Wesley rolled his eyes. “Yes.”

“There are many things to consider,” Rraiec continued, as though Wesley hadn’t spoken. He didn’t believe that the younger man truly understood the significance of courting. “We have not been close.”

Wesley snorted. “That will change,” He muttered. “I have a meeting with Rinhe; else I would stay and argue this with you. However, I will not change my mind. Good day.” Rraiec watched Wesley walk out of the hall, back stiff and straight. He hadn’t meant to offend the man. Sometimes, despite his best intentions, he said the wrong thing.

Rraiec mulled over the situation all through his meal. When he was finished eating, he returned to his quarters, still unsure about what to do.

“What is this?” He murmured as he opened his door. Something was obstructing the door’s path, so that it did not open completely. He shut the thing again and investigated, peering into the shadows near the wall. In the far corner, hidden from sight, was a rock. He picked it up and opened the door again, pleased to see that it now swung easily. “A rock,” He said to himself. Why had Wesley given him *another* rock?

•••

“You certainly know how to make yourself known,” Rinhe said dryly as Wesley joined her in the elders’ hall. “A rock? Keisri…”

“Would you rather I meditated in his honor?” Wesley retorted. He took a seat near the fire, leaning back to watch his surrogate mother pace. “I thought you approved of this course of action.”

“I do,” She replied. “And I suppose I should trust you.”

“You should,” Wesley agreed. “I have considerable experience in this arena, albeit all in the form of knowing what not to do.”

“And how is Baura?” Rinhe inquired, changing the subject. She did not really want to argue with Wesley about how he went about courting. So long as he knew what he was doing, she would not interfere. Even though, of course, she thought he was a bit odd in his approach.

“He grows more annoying with each passing day. I remember when he was simply curious and youthful,” Wesley muttered.

“There is more than one kind of adolescence,” Rinhe said carefully. “His physical maturity was rather advanced when he arrived here.”

“But his spiritual maturity was that of a two-year old?” Wesley guessed. “In other words, he is experiencing a crisis of mind.”

“You could describe it as that, yes,” The elder replied. “Each of us expresses our…troubles in a different way.”

“I, for example, went insane and attacked you,” He said harshly.

“Some fall into melancholy. Others eschew the religious life altogether. Some alienate their families,” Rinhe continued. “And some become abrasive and selfish in their search for knowledge.”

“And we all outgrow this stage?” Wesley asked, a bit desperate to hear that his student would one day cease being so damned irritating.

“Most do, yes,” Rinhe said. “In time.”

“Then I shall endure,” He murmured. “Did you ever become obsessed with obscure history texts?”

“No,” Rinhe replied carefully. “Although I was known to have memorized the entire lament of Mos’Daha.”

“Oh dear.”

•••

Rraiec looked down at his favorite table at the library. Then he looked away. When his gaze returned to the table, the rocks were still there. Five of them, scattered randomly about the surface. The largest one was nearly the size of a prhang’s head, and the smallest barely as large as a single dried e’infal. After a moment he reached for them, scooting the things to one side so that he could spread out his books.

“Was Keisri here?” Baura asked as he joined Rraiec at the table.

“It would appear so,” Rraiec said. He motioned for Baura to sit so they could start their lessons.

“How many rocks has he given you?” The younger man asked curiously.

Rraiec scowled. He’d found or been given more than a dozen in the past week, although five at once was a record. “That does not pertain to your assignments,” He snapped. Baura shrugged and opened one of his texts.

“Agreed,” Baura admitted. “By the way, Keisri wants to spend all of tomorrow on water meditations. You’re always welcome to join us, however.”

Rraiec suppressed a grimace. “I am sure I can find something else to do, but thank you.” He simply did not like water meditation, and Baura knew it. “I thought that such activities were not your preference.”

“They aren’t,” Baura admitted. “But neither is reciting celebrations, and you seem to enjoy that. I’m here to learn, and if that means enduring a cold day spent submerged in a stream, so be it.”

“Be grateful,” Rraiec admonished. “We could ask that you sing celebrations whilst standing in that stream.”

“You wouldn’t,” Baura swore. “That would be cruel.”

Rraiec just smiled.

•••

“Flake-brained…” Rraiec nudged the rock in front of his door with his foot, only to find that it didn’t move. At all. He studied it more closely, only to find that it was much larger than he’d first thought. This one would take considerable effort to move. He set his books on the floor and hefted the thing out of the way so he could get into his quarters. Once inside he set the stone with all the others he had, piled in a corner. They were becoming a rather large presence in his main room, spilling out into the center of the floor.

He retrieved his books and went about preparing his supper, muttering quietly about stubborn green dalhari and inconvenient rocks. Wesley had begun to liberally sprinkle Rraiec’s life with the blasted things; he couldn’t enter the library or the dining hall without finding one or more inside. His own quarters were no safe haven; the younger man often left rocks outside. He’d even started getting others in the hold to hand Rraiec pebbles as they passed him in the hallways.

Rraiec admitted to himself that he was responsible for the massive influx of rocks into his life. He hadn’t been exactly avoiding Wesley, but he hadn’t made himself overly available either. He wasn’t even sure why he was doing it; he certainly enjoyed spending time with the dalhari. Perhaps that was the crux of the matter; Rraiec would rather spend all his time with Wesley than doing just about anything else. Rraiec did not want his work to suffer.

