In The Simple Dark {Kila}

[Admin]

I got my knuckles bruised by a lady in black,
And I held my tongue as she told me,
"Son, fear is the heart of love."
So I never went back.

If P'nay hadn't been meant for Annith, he might have become a wherhandler. In the most wrong way, he was perfect for it. He could walk in the dark without tripping. He loved nights; they always felt more special to him. Despite how he behaved, he was perfectly capable, actually a good weaver if he ever spent that much time with the craft at that point. He would defend the Weyr. He would have been able to accept such a life. He liked whers; they were adorably vicious in a very ugly sort of way. However, he wasn't a wherhandler. He was a dragonrider. He would fight thread, and less to defend the caverns of the Weyr. He would fight for all of Pern. It was very noble. Mainly, he simply and only knew that he had Annith, his wonderful and amazing and only dragon.

Annith, however, lay on the rim of the bowl, basking in the slowly fading light of the day and he wandered the glowless halls back amongst the realm of the wherhandlers. None of them would be out yet, not quite yet, and he bet he could find one. See, the thing with P'nay and whers was the fact that he liked wherhandlers far better. The darkness was peaceful, the sheer and utter darkness was calming. Even if it probably meant he was totally lost, it was serene. With any luck, some tall, dark, and handsome wherhandler would come and save him! Not that he would have any issue with short, fair, and pretty, or any else. Annith at least though that first idea was beautiful and cute, less than innocent but still innocent individual that she was. She only wanted him to be happy forever.

Arm partially extended, his fingers brushed against stone. The roughness grated against a bit of soft flesh between small calluses from work on his hand. He winced, wrinkling his nose in the dark. Shaking it pitifully, he continued on, wavering through the dark. He walked slowly, each step carefully made. He wasn't afraid of being unable to see. Other things scared him more. The blackness was taken with a welcome disregard. It was thrilling to continue on with careful but assured steps. He moved with a fluidity he rarely showed, forgetting appearances for what small bit of grace that he had in him. Faintly, he hummed, wandering on in the dark, taking a part of the turn he had found with his barely hurt finger. He felt invigorated, while it was only him, Annith, and lingering wishes.

If there's no one beside you,
When your soul embarks,
Then I'll follow you into the dark,
Then I'll follow you into the dark.

[Kila]

Nadya was never in pretty mood when she was woken up. She didn’t like to speak- she communicated in grunts and short movements of her head at most- and didn’t like to interact with people. Thanks to the nature of her job, interacting with anyone other than the other handlers wasn’t usually a problem. Nevertheless, being in a Weyr she had had to get used to it.

When Nadysk’s thumping woke her up around a full hour early, then, she was far from pleased. The Brown Weyr was on his back, legs twitching occasionally, and his tail was thrashing about. Nadya could tell from this and his big, toothy smile that he was happy, probably dreaming of chasing game out in the wild, but it didn’t please her as it normally did. ”Hurrumph. Great loud useless thing, thumping about at this hour of the evening, she grumbled unintelligibly. She kicked off her furs crossly and sat on the edge of her bed, kneading her eyes with the palms of her hands. Her short hair was all astray, but was easily pushed back into place with a sweep of her hand. What she really needed, since she was up for good now, was to stick her hand in a bucket of water. Or get in the bath. A bath…

Not a big fan of clothes, Nadya had to locate some before she left her room. She rummaged about, eyes still heavy, and pulled on the first things she laid hands on. She vaguely remembered having worn the cut shorts and sleeveless shirt before, but probably not for long. Not that she cared anyway- they would do. Shards, why am I even bothering in the first place? The chances of me running into someone between here and the baths are ridiculous. ‘Sides, even if I do they won’t be fully awake or able to see either. Not like I haven’t gone naked before. Uggghhhhhh. Whatever! It was too much thinking for a menial thing. Putting on the scant clothes she located was done automatically by her body while her mind was still absent. She hardly had anything on to complain about as it were.

