A Very Well Kept Secret

Writers: Bree, Eimi
Date Posted: 23rd September 2005

Characters: Karaleigh, Dantial
Description: Karaleigh decides to hide from the newly-promoted Senior Weyrlings in Dantial's quarters, where she learns the not-so-manly secret of O'dan's broken nose.
Location: Dolphin Cove Weyr
Date: month 7, day 24 of Turn 3

Karaleigh _hated_ these times of the turn. The rumor had been whispered that today was the day that the weyrling would be taking their first leap /between/. She needed a place to run and hide. Dantial's weyr was as good a place as any. The harper knocked none to gently and hoped to the egg he was at home and alone.

He was both home and alone, and opened the door almost before she'd finished knocking on it. His eyebrows drew together when he saw her expression.
"Karaleigh? What's wrong?"

"The weyrlings have been let loose on the Weyr. Can I come in and shelter with you?" She asked piteously.

"Of course." He opened the door and waved her inside. "What are the weyrlings up to today?"

"Ah yes. Sometimes I forget you are not accustomed to the ways of the Weyr." She smiled as she slipped inside. "The weyrlings went /between/ for the first time today, so they are finally allowed to have romantic relations again."

"What's wrong with--" Dantial paused, imagining for a moment the chaos that a group of sexually frustrated adolescents could cause. "Oh. Well... that sounds like it could be a bit more excitement than I want to see."

"Yes. Every male weyrling without a prior attachment goes slinking around the Weyr, flirting and making innuendos at any female, or male in some cases, that they meet with the hope that they can find an attachment for the night. That is why I learned a long time ago that when the weyrlings go /between/ I find a hiding place."

"Well, I rather doubt any of them will be coming to look for me, so you should be plenty safe here." Dantial grinned at her. "I was about to go and get some dinner, actually, when you knocked. Should I bring back enough for both of us?" "Could you please?" She asked greatfully. "I just can't face a whole dinning cavern full of them. And you must be careful. Some of those girls are as bad as the boys. And some of the green and blue riders, they have no shame."

Dantial actually laughed. "Karaleigh, I realize I don't look as strong as my brother, but I'm fairly sure that I can keep myself from being dragged off for illicit dealings by a teenager. You might not have noticed, but I'm in my mid-thirties." Karaleigh smiled at him warmly. She liked his laugh. "Well, you're as handsome as your brother, so that makes you a likely target." "I think I'll make it," he replied dryly before slipping from the room. Contrary to Karaleigh's rather excited predictions, Dantial was neither waylaid nor attacked on his way to fetch food for them. In fact, if there were any excited weyrlings on the prowl, they had obviously already found their chosen prey for the evening. He managed to get back to his room without incident, smiling at her as he set the food on the low table in front of his couch. "Not a scar on me." "Good, I'm starving. I couldn't have waited much longer." She grinned at the spread he put in front of her. "Oh but now you will make me feel bad for making you carry all this food alone!"

Dantial sank onto the couch next to her and started piling sliced meat onto bread. "I assure you, I'm stronger than I look, Karaleigh. I'm even fairly sure I didn't strain anything carrying the basket." "Oh, I'm not doubting your physical prowess. But I think my reputation as a kind and thoughtful person will suffer." She started picking at the bowl of fruit.

"Well, we wouldn't want you to get accosted by any enthusiastic weyrlings,"
he replied dryly, leaning back. "Though I would imagine if you've been dodging my brother for all these turns, you're something of an expert in evading men. From what I hear not too many evade him." "You must have heard that from him." Karaleigh gave a dramatic sigh. "I don't mind being accosted by a man, but I draw the line at children."

Dantial laughed as he poured himself a glass of wine. "No, O'dan would have me believe that _no one_ evades him... I doubt that is true, but I've seen some of the girls who have gone to visit him. He's always been popular with the women, even when we were children." Dantial leaned back on the couch again. "Well, mostly... there is the issue of his nose, of course..." "Please, Dantial, you are too good of a man to play with me," Karaleigh said almost piteously, "If you are not going to tell me how it happened, then don't even mention it. It will eat away at me all night if you do."

"You met Abrei, right? The Weyrhealer from River Bluff that took care of O'dan?" At Karaleigh's nod, he grinned. "Well, she comes from a family of...
feisty women. Her parents left the Healer Hall when she was just a baby and went to Dragonsfall, but her uncle and her cousin stayed. And her cousin is, if I may be forgiven for saying it, a very attractive lady. I'm sure you can see where this is going..." "Feisty attractive woman and O'dan in proximity? There is only one direction it can be heading." She smiled, happy to hear that he was opening up.

