Next Time

Writers: Devin, Bree
Date Posted: 2nd September 2006
Series: Saving Each Other

Characters: N'vanik, Talryne
Description: N'vanik finally convinces Talryne to go outside for a little while.
Location: Dragonsfall Weyr
Date: month 13, day 21 of Turn 3

N'vanik

Talryne

Entering the weyr with a tray full of late breakfast, N'vanik set it down on
the table. "How would you like to go for a little trip?" he asked Talryne.

Talryne set down the book she'd been trying to read, looking more than a
little wary. "You want me to go somewhere?" The thought made her feel more
panic than she was comfortable admitting to.

"Yep. You've been inside too long. You need some fresh air." **And so do
I.** N'vanik picked a sweetroll off the tray and started eating.

She spent enough time being afraid that N'vanik was going to grow sick of
her that his casual words made her tense. "If you need time alone, I can go
somewhere else..." Somewhere where she wouldn't have to see any other
people, hopefully.

"Nope, you're coming with." He'd already made up his mind and he wasn't
going to change it now.

"Oh." The answer relieved one tension while causing an entirely new one.
"Where do you want to go?"

"That's a surprise," he said with a small smile. Then his face turned more
serious. "It does involve riding Loseth, though. And going /between/."
N'vanik was starting to wonder if this was a good idea.

"Oh," she said again, her eyes looking more than a little wild. Her eyes
slid to Loseth as she tried to weigh her fears against each other. Her fear
of upsetting N'vanik seemed small compared to the terror of /between/, but
there was another fear underneath it. The fear that she was too fragile or
broken to ever leave N'vanik's weyr again.

Her eyes went back to N'vanik, and she didn't bother to try to hide how
uncertain she felt. "I'd like to... I would. I'll try. I just don't know if
I can."

N'vanik reached over and took her hand. "If you're brave enough to try, you
can do it." He wondered if he was doing this for purely selfish reasons.
**No. If it was just selfishness, I would have gone by myself.**

"When do you want to go?" Talryne asked, her voice steady even though her
hand was clutching his.

"After we eat. But I can wait if you need more time." He kept his eyes on
her.

Talryne released his hand and leaned forward to pick up a piece of fruit
from the tray. "No, I think waiting is a bad idea." It would just give her
more time to panic.

"Alright." N'vanik picked up his sweetroll again and took another bite. He
kept telling himself that he wasn't being selfish.

When they'd finished their meal, N'vanik brought Talryne her riding jacket.
"You can do this," he encouraged.

It was her spare riding jacket, the one she hadn't used most of the time
because it was just a little too big to be comfortable. The tug of recently
healed scars as she pulled it on was an unpleasant reminder of what had
happened to her favorite jacket.

The flight jacket was easy, though, compared to the panic that griped her
when she turned to face Loseth. To cover her momentary hesitation, she tried
a feeble sounding comment. "I don't think I've ever ridden on a bronze
before."

}:Tell her I will get her there safe,:{ Loseth told his rider, his eyes
tinged with worry.

N'vanik put a hand on her shoulder. "Loseth promises you'll be safe."

"I know." She didn't know any such thing, but she let N'vanik help her up
anyway and spent a few moments emptying her mind of everything. Thoughts,
fears, emotions... while she waited for N'vanik to fasten the riding straps,
she concentrated on nothing but breathing in and out.

N'vanik gave her a concerned look before hopping up on Loseth's neck. He
strapped himself in, his hands doing the work almost automatically after so
many turns of practice, while he wondered what he would do if she panicked.
"Ready?"

"Just do it," she whispered, resisting the temptation to open her eyes.
She'd had far fewer turns to get used to the sensation of being in flight,
but it didn't seem to matter anymore. Every moment she'd spent on Ysanth was
burned into her mind like a painful memory. But it was better than not being
able to remember at all.

Loseth launched himself, taking them into the sky with powerful wingbeats.
Circling up, he gained altitude. N'vanik called up a familiar image and gave
Talryne's hand a tight squeeze. It was better to get this over with quickly.
**Take us there,** he told his dragon, and in the next instant they were
/between/.

Talryne was breathing far too quickly when they emerged, her hands clenched
painfully as she fought down a strangled sob. The cold of /between/ still
ached in her bones, the same cold that had plagued her after Ysanth had
first disappeared /between/. Even in the warm sun, she felt like she'd never
be warm again.

N'vanik squeezed her hand again, trying to show her that he was there for
her. Loseth landed quickly, forgoing the lazy spiral that gave a good view of the
area. "Here we are, safe and sound." N'vanik tried to sound upbeat, but
there was uncertainty in his voice. He hoped the trip hadn't been too rough
on Talryne. He wanted her to enjoy the place he'd taken her to. It was one
of his favorite spots on Pern, surrounded by thick jungle and steep cliffs.
To their right was a small waterfall with a pool deep enough to dive into,
flowing out into a clear stream. The surrounding area was often hot and
humid, but near the water it was pleasant and fresh. There were even a few
redfruit trees nearby. N'vanik had never seen anyone else there, and it felt like his personal
property.

She started fumbling with the riding straps, wanting to be on the ground
where she could try to regain the balance she'd struggled so hard for. It
was only the hint of hesitation in N'vanik's tone that kept her from
dissolving into panic and tears.

It was a little easier to breathe once she was off of Loseth and had taken a
few steps away. The part of her desperate to make him happy made her turn
and give him a shy smile. "It's really nice."

"Glad you like it," he said with a small smile of his own. "I wanted to take
you somewhere special."

"Thank you." It was warm, but not warm enough to make up from how chilled
she'd felt /between/, so she kept her jacket on and reached out a hand to
him. "I think I'm okay."

N'vanik took her hand and led her closer to the water. "You know how to skip
rocks?" he asked, bending to pick one up.

"My father taught me," Talryne replied making no move to pick up a rock of
her own. "Or he tried to. I was never any good at it."

N'vanik bent to the side to toss his rock and watched it skip twice. "I
could help you improve your technique. Or we could toss big rocks in and
just watch 'em splash. I liked doing that when I was young." He was a little
surprised at the admission.

"I like watching the ripples," she replied, picking up a stone and tossing
it into the water. "I like watching waves more. The big ones that you can
only see in the ocean."

N'vanik picked up a large rock and threw it as far as he could into the
water. The splash it made was satisfying. "Next time I'll take you to the ocean."

"That'd be nice." The thought of a next time made her smile again. Even if
he was getting tired of her, he didn't seem ready to throw her out of his
life. She didn't even care anymore that it was probably guilt that prompted
him to put up with her. All she really cared about was knowing that she
wouldn't have to be alone. At least... not yet.

Last updated on the September 2nd 2006

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