What Do You Want?

Writers: Eimi, Paula
Date Posted: 19th April 2010

Characters: Aileyan, U'kaiah
Description: U'kaiah and Aileyan are growing more accustomed to each other
Location: Dragonsfall Weyr
Date: month 8, day 24 of Turn 5
Notes: Follows "Finding a Cure"

U'kaiah loved how small the greenrider was. He felt like he could wrap
her up completely in his arms. Standing, he was well over a foot taller
than she was, and laying down like this together, her toes barely
reached his knees while his were hanging over the edge. It reminded him
of someone else. Of a lover he had lost. But she had ridden a Gold,
and had commanded respect despite her diminutive size. Aileyan reminded
him ever so slightly of her. Not just her size, but the aloofness she
usually displayed. Jaela also had been a hard woman to really know.
She had always kept everyone at arms length, never letting people too
close. Finding the cracks in her protective wall had become almost an
obsession for him. And oh how sweet it had been when those wall had
come tumbling down. How badly it hurt when he saw her lifeless body
just a few sevendays later.

But tonight, U'kaiah felt he had found a small hole in Aileyan's armor.
She had actually talked to him a little. Not much, but it was a start.
And it had felt good. It felt like he was with Jaela again, if just for
a few brief moments. He loved that feeling.

He buried his nose in the hair at the back of her neck as his hand
caressed up her arm until he found her fingers, marveling at how small
they were compared to his. He slid his palm across hers until the
wrists were aligned and saw just how his hand dwarfed her. Chuckling
softly, he murmured close to her ear, "You know, I love how small your
hands are."

"Well, they are quite a bit smaller," Aileyan remarked. She had never
really thought about it. Nearly everybody was bigger that her, you got
used to it.

U'kaiah was careful not to shift the pillow that lay between her head
and his arm too much as he sandwiched hers between his two hands. "I
can almost close my fingers over them. Although, I have pretty long
fingers."

"Harper's fingers," Aileyan said. She was getting rather fond of them,
and the things they could do to her.

"Hmmmm," he hummed, his fingers sliding down to entwine with hers.
U'kaiah had the urge to feel the back of that tiny hand against his
cheek, though he resisted. "Once perhaps, but now they're a
bronzerider's hands. They're covered in callouses and scars, not nearly
as flexible."

Aileyan pulled her hand free long enough to study it. "What's mine
then?" She had no scars, but she did have callouses.

The bronzerider looked at it thoughtfully, caressing each finger with
his, followed by each bone down to the wrist. Turning it back to face
him, his thumb traced the lines on her palms. "Yours are a mother's
hands." This time he didn't resist the urge to pull her hand up to feel
it on his cheek. It was soft, and cool.

Aileyan let out a soft, amused snort.

He smiled, using his harper hands to lightly tickle her side. "Well, I
was going to say that I could tell that you'd oiled your lifemate
recently, but I thought motherly sounded much more complimentary."

"Stop tickling me", she wriggled. She was sometimes terribly ticklish
and she tried to suffocate the laugher into the pillow. Faranth helped
them if Ravyan woke up!

He was laughing too as he reached down to trace his fingers along the
back of her knees, a place where many people were ticklish. His arms
being so long made the reach an easy one. "All right, all right," he
said when he decided she had enough. The bronzerider used his long arms
instead to wrap her up and hold her against him, stopping her from
thrashing around. "If you keep thrashing around like that you'll do
damage to one of us."

"Or wake up Ravyan. It takes forever to get him back to sleep if he
wakes up middle of the night," Aileyan said.

"Oh, I don't know. If he didn't wake up before, I'd think we're
probably safe." They hadn't exactly been silent, after all.

"He's a sound sleeper," Aileyan said.

"Well, there's nothing to worry about then, is there." The
bronzerider's fingers began to sneak back up to wards her ribs.

"Yes there is, I will hit you with a pillow if you tickle me again," she
threathened.

"Oooooo," U'kaiah said, his eyes growing wide. "You may be small,
greenrider, but you are intimidating!"

"Oh, you!" She had to bury her face to the pillow again to smother the
sound.

He brought his lips right up to her ear, as if she wasn't squirming
enough. "Are you going to beat me now?"

"After I stop laughing," she murmured.

"Perhaps you should rethink that strategy. It just makes me what to
tickle you more so you won't stop," his fingers flexed against her skin
threateningly.

Aileyan picked up the pillow and swung it against his face. Not too hard
of course.

"Oh, now _that_ was not a good idea," U'kaiah laughed as he grabbed the
pillow and pulled it out of her hands. Rolling over, he pinned her body
to the mattress. Despite her struggles, he easy managed to grab her
wrists so she could not escape him. "Uh oh," he said with innocent
eyes. "Now what are you going to do?"

Aileyan pursed her lips. "Hmm, I have two options. Smashing your nose
with my forehead will probably give _me_ a headache, so...", she lifted
her head up enough to kiss him with passion.

"Well, Aileyan," the bronzerider smiled when their lips parted, liking
the surge of energy suddenly flowing through his veins. "You certainly
know how to disarm a man. But tell me truthfully. You don't _really_
want to cause me bodily harm, do you?"

"Of course not. You're my wingleader," she replied.

He chuckled softly at that. "At least you have good reasons." His eyes
grew a bit more intense as he asked. "So what _do_ you want?"

"What do you mean with that? Just now or in general?" Aileyan asked.

U'kaiah opened his mouth to reply, but then closed it again, a look of
slight confusion on his face. He had said it in the moment, that kiss
of her still tingling on his lips. But now that she asked the question
he wasn't sure. "As you like."

"Just now, little more of the same and then some sleep," Aileyan
suggested.

"Oh, more tickling?" His hand moved from her wrist back down to her
side, seemingly poised and ready.

She rolled her eyes. "More kissing."

"Ah, I see. Well, you're lucky then. See, it just so happens that I
like kissing you even _more_ than tickling you."

When eventually sleep did find them, a small smile graced the edges of
their lips. In the end they both got what they wanted.

Last updated on the April 20th 2010

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