But he had to do something, and soon. Otherwise he was going to be evicted out of his own quarters by his growing rock collection. Perhaps he could move them into his bedroom, lining them up along the walls. Then, when the room filled, he could sleep in front of the fire in the main room. Or, he could visit Uvu, to see if any of the hold’s walls were missing stones. Perhaps the ancient wallbuilder could use these for some project. Hmm…

All during his meal, Rraiec thought about the rocks. They held meaning, on several levels. Oh, he knew why Wesley had chosen them; they represented his profession and would be considered appropriate courting gifts. Well, the fruits of one’s labors were good courting gifts. To the best of his knowledge, Rraiec knew of no one who had ever received a portion of a wall during courtship. Perhaps he should simply ask Wesley about them; after all, he was the one responsible for the growing intrusion in Rraiec’s quarters.

•••

“Keisri,” Rraiec murmured. The verdant dalhari glanced over the wall he was building and smiled at his friend.

“Good morning,” Wesley said brightly. “How went lessons with Baura?”

“You have not convinced him that water meditation is a superior way to center his mind,” Rraiec commented.

“I doubt that I will ever be able to do that,” Wesley admitted. “But I never intended to; the exercise is simply to encourage him to try new things.”

Rraiec nodded and sat down in the grass. “You will be finished my tomorrow,” He noted, looking at the wall. All that was left was for Wesley to put the last few rocks in, and then install a gate.

“Yes,” Wesley confirmed.

“Will you work on any other walls before winter?”

“No,” The green dalhari replied. “Not until spring.”

“Then you will not be giving me any more rocks?” Rraiec asked hopefully.

Wesley’s head whipped up. “You don’t like them?” He’d picked them very carefully; if assembled correctly they formed a delightful sculpture of Ke’reo Der.

Rraiec shook his head. “They are lovely; however I am running out of room in my quarters.”

Wesley smiled. “If you stopped avoiding me, I would have shown you what to do with them.”

“So they aren’t just a bunch of rocks?” Rraiec teased. He knew they were supposed to make something, but he wasn’t sure what.

“Just for that I should make you assemble them yourself,” Wesley said.

“I apologize,” The blue dalhari murmured.

“Why?” Wesley asked as he placed another rock on the wall. “I didn’t expect you to know what to do with them.”

“But you’ve been inundating me with rocks for a week now!”

Wesley stared hard at Rraiec. “As I said, you were avoiding me. How else was I supposed to give you them?”

“I wasn’t avoiding you,” Rraiec said quietly.

“No? Then why could I not find you, no matter how hard I looked?” Wesley inquired. “If you do not wish to be courted, please tell me. I would not force my affections upon you.”

Rraiec stood quickly, stepping up to the wall that separated him and Wesley. “I never said that,” He stated, leaning over to look right at the other man. “I was not avoiding you.”

“Then why could I not find you?” Wesley asked.

“I needed to work,” Rraiec explained.

“And I keep you from working?” Wesley inquired, hurt. He’d never intended to interfere with Rraiec’s duties.

“Not directly,” Rraiec murmured. No, Wesley never tried to prevent Rraiec from working. Instead, he filled the dalhari’s mind and senses, making it impossible to get anything done.

“Then what is it I do?” Wesley pressed. “That would chase you away?”

“You distract me,” Rraiec admitted. “I cannot work when you are near.” Much to his surprise, Wesley’s face broke into a wide smile.

“I distract you?” Wesley murmured. That was more than he’d been hoping for. Distraction was a good sign… a very good sign indeed. Distraction meant that Rraiec was thinking about him, when he should have been thinking about other things… Wesley leaned further over the wall, until he was just an inch from Rraiec’s face. “You distract me as well,” He replied.

“I apologize,” Rraiec said automatically.

“Don’t,” Wesley admonished him. He moved a hair closer, until he could feel Rraiec’s breath on his face. “I like it.”

“You like being distracted?” Rraiec asked disbelievingly. “Why?”

“I think about you,” Wesley said. “And that is a pleasant topic to ponder.”

“It is?”

Instead of answering, Wesley closed the distance between them, pressing a soft, quick kiss on Rraiec’s lips. “Most assuredly,” Wesley murmured as he pulled away. “I never regret thinking about you.” He went back to his wallbuilding, resolutely ignoring Rraiec as the blue dalhari stood by the wall, staring out over the pond.

“I must rejoin Baura,” Rraiec said absently a few minutes later. “He wishes to discuss gupwur trading legends.”

“He should have gone into history,” Wesley growled. “As much as he enjoys reading about it.”

“It is a temporarily affection,” Rraiec said as he gathered himself to leave.

“We hope that, anyway,” Wesley remarked. “Otherwise we shall both me mad from listening to him.”

Rraiec wandered back to the hold proper, all the time thinking about his conversation with Wesley. Actually, he was remembering the warmth and texture of Wesley’s mouth on his, the way the younger man had simply leaned over the wall and tilted his reality with a single move.

And, he wondered just what he was supposed to do with all those rocks.