Mistakes Were Made [Srunae] *Sexual Themes*

[Zen]

The morning after This Calls For A Toast?

A'zael :: Bronze Fath

He may have been out when he'd been carried back to his weyr, but A'zael had hardly had a restful night. He'd woken several times, still half asleep, tossed, fallen back into a fitful sleep almost before he knew he was waking up. Had he tried to get up once, or had that been a dream? As he slowly came awake in his bed, ending his restless night, he groaned lightly and rubbed his hand over his face. His mouth was dry as dust. Draping his arm over his face, he fought to work up the effort to get out of bed and find himself some water. Shards he was thirsty.

As he lay there, he realized he had no recollection of ever going to bed. What...? Try as he might to remember, he couldn't. What was the last thing he remembered? Things were so muddled up in his head.... Mollin. He remembered Mollin pulling him away from Karredy, they'd been drinking.... And that was it. He couldn't even remember what they'd talked about properly. She... she had asked him about Srunae. Yeah, he remembered that. That's when everything started getting... fuzzy. Shells, he didn't think he'd ever been that drunk before.

And then it occurred to him that he'd done it at the feast and he groaned again, his voice coming out in a rough growl, “Sharding fantastic.” He'd gotten so drunk he couldn't even remember half the night, at an event where the entire sharding Weyr could see. He tried to push himself up, his arm dropping from his face, and managed to notice that he wasn't alone before falling back into his pillows as it suddenly felt as though his head was splitting in two, his breath hissing out between clenched teeth, “Wherryshit!” His eyes closed tightly and his hand pressed to his forehead as if that might relieve some of the pain, and he cursed again as it lingered.

A'zaelmine?

He struggled to reassure his dragon, It's all right, Fath. Don't... don't worry about it.

The bronze let out a soft croon from his stone couch, eyes whirling with tinges of a worried yellow at his rider's pain.

He finally opened his eyes again, grimacing as he looked over to see Srunae slumped over the side of his bed. All he could do was squint at her, trying to figure out if he was actually dreaming or if she was really there. Was... was that one of his shirts she was wearing?

Rhush

[Rhush]

Srunae :: Gold Danovelith

Srunae was deeply asleep, her breathing slow and methodical even as A'zael rolled around in bed again, cursing his headache. It had been a rough night for both of them; every time the man moved, she had checked to make sure he wasn't in danger of hurting himself, relaxed, and then settled back into her chair at his bedside. She entertained herself with running through a random book of harper songs she had found in his weyr earlier in the evening, sending her menagerie of pets off to obtain a list of items G'rett had mentioned to her when he stopped in after checking up on Mollin (healers were the best consults), and watching Fath and Danovelith curl around each other on the bronze's couch after they returned. After a while the goldweyrling decided she couldn't stay in her own gather finery any longer, but she couldn't bring herself to leave the restless Weyrleader alone lest he wake up in a panic either - so, in a moment of exhausted clarity, she pilfered a shirt and a pair of shorts from A'zael's wardrobe. She could always put them back in the morning, after all...

And so, finally comfortable, the woman had then started dozing off, jolting awake as A'zael would toss, turn, or talk in his sleep, only to drift back off again after her heartbeat returned to a normal rhythm. When she finally drifted off to sleep entirely, she slipped off hard, the exhaustion of the whole ordeal catching up to her. Srunae usually couldn't sleep sitting up, let alone in a hard wooden chair, but she had been so tired she just... couldn't keep her eyes open anymore, and the bed beneath her vaguely interlaced arms and heavy head was so comfortable... As a result, the goldweyrling had fallen asleep in a chair she had stolen from A'zael's table, half laid out over the edge of the man's bed and dressed in his clothing. Had she been awake when A'zael had seen her, the beastcrafter might've instantly started blushing and apologizing. The last time the two of them had actually interacted, after all, had been their fight - and her sudden appearance in his clothes wasn't exactly... something he'd expect.

Lucky for Srunae, she was still heavily asleep... at least until A'zael reached out to confirm to himself that she was, in fact real, and not some sort of drunken hallucination or weird dream. As his fingers brushed through her hair, she shifted and mumbled something unintelligible, burying her face into her arms and taking a deep breath in, releasing it slowly as she equally slowly registered the touch in her mostly asleep mind. What... what...? Srunae's thoughts were muggy, foggy even, as she subconsciously stretched her back towards the chair with a sigh, mentally cursing the taut muscles that laced discomfort into her consciousness. "Mmmm..." She grumbled audibly, opening one eye into the darkness within her own arms. Dark... Sleep... more sleep would be good... She thought, only to be gently prodded by her beloved gold. Srunae dear, Fath's is staring at you. It took the woman a long moment to process that observation, and she finally lifted her chin up so her eyes could see over her arms. Sure enough, A'zael was staring at her. That's nice... certainly better than...

