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Writers: Heather
Date Posted: 13th May 2024

Characters: Casmari, Rasme, C'ris
Description: Casmari doesn't Impress at Dragonsfall, and decides to go back home to Barrier Lake.
Location: Dragonsfall Weyr
Date: month 9, day 24 of Turn 11
Notes: Using Chioneth's off-camera NPC hatching.

Casmari

Rasme

She couldn't believe it. She felt stunned. For some reason, even though she'd always known logically that she might not Impress, she'd still _assumed_ that she would. After all, her mother and father were dragonriders, and most of her siblings, too!

Figures in white robes blurred around her as they latched on to their new dragon lifemates and made their way off the Dragonsfall Hatching Sands.

Slowly, Casmari's eyes drifted up into the Stands where she found the faces of her parents. Rasme and C'ris stood together and even from the distance between them, she could see the understandable looks of pity on their faces.

"We need to clear the sands, dear," a voice, one of the Weyrlingstaff, said in her ear.

She nodded numbly and walked from the Sands. Her lips were trembling. She clenched her hands into fists to keep the sudden onslaught of tears at bay behind her eyes. **You can't cry. Good grief. It's just one Hatching. You still have time for others,** she scolded herself. It didn't help much, however. The knowledge that she could Stand again didn't lessen the feelings of rejection that flogged her heart.

"Sweetheart, come here," a warm voice said, pulling her into a familiar embrace. Her father. The bluerider wrapped both arms around her and kissed the top of her head.

Rasme stood at C'ris's elbow. It was the first time that Casmari had ever Stood, and Rasme hadn't been prepared for the feelings that it would bring. She had been tied in knots the entire time. She had simultaneously hoped for and against her daughter's Impression. Was having a dragon the most wonderful thing on Pern? Rasme certainly thought it was, but the thought of her youngest, her _baby_, flying against Thread every sevenday was enough to make her feel sick.

"That's just the way Hatchings are," C'ris murmured soothingly, stroking Casmari's back. He had always been the affectionate parent between the two of them. He was so good at comforting others, Rasme thought.

"I know," Casmari mumbled with a slightly petulant tone.

Rasme stood to the side, wanting to comfort Casmari but not knowing how.

"Mom?" Casmari turned and then launched herself into the goldrider's arms.

The woman's arms automatically went around her daughter in a protective embrace. "Yes?"

"Can I come home?"

Rasme's eyebrows lifted in surprise at the question. "To Barrier Lake?"

"Yes. I thought it would be a grand adventure, coming down here to Dragonsfall, but... I miss you."

C'ris smiled at Rasme from behind Casmari. This was clearly something he'd known would happen from the beginning and he enjoyed now rubbing it in that he had been correct.

"Of course you can." Rasme couldn't help but admit to herself that it felt insanely good hearing her daughter _choose_ her. Especially when C'ris was the fun, affectionate parent.

"Is that okay with you, Dad?" Casmari turned to look over her shoulder at her father.

"Of course, dearest," C'ris smiled.

"Go grab your things, then. I'll be waiting with Piketh."

Rasme and C'ris watched as their daughter turned and darted off towards the Candidate Barracks.

"That felt good, didn't it?" C'ris asked.

"What did?"

The bluerider cut his eyes at Rasme before nudging her ribs with his elbow. "Oh, come on. Don't act like it didn't feel amazing when she chose _you_."

The briefest hint of a smile tilted Rasme's mouth up at the corner. "It did feel good to win."

"Always competing," C'ris said with a long-suffering sigh of affection as he leaned in and pressed a kiss to Rasme while his arm slid around her shoulders.

"You could come to Dragonsfall, too, you know," Rasme said for what was probably the hundredth time.

C'ris grinned down at her. "I know. I'll think about it."

She hoped he really would this time. It had been nearly two Turns since they'd lived in the same Weyr together and she missed it much more than she'd thought she would have. At the time, she hadn't known how good C'ris was for her overall mental health, but she was quickly coming to realize that he was a pillar in her life. When she'd started sleeping around with a bluerider nearly twenty turns her junior she hadn't really expected much from it, but C'ris had far exceeded her expectations in every way.

Last updated on the May 13th 2024

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