Logs:Intrawing Relations
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| RL Date: 18 May, 2013 |
| Who: Telavi, K'zin |
| Involves: High Reaches Weyr |
| Type: Log |
| What: Telavi seeks to understand and better intrawing relations. (Also known as tactfully getting K'zin to dish about his side of the whole Sabs'ren thing.) |
| Where: Rasavyth's Ledge and Questionably Painted Weyr (K'zin's), High Reaches Weyr |
| When: Day 25, Month 10, Turn 31 (Interval 10) |
| Mentions: Sabella/Mentions, E'sren/Mentions, N'ky/Mentions, Meara/Mentions, Quinlys/Mentions, I'zech/Mentions, Quielle/Mentions |
| OOC Notes: Very back-dated. Played over gdocs. |
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| Rasavyth's Ledge, High Reaches Weyr What a spectacular weyr! Its large ledge boasts a pair of perfect hollows, room enough for a pair of bronzes, and just inside the entrance are a series of shelves cut into the stone, ideal for displaying small knickknacks and keeping everything organized. Questionably Painted Weyr At the back of the weyr the cavern branches into two good-sized back rooms with a double-sided fireplace occupying the wall they share. The weyr even comes already decorated. It has an ornately carved bed and press in both of the rooms; the front area offers a polished rectangular table and six matching chairs, a set-up perfect for entertaining. Rugs are scattered across the floor, their colors bright and cheery to match the walls. But oh, those walls! Some artistic hand has painted mural on every wall, filled with bright colors and bordered by mixed fruits and vegetables. The mildest murals are filled with exuberant scenes of dancing people, but most of them are of a more... questionable nature. They're certainly not the sort of thing any concerned parent would want their children to see, though they give the weyr a definite party atmosphere.
On the nights when they study together, K'zin makes an effort to get up to his weyr sooner rather than later. Depending on the difficulty of the material, K'zin sometimes needs to take it to Rasavyth's couch, but Tela should be used to that by now. Poor, pretty K'zin. He's not the brains of this outfit. But at least he knows it. So tonight he's skipped the extra study time in the training cavern in favor of heading up after running an errand after dinner. He enters the inner weyr once Rasavyth has warbled a pleasant, warm greeting to Solith. He seems to be in quite a good mood. "Tela, hey!" K'zin calls as he comes in, bag over his shoulder and thermos of what must be klah in one hand. He takes the bag to the table, pulling out a smaller satchel of something he dumps into a clean plate left on it's glossy top: dessert. Berry tarts. That plate and the klah are brought with him over to the the rug and he slides them in front of the greenrider. "What's on the agenda?" he asks before leaning in to try to claim a greeting kiss. "Hello!" is her response, bright enough, but then he's smiling and there are berry tarts. And also, 'agenda.' And a kiss, which she returns with more fervency than usual for such greetings, though not precisely with heat, her hand catching briefly at the back of his head before she sits back against the wall. "I should have been copying meeting notes," Tela says, not just copying in a fair hand but clarifying, shaping the back-and-forth discussions and more often arguments into a more cohesive whole. "But..." She's eyeing the tarts, and rather wistfully at that. "I think we should have dessert first." Life's too short, they say. K'zin is always (well, almost always) receptive to extra fervency when it comes to the physical things in life. It's returned in kind, though she's lucky it doesn't last much longer, as he's prone to distraction. He smiles at her when she lets him go, and then comes out of his crouch. "Can always copy it after dessert." He agrees. "Lemmie get out of these sharding leathers." Up he gets, and as he's crossing to the bedroom, layers are peeling away. This isn't an invitation, really, since he calls, "Want me to get my notes to merge in or-- wait til later?" That's a question of how long does she think dessert will take, and is there dessert to go with dessert? He returns quickly enough, settling back onto the rug (notes in hand if she asked him to grab them), in sleep pants but shirtless. This is nothing new, though he has learned to keep a shirt nearby in case his prettiness becomes too overwhelming for her to concentrate. (Ha.) Tela watches him in retreat, and takes a deep breath, and holds it, and then holds it some more, until there's a question that needs answering. "Why not get them, even if we don't use them right off," she calls back. She's sliding the tarts one to where it will be easy for him to reach when he returns, keeping one for herself, and when he does return gives him another quick smile. "You're in a good mood. It sounds like he is too? Anything in particular?" Shirts, also convenient for stealing! "Mmmmmm-" The sound draws itself out as K'zin visibly mulls over