Replacing Pieces[Daniel/Open?]

[Samari]

Tahli sat on the edge of the fence, looking out across the feeding area. Relanth had been assisted out of his weyr by something called a helicopter. It had gotten him down to the ground so he didn't injure his already crooked wings any further. It was kind of cool to watch, though.




"Relanth, do you think you can manage to catch something?"




"I can try, but it is sort of hard to move. I haven't used my legs all that much, you know."[/color]

[yaoiwafflez]

Shinji shoved his hands into the pockets of his coat, shivering in the early-winter cold. He absently thought maybe he should have worn gloves...nah. He settled from wrapping his hands in the trailing ends of the long scarf he wore.

He'd just needed to get out for a bit. Holing himself up in his room was doing him no good, as he had a tendency to wallow in guilt anytime he caught sight of Wrath, and Miyuki was getting annoyed by his constant presence in HER room, so he was left with only a few options. So outside it was.

He'd just been wandering, really. The feeding grounds just came up as sort of interesting, and he had figured he could let Sakura chase some sheep (since she had a strange fondness for the wooly critters). He distantly saw a blue already on the grounds, and he slowed his pace. Sakura trilled at him, and leapt from his shoulder to go visit.

Sakura swirled around the girl once, then zipped back to hers, informing her it was the pretty Tahli and Relanth. Of course. Shinji stopped, a couple yards from the Blue and his rider, not sure if it would be a better idea to leave. But...he felt like he had to apologize.

[Samari]

Tahli eeped as the green flit swarmed around her head, then flapped away. She watched it fly...to Shinji. This time around, she froze in guilt. She'd probably caused so many problems for him and his bronze. She turned to face the purple-haired Weyrling and waved nervously.




"MineTahli, who is it? I sense guilt in you....Oh my. It is Shinji. Wonder what he is doing out here."[/color]



Tahli sighed and shrugged. She had no idea why Shinji was here.

[yaoiwafflez]

Shinji stared up at the sky awkwardly for a moment, letting out a long sigh and mentally cursing Sakura for insisting on being so chipper all the time. Then he glanced back at Tahli and Relanth, visibly flinching at the sight of Relanth's injuries. The eye he knew, but had Wrath's bulk really damaged his wings so? The bronze was young, and not terribly big yet...

"So. You're...looking better." He said, though he made no effort to move into a more amicable range. No, thank you, he was just fine here. But he did respond to the girl's wave with a curt one of his own. No harm in being polite.
"Relanth...I'm sorry." He found himself blurting out suddenly. Why had he said that? Oh, right, maybe it had something to do with his psycopathic dragon trying to end the blue's life.

Actually, now that he thought about it, Tahli would have been completely justified in decking him. Er. Again. There was still a sore spot his face from where she'd pretty much given him a black eye. It was just a good thing it had healed by now.

[Samari]

Tahli shrugged and turned to Relanth. He'd sent her an image of a purple-winged cow. She chuckled. She looked down at the ground, shamed.




"How..is Wrath? Relanth manages..He's kinda funny sometimes. The pain medication makes him hallucinate."



Relanth had managed to catch the cow he swore was purple and had wings. He ate happily and trilled.

[yaoiwafflez]

Shinji smiled weakly.
"At least it is just because of the drugs." He muttered, then spoke up again to actually answer the girl.
"He will be fine. A couple stitches; nothing major. He should be good as new soon." He slowly began to make his way over to the fence, to watch the blue eat happily. "Heh. No lack of appetite, there, huh? Good."

He paused again, still feeling uncomfortable, and watched Tahli out of the corner of his eye. "Are you...okay?

[Samari]

Tahli nodded. She readjusted her jacket and looked up at Shinji. She could tell he was nervous. She could hear Relanth capturing another hapless cow and beginning to devour it.


"Yeah...I was shaken for a while...but I'm better now...Are you...Okay?"




She couldn't help but flush a little bit. She still found him attractive, but didn't quite know how to approach him after their dragons had fought.

