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++NRPG: My appologises to anyone who gets this twice.++
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/---snip from Brian Cook's "In Too Deep"--\
"No, I understood that," Tinker corrected gently. "What I meant
was... well, what if you don't want to do it. What if you don't
like the
idea and don't wish to... well, I mean, if this was a schoolyard
activity,
what if you didn't want to play the game at all, even if the
teacher said
you *had* to?"
/---end snip---\

N'lin exchanged a sharp, slightly puzzled glance with Meredith.
She shrugged back and waved for him to answer.  "Well, umm,
usually you don't have a choice Tyler, your dragon will mate when
she feels the urge and that's about the end of it.  Some dragons
do repress it, but rarely, usually in cases where their riders
might have been abused sexually in some manner and need time to
heal.  It's not particularly healthy for them to do it though.
Other than that, your dragon drags you into the game whether you
want to go or not."

"Any other questions?  No?" he asked hurriedly, looking anywhere
but at Tinker. "All right then, class is dismissed.  Go feed your
dragons and eat some lunch."

Soon after, someone began laughing... loudly and far too
enthusiastically for his taste.  He gave Meredith a half-hearted
glare, but thanked the gods that at least she had waited until
the trainees were out of earshot.  Sighing, he walked towards his
apartment, ignoring his dragon's chuckles in his head.

**********
*Evening Day 2*

N'lin tugged at the ends of the short, silk, deep purple trimmed,
forest green dress tunic a little further over his black, suede
pants.  It was one of the least ostentatious outfits Katla had
bought him for his role as Drezak, but the top was too
short--Katla had claimed it showed off his backside quite
nicely--and the pants were a bit more.. snug then he liked.
About the only thing he approved of were the boots, plain, black
and quite serviceable.  He lifted a hand to remove a stray black
curl from in front of his eye and scowled as he had to tug the
tunic back down again.

<Oh, for fire's sake, Nal, don't be such a prude> Trefoil chided.
<You look fine, will you just go already?>

<And be drafted into Analise's musical troupe?  No thank you, I'd
rather be unfashionably late.>

<I don't understand why not.  You love playing, Nal, and you
haven't touched your harp or pipes or guitar in ages, not since
Trinale's funeral.  You had to be bullied into that as well, if I
recall.>

N'lin sighed and turned away from the mirror.  <The music just
isn't there any more, Foil, not the real music.  Not after what I
did...  I don't deserve it.>

<Nalin Silm, don't be idiotic!>  N'lin jumped, startled at his
dragon's anger.  <How many times do I have to tell you that you
aren't to blame?>

<Drop it, Foil,> he murmured softly, wincing at the irritated
grunt he received in reply.  Frowning, he walked out into the dim
starlight, still hazed by the fading sunset.  He took his time,
in no hurry to cross the practically deserted green; the evening
birds were serenading the stars beautifully with the  muted
murmurs from the party as a pleasant accompaniment.

His mind drifted and, impulsively, he let the shields around his
empathy grow transparent...  Over the simple little feelings of
the local fauna, sorrow cut through like a knife.  Someone was
crying.  A woman, confused, lonely, relieved, afraid, and so
terribly angry..

Without thinking, he cued up the proper emotions to project to
help soothe her, and stopped.  Shocked and ashamed at his own
audacity, he stopped in his tracks, his shields abruptly became
as thick as granite walls.

What right did he have to pry, or seek to heal unasked?  None.
Not if he didn't want to become what many people expected when
they heard you were an  empath; nosy, manipulative, always
delving into other's emotions.  He shuddered, clenching his
fists.  Gods help him, sometimes it was so.. so intoxicating, so
tempting to dissolve his own quiet dispair in other's happiness,
if only for a moment.  What a horrid--

<Stop that right now, you ninny!> Trefoil snarled.  <There is
nothing wrong with wanting to heal and help and it certainly
doesn't make you horrid.  Now, get moving and go see what's
wrong, and don't even think of chickening out just because you
cheated just a bit.  Go, help her.>

Once again, N'lin sighed, and kept his doubts to himself even if
he did obey.  The woman was very close to where he had been
headed in the first place.  He was only mildly surprised to find
Raine crying curled up in a dark corner, making a mild mess of
her party dress.  N'lin felt like turning around and pretending
he had never noticed her, guilt welling up like a dammed spring.
But he couldn't.  He had promised to be her friend, gods damn all
mating flights, and so that's exactly what he was going to be.
It was the least he could do after what he had done to her.

He approached and gently laid a hand on her soft hair, wincing as
she flinched away.  "Shh, Raine, it's all right," he murmured,
crouching down.  "It's N'lin."  He touched her sleeve, and when
she didn't move away, scooched over behind her and took her in
his lap, rocking her and stroking her hair until she settled
down.  "Now tell me," he asked gently. "What's the matter?"
________________
NRPG Tag Barb.
________________

They walked into the party together with only mildly tear spotted
clothing, hardly noticeable in the less than fantastic lighting.
N'lin's clever fingers had managed to repair Raine's hair and,
despite a few wrinkles, they were quite presentable.

"Are you hungry?" he murmured in her ear and Raine shook her
head.  "Well then, would  you like to dance?"  This time he got a
nod and led her out onto the dance floor.

The tune was simple and easy to dance to, but after about the
first measure, N'lin remarked, "Maybe you should be leading,
you're a lot better at this than I am."

Her smile was sharp with bitterness.  "One of the few benefits of
my upbringing, I suppose.  What's the  use of having something
pretty if you can't show it off properly."  He could feel his
face grow hot as his eyes flicked away.  She sighed and patted
his arm, "I'm sorry, N'lin, you're a very good dancer."

