Completed Rain Dance [Shahar]

[Naiya]

Summer Day 89, 514 AV

The rhythmic patter of rain on the roof of the pavilion awakened Rue, she turned in her blankets with a groan, silently begging for a few more minutes of rest. The trickle of awareness was slow, held at bay by sleep and lack of interest in waking, but it came anyway and Rue sat up in bed with a sudden alertness.

"Rain." She said softly, the sound so full of hope and possibility that even she was surprised. "It's raining." She said again louder, and she heard an angry murmur from the other room. If they didn't want to wake up, she saw no reason to make them.

This was a time for celebration. A special occasion. She would wear her dress.

The purple cloth smelled faintly of cedar, something that wasn't unpleasant to her, and she quickly maneuvered herself into the fabric. That done she finished dressing with her boots, making a quick if not quiet escape from the pavilion into the morning's pale light.

The weather was cool, the cloud cover and the rain offering sweet relief from the heat that had beaten the spirits from the Drykas. Such long drought had chased away their hopes for summer rains, but here it finally had arrived.

Rue turned her face to the sky, letting the water pour over her like a child. Laughter poured from her lips, excitement that was not washed away by the rain but rather grew as the life bringing waters dampened her skin and hair.

She needed someone to share her excitement with, and she knew right away who she wanted that someone to be.

Shahar had come to visit her less and less as the season progressed, and when the game had all but disappeared, so too had Shahar. It was not something she held against him, for she could only imagine the difficulties the season had brought him, but all the same she would take any opportunity to see him.

She knew that before he had settled his pavilion on the outskirts of the city, though whether or not he was still there was a mystery to her, she was not so bold as to follow him home. Instead they often met at the close of a day at her shop.

But still, she could seek him where he had last settled, such habits did not often change.

[Colt]

Shahar woke earlier than usual, although it wasn’t a sudden jerk from sleep as usually heralded such an hour. No, it was slow and creeping, pleasant in its own way; the clannless Drykas had a fairly good sense of time, and he knew when he opened his eyes that it was earlier than he was supposed to wake. At first, he didn’t know exactly why, but a few moments of confused consciousness brought a sudden, crushing realization to the fore: it was raining.

Shahar was moving before he’d completely processed the chill on his skin or the gentle patter of water on the waxed canvas walls of the tent. He didn’t pause to pull on a cloak or even a shirt, half-consciously opting to remain in nothing but trousers as he slipped into the open air.

The rain couldn’t have felt more welcoming.

Thick and heavy, the weather rolled over him like the breath of an old friend. Within moments rivulets of water were forming over his skin, running over his stooped shoulders and down his back. His hair became damp, then truly wet, sticking to his face even as he shook his head to clear it away. Another life would have had him annoyed at the sensation of the rain, but now he could feel nothing but pure, unadulterated joy.

The drought had ended.

He took nothing with him as he headed from the camp; all sense of danger and caution had vanished with the dryness, and besides, there wasn’t a beast alive that was interested in hunting in this rain. Not when there was thirst to be slaked.

Even so, he remained close to his camp. He wanted to share this joy, and he wanted to share it with his family, but he didn’t want to wake them before they were ready. It mapped to an invisible tether that kept him in the vicinity, regarding the heavens with the excitement of a child. He let the rain soak him, and he relished it––after so long, there was nothing he could have enjoyed more.

[Naiya]

Already there were people in the streets, wakened by rain or habit, and they too seemed to revel in the water that would surely brighten the prospects of the season to come. Rue moved through the scattered celebrations, families moving about in the rain with a general air of celebration.

Rue could share their excitement, but only to a point could one be a part of a stranger's joy. She sought more than that, something more intimate than cheering with strangers. So she moved through the pavilions as Amethyst faded to Ruby and sought the open of the city's fringes, where pavilions became more distant and more free of the city's hold.

She swept rain soaked hair back from her face with a laugh, her eyes seeking what her heart told her would be near. Even if Shahar was not to be found here, she felt sure that she would stumble across him as she made her way around the city.

She couldn't find it in her to worry about it as she danced through the dry grasses that slowly gave way to mud. She would find him, or he her, surely, and they could share in the wonder of the rain.

Wind blew through her, pushing her forwards in her search and sending a chill through her. The storm beckoned to the autumn, bringing with it's water the promise of the cool relief of the new season and its promise of cold and snow.

She shivered as the next gust caught her dress pressing it against her legs and, bringing the cold fabric to her skin and she found herself laughing again. Without the protection of the closely packed tents she was subjected to the full force of the weather. Wind and rain and cool, it brought her forward towards what she knew in her heart would be her destination.

