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Garrick was so totally fucked. He’d promised Xaden that he’d watch Violet while he went and did whatever Wingleader shit he was stuck doing (He wasn’t fully listening when Xaden had told him, if he was being honest), and he’d turned around for a second to talk to Bodhi and now Violet was gone.
“Fuck.” He sighed.
“What did you do?” Asked Bodhi, who was still standing next to him.
“I think I just lost Violet.” He replied, still scanning the room to try and find the girl, looking for her silver hair and not finding it. Fuck he was screwed. Xaden was going to kill him, that is if Violet didn’t manage to kill them both first. She happened to be, so far, very talented when it came to almost dying.
“Fuck.” Cursed Bodhi, also not finding the girl after looking around the sparring gym. “Imogen!” Bodhi called. She looked their way and, seeing the mild concern on Bodhi’s face and the mild annoyance in Garrick’s, walked over from where she had been stretching.
“Where did Violet go?” Garrick, still scanning the room, questioned as soon as she was within earshot.
“I dunno. She said she had to go meet an old friend. Wasn’t fully listening, didn’t really care.” she replied, clearly annoyed at having been interrupted for such a stupid question.
“Okay, let’s split up, because we gotta find her before she almost gets herself killed again. I’ll go check the archives and the academic buildings, Imogen you search the dorms and common areas, and Garrick you check the flight field.” Bodhi decided as they walked towards the door; he had always been the most rational of the three of them. Imogen grumbled about being forced to babysit but walked in the direction of the dorms, and Bodhi clapped Garrick on the shoulder before walking after her, while Garrick headed in the other direction towards the shortcut to the flight field that Xaden had discovered in their first year. As he walked through the dark tunnel, he couldn’t help but mourn his plans for the evening, mainly sparing with Bodhi and then sleeping because between the weapons runs and his poor sleep habits he was dead on his feet most of the time.
As he walked onto the flight field, he scanned the area quickly, spotting two figures sitting in the grass, one leaning against a very large black dragon. Great. At least Tairn was with her, so she probably wasn’t in any real danger. Still, as Section Leader he probably should remind Violet about curfew - plus, Xaden said to keep her out of trouble, which probably included whatever punishment she’d get for breaking curfew.
As he approaches the two, he hears Violet talking about threshing.
“I obviously couldn’t just leave her there…so I tried to fight off the three cadets.”
“Glad to see that your lack of self-preservation hasn’t changed.” The man she is talking to responds.
Garrick can’t help but snort a little, which makes Violet’s head whip around towards him, and the mouth of the stranger quirk up into a little smile.
“Garrick!” She startles.
“Sorrengail. You are currently breaking curfew. I’d suggest finishing your…whatever this is, and heading to your dorm for the night.” He responds.
“ Whatever this is ; You make it sound so indecent, Section Leader.” The man sitting across from Violet snarks, and Garrick couldn't help but look at the man that apparently knew who. he was - and did a bit of a double take, because the man was charmingly handsome, and the joking smile on his face made Garrick want to smile back. He distantly hears Violet giggle a little, but doesn’t really register the noise. The man was obviously a rider, wearing rider black, but there was no dragon in sight. He wondered if Tairn was so intimidating to the dragon that they chose to wait for their rider somewhere else.
Violet had gotten to her feet while Garrick had been staring at the man.
“Thanks for the help. It was good to see you.” Violet says to the man, who simply smiles and waves from his spot on the ground.
“I’m glad you’re not dead, Sorrengail.”
Violet begins the walk back across the flight field, with Tairn at her side.
“Stuck babysitting, Tavis?” The rider snarks, and he can’t stop himself from replying:
“Well, as you pointed out, Violet’s lack of self preservation is constant, and now affects lives other than her own.”
“Violet is more capable than any of you give her credit for. You seem to have forgotten what kind of environment she grew up in. She may not have the physical strength that comes from the years of training that she didn’t have, but she can easily manipulate social situations to her advantage. Not to mention her intelligence.”
“She practically grew up in the archives.”
“She grew up attending events with the highest ranking officials of the kingdom. Violet, though she doesn’t act like it, is an experienced courtier - and she knows how to use those skills to her advantage.”
He considers this. He supposed that when he had first heard of and met Violet Sorrengail, he hated her for being her mother’s daughter. Then she bonded Tairn, and he saw her as a liability. He only ever looked at her weakness on the mat; he had never really looked for any strengths beyond book smarts. Garrick realizes that he has been silent for a good half a minute, and that the man is simply smirking up at him softly, reading every thought on his face.
“I always admired her skills. I…was never much for the parties; I avoided them at all costs actually. I am not suited for the battles waged in ballrooms. I think now she wishes she had some of my skills on real battlefields.” He lets out a small chuckle that Garrick wants to hear again, for the rest of his life maybe - Gods he needed to stop .
“Where is your dragon?” He blurts out, trying to ignore the image of this man in a fitted black suit that his mind had very easily conjured.
“He is…antisocial. He doesn’t enjoy the company of people or dragons, so he usually remains hidden nearby when I have some kind of meeting.”
