DCW: Something Real

Writers: Eimi, Rochelle
Date Posted: 10th June 2007

Characters: B'ram, Eleada
Description: B'ram and Eleada need more...
Location: Dolphin Cove Weyr
Date: month 3, day 23 of Turn 4

B'ram

Eleada felt her nerves humming as she wearily trudged through the halls
back to her weyr. Ever since the hurricane she'd been on edge. The
emotional roller coaster of Adaric going missing, the weyr flooding, the
loss of the eggs, Threadfall, and then the cleanup had wrung her out.
And then on top of that she'd had to deal with Gliorith rising after two
days of emotional wringout. The flight had been as spectacular as usual,
but she and the bluerider had both denied the flightlust afterglow in
order to get back to the arduous task of repairing a flood damaged weyr.

Reaching her weyr at last, she closed the door to her weyr with a
grateful sigh. Maybe if she skipped the bed entirely and curled up with
Gliorith and Arieoss, she might actually get some sleep instead of more
nightmares... She flopped bonelessly on her sofa, feeling the nervous
energy still humming through her veins. Shards but she needed a break.
Everyone did. But there was more damage to be repaired, and Threadfall
in two days...

And a brownrider waiting on her ledge. "Eleada?" he called softly, not
wanting to startle her.

She repressed a groan at the sound of her name. Another problem that
needed her attention... wait. "B'ram?"

"Are you busy?" he asked, ducking his head into her weyr. "If this
isn't a good time..."

She smiled involuntarily, if tiredly. "No, I'm not busy at the moment.
Come in."

The brownrider walked in and hitched a hip up on the arm of the sofa
next to her. Reaching down he stroked her hair with his fingers. "You
look tired."

She laughed softly, closing her eyes as her nerves quit humming quite so
loudly. "I don't think there is anyone who isn't tired right now, B'ram.
There's just too much work to be done."

Wasn't that the truth... "How's your mother's weyr? Is anything
salvageable?"

"More than we thought would be, actually." She admitted. "A lot of the
furniture is pretty damaged, but she took most of the clothes and
blankets and to my brother's weyr. A lot of memories gone though. Some
we can set out to dry, but most of it..." She shook her head,
remembering seeing her mother cleaning up the waterlogged remains of the
beautifully inlaid jewelry box that had always sat on the dresser. The
jewelry wasn't so much a loss as the box itself -it had been one of the
few things her mother still had from her first weyrmate. He'd died
shortly after her second eldest brother was born.

He nodded, caressing her cheek with the backs of his fingers. "Well, at
least everyone was safe. That's the most important."

"Yes, but we almost didn't even do that!" Eleada despaired. "Adaric..."
She sighed. She may have passed off her sons to her mother, but she'd
gotten closer to her boys since returning to Dolphin Cove, close enough
to realize just how little contact she actually had with them. The
thought that she could have lost them...

"Adaric is just fine," B'ram reminded her, leaning down to kiss her
forehead softly.

"I know." She sighed, feeling her breath catch at the soft brushing of
his lips on her forehead, and she covered the moment of weakness by
biting her lip. "But it doesn't stop me from thinking about what might
have happened. I've lost too many people..." Her voice trailed off. She
looked at him, too tired from work and nightmares to hide the pleading
in her eyes as she caught his hand and tugged him gently to sit beside
her.

His fingers wrapped easily around hers as he lowered himself to the
cushion beside her. "That's no way to live life, Eleada," he said
gently, "thinking about the people you _could_ lose. It's better to
relish the moments you have and not waste time trying to count them."

"I know." She repeated, sagging against him. "But since the hurricane,
and that awful threadfall after..." She shook her head, not really
wanting to put her feelings into words. But it was rapidly becoming too
much, and she was exhausted. "I guess I'm just tired. I didn't sleep
well last night."

B'ram reached around her shoulder as he turned slightly, angling his
body so it would make a better pillow than a leaning post. "You should
have been exhausted after all that excitement. What kept you awake?"

She hesitated, feeling the bitter loneliness that she always felt after
a flight rising in her. Even with someone beside her it came... She
shrugged, trying to sound nonchalant but instead coming across tired and
stressed. "Just old nightmares."

"You have nightmares often?" he asked, pulling her a little tighter
against him.

**Yes.** She shook her head a little. "Sometimes. But no more than
anyone else after something like this, I think." Eleada relaxed against
him, aware but too tired to care that it could definitely be taken as a
sign of encouragement. She _wanted_ someone to just be there so badly
after flights... She nestled against him with a sigh. "What about you?
How have you been doing?"

"Well, you know, busy with cleaning up during the day, and then drills
and what not. Pretty much the same old thing really," he shrugged.
Except of course, Trae was not here... But he had actually felt a
little relieved. At least he thought he did... After all, now he
seemed to have more time for Eleada, and that was a welcome opportunity.
"I... I was a little disappointed Girifith wasn't just a little
faster..."

She smiled, and found to her surprise that the expression was more
genuine than she had expected. "So... was I." She admitted softly, her
heart doing a sudden jump into her throat. The admission was a little
_too_ honest, she realized. **Faranth, Gliorith, I... think I mean
it...**

He reached down to tip her face up towards his, leaning down to kiss her
softly, gently asking just how disappointed she might have felt. Did
she feel it like he did? Could this be... the start of something?
Something _normal_? A _real_ relationship?

Eleada felt his lips brush hers, felt the way her skin hummed under his
fingers where he'd turned her face, and felt the longing rise in her.
She could feel the question in his kiss, the question she'd been
wondering about since the day she realized he no longer set off her
internal alarms. And in a split second decision spurred by exhaustion,
she decided her answer. She kissed him back, letting him feel her
loneliness, and gently asking for more as her hands crept up behind his
back. She wanted more than just a suitor, an admirer. She wanted
something else. Something real.

Last updated on the June 21st 2007

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DCW: Something Real