the contents of his day and then gives a shrug. "Dunno. Ras's been in a good mood all day. It's contagious I guess." He grins at the greenrider, setting the notes aside in favor of reaching down to pick up the tart she so thoughtfully nudged toward him. "Could be that a certain beautiful greenrider decided we ought to get in some study time tonight. Which might mean I mightn't be sleeping alone tonight. That's a pretty good reason to smile, even if it's only a chance." Why does he have to make this so difficult? A good mood, and yes a compliment but more so what's around it, and berry tarts... and that grin. In the end Tela can't help but smile back at him. "Past experience suggests the chance is ever so slight, too," she says, tongue in cheek. She presses her fingertips to the edge of the pressed-in crust, but rather than eat right away, "K'zin? I'd appreciate your help." She's had time to think about this, during shadow-rides and elevator duty and when she can't sleep... and when she can't wake up. K'zin's is already three-quarters gone by the time she's done speaking. It's not even the fastest she's ever seen him eat. He's got a big mouth, though, so it's hardly surprising. The tarts aren't so large. His brows are rising as he shoves the last quarter into his mouth, cheeks poofed out while he chews. He holds up a finger to ask for a moment. At least he's gotten better about talking at her with his mouth full thanks to the scolding reminder of one of the other greenriding weyrlings whenever he's sharing a table with her at lunch. He reaches for the thermos and unscrews the lid, taking a gulp before asking, "Sure, of course. With what?" Commit first, ask questions second. There's a little flinch in his eyes, which is surely Ras correcting the order those things should be in. "How can I help?" He phrases it differently then, surely another 'silent suggestion'. It's funny how the mega-chewing-action K'zin is even more entertaining when not privy to the details of his mastication, or even the odd flying crumb... especially with the leisure to sit back and enjoy it, instead of being in the sort of hurry that requires wolfing down one's own meal and probably engaging in all manner of impolite manners oneself. Just now Tela has to battle a grin to eat in as tidy a fashion as she can manage, one-handed, and while she doesn't precisely flinch at spotting his and the change in his phrasing, the timing is convenient to drop her gaze to her next bite. She takes the time to appreciate it, too, before she looks up and before she speaks. "How do you think we can get along better, now that it's the four of us? It's been hard lately... harder." Put quietly like that, the question could seem so simple, especially with those luminous eyes. "You mean with E'sren and Sabella? Because E'sren thinks I'm some kind of villain and that Sabs is some kind of maiden in need of protection from my active attempts to not be a complete twat-waffle as a friend?" That's right. Twat-waffle. K'zin's words have obviously not been Ras-polished this time. "I dunno, Tela. I've been acting normal, like I wasn't a great, big, giant, idiot jerk man-boy as a friend to Sabs after I turned myself in for drinking and kissing her when it was against the rules ever since she asked me to last month." On that fateful day. "I told E'sren I wasn't going anywhere. I told Sabs she needed to tell me if she wanted me to leave her alone, because I would if that's what she wanted, even though it wasn't what I wanted. But she didn't. She told me to act normal. And to stop being so helpful." All of this is delivered matter-of-factly. "So things are weird. It's my fault probably. And E'sren's probably." Not that anyone's been anything less than professional and polite, of course. "But it didn't make sense to me that the answer of how to be a better friend after accidentally abandoning a friend was to abandon her again just because her boyfriend didn't like that she was upset. Does he think I like that she is? Nevermind, he probably does." There's some exasperation now as he answers his own question and frowns. "Sorry. This isn't what you meant, is it. Let me try again..." He now purses his lips as he tries to sort out what answers she did want and how to deliver them to her. Twat-waffle. Would Tela ever forgive herself if she actually said that out loud, instead of that silent repetition? She's begun to bite her lip after that, to the point that it pales beneath the press of her teeth, but otherwise she stays quite still and silent as though her knees and feet and elbows, even, were pinned through the rug and into solid rock. Finally she breaks her silence, if not its hold. "They'd say, wouldn't they... well, Meara anyway," maybe not Quinlys, maybe definitely not I'zech, "to leave fault out of it, for now?" Fault, and those other things he's said to have said. "It seems so... tense. I'd really, really like it not to be that way." She hesitates. "She told me not to try and 'save' Quielle, so at least that's consistent," her voice