Fuck you! [Invite]

While the events leading up to the moment Indivara was currently wrapped up in had been less than expected, the girl was not entirely sure she wholeheartedly objected to them – at least, not to herself; out loud would be an entirely different story, she was quite sure, since actively admitting she’d enjoyed herself would be a far cry from the expected and she wasn’t quite sure it would have the usual effect that doing the unexpected could have. She wasn’t quite sure she was prepared to even admit to herself that she had enjoyed herself. She was only willing to admit that she hadn’t hated the experience.

Being nabbed by a randy blue- or brownrider was not unusual, and Indivara had come to learn which ones should be avoided, for various reasons, and which ones could be counted on as a decent lay, dragonlust and all. Despite that, the girl knew it was possible to be swept away by someone she wasn’t expecting and those tended to turn out less than desirably, she’d found. Probably because the tiny young woman’s natural response to being manhandled was to fight like a savage wher, and most of the men she’d been grabbed by had not particularly liked that – or liked it in a way that generally resulted in bruises.

This one had been different, at least in the reasoning behind why the girl had tried to claw his face off as he managed to corral her into a bedroom – at least they’d ended up in the bed! – He wasn’t rough or heavy handed, but he had been determined and that had taken Indivara by surprise. She’d never picked up on any sexual tension in their relationship, which had mostly revolved around snarky bitch fighting and, on Indivara’s part, a lot of rock throwing. Perhaps he had simply been seriously fuelled by his beast – after all, that dragon was hotter blooded than all the greens combined, with a topping of Krypth – at least from what Indivara had seen.

Leaning up on an elbow, Indivara tugged the sheet up, mostly to cover her scarring, rather than what lame claim she could make to having breasts. Her build far more wiry muscles over a pixie skeleton of easily broken bones, Indivara was hardly a man’s dream of the perfect female. No hips, no boobs, and a body riddled with scarring – both from the dragonet attack she had been at the base of almost two turns ago, and from her own misconducts as a child – Indivara was quite sure the only way pretty could be used in context to her appearance was before the word ‘horrific’.

Normally, this would be the moment Indivara took to dress, kick her partner awake with some type of Indivara-esque commentary, and be on her way. Instead, Indivara snatched the entire sheet, wrapping herself up and leaving her partner to the sudden chill of air as she eyed him boldly for a moment, before shifting to straddle him across the stomach, an unkind jab of the pointer finger landing on his chest bone.

“Wake up.” She demanded, her face inches from his. It was, after all, his fault they were in this predicament, and she was going to make sure he was completely aware of that fact.

Valerian had been blissfully asleep until a chill took him. He shivered and a hand blindly reached out to find the sheet he suspected tumbled off the bed to the floor but found nothing in the half-assed attempt to search for it. Well, it wasn’t that cold and it would serve as a way to make sure he didn’t sleep too much longer as a part of his mind was awake enough to know he had to rise sooner rather than later. A content sigh was given but before the weyrling was able to roll over and try for that little extra bit of sleep, he was suddenly pinned by a weight that seemed foreign to him since Vex and Quill didn’t have that much weight behind them. And suddenly there was a poking to his chest and a demand to wake up. What was going on? This was not like any other dream he had had before!

Figuring it was real, or at least whatever caused the jab to his chest was real, Valerian opened his eyes slowly and saw a blurred outline of a vaguely familiar woman. That was strange. Eyes slid closed again hoping that would help clear up his vision before they opened once more and he suddenly had a vision full of Indivara’s face. “Vara!” He gasped the name and stupidly tried to sit up or roll away which only served to knock their noggins together. Valerian groaned and a hand slid up to rub at his forehead where it had connected with the extremely hard head of Indivara. What was she doing in his bed and wearing his sheet? His gaze flickered around her the best it could without moving too much since Valerian knew the result that would happen and realized he wasn’t even in his own room.

That usually meant one thing and Valerian would have groaned again but he had a feeling that’s all he’d be doing if he let himself so he went for a sigh. “Veeth…” he whispered the name of his dragon, the obvious reason for being in bed with Indivara coming to his awakening mind. There had been a flight, which they had lost, and somehow he had ended up with Indivara being his partner. Valerian did his best to recall how it had happened and what had happened after they hit the bed but Veeth’s lust was a force to be reckoned with and the weyrling hadn’t mastered controlling it on any level yet.

You enjoyed yourself, Veeth tossed in helpfully, his voice still as sweet as ever though obviously tinged with sleepiness. She was a good match for you. He liked Talian and approved of the relationship Valerian had with the new brown weyrling but Indivara earned his approval as well. The girl was spunky and seemed like a lot of fun! She reminded him of Larrikith in human form and that couldn’t be a bad thing!

Valerian changed his mind; he allowed himself another groan.

“Don’t move!” While Indivara didn’t exactly screech, her voice did go up several octaves while one of her hands defaulted to pressing against Valerian’s neck to make sure the young bluerider stayed where he was, and didn’t wriggle around. The other shifted to rub at her forehead as she scowled down at Valerian, bright blue eyes sparking with anger. Stupid man and his fat head bashing into things with his brainless ways! “Fuck. What is your head full of? Fucking rocks?” Indivara released the pressure on Valerian’s neck when she was sure he wasn’t about to attempt to shift or buck her off.  The girl brushed her mussed up hair off her face with her free hand, now discharged from rubbing her forehead. Placing her hand with deceptive lightness on Valerian’s chest, Indivara leaned forward and glared down at her bedmate.

