I Wouldn't Change A Thing

Writers: Dana, Eimi
Date Posted: 20th August 2006

Characters: U'kaiah, Traelyn
Description: Trae shares her new dress with an old friend
Location: Dolphin Cove Weyr
Date: month 13, day 5 of Turn 3

"The seamstresses have certainly outdone themselves," Traelyn murmured to herself with a slow, delighted smile as she ran her hands over the fine material of the new gown made specially for Turnover. Shards--it was gorgeous! she thought as she took it out of its box, careful not to snag it on her nails as she held it up against her.

It was the color of the darkest emeralds, and made of a very light, almost watery material so she wouldn't sweat in it while dancing--and she meant to dance! Amber beads had been sewn into the scooping neckline, a beautiful complement to its rich color. The front of the dress was quite simple--it was the back of it that held all the fine and precise detailing worth the marks she'd spent commissioning it. The same amber beads that were used on the front were used on the back, swirling around to shape the form of a golden dragon in flight. The queen's wings swept up, the tips just touching her shoulder blades, bordering the intricate lacings. The tail coiled down to end with a glimmer at the small train in the back.

Granted, it was not the most practical gown she owned, but it certainly was the loveliest!

}:Kalamath is here,:{ Nyith suddenly remarked.

"Trae?" U'kaiah called as he walked into her weyr, not bothering to wait for the invitation that he knew would inevitably come.

"In here," she called from the sleeping area. Peeking her head around the corner, she smiled at him as he approached. "Hey, you... What brings you to this side of Pern, hmm?" Coming close she gave him a quick hug.

"What, do I have to have a reason now?" he chuckled as he squeezed her briefly. The bronzerider then unceremoniously flopped down on her sofa, kicked off his boots and sighed contentedly. "Can't I just come and take a nap on your sofa? I'm on my lunch break, you know."

She grinned down at him. "And what's so special about _my_ sofa?"

"Ummmm... It's in your weyr?" he said, as he made a show of settling back into the cushions. "And mine is all the way back at Dragonsfall and not nearly this comfortable. Of the drawbacks of being a rank and file man again."

"You'll get your Wing again, U'kaiah." She braced her hands on the arm of the couch and looked at him. "I'll tell you what: you can sleep on my sofa if you do me a favor first?"

"All right. Anything," he said, cocking his head to he could look at her better.

"I got a new gown commissioned." She straightened. "I want to try it on to make sure everything fits right, but the laces are so sharding hard to do by myself... So would you help me with it?"

"Yeah ok," U'kaiah shrugged as he closed his eyes. "Just call me when you're in the dress and I'll come lace you up."

"Thanks." Then she disappeared into the bedroom, shrugged out of her clothes and brazier and slipped easily into the gown. Faranth...the material was so soft... Unable to keep the grin from her lips, she slid the material up her body, carefully putting her arms through the sleeves.
"Okay, U'kaiah!"

The bronzerider inwardly groaned. He had almost dozed off. Shards, what did he know about dresses anyway. Wouldn't it have made more sense for her to ask her seamstress to help her? After all, if there was a problem she could... "Whoa..." The bronzerider stopped in the door and admired the way the dress clung to her so perfectly, accentuating all the right places. All the places he hadn't noticed on Trae since his first month of knowing her. "Shards, that's... You look great in that dress."

"So I get a man's official approval, then?" she asked with a pleased smile, unable to quite hide the fact that his reaction was making her aware of herself as a _woman_, not just as his friend. She ran her hands down her hips, curiously watching his face.

His eyes followed them and it took some forcing to move his eyes back up to her face. "Yeah," was his eloquent reply with a rather curt nod. He tried to keep his eyes locked on her but they just seemed to drift to the most revealing places before he forced them to snap back up to meet hers. Shards, he was acting like a weyrling who had never seen a woman before...

Gathering her long hair in one hand, she brought it all forward to hang down her front, exposing her neck and back as she turned around. Her breathing had quickened just slightly as she looked expectantly at him over her shoulder. "Lace me up?" Shards...she'd never seen that particular look in his eyes before.

"Sure," he said, admiring the pattern on her back and how it flowed so nicely down her back, right towards her... Shards, he needed to find a woman. It wasn't healthy for him to avoid having sex as much as he had been since Jaela died. "All right, so then..." He walked up behind her, and started lacing up the back. "So... uh... the reason I came was to ask you if you'd be going to the game this restday."

"Of course," she grinned, suppressing the need to shiver as his fingers brushed against her skin. Scorching shells... Biting the inside of her lip, Traelyn clasped her hands and looked down at them. "I wouldn't miss it. I'm not sure if I'll be playing though..."

"That's all right. It will mostly be an excuse just to enjoy ourselves afterwards on the beach. Maybe a party or something." Shards, but she smelled good.

"Yeah....or something...." She couldn't help the shiver this time as his fingers reached her neck, and she turned her head a little to glance at him out of the corner of her eye. "We'll all have a good time, I'm sure."

"That we will." He stepped back and grinned boyishly. "You're all laced up, Lady Traelyn."

"Why thank you, U'kaiah," she grinned back, moving away towards the mirror to inspect herself. Running a critical eye over each seam and pucker, she asked him, "So will you be coming to Dolphin Cove's Turn's End celebration?"

