Itching to Explore
Dragonsfall Weyr
Amber Hills Hold
Vintner Hall
Healer Hall
Hidden Meadows
Dolphin Cove Weyr
Dolphin Hall
Emerald Falls Hold
Harper Hall
Printer Hall
Green Valley Hold
Leeward Lagoon Hold
Barrier Lake Weyr
Sunstone Seahold
Citrus Bay Hold
Writers: Corrin, Duskdog, Shawna
Date Posted: 19th October 2025
Characters: Liannor, N'kevyn, D'brul
Description: Liannor and N’kevyn flirt outrageously. Cypress Wing and D’brul take collateral damage.
Location: Barrier Lake Weyr
Date: month 11, day 23 of Turn 12
Notes: Takes place throughout days 22-34 of month 11.
Takes place after "BLW: I Want Your Rod!"
Liannor had arrived at Barrier Lake with a mind full of questions and a heart set on adventure. She had come to delve into the mysteries of the Southern Continent, the land where AIVAS had been found. She wanted to walk in the footsteps of the Ancients and scrawl her own name across the annals of time. And she would, she’d promised herself that much-- but for now, a different sort of curiosity gripped her. It was that blasted man. N’kevyn. He had shouldered his way past her ire and into her life with a casual arrogance that both irritated and intrigued. He was a discovery in and of himself, one she couldn’t precisely chart or predict… but one she was nonetheless itching to explore. Thoroughly.
---
Their first encounter had started off rough, but ended well.
At N’kevyn’s remote fishing spot they knelt side by side to gut their fish, his elbow brushing hers. Again she didn’t move away. “You know,” she said lightly, “this was supposed to be a solitary expedition. Just me, the river, the rain. And yet here you are, taking up all the space.”
N’kevyn smirked, leaning close. “Want me gone?”
Liannor turned her head, they were near enough now that her nose almost brushed his cheek. “If I wanted you gone,” she whispered, “you wouldn’t be here.”
That was all the permission he needed. He kissed her hard, with the pent-up hunger of a man who’d been waiting all sharding day. The knife in her hand fell to the dirt, forgotten, as she caught his jaw and answered his raw passion with her own.
---
It might have ended there, an entertaining diversion on a wet and rainy day, but the next morning when Liannor reported to her new wing she spotted his familiar broad bulk in the Cypress meeting room. She claimed the seat beside him and smirked when he looked over.
“You!” The hearty roar earned N’kevyn a few dirty looks as he let the front legs of his chair fall back to the floor. “You could have warned me.” Of course he hadn’t asked what wing she was joining, the day before had been for fun, not work.
“Me.” Liannor purred. “I see you clean up alright.” She boldly looked him over, a glint of appreciation in her eyes. He was in his flying leathers, same as her. He looked deliciously masculine and she, well. The shapeless waders of yesterday were gone and in their place she wore a pair of beautifully tailored riding breeches, almost indecently snug. The leather hugged her long legs, the curve of her--
“I’ll have you know I dirty up better,” he waggled his eyebrows at her suggestively as he looked her over. “I’m not sure those breeches are regulation cut,” he drawled.
“Are you complaining?”
“No, can’t say that I am,” N’kevyn said lightly. Lowering his voice, he said, “But our charming wingleader doesn’t approve of anyone looking too fancy for work. I like to wear my best so I can see that furrow he gets between his eyes, but you might not want to poke the man who hands out assignments.”
“Noted,” she murmured with a mischievous grin. “But I rather like poking powerful men… and I find the breeches usually help.”
---
The next two days positively crackled with provocation and teasing between the two, much to the increasing exasperation of everyone else in Cypress Wing. It began with the flirtation at morning muster. Besides the pants, besides the way they kept bumping up knee to knee and thigh to thigh, when wingleader D’brul had asked how Liannor was settling in, she casually mentioned how very welcoming N’kevyn was being.* The words were innocent enough, but there was something about the way she then glanced at the bronzerider and smiled that was all about whatever was building between them and nothing about the comfort of their coworkers.
It turned out her breeches _did_ meet regulation. Just barely. After a second day of putting up with their antics (the unnecessary physical contact, the incessant innuendo) D’brul finally snapped and tried to write her up for being out of uniform.
“But they are regulation, sir,” said Liannor earnestly, pulling away from N’kevyn to focus squarely on the wingleader. They were all gathered in the Cypress meeting room for an after-action review. “Would you like me to show you?”
She stood slowly, hands going to her belt-- adjusting her grip at the last second to tug lightly at her waistband. “I believe regulation stipulates at least a finger’s width of space here. Mine or yours, sir?” Her smile curved wickedly and she continued before he could respond, “Let’s use mine.”
It fit.
Similarly, the pant legs went all the way down past the top of her boots. She cited chapter and verse and demonstrated she could raise her knees well past her waist and she could crouch and bend over and-- “Of course, the third check in the handbook is kneeling. Would you like me to kneel for you, sir?” she asked, the picture of innocence. “Only I think it’s rather redundant after a full crouch.”
D’brul, long since red in the face, was trying hard not to splutter. “No… no, that’ll be enough, that’s fine!” He cleared his throat. “Dismissed!”
With a breathless laugh she gathered her things, brushing up against N’kevyn on her way out to whisper: “Yes, you men… so very fun to poke.”
“I just want to thank you for taking my place as D’brul’s biggest headache. I’ll have so much extra time now. I wonder what I’ll do with it,” N’kevyn said with a teasing tone.
Liannor smiled. “We’ll have to think of something.”
----------
* It was all the more conspicuous because N’kevyn wasn't known for picking up extra duties like helping transfers adjust. Shells, he wasn’t known for spending a second longer at wing meetings than he had too, but now he was showing up early and leaving late…
Last updated on the November 2nd 2025