Sittin', Waitin', Wishin' (E'dian)

[fadingmemorie]

Gaelle sat on the bed, leaning against the pillows and waited for her weyrmate to return from his duties. E'dian had been gone all day, for the past several days, only to turn up late at night, roll into the bed clothed, and sleep like a rock until the next busy morning. He seemed to have become even more involved in his work since the hatching, preparing for the addition of new dragons into the wings.

Unfortunately, it left the Weyrwoman alone for several hours in the evening. She would finish her work quickly throughout the day, laying her nose to the grindstone until there were simply no more tasks to finish. With the addition of a capable headwoman, Gaelle had accomplished much more work than she could have done on her own. She loved her work, even the traditionally undesirable duties.

However, even Gaelle knew when to stop working and spend time relaxing and preparing for the next day. It was a lesson E'dian appeared in want of, given his post- and pre-duty behavior. His Weyrwoman had been growing gradually disenchanted with the entire process for months. The issue was coming to a boiling for her, and though she felt guilty for not mentioning it to him, she also felt like he should have picked up on the discord.

"Perhaps tonight he will be early," she said to herself, in a strained voice. Desperately needing to spend time with the man, Gaelle had begun to wonder if there was a problem with her. Did he not like the way she did things? There had to be a reason for his continued absence in her life.

[LyricalBlue]

The slow beating of wings followed by a heavy thump was the first indication of the Weyrleader's arrival. Xialanth settled down and turned his six foot head to view his rider as E'dian dismounted.
She is not happy.

The Weyrleader huffed as he pulled off his helmet. The last thing he needed right now was an upset Weyrwoman. Between the problems with some of the Weyrlings' health and a bluerider nearly betweening into a cliff face during drills, E'dian was in no mood.

Xialanth's head swung protectively over his rider until E'dian disappeared into the human section of their weyr. Helmet under his arm and hair sweaty and disheveled, he glanced around the room and spotted Gaelle quickly. Of course, seeing her arranged that way on the bed took most of the wind out of his sails. He grunted a greeting then moved to shed his riding leathers, tossing them indiscriminately next to the dresser.

[fadingmemorie]

Gaelle blinked at his entrance, seemingly irritated from his long day. His leathers landed heavily by the dresser, and she watched as he began his wind-down. It was mostly the same every day; he would undress, eat some of whatever she had saved for him from supper, perhaps bathe, and then sleep. There was little room for Gaelle, it seemed. Nonetheless, she was unrelenting. "Hi, Sweets!" she said, smiling. Just because she was upset didn't mean she would punish him. "How did your day go?"

She watched his progression, quietly waiting for her chance at his attention. It seemed they were both tired, and she didn't want to rush them into an argument after a long day. No doubt he would notice her sad looks and inquire. Would you like me to tell them?

No, I think I can do it.

Well, Xialanth already knows, and he told him. Aliath sounded smug, and was determined to force a little honesty out of her rider.

Oh, fantastic. That's why he looks so grumpy!

[LyricalBlue]

The bronze was more than happy to curl around his Queen. His, oh yes. He did not plan to let this one go. He reached out his coppery nose to touch her neck affectionately before settling down beside her. Why their riders made things so much more complicated he would never understand. Aliath chose whom she wanted and for the time that was him. That was enough for Xialanth, although he did intend to keep her at his side a sight longer than perhaps she anticipated. But he had proven himself to her already, a bronze and gold in their first clutch. It would only get better from here.

Inside, E'dian could not help but cringe at the sugary sweet determination in Gaelle's voice. Sharding woman, couldn't she just let him have some peace? He sighed and turned around to face her. This couldn't be avoided now, he would simply have to deal with it. He ran a hand through his sweat tousled hair and sighed.
She is the Weyrwoman. She should know.
Yes. Clearly. And I am not going to get around talking about it.
No, you are not.

"Darn T'sel nearly took Vorseth between into the cliff face today." E'dian shook his head, remembering the fiasco the blue had caused in the wing. He'd Impressed in Arizith's last clutch, and was the same age as Aliath. They should know better by now. That was a Weyrling mistake and a dangerous one. E'dian sat down on the end of the bed heavily.
"The hold has managed to lose a shipment of beasts again somehow. We were going to have a chat with Lord Provin. But some girl managed to get herself tangled with a feline in the jungles. Shes with the Healers right now."

Sharding child, she had interrupted everything. But he couldn't have very well left her there to bleed to death. Of course now, he would have to make time to talk to Provin and that man was about as friendly as a patch of needlethorns in midsummer.
"Its been... a long day. And you?"

[fadingmemorie]

Gaelle blinked at his stories, horrified by each one in turn. "Faranth, I...I'm so sorry, E'dian." She went to him and kneaded his shoulders, slowly working out the knots individually. There were quite a few. Her own problems suddenly seemed insignificant next to his worries. Perhaps she took the wrong stance with the problem. "Maybe sometime soon, we can take a day away from the weyr. That would be relaxing."

Silently, she went to the bed and dressed down his side, fluffing his pillow and warming his spot by rubbing it hard with her hands. Finally, she went to her side of the bed and pulled out her small bottle of scented massage oil. "Maybe a good massage will help you sleep better tonight, my Weyrleader?"

That is such a better way to love your mate, Aliath piped. Her neck was twined around Xialanth's, cuddling him and showing him her own love.

Shush, you. The Weyrwoman slid into her own spot and beckoned E'dian to the bed. "Wanna come lay down?"

[LyricalBlue]

This was... distracting. E'dian did indeed slump down on the bed, in a large pile that was somehow a Weyrleader. Her moods shifted faster than the color in a dragon's eye. A day off... he wasn't sure the Weyr wouldn't fall apart the minute he walked away. Of course, that was part ego and also part truth. E'dian had a passion and fervor for work that was hard to understand. It was more likely however, that it would be the Weyrleader that would fall apart for a lack of anything to do.

