Men are Impossible

Writers: Heather, Miriah
Date Posted: 6th March 2019

Characters: Urlene, Chaysea
Description: Conversations about men over tea.
Location: Dolphin Cove Weyr
Date: month 10, day 7 of Turn 9

Urlene

Urlene sipped her tea and twitching her skirts into place with a practiced hand. "I hear that you are now a mother. How are you finding it?"

A glow instantly came to Chaysea's face. "I am loving every minute of it. I wasn't sure how it would feel, taking in someone else's baby, as opposed to having the child myself but... I feel just as though she were meant for me, and I for her."

"Hm. I never considered it myself after I came here. " She cupped her tea in her hands as she rested it in her lap. After her own failure to have a child when young, she doubted that she would ever have one. "But I'm pleased for you. It suits you. "

"After my first marriage...." Chaysea shrugged a little. "I've just had a hard time thinking about being with someone again. Even though I have loved being here at Dolphin Cove, it's still hard for me to trust weyrmen. Which is silly, I know, because holdmen are no better."

Her nose wrinkled in immediate response and silent agreement. " Men are men, anywhere they are. Riding a dragon makes little difference, except perhaps they are more open about what they are wanting. " she could not count the times that she had been propositioned. She had never reciprocated. "I have no desire to accommodate them, myself."

There had only been two dragonriders that Chaysea had thought she could see herself being close to; one had been Z'an, but he had perished in Threadfall, and the other, L'pin, but the bluerider seemed to always be more caught up with Weyrlings than anything else.

"Had any interesting cases lately?" she asked, to change the subject.

"Just the young Bronzerider with the knife wounds. The rest has been routine. There is an interesting case that the Dolphin Hall has sent to me to consult, but nothing on that has been decided. " She gave a little shrug. " Honestly, Chaysea, my life varies very little. "

Chaysea sipped her tea and studied Urlene over the rim of the china. "Is that a good or bad thing?"

Urlene gave a delicate shrug. "I'm used to it. I know what to expect and usually when to expect it. It's...comfortable. "

"How are you on your supplies?" she asked, more of a Headwoman question, but an important one nonetheless.

She flipped a hand passively. "We're fine until the next tithe train." She mused. "Perhaps I do need a vacation. I've not been anywhere in turns."

"A vacation could be nice, even if it was just a couple of days down at the Dolphin Hall. Enjoy the water and the beach, met some of the shipfish." Chaysea enjoyed going down there when she had the time.

"Perhaps." Urlene finished her tea and gave a half smile. "I may not know what to do with myself. I've not had that much free time in turns." Her brow knit down just a little. "If I decide to go. Though I would enjoy swimming, I suppose. I've missed it."

"I didn't even know how to swim until I got to the Weyr," Chaysea confessed. There had never been a need to swim when she'd lived at Amber Hills. "Fortunately L'pin taught me, so at least I won't drown, I suppose."

"I used to enjoy it when I was a child. It's been a great while for me though. Perhaps swimming in the sea will be just as enjoyable as a stream. Faranth knows I can't do it here."

"Why not?" Chaysea asked.

Both brows rose at that, surprised. "The men, of course. The one time I tried it, in a very conservative suit, I might add, I had five different men ask me to join them in their weyrs. Five." She snorted.

The Headwoman laughed behind her hand. "L'pin used to take me to more remote sections of the beach so that I could swim and not feel so exposed."

"It isn't that funny. " She eyed Chaysea. Do you know how many times I've had to threaten to stitch a man's genitals to their thighs? Only a few days ago, I had to thump the tip of a Candidate's because it was all he could think of while I was trying to talk to him about caring for his sutures." She huffed. " I'm sure L'pin is a fine fellow for you, but really, Chaysea, men are simply impossible. "

"No, he's not for me," Chaysea said, a bit softly, but still with a smile from the images of Urlene thumping that poor Candidate's ... well .... "Who knows, Urlene, one of those men might be really nice."

"Hm. Well, if you like him, and it seems like you do, then by all means, pursue him." Urlene set down her cup. "Perhaps if I encounter a man that is interested in my brain instead of what I look like or what bedding me would be like, I'll consider them. But, seeing as how I've yet to meet one, I suppose I will simply be content with what I have. I've survived nearly seventeen turns without one, it will be no great loss to go another. " There was a mild trace of cool bitterness in her words, but it was an old thought, an old emotion that she scarcely thought about any longer.

Chaysea wasn't sure if she wanted to go that long without one, but she also didn't feel any sort of urgency to be bound again, the way she had been to her first husband. "Well, if you find one of those, let me know if he has a brother," the Headwoman sipped her tea with a wink.

"I'm not looking." The reply was prompt. "I'm in no rush to be bedded or wedded again. Neither are particularly enjoyable. "But, if I find a likely candidate for you, I'll let you know."

Last updated on the March 11th 2019

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Men are Impossible