Does winter never end? It's cold and a storm has just blown through, the rains finally tapering off though it does little to help make the outdoors a comfortable place to be. It's edging closer towards nightfall now, seemingly earlier thanks to the overcast skies. Luciana waits, hidden, just at the edge of the jungles and watching the surrounding area like a hawk. She's agreed to meet here, not far from some little backwater cothold near to Black Rock and as time ticks on, she wonders if Barq was able to properly communicate just where to find her. Notes, even in "code", can only go so far? As the wind picks up, she'll draw the worn travel cloak around herself a little higher, the hood already drawn up over her head. Having presumedly sent Drex on ahead with some excuse formed as a plan, she's waiting here alone.

A man draped in a dark poncho over his clothing walks along the sodden path that winds through the tiny holding. His hood is up against the cold wind, and he carries no light as he moves slowly. Once he's passed the small homes, he reaches up to draw his hood back, peering around slowly. There's a firelizard perched on his shoulder, pin pricks of glowing eyes visible in the otherwise rapidly dimming evening. The clouds blot out any light from moons or stars. It's going to be black soon.

Luciana crouches down, wary when she glimpses that approaching figure. It's only Barq's quiet arrival to her shoulder and his reassuring nuzzling through the fabric of her hood that she knows it's safe; unless, of course, her bronze firelizard has betrayed her (not likely, right?). Straightening, she'll slowly step out from her hiding spot, but not yet remove her hood and her posture still speaks of some habit-formed tension. You never know. "Fancy meeting you here," she muses in an almost lazy, bored tone. No names yet.

"You really make a guy work hard for some cheese…" D'ean replies, eyes locking on the familiar voice. He heads over to her, a grin on his lips. He looks down at his mud caked boots and the soggy ground, lifting a foot and putting it down with a squishing sound. "Is there a.. uh… barn or a shed or something nearby? There's something I need to tell you about."

Luciana's mouth quirks into a grin, "Can't make it too easy!" she teases him, the tension easing from her posture but not entirely gone. Not while they're out in the open (sort of) like this. There's a quirked brow when he inspects his boot but she'll gesture with a tilt of her hood-covered head for him to follow her as she walks towards what is, presumedly, shelter. "It's a bit of both, I think. Talked the cotholders into letting me use it for shelter for the night." Just in case there was worry they'd be trespassing and she doesn't seem concerned that they'll be bothered either. Sure enough, it's a decently sized stone structure that'll proved adequate shelter from the weather. Inside it's obviously used for storage, though there's one or two stalls not in use by any animals. The larger and cleaner looking one has been claimed by Luciana. Opening the shutters on a few of the glow baskets, she'll turn to face D'ean once he's come inside. "Must've been important enough if it couldn't wait until I got back."

D'ean follows after Luci, grinning when he spies that stone outbuilding. "Oooh, this is cozy." He comments cheerfully, glancing around once they're inside. "Did you tell them you were engaging in an exciting coup with a cheese lover?" He asks, and once they're safely into the cleaned out stall he gives the woman an embarrassed smile. "Oh, no. It's not that. I just wanted to see you. I missed you." The rider explains. "Buuuut, I may have mentioned something to your employer about us meeting tonight, and she looked like she might have been angry or annoyed. She said I was giving her a headache. Not a good sign. Sorry."

"Considering some of the places I've bunked in before, barring actually roughing it outdoors? Yeah, this is cozy." Lucian's not picky, apparently but it's certainly no four-star rating lodge. She laughs, "No! I just gave them as unassuming story as possible. Don't need to make them uneasy. Bad enough to house one stranger and her companion…" There's a shrug as she settles herself onto the (fresh!) straw strewn floor, back propped up against the smoother portion of the wall. She'll peer up at him, resting her arms over her bent knees as she draws her legs a little towards her chest. Her hood is still up, likely forgotten. "I'm not gone for even half a week and you're already missing me?" she teases, gently but all her good mood evaporates right afterwards. "Damn it, D'ean…" she sighs, rubbing her fingers against her forehead. Maybe she's getting a headache too? "And here I thought I'd have to worry more about having Drex along than you keeping your mouth shut."

