The other man (1/2)

Writers: Eimi, Paula
Date Posted: 14th September 2010

Characters: Sabonus, Uetia
Description: Sabonus and Uetia have to deal with her green's mating Flight
Location: River Bluff Weyr
Date: month 10, day 3 of Turn 5
Notes: Part 1 of 2
Mentioned: K'mai

Sabonus had some warning. It was pretty obvious Sirjath's hide was
turning a different shade of green, and Uetia had confirmed his
suspicions. It was time for the green to let nature take it's course
and rise to mate. There was nothing to be done about it, but the
carpenter wasn't sure exactly how he felt about it all. He hadn't asked
if Uetia had been exclusive since they started seeing each other.
Judging by the amount of time they had spent together, he had assumed
that she had been. Of course, he could be wrong, and if he were, he
didn't want to know.

But today she was sleeping with another man. And he _did_ know. It
wasn't by choice, of course, so there was no cause to feel jealous or
possessive of her. Not that he knew of, anyway. He didn't know any
more than she did who the winner would be. Would it be someone that had
caught her before? Would it be someone new? Would it be someone that
Uetia knew? Would it be someone she knew intimately? Would she take
him back to her bed and would she choose to stay with him after the
Flight? Did Sabonus have any right to feel slighted if she did?

This was new territory for him. He'd had a couple flings when he'd
first come to the Weyr, but nothing serious. Nothing like what he had
with Uetia. He knew acting stupid and jumping to conclusions was the
quickest way to sink their relationship fast. And so he had taken a
deep breath and made himself scarce, thrown himself into work and tried
his best not to wonder if the green bugling a challenge to her followers
was Sirjath. In fact, he tried as much as possible to keep himself
working below decks.

It wasn't until his stomach started growling that he decided to emerge.

When the Flight was over, first thing Ueatia did, after getting
untangled from the brown's rider, was to take a bath. A long one. She
felt dirty
somehow and used. It was easier if the winner was someone she knew and
was comfortable with, like K'mai, but this time it had been total
stranger.
She scrubbed her self thoroughly. She felt used and knew she had been
using
him. Shards, how could she face Sabonus? She felt ashamed. Worst was
that she
could still feel the other man's lingering touch, his smell. She
scrubbed so hard she nearly peeled her skin off.

Sabonus' eyes automatically took a quick glance over the room, looking
for her face. He didn't see it. For all he knew she was still... busy.
It shouldn't bother him, he knew. Every time they were together there
wasn't even the whisper of a doubt that she might be wishing she were
with someone else. That was what really mattered to him, and he knew a
quick tumble with the rider who won her flight, even two, wouldn't
change that.

Then why was it the fact that she was nowhere to be seen seemed to make
him lose his appetite all of a sudden? So what if she was in another
man's arms now, kissing him, touching him... It would be _him_
tomorrow. And the day after.

Shards, he hoped that it would be easier the next time Sirjath rose.
Sabonus was sure it was just because it was the first time. He just
wished this day would hurry up and be over already. Abandoning his
place in line, he decided to just take a walk and try not to think about
what may be happening right that very moment.

After a while she decided she was not going to get any cleanier and rose
from the bath. She was hungry now. She got clean clothes on and went to
the dining cavern. Her hair was still dripping water and soon her
shirt-shoulders were damp. She spotted Sabonus and froze. What she
should say to him? How would he react? How she would react? Before they
had been just friends, now they were lovers and things were suddenly so
much more complicated.

Sabonus might have missed her entirely if he hadn't looked over his
shoulder at just that moment. His eyes were instantly drawn to her,
soaked as she was. He could always spot her out in a crowd, not only
because she stood head and shoulders above most girls, but because she
had become so familiar to him. Turning to face her, he hesitated,
unsure of what to do.

Things weren't going to improve by avoiding them, Uetia decided and
stride towards Sabonus. A her face lit up to a smile, as it always did
when she saw him.

He tried his best to smile back at her naturally. "You're wet."
Sabonus reached for her hand as she come closer.

"I took a bath," Uetia said and her fingers curled around his.

**Because you just got out of bed with another man...** He pursed his
lips slightly as the thought involuntarily flashed through his head.
Sabonus knew it wasn't like she had _chosen_ for this to happen. He
knew it wasn't her fault. He knew he shouldn't feel that little painful
stab of jealousy. And he certainly didn't want her to know how hard it
was for him to pretend everything was normal when they _both_ knew what
had happened that day. "Well, that would be a very good reason, then."

Uetia nodded. They were avoiding the issue, and she knew it. She was
normally very straigh forward person.

"Are you hungry?" **Did you work up an appetite?** Shards, he had
tried so hard to push it all to the back of his mind all day, and now
that he was there, looking down into her face, it was all that he could
think about!

Her stomach growled. "Yes, I am," she replied.Yet her guts seemed to be
one tight, knot.

Why did it annoy him so much that she was? Of course she was! Was it
because it just confirmed what he already knew? That she would have
spent a lot of energy in that Flight with whoever it was who took her to
bed? Was it because he had lost his appetite at the thought of her
sharing her furs with him and yet she seemed to go on like nothing had
happened? Or was it because it would mean sitting through an
excruciating meal with her, not knowing what to say, watching her eat,
and with every bite he'd be staring at those lips and fingers wondering
just where they had been?

**This isn't working...** He couldn't just sit there and pretend. It
would do neither of them any good. "Why don't you get some food, then,
and I'll meet you back at your weyr? We really have to talk about
this."

"Yes, we do need to talk," Uetia said and public dining cavern wasn't
the place for it.

His first impulse was to kiss her cheek or hand before walking away, but
he just couldn't yet. Even though she had scrubbed off the scent of
that other man, in Sabonus' mind his prints were all over her. It would
get easier once they talked. With a gentle squeeze of her fingers he
pulled his hand away. "I'll wait for you there, then."

"All right," she didn't sound very cheery. She could sense his
uneasiness.

Last updated on the September 25th 2010

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The other man (1/2)