“Don’t blame him!” She snapped, refusing to remove her right hand from his throat, though she did lower it slightly as she sat back up, so she was resting it more upon his collarbone than actively risking choking him. She didn’t want to choke him. At least, not at the moment! “You’re the one that picked me up and dragged me here, not him!” How much of that was actually truth, Valerian might never be privy to, though that in and of itself was of little consequence to Indivara. While the girl hadn’t actively sought the young man out, she’d certainly not wriggled out of his grasp when he’d snagged her, either. She could have, if she’d wanted to; but Indivara enjoyed the feeling of being desired (even if it were totally false), the complete lack of conscious judgement in the other rider (there was never the feared revulsion at her scarring, or lack of proper womanly curves), and the prospect of how Valerian would handle it had ended up being the deciding factor for her. It would be such fun to torment him, something that had become a habit for the girl over the turns.

She hadn’t, however, counted on actually getting as much enjoyment out of bedding him as she had. It confused her, and being confused made Indivara mad, and Valerian was the perfect target for that anger, especially since he would likely believe whatever came out of her mouth, if it was blamed on dragonrider lust. Blaming his dragon though! Indivara continued to glare down at Valerian for that. Her nose scrunched up, giving him a look of disgust. “You enjoyed yourself,” she unintentionally echoed Veeth, giving her head a flick, purposefully attempting to allude to the fact that it had been all him and she had been a victim of circumstance, not a willing party. When he groaned, she leaned forward again, shifting her hand on his throat to restrict his reactions. “Your groans were throatier, though,” she whispered, smiling slyly. She was not going to be the only one wallowing in confusion and awkwardness!

Valerian didn’t put up any struggle when Indivara took to pinning him at the neck. It did, however, send his mind wandering down memory lane as he recalled the first time he encountered an upset Indivara. They traded words and she threw sticks at him until she fell out of the tree and Valerian pinned her to the ground. That had been two turns ago and now they were in reversed positions; though he felt he had the far more comfortable surface to be held against. Typically there was more clothing between them whenever they crossed paths so it was a little disconcerting to be nude or wrapped in a sheet. Valerian wasn’t exactly ashamed of his body nor did he think he should scramble to cover up in general but he was finding himself increasingly more often with partners he really didn’t want to be naked with.

“I may have been the one to do the grabbing but I can still share the blame with Veeth as his lust is a powerful foe.” Valerian loved Veeth, no one could doubt or question that. It was just a little tiring keeping up with his young blue’s sex drive! Valerian liked to believe that one day they would come to an agreement or he’d be stronger and able to stumble his way out of the group of losers without grabbing anyone or allowing himself to be grabbed by a certain pair of troublesome blueriders. “Anyway, I meant he’s the only reason in any capacity we would end up in bed together.” They weren’t mortal enemies but they weren’t the best of friends either. He wasn’t even sure if they qualified as friends given the insults and sticks that usually went flying between them.

“That said, my enjoyment over being with you seems to be a popular topic,” Valerian continued to hold still, not too thrilled over the idea of Indivara putting too much pressure to his throat and damaging his ability to sing. He was man enough to admit that B’jin had the better voice but Valerian still liked his and knew others thought it was good as well. Still, his tongue could still move and it wasn’t in his nature to utterly back down, especially when he had a retort at the ready. “Hoping to hear those throaty groans again, Vara? You woke me instead of fleeing and you’re straddling me like you’re ready for another ride.” He may not have been a master of seductive looks like some of the riders he knew but Valerian could still quirk a brow in question. He really had no idea how much she enjoyed herself but their interaction since waking at least proved she was okay with it and that was more than Valerian could say about a time or two with friends before.

Valerian’s words fell on Indivara like an avalanche of rocks, the girl freezing in shock as she stared down at Valerian, blue eyes wide as saucers. Indivara had ever been an open book. Like the Weyrbred learned to read a dragon’s emotions through the colours of its eyes, so too did Indivara’s friends learn to read her emotions by the clear display that was written on her face, at any given time. Indivara did not know her face was a canvas for her current mood or emotion, and it was not something any of her friends seemed in any particular hurry to inform her of. After all, if they lost that warning, Indivara’s tantrums would be truly terrifying.

In that moment, shock was paramount. Indivara was used to her friends hitting on her, of R’nd and Par’a and Jada trying to convince her she was pretty. Valerian telling her he wouldn’t so much as touch her if not for his dragon was first shocking. Then it hurt. Her face crumpled, the girl stung by the cold hard words she considered to be truth, not only for Valerian – who was, in his own way, at least a friend enough to be honest with her – but for everyone. Her friends pretended like they wanted to bed her, but Indivara wasn’t stupid! She was much too scarred and not nearly pretty enough to be seriously considered – she was pretty sure they all forgot she was a girl half the time! (which, granted, may or may not have been a bonus, all things considered). Indivara never had, and likely never would, be interested in being a ‘girly girl’. She’d seen how and what the guys she hung around with said and thought of them. She would rather be ‘one of the boys’ than a pansy princess in a dress (though Jada had tried and sometimes Kerrin managed to get her to wear a dress), but that didn’t mean she wanted to be ugly!

Almost as swiftly as the hurt had appeared upon her face, the emotion vanished under a wall of icy rage, blue eyes flashing viciously as Indivara sat up stiffly, glaring down her nose at Valerian as her lip curled distastefully. “You wish.” She snarled, twitching the blanket closer around herself in an insecure move masked by outrage. Her lip still curled, Indivara threw herself inelegantly off Valerian, and off the bed, somehow managing to land on her feet. Taking all the sheets with her, she stormed across the room, almost tripping several times in the flood of material before she halted at Valerian’s pants, and then kicked them viciously across the room and sent them crashing into the far wall. Seething anger rolled off her in waves.

