Impatience and Insecurity

[Kitari]

"Where is he?!"

I'm sure he's coming.

Elinth knew she could help more, could reach out to Dacrith with an inquiry, but she was loathe to initiate contact with that reticent bronze again. Instead, she watched hers pace back and forth with increasing frenzy across the sandy beach.

And Brinne was feeling rather more than frenzied at this stage.

Last night, she had asked F'rallen to meet her here. Early in the morning. Before anyone else had waken up. Because she had finally decided to do it. She'd hardly slept at all last night, tossing and turning with the broiling thoughts never giving her mind rest. Unable to stand it any longer, she had finally clambered from her furs, gone to the bathing cavern attached to her weyr, and finished the task. And now she was waiting, with ever-growing anxiety, for the only friend she could trust to come and pass judgment.

She had shorn off her luxurious red locks at the shoulder. And she felt naked because of it.

"He said he'd be here!" Brinne muttered, hands flying up to tug at her hair constantly as if unable to accept that so much was missing. She'd asked every woman amongst the Weyrfolk, including all of the dragonriders, at least twice, what the shortest requirement was for fitting her hair into a riding helmet. Of course, they had told her, it varied from fine hair to curly, but generally it was deemed that shoulder length might pass for Brinne.

And yet, with fiery strands previously reaching to her mid-back...

"F'rallen, where are you?!" she cried, turning to gaze bleakly at the slowly lightening sky. It must look just awful, she was sure of it!

[Shikai]

F’rallen ran along the beach at a full sprint, half scanning frantically for Brinne and half watching the hatching egg in his hands in horror. He must have looked quite comical, holding the little firelizard as far away from himself as possible as he ran. She was a beautiful little thing, but – ow! He winced as she creeled angrily and chomped down on his finger, but continued searching for Brinne. She had to be there, she just had to be…

Elinth is ahead of you, mine.[/color] The bronze broke into his thoughts, a slight drawl of disdain for F’rallen’s undignified panic in his voice. But F’rallen took no notice, and his face brightened at once as he, too, saw the weyrling pair ahead. Thanks, Dacrith!/ He replied hastily, and the dragon snorted as he followed his, each pace covering much more ground than F’rallen’s despite his measured walk.

“Brinne!” F’rallen called, raising his spare hand above him to wave at his friend, although he winced again as the small green in his hand bit down again. At least his troubles were now almost behind him…but that was before another high-pitched, far louder creel of anger offended his ears. F’rallen looked up in dread to see his vibrant (though not necessarily in an attractive way) acid green firelizard above him, fast descending.

“Val, no!” He called, his free hand now waving not in greeting, but in an effort to fend off the angry green. “I am not bringing home another green firelizard!” He shouted at her, but she had already pounced on his shoulder, and was scrabbling at his hair. Growling, she nipped at his ear, although not as hard as the baby green was biting his finger, and F’rallen tried to run faster to close the distance between him and Brinne.

F’rallen was scarcely conscious of the heaving draconic sigh in his mind, but it would have been impossible not to notice the warning roar from behind him as Dacrith raised his muzzle to the sky. Valkyrie squawked and pushed away from his shoulder at once in alarm, whirling in circles over F’rallen’s head instead.

Now, please give the little cousin to Brinne. One of the pests is quite enough to deal with.[/color] He huffed, but F’rallen sent him a wave of gratitude. How had he ever gotten along without his wonderful bronze? It was truly a mystery to him now.

At long last, F’rallen reached Brinne, and wearily pushed the newly hatched firelizard at her. The other hand dug into his pocket to produce the two meatrolls, and hand those to his friend as well. He bent over slightly as he panted, and the bronze dragon slowly caught up with his frazzled-looking rider.

“Firelizards…hatched…brought you one,” F’rallen attempted to explain as he struggled to catch his breath. “Didn’t want you to…not get yours.” He smiled feebly at her, but the look faded into one of surprise as he finally noticed her look of anxiety, and of course…

“Your hair…” He said, blinking, expression rather unreadable.

[Kitari]

There! Elinth called, whirling eyes catching sight of the racing young man before her rider, though Brinne was certainly trying to spot him with much greater urgency. Of course, the green's long slender neck assisted her in that feat. She was also quick to note the bronze form lumbering behind F'rallen's figure, though that discovery was met with far more distaste. It seemed that Dacrith had decided to come along, although Elinth could hardly understand why. The bronze obviously disliked her, for whatever reason, and she had rather hoped he'd decide to stay in the Weyr today.