Luciana's seen D'ean's habitat, so there's probably no qualms from him about the locale. The rider grins when the woman explains that she kept things unassuming. "So what did you tell them? What's my alibi? This spy stuff is really fun. Did you tell them I'm a traveling harper? I'm not a very good singer, you know." He sits down as well, still smiling. That is until she's swearing and looking about the same as Clementine did. "I'd just like to point out that the person that I 'talked to'? … It was the person that *sent you here*. I haven't breathed a word to anyone else."

"This isn't for fun, D'ean. The spying? This work? It's serious. And dangerous," Luciana reminds him firmly, her tone tipping towards chiding and annoyed but not carrying the usual edge. "I didn't give any details. They don't need to know and didn't ask questions and won't likely venture up this way." So it'll be just them, which is fine by her. "I know that but I don't think I was even supposed to tell… let alone drag you into this. She's probably thinking I'm putting you in danger." Apparently Luciana is expendable, but D'ean is not (technically she's not wrong, right?). Another sigh and then her features relax, "Sorry. I know you meant nothing by it… I'm just a bit stressed." A bit.

D'ean is still grinning while Luciana is chastising him, exhaling a quiet sigh. "You should have told them we're brother and sister and our parents refused to let us get married so we're running away together… that would keep them from looking in here." He muses aloud, then after she talks about the possible danger he's being put into the man grimaces, "I know. I could slip in the mud and land face first and suffocate. How did I survive to adulthood, walking down a path at twilight?" He teases, then reaches out to give her a little nudge. "Don't worry. No one ever takes me seriously. If anyone finds us, they'll assume I'm some idiot that you're humoring. Remember the first time *we* met?"

Luciana snorts and mock glares at him, "What and have them form a mob and drag us out for our perverted ways? Yeah, that'd have gone over real well," she teases him, only to roll her eyes and exhale softly, exasperated. "That's not what I meant!" His nudge earns one in return and with a low chuckle, she'll dip her head down a bit and finally reach up to pull back her hood… To reveal the absence of her blonde hair. It's still there but it's been cut short and naturally dyed to be more of a neutral mousier blond-brown color. Much easier to blend in, less likely to be recognized by any who remember her as a pale blonde. "Refresh my memory?" she muses with a smirk.

"Think of the story we could tell later about how we escaped from the mob. Although, I did promise Clementine I would be discreet. I hid Ozzeth off away in the woods a half-hour walk away. He's in a cave thoroughly enjoying 'living like an ancient' or something weird like that. If it starts raining again though, I might have to go." D'ean is grinning as she protests his twisting of her meaning. When she pulls her hood back to show how she cut her hair and dyed it, the man just stares at her. "Whoa. That's… different." He's going to need a minute to process.

"Is there a risk with the rain?" Luciana's concern is genuine, given it seems to rain almost every hour of the day lately. She chuckles again, "Living like an ancient?" Do tell! While she's still a little uneasy around dragons, Ozzeth is becoming more of a source of curiosity for her. The look she levels him with for his reaction is telling… but she's almost sheepish from the reaction. "Yeah, tell me about it." Pardon her while she runs her fingers through her short hair. It's a jolt to her too! "Doesn't suit me, I know. Might've been overkill but I don't exactly have friends in Black Rock right now. If I'm recognized for who I was…" Shortest mission ever.

"Risk? Nah. He spends hours swimming and playing in the water. He's not right in the rain anyway, he's in the cave." D'ean says, obviously unconcerned that the dragon will melt away in the weather. He's smiling though in appreciate for the concern. "Oh, he has this idea that the ancients lived out in the open and had to 'rough it'. I've told him the ancients probably built the weyr we live in, but he doesn't seem to agree." The rider just shrugs. Then he reaches a hand out to run his fingers through the cropped hair. "I like it. It looks good. It just surprised me, that's all. It's clever, too."

