Giving You a Lift

Writers: Aaron, Avery
Date Posted: 28th January 2019

Characters: A'vel, Brennault
Description: A'vel gives Brennault a lift.
Location: Dolphin Cove Weyr
Date: month 4, day 13 of Turn 9

Brennault

A'vel was just wrapping up a sweepride, and was flying along the main
path into the Weyr. There was a trader's caravan that was supposed to
be coming through but he saw no signs of it. There was a figure on a
runner, and he had Tsogath veer off so her scent didn't spook it. A
couple more minutes of boring flight, and then the green dragon let
out a pleased little rumble A'vel felt through his legs.

}:The bright one is below,:{ she shared.

**Bright one?** A'vel wondered. He looked through her eyes to see what
she'd spotted. Dragons didn't recognize people in quite the same way
that people did but A'vel saw both Tsogath's impression of the blond
hair and the way he was moving and got a taste of her mental
impression. **Oh, Brennault!**

An impulse struck him, and he grinned. **Hey, Tsogath, go land in
front of him.**

The green dragon complied, slowly descending towards the road, her
shadow growing bigger and bigger along the ground, passing over the
loping figure. She shed speed as she came in until she backwinged
delicately to a halt, standing precisely on the road - and blocking
it.

Dragons flew above the weyr near-constantly, it seemed to Brennault,
but none had ever yet deigned to land in front of him. He slowed as he
approached. Though he felt he should have been able, Brennault had not
quite yet learned the trick of telling one dragon from another when
they were not standing beside each other, so at first, he could not be
certain whom he was approaching.

But even before he drew close enough to see the rider, he hoped it was
Tsogath. She was the only green whose rider Brennault thought might
land outside to greet him. Anyone else very well might be bringing bad
news. But seeing A'vel, on the other hand, would be one of the best
ways he could think of to end a long run.

The closer Brennault came, the more sure he was that the rider perched
on the green was A'vel in fact, and he sped back up to a trot, hoping
Tsogath would be ready for a good scratching when he reached her.

"Well, hello, beautiful," he said breathily between gulps of air,
smiling from ear to ear.

Tsogath's eyes whirred an extremely contentedly blue-green as she saw
Brennault slow before her. }:See? Bright one.:{ she said, lowering her
head and extending her muzzle towards him.

A'vel slid off Tsogath's shoulder and looked around quickly, making
sure that there was no other traffic on the road they were blocking.
"Hi, Brennault. Tsogath spotted you running in and I thought we could
say hi."

Brennault reached up to happily give Tosgath her scratchies. "Thanks
for coming to see me, gorgeous," he said softly to her.

"Hey," said Brennault then to A'vel as he dismounted. He smiled from
ear to ear and quickly wiped the sweat from his forehead onto his
sleeve. "I'm glad you did. It's good to see your face." He did not
usually allow for long stops along the way, as it was difficult to get
going again if his body thought they were finished. But they were
close enough to the weyr that he was practically there already. And
either way, it was worth it. He offered A'vel a quick pat on the
shoulder in lieu of a sweaty handshake.

Brennault took in a few deep breaths, moderating his heart rate.
"Where are you back from?" he wondered.

}:I like him, I like him,:{ the green told her rider, letting out an
audible croon as Brennault scratched.

"I was doing a sweepride of the local area." A'vel patted the side of
his belt, where there was a tube hanging, in which he'd tucked a hide
on which he'd noted reports. "I'm supposed to be reporting back in
right now but I saw you and we couldn't resist."

"I'm headed in to deliver messages myself, but speaking of
irresistible, here you are in the flesh." Brennault tugged at the
strap of his messenger bag to emphasize his current errand, all the
while flashing a toothy grin at A'vel.

"I'm happy you stopped. Are you busy after work?" he asked. "We should
have dinner together."

"Do you want us to give you a lift the last bit back to the Weyr? I
don't know how long it will take you to run it," he said, not having
spent a lot of time on foot approaching the Weyr. "Then I could go
report to my Wingleader, and you can deliver your messages, and then
I'd really enjoy that dinner."

