A scattering of hides

Writers: Anna, Shame
Date Posted: 11th May 2006

Characters: Kachine, X'amor
Description: Kachine bumps into X'amor, and to the surprise of both, there is an instant attraction.
Location: Dolphin Cove Weyr
Date: month 11, day 15 of Turn 3

Afternoon lessons had ended for the day and Kachine found herself racing through the corridor towards the dining cavern. Her fingers were curled around a handful of hides, eyes glued to the words that they had just covered and murmuring to herself, "Lavender can be recognized by several of its characteristics.
Its leaves are small and greyish and produce a specific, if pretty, scent. The blossoms are-!"

And that was the exact instant when the young apprentice found herself colliding with someone else.
The force of the impact was enough to send the hides flying from her fingertips and onto the stone floor, and Kachine reeled backwards. X'amor hadn't seen the girl but he deffinatly had felt her as they hit eachother. He had been running a song through his head, thinking about good harmonies to possibly put in when BAM they had collided. He saw hides falling on top of him as he laid on the ground his breath struggling to return to his lungs. Finally when he could breath and his eyes had focused, he sat up and looked around him at the mess. He saw a body sprawled among the hides and unable to stop himself he smiled. "Are you okay?" He stepped on hides to get to her and reached down to help the young woman right herself. Kachine was simply horrified, a blush of embarrassment staining her ivory cheeks. "Oh, please forgive me,"
she said, emerald eyes wide with worry. She reached up to take the offered hand, rising to her feet and brushing imaginary dust from her skirts.
**Stupid, stupid girl,** she told herself quietly, looking around at the pile of hides scattered about.
But it was silly to worry about mere notes when she had bowled over someone else, a young man who looked about her age. Her eyebrows were high and her eyes were wide, looking over at her poor unfortunate victim. "Are you alright?" She looked both nervous and concerned, her fingers trying to weave themselves into the hem of her blouse. X'amor was shocked by the eyes that looked back at him, he had never seen such a beautiful shade of emerald. All he could do in reply to her question was nod, entranced by her beautiful eyes. He remebered people telling him that his eyes were amazing, he didn't think so. They were nothing like the soft green in Tavia's eyes or the luminesent ones before him. Finally able to say something he asked, "May, may I know your name?" He spoke shakely, though he didn't know why. This had never happened before. He had always been shy but not to the extent he was feeling then.

Kachine's concern only increased when the young man said nothing, only staring at her with a shocked expression on his face. Why was he staring at her so?
Was there a piece of food in her teeth or a smudge of ink on her cheek? Self-consciously, the girl brushed a strand of hair away from her face. Or, the thought struck her, perhaps he was merely upset at the run-in?

Embarrassed, the lass dropped her gaze from the man's face, excusing this by crouching down to begin gathering up the hides that had strewn so wildly across the floor. It would be impossible to put them into any sort of order again, not right here... Ah, the young man spoke then, requesting her name. "My name is Kachine," she said, daring to glance up quickly. "Apprentice healer." This last part was said with pride. It had only been a short time since she had begun her official training, and she had not yet tired of announcing her new rank. But she remembered her manners. "And may I ask for yours?"

"X'amor, rider of blue Calodith, senior apprentice harper." It was a reflexive response to the question.
In his head though the harmony he had been trying to figure out for his tune came to him in full intensity, just looking at Kachine brought forth the sound he had been wanting. He realized what she was doing and bent to help her pick up the scattered hides. As he did so he kept glancing over at Kachine. He wasn't used to seeing women with such fair skin, most women at the weyr were tan from laying on the beach or working outside, but not Kachine she was like a pure statue of white stone, with emeralds for eyes, and gold thread for hair. "You're beautiful." He hadn't been able to stop himself as he handed her the hides he had picked up, looking into her eyes, it just came out. And once he said it he knew it would be worse to try and take it back so he held her gaze hoping she wouldn't turn away from him. He had never felt like this before, had never been so forward with any woman before, but it seemed some how different with Kachine. Kachine felt a flush once again stain her cheeks. The first time had been from embarrassment for running into the man, the second was from confusion. The girl had grown up in a small cothold, surrounded only by brothers and cousins and uncles as male companions.
She had been betrothed for a short period of time, but the man, while nice enough, had never tried to flirt with her, had never given her compliments such as that.