Wait. Srunae was almost instantly awake.

She blinked greenish hazel eyes a couple of times and suddenly had an urge to drop down to the floor and slide under the bed to hide as a light blush crept onto her cheeks. "Ah... good morning, A'zael..." Well this was awkward.

Danovelith, for her part, was still quite comfortably curled around Fath, and had no immediate inclination to move.

Zen

[Zen]

A'zael

His touch had woken her. A'zael continued to stare at her as she stirred, still trying to make sense of her presence. His head hurt enough, this couldn't be a dream. So why was she here... and why was she wearing his clothing? Just what the shell had happened last night? He closed his eyes for a moment, trying to block out the pain and force memories that weren't there to come forward. Neither effort worked in the least. Srunae made a noise and he looked back over at her as she looked over at him. He was rather at a loss as silence stretched out between them, until Srunae finally offered him a good morning.

Good morning? Was it? He rubbed his hand over his face again. “Good morning, yourself,” his tone carried equal parts confusion and sarcasm. This didn't make any sense. She had told him she wanted nothing more to do with him, and now she was sitting here in his clothes telling him good morning. He cursed softly, both at the pain and his lack of memories concerning the night's events. And the fact that he was so sharding thirsty.

He grimaced and tried to sit up again, his breath hissing out through his teeth once more as the movement set off more pain, eyes closed tightly as he fought to work himself up to at least a sitting position. All he really wanted was a drink of water and to flop back into bed and keep sleeping until this unbearable headache was gone. He managed to get as far as leaning half upright on one arm, squinting through one eye over at Srunae, “What... what happened?”

With his free hand he massaged his forehead, “Why are you here?” It came out quite a bit blunter than he'd meant, but his bafflement at waking to find her in his weyr was rather clear. He had never had a woman walk out of his life like that only to mysteriously appear back in it a few days later. There was so much more behind that question that he would have liked to elaborate on, but his throat was dry and his head hurt, and for now a basic understanding of the night's events would be more than satisfactory. All this confusion was not helping his headache.

[Rhush]

Srunae

Srunae felt a pang of remorse at the sarcasm in A'zael's greeting. I... guess I... should've gone home... after all. She thought briefly, doing her best to force away the discomfort at the thought. She had been so worried when he didn't... she hadn't much experience with drunk people, but his extremely restless sleep had worried her, and she wanted to at least make sure he had something for the hangover everyone imagined he might have... Oh, that's right! She sat up as he did, looking behind her at the table from their lunch date with a vague amusement in her eyes. The middle of the table housed a large circle of water glasses of different size and shape, and a pitcher of water sat off to the side. It had taken Zoom and Zeek some time to gather all of those things, even with Floret and Fair's help - even Zax had helped bring a glass or two, though the little flippered guy wasn't terribly as able as the others.

She blinked and looked back at A'zael as he struggled to sit up and tossed another question at her -- two questions, really, and both of them were less than friendly in tone. Srunae ignored the pang of agony that shot through her heart and instead stood up, pausing a moment to stretch out all the kinks in her sharding back. If she ever slept in a chair again, it would be too soon. "If that's the sort of thanks you give people who try to help, I should've left ages ago." Her expression was nearly haughty as the woman padded barefoot across the cold stone to the aforementioned table and picked up two glasses of water. "Thirsty?" She offered him one of the glasses as she sat back down in the chair, eyeing his pained expression and thinking he sharding deserved an awful hangover after all that.

It came out a little blunter than she had intended, but as she drank from her own cup of water she felt a little better about it. Sharding man made her worry after the stunt he pulled with Mollin and all his drinking... And then the other sharding man made her want to melt away with stripping A'zael out of his finery so he'd be comfortable... And the third sharding man made his disdain over the whole ordeal totally clear, though he begrudingly told her how to fix A'zael's hangover. And here the first sharding man of the night was being a sharding thorn in her side. Faranth, why did she have to deal with so many sharding men in her life? She half-hoped A'zael's liver was worse for the wear after all the wherryshit she had been through to now, then scolded herself for it. "Remind me not to worry so much next time I watch someone dead man carry you up to your weyr passed out drunk."

[Zen]

A'zael

Rather than answer either of his questions, she rebuked him and set off first a flash of irritation in him. He felt like wherryshit, Faranth forbid he be a bit short. But what she had said sank in and, what with his memory lapse, he realized someone must have helped him back to his weyr last night, and that Srunae had more than likely had something to do with it, seeing as she was still here. He was just making excuses for being less than grateful, and guilt washed out his irritation. No matter what had happened between them, she was here now, surprising as it was.

