Will You Wait?

Xanadu Weyr - Weyrling Beach
With a gentler slope to the water from the main beach and the way it is cut in like a cove, this is the most sheltered spot for bathing. The sand is the same white hue, there are just as many — or perhaps more — scattered shells. From here, one has a beautiful view across the lake, a scene more often tranquil than not.


A month has since passed from the hatching and fall is well into its season, and actually starting to get chillier. This particular afternoon is cloudy and overcast, preventing the sun from shining. The weyrling's beach is all but abandoned until a (relatively) tiny green comes barreling down the path from the Grounds above. Dappled wings are outspread and flapping, trying to catch a breeze as if she wants to take off. Undeveloped muscles and all. The dragon's partner isn't too far behind, only managing to keep up with the five meter long dragon due to somewhat natural awkwardness on the ground at such a pace. But Phylicia is just about running at a barely controlled speed. "You furl those wings right NOW, Fauikith!" Well, she can't be exerting herself too much, if she has the air to yell like that. "You'll pull or tear a muscle like that. Now FURL!" The green? Not listening as she makes a bolt for the chilly waves, wings still working.

In the distance, two figures approach the sands from the visitors' gate. It's been some time since the Mind-Healer, Jaice, and his charge have visited Xanadu, some time since the dawn impression of so many candidates. "You don't have to do this, you know," Jaice murmurs to the hooded man at his side. IN response, Tenebrous slowly turns his head. "That's a heck of a thing for you to say to me, all things considered." The mind-healer shrugs a little. "You're both adults, journeyman, and just because she's my daughter doesn't mean everything has to go her way. I wouldn't be a good healer if I forced the issue in my favor." Tenebrous turned to watch the woman on the beach, silent for a time. "And the fact that my walking away from her doesn't exactly conflict with your plans is a plus." "Tenebrous…as much as I'd love to see my children cloistered up and away from harm, that's not realistic. And quite frankly…you walking away hurts her. There's nothing positive about that in a father's eyes…"

It's probably lucky enough for the pair of men that Phylicia can't hear what they're talking about yet. The young dragon is standing in the shallows, facing the shore with her wings spread aloft and high, stretching them. But young muscles are not meant to hold such positions long, and her wings droop into the water, before they finally get tucked against her side. "See? And now your wings are going to be aching later!" Though that's common enough with their rapid growth spurts. The look that Phy gets is one that Tenebrous might recognize from when they have arguments. It's stubborn, and its chiding. "I know you want to fly. But you're not developed enough for it. Hurting yourself won't… what?" That last word sounds confused, as if she can't place something her partner has placed. "Don't you start on that again, Faui. We've talked about this. Those memories are NOT something you share with the other weyrlings, much less the Weyr!" There's a longer pause now and hands rest on her hips, completely stubborn. She looks just about ready to argue something else, before she turns quickly to look at the two men standing there. Or rather, the hooded one. Her father - unsurprisingly - gets next to ignored as she falls silent, swallowing. It takes a green muzzle connecting with the small of her back before she's moving towards the pair, a smile slowly starting to work its way onto her face.

"Well Gosh, I guess we're in the scramble now, aren't we?" Tenebrous murmurs darkly. "No, boy, there is no 'We'. THere's a you, because that's who she's looking at. If I had to place a bet, I'd say that I don't even exist right now," Jaice offers with a sly wink. Then, "When you're ready to leave, head over to the transport area. I'll be waiting there with your brownrider." A hand is raised to give Tenebrous' shoulder a squeeze before he shuffles off through the sand. And for Tenebrous' part, he can only look at the woman that he has not seen in some time, and the creature that trails along behind her. "I hate you, and you will have no idea why," he whispers to the green. "I only hope that you are wise enough to let it pass."

