No Kissing On Duty (2/2)

Writers: Aaron, Estelle
Date Posted: 2nd October 2018

Characters: R'fal, Brennault
Description: Brennault makes a suggestion, and R'fal gets flustered
Location: Dolphin Cove Weyr
Date: month 6, day 2 of Turn 9

Brennault

Brennault followed to dismount from Marlath and stepped as close to the
edge as he dared – likely closer than he ought to have dared. He took a
deep breath as he gazed out at the distant horizon and smiled.

"It's beautiful," he said. After a moment, he turned to glance back
toward the bowl. "Think they could see us from down there? I think from
this far back, no, right?" He had a mischievous gleam in his eyes, but
once again, he knew his inclination was to ask for a bit more than a
former holder would be likely to appreciate. Still, he would keep it in
mind.

"I don't think so." R'fal jumped up and down and waved his arms, but
either his classmates couldn't see him, or they weren't looking up at
the top of the cliffs. He smiled. "Why? Marlath and I won't fly off and
leave you stranded here, I promise."

Brennault chuckled. "Never crossed my mind," he said, his grin softening
a bit to a warm smile for a moment. R'fal really was a sweet guy.

"I was more thinking about what a good spot this would be to play a
little bit of kiss and tickle." The grin came back. "If someone might
want to play." Brennault was not backing R'fal into a corner, but his
eyes made it clear, that someone could be R'fal, if he wanted.

"Oh, yes, I should think it would be. As long as no-one flies overhead
and..." It suddenly dawned on R'fal what Brennault was suggesting, and
his eyes went very wide. "I - um, I don't think I'm allowed to do that
while I'm on duty..."

Brennault knew a polite no when he heard one, so he smiled and nodded
and said, "Maybe some other time. Do dragons fly over this way often?"
he asked. And would it be so bad to be seen? He grinned at the thought.
Still, if the only way up was with a dragon, a kissing couple could find
a bit more privacy underneath his wings. Or her wings.

"Well, some fly in over the sea, but we weyrlings practice drills up
there above the Weyr, and it would be just my luck if one of the
Weyrlingmasters came flying over at the wrong time." R'fal felt his
cheeks grow warm with embarrassment. The runner must think he was the
worst kind of ignorant farm boy. "You see, we're not really supposed to
do anything like that at all until we graduate to senior weyrling. I'm
sorry - I didn't mean to lead you on, or anything..."

"Hey, it's all right." Brennault smiled and patted R'fal's arm. "You
didn't, and you don't have anything to be sorry for. I'm sorry for
making you uncomfortable. And I should have thought better of asking
while you were at work in the first place. But... no harm, no foul,
right?" he asked with a hopeful voice. "All good?"

"All good." The weyrling's tentative smile brightened as his dragon
passed on a message to him. "Marlath just told me that our duty is over
- well, until afternoon drills, anyway. Want to get some lunch?"

Brennault smiled – nothing too toothy. He did not want to scare R'fal
away. After all, he had made his feelings clear, and Brennault respected
them.

"Lunch sounds great." His stomach growled audibly in agreement.

"Okay! Flying down is even more fun," R'fal said, his usual cheerfulness
restored. "Marlath jumps off the edge and glides. It was a bit scary
when we tried it the first time, but it's less of a bumpy ride than
going up." He was relieved he hadn't offended Brennault, but with senior
weyrlinghood coming up, he realised he'd have to work out how to respond
more gracefully to being approached that way. What might have taken days
- or even months - of shy hints and meaningful looks back in the hold,
seemed to happen so easily in the Weyr.

He climbed up to Marlath's back and again offered his hand to the runner
- more in friendship than because he thought he needed help.

Brennault smiled brightly as he took the hand up. He might have been
able to manage, but he was hardly well practiced at mounting up just
yet, and it was good to have that friendly contact one way or the other.

He, too, was glad that his forwardness had been forgiven. He should have
known by now that even when hold boys had been at the weyr a while, they
could still be a bit flustered about things like this. And even at the
weyr, not every man was interested in kiss and tickle with other men.

"Let's give it a go, then!" he said. "And I'll try not to be too scared."

"Hold on tight," R'fal said, with a cheerful glance over his shoulder.
**Right, Marlath - back to the ground, and no diving!** The young brown
had taken to testing how fast he could swoop down from their high-level
weyr when he didn't have passengers.

