Good morning sunshine

Belisse woke up slowly, sunlight and the warmth of Sh'nar against her bringing a smile to her lips. Jeneveth was on the heights, curled around Cymrioth and basking in the afterglow of her flight. Belisse smiled even bigger, twisting in Sh'nar's arms to wrap her's around him and pull him closer.

But something wasn't right... the body against her's didn't feel right, and the lips she was kissing weren't the ones she was used to. Her eyes flew open and the beautiful memories she had constructed shattered to pieces.

Not Sh'nar against her. K'thane. And that wasn't Cymrioth that Jeneveth was happily curled around. With a pained noise she pulled herself away so fiercely she nearly fell from the bed, and then she was on the floor scrambling for her clothing.

She couldn't cry. She couldn't let Jeneveth know how upset she was. And Sh'nar... now she was crying, pressing her hands against her mouth to cover the sound and trying hard to not wake Jeneveth.

K'thane was rather enjoying the sweet wake up call, his brain heading south when the woman in his bed abruptly tore herself away. His eyes flew open and he instantly sat up, hoping to stop her from falling off the bed if he could.

Thankfully, his assistance wasn't needed. Memories of the flight swiftly started to rush through his mind, and he tried to recall if he'd done something that would earn the reactionn he'd just received.

Remegath was contentedly wrapped up with Jeneveth, a little smugness still creeping through even in his slumber. But he couldn't remember the bronze, or himself, treating rider or gold poorly over the course of the event.

The only reason he could come up with for Belisse to be upset, then, was that he wasn't who she was expecting. Not that flights always went the way their riders wished, but for the sweet young holdbred girl he knew the goldrider to be, it was probably a bit of a shock for her dragon's first one to end differently than she assumed it would. Despite her training with Karene that would have told her what to expect.

"Was I that horrible?" he tried to tease softly and with a little lopsided smile, shifting to throw his legs over the side of the bed and pull the covers up over his lap. But the bronzerider quickly realized it wasn't the right tactic to use at the moment.

Holding his hands up as if in surrender, and staying seated so as not to intimidate or overwhelm her with his height, K'thane quietly asked, "I didn't hurt you, did I?" He reached down for what he was guessing was a shirt-- hers or his, it didn't matter-- and offered it to her, figuring she would feel better able to handle the situation with a bit of 'armor' in place. "I know I'm not the man you wanted to be here, but please, can you tell me if you're all right?"

"I'm so sorry, K'thane," Belisse stuttered, grabbing the offered shirt. Of course it was his, she noticed briefly as she covered herself. "Of course you didn't hurt me," she assured him quickly. "I just... ," she felt the tears welling up again and made herself swallow it all down. Jeneveth could never know that her rider was unhappy with her choice.

But Sh'nar... would he ever forgive her? What if Lance was right and all he cared for was the status that she could give him. To be sure he would have been promoted to Wingsecond if things had gone the way they were supposed to have. At the least he would be angry to have that ripped from him.

"Remegath won, fair and square," she told the bronzerider, getting to her feet and sitting at the end of the bed, facing K'thane. "He was the canniest." And she meant it... the one bronze to guess what Jeneveth would do and calculate what the thermal would do.

She kept the thoughts on Sh'nar private. They had to be obvious, written all over her face. "And as I said, you didn't hurt me," she said with a gentle smile. "I spent most of my life preparing to be sold off to some ancient holder, believe me when I say this is much, much more preferable." She'd rather be sitting across from Sh'nar, but K'thane had always been kind. "And you're hardly some ancient holder," she added, a twinkle in her eye.

"It's nice to know I rank just slightly above 'ancient holder,'" K'thane responded wryly, though the answering glint in his own gaze revealed the words to be another tease meant to set her at ease. "I'm glad you weren't entirely repulsed. While that's not exactly an ego boost, I'll take it." Not that he needed one-- he was completely comfortable with himself as he was, and didn't feel the need to pull rank ever to prove his own worth.

Turning a bit more serious, the bronzerider continued. "I hope you'll trust me when I say you're better off here at the Weyr. You'd be wasted on a life like that-- here, you have the freedom to stretch your wings and choose your own fate. Most of the time, anyway." He hoped she wouldn't think he was trying to be patronizing, the older, more experienced rider trying to talk down to the younger, naive woman, and offer advice she hadn't asked for. "It's times like this, when it's not entirely up to you, that you just have to remember you and your dragon are a team. And I will say the two of you make a fine one at that. Remegath and I are honored to have been chosen for your maiden flight." His bronze might put it a completely different way, but since he was sleeping, K'thane decided it was okay to speak for him.

