the Cast:
J'torian, bronze rider, Rising Tide Wing, Igen Weyr
- his bronze Storalinth (affectionately known as wherry, watchwher, etc.)
- his trusty green sidekicks, Veggie and Threadhead

G'mead, blue rider, Rising Tide Wing, Igen Weyr
- his blue "hunk of sapphire" Birtath (affectionately known as slut-boy)
- his vitriolic bronze fire lizard Goldrider

Ralenaya, Igen Weyr Journeyman Healer
- her lovely brown fire lizards, Slip and Shod

Sophynale, Telgar Weyr junior Weyrwoman
- her gold Dulmenith (the notorious "bronzecatcher")
- her obstropolous bronze flitter, Domino

- -

"we hurt the ones we love the most; it's a subtle form of compliment" - Shakespeare's Sister

- -

7 June 1997, early evening

G'mead, sweating from the Igen summer heat and from his fever, lay on his bed, staring in a pouty fashion at the healthy J'torian, who was sitting on the foot of his bed. Veggie and Threadhead were perched on a nearby stool chittering to themselves, while Goldrider was pacing around the weyr floor in a perfect reflection of the irritation G'mead was too weak to express himself.

G'mead: "Do you have to go?"

J'torian leaned forward, causing his dark, sealskin-brown forelocks to get tangled in the long eyelashes framing his amazing, identically colored eyes as he grabbed G'mead's sweaty left hand and lightly kissed it twice. He replied, "Sorry love, but I promised Ralenaya ages ago that I'd take her to Nerat. You know that. And the next few days are the only free days she'll have for a while."

G'mead's lower lip stuck out a bit as he pouted some more in reaction to J'torian's reasoning. If it wasn't for his illness, I'd kiss those lips, J'torian thought languidly.

The sick man's words brought J'torian back to the present: "Can't Ralenaya get a ride from someone else?"

J'torian drew back from G'mead to sit upright. "Oh, don't be stroppy, dear. I'm the one who promised Rallie and besides, I want to learn more Healer schtuff from her while I'm there with her. Besides, the harvesting will go way quicker if I help her. We're only gonna be gone for two days: one day to harvest, a night to rest, and another day so I can learn some Healering, mainly herb lore, from Rallie. Then I'll be back that night; I know we haven't spent much time together lately but it's just two days, Gannie!"

"But can't Rallie get needlethorn some other time?"

J'torian, still holding G'mead's hand, gave his older lover a mock-stern look. "I'm to learn about plants that are native to Nerat. What better than to go to the source? An' you know that the Weyr's real short on needlethorn, and that Ralenaya always supplies the thorns she uses in the Weyr. And what would you do if you needed another injection and we had no needlethorn?"

G'mead thought of a suitable reply as he ran the fingers of his free hand through the blond tips of his dark-rooted hair in annoyance at the fact that J'torian had only good reasons for taking Ralenaya to Nerat, while his motives for keeping J'torian by his side were purely selfish.

Finally he said: "Well, why can't you go to Ista instead of Nerat? You'd be slightly closer."

J'torian mentally grinned as he recognized the grudging defeat in the voice of the hazel-haired man. He spoke with soothing comfort in his tone: "G'mead, you know that we're only gonna be a dragon's ride away. Besides, you can always contact me through Birtath and Storalinth if you want to. Anyway, Rallie prefers Nerat needlethorn to the Ista kind."

G'mead raised an eyebrow in surprise, forgetting his irritation. "There's a difference?"

"Well, Rallie says the Nerat thorns have always worked better for her." J'torian shrugged. "Don't ask me, Ralenaya's the Healer."

J'torian watched G'mead's eyes unfocus as Birtath spoke. Let him go. I'll keep in touch with Storalinth for you.

G'mead grinned mentally. I'm sure you will, love. He then smiled as his eyes returned to normal and sighed to release his frustration. "Alright, move on out of here tomorrow then and come back as soon as you can, okay? I miss you already."

J'torian grinned happily at G'mead's declaration and leaned seductively close to his lover, blushing even as he spoke rather bold words: "I promise that I'll make my absence worth it when I return."

G'mead's grin turned malicious as he snaked a warm, seeking hand under J'torian's lightweight, clinging sleeveless shirt of speckled gray. He caressed the trembling, smooth/warm skin as he spoke: "You'd better, young man."

J'torian blushed harder and reluctantly pulled away, standing up and straightening his shirt huffily - G'mead was slightly disappointed - even as he grinned. "Don't be cheeky!" The darker-haired man fought the desire to jump back onto the bed and said, "I'll go fetch Ralenaya; she'll want to check on you one last time tonight, and being The Anal Healergirl that she is she's probably gonna want to check on you tomorrow morning before we leave as well. She's even coerced someone into looking after you while we're away, even though you're one of the worst patients to take care of."

G'mead was about to protest when J'torian winked, showing that he was only joking. The healthy man gave the nonplussed G'mead a quick peck on the forehead and was turning to leave when he heard G'mead ask querulously: "Wait. Don't I get a kiss here?" G'mead was pointing to his lips.

J'torian blushed as he answered, "Gannie, I'm really sorry; I wish I could kiss you there, but you're ill."

"Well? You had it already so you won't catch it. You're the one I got it from, remember?"

J'torian's blush deepened. "Well, I'm not afraid that I'll get it. It's just that since you're ill you should try to stay away from foreign germs as much as possible."

G'mead closed his eyes and replied in an arch tone: "Well, I've tasted your germs so many times that I doubt my body considers them foreign by now."

J'torian laughed and said, "Well, you asked for it." He leaned down again and planted a kiss full on G'mead's soft mouth, savoring the rough feel of G'mead's nascent shadow of facial hairs against his own clean-shaven skin. He was about to pull away when G'mead grabbed his head and held him in place, parting his lips with an insistent tongue. In the back of his mind, J'torian heard three fire lizards begin to croon.

J'torian resisted the urge to collapse onto G'mead's body, somehow managed to break the kiss before G'mead was sated, and said shakily, "I'm gonna get Rallie now, 'kay?"

G'mead: "Oh, alright. Get moving, love."

"I will." J'torian beckoned to Veggie and Threadhead, saying, "Time to go, ladies," and the fire lizards flew to perch onto his shoulders as he picked up his flying goggles from where he had dropped them at the doorway. G'mead admired the strong/slim slopes and lines of J'torian's body as the young man walked out of the weyr.

J'torian walked out onto the weyr ledge, where Birtath and Storalinth were soaking in the early evening light. Having regained enough composure to give the sleepy Birtath a friendly salute, he then climbed onto Storalinth as Veggie and Threadhead climbed in under his light shirt, making his belly look distended. J'torian momentarily wondered whether he should have worn more than his sleeveless gray shirt and his loose pale brown pants to fly, but he dismissed it as he really didn't need anything else covering his skin this hot Igen evening. Besides, he had only made short flights around the Weyr today, nothing major, and nothing that required going between, which is why he didn't bring his flying helmet when coming to G'mead's weyr - he loved flying without his helmet and the feel of the air blowing through his hair and buffeting his scalp. Since this was only a short, "in-Weyr" flight and since he had the safety straps there was really no need for full headgear.

J'torian fastened the safety straps and spoke to Storalinth as he put on his goggles. Take me to Rallie, love.

I know. Bye, Birtath. Storalinth yawned mightily, blinking his dominantly emerald eyes before leisurely taking off. Don't worry about Him.

G'mead? Oh, I'm not worried about him, dear. It's just that he was so upset cause he hates being struck down like this, and he hates it when we're apart while one of us is sick. Besides, you know that I haven't spent much time with him lately and you know how much he had wanted to come with Rallie and I to harvest Rallie's needlethorns. Rallie and I are gonna be running about doing some rather hot work and she's also gonna be teaching me herb lore, but to G'mead, who has to stay in bed, it must seem like we're going on a veritable holiday. And to some extent, it will be.