Wet tendrils of hair danced around her and she spun to face the wind and remove the block from her vision. When she turned again in the direction that called to her she caught sight of a figure in the distance.

Shahar.

The shape of him, the way he moved. She was sure it was him. Familiarity screamed that she had found the man she sought and she moved with new purpose towards the man she had been seeking since she awoke.

[Colt]

Shahar didn’t know how much time had passed when he felt the telltale prickle in his neck of being watched. It wasn’t an alarming prickle––he wouldn’t expect anything like that until the rains let up enough for anything dangerous to actually accomplish anything––and so the elation in his posture didn’t fade as he paused in his aimless wandering to search for a source. It took little time to spot her, and it took even less time to recognize her.

The signs on his hand narrowed away from vague generality as he angled towards her, becoming focused and more personal in nature. His movements were joyous, perhaps even more so now that she was here; the season had drawn them apart as he had been forced to spend more time providing for his family, and it had been too long since he had visited her. His exaltation at her arrival was part happiness at the rain, but also tempered with some measure of relief and reunion, past, missed you, depth of gladness. It was wonderful to see her.

“Rue Nightsong.” Cheerful greeting, vast joy, he said lopsidedly as he came within conversation distance. You, sky, all, relief, togetherness and rightness. At last! There was no uneasiness around the presence of another now, nothing to weigh down the moment around him. In fact, he came rather close to Rue without any hint of hesitation, his joy becoming almost childlike in appearance. He hovered close, then flickered away a step or two, then came close again; he couldn’t sit still, not in this weather, and there was no one else he would rather be sharing the rain with.

[Naiya]

Still the gales pushed her forward, weather and action pressing her towards the man who came to meet her. She was giddy with shared excitement as she approached. This was the long awaited reunion she had sought.

Her heart swelled as she took in the sight of him, moving more quickly as the distance between them lessened. The signs on his hands and shaped through his body called a welcome to her part happiness and part a swirling of emotions at their reunion.

Relief, missed you she echoed searching for you, found you, glad, happy, excited. She didn't have enough words to express the depth of her feelings so she let the emotion fill her eyes and face instead.

'Rue Nightsong' he called her as she came close enough to hear, and she dropped playfully into a curtsy, lifting the sodden hem of her dress with the motion.

Greetings "Shahar."

Relief and wonder moved her hands, towards him, towards the sky. Seeing him and feeling the rain, both brought to a close the separation that had come to be between them. It was an ending and a new beginning, a promise and a warning. She was more than happy to share it with this man before any other.

Shahar was playful in his own motions, close enough to touch one moment and away the next, like the same energy that had driven Rue to find him had Shahar dancing through the grasses.

The rain poured steadily around them and a shiver of cold wind blew past them drawing another laugh from Rue as she stumbled forward a step. When Shahar came close again she stole forward to catch his attention with a soft, fleeting touch on his forearm.

"I am glad to see you well." She spoke through a smile that showed no sign of faltering, and because the feeling was slow to leave her she added again "I have missed you."

[Colt]

Her happiness to see him mirrored his to see her, relieved and playful and and elated all at the same time.

“I am glad to see you well,” she said when he came within casual distance. “I have missed you.”

As she spoke, she reached out a hand for his attention and brushed his arm––nothing large or grandiose, not meant to convey a great deal beyond augmenting what she was already saying. But to Shahar, it had another meaning: ease, comfort, familiarity. That she was comfortable touching him, and that touching was alright.

Only half-consciously aware of this unspoken information, but acting upon it nonetheless, Shahar responded to her statement with something like filled gap and togetherness. Part of it was visual, but another part was not––the part where he closed the distance between them completely, bumping Rue’s shoulder with his and continuing across her back, like a cat might rub against a person in greeting. There was a rumble in his chest, and he let out a wordless noise of contentment before continuing away altogether, breaking the short contact and once again adopting an air of playfulness, alongside another, altogether different one: stay?

[Naiya]

It was almost startling to Rue, when Shahar moved towards her, brushing her shoulder and across her back. It was a gesture of more comfort in such an action than she expected. She was pleased by the change, for their contact had been fleeting and tentative since the night when they had gone out to drink. It brought color to her cheeks to think of the drunken meeting, but not in an entirely unpleasant way, and to see Shahar reach out in his own seeking of touch... It spoke volumes to Rue.