Fauikith can indeed hear the two men, though by the look of Phylicia's still-happy face, the sentiments have not been passed along. But Tenebrous might just be able to hear the rustling of leaves as a lazy breeze ruffles them, and a hopeful-happy faint trilling of a flute. It at least seems like the green is happy, since her partner is showing obvious signs of being happy as well. And when the pair are in range, the dark green simply lays down to watch, almost unobtrusively. "Ten…" She finally murmurs, within range as her eyes take him in greedily. She holds her hands out to him, palms up. "I've missed you." She says simply before anything else. There comes a low grumbling rumble from Fauikith then, earning a small sigh from the girl. "This is Fauikith, Ten. Fauikith, Tenebrous. Satisfied?" Her tone is only minorly tart, but the happiness radiating from both of the pair can't be dampened for long.

Tenebrous' veiled eyes move between Phylicia and the green for a momenet before finally settling on the woman's face. Gloved hands raise up to rest in hers somewhat gingerly, and he simply nods to her, unable to speak. For the gust in his mind, the wind on those leaves, he trembles like one of them, thumbs rubbing over the top of Phylicia's fingers. Then he's letting them go and kneeling down in front of the green's muzzle. His words are a jumbled mixture of those spoken and those not. "I'm sorry," he breaths to her. «I know it's not your fault…and I can't help it. Not yet…» Then, out loud, he extends a hand. "Give me time…"

Fauikith's response is amazingly mature for one so young yet. The breeze is soothing, barely rustling leaves, while the flute drops in tone to mirror soft, pleasant thoughts. The tone of the green's 'voice' is an echo of Phylicia's own, though it much more hoarse, like it was immediately after the fire. « I am her forever-friend. Her strength. She is mine. You are… » The green head cocks to the side momentarily, shoving her muzzle into his hand. « …Something different. She enjoys you. » Phylicia apparently, has been kept from this conversation, as her head cocks to the side slightly, though she seems to be catching the mental drift of Faui's half. There's both good humor and worry in her eyes, but there's no distress yet, so the dragonet merely lets them be, instead offering the man an eyeridge to possibly pay attention to with a hopeful warble. And slowly, deliberately, Phylicia moves to wrap her arms around Tenebrous from behind. "I think she approves…"

Tenebrous' attentions to that eyeridge are done with soft, gentle motions, his voice sad. "I doubt seriously that she has any idea of what she approves…" His other hand raises to cup the green's jaw as he works, stroking her head not unlike a child's. "She is very beautiful," he says after a time, looking over his shoulder. "I did not doubt that she would be, of course, but…she suits you. In body, and in mind, she suits you…"

Phylicia does seem to pick up a bit on that sadness, and she nuzzles her cheek into the back of his shoulder until he's looking at her, in which point she lifts up her head. Fauikith's eyes have lidded once in pleasure, thrumming as her tail idly twitches, beating a furrow into the white sand. "She has a vague clue maybe." Phy murmurs to him as her cheeks start to turn a nice rosy color. "As do most of the other weyrlings." It seems that a certain green may have opened her mental mouth. His assessment has her smiling, leaning contentedly against his back. "You suit me too, you know." Is all that she offers, her tone light, but serious.

Tenebrous can't help but offer Phylicia a weak smile, but as she continues to talk, but after a moment, he's forced to look away. "Mental disciplin is a necessity where dragons and their wandering minds are concerned," he offers quietly. "Especially with these little greens. They don't seem to have much concept of barriers, or if they do, they care not for them." His shoulders bunch for a moment. "A dangerous combination, with the young…but no, Phylicia." His hands drop away from the dragon's maw to rest on her own around him. "This particular issue is quite unknown to you and yours. While I might be uncomfortable with what your dragon has shared about me, it has nothing to do with my absence over the last several sevendays…"

"I've been working on it." Phylicia protests, somewhat in defense. "She doesn't babble nearly as much as she used to, when she first hatched." Oh, the headaches Phy had from the insistant chatter of her green. "She has… thankfully left names off." Though anyone who knows Phy could very likely piece it together. Especially with how many men tend to reside in caves. Fauikith merely lets her head relax onto her paws as Ten's hands drop away, and Phy's arms tighten as she feels his shoulders bunch. "Could you share?" She asks after a few long moments, about this unknown issue. "Would you share?" With the aprehension starting to creep into her voice, Fauikith's thrumming has stopped, and the lid of one eye is half-opened, watching with currently reassuring blue-greens swirling slowly.

