It's Not All Work

Writers: Duskdog, Steel
Date Posted: 26th March 2026

Characters: E'shren, T'thalin
Description: E’shren and T’thalin bond over hidework
Location: Barrier Lake Weyr
Date: month 2, day 11 of Turn 13

E’shren didn’t like to admit it, but he was getting a little frustrated.

It wasn’t like he was a complete newcomer to working with leather. He was a smith, not a tanner, true; however, there were times when the apprentices needed to mend their own toolbelts, or fix a simple blade sheathe, and he’d made his own razor strops from scraps ever since his cost-conscious father had shown him how.

But making straps for Isarvyth was _different_ somehow. The material was thicker than what he was used to, and the stitching had to be neater, better, _stronger_. His own stitches had never been great, and he was having trouble getting the pieces flush without his awkward attempts at threading the awl through distorting everything.

This wasn’t just a toolbelt. It was vitally important -- it was his _life_ depending on these things, and that meant it was Isarvyth’s life, too. And, in the short term, it would determine whether or not they got to fly with their class. All of that meant a lot more pressure.

Finally, he dropped his hands and sighed. He wasn’t sure that he needed help, exactly, but some company in his misery might be nice.

He got up, throwing the unfinished pieces of his straps over his shoulders, and went to peek into T’thalin’s alcove.

“Hey, you busy?” he asked.

T'thalin looked up from his own work, something he'd been drawing out, as E'shren approached. He shook his head. “Not… um. Not really?” He offered. “... Hi. Come in, if you want.” There was a second chair after all.

E’shren took the invitation, sitting down heavily and sighing. “How are things going with your straps? These things are going to be the death of me!”

He held them up, shaking them limply.

“I… used to help repair herdbeast harnesses for some of the carts.” T'thalin offered. “But this is, um, completely different.”

He held up the rough drawing of Roxarith he'd made, in return. “He's growing so fast, I've been trying to work out where to put the extra leather. So I don't have to make a new harness almost every sevenday.” T'thalin added, with a ghost of humour, before his shoulders hunched and he looked away again.

E’shren peered at the drawing, nodding. “That’s a good idea -- I should have probably sketched something out first, too. The way they have us do this just seems really inefficient. Making straps when they’re still so small and growing so fast? And I’d worry that having to add leather so frequently is adding more points of potential failure?” He shook his head, glaring down at the straps for a moment. “Sorry, that’s the smith in me talking. And I guess otherwise we’d have to wait too long to fly, I guess. And Isarvyth is ready to fly for sure!”

He looked back at the drawing. “That’s a pretty good design you have going there, I think. Huh. Have you sewn any of it yet?”

“... Thank you.” T’thalin responded, and brightened a little bit. “I, um, have some extra paper if… well. If you wanted to draw it out too?” He added, then thought for a moment before nodding to the strips of leather jumbled in a pile. “I started with, um, the chest piece. It’s one of the most important parts.”

“Makes sense! Yeah, hand me some paper!” E’shren thought it really might help -- that much was honest -- but maybe there was a part of him that also welcomed having an excuse to stop sewing without feeling like he was slacking off. “Let’s see… yeah, the chest piece is really what brings it all together. Roxarith and Isarvyth have a similar build, so maybe the angles should be similar, too. What was it you did before Impressing, again? Are you craftbred, too? That’s craftbred thinking.”

T’thalin handed it over, willingly, and something to write with as well. “Here.” He repeated, and then settled down again. “Roxarith’s pretty, um, lanky right now.” He responded. “But… the Weyrlingmasters say, um, he’ll grow into himself.” He added. “And… no. I’m not… not craftbred.” His shoulders hunched again, but there was no point lying. “I’m… I mean, I _was_… Holdless. Before Dragonsfall Weyr.”

E’shren paused and blinked. “Oh. Really? Huh. I didn’t--” He stopped again and seemed to realize something all at once, because his faltered smile returned -- this time even brighter than before. Maybe a little _too_ bright. “Well, I didn’t know, but that’s okay! You seem very intelligent. And well-spoken… well, a little hesitant, maybe, but I get the impression that the words are there. You’re not what I expected of Holdless at all. Besides,” he added, apparently coming to some sort of decision, “what better measure of worth is there than being chosen by a _dragon_? I always knew _I_ was destined for more, and Isarvyth agreed. Apparently, so were you, because there’s Roxarith right there as proof.”

“I’m not daft.” T’thalin protested, if mildly. “Roxarith would never stand for it. And he’s my dragon as much as Isarvyth is yours. They, um, chose us.”

“Right,” E’shren agreed easily, oblivious to any offense he might have caused. “Dragons choose for a reason. They say they can see into your heart, and I believe that. I worked hard for this, and I think Isarvyth could see that -- that I could do so much better and so much more here. You must have done the same, no matter where you came from. So hey, I’m glad you’re here. Funny how life works out, isn’t it? Not that it’s _chance_ or anything -- like I said, we worked for it, so we brought ourselves here in a way. Made ourselves what a dragon wants. But it’s still wild to think about.”

He nudged T’thalin’s shoulder with his own -- a friendly gesture. “We should hang out more. Aside from class, I mean.”

“... Yeah.” T’thalin softened slightly, glanced in the direction he knew Roxarith was-- and wasn’t that another wonder of its own? Roxarith’s mind with his own, aligned and affectionate, never against him? “I… They’re amazing. Even asking older riders about it-- there was nothing like it when Roxarith found me.” He agreed. “I, um. I get why they couldn’t describe it all the way now.”

He paused, then added, “I’d, um… I’d like that. I think Roxarith would like socializing more with Isarvyth too.”

“It’s probably good for them,” E’shren said. “Socialization is good for people so that they know how to interact confidently. Maybe it helps dragons communicate better in ‘Fall or something. I imagine bronzes are pretty good at that naturally though, I guess. Isarvyth is… hmm… _reserved_. Not shy or anything. But he doesn’t speak without thinking first. What’s Roxarith like?”

“... Confident.” T’thalin responded after a moment. “Like, he… he doesn’t need to bluster or strut. He just… knows that he’s the best. And… um. He says he knows I’m the best.”

E’shren’s smile changed subtly -- softer, almost awed. “That’s the part that I don’t think I understood before. They really do believe we’re the best, don’t they? And you can’t even doubt their belief, because you can _feel_ it.” He couldn’t help but put a hand over his heart. “This is the greatest thing that’s ever happened to me.”

“How… um. How _could_ we?” T'thalin said, in response. His shoulders eased slightly. “I… I knew I wanted to be a dragonrider, if… um. If one would have me.” He exhaled. “Roxarith is… He's _everything_, now.”

“Yeah,” E’shren agreed softly, eyes going a little vacant as he reached out in his mind to touch Isarvyth’s. The brown was asleep, but he could still feel him there, calm and content. Then he blinked and shook his head a little, focusing on T’thalin again. “Sorry, I got away from you there. Anyway… yeah, we should hang out more. You want to study together sometime? This cartography stuff is kicking my behind.”

“I know the area around Dragonsfall. Not so much, um, Barrier Lake.” T’thalin agreed. “And… yeah. I’d… We’d like that.” he added. “I can always use more studying.” A longer pause, then he added, “... Outside?” So he could also sit and watch Roxarith.

“Outside sounds good,” E’shren agreed. “The weather’s nice… and the dragons will have room to play, if they want.”

“... Agreed.” T’thalin replied. “And… um. We can just sit with them. If they don’t want to play.”

“Sounds perfect to me.”

Last updated on the April 1st 2026

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It's Not All Work