Valerian fancied himself to be rather clever and even with his blunt manner of pointing things out even if at the wrong time, he felt he was good at reading people. Still, when it came to someone having any sort of feelings for him, he typically missed them. As vain as he could be, someone being sexually or romantically interested in him never quite clicked. It was why Talian’s crush on him came across as a bit of a surprise and even how his own budding crush on his friend had surprised him just as much. With Indivara switching so quickly from somewhat flirty to growling a denial as she stomped away, Valerian was left perfectly baffled as he moved to sit with his legs crossed beneath him.

As concerned as he could be about seeing Indivara – or B’jin – nude, Valerian lacked in personal modesty. He didn’t care that he was still naked and exposed entirely to the fuming girl or anyone else that might push through the door at random. The only other movement he made was to cock his head to the side as he regarded his pants that had been so brutally kicked against a wall. He’d rescues them later though. Indivara was the true mystery of the moment and the blue weyrling’s attention shifted back to her and Valerian stared in silence as he contemplated their conversation and what set her off. There were definitely mixed singles in there which didn’t help Valerian in the least. He had said they wouldn’t be together without Veeth’s assistance and accused her of wanting him further so what statement was the wrong one?

Maybe they both were when paired together?

Was Indivara upset because she actually did like him, or at least rolling around in bed with him, and his comment about not touching her without flight lust had been a huge slap to the face. Valerian supposed that made sense and called her on it. “I didn’t realise you wanted me and saying it was Veeth’s doing would upset you.” He paused for a brief moment to work out an idea that came to him. The way it kept being said he enjoyed himself with Indivara left Valerian with little choice but to believe it and use it as needed. “I’shan told me it can be helpful to have a constant buddy for when flights are lost. You can be mine if you want.”

Indivara was confused, and confusion was one of the easiest ways to make the already unreasonable young woman even more unreasonable. Standing with her back to Valerian, Indivara trembled in rage – at him, at his words, at the situation, at her reaction and at her own confusion. It rolled off her in waves, building up until just moments later, Indivara would have been incredibly hard pressed to recall what had set her off; what it was that had sparked that intense emotion and where exactly it should be aimed. Unfortunately for Valerian, he was the most obvious target, and as Indivara trembled, she visibly fought the desire to stamp back and throttle him.

As a result, his speaking out caused the poor child more confusion (did he have a death wish?!) and she spun around with a snarl, eyes narrowed angrily as she glared at him in disgust. Want him?! Why in Great Faranth’s name, would he think she wanted him?! Indivara didn’t want anyone!  Especially not people who didn’t want her! “I am not,” Indivara spoke slowly, her voice a soft and poisonous whisper as she stalked several steps closer to the young man on the bed, her tiny height possibly appearing imposing as she glared down at him, “a pity case.” The last three words were spat out with vile disgust, the girl’s lip curling.

First he was saying he wouldn’t have touched her bar for Veeth’s insatiable lust, and the next he was offering to fuck her any time his overly horny dragon failed in flight, which was far more regularly than he won! As far as Indivara could see (which wasn’t far past the end of her own nose, in such situations) the only reason someone would so rapidly change their mind was out of pity. Pity for the poor scarred girl who couldn’t get a good lay. Pity for the poor scarred girl! Angry tears stark in Indivara’s vividly blue eyes, the girl gave a screech of rage and lashed out viciously, forgetting to cling to her sheets she was uncaring where she struck Valerian, only caring that she did.

:| Sorry Val <3 hahaha.

The facial scarring surprisingly didn’t repulse Valerian – it only made him feel guilty. He had stood frozen in terror when Hoth attacked the young girl and he stood still afterward as well thanks to all the blood that left him queasy and dizzy. Charath had pounced him soon after that and it had terrified the Harper for several seconds before he realized he wasn’t being sliced apart of sized up for dinner and a laugh had escaped. Impressing Veeth immediately after that was the best feeling he had ever experienced but it would always be tinged with guilt. Indivara had wanted a dragon desperately and ended up having one claw at her. Surrounded by people but hardly anyone had helped. He never saw what her body looked like after the recovery and Valerian suspected there was a reason to that. Even a tomboy like Indivara would feel insecure if the damage was more than a single tiny scar. The speed in which Indivara moved and how he hadn’t expected it left Valerian without a chance for the moment to see the damage again.

The truth was, he was confused and Valerian had never been good at dealing with anyone where there might be feelings involved. He either didn’t notice the other person’s view of him or he was simply ineloquent in how he offered things; like now with his smooth move in saying Indivara could be his flight buddy. Her rage only briefly surprised him as Valerian quickly caught up on the conversation and he didn’t make a move to protect himself. After all, B’jin’s words were ringing loud and clear in his head now, making sure he never forgot them again. Flying S’kef was less traumatising. It had been said without a hint of humour in his voice so Valerian knew it was true. The fact that B’jin then went on to say he was a good flight partner still baffled the young bluerider but it was usually overlooked in favour of the pleasant S’kef comparison.

“I forgot the truth,” Valerian whispered once he was struck on the cheek by the hand of the furious woman though he still didn’t fight back or make a move to avoid further attack. He deserved the physical pain in an effort to balance out the emotional trauma he clearly left Indivara with. “S’kef is a better flight partner than me. I’m sorry you were grabbed by me.”A couple more flailing hands connected and again Valerian cringed and groaned from the discomfort of it all but still didn’t retaliate or defend. In fact, he should let her continue beating on him but Valerian finally placed a hand on Indivara’s thigh and gave a light push to the side so he could get up and move around her. There were pants to rescue from a heap on the other side of the room and then a shirt and boots to find after that. Enough pain had been caused by him; it was time to leave.