She was beautiful? The girl cast a glance into X'amor's eyes, shocked at the intensity that she saw in those amber optics. Shadowed and light at all once, they were meeting hers with a frankness that startled her. Confused, she dropped her gaze towards the hides.
Kachine had no idea on how to respond, and so she had no other choice but to stammer out a soft, "Thank -
thank you."

Seeing her look into his eyes, turn away and then say something made him realize how uncomfortable he must have just made her. "I'm sorry, Kachine, I didn't mean to be so... forward, but well I, couldn't stop."

Kachine looked upwards in time to see the expression that crossed his face. Now, the bluerider looked uncomfortable. She bit her lip. Some girls knew how to flirt automatically, some girls knew how to bat their eyelashes and curve their lips into a bold and inviting smile. The healer knew none of these skills.

In an attempt to ease the apolegetic gaze of X'amor, the girl tried to reassure him. Her voice was barely more than a murmur, "Don't be sorry. I mean... No one has ever said such things to me before." She was trying to explain that she merely didn't know how to respond to sincere compliments from handsome men, but Kachine knew that she was failing.

Taking a breath, the apprentice healer rose to her feet with the hides firmly in her hands. It was time for a subject change, but Kachine could not think of a topic. Social nicities were not her strong points. So she floundered, finally coming up with, "You're a bluerider, you said? How long have you been a dragonrider?" A weak conversation topic, but it was better than nothing.

He was surprised by the fact that he was the first person to say something like that to her. But he understood when she made the subject change so he went along with it hoping to prove to her that he wasn't some strange rider who went after every beautiful woman he ran into, because that was exactly what he wasn't. "Three turns I've been Calodith's rider, I've loved every minute of it." He searched around him for any more loose hides, "I haven't seen you around lately, are you new?" He handed her the last few hides from the ground smiling. He didn't know what it was about her but she made him feel more social, like he _wanted_ to talk to her instead of being his usual, withdrawn self. Kachine accepted the last few hides with a shy smile of gratitude, adding them to the stack. "Aye, I'm new here at the Weyr," she said, glad for this new topic of conversation. This was something that she could talk about easily. "My family lives in a cothold beholden to Emerald Falls Hold, but I am here to persue the craft of healing. I haven't been here for very long. And the longer I am here, the more I realize how different everything is! I mean, I never even imagined some of the things that I have seen here!" Now there was a note of pure wonder in her voice.

X'amor had never thought he would see anything like her here, but decided not to voice that, it might come out in the wrong way. "Yes things are definately different here than in a hold." He realized that they were standing in the middle of the hallway and saw that a few people had to navigate their way around them. "Where were you headed? I'd be glad to walk you there, it's the least I can do for running into you and throwing your hides into disarray." Kachine pondered over the fact that his offer sent a little thrill through her body, quite an unusual sensation. She was pleased that he had offered to escort her to her destination. But now was not the time to examine her thoughts. "I am afraid that I was the one who barreled straight into you, bluerider," she said, that soft smile still on her lips. "But I accept your offer. I was just on the way to the dining caverns. I was going to review my notes a bit before they served the evening meal."
She trailed off a bit. But a quick breath gave her a dash of courage, enough to say quickly, "But I would not mind some company... if you have nothing else to do, of course."

X'amor's face brightened. He had just been on his way to talk with one of the harpers who taught some of the children of the Weyr. He could always talk to him later. "Sure I'd love to!" He offered his arm for her to take. The expression in X'amor's eyes warmed Kachine's heart, and she felt a flush of pleasure. The bluerider seemed pleased, and no one had ever been excited or pleased at the prospect of spending time with her! And the idea of a handsome dragonrider with beautiful eyes and a gentle smile wanting to spend time with _her_, was dizzying. The girl took the offered arm, meeting his eyes with a soft smile. She was searching for something to say.
She wanted to ask so many questions, she wanted to learn all about X'amor. The young healer had had little opportunity in the past to meet interesting people, and this young man certainly was someone that she wanted to know more of.

Last updated on the May 11th 2006

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A scattering of hides