"The first time she went straight for a knee between the legs," Dantial said, his smile growing a little. "That was when he tried to kiss her when she was fifteen and he was fourteen. It took him about two months to work up the courage to try again--and that time she broke his nose. Of course, she could have gotten in _major_ trouble, but O'dan wasn't about to tell anyone that he'd let a girl punch him in the face." Karaleigh couldn't help the giggle that turned into a full-blown laugh. "You mean... a... a girl..." She couldn't finish her thought. The world was blurring as tears squeezed out of her eyes. It was too funny! "Uh-huh." Dantial couldn't help but laugh. "He was so humiliated I tried to set it for him... I was barely a junior apprentice, so of course, I just made it worse. Which is why his nose never will be straight again." Karaleigh's laughter faded as she looked down at her hands. "Well, if it makes you feel any better, I think his nose is the least of his injuries now."

"I know," he replied softly, his humor fading. "But he's getting better, Karaleigh... if there's anyone who could recover from this, it's him." "I know, I know. I'm sorry." She shook her head. "I don't know why I said that. Forgive me for spoiling the mood. I know he'll be just fine."

He watched her for a few moments and then held one arm out. "You look like you could use a hug. I'm not quite as free with them as my brother is, but I think I could give you one if you'd like." She hesitated for a brief moment. Karaleigh rarely showed such affection.
It wasn't that she never felt the need. Her pride just would not allow her to admit that sometimes she needed to be held too. But Dantial was so much like his brother, and yet in many ways so different, that felt comfortable.
And so she slipped next to him and gently rested her head on his shoulder.

Dantial settled his arm behind her shoulders and smiled. "I promise he'll be all right, Karaleigh... and I never make a promise I can't keep." "I believe you, Dantial," she said as she settled in closer to him.
Karaleigh hadn't realized just how much she had wanted to be close to someone after everything.

"Good. I'd be cross if you didn't," he replied lightly. He leaned forward just enough to snag his mug before settling back with her. "Let's talk about something a little less depressing though." She nodded her agreement. "How is your nephew, Odarian, doing in the infirmary? Is he fitting in well?" "Nephew? I have a nephew?" Dantial smiled at her when she looked at him.
"I'm joking... I probably know him better than his father does. And he's doing very well." "I'm glad to hear that. I am his brother's teacher, you know," Karaleigh said proudly, absently playing with the seam of his tunic.

"Are you? Then you probably know him better than O'dan does as well."
Dantial had known that his brother had children--two boys and an adorable baby girl who had wrapped her uncle around her little finger within a few moments of meeting him--but still found it hard to understand how his brother was so casual about it. All three children lived with foster parents and had only the most minimal contact with their parents, though Dantial had seen well enough that all of them were healthy and happy enough. "It's not his fault, you know." Karaleigh could catch his thoughts from the look in his eye. "He's a dragonrider. And, as we have the proof of it now, sometimes it can be dangerous for them to form too many attachments. Some cannot do what they do if they are worried for those they leave behind."

"I know, I know..." Dantial shook his head. "It's just... it's different, I suppose."

"It is different. But it is the way of the Weyr. When I first came I couldn't understand their way of thinking. But after the return of Thread... well, things became a bit clearer. You will start to understand too, I think."

"I suppose I will at that." Dantial smiled at her. "So, what shall we do with our evening since you're hiding in here? Do you like to play cards?" "Of course," she said as she lifted herself off of his shoulder. "But I have to warn you, I am a harper. I am very good at bluffing."

"And I grew up having to cover up for O'dan's many adventures," Dantial replied, reaching under his table for the discarded deck of cards. "I think I may have learned a thing or two about it myself over the turns." "I'm not sure how good you really were at covering up for O'dan," she said with a sly smile. "After all, I've seen his nose."

"Ahhh, but you and I are the only ones who know that an angry girl broke it," Dantial replied with a grin. "That's a secret I've held for many, many turns. I may have to see if I can convince Torinia to come and visit sometime... though I suppose that would be putting my brother in danger of getting his nose broken again. Her temper hasn't gotten much better." Karaleigh chuckled as she shook her head. "Well, perhaps this time you can set it right. Now shuffle!"

Last updated on the September 24th 2005

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A Very Well Kept Secret