[yaoiwafflez]

He was legitamately surprised by her concern. He hadn't thought she'd even be willing to speak to him...
"I will be fine. I always am. Wrath does that...crazy mind-thing every time he is awake. I got used to it. Someday the doctors will figure out a medication that works on him. For now, I deal." He shrugged, and gave her a warm smile.
"I'm just glad you aren't holding a grudge, yeah?"

[Samari]

Tahli nodded again. She had hoped he didn't hold a grudge either. She took a step closer and held out her hand. In it was a white and blue butterfly hairpin. She chuckled slightly.


"I had K'riv make this for Miyuki. I was hoping you didn't hold a grudge either. I was kinda afraid to come find you to apologize."




She was blushing a bit again, stunned that this wasn't as strained as she thought it would be.

[yaoiwafflez]

Shinji broke out into a wide grin, and carefully picked up the hairclip, examining it.
"Ah, it's beautiful! I know she'll love it. Hell, I'm pretty sure she will coordinate an entire outfit around it." He closed his hand around it, and nodded.

"Thank you. Really, I mean it." He said. The blue...well, Relanth was alright, so that was good, right? And...Wrath was slowly getting his meds worked out, and he'd even been able to hold a semi-normal conversation with Shinji earlier, so maybe things were looking up.

And Tahli...well, she didn't hate him. Which was a lot MORE than good; it was almost like someone had taken a boulder off Shinji's chest and he could breathe again.

[Samari]

Tahli giggled and looked around for a little bit. She wasn't sure what to say next, but she was glad that the hairpin was accepted. She scuffed her foot on the ground before speaking again.



"So..I was wondering....Uhh..."




Tahli choked up a bit and looked back at Relanth. The blue was following something he saw in his mind, but giving her encouragement.


"You think we could hang out a little more?"

[yaoiwafflez]

Shinji seemed stunned for a moment, then laughed.
"Why, Tahli, do you even have to ask? I'd be happy to. You're fun, in a slightly spazz-tastic way; Hanging out would be fun, I think, provided you don't faint on me again." He lookd confused for a moment, then gave her a sideways look.
"Speaking of which, what happened with that? You just went down- boom. Should I be worried about that?"

He shook his head, and smiled. Things were actually working out rather nicely. He felt a now familiar stirring at the back of his mind as Wrath woke, but startlingly,the bronze seemed content to merely double-check on Shinji's whereabouts, then lay back down. Not bad, really.

"So. Hanging out, then? What are your ideas on that?"

[Samari]

Tahli chuckled.



"Yeah...I was giddy cuz you spoke to me..."



She felt really embarrassed by that confession.



"I'd been kinda giddy ever since that day you fell in my lap. That also explains the hyperventilating."



She had no idea why she kept telling him these things. She felt Relanth encouraging her again and she turned to pout at her blue.

[yaoiwafflez]

Shinji turned to regard her playfully.
"My my. Do you have a crush on me, darlin'?" He said, purposely drawling the last word to tease her.
"I think I can go with that. Giddiness in my presence is far preffered to moping, sullenness, or fainting." He chuckled, and gave her a thumbs-up. "Don't worry about it."

[Samari]

Tahli nodded a few times.



"Yeah..I guess you can say that...Are you sure you aren't..weirded out by this?"



She looked back at Relanth as he encouraged her further.



"Come on Tahli, its not that bad."[/color]



Tahli smiled up at Shinji and scratched the back of her head. She stared off to the side for a moment and then returned her gaze to the Bronze weyrling.

[yaoiwafflez]

Shinji shook his head.
"Nope, not really. It isn't quite as strange as one of my sister's friends confessing her love to me by pelting a brick of chocolate at me on Valentine's day. That was wierd. This? Kinda nice."

He snickered as she seemed to look nervous. "Seriously! Don't look at me like that. I'm a normal guy. And you're a cute girl. I'd have to be crazy or gay to say this was too wierd."

[Samari]

Tahli smiled brightly. She'd never heard that from anyone back on Pern. She dusted off her skirt and fought hard not to blush any harder.



"R-Really? No one ever said I was cute back home...They...pretty much despised me because of Relanth's..phobia of...'the menace'. I can't say the real word or he'll freak and hurt himself even worse."