lifting into what, in the end, determinedly lowers so it can not, will not be a question. K'zin listens as she speaks, interrupting his thinking time to give her his full attention. The the whole track the thoughts were on is derailed anyway. "Well, I fucked things up. I did that. More than once. I'm a fuck-up sometimes. I try to fix it when I know I have. Only, it seems like trying to fix it just leads to me fucking something else up or fucking the original thing up worse." That might be a little excessive in his use of the f-word but it probably stems from the half of the feeling that isn't matter of fact, the half of the feeling that is lost and frustrated. "The answer is never the answer anymore. Life got too complicated for that. I have to look for what the next answer is to know what the answer is now, and the one beyond that and the one beyond that. It's like playing sharding dragonchess." Which he plays far too much of with a certain insistent lifemate. "So what do you think I should do? I don't see a way for anything to become less tense. It's like I told E'sren, there's no easy out. I can't promise there won't be more tears. From Sabs or from me. Even if I just stopped. Stopped trying to be her friend, stopped trying to un-idiot my idiocy, there'd be tears. Do you have an answer? I sure as shells don't." More exasperation. No anger, but frustration and weariness.He's not frustrated with Tela, just the situation, and those brown eyes are looking to her, welcoming answers. All the while, he hasn't moved from where he's sitting. He's not exactly relaxed, but his body remains relatively untensed. She asked him for help with the situation; he's willing, he just doesn't know how, so this is troubleshooting. Rarely troubled by swearing, though Telavi doesn't often indulge herself, just now she might not even notice. Sometimes, single syllables are what it's all about. Cautiously she rubs one elbow, and that stretches it enough that she can rub the other, and free that too: long enough to reach for the thermos and drink from it, too. She doesn't so much as look for a cup, they've shared more than that particular lip. Which doesn't stop her from being conservative now, though it takes her a while. "You've heard the saying plenty of times, when what you have is a hammer, everything starts to look like a nail?" Her brows tuck in momentarily, to underscore that that is not a pun. "I don't know that there's an easy fix either. But I don't think it's not fixable, it's just that it's more... how we go about doing things instead of one big smack. With Quie, for me," but here Tela pauses, both to give him a chance to talk or question or anything, but also to offer the thermos back, some sort of good-faith offering. He gets quiet as she speaks. Very, very quiet. And still. It's more than just a matter of noise, it's a matter of manner. K'zin's breathing becomes purposefully even and calming, his expression, which is usually so open, wholly unreadable. When she offers the thermos, he reaches to accept it. Perhaps it's figurative significance is lost on him. He takes the lid and screws it back on, setting it to the side within easy reach. "Telavi," He pauses looking down. "You've heard the saying don't ask questions you don't want answers to, right?" His eyes flick up, "I'm asking. Who do you think I am? What do you see when you look at me? I know what Sabs sees. I know what E'sren sees. What do you see?" Then silence, his brown gaze intense and weighted as he looks at her face. It's that unreadability that alerts her, even before he speaks, and the pins are back. The thermos might have flown itself between for all the attention she pays it. It's work for Telavi not to pin her expression down too, or rather, not to baste a social facade into place to move and smile and even look seriously attentive while, behind it, she could more freely think and feel. That facade's lack makes it work, in a different way, not to interject or argue or distract. It's work that she attempts. The serious attention is there now, and wholly genuine, but it also means that he can see the flicker of her lashes, what Sabs sees, that isn't present for E'sren. "You know my strength isn't a quick short answer, not about something like this," she says after a long moment, right to him. It's not distance and wind direction and formation and stamina, or not exactly; it's not numbers to calculate. A wingleader meeting, by now, may be more easily described. "I'll try to find words. I know I don't see everything." She leans back enough to put her shoulders to the wall, though her arms don't fold, they're still pinned. Unless he interrupts her sooner, "I believe... I see a man who seeks to do right by people, who's generous and passionate about what he does, who puts so much energy into all of that that, sometimes, I worry for him. I believe I see," and the way she says it, it's like believe in, "a man who cares a great deal, someone to whom people matter, someone with an admirable appetite for learning and