Temporary Bandage

Writers: Clancey, Eimi
Date Posted: 27th July 2006

Characters: U'kaiah, N'klar
Description: U'kaiah and N'klar try to drown their troubles
Location: Dragonsfall Weyr
Date: month 13, day 5 of Turn 3

N'klar

The keening still echoed in his ears, despite it being a few days now since Ysanth had gone /between/. Just the idea was enough to make N'klar want to bury his face in Julerith's hide and cry for hours. Sad to lose a dragon pair to Thread, yet at least the pair were lost _together_. It was much, much worse for the human half of the pair to remain behind. Julerith was there, though, as in the middle of his thoughts as ever.
N'klar had not regretted his nosy lifemate's propensity to stay in his mind these last few days. Opening his eyes from where he did, in fact, lay curled up with his dragon, he decided he needed to stop feeling sorry for himself. He was as worried about Talryne as any, for he cherished the sweet greenrider..well young woman... and could not imagine the pain she was in. But he had heard that U'kaiah and N'vanik were taking it in turns at her bedside, and decided that he should pull at least one of them away for a good, long drunk.
*** Where is Kalamath's rider, beloved?** N'klar asked while he readied a huge carisak full of wine and even one of ale that he'd purloined from the Vintner Hall before.. He swallowed. Another road to sadness lay there, and he did not go down it. }:U'kaiah, Julerith's rider wants to know if you're available,:{ Kalamath dutifully passed along. The bronze's rider looked down at the sheets of music in his hand that he had intended to lose himself in to pass the time while he waited to be needed again. He knew what N'klar had to offer was a much easier escape. The bronzerider slipped the sheets back on the shelf where he had pulled them from and headed for the Record Room door.

**His weyr or ours?** was his reply.

**How about our weyr, Julerith?** The blue passed it along and N'klar debated going to the kitchens for food. After a moment, he decided that less food meant more drunk, so left things where they were. He did, however, pull a tunic over his head and sprawled on the couch.
}:Tell him to come whenever, Jul. We'll be ready.:{ And he cracked the seal on the first skin of wine. The bronzerider wasn't far from N'klar's weyr. It had been a while since the two of them had just gotten ripping drunk together, and now seemed a good time. He knocked once and then strode inside. "Tell me you have some really good stuff saved just for me."

"I.. liberated... a skin of ale from the Vintner Hall before.. " He paused. "A couple of months ago." Was his answer as he looked up to U'kaiah. "Come in, bronzeboy. I do have something already open that has one sharding good burn. Its wine, but ooooh is it wine." He offered the skin to U'kaiah with a bleak look in his normally chipper blue eyes. "I didn't bother with mugs." And he cracked the seal on a second, identical skin. "Mugs just slow down the drinking process anyway," the bronzerider said as he brought the skin up to his lips. After taking a decent pull he sighed appreciatively and wiped his lips on his sleeve. "Oh, N'klar, that is good. You been saving these for a special occassion I take it?"

Darkened blue eyes glanced up to the bronzerider, a wry smile tugging at his lips. "Well, an _occasion_, anyway." He took a long drink from his own skin, waving an arm around. "I went to see Talryne today. It was the best occasion I could find to get sharding, scorching drunk." U'kaiah shrugged. "Yeah. Some occasion. How was she?"

N'klar peered at him for a long moment before taking another long drink.
The liquid burned all the way down, and he had to be quiet for another moment. Finally, he said flatly, "The same. Its beyond my imagining and I want to erase the memory of the .. lost.. look about her. So, we're getting drunk."

U'kaiah pushed the thought of that look from his mind. It was a look he had become very familiar with, but he pushed it back so he would not have to face it, or what it meant. "But you forgot the women. Aren't there supposed to be women in whose bossoms we can burry our troubles?"