[yaoiwafflez]

Shinji chuckled.
"Well, then your friends or whoever were jerks. I could care less what Relanth's issue with..um-'That stuff' is, he seems pretty cool to me." He shrugged one shoulder and leaned his head on his arms, watching Tahli from that angle.

"Besides, you think they'd ever accept me? Miyu and I were booted right off of Pern after Wrath began screaming about the shadows trying to eat him, and when he nearly killed a wher. So I think we could do alright by eachother, right?"

[Samari]

Tahli giggled and nodded once more. She knew that Wrath had issues, but she didn't want to revisit the fear she'd felt that day. She looked intently at Shinji's tattoos.




"What do those things on your skin say? I...got one of those things at a gather once. It was totally new on Pern."



She lowered part of her jacket to reveal a tiny butterfly on her left collar bone. She always liked butterflies.



"My father..always used to call me his white butterfly. The blue came in after I impressed Relanth..It also explains the design on my jacket."



She turned around and let Shinji see the intricate design on her jacket.


"I got this done at the same Gather."

[yaoiwafflez]

Shinji looked pleased she'd taken notice; his tatoos were his pride and joy. He examined the butterfly, and gave her an approving smile, because it was a really nice design. Same went for the one on her jacket.

"Ah, there's a bunch with different meanings. The one on my back, dunno if you ever saw it, that's a Buddhist sutra...uh. Don't know if that means anything to you." He shrugged, and slid his jacket off one shoulder, to show her the one in Kanji that wrapped around his upper arm. "And that's the newest...It says'Close your heart to every love, but hold no one in your arms but Me.' I...got it after I Impressed Wrath...there are a ton more but they don't always have as much meaning." He pulled his coat back on, and pointed to a spot on his opposite arm.
"There are a pair of 'X's here, no real meaning. And some more sayings in Japanese along all my arms, really. Lots of varying thing. The numbers on my fingers are Miyu's birthday, and mine on my other hand." He stopped, and ran a hand along the back of his neck.
"Er. That sounds wierd, right? But she's my sister, okay? I care about her."

I could show you all the rest, but..." Here he smirked, and stuck out his peirced tongue playfully. "I'd have to take off my clothes." He said with a laugh.

[Samari]

Tahli blushed at the last comment Shinji made. She was rather moved by the one he'd gotten after he'd Impressed Wrath. She sighed and brushed her hair out of her face.



"Oh my. Sounds kinda tempting. I dunno if that could be managed out here though..Its kinda chilly."


She smirked. Oh she liked his sense of humor.

[yaoiwafflez]

"Obviously not here. I'd freeze to death, and I'm shy. I don't want the cows watching." He said solemnly, pointing at the rather unhappy bovines regarding Relanth depressedly.

"It would have to be somewhere warmer. I'm rather fond of my fingers, and I do not think I like the sound of frostbite." He shot her a devious smirk. "But you're tempted. I like that."

[Samari]

Tahli chuckled again, and turned to look at the cows. They were indeed, mooing in a sad way. Relanth was content to just trot around following them, caught up in his hallucinations.



"He's actually quite happy to just follow them around for now."



She looked back at Shinji and took a step closer.


'Well..My weyr is open...But its up to you.."


She chuckled teasingly. She hadn't had a chance to flirt in a long time.

[yaoiwafflez]

Shinji clicked his tongue, and continued to smirk.
"Actually, I'm pretty sure it's up to you. Well, it's your weyr, anyway. Mine's...well, I don't know. Probably not a good idea..." He said, sobering up at the thought of Wrath. Tahli probably wasn't too keen on seeing the bronze again...

"But hell, I do not mind in the least. Unless you do?" He arched an eyebrow quizically.

[Samari]

Tahli giggled and took one more step closer.



"I don't mind a bit. Relanth will need that helicopter to get back up to the weyr, so we'd have some time..."




She couldn't believe this! He ACTUALLY didn't care that she wanted to see his...well...less exposed tattoos. She felt so giddy at the thought of it. Relanth trilled his joy for his bonded.


"Yay Tahli! I will be okay down here for a bit. I could always bespeak one of the other dragons to get some help returning. These cows are quite fun to follow. I don't think they like me."[/color]