Finding a Sense of Joy

Writers: Heather, Miriah
Date Posted: 8th March 2019

Characters: Thayde, Enamra
Description: Thayde takes Enamra swimming with his dolphin.
Location: Dolphin Hall
Date: month 10, day 7 of Turn 9

Thayde

Enamra

The swimming suit that she had been given didn't fit well, but it was
one of the smallest that they had. She felt too exposed in the brief
material, and instead of wearing it alone, had found an old ragged top
that hung to the middle of her thighs to cover herself. Dashing
outside, Enamra was pleased to see the dock empty and having been
given permission to swim, didn't want to wait. She glanced around,
dropped her towel and dove with surprising grace into the water.

It felt luxurious to her. Swimming with practiced strokes under the
water, she held her breath as long as she could before popping
upwards. A smile full of happiness lit her face, bringing a joyful
sparkled as she took a breath and dove again, feet briefly flashing in
the air as she flipped in the water with obvious enjoyment.

Thayde was perched on the dock, wearing only his swim trunks and
sandals. He had come down the pier while Enamra had been beneath the
water and he didn't want to interrupt the moment that she was having.
The smile on her face was one that he'd never seen on her before and
it transformed her features.

When she finally noticed that he was there, he held up his fingers,
where two sets of goggles dangled from the straps. "You ready to swim
with a dolphin?" he smiled.

And she did notice when she emerged from her dive. She pushed her hair
from her face and stared at him for just a moment before they flicked
to the goggles. Treading water, only her head showed above the lapping
waves but she moved easily towards the docks. "Yes please."

"We'll ring the Dolphin Bell and call her in," he told Enamra as he
reached down and offered a hand to help her back up onto the dock.

She looked at the hand and then looked up, far too aware the the
clinging shirt would hide little, despite the swimming suit beneath.
But he had seen her anyway, so did it really matter? Hesitatingly, she
took his hand and with her other on the dock, pushed herself upwards.
The moment she clambered up, far more clumsy on the dock than the
water, she pulled the shirt away from her body to hide what she could.
"Yes, sir."

Thayde, who had been reaching for the rope of the bell, stopped and
turned around to face Enamra. "Oh, and one other thing, no calling me
'sir' today. Today my name is Thayde, yours is Enamra, and we're
enjoying a swim with a dolphin. Sound good?"

She slowly shook her head. The thought of calling him by his name was
too strange and far too familiar. She was nothing but a drudge now and
even before she had come here, the idea of calling any older man by
their name hadn't been allowed. "I can't do that, sir."

"Well, it was worth a shot," he said. He would have to work more on
that as time went by. Thayde grabbed the rope of the Dolphin Bell and
gave it a sharp pull twice, in quick succession. "Now, come here and
look right about there," he moved around behind her and pointed to a
spot out in the water where Ada always appeared.

As he moved behind her, she stepped aside, but her eyes followed his
finger to where he was pointing. Her brow knit as she waited and
watched, hoping to the see the dolphin appear.

A dorsal fin suddenly split the water, moving at a quick clip toward the pier. "Thaaayyyyyyyde!" Ada squeed as her melon broke the surface beside of the dock.

"Ada, I've brought a friend today," he said as he tossed a treat into the air, which she caught in her open mouth and gobbled up quickly.

"Friiiiieend naaaaame?" Ada asked, turning her beady black eyes on Enamra.

"Oh, she's so pretty," Enamra breathed softly, then crouched on the dock, leaning out. "Hello, Ada. My name is Enamra." She stretched out a hand, not quite able to reach the dolphin.

The dolphin used her lithely muscled body to come further out of the water and touch Enamra's outstretched hand. Ada ducked back down in the water for a second before emerging again. "Swiiiiiim?"

"Yes, we're going to swim. Maybe you could tow Enamra around a bit?" he suggested.

"Yeeeeees," Ada agreed happily.

Stepping out of his sandals, Thayde dove into the water beside of his dolpin.

Now excited, Enamra waited until Thayde's head popped up before diving in herself. She didn't approach the dolphin, despite desperately wanting to. "What do I do?" In her excitement, she forgot the honorific, her eyes focused exclusively on Ada.