The feeling of flesh under her flailing attack was satisfactory, and Indivara gave a snarling grunt, trying to inflict more damage on the young man that had somehow caused so much pain and insult. Her attack lacked her usual finesse, the strikes sloppy and mostly glancing, doing very little in the way of actual damage despite the grunts from the bluerider when she managed to land the rare, solid blow. The first words he whispered were almost lost to her, the pounding blood of rage hot in her ears, but it somehow sunk in and Indivara faltered, wondering what he was talking about.

“Truth?” She snorted, furious. She’d give him truth! All the hurt rage flared up on her face again, truth indeed! Her assault verged on the edge of renewed force, before the young man spoke again and she faltered badly, staring in shock when the words finally entered her brain and made themselves at home there. “S’kef?” She mumbled, her voice low and confused as she tottered to one side at Valerian’s light tap, blue eyes wide as her fists fell to her side. As fast as her soul burning anger had appeared, it vanished once more, and the girl turned, watching Valerian stumble towards his pants. She paused for a moment, then followed.

“Valerian?” The girl reached out, hand light as it came to rest on the small of Valerian’s back, head ducking under one arm as she curled around his side, peering up at him with curious shock. Her own nakedness was forgotten entirely as her free hand – the one not still perched on the small of Valerian’s back – brushed over his stomach with slow, soothing strokes. “Why would you say that?” Everyone knew S’kef was a vile, evil bastard that got pleasure from inflicting pain! He was someone they all avoided – flights in which S’kef took part were usually devoid of ‘moths. – or at least, the ones that enjoyed being whole and sound. Why Valerian would compare himself to such a man was beyond – no! Why he would let himself be compared, was beyond her. The girl frowned, confused. However, with the emotion less focused on herself, there was no tantrum to follow it up. Yet.

“You’re nothing like S’kef,” she said frankly, barely refraining from reminding him how stupid that comparison was – especially to believe – but that wouldn’t work just yet. She had mind enough to realise he’d probably believe her and tell his next partner he was S’kef-ish and stupid. Indivara resisted the urge to groan at the idiocy of that. Instead, her hand slid around his waist and she pressed against his front, hugging him lightly while she stared up intently, scowling in her own honestly frank way.

Promises meant more, when you could trust the person that was uttering them. Indivara wasn’t positive, but she was quite sure Valerian knew her well enough – and if not, knew of her well enough – to realise she was always honest. Lies required work and maintenance and to be upheld constantly (she knew, it was constant maintenance to keep everyone believing she was a happy little slut when she had difficulty looking in a mirror.); it was just so much easier to be honest. If they looked stupid, laugh at them. If they said something idiotic, tell them. If they were being a cunt, hit them.  Indivara always meant what she said, even if no one liked it. “Promise.”

Valerian was slipping into his own little world of thought by the time Indivara snuck around him and her touched startled him to the point of green eyes going wide and blinking down at her. Her touch was gentle, even more so after the beating he had just taken at her hands and it left the weyrling confused and wondering what he did wrong now. This was clearly a trick to let down his guard for another attack. Not that he ever had the guard up and he was already properly exposed with his back to the woman as well. That didn’t seem right, though, when he looked into her eyes and saw her own confusion and then the conviction as she denied the comparison to S’kef. No doubt she was only thinking on a physical level but Valerian knew he was aligned with S’kef on a mental level. He left his partners in a horrible mental state for the most part but if he went unchecked, then there was the physical aspect to worry about as well.

“After a flight, I was told by my partner that S’kef is less traumatising than me,” Valerian winced as he said the words, hearing them back in his head in B’jin’s voice. He had no desires to sleep with the greenrider but flights were flights and they tangled. Having someone that was counted as his first real friend, first kind dragonrider, his first somewhat mentor, tell him that had been traumatising in and of itself. He had left B’jin and Talian both traumatised so the statement had been one of truth. How could he ever believe anything else? Why was Indivara willing to believe he wasn’t like S’kef? Why was she suddenly being kind?

The hug was probably the most confusing part of the entire time since waking. Indivara only seemed to be the physical type when it involved fighting or throwing items. Yet there she was, arms lightly wrapped around him as he stood there in shock. He was thankful for the scowl she gave though since that made everything seem a bit more realistic. For a moment Valerian started to believe he had been knocked out and was dreaming everything. He almost went back to that belief when Indivara promised he wasn’t anything like their new Weyrleader.

That was a heavy word to toss around. He knew through his time hanging out with B’jin and sometimes R’nd that R’nd took it seriously. He was a man that followed through on everything he said and looked ready to toss himself between if he couldn’t uphold a promise. Valerian had never been accused of being that perfect nor had he been called a promise-breaker either. He only did and said what was natural and wouldn’t lie about anything since that took extra effort and most people weren’t worth the regular exertion of a normal conversation. He knew Indivara was in the same frame of mind as him through their usual verbal entanglements and he felt there wasn’t a reason for her to lie now. Another girl, perhaps, would lie to get back into his good graces and pick up the offer of being his flight buddy but that wasn’t something Indivara would do and she didn’t seem to want the spot beside him in bed anyway.

