Just Leave

Writers: Dana, Eimi
Date Posted: 25th October 2005

Characters: B'ram, Traelyn
Description: B'ram and Trae have a run-in in the storage room
Location: Dolphin Cove Weyr
Date: month 8, day 14 of Turn 3

B'ram

Now that most - not all, but _most_ - of her things were unpacked from the boxes, it was time to get on top of things and re-stock some weyr necessities. Like towels. And she did need a few extra pillows. And maybe some linens...

Sighing, Traelyn opened the door to the rather large storage room - and bit the inside of her cheek to keep from groaning as she braced her hands against the side-paneling of the door. He was the _last_ person she wanted to see right now. Shards.

**Shards, shells, shellcracks and crackdust! What is _she_ doing here?!** B'ram thought as he looked up at the woman framed in the door. He realized he was glaring and quickly looked down at the large basket he thought to use to keep his laundry in. "Weyrwoman," he said as a quick, forceably polite greeting.

"B'ram." Her voice was tight, and forceably polite as well. Shards... Should she just walk away now and come back later? Before they got into _another_ fight? Steeling herself - she was _Weyrwoman_, after all - she took another step into the room and the door closed behind her.

The memory of their last encounter burned in his mind. Well, what he could remember of it at least. **Sharding woman.** Her intrusion into his weyr, her chasing off his company, her stinging accusations... He could feel the irritation rise. But then there was also another feeling that started to creep in - apprehention. He couldn't remember the Weyrwoman _leaving_ his weyr that night. B'ram was certain nothing like _that_ had happened... But what else did he say or do that night? Shards he wished he could remember. He decided to hide his uncertainty behind a stack of blankets.

**Well, if this silence isn't the _definition_ of uncomfortable, I don't know what _is_...** She cleared her throat softly and went to the other wall, her eyes scanning the contents of shelves without really seeing anything. Shards... She wanted to just grab what she needed and _bolt_
out of there! But he was standing next to the sharding blankets - and she needed one of those sharding blankets. Shards. She made a pretense of looking through one of the baskets of sweetsand. She had _enough_
sweetsand...

**Trae, you're acting like a young girl! Just sharding go over there and grab one...** Again, Traelyn steeled herself and came over to him, reaching out to grab a blanket.

B'ram happened to be reaching for the blanket at the same time. He looked up at the Weyrwoman, slightly surprised and irritated. How interesting that she had been so enthrawled by the sweetsand, but as soon as _he_
wanted something she had to get at it first! Well, he wasn't going to be a child and play that game. He grabbed at the fabric and ignored her hand.

She ground her teeth, irritated. She _knew_ he had seen her reaching for that same one... The man had _no_ common courtesy! Trae was starting to have a hard time keeping her temper in check. She grabbed the one that had been beneath it, her knuckles turning white as she fought down her the biting comments that were on the tip of her tongue.

**That's right, you don't get _everything_ just 'cause your Weyrwoman!**
B'ram thought triumphantly. He waited until he had turned away to put the blanket in the basket before he let the smirk cross his face though.

Jamming her blanket into her own basket, she went over to pick out a few more pillows for her bed. Shoving her irritated thoughts to the side, she began feeling out each one, her fingers squeezing them then plumping them, testing each one for its softness.

The brownrider watched her out of the corner of his eye as she moved from one to the other. Traelyn's sister was the same. She was always particular about her pillows. B'ram would never forget the lecture he had recieved the one time he had mistakenly switched their pillows. It only made it worse when he had shrugged and said he couldn't tell the difference. He couldn't help it as a small chuckle escaped him.

Trae's eyes shot to his. "Something amusing you, brownrider?"

"Well," B'ram still chuckled, "its just that Atreyn... Atreyn used to...
she would..." he looked into Trae's hard eyes. Suddenly, it wasn't so funny anymore. "No ma'am. I guess not."

But her eyes had softened just a little, and she felt pity mingle in with her irritation. "She was always picky about her pillows," she murmured, looking away to the pillows again.

"Yes, she is." At least he could imagine that she still was. He wondered over to the shelf that held the dishes they were free to use in their own weyrs. There was a variety, it seemed. Too many to chose from.
Before he would have asked Atreyn for advice. She always had the best taste. He picked up one, and then another. Finally he turned around, awkwardly and mumbled. He couldn't believe what he was about to do, but it was better than staring for a candlemark. "Excuse me, Traelyn... I don't mean to bother you... Um... But which one do you like?" He held up two glasses that both looked equally serviceable.

Surprised shock flickered in her eyes as she stared at the two glassed held out in front of her. B'ram was asking _her_ for advice? _B'ram_? Granted, this advice may be a bit trivial to other decisions he'd make in his lifetime, but shards... Her hesitation was brief before she pointed to the one in his left hand. "That one. The glass seems a bit thicker so it won't break as easily. And the design isn't as obnoxious as the other one..."

She thought the design was _obnoxious_? He had picked that one just _because_ of the design. **Figures.** B'ram had half a mind to chose the one with the 'obnoxious' design anyway. But, he knew it would be blantantly rude for him to ask her opinion and then refuse it, and despite how little he liked the woman, he couldn't stoop that low. "Thanks," he said as he put the one he had liked back. He could come back later and switch them, he decided.

She returned to her pillow-picking. "Sure."