then putting that into action." She stops with that. She's looking at him every bit as searchingly as he's looking at her. "But is that what you see?" He watches, he listens. Telavi has K'zin's complete attention and he doesn't interrupt. He doesn't even look like he wants to. Finally when she asks him the question, the neutral face fades into one that just looks exhausted, and his shoulders droop. "Yes," is the simple answer. "I see more things. But I am-- I try to be all of those things." Then he opens his arms, a silent request for her to join him, to be drawn into his arms, into his lap. It's not a demand or any expectation, just-- a desire for closeness after that moment of tension. Seeing that, hearing that, her expression can't help but change with weary empathy, weary with more than the determination to voice only the truths that might help this day. Try. Tela doesn't move before K'zin does, and when she does, it's no quick and supple gesture to pry out those pins one by one and remind her limbs to loosen. This deck she can clear, setting aside what's left of her lovely berry tart and moving the thermos further away before, at last, coming to him. Very softly, when she's finally where he's asked her to be, "More complicated than a couple of sentences, most definitely." Though she must see more too, just now she doesn't, mustn't say. She tucks her arms around him too, and there's room for his head on her shoulder, and turned to him that way, she's slipped into quietness. It's only later that she holds him tighter, with something like fierceness for just that moment. She can feel his nod to her words as his head does, immediately, find its way to resting against her shoulder, his breath tickling lightly on her skin. His strong arms encircle her, pulling her close, but not uncomfortably tight against him. "I'm not a bad person. I'm a good person that has some bad moments. Just like everybody else. I don't think I think there is such a thing as a bad person. People make different choices, and that should be ok, right? Like, it's fine with me-- great with me even-- that Sabs and E'sren are together and exclusive or whatever he meant by him being 'the man in her life'. That's great. I'm not trying to muscle in on that. I'm just trying not to be a jerk the same way that I was a jerk to Sabs before. Trying to learn my lesson. Why does it even matter to him if I kiss different girls if no one's getting hurt? I mean, you wouldn't want it to be different, would you? You're not hurt, are you?" K'zin lifts his head then to tilt his face to read Telavi's as he asks the question, concern edging his eyes. Obviously, some of the things E'sren said did get to him. "Is it ok for me to be this way?" That is asked very softly, a question he struggles with, always. "Of course it is. Of course It's okay," and Telavi may not think it through as well as she could but that's what compels her to reply, what she's compelled to reply. Whatever troubled quality she'd let him see in those big bluish eyes may have increased, for him, but now she also lets him see it recede into the beginnings of a smile. She leans to rub her cheek against his before settling again. "Don't worry about me there. I won't say there haven't been times that I've been inclined towards K'zin-...time and had to make do, since it turns out that you aren't necessarily interchangeable with any old person... does that surprise you? ...which may have been tragic, but I managed to survive somehow." She can't seem to help being tongue in cheek, but it's softly, warmly said. Less so, "About E'sren," but experience reminds her to make certain before continuing to backtrack. K'zin does actually look a touch surprised at her words, brows rising a little, and he confirms it by saying aloud, "Well... yeah, it does. Sorta. I mean, it's good, I think. Because you're not exactly like anyone else either. So I guess... I guess it's nice that it's sort of a two-way thing?" He chews his lower lip a moment. "Sorry I wasn't-- available for you? I guess that's what I want to say." The bronzerider doesn't look entirely certain, really. Then she's bringing up the bluerider again and his lips pull down into a little frown and he takes a breath against her, head tilting to lie on her shoulder, breathing in the scent of her. "Tell me what you want me to do and I'll do it." He volunteers quietly, with genuine resolve. The greenrider looks a little dubious herself, though by the better-humored purse of her lips, evidently chooses to be entertained rather than otherwise. "Quite all right." Even more breezily, "Really, even 'identical' twins aren't exactly like anyone else either," said as though she'd know. But the rest must be more important, fixing this has got to be more important... and when K'zin lays that much of the weight down, even if it's just resting his head, she can't seem to help but slide one hand across his shoulders, a slow stroke from one to the other and back. But it's not just that, not with the request that followed. Not with