Wanna touch my...star? (Silvio)

[Invisible]

There was only so much summer left and while fall and winter had their own pleasures that did not mean that every last one should not be wrung out of summer as well. For Genet this meant running through her chores as fast and best as she could so she might have free time before night fell and she was forced to seek refuge indoors. Although she had considered trying to sleep outside. If it would not seem like she was asking something else Genet would ask Silvio to sleep outside with her. She wasn’t quite sure she was brave enough to do it alone.

Today she had managed get out of her last chores saying she was sick and raced off to her cot to fetch the star it was her turn to have. She’d timed it right so she could have it and show to Silvio. The not quite a holder girl any longer wished again for something nicer to wear, but just sighed and snatched up the rock that once had shined to go seek out the Caminar where they had agreed to meet. It was not too far outside of the Weyr and she raced the whole way. Just to avoid getting seen. Not because she was eager to see the handsome man again. Because she was not. In any way. Despite the swimming lessons that had turned into something more. At least she was still a ‘proper girl.’ “For now,” she whispered to herself with a gleeful laugh as she hurried to be the first there.

[Alsivor]

There was only so much time left before the Caminar moved on. And the coming of winter would surely usher them far to the south away from Telgar's cold, where they could move about freely and trade again as they should. For Silvio, this meant impatiently grinding his teeth through duty at his father's booth, trying not to rush through duties with his uncle from whom he was finally starting to learn the real skills of his own trade. Endless stone polishing meant hours of back-bent work and he straightened from it eagerly when the sun slipped low in the sky. No one could really blame him for practically running out of the camp to stretch arms, back, legs. Besides, many of the Caminar sought the free air outside of the Weyr often enough.

Enough of them did that Silvio had been telling Genet to meet him farther and farther away from the Weyr and in different directions every time. Still not too far, easy enough to get there and back, but he knew better than to make it easy for anyone to follow. He remember Aleda and that rafeiro boy turns ago all too clearly. He walked fast, jogged at times. Just to stretch his legs. Not because he just couldn't wait to see her again.

And there she was, first as she often was these days and he climbed down over the rocky incline that sheltered this little spot to join her. A final jump ushered him back to solid ground and he was there, grinning at her widely as he reached to pull her into his arms and greet her with a proper kiss.

[Invisible]

While it was not a race Genet still liked to win. For her that just meant beating him to the meeting spot. Partly that was because he greeted her with a kiss. That was Genet’s favorite part of their meetings. Well, it was one of her favorite parts. When she thought about it there were few parts that she did not like. Even if some of those parts had gotten her caught blushing by those she worked with a time or two. Since no one knew who she was seeing that made her blush she didn’t worry about it.

Today she was extra excited because she got to show him the star. The star excitement melted away however under the excitement of his kiss. This is why people don’t want other people to leave she thought with the little part of her brain she tried to keep from being smothered under whatever it was she felt when they did this. It had become a very tiny part of her brain indeed. “I beat you again,” she offered with a teasing grin. “You’re getting slow!”

Next time I think he can beat me to the spot she thought with a shiver of excitement. Then I get to kiss him first. That was a more fun contest to win.

[Alsivor]

Thinking about Genet never made Silvio blush but it did have other effects that sometimes required remaining seated with his little portable polishing table pulled safely across his lap. Milo had remarked about his good mood though. The whistling, the bounce in his step and he'd been heartened to find his brother nudging him with his elbow now and then, asking who she was that made Silvio whistle so. Otherwise Milo still seemed off, more withdrawn than he should be. He banished niggling worry about his brother though. He had Genet in his arms and she was melting against him and sense was threatening to leave his brain.

When she broke away he sighed softly, forehead staying with her, bumping lightly against hers. "Mm. Uncle has more and more for me to do, pushing to sunset all the time. He's wanting work through all of his stock so we have enough to sell when we --" he broke off, tightened his arms around her. When we leave. It hung between them all the time that, in spite of Genet's protests that she expected nothing. This is what happens to Caminar who get attached. Isn't it? Why they think about planting themselves in one place. A part of him shuddered at the prospect of being stuck always in this Weyr, his feet rooted in one place. Another shivered with delilght at the idea of being near her, always.

His hand drifted down her back, fingers flirting at playing with the laces on her gown. He made them stop, spread them wide and gave her a little squeeze, then stepped back a half-step. "Did you bring it?" The star.

[Invisible]

“Everyone’s getting ready for winter,” she answered with a sunny smile. If sometimes alone she thought how sad she would be when the Caminar left it wasn’t a feeling she dwelled on. Especially not when the day was nice and they were together. Then she could only think of just that.

