Brown Buddies

Writers: Heather, Noli
Date Posted: 30th May 2025

Characters: N'tur, N'kayden
Description: N'kayden and N'tur catch up in the Dining Cavern after drills.
Location: Barrier Lake Weyr
Date: month 7, day 18 of Turn 12
Notes: Mentioned: Aydhara (sibling slander, but not by name)

N'kayden

"N'tur, my man," N'kayden slapped the other brownrider on the back as he took a seat beside him in the Dining Cavern. "Those drills today were _ridiculous_. And I thought Weyrlinghood was bad." His two green firelizards, Itsy and Bitsy, came swirling in around his head. One of them nipped N'tur's ear with her wing. "Itsy!" N'kayden scolded, snatching her out of the air and stuffing her into the front placket of his coat. "Sorry about that, they're still learning."

N'tur started slightly at the contact, and felt a twinge of annoyance rising at having his thoughts interrupted. He was tired from the seemingly endless drills that had taken up the first part of the day, and was slightly fretting about his upcoming exams to hopefully advance to Journeyman as a Dragonhealer. All traces of malevolence disappeared, however, when he recognized the brownrider who had clapped his back, and he even let out a short bark of laughter at the sight of the look of apparent indignation on the tiny green flit whose flight had been so suddenly arrested by her owner.

"No problem at all. My mother has two, and they can still get rambunctious, despite being much older than yours." N'tur smiled easily at his fellow wingmate. "I suspect we'll be glad for the drilling when Thread falls in a few days. Those new formations may keep our hides score-free, if we can get them right. Aberath was looking particularly well today." His remark was more than just politeness; N'kayden's young dragon had impressed N'tur and Graileth today. "How did he like the practice?"

"Oh, thanks," N'kayden said, waving off the compliment. He was so used to compliments, courtesy of his parents, that they tended to roll right off him. "Aberath loved the drills today. He likes when the Wingleader switches things up mid flight. He's always eager to show the greens how agile a brown can be in the air."

N'tur laughed again, although this time he didn't really feel it. He was thinking of Graileth and the dragon's increasing desire to do the exact same thing. Thus far, even at six Turns' old, Graileth had not yet managed to catch a green in flight.

}:Maybe if you spent less time with your hides studying and more time making friends with their riders, I could.:{ His dragon's thoughts had an uncharacteristically whiney quality to them.

**You'll get the next one, old chap.** N'tur projected as much confidence as he could into the thought. Truth be told, Graileth was smaller than the average brown, and not quite as agile as the wily blues in the air. N'tur made a quiet promise to himself to find a greenrider whose dragon Graileth liked and be intentional about cultivating a friendship. It hurt his heart to let his dragon down. He had just been so BUSY; his craft took up most of his free time between Falls.

N'tur winked at N'kayden, hoping his self-flagellation had not shown on his face. "Oh, he's sure to have succeeded today." N'tur took a swig from his cup and regarded the other brownrider, who was only a few Turns younger than himself, though N'kayden's dragon was much later hatched. "Does he have one he fancies in particular?" Curious, N'tur realized he knew relatively little about his new wingmate.

"No, right now, Aberath loves anything with a green hide." This was said as if N'kayden objected, but he really didn't. He also appreciated anyone riding a green dragon and he found the atmosphere and participation in mating flights thrilling. "It's fun even when he doesn't catch them," he said to N'tur. "There's this moment before my mind joins with his when we're all like... pouring into a flight room where I think how bizarre and hilarious we must all look closing in on the poor greenrider."

"Yeah, I know what you mean. It makes me glad I Impressed brown," N'tur chuckled. N'kayden was right, mating flights _were_ exciting, regardless of who caught the rising green, and N'tur had enjoyed several of them over the past few Turns. He wanted Graileth to be able to fully experience his satisfaction as well, though.

"So, now that you're out of the weyrling barracks, how are you enjoying your newfound freedom?" N'tur remembered well his own time as a newly graduated wingrider. After the intense structure of weyrlinghood, he had found the almost limitless opportunities for exploring the Southern Continent with Graileth intoxicating. He had visited holds and halls whenever appropriate, and had often taken his restdays to to explore the still-vast sparsely populated sections of the continent. It was everything a former weyrbrat, who had grown up watching the riders come and go as they pleased yet was himself confined, could ask for.

"Well, I'll die a happy brownrider if I never have to clean a latrine again." Of course, the shenanigans and pranks he'd pulled during Weyrlinghood had probably earned him more latrine time than the usual Weyrling experienced. **Worth it,** N'kayden thought, reliving the sound of K'lvin's voice as he realized he'd been glued to his office chair.

"It's nice when I don't have drills or Threadfall to have the freedom to go wherever I'd like." Having grown up with a smothering family, N'kayden was finding the ability to actually go somewhere and be totally _alone_ the biggest perk of dragonriding.

N'tur chuckled, fondly remembering a much younger Graileth's complaints at the smell after N'tur's first assignment to latrine duty after his hatching, all those Turns ago.

Suddenly, a tiny bronze firelizard appeared in the air above the pair's table, hovered briefly, and landed on N'tur's shoulder. Torr, his mother's pet, chittered happily at having located his target.

Giving the tiny bronze an affectionate eyeridge rub, N'tur winked at the other brownider.

"Well, if you're ever up for a hunt, let me know, man. My mother, Sefanya, likes it when Graileth and I bring home some extra stuff for the kitchens, so that she can persuade the cook to let her take a pack full of sweets back with her to keep in her quarters. She's a foster mother, and sometimes there's just too many of the young ones to want to haul them all down here for a snack." N'tur wasn't really complaining; he loved his mother and his siblings, blood and foster alike, and as the eldest son, he felt duty-bound to help out since his father had passed away long ago.

N'kayden had watched Aberath hunt, but he'd never killed something for _himself_. He didn't know if he had the stomach for it, but he didn't want N'tur to think he was a sissy. "Yeah, sure," he agreed with more confidence than he actually had. "I only have one sibling, and that's plenty annoying, I can't imagine having a whole creche-full."

N'tur rolled his eyes and sighed dramatically. "Oh shards, you lucked out, man. Sometimes I think about putting in a transfer application just to get some peace!" But his eyes twinkled, betraying the good humor he actually held toward his clutch of siblings. Not even the Red Star itself could actually persuade him to leave them.

Placing his now-empty mug down with a satisfied thump, N'tur stood and returned the playful backslap that N'kayden had greeted him with half a candlemark before. "Well, I best go find Sefanya now, before Torr here gets upset."

"Catch ya later, man," N'kayden called over his shoulder. Itsy and Bitsy slithered up around his ears, their walnut-sized heads humming against his cheeks as their eyes watched every morsel of food travel from his plate to his mouth. "Fiiinnneeee," he finally sighed, pinching off a bit of meatroll for them both.

Last updated on the June 8th 2025

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Brown Buddies