All That's Sensible

Writers: Jane, Kaysea
Date Posted: 15th April 2007

Characters: Swift, Kateena
Description: Swift and Kateena's friendship moves forward.
Location: Dolphin Hall
Date: month 3, day 17 of Turn 4

The evening was still wild from the storm of the day before, the sea was rough and the waves were rolling into the normally sheltered bay. Swift grinned. Wild weather. It had so much more character than balmy evenings and warm, still days.

He chuckled aloud. The fact that he was meeting Kateena probably encouraged his approval of the weather. Of everything. Even the teasing of the kitchen staff wasn't enough to dampen his pleasure at the meeting - or at the way their friendship was progressing.

It wasn't often Kateena felt nervous, but tonight she was a combination of nerves and anticipation, and had been surprised to find that every now and then she started humming, happily; something she hadn't done since she was a child. Swift had done this to her, made her feel all light and bubbly inside.

She looked around her quarters, a little part of her began to wish it was a more permanent arrangement that she was here at the Hall, but it couldn't be. In just over a month she would be taking that long trip north again, she and Civi were due back, and unless something happened in them meantime, she would be gone, probably forever.

A little shiver ran through her, not of anticipation; this time it was something else. The weather had become worse again, similar to the storm they'd had the day before, but different. More threatening? Civi had mentioned something to her today, about bad weather, but, she had just assumed another storm like the last. Another shiver went through her as the window rattled in its frame.

She moved to the window, where was Swift?

Swift angled his way up from the beach, heading toward the door into the dolphineer quarters. It might have been faster cutting through the Hall itself but he needed the air and the wind. He loved the weather and couldn't get enough of being out in it, which made his choice of work seem odd to some.

When he found the right room he knocked on the door, then stuck his hands in his pockets and tried to look casual. It had better be the right room, with him visiting as late at night as he was.

The knock on the door startled her, but also set flutterbies loose in her stomach. He was here! She patted her gown down, tonight she had dressed to impress - and hope she had done the right thing. She walked to the door and opened it, the wind buffeting against the heavy metal pushed her back into the room. "Swift! Come in!" Her eyes took his appearance in at a glance, and once again she felt a stirring low down, in the pit of her stomach.

"Oh ... Kateena, you look lovely, " He glanced down at his own shirt and trousers; clean since he got off work but just everyday wear. "I should have found a tunic. Something -"

"No...no." She smiled in welcome, and appreciation of his concern. "You never see me in anything but my .. swimming tunic, for once I wanted you to see that I can be seen in other - attire." She flushed a light pink, embarrassed, worried that she had overdone it.

Swift laughed. "But you look _lovely_ in swimming gear, too!"

Her complexioned brightened considerably, and she lifted her hands to cover her cheeks. "Thank you." she laughed softly. "But, tonight, I wanted to look nice - for you.." she finished quietly.

Swift thought better of assuring her that she always looked nice, and instead nodded. "I appreciate it." He glanced around her room, peering out of the window. "Do you want to go for a walk? It's a bit windy."

"No, do you mind if we stay in? Civi said I should try and stay safe tonight and tomorrow. He was concerned about the storm yesterday, kept telling me 'big storm' with a lot of splashing and shrill whistles.
It's unusual for him to overreact." Her face creased in a frown, the more she thought about his antics, the more concerned she became.

"Talk is they're all concerned." He hesitated, and then added honestly:
"I'm as concerned, probably. After losing the Hall and the Hold at Topaz ..." He shrugged. "I'm old enough to have been through plenty of storms, but nothing like that." It wasn't so much the force of the storm, but the destruction and the changes that came in its wake.

While he liked the new Hall - and was thrilled by their proximity to the Weyr - it had been a shock to lose everything and have to relocate so far away. As well as material losses he had lost friends through death, through changes in their personalities - or his, and through the dispersal of Hold and Hall personnel in different directions.

"Let's hope this one isn't that bad," he said, trying to concentrate on more positive possibilities.

"We need a change of subject," Kateena smiled up at him, "Come and sit down and tell me all about..." she stopped, for a moment lost for words, "..what did you call him?" she asked, and then looked more closely at Swift, "and, where is he?" She reached out a hand, and pulled Swift across to the couch. "You didn't bring him with you?"

"He's asleep. I fed him ... A _lot._ Then he sleeps and sleeps so I left him in my room. And I don't have a name for him, yet. Do you think I could just call him Blue?"

Kateena smiled, "He's yours, so unless he wants to give himself a name, which I doubt; then you should call him whatever _you_ want to, or rather, what you think _he_ will answer to." She had never had to worry about that, Civi had been named before they were paired. The dolphins named their own, and presented their children to the dolphineers as such. "Blue is as good a name as any. Unless you want to be a little odd, and called him Red?"

"Red? Red, the blue? That would work." They had settled on the couch in the main part of the room and Swift stretched his legs out in front of him, studying his light boots for a moment. "Kateena - We were going talk sensibly. I had plans to, at least." He dragged his gaze away from his not-very-interesting boots and looked at her, knowing he was smiling. "It's nice to have a friend in a new place - and you've got that in me. But ..."

"... Is that all we are?" she asked quietly, before she had time to think or bite her tongue.

"That's probably all that's sensible," he pointed out.

"I don't want sensible." her voice was still quiet, unsure. She felt an attraction here, one she had never experienced before, but the fact she wouldn't be here for very long was an obstacle - was it too big an obstacle for Swift to overlook? She raised her hand to his face, her fingers tracing the line of his jaw, "I don't want _sensible_," she repeated, "I want you," her voice dropped to a whisper.

He caught her hand for a moment, then released it to cup her cheek, his thumb moving over her skin in a caress. "I'm a lot older than you," he said gently, not seriously trying to change her mind. "And not a dolphineer."

"What does age matter?" she asked, her eyes meeting his. She licked her lips nervously, his eyes drifting down to his mouth and back again, "I don't care how old you are, or how old I am; I _like_ you Swift, I like you _a lot_. And I certainly don't care that you're not a dolphineer."

At that moment Swift didn't care, either, not about that or anything.
He kissed her, not as much tentatively as gently, appreciating the moment.

Last updated on the April 17th 2007

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All That's Sensible