He forced a grin, "Liar.  I'm barely adequate, never many teacher
around or time to practice."

"Well, then, shall we switch roles for a bit? I'll be the
trainer, you the trainee?"

"Fair enough.  I'm all ears."

Raine smiled, genuinely this time.  "First lesson is..." Suddenly
she stepped into him, their hips barely brushing.  "Dance closer.
I don't bite, honest."  A slender arm snaked back and
repositioned his hand so it reached around more of her waist.
"Nor do I break."

He pasted up a smile, and forced himself to relax.  Tension ran
through his muscles so fiercely, he felt like he would shatter
with the next step.  He imagined he was dancing with somebody
else, someone unassuming, brown hair and eyes perhaps, to
contrast with Raine's blond, blue-eyed good looks.  He felt
himself loosening up, enough so he didn't feel like a piece of
wood with legs.

"That's better," Raine encouraged softly, "Now try this."
Firmly, she assumed the lead and took him through some simple
variations of the steps they were doing.  "Your turn," she
commanded once he had gotten the hang of it.

Almost forgetting who he was dancing with, N'lin smiled,
naturally this time, as he spun her around the floor, twirling
her around for a finale as the song came to an end.  She was back
in his arms for the next round, a faster song, and stayed there
for a whole five minutes before someone tapped his shoulder.

"You don't mind if I steal N'lin for a bit, do you Raine?"
Meredith asked cheerfully, moving easily with her partner, J'red.
"J'red's a fine dancer, have no fear of that, you're probably
getting the better end of the swap."

N'lin felt himself flush slightly, something Meredith obviously
took a lot of pleasure in, judging by her amused chuckle.  He
released Raine's hands with a bit of relief, and watched for a
moment as J'red danced with her.

"You're right," he admitted to Meredith as she half led half
dragged him in the opposite direction.  "He is a better dancer."

"He's noble, what do you expect?  Anyways, I just thought that
I'd point out a solitary student of yours sitting in that corner
over there," she whipped him around so forcefully he nearly
tripped over his own leg.

"Mara?" he asked softly after a quick look.

"Yes. Now that you know, you may lead again."

She became a body full of limp spagetti in his arms and he
chuckled, propping her back on her feet.  "You're impossible, you
know that, don't you?"

"Naturally, now shall we dance?"

"Lead away," he offered, dimples in full bloom on his cheeks.
She laughed, and did just that, making sure he ended up near Mara
when the song ended.  He was still smiling when he walked up to
his student and bowed gracefully with a hand outstretched.  "May
I have this dance, Mara?"

She nodded  and placed her hand in his.  He walked out with her
onto the floor and, remembering his dance lesson from earlier,
held her close and tight as the music began.
____________
NRPG: Tag Kris :) Anything interesting happen?
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He  was picking out a few things to nibble on for him and his
partner while they took a short break from dancing, when an all
too familiar voice shrilled, "N'lin!"

For a moment, he froze like a rabbit caught in torch light. He
set the plate on the table and turned.  "Hello, Analise."

"Don't you hello me, I've been looking everywhere for you.  My
musicians are tired, which is to be expected after two straight
nights of playing, and I need you to play a set.  They need a
breather."

He opened his mouth and shut it.  There was no point, it was
Analise.  "I can use you're guitar, then?  Unless you want me to
get mine in my apartment?"  He didn't think she would say yes,
but he had to try.

"No, no, no.  Of course you may use mine.  Hmm, do you think that
you're up to a short solo bit, maybe on the harp?  It'd let
everyone have a break and we haven't played any really slow
romantic songs yet.  Could you?"   He nodded as she grabbed his
arm and started leading him towards the stage.  She plopped him
down in front of the big floor harp, and whispered a few
instructions to the other players.

His opening glissando blended nicely with the ending of the
current song.  He paused briefly to retune a string and then
began a brief prelude leading to the opening stanza.  It was a
love song naturally, a challenging, yet beautiful, slow waltz
that went well with his smooth baritone voice.  His fingers
plucked the strings with obvious talent, but little feeling.
Though it would take better ears than most of his audience's to
detect, he knew that his soul was not in it.  And with out that,
it wasn't music at all, only an exercise in skill, a mockery of
someone else's passion.  He was relieved when he managed to slip
away after a few more songs.

N'lin contemplated going home, but decided against it.  The night
was still young and dancing was a pleasant distraction from his
thoughts.  Sighing, he wove back into the mass of moving bodies,
looking for someone to help him forget.
____________________
NRPG: Thought I'd leave it open if anyone else wants to dance
with him or what not. Feel free.
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++Training Morning Day 3++
+ On the green++

N'lin surveyed his class, a small smile tugging at the corners of
his mouth.  Most of them looked decently alert after last night's
celebration, but most of them had looked better as well.  No
matter, today's lesson would definitely wake them up.

He cleared his throat, instantly getting everyone's attention.
"Today," the smile was out in full force now, "you're dragons are
going to fly.  By themselves, mind you," a few pairs of shining
eyes became a little duller, but not by much.  "But it won't be
long until you can join them.  Now if you would all turn you're
attention to Trefoil, he's going to demonstrate."

<No showing off now,> N'lin admonished.

<And be partially responsible for breaking my daughters' necks?
I think not,> Foil answered wryly as he loped down the green,
wings out stretched to catch the generated breeze.  Almost
effortlessly, he took to the air and gaining altitude executed a
few very simple maneuvers before landing.

"All right then," silently, N'lin made a vow not to laugh at the
inevitably humorous landings and take offs soon to come.  "Who
wants to go first?"
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NRPG: Tag you guys! :)

Respectfully Submitted
B. Olson
N'lin and Trefoil