Towel dangling in hand, Nadya pushed her way out of the room, stumbled into the tunnel, and proceeded to plod mechanically along in the direction she knew to be the way to the washroom. While she could see perfectly well in the dark, her body was still in automatic and she let her feet guide her there while her eyes were mostly closed. She stopped, however, when she hear blundering footsteps other than her own. Her conscious poked its head out from wherever it had been hiding. Someone who does’t know their way around? She could tell it wasn’t one of the other handlers- they walked confidently through the tunnels that they knew perfectly well how to navigate in the dark. Well, whoever the hell it is they’re gonna cross my path soon enough, she shrugged. She continued on, listening to the footsteps but falling a little back into her absent sleepiness. She only realized at the last second after round a bend that she was running straight into the mysterious other person. They were both tilted off center some way, P’nay leaning against the wall for guidance and support and Nadya leaning forward, so the collision caused a great tumble. Both parties were unable to support their weight quickly enough and fell, Nadya landing on top.

“Evening, stranger,” she said, studying his face from a nose to nose perspective and liking what she saw. She didn’t know who the man was, but he was a pretty one. It was as though Faranth had sent her a gift: Nadysk had woke her up so that she had an hour to burn with this fortuitous trespasser. ”And what, might I ask, are you doing down here? You wouldn’t happen to be a naughty candidate whose lost his way, would ya? You look a little old for that.”

[Admin]

Do you ever have that dream,
Where you're walking naked down the street,
And everyone just stares,
Do you ever feel so deep.

P'nay had good senses, but his sight and tactile ability had always been better than his sense of smell and hearing. Wandering along another tunnel, hand brushing up against the wall gently, he didn't hear another soul in the dark; he didn't hear anything. Thus, he was quite surprised to go and run right into someone. He lost his carefully kept footing, and found himself falling. The surprise made him a bit rigid, and his back slammed hard against the ground, but he managed to keep his head from cracking into anything. He felt someone on top of him, lying across his body, though the contact wasn't uncomfortable. For a moment, all he could see was the dark, only able to properly concentrate on making sure that nothing was broken. Then he managed to focus his eyes and he could make out details across a short space, and that was all that was needed. The only things he started to care about were very close to his face.

The someone he had run into was a woman, and she had a pretty face. She looked ethereal, pale skinned with light hair, appearing out of the dark at him. His eyes traced her features, trying to see beyond the dim light. She was beautiful, in her own way. He always liked some uniqueness. He grinned at her like an idiot, as if he actually had gone and hit his head. He had been so right! He had found a wherhandler! His choice in activities has been the right thing to waste time in doing, since it wasn't going to end up being a waste at all to him with any luck. Her words confirmed that she was a handler, placing her as someone at home in the tunnels with her claims to some small guardianship in her phrasing. Playfully, he frowned at her words, as if he found something wrong or offensive with them. The dim, nonexistent light was the only thing that kept his eyes from twinkling at her. His mood was left light and airy.

"Are you insinuating that I'm old;" he asked her with a mock seriousness. In truth, he liked that he looked older than some stupid candidate. At twenty-two, he enjoyed being a set away age from the unImpressed boys and girls while still being young, fun, footloose, and fancy free. Fake frown disappearing, he grinned a lopsided grin up at her, quite comfortable with her lying on top of him. In fact, he sort of preferred it that way. He had almost no personal space, and that which he did have, he didn't often keep around in most situations. "I'm P'nay, rider of yellow Annith;" he said. He was proud to be a rider, and some of that pride showed. He didn't have any reason not to feel good about it. He was a yellowrider, a fine basic wingrider even if he didn't care all that much about sweeps and training. Anyway, he was mainly just saying it to introduce himself. He did have a reputation to his name.

The words sounded boring to him as they came out, and he suddenly felt the urge to be bold. Not so surprisingly, it wasn't hard for him to find an easy way to go and be brash. An idea popped right into his head. "I was lost on purpose, for your information, because, though I am not a candidate, I am quite naughty." His voice went from normal and proper to low and slick as he progressed through the line. Unafraid, his arms wrapped around her waist, holding her lightly against him. She hadn't seemed to mind their situation, and he bet she would look cute if he got her to blush someone, strong wherhandler that she was. "It's lovely to meet you;" he added with a slippery honesty. He kissed her nose. It was right there, and a kiss to the nose was more cute than anything sexual. She might think him weird, but it meant she wasn't likely to go slapping him if she took offense to his keen interest.

