Trust is the Issue

Writers: Dana, Eimi
Date Posted: 7th October 2005

Characters: Shayla, Gaiya
Description: Shayla and Gaiya swap love advice
Location: River Bluff Weyr
Date: month 8, day 9 of Turn 3

"So, this is _your_ weyr, huh?" The foster mother looked curiously around as she stepped through the door. "And just what kept you so busy you didn't invite me before? Could it have been... T'voal?"

The young greenrider blushed. "I've been meaning to invite you up here, Gaiya," Shayla told her as she closed the door. "Honest."

"Oh, I'm just teasing," Gaiya said reassuringly as she grabbed the girl's arm. "It's fine that you've been busy... doing whatever it is your doing.
I mean, I have kept busy myself."

"With the weyrbrats?" she asked with a grin, leading her friend over to the couch.

"Well, yes, with them..." Gaiya wasn't sure if how much she should tell Shayla about Ar'lis. She had been the one Gaiya ran to after the whole fiasco of walking in on him and that greenrider. What would she think now?

Once they both had seated themselves, Shayla glanced curiously at Gaiya.
"Are you telling me that there is a...significant other in your life right now?"

Gaiya blushed a bit. "Well, there is an 'other'. I haven't quite decided if he is significant or not."

The greenrider crossed one leg over the other and slanted her friend a sly look. "Well! Tell me all the juicy details!"

"Actually, it's kind of funny..." the foster mother began. She wasn't quite sure if Shayla would find it funny or not... "You remember what I told you before? About walking in on someone?"

"How could I forget? You were so sharding _mad_, Gaiya... I'd never seen you so angry."

The foster mother laughed sarcastically. That was surely how it _was_. "Yes, well... I have tried to put that behind me."

A brow rose. "So... What are you saying?"

"Just that it's all in the past now," Gaiya said as she shifted a bit uneasily in her seat.

Shayla stared at her. "Are you telling me that you're _seeing_ that sharding ass?"

"Everyone has their moments that they wish they could take back," Gaiya said defensively, but she was unwilling to look the girl in the eye. "He never tried _that_ again..."

"I can't believe it!" The younger girl stared at her, incredulous. "What made you change your mind about him, Gaiya?"

"Because since then he's been nothing but kind. And shards, Shayla, he's still so handsome and such a great kisser... I tried to stay mad, Shayla, I really did!"

"Well I wasn't expecting you to stay mad at him forever! But, shards Gaiya... He really _must_ be nice if you're letting him kiss you so soon!"

"So soon? That was a long time ago!" Wasn't it? It sure _felt_ like a long time ago...

"Not _too_ long. A couple months, maybe." But Shayla was grinning now.
"You really do have to tell me everything now, Gaiya."

The foster mother shrugged shyly. "What's to tell? He saved my feline from a tree, he took me fruit picking, he baked me cookies... and his lips are so soft."

Shayla knew what it was like to be so enamoured with soft lips... "I heard about the feline incident... But he baked you _cookies_? Ar'lis?"

"Yes!" Gaiya grinned from ear to ear. "I baked him a pie with all the fruit we picked and then _he_ baked _me_ cookies! Isn't that the sweetest thing you have ever heard?"

A bronzerider? Baking _cookies_? She'd never heard of such a thing! Shayla grinned back at her friend. "I hope he didn't burn them! Were they any good?"

"You know, I don't remember." She blushed a bit. "We spent more time kissing than actually _eating_..."

Shayla laughed. "He really _must_ be good if you, lover of sweets, _forgot_ how they tasted!"

Gaiya gave the girl a knowing smile. "There are some things in this world that are more sweet than treats, as I'm _sure_ you've learned by now."

Now it was Shayla's turn to blush. "I've learned a little bit..." She rather thought she was getting quite good at kissing...

"Only a little?" Gaiya asked with a questioning nudge.

The color in her cheeks deepened as she nodded. "But I'm thinking that...maybe soon...I'll be ready for..." she let her sentence trail off, embarrassed.

"Well, it's about sharding time! How old is your green now? You can't hold off forever, you know."

"I know! But shards, Gaiya... I can't help it..."

"Whats to help? Shayla, I promise, you'll _love_ it. Yeah, ok, it's embarrasing and flustering and a little scary the first time, but we all survive it. Just think of all the poor girls out there in Halls and Holds who have only one night to get used to it _all_ and with a person they don't even care about half the time. And they survive! At least you have T'voal to help you through it."

Shayla wondered if her face was as red as it felt. She cleared her throat. "I know... I know I'm lucky." She rubbed the side of her neck. "And I _want_ to... Shards," she laughed, flustered, "I know it's killing him. Sometimes I can see it in his eyes, no matter how well he thinks he's hiding it."

"Well, what's holding you back?" Gaiya hadn't exactly dallied around much once she decided she was of a proper age. Of course, she had been fooling around a bit before that as a warm up, but Shayla was turns older than she had been her first time.

She shrugged a shoulder. "Maybe it's similar to why you haven't slept with Ar'lis yet."

"No, trust me, that's different," the foster mother replied matter of factly. "He hasn't made a move on me. I was the one who had to kiss _him_ first. I think he's afraid I still don't trust him. And I suppose part of me is afraid I still don't trust him either. I very much doubt that is keeping you from T'voal."

Shayla gave her a curious look. "Do you want to, Gaiya?"

"Of course I do. Have you _seen_ Ar'lis? I've imagined running my hands over that man's body since I was fourteen turns old," she shook her head. "No, desire is not the issue. It's trust."

"But you're starting to? Trust him, I mean. I mean, you _are_ letting him kiss you...even after what he had done to you before..."

"I suppose so," Gaiya shrugged. She chuckled sarcastically. "See, it's not the physical part that's the most scary - it's when emotions and feelings get involved... I think you and T'voal don't have _that_
problem. I think you trust him."

She nodded. "I do."

"Then trust him, Shayla," her friend said, reaching for her hand. "You need to be _ready_ when the time comes. A green cannot wait for their rider."

The younger girl nodded, meeting her friend's eyes. "I know. And I will be."

Last updated on the October 7th 2005

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Trust is the Issue