Tenebrous' sigh is quiet. "Yes, Phy, I could…and maybe later, I might." The dragon gets one more long look before he gently disengages Phylicia's hands from around his waist and stands, being careful not to knock her over. Then he turns to face her. "For now, let it simply be said that…I haven't been at my best for awhile…and it wears at me." His smile is slightly bitter. "Your…the mind-healer would probably be happy about the progress he's making with me, but we…talk now, more than we used to. It's probably the reason why I'm here, now, with you, and not…somewhere in the woods."

Phylicia lets her arms be unwrapped from around him, also taking careful steps to avoid being knocked over or knocked into as he straightens up. She steps a few inches closer as he turns to face her, but she doesn't put her arms back around him at this moment, instead studying him intently. "I want to say 'I'm sorry', but… it's not the right set of words." And apparently whatever the right set is, is evading her for the moment. But there's a sort of acknowledgment nonetheless. "This… isn't pleasant for you." And her eyes tell the story that parts of this aren't pleasant for her either. Though as Fauikith's eyes start to edge towards an anxious yellow, Phy quickly blocks off that thought process, letting the green's eyes slide back towards that blue-green combination.

"No," he says softly. "This isn't pleasant for me. But you should understand that what makes it unpleasant has nothing to do with you or your new friend. It has everything to do with me, and my past…" He glances over his shoulder once at the dragon. "In retrospect…it was probably a good thing that I didn't impress when I was younger. I probably would have driven the poor creature that bonded to me mad with my thoughts…" Then he turns to look at her again. "Regardless…of how I mend over the next few months…if I remember my Weyrlingmaster correctly, they don't really want those recently bonded to be in any kind of serious relationship…untill the dragon can more fully comprehend the emotions involved…"

For a split second, in the natural pause of speech, Phylicia looks about ready to protest. But when he continues on she doesn't exactly look pleased, but she does look at least slightly relieved that neither her, nor Fauikith is the direct cause for his state. When Tenebrous looks at her, Faui offers the man a whuff, though she keeps her mind to herself. "If that 'poor creature' had chosen you, he'd be more than willing to put up with any of your thoughts." Her face then drops into solemn lines, her eyes turning sorrowful even if her words are still try for a lighter tone. "I waited a turn and some for you to even make a move on me. What's another turn or two for Fauikith to mature?" But something in her words definitely falls as flat as her expression.

"I'm a simple man, Phylicia," Tenebrous offers with a wan smile. "I never even knew you were interested until you told me in the Infirmary, that day." He shakes his head. "It all seems so…long ago now. Waking up, and…not knowing who I was…" Then he raises his eyes to meet hers. "You're so sure that the dragon would tolerate me?" He exhales in mute laughter. "I have…trouble even grasping such unconditional acceptance, so I'm forced to take your word for it. And as for waiting…" One of his hands reaches up to touch her face through a leather glove. "You don't look like someone who wants to wait another turn…"

"No, I don't particularly want to." Phylicia confirms his statement, some of her stubbornness dropping away as his gloved hand comes up to her face, enjoying the contact even through the leather. "But it doesn't mean that I won't. I… don't exactly have much of a choice right now." A gentle, sad smile comes across her face and she manages a weak chuckle. "So much has happened…" She opens her mouth to say something else, but a moment later she closes it. If a breeze could be reassuring it would Fauikith's voice as it caresses both their minds, insects buzzing lazily in their mind's ear. « Why would I not? She enjoys you. » Is all that the young green says, leaving a faint yet thankful flush on Phylicia's cheeks. "Remember how you told me I'm always giving, sometimes too much? She's like that, too." Phy murmurs softly. "But.. the real question is Ten… will you wait for me?"

