Determined Women

Writers: Devin, Miriah, Suzee
Date Posted: 15th October 2021

Characters: Timassa, D'hol, J'ackt, Sockita
Description: J'ackt visits Timassa and meets his Grandmother
Location: Barrier Lake Weyr
Date: month 9, day 5 of Turn 10
Notes: Mentioned: Alina

Timassa

D'hol

J'ackt

---

D'hol was quiet as he led the young man to his quarters; he didn't
personally know J'ackt well, but he knew his background well enough.
The younger bronzerider had visited Timassa before, but he'd always
given them their privacy and had never enquired about the visits
beyond a passing question to Timassa. The other rider seemed tense,
his face taut in an attempt at emotional distance. D'hol idly wondered
how long that distance would last in the face of his aunt _and_ his
grandmother.

J'ackt was tense. With Zith's assistance, he was visibly emotionally
restrained, but he still felt his heart pounding in his chest. He
couldn't describe the emotion verbally, but it was something he didn't
like. He'd already had to convince himself twice not to get right back
on Zith and head immediately back to Dolphin's Cove. He didn't know if
he'd ever be prepared for this; he'd been purposefully avoiding it.

D'hol opened the door to his weyr and stepped in. He looked up at
Timassa, his lips quirked upwards in a silent, amused warning before
he stepped aside and let J'ackt in after him.

Her eyes twinkled as she looked up at her nephew. "Hi J'ackt," she
smiled and pushed herself up from the couch. "Sorry I'm a bit ungainly
at the moment." she chuckled but walked toward him. "Good to see you."

J'ackt's eyes went immediately to the swollen belly and they widened.
All of his hard fought reserve deserted him as he blurted out the
first thing that came to his mind. "You're huge."

D'hol visibly winced and pinched the bridge of his nose.

"Ya," she twinkled at him. "It's called twins."

"And it runs in the family, so be warned," Sockita added. "I'm Sockita.
It's good to finally meet you, J'ackt." She held out her hand, feeling
a mix of emotions.

The new voice made his head jerk to the side to take in the new woman,
apparently his grandmother. J'ackt stiffened in response, uncertain as
to how to react. His eyes flicked to Timassa and then back to the
older woman before him. He could see his mother in her, in the shape
of her eyes, the tilt of her nose. They were his own. Slowly he took
her hand. "Hi."

"I'm not going to bite." The corner of Sockita's mouth turned up. From
what she'd heard about him, she'd expected his wariness.

"Much..." Timassa muttered under her breath. But her eyes twinkled as
she looked at J'ackt.. Then she stepped aside toward D'hol while
J'ackt and her mother got acquainted. "Thanks," she said and leaned
against his side.

J'ackt's ear twitched, picking up his aunt's mutter. "If you're
anything like Timassa, you might." His reply was dry and hesitant,
uncertain how to react to a new family member who was essentially a
stranger to him. "Guess you wanted to meet me."

D'hol's lips quirked upwards with an answering murmur. "You're welcome."

"I did," Sockita said. "It was quite a shock when I found out about
you. Ocktima had been lost to me, to all of us, for so long..." She
shook her head. "I'd be happy to get to know you better, if you're
willing."

J'ackt still held himself back a little, clearly uncertain and
uncomfortable, just as he had been with Timassa at first. "Yeah, I
guess that can happen."

"Good." Sockita nodded. She found herself picking out features in him,
echoes of Ocktima. Although not overly sentimental, she couldn't help
feeling a deep pang of grief and a longing to connect with this
near-stranger, this last remnant of her lost daughter.

D'hol watched, mildly amused by the young rider's discomfort and
awkwardness. He'd watched the young man appear totally confident in
the sparring ring, but faced with these two women, it appeared that
J'ackt might have completely met his match. He cleared his throat.
"Shall I leave you three alone to get better acquainted?"

Sockita arched an eyebrow. "Would you be comfortable with that, J'ackt?"

Timassa smirked. To say that her mother was a formidable woman would
be an understatement. But she hugged D'hol's arm with a slight smirk.
"I think he looks a bit like da," she said softly. "He's got his chin
at least. Don't you think so?"

"I guess that'll be okay." J'ackt shrugged uncomfortably, genuinely
uncertain as to what would be alright or what he would be comfortable
with. It had taken time for him to get comfortable with Timassa; he
didn't know about this woman, his grandmother. At Timassa's comparison
to someone else, he turned and looked at her, then shifted on his
feet.

