Chap. 20 Sweet Solitude

Chap. 20 Sweet Solitude

It was odd, K'ndar reflected, that in all his life, he'd never been 'alone'.

An especially loud boom of the sea had awakened him from a deep sleep. He was still adjusting to its proximity. 

Stretched out on his bunk, looking up in the darkness where he knew the roof would be, he considered what his life had become. 

Certainly, living on his family's cothold, he'd often been out alone on horseback, or when he would hunt.

But this was different. And he wasn't really "alone". No, not with Raventh curled up on his couch, and in his mind, constant as his own heart beat.

They'd finally moved out of the Weyrling barracks and into their own weyr.

Forever fascinated by the ever changing sea, K'ndar had requested and received a 'beach weyr". True, it didn't have the facilities of the cliff weyrs, those stony caves that, while solid, could be hot and stuffy in summer. His weyr was made of wood and thatch, built to allow the breezes to flow through when it was hot, but it had something he'd never experienced before-privacy. 

Growing up in a tiny cothold, where everyone lived in the same cave or under a stone roof,  indeed, sometimes all in the same room, privacy was unknown. You knew who snored, you woke up with everyone else, and only a woman in childbed was allowed to stay in bed after dawn. The Weyrling barracks had been different only in that dragons were also inhabitants.

Now, he had himself to himself. It was a previously unsuspected luxury. True, he still had classes, still had duties that required him to work. 

But he had free time after training where he could sit by himself (always with Raventh) and just reflect on what his life had become. He could work on horsetail braids by glow all night if he chose, without worrying that he was disturbing someone else. Mostly, he could just…think…without the interruptions and social interaction that were both inevitable and unavoidable in the barracks. 

It wasn't silent…he could hear the slow (tonight) wash of the surf. Raventh's steady breathing told him the dragon was asleep.

 Another luxury was that the brown was now old enough to be able to go between to defecate. Having grown up cleaning up after animals, doing so after a dragon hadn't been much different, but being relieved of that task was also a benefit. The first time that Raventh had shuffled outside, leaped into the air and vanished had been unnerving. He returned within moments, his mind content with the action.

Warn me the next time you do that! he'd shouted, instantly regretting it.

 Why? Raventh had answered, truly perplexed.

Ummmmmmm. Sorry. You don't have to. I just…I'm not used to you just up and leaving like that.

 I thought you wanted me to? I'm big now. Only dragonets mess their weyrs.

K'ndar was chagrined.  Sorry. Never mind. You are right. You're grown. It's just…I wasn't used to you leaving like that.

 I will always come back Raventh said, comfortingly.

They both thought for a few moments.

 I like this. I like being in our own weyr  Raventh said.

I do, too. Why do you like it? he asked.

I can go swimming. I can watch for dolphins. I can go inside and out when I want. I have you all to myself.

K'ndar, remembering the comment, felt a sudden clarity. Somehow, his dragon had put a finger-or was it a talon? on it. That was it, too. He had no humans near him, he could have his dragon 'all to himself'. He didn't have to worry about disturbing the other weyrlings should he want to get up and give Raventh a scratching. Like now.

Getting up, he moved to his sleeping dragon and began scratching Raventh behind the knobs that served as ears. He remembered the cothold's felines, jumping onto his bunk in the middle of the night, curling up next to him and purring when he scratched their spines. He felt the same contentment, the same feeling of…togetherness with an animal. Giving a simple pleasure to a beast gave him a feeling of happiness, too. 

Raventh awoke. Despite it being dark, K'ndar was certain the brown's eyes were cerulean blue.  K'ndar had never felt such a bond, such love, for anything. Not even his horse, Jordan. He thought longingly of his horse. He still missed him. 

 I wonder how he would taste? Raventh interjected.

WHAT?

 Jordan. I wonder how a horse tastes.

 Don't you dare, lizard, or I'll skin you alive. K'ndar laughed, enjoying the game Raventh had invented. Being teased by a dragon was unusual, to say the least.

 You would have to catch me and I don't ever remember seeing you fly. Or go between

And I don't remember seeing a dragon being able to scratch behind his horns, either. Or oiling himself. Maybe I'd stop it, like this? He stopped scratching, and instead, tickled.

Raventh made an inarticulate groan. Don't tickle!

Don't eat my horses K'ndar said.

 Have it your way, then. They're probably tough, anyway

K'ndar gave the dragon an affectionate swat and went back to bed. HIS bed, in HIS weyr, with  HIS partner, Raventh. And no one else.