"You do have a choice, Phylicia," Tenebrous offers quietly, letting that hand fall from her face. "You've always…had a choice. And you always will." Then he turns back to face the dragon, a slightly sardonic smile on his lips. "And you…" «You have no concept of what was, and what will be, only what is. How I envy you…» Tenebrous is still for some time, his eyes just soaking the dragon's face in. "Where were you when I needed you most?" he whispers, his voice suddenly thick.

"What choice do I have? To let go of my feelings for you? We covered that." What it would do to Phylicia, even if she does have support now. Fauikith however, is seeming to grow restless, distressed and a little alarmed. Some of it may be the dragon's own feelings, but at least part of the distress is bleeding over their mental link. The small green - who is still large enough by any means - back pedals into a sitting position. "Shhh, Faui. Calm down." Phy intones softly, reaching out for the green's shoulder. "You're fine. I'm fine. No harm. We're good…" It's reassurances, and mostly true ones, which does indeed let Faui calm down, though yellow-orange still streaks through her eyes on occasion. But the pain that lances through Phy's heart as she overhears that whisper is almost enough to set the dragonet back off again. It's certainly enough to earn an agonized look from Phylicia, though it seems as if she's lost her voice for the moment.

Tenebrous swallows a few times before rumbling, "That's frequently the problem with good people. There's not a choice. It's a matter of what we are and are not capable of. And in this case…" The hide of his jacket protests quietly as he settles himself within it. "…You can only do what you're capable of." The dragon's behaviors are not missed, and with only another small look to the green, he's turning again, straightening his back. "I should go," he says evenly. "The little one is…not yet ready for the kind of conversations that you and I are prone to have." To say nothing of the emotions that said conversations evoke. "Perhaps when she is older, more capable…" He shakes his head. "I do not wish to distress your dragon. Or you, for that matter, but you are infinitely more capable of processing it."

There's a problem with arguing against wisdom, and it's that its never a very good idea. By the stubborn look of Phylicia's face she's pondering arguing against the wisdom of his words anyways. However, it's Fauikith's increasing agitation that slides her rider into a dejected defeat, her body slumping against the green's shoulder like it was a tree trunk. Phylicia can only huff out a sad sigh and mumble a "Mmm." To at least show that she heard him.

"The mind-healer is…less insistant now that I must stay with him at Boll." One side of Tenebrous' mouth twists into a grimace. "He is content with what he is calling 'Out Patient' therapy, and is pondering the merits of simply releasing me to return to Stormhaven. I don't…think he sees the point in keeping me somewhere as a prisoner when teasing me with my freedom works so much better." One of his hands comes to rest on her shoulder. "I do not know how soon you will be able to venture apart from your new friend, or bring her…but should it ever come to that…" That hand slips from her shoulder then. "I would…very much like to see you again." And that's an understatement, one clearly heard in his voice.

"Sometimes it's hard to tell if he's doing it because he really cares about a person, or he just knows how to get what he wants." Phylicia comments about her father with a faint smile. Her smile grows sardonic as he mentions possibily visiting him at Stormhaven, though the thought brightens her outlook a little bit, and she catches his hand as it falls from her shoulder in both of hers. "I think it'll more be a matter of when the Weyr will let us go, rather than a matter of ability." Her hands squeeze at his captured hand in a silent promise. But she hasn't let his hand go yet. "Faui. I know you're hungry. Go wait by our couch and I'll be along in a minute with some meat." Indeed the green's stomach rumbles a betrayal, and the dark dragonet starts to slink back towards the barracks. When she tops the distant path leading to the restricted Weyrling Grounds, Phy turns to Tenebrous. "Our link doesn't extend great distances yet. And…" Her eyes glaze for a moment, likely sending a reassurance that she'll be right along. "There it goes." It's like a hidden invitation crossed with a plea.

"Either way," Tenebrous murmurs, "It gets me where I want to go, which is home, and away from the mind-healer. He can take whatever victory he wants from it when the day is done." He makes no move to pull his hand away when the dragon scampers up the beach, and he sighs once Phylicia informs him that she's out of range. "And what do we talk about now? Are there things left to say that could not be said in front of your friend? Things that have not already been expressed?"