As Storalinth neared their destination, Veggie and Threadhead wriggled out of J'torian's shirt, causing the man to giggle at the unexpectedly odd feeling. The two greens flew on ahead of Storalinth, chittering all the way.

- -

The early morning silence at a secluded Neratian beach was broken when a bronze dragon and four fire lizards (two green, two brown) appeared in the air, causing the local avians great distress. The largest of the five beasts circled slowly to land, while the four small ones made beelines for the cool shallow waters near the land.

Storalinth landed in the sand near the place where the beach ended and the forest foliage began, and Ralenaya and J'torian, both having been through countless dragonrides, slid off of the bronze's back with graceful expertise. Quickly/gratefully shucking off their riding jackets and pants to expose their skin to the balmy early morning air, the humans went to Storalinth's hind leg, to which they had lashed their supplies and amenities. J'torian and Storalinth had both found it much more convenient when the loads were fairly small to lash supplies onto Storalinth's hind leg.

The humans finished untying their supplies and J'torian, dressed in a dark green short-sleeved tunic and white shorts, sent Storalinth into the water. The bronze rumbled gratefully as he waddled across the sands and sank into the waves; his rider turned to help Ralenaya unpack and set up a temporary camp.

Ralenaya, who was wearing shorts and a short-sleeved tunic both dyed a light purple, stopped her unpacking to braid her long, wavy black hair so that it wouldn't get in her way. As she braided she turned to watch Storalinth, Veggie, Threadhead, and her browns Slip and Shod cavort in the sea; the young woman laughed as Threadhead began scolding Slip for dousing her with water.

"J'torian, did you see that?"

"See what, Ral?" J'torian's voice was unusually curt.

Ralenaya's hands stopped braiding her hair as she stared at her friend curiously. "The flitters, J. They're being silly."

"So what?" the kneeling young man huffed as he looked up from his unpacking to glare at the waves. "I don't give a shell."

Ralenaya dropped her hands away from her hair and down to her sides in exasperation, her dark blue eyes flashing. "J'torian, what in blazes is wrong? This isn't like you and you've been like this almost the whole morning. Good thing we said bye to G'mead before you turned into a wherry or you two wouldn't be speaking to each other for well over a sevenday."

J'torian sighed. "I'm sorry, Rallie. I don't know what's wrong with me. I shouldn't make excuses, but maybe it's cause we had to wake up at such a ghastly hour to get here in the morning."

Ralenaya grinned slowly, thinking of something. "Didn't get enough sleep?"

J'torian was still kneeling, his head now buried in a cloth sack as he took things out of it; absent-mindedly he replied, "No, I don't think I did."

Grinning, Ralenaya resumed her braiding, staring at J'torian expectantly. "So G'mead kept you... well, you know, occupied?"

J'torian jerked his head up to stare at the girl, grinning in open-mouthed surprise. "Rallie!"

"Well, a girl's gotta know..."

J'torian blushed and returned to emptying out the sack. "Well, if you must know, yes, he did keep me... awake."

Ralenaya finished her braiding, tied the result securely with a purple ribbon, and then began spreading cool blankets out onto the shaded sand. "I thought you two were gonna abstain, since he was sick. Couldn't control yourselves, hm? You two ARE randier than greens."

"Ral!"

"Well?"

J'torian moved on to the next sack. "Well, you know he's not contagious, and I had it already anyway. And he was so upset over not being able to accompany us. Anyway, I didn't kiss him on the lips that much, since he was sick and all that yucky stuff."

Ralenaya sat down on the freshly laid out blankets, innocently hugging her knees to her chest. "So you just kissed him elsewhere, right? Mm, and from the look on your face it seems that Gannie-the-man's performance wasn't hurt by his being sick."

J'torian blushed bright red even as he sat back on his heels and laughed. "Shells, Rallie..."

Ralenaya smiled, shaking her head. "Oh, you're so bad. When I talk with G'mead about you and about this stuff he's not embarrassed at all. And you're the one who's weyrbred, not him. G'mead tells me EVERYthing."

"What???" J'torian stood up at once.

Ralenaya immediately fell back on the blankets, cackling with laughter. After J'torian stared at her for several long moments, she finally managed to speak: "Oh, darling, you are so gullible." The pretty blue-eyed girl started laughing again.

J'torian didn't want to let Ralenaya get away so easily, but she had such an infectious laugh that he grinned and sat down on the blankets next to his giggling friend, slowly shaking his head at Ralenaya as he began to banter.

"You can be such a wherry, Rallie dear. Oh well: as long as you don't keep squawking like one I guess I can overlook it!"

Ralenaya wiped away a few tears and sat up, grinning inwardly as well as outwardly: she had successfully managed to divert J'torian away from his wherry mood.

Sure enough, J'torian grinned evilly as he reverted to his normal self: "So, where did you disappear off to when I tried to visit you three nights ago, when Gannie needed some fellis? Were you kissing someone... elsewhere?"

"J'torian!"

"Aw, come off it, Ral, you have to take what you dish out."

Ralenaya grinned challengingly. "No I don't."

J'torian, raising both eyebrows: "Why not?"

"Cause I'm older than you."

"Lopsided logic, but..."

Ralenaya stood up, pulling J'torian up with her. "And since I'm older than you, I'm gonna order you to help me finish unpacking and setting up."

J'torian shook his head. "We're done already: look. I did it all while you were braiding your hair," the young man chided. He then continued to speak, in a tone that was slightly apologetic for admonishing his friend: "We didn't lug much with us in the first place."

Ralenaya had the good grace to look sheepish. "So you did unpack everything. Didn't realize it."

J'torian smiled maliciously. "Older doesn't mean a thing if you're already starting to go soggy in the brain."

Ralenaya grinned and held up a hand. "Watch it, wherry-breath. Do you want me to tickle you? I know how ticklish you are."

J'torian blew a raspberry. "Actually, only G'mead really knows how ticklish I am..."

"And *where* you're really ticklish, no doubt..."

J'torian laughed as the girl continued: "Anyway, being serious, you know the harvesting routine, so get your heavy boots on. We need to trek a couple of short klicks into the forest to get to the needlethorns. And bring those sterilized sacks to dump the thorns in, and don't forget the vegetable fiber pads I sterilized."

J'torian nodded, pulling on the heavy boots. "The fiber pads are to cushion the thorns in the sacks, right? To keep them from breaking and sticking out through the sacks?"

Ralenaya nodded as she started putting things into two backpacks. After J'torian finished lacing his boots he took over the packing to allow Ralenaya to get her boots on, and he asked, "But why do you need to sterilize the sacks and fibers when you're gonna have to roast the needlethorns anyway to get them stronger and sterile? Isn't that overkill?"

Ralenaya finished lacing her boots and straightened up, grinning. "Well, there's no harm in overkill when it comes to sterile Healering equipment, is there?"

J'torian smiled back, and handed Ralenaya one of the two fully-equipped backpacks. "Guess not, Miss Anal Healergirl."

The two were soon on their way without undue fuss. Before they left they sent good thoughts to their friends, who were now lazily wallowing in the sand. The five beasts replied with thoughts of "don't worry about us" as the two humans disappeared into the forest.

- -

J'torian held up a frilly, bluish leaf for Ralenaya to inspect as they walked side by side.

"And what's this one for, Rallie?"

Ralenaya glanced at the leaf in J'torian's hand. That? Oh, that's actually a land relative of some of the algae we see in ponds. The name escapes me at the moment, so hold onto that and we'll look it up when we get back to the Weyr."

J'torian was slightly disappointed. "Well, do you remember what it's for?"

The girl nodded: "Uh-huh. If you make a weak infusion of it, it makes a great health booster for pregnant women and the babies they carry. But if the infusion is too strong, it will cause the women to get headaches and stomach cramps. Oh, and if you gather enough, the plant's stems make excellent hair dye."

"Blue?" J'torian asked incredulously as he stared at the azure leaf.