“I’m still not perfect, Vara.” Valerian finally found his answer and even gave in to a very hesitant hug as arms wrapped around the slender girl in return. “But I guess I’m not on his level yet.” Given how B’jin almost seemed to forget he had spoken the words as soon as he had said them, Valerian knew he should believe it was said in the moment and not meant at all. Still, it was hard to let go of.

Indivara gave Valerian a dry, dirty look and snorted. “Of course you aren’t,” her words were almost irritable, plainly telling the young man he was a fool six times over if he believed he were perfect, and twice more again if he thought Indivara thought he was perfect. No one was perfect! … Well, she was pretty damn near, but she was beyond the realms of most mortals, and Indivara knew she didn’t count. Besides, they were wallowing in a pool of Valerian-Pity at the moment, and Indivara wasn’t quite prepared to rain on his parade… Or rather, she wasn’t in the mood to turn it into her own pity fest. She was quite happy to rain on his parade, now he seemed almost normal again.

Indivara hummed softly, the sound an odd mixture of amusement and contentment as her head dropped forward, forehead bumping gently against Valerian’s chest as she puffed out a warm breath. She stared down towards their feet before she realised just what parts of their bodies she was staring past, and Indivara made a muffled sound (mostly a naughty laugh) against the bluerider’s chest as she stepped closer – a move designed to cut off his viewing options more than her own. She had no qualms about checking the bluerider out, and wasn’t above recognising that he was attractive. She didn’t, however, particularly want him gawking at her scars, which, without her sheet were – Oh, fuck.

The dawning realisation that she was stark naked was far more worrying than the fact that she was pressed against him. While she was pressed against him, he couldn’t see anything, except possibly her arse if he wanted to.  It did, however, bring to light a rather irritating fact: her sheet was on the other side of the room, and she had a reputation to uphold, a reputation that would hardly be retainable if she made a mad dash for the sheet on the floor. Indivara frowned slightly against Valerian’s chest. It wasn’t uncomfortable – or at least, Indivara wasn’t picking up on any uncomfortable vibes surrounding them – but they were definitely naked and he was definitely not wrapped up in his dragon’s emotions anymore and that was the only time Indivara let anyone see her naked; the entire point being they didn’t have enough brain cells functioning to process anything they saw, most notably her scars, her tiny structure, her lack of hip and boob… And they were hugging and Indivara never hugged anyone so he must have started that; she could feel the heat where his hands rested and it caused a sudden tingle to dance down her spine, making all the little hairs stand on end.

Just brilliant! Still frowning, Indivara latched onto the last topic of conversation, before Valerian’s comment about lacking perfection. Or had it been after? “He’s not on your level,” the girl corrected softly, lifting her head to rest her chin against Valerian’s chest as she peered up at him, her expression a combination of irritation and bemusement. She was definitely going to get a crick in her neck, but she still couldn’t quite come to terms with the idea of letting him get a good look at her; her long loose hair only covered so much. Though, she supposed, if she were to be caught with anyone, at least it was Valerian; so many other blueriders were pushy, but more, she wouldn’t trust about – well, just about all of them, really – to keep their big mouths shut once they left the room. Valerian might have been mean earlier, but she was almost positive he wasn’t a gossip.

“He likes causing pain.” Indivara added, though she’d never slept with him herself (thank Faranth) she’d been around those who had; Jada in particular. They were fewer now, what with J’ver holding his attentions and now all the Weyr politics keeping the bastard on his toes. “You don’t.” That was said with a definitively that didn’t offer any room for argument, Indivara’s eyes expressing her irritation that he’d even mildly entertain such ridiculous notions. And the man was supposed to be intelligent! “You were…” she paused, trying to think of the right word to convoy what she wanted to say. After a moment, she found one, though the way her nose scrunched up slightly indicated it wasn’t the one she really felt completely appropriate. Or perhaps she just didn’t like the word. “Sweet.”

Eyebrows furrowed, before she gave Valerian probably the driest look possible, and drolled out a low, “determined. But sweet.” She’d been with some riders that seemed to feel it was their responsibility to make sure she didn’t forget their presence for at least two weeks – maybe six. Valerian had undoubtedly left his marks – Indivara bruised very easily – but he hadn’t been needlessly rough with her. Whomever compared someone sweet to someone sadistic and put them on the same shelf, deserved a solid kick to the nuts.

The girl snorted again. Now, to subtly get her clothing back on her body... Indivara paused thoughtfully for a moment, before smirking softly to herself. Shifting her hands lightly to go from Valerian's back to his waist, Indivara pressed into him, trying to guide him back towards the bed - but most importantly, back towards her damned sheet!

He was…? Valerian waited for the answer on what he was and his own scrunched up when Indivara found the adjective she wanted. He was pretty sure people didn’t associate him with being sweet, except maybe Talian but he had reason to believe that with the oddly kind things done for him in their friendship. Indivara thinking he was sweet was bordering on being mind-breaking but wasn’t the entire encounter already doing that? He had slept with her, they argued, and now they were hugging and the girl didn’t seem ready to let go. Valerian was more than a little confused right then but he wasn’t sure he should bring it up or even silently question it. Discussing them as a unit and feelings involved had started the entire downward spiral into S’kef levels and Valerian was done with hanging out done there.

Valerian chuckled when Indivara spoke again to add that he was determined but still sweet. That sounded a bit more like the girl that had once been determined herself – to knock him out with sticks. It wasn’t often he had been called determined either though. Perhaps in his music he was determined but most of the time in the Hall he had put minimal effort into classes and that was how he taught them as well. “I’m not often called either. I guess it depends on whom or what’s motivating me.” Valerian had a silver tongue when it was in written-form and he was working on a poem but he certainly wasn’t at a master flirt’s level, like R’nd, where he could speak pretty words that he saw as truth. He wasn’t known for lying either so it was clear that had been Valerian’s attempt at being nice to Indivara though he wasn’t sure if it would be caught or well-received.

