Pinching [Valerian]

Valerian shook his head at the offer for assistance in carrying his new supplies though he would wait for her to take the lead and therefore open any doors that tried to hinder his way back ‘home’. While he was coming to terms with Katila being the center of his new life, Valerian still found it a touch odd to call the small room in the barracks his home. It was hard to say why, though, given he had spent so much time living in various holds for the last several turns. Perhaps it was simply that Harper Hall felt like his real home and where he was able to learn, have fun, and do something he had a passion for. Katila was still new and hadn’t had a chance to prove how much freedom he would have and how much he would enjoy doing what was asked of him. Still, it was early days and labels and desires were bound to change.

“Can’t say I’m overly disappointed by missing her flight,” while he would have loved to see a gold dragon in flight, Valerian had read enough to know what he had missed out on and didn’t mind it. He wasn’t an overly sexual being and having to deal with the emotions and hormones brought out by Nirinath flying wasn’t something he would have enjoyed. If they were given enough warning, perhaps he could have locked himself away until the worst of it was over and the weyr wasn’t one large orgy. Weyr life was going to be interesting and possibly a bit challenging for someone like him but given his boredom of late, Valerian was oddly looking forward to it.

“Jada…” Valerian rolled the name around on his tongue, testing it out like it was the first time he had ever said it and then nodded, “I like it.” As if his approval was enough on the subject, the Harper male turned to leave the supply area and only managed three steps before he stopped and gave a light sigh. He remembered her from when they were younger, more now than he had earlier upon their meeting, and recalled things Litir had said then and even more recently about the curious and annoying little sister that always wanted to be included in everything they did. It was usually annoying since Litir understood the beauty in silence and a lot of their time together was sitting in silence doing their own thing but reflecting back on it now, Valerian could see why Jada longed to be included. His older sisters always looked after him and invited him along on most things they did and he loved them for it.

“Litir talked about you back then. Usually it was about how annoying you were, sometimes about your potential, but the oddest was when it felt like he was making sure I stayed away from you.” He never understood why Litir did that, it wasn’t like Valerian had shown interest in any of the sisters. If anything, it was his mother Litir should have worried about being hit on if his friend was the sort. Valerian worshipped the woman and in a way sort of made her a substitute mom and looked for her praise, which he received regularly. But Jada? She was young and far too energetic to capture his interest. “I didn’t keep in touch all that much once we all started to travel but I saw him and your mother before I was brought here. They mentioned they miss you.” He fell silent for several seconds while trying to recall anything else they had said but he had been smothered in hugs at the time and his thoughts had been scrambled.

He turned back to Jada, having not wanted to see her face when he brought up such a topic that was sure to bring out odd emotions and gave her a small smile as he continued, “they had some theories about where you went, including you met someone they wouldn’t approve of and ran off with him. Now that I’m missing as well, perhaps they’ll think we’re together. I guess it’s as close to the truth as they’ll ever be.”