WA: A different path traveled
The warning came just seconds before R'vain entered the laundry. The girls -- some of them, at least -- tended to look out for one another. Especially where he was concerned.
Aivey was among those that darted into various hiding spots. One girl ducked behind a pile of laundry, another hid behind the line of clothes stretched before the hearth; in her haste to get away, a third slipped and plunged head first into the pool. Amidst the laughter that erupted at the girls expense, Aivey hid under the main table. Pressing her back against the wall, Aivey hoped the shadows would hide her.
He asked for a few girls by name, at first. The head laundress shook her head and harrumphed, complaining about all her young workers and how unreliable they were. The more she muttered, the more bored R'vain sounded. Eventually, he gave up. But he didn't leave.
After listening to him wander around and talk to some of the other girls (asking where his favorites had gone off to), she heard a high pitched laugh. The nasally voice instantly gave the girl's identity away and Aivey shook her head. Eria wasn't the brightest glow in the basket, it wasn't surprising she took R'vain's advances so eagerly. She hoped Eria would have enough sense in her head to keep her mouth shut - at least when it came to where Aivey and the others were hiding.
The rest of the girls continued working - Aivey heard the splash of water and their voices beneath the closer sound of R'vain and Eria flirting. She flinched closer to the wall when his boots fell under the table, and closed her eyes when Elia's ass bumped against the edge. There were noises she truly didn't care to hear. Suddenly regretting her hiding spot, Aivey edged toward the opposite side but before she reached it, R'vain and Eria walked away from the table and out of the laundry.
Slipping out from under the far side of the table, Aivey stood and brushed her hands over her backside.
"Close call," One girl replied, glancing at her.
Aivey only nodded and moved back to the pile of laundry she'd been working on as the other girls came out of hiding.
###
Aivey's father wasn't always easy to find. In addition to being busy, Derek carried a strong penchant for reclusiveness and a dedication toward certain activities Aivey knew it was best she had no knowledge of.
And so she left a note for him, just as she always did when she wanted to meet with him. The note arranged for a meeting in a field just a half-days walk from the weyr, and after making more arrangements to take a day off from her work there, she set out to meet him.
Mid-day, she found the field empty. Settling down on a felled log to wait, Aivey closed her eyes with the brief intent on enjoying the warmth of the sun on her face. Only the moment turned into a stretch of hours as Aivey inadvertently fell asleep. She woke only as the sun shifted position to warm the opposite side of her face. Upon waking, she found her father seated across from her. Crouched and with his elbows resting atop his knees, he observed her with an unreadable expression. It disturbed her, though she'd not allow herself to linger on that thought for long.
"Hey," she greeted, sleepily.
He remained silent. Gruff. That bothered her too, but Aivey overlooked it.
"I wanted you to know... I'm.... I met someone, a while back. At the weyr. He's nice and I think you'd like him-" One look at her father confirmed that no, he wouldn't, "Anyways, we're sort of getting... you know, we're... He's asked me to be his weyrmate."
"Weyrmate." Her father said, speaking the word as though it was a rancid piece of meat and he was chewing it.
"I know. I know you don't approve of them - any of them - but... I think I love him." She hesitated, waiting to see what he'd say. He said nothing and so Aivey added, "He's a bronzerider."
Derek's eyes tightened and his lips formed a grim little line. Aivey hastened to add, "I know. They're the worse. I didn't plan on this," She shifted uncomfortably as an uneasy sensation prickled down her back (he was looking at her in a way that always made her think he didn't like what he was seeing), "It's just - it happened."
He stood. His knees popped and he sighed.
Aivey stood, too. "I don't need your approval. I want it, but I don't need it. And I'd like you to be there. He knows I'm not weyrbred and cares enough to indulge in some of -my- traditions."
Derek turned his back to her. She heard his jaw pop. "You like it?" He asked.
"What?"
"Could use your help."
Aivey stared at his back and she saw something she'd never seen before - the monster people said he was. The murderer. She shivered with fear.
"World's not going to change itself." He continued in the same soft, velvety tone.
Aivey took a step back. Not knowing what else to do, she pretend she hadn't heard him. "It's outside the weyr. Two days from now. He has sweeps and stuff during the day, so we'll have a small ceremony at night. It'll be a few friends and that's pretty much it."
Derek started walking away. Aivey watched him, fretting briefly with doubt over having even told him in the first place.
"Dad-" Her voice cracked.
Derek kept walking until he disappeared over the rise of the hill. Aivey knew it was the last time she'd see him.
Blinking furiously and wiping at her eyes, Aivey turned and headed back to the Weyr. It took her longer than she planned to return home, and when she got there, she avoided immediately returning to her soon-to-be weyrmate.
He found her sometime later in the living cavern, settled at a table with a mug of klah cradled between her hands. Aivey smiled when he joined her, but she didn't have the strength or the heart to try and convince him everything was alright.
He slipped an arm around her and pulled her in close against his side. "It's ok," he murmured with a kiss to the top of her head.
Aivey reciprocated, meeting her lips against his. He sighed, content, and smiled at her. Aivey met his eyes, recalling the first time she'd seen him and how she'd felt then. She had no visions of dragons dancing in her head when he asked her to Stand all those years ago. She knew too that there wasn't any way in Faranth's great gold behind that she'd impress. She didn't go to the 'Reaches for a dragon. She went because of him.
Still, it took years for him to even look at her after he dropped her off at the barracks. Aivey waited, patiently. She knew if she held on long enough that one day he'd see her, that one day he'd look at her like he was looking at her now.
"I want to go home," she whispered, resting her head against his shoulder.
Wordlessly, he slipped his arm around her back and walked with her out to the bowl.