Perhaps it had worked! Valerian blinked down at Indivara as she guided them to the bed, his feet following more so they wouldn’t be stepped on or earn a kick to the shin. That’s what Valerian told himself anyway since he was currently baffled over why she wanted him at the bed again and why he was being so obedient. When his fingers flexed over her warm skin, Valerian started to clue in, assuming he was on the right train of thought. They were both naked which meant the sheet Indivara had been wrapped up in vanished somewhere along the way and the girl likely wanted it back. The weyrling knew the brat to be brash and loud mouthed and knew she took to lingering around flight losers but he didn’t know much else about her and didn’t see the issue in her not wanting to be seen. He had no qualms in people seeing him nude but Valerian also knew that wasn’t for everyone. Still, he didn’t offer to grab it or even mention it, again having learned when to keep silent with Indivara. Sometimes it felt like every conversation they had was a battle and he was learning to pick which ones he wanted to deal with.

“Don’t get used to it,” Indivara drawled, eyes locked on Valerian’s shoulder as she kept a subtle watch on her sheet. Why did a few feet seem like the length of Katila? An eyebrow arched as Indivara peered up at Valerian, an amused smirk flickering over her lips. Her voice was droll. “I don’t recall motivating you to strip before.” She replied, blue eyes sparkling. “Mostly you just run like a pansy.” A wicked smirk reclaimed her lips, the girl taking more than a little artistic license with her comment. Half the incidents where she’d thrown things at Valerian had resulted in him getting the better of her. That, however, was not the current point - not at all! Distracting Valerian with silly chatter seemed like the perfect way to get back at her sheet without him getting all the wrong ideas.

… The girl paused for a space moment when Valerian’s fingers shifted, unsure what to make of the motion, particularly following her previous thought, before deciding firmly to pretend like she hadn’t noticed anything. Despite her decision, Indivara couldn’t stop the slightly quizzical glance she flashed up under her lashes, attempting to define what was going on in the Harper’s mind. Unable to see an immediate answer, and unwilling to encourage him if he was wandering down that path, blue eyes sought out her sheet once more, still much too far away, and she continued to guide Valerian backwards with gentle hands. She did not want him to suddenly put up a fight and refuse to move!

Indivara didn’t relent in her insistent guidance until she felt Valerian stop with the slight wobble that indicated he’d backed into the bed. Her grip tightened, fingers shifting to his waist to help him balance, and it was a moment before Indivara realised shoving him over probably would have given her far more freedom to grab her sheet with minimal commentary from her partner. Fuck it. Her face ever a clear indication of what was going on in her head, Indivara’s was twisted irritably as her mind raced for a way out, without looking like she was digging for an escape route. It didn’t help that she was perfectly capable of admitting Valerian wasn’t a stupid man. If he had been, she was pretty she’d have punched him in the face long ago. Indivara hated stupidity.

Huffing suddenly, Indivara shifted her vacant gaze to glare up at Valerian irritably. It was all his fault! First he’d grabbed her, and then he’d gone and gotten all girly and emotional when she made some comment or another – Indivara neither recalled nor cared what she’d said – and now look at the mess she was in! Indivara refused to acknowledge any blame she was entitled to for ending up in the current situation, as she dug her fingers into Valerian’s ribs suddenly. “Ticklish, Valerian?” she purred sweetly, trying to decided even as she attempted to tickle him, if he’d just stare at her or if he’d start squealing like a little girl.

Hopefully, he would squirm without attempting to tickle her, and she’d get to pick up her Faranth-be-fucked sheet! Indivara wasn’t ticklish, per-se, but it would evoke a response; probably bruised Valerian flesh - if only because it would make her squeal like a little girl.

Valerian steadied himself when the back of his legs bumped against the bed as he had no interest in toppling over with Indivara flailing as she went with him thanks to his hold. He had yet to be decked by the girl but he didn’t doubt that she had a strong hook even if swung accidentally or without true force behind it and he didn’t want to find out for certain. In fact, it was a miracle he had yet to be bodily harmed in some way or another with the way her temper spiked over this, that, or the other thing during their encounter. Likely, she was saving up to hit him before they parted ways since that would shock him the most, especially after all the feelings and tender conversations that had been had.

Or maybe she would attack right then with the way fingers dug into his bare sides unexpectedly as a question was asked and barely heard over his surprised bark of laughter. He wasn’t exactly ticklish but Indivara hit the right spots and caught him unaware that it was sort of a surprise that startled and tickled at the same time – which made for more than just laughing as a reaction. Valerian was prone to reacting to such an attack on reflex and instinct which usually meant restraining the attacker. Luckily for Indivara a balled fist or open handed palm to the nose weren’t in store for her due to his hands still holding her at the waist but that mean she was safe. Valerian was suddenly spinning them around and tossing them onto the bed like he had moments before not wanted to do. Only now Indivara was flat on her back with Valerian looming over her, green eyes wide from the shock. “Kinda,” he replied to the question belatedly and then smirked.