Cause I'm bare naked,
And I know life's what you make it,
Wish I could float away,
To some other day.

[Kila]

Nadya had very quickly gone from being irritated at Nadysk to very pleased with him. If he had not then Nadya would not have stumbled into the alluring young man from above that she was now lying on top of. P’nay would have wandered the tunnels of the Lower Caverns fruitlessly, or for whatever his purpose was, and met no one. In an hour or so all of the Handlers would begin to rise, of course, but Nadya wouldn’t have been likely to be first among them. She rolled out of bed when she felt like it; and that was often a little late and at Nadysks insistence. Yes, getting up early today was the best thing she’d done in days.

Nadya smiled when P’nay began to play and pout. She liked people with a good sense of humor. His crafted frown disappeared before she had even finished speak. “Oh no, not old at all. You look quite young, actually. Perhaps a little too young to be down her playing with me, maybe. It could just be the darkness, though. It can blur such pesky features as age.” If Nadya had a good conscience, P’nay was clearly too young to be her plaything. From what she could judge he was at least five years her junior. Unfortunately such things had never stopped her before. Darkness did mask features, true, but more so to the untrained eye. Nadya was not an untrained eye, she lived and thrived in darkness and loved it. Being alone in the dark with someone was like sharing a secret. Daytime seemed too blatant and predictable to her now. Nighttime was mysterious and enticing. Even when you were up to nothing it made you feel like you were doing something naughty.

With the return of the man’s smile came introductions. He introduced himself as P’nay- a rider of a Yellow called Annith. He pride that he undoubtedly felt spilled over into his voice. That warmed Nadya’s heart just a bit. She always felt good when she saw a Rider or Handler who couldn’t be prouder to be where they were. In those moments they acknowledged how privileged they were but did not gloat. It was a beautiful thing to see, especially in the young. Like she had observed before, P’nay was young. Nadya did not often show such moments to the world, but her love for her bonded and the ease she had with him reflected it in their own way.

”Nadya,” she returned the introduction after studying him. ”And I handle Brown Nadysk, who is sleeping at the moment.” She smiled, her lips parting to reveal pearly white teeth that went perfectly with the rest of her pale features, when P’nay made bold and put his arm around her waist. The contact would not make her blush, however. Nadya did not blush, she made other people blush. ”Lost on purpse? How wonderful. Is that because you’re naughty or because you’re looking to be naughty?” Because if it was the latter, he’d found it. He kissed her nose, which was very cute (she almost wanted to let loose a patronizing ‘awwww’ at the action), but also failed to produce any embarrassment or wilting flower quality on her part. It was cute, yes, but cute was not what she aimed for. ”I feel like your reputation should precede you, but unfortunately I don’t pay too much attention to what goes on that doesn’t affect me. Gossip I think is tiring. But P’nay, it is just lovely to meet you too.” Nadya brushed noses with him teasingly before lowering her face and pressing her lips against his. She kissed him deeply, though not too forcefully just yet in a way that the only thing either of them could think about was that particular kiss. The darkness of course helped block everything else out and propelled the shameful pleasure of it.

She took her time pulling back, nipping his bottom lip lightly as she broke the kiss. Her face remained close to his, though. ”I was on my way to the baths before we collided. We’re both all dirty now from rolling around on this tunnel floor, so you must come get clean before you go.” She eyes him mischeviously, challenging him to see just how naughty he wanted to be. ”No one else is awake just yet, it should be empty.”

[Admin]

It's got me thinkin' lots of crazy things,
I even think I saw a flash of light,
It felt like electricity,
You shouldn't kiss me like this.

