Not On The Same Page

Writers: Dana, Eimi
Date Posted: 29th January 2006

Characters: Ar'lis, Gaiya
Description: Ar'lis and Gaiya just aren't on the same page...
Location: River Bluff Weyr
Date: month 9, day 19 of Turn 3
Notes: Follows "I Need Something Too"

Gaiya sat gently rubbing her hair with the towel. Ar'lis said he would be coming. Before he arrived she had run into the bath scrubbing away every trace of L'cian. She checked herself in the mirror carefully. No marks that she could see. Thank Faranth for that!

She beratted herself silently. It wasn't as if she had done anything _wrong_. Ar'lis wasn't her _weyrmate_, and even then it wasn't unusual to have an occassional lover. **Not lover,** she reminded herself forcefully, **_fling_...** Still, she had never done that before. She had never taken on a serious relationship and then had a little fun on the side.

**I did nothing wrong!** Then why did she feel this way? She hid her face in the towel to keep herself from screaming. Gaiya knew why it was so wrong. She knew it before she even touched L'cian. He was in love with her, and she had used him. And more than that, when Ar'lis needed her love, she found her pleasure in another man's arms. **Shards, I'm such a bad person...**

The door knob turned and she could hear footsteps in the living area. She pulled the towel away from her face and began furiously rubbing it in her hair as if she could banish all thoughts from her mind. **Just act normal...** "I'm in here, Ar'lis!"

He smiled at her and leaned casually against the doorframe. "You took a bath without me? That's a first."

"Well, you're in luck. I'm not dry yet," she smiled, what she hoped as a natural smile, and continued to rub at her hair.

A mischievous glint entered his eyes as he went forward, swept her up in his arms and carried her back to the bathing room, her towel sliding to the floor, forgotten. Grinning, Ar'lis stood by the water's edge, holding her just above the pool. "Now, should I be a good boy and let you get back in yourself, or should I be a bad boy?"

"Oh well... surprise me," she shrugged. Shards, he chooses _now_ to add a little fun back into their relationship?

He frowned slightly at her tone, noting that she didn't rise to the bait, and let her down on her feet. "Guess I'll be good." Turning from her, he kicked off his boots, stripped off his shirt and pants then got into the warm water, letting it soothe his stiff muscles. Hopefully it would soothe the slight tension he was starting to feel building in himself too.

She watched him lay back in the water, a slight frown crossing her face.
Did he _know_? Is that why he suddenly turned moody again? How could he? No one saw her! Was it something she said that tipped him off? She had said no more than a few sentences! No, she decided, it was just his brooding again. She sighed and slipped into the water next to him.

"You're not mad that I took a bath without you, are you?" she asked carefully. "You know sometime it was bound to happen..."

He looked at her, one brow raised sightly. She was serious. "Of course I'm not mad. Why would I be mad?" Here...he would try again. Ar'lis gave her a sly, hinting smile. "I'm disappointed, of course..."

She gave him a contrite smile. "I'm sorry, I just didn't know it was that important to you."

Ar'lis sighed and rubbed his brow. She just wasn't picking up on his subtle hints. Not like they were very subtle to begin with... "Gaiya love, I don't think we're on the same page today."

She leaned down into the water all the way to her chin. Maybe if he couldn't see her, he couldn't see through her. "Well, that's natural too, isn't it?"

He glanced at her. There were a few ways to interpret that, and Ar'lis wasn't quite sure which version he should respond to. Feeling tense again, he decided not to reply at all and instead scooped a handful of sweetsand and began scrubbing at his hair.

Gaiya watched him scrub away at his hair as she lay neck deep in the water, feeling more alone in their relationship than she had the day before. She wasn't sure she should feel guilty that she had slept with L'cian, or glad that she had been on the same page with at least _someone_ that day. That thought shocked herself. Of course she should feel guilty! She should feel horrible! She should throw herself into his arms and tell him that she had made a mistake. But the longer the silence stretched on, the less guilty she felt.

After rinsing and swiping the lather off of his face, he looked over at her again. Shards. He leaned back against the side of the pool, wondering how to break this...strained silence. For if _this_ wasn't strained, he didn't know what was. "What's on your mind, hmm?"

Gaiya blew some of the bubbles that were drifting her way in frustration. "I don't know. I guess I'm still trying to figure out what page I'm _supposed_ to be on."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Never mind," she groaned as she pulled herself dripping out of the tub.
"When you figure out what it is you want me to do, why don't you come find me. Right now I'm going to dry off. Again."

He ran a hand through his hair, the tension in him increasing until he felt ready to snap. What was going _on_? He thought he made it sharding clear what he wanted for them. "I don't understand you, love,"
he managed quietly.

**Obviously...** "Maybe I just need a nap. It's been a long day." She picked up the towel and slipped out of the bathing chamber.

Last updated on the January 29th 2006

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Not On The Same Page