"I don't know," he said with an teasingly indifferent shrug. "It depends on if I am invited or not."

"Well, then you're invited." She adjusted one shoulder of the dress, noting that it was bit looser than the right one--just a bit. That would have to be fixed. Traelyn looked up and smiled teasingly at him, meeting his eyes in the mirror. "You're my friend, aren't you? Even if you weren't officially invited, I'd still expect you to show up."

"Then maybe I'll think about it," he said with a casual shrug. "Will you be wearing this dress?"

"Does your answer depend on mine?"

"Perhaps."

"My, my... A little vague, aren't we?" she asked, turning around to wrinkle her nose at him.

"Well, let me ask you this - how well does your dress work for dancing?"
he asked with a challenging grin.

"Very well. I made sure it would! I even have a way to hold up the bit in the back so I won't trip and fall over my own two feet."

"Well, Lady Traelyn, do you mind if we give it a try? Just for my own peace of mind?" the bronzerider asked with a saucy grin.

She snorted and held out her hands to him, her own grin rather challenging. "All right, U'kaiah." Stepping in close as his hands went around hers, she brought her lips close to his ear. "Dance with me," she purred.

"It's my pleasure, Weyrwoman," he murmured back before whirling her around the room, lightly singing out a dance tune's melody. As they passed the mirror they could both admire the way the emerald petticoats whirled around them.

"You never told me you could sing," Traelyn remarked, looking at him thoughtfully as her spun her past the chair.

"I _am_ harper trained," he reminded her before breaking back into the song and angling her out the door and whirled them both into the living area.

Grinning, she nestled her head on his shoulder, trusting him enough to allow him full lead. Shards...they should do spontaneous stuff like this more often. Her hands tightened slightly on his tunic.

The whirling gave way to rocking as his singing was forgotten in favor of soft humming, their dancing fading into a gentle swaying. Shards, but it did feel good to just let loose and have fun. He needed that after all that had been happening with Talryne, with Abrei and N'vanik, on top of everything else. U'kaiah closed his eyes and wrapped his arms around her, just enjoying the comfort that holding her offered.

Gently she brushed her fingers against his neck, reaching around to affectionately touch his curling hair. The humidity at Dolphin Cove really did bring out those curls of his! Chuckling softly, she wrapped a finger around one.

He leaned down to rest his chin on her shoulder. Why couldn't she be at Dragonsfall where he could just go to her whenever he need to feel... He wasn't sure how she made him feel exactly. Trae just made everything feel all right again. She made him feel like _himself_ again. Part of U'kaiah knew he shouldn't depend on her so much, but there was no denying that he did. What would he ever do without her?

"I suppose I should get back to Dragonsfall. I have Weyrlings to watch over," he muttered quietly, but still not quite willing to make himself let go of her.

"Breaks sure go by fast, don't they?" she asked as she leaned back to look at him.

"Too fast," the bronzerider nodded as he stood back up to his full height.
"Yes, I'll be coming to your Turn End celebration," he said, leaning down to kiss her forehead softly. "And I will be seeing you at the waterball game too, right?"

"Right. And we're going beat your arses to the ground," she laughed, her arms sliding from him.

"That could well be," he chuckled, turning to go. "But as long as I get to drink myself silly afterwards, I don't mind a bit."

Shaking her head with an amused grin, she turned to follow him out when suddenly she paused. "Oh--U'kaiah?"

"Hmm?" he hummed as he turned back around to face her.

"Mm...could you unlace me?" She gave him a small smile. "I don't think I'd be able to do it myself."

"Oh," he said with a small chuckle. "Sure, I can help you."

Pivoting around on the balls of her feet, she presented her back to him once again. "Should be easier than getting them up, huh?"

"Well, I am more experienced in _un_lacing dresses," he chuckled softly as he gently brushed her hair over her shoulder.

"Of course."

Brushing a few stray hairs away, his expression turned thoughtful as he began gently pulling on the top lace. "Do you ever wonder, Trae, what might have happened between us if..." He stopped. No, he shouldn't ask that. He shouldn't even wonder. This was _Trae_. Everything that happened was as it should have happened. "I suppose its a silly question."

"What, if we became lovers?" Her voice was surprisingly quiet.

U'kaiah stopped for a moment. It sounded so strange to hear her say it that way. That was the possibility that they never talked about. They never talked about it because they had eliminated that possibility long ago. It was one he never regretted. "You were right, you know. To push me away. To end it before it could ever happen."

"You didn't exactly make it easy for me, U'kaiah," she chuckled, folding her arms loosely across her chest. "You were rather persistent--if you remember. But...you're right. We wouldn't be here today, I think."

"No, we wouldn't," he agreed as he pulled the next lace. "And I can't regret Jaela." And he was sure he would never have been able to choose between them.

Traelyn shook her head, wondering. "No...you can't."

He finished unlacing her in silence. The last lace falling limp before him, he wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her close. "I wouldn't change a thing, Trae. Not one sharding thing."

Softly she rubbed her cheek against him. "Neither would I."

Last updated on the August 20th 2006

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I Wouldn't Change A Thing