An Uncomfortable Talk

Writers: Avery, Heather
Date Posted: 18th May 2015

Characters: Chaysea, L'pin
Description: The pair discussion the direction, or lack thereof, of their relationship.
Location: Dolphin Cove Weyr
Date: month 12, day 10 of Turn 7
Notes: Mentioned: Alina, Ikalis

He'd arranged for time off from caring for the weyrlings for the
entire sevenday. Now it was time to do some arranging on his personal
life as well. So when it was evening, after dinner and the attendant
chores were done, L'pin knocked on the door to Chaysea's rooms

Chaysea swung open the door, and lifted her eyebrows slightly,
surprised to see L'pin. She hadn't seen much of him lately at all, and
when she did he was surrounded by Weyrlings. **Although he seems to
find _convenient_ time to work with that Alina girl on her music.**
The thought was a low-blow, for sure, but Chaysea didn't care at the
moment. She was nearly fed up with sitting around all the time waiting
for L'pin to find some time for her. She was also tired of everyone
else, shells even a _kitchen worker_ like Ikalis, knowing more about
the man than she did! Were they dating, or not? Did they mean
something to one another, or not? Was this even going _anywhere_?

"Hi." Her greeting was less than warm but she opened the door further
to let him in.

"How was your day?" he asked, unaware of the thoughts in her head.

"Fine," she answered, although the word was clearly loaded. "Yours?"

"I made some arrangements today to have the third sevenday of the month
off, and I wanted to let you know about it," he replied. "I was thinking
of stealing you away to a Harper Hall concert, if you had time."

The rather uncharitable thoughts she'd had earlier made Chaysea feel a
little guilty as she smiled at L'pin, "That would be lovely,
actually." She'd never been to a real concert before.

"Oh, I'm glad you want to go. Depending on how much time you have off, we
could tour the Hold, too." He realized he was still standing, and moved to
sit. "I thought maybe you might like to see some of where I came from."

Chaysea's fingers knit together in front of her, "That would be nice."

"I figure, I know some things about your past, but you don't know as much
about me. So showing you some places I've lived that have mattered to me -
maybe it's time I do that."

The Headwoman nodded as she looked down at her intertwined fingers,
"That would be nice. I feel like there's so much I don't know about
you."

"Any questions you have?" he invited.

Chaysea felt her frustration return as she threw her hands up and made
a sound of resignation, "I dont' know, L'pin, how about anything? Do
you have family? What's your favorite color? What else do you do
besides spend time with the Weyrlings and Alina?"

He looked a little taken about. Had he said something wrong?

"My favorite color is grey and my hobby is music playing," he said,
because those were easy enough ones to answer. "Family's a little more
complicated for riders."

"Well? I'm listening." She said, crossing her arms over her chest as
she waited for more.

"Well, I have parents at Emerald Falls. They'd love to meet you, I'm
sure. A couple siblings scattered around here and there."

Those were the easy ones. Next, the harder parts. The Weyr-specific
things. Would Chaysea understand them? She'd been married...but Weyrs
were different. "I've had two weyrmates in the past, when I lived at
Vista Point. Both are gone now."

His tone had become darker, but with the last words, it was rough with
pain. "I raised a son...he Impressed, and I lost him. He would have
been 21 this month."

Finally, the secret that everyone else had been privy to _except_ her-
his son. "Did you raise him here at Dolphin Cove?" She asked, softening
the tone of her voice.

"He'd been to three Weyrs with me. Vista Point, Rising Moons, and then
here. He Impressed in Meledei's clutch," he said softly.

Chaysea studied the bluerider's face, "And then what happened?"

Grief twisted his throat. "He died in the Blooding. I stepped down
after that. Who wanted the Weyrlingmaster who got his son killed
teaching their kids?"

"There are some things in life you cannot control." She thought of her
marriage to Dothran. "Look how much the Weyrlings now value your
guidance. I am sure it was the same even then. A student has to step
out from under his master's shadow at some point and stand on his own,
just like a son has to become his own man. If you had not been his
Weyrlingmaster do you really think it would have made a difference in
what happened?"

Her words were sincere, and rang of truth. Everyone became their own
man or woman eventually. R'min would have had to. But his self-doubt
still plagued him.

"Sometimes I think it would have. He'd been Weyr-raised, he already
knew much about dragons. I didn't want to look like I was favoring
him, so I let the other staff take care of a lot of his training. I
thought he wouldn't want to listen to Dad. Maybe I didn't tell him
something he would have needed to know." He sighed.

"Maybe it is just a person's time to go and there's nothing we can do
to prevent it." Chaysea suggested softly.

"Maybe it is. And a Weyr shoves it in your face more than other places
do." Of course people died at Holds and Halls, but rarely so
violently. So gruesomely. It was age or sickness, not being rent
apart.

He cleared his throat, trying to make the best of it. "So knowing all
that, would you still like to see a concert?"

The Headwoman sighed a little, "Of course. It wasn't necessarily about
knowing the nitty gritty details of your life, but just knowing that
this," she gestured between the two of them, "is going _somewhere_. I
hardly see you and when I do it feels like we're strangers, or worse,
distant friends."

"I want it to go somewhere as well. I'm sorry I've been so distracted
and so busy. It hasn't been fair to you. Not if we intend a proper
courting...if you still want to." Because he genuinely liked the
pretty Headwoman.

"Of course I still want to," she murmured. Would she be so upset if she
didn't want his time?

"Then we'll go to the Harper Hall and see a concert," he said with a
smile. Maybe his father would be well enough to meet Chaysea.

Chaysea nodded and returned the bluerider's smile, although a part of
her still secretly worried that she was more invested in L'pin than he
was in her... And then what would she do?

Last updated on the May 21st 2015

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An Uncomfortable Talk