High Stakes

Writers: Leigh M-F., Miriah
Date Posted: 18th May 2015

Characters: Ninaine, A'kua
Description: Ninaine earns her black belt in Tongue-Fu.
Location: Dragonsfall Weyr
Date: month 12, day 23 of Turn 7
Notes: Mentioned: Ilyssia, N'call

Ninaine

It was not the best time for a visit. Not only had still another dream
decided to invade Aluka's sleep, getting angry over it had given him
another tension headache, which necessitated a trip to the healers for more
pain-relieving tea that left him glassy-eyed and slightly loopy. But it had
been a few days since he had last seen Ninaine, and he needed to stop by,
so he used the afternoon free time to do so. Admittedly, it was partly for
selfish reasons, but he made sure to get more ginger tea and some bread for
Ninaine, and a meatroll for Luneth, which he made sure to tell the weyrling
on elevator duty so the information could be relayed directly to Luneth.

Luneth was waiting as Aluka arrived, her nose thrust forward and maw opened
expectantly. She knew that Aluka had a meatroll just for her and was ready
for it.

Ninaine flicked open the leather flap that served as her door and waited,
her face less pale than it had been.

"Hey, li'l sis," Aluka said to the greenrider as he deposited the meatroll
in Luneth's mouth. "You're lookin' a lot better today." Well, she still
didn't seem to be completely all right, but compared to previous visits,
this was a big improvement. "I still have some ginger tea and bread if ya
want it, though. How've ya been lately?"

"Thank you, I think I'll be glad of it." She opened her leather flap and
gestured him in, then followed behind him, directing him to a chair. "I've
been no worse than I have been. The sickness is a bit better. " It was
clear that she'd lost weight, especially in her face, but her waist was
indeed getting thicker. She looked at him and blinked. "You don't look well
at all, Aluka."

"Huh?" The Candidate blinked back at her, wondering why she might say that.
It caught up to him a beat later. "Oh, I had a bad headache earlier, so I
had to get some tea from the healers. It does funny things." He set the
bread and tea on the table and reached into a pants pocket, drawing out a
slightly battered deck of cards that had been abandoned in the dining hall
earlier that sevenday. "I don't suppose ya play?" he asked, bonelessly
flopping into the proffered chair and idly starting to shuffle the deck.

"Of course I play cards." She frowned a bit, but poured herself a cup of
the tea he had brought. She paused, eyed him and the poured him a cup as
well. "That's something that Ladies do when they aren't embroidering or
giving birth. "She wrinkled her nose at the reminder and then turned to
face him. "Why did you have a headache?" She pried lightly, not knowing for
certain what was wrong with her friend, but it certainly wasn't just a tea.

"Stress," Aluka said absently, watching the cards flip between his fingers.
"It happened a lot at the hold. Dealin' with Ma and Gransire and the stupid
holders gave me bad headaches. Not the kind that leaves ya beggin' for
death, or the kind that messes with your eyesight beforehand, but still
pretty bad. So I'd listen to the healers tell other holders which teas and
what dosages were good for that, and I'd swipe 'em and brew 'em. I forgot
to take some with me when I ran off, but it turned out I didn't need 'em.
The headaches went away in days. I don't suppose ya play poker?" he asked
hopefully. "I promise not to cheat ya."

Ninaine may have been many things, a poor dragonrider and a poor holder
girl, but she was far from stupid. "No, I don't play poker. It's
inappropriate." She studied him. "What has you stressed, Aluka?" It wasn't
as though she didn't have her own issues, but perhaps if she could help him
with his, she'd feel better about her own.

"C'mon, poker's not inappropriate," her friend gently chided before having
a swig of the tea. "Now, strip poker, _that's_ inappropriate. I wouldn't
play that with my li'l sis." The question made him shrug. "Bad dreams," he
said offhandedly. "They won't leave me alone. It's nothin' ya should worry
over. Ya got enough to think of. What about old maid, d'ya know that one?"