Ralenaya's attention was focused on the gorgeous foliage around her, so her reply came out in a rather faraway tone: "It's blue only if you don't boil it first and fix the dye. Unfortunately the blue color washes out of your hair with plain water and it's only good for use as pigment in the more delicate water-based paints. Now, the color will stick to your hair if you boil the plant first and use the right fixing agent, but if you do boil it, it merely adds a subtle reddish tint to people with dark hair like us. Even then the tint's not noticeable unless your hair's in bright sunlight."

"Interesting. I wonder how a reddish tint would look in my hair. Like that violet sheen you sometimes put in your hair, Ral, using that seaplant; you can't see that sheen either unless your hair's in the sun. G'mead is trying to find something that will get his hair completely blond; I've been helping him experiment with citrus and stuff. Only partial luck so far." J'torian noticed a plant he'd never seen before and stopped Ralenaya, completely changing his subject. "Hey Ral, what's this?"

Ralenaya sighed. "J'torian, herb lore is tomorrow. Don't tire me out before we start today's work."

J'torian smiled sheepishly. "Well excuuuuse me. Sorry."

Ralenaya grinned as they resumed walking. "You probably will be by the time we're done harvesting!"

J'torian chuckled and was about to continue the badinage when his eyes suddenly unfocused.

Storalinth: I've got a message from Him.

J'torian grinned, his handsome eyebrows lifting. What does Gannie want?

Storalinth: Birtath says that... G'mead gives you a smooch and compliments you on your performance last night? What performance? You'd didn't take a turn at Harpering last night at dinner. What's a smooch?

J'torian felt himself blushing as he spoke: Tell Birtath to tell Gannie that his performance was of virtuoso quality. And tell him that I return the smooch.

Storalinth: I did. And Birtath just told me what a smooch is. Hm. I just figured out what performance really means now. J'torian began laughing loudly as his dragon mentally crooned in remembrance of the night before, and his eyes refocused. He was made so weak by his laughing that Ralenaya had to stop walking to stare at her companion, who was now doubled over.

Ralenaya, grinning: "What is it? Or do I even want to know?"

J'torian managed to speak between gasps: "Nothing. Just G'mead and Storalinth being their usual selves."

Ralenaya rolled her eyes with exasperation/amusement. "I swear, the whole lot of you are just a bunch of hopeless wherries... but to say that would be an insult to wherries!"

The pair soon reached the needlethorn plants and set down their packs, opening them up and setting out the necessary items.

"Alright, J'torian dear, pick first or pack first?"

"It's your choice, Rallie."

"Oh, alright then, I guess I'll pack first. The gloves are in my pack, J. And here, put this salve on your skin: it'll protect it from the sun somewhat and repel bugs." The girl tossed J'torian a small jar; the young man quickly snatched for the jar and was relieved when he caught it: he had never gotten used to Ralenaya's habit of tossing items about at random.

J'torian: "Right. Hey, this salve stuff smells pretty good. Exactly which plants did you make it from, Rallie?"

"TOMORROW, J'torian."

"Oh, fine."

The two were so quick, partly from efficiency, partly because of the fact that they wanted to end their job as quickly as possible and get out of the heat, that they finished much earlier than expected and were on their way back to their campsite, carrying two extremely large sacks of thorns each, by the middle of the afternoon. However, J'torian had inexplicably become curt and irritable yet again during the latter part of the harvesting, and by the time the returning pair saw that the beach was in sight Ralenaya was working hard to keep her own temper even. The fact that both humans were tired, sweaty, and hot did not help matters.

J'torian and Ralenaya appeared at the edge of the beach, receiving thoughts of welcome from their beasts, who were now back to cavorting in the waters; in this atrociously hot weather both humans had taken off their shirts. Ralenaya now had her hair up in a large bun, and she wore light blue breast bands which complemented the white-coffee of her skin; J'torian's nubile torso was bare save for generous amounts of Ralenaya's protective salve, and he had tied a white headband around his head to keep his longish forelocks out of his eyes and off of his sweaty forehead.

Ralenaya spoke, her voice sounding a bit strained from trying to ignore the heat and J'torian's sulking. "Set your sack down here, J'torian. And don't drop it too hard: the padding isn't Pern's best."

"Right." The young man complied with his friend's request in a rather uncharacteristically grumpy/curt manner, and then with a small "hmph" plopped himself down onto the blankets previously laid out.

Ralenaya shot her friend a long, quizzical stare. After a few silent moments, she sat herself down next to J'torian and demanded, "Alright, out with it: what is it?"

J'torian turned to look at Ralenaya, frowning in defensive surprise. "What is what?"

"What's up?"

"Nothing! What's with this interrogation? Aspiring to be a Harper, too?"

Ralenaya closed her eyes, trying to keep patient; this was not like J'torian at all. "Are you miffed cause I dragged you here away from G'mead?"

Astonished, J'torian smiled and laughed in sincere denial. "Rallie, you know that's not true."

Ralenaya became slightly angry. "Then why are you being such a wherry? You had a face longer than a wet Turn for nearly the entire walk back here. Not to mention the fact that you've more than begun to get on my nerves."

J'torian hung his head then raised his eyes to stare at his friend despairingly. The young man's voice was quiet: "Sorry Rallie, but I don't know why I'm being like this; I can't help it. I don't like it myself: it's not me."

The two held each other's stares thoughtfully; at length Ralenaya said, "I know what will cheer you up." She winked.

J'torian grinned in askance/expectance. "What?"

"If I gather the appropriate food-schtuff, will ya cook lunch for us?"

J'torian's grin widened at the prospect of cooking. "Rallie, you're great. If I tell you what to get, can you get it?"

Ralenaya sniffed. "You know I can."

J'torian: "Mind if we go meatless for our meal today?"

"Sounds good."

"Okay, well if you can get some redfruit, yellow-veins, some broadleaves, some of those huge looking nuts we saw before, some of that fungi, and maybe some of that awesome crunchy whiteroot, I'll whip us up a cool, refreshing nosh. And if you can pick some of the citrus we saw, and a melon as well, I can make us some juice."

Ralenaya made a face as she thought of something. "But the sun has been beating down on the fruits and veggies all day. It'll all be warm."

"Oh no it won't. If you put the fruit in a spare sack we can let it soak in one of these cold streams for a while before we use them. We can wash the veggies in the cold water too."

"Awesome idea. I'll get moving."

"And I'll get a cooking fire started."

Ralenaya stopped and stared at J'torian accusingly. "Fire? I thought you said our feast was gonna be cool and refreshing."

The young man winked. "You'll see. Just get the stuff I need, 'kay?"

"Right."

Ralenaya gathered the stuff quickly and J'torian cooked up the meal with such dispatch that the pair were "noshing" on the grilled fungi, as well as a rather exotic fruit-and-vegetable salad and some melon-citrus juice, in no time. J'torian had been restored to his normal good humor by the act of cooking, and also by eating the good stuff he had prepared, sitting in the shade with Ralenaya. As the two ate, they conversed as they always did.

Ralenaya: "Do your flitters need feeding? I stuffed mine this morning before we left."

"So did I. I'd offer Veg and Threadhead some of our food, but mine aren't in the mood for meatless, and I gather that yours aren't either."

Ralenaya made a face. "Since when have flitters been big fans of anything meatless? An' speaking of which, this salad's really good, J. Why haven't you given Harlegen the recipe? It would be a hit on hot days... which means it would be a hit nearly everyday at our Igen!"

J'torian grinned sheepishly. "Actually, I never used this recipe before. It's been swimming in my head for a while, but I never got around to actually trying it out."

Ralenaya pouted and chewed less enthusiastically. "You mean this was another one of your experiments?"

"Oh come on, Rallie; you have to admit that so far all my experimenting hasn't come up with anything that tasted bad. Here, trying eating the some of the fungi with the yellow-veins." J'torian picked up the food with his fingers and stuffed them into Ralenaya's open mouth.

Ralenaya chewed for a bit. "Oh, that's good." She paused to take a sip of the juice from her glass. "True, J, so far your experimenting has had no foul-ups. I'm waiting for one, though. No one's perfect, you know."