}:I would not scare your friend. Not when he gives such good
scratches.:{ Marlath tensed and leapt over the cliff edge, letting an
air current lift him higher before he shifted his wings and began a
gentle downwards glide.

Brennault wanted to cheer and whoop, but he also did not want to shout
in R'fal's ear. This was amazing! Even better than the flight up. He
looked out over all of the things he could see, more interested in the
view now than he had been on the rim.

"I'm so jealous you get to do this whenever you want!" he laughed.

"I wish that was true. Mostly, we're only supposed to fly when the
Weyrlingmasters say so. But with drills, duties and hunting, that's
almost all of our waking hours." Enthusiasm filled R'fal's voice. He
loved flying with his dragon more than anything he'd ever done. It still
felt almost impossible that he was living the life he'd dreamed of since
childhood - but he was.

"Next best thing, eh? How long until they let you go whither so ever you
please?" Brennault wondered. How much of his life would be be giving up
if he really sought this out and found it?

"We graduate in a few months, if all goes well. But the Weyrlingmaster
told me that even before then, we can ask permission to go places once
we can go /between/. When that happens, I'm going to go home and see my
family! My parents haven't seen Marlath since he was a hatchling, and my
brother and sister haven't seen him at all." He grinned as the brown
flapped his wings to slow his descent before settling on the ground.
"They'll get a surprise when they see how big he's grown."

"There really is nothing like going home," said Brennault. And it was
good to go back often. If one stayed away too long, things changed so
much that it almost hurt to see how unlike it was the last time one visited.

"I'd you don't get back enough, eventually, it gets to feeling like the
home you left isn't really there any more. And then, well. It's almost
like you can never really go back." It was something many a runner
learned the hard way by staying on the road for too long.

"The whole place is going to be so jealous of you!" Brennault chuckled.

"I suppose they will be. I'd be desperately jealous, if someone else had
been the one Searched." R'fal wondered if whatever it was that had
caused him to be chosen ran in families. Maybe when his younger siblings
were old enough, they could try their luck at a Hatching too.

He patted Marlath's neck and thanked him for the ride. "Let's go and get
some lunch before the others eat it all. I'm starving!"

Brennault slid down and walked around to offer Marlath more scratchies.

"Thanks for the lift, buddy," he said. To R'fal, he said, "I could eat
at least one whole herdbeast myself," and chuckled.

"Me, too. But you need feeding, after that run!" R'fal grinned. "Marlath
says he reckons he could eat a bigger herdbeast than either of us."

"I'd take him up on the challenge, but I'd hate to lose." Brennault was
hungry after his run, but no doubt Marlath could put him to shame. "How
often does he eat, anyway?"

"Every other day now. He used to eat almost all the time, it seemed, and
I had to chop up his meals for him. It's a lot better now he hunts for
himself. When I had to feed him, I could hardly keep up with his
appetite." R'fal smiled at the memory as they headed towards the dining
cavern together. "Dragons are hard work when they're little - but it's
absolutely worth it."

"They grow so fast, I guess all that extra size has to come from
somewhere! I never really knew just how fast it was until I moved in
here," said Brennault. "I mean, you don't really think about the in
between part. Well, I didn't, anyway." Worth it, according to R'fal.
Another thing to consider, part of the work he would have to do if he
committed to this.

"I didn't, either. There's so much about being here that wasn't like I
imagined, back at the hold." R'fal thought of their conversation on the
cliffs, and felt himself starting to blush again. Luckily, they were
just entering the dining cavern and he was distracted by the scent of
baking pastry. "Mmm, smells like pie for lunch today. Let's hope my
classmates haven't scoffed the lot already."

"Always a danger with a place full of hungry teenagers," Brennault
chuckled, and his stomach growled again at the scent of lunch. Every
place had its labors, but Brennault suspected caring for young dragons
and training to fight Thread was more akin to running long distances
when it came to how hungry those teenagers were than some other professions.

"They'll have something for us, I'm sure. And if it's not quite enough,
I've got some snacks hidden away for such a time as that." He grinned.
Dried meat, nuts, and fruit were not quite the same as pie, but they
would do.

"That's a good idea - but, amazing as it sounds, I've yet to see the
Weyr's kitchens run out of food," R'fal said cheerfully as they joined
the line for food. "I'm not quite sure how they manage it, but they do!"

Last updated on the January 29th 2019

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No Kissing On Duty (2/2)