Shahar's path carried him out of her view and she turned to see him better, following his playful movements in a dance of her own, where he led, she followed. She was connected to him, even when her eyes left him to search the cloud covered sky, the sound of his movements, the soft hush of stillness in the rain, it drew her towards him without thought or effort.

So attuned to him, it was obvious to her when the lines of his body shifted to take on a new word, an new meaning, and this one brought her to a halt. Would she stay? What did he mean by such a question?

Sure she had sought him, come to visit, to celebrate the long awaited rains, but to be so vague in his inquiry left Rue to make a bold decision. Stay? her body echoed, drawing attention, maybe, to the way the question could be construed. Agreement, kind invitation, gratitude.

Surely she was seeing things out of proportion, drawn out of perspective by her excitement and by her feelings for Shahar. It reminded her though, that she would need to speak to him about Aran, and about her family and their intentions for her. For a brief moment, she was solemn her thoughts dragging her from the mood of celebration, but then movement caught her eye and she brightened, turning back once more to follow in the movements of celebration.

[Colt]

She followed his movements, aimless as they were, carving a short continuation of his path around the camp. He paused when she responded to his rather vague question, posture pleased and full of together-desire, something that momentarily flattened into simple togetherness and share.

His signs came almost before the thoughts that spurred them, and as his hands moved his flittering calmed. His subconscious had presented itself to him, as it was sometimes wont to do, and the rain’s important receded to Rue’s importance. Rain was good, but even better was to have rain with her.

With contact between them already established as alright, Shahar ambled back over to Rue and bumped her again, curling around her back as a deep, wordless sound climbed from his throat. Should she let him, he would come to a halt and rest his chin at the crook of her shoulder, letting out a contented breath and remaining there.

He was not one to fill silence for the simple sake of filling silence, and he had nothing in particular that he wanted to say. He simply wanted to remain as he was, feeling the rain and feeling Rue and letting both wash over him until each had had its fill. At the moment, he couldn’t think of anywhere else in the world he’d rather be.

[Naiya]

Rue grew still as he approached, curious as to his intent, and delighting in the gentle bump of his shoulder against her. A wordless sound growled through his chest, a reminder that there was a great distance in their lives to have shaped them both so. She had only the briefest moment to ponder their pasts before she realized she could feel the rumbling of his chest against her back.

Fleeting touch went out the window as he lingered behind her, coming to rest with his head on her shoulder, a heavy sigh tickling her skin. She was not so much tense as she was still, holding for a moment in anticipation of his movement away.

A tick passed followed by a few more. Shahar seemed content to keep the contact, heavy with relaxation if not with the actual burden of his weight. It was just as well. For Rue such casual, comfortable, contact was something she saw little of and she was in no hurry to chase it away. She let herself relax, breathing in a taste of cool, damp air, and settling her own weight back so she was not quite leaning against him.

It was another chime still before she trusted the balance they had struck between them, and shortly after she was enjoying the quiet of the rain and the joy they shared at the event.

He was quiet, maybe for a lack of things to say, but Rue found she was full to bursting with things she wanted to say to him. It was oddly easier for her to consider speaking of the personal matters with him now, while she couldn't see his face. It made her less anxious for reasons she couldn't quite place.

"Shahar," she began, reluctant to break the silence, but too anxious to share her thoughts with the man beside her to stay quiet. "There are some things we should talk about." She offered finally, leaving him a chance to avoid the conversation for the moment.

[Colt]

He relaxed against her, and in time she came to relax against him in return. He let his eyes drift closed, let his thoughts wander along their merry path as the rain continued to soak them both.

He found his mind drawn to their last meeting. Not in a pressing way, more of an unhurried pondering of what their contact might have meant then, of when exactly the haze of the alcohol had set in and of what he could remember through it. The odd placing of her lips on his cheek as they parted. Was it called a kiss?

It was a curious gesture, even now, as he thought about it without mead or ale tinting his vision; it had been a closeness of heads that hadn’t quite held the closeness of body that so many of their other touches had had. At least, not on its own; there didn’t seem to be a reason that the body could not be close when the heads were close, but heads could not do the same things that hands could. Nor could lips, for that matter. Hands could roam and feel, where lips were limited by how large their attached head was. And so it had left him, who had little to no romantic experience to speak of, completely baffled as to what it could mean. A touching of lips, something that had never occurred to him as a way to show emotion. Perhaps he should ask Rue.

But no, not quite yet; Rue had fallen into her own silence and stillness that she was now breaking, pausing his ruminations as her body curled into reluctance.

“Shahar,” she said. “There are some things we should talk about.”

“Hmm?” Curiosity, continue, attention.