Luciana lifts both brows in silent and mild surprise, "Rather… in depth debates you two have," she murmurs and will have to tuck that note away for later about the blue. Luckily she doesn't speak her full thoughts out loud; not that she'd be able to. She blinks and darts a sidelong look to him when he runs his fingers through her hair. "You're not just saying that out of fear that I'll throttle you, are you?" she teases with a quiet chuckle.

"Mmm, sometimes. He has a lot of opinions, I just don't pass them on very often." D'ean comments, and grins at the sharp look she turns his way, shrugging at her tease. "Do you think I've ever said anything out of fear for your reaction?" The man questions in return.

Luciana shakes her head, unable still to grasp the depth of the bond or the idea of having another voice talking inside her head; especially one that has a lot of opinions and can argue. She laughs again, "Alright, good point." He has never really seemed afraid of her, she'll admit that. "Thanks, then." Belatedly, for the compliments on her hair. Tilting her head back a little, she'll look away and around the small stall, the glows casting some comforting light but shadows still cling heavy here. "So, that's really all you wanted to meet up for? To tell me you missed me?"

D'ean peels off the damp poncho and tosses it aside, then shifts a bit to scoot closer to Luciana. He reaches to pluck up a piece of straw, idly twirling it. "Well, that was a lie. Sometimes I worry about your reactions. Not for something like that, though. I do like it, though." He looks over at her as she asks about his intentions for the visit. "Yeah. But I mean, when you say 'that's all'… that's kinda harsh. Most people like to know they've been missed." His brown eyes go back to the straw, "I guess I could have written it in the note but that would be kind of weird, a person missing a cheese merchant."

Luciana smirks when he corrects himself and there may be just a little smugness there and when he scoots closer, she will too and lean against him. It's just an unspoken thing and she assumes that he will not mind. "It's temporary, at least." Her hair. "It'll grow out and I'll hopefully not have to hack it all off again." She quirks a brow, "How is that harsh, D'ean? I'm… not used to being missed. " She isn't sure of his intentions, either or what it could imply that he misses her at all. She chuckles, at least for the mention of the note. "Guess that would be odd, but…" What? Topic change, that's what! She hasn't forgotten their last night together before she left and she'll reach to rest her hand on his arm. "You doing alright?" She's looking up at him then, a sincere look to her eyes. No lying here or joking.

"Maybe if they had *really* good cheese. I mean, you can't discount the powers of excellent cheese so I suppose if you knew a merchant had an especially amazing product and a person wrote 'I miss you', maybe you could overlook that, but I think most people would still wonder about it…" D'ean finally trails off as she questions him. He'll continue staring at the piece of straw. "I was having a really bad week when you left, and … I … I guess I realized I'm more comfortable with you than I am with most others around the weyr. I missed you." He glances up and sees her gazing at him. "I'm okay. Just a rougher week than I anticipated. You'd think as more time passes it would get easier, but this turn it was harder. I don't know why."

Luciana shakes her head, "No, they'd see right through it, I think. Sticks out too much no matter how it's worded." she muses dryly and then it's on to sobering, serious topics. Her hand doesn't move from his arm but her grip does briefly tighten, a reassuring squeeze as she stays close to his side. "I'd no idea you'd been having a rough time for so long," she quietly admits and not without some guilt. "It does get a little easier with time, but you'll have your rough moments and your better ones. There's times when I can't even think of my sister and others when I can. Certain memories." The few happy ones she remembers. So as not to drag the mood down too far, she'll hesitate a moment before adding: "… and I can't believe I'm saying this, but — I missed you too. It's nice to know I've an ally in the Weyr I can talk to."

"Some days have been harder than others. We had threadfall on the anniversary of her death. I messed some things up pretty badly. K'vvan wasn't too harsh about it though. He gave me the next day off so I could go visit her parents in Telgar. That helped." D'ean explains quietly. He lays a hand over hers where she's holding his arm. "Can't believe you missed me?" He echoes with a wry smile. "You're doing wonders for my self-esteem." He jokes in a light-hearted tone, peering over at her.

