Silver Lining

[2]

The week seemed to pass too quickly for her taste, but then again, she grew a little disappointed every morning she didn't see the man. Perhaps Ryker had sent him out to collect the supplies they had been gathering for a few days now, but she wouldn't know until she saw him again.

In the meantime, she busied herself with getting everyone of her lazy bum patients back to working order. Of course, Lars was discharged from work for a while, but whether he would take that well or not she didn't know. What she did know was that Ryker came off more sympathetic for his cousin, for losing his brother. She supposed family really did matter to Ryker, to some extent of course.

Her infirmary was finally empty, the only people coming in were the people she knew would be able to treat themselves, like the Hunters from Dramillion Island who often put up with bites and bruises from being lashed around, or the veterans that knew her by name.

Though there was the instance where there had been a Skrill attack, where they momentarily caught it before being triumphed over by the Riders yet again. That one had rather interesting effects on the Hunter for a few days, a few still reacting every so often. Then there was when they'd returned from Glacier Island, thankfully retrieving some supplies she needed, but still have failed to obtain a Snow Wraith.

Along with effectively aiding who she could, she always attended to Moonflower, who she'd come to learn was a young broad-winged adult female and was still growing. She was a cautious and careful dragon, though they had already taken to one another, and in that trust [name] found the dragon to be incredibly loving and affectionate. Even if anyone had found her and Moonflower, they didn't say anything or do anything, so it was all going rather wonderfully.

One night, [name] walked back to camp from her late-night trysts, carrying a few actual moonflowers, before being stopped by a looming shadow in front of her. She is surprised to spot the same man from the morning days ago, and he seems at least somewhat shocked to see her as well.

Upon looking down at the flowers, he raised a brow. "Secret admirer?"

She almost lets out a laugh at the question. It came off as teasing, but she could hear the curiosity lining his tone. "No, afraid not. I was out picking some night-blooming plants, and could truly only find these beauties."

He studied her for a moment, about to say something before biting his tongue. "Moonflowers, correct?" As he questions this, he gets close to her, unnecessarily close on her left side. "I hear the species can be invasive. The weeds must be plucked, no matter how elegant they appear to be, don't you agree?"

"I see you do know some flowers." Her face flushed, and she was about to take a step back before he switched to her right and extended his arm for her to take.

"I couldn't stand knowing my inexperience in something quite profound, so I took the time to educate myself," he said plainly as if an entire encyclopedia of flowers was child's play to memorize. "Won't you take a moonlit stroll with me?"

She didn't give him an answer right away, as she was careful in trying to understand his motives. Albeit reluctantly, she accepted his arm.

Despite the animated talking style that he'd displayed that one morning, he stayed rather silent as she continued along the path. She couldn't tell if he was staring at her at the moment since she was afraid to check, for fear of looking too much into something. She was curious why he had continued to allow her to hold onto him since he was possibly alluding to her being a weed needing to be plucked. But then again, she was most likely reading too much into things.

Rather than looking at him, she transfixed her gaze at the night sky and suddenly began wondering if the dragon riders were resting, or if they were enjoying the pleasure of being able to soar whenever they wished.