RCW: 3 Turns Of Miscommunication

Posted on Mon Oct 21st, 2024 @ 6:41pm by Gold Rider Lana & Bronze Rider I'han
Edited on on Thu Oct 24th, 2024 @ 9:18pm

Mission: 3531 AL
Location: River Cove Weyr
Timeline: M2 D14

Lana sat on the raised platform that the weyrleaders and wing leaders used if they wanted to sit alone in the corwded dining cavern but the dining cavern was nothing like that at the moment in the middle of the day on a rest day after a nearly 7 hour thread fall in the Tropical Forests to the south of the Weyr. Lana looked up as she saw I’han come into the cavern and stopped as they stared at each other for a moment before Lana broke the look to look into her Klah.

Scorch it, I’han thought to himself as Lana looked away. He needed to sort out his relationship with the Weyrwoman one way or another. It had been nearly 3 turns and she had never confronted him, never raised her voice at him but the silence had settled between them to the point she ignored him in meetings or at events. He hated it especially when F’cone had never been treated like that, he was allowed to cause his drama and nothing happened but he was ignored by the woman. I’han grabbed up a wine skin and 2 mugs and walked back over to the younger woman and pulled out the chair on her right not daring to sit in A’ren’s chair.

“Bronzerider?” Lana said as he came towards her. She did not want to speak to the man but it seemed that he was intent on speaking to her.

“Me and you Weyrwoman are going to sit here until we clear the air. I brought some wine to ease this process.” He said firmly pouring the first mug and handed it to her first.

“It will be a warm day between before…” Lana started. Lana trailed off, her voice tight with suppressed frustration as she stared into the dark liquid swirling in her mug. She didn’t look at I’han, didn’t dare. If she did, she feared she would lose the composure she had clung to for so long. The tension between them had reached a breaking point, and though she had managed to keep her emotions tightly under wraps for three turns, the weight of the silence had grown unbearable. She could feel it crushing her every time he entered the same space.

“No, it won’t Lana.”

"Before I forgive you," she said quietly, her fingers tightening around the mug. "Before I forget what you did."

“This is not fair… I do not even know what I have done to deserve this treatment from you.” He said firmly pouring his own and taking a sip. He knew the woman could be like the coldest point of the north but this was silly when he did not know exactly what he had done to upset her enough.

“You do.” Lana said shaking her head at him. She grabbed up the mug and took a gulp of it as I’han stared at her clueless.

“Lana… I really do not.” He whispered watching her. He had spent many sleepless nights wracking his brain trying to work it out, he was not even sure when it had started when things had been so crazy.

“That night when Dragon Hold came for me and …” She started putting the mug down. “…dishonoured me.” I’han nodded, he remembered that night he had never actually been that scared before as he knelt there in all that blood. He had seen Tanly go through some stuff but he had never thought for a moment that the Weyr would be threatened so badly. “I remember you and F’cone speaking and you said "She did this?"… you thought so low of me to think that I would kill myself and take the Weyr and Kalaith with me.” Lana said scratching at her wrist and the scars that would be permanent reminders unless she got tattoos or something to cover them. Her words sunk in leaving him cold as he reminded demanding from F’cone if Lana had cut her own wrists herself as he had answered the distressed dragon calls.

“I… Lana….” I’han sighed and leant over to stop her touching her wrist. “Yes… I did because it was exactly how the scene looked. I fell for exactly what dragon hold did and knew would be thought on but I also demanded that from F’cone because it would have helped healing you. I needed to know how you would be when you woke up, or whether you were going to wake up. You were a healer you know this…” I’han explained quietly relieved that the woman did not pull away.

“But…”

“I cannot excuse that; I cannot change what my very shocked reaction was to that day but I have never thought before or after that moment that you would take that approach. That any rider would take that approach to life.” He said sliding his hand from her wrist to her fingers wrapping them around her fingers and squeezed. Everything was starting to make sense though, her reluctance to see him as healer, him getting moved to the wings so easily after his request and the general feeling of him having felt he had missed something but not knowing how or what it was. He had lost a friend and not realised it until it was too late. "I don’t expect forgiveness," he admitted after a long pause. "I just want... to stop feeling like this, like you can’t stand to even look at me."

Lana’s gaze flicked up then, her eyes locking with his. For a moment, he saw the hurt there, the raw emotion she had buried deep beneath her cool exterior. "It’s not about not being able to stand you, I’han," she said, her voice low and steady. "It’s about trust. It’s about respect. You shattered both."

"I never meant to—"

"That’s the thing," Lana interrupted, her voice rising slightly. "You never meant to. But it still happened I still let that knowledge bury deep.”

"I’m sorry," he said finally, the words feeling inadequate but genuine. I’han stared at her, at a loss for words. The silence stretched on, and for the first time in a long while, it was not a hostile silence. It was filled with the weight of unsaid things, of truths finally brought to light.

"I didn’t mean for it to be like this," she said quietly, staring into his own mug of wine. "I just... didn’t know how to fix it."

I’han nodded, a bitter smile tugging at his lips. "Then let’s start fixing it." Lana did not respond immediately. She stared at him for a long moment, as if weighing his words, his sincerity. Finally, she nodded, albeit slowly, and took a long drink from her mug.

"We’ll see," she said, her voice quiet but firm. "But don’t expect this to be easy."

I’han nodded in agreement as he saw Lana’s wicked grin. He had not seen that kind of grin in his presence for a long time. "I wouldn’t expect anything less Weyrwoman.” He said pressing a kiss to her temple a little relief now etched on his face that things might be better between them. Both of them had the knowledge of what had happened now and what they did with it was left open now.