A Free Lunch

Writers: Sia, Yvonne
Date Posted: 4th December 2025

Characters: Thiseta, Q'vettan
Description: Thiseta and Q'vettan have a check-in meeting one afternoon.
Location: Barrier Lake Weyr
Date: month 8, day 16 of Turn 12
Notes: Mentioned: Rasme, Aydhan, J'nic, Eyla, A'len, N'vanik

Q'vettan

Q'vettan somehow found himself without any afternoon meetings. He paused a moment as he stared blankly at his schedule as if not quite believing that he'd managed it. Surely he forgot to write something down. Someone would surprise him.

Well. He'd have to apologize for forgetting them. He had better ideas on how to spend the afternoon. It'd been a while since he'd checked in on the new Weyrwoman. **Check with Imbeth, please.**

Tzenketh shook himself from a midday doze. }: Imbeth, how busy is Thiseta? Q'vettan would like to suggest klah and lunch. :{

}:She accepts,:{ Imbeth replied. The sands were warm and her eggs were safe, and she was content to invite other dragons into the Hatching Caverns to perch on the ledges around the Stands and enjoy the heat. }:She is busy but she says that his company is welcome.:{

"Excellent." Q'vettan said aloud when Tzenketh relayed the answer. The bronze was already moving his big bronze bulk to unceremoniously flop on the ledge above. It was too chilly outside, and he didn't remember the even colder Dragonsfall winters.

Q'vettan ducked into the lower caverns, greeting the kitchen staff with the ease of someone who made a point of learning names. They were already bustling with dinner prep, but Q'vettan had impeccable timing and better manners (or so he thought), so when he asked if his or Thiseta’s lunch had gone out yet, he was quickly handed two neatly wrapped bundles and a container of klah.

The hatching cavern's warmth _was_ welcoming after the chilly trek. Q'vettan bowed politely to Imbeth before making his way to Thiseta, sliding into a seat across from her and presenting the wrapped package with her name on it. "Good afternoon. Were you planning to work through lunch?"

“Not anymore!” She eyed the packages greedily. “You make a great excuse to ignore tithe records for a little while. Unless you’d really like to go over the projections for the next three months’ herdbeast quota to feed our hungry dragons? I am learning way more than I wanted to about rain scald on herdbeast hooves and how that can affect how fast a herd can travel.”

"It makes them slow, I hear." Q'vettan said dryly, "And Tzenketh will only pick at his dinner if it looks unsightly, which is the most unfortunate side effect of the whole thing. I don't envy your work. Klah?"

“Thank you.” She watched as he poured with steady hands. “How has your morning gone?”

Q’vettan handed her a garishly bright 'Tillek Seas' mug that clearly did not belong to him before pouring his own into a plainer cup. "My morning was Wingleader meetings, sweep reports, weather forecasts. Nothing out of the ordinary ahead of Threadfall, thank Faranth. The new Wing assignments seem to be coming together well. I'd expected more upset than we got. It speaks to the Weyr's strength."

He considered her as he savored his first sip. "How has your workload been? Have Rasme and Aydhan been supportive?"

She nodded. “Aydhan knows the Wing better than I do. I couldn’t ask for a better ‘Second while I’m stuck here.” She avoided mentioning Rasme, although she dearly wanted to know if her suspicions were true that the older goldrider was upset that she’d brought in Eyla as Weyrdragonhealer. Rasme’s eyepatch always made her look a bit angry, in Thiseta’s opinion. “The Wings are resilient, but I have heard a bit of muttering that maybe you acted a bit fast after Imbeth rose. Just because the upset isn’t visible doesn’t mean that it’s not there.”

Q’vettan didn’t flinch at the observation. He gave her a small, acknowledging nod and took another sip of klah before answering. "I’d be surprised if there wasn’t muttering. Change always invites complaint, especially from those who benefit most from inertia. There is the argument that many changes at the start are better than having to recalibrate after each smaller change. Those muttering will have extra reason to chase Imbeth next time." He felt pretty confident that many changes would be hard to pull back: their first greenrider Weyrlingmaster, a bluerider in charge of Cherry Wing, their first brownrider Wingleader. It'd look worse on the man who tried to replace them, at least.

“If they ride bronze.” She looked down at her klah. “I just… hear things, about Dragonsfall Weyr. And I worry. Barrier Lake’s been through so much.”

"You can speak plainly to me, Thiseta." Q'vettan said. "I'm the Weyrleader for now, but I'm not above reproach. What are you hearing about Dragonsfall?"

Thiseta looked down at the smooth wood of the desk and traced the grain with her fingertips. Q’vettan had been Weyrleader at Igen, and was Weyrharper before Imebth’s flight. He knew what he was doing and had experience she lacked. And she trusted him. “I’m sure that you heard that they renamed their Wings last month. Rumor has it that it was in part because there’s been conflict between the River Bluff riders and the Dragonsfall riders flaring up again after all these turns. And then there’s what happened to A’len. With what happened at the Completion Ceremony here and Imbeth rising before Tymborikath, and now what you’ve done with the Wings… perhaps I worry too much.”

"The Dragonsfall Wings were due for a name change. I wish I knew who decided on shades of blue when the heraldry is green and brown." Q'vettan said mildly, "It's normal to worry. Goldrider promotions are rarely joyful events anymore. But if the Weyr was set on Aydhan, they wouldn't have invited you. She barely has seniority. I remember the news spreading that we had two gold eggs on Pern in less than a turn of the other. Perhaps we should have known Thread was returning then."

She smiled. “I’d forgotten… I was so focused on the gold egg on the Sands in front of me, I barely thought about what was happening elsewhere.”

"And so you shouldn't. The rest of us should have taken it as an omen." Q'vettan said. "Barrier Lake would be getting used to a new goldrider no matter who won. Aydhan was only here for a few months before the Completion Ceremony, too, and she certainly didn't have rank at High Reaches." He shook his head, "I shouldn't speak ill of your goldriders. That's all I'll say about it."

“You shouldn’t. Aydhan is lovely,” Thiseta said. “And I am grateful that you’ve guided the Weyr through Threadfall so well.”

Q'vettan inclined his head at the gentle correction. "Thank you. Barrier Lake hasn't made it difficult, even though I've made it difficult for them. It's a strong Weyr you have here."

Perhaps, but it was still so new. Its roots were fragile. “We have,” she told him. “And it's _our_ Weyr.”

"Ours, for now." Q'vettan acquiesced. "Not all of us stay as long as N'vanik. As much as I enjoy it, I have to admit that it's good to get new blood in the role. The more that understand how the Weyr works, the better off you'll be "

Thiseta made a face. It hurt her pride a bit to realize how much she relied on her Weyrleader, but hurt pride didn’t change the fact that she _did_. She was new to her role, and Q’vettan wasn’t. “I am fine if Tzenketh wins Imbeth’s flight a second time.”

"I'm glad to hear that. I hope that opinion doesn't change between now and when Imbeth rises again." Q'vettan said. If he noticed that he caused offense, he didn't show it. He looked down at his still untouched lunch, then looked back up at his Weyrwoman. "How is your meal? I've been getting some bad meals from the lower caverns these last few weeks. At least the klah is made well today."

Thiseta picked up her fork. “How odd, my dinners have been fantastic of late. Last night’s meatballs and river grains were the best meal I’ve had in a month,” she said blandly. Perhaps her sense that something was amiss hadn’t been so far fetched after all.

Last updated on the December 21st 2025

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A Free Lunch