Luciana frowns, "I don't think you could be faulted for that… and I'm glad K'vvan allowed you to go." Her only encounter with the greenrider so far was anything but pleasant but she can grudgingly give the man some respect for that. She scoffs a bit and her smirk becomes more of a faint, wry smile. "Just trying to keep up my appearance as a hardened, unloving or caring, former pirate," she teases back and gently shifts her hand but only to try and twine her fingers with his.

D'ean is quiet when she shares her opinions on his threadfall mistakes, neither agreeing or disagreeing. He chuckles at her excuse for the disbelief though, smiling when she twines her fingers with his. "I'll tell Clementine that you threatened to slit my throat for running my mouth. How does that sound?"

Luciana keeps their hands twined like that for now, even as she laughs low and quietly. "I like how that sounds. Sounds authentic enough, wouldn't you think? Though… slitting your throat might be a bit too harsh." she points out and shifts against his side, just enough that she can rest her head against his shoulder. No longer looking up at him, she'll look ahead instead. "I recall your note said that you'd wished you had… how was it worded… 'gone with the big variety package?' Still interested in that option or did you change your mind?"

"Oooooh. Yes. I decided that I'm *very* interested in the big variety package." D'ean says with a grin. "If I'm going to go throw myself under the cart with Clementine, I think I need a fine night of fun to keep me going…" He considers, looking over their accommodations again. "Been a while since I had good times in some hay. This will be nostalgic."

Luciana huffs under her breath but there's amusement there and soon she's chuckling and letting go of his hand so that she can unfasten the travel clock and slide it from her shoulders. "Glad to provide a nostalgic moment for you, even if I *don't* want to think too hard on that." The cloak is then spread out on the ground instead but ignored for the time being. She turns to face him, still sitting at his side but she reaches up to cup her hand against his cheek. "And you know I've nothing against a good night of fun," she muses, meeting his gaze. "You're sure, though?" No pressure.

"Oh, yeah, I guess that didn't sound, so… right. Sorry." D'ean says, grinning even as he apologizes. He watches as she spreads that cloak out but her hand to his cheek brings his attention back to the woman. "While it's not at the top of the list, that's definitely on the list of reasons why I like you so much." He answers her first, then nods with an easier smile. "Yeah, I'm sure. Feeling better. You just caught me on a bad night. I should have said something sooner that night, but you had wanted to talk about things so I wasn't … thinking, I guess. I don't know. I'll just shut up now."

Luciana just gives him a look, "I was joking too. Don't honestly care, D'ean and it's not like I've been pure and innocent all these Turns either," Don't think too hard on that. "That night wasn't your fault and I understand. It's fine," Her hand will move from his cheek to his shoulder and, unless he protests or moves, she'll slowly straddle him. Looking down now, she'll grin wryly, "Two things to learn," she teases him. "When to shut up and when to just go for it."

"Mmmm, I'm definitely not going to dwell on that one too long." D'ean comments in return for her counter-point. As she moves around to straddle the man, he chuckles. "Oh! Going to educate me with your worldly experience? I just thought you liked being in control and we've already established that I'm very agreeable to things, generally." Then he'll just get on with the shutting up and lean forward to kiss her, because there's perfectly good hay to roll around in and he has a long walk in the dark later depending on how well he can remember where he parked his dragon.

"Possibly?" Luciana counters as her grin grows a little more wicked. "Won't lie, it's nice to be in control but that doesn't mean you can't take that from me. As for education…" At least she didn't take insult to that comment? The kiss silences her too and she'll make good on the promise of a fun night and he may not be alone on that long walk in the dark. Part of her may be very smug indeed if he's so thoroughly distracted as to forget where he's left Ozzeth… but she won't linger long once he does find the blue. Just a few quiet spoken words and half-promises and a threat that she WILL throttle him if he blows her cover by contacting her. There's probably a brief moment of mushy cuteness where she'll hurriedly admit that she'll miss him and to be safe (Threadfall, right). Then she's pulling her hood up over her head and hurrying back into the shadows, towards her shelter.