|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 Posted: Tue Sep 07, 2010 9:33 pm
Winderick slowed for a few steps and suddenly stopped and turned half-way around. Even when he was mad at her he didn't like seeing her in pain. Without meaning to he started thinking about the long walk back to the weyr, how it was all uphill even when you reached the dirt trail.
It wasn't his fault she was so uncomfortable.
On the other hand, he still felt kind of bad for her. Now that he'd stopped he thought he might as well say something. "I'm not blaming you. I wasn't mad at you until you flipped out and threw a rock at me. Maybe you should have asked why I was so bothered before you tried to kill me."
He wasn't going to go easy on her just because he pitied her. As far as he was concerned Gale had a lot more to apologize for.
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Sep 07, 2010 10:06 pm
Galeia’s expression soured. She felt frumpy, filthy, humiliated, tired. If Winderick hadn’t been her only soul within an hour’s distance she might have fought him more, but she wanted a friend more than an enemy now. She wanted to settle her unbalanced world on something still. “Granted. And maybe you shouldn’t have stormed off like I was the worst lay in all of Pern without any explanation. What was I to think? You’re not the first guy who’s…” Her nails dug into her palms and her mouth went stiff with frustration for a moment, but she didn’t meet Winderick’s eye with the grievance. She was trying to avoid conflict. “I should have asked, I guess, but when you went off raging I had every reason to think it was personal. Sorry.”
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Sep 07, 2010 10:29 pm
Winderick bit his lip after the apology. To be honest he only expected to be yelled at, turn around and head back to the hold. Now he couldn't run away with a clean conscious. He sighed, "You don't get it. I figured out how I am a long time ago. When I came to the weyr I thought I could have my first time with somebody special, then those dragons showed up. That's why I'm mad."
He assumed Gale would know what he meant by somebody special. Of course Gale was important to him, she was the first real friend he'd had in years, but she wasn't that kind of special.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Sep 08, 2010 5:38 am
Galeia made a quick, frustrated gesture. “I get it. I just wish you’d said something. I don’t know if it would have helped but I’d have at least tried to run from you or something. And I wouldn’t have thought you thought I was repulsive.” She sighed, pulling her temper in again. “I thought I was doing you a little kindness anyway, that maybe you wouldn’t feel as bad as you would have if this had happened for the first time with a stranger.” She scoffed and pushed at her hair. A stick fell out of the block froth. “Maybe I did. You could have made a mess of some other girl, tearing out like that. Forget it.” The phrase was both dismissive and accepting. “Would you just come back with me? I can show you how to time the greens so you can avoid this sort of thing.”
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Sep 08, 2010 7:55 pm
Why would he have told her? That was another thing Gale didn't seem to understand. Nobody just talked about this sort of thing, especially holdborns. He also wondered why Gale didn't warn him about the rising if she knew how to time the greens or why they went out at all today for that matter. But Winderick didn't want to argue.
After a moment of hard hesitation he started up the slope toward Gale. "Yeah, alright," he muttered a little begrudgingly.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Sep 08, 2010 9:34 pm
Galeia turned as he got alongside her and started uphill. Her pace was slower now. She was done rushing about now, and he could sharding wait on her. Once the pace was set she prodded the silence. “How long have you known you didn't like girls?"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Sep 08, 2010 9:45 pm
So they were going to have this conversation now were they? Winderick shoved his hands in his pockets. He preferred not to talk about himself. The less people knew about him the less they could use against him. Besides, he wasn't a vain person. Talking about himself never got him excited. Sometimes it was even a bore. "Since I was twelve."
In fact it took him a little longer to realize he didn't like girls. First he figured out he liked boys. About two years later he realized he only liked boys, which was also the first time he saw his attraction as a problem, but he would rather not go into detail.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Sep 08, 2010 10:02 pm
She saw his hands dive into his pockets from the corner of her eye and resisted giving her thousandth sigh today. “Well you shouldn’t really have any trouble out of it here. I don’t know how bad Holds really are, but Benden’s pretty tolerant. I don’t mind either.” She felt a little bitter that he hadn’t trusted her enough to tell her this before, simple and critical a thing as it was, but it was no use lodging the grievance.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Sep 09, 2010 2:57 pm
Winderick had seen his share of couples in the weyr. They came in a variety - men with women, women with women, men with men - quite different from Hold couples. Winderick kept quiet about his sexuality, but he knew you never saw two men openly holding hands and kissing in Benden Hold. He held out hope that he would find the right guy at the weyr but now his quest seemed tainted. He didn't resent Gale, she was clearly out of her right mind, only the events. There wasn't anything he could say that would make Gale feel better.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Sep 09, 2010 3:15 pm
Whether it was because he couldn’t help, or maybe because she couldn’t, she left the silence alone this time when it settled. Further up the slope they made a careful bundle of the three remaining eggs and a swath of cloth Galeia had insisted they bring along in case they did find a clutch. It was too much cloth for too little egg, but it at least held heat well, and it gave Winderick something to hold to on the long walk back.
Galeia asked to borrow his walking stick and then resumed her silence. It was a good stick, she had to admit, and when they reached the weyr and snuck the eggs into a safe hiding place she gave him a rueful smile before taking her leave to bathe.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Reply
