Trophy Shirt

Writers: Shawna, Sia
Date Posted: 23rd September 2024

Characters: E'kavas, Zariah
Description: Zariah teases E'kavas after Feyonth's flight
Location: Dragonsfall Weyr
Date: month 13, day 24 of Turn 11
Notes: Mentioned: H'run, L'kav, G'zan (slander)

E'kavas

It was late when E'kavas finally made it home. Late enough that the kids had tucked themselves into bed, or at least he didn't hear anything but muffled snickering when he leaned against their door. Good. Roquath was still smugly curled up with Feyonth and would probably stay there until she kicked him out (sooner rather than later). E'kavas had to make his walk of shame by himself, his riding jacket tied up securely to hide the shirt that no longer had any buttons. He'd tossed what remained of the shirt on the table along with the mishmash of buttons he'd salvaged from the floor before running the bathing pool.

With Roquath no help, he didn't have any warning of anyone arriving until he stepped back into the living area, saw Zariah sitting at the table, and nearly had a heart attack. He shut the door again and traded the towel for pants.

"Zariah. You do remember that you don't live here?"

“I can’t believe you just leave your children alone like this.” She had his shirt laid out on the table in front of her and was fishing through a little box. “E’kavas, I have a question.” She let that hang for a moment before continuing in a somber tone, “Did you want these mismatched buttons put on your shirt like a trophy? Or do you want me to try to find matching ones.”

"They're old enough to put themselves to bed." E'kavas said dismissively. "Unless you'd like me to drop them off with you whenever Roquath chases?" He ducked back into his room to grab a shirt and was pulling it over his head when she asked the next question, and he looked over at her quizzically. Or, like he genuinely hadn't considered what he was doing hoarding everyone's buttons.

"I…was going to sew my own buttons back on. Do people do that? Make trophy shirts?"

“You basically do. We had snacks and hot cider before bed. Relsath really likes Kevia for some reason.” The greenrider gestured to his table and the assortment of buttons, “How many shirts got ripped off in this flight room? I’m counting at least three distinct sets of buttons. And only two of them match this shirt. Either this is a trophy shirt or I’m going to need to raid my stash.”

Nolaith had liked her, too. E'kavas pushed the thought away. "Well, H'run was in the way." He said absently. "Did I only save two of mine? I grabbed whatever ones I could see when we got dressed. I was going to dump the rest in my stash, too."

Zariah looked up at him expectantly. When he didn’t move, she prompted, “Well go get it, or trophy shirt it is. A lot of my buttons are too small. Alright, so H’run was in the way so you… ripped his shirt off? That’s… that’s a choice, E’kavas.” When he turned away, she gasped, and then tried desperately to smother a giggle.

E'kavas blinked at her, momentarily confused, before retreating to grab the button jar out of a cupboard. "I did more things to him after that. And so did L'kav." He admitted. Then he heard her giggling and turned around. "What? What are you snickering about?"

“Have you seen your neck?” It came out slightly wheezing.

"L'kav bit me."

“Nooooo,” it was half disbelief, half wonder, and she actually had to put her hand over her mouth to smother her laughter. “Now was that a bite of approval, or anger, because I only bite in a flight when Relsath is real mad.”

"Feyonth was mad, but I don't think that changes anything." E'kavas said. Then, incredulously, "I think I bit him back. Some of it's a blur."

“E’kavas! I didn’t know you had it in you. I can’t wait to tell G’zan.” She held her hand out for the button jar, dumping it out and starting to sort them out. “Maybe I should put one fewer buttons back on. You want to show off that bruise.”

"Maybe it should be a trophy shirt, if we're forgetting buttons." He said casually as he sat down gingerly across from her. It did look like he was seriously considering it, though. "I shouldn't have a sexy neckline. I'm a Wingsecond now."

“That’s exactly why you should have a sexy neckline; everyone likes fantasizing about their superiors,” decisively, Zariah reached for one of the mismatched buttons E’kavas had brought back with the shirt and started sewing it back on. “Trophy shirt it is.”

"They do not!" E'kavas exclaimed, though he didn't stop the button mending. "And I think G'zan knows. I'm almost certain he bit me first, though. Panghuth is mean when she's in the air."

Shaking her head, Zariah finished attaching the first button, reaching for another that definitely didn’t match, “You are all doing flights wrong. Rel’s usually in a good mood in the air.”

"I'll alert Roquath of the news, but I expect he'd use that information to bully Hanassath instead." E'kavas said. "You're very lucky to have Relsath."

“Oh, he shouldn’t bully Hanassath. Relsath likes him right now and she’ll drop things off her ledge onto Roquath if she’s cross.” With a grin, Zariah added, “But you’re right, my green is a flawless and perfect creature and I’m lucky to have her.”

"He shouldn't, but he has been. This is the first time Roquath's been the bigger of the two. He's in for a rude shock when Hanassath packs on the muscle and takes a chunk out of him." E'kavas said with a roll of his eyes. "I just ask that Relsath watch that she's not dropping anything on the children. Roquath is fair game."

“You're so rude to that brown,” Zariah scolded. “And after he earned you such a nice trophy shirt.” She hoped at least one of them would ask for their buttons back.

"He was rude to me first, he just doesn't remember." E'kavas said. "He can make it up to me by relaxing on the number of greens he chases."

Shaking her head, the greenrider said, “But he can’t stop. He needs all this practice so one day he will catch the gold, and I’ll finally win that bet.”

"No, no no." E'kavas said sharply, both for Zariah and in case Roquath was listening. "Stop betting on me. It's bad enough he does this to me. I don't need a goldrider upset too."

Zariah made a dismissive noise, “It’s not the goldrider you’d annoy, it’s all the uppity bronzeriders, and I would enjoy that.”

"Oh no, it's definitely the goldriders. All they need is for Roquath to stunt a clutch during a Pass."

“Would he, though? Maybe we’d just get a bunch of greens, and everyone knows they’re the best at Threadfighting.” Ok. Zariah knew they were the best. No bias there.

"Sure." E'kavas agreed easily. "It's not that it's a bunch of greens, it's that it's less eggs too. We can't afford to have small clutches right now. Roquath is free to chase all the golds he wants if we live through the Pass."

“I think you’re worrying too much.” Tying off the last button, Zariah held up the shirt for his approval, “I would follow Weyrleader Trophy Buttons any day.”

"That's Wingsecond Trophy Buttons, ma'am." E'kavas said as he took the shirt. "Thank you, though. For the shirt, not rooting for me to be Weyrleader as a joke."

“Anytime. I’ll let you get some rest though. Sounds like you need it.” She quickly packed up the little sewing kit before heading to the ledge for Relsath to retrieve her. “Oh, you’re out of cookies,” was her parting call before she left.

Last updated on the September 26th 2024

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Trophy Shirt