Her brow rose at the comment about strip poker. She had never heard the
phrase, but considering that _he_ found it inappropriate, she doubted she
wanted an explanation. "But I am worried. I've never seen you like this,
and you would want to know if I was that stressed, wouldn't you?" She took
the cards from his hands and surprisingly, shuffled them with skill. "Fine,
poker, but only if you talk to me about what's stressing you."

Aluka hesitated. He didn't want to actually discuss it given the kerfluffle
they'd had over Ilyssia. But he didn't want to lie to Ninaine either, and
trying to brush it off hadn't worked. And shards, wasn't this exactly why
he had come? To see the results of what could happen to a young lady when
someone took advantage of her? And the greenrider would assuredly tell him
he was being a numbskull, and it would be a stupid idea to pursue such
feelings.

The next thing he knew, his tea-loosened tongue was betraying him. "I think
I'm in love with Ilyssia."

Ninaine blinked, her hands stilling on the cards as she went still.
"Pardon? I thought you said that you were only friends." Her brow furrowed
and she put the cards down, her hands going to her hips, even as she sat.
"And that she was too young." She eyed Aluka with displeasure. "And that
you weren't going to weyrmate her because she was too young." She then
crossed her arms. "You better treat her kindly, Aluka. And be good to her."

"That's just it." Aluka set his tea down and rubbed his face with both
hands. "She's my friend; I don't wanna ruin our friendship by tryin' to be
somethin' more. And she's too young. Ancients, if she was at least sixteen
then it might be okay, but she's not." He got up and started pacing the
weyr. "But I just- I- I keep dreamin' about her," he said in frustration.
"And if I thought for one heartbeat she might be interested in me too, then
I'd want to take that chance. I like her a lot. I _adore_ her. I'm crazy
about her! But damn it all, her age! I don't wanna try anythin' and have
her wind up as unhappy as-"

He bit his tongue just in time. Accusing Ninaine of being unhappy wouldn't
win him any points. "As my mother," he said instead. "I don't even know if
I actually do love her. I've never been in love, how would I know what it
feels like? All I've had in the past was sex, not love. I-" He threw up his
hands in frustration. "Ninaine, please, just tell me I'm being an idiot for
even thinkin' about this. It's not right. Everythin' I'm feelin' can't
possibly be right, can it?"

She caught the pause and the quick recovery and looked at him solemnly. "As
unhappy as me." She corrected for him and looked down at the cards in her
hands, flicking them with her thumb over and over again. Her brow furrowed
and she spoke softly. "So by your reasoning, I'm too young to be with child
and do what I'm doing now." She looked back up at him and stared him
straight in the face. "You accuse me of being too hold-bound, but aren't
you doing the same thing? You've accepted Weyr ways more than me. It's
different here; that's what you're always telling me, isn't it? If you're
an idiot, it's because of that."

Oops. She'd known what he meant anyway. Aluka's cheeks flamed, but he
soldiered on. "Sis, if I were anythin' like what I grew up seein' in the
hold, Lys' age wouldn't be a problem," he said bluntly. "And I'll admit, I
think N'call should've been far more responsible. But you've made your
choice, and you're free to make any choice ya want. However, Lys is too
young for me to go chasin' after her, and I wanna make these feelin's go
away before they drive me insane." (Why did the thought of no longer
feeling the attraction hurt so much?)

"So if I'm free to make any choice I want, so is she. Don't make it for
her." She countered softly. "And those feelings...they don't just go away,
Aluka. They fester and fester until it's all you can think about." She
gestured him to sit. "You have to talk to her. You _have_ to. Then both of
you can decide if its what you want when you're both ready."

The Candidate stopped pacing and looked at his friend in astonishment.
Compared to how angry she had been when she had thought Lys was pregnant,
that was shockingly out of left field. And yet it was so logical. Slowly,
he sat down, trying to come up with an argument, any argument, but his mind
refused to cooperate.

His shock made her lips lift just a little. "I _can_ be sensible once in a
while. And it's easier to see a solution when you're not involved in the
problem." Her hand settled on the rounder swell of her belly but resisted
scratching it.