Sockita chuckled a little at his discomfort. "You aren't trapped here,
you know. If it becomes overwhelming, you're free to leave. You
wouldn't be the first bronzerider I've scared off." She glanced at
Timassa. "You're right, he does have M'tim's chin."

Timassa chuckled too. "He was a good man, your grandfather." She
hugged herself and stepped closer. "I know this can be hard after what
you've gone through. But there really are people who care." She put a
hand on his upper arm. "We're ready to be here for you however you
decide you want us." She hoped that made sense and had come out right.

He tensed momentarily at the touch, just an initial anxious reaction,
but J'ackt eased his muscles and visibly forced himself to relax. His
immediate reply was, "You don't scare me," but his eyes never left
Sockita's. "My grandfather?" He absently touched his chin and then
frowned, thinking of what his mindhealer had been telling him, forcing
him to admit. The words were slow, almost forced out of him. "But I'll
need time."

"That's all right," Sockita said. "Yes, your grandfather, M'tim. He
was a bronzerider, and Weyrleader for a while."

Frowning, J'ackt tried to take that in. A Weyrleader? Well, it didn't
mean he would be. "I didn't know that." He hadn't known anything about
his mother's time in the Weyr until he'd met his real father and
Timassa. It was too much information for him to grasp and he took a
step back. "Look, I need to go. Just give me some time, okay?"

"J'ackt," Timassa said softly. "Just stay and have dinner with us.
We'd like to hear about your weyrmate. What's her name? Alina?"

Sockita put a hand on Timassa's arm. "J'ackt, why don't you go for a
walk or a short flight with Zith around the Weyr? Then if you still
need time we can make plans later. But if you feel a bit better, we'd
like to have dinner with you."

Timassa recognized her mother's subtle direction and said nothing but
smiled and nodded at J'ackt.

J'ackt felt surrounded by the two women, but the prospect of more
family was still something he wasn't quite prepared for, nor had he
been prepared for the knowledge that his grandfather had been a
Weyrleader. "Maybe in a couple of sevendays." He offered. "Just...not
now. I need time."

Timassa stepped back and sat on the nearest chair then sighed as the
weight came off her feet. "Whatever you need J'ackt," she nodded.

Sockita couldn't help feeling a sting of disappointment. They'd barely
met and he was leaving already. "We'll be here whenever you're ready."

D'hol laid a hand on Timassa's shoulder, knowing the tension and
disappointment from her expression. One glance at Sockita revealed a
mirror to her daughter. He hid a quirk of his lips and cleared his
throat. "You may as well stay, J'ackt. Perhaps not for dinner, as you
said, but perhaps half of a candlemark or so. I'll step out and let
you get acquainted. Besides, I've met your Alina. She'll want to
know everything, won't she?"

J'ackt sighed, then slowly nodded. The moment he got back to his
weyr, he'd be peppered with questions. "I suppose that's true. I
guess I can stay a little while. "

"Why don't you have a seat J'ackt?" Sockita gestured to an empty
chair. "What kinds of things do you think Alina would like to know?"

Sitting down stiffly, J'ackt sighed. "D'hol's right. She's going to
want to know _everything_. Whether or not I remember it is another
thing."

Timassa smiled and covered D'hol's hand with her own. It was obvious
to her that his voice as a Weyrleader held more subtle sway over
J'ackt's reactions than either she or Sokita. "Thank you," she said
again as she looked up at him. "Well then tell us about Alina J'ackt,"
she smiled at her nephew. "I hear you courted her."

Sockita raised an eyebrow. "Courted? Like the holders?"

Nodding, J'ackt shifted in his chair, aware that the other three were
all Weyrbred and perhaps wouldn't understand why he'd done so. "Yes.
She's from an Emerald Falls cothold and it was really what she needed.
I wasn't too great at it, to be honest." He shrugged. "Then I got hurt
and things went from there. I do my best to keep her happy."

"As a weyrmate should." Sockita nodded. "When you got hurt, was this
the incident where the holder attacked you?" A holder attacking a
rider within the Weyr itself was shocking enough the story had spread
far and wide.

J'ackt grimaced in response and glanced at Timassa. He remembered her
being there. "Yeah. Alina, she took care of my canine while I was in
the infirmary, even though she didn't really like him then. Taught
him manners. After that, things were different. "

Timassa leaned back in her seat not letting go of D'hol and simply listened.

Last updated on the February 6th 2022

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