She moved away and returned, offering him a glass of water, which he took with a sense of relief that he wasn't going to have to struggle out of bed to find for himself. Apparently unable to focus on more than one thing at a time currently, he became occupied with downing the entire glass until Srunae spoke again. Finishing off the water, he looked back over at her, trying to sort out everything in his head. He latched onto the first simple course of action that presented itself, which was to just forget everything else for the time being and focus on what was happening now. One thing at a time.

He sighed, setting the glass down on the bed beside him to rub at his forehead again, “I'm sorry, I'm just-” No. Stop making excuses. Nothing... nothing gave him the right to treat people like shit, especially when all they were doing was trying to help him, “Thank you. I... I really appreciate it, Srunae.” She didn't have to. He didn't know why she was here, after what had happened, but she was and that's all that mattered right now.

Slowly, he laid back, raising his arm to cover his face once more as he let the quiet stretch out for a moment as he worked up the courage to ask, “I... how bad was it? What did I... what did I do?” He really didn't want to know, to be honest, but everyone else in the Weyr would know by now, so it was better to be prepared for the backlash. If he'd gotten so drunk he couldn't remember half the night, he was confident he'd done plenty to make a fool of himself. Just what Mavros needed, stories of their drunken Weyrleader circulating around. That would help them secure candidates. He gritted his teeth at the thought of more betweens on hatching day because he was a sharding idiot. His guilt outweighed everything. He gave a short, humorless laugh, talking more to himself than Srunae, as he had not entirely meant for the thoughts to leave his head, “Why do I always have to go and make things worse...? What is wrong with me?”

[Rhush]

Srunae

Srunae smiled lightly at the man's genuine apology and shook her head. "Don't worry about it. Whether you like it or not, you're stuck with me." The goldweyrling took another drink of her water, watching A'zael's cup carefully over the rim of her own. A bed was not a terribly sturdy place to set down a cup, but thankfully he had downed the entire thing, so when it tipped over as he lay back again, there was no mess. She polished off her own water and then raised an eyebrow at the bronzer's question about what he had done, and if it was terribly bad. Srunae shrugged, reaching over to retrieve his empty water cup and stacking it into her own.

"Well..." She began, looking thoughtfully upwards, toward the ceiling. "You stared daggers and me and Treyjen for most of the night. I imagine you said something mean to F'mol - he practically bolted out of the feast? Then Mollin swept you off to drink together for a while. You drank too much and reverted to your typical flirting comments; Mollin didn't appreciate them and smacked you before running off." She gestured to his cheek here, chuckling a bit. "G'rett went after Mollin. Treyjen and I..." What was a good word to use here? "Escorted," It was more like dragged by the bootstraps, but most of the galley had drawn more intrigue from Mollin's fleeing at that particular moment... though it hadn't lasted terribly long. "You out of the feast. S'fin agreed to play political clean up patrol... oh! That reminds me."

Danovelith, would you please let Rusath and hers know A'zael's awake?

Certainly dear.

Thank you love.

Srunae returned to herself and looked thoughtful again, before continuing. "You passed out not far out of the entrance, and Treyjen dead man carried you up here and we got you settled into bed." A dark blush crept over her face here and she glanced away for a moment to push away the ordeal of getting him out of his Gather Finery. She cleared her throat before continuing, willing away the color in her cheeks. "G'rett came by later to fill me in on Mollin's side of the story and lined out how to deal with your hangover, should you have one." That seemed like a decent enough explanation of the evening. Srunae nodded to herself and looked back over at A'zael with a wry smile. "All things considered, it wasn't terrible, but you did cause a bit of a scene on the way out, and the whole slapping situation did pause the party for a moment. I know there were a few high ranked people there..." She looked thoughtful again, but for the life of her she couldn't recall who was on the guest list that hadn't been a rider. Probably because of the whole introductions thing with Treyjen. "I can't remember who, right now though. Most of my recollection of the guest list is the bronzeriders; I was helping Treyjen put names to faces should one of them end up the next Weyrleader..."

Srunae blinked as A'zael asked what was perhaps the most self-depreciating question she had ever heard him ask in the time she had known him. The goldweyrling was kind of surprised; she knew the man worried about these things, sure, but she hadn't realized it extended so deeply. She paused a moment, struggling with an ideal answer for his question, but found none that seemed fitting. It was his fault and it wasn't - he had deigned it a good idea to drown his sorrows in public - but at the same time Srunae could understand his need to drink after all the mess he had just dealt with. "There's nothing wrong with you." She said, actually sounding pretty confident about the comment.

"You have a penchant for messing things up, yes, but that's part of how you learn." She chuckled and stood again, swapping out the empty cups for a pair of full ones and offering him one. "So as long as you learned something from all this," She glanced over at him as she continued to wax philosophical. "Then the evening was a success, albeit a messy one. Next time though," An amused smile crossed over her face before she drew up the courage to needle him with a less than subtle bit of teasing. "Try not to let your jealousy dictate your actions, hmm? While the following events are amusing to watch, they don't do much for your reputation or your relationships." She was talking about his relationship with Mollin there, but she would let him think on it instead of clarifying at that point. Hangover or not, he needed to be prepared to hand out a bunch of apologies.