Phylicia gives Tenebrous a bit of a disbelieving look before she lets loose a soft snort of a laugh. "Who said anything about talking?" She asks of him with some amusement. "She took the hugging well, but I doubt she'd do nearly so well with a kiss, yet." It's only now that she lets his hand drop, so she can instead open her arms to him. "That is, of course, if you'd like to give me a proper kiss before you go and I'm kept chained to the Weyr?" The amusement in her face fades, though her position stays the same. "And as soon as those chains loosen, I WILL come to you."

Tenebrous' laughter is quiet, equal parts amusement and disbelief. "You don't ever quit, do you," he murmurs, stepping towards her. Rather than wrap his arms around her, however, he brings one of his free hands up to the side of her face. "I will give you three kisses instead," he says solemnly, his voice an almost eerie echo of the past. He leans down then, kissing the cheek not occupied by his hand. "For what was," he murmurs into her ear. Then his other hand comes up to cup the other side of her face, and his lips find hers. It's warm, but not urgent, simply a pleasant closeness. When he moves his head away, he offers, "For what is." Then he tilts her head down, and gently presses his lips to her forehead, inhaling her scent once more. "For what … will be …" It's said with a kind of soft certainty.

"It's part of my charm." Phylicia says cheerfully, her arms loosely wrapping around him instead of clinging. And for the few moments that she's allowed to, she basks in that simple, physical contact before his lips start placing kisses. She leans into each, though as lips meet she's perfectly happy to let it stay warm and pleasant. As he finishes, she exhales softly, pleased. And then her body does something to totally break any mood that might have been forming, which is just as well. Her stomach rumbles. And then she heaves a sigh, looking apologetic as her hands move up to brush his face. "She's always hungry, so I'm always hungry. It's amazing weyrlings don't put much weight on." But then again, she's also been going full tilt, virtually non-stop. And any weight they tend to put on, is with muscle. There's no such thing as the Weyrling 15.

"Then you should go and eat," Tenebrous murmurs. "Both of you. I shouldn't have to tell you how important it is that you keep your energy up around her." She's rewarded with a bit of a half-smirk. "Hopefully, when this is all said and done, you'll still be able to run through the trees. It took the mind-healer almost two days to make the hike out to Stormhaven from the transport area at Xanadu, after all. I'd hate to have to walk."

Phylicia laughs and rises to her tip-toes while at the same time gently pulling on the back of his head and shoulders to place a kiss on his forehead, before she takes a couple of steps back. "You think I'd let myself go like that? Hardly." Though there's going to be only a little of lost ground to make up for, from the last month. She had always ran during candidacy. "Anyways, what'd we have our trip time down to?" But at another gurgle of her stomach she looks over her shoulder and offers him a truly impish grin. "What speed would you like today?" And her eyes flicker down to her rear, then back up to his face.

Tenebrous narrows his eyes a little in thought. "Alone? Alone I can make the trip from Stormhaven to the miners' area in several hours, the weyr maybe a half hour after that. Though, to be fair, I didn't have to slow down much when…you were my apprentice." His face softens. "You learned…very quickly. Today? Today…I'd like no speed at all. I'd like…to stop." He gestures to her stomach. "But that's not in the plans." A hand reaches up to pull his hood down a little more. "Go feed your friend," he says quietly.

The smile that Phylicia offers Tenebrous is gentle and happy as a whole, yet a bit sad and strained around the edges. "Sadly, no." She admits as her first steps are merely at a sedate pace. "Please come say hello at least, when you come visit the Weyr?" She asks over her shoulder as she lifts her hand in a wave, before she breaks into a ground eating jog the pair is so fond of. And its only when she's out of sight, that Ciaran drops down from somewhere, aiming to land on Tenebrous' shoulder with a chuff. It seems the watchful blue might have had his fill of dragonet for the moment.

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