"Where?!" Brinne cried, a mix of eagerness and dread in her shrill voice, as she bobbed up and down, attempting to spot her friend over the rolling sand dunes. A part of her wanted to race towards F'rallen and end the waiting, to finally see his reaction to her terrible hair cut, but her feet were immobilized, glued to the sand. She was breathing very slowly, almost mechanically, and she'd nearly bitten through her lip with the effort of staying calm.

Finally, her name was called, and the girl jumped. Duke was dislodged from her shoulder, flapping and squawking with displeasure as he landed on a much more stable perch, Elinth. The blue chittered his discomfort to deaf ears, for Brinne was straining to hear more of F'rallen's approach.

He came into sight over a long dune, and Brinne took an unconscious step forward, followed by two steps back. She gripped at her hair with one hand and then forced it to her side. All gone, all gone, her beautiful hair! A niggling doubt, the one that filled her with such fear, was that it was her hair all along, and not her, that others had found beautiful. What was left of her without her hair?

The girl nearly stomped with frustration at the sight of a green fire lizard zooming around F'rallen's head, diving at him in obvious anger. The last thing she needed was for F'rallen to be distracted at a time like this! He needed to be focusing on getting to her as quickly as possible; it was right that he run! He was so late already, and Brinne was nearly ready to faint with the anxiety gripping her heart.

"Where have you BEEN?!" she exploded, unable to contain it any longer, as the young man finally stumbled up to her. Her loud outburst drowned out his breathy statement, and the girl was taken entirely by surprise as he shoved a wiggling green form into her hands. Brinne's eyes went wide with shock. It was a fire lizard! A beautiful, lovely green fire lizard creeling with distress and hunger. Immediately, the greenrider began to feed the flitter the meatrolls that had also been shoved into her hands, cooing to the distressed green.

"It's all right, sweetie, it's all right," she murmured, crouching on the sand to better support the struggling green. The poor thing was practically ragged with exhaustion, for she had obviously been Hatched for more than a few moments, and her hunger was overpowering. It was all Brinne could do to tear off chunks of meatroll quickly enough to fill the empty mouth.

Everything else was forgotten as she tended to the adorable little green's needs, F'rallen's wide-eyed gaze and shocked statement flying right over her head. "You're a wonderful little Damsel, aren't you?" she cooed again, stroking the green's long neck. The green chirped, lids beginning to sag now that the urgency of her hunger had been relieved. Brinne snuggled her close, pulling the little green into her wherhide jacket for added warmth, and gazed up at F'rallen with round eyes brimming with delight.

"She's beautiful, isn't she?" Elinth was humming, peering over her's shoulder to view the new little cousin, and quite agreed. Much prettier than that snooty little blue!

As F'rallen's vacant stare began to trigger something in Brinne, her brow creased slightly. "What?" she demanded, having completely forgotten why she'd arranged to meet him today.

[Shikai]

F’rallen stood back, letting Brinne fawn over the little firelizard and give her the food she certainly needed. She certainly was a little darling…not, F’rallen thought quickly, that he would exchange his Valkyrie for any other! Even if she did ruin a few of his shirts and scratch his neck and shoulders now and again…but she didn’t mean to hurt him, and she certainly kept things interesting, even if she wasn’t the demure pet others had. No, he was quite happy with his own green firelizard, he thought, glancing up at the sky above him as though she might have heard his admiration of Brinne’s green, and hoped his other thoughts might rectify any offense.

“She is beautiful,” F’rallen said, his hands in his pockets as he stood in front of his bronze, flashing a smile at Brinne as he looked at the little green with admiring eyes. “She matches your eyes,” He added as the thought suddenly occurred to him, given the close proximity of the little firelizard to Brinne’s sea green eyes. He hadn’t really thought about how the comment would sound, but he just smiled at Brinne as he heard his bronze snort in his mind.

The dragon, however, said nothing – he was rather preoccupied with Elinth, truth be told. He had wondered if she would be there; half hoping she would and half hoping she would have stayed at the weyr. Dacrith was getting all too conscious of the tension between them as neither uttered the first greeting, but he remained silent. If the green wanted a conversation, he justified, she would begin it. Not, he supposed, that she would want it; she had seemed quite put off by their last attempt. Well, perhaps that was a good thing, he thought solemnly, although not without a bit of disappointment that he didn’t want to try to understand.

