Logs:I Won Her
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| RL Date: 10 August, 2011 |
| Who: Iolene, Devaki |
| Involves: High Reaches Weyr |
| Type: Log |
| What: Devaki tells Iolene that he's leaving after the hatching. |
| Where: Diving Cliff, High Reaches Weyr |
| When: Day 22, Month 6, Turn 26 (Interval 10) |
| Mentions: Riorde/Mentions |
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| It's minutes before the eggs will hatch. Not that Iolene is aware of this as she hasn't moved at all from her position up on the cliffs from earlier, though Riorde has left to go filch a robe. She sits there, tucked in her usual Io pose of cradling herself by wrapping her arms about her legs and resting her chin on the tops of her knees. She's been there since pre-dawn, through dawn, and now. As an un-candidate candidate, she has no duties today, nor restrictions that keep her closer; not that, as an exile, she can go very far from the Weyr as it is and thus with some freedom but not much of it, Io just does absolutely nothing. A blissful nothing. She might even seem asleep with her eyes closed and the even cadence of her breathing, but there's a lack of that indescribable peace that true rest brings on her thin features. Devaki is prone to wandering when he needs space to think about things -- to get away from people, which isn't easy in a Weyr this size. The diving cliffs are the closest thing to reminding him of home as they can find, since they're landlocked, and thus it should be no surprise the older exile trudges his way up here, firelizard deep asleep, curled into the curve of his arm. By habit rather than intention he is perfectly silent, his approach is undoubtedly still noticed by another exile -- though he stops well short of the edge of the cliff as he sees Iolene huddled there. He rocks back on his heels, staring at her, visibly torn between leaving her to this moment of solitude and seeking to comfort her. Instead, finally, he exhales a question that leaves the decision in her hands, "Io?" In just two syllables, her would-be peace is broken and those eyes open slowly. For a spell, she doesn't look behind her to the owner of that voice she knows all too well, it would even be hard to know that she'd moved from the angle he's approaching her at, until there's a slight shift of her narrow shoulders and a rustle in the lenghthening locks of her blonde hair as she turns and pins a royal blue look upon her... well, half-brother. There's a split second of reproach in that gaze, so quick, that when it disappears it's almost as if it never existed, and its replacement, a slow, inviting smile stretches upward. "Dev." The smile struggles to stay fixed. "I've missed you." Devaki hesitates there. Either he's caught something in her gaze, or something in the shift of her posture that makes him hesitate longer. Another rock back on his heels, another exhalation of breath and, smile or not, he looks... relieved, at her words. "I've missed you, too." He struggles to keep his voice even, and doesn't even try for a smile, instead taking a daring step closer, and another, before falling back onto his heels again. "Are you-- are you okay?" Masterful efforts keep that smile in place, even with the false notes that shine here and there. "I'm..." Oh, to tell the truth and to hurtle herself into his arms and just weep a bit. It's transparent in every shift of her face, every turn of her body, every downward cast of her continually moving eyes as they seek a safer place to latch onto, and failing in that mission, return in a mix of reluctance and yearning to Devaki. "I'm fine. I wasn't for a while. But I'm fine now. I'm- well, you know. Riorde told you, right?" His two steps are noted and slowly she uncurls herself and rises, but doesn't move. Devaki holds his ground, for now, dropping his gaze to the firelizard cradled in his arms, deliberately giving Iolene a moment or two where he's not focused on her, though it's safe to say at least some of her transparent emotions don't go unnoticed by the mindhealer. The 'fine' answer earns a subtle sort of wince from the other islander, and a little nod to acknowledge it -- not like it's the truth, but that he's acknowledging the sentiment behind it. "She did. I'm-- I'll be cheering you from the sidelines. I hope you find what you're looking for. Out there." It's another excuse to look away and he does so, glancing towards the hatching grounds. Two involuntary steps bring her forward and then stop, and then impulsively Iolene completes the distance, unaware up until that last possible moment of the firelizard in his arms. It's just as she's about to throw her arms around him and make him spin her by sheer force, gravity, and the laws of physics if she has to, that she halts mid action, nearly falling over in the process, and blinks, rounded eyes orbed upon the green. "You-, she. She's yours?" Devaki's caught off guard by Iolene's sudden approach, glancing back to find her right /there/, and even though her intention is thrown off, he lifts his free hand to brush at her hair, to draw her in-- all involuntary. The firelizard's curled tight, fast asleep -- undoubtedly thanks to the distorted belly full of food. "I called her Sea," he says, humor finally creeping into his voice, like he's sharing some secret of theirs. "You can touch her, if you like? She won't stir, she's fast asleep." The flinch is all too easy to spot. It shapes her entire lanky frame and takes her half a step away from Devaki before he can complete his touch; before his hand can drift from hair to skin. Never mind she was just about to throw herself at him in an all-encompassing hug. That, that at least was on her terms. Iolene swallows, and eases back into her skin, allowing her arm to lift and her hand to drift to pass knuckles across the sleeping green's distorted belly. Quiet with no words, almost as if her voice might wake the creature even if her touch doesn't. Devaki's good at concealing his emotions, but it'd be impossible for Iolene to miss the reaction to that flinch, the quick flash of anguish that crosses his expression, and the drop of his hand. He's perfectly still as she reaches to touch the firelizard, his expression shifting to something more neutral, a mask of indifference. He's no longer studying her, pale eyes instead drifting past to take in the view, distant. Finally: "I'll be leaving, after the hatching, if they let us. Maybe even if they don't." Sea has a rapt audience, the knuckle rub turning into the back of one finger just gliding itself up along the green's belly to just below her