Misnomer

Writers: Halyonix, Heather
Date Posted: 22nd April 2024

Characters: T'kala, Y'rim
Description: Quioranth and Dagreth put T'kala and Y'rim into an awkward situation that turns out to be promising for them both.
Location: Barrier Lake Weyr
Date: month 11, day 20 of Turn 11

Notes:
Mentioned: F'aen, T'ner
*****

Quiroanth was great at making friends. Many mornings, she would park
herself in a particular place where the sun was perfect and just
chatter with whoever joined her. Sometimes, she introduced her rider
to theirs, sometimes she didn't. Most of the time she did though,
because it was fun to push Y'rim out of his introvert comfort zone and
make him social.

}: Oh, hello Dagreth! :{ she greeted as the blue dragon winged over to
join her. }: How are you this morning? :{

}:Quiroanth:{ Dagreth greeted warmly as he backwinged to land nimbly
beside her. }:Your hide is looking especially shiny today:{ he said
suavely.

Quiroanth arched her neck coquettishly. }: Why, thank you! Y'rim gave
me a good oiling yesterday and I slept well and feel just great about
today. :{ She shifted and then settled her wings along her back again.
}: You know, I _never_ forget your name, :{ she admitted. }: But
honestly, because it sounds so similar to my old weyrmate and he was a
blue dragon as well but he was _definitely_ not as charming you are.
:{

}:Oh?:{ The blue asked curiously. }:What was his name?:{ Dagreth
stretched himself out to his full length, taking up every inch of the
flat sun-warmed cliff that his body allowed.

Quiroanth watched appreciatively. }: Magrith, :{ she said flatly. It
was obvious in her tone that she did not like said weyrmate anymore.
}: So not quite the same but close enough! :{

It was at this time that Y'rim had picked up on Quiroanth chatting
and, with a resigned internal sigh, asked, **Quir dear, who are you
annoying this time?**

}: Dagreth. :{

But that was not the name Y'rim heard. He heard "Magrith" and his
heart dropped because if Magrith was here, then that meant T'shel was
here, and....oh no...oh noooooo...

}: Dagreth! I said Dagreth! :{ Quiroanth said quickly, picking on her
rider's panic. To Dagreth, she said, }: Oh dear. He heard me say your
name but thought it was the other name and now he's all a-fluster. You
should send over your rider to say hello. :{ That would fix the
situation, right?

}:You need to come right now.:{ Dagreth burst into T'kala's thoughts.

**Like... right _now_ right now?** T'kala was wrapped in Dagreth's
riding straps, inspecting the leather inch-by-inch and mending some of
the seams that were beginning to show wear.

}:Yes, you need to introduce yourself to the lovely Quioranth's rider.
Posthaste.:{ The blue's tone was so emphatic that it made T'kala
wince.

**Why is that urgent?**

}:It. Just. Is.:{

T'kala huffed. "Fine." The bluerider set off. He was pretty sure he
knew who he was looking for, only from the whirling image sent to him
by his dragon.

"Ehem," he cleared his throat gently as he approached. "Are you Y'rim?
I've been sent by our conspiring dragons to say hello."

The color had not yet returned to Y'rim's face when the bluerider
approached him. "I..uh...yes?" he squeaked. He cleared his throat.
"Yes, I'm Y'rim." He took a look at the young man who he quickly
realized looked nothing like his former weyrmate T'shel. Visible
relief appeared. "You must be _Dagreth's_ rider," Y'rim said. "Oh, I
apologize. Quiroanth said she was talking to your blue and I misheard
the name and had a minor panic attack over it and oh -- what a mess!"

T'kala arched an eyebrow, now even more curious about Y'rim. "A minor
panic attack, huh?"

The floodgates opened.

"Quir and I, we came from River Bluff because, oh, because of a lot of
things really. But mostly because of our weyrmate -- ex-weyrmate! --
and how controlling he had become and then Quir got injured and I
didn't want to stay and we thought that Barrier Lake would be a good
change since it was new so we came here and we're still meeting
everyone and T'shel was definitely known for being a possessive jerk
and I have no doubt that he would have followed us here just to give
us a hard time and--"

}: Breathe, :{ interrupted Quiroanth.

Y'rim did so. And then let out a nervous laugh. "Oh, I'm rambling. I'm
sorry. Please, um, please sit?"

T'kala sat as directed, having taken in Y'rim's hurried tale. "T'shel
sounds like a jerk," he said sympathetically. "I guess it is bad luck
that Dagreth is close to Magrith, and our names both start with a
'T'."

