They've Buried the Hatchet

Writers: Dana, Eimi
Date Posted: 15th September 2005

Characters: Gaiya, Ar'lis
Description: Like the thoughtful sweetheart she is, Gaiya baked Ar'lis a pie from the leftover fruits they gathered on their day trip, and she recieves a little something for her trouble...
Location: River Bluff Weyr
Date: month 8, day 1 of Turn 3

Ar'lis had just pulled on a fresh pair of trousers when suddenly he heard a soft knock on his door. He wasn't expecting anyone... Throwing his arms quickly through the sleeves of his tunic, he left the buttons undone as he walked across the room to answer it.

"Why, Gaiya." His expression was pleasantly surprised as he looked down at the young woman standing on his threshold. "What brings you here at such a candlemark, hmm?" He opened the door wider. "Come in."

"Well, I have a present for you. A thank you for the trip yesterday," she said as she slipped into his weyr, delious smells following the cloth covered bundle in her hands.

He led her over to the sofa and sat, gesturing for her to sit beside him. He eyed the bundle. Shards, it smelled good! "A present?"

"Uh huh. Can you guess what it is?" she asked as she held it teasingly out of his reach.

"Some kind of food?" He reached for it. "C'mon, Gaiya..."

"You can be so impatient," she laughed as she extended her arm as far as she could. "Not even a little guess? What does it smell like? And if you say food I will throw it in your face."

His eyes glinted at her, but he decided that even though it _would_ be pretty sharding funny, he just didn't want food in his face. It would be such a waste! "It smells like fruit." He grinned at her. "Am I right?"

"You are! You're smarter than you look," she said with a teasing grin as she brought the plate closer. "Our fruit, to be exact."

"Smarter than I _look_?" Then he grinned. "Our fruit, huh?"

"Yup. The fruit I picked and you carried back in your pants," she said with a wicked gleam in her eye. "I figured that since you braved the cool winds on the way back, you deserved a warm pie for your sacrifice. I trust you are not worse for wear."

He snorted, smiling mischievously. "Not really." Then his smile turned genuine. "Thank you for thinking of me and my sacrifice, sweetheart. I'll have to share a piece with you."

"As always, a true gentleman," she said as she brought the plate to his waiting hands. "I hope you have something to cut it with."

He stood. "I do. Let me grab a knife..." He disappeared into the other room and then reappeared only moments later with a slice of the delicious-looking pie and two forks. "Here we are." He eased back down onto the couch, a little closer to her than before.

Gaiya had to laugh when she looked down at the single piece he held. "Well, you really meant share _a_ piece, didn't you!"

"I want to savor the pie as long as I can," he told her solemnly, but when she looked at him, he winked. "It's not every day a woman brings me freshly-baked goods!"

"I should think not. There's no way you could eat baked goods every day and maintain such a nice figure." Gaiya knew _she_ sure couldn't at least.

He slanted her a sly look. "You think my figure is nice, do you?"

"Yes... well, it is," she said as she caught his glance.

He grinned, took a bite of pie, and leaned back against the cushions of the couch. "It does my bronzerider ego good to hear you say that," he chuckled once he was done swallowing. "This is _good_, Gaiya."

"If its so good then why are you laughing?" Gaiya asked suspiciously as she dug her fork in for a bite.

"Was I laughing?"

"Chuckling at least," she said as she brought the fork to her mouth. **I don't know what he's laughing at. This is pretty sharding good...**

"I wasn't chuckling at your delicious baking, sweetheart." He took another bite.

"Then just what is so funny, bronzerider?" she asked sweetly.

"Nothing's _funny_. You just paid my inflated, bronzerider ego a compliment that it certainly wasn't expecting," he winked, taking another, bigger, bite.

"Oh, well, I suppose you're welcome," she said as her lips started curving into a smile. "You thought I could never compliment you?"

"Oh, you've complimented me before." His smile was slow as he looked at her. "But not with words."

Gaiya frowned slightly. She knew she was missing something. Something that obviously she should be getting. Finally she just had to ask the obvious question. "Then how did I compliment you?"

One brow rose just slightly. Did she honestly not know? "Well," he began slowly, "you compliment me when you get a little red right here," he told her, lightly brushing the round curve of her cheek with a finger.

That exact spot obediently turned a bright shade of pink under his fingertips. "Oh, do I?" She couldn't think of a response that could possibly make her sound more like a sharding fool!

"Mm-hmm." He found it to be quite charming, actually. He smiled at her, his finger idly trailing down her cheek.

"I think I just blush easy maybe." Part of her wanted to ignore his finger, another part couldn't ignore it. Her heart was beating a bit faster, and she liked the feeling.

Ar'lis shrugged a shoulder. "Maybe. But I think I would know when I'm getting complimented, Gaiya," he smiled.

"Well, everyone likes to be complimented." Gaiya couldn't believe she was fishing for compliments from _Ar'lis_! But he was still every bit the handsome and dashing bronzerider she had been lusting after since she was old enough to know better.

His eyes flickered knowingly at her. "True." Since she didn't seem to mind it, he continued to let his two fingers stroke her skin. Shards, it was soft! Once they reached the curve of her jawline, he moved them up into her red hair. "You have beautiful hair, you know."

"I'm told its my best feature," she barely more than whispered. Gaiya liked the feel of his fingures in her hair, and it made her want to run her fingers through his.

His fingers trailed over the curve of her ear, down into hair and then slipped to the back of her neck, gently massaging. "Mmm. But I like yor eyes too." **Tread carefully, Ar'lis... Carefully...**

The way Ar'lis moved his fingers, the way he looked into her eyes, the way he smiled at her - Gaiya wondered what was taking him so long as she leaned forward and pressed her lips to his.

Now Ar'lis certainly hadn't been expecting this, but who was he to complain? Smiling against her lips, he shifted closer, his hand coming up to cradle the back of her head as he deepened the kiss just slightly. Apparently the hatchet was buried between them now. Without breaking contact with her, he slowly lowered the pie onto the small table in front of them and wrapped his other arm around her, bringing her a little closer to him.

Gaiya wasn't concerned about hatchets, or pies, or anything else, except for the fact that _Ar'lis_, the man she had been dreaming of for turns, was kissing _her_! All the time spent daydreaming of this moment couldn't compare to the real thing!

He trailed his hands down her back to her waist, lifting her a little so she was partway in his lap. But he didn't make any further move than that. He would let her lead - and he was quite curious how far she wanted to take this. His lips parted from hers briefly to nibble down the side of her neck.

Gaiya suddenly began to feel shy as she realized that it wasn't just the fantasy Ar'lis that was making her feel these feelings, it was the _real_
Ar'lis. She cleared her throat, a little unsure of just what it was that she was doing. "Ah, so... you liked the pie?"

He gave a throaty chuckle and lifted his head to look at her. "Mmm-hmm.
Very much." He lightly smoothed her hair away from her temple. "Please say you'll make me another one like it once the first one's all gone?"

"Well, I think I know where I can find more fruit at least," she said, laughing lightly. Gaiya secretly wondered what would happen between them if next time she brought a whole _cake_...

Last updated on the September 15th 2005

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They've Buried the Hatchet