Lover's Quarrel

Writers: April, Gino Holland
Date Posted: 13th July 2006

Characters: Nocte, V'kor
Description: Nocte tracks down Vykor and gives him what for
Location: Elsewhere on Pern
Date: month 13, day 21 of Turn 3

Vykor was making his fourth fishing rod since making camp, having lost or broken his first three, when Wavebird suddenly perked up and winked /between/. He then felt the gentle rumble of a dragon landing. He smiled, since he didn't expect to see B'drin again so soon. Thanks to him and his gifts, he was able to render his campsite into something comfortable and respectable. He turned around to greet his friend and proceeded to lose all the color in his face.

Nocte hadn't expected to see the man before her. When B'drin said he had a surprise for her waiting here she had been mildly curious. This was not what she expected. She walked calmly toward him. She had changed quite a bit since she had last seen him. She had a bit more faith in herself. She stood a bit taller but not much. Her hair had grown a bit and she had finished growing in all the right places. She took off her jacket and tossed it aside. "So, this is where you have been hiding?"

"Not exactly hiding." he said after getting over his initial shock. "I moved out here so I wouldn't be in anyone's way, and... and when I left, I was so sure that no one wanted me around." A single tear started forming at the corner of one eye. "No one. But whether that was true or not, the way I left was very unfair to you. For that, I owe you an apology. I never gave you the chance to explain yourself and I was wrong."

Nocte stood quietly for a moment. "All these months I have been trying to find what I had done wrong. I had begun to hate myself. Did I ever treat you as if you hadn't been important? I never treated you as if you weren't wanted. I went out of my way to make you feel at home. You tried to make it as if the whole world was out to get you. You were so sure the whole of Pern could go on with out you. Poor Vykor, no one wants him. Instead of seeing the one who wanted you, you looked at everyone else. You let a couple bullies color your feelings about everyone. I had to write your parents and tell them you had disappeared. I had to read your mothers return letter. There were tear stains on it. I had to endure guilt and nightmares." She was crying now. She took out a crumpled letter. "But all that doesn't matter, you were to busy feeling sorry for yourself." She screamed at him. She had been keeping all the pain inside over the months. now the emotions colored her words. She wanted him to hurt as she had. She sank to her knees in the warm sand. Hope popped in and landed in front of her trying to comfort her. Quylith nuzzled her in worry. Nocte just wept.

Vykor couldn't help himself. He walked over to her and sat down next to her. Not sure how to go on from here, he simply rest a hand on her knee. "I know there is no way I can apologize to you enough, and I don't blame you for hating me. I deserve it. I was jealous of all the extra time you had to spend with the weyrlings, even though it was your job. I was jealous of the fact that all of your other friends had dragons. I had heard stories about how dragonriders always stay with their own, and I was afraid I would never Impress."

In the silence between them, he took the letter out of her hand and read it. He heard his mother's voice as she read the letter. He heard her anguish and felt her pain. But there was something else he noticed. He noticed a lack of mention of his father. Either his father didn't care that he had gone missing, or was glad. Honestly, he didn't care. His father could fall /between/ for all he cared.

Suddenly, he felt angry. Angry at himself for feeling this way, angry at his father for hardly ever paying attention to him. Angry at Th'vin for dying during his first threadfall. He ran to the core of his camp and just started throwing things everywhere. He never noticed that when he threw his pictures of Nocte, they landed right next to her. He kept raging and destroying his home.

Nocte glanced at them and it made it hurt all the more. She stood and walked over to him. For the first time since she got there she saw him, really saw him. All her tears and anger left. She just walked up and put her arms around him. She held him, stopping him from his rampage. Her heart was torn. Torn between all the emotions rolling through it. "Please, stop this. I never hated you. I hated myself for not being able to help you get past all of it to find were you belonged. You belonged with me. You belonged at the Weyr. I need you." She buried her face in his back. "Please don't leave me again." She had thought she was out of tears. Yet here they were falling and dampening his back.

"I can't go back to the Weyr. Not yet anyway. I'm searching for something that I think I can only find out here. But you are free to come whenever you want. When I was with you, it was the only time I ever felt..." he paused as he tried to find the proper word he was searching for, and then it came to him, "whole."

He broke contact long enough to turn around and he embraced her himself. "I wish I knew why I felt inadequate. I wish I knew exactly when it was that made me feel less than everyone. I don't, though. I might never know. It might not have been a single moment, but something that was slowly building as time went on. As long as you don't hate me, I think I might be alright." Then he decided it might be more prudent if he shut up for a bit and just held onto her until she was sick of him, which, he hoped, wouldn't be for a couple sevendays at least, but he knew she had duties, so he just waited until she needed to go.

Nocte didn't want to let go. She wanted him to come back with her. But, she also knew he need this. He needed to find himself. He needed to find... something. She didn't want to lose him though. She looked up into his eyes and gently reached a hand up to place it on his cheek. At that moment she wanted him to kiss her. To hold her and remind her of what they had had.

Vykor took a good, long look. He wasn't sure if she would come back to him while he was here. He wasn't even sure how long he would be staying out here. Maybe a month, maybe a turn. He would stay here until he got what he needed. Knowing that someone did want him around, though, made things easier. He wanted to give her something to remember her by. He didn't kiss her with every ounce of his passion in the first instant. Instead, he tried to be as gentle as possible, and just slowly let everything build. He was also half expecting her knee to come straight up for any insolence she found in him doing this, but he didn't guard against it. It was part of his new "come-what-may" attitude he was developing out in the wilderness. When he saw she wasn't fighting him off, he began to caress her back.

Nocte melted in his arms. She had missed him. She had missed his gentle unsure touch. She wrapped her arms around him and pulled him closer. She had filled out a bit and grown only a little. Her hands found themselves on his filled out chest. She wanted nothing more than to be with him in that moment forever.

~Time Passes~

Vykor looked up and gazed at the night sky. He felt something he had only felt a couple of other times before. He felt this way when he first got Searched, he felt this way just before he attended his first Hatching, and he felt this way when he tried to "protect" Nocte when Hope rose a few months ago. **Was it really that long? Shards.** He felt optimistic. He liked that feeling. At the same time, he dared not move. He didn't want to isturb the resting Nocte next to him, life was just too perfect right now.

Nocte cuddled closer. She loved his musty scent. She traced an idle hand along his chest. She wasn't quiet ready to let him go. She knew that all to soon she would have to and would have to return to the weyr without him. She wasn't ready for that.

Vykor wrapped his arms around her a bit tighter and kissed her cheek. Then, he summoned up all the courage that a holdless life worked into him and whispered in her ear. "I love you. Always did."

"Me too." She was quiet a moment. "I best get back. Are you sure your not ready to come back?"

"Not quite yet, but there is one thing. Could you pass a message on to B'drin for me? Whoever comes back first, you or him... I could use a fishing net. It might make dinner a lot easier. I'm on my fourth rod already.

"Of course." She quickly dressed and mounted her dragon. She turned to give a wave and told Quylith to take to the air. She missed him but knew he had to do this for himself. With that she turned toward the weyr and disappeared /between/.

Last updated on the July 16th 2006

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Lover's Quarrel