“Your dragon is…shy?”
In all the years he’d been in the rider’s quadrant, he had never heard a rider describe their dragon that way.
“My dragon has a unique set of skills that allow him to do his job as my dragon remarkably well, without having to bother with the small talk that he hates. In battle, he is not shy at all - outside of it, he simply is more…introverted. If you’d like to continue talking, perhaps you should come sit down. My neck is getting sore from looking up at you.” Garrick warms a bit at the knowledge that the man wants to continue this conversation, and sits down without hesitation across from him in the grass of the flight field, curfew forgotten.
He talks to the man for hours, about their dragons, the quadrant, what Violet was like growing up (he even gets some stories about Aetos that make him hate the man slightly less), and anything else they can think of. It isn’t until he hears the flapping of wing beats in the sky that he realizes just how long they’ve been talking, and how much trouble he’ll be in if he’s found on the flight field past curfew.
“I’m fucked.” He murmurs, knowing that there was nothing they could do to avoid being caught.
“Not quite, actually - like I said, my dragon has a unique set of skills.” The rider replies, and before Garrick can question him further, the man is reaching for him, and as he is pulled flush against his chest as they lie in the grass, he feels a weight settle over the two of them. Garrick flushes, hard . He opens his mouth, but the man slaps his hand over it, shaking his head. Garrick flushes even harder at that, and simply attempts to control the red spreading down his neck. He sees several professors land, and focuses enough to try and listen to what they’re saying. As they walk by, he holds his breath, hoping that they won’t see the two men lying together in the grass - even Xaden couldn’t explain this away if they were caught. They just walk by, quietly talking about challenges planned for the next week. The professors couldn’t see them .
The second the professors had disappeared into the dark, the weight Garrick felt was lifted off of him, and the man let him go, so Garrick awkwardly pushed himself up into a sitting position, moving to give them both some space. Never mind that he had actually enjoyed the physical contact that he so rarely got in the quadrant. He didn’t usually crave it, but something about this man was comforting, welcoming in a way that no one else ever was.
“Sorry that I just kind of grabbed you.” The rider speaks softly, like he’s nervous.
“No, no, it was… ” Perfect, warm, everything I want “...Fine. How did they not see us?” He questions, trying to ignore the thoughts bouncing around in his head.
“My dragon.” The man replies, in a tone that tells Garrick that it is a secret that people aren’t supposed to know - and that he won’t be getting any more information about it tonight.
“Well, thank you. I really didn’t want to try and explain what I was doing out here.” He says.
“What are you doing out here, Tavis?” The rider asks, and Garrick doesn’t have a response.
“I don’t know. Talking to you.” He lamely answers.
“You should probably get back, wouldn’t want you to fall off your dragon tomorrow because you’re so tired.” The man jokes, but there is an undercurrent that Garrick can’t quite place there. Garrick doesn’t want to leave yet, wants to talk to the man he finds so interesting - the man who was strong enough to grab him with no trouble, indicating that he might for once have found a real opponent on the mat other than Xaden, who was quick, and smart, and really fucking cute and he was staring at Garrick right now so he should say something .
“Probably. Are you planning on visiting Violet again?” A very forward question, but Garrick is too tired to really notice.
“If she needs me, I’ll be here. Why? That excited to see me again?” The man teases, and starts to walk Garrick across the flight field.
They stop at the entrance to the tunnel that will ensure that Garrick doesn’t get caught on his way to his room, and Garrick startles as he realizes that he somehow never asked the rider his name.
He turns around and calls quietly out to the man who had already started walking away:
“Wait. What’s your name?” The man turns and walks back to him, and he’s close enough for Garrick to realize that the rider has a couple inches on him. The rider leans down, and whispers his first name in Garrick’s ear, like he doesn’t want anyone else to hear it.
“I’ll come see Violet again in three weeks. Same time and place, if you’d like to see me again.” The man says quietly with an emotion that Garrick can’t quite place - nervousness? Maybe interest?
“See you then.” He manages to respond, trying to keep his head enough to not make a total fool of himself.
Garrick steps closer to the rider that he already knows he won’t stop thinking about until he sees him again, makes eye contact and sees the small smile on his lips…and pauses. Maybe he misread the situation. What if he just wanted a new friend? He seemed awfully close to Violet. He moves to step back, deciding not to embarrass himself - and feels lips on his, arms wrapping around him lightly to tug him back towards a broad chest. Garrick freezes for a second in shock, before kissing back, mind buzzing giddily. It was over long before Garrick wanted it to be, but he knew he had to go. He liked having this rider in his arms, which was odd considering he was never one for physical contact. He tried not to read into it too much.
“I’ll see you soon, Garrick. Try not to let Violet die, please.”
“That is a hell of a lot easier said than done.”
They both chuckle, and then both turn away, as Garrick walks into the tunnel and hears the rock slide into place behind him.
He should probably check on Violet, he never saw her get back to her room, but that bone-dead exhaustion was back and worse than ever, and he only had a few hours before he needed to be up for classes, so he deemed her, and the feelings he was having, tomorrow's problems and tumbled into bed.