Aluka's voice came out very small. "And if she says it's okay, and we try
bein' lovers.... it wouldn't make me like my stupid whorin' sire?"

She frowned at his language, but this time didn't try to chide him for it.
"Just that you're worried about that proves that you're not. And...she
won't be either." That was hard to get out; it was as much as admitting
that she had been wrong about herself as well. It was admitting that she
really wasn't what she secretly feared she was. "If you feel that way about
each other."

The redhead rested a hand over the one holding the cards, squeezing gently
before letting go. "Thanks, sis," Aluka said in a low tone, sounding a
little more like himself.

Ninaine nodded, putting aside the cards, her own mind far too distracted to
think about playing them. "You're welcome. Now, go to her and tell her how
you feel before you over think it."

"Why are ya tryin' to get rid of me? I just got here," Aluka joked, taking
back the deck. "I haven't taught ya how to play poker yet." At her look, he
said "I _will_ tell her. I just need to find the right words." He dealt out
five cards for each of them as he talked. "This is the basic five-card draw
style. Normally there's Marks or chores involved for the bettin', but we
don't have either on hand, so we'll just improvise." He kept on, outlining
the worth of the cards and the standard rules, hoping Ninaine wouldn't
comment on the fact he hadn't said exactly when he would say anything. He
was already chickening out.

As he explained the rules to her, she watched his face. "Improvise..." She
was glad to keep her thoughts away from her own situation and slowly picked
up the cards. "Alright then. If I win, you have to tell Illyssa how you fee
before the sevenday is out. " She fiddled with her cards, fumbling a bit
with holding them before straightening them out.

Aluka choked on the sudden feeling of doom that flashed through him.
"That's not fair," he weakly protested. "There's nothin' I can tell ya to
do if I win." Nothing she would agree to, anyway.

"Well, think of something." She fiddled with the cards again, her brows
furrowed as she tugged on her braid with her hand. "Besides, you're
teaching me, aren't you? So what do you have to worry about?"

"Beginner's luck, that's what," Aluka muttered as he discarded two cards
and drew two more, wondering if he should cheat after all. But he had said
he wouldn't, so he would honor that. "Fine. If ya insist on stakes, then if
I win, Luneth has to let me ride her once, even if it's just down to the
ground when it's time for me to go." Technically, that didn't put any
pressure on Ninaine to do anything she might find objectionable. Shards,
maybe she would withdraw her own stake for the sake of making sure Luneth
didn't have to do anything she found objectionable, too.

She eyed him over a long moment of silence, then gave a sigh. "I suppose
that's an equal wager. Luneth won't like it, but she's getting better at
that sort of thing." She hesitated, then slowly laid down her two cards and
took the ones given to her next. She peered at the cards and tugged on her
braid, her expression confused. "Four bronzes is good, right?"

Aluka dropped his cards in shock. "Four bro- Four bronzes?!" That beat his
hand of three Lord Holders and two Harpers. "Wha- How- Ya- Best outta
three!" was all he could say in the face of his sound defeat.

As his cards dropped, Ninaine watched them with an expression of innocent
confusion. "I guess I win because you folded." She scooped up his cards
quickly. "I didn't agree to that." She then showed him her hand, nothing
but low cards and not a match between them. "I said I didn't play, Aluka.
Not that I don't know how." She then primly shuffled the deck and passed
out five cards each with expert precision. "Five card draw, Harper's wild."
She glanced up at him, a smile slowly lifting her lips. "So, I'll be
waiting to see what Ilyssa says."

The redhead gave her a look of hurt, anger, indignation, disbelief, and
resignation. "Best outta three," he repeated as he picked up his new hand.
But it was a token protest; he was beaten and they both knew it. Now he had
to keep his terrifying promise, and he would only do so because it was
Ninaine.

Maybe he'd be able to keep it if he had even more headache tea beforehand.
Or if he got falling-down drunk.

Last updated on the May 21st 2015

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High Stakes