"Totally bad luck," Y'rim agreed. He shook his head and chuckled. "Oh,
I'm so glad we've sorted _that_ out!" Y'rim waved at a passing drudge
and ordered some fruit juice and snacks to be delivered to the table.
"Okay, so, you're T'kala and your blue is Dagreth and how long have
you been here at Barrier Lake?" the greenrider asked, intending to
strike a good conversation to override the bad experience he had just
had.

"I've been here since near the beginning, once the call went out that
they were putting together enough Wings to fight Thread. It felt like
an adventure, you know? A _new_ place? No one has ever lived in my
weyr before. That's a novelty." T'kala gave a nod of thanks to the
drudge that set a basket of meatrolls and juice down onto the table.
"What about you? How are you enjoying Barrier Lake?"

"You know," Y'rim said as he took a bite, "I hadn't thought of weyr
situation like that! We're the _first_ ones! I should carve my name
into it somewhere, I think." He smiled. "Quir and I love it here,
honestly. She loves to go fishing in the ocean. And I...it's...well,
I'm starting to make friends and that's nice." He wrinkled his nose.
"Sorry, I know that sounds so inconsequential but after so many Turns
_not_ having friends because T'shel was always chasing them off
somehow, it's just nice to have friends." Another wrinkle, this one
more impish. "I'm sure that's not a problem for you though," he joked.

"I'd like to pretend to be modest but you're right, I do tend to make
friends and acquaintances easily. It wasn't always that way,
Impressing Dagreth was really a confidence booster for me. I also
lucked into a few friends, like F'aen and T'ner, I think I've seen you
with them. They're an easy pair of riders to befriend."

"Wait! You know F'aen and T'ner too?!" Y'rim practically squealed.

"Yeah," T'kala grinned. "I first met T'ner back at Dolphin Cove when
he had just Impressed. He wasn't with F'aen at that point, I mean...
Not exactly." The bluerider waved his hand, as if he shouldn't be
sharing the gossip.

"Not exactly?" Y'rim echoed but when T'kala waved his hand
dismissively, Y'rim chuckled and said, "Okay, I understand. I'll ask
them for that story." He'd been more curious about how those two had
made it work anyway. Y'rim was a sucker for romance. The greenrider
inhaled, as if gathering courage, and said, "So! Tell me about _you_.
What do you like to do?"

"Well, before Impressing, I was a part of the tannercraft. I don't
practice nearly like I should now. I mostly just use what I learned
when it comes to fine tuning Dagreth's riding straps." T'kala tried
his best to look chagrined, but honestly, he wasn't. Dragonriding was
everything he had hoped it would be and the craft just didn't interest
him anymore. "Now I spend free time exploring the Barrier Lake area. I
like fishing, drinking, and reading a good book. Although, all of
those at once is a challenge sometimes."

"At once?" Y'rim echoed with a chuckle. "You can do all of those
things at once? I just like doing the latter two at the same time.
There's something nice about ending the day with my feet up on my
chair, a glass of wine, and the latest harper novel." Oh please, oh
please, maybe they could have a cute little book date together or go
to a vineyard together somewhere. Or he could just get ahead of
himself a little bit there.

"Perhaps we could do the latter together sometime?" T'kala proposed.

Y'rim let out surprised little "eep."

Swallowing, he stuttered out, "Y-You...really? A book date?"

"Sure," T'kala said, although there was a light blush to his cheeks.
"Unless that's too boring? Is that a weird first date?"

"Not for an introvert!" Y'rim blurted out with a giggle. "It sounds
just perfect." No loud crowds, no forced socialization with a bunch of
people. Just a singular conversation about a mutually loved subject
over a glass of wine. And now that the panic attack over hearing the
wrong name had subsided and he felt a bit more comfortable (if still
quite nervous because ooohhh T'kala was cute), Y'rim asked, "Then
I...guess the next question is when and where?"

The bluerider's more confident smile was back. "Why don't I set us up
a spot on the beach? I've got a canopy I set up sometimes so I don't
have to worry about getting lost in a story and getting too much sun."

"Oh, you are a professional at this!" Was this too good to be true? Y'rim was suddenly hit with a wave of doubt, trying to remember if T'shel had been so charming in the beginning but then warping into something worse later.

}: No sabotaging your happiness! :{ Quiroanth immediately interjected. }: Take this good thing and go with it! If it doesn't work out, I'm still here and we'll try again. :{ Her vehemence and love bolstered Y'rim.

"So, tomorrow evening? Will that work?" Y'rim asked.

T'kala smiled, thankful that Dagreth and Quiroanth had started this. "Tomorrow is perfect."

Last updated on the April 26th 2024

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Misnomer