Glancing down at the covers for a moment, the bronzerider once again met Belisse's gaze and reached out to gently touch her leg or arm-- whichever was closer. "And Belisse... I know facing the consequences of a flight can be... difficult," he told her gently. "But if he truly cares for you... he'll understand. It's part of being a dragonrider." No, he wasn't a mind reader by any means, but K'thane rather thought he had some idea as to what was bothering the young goldrider. "I'm sorry if that's speaking out of place," he added softly, not wanting to cause offense.

Belisse smiled and ducked her head, a bit of a blush on her cheeks. "Well, I admit I don't have a lot to compare to," she said, leaving it unsaid that Sh'nar had been her only partner as it seemed to be common knowledge, "but I did enjoy the flight. And Jeneveth... ," she trailed off, reaching for the gold again. "She may sleep for days, lazy girl."

Her smile turned wistful and she gave a tiny sigh. "I suppose I expected it to go one way just... because?" She gave a little laugh, shaking her head. "It seems a ridiculous thing now. Jeneveth deserved the best, even if it wasn't necessarily what I wanted for myself." Another puff of a sigh, blowing an errant curl from her face.

Then she gave a short, soft laugh. "Lancelle will never let me forget it if she was right about him," she murmured, more to herself than K'thane. Then that reminded her of the argument with Lancelle and she groaned, raising a hand to cover her face. "Bloody shards, I don't want to deal with that mess out there," she said. "I was in a fight before on top of everything else."

K'thane chuckled and nodded at the thought of the gold sleeping a long time. "Flights are exhausting," he agreed. For rider and dragon, physically and emotionally. "There are times afterwards I wish I could sleep for days." It wouldn't necessarily accomplish anything, and he'd never been one to shirk his duties, so he'd never tried it. Even if he'd been tempted.

At her more somber comments, he nodded again. "I don't think it's ridiculous. It's more that we humans handle... 'relationships' differently from our dragons. And when we take them into account, things don't always go the way we want them to." The bronzerider wasn't trying to lecture, merely trying to ease the goldrider's mind, so that she wouldn't worry too much about the outcome. "There are four individuals involved, instead of two, and that can make a big difference."

K'thane's lips then curved at the thought of the sweet young girl before him being in a fight. "A fight? Did it involve fists? And do you need someone to stand as your second, or a shield, when we leave here?" It was amusing, but he was at least partially serious-- if she actually wanted some cover, he'd be willing to provide it.

"As long as he comes back to me," Belisse said, going a bit dreamy in the eyes. Sh'nar held her heart, second only to Jeneveth, and it was as exhilarating as it was terrifying. Then memories of the Flight came back, and she groaned, covering her eyes in embarrassment. "Oh Faranth, I must have made a fool of myself, all I remember is... ," here she blushed even more, realizing that K'thane must have had to pry her away from Sh'nar's arms.

"And it was nothing but a stupid argument with Lancelle," she said with a huff, still rather embarrassed over the incident in the room. In front of everyone. "I actually slapped her... ," she shook her head in disbelief. "It must have been Jeneveth, she woke up immediately afterwards." She didn't want to admit that she still wasn't sure what her feelings were on what Lancelle had said.

The bronzerider chuckled, but not unkindly. "Don't worry too much. I doubt anyone else noticed-- they'd have been too absorbed in their own needs to pay much attention to anything other than stumbling from the room." He patted her on the shoulder and waited for her to look at him before adding with a teasing waggle of his eyebrows, "And just think of the bragging rights you'll have, being here with me. I'm sure all your classmates will be jealous. As will the other goldriders." Not that he truly expected Karene to be-- they'd had their time together, and were on good terms. But if she were, who was he to complain?

K'thane then nodded at Belisse's explanation. "Proddy dragons make us do all sorts of things we might not normally do. My sister, in fact, is actually nice when her green is close to flying." He'd probably be slapped for that one if said sibling heard it, but he didn't think Belisse would be one to repeat what he said, even in jest. "But as for your friend, if she doesn't quite understand it right now, she will soon. And I'm sure she'll accept any apology you feel you need to give." The young goldrider was too sweet for anyone to stay angry with for long, after all.