The sudden movement he had made caused the missing sheet to tangle on his foot and Valerian, still keeping his eyes on the brat he didn’t trust not to attack again, reached down to grab the material. Once he had it, a quick tug was given to send it flying over Indivara’s face and part of her torso. Valerian couldn’t say for certain which of his theories was the correct one but if she was shy and wanted to be covered up again he suspected she would be silently grateful for that. If she was actually interested in getting him on the bed for another romp, then she’d possibly get huffy at being turned down or think it was some kind of odd foreplay. Whatever the reason, Valerian would do his best to adapt to her reaction as he crawled off of her to sit on the edge of the bed and stare at his pants that were once again on the opposite end of the room to him.

You two are so amusing! You don’t need to rush off yet if you want to play more. You both seem to be having so much fun. Valerian smirked and glanced at a barefoot that was near him but didn’t seem to have the right angle or space to actually kick him properly, “Veeth apparently likes how well we play together. I believe my dragon is currently smitten with you.”

Being thrown across the bed as not what Indivara had expected. She liked to think she’d expected a lot of variable responses from the bluerider, but not being thrown across the bed! Indivara squealed – probably the most feminine sound she’d made in years – as her feet left the ground, fingers losing their light grip on Valerian’s waist she tried to grab his arms in surprise, breath releasing in a surprised oof as she stopped moving suddenly. Valerian’s reply was given a flat look, though still wide blue eyes sparkled with amusement.

A soft laugh puffed through the sheet that was suddenly covering her face, and Indivara tugged it down with one hand, while the other carefully arranged the rest of it so she was covered in all the important places. She didn’t give two hoots about her legs, which were slim, feminine and completely unscarred. She sat up, crossing her legs and pulling the sheet around so it was wrapped around her shoulders, successfully hiding the scarring that was over her shoulders and down her chest. Indivara didn’t actually have any true modesty – probably best displayed by the fact that the bottom of the sheet was barely covering her lap – but she was rather insecure about people’s opinions on her scars.

“Everyone loves me,” Indivara stated, barely managing to maintain an air of indignation for the first word, and losing it completely to a snort of laughter by the end of the comment. The girl knew she wasn’t a particularly lovable creature, but her mum tried and her friends put up with her and her firelizards hadn’t abandoned her yet, so it was no big deal. Besides! Her bronze would more than make up for it all, when he was ready to find her! Of that Indivara had no doubt.

Shifting her weight forward, Indivara rocked herself up onto her knees and struggled to the edge of the bed, managing not to topple over, topple off, or topple into Valerian as she sat back down, flicking her feet off the end and letting the sheet fall back around her legs. “You were very eager,” a sly sideways look and a smug smirk accompanied the words, “and if you broke the lacings on my pants, you can deal with Kerrin. They’re new, and he will be pissed.”

He’d be irritable anyway; he always got snippy with her when she went flightmothing. Indivara was convinced it was because he didn’t think she could look out for herself. She was not twelve! She was perfectly capable of avoiding the nasties, thank you very much. Suddenly irritable, Indivara slid off the bed with a huff and went to see how much damage actually had been done to her pants. Then she could decide what kind of tantrum to throw, if one was needed.

Valerian shrugged in answer to the threat about having to deal with Kerrin if any clothing was damaged. “It’s just Kerrin.” He had slightly befriended the young Tailor when they had Candidate classes together and had even stood fairly close to each other at the Hatching. If nothing else, the boy was sometimes loud and proud but he was easy enough to deal with when he went on a rant. It wasn’t like he was all that intimidating. In fact, Kerrin was almost adorable when he tried to look upset. So he’d let Kerrin whine and complain and whatever else he wanted to do before tuning back in long enough to know it was safe to walk away.

Once again Valerian got to his feet to make the long trek back over to his pants. Perhaps this time he’d actually be able to pick them up and maybe even get them on before finding himself suddenly back on the bed. “Was I?” It was a serious question, nothing sarcastic as the weyrling padded across the floor butt naked yet again. He couldn’t remember much of anything during the flight lust and if Indivara was willing to give him serious answers, he’d take advantage of that and ask a few questions. Likely, since it was Indivara, she wasn’t going to give him much to work with in the way of truths.

“What was I like?” The pants were snatched up off the floor. Soon, he was sliding the clothing up his legs and fiddling with the lacing. He wasn’t sure about Indivara’s, but his lacing seemed to be doing fairly well. It was likely all the practice he was getting now for undressing himself while half out of it.

Indivara just gave an irritable snort in response to Valerian’s statement, neither agreeing nor disagreeing. While not afraid of Kerrin in the slightest, Indivara wasn’t all that keen on him harping on for ten or twenty hours about how she’d ruined another set of laces with her little hobby. So what if she liked to flight moth? She did not see what that had to do with Kerrin, or why he had to get so snippy about it. Scowling, Indivara picked her pants up grumpily and frowned at the lacing critically, one hand still holding the sheet carefully around herself.

The relief she felt at the lacing being intact was more than a little pathetic, and the girl kept up her scowling as she shoved her legs into them and pulled them up, mouth full of her sheet in order to hold it up. She couldn’t answer Valerian while her mouth was full of sheets, and her silence seemed to prompt him to elaborate on his question. Spitting the sheet out, Indivara searched the room for her shirt, then made her way over to it, still trailing the train of material behind her.

“I dunno,” Indivara answered distractedly as she found her shirt, and picked it up. Shaking it out, she eyed it off for a moment before pulling it on over her head, only then allowing the sheet to fall to the ground. She kicked it away from herself and brushed her hands lightly over the material she was now dressed in. There were other bits and pieces of her clothing still lying around, but she had what covered her, and that was all that was important. Leaving the rest of it where it was, she made her way back to the bed and flopped down, sitting in a hazardous pile.