F’rallen, oblivious to his bronze’s musings, suddenly snapped back to attention as Brinne addressed him again.

“Oh! Your hair, you cut it, right?” He said with a grin. “I’m so glad! I was worried about what could happen during threadfall if it stayed as long as it was…and besides, it looks really nice this way.” His eyes glowed with relief and happiness, although, perhaps, a slight flush of embarrassment as the last words came out of his mouth before he could think about it. It was true, of course, and F’rallen was used to speaking whatever was on his mind. But never before had he had this problem with doing so…

Perhaps his rider’s emotions were rubbing off on him, for Dacrith heaved a mental sigh at last, unable to bear the tension of the silence any longer. Good morning, Elinth. You look well.[/color] His tone was subdued and a bit hesitant, but at least the silence had been breached at last.

[Kitari]

As F'rallen agreed with her, remarking on how beautiful little Damsel was, Brinne nodded sharply, casting her gaze down to the darling creature once more. The flitter was already trying to burrow into Brinne's stomach, clearly intent on sleeping, so the girl tucked her gently into the crook of her arm. Duke gave a huffy warble from Elinth's back, not nearly as impressed as the girl and dragon by this new addition to their team. Who would tend to him if his suddenly had eyes only for that silly green!

All of this flitter business flew like a spooked wherry from her mind at F'rallen's next comment, however. A match for her eyes? Those very eyes raised slowly to meet F'rallen's, drawn instantly away from the sleeping green. It was very unusual for F'rallen to notice such a thing. An odd compliment that, even more oddly, had Brinne's stomach fluttering slightly. A moment later, she stood up with a wide grin. What a sweet friend she had! F'rallen was too adorable for words. What an innocent boy.

"You are too sweet, F'rallen," Brinne beamed, giving voice to her thoughts. "How perfect she is!"

His next exclamation wiped the smile right from Brinne's face. Her hair! How could she forget? Oh, this was the reason she'd called him here today! And here she was, all caught up in this new little flitter, and he was probably staring at her and thinking how terrible it looked... Brinne wanted to die!

No, mine, he likes it!

"Oh, he's just saying that, friends have to say that kind of thing!" Brinne burst out, so agitated she forgot to speak in her mind. Snapping her mouth shut, she turned mournfully to Elinth, not wanting to meet F'rallen's gaze for the moment. There, she thought, he's only pleased that I won't get Thread in my hair. Now that's something I would expect from F'rallen.

Because of this inopportune turn, Brinne missed the flush in F'rallen's cheeks that may have warned her otherwise, proof that his words were true. Instead, the girl felt miserable. She reached up her free hand to tug at the ends of a lock, drawing it forward to gaze at the cruelly severed strands. Her flaming red hair looked like it had lost its lustre; the fire was gone, and nothing was left but a limp shock not fit for an ugly drudge.

"I look just awful!" she cried, turning back to F'rallen in despair. Her green flitter stirred slightly but was too exhausted to wake fully, much to Brinne's relief. In a quieter but equally miserable tone, the girl continued, "No bronzerider would ever want...I mean..." Ashamed, Brinne looked quickly away from F'rallen, fixating on his dragon instead. Despite staring directly at him, however, she seemed incapable of realizing that Dacrith himself was bronze. All she could think about was how pathetic she was in this moment, and how terrible it was to share it with F'rallen. It was no secret amongst most men at the Weyr that Brinne would flirt with any man in power to try and secure herself a little more comfortable state of affairs. Although that need had diminished with Impressing Elinth, old habits die hard, and the urgency had been growing in the girl again.

But F'rallen was so young, sweet, and innocent. He was scarcely more aware of boys being different from girls than he was of the cruel truths of the world, the fact that girls sometimes had to do things they didn't really want to in order to advance themselves...

Attempting to salvage herself, Brinne quickly wiped the moisture from her eyes and fixed her lips in a faint smile. "Thank you for bringing her to me, F'rallen. And thank you for being so kind. I really shouldn't be so vain. At least I didn't have to shave all of it off, right?" Brinne forced a weak laugh at that, trying desperately to distract him from her moment of weakness. "Really, I'm sure I'll get used to it. It just might take a while. But it isn't hideous, right?"