Zen

[Zen]

A'zael

Stuck with her. He was stuck with her? What? She was the most confusing woman he had ever met in his life. And yet something loosened in his chest at those words, a tight, painful knot he'd been carrying around ever since she'd stormed out of his weyr, since the thought that he'd lost her had settled in. He hadn't? If he was stuck with her then... that wasn't the case. He hadn't lost her? Clearly, or why was she here? Complicated, frustrating, confusing woman.

Before he could think of just what to say to that, she finally started into an explanation of the night he could not remember. Her mention of the pirate she had spent the evening with had a familiar flash of that very unfamiliar emotion coursing through him. Ugh, he did not want to think about the two of them right now. F'mol? Oh... right. He sighed, remembering his sharp words to the other bronzerider. He would have to find him later and apologize. It hadn't really been any of his sharding business, but that didn't mean he had to bite the man's head off for asking. He should be able to control himself better than that.

Then she breezed over Mollin, going on to explain that she and Treyjen had helped him back to his weyr, and it took him a moment. His arm fell away from his face as he looked over at her. Mollin had hit him? And then she'd run off? Wonderful. What the shell had he said to her? His stomach twisted up with guilt. Oh, shards, had he... he wouldn't have...? Even drunk, surely he wouldn't have... propositioned her? He stared up at the ceiling, rubbing his hand over his cheek lightly as the vague memory of the slap came back to him, though he still couldn't recall just what he'd said to earn it. She'd dragged him away from everything, let him vent to her, tried to help him, and he had... he had....

She had a momentary lapse in her explanation which he didn't even notice, too caught up in thinking about Mollin and how he could never seem to do anything right when it came to her. Treyjen's name brought him back, however, and he closed his eyes as if it would also make him deaf to the name, or even better, blind to the man's entire existence. He really hated how thinking about the pirate made him feel. Before Srunae had gotten involved, they'd had some semblance of a friendship, and now he couldn't even stand to hear his name. Treyjen had carried him back to his weyr? Sharding good for him. Wasn't he just the most noble pirate on Pern?

Srunae told him overall it wasn't terrible, but A'zael wasn't entirely sure he believed her. At the current moment, he couldn't recall what sort of ranking people had been at the feast either, but the reminder that there had been some at all was enough to make it worse in his mind. And she had been helping Treyjen prepare for his eventual replacement? Yeah, that... that was just great. Hopefully it happened sooner rather than later and he'd never have to deal with the man ever again. He hoped Treyjen had made plenty of new bronzeriding friends at the feast. He pulled a pillow over his head before he gave in to the urge to say anything else he would regret, the darkness it brought with it easing his headache in the slightest.

“There's nothing wrong with you.”

He groaned into the pillow at her suggestion that making mistakes was how he learned. Did he have to make such massive ones, though? It wouldn't be so bad if his mistakes only affected him. She chuckled. At least someone was finding some humor in all this. He pushed the pillow up off his face to look over at her as she returned to the bedside with another glass of water to offer him. He took it, considering it for a moment as she continued like it was all worth it if he learned something from it. He didn't particularly agree. She was being far too nice to him about it all.

His jealousy? What was she...? Jealousy. He was jealous. What the shell? He'd never been jealous in his life, not like this. He winced as he tried to sit up once more, setting his head to pounding, and drank some of the water Srunae had brought him as he puzzled over the matter. He stared down into the half empty glass for a while, but finally looked up at her again, “Srunae, I don't.... I don't want to lose you. Ever. I thought I had, and I....” His gaze fell back to his water glass and he swirled the liquid around a bit, trying to figure out just what he was saying, his voice quiet, “Watching you walk away from me... it was... terrifying to imagine my life without you in it.” He took a deep breath and swallowed the emotion that was threatening to catch in his throat, turning his gaze to hers, “I mess up. I mess up a lot. But you... you make me feel like... as long as I have you, I can work it out. As long as I have you, I... I can get through anything.” This newest mess included.

“If I'm stuck with you, that's about the best news I've ever heard, because I really don't know how I would have gotten through all my many, many mistakes without you. And Faranth knows I'm gonna make more,” he took another deep breath, “I'm sorry. I'm sorry now, I'm sorry for whatever I might do in the future. I need you, Srunae... and I... I'll do whatever it takes to keep you in my life, because the thought of losing you scares me almost as much as the thought of losing Fath.” And that's where his jealousy stemmed from, the idea that someone else might just steal her away from him before he'd even been able to tell her just how much she meant to him. But he'd told her now. He had a great big mess to clean up, but if he knew he had her, it wasn't such a daunting task. One thing at a time.