At first she had thought she would be bugged by his wanting to be close when they were together. Holding hands or sitting with their arms around each other or- That thought she dismissed but not before she blushed quite visibly. When his hands moved to her back she shivered again and wondered what might happen. Thankfully nothing as she wasn’t quite sure yet that she wanted anything to happen.

Which is a total lie she told herself. But thankfully the star was there to save them. “I brought it!” she said and pulled away a little more to hop up and down with excitement. Best to break contact for a bit anyway. She moved over to where she’d set the wrapped rock and lifted it up. “Right here! It’s heavy so be careful. You’re probably not as strong as I am!” The one good thing was no matter the other things they did the teasing had not changed. It was so nice to have someone to joke around with that made you feel comfortable.

[Alsivor]

"Yes, they are, the weather's starting to change a little," Silvio noted, looking up at the leaves, mostly still green but here and there a few painted with a touch of autumnal gold.

Her blush brought Silvio's hand upward briefly, knuckles grazed Genet's cheek gently, then he focused on the star in her hands. His laughter echoed off of the rocky walls that embraced the little dip in the land and he winked at her. "Oh yes, you might have to help me hold it up, I'm such a puny weakling." Teasing, the two of them always. He was going to miss her poking fun at him when they went.

[Invisible]

“I like winter,” Genet said wistfully as she unwrapped the star from its cloth. “When the wind blows and there’s snow outside and you’re warm inside it’s the best feeling in the world.” The one thing she would miss was the coziness of their small hold. Even if that same coziness felt strangling sometimes.

“I’ll catch you if you fall,” is teased as she reveals the rock. One hand leaves the star to rise up and rest on his upper arm. “I can lend you support.” It was only support that was the cause of her wanting to curl her arm around his bicep and give it a soft squeeze. “Isn’t it amazing?” The star she meant. Even if it was just rock it was still a star and was so amazing for it.

[Alsivor]

"We don't see winter much, we tend to travel away from it. But snow can be fun," Silvio noted about the seasons, smiling over at her. Her hand on his arm made his heart rate go up, but he focused on what she unwrapped, extended fingers lightly to brush across the stone's surface.

"Yes it is," he answered reverently about the star, looked up at her with a little lopsided smile. "And so are you." The pause after he said that lingered on into almost too long then he tacked on: "Best support ever. Very strong." Back to teasing.

[Invisible]

“I would miss winter,” Genet says with a sigh. “Snow is so much fun! And fall. When all the leaves change.” She’s excited about the coming seasons other than the small twinge in her gut that those seasons will bring the departure of the Caminar. That the leaves will turn and fall and Silvio will be gone.

“Hold it,” was said as the stone was held out more. “It’s great. Holding something that’s been so far away. Watching them was fun, but just watching things gets dull. It was more exciting to go looking for one. I just want to do something amazing before I die, you know?” Her one great fear was dying after a dull life. Being famous would be nice to. “I guess,” she finally said with lashes lowered to partially conceal what hid in her eyes, “I shall have to settle for being amazing.” Her own pause was just the right length. “You’re almost as amazing as me. I guess that’s something for you.”

[Alsivor]

"I remember throwing snowballs a little with my brothers and sisters when I was little. But my father tends to stick close to Igen during the winter months. Wagons don't travel so well over snow and muddy roads," Silvio notes lightly as his hand curled around the star, hefted it in his hand.

Marveling: "It seems so small, but it's ... dense." Counter to offers of support for his failing strength, he lifted it with relative ease, though he could feel the pull of it's weight. "And what did it see out there with the other stars before it fell here ..." he murmurs thoughtfully.

Hazel eyes lifted from the stone to Genet and he regarded her for a long moment. Very deliberately he leaned to set the star down on a little rocky outcropping almost like a shelf. Both of his hands came up to cradle her face and he bent to kiss her again, though differently from that first greeting kiss. "If anyone will do anything amazing with her life, Genet, you will. If only by sheer determination," he told her with a smile. "Me, I'm happy as I am. I don't need to do more. All I want is a good trade, a wagon of my own some day. Freedom to make my own decisions about my life, where I go."

A sudden giddy feeling was coursing through his veins and he looked her in the face very seriously. "Would you come with me sometime, maybe, if I did earn my own wagon?" You are /such/ an idiot.

[Invisible]

“Oh, yea! Snowball fights are the most fun of all! G’tet and I used to take on all comers and we rarely lost. Only when people got tricky.” Genet stops to recall those fights and honesty forces her to admit, “Trickier than us!” They had been the feared snowball fighters! Maybe he would be back by winter and they could do it again.