Elinth was very caught up in her rider's emotional turmoil, and the green dragon had even lowered her nose to snuffle at the back of Brinne's neck to reassure her own. She didn't understand this mess about cutting hair. Dragons didn't have hair, of course, but Elinth supposed that if someone were to shorten her wings, she wouldn't like that very much. But this one, Dacrith's, could always make hers feel better.

That sparked an idea. Mine hurts and is afraid of what the others will think and say about her. Will you protect her, F'rallen? Elinth spoke privately to the bronzerider, not wanting Brinne to catch wind of this. Although the green was very certain this was a good idea, for Brinne trusted him utterly, she knew the girl might be distressed by her sharing such things.

Thus, Elinth had entirely forgotten about Dacrith (or perhaps she'd even been trying to block him out...) when he spoke to her. The green raised her head abruptly, almost taking out Brinne in the process, and her eyes began to whirl more quickly. Fine then, if he wanted a cordial greeting, she could give him that much. Dacrith, Elinth replied, just the right amount of coolness in her tone, when his greeting continued with a compliment. Now that was unexpected. Oh! was all she said, staring at him. In a move very unlike Elinth, she forgot about her rider for a moment. ...Thank you.

Then, forcing herself to return his slight show of kindness in some way, she continued, And how have you and yours been? It must just be that Dacrith felt obliged to grant her some semblance of a conversation, since theirs were obviously close friends. Or perhaps he was even a little sensitive to the plight of hers. If nothing else, Dacrith could be quite proper about such things. There was no way he would continue this more than a few sentences, so she really needn't worry.

[Shikai]

F’rallen’s smile fell as Brinne’s demeanor changed abruptly, and it was all he could do not to shrink back in surprise at how upset she suddenly became. Just a moment ago she had been happily stroking her newborn firelizard, and now look! And somehow, it was all his fault.

What had he done wrong? F’rallen frantically tried to think back to what he had said, what part of what he had believed to be a compliment he meant, as with most things he said, with all his heart. He had never been one to lie. Granted, he wasn’t really a judge of hair, and tended to think it all looked fine – even the worst hair days he had seen in others he would not call awful. But Brinne was somehow a different case; her hair, he had come to notice, was altogether more lovely, more noticeable. Although he couldn’t really say why only hers and no one else’s.

F’rallen’s looked almost stung as Brinne snapped a comment that was obviously not intended for his ears. He had been quite genuine in what he had said, and was a bit hurt that Brinne would be so quick to assume he had been lying to her. Even if it was a well meant lie. Because if that’s what she thought of him, then nothing he could say would change her mind, would it? If she had convinced herself that he was only trying to tell her what she wanted to hear, how could he ever prove to her that he meant what he said? Yet as he watched her look at the shortened strands in despair, his expression softened from panic to sadness and worry. She wasn’t mad at him, just…very upset, from the looks of it. And he had only made the situation worse, though he couldn’t say how.

“You could never look awful,” He said immediately, meeting her eyes with honesty. He hated to see her so miserable, especially when he thought she looked…well, as lovely as ever, and couldn’t imagine anyone thinking she now looked awful. How could anyone think that about Brinne? But even if her hair did look terrible, which it didn’t, why would that be such a cause for upset? Well, girls were funny about their appearances, or at least his sisters had been, though he had never really understood it.

Oh. Bronzeriders? Brinne seemed to spend more time with them than most, although the reason why didn’t quite hit him. He always figured bronzeriders tended to be the more dashing, brave, leader types that girls loved to fawn over. Naturally that’s the kind of person Brinne deserved to be with…but then why was thinking about that so upsetting? Nonetheless, in an attempt to cheer her up, he looked at her and spoke again.

“Vicroth’s rider seemed to like you. I’m sure a simple haircut wouldn’t change that,” He said softly, looking away. Brinne, it seemed, was not the only one oblivious to the fact that F’rallen was a bronzerider.

Brinne seemed to be cheering up, or at least trying to, but before F’rallen could say anything, an unfamiliar, feminine voice graced his mind. Who…oh! His eyes flicked to the green dragon in wonder, although sensing, somehow, that the message was private, he tried to look as though nothing had happened.

Afraid? She has nothing to be afraid of…no one could think badly of Brinne. But…of course! She is my best friend, after all.

Despite still feeling more than a bit melancholy, F’rallen put his best cheerful smile on for Brinne as she finally wiped her eyes and attempted to cheer up.