"That... would not be such a bad idea." His mind turned in its usual rapid manner as his thoughts shifted to the young Weyrlings. Between the gold being sickly from the start and the scare with the bronze... It had kept a permanent lump in the pit of E'dian's stomach. For the life in him, he could not figure out what it was that was causing this sickness in the dragons. It was like a weakness, sapping the color and life out of them. That little gold was a pale shadow of her mother.

It had something to do with the herdbeasts, that was certain. Aliath herself had improved remarkably since Gaelle had started feeding her off of jungle stock. As E'dian's head hit the pillow he huffed in frustrations. Every time he found one answer it was like ten more popped out of between.
"I'm worried about those Weyrlings too. Maybe we could move them? Someplace where they can get better stock."
Something about any brought to the Weyr... just seemed tainted.

[fadingmemorie]

She rubbed oil onto her hands to warm it up, and then rubbed it hard into E'dian's tired and worn out muscles. The knots she had just worked out were back, and she guessed he was still stressing over his day. "E'dian, you must relax mentally to relax physically." While her hands worked, she thought about where they might go. Perhaps to Paradise Hold, to the beach. They could lay a day on the beach, and swim, or explore the forest. It held a lot of promise.

"Definitely. I can slow-between them to the Plateau. It's pretty close, and that's one of the places I fed Aliath when she was growing." She didn't say how the dragon grew. "It would be good for them, I think." Working on his hips, she smirked. "And a day off would be good for you."

[LyricalBlue]

A low grumble issued from the Weyrleader when Gaelle admonished him to relax. How could one possibly relax when there was so much work to be done. Though he could not help but stretch out under her ministrations. If there was one thing to be said about the Weyrwoman, it was that she had talented hands. And she knew how to use them. Maybe relaxing would not be so hard to do after all.

E'dian did quirk his eyebrows at her suggestion. Slow between them?
"How would you do that my dear?" Curiosity was one thing that the Weyrleader had in vast abundance. And the Weyrlings were far too young to go between themselves. It would be a good long while before they fly on their own. Plus the idea of letting the precious bronze and gold go outside the Weyr had that pit in E'dian's stomach sinking again. Even the two browns were worth their weight in marks. For a brown had been known to fly a Queen on occasion, with two now, they would need all the competition they could get.

He supposed that if the Weyrlings were accompanied they would be safe enough... but still he hated the need for the risk. Sending out their only Queen had been bad enough, he'd almost lost his head the first time he'd found Gaelle alone in the jungle. They were far too few to be so bold yet. Even now... if something happened to Gaelle... He turned his head to focus worried gray eyes on her. No, that was not the best thing to dwell on.

[fadingmemorie]

"When they get a little bit older, better able to handle between, Aliath and I can jump them from location to location. It would take a good bit of time; the weyrlings have to actually be able to see where they're going to do it. But it would be faster than flying straight, and would be a valuable learning experience and practice in betweening. We might actually lose fewer weyrlings to the cold darkness." She shuddered, memories as opaque as between. It was a scary place, and she, like many dragonriders, chanted her own personal mantra while she was there, and always squeezed her thighs together, reassured by her dragon's presence. Somehow, they always made it back out and to their destination.

His muscles were still mostly tense, but her ministrations were beginning to have an effect. Despite their problems together, she had grown to love him, and she didn't want to see him so upset. All her own problems were forgotten as they discussed their beloved Weyr, and she grew excited as she realized that the Weyrlings were getting old enough for her to work with. She wondered how Iaslia was getting along with Nisurath. It was probably about time to check on her fellow goldrider, and have Aliath look in on her golden daughter.

"Either way, my sweetroll," Gaelle continued, now kneading his lower back, "We're going to figure this out together. No matter what, I'm here for you." She smiled, and ran a hand through his thick hair, savoring the scent of sweat and hard work that radiated back at her. "Whatever we have to do, we'll do it. And if we don't know what that is, we will find an answer. We always have," she said, and now her "we" didn't refer to just the two of them, but the entirety of dragonkind.

[LyricalBlue]

E'dian found his rebellious eyelids fluttering closed despite himself. Even the seemingly tireless Weyrleader found the end of his stamina once and awhile and Gaelle's kneading hands only lulled him further into rare relaxation. It was at these moments that his brain ceased its nearly endless wandering. In the far part of his consciousnesses, he realized just how lucky he was that Xialanth had managed to win Aliath in flight. He could not even begin to imagine Gaelle's hands on another man, even if she was almost half his age.

He nodded, eyes still half lidded. That did not sound like a bad idea at all, especially when their ranks were so low. They could not afford the loss of even one Weyrling. And despite himself, E'dian was worrying about the three girls who had Impressed fighting dragons. It was not that E'dian was so hidebound as to think women couldn't fight... it was just... A blue and a brown with female riders... he worried about the possible distention in the ranks. That class had to be trained and trained very well indeed if they were going to have any chance at survival. Girls on Greens happened... but they were not so strange, and if they got pregnant, they just flew with the Gold's traditionally. E'dian of course, had absolutely no intention of letting either Aliath or Nisurath fly Thread.

He rolled over to face her, grey eyes serious. It was a long few moments that he studied her before responding. Together, that had a rather nice sound to it. Out on the ledge, Xialanth rumbled a sleepy approval of the whole thing. E'dian grabbed one of Gaelle's still oiled hands with his large calloused ones. "Together. We'll survive this together." As firm a promise as ever E'dian could make and about as emotional as the bronzerider could manage, he meant it to the core of his being.