J'torian was busy chewing on his own food so he just nodded in good-natured agreement. The two continued to eat in silence for a while, till Ralenaya asked, "Have you thought more about what you're gonna do with Storalinth?"

J'torian nodded. Just lately Storalinth had shown interest in Weyrwoman Ocean's Nigladith, and being the worry-wart he was J'torian was already apprehensive about Nigladith's next mating flight. Besides the fact that he did not want to participate in a mating flight with a female rider, this was the Weyrwoman after all, and J'torian did NOT want to be Weyrleader. J'torian had already woken in the beds of a female greenrider after one flight, and although he loved women as people and although the rider had made him feel comfortable, waking up with a girl after the passions of a mating flight was not something he wanted to repeat. J'torian had also slept with a few male greenriders during mating flights, and although G'mead's bed was where he belonged, to him waking up in a male's bed was nonetheless preferable to being in a female's weyr. Since he was weyrborn and -bred J'torian knew he shouldn't be thinking like this, but at the same time he couldn't help what he felt.

Ralenaya: "Well?"

J'torian, taking a sip of his juice: "Well what?"

Ralenaya sighed; J'torian had been off in his own world again. "What are you gonna do if Storalinth catches a dragon again in a mating flight and the rider is female?"

"Oh, well, I know Nigladith is too attached to Tisinath to ever let Storalinth catch her so I'm not worried about Nigladith and Ocean, but G'mead came up with this idea for dealing with the other female dragons, and we discussed it with Storalinth as well, and anyway here's what we have in mind:

"Y'see, the next time a female rider's dragon has a mating flight, I just have to make sure that G'mead is nearby so if Storalinth catches the dragon, I get G'mead. And the rider of the dragon whom Storalinth catches will have to have someone on hand for herself. Obviously this sort of stuff will have to be talked through and set up beforehand."

Ralenaya thought it through for a moment. "Sounds feasible."

"It does, doesn't it? G'mead and I want to put our plan into effect during any mating flight he and I are involved in, whether it be for male or female riders, gold or green mating flights. It's about time we had our wish for a monogamous relationship become an actuality, and I'm sure quite a few other couples in the Weyr would be all for this plan too."

Ralenaya's nodded as her brow furrowed slightly. "Mm, but I thought the riders involved in their dragons' flight had to mirror the flight which was going on up in the air."

"Well, yes, the riders will mirror what their dragons are doing, but they'll be sharing that with their chosen partners rather than with each other."

"I see. Open your mouth, dear." Ralenaya popped the last piece of fungi into J'torian's waiting mouth and the young man obediently chewed as she continued: "Of course, if the mating flight is for a female greenrider, then Birtath has a chance of catching the green as well as Storalinth. And anyway neither you nor G'mead have to participate in green flights if you don't want to, unless you abstain so much that your dragon's adversely affected. But which rider, male or female, greenrider or goldrider, has the dragon who's going to rise the soonest?"

J'torian thought for a moment, and then shook his head. "Don't know."

"Well, whoever it is, you'd better find out and talk with them as soon as you can. And you better discuss this with Ocean and R'dolan too."

"True." J'torian licked his expressive fingers to get the last bits of food off of them, got up, and inquired, "Are you finished?"

"Yeah. Let me finish my juice." Ralenaya drained the last of her juice and stared at the now empty glass with a thoughtful expression as she smacked her lips. "Y'know, this would be really good if you mixed in a little Benden red."

"Shards, you're right. Wish I had remembered to bring some."

The black-haired girl stuck out her tongue. "Told ya no one was perfect."

"No one but you, isn't that right, Mistress 'Oh, You Already Unpacked?' Ralenaya?"

Ralenaya laughed. "You little tunnel snake!"

J'torian chuckled and said, "Oh, alright, I'll stop. Help me with these dishes; we'll clean 'em off in the stream. And then I want to swim."

"Me three. This heat is disgusting."

The two finished their clean up and were soon shucking off their remaining clothing: the handsome J'torian undid his headband and calmly removed his shorts and underwear, revealing rather well-formed thighs and other unmentionables, and he folded his clothes and placed them on the blanket next to his other vestments. Ralenaya unceremoniously kicked off her loose shorts and underwear and nearly tore off her breast bands in haste, revealing her fit, lithe, hourglassed figure; she undid the bun on her head and reveled in the feel of her gloriously wavy black hair tumbling down to the small of her back. The naked pair ran into the water to join Storalinth and their fire lizards, and they were soon splashing each other in the deeper waters, laughing even while crying out in pain as the four smaller beasts unsuccessfully tried to haul their masters through the water by their soaked hair. Ralenaya's Slip and Shod were especially determined to maneuver their human companions in this treacherous fashion.

The humans were already very tired even before entering the water, and soon Ralenaya and J'torian leisurely swam back to the cool sand to sit their naked selves down, letting the waves wash over their feet while they rested. They sat without talking, enjoying the light of the steadily sinking sun and periodically laughing at the antics of their beasts. Ralenaya chuckled at one point and motioned for J'torian to quickly look at Threadhead, as the glowing green was diving after fish and was cheeping with comical anger at her unsuccessful attempts.

J'torian looked toward what Ralenaya was giggling at, and he stared at Threadhead, quickly getting more and more engrossed/enveloped in the thrill of her chase. There was no wind, but he *felt* a sudden wash of sea air and and sea water as Threadhead dove, and then an overpowering taste of salt in his mouth as he saw Threadhead burst out from under the water with a fingertail in her teeth and claws. Involuntarily he stood up, ignoring Ralenaya's sudden shouting, and as Threadhead brought her prize down to the sandy ground, he tasted the raw/wriggling fish, felt his claws in the fish, tasted the entrails, felt a heat coursing through his veins, felt the anger/hunger/heat, felt the fish, felt...

Ralenaya, fed up with yelling for J'torian's attention, finally slapped J'torian out of his trance, and as the confused young man held up a hand to his stinging left cheek, she shouted, "Get Veggie out of here!"

J'torian: "What..." He was cut short as he *tasted* another suffocatingly salty mouthful of fish and a hot flash sent his head spinning. It was an odd feeling: his hair and skin were still damp and cool from the swim, yet his veins were injecting loads of hot blood into his head and limbs.

Ralenaya's words somehow managed to cut through the heat deluging J'torian's mind: "Threadhead is rising, you silly! That's why you've been so stroppy today! Get Veg out of here!" As if to emphasize the girl's point, Threadhead screeched and dove under the water again, coming up with another fingertail. J'torian gasped at yet another mental mouthful of fish.

The young man grew frighteningly frantic and grabbed Ralenaya's wrists hard as he suddenly put the pieces together. Futilely gasping for air to remove the empathetic tastes and smells, he shouted: "We need to get back to the Weyr! G'mead and Goldrider need to be here! I need to be with G'mead! Storalinth? Get Storal..."

J'torian stopped as Ralenaya, growing more and more afraid for J'torian mental state, shook his hands off her wrists; as J'torian began to shake his head in denial she gave her friend a sympathetic look and grabbed his shoulders, shaking him. Her words tumbled over themselves in an effort to get the message through that much more quickly:

"Even if we left without packing the stuff we need to take back to the Weyr there wouldn't be enough time to get our riding gear on, J! And G'mead's too sick to handle the strain of a flight right now; Slip and Shod will have to be Threadhead's choice! Get Veggie out of here!"

J'torian, feeling Ralenaya's bare body close to his own, realized with horror what his own choice would have to be. Even as he tried to deny the inevitable, he sent Veggie away; the green cheeped with annoyance before flying off and blinking out of sight.

With that done, the young man backed away from Ralenaya, confused even more by the visions and sensations he was receiving from Threadhead - for greens, Veggie and Threadhead's connection to J'torian had always been unusually strong due to the young man's high empathy, and this occasion was no exception. The randy fire lizard, glowing a beautiful emerald that J'torian could not appreciate at the moment, was about to snatch another fish out of the waves.