the request that's so different from that rephrasing of before. "Try to imagine what it might be like for him, for her," though she doesn't say them. "I think I have a notion of how to explain it, for her anyway, some of it. Maybe even for him. But first... even if you feel baited, or defensive, then be peaceable, don't rise to it. Go along, get along, and don't close up either, I know it's hard." Know. She's none too good at it herself, even when she does try. "Don't try to do something to fix it, K'zin? Do... be 'open to possibility,' sort of, I know it sounds like something sort of woo-woo auntiebabble, but still. Think of someone's door, where if you try and shove it open, they'll just latch it that much tighter, but if you don't, and you don't lurk even, it eases up after a while." It isn't just Ghislaith. "And, I guess, do what you need to do for yourself but don't write either of them off. Please?" That last might just be her, imploring. There's a heavy sigh. "That's what I've been doing. This whole month, Tela. I've just acted normal. It's exactly what Sabs asked me to do in the stores. What I told her I would do. And what I told E'sren I would do right after that. All I did other than was ask her not to write me off. Ask her not to abandon me just because I'm a fuck-up." Then he cringes a little. There are whispered reminders that are not heard except by him - Rasavyth, keeping him honest in this moment. "Maybe I didn't so much ask her not to, well, I did, but only after I sort of-" Totally did. "-accused her of doing it now that I fucked up so bad." He buries his face against Tela's skin. "I'm a sharding idiot, Tela. I'm--" He starts to try to extricate himself from beneath her, the look in his face telling that he doesn't feel worthy of this comfort; in fact, telling that he's not sure he feels worthy of anything. Then, of course, there's the glitter of tears. Obviously, Sabs isn't the only one who's cried over this whole angsty mess. "But..." Accused her. Tela's is an audible, gusty sigh, worthy of Solith herself. Not that she's exactly helping with the extricating part, linking her arms behind his neck and continuing to sit like that, but then, she isn't checking out the tears, either. "Running off. Don't run off." Yet. "It sure didn't seem normal." Now she eyes him, tears and all. "Was that when she cried?" Still not with the letting go. Yet. Thankfully, he's not sobbing. But the tears have escaped their lashy prisons and are running on down his cheeks. They're left to run because he's busy trying to extricate himself, but when she tells him not to run off, he freezes, turning his eyes toward her. His look is momentarily the scared look of one much younger than he who knows they've messed up and just wants to hide under the covers until a parent's rage has passed. "She didn't cry in front of me. E'sren told me she cried, but she just-- told me I wasn't being fair and that she'd already told me what she needed, and then she told me she had to go study and left. And I let her because she told me what she needed and it wasn't for me to chase her down and force everything to be alright." At least he listened to that part. "It was Rasavyth that decided to tell Ghislaith that E'sren came to talk to me." There's reproach and the hints of anger not yet put to bed as he says his lifemate's name. "I wasn't going to say anything. There was enough stupid stuff happening already. I was going to apologize to Sabs for it," Not E'sren, "But I thought it'd turn out awkward, so I just let it go. I've been trying to let it all go so things will be normal, how she wants," Actually, for someone not anticipating getting laid by the greenrider in question, K'zin does seem to be going to a significant amount of effort to abide by Sabella's wishes. A significant amount of effort: possibly even like what one might do for a friend! Telavi, also not so much with the parental ambitions, to the point that even that glimpse leaves her visibly uncomfortable... if also, for a moment behind that, just as visibly intent. But then she's still sitting, but also reaching for that shirt he'd conveniently stashed, not that she's going to dab his eyes for him. Offer him a carefully-selected sleeve and privately abhor the waste, though, yes. "She'd be pissed if she knew you knew," this greenrider says of her friend. "Or... knows, depending on what exactly he said," and she doesn't sound any too pleased with the tattling either. In so many words, "I think it was smart of you to have planned not to say anything. And critical not to force. The thing is..." She stops. Instead, in a lower voice that verges on hesitation, "We talk about a lot of things, but not so much you, not in detail the same way." "I'm not planning on telling her anything. I was pissed that Ras said anything." Each word is stressed individually as he takes the shirt offered him to press against his face. While it's held there, K'zin takes a deep breath and lets it out, staunching any further tears. "What's between she and E'sren