Giving You Space
Dragonsfall Weyr
Amber Hills Hold
Vintner Hall
Hidden Meadows
Dolphin Cove Weyr
Dolphin Hall
Emerald Falls Hold
Harper Hall
Green Valley Hold
Leeward Lagoon Hold
Barrier Lake Weyrhold
Sunstone Seahold
Citrus Bay Hold
Elsewhere on Pern
NPC Weyr (NPC)
River Bluff Weyr
Seacraft Hall
Writers: Avery, Heather
Date Posted: 23rd November 2020
Characters: Riveenata, K'lvin
Description: K'lvin visits Riveenata for the first time.
Location: Dolphin Cove Weyr
Date: month 2, day 27 of Turn 10
Notes: Mentioned: C'rin, Rasme, Kapera
belated because of Avery LOA
The next time Riveenata woke from her fellis-induced sleep, a new visitor was in the chair usually occupied by C'rin. His jawline gleamed from a fresh shave, and his head was tilted down, green eyes scanning back and forth over the hide in his hands. Occasionally the bronzerider would chew on the side of his thumb as he read, but other than that, he remained still and silent so as not to disturb the greenrider.
Riveenata's eyes fluttered open. She turned her head to the side, looking for her water glass and for company. her eyes widened when she saw who was there, and she breathed out, "K'lvin?"
"Thirsty?" he asked, hearing the croak in her voice. The bronzerider poured her a class of water from the pitcher beside her bed.
She licked her lips and nodded, taking the glass in a hand that still shook slightly. She swallowed two mouthfuls before speaking. "Hi."
K'lvin took the glass. "How are you feeling?"
"So tired. Sleeping a lot. Chest and shoulder hurts..." She turned her good hand up in the air, to try to shrug slightly.
The bronzerider winced in sympathy, worry furrowing his brow. "Should I get a healer so you can have something for the pain?"
She shook her head violently. "No. No, fellis will makes me tired. I want to talk to you while you're here."
K'lvin returned to his seat, although he leaned forward, bracing his elbows on his knees as he reached to hold her hand. "Your mother scared me stiff when she showed up at Barrier Lake. I thought..." he trailed off, finding it too hard to put into words what he had thought. "Well, I'm just glad you are recovering."
Her eyes widened in surprise. "My _mother_ came to see you?"
"Yes," he said, a smirk moving his lips. "You can imagine then how seeing your mother like that would have made me think the worst."
"C'rin told me you were in the waiting room when I had surgery. I didn't know you knew or who told you," she admitted.
The bronzerider nodded. "When they said you wouldn't be awake for a while I went and talked to Rasme, to try to get some more information on what happened, and I wanted to check on Savith myself."
"I have to thank her and Piketh for taking us out the water."
"I just hate I wasn't there." K'lvin said truthfully. Being in Barrier Lake while she was injured back at Dolphin Cove was something that still ate at him.
She wanted to say, 'I wish you were'. She had wished that, waiting and wondering where he was and when he'd arrive to see her. What she said was, "How is Barrier Lake?"
"Good. There's a clutch on the sands. Things are busy." K'lvin admitted.
"Is that new?" she asked.
"The clutch is, the busyness is not," he said with a small smile.
She mustered only a small quirk of her lips back. "Sorry I won't be able to /between/ for visits for awhile. I was hoping to drop in on you. As a surprise."
"That would have been a good surprise," he said. "I'll just have to drop in on you instead." K'lvin paused for a moment, gathering his courage. "C'rin came to see me."
That was the last thing she expected. "He what? Really?"
K'lvin nodded, his thumb tracing idly circles over her hand, which he was still holding. "He's in love with you, you know."
"I was starting to get that feeling..." she murmured. "it's funny, I've known him so long, but before we were both riders nothing seemed to register."
"Do you love him?" His green eyes looked up at her. There, he'd asked, he'd asked the question he was frightened to know.
"I do care about C'rin…a lot. More than I thought. Do I love him? I don't know. I wouldn't have said it before, but I might not have said it about you before…" her voice trailed off.
Well, it was better than he had hoped at least. "I haven't visited sooner so you could have time with him. I've had a lot of your time in the past."
"Why?" she asked, genuine surprise in her tone.
"You turned me down when I asked you to move in with me at Barrier Lake. I figured C'rin might be part of that decision. I wanted to give you space to... I don't know... See what you felt." K'rin explained.
"Seeing my sister give birth was a big part of it too, and how happy she is with her baby," she said. "But C'rin is...not nothing..." She had to admit that. Her eyes closed and a tear leaked out. She didn't know how to express what she was thinking.
"Feelings are complicated."
K'lvin reached out and wiped the tear from her cheek. "I know, that's what I'm trying to give you the space to figure them out."
"Please don't not see me at all, though," she said, turning her face into his hand. "I can't remember how I feel about you if I don't see you."
"Am I so easily forgotten?" he asked softly.
"That's not how I meant it," she protested. "I love you and I know that and it hurts to not see you. But if you're not around, the hurt and the missing might be easier to remember than the good things."
"I will be around as much as my schedule allows," K'lvin promised. "I am at a little bit of a disadvantage, not living in the same Weyr as you, like C'rin."
"Yes, as long as that doesn't mean staying away completely and giving _that_ much space."
The bronzerider touched her face tenderly. "I won't stay away completely, you have my word."
"Good. Because I love you." Her eyelids fluttered and she sighed, feeling deeply tired.
"And I love you. Now, go to sleep, you need to rest." The assurances of her love were what K'lvin needed to hear, but they didn't alleviate his worries over C'rin. All he could do was love Riveenata, and trust her to make up her own mind about her heart.
Last updated on the November 23rd 2020