“Not hideous in the least! I really mean it, it looks very nice. It’s…refreshing! That’s what my foster sisters used to say. They would cut their hair from very long to a lot shorter than yours is, just on a whim and saying it was nice to change it up a bit from time to time. And the boys they talked to never minded in the slightest. Actually hung around more often.” The way F’rallen said it made it clear it made no sense to him, but that wasn’t important. He frowned to himself as another thought struck him, looking a little distant for a moment. “I wonder what they look like now.” It seemed rather strange to think that somewhere, hundreds of turns from when he was, the sisters he had grown up with were carrying on normal lives. It was more than a bit lonely, but he had Dacrith and Brinne, after all. F’rallen was not one to dwell on such things.

Dacrith surely would have reminded his that he was, in fact, a bronze, making F’rallen a bronzerider just like Brinne spoke of, had he been paying attention. He was, really, but he was more than a bit preoccupied with Elinth as she returned his greeting with a terser one of her own. Well, that was to be expected, she hardly seemed to like him…oh? She seemed more surprised than anything at his cordial compliment, which made him wonder for a moment if such a statement had been out of line. No, no, it was a proper greeting…and quite true. Well, he thought quickly, not that that meant anything. He simply meant she was in good health and that was good, was all.

He was quiet for a moment as she continued the conversation, haughty barrier seeming to drop a bit as she inquired after him and his rider’s state. Was that a good thing or a bad one? Well…he admitted, after a long moment, his rider and hers were obviously good friends, and thus, he and the gr-…Elinth, were going to be seeing more of each other. It would be well if they could at least tolerate each others’ presence. It was a trifle difficult for Dacrith to be chatty with anyone, and let his own defenses down that far. Harder with Elinth more than others. But as continuing to be aloof only seemed to upset her and create tension…he supposed, for his rider’s sake if nothing else, that he must try.

We have been well. I hope it has been the same for you, although I am sorry to see yours so distressed…mine is also. They are quite close, I take it, although mine does not seem to realize it half the time.[/color] The bronze said, a bit haughty at the last part perhaps, but there was a sort of affection beneath the cool words that made it obvious that while his seemed hopeless at times, Dacrith wouldn’t have it any other way. F’rallen was F’rallen. Dacrith immediately fell silent after talking, wondering, perhaps, if he had said quite too much too soon. His rider’s troubles were well felt by the bronze, and, well…he hardly had anyone else he could talk to of them or who could hope to understand. It was weighing on his mind greatly, and it showed.

[Kitari]

As F'rallen's eyes met hers, utmost sincerity in their brown depths, Brinne felt her stomach wrench with guilt. It wasn't fair of her to treat her friend this way; she had asked him to come here so that he could reassure her, and he was doing just that. F'rallen was always dependable that way...it was what made him such a wonderful friend. And he was such a genuine person by nature, Brinne truly doubted that he could lie about anything, even to make a person feel better. After all, his words seemed to come out without thought on most occasions, and lying required some planning.

As she gazed up at him with (annoyingly) still-watery eyes, nodding to his assurance that she could never look awful and that Fallen seemed to like her, Brinne was overwhelmed once again by F'rallen's innocent kindness. It made her think about how furious she would be if anyone ever threatened that innocence... F'rallen was a rare individual, indeed, and he deserved better from her.

"He really did like me, didn't he?" Brinne murmured, thinking back to the Hatching Feast so long ago. Altough the new bronzerider had been slow to warm up, he had certainly appreciated her wit and flair, and his eyes had hardly left her. Yes, there was still hope there. A haircut couldn't destroy everything she had worked towards!

When F'rallen then began to assure her that her new look was 'refreshing', Brinne actually started to smile. She was amused by his effort if nothing else, for he really was doing everything he could to cheer her up. Absorbed in her own plight as she was, however, the young lady entirely missed the melancholy note in his voice as he wondered aloud about his sisters. After all, it wasn't like Brinne to be sensitive to other people's emotions.

"Oh, F'rallen!" she cried, finally bursting out of her gloom. "Thank you...I'm so lucky to have you as a friend." And with that, Brinne threw herself forward and wrapped an arm around her friend, though the other was cradling her new fire lizard and she had sense enough not to let the little creature be squashed. "I'm just over-reacting, I'm sure of it. I've just had long hair for so long, it almost feels like a part of me is missing now! Silly, I know. A person really shouldn't define themselves by something as vain as their hair." She sniffed a little, still hugging F'rallen tightly.