Well, if she was anything like her sister, she would see nothing but pillows for a while yet. If he could switch them now without noticing, maybe it would save him a trip. He looked over his shoulder cautiously before reaching up and as quietly as he could he switched the 'thicker' glass for the 'obnoxious' one and quickly hid it in the folds of his blanket. B'ram smiled as he walked over to the towels, quite pleased with himself.

"I was waiting for that," she commented casually as she tossed a pillow to the side. Of _course_ he wouldn't follow her advice. He might ask, but he wouldn't take. Not him. Never him.

B'ram threw down the towel he had grabbed back down. He hadn't _intended_
for her to see that! "Shard it all Traelyn, I'm sorry, but I liked that _obnoxious_ pattern, and I was trying to switch it secretly so you wouldn't think like I asked you _just_ so I could... Oh shards, never mind. Since when do you listen to me anyway."

One brow rose, almost mockingly. "Since when do I listen to _you_? Shouldn't it be said the _other_ way around, B'ram?"

"Ah, you're right. You were full of understanding when you interrupted my night and stormed into my weyr. Yes, I could tell you had come to listen to my concerns that night."

Her upper lip curled. "I didn't _know_ the whole story then. And I'm not sure if I still do."

B'ram shot her a quick look. He didn't know she knew _any_ of the story and he was beginning to wonder just what _had_ happened after he blacked out. The brownrider decided it was better not to know. "Yeah, well, neither do I." He turned back to the towels, not wanting to see the look in her eye. It looked too much like... pity. "But its over and it really doesn't matter anymore. So lets drop it."

"I didn't bring it up," she said quietly before she too turned back to the pillows. Silence stretched for a brief moment before a whisper of a smile flickered across her lips. Now _here_ was a sharding good pillow!

It took all of B'ram's self restraint not to walk over to that frustrating woman and smuther her under one of those sharding pillows. He turned his back to her just so he didn't have to face the temptation and began looking through stacks of light summer shirts.

Pulling out a couple more pillows similar to the first, Traelyn glanced around, looking for the pillow-cases. She tilted her head back and squinted to see the upper shelves. Shards! There they were...and so high up! Resigned, she sighed and walked over, wondering how in the Faranth's name she was going to reach them. There wasn't a ladder anywhere, and she sharding wasn't going to _climb_ the shelves to get to them. Maybe she should just come back later... Knowing it wasn't really going to do any good, but decided to anyway, Trae rose up on her tiptoes, her arms outstretched, trying to reach for them.

As B'ram was digging through shirts he was distracted by small strained grunts coming from behind him. **What in name if Faranth...** Turning he watched as the Weyrwoman stretched, strained, stood on tip-toe and hopped up and down, trying to reach something just above the reach of her fingers. He snorted silently and shook his head, about to turn away. Suddenly he was hit with a twinge of guilt. It was not in B'ram's nature to be mean just to be mean. With a slight frown and a moments hesitation he cleared his throat. "Do you need some help there?"

She choked back a groan of dismay. And here she was hoping he wouldn't have seen... Well, despite everything, it _was_ polite of him to offer...though he was probably regretting it. Traelyn glanced at him. Steeling herself, she nodded reluctantly. She really should have come back another time... "Please."

B'ram ducked out of sight behind the shelves, only to emerge a few moments later with a rather old and questionable step ladder. "Well, I think this is supposed to be used for reaching up there, but I don't know how much I trust it." He set it up and put his weight on it, rocking a bit just to be sure. "Well, it can carry weight but it might shake a bit. Do you want me to climb up, or would you rather do it yourself?"

"I can do it," she replied after clearing her throat. Trae climbed up, aware that B'ram was right behind her. Feeling a flush rise in her neck, she planted her feet firmly on the step, gingerly reaching for her chosen pillow-cases.

B'ram's confidence in the step ladder was fadding fast. Perhaps he should have looked harder. There had to be a more serviceable one somewhere. The more she reached, the more she rocked, the more nervous he felt.

And he had a good reason to be feeling nervous, for when she finally grabbed the pillow-cases, her balance immediately faltered. And suddenly, she had no balance.

"Whoa," B'ram said as she started to fall. His hands flew around her middle automatically and her pulled her down from her precarious perch. "Ok, I gotcha, I gotcha."

She clutched at his hands, her heart pounding as she leaned back against him. **_Shards_. That was too close. Too close.**

_She_ was too close. B'ram cleared his throat as she pressed herself back into his body. "Are you all right?"

Suddenly realizing how sharding _close_ they were to each other, Traelyn shifted, her hold on him relaxing. And she nodded. "I'm fine."

The brownrider cleared his throat again as he released her, stepping back almost guiltily. "Is that all you needed?"

She ran a hand through the wisps that had escaped her braid, her eyes not quite meeting his as she nodded again. Why did she sharding feel so _sharding_ embarrassed? This was ridiculous... "That's it, B'ram. Thanks." Shards.

"Well, then..." B'ram turned away quickly, embarrassed and starting feel the slightest twinge of irritation. **Shards, Traelyn just can't give it up, can she...** "All right then. I think I have everything I need. I better go."

"Yeah." She did too, but there was _no_ sharding way she was leaving with him. Trae looked away to her basket and began moving things around so everything could fit. It was more to take up time than anything else.
**Please. Just leave.**

It was not a thought she needed to say outloud. B'ram was already half way out the door. **Same old Traelyn, and trying the same old tricks...**

Last updated on the October 25th 2005

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