is between she and E'sren. None of my business." The bronzerider seeks her eyes now, question quiet, "Why not? I mean... I don't talk about you. With anyone. But I know why I don't. You and Sabs are close. So why not talk about me? Not that you have to. I'm just sort of... curious - why not." "I know. I'm sorry Rasavyth made it harder. And E'sren, all right, not your business... except for why he maybe was in your face, even on top of us all being friends." In your face, and Tela frees a hand to gently brush away any of the dark strands of hair that might have stuck to his salt-sticky face, and then threads her hand deeper into his hair just because she likes to. It's not getting to why not yet, but in the meantime she meets his eyes. "If it weren't you... I'd be half tickled that he can lose it like the rest of us." Those were her dimples, right there before they disappeared. "You know she likes to handle things herself, K'zin, and how it was hard for you to see her hurting and not try to fix it, so frustrating? At least we know more where we're at. He was still figuring that out, so it's messier especially if he's feeling all 'you hurt my woman grr', and if he couldn't fix her... can you see why he'd track you down instead?" She looks at him so earnestly. "As for talking about you," Tela's smile shows fleetingly again. "I feel like I should give you another chance to talk before I keep on." "He didn't lose it. I didn't lose it. No one lost anything. He told me he'd be in my life if Sabs ever cried because of me again. And I don't want her to cry, ever, because of me or otherwise, but I have no control over whether she's crying or not. All I can do is follow what she's asking of me, and if she wants something different, then she needs to tell me, not have her boyfriend do it." K'zin answers Tela's first words with poorly concealed (but attempted!) frustration. "He basically thinks I'm a jerk for being with different girls. I'm honest. I tell them what's what before I let anything happen. There've been ones that walked away because they weren't interested. I don't press the point. I'm not everyone's cup of tea, but I am honest." He quiets, looking to her expectantly. Where's the answer to the question? Well, that's disappointing. "How," Tela asks, though not as though she expects K'zin to know the answer, "can he stay cool through something like that?" She sighs, heavily. "Also, that rationale's logical. I agree with you, but people aren't always logical," which she doesn't wholly seem to mind. There does get to be a slight furrow to her brow when they get back on the girls, girls, girls theme, but she nods and, right, an answer. "It's not not talking," she points out now that she's back to it. "Not not at all. Just not lots and details and things?" She peeks at him, looking to see if that strikes him oddly at all. "If she were curious... but it's simpler this way." Easier, certainly. "He stood his ground, I stood mine. Everything was fine until Ras opened his big mouth. But it seems like he and Sabs are still doing fine, so at least it didn't mess that up for them." K'zin seems relieved about this. A further testament to his lack of interest in breaking Sabs'ren up or impacting them in any negative way. "I don't want Sabs to cry, for me to make her cry, but I won't give up on our friendship. Unless she tells me to. And she hasn't. So I won't. But that means she might cry again because I fucked up in the past and it's not better yet. It might not ever be better, all the way. All I can do is just keep trying, right?" He looks to her, shifting gears in the conversation. "So you'd tell her all the details if she wanted to know?" It's different than his reason for not talking about her, so there's curiosity here, but not judgment. "Everyone standing his ground doesn't entirely sound like fine," but Telavi murmurs it quietly, without the weight of someone who intends to argue, even if it's also without a self-deprecatory 'to me.' When K'zin checks with her later, what she can say is a more rueful, "The hard part is trying without trying.. Let it be easy, let her relax. And," she leans in, ducking her head to muffle a laugh with his shoulder, "You already know what I think would especially help... Anyway, all the details, no." But she hasn't lifted her head yet, she can be felt to smile. "Not even Sabs. I wouldn't want to tell anyone what you'd want private, for instance. Just how detailed an answer would you enjoy? I might be coming up with part of it on the fly, though, at least how it's put in words. I don't exactly have written up a 'Manifesto of Telavi.' Though if we keep at it..." "It was fine. Not terribly productive, but fine. We're apparently all fine unless Sabella cries again because of me. Then apparently no one will be fine." K'zin answers and there's a certain amount of ruefulness to his tone. He's accepted all of this. He's had a month to process just where things stand between himself, Sabella, and E'sren, and this is how he sees it. "Wait, what do you think