An Offer of Aid

Writers: Miriah, Suzee
Date Posted: 7th November 2020

Characters: Aviday, L'cor
Description: Aviday learns a little more.
Location: Dolphin Cove Weyr
Date: month 7, day 7 of Turn 10

Aviday

L'cor

Aviday sank into the heated water of the bathing chamber with a sigh
as it's warmth seeped into her tired muscles. She'd tried to throw
heavier bags today during Fall and she must have strained her muscles
because they _hurt_. She'd been trying to prove herself and Faranth,
she'd overdone it. She winced as she rolled her shoulders; if they
wouldn't let her fight at least, she thought, she could try to give
the riders bags that would last a little bit longer. But it felt good
that she was able to throw more than she had during last Fall. She
rubbed her shoulder with a wince, rotating her arm around slowly, and
hoped that she wouldn't have to go to the infirmary about it.

"Hi there Aviday," L'cor said as he slid into the hot water on the
other side of the pool and sighed in pleasure as the heat soaked into
his muscles.

She jumped a little at the sudden voice and turned, still rubbing her
shoulder under the hot water. "Oh, hello L'cor." She kept her
distance, then flexed her arm again with a sigh. "Rough fall today,
huh."

"Yeah," he said leaning his head back against the side of the pool.
"How are you doing," he asked.

Aviday grimaced and dipped her head back into the water, soaking her
hair. "I think I over did it today." She replied honestly, letting the
heat soothe her shoulders. "I got some heavy bags today and I kind of
didn't let anyone bigger take them. I think I pulled a muscle or
something." She sighed. "But Kobeth didn't get scored or anything at
least. Not even a wingtip score."

"It's hard at first judging the bags to take only the ones you can
manage." He lifted his head. "But you'll get stronger as you practice.
Your body adapts. It's only when you try it all at once and over
stress it that it's painful." He'd noticed how she'd been rolling her
shoulders and smiled. "You and Kobeth did well today," he nodded
toward her. "Want me to rub your shoulders?"

"I might never get strong enough unless I gain like fifty pounds of
muscle. Been trying, but no matter what I eat, I'm still little. "
She looked down at her arms. They were thin, but at least they were
toned and had some muscle now. They didn't look like sticks like they
had when she first impressed. At L'cor's complement, she smiled,
pleased that her hard work had been recognized and turned to face him.
"Thanks! I even missed L'fic's head. Not that I was aiming for it or
anything. " But when he offered to rub her shoulders, that smile
faltered and she visibly shied away. "No, uh, it's fine. It'll feel
better after a while."

L'cor chuckled. "That's not exactly the way it works Aviday. Your
muscles have been stressed so they hurt. But as you keep using them
they get stronger and they no longer hurt. In the meantime, a massage
can help them feel better."

"So, just keep doing what I'm doing. Well, they don't feel really
strong right now. " And her shoulder was cramping even in the steaming
water. She debated quietly to herself whether or not to accept
L'cor's offer. He'd been nice to her since she'd met him. He noticed
her and always smiled. And he'd been nice about L'fic, even if it had
embarrassed her at the time. L'cor just seemed to have a reputation
as a good sort of guy. And her shoulder did hurt. "Uhm, I guess it'll
be okay. Just for a bit. If you don't mind. "

"Of course," he moved behind her and his strong fingers began to
manipulate the muscles in her neck and shoulders. "Oh, you're all
knotted up Aviday." He found a particularly hard knot and pushed his
thumb into it, rolling it around until it dissipated. "How's that
feel?"

The moment his hands fell on her, Aviday flinched, but he didn't seem
to notice. The fact that they both were naked came to mind. It hadn't
ever been an issue before for her; it was just the baths and she
hadn't ever thought much about nudity. But after her Flight, she felt
more than a little vulnerable. His hands felt large and warm, but
didn't cause her immediate pain. She kept her body stiff at first,
but gradually, his fingers forced relaxation into the tension. Her
head tilted forward and she sighed with relief, then groaned as his
thumbs found a knot that had been apparently there without her
realizing it for days. "Better. Much better."

"Good," he said, patting her shoulder and backed away slightly. "Oria
always says I have good hands."

"Oria's right." Aviday murmured with a sigh as she exhaled with
relief. While her shoulder was still a little sore, there was far
less tension around her upper back and neck. The mild headache that
she'd been carrying also seemed to have disappeared. "How did you do
that?"

"Just practice," he grinned and waggled his fingers.

She couldn't help but grin with him and laugh a little. "Well, I might
need you then next Fall if I over do it." Aviday rolled her shoulders
slowly, testing them. "That's much better. Thanks. Never had a massage
before. Felt pretty good."

"Glad I was able to help," He gave her a partial bow. "Always happy to."