"That would be perfect," said Brennault. "As long as you don't mind me
being a little sweaty!" he added with a chuckle. It would not take too
much longer to run back, but flying would be faster, and he would not
have to struggle through getting started again after stopping. "How
about you, pretty lady, do you mind giving me a lift home?" he asked
Tsogath.

}:He always talks to me,:{ Tsogath said, delighted. Many dragonriders
knew that the dragons were their own people with their own feelings,
but a lot of non-riders treated them like runners or other animals,
because they didn't generally hear them talk to know how smart they
were.

**He does. Does that mean you will give him a ride?**

}:Yes, I will,:{ the eager young green decided.

A'vel said to Brennault, "She's happy to."

He reached up to Tsogath's flank straps and unclipped a bag. "I'm glad
that I always packed a bag of extra supplies when we do sweeprides,"
he said conversationally. "A second set of straps in case we need to
bring someone back and a small first aid kit. Do you have to carry
anything like that when you run?"

It had not occurred to Brennault to think of a second sets of straps.
But he was glad A'vel had thought ahead. Even if it was not that
likely that he would come unseated with just a quick jaunt the rest of
the way to the weyr, safety was a better default than recklessness
when he could possibly be falling to his death.

"Oh, sure. I carry a bit of water and a roll of bandage for wrapping
sprains or blisters if it comes to that," said Brennault. He lifted
the bag again. "But other than that, we try to travel light. Well, I
do, anyway."

"Thank you, Tsogath," he said then, to acknowledge the green's
permission to fly with her. He did not know exactly how clever dragons
were, though he knew it was more than any ordinary beast. And he
enjoyed showing them attention.

A'vel said, "Hold on a moment," and he clipped the second set to the
runner's belt. Then Tsogath kneeled as low as she could get and he
helped Brennault up onto her back, seating the runner in front of him
and securing the straps to Tsogath's harness. He settled his hands on
the runner's hips and said, "Ready?"

Brennault smiled, enjoying the feel of A'vel's hands, though with as
sweaty as he was, he resisted the urge to lean back into A'vel
overmuch.

"I was born ready," he said with a mock-gruff tone.

A'vel laughed, which Brennault could probably feel. "Here we go, then."

Tsogath lifted off smooth and careful of the passengers on her back.
She rose to a height that would not have been too far above the
treetops, if there were trees this close to the Weyr, and flew along.
It was a good height for viewing what was on the ground as a proper
sweepride should. A'vel kept one hand on the runner's hip just to keep
them both steadied, or so he told himself.

It was only a few minutes before they arrived at the Weyr. Tsogath
aimed herself for a landing close to the Lower Caverns. A'vel put both
hands on Brennault to brace him, though, and gripped a little tight,
worried Tsogath would show off and try to land fast - but it was a
smooth and delicate one and hardly jarring. Well, to him anyway,
experienced as he was becoming.

He cleared his throat and said, "Did you enjoy the view?" into
Brennault's ear as he began unclipping straps.

Brennault was almost sad for the ride to end, as he did not expect he
would have another excuse so soon to be so close to A'vel. Especially
not to have A'vel's hands on his hips like that. At the touch of the
rider's breath on his ear, his skin turned to goosebumps, and the hair
on his neck and arms stood up.

"I enjoyed all of it," he said, lingering as long as he could there.

When Brennault was un-clipped, A'vel said, "Okay, it's safe to
dismount," and then slid down himself so he could offer a hand if
needed.

"Tsogath likes taking you places," he said once they were on the ground.

Brennault was not certain he needed a hand down, but he took it
nonetheless. No need to turn down another touch. And he gave a new
round of scritchies to Tsogath, briefly pressing his forehead against
her.

"Thank you for carrying me," he said to her, smiling warmly. Then he
turned to show that smile to A'vel as well. "I like flying with you."
Both of them.

"We like flying with you, too," A'vel said. He paused, looking for
something else to say, then said, finally, "See you in two
candlemarks? At dinner?"

"I'll see you then and there," Brennault agreed. Perhaps he would wear
something just a touch fancier than usual. Nothing he might wear to a
Gather, but something sharp. He did not want to miss an opportunity to
dress to impress.

"Thanks again," he said, offering his hand for one last touch before
heading on to deliver his messages and to get cleaned up.

Last updated on the February 3rd 2019

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Giving You a Lift