Ralenaya stayed where she was, respecting J'torian's need to regain a bit of balance. The dark-haired boy took a tentative step towards Ralenaya, and then started sniffling with apprehension and upset as he took several quick steps back. "I can't! I don't want to! You - you're my friend! You're a GIRL!"

Ralenaya was surprised at J'torian's inhibitions: her friend's hurt, lost, and pathetically unhappy state was beginning to affect her as well and thus her own eyes started watering in sympathy.

"Shells, J'torian, you're weyrbred!"

J'torian, angered by the inevitable, by G'mead's absence, by all the recent times when he and G'mead had to spend their valuable time apart from each other, and further upset by Threadhead's volatile state, literally hissed at Ralenaya, grabbing her wrists again. The Healergirl uncharacteristically let out a frightened squeal, scared by J'torian's own out-of-character behavior.

J'torian glared at the girl, squeezing her wrists amazingly hard and causing the strong girl to gasp and close her eyes in pain. "I don't care! I want to LEAVE! I WANT G'MEAD!" The young man abruptly let go of Ralenaya, and as she stumbled to the ground, Storalinth - who had been indolent up till now - roared from the other end of the beach where he was wallowing. The bronze scolded his rider, who was successfully shocked out of his anger.

Storalinth's tone was not angry, just matter-of-fact: You hurt Her. You hurt your friend. Take it easy: it's only a fire lizard flight. I'll be with you, like the times you had fire lizard flights with G'mead.

J'torian was shocked and ashamed at his own rare outburst of anger, especially as it was selfish anger. Shells, Storalinth, I'm sorry love; you're right as usual. Rallie... "Rallie!" J'torian ran to where his friend was kneeling in the surf, rubbing her wrists. He kneeled as well and looked at the girl. "Rallie, you okay?"

The girl smiled impishly, rubbing her wrists. "I'm fine, but shards have you got an iron grip!"

The joke was supposed to make her friend laugh and loosen up but J'torian merely sat back on the sand and started crying in earnest.

J'torian, in a choked voice: "I'm sorry, Ral..."

Ralenaya began crying freely herself, upset over J'torian being upset: "Shells, J'torian, it wasn't your fault! I forgave you for squeezing my wrists even before you let go!"

J'torian wailed. "But what am I going to do?" Saliva flecked the corners of his mouth as he cried, and he stared somewhat apprehensively at Threadhead, who was down the beach tearing apart a spiderclaw. Slip and Shod maintained a respectful distance, watching intently. The setting sun's light cast an otherwordly glow over everything, further confusing and disturbing J'torian.

The young man calmed himself somewhat and sniffled, smiling bravely and running his hands through his hair. "No offense, Rallie, but it's G'mead I want to be with right now."

Ralenaya smiled in understanding and was about to speak when Threadhead shrieked and launched herself into the evening sky. Ralenaya watched J'torian's eyes unfocus as he surrendered his self to his flitter, and then felt herself do the same as Slip and Shod gave chase.

- -

J'torian opened his eyes to greet the night sky.

The night sky? Why in blazes had he woken up if it was still dark? Well, he thought as his mind woke up some more, perhaps being naked and cold on the beach has something to do with it.

But even though he felt cold he wasn't quite naked. There was a light blanket over him... and under him?

He turned his head to his left to see Threadhead resting on the sand with a brown curled up next to her. J'torian knew it was Slip and not Shod, since he had been heavily connected to Threadhead during the... the flight...

Rallie. Where was...

The young man sat up immediately, allowing the blanket to slide off the top half of his bare body; the girl left the small fire onto which she was throwing sticks and rushed to J'torian's side. As Ralenaya spoke, J'torian noticed she was wearing her riding gear to protect her from the cold.

"J'torian, go back to sleep. You're all tuckered out."

The young man lay back and pouted. "Well, I'm cold. Can you hand me some clothes?"

Ralenaya grinned and got up to get the clothes. When she returned, she said: "I should ask G'mead if you're always this grumpy when you wake up after the act. By the way, for a guy who only likes other guys, you sure were pretty good."

J'torian blushed furiously and ducked his head as Ralenaya handed him his vestments. The young man stood, putting on his shorts and tunic over his bare body. As he sat back down, Ralenaya handed him his riding jacket.

J'torian draped the jacket over his shoulders, and smiled his normal, quiet/beautiful smile as he spoke: "Nothing against your performance Rallie, but I'm trying to forget the whole thing."

Ralenaya chuckled and sat down next to J'torian. "I understand hon, you know that."

"I wonder what G'mead's thinking..." J'torian had a far-off look on his face.

"What do you mean?"

J'torian let his worry take over his facial features. "Well, while we were harvesting your needlethorns, while we were eating lunch, and even while we were swimming, G'mead sent me a message through Storalinth about every twenty minutes. Ever since Threadhead and Slip had their flight I haven't heard from him.

Ralenaya shook her head in exasperation. "J, you fell asleep right after the mating flight and you've only been awake a few minutes. G'mead hasn't even had time to contact you yet."

"True..."

"Listen, if it will make you feel any better, you could contact him now. It's the dead of night over here but it's only evening at Igen. Wake up Storalinth and get him to get through to Birtath."

"Good idea." J'torian's eyes unfocused, and Storalinth opened one of his eyes (it shone blue) when J'torian woke him up. The mental exchange took a mere second and Ralenaya watched as Storalinth's eye closed and as disappointment plastered itself over J'torian's face as his eyes refocused.

Ralenaya: "Well?"

J'torian sighed: "G'mead's sleeping. It's early evening but I guess he needs the rest since he's still sick."

Ralenaya nodded and studied J'torian's face. "Look J, why don't we just skip the herb lore tomorrow? I can teach you that some other time; we'll go straight home tomorrow morning, okay? I'm really tired and I can tell you're still pretty exhausted even after sleeping, so we can both sleep in and leave when the sun is at the zenith tomorrow. Then you have the whole day to spend with G'mead."

J'torian looked gratefully at Ralenaya. "Sounds wonderful, Ral. I can't wait to see him again."

Ralenaya shook her head in amusement. "Yet you just saw him this morning. You two are absolutely love struck, you know that? And you've already been together for quite awhile."

J'torian flushed bright red even as he grinned. "Yeah, I guess we are. Well, Gannie knows how to keep me happy and I know how to keep him happy, so..."

"Think the magic will last?" Ralenaya stuck out her tongue.

J'torian copied the action and said, "I'll force it to last even longer than those hundred-year-old mystery herbs rotting away in our storage cavern at the Weyr." Ralenaya giggled and J'torian looked around the clearing. "Hey, where did Veggie and Shod go off to?"

Ralenaya's laughter increased, her clear voice carrying through the quiet cove. "You didn't know?" When J'torian shook her head the girl continued: "Veggie and Shod got together, if you know what I mean."

J'torian smiled incredulously. "Really?"

Ralenaya giggled like a little girl, nodding her head at the same time. "And they're sleeping together in the forest right now cause they're miffed at us, and at Threadhead and Slip!"

The giddy laughter of two voices filled the cove in the dead of the sub-tropical night.

- -

G'mead lay back in his bed, occupying his mind by reading an old Record. He knew he shouldn't be straining his eyes with the tight script at a time when he should be getting much needed rest, but he needed the diversion. Goldrider was off at some other Weyr, visiting other fellow fire lizards no doubt, and the bustling sounds of very-early morning Weyr activity weren't enough to keep his mind busy, to keep his thoughts away from the flight Goldrider and Birtath had told him about yesterday.

Birtath spoke: Storalinth is here!

G'mead sighed. Tell them to come to my weyr as soon as they can.

But they're already here.

Sure enough, G'mead heard the whoosh-and-scrape of Storalinth landing on his weyr ledge.

J'torian and Ralenaya had gotten slightly more tanned from their trip to Nerat, and to the recuperating G'mead the two of them looked disgustingly healthy as they walked into his weyr wearing their riding gear, with goggles and helmets in their hands.