[Rhush]

Srunae

A'zael had remained silent nigh throughout her less than detailed explanation of the night before, and Srunae could see the cogs turning in his mind as he laid there. He had to be thinking quite hard about everything, or he'd have at least said something; she had been half expecting to hear him make a jab about her and Treyjen or just... say anything really. She watched him take the new cup of water from her after re-emerging from beneath his pillow head protection, concern passing over her features even as she finished speaking. The woman couldn't help but worry about her favorite bronzer, no matter how it might sting her heart to do so; she still cared, and no amount of anger or irritation about his fling with... Nalyra... was going to change that. She absently wondered what was going through his head as she took a drink of her cup of water, thusfar having been nothing but surprised by his reactions. 

Maybe Treyjen had been right after all...?

She blinked several times as A'zael finally spoke, her eyes widening a bit as he struggled through an explanation of his feelings about her, about their fight and about how sorry he was for the whole mess he had created. Srunae silently stared into her cup as pain lanced across her chest, like a new wound had been opened on her heart, ripping open the old ones in its wake. Faranth, why did he have to go and say all that? Was he serious? Or was he merely speaking in the moment? She struggled to stem the metaphorical bleeding of her heart and cleared her throat against the knot of emotion that tangled itself there. Her mind ran a million dragon lengths a moment before she ended up downing the rest of her drink of water in an attempt to stem the tide of emotion threatening her sanity. Could she not handle doing this after all? Continuing to be around to help even though she didn't know if he truly understood what he was saying? If he was merely attached to her as a close friend despite the connotations of deeper feelings in his words? Sharditall... 

"... I hope you realize what you're saying," Srunae finally spoke, her voice catching on the tangled mass of emotion knotting itself larger and larger into her throat. "And you're not just saying it without thinking about it." She finally looked up into his grey-blue eyes, the inner storm of emotional turmoil obvious in her predominately green gaze, "Because you're telling me you love me almost as much as you love your dragon." He had compared his fear of losing her to his fear of losing Fath. All riders understood the ties of deep, unconditional love between dragon and human, the true depth of their bond that transcended mental individuality and primal physical separation. Fath was literally attached to A'zael's very being, to the most absolute core of his person, a level such that if his bronze were to die, he would immediately attempt to commit suicide as a result of the soul-shattering grief that riders faced from losing such an integral part of their very existence. To say losing her was almost as horrifying as losing Fath was akin to...

To saying if she left, he would die. And shells if the goldweyrling had no idea if he realized that, and how saying it was absolutely ripping her apart from the inside out. Because frankly, if he hadn't meant it... she'd never be able to act normally around him again, if she could ever get past the pain of being around him again.

Zen

[Zen]

A'zael

He didn't, he hadn't realized what he was saying, not at first. When it all first started coming out, all he had wanted was to make sure she knew how much she meant to him. You didn't get jealous over people that didn't mean anything to you. You didn't hurt when you thought they were walking out of your life. It didn't... it didn't feel like you were losing a piece of yourself, something you didn't know you couldn't live without until you were faced with the possibility. But by the time he'd finished... he was starting to realize it.

“Because you're telling me you love me almost as much as you love your dragon.”

Faranth, his heart was pounding so hard he thought it was about to beat itself right out of his chest. Because he was telling her he loved her. He hadn't said it, hadn't... quite realized it... but it was what he meant, wasn't it? He didn't say things he didn't mean. He might twist things a bit, omit things, but he didn't outright lie. And he had never, ever, said anything like that, not to anyone.

“Because I do,” he said at last, his voice rough with emotion. Because what else could this be? He wasn't just comparing how he felt about her to his love for his dragon to be dramatic. He was doing it because it was true. She was a rider. She knew that was not a comparison one should make lightly. It was why she was so hesitant to believe him. She had told him she was very aware of his reputation. And that realization hurt too. She didn't know if she could believe him, she didn't know if she could trust the things he said.

He pushed himself up more, doing his best not to curse at the pain it caused his head, and reached over to catch one of her hands in his, “Srunae, I would never... ever lie to you. You're not... you're not a game to me. This... we... us.... I have never felt this way about anyone. I.... Srunae, I love you, and I don't... I don't know... I don't know what I'm supposed to do. I don't know how to make you believe me.” The pain of it was evident in his tone as he looked up at her. How did he undo a reputation that had been building for turns? “Tell me what to do... what you want, what you need from me. But please... please don't ever walk away again.”