His talk of what the star might have seen had her sighing once more with those same thoughts. What a lucky star it was. Her musings were cut short by the kiss because sometimes they did short circuit her brain until she was just a bundle of excitement. Even more than the kiss, which he ended rather than her a rare occurrence, his words had her cheeks flush and her eyes light up to rival the sun. It caused the detached part of her brain to worry a bit over how much his words made her happy. The detached part was told to shut up already.

Then there was his offer and it left Genet something she rarely was. Speechless she looked at Silvio a moment before her face split into a wide grin. “Wouldn’t your wife object? I thought you only went off on your own to start a family?” Maybe the tease was the wrong idea, but it hid her true answer. I want to see the world with you more than anything in the world. That would have been the wrong thing to say. Best to just joke. Joking was safe.

[Alsivor]

That smile on Genet's face, the look in her eyes briefly found a match on Silvio's face. Then she spoke. Wife. She said wife and he blanched. It was like having a cold bucket of water dumped right on top of his head as reality came flooding back to him.

His father would be arranging a match for him soon. Something he'd never objected to before, had considered to be matter of course. He'd trusted that Favio would make a good choice for him and that would be that.

"N-not always," he stammered out, hands dropping to her shoulders, curling there as he regarded her with sudden misery on his face. "There's so many places we could go," he blurted out instead. "Even though we'd both be outcasts amongst our own."

Not idiot this time.

You're /insane/.

[Invisible]

“You’re-“ Serious? The word was stuck in Genet’s throat and she just stared at Silvio before shivering. This time, like always, it was because he touched her. Only this time it was such a different touch. She felt so sad all at once. Maybe teasing about his wife was a bad idea. It had seemed a way to break the mood, but now it felt like something else. She had to think.

Thinking was something Genet did a lot of, but not this kind. Not the serious kind like what she seemed to need to do now. This was huge. As much as she wanted to throw herself at this man and say yes to anything it would not be good for either of them. So she took a deep breath and then reached up and took his hands into hers to pull his arms around her once more.

“Si-“ and her throat closed up and she gave him an apologetic smile before trying again. “Silvio I’ve never- I don’t want to tie you down. What if-“ The words were hard and she looked away from him and let her eyes rest on the star. “What if you’re like the star?” she finally asked still looking away.

“What if you turned into rock. You’re so- you. If you did not have your people would you be happy? I only need G’tet and he will love me no matter what, but you? Would that really make you happy?” Because that was what she wanted so she had to act her age and not just promise him anything to make him smile again.

[Alsivor]

Still pale, Silvio's hand rubbed absently almost at her shoulder, brushing over fabric and then slid upward again to find the edge of her jaw. "I know you don't." He swallowed hard, feeling the truth in her words. He would. He'd turn to stone if he stayed at the Weyr, rock-bound, rooted, not himself anymore. And would it be any better out there the two of them, /alone/ on the roads? All of the stigma of the plantado against them and effective banishment by his own people. At home nowhere except on the roads themselves.

"I wish that our people didn't hate each other so much," is what he came up with for an answer. "I wish that if we did do that, that it wouldn't mean losing everything else for both of us." He swallowed hard again and bowed his head, shame-faced. "But you're right. I'm not strong enough to take what would come. For taking you away from an honorable life with your people, to live in shame and disgrace with me."

He looked up at her though, with suspiciously bright eyes. "A part of me says it would be worth it though. Wants to be stupid and foolish."

[Invisible]

Being an adult is the worst thing ever she thought as she listened to him. For a wild moment she had considered just running away with him sometime. What an adventure it would be for her! But a nightmare for him when it ended and she couldn’t do that. They barely knew each other. It could have just been infatuation. What if he lost interest after they- Well, he might.

The smile she gave him as he began to speak was so adult it made her want to cry. But part of his words made her laugh quietly. “Silvio? What people? My family already thinks me dishonored having lived at the Weyr this long. No one to watch me but my greenrider brother who is like no one at all.” Who was no one at all right now. “These are not my people.” One hand moved so she could wave back towards the Weyr. “I’ve not been here long enough to feel that. I’m not stone. Maybe I’m not Caminar and couldn’t live my life without somewhere to know was my home, but I’m not tied anywhere.”

For his final words he got from her a kiss. “The part of me that is usually in control wanted to say yes. To just go and see the ocean with you and travel all of Pern. Stupid and foolish indeed, but fun. But one of us has to be an adult.” The last was a tease complete with a little nudge of her foot against his. “And it’s clearly not going to be you. So, I am going against my nature and trying hard. Even if maybe I think how wonderful it would be if we were like those stars that fell. The only thing is they crash and die. I don’t want that to happen to us.” Us as in friends of course. Nothing else because there was nothing else. Just friends. Yep.