"Just get beside her like this," he put his hands on Enamra's waist and put her into the correct position beside of the dolphin. "Now put your arm here, and your hands on her dorsal fin like so," he directed her hands and arms. "Now on your word she's going to take off swimming. All you have to do is stay loose and go with the current that she'll create."

"Okay." She let him direct her position and gripped the dorsal fin as instructed, her breathing quickened by her anticipation. There was a gleam of excitement in her eyes as she stroked Ada's skin with admiration and immediate affection. She glanced at Thayde, then with a bit of hesitation, spoke to Ada. "Let's go?"

Thayde gave a sharp whistle of affirmation to Ada who took off with a powerful flick of her tail. The dolphin pulled Enamra's slight frame with ease through the water, circling them through the calm waters behind the breakers. The Master dolphineer watched, prepared to help if Enamra were to need it, but she seemed far more confident in the water than she was on land.

She had never before felt anything like being pulled by the powerful creature. When her head broke through the water, her face glowed as delighted laugh danced from her lips. Pure joy was in that laugh as she held on, and as they dipped below the water again, she kicked her feet, delighting in the current that Ada had created. She was pulled back towards Thayde, but she didn't want it to end. "Again, Ada! Please?"

Ada peered at Thayde over the waterline, who gave a nod, before she raced off again, cutting a circle around where Thayde was treading water, and then headed back along the coastline. She took Enamra further on this lap before turning back toward Thayde once again.

Delighted laughter once again followed the lap, and she impulsively wrapped her arms around Ada in a hug when she slowed. "You're wonderful!" She kissed the rubbery skin and remembering what Thayde had said, rubbed her fingers along the dolphin's snout.

Ada clearly enjoyed the attention. "Neeeew friiiiiend!" she squeed.

Thayde laughed. "Hey now, don't forget who your partner is," he teased Ada, who blew water in his direction.

Enamra giggled, covering her mouth, but quickly gave Ada another kiss on head. "Thank you. That was wonderful!" Her eyes shone as she stroked the dolphin, already in love with how Ada felt and moved. She hadn't ever felt so free or so excited before in her life. Thayde was so lucky, she decided, having a partner like this.

"You are a natural in the water," Thayde commented. "Are you sure you won't consider apprenticing at some point?"

That startled her out of her contemplation of the dolphin and her gaze went to him, becoming confused. "Girls can't apprentice to crafts. " She looked at Ada regretfully, patted her, then began to slowly swim towards the dock. Apprentice? Her? Even if she'd been born a boy, she wasn't smart enough and she couldn't do anything more than she was doing now. She certainly could never marry now like she ought. No man would want a wife that had done what she had and wasn't pure for him. That pervasive thought, one she had had at least once a day, threatened to bring bitter bile to her throat once again before she swallowed it back. It was her own fault, and she'd have to live with it.

"What do you mean? Haven't you noticed the female crafters around here? You should talk with Milga sometime." He automatically thought of Irabel and Shilara, but both of them had moved away from the Hall. Shilara to be with the former Hallmaster, Famell, and Irabel to take care of her ailing mother in the North. He tried not to often think of Irabel though, he was still sore about the way things had gone between them.

She pulled herself up on the dock, then quickly wrapped herself in a towel, feeling heavy and awkward after her time in the water. She had noticed them, but it hadn't really sank in that they were really crafters. She had simply accepted what she'd always been told, that women's purpose was marriage, the home, and the hearth. As she chewed on her lower lip, she tried to imagine herself like some of the more confident women in the hall, but she simply couldn't. She was a drudge. Slowly, she shook her head. "I can't." She tugged her towel closer, remembering her manners. "Thank you for letting me swim with Ada, Master Thayde."

**Way to put your foot in your mouth, idiot.** Thayde thought as he moved through the water toward the dock. "Hey, you don't have to go, you can still swim if you'd like."

Her eyes rose to look longingly at Ada and the water. "Can I swim with her? She doesn't have to pull me if she doesn't want to."

"Of course, swim with her as long as you'd like." Thayde encouraged.

A sudden bright smile was directed at him and she dropped the towel to immediately dive back into the water.

Last updated on the March 11th 2019

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Finding a Sense of Joy