[Rhush]

Srunae

Even as the words left his mouth, Srunae didn't know if she could believe them. Even as he continued to struggle through his less than elegant profession of love and captured her free hand with his, the goldweyrling felt the stabbing pains of doubt. Even as the pain of his insecurity and inexperience laced his speech and fear bloomed in his eyes, even as she wanted so, so much to believe him, she worried. All she could do was stare as her emotions roiled around in her heart, flailing about like some child throwing a tantrum and destroying all the walls that held back the tide of her feelings and controlled her empathetic gift. 

As she continued to stare wordlessly, totally speechless, at the hungover bronzer in front of her, an uncontrolled wave of invisible tendrils washed through A'zael's weyr and hooked into the nearest minds. Within moments the feeling vines of her gift were broadcasting their findings into the woman's all but blank, startled mind, one at a time as they found a set of emotions to feel. It was as controlled as it was uncontrolled, as she subconsciously filtered through the emotions that passed through her thoughts, delving deeper and deeper into the layers of emotion across their minds - no, his mind. It was suddenly easy to disconnect the second connection to Danovelith, the first connection to Fath, to ignore Frisk sleeping in the corner and focus on the one mind, the one heart she wanted to feel. Fear, insecurity, pain, concern, realization, understanding, hope... She dropped the water cup she was holding in her other hand as it flew to her mouth, her eyes alight with startled recognition as she started to cry, unable to control her own emotions. 

Love.

For the first time she had blatantly invaded his privacy without asking, and she didn't care. Srunae had touched upon something she had hoped was there - real, true love, radiating beneath an overwhelming layer of fear and insecurity. He was truly terrified she would walk away again and not come back, because he truly loved her. Shoving away his fears with her own relief and adoration and for once not caring about whatever might be ailing him, she laced the fingers of her captured hand into his and with her free hand pulled him in for a kiss. She nearly climbed entirely onto the bed in the process, one leg left hanging off the side of the mattress as she slipped into a side-seated position next to the half-laid-out A'zael. A smile crossed over her lips as a spike of shock registered in her mind, and she broke the kiss to chuckle at him. "Thank Faranth..." She breathed, staring into his eyes with an amused grin. "I was starting to think you were going to live up to your reputation, my dear heartbreaker." It was all teasing, even though she continued to cry - the tears wouldn't stop despite her best efforts at this point - she was just so relieved that it overwhelmed most everything else... at least, besides the warm, fuzzy feeling that blossomed in her poor, tattered heart.

She pulled back more and wiped at her eyes with one arm as she blushed from embarrassment. "Ahh... how's your head?" Of course.

Zen

[Zen]

A'zael

He searched her face for any sign of belief, any indication she would give him a chance to live up to his words, to prove how he felt, that she could trust him. Suddenly she was crying and his hand tightened slightly on her own as the fear that she was about to walk away again nearly overwhelmed him. Then her fingers interlaced with his and she pulled him closer to kiss him. Shock just about erased everything else momentarily as she climbed onto the bed with him, and then it was relief. Relief that made him feel weightless as it washed away all the fear and insecurity and pain. She broke the kiss to laugh and A'zael didn't even know how to respond for a moment, feeling half drunk again.

He blinked at her a few times as she teased him. She... she believed him. Here he had been expecting... demands or... a test of some sort. It was momentarily forgotten that she had the ability to sense his true feelings, that she would easily be able to see for herself the truth in his words. And yet she was still crying. But... but she'd done this before, this weird, happy crying thing, so after a few more moments of concern he was pretty sure that's what she was doing. She was grinning and joking, after all. She had kissed him. Yeah. Happy crying. It was still weird.

He laughed when she asked him about his head, which only made him wince because the action managed to trigger the pain, “Sharding awful.” He reached up to cup her cheek in one hand and leaned in to kiss her again, now that the shock had worn off. Wincing again, he didn't kiss her quite as long as he would have liked to, lowering himself back onto his pillows with a groan of pain and annoyance, “I think I've had my fill of wine for a lifetime.” He'd been drunk before, but never like this. If he never had another sip of the stuff he didn't think he would miss it.

Rubbing his hand over his face, he peered over at her between his fingers as it all sank in. He'd told her he loved her. This was brand new territory. Dropping his hand from his face, he studied her a moment, “So... why are you in my clothes? Not that I mind terribly...,” a small smile pulled at his lips. It was just that, well, women tended to wear his clothing when they couldn't find their own after spending the night with him. He highly doubted that was the case with Srunae, she had said he'd been passed out before he got to his weyr after all, but he certainly didn't mind poking fun at it, “Did you leave something out about last night?”

[Rhush]

Srunae

Srunae chuckled as A'zael laughed and gave a voice to the pain in his head, struggling to clear the tears from her eyes as he leaned in and kissed her again. She eyed his wincing with some worry as he settled back down onto his pillows with a groan but couldn't help but laugh at his next comment. "Oh good," She said, a teasing humor lacing her tone. "Because I don't like asking people to help me haul you back here." She chuckled as he rubbed his face with his hand, peeking over at her through his fingers and stuck her tongue out at him briefly.

