Sunsets

Writers: Miriah, Yvonne
Date Posted: 25th January 2018

Characters: J'ackt, Alina
Description: J'ackt and Alina take a sunset walk
Location: Dolphin Cove Weyr
Date: month 2, day 7 of Turn 9

J'ackt

Alina

Alina sat on a stone at the edge of the path to the Weyrstones, patiently waiting. She was early, but there was no way she could have passed the time after dinner alone in her weyr. Or in the dining cavern. Or anywhere, really. She brushed her hands against the skirt of her dress and told herself not to be silly. **It's just a walk.** On a nice night. Alone with the man she liked.

A familiar silhouette appeared on the path. Alina stood up and waved.

"I see you." There was a smiling quality to the tone of his voice as he approached. With light footsteps, he made his way to her and looked down at her dress. "Very nice." J'ackt personally preferred her in her riding leathers, but then again, he liked being able to see the shape of her bottom when she wasn't paying attention to where his eyes were. He bent, brushing his lips over hers once, then twice. It was gentle and not pressing, but definitely something he was making more of ahabit. "Been waiting long?"

"No." A kiss like that made her blood fizz. What would happen if he _really_ kissed her? Alina tucked that thought away for later and did her best to stop smiling like a simpleton. "I thought we could head up the bluff, maybe catch the sunset from up there?"

"It'll be a bit of a climb." He eyed her dress and then a grin slowly spread on his face, looking faintly devilish. "By all means. We can do that. I'll just walk behind...make sure that you're steady and don't fall." He attempted a look of innocence but failed miserably. "For your safety."

She scowled and swatted at him, purposefully missing. "Nice try, dimglow."

He shrugged and then caught the hand that swung at him. He twined his fingers with hers and then tugged her towards the path. "Well, then let's go." He had to slow his longer legged pace for her, and released her hand to place his along her lower back to steady her when the path became rocky.

The silence stretched. Alina picked up her skirts so she could better see her toes and navigate the rocky path. "So... what's drilling with the Queen's Wing like?"

"Like drilling with your own wing, I imagine." J'ackt replied, keeping an eye on both his own feet and hers. "Except with a lot more flamethrowers." He paused to consider. "N'vanik's wing is more challenging."

"I'm not crazy about the danger part. And you're lucky that you'll get to drill with N'vanik. D'hol can be so cranky." She frowned. "And I have the awful suspicion that he might think I have a crush on him. Which I _don't_."

"On D'hol?" J'ackt blinked, trying to wrap his mind around the concept and shook his head. "I should bloody well fecking hope not."

Alina shuddered. "He's kind of fierce. I never understood how he attracted a weyrmate in the first place."

"Good." He reached the top and pulled her up after him, suddenly bringing her flush against him with his hand on her lower back. "Cause I'd rather you just have a crush on me."

She was acutely aware of how their bodies met and the heat of his palm against her back. Alina felt herself flush. "Do you, now?" Her voice was a bit breathless as she looked up at him.

"Mmmhmm." He nodded and then bent to press his mouth to hers, first gently then with more heat. He tasted her mouth fully for only a moment before he forced himself to pull his mouth from hers. "Shaffit." He exhaled, and kept his hand low on her back. "I'd love to continue with that, but..." he cleared his throat and stepped back from her and shifted almost uncomfortably. "Lets sit, hm?"

Alina nodded, then led the way on unsteady feet. **Maybe this was a bad idea.** Two people, alone, watching the sun set over the weyrbowl... She spotted a pair of flat rocks and claimed one as her seat for the evening.

He sat beside her, his side against hers and his arm behind her back, propping himself up. He stared out at the view and studied the clouds as they passed. "I used to do this all the time. Climb up on the cliff over my little cave and just watch." His father would always scream for him to get inside, but he'd enjoyed it when he could manage it. It had been a small bit of peace for him.

Alina glanced at him out of the corner of her eye. Perhaps he was serious about actually talking about himself. "It must have been quite the view."

He shrugged a bit. "It was mostly trees and clouds. It wasn't this high of a view, really. But it was peaceful. Sometimes I'd see a bit of smoke from a cothold or something."

"There was this old tree around the bend from Nadol Cothold that Elana and I used to climb. Also usually to watch the sunset. If you climbed high enough, you could see the hills a day's ride away." The greenrider smiled a little at the memory. "It was also a good place to escape from evening chores."

"Where was Nadol anyway?" J'ackt turned his head to watch her face. His lips quirked. "Maybe I...visited one night."

"What?!" Alina sat up straighter, her heart pounding. "No you didn't!"

That made him throw his head back and laugh, lifting one hand. "I'm joking!" He grinned and nudged at her side. "Faranth, Alina, even if I had, I wouldn't have been peeping through windows. I was more interested in food."

"Jerk." She elbowed him in the side for making her squirm. "I don't remember us ever having to deal with thieves. Weren't you closer to Emerald Falls Hold, anyway?"