The girl shrugged. “You weren’t mean.” She gave him a direct look, focusing on his face instead of watching him dress with idle appreciation. He was not a bad view, and while Valerian had said some things that were still stinging to Indivara’s tender pride and massive insecurities, the girl decided that letting him snatch her up again would not be a terrible thing; she would just have to slip out before he gathered his wits… Unless she felt like a fight, in which case hanging around would be just as much fun.

“Weren’t rough much, either,” she added. Likely, she was carrying bruises from fingers and mouth, but Indivara bruised easily at any rate. He had not hurt her, though, and she was quite sure that was something Valerian needed to hear, even if he was not going to blatantly say as much; his mumbled comment about comparing himself to S’kef had stuck with her.

A sly grin suddenly planted itself on her face, and Indivara arched both eyebrows up at Valerian, the expression twisting her scars and she could feel the tightened skin tug and pull. “What are you normally like?” While the hint of genuine curiosity was not quite hidden, blue eyes sparkled mischievously, the girl quite content to tease him and more than sure whatever answer she got – the truth, or ego, or quips – would be quite amusing.

Valerian barely resisted the urge to give in and roll his eyes as Indivara vaguely described how he was during sex. That hadn’t been the sole area he was curious about though it was nice to know he still wasn’t a brute during flightlust. After B’jin’s comparison to S’kef, it was hard to think he was nice during flights though the greenrider said he was more traumatizing, not that he was as rough and violent. Still, it was hard to judge what one person saw as traumatizing over the next. So while it wasn’t the real answer he was looking for, Valerian was still happy to take it.

He had wanted to know more about how he was in general under the influence of Veeth’s lust but didn’t think he wanted to ask any further questions, especially with the teasing Indivara was already giving him. Valerian decided it was safe to assume he was a brainless fiend after sex like all the others he had seen before but he had a far gentler touch. That worked for him. A shrug was given to Indivara’s question before his shirt was located and targeted for pick up. “You couldn’t ask that before we started getting dressed?” There was a hint of amusement in Valerian’s voice, his hidden playful side showing itself in just the slightest way. 

The shirt was held up to be inspected for tears though Valerian peeked around it to smirk at Indivara and then slipped the shirt on. “I’m sure Veeth would be happy to escort you to my hut any time you want to find out though, Vara. Right, Veeth?” As expected, his little blue perked up at the idea and crooned in his mind before reaching out to brush against Indivara’s as well. I wouldn’t mind at all! You are very entertaining, love! Veeth hoped Indivara Impressed a female dragon and then they could all fly together and have ever so much fun! He was nearly giddy at the idea!

Indivara laughed, genuinely amused, as she watched him pull his shirt on. “You were hardly concerned about getting me out of them before,” she pointed out, still smirking with amusement. The dig about not wanting to sleep with her without Veeth’s rather insistent assistance was still stinging and Indivara wasn’t prepared to let it go at the moment, though she was no longer in the mood to cause a fight over it, either. Probably later, or another day – sometime when objects were available to throw at the young bluerider when words began to fail her and she was repeating the same insistent curse words over and over. At least they were powerful words!

A dry, flat look was given to Valerian at his teasing remark, and Indivara was quite prepared to change her mind about when to fight with him over that particular topic (despite the lack of objects to throw in the current location) when Veeth’s voice filtered into her mind. That, in and of itself, did not do much in the way of startling the girl. She was friendly enough with a variety of dragons that she heard them speak regularly enough (and it was impossible to ignore Grith). Veeth’s voice caused her head to tilt slightly, a genuine little smile claiming her lips at the sweet sound before what it was he was saying actually sunk in.

Shock rolled over her like a blanket, and then sat heavily upon her shoulder. The girl’s expression quite clearly showed she had no idea what to make of the dragon’s input and she blinked, wide, confused eyes angling on Valerian. Some dragons, she knew, thought it was exceedingly fun to put their rider’s into situations they would strongly object to, and watch them flounder around. Larrikith, she knew, was a prime example. She’d seen Ayyonth do as much as well (probably why the pair got along so well) and they weren’t the only ones. Even Krypth seemed to enjoy occasionally making Jada’s life difficult for the woman.

But Veeth’s voice was so damned adorable and it was sweet and soothing and  how could a dragon that sounded that precious ever plan anything at all that his rider didn’t want a part in? That, of course, left Indivara confused and unsure. Valerian had said – quite clearly! – that he wasn’t interested, and yet now he had indicated – twice! – that that wasn’t so and Indivara had no idea where she stood or why he was changing his mind every time he opened his mouth!

So she did what she was known for doing; springing off the bed with a suddenly coy and mischievous smirk (as if she had not been sitting there for several moments very clearly trying to figure out what was going and with the cogs in her mind working overtime to do so) Indivara played it off. Answering the dragon verbally as collected up her underclothes, the girl’s voice was playful. “Always happy to have a fan,” collecting people’s dragons was turning into a pastime; Grith and Krypth both adored her, and it looked like Valerian’s blue thought she was fun, too, even if she firmly decided he was obviously on a different page than his human. After all, Valerian thought she was irritating, not entertaining!

With her underwear balled in her fists, Indivara paused in the centre of the room to eye Valerian critically, slowly shifting her gaze from head to toe and back again. It stopped upon meeting his gaze, and her eyebrows arched up suddenly, devious expression claiming her face. “At least the gossip about your popularity is not overrated.” Smiling sweetly, Indivara stepped past him and made for the door. She certainly was not going to be the only one struggling for footing in this weird game, and she was quite sure that would throw him to some degree!