N'klar chuckled dryly, wondering at U'kaiah's attitude. Ahh well, the two of them were friends, but mostly they just .. drank.. together.
They didn't talk about things or share stories. Well, if the stories had to do with women or wine, they might share. "Ahh! My bronzerider friend... I did forget the women. We might have to go looking for some, as soon as I get more of this stuff down my throat.
Two lovely greenriders... or perhaps one of Sarian." He laughed outright at that image, although he hadn't talked to her or seen her in quite some time. "Please, lets not talk about Sarian," U'kaiah grumbled as he took another drink from the bottle. He still hadn't spoken to her since that night, since the fight with N'vanik.

"Very well..." the bluerider paused, chuckling. "Something you want to share U'kaiah?" He took another long sip, waiting rather impatiently for his head to begin to blur with the effects. "There are plenty of other lovely greenriders running about... " If he didn't want to talk about Talryne, either, they could skip over all the serious parts and just get down to drinking.

"Just make sure mine is female," the bronzerider said with a half smile.
He knew the bluerider well enough by now.

N'klar had to laugh at that, narrowing his eyes toward U'kaiah. "One female, one I just want a warm body... " Two long drinks following into the silence and finally he could feel a faint tugging at his wits. He needed to drink faster. "Better make yourself comfortable, U'kaiah. Its going to be a long night." "One I fully intend not to remember," the bronzerider nodded. He was already starting to feel a bit... tingley. "But I'm not gonna pass out until after you do. I'm not entirely sure I can trust you, and I have a reputation to uphold. At least, I _had_ a reputation to uphold..."

"Sharding coward! Afraid of a little ole bluerider!" N'klar teased him, hefting the skin again. It was getting toward empty. He went on, with a mock serious face. "Well, since we're such good friends, U'kaiah, I promise I would tell everyone you were the best I ever had." Prudently, the bluerider ducked right after, sure there was a fist or a pillow headed his way. U'kaiah was too intent on draining his wineskin to exact any sort of punishment on him. "Just make sure you also tell them you had to get me drunk enough to pass out first."

"Then that might damage _my_ reputation, such as it is." The bluerider chuckled and finished off his skin in one long drink. He wasn't to the wobbling stage yet, so he managed to move around his Weyr with ease as he got up to fetch more to drink. "We better get busy, U'kaiah. There is some serious drinking to be done here." And he waved at the stash on the table, piled high. "Then you better get your nefarious arse back over here and drink,"
U'kaiah chuckled as he took another pull from the skin. He better not get _too_ drunk tonight. There was a waterball game coming up, after all. He'd nurse this skin and see how he felt afterwards.

N'klar laughed at him and shook his arse just a bit; always poking him in the nose, he was. N'klar stared at U'kaiah for a moment. "You aren't drinking fast enough! I didn't invite you over here for a long drinking match only to have you act like those Weyrlings you've been hanging around." "Don't try that trick on me, N'klar," U'kaiah said with a mock glare. "The same wore off long ago. You can't embarrass me into drinking when I have a waterball game this restday. And shards I need it."

"Oh scorch your waterball! Drinking is more fun." N'klar said steadily, quite sure of himself. "I am coming to the game, though I will most certainly be drinking instead of playing." "You should be drinking now, its no fun to drink alone." He looked away from his friend, his eyes narrowing as he saw an image of Talryne again.
Alone. "I am dringing," U'kaiah mumbled. "Just not as fast as you are, N'lar."

"Bronzeboy needs help... perhaps I'll go find someone to encourage you.." He snickered evilly then collapsed on the couch. "Poor Talryne.." he murmured softly, the bleakness in his eyes that he'd been hiding showed through for a moment, but he quickly downed more wine to chase the pain. "Yeah," U'kaiah murmured. He'd seen it before. He'd seen it all before... He'd see it all again. He could only hope that he wouldn't experience the same fate. "Here is to surviving tragedy and moving on..." N'klar murmured and raised his skin of wine. He only hoped 'surviving' meant being more than half a person.

Last updated on the July 28th 2006

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Temporary Bandage