"If they were good thieves, you wouldn't have noticed or just thought it was pests." J'ackt admitted. "Farmers don't miss a tuber here or there or a sacks of grain that seem just a little lighter. Or a fruit or two out of a basket. Never take anything that can be noticeably missed." He gave a brief smile. "And never go to a cothold too often. That gets noticed." He glanced at her. "I really don't know where Nadol was. I didn't know the names for places besides the main Hold. I just stayed a day and a half brisk walk away from the closest cothold. I think I was at the foothills of those hills you mentioned. Couldn't stay too long away from my cave."

"Why not?" Perhaps it was a dangerous question. J'ackt didn't like it when people pried. Alina asked it anyway.

"Wasn't the only Holdless in the area. I can't take credit for all of the thefts in the area. Only one person after all. There are more than you think around Emerald Falls. And some of 'em would kill you just for a few hunks of meat."

Alina shivered dramatically. "No, thank you. I'm very glad I haven't spotted anyone Holdless on sweepride yet, either." For more reasons than one. She glanced at J'ackt, wondering how many more Holdless were like him instead of the bloodthirsty savages he'd just mentioned.

"They hide. Just like I did." He shrugged. "Don't worry too much about it. Not all of 'em are like that. Just some."

The greenrider leaned back to stare at the darkening sky. The first pale star of the evening was beginning to glimmer on the horizon, while the Red Star winked balefully at it from the other side of the sky. Most people on Pern were tucked in safe behind stone walls on nights like this... but this was the sort of view J'ackt had seen every night. "Do you like it here?"

He considered his answer for a long moment." At the Weyr?" He exhaled through his nose. "Sometimes. Sometimes I don't. Sometimes it feels like a big cage and I just want to run through the woods again and not be responsible for anyone but me." His lips quirked. "But that means not knowing if I'll eat or have shelter or..." His voice trailed off. "It's better than being Holdless." He turned to look at Alina. "Will you ever like it here?"

A faint smile crossed her face. "I don't know. It's not terrible here... usually. But I miss home, and I hate that I can't ever go back."

He studied her expression for a long time before he answered. "Then make this place your home."

She sighed. "Does it feel like home for you?"

He considered it and while he did, tucked his arm around Alina's lower back lightly as he shifted his balance beside her. "Holdless, remember?" His lip corner lifted as he watched the sunset. " Can't really compare this to what I had." He frowned. "Don't really know what it's supposed to feel like." He looked at her and arched a brow. "So, tell me. What does 'home' feel like to you?"

"That's like asking someone to tell you how their boots fit. It's hard to put into words."

"Well, is home your sister, or your parents and having them around, or is it more of a feeling?"

"It's..." What were the right words? "It's like... knowing where you fit, and that people love you, and the days are comfortable, and you don't stick out like a sore thumb. And I knew that at Nadol. I mean, I didn't always like it there, and some people were just idiots. And still are," she said, thinking of a few of the young people she'd been Searched with. Some of them had done well at the Weyr, and some... she shook her head. "Well, you know."

"You have three of the four." He answered, watching as the sun began to dip low. "And there's gonna being idiots anywhere you go. So you have to figure out how to get the fourth." His brow furrowed. "Do you think if you'd gotten married and had to move away from Nadol, that you would have thought of your new husband and cothold or whatever as your home?"

"Maybe. Depends on who I'd married, I guess." She sighed. "Did I tell you that my sister is getting fostered to Emerald Falls Hold?"

He arched a brow, but went along with the change of subject. "No. Why is she going to the main Hold?"

"We have a great aunt there. I've never met her, but my mother fostered with her when she went to Emerald Falls Hold. From what I hear she's rather formidable." Alina let herself relax against the bronzerider. "We always thought we'd get to go together."

J'ackt let his hand rest lightly against Alina's waist, tucking her lightly against his side. "That upset you? Her going off to Emerald Falls? What's she looking for?"

"A husband. Someone with good prospects, good looks, and who worships the ground she walks on," Alina said dryly. There was a time when she'd hoped for the same thing.

That brought a voluble snort from J'ackt. "Really." He shook his head. "That it? What good is that gonna do her?" He looked over at Alina and arched a brow. "That would drive _you_ nuts, you know. "

She suppressed a smile. "You think so? What should I be on the lookout for, then?"

"Not someone who would worship the ground you walk on." He shook his head. "You wouldn't be happy with someone you didn't respect, and you wouldn't respect anyone you could walk all over." He turned his head to look at her. "You need someone who challenges you."

'Challenging' was one way to put it. J'ackt was everything she shouldn't want in a man. "What are you looking out for, then?"

He studied her face and his lips quirked in a slight smirk, but there was warmth in it instead of sarcasm. His brow arched. "Not looking. Already found."

She snorted, but a pleased flush touched her cheeks. "Oh, please."

He shrugged, but kept his arm wrapped around her. "Eventually."

Last updated on the March 2nd 2018

Welcome to Triad Weyrs!

Sunsets