would especially help?" Either he missed it or he just doesn't remember; emotional moments do have a way of making things slip away. This is too important to let lie. "I'm just curious, I guess. About what you think of as private, and what kinds of things you think of as things you are alright sharing with people, I mean, good friends not just 'people' Like... Nick asked me a couple of sevens ago what I'd done with girls. And I sort of sidestepped it. I knew there were things I didn't want to share with him, but there might've been things I could say that I'd've wanted to say, if I'd thought it might be okay." The last comes as a little bit of a babble, recognizable by now as K'zin's 'confession' babble, even though it would appear he's done nothing wrong in this instance. "'If Sabs cries again, the whole mountain will cave in on top of us.' Heard and witnessed." Telavi straightens enough to stretch, alternating elbows above her head. "As for especially, surprise, surprise, that would be the 'if you two were able to get along without bristling,' or if not bristling, possibly the 'we are civil, we are so civil, each of us is being more civil than the other one is,' or, 'look, nothing's wrong, nothing at all, we are so normal.'" Tela grins at him, only a little lopsided, and doesn't dwell. Especially not when she gets to ask, "Which things? Might you have? If." K'zin holds up a finger, "If she cries again and it's my fault. Then the cave in." He qualifies, making sure the circumstances are clear, now that she's bearing witness. "What's wrong with being civil?" He complains then with a grumpy look for the greenrider. "Isn't civility a good thing? What do you want? For me to become buddy-buddy with him so we can double-date?" He says this as if it's preposterous, then suddenly narrows his gaze to eye Telavi suspiciously. Then a finger comes up and wags at her. "I asked first. I'll tell after you tell what you would and wouldn't tell Sabs about us- me- whatever." If it's his fault, "Fine." It isn't quite a huff this time, but if K'zin can sound grumpy, Tela can too. In some order. "Just give me warning so I can escape, all right? For Solith's sake." And then she's looking somewhere between astounded and wicked. "I wonder, I really, really wonder just what you would do if I said yes." Telavi lets that sit for a long moment, eyeing K'zin and his ultimatum. Maybe, maybe she won't tell at all. She might even look more wicked, if that's possible. "If I see it coming, I will." The man allows. For Solith's sake. Maybe K'zin doesn't even notice her lack of response for her wondering has set him thinking. After several long moments of silence and unfocused eyes, he looks to try to catch her eyes. His words are then delivered earnestly, "I would try. Is that what you want of me?" He would do it, if she asked. That Solith may be spared! Telavi waits K'zin out, readjusting to sit slightly more tidily, hands folded in her lap, never really quite completing the transition between wicked to dutiful but coming so very, very close. When he finally speaks, when he does catch her eyes, "Would you?" She has to kiss him for it, unusually decorous, lips closed but sweet. "That would probably be asking for trouble," or at least a different sort of trouble, "but it's really nice to know." He returns the kiss, expression serious. "I would." K'zin confirms quietly, a little nod of his head reinforcing his word. "I would do a lot of things if you asked. But not everything you ask. So choose wisely when you choose to ask." Like a genie, though perhaps he'd give her slightly more than only three wishes. "That's why there are things I don't want to share. Because some of it is private. In the same way that I wouldn't tell everyone that I would do a lot of things if you asked. That's between us." In case she was in doubt. Telavi sobers, listening, that barely-earlier mood not having left her entirely but still settled by a certain gravity. "Yes," she agrees. And so K'zin knows, and she says this slowly too as she looks into his eyes, "Maybe it's funny, but I feel like I should try to choose wisely but I don't... have to choose as wisely, I don't have to be as careful, as over-careful because you're saying, I think, that I can count on you to say no if you need to. It's easier, and easier to believe, than 'anything at all.'" K'zin gives a nod, slipping one hand into her lap to lace into her fingers. "Yep. And you know you can say no if you need to, if I ever ask you to do something you're not inclined to do?" He lifts her hand, pulling it up to his mouth. He kisses the back of her hand lightly, sweetly. "It's always okay, you know, to say." "I know." It's not just the kiss that has Tela's fingers curling that little bit more within his. "Good." It's settled then. Perhaps for a time now they can set aside all of the questions of who's ok with whom and just how civil they should be acting for something more pleasant. The kisses continue, and travel. |
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