chin. And there it stops as what Devaki says sinks in. Making a vow to not tear up and actually keeping it are two different things and though bent head and loose tangles of hair about her face obscure the welling beneath her eyes, it's not hard to hear it in the swallow and words she offers, "Where would you go?" in lieu of what she'd like to say: Why are you leaving me again? "I don't know yet," and it's hard to tell whether Devaki's being sincere or just plain evasive in that response. "West, maybe, to Tillek, to the sea. I'd like to spend a bit of time at River Bend. And High Reaches Hold." The last has just a hint of subtle emphasis. He's still fixed on the view, pointedly not looking at the girl. Then, finally, "Sea'll be old enough soon, to send messages." When she looks up again, she's blinked away the tears though the remnants remain and she dons another smile for Devaki. "She's really cute. A miniature little sea monster for your pocket." Pern's answer to Pokemon. Iolene hesitates, the smile on her lips freezing for another of those split second tableaus where she seems to be trying to decide what to do. Then, the hand beneath Sea's chin lifts and curves to try and cradle Dev's own chin. "You'll keep in touch? If I don't get a dragon, maybe I can tag along. Later. When it's not so weird." The last brings a more genuine amusement to her expression. It's only when she reaches up to cradle his chin that Devaki finally bestows his gaze on Iolene again. "I will," he promises, relenting under her expression. Really, who can deny Iolene anything, Devaki least of all? He, too, chuckles a little at that last: "It'll be like old times. You tagging along one of our explorations." A beat, and then, "Xoami's standing, did you hear? Make sure you don't kick him in the shins out on the sands." "Or anywhere else." The implications of which are clear and suss more smile out of Iolene. "I promise. I'll even hold his hand so he won't run away." The hand moves, but the fingers linger to the very last second before they drop down to Sea once more. "How did you get her?" "I'm jealous," Devaki says, and there's an expression in his gaze that might hint there's truth behind the casually thrown out words. A moment of hesitation is notable after the question. For her, he considers the truth, then dismisses it, going with the story he's already told others: "I won her, in a raffle. Well, the egg," he clarifies. "Dev," the name interrupts his last statement, though she gets quiet until he finishes and tries again. "Dev?" Instead of responding directly to her question, Devaki says, "Remember how your Grams used to have that saying? That sometimes ignorance was bliss? And that was why she couldn't tell us what happened in the council, even though we were dying to know?" Iolene goes silent, but nods. She remembers. It's also a nod to make him continue, should he have more words. Her fingers tremble against Sea's belly, but no other manifestations of how his words affect her show. "I won her," Devaki merely repeats. Dark eyes lift in that '/I heard you the first time/' sort of way, and it takes Iolene longer, where she's drinking in his features and his face and that hair, before what he means sinks in. Or might mean. There's first enlightenment, then doubt, then a dubious flicker of a glance cast to Sea and then back up again. "You won her," she repeats, quizzicalness lifting her voice at the end, and repeating once more, more certainly, "You won her." She understands in that tightened jaw and that sudden swallow. "Is Xoami excited?" Devaki has, at least, the patience to wait for Iolene's understanding to dawn, then offers a smile at her latter repetition, nodding in firm agreement. He's happy to be distracted by the latter question: "You know how Xoami is. No fear of anything except you- or Ri," he laughs, now, unbidden, and it is probably the first genuine emotion of the evening. A beat, then, "Are you?" His corrected lie found diffidence. His asking about her state of mind breaks one of her barriers and a fleeting look of terror shoots up at the taller man. "No. I'm terrified," is the statement Iolene offers that pretty much matches her expression. "I don't know how I feel if I do get a dragon. I don't know how I feel if I don't. I don't know what I'd do with myself if I don't except...," those dark eyes go distant, glazed in thought as she looks to the sun halfway on its way towards high noon, and all the incoming dragons and the quiet humming that seems to have taken over the Weyr. "I believe you. That the Hold is scared of us for some reason. That the Lord and the Weyrleaders must know something more than they've shared. That we have rights that should be claimed. /I/ have rights that should be claimed. If I don't-. If there's no dragon. If you need me-... If you find something... I don't know what to do with myself here, Dev." His attention is not on the arriving dragons, nor the humming, as distracting as it may be: just her, and her words, her assurances, and her hesitancy, too, earn a sincere smile, his expression reassuring. "If you don't find a dragon, I'll come for you," Devaki promises. "I'll find somewhere for you, with a view of the sea." "Maybe I shouldn't go out there then." Iolene releases the sleeping Sea from the attention of her fingers. "And just wait for you to find some place where I'll belong. I should go." Two statements in direct contradiction with each other, the latter taking precedence. "I told Ri I'd sneak a peek at the lists to see if K'del kept his promise. I... Dev?" "You should." Devaki says, his voice firm and without a trace of doubt. "Go out there, I mean. You.. Io, you'll belong wherever you are. You'll thrive. And I'll always be here to help you, no matter what. Okay?" His hand lifts, again, as if to touch her hair, but this time he halts the gesture himself, dropping his hand back to his side, casting a glance down the hill. "Yes?" Yes yes yes. The way she bobbles her head, it's clear she's not really listening to Dev's speech. He might halt in possibly touching he hair, but she tiptoes up and puts a chaste kiss to his cheek. That those lips want it to be something more is a betrayal of body she can't help. But at least the soft words she says before she's running away, down that steep slope, are heartfelt. "I loved you. Be happy." Iolene is far too fleet of foot to give Devaki time to come up with a response before she's out of hearing. He just stands there, staring after her, mouth open as if trying to get the words out in time and failing. |
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