If P'nay had ever been one to just play with things his own age, he wouldn't have been P'nay. He had a reputation. A good fair few people knew his names, and it wasn't because he rode Annith. He would play with anything that caught his fancy and that he caught the fancy of with his dashing experience and youthful good looks. He wasn't exactly finicky. What counted as beautiful, handsome, pretty was broad in his mind. There were things that were ugly, but they were easily overlooked. A good personality was a plus, but there was so many types of those too. He had some standards. He wasn't an idiot. Yet, in the end, he liked his playing. He liked the company. Anyway, Nadya wasn't old. Not that old, anyway, not older than R'ish. He could tell that in the dark. He wasn't thinking about R'ish anyway. In the end, Nadya was definitely very pretty.

So, he just grinned away at her words. He didn't really respond to it. He watched her face. No blush came. He wasn't all that disappointed. Too much color would ruin the darkness and the stark white of her teeth and skin. He wasn't seeking colors. He was seeking the cool embrace of the night. He was seeking some fun, hidden away from the world, where no one else would think to quite look hard enough or go tripping into like he had. Sometimes one had to trip to find what they were looking for in the end. He didn't mind. He was quite comfortable ending up on the ground. Him and the ground were old buddies from a time or two. Anything that supported his back was his friend. "My reputation should definitely proceed me;" he warned her. His unspoken answer to her question about his being naughty would have been yes to both.

His eyes caught light even in her dark, bright and lively with plain interest. The yellowrider certainly wasn't disappointed when she, Nadya of brown Nadysk, went and kissed him. He didn't mind brashness. That was always good too. He savored it and savored her lips against his, though he only pressed back gently. Everything was bright and shiny. Everything was wondrous. There was a reason he was so fond of wherhandlers. He had almost forgotten. They were oddities, and, for him, that was a wondrous thing. Sure, there were exceptions. There was the same thing in riders, though, and they had dragons to cause complications. Not that he didn't love dragons. He was quite fond of them. Especially yellows ones with names like Annith. He just happened to be, in that moment, quite fond of handlers with names like Nadya who kissed him too.

His eyes fluttered closed for a moment as she drew back, grinning at the tug of teeth on his lower lip. It wasn't like he needed them. He would have been just as lucky in the dark without them, simply using his hands and feet. Or Nadya. She could see in the dark. She knew the tunnels. His pretty, pale savior. His eyes opened and he grinned at her. Her words made his spine shiver. A bath. With her. When no one else was awake. Sounded like his kind of deal. The tunnel didn't seem that dirty, but he wasn't going to argue. His smile matched all of her mischievousness even before he spoke. He started by slipping free of her. It wasn't too hard. He released his loose grip around her, went to the side, and hopped up. He wasn't too bad on his feet. He smiled down at her, like the devil incarnate. They weren't quite on even footing, but they weren't that far apart.

"A bath sounds lovely;" he told her innocently, with manners that didn't fit his grin. He hoped she could see it, even in the almost pitch black. All traces of light were dim, and impossible to know they source of, from some distant basket of dim glows or something similar. He was all grins and smiles, though, it was what was much of his charm. Where would he be without that? Being faintly witty and perfectly interested in jumping people. That was something, he supposed, but he was so fond of the smiles. He extended a hand towards her. His fingers brushed against her shoulder, down her arm, taking their sweet time, before he grasped her hand gently, as if a little lost child. "Now, I haven't a clue where they are, but do please hurry." The manners remained, but his voice became more mischievous and artful.

The way you moved me tonight,
I just wanted you to know,
I just wanted you to know,
You shouldn't kiss me like this.

[Kila]

Nadya shifted slightly to her side and let P’nay, her wandering, willing victim, escape from underneath her. She could have kept him pinned underneath her easily had she wished, for she wagered that she was much stronger than he, but that would have been counteractive to the fun she had planned. She rose gracefully to her feet after P’nay leapt up. She could see the smile on his face and the look in his eye- she liked them. His words were laced with a false sincerity of manners that signaled that their coy games were not yet over. She loved the way it felt as P’nay reached out for her hand, only locating it after he ran his lightly down her arm before taking hold of her hand in a child-like way. His hands were soft; she could hardly believe he was a Rider. She skillfully laced her fingers in his and smiled back mischievously. ”Don’t worry, my lost little bird, I’ll take you there.”