She wiped at her eyes again, glad as the tears finally seemed to be slowing. As if her dark blush wasn't embarrassing enough... her uncontrollable crying was even worse. Her smile grew at his next set of questions though, as did her blush. "What, you don't think I told you everything?" She barely managed to feign a pout, looking down at the bronzer with loving amusement in her eyes. "I'm wounded you might think such a thing, A'zael," She put on her best attempt at disbelief and hurt, before her laughter ruined it all. "Truthfully though, I... didn't want to leave you alone, but I couldn't stay in my gather finery all night either, so I borrowed some of your clothes. I'll give them back..." She glanced down at her... his shirt and shorts, then thoughtfully added, "Mmmm... or maybe I'll keep the shirt. It's quite comfortable." She chuckled and stretched the loose fabric at her hip with a grin. She then glanced over at the table full of water cups again, her brain off to the races again. A'zael didn't finish his second cup, but it was on the floor like hers at this point... Oh! G'rett had given her a little tea concoction that he said would help, but she didn't have any hot water... maybe she could send Zoom and Fair to retrieve a container of hot water... 

Or she could go get it herself, but that would require skirting down the hall to her own weyr to change and then going down to the dining caverns and coming back again. It was far more direct to send off a firelizard or two... Hmm... "You want some tea? G'rett told me it would do wonders for your hangover," She looked back down at A'zael and smiled haphazardly. "I'd have to send Zoom and Fair to get some hot water though; all that's here is cold." She supposed she could make him cold tea, but it would take a bit longer, and hot tea was probably the better option for a headache...

[Zen]

A'zael

Eyeing her briefly as she teased him about his declaration about wine, he quirked an eyebrow at her, “Oh, really? You didn't enjoy Treyjen showing off for you?” It was far more teasing than it was bitter, which surprised him. He grudgingly admitted to himself that he probably owed the man some gratitude for helping Srunae get him back to his weyr, it wasn't like he had any real obligation to do so. Maybe that was the point, so he owed the pirate a favor. He tried not to dwell on it for now, choosing to believe for the time being that it was a simple act of goodwill and not entirely motivated by self interest. Pff.

The look she gave him as she pouted.... Sharding hangover. He stared up at her for a moment as she continued on to explain just why she was wearing his clothing. She hadn't wanted to leave him, not even for a quick change of clothes. And then she'd slept at his bedside, in a chair. This woman. Nearly imperceptibly, he shook his head at her, and managed to grin despite his headache, “Mm, you know I might need that shirt back now actually, it's chilly in here.” He normally slept with a shirt on in the colder months, but he found himself lacking one currently. He let out a dramatic sigh, “Though I suppose I can let you keep it if you crawl into bed with me to help keep me warm.”

He laughed, winced again. “Faranth's sake,” he cursed softly, rubbing his head again. Srunae offered to fetch him some tea that might help and he quickly agreed, “Please... my head feels like it's splitting open like a shelling egg.” He waved his hand absently and pulled his pillow back over his face, muffling his words slightly, “Warm or cold, I don't care.” It occurred to him as he lay there that this hardly seemed the manner in which a woman would want a man to declare his love for her. It certainly wasn't anything for harpers to sing about. He would have to make it up to her somehow. She deserved something... something worth singing about.

mbleh shortness </3

[Rhush]

Srunae

Srunae chuckled and paused, intrigued by A’zael’s change in tone as he spoke about Treyjen. The flash of surprise that dashed off of the bronzer amused her just about as much as the implications of his tone change. Was he no longer jealous of the man? Or was it just because Treyjen wasn’t there in person that he was now comfortable invoking the Pirate’s name? "Oh, I enjoyed the show of muscle, of course," She said nonchalantly, then grinned darkly over at A’zael as her eyes traced the lines of his face, "I liked the show of skin more, though." She chuckled and did her best to ignore the increase in heat at her cheeks. She was implying a bit more than the truth there, sure, but the goldweyrling wasn’t lying… she had enjoyed seeing a bit more of A’zael than she usually did, even though she couldn’t bring herself to see him totally nude. Not that it had mattered much; Treyjen had made sure to give her lots of details despite her inability to look for herself. She would forever swear she could have about died from blushing so hard. Sharding tease. She’d have to get the Pirate back one of these days…

It was a small mercy that A’zael was only missing his shirt; Treyjen had initially deemed the bronzer one to sleep naked. Though, in truth, Srunae wasn’t sure if he had made that declaration because he was right or because he really wanted to tease the deeply blushing holdergirl – though neither answer really made her feel any better about the whole situation. "I’ll give you this one if I can borrow another…" She hummed thoughtfully, considering the garment with flirty humor on her lips. She briefly deliberated the idea of stripping off this shirt, handing it to him, and then wandering off half-nude to pilfer another; but the fact that she hadn’t slept in her breastband poked around in the back of her mind, causing the self-conscious woman to falter on the idea. That, and, she mused, as the man chuckled at his flirty comment and immediately winced again, it wouldn’t really be fair to tease him like that with such a headache, would it…? Maybe see if the tea works first…?