J'torian ran up to G'mead, who was now sitting up in the bed with the Record in his lap, and was going to bend down to kiss him, but G'mead held up a hand and said with a smile, "Hey Naya, could you wait outside at the weyr ledge with Birtie and Storalinth for a few minutes?"

Ralenaya grinned knowingly. "No problem, G'mead. Just holler when you two are ready." She walked out of the weyr quickly, in deference to the riders' wish to be alone.

J'torian sat at the edge of the bed, took off his riding jacket, and was about to stretch out on the bed next to G'mead to talk to him about what happened at Nerat when he saw the look on G'mead's face. It was the first time he'd seen G'mead that angry.

J'torian, puzzled: "Gannie, what..." He yelled in fright and surprise when G'mead grabbed his wrists and pulled him down roughly, using so much force that J'torian fell with a painful thud into a kneeling position at the side of G'mead's bed.

G'mead's voice shook even he as spoke stridently and harshly, still holding J'torian by the wrists: "Listen to me, you piece of watchwher waste: I never want to see you again. What do you mean by cheating on me, with Ralenaya of all people?"

G'mead was usually slightly stronger than J'torian but in his weakened state he was no match for the dark-haired man; J'torian easily managed to shake off G'mead hands and stand up. Tears caused by hurt and shock - as well as the unexpected, frightening resurgence of memories of abuse by previous lovers - spilled from his eyes as he spoke: "I never wanted to cheated on you, G'mead, you know that! It was a mating flight and I wanted to come back to Igen so Goldrider could catch Threadhead but there wasn't enough time to..."

G'mead himself was crying as he interrupted. "Time? Don't use that sort of lame excuse. Threadhead and Veggie have risen before, haven't they? Why couldn't you see the warning signs? You could have come back to Igen when you saw the warning signs! Answer that one!" G'mead started coughing uncontrollably; his illness had improved greatly, but this argument with J'torian had already done him in for the day.

J'torian stood still in shock as G'mead slowly stopped coughing, and as he remembered the previous day. G'mead was right, J'torian thought: he should have realized that his unusual bad mood was being caused by his green's imminent rising and he should have left for Igen right then and there.

J'torian, frantic, spoke right as G'mead regained his breath: "Shells G'mead, why are you getting upset now when we've had to participate in flights without each other all this time, seeing as our fates were sealed when we Impressed a blue and a bronze? You had fire lizard flights with other people too!"

G'mead coughed once more. "That was before you and I discussed that sort of thing! We agreed to restrict fire lizard flights to each other, and to arrange it so that we would be together during dragon flights! I thought that at last our fire lizards' flights at least would be ours alone; I thought we had it all worked out!"

"Yeah, but we didn't make allowances for human error!" J'torian was cut short by a spitting sound, and he gasped with hurt, shock, and near-rage when he felt a gob of G'mead's spit land on his face. The green-eyed man spoke with suppressed anger/hurt as J'torian unsuccessfully fought to keep the tears from leaking out, unsuccessfully fought to keep from whimpering and sniffling, as he dumbly wiped his face clean:

"Human error, or human stupidity, J'torian?"

Ralenaya had heard enough. She walked back into the weyr, grabbed for J'torian's goggles, helmet, and jacket, and walked up to G'mead. After staring at the hazel-haired man for a moment, she slapped him hard across his face and whispered, "You stupid, sharding freak."

As G'mead raised a hand to his cheek in pain and shock, the girl grabbed for J'torian's hand and dragged him out of the weyr. J'torian, still feeling the sting of G'mead's last insult and still sniffling with the various levels of emotional hurt he was feeling, followed numbly behind.

G'mead, with tears caused by more than Ralenaya's slap rolling down his face, quietly rubbed his burning cheek as he heard the scrape-and-whoosh of Storalinth departing, as he heard Goldrider begin to cheep anxiously when he flew into the weyr.

- -

Ralenaya walked into the weyr, a backpack stamped with the Healer emblem hanging from her left shoulder. She was going to give G'mead a first-class lecture, but she lost her will to do so when she saw the state G'mead was in. The green-eyed man was sitting up in bed, looking feverish, eyes swollen from crying, staring off into space.

Wordlessly Ralenaya pulled up a stool to sit at the side of G'mead's bed, noting with satisfaction that the cheek she had slapped was still looking sore. Reaching into her bag she drew out a glass bottle and she selected a tongue depressor. G'mead automatically opened his mouth and stuck out his tongue, and Ralenaya inspected his throat tissue. She then took out the tongue depressor, put it in a waste bag, and felt G'mead's forehead.

Ralenaya spoke with professional detachment as she felt the feverish, dry skin of G'mead's face with both hands. "Just as I thought; you've gotten worse. That argument yesterday did you in."

G'mead's voice was also detached, but his detachment was the kind that was born from dejection. "I deserve it."

"True." Ralenaya took her hands off of G'mead's face.

G'mead noticed dark marks encircling Ralenaya's wrists and his eyes widened. "What happened to your wrists?"

Ralenaya pursed her lips in distaste. "Well, if you must know, J'torian was so frantic to try and come back to you when he realized that Threadhead was rising that he squeezed my wrists without thinking."

G'mead ducked his head, embarrassed and even more remorseful. When the silence began to get awkward, he asked, "Did... did J'torian bring you here?"

Ralenaya wanted to make him squirm and her face was downcast and impassive as she avoided his question and eye contact by searching through her pack. She waited a few long moments and then finally took out a spoon and flask and looked straight at G'mead, staring at him with blue fire crackling in her eyes.

Ralenaya: "Well, genius, J'torian doesn't want to even come near your weyr, so I enlisted the help of a weyrling whose waiting outside for me to finish. And be thankful I don't let personal life interfere in my Healering, otherwise I would probably cut your balls off personally or have you poisoned."

G'mead winced and sighed. "Look Rallie..." He was interrupted when Ralenaya plugged his mouth with a large spoonful of an herbal infusion. Grimacing at the bitter taste, he swallowed and tried to speak again, but Ralenaya shoved another spoonful into his mouth.

G'mead swallowed a second time and stared at the Healergirl. "Uhm, you were kidding about the poisoning, weren't you?"

The man sounded so like a little kid that in spite of herself, Ralenaya smiled. "Of course I was kidding, you wherry; I just gave you a tussive suppressant and an antihistamine. Listen, I'm sorry I slapped you yesterday, but you were treating J'torian like dirt and I wasn't gonna let you sit there and do that to him."

G'mead ducked his head. "Trust me Rallie, you don't have to lecture me; if you wanted to ask your lizards to bespeak Birtath you would learn from Birtie how truly sorry I feel. And Birtath's already done more than enough lecturing since yesterday morning... I never thought dragons could get so angry when they're not fighting Thread!"

Ralenaya shook her head in sympathy/tolerance as she looked through her backpack. She then stopped her rummaging, looked up to study G'mead's face, and asked shakily, "G'mead, I spent so much effort at Nerat to make sure that J'torian realized that it wasn't his fault for what happened between him and I. Your little argument yester-morning ruined all that. What in Pern's name were you thinking?." Ralenaya was nears sobs at this point. "By the First Egg, he was sobbing on my shoulder for a good hour because your little horseplay with him yesterday made all the memories of his past abuse come back... He said that Gephar once grabbed his wrists the way you had and it made him scared of you for the first time. He's not even sure he can be around you anymore. You knew he had been abused; what were you thinking when you handled him like that?"

G'mead felt lower than a tunnel snake and tears of guilt, remorse, and concern for J'torian formed. "I don't know... I guess I was sort of upset that you guys got to have fun in Nerat while I was stuck here hacking and coughing, with my cute man away at some beach enjoying himself and swimming and cooking...

