Very Important Help

Writers: Devin, Eimi
Date Posted: 7th July 2006

Characters: Gilsha, N'vanik
Description: Gilsha needs N'vanik...
Location: Dragonsfall Weyr
Date: month 12, day 27 of Turn 3

N'vanik

}:Make me shiny,:{ Palialohath crooned, her eyes whirling in happy anticipation.

**I'm working on it,** Gilsha smiled as she kept rubbing the oiled rag into the green's neck. **Stop moving around, I almost dropped the rag.**

}:Oooo! There's Kalamath! I want to show him my pretty shiny spots!:{ the green cried in excitement, nearly treading on her rider as she turned.

"Hey now!" Gilsha cried in surprise when the great neck turned right into her. She landed straight back in the sand. The greens rider shook her head as she looked at the sand now covering her oily hands and the rag.

}:I'm sorry, Gilsha. I didn't hurt you, did I?:{ Pali's eyes swirled with concern.

**No,** Gilsha grumbled as she got back up to her feet. **But I'm gonna have to wash myself off before I can finish you.**

}:I didn't think. I'm truly sorry.:{
**It's all right love. I know you wanted to show off for the big handsome bronze. But next time, wait until your oiling is _finished_, all right?**

}:Yes. I'll remember. I promise.:{ Somehow, Gilsha doubted that. But she walked over to kiss the dragon's head fondly. She loved that big green anyway. Walking over to the water, she washed the grit from her hands. Luckily she had brought an extra rag with her just in case. She walked back over to her bucket and pulled out the rag and jar of oil. Gripping the rim tightly she began to unscrew it. It only slipped in her oily, wet hands.

"Shards," she muttered as she tried it again, this time with the rag for extra grip. Same result. **Sorry Pali, you're just going to have to wait until I can find someone to help me with this jar.**

}:It's ok. Loseth's over there. I called his rider for help. I told him it was very important.:{
**You... Pali!**

}:See, his rider comes!:{ the green replied triumphantly, pleased that she could cover her mistake by helping her rider.

"So what is this 'very important' help you need?" N'vanik asked as he approached the greenrider. Gilsha gave him an apologetic smile. "Oh, hello, N'vanik. I'm sorry Pali called you. It's... The oil jar..."

"What about the oil jar?" He looked at it, confused.

"Well," she said with a rather embarrassed chuckle, "my hands are wet and oily and I can't seem to get it open."

N'vanik burst out laughing. "You can't get the jar open?" he said between chuckles. "So you had your dragon call over a big strong man to do it for you?"

"No," she corrected, "I couldn't get the jar open and without my prompting Pali called the first available man over to do it for me. I doubt you look all that big and strong to a dragon."

His laughter subsided but a smile remained. "Okay, okay. Hand it over."
He reached for the jar.

She willingly relinquished it. "Do you need the rag? I might have gotten oil from my hands on the lid."

"I can get it." He waved her off. Gripping the lid, he twisted. The lid was wet and oily and his hand slipped.

"Are you _sure_ you don't want to the rag?" she asked, dangling it from a finger.

Scowling, he snatched the rag from her. He wiped the lid quickly and left the rag on to help his second attempt to twist it off. It took some force, but his hand didn't slip and he felt the lid loosen. He twisted it off the rest of the way and handed the jar back to Gilsha. "There."

"Thank you, you're a life saver," she smiled as she took the rag and the jar back. His eyebrow went up. "Well, it's nice to know you can be gracious."

An eyebrow went up to match. "Well, I'm not _rude_ if that's what you're suggesting."

"Oh, no. Not _rude_, but you can be annoying." A smile touched his lips.

"Everyone can be annoying," she shrugged.

"What, no argument? What do I have to do to get a rise out of you?"

"A lot more than you have been doing," the greenrider chuckled. "I'm sorry, does that annoy you?"

"A lot less than you might think," N'vanik smiled. "Good," she nodded. "Because I was afraid you might get annoyed far too easily for your own health."

"Sometimes I do," he admitted. "And sometimes I have enough sense to let it go and try to have a good time."

"Really?" she asked, with a look of shock on her face. "When does _that_ happen? When Thread falls upwards?"

N'vanik rolled his eyes. "Terribly shocking, I know."

"Well, I have yet to see it. What does it look like when you just...
have a good time?"

"I don't know. I smile more, I guess."

"That is the usual indicator of having a good time," Gilsha nodded. "And how often does this happen on average?"

"I don't keep a running tally in my head. There are good days, and there are bad days." He shrugged.

"Which do you think are most prevalent?"

N'vanik sighed. "The bad ones. But you probably already guessed that."
Shards, was she going to start trying to fix him again?

"Yeah, I guess it's kind of obvious, huh?" She cocked her head and regarded her a moment. "Why do you like being annoyed so much?"

"What are you talking about? I don't _like_ being annoyed."

"Oh, well, see, there you go. No smile. I can tell you're getting annoyed again. And we were having such an interesting conversation."

He sighed again, louder this time. "Let's not talk about my problems, okay? Then maybe we can get back to having an interesting conversation."

"Tell me, what else is there to talk about? You are a tangled web of shadows and secrets. There doesn't seem to be a whole lot of information you divulge about yourself _besides_ your problems, N'vanik."

"I told you lots of stuff last time," he protested.

"I know you like action novels, you tried a hand at Woodsmithing and you don't like rules," Gilsha shrugged. "Surely there has to be more to you than _that_."

"There is, but even that little bit is more than most people know about me." He thought for a moment, then shrugged. "Alright. Ask me a question, something you want to know about me. Who knows, I might even answer it," N'vanik teased.

Gilsha pondered the offer a moment. "Do you have brothers and sisters?"

That was a sore spot, but almost _everything_ was a sore spot. "No."

"Parents? Aunts? Uncles? Cousins?"

An even more sore spot. "I've got a father. I think."

"And you chose not to see him," she stated, more than asked. It was easy to read between the lines. "And you would rather I not asked why."

He nodded. "Smart girl." Then, taking a breath, he asked, "What about you? Any family?"

"Brothers. And two parents. The rest aren't worth mentioning. I'm not so sure the brothers or the parents are either." Seemed neither one of them were so interested in the trappings of families. "So we have another similarity." Despite her tendency to be annoying, N'vanik found her more and more interesting.

Her eyes clouded over momentarily. }:I'm only shiny on one side! Didn't Loseth's open it already? Kalamath will leave before you're finished!:{ Gilsha sighed and gave N'vanik an apologetic smile. "Pali's getting impatient."

"Ahh, yes. She's still waiting on her oiling," N'vanik smiled at the green. "Next time you need 'very important help', let me know."

Last updated on the July 9th 2006

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