Srunae chuckled as his muffled voice rose from beside her, pleading for some sort of relief. She shook her head and slid back over to the edge of the bed, lightly hopping to her feet. "We’ll see about getting you nice and warm after your tea is done then…" She thought aloud, her tone laced with humor as she glanced back at him, his face hidden beneath a pillow. An epiphany struck the woman and she smirked to herself. "On second thought…" Srunae pulled his shirt up over her head and tossed it behind her to land over top of A’zael’s pillow-protection, chuckling despite the light chill that started to creep up her back. "You can keep that for now." She waved a hand dismissively as she padded off to his wardrobe to grab another shirt… and the tea, which she had left atop the wooden chest of drawers when she had changed the night before. Was she being mean? Perhaps… but, if she were honest, it probably had warmed him up a bit, if not also taken his mind off his headache for at least a moment. Multiple birds with one stone.

Recalling he didn’t care if it was hot tea or cold tea, she went ahead and made up a cold cup first, calling Zoom and Fair while she let the tea steep. She wrote out a quick note to tie to Fair and gave them the image of her favorite cook and a warm container before sending them off. That accomplished, she walked back over to the bed, the nearly done cold tea in one hand as she poked at one of A’zael’s arms with the other. "We’ll try this first. After Zoom and Fair get back, I’ll make you a hot cup." She smiled warmly and handed him the cup once he was ready to take it. The hot one would probably work better than the cold one, but it didn’t hurt to at least try, right? Maybe it would help take the edge off to start.

Zen

[Zen]

A'zael

A light roll of his eyes was his only response to her initial agreement that she had indeed enjoyed the little show Treyjen had given her, then her expression changed. Huh? Show of skin... what? Wait what did... why? He squinted at her as he tried to determine just what she meant by that, which took him far longer than it might have was he not hungover. It was the reminder that he was unusually shirtless that finally had it clicking into place. She meant him. And that just brought up another question. Which of them had gotten him out of his gather finery? Ugh, if it was Treyjen he was never going to hear the end of it. He didn't plan on asking Srunae and opening up that line of teasing, however. He was sure he would hear about it from Treyjen soon enough, had it been his doing, which... with Srunae's holdbred modesty, was starting to seem far more likely. If she had dressed him, he imagined she would have added a shirt for good measure. Shard it.

He was about to tell her not to bother, she could keep the shirt if she liked, when he felt her move off the bed, and the mention of that tea that might bring him some relief became a far more interesting topic for the time being. Then something landed on his pillow, which she told him he could keep, and.... Wait. He pushed the pillow up off his face in time to see her walking away, entirely topless, to retrieve herself a new shirt. She kept her back to him the entire time, however, and a short groan escaped him as she covered herself once more, “You're teasing a sick man, Srunae... that's low.” Moodily, he grabbed the shirt she'd tossed at him and worked it on, trying not to jostle his head too much in the process, “Well, if I don't get a show, you don't either.”

With that he returned to his refuge beneath the pillow while he awaited the arrival of this wondrous tea. Prodding at his arm had him peering out again some moments later. She held a cup out for him to take and with a sigh that showcased his weariness with his current situation, he once more emerged from beneath the pillow to push himself up to drink properly before accepting the cup from her. Taking a sip, he frowned slightly, “Mm... probably better hot.” But he had said he didn't care, and really he didn't, so long as it helped. He drank it quickly, all the better for it to start working, and handed the cup back to her. Deciding that he'd had about enough of lying down and sitting back up again, he pushed himself up against the headboard of his bed and closed his eyes, cursing the fact that wine existed.

A sudden weight in his lap had him looking down to see Frisk curled up there, gazing up at him lovingly. He reached out to pet the gemglider's fluffy back, to which the little brown crooned happily. Silly creature. He thought briefly of the gemgliders' hatching, which he supposed was a fitting way to have met Srunae, considering her obsession with pets. Speaking of. He glanced over at her, “Just how many pets do you plan to amass, exactly?” How many did she have now? Four? Five? He couldn't imagine keeping up with them all. He barely seemed to be able to find a decent amount of time to give Frisk the attention he deserved. “Should I be concerned? It's not some sort of addiction, is it? Am I going to need to cut you off?” he teased, entirely able to imagine her with dozens of the things filling her weyr.