Lenala's (Not So) Brilliant Plan

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

Characters: Lenala, M'galec
Description: Lenala's brilliant plan backfires...
Location: River Bluff Weyr
Date: month 13, day 9 of Turn 3

Lenala

Lenala had timed everything nicely. The bronzerider she'd lured back to her weyr was just young and handsome enough to be threatening, without being smart enough to realize he was being used. Or maybe he didn't care--Lenala hadn't exactly been subtle when she'd convinced him to return to her weyr.

He probably thought he was going to get what he wanted quick and dirty, but she tormented him with teasing kisses and resisted his attempts to coax her shirt off. M'galec would be back any moment now, and Lenala intended him to see what happened when you ignored your weyrmate. Maybe not the most subtle plan she'd ever come up with, but at least she was keeping their clothing on. _That_ was subtle, wasn't it?

"Aw, now you'd have much more fun if you'd just let me loosed a tie or two more," the bronzerider murmured against her neck, his fingers slipping between the ties teasingly.

"You don't think I know how to have fun?" she retorted, sliding his hand back down to her waist. She let her teeth scrape against his neck as she moved her lips to his ear. "I thought I proved earlier that I know _exactly_
what I'm doing..."

"Hmmmm... I wouldn't mind another demonstration," he replied with a saucy grin.

"Pushy, pushy!" Lenala pulled back and traced a finger down the side of the bronzerider's cheek. "Haven't you learned _anything_ about patience?"

"Well, then," he moved his hands moved a little lower than her hips, "let me give _you_ a demonstration..."

"Lenala, I am sorry I had to miss dinner, but I..." M'galec stopped short in the entrace from ledge as he took in the scene. His eyes turned to ice.
"Well, I see you did not miss _my_ company this evening."

"Of course I did," Lenala replied lightly, pushing the bronzerider away. She didn't look particuarly worried. "If I hadn't been missing you so badly, I wouldn't have needed a friend to talk to."

"Well, it seems that this particular converstation is originating between your legs, my dear," M'galec said with a point of his finger. The young bronzerider snatched his hand back guiltily. "Perhaps this is a bad time.
I should come back later?"

Lenala frowned. This was not exactly the way she'd planned it. "No, I think D'talin can run along. Can't you, D'talin?"

"Ummmm..." The young man looked in confusion first from the goldrider then to her weyrmate. What had he just gotten in the middle of?

"No, please, D'talin, stay," M'galec said, holding up a hand to stop his going. "Apparently you were invited to my weyr for the evening. Obviously, Lenala has needs that I apparently cannot fullfil for her. Please, do not go. In fact, let me take you on a tour. You will need to know the layout of the weyr to make your seduction successful. And who knows, if you please Lenala enough, perhaps you will one day live here."

"Well, I..." D'talin turned his eyes to Lenala, totally unsure of what he should do.

Lenala pointed to the door, her eyes frosty. "Leave, D'talin. Now."

M'galec watched as the bronzerider scrambled for the door. He said nothing as the door slammed shut behind the boy, just fixed his stare on the goldrider on the sofa. Finally, in a controlled, quiet voice he asked, "Do you intend to revise this arrangement of ours? Is that what you are trying to tell me Lenala? You want to end this?"

In her mind it had all seemed so clear. He would be jealous, or possessive, or fly into some sort of passionate rage. He would have given _some_
indication that he had been affected! Instead she felt like she was a young child being scolded. "No," she replied sullenly.

"Well, I can certainly understand if you want to replace me in your weyr with that boy," the bronzerider said with a flip of his hand towards the door. "He does seem, after all, to be more on your level of maturity."

She sank lower on the couch, glowering at him. "Now you're just being cruel.
Fine, I understand that I'm not as _smart_ as you, M'galec!"

"I am not talking about intellegence, Lenala," though she was right, she wasn't nearly as smart as he was. But few were. "I am talking about how childishly you are behaving. You are trying to hurt me _deliberately_. I have spent my day trying to train the future Thread-fighters of this Weyr and heal the broken bodies of those who have been injured in the fight, and when I come home to you, my _weyrmate_, home to the place where I should be surrounded in comfort, and love, and support, I find the woman who is supposed to make this my haven instead throwing herself on a man half my age just to tear me down. You wanted to hurt me, Lenala, and you have succeeded. You have succeeded mightily. You can congratulate yourself on that account."

Lenala's shoulders slumped again as his words cut away at her excuses. He always managed to twist everything to make him seem so sharding right... no matter how hard she tried to tell herself that she deserved better, he always left her feeling guilty. "I'm sorry," she muttered.

"Have I not done my duty to you as a man?" he asked, beginning to pace back and forth as a vent to the anger he held barely in check. "Have I not always protected you, defended you, been considerate of you? When you told me you wanted me home more, did I not make an effort to come back to you as much as possible? When you were upset after your flight with Ar'lis and the Hatching that followed, did I not stand by your side? What is is that I have done that you would treat me this way, Lenala? How am I failing as your weyrmate that you would be willing to throw this whole relationship away for a tumble with a child?"

She wilted even more, unable to find anything untrue in his words. And now she was starting to see his anger, too--but it wasn't the kind of anger she'd hoped for. Not the quick, hot, passionate kind... Not the _romantic_
kind from stories and tales. She didn't dare do anything that might snap his self control. "I'm sorry," she repeated, her voice still quiet.

M'galec paced silently for a few moments before stopping in front of the contrite goldrider. "Tell me what you want, Lenala. Do you want me to go?
Do you want me to pack my things? Because I will tell you now I will not stand for this. Either you are my weyrmate or you are just a lover. Which is it?"

He loomed over her, and her eyes fell to her feet as she gave the answer she thought he wanted. "Weyrmate."

The bronzerider nodded slowly. "All right. I will forgive it this once, Lenala. But only this once. Do not do that to me again. If you want something from me, find another way to tell me."

"Yes, M'galec," she replied, sounding totally subdued.

"I am too angry to be here right now. I am going to sleep on a cot in the infirmary for a while. I may be back later. You had better be _alone_ when I come back." Because if she wasn't...

That she couldn't keep quiet about. "Please, don't go... shards, I made a mistake, M'galec. But I can't stand being alone any more! Please!"

"Well, Lenala, if you actually wanted _me_ around, you went about showing it in the wrong way. Do you think I can just forget that you were _intentionally_ trying to hurt me? How can I trust you?" he asked, almost daring her to give him a reason to stay.

She might not be as smart as him about most things, but she was smart about men and what they needed. Her face melted into an expression of undisguised submission as she reached out to him with a hand that she allowed to shake, just a little. "Because I need you." M'galec fell willingly into the trap. He reached out and took her hand, lifting her to her feet and wrapping his arms around her. "I know you do.
That is why I cannot stay angry at you for long. But do not ever do that to me again, Lenala. I need you too."

Last updated on the August 20th 2006

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Lenala's (Not So) Brilliant Plan