"More to the point, you know J'torian and I aren't that crazy about being in dragon flights because we'll never be able to truly share a dragon flight together, even with the idea we plan to put into effect. I mean, Storalinth is bronze and Birtie is a blue and you won't ever see those two colors paired together in a mating flight. I... I thought fire lizard flights were the one draconic experience J'torian and I could really share together and share alone, the one thing which we could TRULY have as our own, and it has been our own up till now; and after what happened at Nerat, I realized even that wasn't going to be sacred... I made a stupid mistake last morning, breaking up with J'torian just because I was angry with him, and not bothering to talk things through with him because I was sick and grumpy and too lazy to want to, and now... look what I've done to him." G'mead bit his lip before he started to cry.

Ralenaya held her arms out and the two hugged. Soon the girl could hear G'mead begin to sniffle into her shoulder, and then, just as quickly as it started, the crying ceased.

Ralenaya let go of the man and G'mead spoke first: "Can you bring J'torian to see me?"

Ralenaya sighed: "J'torian is shunning you like crazy right now. He won't say your name, nor will he talk to anyone who mentions your name to him. He even got upset at Storalinth for mentioning you! Nor do I blame him."

G'mead ducked his head, the picture of embarrassment and repentance. "But I've got to talk to him, make things better."

Ralenaya took charge, with the professional Healer tone in her voice once again: "Well, too bad: you can talk to your J'torian later. You've had a relapse, and arguing with J'torian yesterday only made it worse. I want you to REST and not set a foot out of this weyr. Besides, it may be good for you and J to take a break; as I said to him a while back, you two are randier than greens."

"Now now, Ral!" G'mead grinned even as he protested.

Ralenaya returned the first smile she'd seen on G'mead's face that day. "Well, it's true, isn't it?"

G'mead laughed. "You got that right!"

Ralenaya giggled as she packed her things. As she hauled the backpack onto her shoulders, she looked up to make eye contact with G'mead.

"Look, G'mead, in another sevenday there's going to be a Gather at Keroon. I told J'torian to go so that he could clear his head and talk to Sophynale, cause she's gonna be there too and he hasn't seen her in a while. But what I was really hoping was that you'd show up to the Gather. He may be boycotting you right now but I know him and come next sevenday he's really gonna want you around."

G'mead was silent as he absorbed the info with a bit of shock: the night he and J'torian had first become lovers was the night after a Keroon Gather. And oh, what a night that had been.

Ralenaya, respectful of G'mead's silence, quietly said, "Just think it over, okay?" and walked out of the weyr with a pleased smile on her face.

- -

J'torian leaned close to Storalinth's neck as they came spiraling out of between, with Veggie and Threadhead appearing a beat later. He revelled in the feel of the warm air contrasting his tenure in the nothingness of between, in the feel of the wind buffeting his thick riding gear, and in the sound of the slight crackle as little particles of dirt randomly collided with his goggles. He said an absent-minded farewell to Veggie and Threadhead, who flew off to find other fire lizards.

Hey Storrie, look, there's Dulmenith over there. So Sophie got here before we did. J'torian involuntarily puffed his chest with pure pride as he saw people stop their tasks to stare at the bronze that had appeared in sky.

Storalinth continued his measured, serene descent, oblivious to the human attention. I'll land you near the Gather square as usual, and then I want to be in the sun with Dulmenith. Dulmenith says to meet her by the Harpercraft stalls, the ones where they're selling instruments.

J'torian grinned. Sophie is so predictable: whenever we meet at a Gather it always has to be by the Harpercraft stall where they're selling instruments. What would happen if we went to a small Gather and there weren't any Harperhall stalls for some reason?

Storalinth replied with true draconic pedanticness as he gently backwinged to land on the swept, green-free cobblestones. Perhaps she will have to lose her predictability.

J'torian dismounted with ease, but insteading of sliding down the dragon he took a more formal method because the Gatherers were watching him from a slight distance. He heard a collective murmur arise from his audience as he removed his helmet and goggles and revealed the handsome beauty and youth of his face.

J'torian never got used to all this attention, and blushing like crazy and fixing his helmet-tousled hair, he turned his back to the crowd, stowed away his helmet and goggles in a pack tied to Storalinth's hind leg, and sent the bronze up to the heights where Dulmenith and other dragons were sunning themselves. He grinned as he heard people scream in delighted fright as the wind from Storalinth's take-off whipped clothes and dust into a confusing roil.

The heat was oppressive even for someone who resided in Igen Weyr, so J'torian removed his jacket to reveal a dark sleeveless blue tunic, which he had tucked into his light Gather pants of a dark jewel green. A simple but luxuriously tooled wherhide belt of black-brown encircled his waist, while riding boots of the same color covered his feet. He wasn't wearing his silver drop earrings or thumb ring today, but nevertheless he looked quite impressive and cute as he strode to the Gather stalls, his jacket draped over his left forearm, his helmet and goggles in his left hand.

As usual, a pretty plethora of highly-ranked young holder girls converged toward J'torian to the consternation of some jealous holder boys, but he only responded to their advances with cool-yet-sincere smiles and complimentary salutations that made the girls simper and giggle. It was Sophynale he wanted to talk to, not these random girls, and at any rate what these girls wanted they would never get from him.

J'torian was reminded of G'mead, and he savagely pushed thoughts of the green-eyed man out of his head. He walked on, savoring the feel of the warm Keroon sun on his bare arms, nodding to people he recognized - and blushing when he was checked out by girls and by a few boys - until he spotted Sophynale among the people gathered around the Harperstall, gazing longingly at the instruments on display. She was easy to pick out: her fine mass of white gold hair, expertly styled into a sophisticated bun so that she could tuck the mass under her riding helmet, gleamed in the bright sun.

J'torian grinned and ran up behind Sophynale, clapping both hands onto her shoulders and shouting: "THREAD ON YOUR SHOULDERS!"

Sophynale screamed as she turned around and started laughing when she saw who it was. The Harper behind the stall stared at the two as they hugged and continued to laugh like wherries.

When the paired calmed down a bit, Sophynale grinned, her gray eyes twinkling silver with concern. "So, how have you been holding together, love?"

J'torian replied with his usual good humor: "Well, aside from that teeny problem between Gannie and I, I'm doing pretty well." He paused and stepped back to stare at Sophynale. "You know, they say green is an unlucky color, but it's worth a million marks on you, dear." And it was true. Sophynale's simple, sleeveless full-length Gather dress of muted green suited her well.

Sophynale's grin widened. "Thanks, J. You're looking pretty gorgeous yourself: you and G'mead always look good in sleeveless stuff." She giggled as her younger friend stuck out his tongue at the mention of the bluerider and she pointed down the path: "Let's walk this way. And hold my hand, cause some of the bronze riders here are predatory; if you're escorting me they won't dare come near!"

As the two walked hand in hand, J'torian asked, "How's Domino? Veg and Threadhead deserted me for the other fire lizards as soon as we arrived."

"Domino's fine. He pulled the deserting act on me as well. Ah J'torian, it's no use: you know what I'm dying to ask you."

J'torian ducked his head and smiled sheepishly/sadly. "Well, before you say it, I'll answer: I really miss G'mead and now I want to make up with him."

Sophynale looked peeved. "So soon? After the way he treated you? That boy deserves to squirm for another few sevendays, and you can bet I'm gonna give that wherry-breath a piece of my mind when I see him next. The nerve, what he did to you."

J'torian nodded, grinning at the worry and concern for J'torian that emanated through Sophynale's uncompromising words. "Well, it might have taken longer for me to forgive him, but Rallie told me that G'mead has been in continual mental torment for what he did, and he's nearly going insane with wanting to talk to me, so I think he's been tortured long enough. You know I can't stay upset at anyone for a stupid mistake if they're genuinely sorry for what they did. And from what Rallie and others say, G'mead is more than sorry!"

Sophynale nodded. "Then why haven't you made up with him yet?"

J'torian: "Cause I wanted him to squirm!" The two giggled.

J'torian grinned and scratched at his hair. "Well, seriously though, the real reason I wouldn't make up with him before was because I wasn't sure if my pride would let him off that easily. You know what they say about male-male relationships: TWO male egos. And besides, you know I'm horrible at making the first moves."

