around him and her face pressed into his shoulder.

"What's the matter, Zanie," D'cal asked he leaned back into a bit.
"Come on, let's let Aosorath go and we can go inside and you can tell me."

She lifted her head slowly, letting him help her down and lead her into the weyr. "It's not anything... I just had a fight with Renner and it was very unpleasant."

"I'm sure it's all just a misunderstanding," the said reassuringly as he slipped an arm around her waist. He steered her towards the couch.
"Are you hungry? I can get us something to eat from the kitchens."

"No..." Zanie pulled her knees up to her chest and wrapped her arms around them, feeling vulnerable. "I just don't know what happened."

D'cal rubbed her back soothingly. "Do you want to talk about it?"

After a pause, Zanie shook her head. "It doesn't matter. It's probably good that it happened... There were things I needed to think about. Now I'll have to do it."

He nodded. Sometimes fights happened and the best thing was to let them mend in time. "Just tell me what I can do to help."

Zanie glanced at him with a shy smile. "Can I stay here tonight?"

D'cal studied Zanie a moment. There was a difference between staying the night in his weyr, and staying the night with _him_. Her smiled told him that she might be thinking of the later, but he would never push her into something she was not ready for. "Of course you can," he said with a nod. "But just so there is no confusion later, where will _I_ be sleeping?"

She'd known the answer to that question since Renner had struck a nerve earlier with his barb about risking her career. "Wherever I am, I hope."

He hadn't realized he had been holding his breath, but he let it out slowly as he wrapped his arm around her and pulled her closer. Kissing her cheek softly he whispered, "I was hoping you would say that."

Shivering at the feeling of his breath against her skin, Zanie pushed him back slightly and through one leg over his, sitting down on his thighs. Her fingers played with his tunic absently, the only sign that she was nervous as she looked down at him with a teasing smile. "Well, I did say that. So what are you going to do about it?"

Wrapping his fingers around her waist he pulled her closer to his body.
Shards but her smile was so sharding beautiful. He tilted his head and gently kissed the base of her throat, feeling his heart beat faster her his chest at the feel of her soft flesh and taste of sea salt on her skin.

Zanie leaned in to him, her fingers tightening around his tunic.
"D'cal... maybe we should go into the other room..."

"Mmm hmmm," he agreed as his lips traveled down the inside of her v-neck tunic. As long as she was on his lap he was trapped, and might as well take advantage of her body so close to his.

Her fingers released his tunic and moved to tangle in his hair, pulling his face up so that she could kiss him. Renner's angry voice faded from her mind, leaving only the knowledge that she wanted to be exactly where she was. Or maybe somewhere a little more comfortable...

Last updated on the February 4th 2006

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Tell Me What I Can Do