Aviday smiled a bit more; it was a bit silly, a naked man bowing like
that. "I'll remember that next time I'm sore." She paused. "Or at
least when my shoulders are sore." Her smile dropped a bit, but she
forcibly pushed the other thoughts away as she reached to grab a
handful of the sweetsand provided and began to scrub her arms
thoroughly.

L'cor blinked and tried to think back over what had been said. He'd
thought she'd begun to open up and then suddenly she'd closed down
again. "Shoulders, sure," he said cautiously. Then his eyes widened.
"You didn't." he said softly.

She paused in her scrubbing and frowned, looking over her shoulder at
him. "Huh? Didn't what?"

He sighed and moved to the other side of the pool. "It's not really my
business." He said. "But I like you Aviday. You have a strong future
here. Just know that I'm here and will help you in any way I can."

Aviday half-turned, looking over at L'cor; he looked almost
disappointed and she didn't exactly understand why. Then she
remembered, he'd been at her Flight, but hadn't won. He also knew
about L'fic and the rejection. Her cheeks flushed and she looked down,
then away. "I know. And you're really nice, L'cor. You and Tonuth.
But...I can't really be helped right now." She dunked her head quickly
and came back up, but didn't quite feel clean. "I mean...I get it, I'm
like everyone's little sister." She paused and finally looked over at
him and hesitated. "Is it that obvious?"

He shook his head. "You don't look at all like my little sisters," he
said. "I don't know who sold you a bill of goods about that other than
L'fic but he's a," L'cor held up his hand and stopped talking. "Look,
all I'm saying is you're a good person and you deserve to be treated
well in any situation. I'm not at all feeling like your brother right
now as much as I might like to send L'fic back out on another month of
sweep rides."

Her eyes widened. "You did that? Is that why he was so mad and glared
at me for a week? It's not his fault that I'm not pretty like the
women he likes. It hurt my feelings, sure, and he was kind of mean
about it but..." If he'd been nicer, though, maybe she wouldn't have
been so nervous about approaching someone else. Her voice trailed off
and she crossed her arms over her chest under the water and bit her
lip, looking up at him. "Does...does everyone know what happened with
my flight, then?" Had she been an idiot thinking she could keep it a
secret?

"But it _is_ his fault for acting like a wherry's ass to a Weyrling
when she just asked for help. He deserved what he got." Privately
L'cor doubted L'fic would refuse another weyrling in the future or
he'd be in for endless starstone duties and he knew it. But at her
next question L'cor shook his head. "No, they don't," he said. "I
wouldn't have if you hadn't suddenly turned all shy at the prospect.
I already knew about L'fic and that you hadn't up to that point. I
just put two and two together and then you confirmed it." He tilted
his head and held out a hand. "I'm not trying to push you into
anything here. But a bad experience can make your lifemate very
unhappy. Was it bad? Were you hurt?"

She felt a surge of relief; not everyone knew. That would have been
utterly humiliating. She looked up guiltily and shifted from foot to
foot in the water. Kobeth _was_ unhappy and confused and Aviday didn't
know how to make it better for her. She didn't take L'cor's hand, but
didn't shy away from it either. Her voice was soft. "It hurt. It was
bad. But I made sure Kobeth didn't feel it." She'd never done anything
that difficult before. "I didn't want her to panic. I knew she might
panic. But...but I was me the whole time; I wasn't with her during the
flight after it started hurting. I didn't want it to hurt her too. So
I just...kinda laid there until he finished. It wasn't his fault
though." She was quick to defend R'fal before any blame could be
placed on him. "He didn't know."

L'cor heard voices then coming toward the bathing room and looked over
his shoulder quickly. "Look, you need to talk to some you trust about
this. But if you decide you'd like to try, I'll be your friend and
help you find that it doesn't have to hurt. It can feel wonderful when
your lifemate rises. But please don't leave it like this for next
time. You just come to me and we'll talk more." He felt awful for her
predicament and while he normally fended off propositions from females
who mostly were interested in his connections or rank, this much he
could do for her. He laid his head back on the edge of the pool again
like he'd just been relaxing, while the newcomers entered the room.

The offer shocked her silent and she just stared at L'cor as three
other people entered the bathing chambers. He'd help her? What exactly
was he offering? She flicked her gaze at the other people, then back
at him, then quickly rinsed. She thought she knew exactly what he was
offering. **As a friend** she thought. **Not a big brother. He said he
doesn't see me that way. He sees me as a friend.** But she wasn't
ready. She couldn't be ready yet. Maybe later...she'd talk to him.
Just talk. Later.

Aviday slipped out of the bathing pool and wrapped her towel around
herself, still deep in thought. With a final look at L'cor, she left
the bathing chambers. She'd talked to her friends, but she needed
someone else. Someone older and not a Weyrlingmaster.

Last updated on the November 11th 2020

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An Offer of Aid