And that she did, pulling him along like a child, but maintaining a hold on him in a way that was not innocent at all. The baths were not far, she had been heading there when they had collided, so they reached them soon. Nadya pushed open the door and released P’nay’s hand as she slipped in. Standing next to the water, she breathed in the steam deeply and smiled. She closed her eyes and pulled her shirt over her head, letting it fall forgotten to the ground. Her bare back that faced P’nay was strong and as pale as her face. Her pants slid down her long, powerful legs and she stepped out of them and into the water, sending small ripples across the surface as she waded up to her waist. She paused near the middle, looking back slightly over her shoulder. ”Well, coming in?”

[Admin]

I was so high,
I did not recognize,
The fire burning in her eyes,
The chaos that controlled my mind.

P'nay let himself be dragged along like a confused child, enjoying the seductive hold she held on his hand. Her words with the mischievous gleam of her teeth in the dark made his spine shiver. Nadya was going to be his new best friend, wonderful as she was. They were on the same page with no proper conversation, and that was perfect in his mind. The journey to the bathing pools of the whers' tunnels was short, but it seemed to take the perfect amount of time in his mind. He was more aware of the press of the darkness and the touch of her hand than the door they passed through to the pools. He only became sharply aware because she let go of his hand once they were there, making him think to think.

As she stripped, his eyes admired her form with an expert but soft intensity. She was beautiful, perfectly abnormal in her ethereal beauty and entirely gorgeous. He watched her movements, caught up in it all. It took her speaking to him to shake him from his silly, intent rapture. He grinned at her. "Certainly;" he said with soft cheer. His laughter rang out in the stone room after his polite answer, mocking it with its raucous and sharp humor. So funny, to him, the idea of acting a gentleman at a time like that, taking a bath with a woman who seemed quite capable of so many things.

With deft fingers, he stripped his body of his shirt, abandoned his boots on the ground, and slipped free of his pants. While his body didn't ripple and he wasn't physically overbearing, he looked like he was definitely in shape. For a moment, he stretched. Then he hopped into the water, causing a splashing wave. His feet found the floor. He stubbed one toe on it, but he didn't let that stop him. He lunged on forward and he wrapped his arms around her shoulders. Watching her with one eye, he grinned at her. "Need help scrubbing anything;" he asked and raised one eyebrow in an entirely suggestive manner, his faked actual manners quickly disintegrating. He licked her ear, then subsided to more grinning.

So hard to keep her satisfied,
Kept playing love like,
It was just a game,
Pretending to feel the same.

[Kila]

Nadya smiled with P’nay when he laughed at his own manners. This was hardly the time or the place to be gentlemanly. A gentleman or a lady wouldn’t be caught dead in their situation. But this was just the sort of situation Nadya loved and strove to create for herself. She watched with approval as P’nay removed his clothes, as uninterested in having them on as she had been. She had not expected the lithe man to be as muscled as he was, but it did not take away from his appeal at all.

Nadya bowed her head ever so slightly behind her shoulder and avoided the splash of water that P’nay sent up when he jumped in. Men were so careless sometimes, but they were good playmates when there were no girls around. Her mouth spread into a smile when he grabbed her shoulders and she practically purred when he licked her ear. Her skin tingled at the contact. ”You can scrub me all over,” she offered suggestively, turning around in his arms and eyeing him seductively. She closed the space between them and pressed her body up against his. Both of their skin was smooth and wet and pleasing.

Going in for the kill, Nadya leant and kissed his neck, moving from the base of his shoulder to his ear, where she tugged at his earlobe just enough that it didn’t hurt, moved down his jaw, and finally reached his lips. Here she guided him until they were close to an edge of the bathing pool and pushed him down against it, sinking down on top of him as he went. ”We dirty kids are going to need a good scrubbing.” With a smile she pressed her lips and her body against his and began to press him ever harder against the edge….. [fade to black- ya get the point]