Sophynale laughed loudly and evilly. "Uh-huh, yeah, you're terrible at making first moves, except for that fateful night after a different Keroon Gather, when you and G'mead first got shooky..."

"Sophie!" The young man blushed furiously as the girl laughed on, unrepentant. "You're as bad as Ralenaya, Sophie." It was then J'torian noticed bubbly pies being set out to cool and totally forgot about Sophynale's teasing.

"Look Sophie, LEMON bubblies! C'mon, I'm gonna buy you some." Sophynale, still feeling giddy from laughing so hard, giggled as J'torian boyishly dragged her to the bubbly pie stand.

J'torian noted how cute the young journeyman baker was and asked, "How much for eight small bubblies for my friend and I, my good man?"

The hazel-eyed, black-haired fresh-faced journeyman, expecting to haggle a little bit with J'torian and Sophynale, diffidently said, "One-sixteenth of a mark, dragonriders."

J'torian was feeling especially playful - Sophynale brought that out in him - so he handed a coin to the journeyman and said, "Since you're so cute, have a half-mark." He grinned toothily, swiped four bubblies, and motioned for the giggling Sophynale to take four for herself. After remarking flirtatiously that the coin was very hard and warm from being in his pocket all day, the young bronzerider cheerily winked at the blushing and open-mouthed journeyman as he walked off with his laughing friend.

Sophynale's laughter subsided somewhat as she bit into one of her bubblies. After she chewed for a while, she said, "You're almost never that flirtatious, J."

J'torian grinned as he munched heartily on a bubbly. Flaky crumbs of pastry clung to his mouth and his normally calm hair was slightly wind-tousled, making him incredibly appealing. Being the fastidious person he was, he popped the rest of his first bubbly into his mouth, quickly brushed the crumbs off his lips as he chewed, and patted his hair down before replying: "You bring out the worst in me, Sophie." The young man grinned at his friend.

"Is that an insult or a compliment? Can't be sure, ya know... By the way, slow down! I know you love lemon bubblies, but..." The young man was half finished with his second bubbly.

Just to be perverse, J'torian stuffed the remaining half of the second bubbly completely into his mouth, and grinned like a loon, his cheeks distended and eyes crossed. Sophynale laughed at her normally serene friend's hyper antics and nearly dropped her bubblies as J'torian quickly chewed to reduce the volume of the object in his mouth.

The queenrider gasped in laughter: "I'm glad to see that you're able to enjoy yourself without G'mead, but you've got to stop! It's not natural to eat so fast... Plus you're making my stomach hurt from laughing!"

J'torian finally finished chewing, swallowed, and regained his ability to talk. To Sophynale's consternation, he started in on his third bubbly as he replied good-naturedly: "Yeah, I'm not as co-dependent as everyone thinks Gannie and I are. As for these delicious little bubblies, I've only been around for seventeen Turns, so I'm still a growing boy."

Sophynale: "Well, you're a good dancer, and I expect you to dance with me tonight so those bubblies don't end up around your waistline!"

J'torian grinned maliciously. "But aren't you gonna dance with that bronze rider from High Reaches if he shows up? What's his name again, T'genar? He's pretty cute, by the way."

The girl blushed prettily as she finished up her first bubbly. "It's T'genor. Yeah, I admit that I'd rather dance with him, but don't worry, I won't desert a good friend just for some random bronzerider I've only talked to twice."

J'torian giggled as he munched on his last bubbly: "I'm touched, Sophie, but if I were you, I'd ditch your friend J'torian and go dancin' with T'genor, cause J'torian will understand your wish to be with a cute guy!"

Sophynale grinned gratefully. "If you insist; thanks, J'torian." She took a bite out of her second bubbly and rolled her eyes as she chewed: J'torian had just finished his fourth and last one.

J'torian and Sophynale made a striking couple during the dance that night, when the Harpers were striking out their infectious rhythms: J'torian, with his dark hair and eyes, his slight tan, and his slender/strong striking tall beauty; Sophynale, with her pale skin and eyes, refined features, gleamingly straight white-gold hair let loose from its bun, and a water-lithe form. While they weren't the focal point of the onlookers, they certainly garnered a lot of attention.

During the beginning of a slow waltz, Sophynale grinned and tried to move out of J'torian's arms. When J'torian stared at her questioningly, Sophynale motioned for him to turn around.

J'torian turned and yipped in surprise.

G'mead stood before J'torian and Sophynale. The young man, now completely recovered from his illness, looked quite sexy: his hair, dark at the roots and light at the tips, gleamed a general hazel in the glowlights, and his green seashell eyes twinkled with apology, entreaty, love, fear, guilt, longing, and merriment. His smiling, clean-shaven face was a joy to look at and his lovely, smooth bare chest was half-heartedly covered with a light vest the color of dry sand; light gray pants were tucked into boots of dark brown.

J'torian was glad that G'mead was here but he wondered why Storalinth didn't notify him. Storalinth, why didn't you...

You didn't ask, the bronze thought smugly. Besides, Birtath said that He said not to tell you.

Sophynale smiled, watching as both men blushed and grinned at each other as if two lovers were first meeting. She was about to say something when she felt a warm hand on her shoulder. Turning around in annoyance, she smiled with sheer happiness when she saw the handsome face before her.

G'mead and J'torian stared at each other shyly, oblivious to Sophynale's meeting, oblivious to the couples that were waltzing past them. After a time, G'mead looked down at the ground and grinned sheepishly as he ran a hand through his hair, causing a few forelocks to fall into his eyes. J'torian felt his smile widen and his pulse rate increase at the familiar sight.

G'mead looked up, his green eyes oozing with love/desire. "Ralenaya told me you would be here." His voice shook.

J'torian smiled fondly at the urgency in G'mead's voice as well as at the words he had spoken. "Rallie would, wouldn't she?"

G'mead voice shook harder and he nearly shuddered as he forced out his words: "J'torian... Look... I..." The hazel-haired man stopped speaking and shaking when J'torian moved to him and placed a finger on his lips.

J'torian: "I know, I know... did we ever need words, Gannie?" The dark-haired man placed his hands in G'mead's own, and getting uncharacteristically bold, he leaned in and placed a light kiss on G'mead's lips, savoring the taste. He quickly leaned back, blushing at his own initiative and at the return of desire in his veins. He did not realize how the kiss had caught the attention of all the people standing and sitting, watching the dancers.

G'mead was floored by the kiss, and he stared at J'torian in speechless joy as they held hands on the dance floor. After a moment he recovered and grinned devilishly, releasing J'torian's hands from his grip and placing his own hands possessively and tightly around his younger lover's waist.

G'mead drew his bronzerider close. "My good sir, will you do me the honor of dancing with me?"

J'torian, wrapping his hands around G'mead's wonderfully capable shoulders, was about to respond with some badinage of his own when he realized that he was neglecting someone.

"Oh shells, Sophynale." J'torian nearly wriggled out of G'mead's embrace in order to see where his friend had gone to. "Sophynale. Where is..."

G'mead successfully held onto the squirming J'torian: "Don't worry about her, love; she's dancing with T'genor." Sure enough, J'torian could see Sophynale in the arms of the handsome High Reaches rider and he relaxed, reassured that his friend wasn't feeling neglected.

Satisfied, J'torian returned his arms to G'mead's shoulders and said, "Well, in that case I'd love to dance with you, my good bluerider. And you are wrong: the honor's all mine." J'torian grinned at the corniness behind the sincerity of his monologue; his eyes misted as well, as this was the first time in a good three weeks that he had been in G'mead's arms like this. G'mead grinned back, his happiness about to burst through his chest.

The bronzerider and bluerider from Igen proceeded to waltz with natural grace, staring into each other's eyes, smiling into each other's souls, and somehow retaining their ability to lose themselves in their own world even as countless other paired bodies danced around the zygote of their existence.