Not For Him, For you

Writers: Heather, Miriah
Date Posted: 15th November 2017

Characters: Saidrene, J'ackt
Description: Saidrene convinces J'ackt to go to Dragonsfall
Location: Dolphin Cove Weyr
Date: month 1, day 12 of Turn 9

Saidrene

J'ackt

Saidrene had battled all day whether or not to go and see J'ackt.
She'd gone to Dragonsfall that morning, to talk with her mother, to
confirm what Cyradis had said. She hadn't gone to her Uncle K'yne
because she didn't know what to say to him. Although the brownrider
was like a second father to her, the matter of J'ackt being his son
seemed too personal to discuss.

"Hello the weyr," she called tiptoeing past Zith in his weyrcouch.

Zith barely opened an eye as Saidrene walked past. He huffed, blowing
at her in reproof for not stopping to give him a scratch, but then
just as quickly closed his eye to return to his nap.

"I'm in here." J'ackt looked up from his chair when Saidrene entered.
He was wrapping his knuckles, prepared to work on his burlap sack. He
tucked the wrapping into his palm, then leaned back, studying her
face. "Yeah?"

"Don't let me interrupt," she said, looking at his wrapped hands. "I
just wanted to check on you and talk."

"You're not interrupting." He rose and tugged off his shirt, tossing
it on his bed. He reached for his bag, steadied it and gave a testing
punch. "What did you want to talk about?"

Saidrene sat down on J'ackt's bed, crisscrossing her legs as she
pulled his shirt into her lap and to give her hands something to hold.
"I went to Dragonsfall today to talk with mother about K'yne."

The comment startled him out of his next punch. He gave a glancing
blow and caught the swinging back. "And? What did she say?"

"She remembers your mother, she didn't know her very well, but she
remembers seeing her with K'yne around Far Island." Saidrene sighed a
little. It wasn't what she had wanted to hear, she didn't want to
think that she was somehow related to J'ackt. "She talked with K'yne
after Cyradis and L'pin told him, she said he seemed genuinely
surprised and... and upset about the news of your mother's death."

J'ackt's jaw twitched and he gave the sack several short, vicious
punches before he paused enough long enough to speak. "What does she
think? Is it him?"

Saidrene picked at a stray thread in J'ackt's shirt, "Yes, she thinks
it's him. She says she's surprised she's never noticed before how much
the two of you look alike." It was true, even if Saidrene didn't want
to admit it, J'ackt did share a lot of physical qualities with K'yne.

"She could be wrong." He muttered as he slammed a fist into the sack
again. "Well, it doesn't matter, even if he is." Another series of
short jabs followed, each a little more savage than the last.

She watched him, letting silence settle around them for the moment.
"It couldn't hurt to meet him, could it? Just to see for yourself."

"Why?" He slammed his right, then his left into the bag, working up a
light sheen of sweat as he pummeled his quarry. "Doesn't hurt anything
not to either. Didn't care enough about my mam to check on her, so why
should I care to check on him?"

"Wouldn't you like to ask him that? Why he didn't check on your
mother? He might have some answers." Saidrene reasoned, trying to
remain on J'ackt's side, and defend her uncle at the same time.

"Too late now, isn't it?" He slammed his fist hard into the bag and
when it swung back, he caught it. He looked over his shoulder at
Saidrene. "Why do you want me to go? If it's true, then you're going
to get all stiff with me and act strange and I shaffing well know
you're not going to want to bed me again. Why do you want that? I sure
as blazes don't."

"I don't want that either," she said softly. "Cyradis warned me...
warned me about a relationship with you. She didn't necessarily say
that it was forbidden but she made it clear that if I turn up
pregnant, even if it's really from a flight or something, if there's
any suspicions that it could be yours I'd be forced to abort it." Not
that it would be a problem now, she didn't want children at the
moment, but she might at some point down the road.

Saidrene shook her head, "You seeing K'yne doesn't change the truth,
if you and I are related, then we are whether or not you meet him,
but.... It just might bring you some closure."

"We already have a relationship." He promptly countered. "Shaffit,
Saidrene, you're my best bloody friend. You...you..." He punched the
bag and left it swinging as he turned to her and plopped on the bed
beside her. "... it's hard to explain. It's not a weyrmating sort of
relationship, mind you, but it's _something_ and I don't give a feck
who that man is, I'm not giving that up." He wrapped his arm around
her and pressed his lips to her temple. "You know I don't want kids,
Saidrene. That's not a worry for me. I mean, shards, I'd be the last
man to be a good father." He rubbed her waist. "Don't need closure,
Saidrene." He frowned. "But you want to know for certain, don't you?"

At any other time being told that their relationship wasn't the
"weyrmating sort" would have probably hurt Saidrene's feelings, but as
it was, she was rather grateful that J'ackt felt that way. Although,
it did make her wonder what he looked for in a weyrmate since they
already enjoyed a friendship and the benefits of a physical
relationship as well.

"Yes, I'd like to know," she said simply.

J'ackt sighed, rubbed his face, and then ran his hand through his
hair. Turning his head to look at her for a long moment, he finally
nodded. "Fine, I'll go." He lifted a finger. "But not for him. Just so
you'll know, okay?"

"Deal," Saidrene nodded her head. Her mother had said that K'yne would
like to meet J'ackt, but that he wouldn't press him to meet if he
didn't want to. Now that little problem had been taken care of.

Last updated on the December 10th 2017

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Not For Him, For you