Finally, she stepped back, smile broadening. "Really, it's not like I lost an arm. And maybe over the winter I can let it grow in a bit, since there's no Thread then." Brinne reached up to run a hand through her shoulder-length locks, tucking a strand behind her ear. "I'm okay, really. I just needed a moment to vent, I think. I'm sorry you had to see that."

Elinth had been listening closely to this entire exchange, 'hearing' her rider's emotions as clearly as her words. The green was quite relieved to see Brinne cheering up, though she still didn't quite understand why her rider had been so distressed about what others would think of her. Dacrith's certainly seemed to like Brinne, regardless of the length of her hair, and other young men enjoyed her company as well.

F'rallen's thoughts had come through to her as well, since she'd been listening for a response to her plea, and Elinth enveloped him in a grateful wave of warmth. Thank you! I knew that if anyone could help her, it would be you. And people have been cruel to mine in the past, she's told me so. She's very afraid it might happen again. Elinth didn't expand on what 'it' was, for she didn't really know much about it herself, and she supposed that Brinne would share with both of them when she was ready.

Absorbed as she was in addressing Dacrith's rider, Elinth was rather surprised to realize that Dacrith himself was still speaking to her. The green had half-expected a curt rejoinder to her polite query and then a subsidence into silence, however, the bronze dragon seemed unusually...conversational today. Thank you for your concern, she replied. Her tone lacked its usual coolness, for she was sincere in her appreciation. Humans can be funny like that, sometimes. What seems so clear to us can be, surprisingly enough, a mystery for them. Elinth found herself unexpectedly drawn into the discussion, for she'd never voiced her thoughts on such things before. Usually, her only companion was Brinne, and it was rather difficult discussing the strangeness of humans with...a human.

[Shikai]

F’rallen felt a strange twinge of melancholy as Brinne reflected on what he had said about F’len – or no, Fallen? Strange, but F’rallen was hardly one to judge others’ preferences for such things. He struggled to keep the smile on his face, and hopefully Brinne would not notice that it looked a little pained. F’rallen chided himself for how he was feeling; it was ridiculous really, and not at all fair to Brinne. She was feeling better, he ought to be glad! What did the means matter if his friend was cheered up?

But any lingering suppressed sadness on his face vanished as Brinne told him of her gratitude. She was glad he was her friend, what more could he ask for? He wasn’t, however, expecting her to fling herself at him in a hug. F’rallen froze in surprise, but as the momentary shock wore off, he tentatively wrapped his arms around Brinne in a much more delicate hug than she had on him, mindful of the baby firelizard in her other arm.

“Well now missy, ah reckon it must be a change fer sure. But don’t fret now, it ain’t a bad one at all! You look every bit as fine as before. In fact, ah hardly even noticed at first.”

He let his arms fall as she withdrew from him, flashing her a reassuring smile.

“Not a problem, sister. I’m just glad tuh’ve been of some help t’ya.”

F’rallen had a hard time not letting his face betray his surprise as the green’s voice drifted into his head again. He listened, not that he had a choice, although he began to feel an unease that unintentionally reflected in his face ever so slightly. He could hardly ignore the green (and besides, that would be rude), but although he couldn’t say why, he felt guilty for talking to Elinth without Brinne’s knowledge. He was almost tempted to be honest and mention something to Brinne about it, but as he felt the wave of warmth and gratitude wash over him from a dragon that was not his own, he knew that was no more of a possibility. That would be a betrayal of the green dragon confiding in him, would it not? And to betray Elinth was to betray Brinne.

Nonetheless, he thought back to the dragon without thinking. Cruel? He repeated, immensely troubled by the notion, and that, if nothing else, surely showed in his face. It, too, was worrying, but F’rallen quashed his curiosity and did not inquire about it. He would not be able to live with himself if he asked Elinth about Brinne’s secrets. If there was anything she wanted to tell him, F’rallen reasoned, she would. And he would simply have to be content with that.

Dacrith lifted his head, turning it toward Elinth as she spoke to him. He was strangely unsettled as she talked to him with little hint of the usual coolness they bore toward each other, finding it somehow…charming. The realization was almost enough to make Dacrith halt the conversation in its tracks, to force their relationship back to the status quo, but he let out a private mental sigh as his eyes wandered between his, Brinne, and back to Elinth. Perhaps it was what he should do, but Dacrith simply could not.

That is true indeed. They tend to fancy themselves our caretakers, but from my experience, it is we who must care for them just as much. [/color]